#and then my mom goes into this whole spiel about how proud of me she is and

[crybaby-bkg]

officially finished writing my novel and all my classes for undergrad today 🥲 and no I couldn’t stop crying LOL

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: June 6th, 2021

I’m back with more ask responses! You can also check our Frequently Asked Question sheet if there’s something you’re wondering that’s not answered here.

FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

Thank you for the patience with these questions  ♡

Hey in very beginning of step 3 in the scene where Mr.Holden had a thought dancing on the tip of his tongue but he kept it to himself after MC and Cove were being cute (idk if it makes a difference but this is when they're dating)... Can we know what he was thinking/ wanted to say? It's been bugging me lol 

He would’ve gone into a “look how much you’ve grown”, “your dad is so proud of you”, “I’m so glad things worked out with the MC”, and etc spiel, haha. But he resisted the urge to fawn on his baby boy, at least for that scene.

If we planned to move away for college/future plans in step 3, is it implied that MC and Cove would have a long distance relationship for sure? Could MC have convinced Cove to come with them? How is the dynamic of their relationship going to be addressed in Step 4, if that makes sense? 

Cove is willing to follow the MC where they went after everything is settled for them there, and if they’re sure they want him to come! You’ll get to decide how things shook out during those transitional years just by making choices about it during the opening prologue of Step 4.

Hi! First off, how does it feel to have created one of the best games when it comes to inclusion for lbtq+ peeps? I've never felt as validated with my identity and sexuality when playing a game and I'm seemingly not alone ♥ Second, and this might be a little too specific, but what kinds of drinks does Cove like as well as dislike? Thank you, you're the best ♥

Thank you for very much! It’s really nice to hear the game felt inclusive. Cove likes regular water and fruit juices/smoothies most! He dislikes coffee and cola, and he’s not super into most teas either.

Hi, may i ask what gb patch stands for? Specifically the gb part lol

It stands for my old, silly username I used in places like Neopets as a kid, aha. The company name wasn’t super thought out since it was originally just me making VNs as a hobby. Luckily, “GB Patch” kind of seems like it could mean something reasonable, so I didn’t have to rebrand when it did become a more serious, commercial group.

If we chose to not propose to cove in the step 3 dlc would he propose or would the mc propose in step 4 or the wedding dlc? 

Yeah, you or Cove can propose in Step 4 if you’re not already engaged! The Wedding DLC takes place after the engagement so the proposal scenes aren’t there.

will you guys announce if the early access for the new game is out on patreon ? 

When beta builds of Step 4 or whatever start coming out on the Patreon we will mention it here on social media too.

Heyy I just had a quick question about Baxter if that’s okay :)?

I saw in an ask+answer that it’s possible to casually date Baxter In step 3, but what leads up to that? I have the step 3 dlc and I’ve tried playing them In a different orders and ways but it doesn’t seem to get anywhere ^^;

The Step 3 DLC is Cove-based because he’s the default guy. There’s a separate Baxter romance DLC that’s not out yet. That’s where you can get him to date you. I’m sorry for the confusion!

Will we ever get any LI's or side characters with physical disabilities or deformities? I think your games would be a great place to have them in since they're always so accepting and safe! 

Yeah, we do hope to have representation for that in future projects ^^. Thank you for the confidence in us.

Is it possible to get Cove to take the bed and MC to sleep on the floor? 

Not in Step 3, I’m afraid.

So, I have played the prologue of Our Life countless times and I haven't gotten the [Your Life] achievement, why is that? 

Steam sometimes isn’t connected properly when an achievement unlocks and so it remains locked on your account. If that happens, unfortunately getting the scene again won’t unlock it. The achievement becomes inaccessible because the game thinks you already have it. Playing with the same Steam account on a different device or fully deleting your game data (more than the only the save files) are the only work arounds we’ve found.

Since when you talk with Jeremy in step 3 it's mentioned he goes on dates with someone (which assume is JB because who else would take this boy on dates) that makes him happy, does that sort of make JB and Jeremy the canon relationship in the first game?

The default for XOXO Droplets is that JB casually goes on dates with each of the jerks! Shiloh would’ve been harsher if Jeremy was the only guy getting her attention, haha. But the player can change that default by dating just one person the whole game for their own story and who she ends up with for real has no default.

Hi, hello! Huge OL fan, thank you so much for the wholesome content, it was very much needed during these times. Managed to get several people to join team Cove, so that's very exciting, I always have people to fawn over him with. I have a little question and I'm sorry if it was asked before, but does it ever come up in the game what Cove has told his mom about us? (who knows, with so many options, one can miss it) Or, alternatively, will it come up in the Step 4 DLC? 

Thank you very much for sharing the game with people <3. It’s really great to hear people are liking it. Right now that doesn’t come up in game. Kyra is willing to keep her mouth shut and Cove isn’t gonna have that conversation either. At least not when he’s younger, but yes, perhaps when he’s a fully grown big boy in Step 4 you can ask him about it.

I’ve been thinking about this ever since it has been confirmed that there would be two love interests for OL2, would there be the possibility of forming a polyamorous relationship with both love interests? I’m sorry if you answered this previously, I’m just curious. 

We are considering it, but it’s not a guarantee yet. It’d be really great to have but it’d add so many extra alterations that’d need to made, aha.

Hello! You mentioned how Cove would be uncomfortable with kids at 23, but how old would he be when he’s comfortable with having/adopting kids? (Same goes for the other LI’s.) btw, love your game!! 

He’d want to be at least 25, but even older would be good. Derek would want to have kids when he and his partner could reasonably support them, the age itself wouldn’t matter. If they were doing good at 22 and wanted kids, he’d be up for it. Or they could wait until their 30s or whatever. Baxter is also more of a “when it feels right” guy rather than having a specific age requirement. Cove is just especially wary of being a young parent because of his own parents. I’m happy you like the game!

does step 4 immediately play after you press "end summer" in step 3? or is there another button/transition (like the story text thingy) before the epilogue begins? what happens after the epilogue? roll credits? 😂 

Step 4 will have transition section always and there will be an extra button, if you own the Derek or Baxter DLC. By default the Cove-based version of Step 4 just plays once Step 3 is over. However, having the other guys’ storylines will mean you get to pick which version of Step 4 plays; Cove Step 4 (the basic one), Derek Step 4, or Baxter Step 4.

Happy pride, thank you for all you do for us🥰

I have a quick question though, I recently got a MacBook after my old windows computer broke, and now steam says I cannot download it, but it has no issues with other games, what can I do to download it?? I’m sorry if my English is bad

Happy pride month! Unfortunately, Our Life isn’t available for Mac on Steam right now. To be an approval application Apple requires having special notarization and we as a small group haven’t gotten that. Itch doesn’t care and lets us release the game for Mac there anyway, Steam does care so we’re locked out of putting the Mac build up on their storefront. Feel free to email us and we can try to help the situation out further!

support@gbpatchgames.com

Hello! I was jus wondering if the Baxter and Derek DLCs are still happening? I haven’t heard anything about them on here or patreon in a while so I just wanted to make sure ^^

They’re still coming and we just released a new sprite sketch on the Patreon for the Derek DLC c:. But right now Step 4 is still much more of a priority. Once that’s closer to being done we’ll focus way more on sharing previews for the other guys.

is it possible to tell cove you love him (platonically) at step 3 fondness/selecting him as basically family? i just love the mc and liz sibling interactions and it got me wondering about it (especially if you've selected that option)

You and Cove can be as close as family, but there’s not a specific scene in Step 3 where you say “I love you” in a family context. But there’s always Step 4~

do you intend on ever adding a collectors mode to Our Life? Like a way to collect achievements and CGs for the gallery without it effecting any save files? 

We weren’t considering it before. But if a lot of players would find that helpful, we could start thinking on that!

Sorry if it's a silly question haha, but (in crush/love) is Cove really aware of how cute and cuddly he seems to MC? If so, what does he think or do about it? Or does he just ignore it? 

He isn’t particular aware. Cove never truly stops being surprised that the MC is interested in/attracted to him, haha.

Would you say that the alone ending of xoxo droplets is worth playing again to get? 

Nope, haha. The goal is to make friends/get a boyfriend and so the alone ending is kind of the bad ending for the game. Though there is a consolation prize if you get it by accident.

Is there any possible situation which would ever prompt Pran to bake for his girlfriend? Like I know it's unlikely I mean even if JB broke her leg somehow I'm pretty sure he'd still be like "I considered baking you a cake and doing the frosting the way I think looks interesting but you don't deserve a cake, no one does." right but also ahhh it would be super nice if some day he just surprised her with baked goods one day out of nowhere. JB would be so shocked it would be cute. So is there any possible situation where that could/would be a thing that he would do? 

He might bake out of spite, like if he felt he had to prove her wrong on something. Or if JB used some good reverse psychology on him. Or he might do it in a relatively nice way if he could make his GF so shocked by the kind gesture that his amusement with that overrode his insistence on not being sweet. Pran is very difficult in high school, aha.

Is the "one route (where) it can be seen that Everett will drop his seemingly eternal waging with Jeremy pretty easily and can start getting along without thinking much on it" the Lucas route? I'm curious! 

Yep! Everett will side with Jeremy if it’s between him and Lucas.

Hi I hope you guys are having a great day :) I just had to ask how Cliff would feel about Cove's partner/fiancé Mc calling them dad whether it be accidental or otherwise and secondly I also wanted to ask how he would feel about being asked to be the one to give the mc away at their wedding. 

He would be very touched and excited! I hope you have a good day too :D

Hello! I saw an ask relating to whether Cliff "moves on" after Cove's grown up and stuff (and he stays single), but what about Kyra? Will she be with anyone else or will she stay single? 

She does start dating again, but she takes it slow.

Hi! I absolutely love the art for characters in OL and I wonder is this fine to draw my MC in same drawing style and upload online later? Is this something artists would be okay with? Thank you! 

Yeah, you can certainly do that C:

Hey there!

I wonder if I'm just being stupid here.. Is Step 4 a DLC? And if so, where can I find it? I can't seem to find it on Steam :< Thank you!

Step 4 is a free epilogue! It’s not done yet, but once it is finished you’ll just update your game file and Step 4 will be there after Step 3 ends.

hi! are step 4 and the wedding dlc two different things?

They are. Step 4 is a free epilogue that’ll be a default part of the game once it’s done, the wedding DLC is an optional paid expansion that takes place after Step 4.

Why did Baxter not receive a step 2 sprite seeing how he shows up later

Sprites are time consuming to draw and take money out of the budget that could’ve gone to other things. His tiny appearance in Step 2 wasn’t worth all the effort to make a sprite, aha.

I just realized, what happens if if you get the patreon exclusive moment but at a later date, when you don't have the membership anymore, it's updated (like a bugs fix update for example)? Would you have to get the membership again? 

You would have to get the membership again to redownload the build. But there’s very little chance there’s going to be an update once it’s been out for over a month. If a build gets released with errors, players catch/report them within the first few days. So by the time the first subscription period ends, any problems that were noticeable would already have been fixed. And we’re certainly not gonna be adding new content to it once it’s been released for a long time. There’s no need to worry about missing out on something worthwhile in the future if you cancel your membership. It’s being made with the idea in mind that many players are gonna be getting it and then going.

Hello! Wanted to ask about gaming choice in step 3? Once upon a playthorugh I got the option to buy Cove a bracelet for his graduation present. I played the same basic character again and that option wasn't there anymore. I'm not sure where I went wrong. My Cove wears a bracelet on each hand and my MC is into fashion and jewelry. Do I need to put an earring on him or? Sorry, love your game so much. 

He also needs to have liked bracelets in Step 2 for that to be considered a good gift option for him. Sorry for the confusion! I’m happy you love the game :)

Is Step 4 being released at the same time as the Wedding DLC or will the first come before the latter? Thank you! 

I’m not sure. Ideally they’ll come out at the same time, but the wedding DLC has a lot of art to get done and we may have to release it after Step 4.

Can mc still get confession from Cove at the end of step 3 even if mc casually dates Baxter in step 3? Such as in crush mode? 

I don’t think so. Maybe that’ll change, but generally there’s differences to the Step 3 ending if you were dating Baxter and those differences likely will conflict with getting the Cove confession.

For the patreon moments/dlcs, will it be available for all tiers? 

It’ll be available for tier 2 (Fans) and up!

[gansey-just-gansey]

Punk History 101 Part Fourteen

Blue had to admit to herself that she did clean up well. She was in another dress, one that her cousin Orla had sent her back in freshman year. It was slightly inappropriate, black and tight, with geometric shapes cut out strategically, but it was by far the nicest piece of clothing Blue owned. She balanced it out with innocent flats and very minimal makeup. The silver hoops were back this time as well.

She met Adam by the door where he was waiting for her in his best suit, the one he took her to prom in. He looked her over appreciatively. “You look amazing,” he said with a kiss on her cheek.

“You're looking pretty good tonight, too,” she responded, adjusting the small purse on her shoulder. “Where's Ronan?”

A knock sounded just as she asked and Adam opened the door to reveal Ronan, also dressed up in a nice suit. “Hey,” he said softly. His eyes raked down Adam's body slowly before Adam stepped forward for a chaste kiss. Well, chaste for them. Adam was kissing his way across the little bit of the tattoo that hooked out from Ronan's collar before Blue cleared her throat. Ronan's eyes snapped up to her. “Damn, maggot, look at you. Gansey's going to lose his shit.”

“Thanks.” Blue rolled her eyes. “Are we all ready to go?”

“I think so, Gansey's already at the gallery, told me to have you text him when we got there. HE had to go in early for opening night.”

They piled into the BMW and made the drive across town to the building the school had rented out for the gallery. It was was decorated with fairy lights and a sign outside advertised that it was an open house event by the college.

Blue was just texting Gansey as they stepped into the building when strong arms wrapped around her from behind. “Give me one good reason I shouldn't say fuck it, take you home, and bend you over my couch right now,” Gansey growled, pressing his face into her neck. Adam and Ronan laughed and left to do a lap around the room to give them a little privacy.

Blue smirked and reached up to pat Gansey's perfectly styled hair. “Blink 182. Also, because you got a whole section of this gallery dedicated to you. You didn't just get one piece in, you got your entire project on display. That's something to be proud of.”

“I'm also rather proud of the noises I can draw out of you with just my fingers, wouldn't you prefer to see that?” A shiver ran up Blue's spine.

“I sure would,” a voice said right beside them. Gansey jumped slightly but made no move to let Blue go as Henry laughed and held out two flutes of champagne. Blue blushed and gratefully accepted one of the glasses as an excuse to look anywhere but the two boys. Gansey waved his off and Henry kept it for himself. “I just came from your section, Gansey boy. Stunning as expected. Of course the subject made it easy to enjoy as well.” He winked at Blue and her flush crept down to her neck and chest.

“Thanks,” she murmured, taking a healthy gulp of the champagne.

“Thank you, Henry,” Gansey said, straightening up as his eyes fell on something in the crowd.

Blue stood on tiptoes to find what he was looking at, but didn't find anything of interest. Adam and Ronan were kissing in a corner, of course, but Blue didn't see anyone else recognizable. Then she finally found Gansey's project on the far wall. It was made of small prints of some of the pictures he'd taken, surrounding an extremely large print of Blue smoking in Gansey's lap. There were three people standing in front of it, and they were what held Gansey's attention.

“Excuse us. We'll see you before you leave?” Blue told Henry, the last part coming out like a question.

“I'm actually leaving now, but I'm sure I'll see you soon. Let me know how the rest of the night goes.” He tipped his champagne glass into Blue's, filling it back up and wandered off.

“Come on, there are people I want to introduce you to,” Gansey said, pulling Blue's hand to guide her through the crowd towards his project section.

“Dick!” the man in front of Gansey's project boomed.

Blue looked around, trying to find who had offended the man enough for him to start yelling names.

“Hello, Dad,” Gansey replied.

Blue looked up in surprise. “Dick?” she mouthed at him. Gansey just shook his head at her. She pressed her lips together to stop the laughter from escaping. Dick was going to get an earful tonight. Then her brain caught up to his answer. “Dad?”

“Yes, Blue, this is my mom and dad and my sister, Helen. Everybody, this is Blue, my girlfriend,” he said proudly, wrapping one arm around her again.

“It's lovely to meet you,” his mother said, stepping forward to hug her.

“Thank you, you too,” Blue said, shaking hands with Gansey's father and sister.

“So, is this you, Blue?” Helen asked, tipping her drink towards the large picture of Blue smoking.

“Helen...,” Gansey said in warning.

“It's fine,” Blue waved him off. The champagne was making her braver than she might have normally been while meeting her boyfriend's family for the first time. “Yes, it's me.” Gansey's mother smiled politely and looked away from Blue and his father was looking anywhere but the main picture.

“So you're a smoker then,” Helen pushed.

“Helen,” Gansey barked.

“She said it was fine,” she smiled sweetly at Gansey.

“Yes, I'm a smoker,” Blue said, draining the last of her drink.

“Hasn't Dick here given you a long spiel about the dangers of smoking yet?”

“He has,” Blue met Helen's eyes. “But I'm not one to let others dictate what I do with my life. I know it's a bad habit but,” she shrugged,” it relaxes me. I'll probably try to quit again after I graduate and things are less hectic.”

“That's a good plan,” Gansey agreed, pressing his lips to the top of her hair.

“Well, it's a top notch project, with quite a beautiful subject, if you don't mind my saying,” Gansey's father said.

“Indeed,” Gansey's mother nodded along. “You simply must come by for dinner sometime.”

“Of course, I'd love to,” Blue agreed easily, taking another flute of champagne from a passing server.

“Well, we will take our leave now, we're quite proud of you, son,” Gansey Sr. dropped a hand on Gansey Jr.'s shoulder. “Don't be a stranger.”

“Bye, I'll see you soon,” Gansey called after them. As soon as they were out of earshot, Gansey turned to her. “Sorry about that. I probably should've given you some warning.”

“It's okay. They seem...,” Blue trailed off.

“Pretentious?”

“I was going to go with nice but yeah, a little.” She laughed.

Gansey laughed with her and pulled her closer. “So it's nearly the end of the semester.”

“Yeah...?” Blue looked up at him. He was strangely serious now.

“Have you given any more thought to... you know, moving in with me?” his voice cracked on the last word.

She had actually, since she and Gansey had made up, but she still wasn't sure she wanted to. What if he did something like this again and she had no escape? “I don't know if it's a good idea....”

“Please? I swear I will never hurt you again. And if I do, you can have the room and I'll be the one to leave the apartment, not you. You never have to worry about this happening again,” he pleaded, guessing her thoughts.

“I don't know, Gansey.”

He sighed dramatically. “You'll warm up to the idea. I'll get Henry to harass you until you agree,” he teased, skimming his nose along her jawline.

Henry....

“Gansey, I have to tell you something.”

“Hmmmm?” he hummed, a finger replacing his nose along the line it was running so he could lean down and kiss her neck gently.

“It's about Henry.” He added a little suction at the base of her neck. “And me.”

Gansey pulled back to look at her. “What about you and Henry?” he asked quizzically.

“While we were broken up, actually the night I came to talk to you when I was drunk, I sort of... kissed Henry.” Gansey's eyes grew perceptibly darker. “Well not kissed, but kind of started to. I was drunk and he didn't let it go too far, said he was there to convince me to talk to you. But I tried to and if you want us all to move in together, I think you should know,” she rushed the words out before Gansey could get too angry.

“You kissed Cheng?” he rumbled. “Is that what he meant that night when he said he couldn't do me like that?”

“Yes. Well kind of. Really all I did was lick his lip but then he stopped me and-”

Gansey held a hand up to stop her. “We're leaving.” He grabbed her hand and started to lead her through the mass of people. “I have an idea.”

“What idea? You didn't talk to Ronan and Adam, and don't you have to be here to talk to people about your project?” she tried as he all but dragged her out.

“I'll talk to them later and I can come again tomorrow.” He looked down at her with an odd look in his eyes. They looked... hungry? “Or next weekend. Whenever. Right now, we're going to meet Henry at our place.”

He pulled out his phone to text Henry as they made their way to the Pig. Blue felt her stomach drop and she sat in silence the whole ride back to the apartment, picking at her finger nails nervously. Henry's car was already parked in the lot when they arrived, having had a head start to campus.

He was leaning against the wall across from Gansey's door when they exited the elevator. Henry looked up with a smile that dropped into confusion when he caught the looks on their faces. “What's up?”

Gansey said nothing and unlocked the door to let them in. He gently shut the door. “Tell me everything,” he demanded.

“Well, we were at Cabeswater,” Blue began. “Henry found me there and we started dancing. I was really drunk and mad and- I'm sorry.”

Henry looked between her and Gansey with wide eyes, having figured out what they were talking about. “It didn't mean anything, Gansey. She wasn't with it.”

“You were dancing and then what?” Gansey pressed. He was playing with his lip rings now, something he usually only did when Blue did something particularly sexy. What?

“Then he asked me to go outside so we could talk. He wanted me to talk to you again but I was so mad at you that I- I tried to kiss him. I just hugged him and licked his lip and then he told me about the gallery spot. That's all that happened, I swear,” Blue said, silently willing him to understand.

“That's it?”

“That's it,” Henry agreed.

“You must have some sort of feelings toward him if you were willing to kiss him.”

“No, it didn't mean anything!” Blue repeated Henry.

“I know you, Blue, you wouldn't kiss him if you didn't feel anything for him. And Henry, I know you like Blue, you've been talking about how hot she is and flirting with her since you met her,” Gansey insisted. Henry opened his mouth to defend them again, but Gansey cut him off, his voice slow and deep. “Kiss her.”

[eddiekaspbrxks]

@eddieklapbak​: Hi :) i love your fics and I’ve only read a couple of them ( i need to read more ) but i was wondering if you’d be interested in writing a reddie fic where eddie gets a really bad flu and hes pissed about it because hes eddie but richie comes in hot taking really good care of him and shit ??? If that’s too fluffy or boring dont worry about it

(i redirected this to my sideblog for organisation’s sake, I hope that’s okay)

Word Count: 1281

AO3 link in notes

Eddie Kaspbrak supposes that one would expect, were someone to go on a week-long skiing trip with his six best friends, and were they to come down with a cold sent directly from hell—an analogy Eddie hadn’t ever expected to use, but which after ten hours lying in bed with a headache and a hacking cough seemed rather fitting—for their boyfriend to take care of them. One wouldn’t have expected, though, that Eddie would come down with a cold (him, of all the fucking people—Bev shared cigarettes with anyone she met, and Richie, god knows, probably hadn’t washed his hands in months), or that, when it happened, the boyfriend in question would be Richie Tozier. Richie and medication wasn’t a combination he’d exactly fantasized about, and he wasn’t sure that it was going to work out without at least a heart attack and maybe a very, very small house fire.

Or a fucking huge one, who knows. There’s no overestimating Richie.

“So,” Richie cries in a British accent, walking into the room with Eddie’s toiletry bag nestled in his arms, “come on then, talk me through this.” He unzips the bag—it’s “almost as big as your suitcase,” Stan had said, (which is ridiculous, it’s a solid quarter at most, and bright red, just in case Eddie’s in a hurry and needs to see it from a mile away (or in case Richie needs to find it, because holy shit that kid is blind, but he doesn’t seem to be showing any appreciation for Eddie’s color-picking skills at the moment), and dumps the contents onto the bed.

“Dude, careful with that—if you break my aspirator, I swear to god—” Eddie cries, leaping up a little and then grimacing when his head throbs.

“Hate to break it to you, Eddie Spaghetti, but you’ve got bigger issues right now than your made-up asthma.”

“Shut up, your fucking nasal voice is making my head hurt,” Eddie moans, covering his face with his hands.

“I’m serious, Eds,” Richie says, face mock solemn. “Your worst fears have come true. This is what you’ve been protecting yourself from your whole life, and alas, your brave efforts have gone to waste. Edward,” he places a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I’m not sure you’re going to make it out of this alive.”

“It’s a cold, man.”

“I know!” Richie cries, like a proud parent. “The first cold of your life! You’re finally growing up.” Eddie kicks him halfheartedly, to which Richie pleads in his Southern Belle voice “Please forgive me, Eddie, light of my life, oh please, I’ll die if you’re mad at me, just die!” He collapses  in a fit of giggles.

Eddie stares at him, dumbfounded. “You know I broke my arm when I was thirteen, right? You were there?”

“Oh, was that when the demon clown attacked us?” Richie’s eyebrows knit together, and Eddie resists both the urge to roll his eyes and the urge to grin like an idiot. “Huh, I must have forgotten.”

Eddie laughs a little. “Okay, my medication. Let’s see if you know what to do.”

“Oh, I don’t think I could go two years living with you without all of that rubbing off on me,” Richie says sweetly.

“I’m nothing if not influential.”

“No, I was thinking more like a pubic rash. I mean, we’ve done plenty of rubbing—”

“Holy fucking shit, beep beep, Trashmouth.”

“Alright, I’m just saying—”

“I wasn’t kidding when I said your voice was giving me a headache, and I’m much too poor and sickly to get a pill myself, so come on, pass them over.”

Richie shuffles through the pile clumsily, making Eddie cringe. “A ha!” he cries, pulling out a little bottle. Eddie notes the color of the cap, the shape of the letters familiar in his head. Richie picks up the glass of water he’d brought with the toiletry bag and holds it out to Eddie along with the pill. “Come on, eat up. As much as I’d love to do the whole here comes the airplane spiel, you seem to think you still have a dignity to be hurt, and I’d never deprive you of that fantasy—”

“That’s aspirin, you dumbass,” Eddie says, putting a hand in front of his mouth to stop Richie doing just that. “You’re not supposed to take it with a cold.”

“But it’s aspirin. It’s for headaches, that’s how aspirin works. You take it, your headache goes away. Right?”

“Yeah, but it’s not good for colds. Something to do with, like, your sinuses, or something. Give me the panadol, that’ll help.”

“Why are we here? To suffer? When did they make medicine complicated?”

“Why isn’t Ben in here? Ben would shut up when I tell him to.”

“Aw, you would never tell me to shut up, Eddie baby.”

“Shut up. Just, shut up. There.”

Richie pouts. “For that, I’m doing the airplane schtick.”

“Oh, my god,” Eddie groans.

“Open up!” Richie sings, pinching the pill between his thumb and index finger. “Come on, open the airport, here we come! Vrrrrrrrrrrr…”

“I will not, give me that—”

“ Vrrrr... c’mon,, or the little passengers won’t be able to get off in your little mouth!”

“Richie, what the fuck, only you could make this game disgusting.”

“Aw, you love it, Eds,” Richie says, and he pounces on Eddie, tickling his sides. Eddie bursts out laughing, kicking at him, and suddenly they’re kids again, wrestling in a hammock, taking any excuse to touch each other.

Eddie coughs, and the moment stops, his head throbbing from the movement. “Fuck,” he breathes, coughing again, voice raspy. Richie’s up in a second, grabbing the glass of water and placing it in Eddie’s hands.

“Here. Breathe slow, hyperventilating will make it worse, I think.”

“I know how a fucking cold works, Rich—” he says, but another cough rises up.

Richie holds his hand until the coughing fit passes, and then Eddie lies back.

“God, I hate this,” Eddie mumbles, careful not to raise his voice for fear that another coughing fit starts. “I can’t believe I’m stuck in here.”

“Hey, it’ll be great,” Richie says softly, laying next to Eddie and laying his head on his shoulder. “Who wants to be out there skiing when you could be lying bedridden and, fuck, and, uh, bedraggled, with me?”

“I think you think I like you more than I actually do.”

“Aw, I know you love me,” Richie says, and Eddie doesn’t have to look to tell that he’s grinning.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that, man.”

“Oh, I will,” Richie says, and leans over, pressing his lips to Eddie’s.

“I’m sick, dimwit. Deathly.”

“You know I’d risk death for you, Eddie Spaghetti.” Eddie rolls his eyes, but he’s grinning, too, and he leans in and kisses Richie again.

“Fine, I guess I love you,” Eddie concedes.

Richie raises his eyebrows. “That’s two Kaspbraks I’ve heard that from, now.”

“How are you an adult?”

“Get it? Because your mom—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie says, cutting him off. And Richie beams, all scruffy elbows and messy edges and Eddie can’t believe that there could ever be a universe where they hadn’t found each other.

A/N: there's a decent chance that the whole aspirin bit is bullshit,,, i did about five minutes of research on this and some websites said do NOT take aspirin and some said nothing so imma just put it in oops

[carmenlire]

Meet Me in the Stacks Ch. 3

read from beginning

read on ao3

As soon as Yoongi hears the overhead announcement that the library is officially closed, he’s shutting down his computer at the reference desk and heading towards the back to grab his things. It’s one of the last Sundays of the season that they’re open and he’s eager to enjoy the end of his weekend before coming back to work for another six straight days.

He passes by Taehyung who’d been assigned to the computer area for today’s shift and winces a little as he sees his coworker helping three different people print while trying to hurry them along as quickly and subtly as possible.

When Yoongi gets to their workroom, Jin and Jimin are already packed up and ready to head out.

“Is Namjoon at the restaurant already?”

Jimin laughs as he types something on his phone. “Of course. He rode his bike there and already put in his name for a table. We should be seated as soon as we get there. Hobi-hyung just drove straight to the restaurant on his way back into town so he'll be there, too.”

Groaning, Yoongi makes sure he has his wallet and keys before shuffling over to the door. “Thank God. I’m hungry and need to vent.”

“Ah, Yoongi-chi, what pissed you off today?”

Grumbling as he opens the door and still sees Taehyung helping the last patron, Yoongi just mutters, “I’ll tell everyone later.”

Jin and Jimin hum in understanding, knowing that they never talk shit about patrons when they’re at work and can be overheard.

The three of them leave through the staff entrance at the back, Jimin making eye contact with Tae to make sure he knows where they’ll be waiting, and Yoongi squints at the bright early evening sunshine.

It’s a little past five o’clock but it’s still warm. Yoongi feels a little like a bat or a particularly grubby mole as his eyes literally burn at the brightness.

Jimin sees his suffering and has the audacity to laugh. “Hyung, you should get out more, enjoy the fresh air. You look like a baby vampire.”

Yoongi snorts. “Fuck off, Jimin,” he retorts absently.

Thankfully, it’s not too much more before Taehyung comes tumbling out of the staff entrance.

“Oh my God,” he whispers, looking like he’d just stared death in the face. “I didn’t think I’d ever make it out of there.”

Everyone laughs in commiseration at their friend’s dramatics. “We were losing hope too,” Jin snickers before patting him on the shoulder. “But you’re free now and Yoongi’s about to start eating his foot so let's get to the restaurant.”

They decide to walk since it’s such a nice day and not for the first time, Yoongi begrudgingly admits that he really does love living in a small town where everything is within walking distance. The library is just a few blocks from Main Street, closer to the school, and Main Street is chock full of small businesses-- everything from a coffee shop to the soap store that he spends way too much at every time he visits to a world-famous toy store that makes their little corner of the world especially hectic during the Holidays.

There are a dozen restaurants, each with their own specialty, and Yoongi is glad that Namjoon had chosen the barbeque place for his week’s pick. The six of them go out every Sunday evening for what they’ve taken to calling family dinners and while he’ll never admit it aloud, Yoongi loves this little tradition of theirs.

It’s a pleasant walk, less than fifteen minutes, and Namjoon’s bike is clearly visible near the front. When everyone walks in, they see Hoseok and Namjoon at their favorite table in the corner. A messy few minutes later as everyone settles, and Yoongi breathes a sigh of relief at sitting down and being off the clock and away from hell, at least for the next fifteen hours.

“So,” Taehyung starts, skimming over a menu he could probably recite at this point. “How was your weekend, Hoseok-hyung?”

Hoseok grins, taking a sip of his coke that he must’ve ordered before everyone else arrived. “It was wonderful, Tae-ah. I’m glad I put in for this weekend off. Going back home was fun, especially since the weather was so nice, and my mom sent me back with enough food to feed an army.”

“Well, we know where to stop by for dinner this week, don’t we,��� Jimin asks and Hoseok groans good-naturedly.

“I’m glad you had a good time, even if you left the rest of us to suffer in your stead,” Taehyung says solemnly and Namjoon snorts.

“What happened this afternoon, Tae? I know Yoongi texted me last night about how awful things were at closing yesterday but you look, no offense, a little wrung out.”

Yoongi interjects before Taehyung can reply. “You act like you don’t remember how Saturdays used to be. If we’re not dead then it’s Bedlam. Just because you’re management now doesn’t mean you should be so impervious to the plights of your staff. After all, if it weren’t for us common librarians--”

Everyone, including Namjoon, groans at the familiar spiel. “Stop bullshitting, hyung. Did I not cover the desk all week with you last month when Jin took off and we were short staffed in the evenings? And did I not have to calm down Cerano when he almost went nuclear at the prospect of, God forbid, having to pay for his 132 single-sided color prints?”

Grumbling, Yoongi just rolls his eyes. “At least you didn’t get hit on by a woman looking old enough to be your grandmother yesterday. And I couldn’t very well offend her delicate sensibilities and tell her I was gay as fuck, so I just had to smile as she had the audacity to pinch my cheeks and call me a goddamn dumpling. When I tell you that I’m entitled to financial compensation--”

“The union pays a fair wage, you know,” Jimin breaks in mildly and Yoongi just glares at the flagrant disrespect.

Before things can get any more out of hand, though, Namjoon calms everyone down. “Well, it’s good to know that the building’s still standing and that my department is making me proud even when I’m not there.”

Everyone scoffs and as the topic turns to talking about potential plans for the group to go on a weekend trip together over the summer, Yoongi reflects that he’s really quite glad he took this job in a small town a few years ago.

Yoongi hadn’t always known what he wanted to do. He’d majored in history in college-- minoring in a few other areas that caught his interest-- but knew he didn’t have the patience to pursue his Ph.D. and become a professor. He’d always had fond memories of his own library back home, though, of reading any book he could get his hands on, of his mom taking him every week when he was still young enough to participate in children’s programs.

As graduation had started looming, Yoongi had applied for an internship at a research library and had fallen in love. He loved learning and helping others find what they wanted made him feel good, like he was making a difference, even if it was such a small one. As soon as his last semester had began and his internship had wrapped up for the summer, he’d started applying for Masters programs in Library Science and had learned very quickly that there is a lot that goes into making libraries run smoothly and stay relevant to the masses.

He’d been roommates with Seokjin and Namjoon during college and while he’d wandered from library to library for a few years, trying different types of institutions to see what fit and what didn't, his old roommates had started as entry level librarians in a small town a couple of hours away from university.

The three of them had stayed in touch and Yoongi had treated them to a celebratory dinner whenever Namjoon was promoted to first assistant manager and then manager of the adult services department. Seokjin, for his part, was content enough in his role, tending to his collections and away from the pressure of dealing with the director directly and having to make all those big grand strategic plans for their department and library at large.

Namjoon thrived in his new role and when he’d reached out to Yoongi, let him know that someone was retiring and they’d have a spot open, Yoongi hadn’t hesitated to apply.

His best friend hadn’t been part of the interview committee and all around, that made things easier. He’d been offered the job the next day, started within a month, and had quickly found himself surrounded by idiots.

He loved it.

Yoongi’s been at the library for a few years now and while the whole department is full of dumbasses, they have the highest circulation of any neighboring library and Namjoon keeps them all in line with firm but fluid leadership.

Moving to a new town is always nerve wracking but Yoongi likes to think that he’s settled into things. He had Namjoon and Seokjin but his other coworkers in the department became fast friends, welcoming him with open arms. Of course, he’d heard stories about Hobi and Jimin and Taehyung-- but they had heard stories too and they had seemed to be friends almost before he even started his new position.

All in all, things were good. Yoongi didn’t absolutely hate his job, he had good friends, and he lived in a quiet neighbourhood with a bustling town life that he rarely participated in but knew he could if he did.

Yoongi’s thoughts break off as he hears Jimin’s peel of laughter. Tuning back into the conversation, he hears Hoseok exclaim, “You should see the way Yoongi turns red whenever he comes up to the desk. I thought his ears were gonna catch fire the last time he helped him.”

Glaring, Yoongi demands, “What the hell are you cretins talking about now?”

It’s Namjoon who laughs. “Everyone was filling me in on your admirer. I can’t believe you’ve had to tell him where the computers are six times and you haven’t lost your patience yet. It must be love,” he teases with a grin and Yoongi plots murder.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Joon-ah,” he says stiffly and resolutely ignores the fact that it’s getting a little warm in the restaurant.

Thankfully, everyone simmers down as the waitress comes by with drinks-- Hoseok and Namjoon ordered for everyone while they were waiting-- and it’s time to order food.

That only eats up so much time though and soon enough, Yoongi’s back in the hot seat and cursing his existence for moving here and landing himself with a bunch of idiots.

“So hyung,” Taehyung starts with a wide smile. “Have you gotten Jungkook’s number yet?”

Yoongi just narrows his eyes. “How do you know his name?”

Taehyung waves the question away. “Oh, we’re getting to be friends,” he answers airily.

Jimin giggles and it’s a little concerning how devious it sounds. “Sometimes he comes in and you’re not there so we got to talking one day when Taehyungie and I were at the desk together. He really is cute, isn’t he?”

Feeling like he’s chewing glass, Yoongi grits out, “I guess if you’re into that kind of thing.”

“And are you into that,” Hoseok asks with an infuriating smirk. “You know, tall and toned and with those tattoos--”

“The way his hair falls into his eyes,” Jin adds dreamily. “The way he dresses like he wants to tell you to fuck off but then he speaks and he’s the cutest, most polite thing you ever saw--”

Yoongi tries to keep from smiling but sees from the way Namjoon’s eyes sharpen as he watches him and knows he’s not being as subtle as he’d like. Knowing that he has to say something, all Yoongi can manage is, “So maybe I think he’s attractive. That doesn’t mean anything’s going to happen.”

“And why not,” Jimin asks, genuinely curious. “You like him, he likes you--”

“How on earth can you know that,” Yoongi cuts in flatly. “He’s never done anything to show he’s interested in me as more than the librarian who knows where the copier is.”

He’s stunned when the entire table groans in unison.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Hoseok asks, looking a little put-out. “As if Jungkook doesn’t make a beeline towards you whenever he comes to the library.”

“Like he doesn’t know exactly where everything is by now and like he isn’t a reasonably well-adjusted adult who could figure things out by himself but still asks you for help just so he can bask in your grumpy little gremlin presence for a few minutes--”

“Wait what,” Yoongi breaks in, shocked. “What do you mean he knows where everything is? Every time he comes in, he needs directions.”

“Yeah, from you,” Seokjin says pointedly.

“If he doesn’t see you at the reference desk, he doesn’t even look at us,” Taehyung adds. “At least before I introduced myself and pulled him into a conversation. The most we ever got from him was a wave and a little smile.”

From his periphery, Yoongi sees Namjoon open his mouth and he closes his eyes in defeat, knows that his friend is about to put the final nail in the coffin that has been Yoongi’s frankly impressive ability to downplay his feelings and any hope that they might be reciprocated.

He’s right.

Namjoon looks sheepish as he adds his two cents. “If this is who I think we’re talking about, I’ve seen him around.”

Looking intrigued, Hoseok prompts, “Do tell.”

With a wary glance in Yoongi’s direction, like Namjoon is afraid he’ll just lunge across the table to shut him up, Namjoon explains, “I was walking back from a managers meeting and saw someone in the New Nonfiction section? He was a little distracted looking at the cover of a book and someone bumped into him. He was admittedly pretty hot so I wasn’t running back to my office like I usually am--”

Jin snorts but Namjoon merely plods on, neck a little warm, “Anyway, I heard the patron who bumped into him ask if he knew where the scanner was and Jungkook told them. I was ready to step in but he had it handled. A few minutes later after I talked to Jimin-ah at the computer desk, I looked up and he was actually helping the old woman scan her papers.”

Nodding along like it confirms everything they’ve been saying, Hoseok looks smug. “He’s not only a gentlemen but he knows how to use technology.”

Jin stabs into his starter salad that's just been placed in front of him before pointing his fork with a cherry tomato hanging off the end at Yoongi. “Snap him up before someone else does, Yoongi-chi.”

Taeyhung laughs. “Yeah, you know Jimin and I are always looking--”

“Shut up,” Yoongi pleads quietly as he brings a hand up to his temple. “What the fuck,” he mutters to himself, wondering what Jungkook’s aim is here.

“Isn’t it obvious, hyung,” Namjoon asks, making Yoongi realize he must’ve spoken aloud. “He’s trying to woo you.”

With an unattractive snort, Jin tacks on, “I know it might be hard to believe, but some people think you’re cute.”

Yoongi blinks but Jin doesn’t let him say anything before his tone turns philosophically wry and he’s continuing, “Some people really like the grump look. Admittedly, I didn’t think odds were on that you’d find someone at work when all you do is glare at your computer screen mutinously and whisper under your breath about running away to a fishing village in Florida but here we are and Jungkook seems like a nice enough guy, albeit one who makes me worry about his taste in men, if he likes them so prickly--”

“Oh but hyung,” Taehyung breaks in mischievously, “Have you really seen Yoongi with Jungkook? He turns into a little kitten, I swear--”

“Yah, I’m still your hyung, you brat,” Yoongi interrupts darkly. “Would it kill you to show a little respect?”

“But he’s right, Yoongi.” Jimin would almost look apologetic if it wasn’t for the devilish gleam in his eye. “I’ve seen you stutter when Jungkook asks you a question and as soon as you see him, your whole face lights up. Granted, I don’t think most people would be able to notice but your dourness is only, like at a one out of ten instead of off the charts. He even makes you smile when he’s being adorably awkward, too.”

“Too,” Yoongi repeats, squinting a little.

Taehyung nods solemnly. “You’re a mess around him, Yoongi-hyung.”

“A match made in heaven then,” Hoseok crows and the rest of the table laughs.

Yoongi’s just trying to stop his thoughts from spinning out of control at the fount of information that just dumped all over him. Deciding he needs a quick break to get himself under control, he moves his chair back, merely offering, "I need to go to the restroom," when Jimin looks at him in question.

The group waves him on, having a merry time, and Yoongi rolls his eyes even as he huffs out a fond laugh at their antics, even if they're at his expense.

They come to this restaurant at least once a month-- they all love barbecue a little too much-- and Yoongi's sliding around tables and heading towards the restrooms near the front of the building. He spends a few minutes at the sink, and when he looks at himself in the mirror, he winces seeing that his face definitely didn't hide his reactions to all the ribbing about Jungkook.

He collects himself and feels better as he washes his hands and goes to head back to the table. Swinging open the door, he's passing the hostess stand when he hears someone call out his name. "Yoongi?"

Looking over, Yoongi freezes when he meets Jungkook's eyes. Out of everyone in town, Yoongi despairs, he just just had to run into his crush when he'd just gotten himself back under control. He only hopes that none of his friends are looking over or he'll never hear the end of it.

"Hi, Jungkook," He greets warmly. Not seeing anyone obviously with him, Yoongi asks, "Are you eating alone?"

He's all set to ask Jungkook if he'd like to join him and his friends-- and he knows, he knows, that his friends will have way too much to say if he brings him back to his table but there's a little voice in his head that points out that Jungkook seems pretty new in town and if he's eating out at a restaurant alone, he might like some company and apparently, Jungkook is already friends or at least friendly with the devil twins and it might not even be so bad to eat with Jungkook, to see how he acts with the most important people in Yoongi's life, that he'd love to spend more time with him outside of the library-- but all of his rambling internal wishes are for naught when Jungkook just smiles sheepishly and nods towards where the hostess is walking towards them with a bag.

"I'm just picking up takeout, don't worry."

Yoongi nods, thinking of what he can say to add to the conversation before the silence grows too long and awkward between them. "This is one of the best restaurants in town. Even their takeout is amazing."

Jungkook grins and reaches out for the bag the hostess holds, murmuring his thanks before he turns fully to Yoongi. "I might have a serious weakness for their lamb skewers. I come here like, twice a week at least," he admits with a little laugh and Yoongi doesn't know why, but he's endeared.

"That's what I usually get," Yoongi says and watches Jungkook's eyes light up.

"Really, Yoongi-ssi?" Yoongi nods, feels his face get warmer which is infuriating since he had just cooled down but Jungkook suddenly looks a little nervous as he bites his lip. Finally, looking at Yoongi a little shyly, Jungkook says, "Maybe one of these days we could get lamb skewers together?"

Before Yoongi even has a chance to respond, Jungkook's eyes are widening and he's almost backtracking. "I know that we don't really talk outside of the library and that even when we do, you're always helping me but I thought it might be nice to talk-- outside of your work, sometime. If you wanted to, of course! I don't mean to put you on the spot and I know it must be awkward to have to tell someone who sees you at your work no but please feel free to if you don't want to--"

"Jungkook-ah," Yoongi finally breaks in just for Jungkook to obviously cut himself off and take a deep breath. "I'd like that."

"Yeah," Jungkook asks, hopeful, eyes wide and the hint of a smile curling on his mouth.

Yoongi had mostly talked before he'd let himself think but it's not like this isn't what his friends were just hinting at. He's still loathe to get his hopes up but if this is Jungkook making a move or trying to be friends, then Yoongi definitely doesn't want to discourage that. And while he knows he's a flustered mess, he'd really like to hang out with Jungkook more, especially outside of work. "Yeah," he confirms with a smile of his own, tentative and small, just to watch Jungkook grin.

It's almost blinding. Yoongi loves it.

"Great," Jungkook says. "We'll definitely do that then."

Yoongi can't think of anything to say besides repeating Jungkook again. "Great," he says, abashed and drops his eyes to stare at Jungkook's combat boots.

Looking down, he doesn't see the way Jungkook's gaze softens, turns into something gentler and unforgivably enamored.

It's silent between them for a moment and Yoongi's used up all of his brainpower to get this far so it's a little startling when Jungkook suddenly shifts and lifts his bag a little, apologetic. "It was really great running into you, Yoongi-ssi but I should probably get going before my food gets cold. I'll see you soon?"

Nodding along to whatever Jungkook was saying, Yoongi blinks a little before offering, "Hyung."

Jungkook tilts his head a little, confused, and Yoongi takes a breath. "You can call me hyung. If you want."

This time it's Jungkook's turn to look away, flustered and happy, but he's meeting Yoongi's eyes again a split second later. "Okay, then. Hyung. I'll see you later?"

"Okay, Jungkook-ah. I'll see you later. It was nice running into you like this."

Jungkook waves with his free hand, smile bright as he steps toward the door. "Bye, hyung!"

Yoongi watches him stride past the big window and sighs a little to himself. He doesn't really know what the last five minutes were but he's happy and a little nervous but definitely feeling good.

Knowing that his friends will probably start looking for him soon, he take a deep breath, wills the blush he just knows is high on his cheeks to fade, and walks back to their table.

Everyone smiles at his return and he takes his seat quietly, listening to Hoseok update everyone on how his parents are and what he did this weekend back in his hometown. He's not really paying attention to the conversation though, too wrapped up in what just happened with Jungkook and if it means what he really wants it to mean and how it might connect to what his friends had been telling him before he'd left the table.

There's a pause in the conversation as the waitress brings their meals out and Yoongi debates with himself on bringing Jungkook back up but he wants to be sure, can’t quite stop the hope from sparking but before it starts raging out of control. He just needs one last bit of reassurance.

Taking a deep breath, his quiet voice breaks through the pandemonium that’s his friends making fun of him.

“So he really doesn’t need help,” he asks, out of nowhere, trying to pretend the answer isn’t important to him, like he’s not hinging on his friends’ next words. “He only singles me out?”

Jin’s eyes soften as he looks at him and Yoongi feels both put on the spot but comforted as one of his oldest friends just nods softly. “I’m telling you, Yoongi-yah, Jungkook is at least interested in you.”

“Definitely,” Jimin confirms nodding earnestly. “Did you know that he’s had his office printer set-up for weeks now but still comes to the library to work sometimes? But hyung, if he doesn’t see you then he just wanders in the books for a little while before grabbing one and checking out. He really is just coming to the library for you.”

“Maybe you should give him a chance, hyung,” Taehyung encourages and Yoongi smiles despite himself.

His friends really do mean well even if they’re a pain in his ass most of the time.

“I don’t know,” he says, unsure and not bothering to hide it. “What if I do something, or let myself think something means something, and it turns out he’s just a nice guy who’s polite and I read way too much into things?”

It looks like Hoseok is praying for patience but his voice is soft and nothing but supportive and understanding as he replies, “Then you still put yourself out there and that’s something to be proud of. Plus, you’re both so awkward and nice that it wouldn’t ruin anything. You could at least be friends.”

“As your manager,” Namjoon breaks in and Yoongi stiffens a little wondering if this is going to be one of the times when his friend has to be the bad guy. “I don’t see anything wrong with talking to him outside of the library or even asking him on a date. You’re never presumptuous or pushy, hyung. If he even hinted that he wasn’t into you like that, you’d back up and remain professional. I don’t see any issue with you crushing on a patron.”

The rest of the table cheers now that they have their boss’ approval and Yoongi pretends like he doesn’t feel the same relief.

“Whatever,” he finally says when the expectant looks of his friends starts to be a bit much and he feels like he has to speak. “We’ll see what happens but I’m not in any rush to make a fool of myself.”

“Ah hyung,” Jimin says, wrapping an arm around Yoongi’s shoulders, “You’ll be fine. It’s not like Jungkook doesn’t look ready to bookmark your ass as soon as you give the okay.”

Yoongi chokes, reaching for his water, and all of his friends laugh at his flustered face, rapidly turning red. He hates them, he really does.

But then Seokjin pats his shoulder and deftly turns the topic back to work and how he’d almost gotten into a fight with a group of teenagers who’d called him an ancient hag when he’d merely told them to lower their voices a little, and Namjoon looks like he’s seeing his department demerits flash in front of his eyes and everyone’s laughing as the heat is taken off of Yoongi and he decides that this isn’t so bad, after all.

He doesn’t know if anything will come from his conversation with Jungkook tonight, so he decides not to say anything, doesn’t want to give anyone any more fodder against him-- really doesn’t want his friends to get so excited that it makes him hope, too. He’ll see what happens and maybe he won’t try so hard to hide his feelings.

Ignoring a voice that sounds suspiciously like Jimin telling him that he’s already shit at hiding his feelings, Yoongi forgets about crushes and guys who can be both hot and adorable at the same time and enjoys the rest of his family dinner with his friends, thinking about how his life is made up of small moments like these that all string together to make a pretty good existence, all in all.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Ninety-Eight: Cooking ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

Staring at his schedule, Sasuke feels an eye twitch.

He can’t believe it’s come to this…

It’s his senior year. One year from now, he’ll be heading off to university. He’s eighteen years old, a legal adult, and...for the next semester, every day, for his last period...he’s going to be in a Home Economics class.

He can already tell this is going to be hell. He has no interest in anything home ec. Cooking, sewing, family studies. This is useless to him!

But unfortunately...this is his only real option. All the other classes in that slot were either something he’d already taken, or something even more ridiculous. Making clothes and baking stuff might be bad, but he’d never be caught dead in the drama department. He is not an actor.

So, he chose the least of many evils. Not that it felt like much of a choice…

“Heyyy, Sasuke!”

Great. His day just went from bad to worse.

Latching onto his friend’s shoulders, Naruto tries to peek at his schedule. “Hey, hey! Do we have any shared classes?”

“I doubt it. Most of mine are honors. And you, Naruto, are not an honors student.”

The blond immediately pouts. “Hey, no need to be rude about it! And you said most, not all! What ones do you have that aren’t? Here, I’ll pull out my -”

“Trust me, they still won’t line up.”

“C’mon, just tell me! What other ones are you taking?”

“Nothing you’d be putting yourself through.”

“...what’s that supposed to mean?” In a deft move, Naruto manages to snatch the paper, ignoring Sasuke’s protests. “Yeah, yeah, yeah...ohhh, wait!” Turning around, a giddy smile slowly grows over his face. “What’s this I see in your last hour block…?”

“Look, I didn’t have any choice! You really think I’d willing subject myself to that?!”

“Aww, Sasuke’s gonna learn to be a housewife!” Naruto cackles, letting Sasuke snatch back the schedule. “That’s adorable!”

“One more word Naruto, and I’m gonna sock you in the gut.”

“M’just teasing ya, bastard! You know, I’ve heard that chicks really dig guys who have those house-making skills! Cooking, cleaning, the whole nine yards!”

“Because that’s totally why I’m taking it. Besides, if that’s true, then why don’t you take the class?”

“I can’t, I’ve got something required that hour.”

“Of course you do.”

“No, really!”

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I’ll just...take it, and get it over with.”

“Twenty bucks says you’re swimming in freshmen girls when you get there! They’ll be so jazzed to see a big, handsome senior guy taking the class with ‘em -”

“I’m warning you, Naruto…!”

Snickering, he gives the Uchiha’s shoulder a shove. “M’just messin’ with ya! Have fun with your housewife class!”

Glowering, Sasuke adjusts his backpack before striding after him. Oh, he’s going to pay for that.

But first...they have a school day to get through. Which normally would crawl by. But just because he’s dreading the last class, the rest all seem to fly until he’s standing outside the proper classroom

You can do this, Sasuke, just...bite the bullet and get it over with.

With a twist and a tug of the doorknob, he pulls it open.

It’s...actually far from what he expected. Along one wall is a long countertop speckled with sinks. Perpendicular to that, another strip of it, along with a fridge, and several ovens with stovetops. But most of the classroom is just...a classroom. Desks, and a few tables along one side. A couple of cabinets obviously hold supplies, and there’s bookcases stuffed with tomes on various subjects.

Also within the room is a small group of girls.

Not a single boy but himself.

How old-fashioned, he can’t help but think.

They seem to vary in age: a few of each year. But the only senior he recognizes is a girl he vaguely knows. She’s friends with Sakura, who never leaves him alone. And if he remembers right, this one happens to be smitten with his friend Naruto. Who, in turn, likes Sakura.

It’s all so stupidly convoluted.

At the head of the classroom is an old woman who looks like she was already teaching the class back when it was invented. As the bell rings, she instructs them all to sit down, giving a spiel about the class and what they’ll be covering.

“Today, we’ll have a little bit of a free day! Over on the second shelf are your books, and the top shelf is our basic cookbook. You can either give cooking something a shot, or try a basic sewing pattern.”

Immediately, Sasuke takes up the cookbook. Skimming through it, he tries to find something simple.

“Chefs, do try to pair up so we have enough supplies and ovens! And remember: wash your hands!”

Sighing to himself, Sasuke actually jumps a bit as someone comes up beside him. “Need a partner?”

A glance shows Hinata. She’s already tied her hair up in a bun, donning an apron.

“Oh...er, yeah. I guess so.”

“Anything in particular you wanted to try?”

“Not really...to be honest, I’m only here because I have to be.”

To his surprise, she just smiles at him. “That’s okay. It’s n-never a bad thing to pick up some new skills, right?”

“...right.”

“I’ll stick with you - I think the other girls are a little intimidated, anyway.”

Hearing Hinata giggle into her sleeve, Sasuke glances over to the others. As she predicts, they all give him a wary glance in return.

“What, do they think I’m here to prey on them?”

“I don’t know, but just...stick to your task. You’ll be fine.”

Grumbling a bit to himself, he looks his options over. “How about this?”

Peering over into the book, Hinata nods. “Sure! Nothing beats a classic brownie, ne?”

“I dunno, never been much into sweets.”

There’s a pause as she looks at him as though he’s grown a second head. “...really?”

“Nah. That’s more my brother’s thing.”

“Oh...well, I guess we can just share them with the rest of the class. Here, start gathering these ingredients...”

With Hinata’s guidance, they soon have all they need. She walks him through each step, actually quite encouraging and pretty knowledgeable.

“How come you’re taking this class? Seem you know all this already.”

“In all honesty, I’m like you: just here to be here. But I really do like stuff like this. I love to bake, and knit. They’re favorite hobbies of mine.”

Mixing batter, Sasuke doesn’t reply.

“Okay, so now just pour it into the pan, and we’ll put it in to b-bake!”

Being careful not to spill or dribble along the side of the pan, Sasuke does as asked before gingerly putting it into the heated oven. “So...half an hour?”

Setting the timer, Hinata nods. “Mhm! Just about when class ends.”

“...is that bad?”

“No, I can stay after and make sure things are cleaned up and put away.”

Sasuke’s brow furrows. “...so can I.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” It was his idea, after all. He’s not about to skimp on his part of the work.

“Okay! Well...I guess in the meantime, we might as well s-start now, right?”

“Sure.”

They quickly tidy up the dishes, wiping down the counter and then just...sitting and waiting for the buzzer.

“Next time we’ll have to find something to make you’ll enjoy too! I still can’t believe you don’t like sweets.”

“They’re okay. I just don’t really seem them out. I’d rather have something salty or savory.”

Hinata hums. “I have a major sweet tooth…”

“Well, you can take them home, then.”

“Oh no, I’ll be tempted to eat them all!”

That earns a snort. “All right, fine: I’ll take some for my brother.” Itachi tends to visit a few nights a week from university. He’ll surely appreciate them.

A few minutes later, the timer goes off, and Sasuke carefully removes the pan. Only a few seconds after that, the bell sounds, and the rest of the class flees for the day.

“Here, let’s put them on a rack - you never want to c-cut them when they’re warm! They’ll just fall apart.”

They do a bit more tidying as the brownies cool before Hinata takes some cardboard storage boxes out of a cupboard and divvies them up. “Okay...I’ll take a few. You can give the rest to your family, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Want to try one before we head out?”

“Uh…” Eyeing the box suspiciously, Sasuke takes out a smaller piece, hesitating a moment before taking a bite.

Huh...not bad.

“It’s good.”

“Good! And things are even better when you get to be proud you made them yourself!” Hinata beams, nibbling one of her own.

Sasuke can’t help a small smile. She reminds him of his mom in some ways.

“...oh gosh, I gotta get going to volleyball practice! I’ll have to just keep these in my locker - see you tomorrow, Sasuke!” Just like that, Hinata scoops up her things and zooms from the room.

...well then.

Blinking, he takes up his own box, having no sports or clubs to worry about, and instead heads out to his car. Maybe if he hurries, they’ll still be warm when he gets home. He can already hear his mother’s gushing about him finally making something on his own. Well...he did have help. But not Mikoto’s.

...maybe they can make something else tomorrow.

     Not much to this one! Just a lil bit of modern slice of life with poor Sasuke getting shoved into a home ec class. Which honestly I think is good for him x3 And gives him some time with Hinata - even better!      On that note though, I gotta run - it's late and my eyeballs aren't happy, haha! Thanks for reading!

[crowsent]

Aspect Of Winter

Let me preface this by saying that I will be biased. Any and all words coming from my mouth, typed onto this screen with my ratchet fingers, will be heavily inclined to sing good praises of this book. For two main reasons. One: it’s a gift from a darling friend of mine. Two: it’s fucking gay and my queer ass rejoices.

But that aside, READ THIS BOOK. READ IT. MAKE YOUR LIFE RICHER AND READ THE BOOK.

It is so damn good. But! Before I bust out the magnifying glass of unnecessarily big words I definitely googled to sound as extra as I physically possibly can, here’s a brief synopsis of the book.

It follows the main character, Feayr, a high-school senior who, for the sake of literally everyone, goes by Fay. For some reason, he has magical powers that enable him to essentially wield winter like his own personal mallet where everything in the world can be a nail. He’s also hella fucking gay.

Because of his powers, Fay doesn’t really feel like he fits in with normal people. Cue Janus University. It’s a magical school for people with magical potential and is essentially Fay’s ticket to having a life and a place for himself surrounded by other people like him. So he leaps on that train of opportunity with all the grace of a dying elephant and kicks off the story.

There’s magic that’s done in a very unique way, unlike Harry Potter, or Carry On, or some of the other books with magic that I’ve read. Very fresh and new. Lots of mythological creatures as well from all over the world, not just ones with Hellenic or Gaelic origins. There’s a fuckton of shit to read and enjoy and consume like the word devourer I am.

Read the book. Please read it. It is so good. I wanted to cry a few times. Read it.

Now. Onto the magnifying glass! Beware spoilers!

First thing about the book is the syntax. Easy to read, easy to understand, no less compelling. It also helps that Tom Early, the author, has such a great sense of humour. I had to put the book down to keep myself from laughing because holy shit. There are some great moments in this book. So much so that writing down all my favourite quotes would take more than one post.

It helps that Fay is hilarious in his own right. My queer ass just understands him so much. I relate to this man on so many levels and if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in the room and then myself. He’s so awkward and adorable!!!!! But. Honestly. I kind of feel bad for him.

One. His school has dick bitch homophobes who constantly tell him that he’s not worthy of anything. And, honestly, that hit hard. I’m fortunate enough that I wasn’t harassed like that in my earlier days. I’m a little more hardened now, and more than willing to throw hands, but if I heard that when I was younger, I would break.

It’s so sad seeing Fay struggle with his sexuality and try to carve a place for himself in a world that obviously fights back against him. Personally, I think that him wanting to go to Janus is a parallel to him wanting to be accepted as he is. A way to find someplace to belong, with people like him, so he would feel more normal and less weird. But that might be a stretch.

And while Fay has this awkward, shy side to him, he also has something much darker. Infinitely darker. Like. A piece of his soul dark. Kind of suspected it in the scene with the dullahan where the thing tries to take his soul but gets turned into an ice statue and shattered into a million bits instead.

That interaction paved the road for all the future dark things that Fay has the potential to do. And the things he DOES do, later on near the end of the book. It ties in nicely, subtle enough that the scene with Aria fucking floored me, mouth reaching for the floor, eyes wide like dinner plates. But it wasn’t out of the blue. There were enough hints that got my head gears whirring like the cogs of a dying clock. There were pieces for me to put together and holy shit did I fit them together. There’s so much that I sat there for a good few moments muttering “what the fuck” while I pictured Fay ripping off Aria’s wings.

It is such an intense moment in the book.

But the thing I love most about Fay is that he acknowledges his shortcomings. He KNOWS that he lets other people fight his battles for him. He knows that he doesn’t do a very good job of communicating his feelings to other people (like with Tyler and that whole spiel about him dragging Tyler into the magic world) and here’s the best part.

HE TRIES TO FIX IT. He sees what he lacks, and does his fucking best to fix it.

First encounter with the homophobes and Fay freezes, lets them have their words and their jabs, and walks off meekly with his head down. Some reflection later, and he FREEZES one of the homophobe’s lips together and walks away with his head high. Fucking proud and happy.

And after Tyler pointed out that Fay wasn’t communicating that good, Fay does what any good boyfriend (and person) should do and ACTUALLY COMMUNICATES. I fucking can’t. I am incapable of canning. This boy is so precious.

Of course, an equally precious child is Sam. I lowkey aspire to be her. One, the no-nonsense attitude that she isn’t afraid to show everyone. Two, the fact that literally everyone in school knows she can kick their collective asses and she knows it. Three, she has such a fun personality with her own little quirks that I just die on the inside.

If I met Sam when I was in highschool, I would be fucking gay for her. And in the books, Fay mentions, on multiple occasions, the crowd of men AND women flocking to Sam. Just a nice touch that I adore.

Sam is essentially both brains AND brawn. She’s fierce, she’s smart, she managed to make a simple spell that makes a Minor Orb of energy into a damn fucking shield she’s not afraid to use as a means to bash heads in.

And she’s an artist. Who draws. A lot. And I just. Sam feels so real to me and I am so taken with her character.

Of course, she has her flaws too. One that stood out to me was the fact that she can’t seem to back down from a fight. Sure, sounds like an inconsequential thing, but it was a crisis of character for her when she lost BECAUSE she didn’t back down.

She had an entire thing about her mom not being proud of her because she wasn’t good enough and I just choked.

Of course, there’s Tyler. A jock-type who happens to be bi. Reminded me a lot of Cooper from One Of Us Is Lying. Except. Tyler’s not exactly in the closet. He knows what he is and is proud of that and honestly fucking bet.

He doesn’t take shit from anyone too, and isn’t afraid to hold his ground if he needs to. Like. He stood up to Sam in a parking lot early on in the book. At this point, it has already been established that Sam is hell incarnate and is not afraid to kick someone’s teeth in. Sam can do a no hands running leap over a fence!!!

And Tyler stood his ground and looked her straight in the eye. Mad respect for that scene, honestly. The way it’s written makes it so that Tyler doesn’t back down, but he also doesn’t disrespect Sam.

More mad props to Tyler is that Fay is his first relationship with a guy. And he powers through. Sure, he’s nervous, but he still asked. Honestly, more than I could say for myself. It takes a great deal of courage to ask someone out, even more so if it’s the first date.

Tyler is goals tbh. He willingly follows Fay into battle knowing the risks because he doesn’t want to lose Fay. He struggles with his parents getting a divorce, has a lot of his own personal issues that can and will tie my tongue with how much he just continues moving forward. And just.

This man. This man. I have so much respect and feelings for this man. He’s kind and considerate and I just can’t.

While these three are the main characters, there’s a bunch more that Early gives life to.

Aiden, for instance, only appears for a few scenes but damn is he complex. At first, I was all: hot guy. Accent. Foreign. Hot. Holy shit. Then, after the attack on Fay’s home, I switched to “what the fuck?” “what the fuck????” “bitch what the fuck!??!?!??” And THEN, he became more like a rival than an antagonist and just. I can’t.

Good characters are honestly my driving force for reading literally anything, but the plot and mechanics is strong in the book as well.

As I mentioned earlier, the magic is unique. There’s the words but it’s not actually said in the book what those words are. But it doesn’t even matter because you see the characters and how they respond. How the magic responds to them,

There’s a whole scene where Sam and Fay try out spells, figure out what they do, and what’s compatible with them. Spells have compatibility. I really enjoyed the fact that magic in this universe seems alive, ancient, and more than just a hand wave. It feels like it’s part of the caster.

Sam’s minor orbs, for instance, is different from Fay’s. Fay’s looks like a damn snowball, while Sam’s doesn’t. Same spell, different casters = different lookin spell. Wards too. Sam’s ward is standard. Fay’s turns everything that hits the ward into ice. Again, same spell but because the people casting them is different, it changes. It’s a nice touch and makes the world itself come to life.

Fight scenes aren’t prevalent in the early half of the book, but holy shit does things go from 0 to 100 real quick. Aria’s first fight was brutal and I just practically vibrated with excitement when that happened. Motherfucking art.

The entire book is filled with scenes like that, actually. Made me stop, rethink my life decisions, praise every god that I managed to exists in a universe where Aspect of Winter is a thing. I love it. Can’t wait to read the next book (when I get my hands on it) and can’t wait for the third book to come out.

One scene in particular hit me with a mountain of questions and elicited a chorus of holy shits. Felt like I was about to sing Heathers Fight For Me. Right at the very end. I can quote it because it was seared into my very brain.

Bit of context.

The thing with Fay’s very soul bearing some part of winter? Yeah, that was how he managed to chill everything, and make his own ice sculptures whenever he wants. The thing that killed the dullahan. That thing that is such an integral part of him.

It was sealed.

No more ice magic.

Fay described it as feeling EMPTY.

So, you’d think that after being sealed away, the ice wouldn’t manifest anymore right? Whatever thing is inside Fay would stay there and not be a danger to him or to others anymore, right? Fucking wrong. The very last line of the book read as follows:

“Behind me, the stones on the beach were covered in a thin layer of frost.”

Like. Bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!! Either the seal broke, or it wasn’t strong enough.

(Didas is also a shady bitch and I don’t trust him but I don’t think he’ll endanger the lives of everyone quite so easily.)

Either way, winter is fucking coming and I am fucking terrified.

[boyf--riends]

review of Be More Chill!

i’m about to talk a lot about the show and the cast! if you don’t wanna read but you wanna hear about the talkback, the audio posts have just gone up and for those of you who want the review it’s under the cut!!!

- you can see jeremy violently pull down his pants before More Than Survive starts 

- the bus ride was so cute!! the actors jostled around like they were actually on a bus and it was super fun to watch even though it was literally only 5 seconds long

- the reason why chloe calls jeremy out is because he tried to sneakily snake his arm behind brooke to get to his locker and it looked like a weird pervy move

- rich walks straight into jeremy and we were blessed with “dOn’T TouCH Me TaLL aSs!!1!” and jeremy just stands there as rich violently scribbles on his back pack

- michael entered from the audience and accidentally hit my friend in the face with his backpack strap and did his lil marley jam session and the crowd went fucking nuts

- ”boyf. what does this mean?” jeremy turns around and so does michael so their bags read boyf riends and michael turned to jeremy and made kissy faces/noises the mom behind me violently whispered “what the hell is a boyf” tbh its a mood 

- jake lifts christine up in all her glory to sign up for the play and tbh,, i aspire to be that extra

- I LOVE PLAY REHEARSAL HOLY SHIT

- christine is so excited the whole time and god did her actress fucking kill the part

- when jake talks to christine it was pretty obvious he was nervous but tried to play cool and i really liked that

- two player game started and i shit you not the person in front of me started crying

- jeremy does not like to talk to his dad or about his mom

- “im your favowite pewson” michael nuzzles jeremys shoulder and jeremy shoves him off and he dramatically falls on top of the bean bags

- they had two of the ensemble actors as the payless employees and it was kinda weird but i went with it

- when they said it was top secret stuff michael was behind jeremy taking pictures of the stuff inside the box and it was super funny

-i thought jeremy picked out some kinda unisex blue v-neck ladies shirt not a sparkly pink tube top what the fuck

- “BecauSe SHe chEaTEd on MEeeEEEeeee” he rolled on the ground so fucking dramatically

- Do You Wanna Ride made 89% of the audience so uncomfortable but everyone went wild when brooke went “pi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ink beeeeerrryyyyy”

- jeremy’s voice cracked when he said everything about him made he wanna die and the squip turned the whole thing around but he kept that evil smirk on his face the whole damn time

- jeremy sleep singing Be More Chill while being carried to his bed and getting tucked in was so cute dont make me mention the “sleep tight slugger” bc my heart broke

- chloe totally psychs out christine before Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into and when jeremy enters christine pulls out of that whole funk and it was super freaking cute

- whenever christine does anything jeremy looks so love sick its adorable

- when christine said jake you could see physical pain on jeremy’s face before he grabbed his stuff and ran out

- brooke and jeremy had sex during upgrade (he comes out from backstage after making out with brooke, buttoning up his pants an smoothing out his shirt) and i was so fucking SHOOK 

- michael looked so angry and hurt but he got all excited when he figured out the squip worked but jeremy just stood there and didn’t even move to go after michael

- THE LIGHT WAS SHINING ON MICHAEL WHEN HE ASKED IF JEREMY WAS COMING THEN THE LIGHT WENT OUT AND ALL YOU COULD SEE WAS THE SQUIPS LIGHT NEXT TO JEREMY AFTER HE SAYS OPTIC NERVE BLOCKING: ON

- the costumes for halloween made me nut holy shit the barking unicorn was my favorite

-after the song is over rich is the only one still on stage and he’s twitching and repeating “halloween” over and over again until he walks off stage

- brooke was so excited to see jeremy and christine was so excited to see jake but they both were pretty rude and both girls loked pretty upset afterwards

- chloe rubbed herself all over jeremy and when she gave him the baby bottle full of alcohol jeremy loked genuinely panicked when the squip made him drink it

- Do You Wanna Hang also made 89% of the audience uncomfortable but it turned pretty funny when jake punch through a fucking window

- michael covered head to toe in trash is such a mood but jeremy look so relieved when he finally saw michael

-  “I had this whole spiel about 12 years of friendship going right down the drain” jeremy looked so guilty but michael looked so hurt and betrayed especially when he was trying to explain why the squip was bad

- jeremy shoved michael into the bath tub after he called him a loser, and all the parents who had no idea what BMC was gasped, and everyone was already crying

- Ryan Everett Wood is such an amazing actor and he really made Michael In The Bathroom the best scene in the whole show

- while jeremy and christine exchange weird noises, the dude in the unicorn costume sits up and just starts barking at them before he passes out again

- they make fun of rich for spazzing and asking for mountain dew red before the squip tells jeremy to skedaddle before the fire

- all of the shiny metallic costumes in Rich Set A Fire really highlighted the guys’ muscles and i liked it

- pitiful children was so well choreographed and i really want a pair of those sick light up sneakers

- as the show goes on and the squips control over jeremy gets stronger, the make up gets more intense and the squip starts to look more dishevelled and corrupt

- jeremy totally fucking roasted his dad (his dad looked so sad and shook) and what does his dad do?? run half naked to michaels house of course

- michael is getting high asf and sitting in a onsie burning stuff

- mr reyes is wearing jeremys costume and he looks so proud of himself until he sees jeremy 

- michael made his entrance through the audience and everyone lost their god damn MINDS

- michael is such a petty bitch like,, jeremy is literally on the ground in pain and he’s just “hmmm no sorry u gotta apologize ://///” and if that ain’t me,,,,,

- michael literally holds jeremy with his arms and legs and jake just shrugs and grabs the mt dew red before pouring it out and michael looks so SHOOK

- “did the squip heal your legs???” in the most evil yet nonchalant high school jock voice i’ve ever heard “No I just can’t feel any pain. and its AWESOME”

- when christine comes out michael starts to walk away like “whoops theres christine looks like he won’t give up the squip now” but gets so excited when jeremy tells her to drink the mt dew

- everyone starts shrieking and michael looks terrified and starts screaming too and when everyone passes out michaels still screaming “AAAAAAAOOOOOOOOHHHHHH FUCK”

- rich is in a legit full body cast but he looks so happy once jeremy wakes up and starts talking to him

- “oh my god i am totally bi” rich sounded so excited and the audience clapped and cheered

- rich and michael kinda had that “you were the only other person in this hospital room i could talk to and you’re not that bad of a person” vibe when voices in my head started playing

- jake looks like he’s about to punch jeremy but he sends him off with a lil bro hug and it’s such a pure interaction!! jeremy looks so stoked that everyone is still talking to him after the play!!!!

- “i think that all of us want to go out with you” they have sweet make out kiss thing and the whole cast is on the high beams looking down at them so fondly 

- the squip comes back and jeremy just started to sing louder and it was so good and such an empowering moment

LITTLE NOTES ABOUT THE CAST: Everyone was so good and they all fit their roles so well! So much respect goes out to Matt, Ryan, Sal, Lizz, Jason, Billy, Vincent, Lisa, Katie, Emily, Carly, Frankie, and Bridget because without their hardwork and dedication to the show, it wouldn’t have been so good!!

You could also tell how much effort was put into the details of the show like, nothing was there to just be there, everything had a purpose and there was never any weird “i dont have any lines so i’ll just awkwardly stand here” moments with any of the actors!! overall the show was  out of this world amazing and i’m so greatful that I had the chance to see it and meet the wonderful actors behind the original and the revival show!!!!

overall rating: hell yes/10

[classicdaisycalico]

Sonic and Mario ;D

Give me a fandom and I’ll tell you :

Hoo boy, a twofer! Let’s do this thing!

(Edit: I’m putting this under a “Read More” because this shit got L O N G.)

SONIC:

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: Silver the Hedgehog. Poor baby; he deserves better and he has so much potential, but given the way SEGA is treating every character besides Sonic, Tails, and Eggman, I don’t think it’s gonna be getting better any time soon. Part of me blames Pontaff for this, for some reason…FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: Blaze the Cat! I just love her character development from the beginning of her creation all the way up to now. Look how much more comfortable she is around her new friends!LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER: Elise. Dear God, why was she even relevant again?FAVORITE SHIP: Shadouge. Sonic series OTP forever. I know not a lot of people ship it, but there’s just something about the way they work together and how they consider each other to be best friends. After all they’ve been through, I feel like anything could happen with those two. But, ya know. Ships are subjective, and the Sonic fandom is all about subjective, as we both know.FAVORITE FRIENDSHIP: Sonic and Tails. There’s a reason they’re called the “Unbreakable Bond”. They’re just such good buddies and they’ll stick together through thick and thin and thick again!FAVORITE QUOTE: “Even if you believe everyone will be against you, know that I’ll always remain by your side.”~ Rouge the Bat, “Sonic ‘06″.Yeah, the game sucked, but it says a lot about her character. She may not be the type to form any kind of relationship with anyone; Rouge always struck me as someone who is perfectly fine with literally flying solo, but dammit, she will put in just about any effort into a friendship if that person is worth her time. And Shadow is definitely worth her time.WORST CHARACTER DEATH (IF ANY): Probably Emerl. I gotta admit, it gave me a fair share of feels.THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY YOU HAVE NO IDEA MOMENT: See “Favorite Quote” for more details.SADDEST MOMENT: Probably when Blaze sacrificed herself for Silver in “Sonic ‘06″. And to rub even more salt in the wound, she basically told Silver she liked him before physically carrying out the act. Imagine if the person you like had to give themselves up in a time of dire need, while all you can do is stand there and watch. And right as they’re about to die, they tell you they love you. What could have been is now nothing. And that really, REALLY hurts.FAVORITE LOCATION: I’ve always been partial to Apotos, for some reason. “Sonic Unleashed” is a really good game in a lot of respects, and the plot line is one of them. But there’s just something undeniably beautiful about Apotos. I think it’s how it’s based off of Greece. Now, I’ve never been to Greece, but I’ve seen a picture of Santorini and…OH MY GOODNESS. It’s so fucking gorgeous. I want to travel there. Really badly.

Well, that’s it for Sonic. Now for Mario!

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: It’s-a Luigi, Number One!Okay but honestly, I really adore Luigi as a character. He’s sweet and kind and totally genuine and isn’t afraid to wear his emotions on his sleeve. So he’s not afraid to cry or be afraid or anything. He’s like, the polar opposite of what “being a man” is, and I think that’s beautiful. Not everyone has to Be A Man to be a hero. He can be his own kind of hero as long as he gets the job done! And he does! Super well, I might add! And people really like that! It lets people know that this kind of thing is perfectly okay! (We need more guys like Luigi in the world.)FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: Princess Daisy. I mean…it’s kinda obvious? My blog is named after her, after all!But let’s talk for a second. Just like how I like that Luigi doesn’t fit into the traditional “Be A Man” hero mold, Daisy isn’t a typical frail-and-pale princess. And that’s totally okay, too! Actually, it’s super great, because just how Luigi’s spiel tells guys it’s okay to be emotional sometimes, Daisy’s character tells girls it’s okay for girls to be loud, strong, and sporty while also enjoying traditionally feminine princess things like picking flowers, drinking tea, and wearing dresses. Look at Nintendo, breaking societal norms all over the place!LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER: I don’t actively hate any characters in the Mario-verse, per se, but if there’s one I do find annoying, it’s Koopa Kid. I know Nintendo killed him off because they no longer found him necessary, but that’s just it. Why did he exist in the first place? He literally existed nowhere else except in the “Mario Party” games. So if you REALLY want to talk about being stuck in spin-off purgatory, I think our dearly departed friend KK had it the worst.Still, if that was his only relevance was Bowser’s right-hand in “Mario Party” 1-7 and nowhere else? That’s pretty sad.FAVORITE SHIP: Luigi and Daisy. They’re my Mario series OTP and I’ve basically been shipping them since before I even knew what shipping was. But remember what I said about Luigi and Daisy smashing gender norms and how great that is? WELL GUESS WHAT? The two of them as a couple lets people know that these kinds of people can still find love in a toxic society that pressures guys to bottle in emotions and pressures girls to just sit and look pretty. It lets people know that people like guys who aren’t afraid to be sensitive. It lets people know that people like girls who are unapologetically loud and proud. Keep doing what you’re doing, Nintendo. And while you’re at it, can we get some real character building behind this ship? I want more interaction outside of spinoff games, ya know? We can’t keep Daisy in spin-off limbo forever. It’s gotta end someday.FAVORITE FRIENDSHIP: Peach, Daisy, AND Rosalina. In the midst of the more toxic side of the fandom pitting these princesses (and one queen) against each other when talking about “who’s better”, I prefer to think that these girls are all super great in their own special way and would definitely support each other like the badass girl squad that they are. (We need a platformer with all 3 of these girls as playable characters. Maybe throw in Pauline, as well, since she needs more love, too!)FAVORITE QUOTE: “All life carries the essence of stars. Even all of you.”~ Rosalina, the end of “Super Mario Galaxy”Space Mom just dropped some bomb-ass knowledge. But I think this particular quote is probably the most motivational quote in the entire Mario series. In the context of the game, she’s addressing Mario, Peach, and even Bowser after this giant Big Bang recreates the entire universe up to just before the very beginning of the game. And before that, she says something about about the cycle of life never repeating itself the same way, which I guess means she had a hand in saving the cosmos (and their lives).But out of context? Say that to somebody who doesn’t feel like they’re enough. And they’re gonna feel like the most powerful being in the universe. Because it’s true! Everything in the entire universe is made of the same stuff as stars. And stars are super powerful, enormous, BEAUTIFUL celestial bodies with enough energy to unleash EXPLOSIONS when they die. And even before stars are created, and even after their remains are scattered around the cosmos, we see these magnificent clouds of gas and dust that goes into creating these powerful stars. People look at pictures of this stuff. Scientists look through telescopes to find this. Artists paint pictures of this. And all of them think this stardust is the prettiest sight they’ll ever see in the universe. This stardust goes into creating humans. WE ARE MADE OF STARDUST. To tell someone that they are just as admirable and mesmerizing as this glittering stardust is probably the biggest compliment to give to someone when they’re feeling down. You are literally a star. The universe made you out of a star. YOU ARE WORTH EXISTING IN THIS UNIVERSE, because THE STARS THEMSELVES saw something special in you while they created you. And that, I think, is the most beautiful thing to say to someone.WORST CHARACTER DEATH (IF ANY): I think the Lumas sacrificing themselves for Mario at the end of the first “Super Mario Galaxy” was definitely a heart-wrenching moment for me. They wanted the hero who saved the home of their Space Mom (Rosalina) to stay alive, but their home (the entire cosmos) was dying because of a giant black hole that will swallow up the entire universe whole, so what do they do? They throw themselves into the black hole as a last act of heroism to let him and his friends live. And I’m talking about thousands of these little cuties. And technically, in the Luma phase of their life, before they permanently transform into comets or planets, this means they’re still children. So it hurts even more when you think about that.But that’s okay, because then we have that giant-ass big bang that resets everything back to the very beginning, thus prompting the events of “Super Mario Galaxy 2!”THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY YOU HAVE NO IDEA MOMENT: That statue in Daisy Circuit? Both of them, actually. The ones of Luigi and Daisy holding hands and dancing together? I don’t know the context behind it (even though I really REALLY want to), but this basically cemented my OTP as canon. And I think the fact that Nintendo made one of them as babies was kind of a way of saying “these guys are totally meant soulmates. They’re made for each other”. #LegitCouple #SteadySweeties(Although I think a very close second would be Daisy’s trophy cutscene in “Mario Power Tennis” when she calls Luigi “sweetie” when he gives her the trophy. Also, that slow-mo moment when she catches the trophy in the air after Luigi loses his grip on it? He’s totally staring at her. Actually, I think “gawking” would be a better word for it.)SADDEST MOMENT: See “Worst Character Death” for more details.FAVORITE LOCATION: I know nobody’s seen it in decades, but Sarasaland. I want to see it again. In 3D. In HD. In a mainstream Mario game. The most we got was it’s debut game, “Super Mario Land”…and that’s it. Ever since then it’s been reduced to nothing but mere mentions in Daisy’s character bios. That’s not fair. Younger fans who are still growing up with the Mario series have probably never even seen Sarasaland for themselves, and now that we’ve seen what the Switch can do and how powerful the Switch is, I feel like Nintendo has literally zero excuse at this point.So Nintendo, bring back Sarasaland! Put it in a mainstream game! And put Daisy in there, will ya? It IS her home, after all!

***

Phew. That took forever. But thank you so much! :D

[deans-fire-dragon]

"The Raid" Broke My Dean Loving Heart

I don’t normally do any kind of episode feedback, but last night’s Supernatural episode, “The Raid,” left me with too many feelings to just say nothing–--mostly unhappy feelings. I don’t even know where to start because I don’t want this to be some wanky rant that devolves into a lot of complaining on Dean’s behalf. I’m sorry in advance because I’m sure that it will.

Of course, I’m always pro-Dean, so if that is going to be a problem for any reader, please turn back now. I’ve been pro-Dean for 12 years now, its not going to change because of anything anyone could say and I don’t really enjoy debating unchangeable opinions.

I guess I’ll start at the beginning with Dean and Mary’s fight. While I’m not liking Mary all that much right now, I don’t hate her. I just feel like, at this point, she’s not even as good a parent as John. John was driven by grief and revenge to a single-mindedness that often left his parenting lacking. But he did love the boys…he did sacrifice himself for Dean. If he had been in Mary’s situation with Ramiel? He’d have given up the Colt without hesitation to save his sons. In fact, he did.

What’s Mary’s excuse? She wants a normal life? No one is forcing her to hunt. Does she even know what she’d do with herself if there was no hunt? She obviously doesn’t want to be a mom in any traditional sense. And, while I can understand the appeal of what the BMoL are offering her, it doesn’t excuse her selfish actions-–--to choose them over her sons, to lie and manipulate her sons and put them in danger.

She’s says she’s not “just” a mom. Well, no duh. I think the boys already knew that. Right now, I don’t see her being ANY kind of a mom since she’s never there in body or spirit. Jody is a better mom to the boys than Mary. Ellen was a better mom to them. Neither of those ladies are/were “just moms,” but they did balance who they are as individuals with also being the support and love these boys need in their lives. Mary says she loves Dean and Sam…but I’ve not seen her really do anything to prove it.

And still? I don’t hate her. I’m angry at her and disappointed in her, I find myself wishing the show had left her alone and preserved her good memory….but I’m still hoping she’ll redeem herself. I want so badly for her to be the mom the boys need to believe in (also because I’m extremely forgiving and I don't like to be a hater).

I think the thing that upset me the most about the fight between Dean and Mary was when she told Dean he was not a child. I really, really felt angry about that. With the exception of his first four years of life, Dean has never been a child. He has never known a childhood. He’s always been the responsible one, the one who takes on everyone’s issues and always relents to their needs. He’s never asked for much in return. So, don’t talk to HIM about how he isn’t a child–what has he even asked for besides Mary being available and concernedj, to act like she cares.

That whole not-a-child moment is where I feel the writing was extremely weak because I don’t think Dean was asking to be treated as a child–--he’s not asking for nighttime stories and band aids on his knees. He wants his parent to be there, to be involved in his and Sam’s lives–--Mary has not acted like a mom in that sense. He said that she’s been gone and that he felt her needing space was really her just not wanting them. I don’t see how he is supposed to think any different when that is all he’s been shown–--her utter absence.

In this, he is speaking from the part of him that feels abandoned and unwanted. Since Berens seemed to bring that point up during the argument, I don’t understand why he later reneged on it it and made it about things Dean isn’t expecting–--lunches and being tucked in. Seriously? When has Dean ever asked for that from anyone? I also feel it was ridiculously unfair to make Dean apologize for wanting his mom to care enough to be around and get to know him and Sam (for crying out loud, Berens!).

Dean asking his mom to be present and want him is not being childish. It’s being human…and that Mary can’t see this and understand it just shows a how little she knows about Dean and parenting. Even as adults we want our parents' love. How selfish of her to not want to be with and know her sons. How can she not want to be with them? She reminds me of people who have children and then decide they are too much of an inconvenience in their lives–--so they go their own way and leave the kids to fend for themselves. Oh, they drop in now and then with presents to ease their conscience or when they need something, but they don't really want to be there.

When Dean responded to Mary that he’d never been a child, it broke my heart because its true. Also because his face looked so raw and hurt. He IS hurt and that is what stinks about this whole mess–--because no one seems to acknowledge he is genuinely hurting and he is not at fault for feeling that way. Why isn’t anyone, Sam or Mary, seeing his pain and caring about it enough to allow him the justification of saying it without recrimination? I know Sam is hurting too, but at least Dean is supporting Sam. In fact, some of Dean's anger at Mary is because he's protective of Sam and he knows her choice hurt his brother too.

As a mom, I can tell you that I cannot stand to see any kind of hurt on my kids’ faces. It compels me immediately to fix it. To soothe it. And if I can’t do either of those, to at least acknowledge it and let them know I’m there and I care that they are hurting. That’s what I want from Mary and Sam on Dean’s behalf.

Even if Mary and Sam don’t agree with Dean? They could at least let him know they care that he hurts, that they are concerned. That’s the least Dean deserves and its the least I expect from them…but these writers, man. These writers just won’t give that to Dean. Instead, they make Dean apologize to Mary for wanting her to care/be around and they show Sam picking a side that is clearly not Dean’s. How lame is that? It makes me very upset.

Then there’s Sam. Ever since the season nine finale, I’ve been liking Sam again (because for a long while there, I really didn't). He’s been acting more like a real brother who cares, which is all I want from him. I can’t stand to see anyone hurt Dean no matter who they are and, even though I always want Dean and Sam to be a united front, I won't abide Sam hurting Dean like he has in the past. I have always liked the show best when the boys are united and standing together. I hate it when they don’t.

With Sam, I’m not so angry, but I am disappointed. I think he’s got blinders on when it comes to Mary. He’s willing to take whatever scrap she’ll give him because he wants a mom so bad. I don’t agree with it, but I can see where he’d feel deeply conflicted about this whole situation. Wanting to please Mom, but not liking her choices; seeing his brother upset with mom, but not wanting them to fight and split up.

Still, when Dean told him to pick a side, my heart broke again because I knew it wouldn’t be Dean’s (because that's how it always goes). I don’t feel like Dean was asking Sam to be angry at Mary, so much as Dean was just asking for Sam to acknowledge and validate Dean’s feelings for once. Sam is always reasoning with Dean or trying to correct him and I think Dean gets tired of being “corrected.“ I know I sure do. Sometimes Dean needs his brother to just be his brother, ya know?

Dean needs Sam to stop playing the Devil’s advocate for once and just pick him–--put him and his feelings first. Dean always gets overlooked for something or someone else–--his opinion and feelings never matter. It's no wonder he doesn’t feel he is worth much considering people rarely give him a reason to feel like he is worth choosing. His choices, his feelings, his wants are always wrong (even when they really aren’t). That is the hardest pill for me to swallow when it comes to this show.

Sam needs to stop taking other people’s side against Dean and stop telling him he’s wrong for how he feels, for his choices and who he is and be there for him. Sam has chosen others over Dean before and I don’t think Sam fully understands how much that hurts Dean. It’s like Sam doesn’t think enough of Dean, Dean’s opinion or Dean’s feelings to put everything aside and choose Dean first.

I knew, though, as soon as Mary started with the spiel about ridding the world of evil so they could live a normal life who Sam would side with. I knew she was feeding him exactly the right words to convince him to join her and the BMoL because these are the exact things Sam wants most in the world. So, I knew Dean would lose (and, really, does Mary even think about or respect Dean at all? Is she proud of him at all? Or does she just consider him a lost cause because he’s nothing but a hunter… no normal or lawyer aspirations in his future?).

I can understand Sam’s reasoning, but I was still disappointed in his choice. I knew at the end of the episode that they’ll end up dragging Dean in this with them because he won’t shut Sam out. Dean always chooses Sam and he’ll always be the one to give of himself and give in out of love and loyalty. *sigh* I love him for it, but it is so painful to watch knowing he’ll never get that same consideration back.

The thing is, the BMoL have, on the surface, a good goal. The problem is, its not so black and white. For one, they have no problem killing innocent people to achieve their goals. The soldiers Dean and Sam worked so hard to avoid killing didn’t deserve to die. But the BMoL didn’t care about that. It was more convenient to just take them out.

Not all supernatural creatures deserve to die, either. I mean, isn’t that what the show has shown us time and time again? Sam himself has been a big proponent of the idea that not all supernatural beings should be killed–but now he wants to join this organization which kills any and all supernatural creatures en masse. These guys don’t care about the Bennys and the Kates. If it was up to them, Alex would be dead instead of living with Jody. If they had been around in season four, they probably would have killed Sam.

So, even if Mary and the boys don’t know about the innocents the BMoL have killed, the boys, at least, know its wrong to just kill without making sure they know the situation. It’s noble to want to rid the world of evil, but it matters how it is done. I don’t really know why the show is always sending us conflicting messages about this issue. One episode it’s wrong to kill all supernatural beings and the next its not.It seems like it depends on whether they want to make Dean look wrong or not, even making him waffle on it from one episode to the next.

Everything they’ve shown us makes it clear that the BMoL are not the good guys, but yet they used this episode to plant the idea that Dean is the one that needs to get with the program.

I have to say, I get really tired of Dean always, always and forever being the one put in this position. Even when he’s right? He’s wrong. When the show does on a rare occasion acknowledge Dean was right about something, it’s always with a caveat. I mean, it gets depressing after a while to see your favorite character constantly beat down and put in his place when he’s the one who is right….who has the correct moral compass. But the show is forever making him apologize and appear to be the one who needs to learn "lessons." And there are so many, many times when Dean was obviously the one who was doing the right thing all along. Lastly, I'm getting tired of the show calling Dean a killer. He's no more a "killer" than Sam, Mary and Cas. Sam has been proven to be the one with more capacity to be cold-blooded than Dean has ever been. Look at what Cas did while he thought he could be a god? I don't understand why the show keeps emphasizing this message to Dean and to us. Of them all, he has the softest heart, the purest motivations, and biggest drive to do the right thing consistently. It really makes no sense at all.

Regardless, I know I’ll keep watching because I love Dean Winchester that much. It would be so nice, though, if they could stop using Dean as their episode scapegoat. It would be lovely to have Sam stand at his brother’s side and say Dean’s right and he supports him in his decision.

And I wouldn’t complain if Mary ended up seeing Dean through my lens long enough to really appreciate/love him and feel enormous amounts of guilt for how she has hurt him…and try to make up for that.

This show. It gives me as much pain as it does joy.

[movietvtechgeeks]

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Another look at 'Supernatural' The Raid aka forgiving mom

This episode of Supernatural was entertaining; it had its heart-wrenching moments, its laughs, and some good old-fashioned vampire beheading. It was very nice to be reminded how Supernatural started – I’m talking about the scene in the “then” with Sam and Dean looking so young and so baby-faced! Raid starts pretty much right where “Family Feud” ended – with Sam, Dean and Mary in the bunker after Mary drops the bomb that she’s been working with the British Men of Letters. This scene had the most dramatic – and heart-wrenching – moments, to me, at least. Mary pleads her case with the boys, trying to explain why she’s been working with the BMOL – the organization responsible for torturing Sam and Dean. It’s been interesting trying to get into Mary’s headspace. I know that Mary has been the target of a lot of hate lately, and many fans are wondering where her storyline is going. I won’t pretend that I know exactly the reasoning, but I do think Mary is looking at the bigger picture. The last thing she wants is for her boys to continue hunting until they die; she wants them to have a “better life.” (Honestly, we all know that won’t happen, otherwise what would happen to our beloved show?) She figures that working with the BMOL will help get a handle on all the monsters in the States, so that Sam and Dean won’t have to road trip from coast to coast, killing things. This episode was very Sam-centric; I’m guessing this is because Jensen was on baby watch, waiting for the twins. Jared’s acting in this episode was, as usual, spot on – and Jensen’s few scenes were excellent as well. I’ve written before about how excellent our boys are at acting with facial expressions alone. There was a perfect example of this in the first scene in the bunker – Mary asks for the boys to listen, and give her a chance, and Sam’s eyebrow raise expresses his thoughts explicitly – no matter what, he’ll listen, especially to his mom. Some of my favorite lines from this episode are in this scene. Sam’s “When?” portrayed betrayal, hurt and surprise all in one little word … and when Mary explains that she sees the dead hunter Wally when she sleeps at night – Dean’s one-word answer: “Good.” Don’t know about you, but that gave me shivers. We’re used to Dean being nasty, but to his mom? You know things have gone off the rails when … The next scene of interest (to me, at least) was Mary getting out of the van with Mr. Ketch. Mary looked like a cat burglar in her all black outfit, didn’t she? And Mr. Ketch’s line with Serena? “I have three PhDs.” “And we’re all very proud of you, luv.” That one definitely made me giggle. Speaking of Mr. Ketch, I have to mention what a wonderful actor David Haydn-Jones is. I definitely started out disliking his character, way back when we thought he was going to be involved in the torture of Sam. But honestly, I’m starting to really like the sociopath. He’s very gentlemanlike, and he’s got some pretty spiffy clothes. One thing I wanted to mention was the text messages that Mary was sending Dean – specifically, “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.” Was it not Mary’s choice to tell Sam and Dean about working for the BMOL? It’s not like they found out on their own – I almost think she really meant to say … “I’m sorry you had to find out …” I think, if she could’ve gotten away with not telling Sam and Dean about working with the BMOL, she would have … Back to the bunker scene with Mary, Sam and Dean. Again, some awesome lines, that just about broke my heart. “You are not a child.” “I never was.” And that’s what it comes down to – Sam and Dean never had a mother figure growing up – so when Mary is back in their lives, they have all these expectations of her – that she’ll always make the right decisions, and that she’ll always have their backs. Well, lying to them sure doesn’t sound like she has their backs, but as I mentioned above, she’s looking at the big picture. At least in my opinion. Two other lines from this scene got to me. Dean calling Mary, well, Mary, instead of mom, and Sam telling Mary, “You should go.” Both Jared and Jensen did such an exquisite job of looking hurt and betrayed in this scene … wonderful acting. Back to the BMOL’s compound – Ketch and Davies are discussing how the “old men” – the leaders back in London – want not just Mary, but Sam and Dean as well, because apparently, they believe the American hunters will follow Sam and Dean. I’m wondering if we’re missing something here. We know that Garth had taken over Bobby’s hunter help line – perhaps Sam and Dean are being called in still to help out? Because last I had heard, the American hunters really aren’t too fond of Sam and Dean. However, in Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox, where we meet a whole bunch of American hunters, the boys seem like almost idols to some … hmm. The next scene has Sam and Dean discussing a potential (not really) hunt – and Dean accusing Sam of being a peacemaker, of never really choosing one side or another. That’s really Sam’s personality though – if he can calm troubled waters, he will. But I can totally see how Dean would be frustrated with it. Dean runs off for a drink (we won’t mention that it’s supposed to be morning) and Sam goes to meet Mary at the BMOL’s compound – also “out for a walk.” Mary has decided that Sam needs to see what’s going on with the BMOL, and how the world is changing. Does anyone else think that Mary’s room looks like a brighter, cleaner version of Neo’s room in the Matrix? Just something that I noticed. One line that stuck out in the previous scene was this – “I chose this life.” Way back when, Sam always felt forced to be in the hunter life – which was why he went to college in the first place. It’s becoming more and more apparent that Sam is content with the life he is living … this is a good thing. Back in the compound, Mary – and Davies – give Sam the spiel of ridding the entire States of vampires – which does, indeed, impress Sam.  I wonder how many TVs are in that compound? The set designers did a really good job on this one – with the shipping containers, it makes this building very believable. Lucy! Come on, that line had to have given you a giggle – it sure did, for me. And this next scene, where we delve into the psyche of a killer … of Ketch, and of Dean. Dean never denies being is a murderer – never denies that he enjoys hunting, tracking, and gutting, as put in the words of Mr. Ketch. It makes me wonder where this storyline is going …. I’m still curious as to what Scotch they are drinking, though. When Ketch mentions that he’s out vampire hunting, Dean gets interested … who doesn’t like a little beheading with their Scotch? At the BMOL compound, the vampires are attacking … I suppose Alpha Vampire – played by the awesome Rick Worthy – didn’t take the BMOL’s killing of his children too kindly. In fact, he has another one of my favorite lines from this episode … “Get off my lawn!” We get to see the Colt again when Sam asks for something to kill the alpha. And I find it very, very interesting that Mary knows Bobby Singer … perhaps there’s more than meets the eye, there …? Of course, our Sam shows off his smartness by rattling off the recipe for bullets that will work in the Colt … and we’re off to the races. Or are we? Pierce, the Hunter King of Baton Rouge, ends up being a traitor and lets the Alpha Vampire in. One thing I’ve noticed in latter episodes is the use of flashbacks from the same episode. We see this twice in The Raid – once, showing how Pierce got the drop on Mary and the second time when Davies runs into Sam, handily passing him the bullet for the Colt. I think it’s a very good way of showing the audience what happened, without giving up the element of surprise at first. Jared Padalecki’s facial expressions are to die for. And that smirk when the Alpha Vampire says the Colt doesn’t have any bullets? My goodness … The slow motion bullet from the Colt into poor Rick Worthy’s head was unbelievable filmmaking. I mean, it’s the Colt, of course, it has to be in slow motion! We say goodbye to the Alpha Vampire (Or do we? This is Supernatural, after all …) who leaves us with a, “Clever, clever boy …” and cut to the exterior of the compound, where Sam, Dean and Mary are talking. And a very, very, shiny Baby. (I wonder how many times that car gets polished?) It’s obvious that Dean has at least, somewhat, forgiven Mary for taking up with the BMOL – as he’s back to calling her mom. And Sam has decided to throw in his lot with the BMOL as well … because they are “changing the world.” It’s been mentioned – and I somewhat agree – that Sam is agreeing to taking up with the BMOL because he wants to keep an eye not only on the Brits, but on Mary as well – you know what they say, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer … It all comes back to that line in First Blood … “Let me tell you about a world without monsters or demons …” Mary and Sam are on board; now they just need to convince Dean. Either way, I’m looking forward to watching!

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