#and was also like 'wow! that red string of fate line killed me a little!'

[beeallaround]

My biggest secret when it comes to svsss is that despite being in the fandom for over two years now, I have never read the QiJiu or the TianSu extras. I actually didn't read any of the extras besides the Bingge, Airplane, and Wedding. Wild, completely insane of me. I literally only got the concept of the other extras from fix-it fics.

But now, in the name of research for my own fics, I will finally be reading all the extras. I'm excited because now a lot of these characters are dear to me, but I'm also dreading it because a lot of these characters are dear to me.

[thistle--bug]

GMMTV 2025 Lineup Thoughts

After watching all the trailers, here are the shows I'm looking forward to!

Memoir of Rati. It looks so beautiful and elegant and it's a period piece set in 1910's? Hell yeah! Love me some elements of secrecy and arranged marriage

Whale Store XOXO: Listen. We got only two GL's and you bet I'm going to watch both. I love Milk, I love Love so here I am. Excited to see Love playing the more forward, making-moves character. I also like that it's focused more on adult life instead of their usual school series.

Only Friends Dream On: Will this be top quality content? Of course not. Will it be entertaining as hell? YES. Glad that Mix making a cameo ended up turning into this lol! It's less of a sequel and more of a spin-off and what a line-up. Earth! Mix! Ohm! Let's GOOO. I'm also really entertained by Earth and Ohm being brothers (that have a lot of beef apparently). The setting being a theater putting on Romeo and Juliet is soooo up my alley. Though I doubt Boston will play a big role in this I hope he gets to sleep with everyone as a treat. King of messiness is back lmaoooo

That Summer: Winny and Satang get a show as main leads? Finally! They play bickering-to-lovers really well and it seems like it'll be sweet. Satang just suits the role of a prince so well. I hope he sings the theme song for this because his voice is lovely

Wu: Very little info in the trailer but I'm intrigued! I haven't actually seen High School Frenemy so I'm not familiar with the actors, but I like the vibe and the red string of fate thing they have going on. A lot of people are complaining that it's another "bromance" instead of being explicitly gay but honestly... I don't mind! I'm okay with their dynamic being left up to our interpretation.

Girl Rules: I CAN'T WAIT!!!! P'Jojo said I'm back with the messy ensemble shows but this time SAPPHIC and I adore him for it. We get to be toxic too yippee! In love with and obsessed with all of them already. It'll be so much fun to watch this while it's airing

Ticket to Heaven: WOW!!!! WOW WOW WOW!!! I can't even put into words how excited I am for this show! P'Aof is my favorite director and I've loved everything he's made so far so I trust him. Catholic seminary in the 90's with young men struggling with their faith and sexuality is SUCH a fantastic premise. And the fact that Gemini and Fourth are starring in this makes me even more excited. They are fantastic actors that killed it in Moonlight Chicken and I was hoping for more nuanced and mature shows like that instead of their usual high school rom-coms. And this is everything I wanted and more! I sobbed throughout the trailer. This will wreck me in the best way possible. Plus the cinematography was STUNNING. For sure my #1 favorite of the lineup

I might check out Burnout Syndrome, Dare you to Death, and My Magical Prophecy as well when they air, but we'll see. The rest I'll probably pass on unless someone tells me they're absolutely incredible. In general, there's a huge trend of fate, fortune telling, mind reading, etc, which is fun. HUGE push to make shows outside of high school and college which is also really refreshing. I have mixed feelings about the fixed pairs, but I am glad that they are pushing the actors to do things they haven't done before. Specifically Gemini and Fourth acting in a more serious show while First and Khaotung act in a very fluffy light-hearted show (which I will be passing on but I hope they have fun!). I am in awe that ONE SINGLE SHOW out of this lineup is straight. Yes ONE. That's a huge deal! We even have more GL shows that straight ones (not by much and I wanted WAY MORE booooo). Sure, not all of these shows look incredible, but the fact that there are so many queer shows to choose from is wonderful. There's variety! We love to see it!

[semi-imaginary-place]

rewatching decadence

ep1: so... indoctrinating kids that they life their life in service to an upper class. also like, the way deca dence takes care of giant gadoll is to punch it like no giant sword or laser canon or anything just the power of a giant mountain sized fist. this show actually has some good foreshadowing from seeing Natsume from the perspective of Kaburagi’s hud, to Natsume’s dad (Muno) finding the Solid Quake logo at the beginning of the episode and the logo again being shown in the last shot at the announcement signs off with have a profitable day which is a weird public safety announcement but makes sense as a company slogan. I’m still not sure what the “TIME 1:00  POINT SE,07,G” means. I didn’t write it down last time because I was unsure of myself, but my first thought when the cyborgs showed up was VR chatroom for the upper class.

ep2: yeahs that’s totally an advertisement that plays right after natsume realizes the human costs of war as the tankers pay respects to the fallen. I realized what it was with the cartoony designs, the bright colors and patterns, the funky shapes of all the structures aboard the space ship, it looks like a tv show for toddlers. inoffensive and deliberately cheerful to distract from the horrors of a corporation owning your person. the eng subtitles are confusing here it should be “real death(simulation) awaits” in that the company is advertising being able to experience death but not have any of its permanent consequences as a feature of the game. The cyborgs are corporate wage slaves being compensated for their labor in company credits and the only other things we seen them do outside of work is play the company’s mmo, or recreational drugs. “I should be proud of my function and to be scrapped” as property of the company. aaaa that’s terrible. aaa. what are cyborg cores??? and why are they valuable. Solid Quake has no control over the core, only the cyborg’s housing. Is it that they cannot produce more? Considering the others on the team got executed for sentenced to an eternal forced labor camp with appalling conditions, Minato really did pull some strings for Kaburagi. ooh so “time until scrapping” and “operational limit near are two different warnings. the first is a general reminder of lifespan and the second is because oxyone levels are low. now its “TIME 20:00  POINT SE,05,I”. all those new gadoll events probably wreck havoc on the tanker economy. its 400c now and i think it was 500 for 2 earlier. First time through I wasn’t paying attention and totally thought kaburagi was an assassin, but no he’s just clean up crew. ahh yes, come spend you wages at the company run stores. micro transactions... wait so where were people getting the number 13 from?

ep3: ah yes Solid Quake charges to use the media center, truly a micro transaction hell. Natsume’s character arc is about whether to push herself or not. Here Fei acts as part of a continuing dialectic saying that Tankers have no place outside of Deca-Dence, that sooner of later Natsume will die from it, and once again highlighting Natsume’s right arm. In the other level of this though, tankers shouldn’t go outside because that’s not their role in the solid quake mmo, and those who would disrupt the mmo are killed. I like how you can see Kaburagi switch from videogame logic (oh she’s low level so let’s just stick her in the tutorial zone) to real life (what skills and experiences would help in fighting). So several corporations took advantage of desperate people to sell them a service that would augment them with mechanical parts. I get that pipe in a little outfit is funny, but does no one really realize its a gadoll, i meant natsume recognizes it instantly. like the scene where Natsume talks about her right arm, the anime does a good job of showing how her feeling about it are complicated. She’s lived with that arm for years, but it also hinders her sometimes, and people will comment about it. there’s this specific type of humor that pops up in this show and given how its the same joke, my guess is that its the same person behind it. The “joke” being that Natsume is put in a position that references sexual assault. The first is with fennel where she makes up an excuse of having to go see kaburagi to get away from him. And then there’s this episode. There’s also a few stray lines here and there that alarm me in that they imply Natsume has dealt with the threat of assault before. Since they didn’t do anything meaningful with this, I’d rather it just not be there. Minato is in on the secret of Pipe’s existence and by the way the two talk, they’ve called each other before in the last 7 years. Its good to know that Kaburagi wasn’t JUST brooding for 7 years and that the two of them stayed in contact.

ep4: Natsume after having gained confidence in herself takes down several gadoll and earns her place in The Power. Its a fulfilling payoff after seeing her train for several episodes. Natsume is where she always wanted to be, fighting gadoll in the Power. gahh It really is a patch release trailer. Ohh so I assumed that the other structures on the cartoon earth were other corporations, but in this episode we see one of them (the white and red striped cone thing opposite the deca-dence dome) and the cyborgs there are talking about the game (MMO LARPing lol), so either Solid Quake owns multiple of those structures, or these cyborgs are customers not owned by Solid Quake and playing of their own volition. that would makes the cone cyborgs where solid quake is deriving its profit from since its not like it pays its workers. reading comments online, a lot of people missed that because a ranker was found to be cheating (mikey), the rankings were abolished. In the present time, gears/players are not ranked. Ah so Kaburagi was transferred to the maintenance department from the warrior department. Wow reassignment is so much better than the poop jail. I remember it being said, armor repair, doctor, and weapon shop could be employee(cyborg) run so I wonder if the medics and that one armor shop guy are tankers or not. So this anime already snuck in a sex joke with the when the poop gang swapped kaburagi’s avatar with a sex toy, so i wonder if the safetyprivatemode was made so that the mods wouldn’t have to listen to robot sex. I really wish this show could have had 24 episodes. The trend for the past 20 years has been shorter and shorter shows so I know it would have been likely impossible to get the clearance and funding for 24 eps but oooh in som alternate universe maybe... i brought up fleshing out minor characters and character relationships before but there also stuff like Natsume’s right hand almost clamping on ... Mindy? Which usually would be a narrative flag but is completely dropped because of the episode limit. And the confidence Natsume gained last episode come to work against Kaburagi trying to keep her from the suicide mission. Its only from this point on that Kaburagi starts to really change, as of this point he is still a loyal cog to a machine that does not care about him. Kaburagi and Natsume in the 2nd half of the episode continue the same dialectic that runs through the whole of the show, about giving up and learning to try again, about pushing your limit, about why someone bothers trying. On the collectivist versus individualist spectrum, Deca-Dence is on the individualist side with assertions of the importance for deciding for yourself what you will do with your life. Its an interesting counterpoint to The Twilight Mirage (Friends at the Table) which I am currently listening to in that The Twilight Mirage is a western production and strongly collectivist with one of the antagonist being sort of kind of an embodiment of independence/individualism while japanese works as a whole tend to be more about the whole over the individual than western ones. Kurenai talking about why she fights is very good and very important for 2 reasons, first it help flesh out not only her but offer a very needed other opinion on what its like to live as a Tanker, second it segues nicely into Natsume’s memories of her dad telling her about the outside world and him being the only one to believe she can do it (fight in The Power) as contrasted with flashbacks of all the other characters telling her she can’t. This culminates in Natsume gathering her resolve to fight not because of something grand like changing the world or the fate of humanity, but something very personal scale: changing herself and proving to herself that she can do it. The is also the climax of her character arc, the point of no return.

ep5: If last episode was natsume’s point of no return, then either this episode or episode 7 is Kaburagi’s. Rationally speaking, the optimal scenario would have been for Kaburagi to stall long enough for the Tankers to escape before pulling back himself, but emotionally and narratively, there’s no way he couldn’t. After all the build up of deciding for yourself how to live and pushing your limits. Its appropriate that here in defense of the girl that inspired him to live and choose for himself rather than just continue existing in the default of what Solid Quake demands of him, that Kaburagi chooses to release his operational limiter (literally pushing him limit) and derail the company’s plans. How did no one realize purple dude was breaking imprisonment to play on a hacked avatar. Like he’s still as purple and bloodthirsty as ever. He acts and speaks the same. Someone would have totally seen him and gone “eyyyyy [i forgot this guy’s name] is back” and talked to people about it and someone should have heard. So I remember reading comments from various idiots who were mad because they mistakenly thought the anime took place in a virtual space and that Natsume was made of lines of code. And first off even if that was true there’s a difference between objective reality and the lived experiences of a person and what’s to say her experiences and emotions would be any less real than yours. And second, did everyone forget The Hunger Games? Like its just another game that plays with real lives and doesn’t care who gets killed. Solid Quake is just using humans as a stage prop. Man this episode is jam packed. Its like getting punched in the face 4 times. The pacing of the last 4 minutes was really good. The quiet scene as dawn breaks acts in direct contrast to the high energy of the Stargate takedown that preceded it. After time and against not listening to him, Minato still calls Kabu to check in with him. There’s also his certainly that it was Kaburagi that saved the Deca-Dence mech (i need to be clearer when I’m talking about the physical fortress city mech, the mmorpg game, or the deca-dence system itself). And then when the world state gets reset is just so good because it make it clear that the gadoll were never the true enemy. The tankers could kill as many gadoll as they want and nothing would change. Kaburagi’s at an interesting point here, in that he’s no longer in a state of having given up like he was in episode 1 just waiting to die and following along with Solid Quake’s orders, as of this episode he has deliberately gone against the company’s rules, and yet he’s still believes that nothing will actually change. He’s broken a rule and resigned himself to punishment instead of say for example getting rid of the punishment all together. He’s still a good little employee that hasn’t rebelled against the system. And then the “Take care of Pipe” and Natsume turns around and he’s already gone, is sooo good. The final shot too of his avatar face down in the snow! The “This world needs bugs” is in direct contrast to Hugin/Fugin(?) repeating that this world must be rid of bugs, and the same phrase Kaburagi repeated 7 years ago when he was transferred to the Maintenance Department instead of being killed. I wonder how much the cyborgs feel in their original bodies  vs. how much they feel in their Gear avatars. Kaburagi doesn’t seem to care about food and no food stalls were shown in the Gear area so maybe they doesn’t have much sense of taste? The avatars also have a lessened sense of pain. And then the limit release sequence shows connections increasing between the two bodies so does it make the cyborgs more attuned with the avatar’s senses?

ep6: eh so this is another example of what I mean when I say some of the humor in this show is in bad taste. They probably put the oxyone port where the ass would be just to make this joke. But this is better then doing to it Natsume. The animators even had a gleam censor for the over where the capsule was inserted as if it wasn’t obvious enough what it was suppose to look like. Spurned on by the the promise that one day if they work hard and behave (”rehabilitated”), the cyborgs will get let out when in actuality its a forced labor camp so that Solid Quake can squeeze just a little more labor our of the cyborgs for even less compensation. The cartoony style here helps offset just how horrific there working conditions are. And Kaburagi still the good little employee (iiko) tries his hardest to play by the rules and win. Except in this game, there is no “win’ written into the rules. So finally he is forced to move outside of the system Solid Quake has made. I still can’t believe they let Donatello keep the gun... Maybe cyborg cores are brains. In 5.5 Kaburagi’s core is in the top half of his metal case, and Donatello’s is also in his head. I’m still not sure what that sequence where Kaburagi takes the head fin and an image of a cyborg core is overlayed, means.

[prettyboyspenceee]

Chapter 5 - The Letter and The Kiss

 A/N: I wrote this chapter in one sitting. I am TIRED. I’m sorry I took so long to post it! 

Description: The team heads back to New York for a case that hits Olivia close to home.  

Character Appearances: Olivia Morales, Spencer Reid, Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, Emily Prentiss, Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Penelope Garcia, Derek Morgan, Matthew Morales 

Disclaimer: I don’t own Criminal Minds! Kinda sucks for me :(

Word Count: 2,232 words

Posted: November 30th, 2019

---

The plane ride back to New York was uncharacteristically silent. As the team went through case files, Olivia went through countless amounts of photos of her and Jamie. 

She smiled at her phone as she admired a photo of them in their teenage years, "It gets better y'know." 

Olivia smiled at JJ, "I know." 

"It doesn't get easier, though," The blonde said as she sat down beside her friend. 

"I know."

Olivia felt the team's eyes on the back of her neck, "I'm okay," she said as she turned to her coworkers. 

"Livvy, please, use this case to go home," Emily pleaded. 

"No, this is our job. I'm working regardless if the victim is Jamie or not." 

"Garcia's on the line," Rossi said, interrupting the brewing argument between the two friends.

The team turned to the computer as Garcia's face appeared on the screen, "Hey guys," her usual chipper tone was lost from her voice as she knew how close the case hit home, "NYPD just found another body, they're requesting you on the scene." 

"Where, Baby Girl?" Derek asked in attempts to cheer her up. 

"Upper West Side. I'm sending you all the address now." 

"Thanks, Garcia," Olivia said. 

Penelope flashed a small smile at Olivia. She knew her friend was hurting, "I love you guys. Stay safe." 

"We will," Spencer assured her. 

"Garcia out," Penelope said as the screen turned back to the FBI logo. 

"We don't have a case file for the newest victim," Hotch announced. 

The team nodded, "Morgan, Morales and Reid, you'll go to the newest scene. The rest of us will be at the precinct looking over evidence." 

"Are you ready, Kiddo?" Rossi asked Olivia. 

She nodded, "I'm ready." 

---

Derek, Olivia, and Spencer walked side by side as they entered the dark alley. 

"Excuse me! You can't just walk into a crime scene!" A detective called out to them. 

Olivia turned around first, "I'm SSA Olivia Morales, and these are my colleagues, SSA Derek Morgan, and Dr. Spencer Reid. We're with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit," she stuck out her hand to shake, he looked at it with disdain. Olivia quickly got the message and lowered her arm. 

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but we don't need the help," he smirked at Olivia, "especially yours."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Spencer said suddenly. 

"Trust me, no disrespect, but I'm not sure how she's qualified," the detective said. 

Derek stepped forward, "I'm going to advise that you get off our crime scene before I make you." 

The detective scoffed, "Make me." 

As Olivia watched the exchange, she began to laugh. 

"Is there something funny, little lady?" The detective said, smirking. 

Olivia smiled and approached the detective, "Detective Ryan, is it?" 

"Yes," the blonde said with a cocky grin. 

"Do you know who I am, Detective Ryan?" Olivia said, still wearing her sickly sweet smile. 

"No. Why should I?" Ryan said. 

Spencer and Derek turned to one another, both wearing confused expressions. They wondered how much leverage Olivia had. 

"Well, you see, I'm not sure if you're familiar with Police Commissioner Romero." 

"I'm familiar with Romero. How is he relevant?" Ryan said with an eye roll. 

"He's my godfather," Detective Ryan opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by Olivia, "Are you familiar with Captain Morales?" 

Detective Ryan swallowed, "Yes, she's my captain." 

The two male agents smirked, "She's my mother," Olivia said.

Detective Ryan's eyes widened, "I-I didn't know."

"That's alright, Detective Ryan. Did you serve?" 

Ryan nodded, "Yes, I served in the Navy." 

Olivia giggled, "Perfect! Are you familiar with Commander Morales?" 

"Yes, ma'am. He's a legend." 

"I'm so glad you think that! I'll pass the message along. He's my brother," Olivia said with a smirk. 

"Oh, wow. I'm so sorry. I would have never said the things I said if I knew who you were," Detective Ryan said. 

Olivia scoffed, "Of course you wouldn't. If you disrespect any more women who are on the force, I will contact your superiors." 

"Yes, ma'am."

Olivia nodded, "Now get off my crime scene."

---

"When Olivia finished putting Detective Ryan in his place, we found out that the other victim also had her pinky cut off," Derek recounted. 

"But why? Why does this unsub take the pinkies?" Rossi questioned.

The team began to mull over ideas about the significance of the pinkies, "Mouse? What do you think?" Derek asked her. 

Olivia turned her back to the whiteboard she was studying, her eyes filled with tears, "I think I know why." 

Spencer quickly moved next to Olivia and grabbed her hand, coaxing her to sit down. 

"Liv, what's wrong?" Spencer asked, still holding her hand. 

"When I was leaving the bodega the last time we were here, Jamie called me his soulmate," she took a deep breath and gripped Spencer's hand harder than ever, "I laughed it off and told him that he wasn't."

It was then when Spencer realized where she was going with her story, "The Red String."

Olivia let a few tears fall down her face, "The Red String," she said in confirmation. 

"What? Liv, Spence, what is that?" JJ asked. 

Before Spencer could speak up, Olivia beat him to it, "The Red String of Fate is a string that connects one person to their soulmate. In Japanese and Korean culture, it's often depicted as being tied around the pinky."

"It quite literally connects you to 'the one,'" Spencer said. 

"Well, that has to mean that there are some connections between the victims, right?" Emily said. 

Olivia sniffled, "No, I checked all the victims, I even had Garcia check. There are no connections." 

"This unsub only kills twice in whatever city he's in," Emily said. 

"Prentiss, what cities were those?" Rossi asked. 

Emily cleared her throat, "Little Rock, Baton Rouge, and then he jumped to here."

"Why? Why would he leave the South to come up here?" Hotch asked. 

Before anyone could answer, the door to the conference room opened. 

Olivia gasped, "Matthew?" 

Matthew Morales smiled, "Hey, sis." 

Olivia quickly stood up, pulling Spencer up with her, the team laughed at Matthew's surprised expression. 

"Oh! Sorry, Spence," Olivia said. She let go of his hand and quickly embraced Matthew. 

She turned to the team, "Guys, this is my brother, Matthew."

"Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau," Matthew knew who each team member was because of his sister, "Emily Prentiss," Matthew said with a wink. 

Emily smiled, "Nice to see you again, Matthew." 

Finally, Matthew turned to Spencer, "Dr. Spencer Reid." 

Spencer nodded, "It's nice to meet you." 

Matthew laughed, "I can't believe I finally get to meet the guy my sister won't stop talking about." 

Derek laughed as he watched his friend turn bright red, "Matt!" Olivia yelled as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 

"I'm just stating the truth, Oli," Matthew said with a smirk. 

Olivia groaned, "How did you know I was here?" 

"Mom told me I could stop by."

Olivia rolled her eyes, "Of course she did." 

Matthew put a hand on his younger sister's shoulder, "I heard about Jamie. I'm sorry."

Olivia nodded, "I'm sorry too. But we're gonna catch the bastard who killed him."

Matthew gave Olivia a smile, "I know you will."

---

It was nearing the end of the first week in New York, and the team still had no leads. 

As Olivia was coming into the precinct, an officer handed her a letter, "What's this?" 

The officer shrugged, "I have no idea. It was in today's mail." 

"Why are you giving it to me?" Olivia asked. 

The officer pointed to the top right corner of the envelope, "It's addressed to you and your team."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows, "Thank you, Officer Lewis."

Officer Lewis nodded and walked away. 

Olivia quickly made her way to the team, "We got mail."

"What?" Rossi asked.

"From who?" JJ asked. 

"No idea. It's addressed to me and the rest of us."

Before Olivia opened the letter, Spencer stopped her, "Let me open it." 

"Why?"

"It might not be safe." 

JJ smirked, Spencer would do anything to keep Olivia safe, "Alright." 

Spencer ripped open the envelope, after a thorough inspection, he determined it was safe, "Well, what does it say?" Hotch asked.

Spencer cleared his throat, “Is it crazy for you to tell your friends to go on home, so we can be here all alone? We'll meet again.” 

"The first sentence is in quotation marks," Emily pointed out. 

"Olivia, you look puzzled," Rossi pointed out. 

"I feel like I've heard the first line before," Olivia said. 

"I'll call Garcia. She'll find it," Emily said. 

"You've reached Penelope Garcia, the good witch of the BAU. What can I do for you?" Penelope said over the phone.

"Hey Pen, I need you to look something up for me," Olivia said. 

"Anything for you," Penelope gushed over the phone. 

Olivia smiled, "Ready?"

"Yup!"

“Is it crazy for you to tell your friends to go on home, so we can be here all alone?" Olivia recited. 

The team listened to the keyboard clacking on the other side, they waited a few moments before Penelope responded, "Nada."

"Really?" Olivia asked, she could've sworn she's heard the phrase before.

"Zilch, babe. Sorry," Garcia said apologetically. 

Olivia sighed, "It's alright, Pen. We'll see you when we get home."

---

The team had been in New York for too long. They still had no leads, they barely had a working profile.

Matthew joined his sister at the airport to say goodbye. She sat close to her brother, unsure if she really wanted to leave, "I feel like I owe it to him, Matthew," Olivia said. 

Matthew sighed, "I know you, you work with the best team in the world, you'll catch the unsub." 

"Thanks, Matt." 

The siblings sat in silence before Matthew stood up, "I'm going to talk to Reid for a bit." 

Olivia glared at him, "Why?"

"Just some man to man stuff. Nothing too serious," Matthew said with a grin.

"Matt, don't do anything stupid," Olvia warned. 

Matthew rolled his eyes, "I'm hurt that you think I would." 

Matthew made his way to the young doctor, "Hello, Reid." 

"Hello?" Spencer said, confused as to why Olivia's brother was speaking to him.

Matthew studied Spencer for a moment before speaking, "Jamie told me about you before he died. He told me about the conversation the two of you had." 

Spencer nodded, "I remember." 

"Jamie always wanted the best for Liv, he told me about the way the two of you looked at each other. Hell, I saw it for myself when I first met all of you." 

Spencer nodded again, wondering where Matthew was going with this, "Well, what I'm trying to say, is that you are the best for Olivia. You two clearly have something. From what Liv has told me, you're a great guy." 

Spencer looked at Olivia and smiled, "She's a great girl." 

Matthew laughed quietly, "Spencer, you should tell her."

"Tell her what?" 

"Tell her how you feel." 

---

When Spencer and Olivia arrived at their building, Olivia didn't want to be alone. 

"Hey, Spence?" Olivia called out

"Yeah?" Spencer said. His mind was still reeling from his conversation with Matthew. 

"Do you mind if I spend the night at your place? I don't think I can be alone." 

Spencer took one look at his friend, and he knew he couldn't say no, "Yeah, come inside." 

As the two got settled in his apartment, Spencer realized that Olivia didn't have any pajamas, "Do you want to go over to your apartment and grab some stuff?" He asked Olivia. 

Olivia shook her head, "I don't want to go over there right now."

Spencer nodded, "I'll find you something to wear."

Olivia shot him a quick smile, "Thanks, Spence."

---

Long after Olivia had changed into Spencer's oversized Cal-Tech hoodie and his sweatpants the two began a Doctor Who marathon. 

"Are you tired?" Spencer asked. 

"No..." Olivia said. 

Spencer smiled, "Liv, I just saw you yawn. I can sleep on the couch, you can take the bed."

"Spence, we can share the bed. We've done it before." 

Spencer thought about it for a moment before nodding, "C'mon."

As the two settled into Spencer's bed, Olivia turned to face him, "What were you and my brother talking about?" 

Spencer cleared his throat, "I-uh... he was telling me to express my feelings for someone."

Olivia bit her lip, "Who?" 

"What?"

"Who is someone?" Olivia asked.

Spencer waited for a minute before responding, "You."

"How do you feel?" 

Spencer swallowed, "My feelings for you are unexplainable. I can't put them into words. When I'm with you, I know I'm okay. Whenever I'm around you, I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. You make my heart race, Olivia." 

Olivia smiled, "Spencer, I feel the same way." 

Spencer let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "C-Can I kiss you?" 

Olivia smiled and nodded. As Spencer connected his lips with Olivia's, she felt like she was floating. The kiss was slow and sweet. Olivia was breathless when they pulled apart. 

Spencer smiled at Olivia, "I've been wanting to do that for a while now." 

Olivia laughed, "So have I." 

Olivia yawned, she rested her head against Spencer's chest, "Goodnight, Spencer."

Spencer smiled, he kissed Olivia's forehead, "Goodnight, Olivia." 

---

tags: @reid-187​ @queenspencerreid05​

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Uchitama 7 - 8 | Eizouken 8 - 9 | ID: INVADED 8 - 11 | Iruma-kun 22 - 23 (FINAL) | BnHA 82 - 83

Uchitama 7

Lemme guess…this is the ve-Yep.

The name of this segment is Ottamake. The ke means fur/hair, but it does seem like it’s referring to Tama otherwise.

For some reason, Bull’s really into cats…

LOL, you can see the cat food right there is a real brand. I dunno how they got away with that.

Hmm, this show has something to say about idol business…and it does it better than some of the human idol shows! That says something.

It even comments on the “graduation” system. Whaddaya know.

Welp, I never thought an anime could pull off this with a commentary on gender presentation, to boot. (It’s not as pervasive as Stars Align’s, but it’s still one of the better ones. I guess I shouldn’t expect it as a norm though.) I thought Kai was a dude though and so Bull’s interactions came off to me as massively gay. I’ve been thinking, maybe he’s pan? Can dogs be pansexual???

Why do I get the feeling Kai is going to be introduced into 3-chome? Update: Doesn’t happen.

This song sounds very idol-like.

Uchitama 8

Aww…I feel like we’re going to learn Nora’s backstory soon. I think it’s going to be real sad.

…Yup, there goes my kokoro. Smol Nora is cute~!

Genki can mean “healthy” as well as “energetic” – the latter is why it’s translated as “spunky”.

Why do I get the feeling Nora’s owner died…?

Oh, smol Nora has a bandaid on his leg.

Let me ask the essential furry question – they hav human ears and animal ears. Which of those sets of ears do they hear with?

Yuuki Kaji does a good job as Nora.

This song’s so sad, it almost got me crying…  

Eizouken 8

This anime is like something from Studio Trigger!

The magic of Eizouken is that you get sucked into the anime they make and never look back.

Tomodachi vs. nakama, I think it is.

Id: Invaded 8

Lately, I’ve been thinking about practical cosplay (everyday wear that also doubles as a cosplay outfit). So basically, I’ve been thinking about Sakaido and El-Melloi II’s outfits a lot, since they’re rather practical while still looking cool. All I’m missing for El-Melloi’s outfit with the red jacket is a black button-up shirt, for El-Melloi’s outfit with the black jacket I’m missing a red scarf and I’m missing a brown button-up shirt for Sakaido’s (although the yellow scarf I got today to get one step closer to two of those isn’t the right mustard colour, it’s more of a lighter yellow).

Also, I noticed it’s (according to the katakana) meant to be “Id: Invaded”, but heck, it’s been ID: Invaded for so long for me, I don’t care either way.

Kiki was born in Fukui.

I always thought Mister Fixer sounded sad and now I think I know why…the bit I remember the most (the line that goes “Mister Fixer” and the bit around it) sounds like the singer is lamenting their life. Now that I see the visuals again after a few weeks (I’d get fatigued if I watched all that Fate/ and still managed to keep up with simulcasts, so I’ve been taking the simulcasts in a few eps at one time), Mister Fixer does quite sound like a crime drama song, but not as much as Thought I Knew (from Stand My Heroes).

I’ve seen images of Anaido and Sakaido in the same well for a few weeks now, so this cooperation bit is no surprise at all.

I believe Fukuda is asking why Narihisago is a –san to her even though they’ve worked together a while.

The words “data profile” are in one corner of the titlecard.

Does Anaido remember who he is in the ID Well? I presume not, but it’s hard to tell since we haven’t had as much time with him as we have Sakaido (not to mention I’ve been regularly filling my head with Fate/ and other things as well lately…so it’s hard to remember).

It’s interesting. Fukuda has the same piercings as Anaido (and even a ring on one pointer finger that matches them!), so he must’ve tried experimenting with…more legal holes, to put it one way…before getting his most iconic one.

Kaeru’s nails are chipped. Hmm.

In #Brake-Broken, which I read the first chapter of earlier (there’s a sample on the Young Ace website), Sakaido notices he doesn’t have a phone with him to call anyone or a licence (because in that manga, he wakes up in a car). It’s likely this will work the same way and Anaido won’t have any possessions on him, aside from the clothes on his back, accessories and the item that was stolen from his wrist/s.

Rings on both fingers…so I should be talking about them in plural. Update: I like how Anaido’s off-the-wall thought processes break up the inherent seriousness of Sakaido’s deductions and utilitarian way of doing things.

Anaido, you grimdark f***er. Update: For trying to eat a dead girl.

Okay, so for the sake of my practical cosplay, I knew I’d need this episode. Sakaido wears a long-sleeve brown shirt with some kind of shirt under that (either brown or black), plus a mustard-coloured scarf. (Note El-Melloi II wears a black shirt under his black button-up shirt, so I went with black as well.) In Brake Broken, I also noticed he wears dark socks (or that could be the leggings) and runners with a lightning bolt on them (I had to make do with generic black runners with a white stripe on the bottom), plus the iconic brown shorts over those (with a triangle pattern)…Why does Sakaido have a scarf anyway, versus Anaido and Miyo who don’t? As much as I like scarves, especially where colder weather is involved, getting a specific colour scarf was a bit of a headache to be honest, since I took 3 trips before deciding on the one I was going to buy (and even then, someone got it before me! The scarf I have now was my 2nd choice). Update: The shorts, leggings and undershirt are black, but I don’t know if Sakaido is wearing any socks or if they’re black too.

Just to note what Anaido has as well (although a coat like that, with the red detailing and flaps, would be hard to find…), he has a blue coat, suspenders, a white button-up top, a string tie (had to google what that was called, although its name is pretty obvious now that I know), black pants (which kinda look like leggings, but they’re not) and leather boots.

Now Sakaido can go into the loony bin…he’s talking to Kaeru.

Is Anaido going in circles? Sakaido caught up real fast…

Um, hey, protip: When stuck in quicksand, try to “float” on it. If you move, you’ll sink into it more. I don’t know how I know that, but I did stick it into my mind for times like this.

Notably, Anaido is about a head taller than Sakaido. Either Sakaido is unnaturally short and Anaido is average…or Anaido is just tall in that way some men are.

Did the bird get to this dude…?

There appears to be a man with a bun facing Hondomachi in the ED, although you can’t tell who it is from silhouette alone…Maybe he hasn’t appeared in the show yet. (Can’t be Matsuoka though. Might be the old guy who’s the head of Kura, actually.)

Update: Is the dead guy Momoki…?

Id: Invaded 9

It’s the familiar ceiling scene from Evangelion! (Okay, I’m kidding, but it’s a similar deal.)

I think the rules of Fate/ are “do it all, until you can no longer do it” (i.e. Everything is the same, until it’s different). It seems it’s the same here too.

Huh? Momoki?

“It doesn’t seem friendly.” – Yeah, and people die whe they are killed…in murder mysteries like this, usually speaking.

I noticed Narihisago’s tie is the same colour as his Sakaido jacket, if not the shirt under that.

Where did the Challenger’s clothes go after he took them off??? Hyperspace??? He wasn’t shown tossing them.

So Kaeru was Asukai all along, huh?

“Look at this.”

“It makes me think about him.” Subbers, that’s two mistakes in less than 1 minute…

I saw a fanart where Narihisago had his arm broken. I didn’t know why, but now I do. Also, TV Tropes is bad if you want to avoid spoilers…I know that already, but I go there anyway sometimes...

“It makes me wanna puke.”

Iruma-kun 22

The anime’s final episode is next week…but there’s already a season 2 in store for next year, so hopefully I survive the coronavirus and sort out all my issues this year in time for it.

Dat OP though. I’ve grown used to it and it’s actually endeared itself to me…which is odd, since I didn’t think I’d like it at first.

Demdol = akudol. Obviously, from “demon”.

Was that…Clara’s mother???  Kuromu’s older bro doesn’t look too bad, either.

Ohmygosh, this is fabulousssssssssss (and hilarious)! I’ve been waiting for this moment for many episodes, as you can tell if you’ve been following along, and I finally got the payoff!

Clara ends her sentence with –akuma (devil), hence the translation is matching it the same way.

Oh my gosh, Ryouhei Kimura (Azz-kun) sucks at being feminine, but that’s exactly what the role requires for this!

If you just pretend Azz-kun isn’t dressed in such an outlandish outfit, he looks really good…! Ayumu Murase does a pretty good falsetto, although you can tell there’s one point where Kimura’s voice gets really manly-sounding for a lady.

“Little imp” – Koakuma.  

Oh! The Keroli family is all cute.

Ooh, Kuromu’s nails are blue. Never noticed that before.

Eizouken 9

Chojugiga are ancient pictures normally depicting animals. As for sepak takraw…

I wonder if Eizouken will tackle the Manabi Line one day…?

That’s a parallel for Comiket, LOL.

“A colossus that no one can see!” – Gridman, is that you?

When did Kanamori meet Asakusa again…?

Kanamori with a bun is cool.

“There is nothing fun about social media!” – Well, social media is fun for me because it’s where I escape reality, but sometimes you gotta be like Kanamori and use it for publicity’s sake.

LOL, the username for the Eizouken is @eizoukenn.

I just realised Mizusaki’s hairstyle is irregular…it’s much longer on on side than the other.

“Mizusaki bump” – I think this references the Colbert bump. (TV Tropes link)

Kanamori – she with the word “gold”…or “money”…in her name – struggles with maths? Wow, that was something to hear. (I guess it’s kinda like me and IT (cybersecurity) – I suck at it because I suck at modulos…or division in short…and even though I can be found on my computer a lot, that’s why I don’t pursue it any longer. I was decent at accounting, but man, I’d be bored out of my brain if you made me do business IT and I have zero skills in games and multimedia.)

“Was it thuggery?” – What’s thuggery? That word sounds funny.

Did you see how Asakusa fell off the tank?

I did CR’s Eizouken quiz sometime in the past and it gave me Asakusa. That’s true, basically. I like thinking up ideas and how cool they are, but because I can’t stop from elaborating on them, they get out of hand and that’s why I have a tonne of dropped projects. (Then again, with how freely I can imagine motion, I could’ve gotten Mizusaki too.) Update: Tried again and I actually did get Mizusaki…whaddaya know.

Id: Invaded 10

People have been comparing this to Minority Report…now I see why.

I almost feel like this is a discussion of euthanasia and suicide as much as it is memory and the consciousness.

Ohh…she remembers! Hondomachi!

You can’t see Muku’s face! Ohh, scary!

Aww, the music really sold this montage. By the way, that sign didn’t say “entrance ceremony”, it said nyuugaku omedetou, “Congratulations on your entry [into school]”.

It…this singer almost sounds like Bruno Mars, but that would be basically impossible, no?

Oh my gosh…when the song swelled, I absolutely cried. That’s rare, man – that’s rare.

BnHA 82

I think the leftmost figure might be Miruko, the rabbit lady. I’ve never read anything about her outside of wiki pages ad other small spoilers, but I roughly know what she looks like.

What does Gentle mean by “Anglaise”? Surely it wouldn’t refer to cream…(crème anglaise)

LOL, Disneyland parades…

Whew…that was dangerous. I almost agreed with Mineta there (to get the festival over and done with).

I swear Midoriya gets together with All Might, just like this, at the end or start of a climactic arc. He did it in the last season of BnHA, remember?

BnHA 83

Hmm…It’s interesting that the author likes to point out who has and hasn’t met Eri. Then again, it’s good for consistency.

LOL, Amajiki my boy…you’re so relatable.

Hmm…amidst the coronavirus concerns…this cancellation business seems quite timely.

Oh! It’s a drone.

For some reason, I thought Sero was drinking vegetable juice…? Eh, no matter. They have vegetable juice in Japan – I remember seeing some on my trip.

Hmm? Gentle is like a phantom thief, I just realised. Mostly harmless, but bound to cause a big stir if he gets his way.

What is Gentle’s Quirk, anyway…?

Work Son…LOL(…?)

Who bets their moustache on this stuff, anyway…? (LOL)

Iruma 23 (FINAL)

I don’t get to see Iruma become evil this season…but he will next season! That visual I’ve been seeing by the original mangaka confirms it!

Marathon - the demon puns are back.

Demonicon =Oricon chart.

Demon Star Platinum…was that…a Jojo’s reference?! *scare chord*

Oh! Maguro (tuna).

Azz-kun being afraid of fish? That’s news to me.

Okay, subbers. Whose idea was it to translate Iruma’s words as “My feels…”…?

There’s a post-credits segment. Keep watching.

Yay! Evil Iruma-kun!...In spring 2021. (I’ve never once been so excited for a character to turn evil than this! I also like how evil Iruma said it’s the “buttcrack” of dawn…but that’s just my immature side showing.)

Id: Invaded 11

“…being taken for a ride!” – Well, you’re in a car, so you’re getting a ride nonetheless. (LOL) I hadn’t heard of the term “being taken for a ride” until…what? 2016, I think? When I was still doing language anaylsis.

Sakaido used Headbutt! It’s…kind of effective? (Writing up these pseudo-Pokémon battles is fun. I should write more.)

“…put a drill to your head…”

“The victims of John Walker’s serial killers…”

I noticed Hondomachi is touching the side of her head which had the hole in it…if I remembered it right.

Is it “the Kura”? Or just Kura?

August 15th is a popular date for anime, huh? It’s in the middle of summer. (Refers to Kagerou Project.)

That ‘who knew you needed to lose something to be complete’ thing…I think I get it, but for some reason I only ever seem to get that feeling when it’s me trying to read asexuality into things (since that’s how I learnt to interpret asexuality), so…yeah, way to go, me.

Wait…Togo visited Momoki’s bedroom?!

Yep, so I was right about that being the side with Hondomachi’s hole.

[themurphyzone]

Secret Santa Ch 9

And this is the last chapter for this story! Thanks for reading! 

Going back to a happy Christmas fic!

Ch 9: Let’s Party, Everyone! 

Per Mort’s request, Amanda made sure to label which food items contained peanuts. The 7th graders would be released to the library in five minutes, so she was on crunch time with the set-up. 

The Christmas tree stood proudly in the center of the room, while dozens of decorations lined the library walls and shelves. Amanda was glad that the item shortage at Jefferson County Middle School didn’t extend to holiday decorations. 

While Amanda adjusted several chairs, a bell chimed to signal the long-awaited announcement. 

“I’m telling you my keys are somewhere in the cafeteria,” Principal Milder snapped to someone. “If you don’t find them in the next half hour, I’m shoving you into-ah, was this thing on?” An awkward silence filled the air before she continued. “Please don’t tell any visiting administrators about that last sentence. Thanks. Teachers, please release the 7th graders who are participating in the Secret Santa party. Enjoy!” 

Amanda scanned the room one more time, turning a snow globe slightly to the right. 

The library door burst open, and her classmates poured in. Some people made a beeline for the buffet, others settled in the couches and began to chat. 

“Great job with the decorations, Amanda!” Lydia wrapped her arm around her shoulder. “Well, come on! Let’s have some fun!” 

“In a moment,” Amanda said. “Have you seen Chad?” She glanced at her present, which was neatly wrapped with a candy cane pattern. 

“I gotcha, girl!” Lydia winked. 

Amanda waved her hands in protest. “No, you don’t need to...this is a library!” 

“HEY, CHAD!” Lydia screamed over the cacophony of their classmates’ laughter. 

The librarian poked her head out of her office. “Shhh!” she hissed before retreating. 

Lydia rolled her eyes. “What? We’re all partying in here anyway. What’s a few more decibels?” 

Chad waved from the candy section of the buffet, quickly loading his plate and rushing to join them. “Hey! What’s up?”

In answer, Amanda held out the present. “I drew your name,” she explained. “What do you think?” 

Chad’s eyes widened. “Oh, cool! Does someone mind holding my plate?” Lydia happily took it, eyeing one of the colorful marshmallows along the edge. He ripped through the wrapping paper, exposing the cover of the book she’d bought for him.

“Vampires and Other Otherworldly Creatures From Around the Globe,” he read. His face split into a grin. “This’ll help my blog so much! Thanks!” 

Amanda nodded. “I’m glad you like it. You enjoy that book!” 

“I will!” Chad said eagerly. “Hey, can I get my plate back-” 

Half a marshmallow protruded from Lydia’s mouth. She swallowed it nervously. “Sorry, couldn’t resist...” she mumbled, sheepishly handing over his plate. 

“Uh, no worries,” Chad said. He walked off to mingle with Milo, Melissa, and Zack.

“You still have to give your present to Bradley,” Amanda reminded her. 

“I’m perfectly aware,” Lydia muttered. 

Chad proudly showed off his new book. It was a hardback, but it also wouldn’t be difficult to carry around in school. “I subscribed to your blog by the way,” Milo said. “Can’t wait to see what you come up with in the future!” 

Melissa rolled her eyes. “You people are enablers.” 

He was hoping the book would provide some evidence so he could prove Mr. Drako’s vampirism. But even if it didn’t, it would still be an interesting read. 

“Hey, you know how we were on that death trap with the huskies a few weeks back?” Chad asked. 

“How can I forget?” Melissa asked. “Those huskies were so adorable. I would’ve adopted them all if I could.” 

Zack glanced at her. “We could’ve died and all you can focus on are the dogs?” 

“Yup,” Melissa replied. 

There was a loud crash followed by a yelp of pain. Milo had dropped his present on his foot. He hopped between the table and couch in pain, clutching his leg. 

“I’m alright!” Milo said with a pained smile. “I didn’t break my big toe this time!” 

“Anyway, I bought you a pack of earbuds,” Chad tossed his gift to Zack. “You might want to consider stocking up.” 

“Well, these’ll be useful,” Zack grinned. “My stuff is in danger of disappearing or getting destroyed anyway. My brothers have a bad habit of breaking into my room, so I better find a good hiding spot for these.” 

“Sweet,” Chad said. “Take good care of that pack for me. Donatello helped me decide on this after all.” 

Zack found Mort by the hot chocolate station. He tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, man,” Zack said. “So I got you this 8-ball. Hope you don’t mind.” 

He passed Mort a package with a black 8-ball inside. “Thanks,” Mort replied. “You know, it’s funny. My horoscope told me that I would receive something that could decide’s one fate.” 

Zack chuckled nervously to himself, deciding that it was probably better if he kept the whole tarot cards thing a secret. 

Mort stirred his hot chocolate with a candy cane, watching the red stripes dissolve into the drink. “This is some good hot chocolate,” he said. 

Amanda smiled at his compliment. “Glad you think so, Mort.”

“AMANDA!” someone screeched. 

“Oh no,” Amanda groaned. “Do you mind if I hide behind you?” 

Mort shrugged. He had no issue with being used as a hiding place. 

Before she could squeeze behind him, Lydia spotted her. “Have either of you seen Bradley? I can’t find him anywhere! He has to be here. I have a bow to give Pepper and he has the nerve to not show his face! I’ll kill him if he doesn’t show in the next ten seconds.” 

“How about you don’t kill him at a party I put together?” Amanda suggested. 

Then Mort had an idea for a distraction. “I got you those mint-scented candles,” he said, handing over his present. “You were right. They do smell really good.” 

Lydia inhaled the scent deeply, a blissful look crossing her face. “Wow, that smells great. Thanks, Mort. Don’t worry about me. My urge to knocking some sense into that boy is fading.” 

“That’s a relief,” Amanda sighed. 

Bradley was a master at avoiding interaction. Lydia was ready to pull her hair out. Seriously, one boy shouldn’t be that hard to find! 

“We’ve only been here for twenty minutes, thirty-four seconds,” Amanda said. “He’ll have to give his Secret Santa present soon.” 

“Mort, can you try using your sixth sense to find him?” Lydia begged. 

Mort shook his head. “Sorry. It doesn’t work that way.” 

Lydia groaned and buried her head into a pillow. 

“May I make a suggestion?” Amanda asked. “If you want to find Bradley, you need to think more like an introvert.” 

“Live in my bedroom writing angsty poems?” Lydia replied. “Or are we talking the I hate everything type?” 

Amanda sighed. “Within context. Bradley probably doesn’t handle large parties that well. Some people just aren’t social butterflies.” 

“So he’d try to find the quietest part of the room?” Lydia asked. 

Amanda flashed her a thumbs-up, beaming. Grabbing a sugar cookie from the buffet, she rushed off to check the library shelves. The librarian sent her a disapproving look as she shelved several borrowed books. 

Lydia quickly ducked into the next aisle before the librarian could comment on the cookie in her mouth. She wasn’t going to browse through some boring history books and leave crumbs in the pages like the librarian seemed to think. 

She peeked in every aisle she passed, but there was no sign of Bradley. She was about ready to give up and check elsewhere when she heard a faint mew coming from the last aisle.

Peeking from between two books, she found Bradley lying on his stomach, keeping Pepper occupied with a piece of string. She batted at the string, rolling over and exposing her belly. 

“Um, hey,” she called, startling Bradley. He sat up, hiding Pepper behind his back. “I’m not gonna report you for having Pepper. I just wanted to give you my present.” 

Bradley still didn’t look convinced. The least he could do was say something. Even if it was scathing. 

Lydia opened her purse and set the red bow and card on a nearby table. As she turned to leave, she saw Bradley take the bow and place it on Pepper. 

“Makes up for your penmanship,” he said. 

Lydia decided to think of it as his way of saying ‘thank you’. “You know, if you aren’t comfortable in that crowd, I can let your recipient know where you are,” she said. 

“I’m not uncomfortable,” Bradley retorted, though Lydia could tell he was lying from his lack of eye contact. “Just tell Melissa where I am, okay?” 

“Will do!” Lydia said. On her way back, she grabbed another sugar cookie. One more couldn’t possibly hurt. 

Bradley finished making one of the pictures he snapped of Pepper in her red bow his new phone background. He moved an icon so it didn’t cover her eye, satisfied with the quality of the photo. 

Pepper mewed, pawing at the gift bag he’d placed Melissa’s present in. “It’s safer over here,” he said. “I am not taking you within range of the splatter zone.” 

Unsatisfied, Pepper rubbed her head against his hand. 

“If this is your way of persuading me, it’s not going to work,” he scolded gently. 

“Lydia said you wanted to talk to me,” a voice said. Melissa waved with a quick flick of her wrist. “So what’s up?” 

“I drew you for the Secret Santa,” Bradley explained, standing up and holding out his gift bag. “Got the idea when you were in the pet store with the Boy Blun-uh, Milo.” 

Melissa pushed the tissue paper aside, gasping. “A stuffed Shiba Inu? I love Shibas! They’re like little foxes!” She pressed the stuffed animal to her face, then seemed to realize what she was doing and quickly stopped. “You never saw that.” 

“Yeah, think I’ll keep the tissue paper. It’s a good toy for Pepper,” Bradley said. 

“We’re doing some karaoke in a few minutes,” Melissa said. “Wanna join us?” 

Bradley shook his head. “I don’t sing.”

“Okay, suit yourself. And thanks for the stuffed Shiba!” Melissa rushed off to join everyone else. 

Bradley set the gift bag on its side so Pepper could explore the opening. “Maybe this Christmas won’t be so terrible after all.” 

“Where’d you get the stuffed animal?” Zack asked, pointing to the Shiba that rested in her lap. 

“From Bradley,” Melissa replied. “He’s in the back playing with his new kitten. Invited him to karaoke with us, but he didn’t want to. Anyway, think I’m gonna name this little guy Chris.” 

“How original,” Zack said. 

“I think it’s a good name!” Milo exclaimed. The karaoke book that had the full list of songs and numbers sat in his lap, opened to the holiday section. “Do you think I should start with Sleigh Ride or It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas?” 

“The second one,” Melissa suggested. “If anyone can set the mood, it’s you.” 

Milo stood up from the couch to grab the microphone. “Well, in that case, I’ll start! Who wants the book?” 

Chad raised his hand, and Zack passed it to him. 

They only had an old, bulky TV hooked up to the karaoke machine, but it would be fun regardless. 

“I give thirty seconds before this thing glitches,” Zack said. 

Milo was barely a few seconds into the song when the lyrics and background music jumped to a completely different tune. “It’s beginning to look a lot like kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,” Milo sang, appearing not to notice. Or if he did, he just went to town on it and easily went from the Kookaburra song to Gitchee Gitchee Goo to Hickory Dickory Dock, finally ending on Chop Away at My Heart.

He bowed to a round of applause. 

Chad gulped as Milo passed the microphone to him. “I guess we won’t be needing the book,” he said.

“Remind me to take a turn,” Melissa said as Milo sat down. “I’d like to test my luck on that machine.” 

Chad’s frenzied singing filled the air as Melissa pulled out her present. 

“Here, my room was getting cluttered so I made some memories,” Melissa said, plopping the scrapbook into Milo’s lap. 

“Ah, memories,” Milo sighed with nostalgia. “Here’s the time we went horsebacking through the dusty dunes! Zack, you had it pretty bad for that Jackie girl.” 

“Please don’t remind me,” Zack groaned, burying his hands over his face in shame. 

Melissa smirked. “What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t remind you?” 

The party finally drew to a close as the end of the school day approached, and most people were only lingering to scoop up any leftover food to take home. Amanda remained behind to supervise the cleanup. Milo had purposely waited until the end to give his present to her. 

“Hi, Amanda,” Milo said. 

“Hi, Milo,” Amanda answered distractedly, combing down her checklist for the cleanup. “Sorry, unless you volunteered for cleanup or are just here to take a cookie or two, I’m going to have to ask that you leave.” 

Milo opened his backpack. “Here’s your gift. Merry Christmas!” 

“Well, I suppose I can squeeze in one and a half minutes to unwrap a gift,” Amanda said, tearing at the corner carefully. “You’re giving me a safe?” 

“Oh, I forgot to take it out,” Milo said. He fumbled with the combination before opening it. 

Amanda examined the headband, running her thumb across the band of sequins. She took off the one she was currently wearing, replacing it with the one Milo gave her. 

“How do I look?” she asked. 

Milo smiled. “It looks good on you!” 

Amanda tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, eyes shifting down to her clipboard. Milo looked up, seeing a plant with white berries above them. 

“Um, Amanda,” Milo pointed up. 

Amanda followed his finger, then dropped her clipboard in shock. “That wasn’t there before!” she yelped, blushing furiously. “I’ve never had a mistletoe kiss in my life!” 

“Neither have I,” Milo admitted, his cheeks heating up. 

“Oh, fine. I’ll do it,” Amanda said. She leaned forward and gave Milo a quick peck on the cheek. “I see that string, and I have a strong suspicion of who did this.” 

Milo hadn’t noticed the string at all, which hung from the ceiling. The other end led behind a large couch. And hiding behind the couch were Melissa, Zack, Chad, Mort, Lydia, and Bradley. 

“Lydia!” Amanda growled, her face bright red. 

Lydia laughed at her. “You should thank me! I was just pushing it along!” 

Amanda’s foot started to tap, and Lydia took that as her cue to flee. 

Bradley held his hands up in defense. “I had nothing to do with this. She grabbed me while I was trying to leave. Can I go now?” 

“So how are you feeling?” Melissa asked, waving her hand in front of Milo’s face to snap him out of his daze. . 

“I feel terrific!” Milo exclaimed. “Best Secret Santa party ever!”