#anyways it was our turn except she ended up losing her balance when fake-pushing me over and toppled over on me and ended up pinning me to

[gu6chan]

finished linework on the caionard shenanigans right now i hope i yaoied hard enough

[searchingwardrobes]

Not the Type - 6/8

Finally! A new update :) Sorry for the delay, but the muse has been fickle as of late. In this chapter, Emma has her first competition of the season, and it's psyching her out. Will Killian be her encouragement, or will she push him away in the midst of it all? This chapter includes another iconic scene from the movie, when Torrance dances around her room to Cliff's song. I wanted to use the actual lyrics to the song, but in looking at it, there were a few lines that bothered me. One literally says "I'd bring you flowers every day just to roll you in the hay." And then there's a constant refrain that says "I'll make you mine." Those lines just don't seem to jive for me with Killian's character when in canon he specifically tells David that he doesn't see Emma as loot and tells Emma that he will win her heart, but not through any trickery. We know he isn't the kind of guy to give a woman flowers in order to manipulate her into sleeping with him. We also know how much agency means to him, so I didn't think telling Emma in song "I'll make you mine" fit either. Anyways, that's a long way of explaining that the lyrics are 99% like the ones in the movie, minus those two parts.

Massive thanks to my beta, @hookedonapirate who takes my confusing sentences and makes them sound purty ;) You’re the best! And thanks also to the @captainswanmoviemarathon​ for putting together this event and being massively supportive and patient. 

Summary: Emma Swan first notices him in the stands at the Friday night football game. She can tell right away Killian Jones is not the football type. Then again, she’s not the cheerleader type either, but here she is with pom poms. Life hasn’t ever gone the way Emma planned. Lately, that’s actually been a good thing. Maybe Killian Jones is a good thing, too.

My loose Captain Swan AU of the movie Bring it On

Rated: T

Also on Ao3

Tagging: @kmomof4  @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose @xhookswenchx @teamhook @let-it-raines @winterbythesea @spartanguard @shireness-says @superchocovian @thesschesthair @resident-of-storybrooke @vvbooklady1256 @hookedonapirate @ultraluckycatnd @hollyethecurious @welllpthisishappening @wellhellotragic @bethacaciakay @optomisticgirl @lfh1226-linda @ilovemesomekillianjones @ekr032-blog-blog @itsfabianadocarmo @profdanglaisstuff @thisonesatellite @winterbaby89 @tiganasummertree @xsajx @jennjenn615 @zaharadessert @stahlop @scientificapricot @thislassishooked @kday426 @ultraluckycatnd @carpedzem @ohmakemeahercules @branlovestowrite @delirious-latenight-laughs @jennjenn615 @snidgetsafan @lassluna​

The room was thick with hair spray, and Emma and the rest of the Storybrooke Knights Cheerleaders were sucking on orange slices. Except for Ruby who was touching up her blood red lipstick in front of one of the mirrors propped up on the classroom’s smart board. 

“I think they’re red enough already, Ruby,” Coach Ava remarked as she sprayed more Aquanet all over her daughter’s hair. MM was having to wear a hair extension so she didn’t look out of place with their “hair” theme, and Coach was paranoid it was going to go flying across the gym floor during their routine. Emma wasn’t sure hairspray worked that way, but she wasn’t about to say so. 

Ruby smacked her lips together with a loud pop. “The redder the better, I say. I want them to see my smile.”

She turned to the rest of the group and flashed a toothy grin. They all laughed, and Belle grimaced. 

“More like a predator about to devour her prey.”

Ruby winked at Belle and growled, resulting in more laughter. Coach Ava rolled her eyes as she capped the hairspray. “Just don’t get it all over your teeth, okay Lucas?”

“No worries, Coach, it’s that long-lasting stuff that isn’t supposed to come off.”

“So why did you need fifty coats?” Tiana quipped.

They were all still laughing when a woman wearing a t-shirt that read, East Maybrook Invitational and holding an ipad poked her head into the classroom. “Storybrooke High in the hole!”

The girls all stood, gathering up their things, tossing orange peels into the trash bins and giving their hair and make up one last glance in the mirror. They followed the woman in the official t-shirt down two hallways to East Maybrook High’s cafeteria where cheer mats had been set up in the same configuration as on the performance floor. The girls took their places as if they were really performing, and marked out the routine while Coach Ava counted out the beats. If something went wrong with the music, they would have to keep going. They only pantomimed doing the stunts, however, not wanting to risk a last minute injury. 

After running through the routine, a nervous silence fell among them. Some girls stretched, others did a few jumps, or even a back handspring. Anything to handle their nervous energy. Emma bounced on the balls of her feet, heart pounding in her chest more than usual. A phone call had followed the letter: someone from the UK cheer staff would be in the stands today. 

And she still hadn’t told her friends about it.

“Storybrooke High on deck!” 

The girls gave each other nervous glances and clasped hands in little groups as they followed the woman out of the cafeteria doors. Emma had Ruby on her left and Mary Margaret on her right, their arms threaded together. For once, Ruby was quiet. 

As they neared the gym, the girls could hear the familiar sounds of competition: loud music, an announcer's voice, shouts as the audience cheered for the cheerleaders for once. It made the adrenaline pump even harder. It usually was at this moment that Emma went into her competitive “zone” where everything around her went fuzzy and her mind became laser focused on the routine and what she had to do. Today, however, she felt like she was on sensory overload, unable to turn off all the sights, sounds, and smells around her. 

Before she could even process everything, Storybrooke was being announced to the crowd. Emma ran out onto the floor with a huge smile, cheers, and fist pumps for the crowd, but it felt like she was outside of herself, watching. She took her place on the floor, standing in prep, her arms straight at her sides and her head down. Her fists were clenched, and she tried to control the nervous tremors coursing through her as she waited for their music to start. 

A synth-pop remix of “Hair” from the Broadway musical started to play, and the Storybrooke Knights whipped their ponytails as they started their back handspring/back tuck peel-offs. Coach Ava always said that the music needed to appeal to every generation represented in the judge’s panel as well as the crowd, and as Emma flawlessly landed her tumbling pass to roaring applause, she saw the two boomer judges smiling and bopping to the music. 

She reprimanded herself for looking at the judges as she jogged across the floor for her next tumbling pass. Nevertheless, she scanned the crowd just before she started her pass, wondering where that UK recruiter was. It was the most difficult pass in the entire routine: a back handspring into an arabian, then a double whip into a full twisting double back. She hesitated, stumbling, before getting started because of her distraction, and by the time she did her second whip, she had a sinking feeling. Sure enough, when she landed her double back, she was way out of bounds. She didn’t need the loud buzzer from the line judge to alert her to the fact. She gritted her teeth in frustration, but then remembered to fake a smile as she got into the dance formation. Her face ached from her forced smile as she swung her hips to the rhythm of “Whip My Hair.”

Emma’s next mistake came in the squad’s first pyramid. It felt like she had a weight attached to her ankle, and she couldn’t lift her leg as high as she normally did to connect to Mary Margaret’s stunt group to her left. She almost lost her balance completely, but Ruby compensated and saved it. Mary Margaret didn’t falter either, thank God. Emma was practically shaking as she went into the twist up stunt - her nemesis in this routine. Kelly Rowland singing “Crown” as Emma popped up, her hand grasping her ponytail, helped her power through, as cheesy as it sounded. 

Despite the mistakes Emma was berating herself for, the crowd was going crazy for the combination of the theme, the music, and the cool tricks. By the end, the entire gymnasium was on its feet with thunderous applause. Emma ended the routine seated on the mat, back to the audience with her head flung back. Since she saw them all upside down, she couldn’t pick out her family or anyone in Kentucky blue. 

Ruby yanked Emma to her feet, screaming loud enough to shatter her eardrums. Mary Margaret and Ariel sandwiched her in a hug, and then they were swept away by the rest of their ecstatic teammates. 

“Amazing job, girls!” Coach Ava praised, gathering them in a big, squirming, awkward group hug. “Mary Margaret didn’t even lose her hair!’’

They all laughed giddily, except for Emma. Her mind was reeling. “I went out of bounds,” she confessed.

Coach Ava waved off her words. “It’s our first competition. It’s normal for there to be kinks to work out. Let’s not worry about that until the next practice, though. For now, let’s just celebrate a solid opening for the season.”

Her teammates seemed to all be in agreement, and so did the judges, awarding The Storybrooke Knights with a third place finish. It wasn’t their best opening - that had been last year’s first place trophy to kick off the season - but making the top three was the goal of every top squad right out of the gate. Even the UK recruiter had congratulated her on a solid routine.

“I could see the nerves a bit,” she told Emma, her smile kind and reassuring, “but the level of tumbling skill you possess is rare. Top five I’ve seen so far, no doubt about it. We’ll definitely be in touch.”

Emma, however, couldn’t shake the feeling of failure that clung to her. 

“I’m blown away, Swan, that was amazing!”

Emma was in Killian’s arms before she could even register that he’d rushed out of the bleachers and onto the floor to greet her. He brushed a kiss to her cheek and deposited a bouquet of white daisies into her arms. 

“It wasn’t amazing,” Emma whispered, staring down at the white flowers. 

“Come now, don’t be modest.” Killian’s grin conveyed giddy pride in her which she found inexplicably annoying. 

“I stepped out of bounds on my big tumbling pass, I almost took down our first pyramid, and I was shaky on every single stunt!”

Killian’s eyes narrowed. “Your team doesn’t seem put out with you.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “They’re being nice. If we hadn’t placed, it would have been a different story. It would have all been my fault.”

“Whatever happened to the whole we win as a team, we fail as a team thing?”

“My team relies on me keeping my head on straight!” Her voice had risen, and she slashed the air with the bouquet of flowers. White petals fluttered to the gym floor. 

Killian cocked his head and studied her. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Nothing!”

“It’s something, Swan.” 

He stepped forward, reaching for her, but she stepped out of his reach. 

“I just let everyone down, but no one will be straight with me. Why can’t you all just admit I screwed up today?”

Killian shook his head. “I don’t think you’re seeing things clearly. I saw an amazingly talented athlete today, Swan. You were amazing.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Of course you’d say that. You’re a high school guy. You’ll say anything you have to to get in a cheerleader’s panties.”

Killian’s eyes widened and his head jerked back as if she’d slapped him. “You really think so little of me?”

She tilted her chin. “I’m no fool. Did you think tonight would be the night? Show up to my little competition, compliment me, throw in some flowers, and I’d spread my legs for you?”

Killian backed away, his jaw clenching, nostrils flaring. “I’m going to assume you don’t mean any of that, Emma, so I’m walking away before either of us can say anything we might regret.”

“Fine!” she yelled as he turned and walked toward the gym doors. “Walk away! That’s what every guy does when a girl won’t put out.” She threw the flowers at his retreating form. She watched the white petals swirl through the air and the green stems hit the parquet floor with a soft swish and crinkle of cellophane wrapper. 

“Emma!”

She whirled around to see Ruth standing there, frown upon her face and her brow furrowed. David stood next to her, his arms crossed in disapproval. Nearby a cluster of her teammates stared as if she’d morphed into some mythological creature with two heads. Her face burned as she realized how loudly she’d yelled at her boyfriend. 

Probably ex-boyfriend now. 

Humiliated, she turned and fled, fingers pressed to her flaming cheeks. 

*********************************************

“Go away,” Emma muttered into her pillow.

“What if I were Mom with a plate of brownies?”

Emma grabbed a teddy bear, clutching two tiny red pom poms (a gift from Ruth after last year’s state championship win), and smacked her brother in the head with it. She glared at him through one eye, the rest of her face still smashed into the pillow. 

“I knew it was you because you crashed down on my bed hard enough to catapult me out the window. Ruth’s more subtle.”

David just laughed as he rubbed at his cheek where the bear had met his face. 

“Go away,” she repeated, turning her face fully into the pillow again.

“You left your phone downstairs.”

“So?”

“So, you have like fifty text messages and thirty missed calls.”

Emma rolled over, still clutching her pillow to her chest. “Well, he’s persistent, I’ll give him that.”

“It wasn’t just Killian. Your entire team is worried about you.”

“Because I choked?”

“Because you're delusional,” David shot back with equal parts humor and frustration. “You didn’t choke. You didn’t let any of us down. You didn’t give a lousy performance, or any of a thousand other ridiculous claims you’ve made in the past few hours.”

Emma turned to look at her brother. “I made mistakes, David.”

He shrugged. “Who doesn’t? It was one competition, Emma, not the Olympics. It wasn’t even the state championships or regionals. One. Competition. At some tiny high school in the middle of nowhere, Maine.”

Emma groaned as she pushed herself up to the headboard and let her head drop to David’s shoulder. He put his arm around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

“Why didn’t you tell me about Kentucky?”

Emma sighed. When the recruiter had called, she insisted on speaking to Ruth as well. Emma should have known she would spill the beans to her son, especially after Emma acted like a complete lunatic. 

Yes, a delusional lunatic. Her brother wasn’t wrong. 

“I don’t know, it was just . . . a lot to process. And a lot rides on this. I mean, there aren’t any football recruiters looking at you, which means college is gonna be expensive, Mr. Quarterback. If my tuition is taken care of, Ruth can just worry about you.”

“I could get other scholarships.”

“You’re a white, middle class male. You aren't getting any other scholarships.”

He chuckled and poked her in the ribs. “Regardless of all that, Mom just wants what’s best for you. We’ll figure out college and the money and all that, but we’ll do it together. That’s what a family does. Okay?”

This family thing was still new for Emma, so she just nodded in agreement against David’s shoulder. 

“But speaking of Killian,” David said, waving her phone in front of her face, “some of these calls and texts are from him. He sent you a video, too. Then called me and pretty much begged me to get you to watch it, so just give him that much, okay? So he’ll leave me alone?”

Emma rolled her eyes as she took the phone. David could protest all he wanted, but she knew about the little bromance he had with her boyfriend. 

She waited until her brother went downstairs before she sat cross-legged in the center of her bed and pulled up the video from Killian. She gnawed on her bottom lip nervously before pressing “play.” 

And there Killian was, on the tiny screen, smiling like they’d never had a fight. Emma’s lips pulled up into a grin of her own. He was also holding his guitar in his lap and fidgeting.

“Hi, Emma,” he said with a nervous little wave. “You’ve been ignoring all my calls and texts, so I decided to pull out the big guns. I was gonna give this to you as a gift for like Valentine’s Day or something, but  . . . you know . . . desperate times call for desperate measures.”

He cleared his throat and shifted again, and Emma blinked back tears. She’d never seen him at such a loss for words. 

“I wrote you a song,’ he continued, “so, I’ll just shut up and sing it already.”

Emma gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as he began to strum his electric. It started 

out as a kind of slow, cheeky punk rock ballad.

Oh, Emma, I don’t get your cheerleading squad, but I love your pom-poms. I'd feed you bon-bons all night.

Then it transitioned into a full on rock song, and Killian began to shred on his guitar. He was really good, and the song had Emma bobbing her head to the music. 

1,2,3,4. Yeah, you got me to feel all those butterflies inside. In your locker I would hide. The truth, it's only you I see, and you're just what I need. I'll bring you flowers all the time in hopes that you’ll be mine. Well I'm feelin' fine, I'm right on time. I hope I’ll win your heart.

When he transitioned into the chorus, Emma leapt up from her bed. She propped her phone on her nightstand and began to dance around the room to Killian’s song.

And you're just what I need. And you're just what I need. Not everything works as it seems. Is that so hard to believe? So I went down to the record store. Picked my head up off the floor. The truth, it's only you I see. And you're just what I need. And if it's my world that you fear, let me make this very clear. Well I'm feelin' fine, I'm right on time. I hope I’ll win your heart. And you're just what I need.

The chorus repeated a couple more times, and Emma danced around her room like she hadn’t in a long time. She even grabbed an old pair of pom poms she’d gotten as a joke at the squad’s white elephant Christmas party. They were those enormous pom poms cheerleaders used to wave in the long ago days of letter sweaters and megaphones. They made a fun swishing sound as she bounced around the room to Killian’s song. 

A song he’d written for her! A song about her! If she wasn’t so giddy and happy, she would burst into tears. 

When the song ended, Emma collapsed onto her bed, panting from her ridiculous dance party and grinning ear to ear. She rolled over and grabbed her phone. She texted rapidly, her fingers trembling. 

I watched your song. 

Did you like it? 

I LOVED it!

Good. I meant every word. 

I’m sorry. 

I know. 

[elektra-world]

In Too Deep

Summary: Ever since Sora’s accident, Jenna hasn’t been feeling the same. The groups goofiest and most lovable member battles with some inner demons that get the best of her, and she winds up hurting herself in the end.

POV: Jenna

Warnings: Anxiety, Depression, Insecurity, body shaming, verbal/emotional abuse, errr...minor injury? (Poor baby....)

With the groups temporary hiatus, Jenna had grown bored. So had Mr. Park, evidently, because he had become far more abusive towards anyone in the vicinity and with most of the members being away visiting family (except for Sora), Jenna had become his favorite target these past two weeks. Everyday, it was nothing but:

"You should go to the gym more and eat less because you are once again getting fat and unsightly."

"You're a weird and immature girl with horrible manners. How any man could be attracted to you is beyond me."

"You are the ugliest member of the group. The least you could do is lose weight so fans have something nice to look at."

"That pretty boy could do much better than you and you know it."

Her down time led her to her sitting and stewing in her own paranoid, insecure thoughts. All his harsh words zoomed through her mind at the speed of light. 

Today though had been the happiest day she's experienced the last few weeks. Her and Sora had gone out to dinner with their respective partners, along with K and Kim Tan and Sevens parents as a pre-wedding celebration. It felt good being with everybody and laughing again after being alone and inactive for so long.

Naturally though, by the end of the dinner, her intrusive thoughts reared its ugly head. Jenna caught a glimpse of Venus' name and text on Junhos phone. She wanted to go shopping with him. Her mind kept flashing back to the hug Venus gave him while Junho and Jenna were in a video call and Venus was unaware. Jenna then convinced herself Venus liked him and that at some point, Junho would leave Jenna. Her reasonable side kicked it in, though - she didn't want to be a super clingy and controlling girlfriend plus she trusted him and wanted Junho to have a life of his own outside of her, so she let him go - she had to unpack, anyways, and didn’t want to bore him.

Jenna knew she was being dramatic and paranoid, which made her feel even more crazy. Did she think he would cheat on her? No. Did she believe him when he told her how much he loved her or how beautiful she was? Yes. Still, her inner demons took pleasure in playing with her emotions and wreaking havoc in her mind - it really felt like a whole different, sentient entity inside of her and took advantage of her immaturity and lack of experience when it came to relationships.

Jenna thought back to an emotional phone call with Yua form a few days ago.

“You’re letting a couple of high school losers and a sociopath with little man syndrome make you feel unworthy of love. You’re the most lovable, genuine person I’ve ever known.” Yua had told her.

“M-maybe I should break up with him...Maybe he’s better off, you know? It’s not fair for him to have to worry and constantly reassure me because I’m some stupid insecure dumb dumb. I know it’s all in my head but he deserves better, Yuyu.”

Yua hollered on the other line, the sound of her smacking the microphone blasted through the speaker. “Yah, J! Don’t be such a fool! Junho is a grown man who knows what he likes and he chose you. not venus or whatever girl you’ve concocted in your head - he chose you and only you. Plus the way he looks at you is so...Sickeningly sweet it makes me want to barf a little bit. It’s a look of a boy who’s deeply in love and nobody can fake THAT.” 

it was an overreaction on her part and thankfully, she came to her senses thanks to the help of her member, who was always very understanding yet sensible and not afraid to show some tough love when needed.

“This stupid birth control.” Jenna muttered, kicking an empty box across her room. “Turning me into some emotional, moody mess.” The tears that had threatened to spill earlier in the car finally came out and she fell back onto her bed, letting out an exasperated groan, arms and legs flailing around wildly like a child throwing a tantrum.

After fifteen minutes, she stood up and headed downstairs, wanting to distract herself with unpacking more. She grabbed a particularly heavy box and started up the stairs but due to tears that still lingered and blurred her vision, she ended up taking a mistep, dropping the box as she lost her balance, her body twisting as she attempts to catch herself using the railing.

There was a sharp pain in her ankle and she cried even harder, feeling like a complete idiot now. Sora was just starting to fully heal from her accident so the group could finally work on their next comeback, and now Jenna had gone and hurt herself. It was too much for her and she lost it in that moment, laying on the cold tile floor and sobbing for a good half an hour. A part of her just wanted to lay there and wither away. Thankfully though - after getting all her pent up emotions out, she finally came to her senses and got her phone from her jeans pocket, calling for a taxi before pushing herself up and hobbling outside.

Mentions: Junho  (@trubluestar-offical​)

A/N: It’s just a lot for our poor girl to handle. She loves being busy and loves being around people (which she hasn’t been lately) and she really cares about her friends and family. Some past traumas involving her older brother (who she adores) kind of throws her for a loop and it tends to really screw with her mind when people she cares about are injured. Add on her new birth control and she’s a bit on the overemotional, dramatic side but our food loving little butthead will get her shit together eventually.

[xsecretblastsx]

2x01 Summer Kind of Wonderful

SEASON TWO HERE WE GO.

I was dying to get here, this is one of my favorite episodes in the whole show. It’s also the episode were I really turned into a Chair shipper, so there’s that too, also The Hamptons!! Honestly was not to love about this episode.

I think this is the longest recap I’ve done in a while. As usaul recap under the cut.

Thoughts I had while watching:

I’ve watched this before and yet I’m still surprised our first taste of S2 is Nate going at it

After the super promising tease on Nate and Serena on the S1 turns out... she’s covering for him while he sleeps around... 😒

Chuck being Chuck, still a womanizer, still obsessed with Blair and as always ignoring Serena’s disgusted face. Also hilarious his enormous basket with cuttlery and such.

Look Joe Goldberg!!! Or is it Dan Humphrey? This bookstore setting is making it even more confusing.

Hi Jenny! And her never ending disatisfaction with her place at whatever she’s trying.

This scene between Chuck and Serena is so underrated. Her mocking face is hilarious. Pimp all you want Chuck it’s useless. Good luck in your suicide mission indeed.

What’s a Jitney? 😆How about where Blair returns to the Hamptons with a new beau. On your face Chuck Bass! On the words of GG: ain’t karma a bitch? We know Blair Waldorf is.

“A hot lifeguard is like Kleenex: use once and then throw away, you couldn’t ask for a better rebound” so says Blair 🤔

“The only thing lamer than dating Dan Humphrey is mourning Dan Humphrey” speaking words of wisdom Blair Waldorf

Of course all the wisdom goes out the window when Chuck appears. With the most extra polo ever and the shortest shorts in the history of menswear

Not that Blair wasn’t transparent with all her talk about James but oh my god Serena’s is so bad a going along with it.

“You’re lying. Your eyes are doing that thing were they don’t match your mouth” Chuck Bass: a walking manual on Blairisms

“I bet you’ll like him as much as I do” “If by that you mean I won’t like him at all then you’re right” meanwhile Serena is trying to pretend she’s anywhere else and not there silent witness to that verball pin pong

I always wonder how Jenny and Dan end up being like that with a Dad like Rufus

So this is “Jenny admitting she was a bitch and that Eric didn’t deserve it” first season.

“A honk instead of a knock? Did someone order a townie?" Blair’sn lines this episode are hilarious

I feel bad thinking that Nate’s main contribution so far is looking really good without a shirt.

Chuck Bass: a walking encyclopedia on everything Blair Waldorf.

If only the show had given us more Chuck and Cece interactions.

I feel I should have kept a score for all the Chuck and Blair jibes to each. That pin play on Blair’s part was check mate though. Auch. I almost feel bad for Chuck. Almost

In terms of cinematography that scene were they talk about the pin is gorgeous probably my fave in the show only behind that scene in Paris in S4. The matching outfits, the colors and the scenery are sooo good. Also the acting.

Knowing her like he does it’s interesting Chuck doesn’t realize Blair only gave that pin to James to hurt him. But the fact that it works is very telling on Chuck’s insecurities and feelings.

Nate being kicked out so the husband won’t catch him wouldn’t be half as hilarious if it wasn’t for Serena’s “no effing way face”

“Damn that Motherchucker” a novel by Blair Waldorf

I love Blair’s summer dress by the way

“All I could see was that Chuck Basstard” the sequel novel, also by Blair Waldorf

What a difference a summer makes: Nate and Chuck talking about Blair. I do feel Nate’s like “thank god it ain’t me anymore”

“And unlike you I don’t lose something if I let it out of my sight” Blair strikes again, this girl is on fire.

This episode is kind of proving that I barely care for any other storyline that doesn’t have the original four. After those two side by side arguments, getting back to Dan is really annoying

I kind of love it when Rufus points out to Dan how he never stops talking and doesn’t let anyone else said anything. Is kind of boring already how he only seems to write about Serena and the UES.

Chuck’s cricket outfit reminds me of how I should enjoy the crazy outfits while they last.

Ofc Chuck’s has a PI on speed dial Eric, duh. Gotta love him though: “i know that face, that face is not your friend” sorry Nate

I’m still trying to come up with the reason why the show let the fake dating storyline between Nate and Serena be such a waste. Whyyyy????

Just in case I forget: this white party was sponsored by Vitamin Water. For real there’s product placement and then there’s this.

The constrast between Serena looking like a greek goddess next to Nate’s I didn’t bother of an outfit is making me dizzy.

Chuck’s outfit for the white party kind of deserves a post of his own. Then again is probably my fave outfit of his on the whole show.

James calling out Blair for using him, while mentioning charade feels kind of overplayed now. Anyway he’s already pointing out how Blair and Chuck are the same and that’s why they deserve each other.

“Don’t you see? We’re the same? Stop trying to fight it” “I will fight it to my last dying breath because any resemblance to you is something I would hate about myself” this whole dialogue feels like a premonition.

Serena and Nate kissing and being totally into it while paparazzi plays is the background is just one of those moments. This is the kind of content I’m here for. Only to be ruined by Dan Humphrey.

And here we are again Dan getting mad when he doesn’t have a right to, thankfully karma is a thing in the form of drinks poured all over him

And somehow is Serena the one busy cleaning that suit, useless Dan is useless

Chuck’s “I’m so screwed” face when his PI tells him Blair’s guy is actually a british Lord is priceless.

THREE WORDS EIGHT LETTERS SAY IT AND IM YOURS.

Epic scene aside they both look so good here. This episode is gift in matching outfits.

Dan, Serena and fireworks. 😪 here we go again

I loved this episod the first time I watched it and I think I love it even more so now. It’s really good, full of funny lines, great outfits and epic moments. Season two is as of now my fave season (i think this is also true for many people) and it starts with a bang. Quite literally actually with the opening scene being Nate going at it with an “older” woman, which I guess was meant to be shocking in part because we ended last season wondering if something was going to happen between Nate and Serena.

Sadly it didn’t and that’s my biggest complain for this episode because how on earth did they thought it was ok to waste all that set up, and to add insult to the injury they are like so Serena and Nate are secretly dating... but it is just like a throway line because except for that amazing kiss at the white party we never see them fakee dating and I honestly want to pull my hair out of frustration. Just imagine the possibilities that weren’t, granted fake dating is one of my favorite tropes but it could have been quite the storyline imagine: Serenate fake dates and that sparks the feelings that were pushed aside on S1 but that were always there, and now there’s nothing that can stop them to act on it, except Serena has feelings for Dan too, and she struggles because of it all the first half of S1 until eventually she picks Dan and breaks Nate’s heart, combined with all the other pressures in his life, he wants something easy and this happens to coincide with Blair’s downright spiral and that’s how Nair happens again in the second half of S2.

My point being you could add so many more moments in the Serenate saga, also give more force to the idea the show always tried to do: that Serena can’t really let go of Dan, because Nate and her are quite something and yet... and still have almost the same story on the second half which was important because it gave closure to Nair and also had both Chuck and Blair realizing a couple of things. Alas one can only dream and be happy that at least we got that kiss at the white party

So back to the episode, we learn that Nate is having and affair with a married woman, Serena misses Dan a lot and basically mourned him the whole summer meanwhile he was being an asshole in the City fooling girls he met at his intership and Jenny is working and trying to stand out in her own internship at Waldorf desings. Which reminds me Eric is such a gem of a character, he’s always have good one liners but whe’s also a nice counter balance to all the manipulation and bitchery going around him. Anyway all of these storylines are barely a tease of what’s coming, and they really take off in the next episode, so I’ll get into them then, so at the end of the episode Nate manages to keep the affair goin into the city, Jenny earns a bit of respect from her boss and Serena and Dan see each other again (thanks to Cece which is another character I wish we had see a bit more) they meet at the beach ready to see if there’s something to salvage between them. We’ll see.

The real star of this episode are Chuck and Blair. This episode belongs to them. I’ve seen comments that claim this is the season that made them epic and really take off and I quite agree, and this episode in particular sets up the stage for it, touching on a lot of the aspects that are going to be their arc for this season and even beyond. So at the end of S1 Chuck stands up Blair and she goes alone to Tuscany and he doesn’t goes after her the whole summer. Instead he spends the summer in The Hamptons being Chuck Bass, she ends up in France. We soon learn that while Chuck  enjoyed himself during the summer Blair wasn’t far off in his mind:, the minute she’s back he goes aftet her, roses in hand only to find out she came back with a new guy, and she does everything in her power to rub that fact in his face which Chuck should have expected, it obviously bothers him but truth is they both know this is just Blair trying to get back at him for abandoning her, he hurt her, she obviously doesn’t tell him but he ruined his summer and she couldn’t stop thinking about the motherchucker

Shenanigans ensue but there are bits that really stand out: first of them the heart pinn. That's a telling bit about Chuck’s feelings, when that pin make its first appearance on S1 it was the beginning of the end for Chuck, the meaning of it was what got her to accept going to Cotillion with Nate  and now she has gave it to James and Chuck buys it because I guess part of him couldn’t believe she would go as far as to use that to hurt him, that’s a low blow and she also didn’t gave it to him that week they were going out after the wedding, even though it went really well but most importantly he believes she can’t really feel that way about him because he’s just not the kind of guy someone can feel something for, but specially someone  like Blair Waldorf, who dreams of finding her prince charming and such, and to his utter horror it’s revealed that Blair’s new guy is actually a british lord. Just his luck.

He’s anything but that, therefore not for Blair. He tells her as a much later in the episode when he let’s her know that he basically stood her up because he was afraid of her getting to really know him and see he was not good enough nor someone she could be with. And this is something that’s going to be quite the struggle for him for a long time, more than once during the show he’s going to remove himself from the picture because he believes she deserves someone better who can actually make her happy, and this season this happens quite a few times.

Thing is nothing is ever that simple, and this is the other bit that really stands out for me: when James calls her out on how she just use him to make Chuck jealous she justifies herself by pointing out Chuck’s an awful person, who lies and deceives so he kinds of deserve it, and James points out the fact that well she’s sort of the same, and they deserve each other. She lashes out at Chuck because of this and blames him for her argument with James, it’s his fault she played with James, and Chuck’s point out that no one force her to do anything she did it because they’re the same, meaning they scheme and manipulate to get what they want, so she should just stop fighting this thing between them, she rejects him claiming she would hate any resamblance to him. This whole argument is honestly quite interesting, because variations of it are going to keep popping up the rest of the show, and depending on who you ship you either take literally as if  Chuck is the root of Blair worst tendencies or rather see this argument as representation of Blair struggles not with Chuck, but with herself.

Blair struggles in accepting herself, at her core she’s an insecure person, and the fact that she has a dark side that she can’t exactly change because it’s so deep roothed in her bothers her even before she and Chuck were anything, to me it bothers her not because she really wishes she was nice & good person, but rather because Serena is  nice person, who’s regarded as literal ray of sunshine at times, and Serena got two things she wanted for the longest time: positive atention from Eleanor and Nate’s interest.So that fight within herself was always there, it didn’t appear the day she started dating Chuck, is just that in the same way they brought out the best in each other, when things go bad between them the opposite sometimes happened, and even then when they blame each other for something half the time it was to share some of the hurt and to avoid dealing with their own shortcomings and mistakes. Truthfully Chuck and Blair did something for each other no one had really done for them they accept each other fully, Blair’s able to accept and love his darkness, and for Chuck there’s no darkness in Blair she’s the way she is and that’s what makes her wonderful. It was easier for them to love each other than to love themselves. 

Finally the biggest stand out of the episode is that iconic scene, the one that really puts into place the dynamic they will have for the rest of the season: Three words, eight letters are brought to the table, and they won’t move forward until the words have been said. It makes sense, because they tried this twice before, the first one came out of nowhere and it ended with Chuck getting dumped in favor of Nate, and that burned him badly, the second one Blair was the one who got hurt, and both times this pretty much happened because they aren’t able of telling each other how they feel, particularly Chuck. The first time he didn’t let her know he actually cared and wanted to be with her, the second one he didn’t tell her he was afraid, and all of this was too much too soon. So Blair wants, needs some kind of reassurance, and it makes me wonder how that week after the wedding really went, what happened? how wonderful it must have been that even though he abandoned her a that helipad she still had hope in the fact that he may love her. He doesn’t say it, and yet I still love this moment so much for  because jus by asking him to say it is in some way an admittance on her own feellings, and he fails to saythe words  but he did try, and the fact that he did try is also a form of admittance and as such  from here on no matter what happens, how much they fight and toy with each other there’s always an undercurrent of love behind their actions,and this is (borrowing a phrase from a certain popstar) the most amazing unspoken dialogue ever. 

Random bits I’ve noticed

Chuck has a bouquet of yellow roses for his intent on getting Blair back. If my memory serves right, those were his mom favorites

I’m such a sucker for the little backdrop details like the Van der Bass house having all these background pictures of the wedding

Thanks to Chuck for giving us the rank on Blair’s favorite films: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Roman Holiday & Funny Face (even if he said Charades to prove a point)

I’ve read somewhere I think it was on twitter that Blair’s crying in the garden scene was unscripted, Leighton did because she got really caught up in the scene particularly by Ed’s acting. I’ve looked it up but so far I haven’t found anything on this.

There’s a bunch of miniature cyclists under the mirror where Cece’s doing the final touches to her hair, looks sort of weird.

that vitamin water is even on the invitation, agust 30, 2008.

[triptychexe]

TITLE: Initiation  SUMMARY: The Trivium members receive ‘initiation’ by S.O.T and Tromme and complete three tasks in one night.

GENRE: Friendship, humor ig PAIRING: OT9, R3D OT3, BLU3 OT3, Y3LLOW OT3. WORD COUNT: 3.k WARNINGS: Swearing, initiation process (but no one gets hurt) A/N: this is the longest thing i’ve written for triptych lmao. i was thinking of breaking it up into parts but whatever. if you read the whole thing, thank you!! i hope you enjoy!

“I am not participating.” Ura frowned, crossing her arms defiantly. “I just won’t show up. If they want me there, they’re going to have to pry me from by bed.”

Van gave Ura a pout. “C’mon, they can’t do anything too bad. They’re our friends, they just want to have some fun to celebrate our debut.”  “We all know that the only reason why they’re doing this to us is because Cal is annoying and they want an excuse to bully him.” Ura rolled her eyes. 

“Hey,” Cal frowned.

Ura scoffed, ignoring Cal’s protesting whine. “It’s a little childish, don’t you think?”  “I think you’re being a little... adultish.” Cal fumbled the fake work, his eyebrows knitting together for a second of confusion before continuing. “Plus if they’re going to roll me in honey and feathers, don’t you wanna be there to point and laugh at me?” 

Ura sighed, unraveling her crossed arms. The two older groups invited them to an ‘initiation’ night at the boy’s dorm this evening after Trivium got back from their last activities for promotion. Ura thought it was bullshit, especially when she knows that neither S.O.T or Tromme have ever gone through initiation themselves. However, Van and Cal seemed to think of this as a great team bonding opportunity. Even though she didn’t want to be made a fool of in front of her new members, she also wanted to be there in case she needed to intervene to save her friends from bodily harm. 

“Fine." Ura grunted. “I’ll go.” 

Teo lit the last candle, shaking out the match. Around the boy’s living room were dozens of candles. The other six members sat in a semi circle in front of Trivium, all with blankets draped over their heads and shoulders. 

Ura shifted uncomfortably, watching as Teo took his seat on the edge of the semi-circle, right next to Asa. 

“Trivium,” Eli spoke, raising his hands. “You have completed your debut promotions successfully, ringing in new fans and opportunities for the group and the company. Even though these are great and appreciated accomplishments, you still have to pass initiation in order to be accepted by us, the founders.”

“The founders? We’re just as much of ‘founders’ as you are.” Ura arched a skeptical eyebrow. Eli lowered his hands slightly, not expecting the opposition to his statement.

Zim pushed her blanket away from her eyes. “Just go with it, Ura. We’re aiming for dramatic, not accurate.” 

Ura rolled her eyes. ‘Dramatic not accurate’ might as well have been Triptych’s whole concept. 

Eli continued, raising his hands back to their original height.  “We have called upon the Kpop Gods to help us find the proper trials. First, you will do The Crawl to judge your strength. Then we will do The Beam of Balance, to test your agility. Then we will preform The Heist as a group, to test our compatibility.” 

“Do you accept your challenge?” Yen asked, a grin under her hood.

The Crawl was kind of stupid, if you ask Ura. 

The members had gathered their electronic wires and shoe laces and taped the ends of them to the walls in the hallway. You had to crawl on your stomach under the wires and string and get to the other side. The obstacle? The other members of Triptych were standing in the doorways of bedrooms with handfuls of flour, ready to pelt you with the white powder as soon as you got close enough. 

The first trial was over and done with after about ten minutes. Van took the shortest amount of time, only taking about a minute to get through. Ura took about three, because she kept stopping to blink flour from her eyes. Cal took roughly six minutes because he managed to wrap a cable around his neck and needed Teo to unravel it for him. 

Covered in flour and dust from the floor, the second trial began. The members had brought up two boxes and one wooden plank (that Asa said they found behind the company building after practice). The goal was to see how many ‘original’ members you could knock off the balance beam using brooms to throw their balance off.

Ura actually enjoyed this round. She was easily the one to beat out of all of Trivium. Van let Yen knock him over in the first round, earning him a collective boo for refusing to play rough with a girl. Cal was decent until Nia got on the beam and knocked him over with one good shove. Ura managed to knock down almost everyone, except for Eli, who was the last person she had to face. 

The nine members collected themselves, shaking hands and resolving faux arguments about the fairness of the game. When they all calmed down, it was time to start the final round: The Heist. 

Ura thought it would be another game, but she was gravely mistaken. When Triptych said a heist, they really meant it. 

“We’re all going to split up into our designated color teams and sneak into the company to find some sacred HBH objects. Yellow team,” Eli announced, looking at Zim and Van. “The three of us will be stealing... Hak Bonghwa’s travel mug.”  “The one with the frogs on it?” Zim clarified.  “That’s the one.” Eli confirmed.  “Easy.” Zim nodded.

“Blue team,” Eli turned to Asa, Yen, and Cal. “You will be stealing... HBH producer LeeBoi’s Supreme sweatshirt!”  Asa, Yen, and Cal wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, uniting as a team.

“Red team,” Eli addressed, turning to Nia, Teo, and Ura. “You’ll be stealing... Vice’s First Win trophy.”

“Wait, why do we get the most difficult one?” Teo complained.  “Just admit you’re scared of Vice and don’t want to upset them.” Asa teased. “I am not-” Teo started to protest.

“The items have been chosen from the Kpop Gods. We cannot change them.” Eli said dramatically. “The first team to collect their item and bring it back here wins!” 

The corporate floor was eerily quiet at night. Van has only been called up here a few times. Once to go over his trainee contract and the other to sign his idol contract with Hak Bonghwa. 

Moonlight filtered through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long shadows of the three idol’s figures as they inched closer and closer to Bonghwa’s office. 

“What are the chances that he left it unlocked?” Van asked. “High. He trusts all his workers a little too much.” Zim responded in a hushed tone.

They reached the office, which was completely dark except for the light emitting from the city lights outside. Eli reached for the door handle with his sweatshirt over his fingers, careful not to leave any finger prints. Just as they suspected, the door opened.

“Alright.” Eli straightened up. “We just got to grab the mug and we’re out of here. He probably has it in his mini fridge under his desk.”  Van furrowed his eyebrows. “How’d you know that?”  “He always makes himself an coffee before he goes home. He chills it over night in his minifridge so he has a coffee first thing when he gets to the office.” Eli shrugged. “He told me all about it when I was early for practice last week.” 

The three idols made their way to Hak Bonghwa’s desk where the minifridge was concealed. When they ducked down to open the fridge, they were met by a small round face peering up at them.

“AH! CHILD!” Zim yelled, jumping backwards.  “Shh!” The child pressed a finger to his lips. “Who the hell are you?” Eli asked, his eyes wide.  “Hak Donghyun.” The boy responded matter-of-factly. “Who the hell are you?”  “Language.” Eli stuck an accusing finger out to the child. “Aren’t you Hak Bonghwa’s kid?” Van asked, crouching down to the child’s level. From under the desk, Van could see that the kid set up a small campsite of blankets, video games, and mini snacks from the vending machines.  “Yup.” Donghyun grinned. “You’re not supposed to be here.”  “Neither are you.” Zim reminded him. “How did you get in here?”  Donghyun pointed to the ceiling. The trio looked up to see a vent with the grate pushed aside.  “I know all the vents. It’s helpful. You should learn them too.” Donghyun shrugged. “Anyways, my dad’s travel mug is in the fridge. Don’t touch my Gatorade supply or I’ll tell on you.” 

The three idols looked between each other in disbelief, but were careful not to touch the kid’s Gatorade as they removed the frog-print travel mug from the minifridge.  “Thanks, Donghyun.” Van said to the kid, who was now engrossed in a video game.  “I want a signed album, though.” Donghyun looked up from his video game. “If I don’t get one by tomorrow, I’ll tell everyone you broke in and that you swore at me.”  “I didn’t swear-” Eli’s eyebrows furrowed. “Deal.” Van cut his friend off. “We’ll see you tomorrow Donghyun. Have a fun night.”  “Thanks. You too.” Donghyun grinned, resuming his game as the three idols left his father’s office. 

“Where the fuck is it?” Yen hissed, checking behind the studio’s sofa. “Don’t tell me his musty ass finally decided to take it home to clean it.” 

“Hey, Mi, relax, there’s no way LeeBoi would do laundry, that’s way too out of character.” Asa soothed his friend, coming out of the recording booth empty handed. “If it’s not in here, it’s gotta be in a locker somewhere.” 

“A locker? There’s hundreds of lockers in this damn building!” Yen complained. 

“We can split up?” Cal suggested. Both Yen and Asa frowned at him.  “No, we should stay together. The whole point of this exercise is to build bonds with each other.” Asa reasoned.  “I think the ‘whole point’ has changed to who can come in first place.” Yen disagreed, crossing her arms. "I don’t want to split up, but I also don’t want to lose to Eli. He’ll brag about it for ages.” 

“Alright, so how do you wanna go about this?” Asa questioned.  “I mean, isn’t the trainee floor off limits to anyone without a trainee ID?” Cal wondered. “So LeeBoi’s sweatshirt must be in a locker on the main practice room floor.” 

“And knowing him, he’d probably want to take the least amount of time getting from The Dungeons to the locker. So he’s probably stored it somewhere on the third floor.” Yen hypothesized.  “And LeeBoi is a pretty predicable person.” Asa nodded in agreement. “Alright, to the third floor we go.” 

The trio entered the boys locker room and started opening up all the unlocked lockers. No sign of the producer’s sweatshirt. Yen was starting to get frustrated now. She flopped herself down on one of the benches and rubbed her temples.

“I can’t believe we’re going to lose to everyone. We’re even losing to Nia... Moon Yerin! This is the worst day of my life.” Yen complained melodramatically. Asa sat next to her and tried to make her feel better by cracking dumb jokes and rubbing her shoulder. Cal felt like he was intruding on a personal moment, as he felt every time Asa and Yen drifted off in their own little world like this. Feeling awkward just standing there, he took one last walk around the lockers. 

Suddenly, something very strong hit his nostrils. The obnoxious cologne scent wafted into his lungs, making him gag a little. He back tracked his steps and breathed deeply. Coming from a locked locker was the unmistakable smell of LeeBoi. 

“No way... Guys!” Cal exclaimed over his shoulder at the pair. “I think it’s in this locker... come smell it!” 

Asa and Yen came over, pressing their noses against the metal grates in the locker door.  “Holy shit, that’s gotta be it.” Yen’s eyes widened, her waterline tearing up from the stench.   “But how are we gonna open the lock?” Asa questioned.

Cal’s eyes fluttered to Yen’s hairstyle; a high-risen slicked back ponytail. Yen backed away.  “We’re not using my head as a battering ram.” She said sternly. “What?” Cal furrowed his eyebrows. “Bro, no. Do you have a bobby pin?” 

The two gave Cal space as he worked on the lock with Micha’s bobby pin. After about three minutes, the lock finally popped open.  “Dude, that was kinda hot.” Asa said under his breath in amazement.  “How did you learn to do that?” Yen asked as Cal removed the lock. “I lived in London.” Cal simply shrugged. “That’s a little cryptic, but okay.” Yen blinked, opting out on asking more questions. 

Inside the locker was the Supreme sweatshirt they’ve been searching for in all it’s smelly glory. Cal took it out with two pinched fingers, holding it away from him. 

“Alright, let’s dip. I don’t wanna hold this sweatshirt for longer than necessary.” Cal suggested. The trio silently agreed and fled the locker room, barreling towards the elevators. 

“We’re dead, we’re dead,” Teo muttered under his breath like a mantra. Ura gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to tell her group mate to be quiet. Thankfully, she didn’t have to. “Injung, chill. We’re just going to run in and then out.” Nia said, trying to sound calm. 

Ura wasn’t really sure why her teammates were so worked up about breaking into Cyth’s recording studio. After looking around the trophy case in the main hall and realizing that Vice’s First Win was not there, they knew there was no where else it could be besides Cyth’s studio in the basement.

Ura let them lead the way, knowing that both of them wanted control over this situation. She didn’t mind going with the flow. There was nothing to worry about anyways-

“What are you three doing?” 

The three Triptych members turned around. Walking towards them was Cyth, a coffee in his hand. He arched an eyebrow at them, taking the straw of his coffee into his mouth. “Not trying to break in, are you?” 

Teo let out an anxious chuckle, instantly straightening himself up. “Haha, what? No. We wouldn’t do that.”  Cyth looked between the three of them, taking a gulp of his drink. Then he let out a sigh and shook his head in disappointment. “I can’t believe it. I’m the worst senior ever. I never taught you guys how to properly sneak around the company after hours.” Cyth gestured to Nia with his coffee.  “Your whole form was completely off. Your body was so tense, it gave the guilt away.” The rapper turned to Teo. “And you... what was that pained laugh, bro? I thought you only reserved that for the unfunny jokes Minho tells at company gatherings. That hurt.”  Teo looked guilty, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

“The only one who didn’t look guilty was Chiayu.” Cyth gestured to the youngest member. “What are you guys trying to swipe?” 

“Your First Win Trophy.” Ura responded.  “Ura, don’t tell him that-” Teo started to scold. “Take it.” Cyth shrugged, walking past them to open his studio door for them. The pair followed him inside, watching as he reached up and brought down the first place trophy from a shelf above his set up. 

“How long are you guys going to need it?” Cyth asked, handing it to Ura.  “Only for the night. We’ll return it tomorrow.” Ura responded. “Can I ask what for?” Cyth wondered.  “We’re doing initiation for Trivium.” Ura answered, ignoring Nia and Teo’s warning glances.

Cyth chuckled. “Damn, you guys are really doing the most. In that case, tell them Ura had to sneak into the studio while you guys distracted me.” Cyth said to Teo and Nia. “Make your maknae look good in front of the others.” 

Ura grinned at her two members, who looked a little awestruck. She couldn’t enjoy the satisfying moment, however, because her eye caught the clock hanging above Cyth’s door.  “Shit, it’s almost two! We gotta get back to the dorm.” She swore. Ura turned to her senior one more time.  “Thanks for helping.” Ura nodded. “Hey, no worries, it’s all in a day’s work, being the best senior and all.” Cyth winked.

“The Kpop Gods have spoken... and the winners are...” Eli motioned for the rest of the members to create a drum roll. Everyone banged their hands against the floor.

“Team Red!” Eli cheered. Nia, Teo, and Ura wrapped their arms around each other, a victorious smile on their faces.

“No fair, we would have won if Ura didn’t side check me in the hallway!” Yen complained, showing the rug burn on her kneecap. “Isn’t that a violation of the rules?”  “We never said no to inflicting rug burns.” Nia grinned smuggly. “We won, fair and square.” 

“What do we win?” Ura asked curiously. 

“You win...” Eli motioned for another round of drum rolls.  “A free from chores coupon! You won’t have to do chores in your dorms for the next month!” Eli cheered, holding up three post-it notes with “FREE FROM CHORES - ONE MONTH - ONE TIME USE” written on them. He handed them to each member of Team Red. 

“Well, this was exciting.” Nia smiled, standing up from her spot on the ground. “But we also have practice at 10am and it’s almost four now. I suggest we all get some sleep before practice.” 

The members all groaned, but they rose to their feet as well. Everyone exchanged hugs and good nights before the girls left the boys dorm, heading across the hall to their own dorm. 

Ura and Yen entered their shared bedroom, preparing for bed. While they were changing, Ura cleared her throat.  “Hey, I’m sorry about shoving you.” She apologized. Yen grinned, shaking her head. “Don’t be. It made the game spicy.”  “Spicy?” Ura frowned, not understanding her friend’s use of slang. Yen shook her head. “Give it a couple of weeks and you’ll be talking like me too.” Yen promised. “All my friends do eventually.” 

With the promise of finally belonging, Ura was able to drift off peacefully that night, thanking herself for agreeing to partake in initiation after all. 

[fortheloveoffanfic]

Better

Keanu Reeves x Reader

Ah yes, another with my favorite actor. I write for others too, but these days I’m obsessed with him and can’t myself. Note: Felt like this one needed a description for context etc. Anyways, the reader is an actress and has been cast alongside Keanu in John Wick 3. She has an on and off relationship with another celebrity (because of the ‘boyfriend’s’ not so favorable personality, he’ll be totally made up) and everyone on set thinks she’ll be better off with a certain cast mate. Hope y’all enjoy!

Training. At first Y/n had hated it, but a few months in, she had actually found it wasn’t that bad once she got used to it. It took her mind of things and helped her blow off steam. And it was kind of fun too, if getting flipped over someone’s shoulder only for them to toss you on the floor was your idea of fun. None the less, she was enjoying it. Getting cast on John Wick 3 had been a dream. Sure, she had a pretty extensive career, even if she was still in her twenties, but when she got the call informing her that she had gotten a supporting role, Y/n was over the moon. It was the opportunity of a lifetime to work with the people she had admired growing up.

Y/n was in the process of attempting, for probably the millionth time, a kick that she had been having trouble doing. Partly because of her height, or lack there of, but mostly because she was distracted. “Y/n?” She waved them off, trying to hit the punching bag again, Y/n!”  The person called louder, causing her to lose balance and fall onto the foam mat. She rolled onto her stomach and took their outstretched hand. 

“I almost had that you know,” She pretended to be annoyed, but who could be truly annoyed at Keanu Reeves. It was impossible when he was that nice. Y/n let Keanu help her to her feet and then gabbed her water bottle. “What’s up? Or did you just come to see me suck?” She teased.

“That was kind of funny,” He admitted, smiling, “But I actually came to see if you had lunch plans.” He was still dressed in his training clothes and most of his hair was pulled away from his face with the exception of a few strands. Over the past few months the two of them had become fast friends and often spent time together. Lots of people, both on set and outside of it, had speculated that maybe they were more than friends, but her love life was far more.....complicated, and she was almost completely sure that Keanu didn’t see her as more than a friend.

“I don’t. Unless you came up with one.” They started walking towards the trailers, and even though he had his own slung over one shoulder, Keanu had offered to carry her bag, leaving her with only her water bottle and hand towel.

“I did actually. I was thinking we could go to that Chinese place you like. Its like a fifteen minute walk. But if you’re too tired we could drive or take the bike.” He suggested. They reached her trailer first and he handed over her gym bag. 

Placing the bag on the floor, and tossing the towel, “Sure. Sounds great, and I don’t mind the walk. Meet at you trailer in fifteen?” They parted ways to get ready after agreeing on their plan.

Y/n had been pushing food around in her plate and had only seemed half interested in their conversation. Keanu knew it wasn’t something that he had done, but he didn’t know what was on her mind either. Finally, he summoned up the courage to break her train of thought and ask her. Reaching across the table, he let his fingers brush hers, “Hey, everything okay over there?”

Her head snapped around and she looked surprised to see him even though they had been sitting together for the past half hour, “Yeah.” She sighed slumping her shoulders, “No. I don’t know. Its nothing. I promise.” She faked a smile but it faltered. So much for being a critically acclaimed actress. 

“You know you can talk to me about anything right. I’m here for you.” He was, and he hated to admitted to it, but the reason could hardly be faulted to friendship. The truth was that while Keanu had developed a friendship with Y/n, he had also developed what most people would call a crush. And boy did he know why they called it a crush, seeing as ‘crushed’ was how he felt every time she told him about her dates with other people. Still, he prided himself on keeping things as friendly as possible between them.

Y/n sighed, “Ryan called,” Was all she said, it was all she had to say. Ryan, as far as everything she told him went, and she had told him everything, was her sometimes boyfriend and most of the time terrible influence. He was the lead singer of some grunge rock band that never really made it to main stream. In fact, most of Ryan’s fame had come from his two year relationship, engagement and subsequent break-up with Y/n. After a very, very messy break-up, Y/n and Ryan stayed clear of each other for almost a year. Until they reconnected the year before. Since then, they had been on and off, but mostly off. “He wants to ‘get drinks’.” Y/n made half hearted air quotes. In Ryan speak, ‘grab drinks’ usually meant go on a bender or two

Keanu tried not to let his disappointment show. “Are you gonna meet him?” He looked at her, completely forgetting about the food in front of him. He held his breath, hoping she would say no and actually mean it this time.  

“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” She shrugged. As bad as her ex was, she always seemed to find her way back to him. And then ended up regretting it for longer than it lasted. “Whatever,” She waved her hands dramatically, “There are much better things to talk about. And I promise that you have my complete attention. Well, mostly complete, the orange chicken has some of it too.” She scoffed a laugh, “Why do you put up with my bad jokes?”

Keanu laughed and either of them barely realized that he was still holding her hand, “They’re not that bad.”

The long weekend passed and all Keanu had received from Y/n was radio silence. He knew what that meant. As a precaution, he had asked around their other friends on set to see if they had heard from her. It turned out that they hadn’t either. 

Worst yet, she was late. They were all supposed to gather for a meeting with the director at eight. it was almost ten. He had sent texts, his calls had gone to voicemail, hell, he had even sent an email. And Y/n had not responded to any of it. 

When she did show up, she had her head down and was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, a baggy hoodie and a pair of jeans. Before anyone could say anything, she raised her hand, “I know, I’m late. So sorry.” Y/n hustled to a to the back, praying that the earth would swallow her up. She knew that going out with Ryan last week would mess with her schedule, yet she had done it any way.

As expected, ‘grab drinks’ meant spending the weekend with him and his band mates in Cabo. From the minute she stepped on the plane last Thursday things had went down hill, not that she really remembered. They, well she, had ended up renting out a beach house for everyone and spent most of the weekend partying harder than anyone over twenty-five should be allowed. It was, as she had just found out, exhausting and very bad for your skin. 

She barely paid attention to the meeting, but had caught some important bits. Filming starts the next week, make sure to run your lines, final wardrobe fittings during this week and make sure you have insurance clearance for your stunts. 

After everyone dispersed, Y/n could see Keanu giving her a lingering stare, she should go say something, she had gotten his texts but was to distracted to reply, she hadn’t picked up his calls because she was too drunk to talk, and as for the one email, well she hadn’t replied to anyone’s email in months. He looked like he wanted to say something too, but instead he just shook his head and walked away, leaving her standing there alone, wanting to kick herself.

Great, she thought. Now Y/n was going to have to find some way to fix things. Could she though? Or would her unfortunate lapse in judgment, cost her a friendship that she was beginning to treasure and the chance of something more?

A/N: So, I left both the reader and our dear guy, at odds, for the sake of drama. Will they make up,*insert relevant emoji here* or will this be the demise of something potentially beautiful? As you can see, I’m terrible at being funny, (deepest apologies). Moving forward, this note is really to let you all know that there is a second part of this, coming very soon (its almost done). Also, this was really supposed to be one fic, but it was getting wayyy to long. Finally, thanks for reading!

[spaztronautwriter]

The Proposal: Ch. 7 (an Olicity Fic)

Summary: When Felicity Smoak finds herself in a bind, she enlists the help of her assistant Oliver Dearden to help her keep her from being deported and losing her job. The problem is, in order to do so, they kind of have to get married…

A/N: Has it actually been almost a year since I last updated this story? ...smh. Anyway, this has been sitting in my Google docs for awhile so I figured I should probably post it. Hope you enjoy :)

Read Chapter: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven

Read on AO3

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True to his word, Oliver came back to find her, face buried in her laptop, at twenty to six.

“Okay, okay, just let me save,” turned into another ten minutes of work, before he was finally able to pry her away from the screen and push her into the bathroom to freshen up. It wasn’t until she caught sight of herself in the mirror, and saw the way her hair had fallen out of its usually smooth ponytail, that she realized she probably could have used the extra time preparing to see his family again. She’d figured putting it off longer was better, but now… Maybe she could fake a cold or something and get out of this whole weekend.

“Are you almost ready?” Oliver asked from right outside the bathroom door. She didn’t answer right away, busying herself with fixing her lipstick. It wasn’t much in the way of armor against the steely Moira Queen, but Oliver’s mother seemed the kind to pounce like a lion on a lamb on anyone less than perfect. Or maybe that was just Felicity’s nerves getting the best of her again. A deep sigh penetrated the wooden door and then, “It’s just dinner, Felicity. You have to eat.”

She pulled the door open slowly, shooting him a contrite look. “The human body can survive nearly three weeks without food. As long as I have water”—she gestured toward the sink behind her—“I’ll be fine for a couple of days.”

The look he gave her was the look he always gave her when she was being a smartass. One eyebrow raised, lips pursed, head tilted just slightly as if he found her both amusing and vexing at the same time. “Felicity…”

“It's weird hearing you call me by my first name.”

The look vanished instantly, confusion marring his features and furrowing his brow. “I’ve called you Felicity before.”

“Yeah, but not this often. And it’s usually only when you’re being all serious and stubborn.”

“No,” he argued, “it’s usually only when you’re being stubborn. Besides you’re acting like I’m taking you down to be executed. It’s just a family dinner.”

“A family dinner with people who hate me.”

“They don’t hate you,” he said, waving her off. “Thea was grilling me about you all day. She wants to make a good impression. Tommy, too. My mom… will come around. She’s not so bad. And my dad will probably spend the rest of the weekend trying to steal you away from Palmer, so there’s really no reason for you to go on a hunger strike in my bedroom.”

She huffed, fighting back the waves of anxiety telling her to stay where she was. But, if she did that, she knew it would only be harder to face them tomorrow. Oliver was right. Ugh, she hated it when Oliver was right.

“Fine,” she drawled, stepping out of the bathroom. “Let’s go.”

Oliver shot her the tiniest of smiles before holding out his arm. It took her a moment to realize he meant for her to thread her arm through it.

“I’m marrying a gentleman,” she said, hooking their arms together.

“Of course. You really think I grew up with my mother and didn’t learn some basic manners?”

She laughed and together they walked downstairs to the large, formal dining room where his father was already waiting, a glass of something amber in his hand.

“Where’s Mom and Thea?” Oliver asked, his tone overly polite. She could feel how tense his body had gotten at the sight of his father, but he was trying to keep things light.

“Your mother is with Raisa, doing God knows what. It’s not like that woman has ever cooked a day in her life.”

“That’s not true,” Thea said, skipping into the room with Tommy on her heels. “When I was in second grade she volunteered to be class mother and had to make snacks for the school picnic. She made cupcakes.”

“Hate to tell you this, kiddo,” Robert said with a warm smile that was jarring compared to how he’d just been speaking with his son, “but your mother used to ship those cupcakes in from a bakery in Central City so none of the other mothers would know she didn’t make them herself.”

“What?” Thea cried, disbelief merging with amusement at this new information. “She did not!”

“She did.” Robert looked past Thea, his gaze settling on the doorway behind her, and Felicity turned to see Moira enter the room. “Honey, what was the name of that bakery in Central City?”

Moira hesitated a moment, either caught off guard by her husband’s question or annoyed by it. Felicity couldn’t quite tell. Still, Moira gave a small, if strained, smile. “DeLuca’s.”

“Oh my god.” Thea giggled, putting a hand over her mouth. “That is hilarious.”

“I love DeLuca’s,” Felicity said. “I used them to cater my friend Caitlin’s birthday party earlier this year.”

“I thought those cupcakes tasted familiar,” Oliver murmured from beside her.

She smiled up at him, remembering how he’d rolled his eyes when she’d sent him off on a mission to put together a last minute office party after Caitlin’s birthday plans had been cancelled for the sake of a project they’d been working on.

“Dinner is ready,” Moira said, pulling her back to the moment. “No reason to let it get cold.”

Oliver placed a hand on Felicity’s lower back, leading her to a chair at the far end of the table. The dining room was set exquisitely and Felicity wasn’t sure if Moira had made it up special for them or if it just always looked like this. The china was white and gold, but very classy. Expensive without being overly gaudy. Oliver pulled out her seat for her before taking his own beside her.

Within moments Raisa and another woman dressed in a matching uniform entered the room, balancing platters of food. It all smelled delicious and Felicity wanted to dig in the moment it was within arms reach, but wasn’t sure what the etiquette was. Did they say a prayer before meals? Felicity never had before, but she really knew nothing about Oliver or his family traditions. Maybe they were very religious. But then Oliver and Thea started filling their plates and reaching for the condiments so Felicity took that as leave to stuff her face. She was surprisingly hungry for someone who’d been considering a hunger strike just ten minutes ago.

Moira started off the conversation with some small talk. She mostly kept to her children, but occasionally peppered in a question for Felicity.

“ Are you enjoying your meal ?”

“ Feeling better after your na p?”

Nothing deep or even interesting, but Felicity was thankful for that. She really didn’t want to have to answer any personal questions. But, of course, her luck could only last so long. She was halfway through dinner when Thea couldn’t hold in her curiosity any longer.

“So, when did you fall in love with my dork of a brother?” she asked, spearing a green bean with her fork. Her eyes were bright and excited, despite trying to appear nonchalant.

“Oh, you know, just at work.”

“No.” Thea shook her head. “That’s what you said before. I want details!”

Felicity tensed, feeling her face grow red as she tried to think of an answer.

“We were working on the second generation Palmer Watch,” Oliver said and Felicity looked over to see him concentrating on his dinner, moving his potatoes around on the plate. “It was our first big project working together. We stayed late, like, three months in a row. I hated it at first.” He glanced up, eyes meeting hers, and dropped his fork. “She’s a total workaholic. The kind that doesn’t realize that not everyone’s life revolves around work.”

Felicity felt her face heat again, her chest pulling tight at the accusation. She hadn’t realized he had such a problem with it. She knew he didn’t love all the late nights and weekends, but she’d thought all his gruffing was mostly just complaining for complaining’s sake.

“But then,” he went on, reaching over to take her hand in his, “one night I walked into her office. It was late, like, nearly 10 o’clock.” He smiled, almost to himself. “She was chewing on a red pen, completely oblivious to the time and the fact that we were the only two people still in the building. But when she noticed me she looked up and… I just realized. At some point, I’d stopped hating staying late, because it meant I got to spend more time with her.”

It was difficult to breathe suddenly, but somehow Felicity managed a smile as Thea ooh’d and awe’d over her brother’s story.

It had slipped off his tongue so surely. As if he hadn’t even had to think about it. But that story couldn’t have been true. No, it was far more likely Oliver was just an exceptional liar. After all, he’d been lying to her about who he was since she’d met him. But it was a good story. Subtle and romantic and plausible. Still… her mind was reeling from it and she focused on finishing the remainder of her meal.

“Oliver,” Moira cut in, changing the subject, and Felicity could have kissed her if, you know, she wasn’t so terrifying. “I was having lunch with Cindy Bowen just the other day and she mentioned your old friend Carter.”

“Wouldn’t call him a friend,” Oliver murmured, causing Tommy to snicker. Thea smirked, but hid it behind her glass of water.

Moira continued on as if she hadn’t heard him. “Carter is a doctor now. He’s just published some very interesting work in cancer research. Cindy is so proud. You should give him a call while you’re in town. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.”

“Felicity and I are actually in the middle of a big project right now,” he said. “We wanted to be here for Thea’s party, but we do have quite a bit of work—“

Robert snorted and Oliver went dead silent, turning to his father.

“What?” he asked, looking ready for a fight. Felicity could practically feel the tension coming off of him in waves.

Robert shrugged, placing his fork down. “You’re a secretary. What work could you possibly be doing? Sorting emails?”

Felicity eyes went wide and she met Thea’s across from her. The girl was grimacing.

“I’m an executive assistant,” Oliver gritted through his teeth. “I do a lot more than sort emails, Dad.”

Robert scoffed. “Your mother tells people you’re galavanting across Europe. It’s less embarrassing for her.”

“Robert!” Moira gasped.

“It’s true.”

The table settled into an awkward silence and, even as used to awkward interactions as Felicity was, this one took the cake. Beside her, Oliver sat frozen, his face twisted in anger and mortification. Moira did nothing to deny Robert’s comment, and that seemed to be Oliver’s last straw. He stood, throwing his napkin onto his plate, and left without another word.

Tommy looked after his friend, while Thea kept her eyes on her plate. Moira glared at her husband, but Robert looked unperturbed, taking a sip of his drink.

“Well, it is true,” he said.

Felicity had half a mind to tell Robert Queen just what she thought of him, but hesitated. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing and make everything even worse for Oliver, which, knowing her, she was very likely to do. So, instead, she excused herself and headed back up to their room.

She found him sitting on the bed, head hung low, back to the door. Seeing him sitting there like that, she wished she had laid into his father downstairs. Maybe she should go back down and—

“They kicked me out.”

Felicity flinched at his words. She hadn’t realized he’d noticed her come in. She closed the door behind her and stepped closer to the bed.

“What?”

“My parents,” he said, his shoulders rising and falling on a deep sigh. “You wanted to know how I started working for Palmer Tech. My parents kicked me out. Cut me off. Or else I probably would have been running around Europe somewhere right now.”

Felicity wanted to comfort him, but stayed quiet, afraid that if she spoke he’d shut down. Even so, she couldn’t help but close the distance between them in an effort to let him know she was there. That she was listening.

“I was exactly what you’d expect from the spoiled son of billionaires. Self centered, lazy, privileged. Even after they cut me off I lived off friends and favors for a long time. Then the little money I had dried up, favors ran out. I applied to a few colleges—I’d already dropped out of four at that point—thinking maybe my parents would give in if I made an effort, but they didn’t. I don’t blame them. It was what I needed then. When I got accepted into CCU I didn’t really have any reason not to go, so I changed my last name to Dearden and decided to start fresh somewhere new. I rented a room from this couple, the Yamashiro's, and worked at Jitters part time. The wife, Tatsu, got so sick of me being late on the rent that she actually found me a paid internship at Palmer Tech, which led to a job as an assistant. And I was pretty good at it. Answering phones, schmoozing with people. Then I got transferred from the PR department to Applied Science and got to actually work on projects.” He sat up, straightening his shoulders, and met her gaze. “I’m proud of what I do. What we do. My parents can be embarrassed that I’m not a doctor like Carter Bowen is, but some of the projects that cross my desk… Felicity, if we could implement even a quarter of them we could change the world.”

“I know,” she said, reaching out to cup his shoulder.

“I know I’m just your assistant. It’s not the same as what you or the engineers and techs do—“

“Oliver,” she breathed, cutting him off. “Without you I’d be lost under a pile of paperwork. And you might not be an engineer or tech, but I’ve seen you talk to the board. I’ve seen you schmooze,” she teased with a grin. “You’ve probably sold more ideas than I have. I’ve always thought your talents were wasted as an assistant.”

Oliver looked at her, his brow furrowed. “You have?”

“Of course,” she said with a shake of her head. “You just… have it .”

“ It ?”

“Yeah, it .” She smiled. “You know, something about you. You win people over.”

His face softened. “No, that’s you.”

“You make me look good,” she said, shaking off the compliment. She needed him to know that he was just as important to the company and just as good at his job.

Oliver smiled. “I think you look good all on your own.”

She snorted. “Did you just pull a me?”

But Oliver didn’t look embarrassed by his slip. He watched her for a long moment. Long enough that heat began to fill Felicity’s cheeks. She was just about to open her mouth to say God only knows what, when Oliver’s phone chimed with a text message. He sighed, slowly pulling his gaze from her while sliding his phone from his pocket. The moment his eyes left her Felicity felt like she’d just resurfaced after a long dive. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath.

“It’s from Tommy,” he said, reading the message. “He wants to go get a drink.”

“Sounds like a good idea. It couldn’t hurt to get out of the house for awhile.”

He shook his head, rising to stand beside her. “I can’t leave you with all this work. Despite what my dad thinks, I do know how much I contribute.”

“Oh,” Felicity said with a smirk, “was I not invited?”

Oliver’s mouth dropped open for a moment, his brows furrowing, before his lips twisted up into a surprised smile. “You want to go with us?”

She shrugged, moving to grab a jacket and her bag. “Well, seeing as how I have to put up with all of your weird family drama…” She turned back to him with a smile. “I think I deserve a drink.”

Oliver’s smile grew wider at her teasing, and something in her chest fluttered at being able to make him smile like that after everything. He rounded the bed, pocketing his phone and grabbing his wallet off the nightstand.

“Hell, you might even deserve two,” he teased back, holding the door open for her. They were on the stairs, heading down to meet Tommy, when he caught her arm. “Oh, and Felicity?”

“Yeah?” She turned to look back at him curiously and nearly tumbled backwards at how close he was. She might have, had he not had a grip on her elbow.

He leaned in, ever so slightly. “I meant what I said.”

It was soft—a whisper, really—but those five little words felt anything but as she struggled to process them. Of course, he didn’t hang around as she stood there, mouth agape, probably looking like some sort of deranged fish. He had already turned, skipping down the stairs two at a time on his way to meet his best friend. It took Felicity another moment—and a deep breath—before she managed to follow after him.

Note to self , she thought as she made her way to the door where Oliver and Tommy were waiting. Flirty Oliver is a hazard to my health .

[themarchblessing]

EPILOGUE

Dos  Años Más Tarde...

COREY

“Oh..Elle!” I called out. Hopping off the last step I made a quiet advance toward the kitchen. When I stepped inside I instantly went to the pantry. The door is cracked and I can see the pink glitter from Elle’s slippers surrounding the bottom of the door. I decided that I would play with her a bit longer just so she thinks she’s gotten over on me.

“Oh princess Ellena! Where is my beautiful princess?” I called again. Faint giggles from the kitchen almost made me burst into laughter. I’ve come up with all kinds of silly names for Elle and she loves them all. Her favorite is princess. She giggles up a storm when I call her that. And if I call out to her in a funny voice, she’ll definitely laugh.

I stumbled around the house for another ten minutes winding back up in front of the pantry. “I wonder where she is.” I mumbled. Dramatically pulling the door back I spotted Elle holding her jar of cookies, crushing them. “Well would you look at that. The princess got hungry huh?”

She turned her head up at me and did exactly as I thought she would. “Ow me.” she cheesed, pushing her hair out of her face.

“Oh yeah I found you alright. You gonna share some with me? You gonna share with papa?” I asked, leading her out of the closet. Closing the door I took Elle out to the back porch. We lay in the hammock watching people walk down to the beach.

“Daddy..” She said.

Looking at her I opened my mouth to accept the cookie she was giving me. She used my head for support as we took in the beautiful view from here. Seeing my daughter grow up before my eyes over these last two years has really turned me into a soft ass man. Elle gets whatever she wants from me because she’s the baby. Just like her mother and Zay I buy it all. If Elle asks, she gets. I can’t say no to her. Sabrina and sometimes Zay have to step in and be the enforcers so the balance of power is just right.

I’ve also gotten extremely close with Izaiah over the last year.  He’s been curious to know about his childhood and how he got here. Sabrina faced one of her biggest fears and had that talk with him. Zay had a lot of questions and Lori provided him with more than enough in response. He still gets a little upset every now and then when he realizes that I wasn’t around to watch him grow up for so many years. Like when Elle said her first word, took her first steps, stood up on her own, and things like that, Zay will distance himself from us.

I never take his anger to heart but I do empathize with my son. And I also feel angry with myself at times for the same reason. All I have been doing is reminding my boy how much I love him, how proud of him I am, and that I promise to be there for him until I’m no longer living. When Zay does get in one of his moods, Sabrina gets really emotional because she blames herself for it all. She puts all the blame on herself for Izaiah and I building our relationship when he was six instead of when he was a baby. I then have to remind Lori that the way our lives ran its course is not her fault.

We’ve both had numerous conversations about accepting our separate journeys for what the are. Neither of us can change the past but we are learning to live with our paths in life.

“Papa, is mama?” Elle asked, sharing the other half of her cookie with me.

“She’s out shopping but she’ll be back soon. You miss mama?” Lifting my hand I ran my hand over and through her curls. She and Zay both have hair like their mama. Sabrina has these pretty, deep set shaped curls that never lose their shape. In fact after she had Elle, her hair got even curlier, kinkier too. Izaiah has much looser curls that he shockingly still doesn’t want to cut off. And Elle, well her locks are kind of a mix of Zay and her mother. She’s the lightest of the family, complexion wise. Diane is definitely the reason behind my daughters skin tone.

“Yeah.” She nodded.

Elle and I chilled outside for a good while enjoying this weather. Izaiah came home and was in a super good mood so I took the kids to the beach. Elle loves playing in the sand. She always asks me to pick up seashells with her and of course I help her. Every time we leave the beach with new shells I clean them, dry them, and set them in this big glass vase in her bedroom. She’s got these shelves on her wall that we house her favorite things on. Her seashells being one of her top favorite things in the world. I’m sure she’ll ask to count them all out some day.

Because Elle is evolving as a child so rapidly we often let her pick out her outfits now. She likes having a sense of herself when she gets dressed. As her parents, Bri and I feel it’s important to give her the chance to choose what she wears. Two days out of the week she will only wear this one particular set of pajamas all day long. Ravyn came to visit for Elle’s birthday last year and gifted her a set of footie pajamas that have bunny ears and a fake tail. Elle instantly asked for Sabrina to change her clothes. So in the middle of unwrapping her gifts she got changed into her bunny pajamas.

Another big change aside from her trying to talk more is that she’s teething really bad and we’re in the potty training stage. Her gums have been so inflamed for the last couple of weeks because she’s got more teeth coming in. So being that she’s in so much oral pain I give her a lot of soft foods. Yogurt, peaches, bread, grapes, macaroni and cheese is her favorite now, ice cream and just anything that won’t hurt her gums more.

Bri hates that I let Elle eat the way she does but nothing else helps to soothe her mouth. When she starts crying Bri will try and use this safe to swallow ointment that Elle’s pediatrician gave us but lil mama can’t stand it. We hate seeing her fuss about her incoming teeth so we just let her eat all the soft foods she likes. As far as the potty training goes baby girl is getting the hang of it pretty well. I cry sometimes watching her reach certain goals. She’s our little girl and the sight of her growing up scares me.

By the time we got back in the house it was well after sunset. Izaiah ducked off to take his shower leaving me the time to bathe Elle. She more so ended up playing with her toys for the first half of the bath. Then she started fussing about how cold she was so I made her put her toys up so she could get clean.

Picking up her nightgown I fitted it over her head, fanning out the fabric around her little body. Elle went into another one of her baby rampages where she mentioned food and some other things I didn’t quite understand. Once her hair was brushed and she had her favorite princess shoes on, it was dinner time.

I still cook most of the time and I still don’t mind. Truthfully I enjoy cooking more today than I ever have. Being able to feed my family brings me the greatest sense of pride and happiness. Elle and Zay are in the kitchen with me every time we’re about to eat. Elle usually watches us while she plays with her makeshift kitchen toys.

Sometimes Sabrina is down here with us and other times she’s sleeping. Ever since we broke Elle off from breastfeeding, Lori has been napping a lot more. Seeing Elle come off the boob was a huge milestone for us as parents. Sabrina expected to breastfeed for at least a year but that went on to being one year and ten months. Sabrina feels like her old self again not having to share her body anymore. Except with me of course. Now that our kids no longer need their mama to supply them with nutrition, I get all of my wife back. Every square inch of Sabrina Delores Howard is mine and I’m thrilled. She makes constant jokes about how I used to get jealous when Elle wanted to feed for hours. Technically her body was Zay’s first, then it became mine, and then Elle arrived but she’s all mine again.

“Guys!” Mommy’s home. Elle sat upright and turned around looking for her mama. “Donde estan todos!” Bri sang cheerily.

“Mama..” she mumbled. Her arm was outstretched as she kept a lookout. I couldn’t help but smile at how badly Elle wants to see Lori.

“Sit still baby so you don’t fall. Zay, I got this. Go make sure she doesn’t try to jump off the counter.” I can handle dinner by myself right now but I need to make sure Elle won’t hurt herself waiting to see her mom. Zay stood directly in front of Elle to keep her entertained for the time being. Although she realized her brother was the distraction she enjoyed the attention.

Izaiah adores the hell out of his baby sister. She is the perfect child in his eyes. For a boy he doesn’t mind letting Elle play in his room all day long if she tries. He reads to her, watches movies with her if me and Bri are too tired or I’m working on a project or something. He’ll help her eat, brush her hair, and whatever else she wants to do. For a kid who’s on his way to going through puberty in a few short years, he’s not a dick to her. Which is a good sign on Lori’s and especially mine’s behalf. My dad didn’t allow me to be that stereotypical angry black boy. He made sure I used my manners, respected family, worked for everything I wanted and was always kind to loved ones.

The same way my dad was with me, I’m like that with my son. He’s always been a nice kid but the influences of today’s world and kids his own age could change that. Not with who Izaiah’s parents are. We aren’t raising a dickhead for a son.

Lori rounded the corner looking as beautiful as always. The lights caught her rings and then I noticed she did something to her hair. She had her hair blown out looking dark brown with blond-ish highlights fading out towards the end of her hair. Putting the bread in the oven I shut the door and went to take these bags off Bri’s hands.

“Thank you, this stuff is heavy.” She said right away.

“What you got in here anyway?” I asked. Bri kissed me softly and began getting comfortable.

“More pull ups, a few cleaning supplies, and some groceries. You’re cooking early?”

“Thank your daughter. She was getting ready to throw a fit after her bath so I went ahead and got started. She’s been waiting on you. You changed your hair. What for?” Putting only the groceries she brought away I washed my hands and went right back to cooking.

“Yeah..I wanted to do something a little different. I’ve never colored my hair before so I took a risk. You like it?” Looking up from the cutting board I nodded.

“Yeah I like it. It’s different but it suits you.”

“Thank you. Three hours is how long I sat on my butt for her to do this.” She huffed, going over to where Zay and Elle were. “Hi mama’s babies. I missed you guys so much.” They soaked up every second of Lori’s affection. Zay talked her briefly as he came back over to join me.

“When is it due?” Bri asked picking Elle up off the counter.

“Next month. My teacher is giving us three weeks to work on it but I’m already half way done.” Zay checked on the bread first and then he went into the refrigerator to take something out.

“You smell so good my love. You have fun with your daddy and bubba?” Bri smothered lil mama in kisses as she sat across from me.

“Yeah.” Elle nodded.

“How’s your mouth, baby? Is it still hurting?”

“Yeah.” She replied again sounding sleepy.

“Can mommy see?” Elle let Bri check inside her mouth to look for any new signs of teeth.

“Nothing yet?” I spoke up.

Bri told Elle to close her mouth since she was all done. “No sign of her back molars yet but I can tell where they’re going to come in. Her bottom gums are red again.” Bri took out some applesauce and began feeding it to Elle. “I hope this doesn’t last much longer. I hate seeing her in pain.” Bri complained.

“It’ll pass. And besides all her teeth are almost in. She’ll be okay as long as you keep that stuff out of her mouth.” I warned in reference to that cream.

“I know she hates it but that’s what it’s for Corey. She used to be okay with it.” Bri frowned briefly letting her face settle after about a minute. “Here baby..” spooning more applesauce into Elle’s mouth Bri picked up a nearby rag to place over her clothes. Elle can be a messy eater in this terrible two stage that she’s in.

We’ve had enough outfit changes from feedings alone to supply four families with for a whole winter season. That’s how badly Elle can ruin her clothes. And it only happens when she tries to consume too much at once or when she feeds herself. She’s getting much better with getting the spoon in her mouth with all the food on it though. I do give her that.

“How’s your mom doing? Is she ready to move down here?” Bri’s mom has to move close to us due to her health declining. Bri puts a brave face in front of the kids but when it’s just us, she breaks down quite often.

Sighing deeply, Bri finished feeding Elle in silence. I saw what me asking did to her mood so I put that conversation on the back burner until we get alone. I don’t want her to be upset about her mom in front of the kids so I changed the subject. Izaiah noticed and jumped in to help me out.

Sabrina didn’t say much when it was time to eat. She was silent setting up our table, fixing Elle, Izaiah’s and my plate. When we all sat down she was completely tuned in to assisting the baby with her food. Every so often she would respond to something that one of us said so she didn’t mentally shut everyone out. She was on her way to helping Zay with his school work until I stepped in. I let Bri have some time to herself hoping that by the time I get in the room she’ll be in a better mood.

“Is mom okay?” Putting away his art supplies for his project Izaiah sat back on his bed.

Sitting forward with my elbows on my knees I cupped my hands over my mouth.

“Dad?” Zay called quietly. He carefully got off the bed not wanting to wake up lil mama. It’s past her bedtime and if she wakes up it’s going to be damn near impossible to get her down again. Zay closed his door and stood in front of me. “What’s wrong with mama? Is she mad at you?” He asked.

“Nah. She’s not mad at anybody. Your grandma is moving down here to be closer to us. However, it’s the reason behind grandma’s move here that has your mom so upset.” I explained.

“Is grandma sick?”

“Yeah, she’s not doing too well. She’ll be here by the end of the month and it’s scaring your mom. So if you ever see her get really quiet or distant, or she looks like she’s about to cry, be her shoulder. Do whatever you have to to ensure that your mom knows you love her. I’d never wish anything bad on anyone we love but if something does happen to your grandmother, mommy is gonna need a lot of love. From me, you, and Elle. She needs us right now.”

The tightness in my chest and that massive urge to throw up hit me like a ton of bricks. I can’t believe I just said that out loud. I never ever wish any negativity on those I care about. But the reality of the situation is the that Diane isn’t as healthy as she used to be. Losing her husband did her in. That’s when she started to go downhill emotionally. Sabrina’s father dying really affected Diane to her core.

I guess talking about my mother-in-law hit more nerves than I thought. I didn’t start crying in front of my kids because I fought the urge with all my might. I talked to Izaiah for a while about how he can help comfort Bri if she starts to lose it. Elle is back in her bed sound asleep. Now it’s time to check on Sabrina. Walking down the hall I stepped in the room sensing a lot of weird energy.

“Bri?” I said. Turning the corner I walked to the bathroom to find Lori standing in the shower, motionless. She was facing the backyard letting the water pour out over her head. I gave her company whether she was prepared for it or not.

I stepped behind her tracing over her tattoos. She noticeably relaxed under my touch. Seeing her react to my sense of touch hit me deeply, making me understand just how much of an effect on my girl I have.

“I can’t lose her Corey.” She sniffled. “I can’t lose her too.”

I knew this would happen. I knew mentioning her mother earlier on would cause her to break down once she wasn’t in front of Elle or Izaiah. It’s not in my nature to sugar coat but the first thought that came to mind would hurt her feelings. Now is not the time for me to blunt but I can’t mask my honesty.

So rather than causing my wife more hurt I said this instead, “you’ll never lose her. She’s always gonna be with you Sabrina. Always. Just like your dad. Everyday since he’s been watching over you, helping to guide you and protect you.”

“My tio said she’s happy to be moving down here. I however thinks she’s in denial about the meaning behind her relocation. I just hope she can handle this transition okay. After all she’s leaving behind her home and the life she’s known for so long.” Bri threw her head back, squeezing the bridge of her nose with her eyes shut.

Using my hands to gather her hair I set it over her shoulder leaving me plenty of area to play with. “She’s gonna be okay. She’s got a hell of a daughter looking after her. And I know she loves you so much.”

“I just don’t know how I’m gonna deal with losing another parent. And I don’t need you to tell me that death is inevitable because I know that. But that doesn’t make loss any less painful.” Bri turned around to face me. I could see the pain in her eyes as she decreased any space between us. Her head fell to my shoulder, one arm she threw behind my back, and the other across my free shoulder.

“Why are you thinking about losing her already? I could see if your mom was laid up in a hospital but she’s not. She’s still in her prime and you have to believe that. Stop getting ahead of yourself and just live in the moment.” I advised hugging her back. As we stood here chest to chest I thought over possible ways to make Diane’s move easy for us all. After all these years of being in the states, mama Guerrero is coming back to live in her home country.

Somewhere deep down inside I know Lori is happy to have her mother close to her again. It was my idea to get Diane a house just twenty minutes from ours to begin with. The idea came from Lori storming in the house, screaming about her mom going to the ER. This was on the first of this month. She was beyond panicking. Sabrina was all “we have to go�� and “we can’t stay here anymore”. Basically saying we need to move to California.

I was against it only because of Izaiah and Elle. Izaiah has moved around and switched schools enough. Even though Ellena is still very young I couldn’t bare the pain of turning her world upside down. A move would only confuse and upset her. I didn’t want to put our kids through a drastic change in lifestyle regardless of how young they are. Sabrina and I have worked very hard on our home and to maintain the lifestyle we’ve grown so accustomed to.

“No matter what happens Lori, I got you for life.” I vowed. Lifting the arm she had on my shoulder I kissed her hand and each of her fingers.

Bri fingered the back of my neck melting in my embrace. “And I thank you. You know you’re never leaving me right?” She stated. Her sass does nothing short of turn me on.

“Why would I ever want to? You ain’t going nowhere either. You’re stuck with me forever. Your soul wouldn’t be able to rest without mine anyways so be ready for the rest of our lives and afterlife to be just like this. I was the first and the last to ever put a ring on your finger and give you beautiful babies. Ain’t no nigga other than me raising my kids.” I joked.

Lori fell out laughing cause she knows I’m right and seeing her happy is all I ever want.

“Ay, eres un pesado..” Standing up right Lori ran her fingers through my hair. The act was relaxing enough to make me close my eyes. “Your mom told me that I’m the best partner she’s ever seen you with. And we both know there have been a lot of women.”

“A hell of a lot of you.” I nodded. She slapped my shoulder because of what I said.

“Anyways...she’s very proud that you quit hoeing around and settled down. So is your dad.”

“I wasn’t hoeing around. I wasn’t content keeping any old girl around. Settling is not my style. Maybe testing the waters and seeing what else is out there but never settle.”

“What about me?”

Opening one eye I saw how serious she was. Quickly I looked at her through both eyes and told her, “you my love are an exception. The difference between you and the rest of them is that I didn’t have to find you. You were always there and I couldn’t be happier for it.”

She smirked. “Oh yeah?”

“Mhm. We’re gonna last. I know that for sure. But you will always be my best friend Lori. First and foremost. That’s not gonna change for anybody or anything.” I have no doubts that Sabrina and I will be each other’s last. No doubts whatsoever.

The End.

[svtskneecaps]

Blink and You’ll Miss It - Part 4

Summary: Sanha’s been a curious shit her whole life. Jackson’s always told her she’s going to get herself killed at some point. She thought that was a bunch of bull, but he might’ve actually been right. She might be in way over her head on this one.

Featuring: A bunch of bull, a lot of cursing, merciless butchering of honorifics, and other things. Essentially, it’s a Comedy of Errors: Story Version.

Warnings: Cursing. Lots and lots of it.

First ~~~ Previous ~~~ Next

Masterlist

“Oh my god I can’t believe I forgot!” Sanha groaned, leaning backward until she’d knocked her chair onto the floor. Youngjae jumped at the sudden noise, laughing sheepishly afterwards.

“I can,” Jackson said dryly, grinning as she playfully glared at him. “What’d you forget?”

“Alyssum, it doesn’t just help with emotional balance, it protects against glamours and hexes.” She slapped her forehead. “God, I’m such an idiot!”

“So pack some.” Jackson pushed his own chair back and grabbed the opal necklace they’d picked up at the store the day before. He draped it around his neck, and Sanha laughed.

“You look like my grandmother.”

“At least I’m not going to die.”

“Opal just makes you brave and blocks glamour, silly. It doesn’t protect you.”

“it gets combined into strong opal and passes that onto the wearer,” he insisted. “I looked it up.”

She shrugged and slid her own necklace on. “Mine matches my aesthetic.”

“I hate to break it to you, but you’re as colorful and cheerful as you can get. Ebony does not match you,” Jaebum stated as he settled a crown of alyssum flowers in his hair.

“Yeah well, I never pegged you as a flower crown kind of guy, but here we are.”

“You’re just jealous.”

Youngjae pulled on his bracelet of lava rock and bronzite and stood. “Guys, we have to go, we’re losing daylight.”

“You know daylight doesn’t matter for what we’re doing, right?” Sanha asked as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

“It makes it easier to not die while we’re getting there.”

“Finally, someone who agrees with me!” Jackson threw his arm around Youngjae’s shoulders. Sanha rolled her eyes at them and pulled the door open.

“After you!”

As they walked, Sanha filled them in on the research she’d done into what she might’ve seen.

“Right now, all I know with absolute certainty is that it’s not a ghost,” she explained. “Our best bet right now is that it’s a spirit.”

“Aren’t those the same thing?”

“Not exactly.” Sanha’s brow furrowed as she tried to think how to phrase it, and she pulled her notepad out of the bag at her side, flipping through the pages to find her notes.

“You still use a physical notepad?” Youngjae stared at her.

“I’m old fashioned.” She shrugged. “And anyway, it helps me organize. Do you want the question answered or not?”

“Ghosts are remnants of people that were once alive and died in some horrendous way or with unfinished business,” Jaebum explained for her while she found her page. “ ‘Spirit’ includes ghosts but a little more than that besides.”

“Yeah,” Sanha agreed, tracing her pen down the page. “Ghosts manifest as dark shadows and these little sounds, but rarely more than that. Spirits are practically physical, which is kind of what I saw, and they aren’t necessarily a dead person. Essentially they’re like the soul of a person, the ‘energetic part’, and it leaves the body when they die. They can possess other bodies too.”

“So are they evil or nice, or what?”

“That depends. And get this, if the spirit in the body isn’t the original, they’re basically invincible! Isn’t that exciting?”

Jackson groaned. “Thanks, that makes me feel so much better.”

“At least you have your necklace.”

“So if the guy in the building’s a spirit, then what’re we meant to do about it? I mean, he’s probably dead, that’s why he’s a spirit.”

“I don’t think that’s it.” A thoughtful frown appeared on Youngjae’s face. “It’s too simple. Besides, the building didn’t actually explode. Something else must’ve happened, and they covered it up.”

“So they got murdered?” Jaebum theorized.

Youngjae shook his head as he moved the sign away from the face so they could sneak through the hole. “Glamouring a whole building to fake an explosion just because a couple kids were killed seems excessive, since they probably could’ve just actually blown up the building. It would’ve used a lot less energy than sustaining the glamour.”

“So you think they’re still alive?” Sanha leaned on the sign, waiting her turn. “And it’s all a plot to hide that fact?”

“That’s what I think right now.” He squeezed through the hole. “That’s all assuming that the building isn’t destroyed, though.”

Sanha snorted, sliding through the fence. “Please, I’m nosy, not nuts.”

They put the sign back and headed for the dorm building. As through from some previous agreement, they all paused at the last corner.

“Well.” Sanha sighed. “Moment of truth. Who’s going first?”

They stared at each other for a second, before Jackson pulled up a clenched fist hovering over his palm without breaking eye contact. “Best two out of three, winners fight and the overall winner decides.”

With the rules set, they paired off and played.

Eventually, they reached the overall game, with Jackson facing Jaebum. Jaebum won the first round, they tied three times, and Jackson pulled it back with two consecutive wins. The mood of the situation was temporarily lost as he danced around victoriously.

“Yeah, that’s right! Who’s the best!” he crowed at the sky. Sanha covered her mouth as she bent over from her laughter. “Okay, so anyone except Sanha can go first.”

“You have to actually pick someone, oppa, that was the prize.”

“Really? Okay fine. Jaebum hyung.”

Sighing like he’d expected it, Jaebum stepped around the corner. There was a breathless second as they waited for feedback before Sanha ran out of patience and stepped around the corner herself.

“It worked.” The words dropped out of her mouth with her breath as she stared up at the dorm building silhouetted against the sky. “It actually worked.”

“Damn.” Jackson stepped out next to her, making a face as she whispered for him to watch his language.

“Okay.” Youngjae breathed out semi-fearfully. “This just got real.”

“If you want to back out now, that’s totally fine,” Sanha reassured him.

He threw his shoulders back and shook his head. “It’ll be okay. How bad can it be?” Jackson leaned around behind him to knock on wood.

“Let’s go before it gets too late.” Jaebum strode forward, looking confident in body, but his face screamed that he was definitely not sure about any of this. “Sanha, where’d you see the spirit?”

“Second floor past a broken door. Jackson oppa knows what it looks like.”

“Speaking of the broken door,” Jackson started. “How are we going to get past that? It’s locked, and Sanha’s the only one small enough to get through.”

“We break it more?” Youngjae suggested as Jaebum pushed the front door open and they slipped inside.

“I could always just go at it alone.”

“No!” Sanha’s suggestion was immediately shot down by three vehement voices. She lifted her hands in surrender and swung the front door almost closed.

“Jeez, find some chill. It’s this way.” She led the way up the stairs as they continued debating behind her. The broken door looked just like she remembered, and without waiting for the boys she crawled through the hole.

“Sanha I swear to god-” Jackson’s heated statement stopped threateningly in the middle.

“Just break the door, silly. I’m not going to go anywhere.” She rolled her eyes.

“We agreed that was a bad idea,” Jaebum reminded her.

“I didn’t agree anything.” She leaned against the wall, staring down at the window at the end. “I told you, I’m not going anywhere. Just get the door and get in here.”

Someone started kicking at the edges of the hole, so she moved farther down to avoid the chips of wood that flew from the edges. As she did, a few notes sounded in her ears, familiar chords. A soft oh dropped from her lips as she turned to the hallway, anticipation thrumming through her body. What had he said? Don’t look away, keep your eye contact with me.

“. . . no one can keep us apart.” The soft words met her ears, and then there he was, standing at the end of the hall.

“Hi.” She breathed the word out in her awed exhale. She was acutely aware of Jackson’s exasperated breathing behind her as he struggled to pull himself through the hole, but refused to look away this time as the boy ran down the hall. Daylight streamed into the hallway, she reached out to him, his hand was so close-

-and he went straight through her.

“Dammit!” she swore and dropped her hand, turning quickly around. He hadn’t vanished, luckily, but he stared at his hands with a bleak, shocked expression. The daylight in the hallway went out, and everything was the same except for the new presence.

“Language,” Jackson snapped breathlessly. “If I can’t say it, neither can you.” He seemed completely unaware of the boy standing maybe a foot from him. They made confused eye contact before going back to Jackson. “You mind giving me a hand?”

“Yes,” she teased automatically, moving to help. As soon as he was through, he kicked the door next to the handle a couple times and it swung open, the door jamb splitting.

“The damn thing opens the wrong way,” he explained.

“Why didn’t you just tell me to do it?”

“Because you’re a little featherweight, and it was easier to do it the other way.” He surveyed the hallway as she scoffed in mock offense. “So where’s your spirit at?”

She gave him a confused look. “Can you seriously not see him?” Sanha glanced back at the slightly transparent man in the corner, with Youngjae following her gaze.

“Sanha, there’s nothing there.” Jaebum frowned, glancing between her and the corner.

Youngjae snapped his fingers. “It must be items!” He turned to Sanha. “That’s why we can see him but they can’t.” Abruptly he turned and bowed to the confused boy in the corner. “Hi, by the way.”

“Oh thank god, I’m useless,” Jackson said sarcastically.

“No, you just brought the wrong thing.” Sanha frowned down at her ebony pendent. “I don’t know what about this would lead to. . .” She trailed off.

“Does anyone mind explaining?” Jinyoung finally spoke.

“Oh shit, of course.” Sanha dropped the pendent and bowed, ignoring Jackson calling out her language. “I’m Kim Sanha, beside me is Wang Jackson, Im Jaebum, and Choi Youngjae. It’s a long, wild story but the gist is I’m trying to figure out what’s up with this section of campus with my wide array of sidekicks!”

“Partners,” Jaebum edited her statement.

“Details.”

“I’m Park Jinyoung.” He bowed hesitantly, still seeming confused.

“Sorry if this is rushing things, but what the fuck happened here?” Sanha pulled out her notepad and prepared to write down anything that seemed important.

“I’m really not sure,” he admitted. “I broke up with my girlfriend and she didn’t like that, so she enlisted the help of another guy in our dorm and did something that moved us into another universe, I think.”

“Just you and her?”

“Me, Mark, Yugyeom, her, and the guy, BamBam. I guess he’s a demon, because he was the one with the magic knowledge.”

As he spoke, Sanha ran through the five missing students. She didn’t recognize the last name, and assumed it was a nickname for the other male student. It didn’t sound like the name of a demon to her, but she hadn’t done research into demons so that made sense.

“So the others are still here?” she asked. He nodded. “Are they in an intangible form like yours?”

“I think so. To tell the truth, I didn’t know I was until I ran through you. While we’re on the subject, I’m sorry about that. Honestly, you’re the first new person I’ve seen in a really long time.”

“You’re good,” she reassured him.

“Where are the others?” Youngjae asked.

Jinyoung stared past them with a thoughtful expression. “Mark usually hangs out in 1704, and I think Yugyeom is in 1209. BamBam you don’t want to run into, but he tends to hang around the third floor, and I haven’t seen my ex since the first day.” Upon hearing the first room number, Sanha couldn’t help but laugh, but she hid it behind her hand.

Youngjae took Jaebum’s arm. “Come on hyung, let’s go find Yugyeom.”

“And then what?”

“We’ll. . . figure it out.”

“Reassuring.

Sanha studied Jinyoung as the other two left. “Can you move between rooms, then?”

“Yeah. I can show you where 1704 is,” he offered.

“We know where 1704 is.” At her words, Jackson’s face went shades of white and pink embarrassment and he buried his face in the bag he’d brought, acting as though he was searching for something. She stifled another giggle. “But I’d love for you to come with.” She thought maybe his older way of speaking was getting to her, but it didn’t mean enough for her to care.

“Hah!” Jackson suddenly shouted, withdrawing his hand from the bag and waving something around. “Hah, I knew I still had it in there!” He stopped flailing it around as he slipped it on, keeping it still long enough for Sanha to see that it was an ebony ring. Immediately, his eyes landed on Jinyoung.

“Hello, I’m Jinyoung.” As though at a loss, the boy introduced himself again.

“Wang Jackson.”

“If there’s a demon we should get on with it,” Sanha said.

“I’m willing to overlook your crazy phrasing because there’s a demon?!”

“Talk and walk~!” she sang, tugging on his arm and inviting Jinyoung to come with, which he did, albeit with a bemused expression.

It didn’t take very long for Jinyoung and Sanha to explain everything, and it took even less time for them to get to room 1704. Jinyoung didn’t have any problems with the floor, since he wasn’t a physical form, but the other two had some minor difficulties.

Finally standing at the door, they looked awkwardly at each other for a couple seconds, before Jackson bowed gallantly, echoing the words he’d said their first time at the door. “Thrill seekers first.”

She rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder, but pulled the door open and stepped through. It was a familiar scene. Nothing had changed since the last time she was in there, the time which would not be mentioned. Just like before there was a dark shadow on the balcony when she turned to look, although this time the doors were open.

“Mark!” Jinyoung called his attention. The figure turned and walked back inside, and his features became clear. Nobody said anything for a long minute, as Mark seemed surprised to see them. Unsurprisingly, it was Jackson who broke the silence.

“You’re quite handsome, Mark-ssi.”

Sanha hit herself in the forehead.

Mark blushed pink and looked down. “Ah- thank you.”

“Don’t mind him, he’s a little shit.” Sanha pushed Jackson to the side and stepped in front of him. “I’m Kim Sanha, and this is Wang Jackson.”

“Tuan Mark.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He paused, before turning slightly. “So you’re real then? Physical.”

“I would hope so. I was when I came in.” Sanha pinched herself. “I’m not even sure how I’d check that.”

“I haven’t seen anyone physically real in years.”

“So you knew you were intangible, then?”

He nodded. “BamBam- did something. I’m not sure what. He punched me out of my body.” As he spoke he made the motion with his arms, pushing away from him with his palm out in a way that looked like he was trying to win a splash fight in a pool.

“Punched you out of your body?” She recognized that.

“I know it doesn’t make much sense; I’ve been trying to make sense of it for years.” He blushed a bit.

“No, it totally makes sense.”

Jackson gave her a sideways look. “It does?”

“Yeah, remember how I told you that the spirit’s the soul of a person, the energetic part? BamBam knocked the energetic part out of the physical somehow,” she explained.

“So if we find the physical part, then we’ll be tangible again?” Jinyoung asked.

“In theory.” She scribbled the hypothesis down in her notepad. “I’m not a hundred percent right now, but it’s our best bet, so we may as well test it.”

“I don’t know where my body is, though. He hid it somewhere.” Mark frowned.

“Well he’s not going to make it easy,” Jackson mumbled.

“It probably can’t have gone far.” Sanha tapped her pencil eraser against her cheekbone. “With the energy required to keep up this kind of glamour, he can’t have moved them outside the building, and if he had someone would have found them already. Technically you guys are still missing, not confirmed dead, so they should still be in the building.”

“So-”

The door burst open, cutting off whatever Jinyoung was about to say. Youngjae stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. “We’ve got problems.”

[junker-town]

NFL Dad, Week 12: An unfortunate chain of events

One dad’s diary of balancing two young children with seven hours of RedZone channel. How much could possibly go wrong? (A lot, if you’re Alex Smith.)

A successful day of parenting has two qualities: (1) good logistics and (2) getting the hell out of the house. They work in tandem, and the farther you go, the more logistical planning you need.

For example, I know that my kids need to be down for their nap by 1:30 p.m., so any morning excursion needs to end with us back at our apartment by 1:15. Except my 18-month-old son sometimes tires out by 12:30 or 1:00, so earlier is better. And they need to eat lunch by noon, or sometimes 11:30, so we need to pack lunches or plan a stop for food. Plus snacks. Plus the diaper bag. Which stroller are we going to take — the unwieldy double? Or the collapsible one? Are we taking the subway? Does the subway stop we’re going to have an elevator, or should I plan on throwing my back out carrying a stroller up the stairs again? I swear the invasion of Normandy had fewer coordinating instructions.

This is the kind of planning my wife and I put into a Saturday excursion to a French bakery to get macarons (my three-year-old daughter has a fascination with Paris). We put my son in the foldable stroller for the short stroller ride, and counted on our daughter to walk most of the 10 blocks from subway to fancy cookies.

It went swimmingly! The kids were overjoyed to be in a new neighborhood, our scheduling was stellar, the macarons were light but rich in flavor — and then the wheels fell off. Or, more accurately, a nut fell off a screw holding the stroller together, and half the frame collapsed.

Now, instead carrying my daughter on my shoulders while my wife pushed our son in the stroller (read: walking at an adult pace), my wife carried my daughter while I slung the collapsed stroller over one shoulder and carried my son in my other arm. He is the approximate size and shape of a 27-pound kettlebell, minus the convenient handle. It was slow going.

When we finally got on a subway home, I looked at the stroller, the conveyance that made the trip easy until one tiny lost part turned it into dead weight and gave us extra things to carry. This is where, if I were concerned about making this a football metaphor, I would talk about injuries and the difficulties of replacing a star player mid-season in the salary cap era.

But I’m not. I just wanted to complain.

EARLY GAMES, FIRST HALF

— Here is my ranking of early slate games based on anticipated entertainment value to me. NOTE: I have weird tastes and strong grudges.

Bears-Eagles. The Eagles are fun to watch, the Bears are an entertaining disaster, and I love blowouts.

Bucs-Falcons. Mike Evans and Julio Jones.

Bills-Chiefs. Both teams are in freefall, I picked the Bills to cover today, and I’m an ardent supporter of Tyrod Taylor, Competent Starting Quarterback.

Panthers-Jets. The Jets are trash but I kind of love them? For not sucking as hard as they should? Love is weird, man.

Titans-Colts. A pleasing array of blue uniforms.

Dolphins-Patriots. I have Rob Gronkowski on a fantasy team.

Browns-Bengals. No to this much orange. No to this much Ohio.

— Speaking of Browns-Bengals, my daughter pooped on the toilet just before the games started. Three more poops on the toilet, and she gets to watch her first movie: Moana.

I’m familiar with the schools of thought that say you shouldn’t incentivize potty training, and that’s how we started off, too. Then my daughter started holding in poops for several days before struggling to crank out the hardened rock in her butt, and we implemented a multi-tiered system of bribes that would put FIFA to shame.

— The kids come and kiss me before naptime as Tom Brady hits Gronk on a 3rd and 7. The Pats are already up 7-0 after running a fake punt on 4th and 9 deep in their own territory, and they soon double their lead with a TD to Gronk. I’m fine calling this one over.

— Tyrod Taylor finds Zay Jones on a drag route across the end zone (NOTE: as always, when I cite the route that was run, any inaccuracies are due to not paying attention and lack of replays). The Bills are up 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, and Alex Smith has looked VERY shaky to start the game. So I guess that’s why they don’t hand out actual Quarter-Season MVP trophies.

— In a bang-bang flurry of cuts, RedZone shows three straight touchdowns: Mohammed Sanu hits Julio Jones for a 51-yard touchdown bomb from the Wildcat formation; the Dolphins scoop up an errant snap to score a defensive TD; and Cam Newton runs it in on a bootleg on 3rd and goal at the goal line.

I will now embed the best of those three plays.

Look at that cool head despite the bobbled snap! I am prepared to declare Mohammed Sanu better than at least five starting quarterbacks in the NFL.

Also, I called that a Wildcat formation, but the Wildcat really seems more a principle at this point: “We have replaced our quarterback with someone more athletic for one play. He can’t really read a defense, but we’re not necessarily counting on him to. Are you ready? ‘Cuz this is gonna be an adventure for us, too.”

— Nelson Agholor flips into the end zone, and the Eagles are up 14-0 over the Bears. This game is as good as over, but I love that there’s so much more to come. THRASH THE SCRUBS.

— Alex Smith has started 1/6 for 3 yards. Chiefs Twitter is embroiled in a bitter civil war between fans who want Pat Mahomes to start and fans who blame the play-calling, or the line, or ... buddy, I don’t see how this is on anyone but Smith. He seems like a very nice person who’s gone through a lot of professional hardship, but at this point I a benching would be an act of mercy.

Also, I crave Pat Mahomes bombs. LET PAT COOK!

— On Saturday, when we’d gotten back on the subway after the stroller broke, I said to my wife, “It reminds me of that saying, “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost...”

She gave me a puzzled look.

“You know, ‘For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost,’ then the rider was lost, then the message, and so on until the war was lost.”

Her face was still blank. Had she really never heard this common proverb about logistics in war? I shrugged and offered meekly, “My parents used to say it.”

“You and I had really different childhoods,” she replied.

— Julio Jones had one touchdown in the first 11 weeks of the season (proof that football is flawed). He now has two in the first half against the Bucs.

http://pic.twitter.com/FWGgJ8bdXi

— ALSO, KEITHFUJIMOTO (@vineydelnegro) November 26, 2017

RIP, those ankles.

QUESTION: Hey, what about the ball coming loose after Jones hit the pylon? There have been repeated rulings that players haven’t been established as a runner despite taking several steps while making a catch, so if Jones lost the ball going to ground, shouldn’t that be a touchback? Or at least reviewed with closer scrutiny than it got?

ANSWER: SHUT UP NERD. Did you see that cornerback fall down or what?

— Alex Smith update: He is 2 of 8 for seven yards. The Bills’ Steven Hauschka misses a 52-yarder, so the Chiefs will have good field position to try to get their first first down of the day as the clock approaches the 2-minute warning.

OK, we have a first down! But it’s still not great for the Chiefs. It feels like every replay features the color commentator circling the open receiver that Smith didn’t see. Still, KC gets its first points of the day with a Harrison Butker field goal, and the Bills hustle to answer before the gun: Hauschka is good from 56 yards, and the Bills lead 13-3 at halftime.

— Robby Anderson makes a RIDICULOUS catch in double coverage for a touchdown. This marks his fifth straight game with a touchdown.

.@youngamazing9 beats double coverage with EASE. #Jets http://pic.twitter.com/uAtifOZIVW

— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2017

One of my co-workers offered Anderson to me as part of a trade package last week — “Anderson’s been really good lately,” he said — and I reacted like he’d offered me a plate of dog crap. Look, I enjoy the scrappiness of the Jets, but I don’t want them on my fantasy teams.

— With less than 10 seconds left in the half, Matt Moore gets picked off in the end zone. Instead of trailing by just one score, the Dolphins will go in to the locker room trailing 21-10.

Not that it matters, of course. Miami’s lone touchdown is a chance defensive score on a bad snap. They’ve already gotten their breaks for the game (they also snatched an INT from Brady, just his third of the season), and they’re losing anyway. I’m not sure why I framed a potential one-score game as potentially affecting the outcome; I blame the announcers.

— Alshon Jeffery, working out of the slot in the red zone, puts Eagles up 24-0 with five seconds left in the half. The score, his seventh of the season, triggers a $250,000 performance clause in Jeffery’s contract, as well as an extremely good celebration.

BOWLING FOR EAGLES http://pic.twitter.com/RXEYdmuiU9

— Clay Wendler (@ClayWendler) November 26, 2017

EARLY GAMES, SECOND HALF

— Albert Wilson slips through several defenders to score the Chiefs’ first touchdown. KC has some life, and now trails 13-10.

— Holy hell, what a play by McCown to Anderson for 50-plus yards and the TD. The Jets now lead 17-12.

"GO DEEP!" - @JoshMcCown12 And that's exactly what @YoungAmazing9 did. Another @NYJets TD! #Jets http://pic.twitter.com/Gdi31ZUDG0

— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2017

I would like to issue an apology to Josh McCown. Before the season, I said the only job he should have at age 38 is as a backup for a good team, and that he had no business starting. That was wrong: He has completed more than 67% of his passes for 17 touchdowns (both career bests) while throwing eight interceptions in 11 games. That’s totally serviceable! I’d take McCown over Joe Flacco any day.

— Ummmmm...

How does Chris Myers think burping a baby works? http://pic.twitter.com/lwYCec5jxg

— Mike Tunison (@xmasape) November 26, 2017

Look, announcers have to say a LOT of words every game, and the right phrase isn’t always on the tip of your tongue. Chris Myers saw Delanie Walker performing CPR on the football, and the words that came out to describe it were “burping the baby.” I don’t think he doesn’t know know how to burp a baby. It’s not like he’s fending off lawsuits for crushing infants’ chests while babysitting, you know?

— My daughter wakes up from her nap. “Can I watch football too, Daddy?” she says. My heart gushes. I doubt that this is anything approaching an original thought, but I think the reason I’m so madly in love with my daughter is that she’s a little copy of the woman I love the most, but with flashes of my own DNA. So she’s a combination of my most selfless love with the egotistical love I have for myself, and those feelings happening at the same time is more powerful than any other emotion I’ve felt.

My son? Oh yeah! He’s great too. Love that little dude.

— Jonathan Stewart scores for the Panthers, but the two-point conversion comes up short. Carolina takes an 18-17 lead.

— My wife goes to get our son up from his nap, but he rejects her presence. “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” I go in and play peekaboo with him, and he cackles maniacally. It’s my laugh, in toddler form. Let the record show that I love him as much as my daughter.

— With the Chiefs trailing and less than three minutes left, Alex Smith throws off-target on 4th and four. The pass was closer to being intercepted than it was to being completed. The film session for this game isn’t gonna be fun for him.

Wouldn’t it suck to have to sit through critical replays of your job? “Here’s where your Powerpoint went off the rails, Johnson. What was this chart supposed to accomplish? Look at the clients’ eyes here: They’re completely glazed over! You lost your audience!”

— After a Jets field goal, the Panthers take the lead on a fumble recovery that goes for six the other way. The two-point conversion gives them a six-point lead, and my precious 4.5-point spread looks in trouble.

— Trailing 16-10, the Chiefs have one last chance to mount a game-winning drive, and Alex Smith ... throws an interception. Tradavious White returns the ball all the way to the Chiefs’ 10-yard line, and boos rain down on Smith. Poor guy. Poor Chiefs fans, too, but I’m still allowed to feel bad for a nice guy who sucks at his job.

— The Panthers return a punt for a touchdown, and the Jets have now COMPLETELY Jets’d this up. They allowed consecutive defensive and special teams touchdowns to go from winning this game to having no chance to cover. I can’t WAIT to go back to not caring about the Jets.

— The Eagles defense, thinking they’d intercepted a Trubisky pass late in the game, perform the Electric Slide. But the call is overturned, so they intercept Trubisky again, and perform the Electric Slide again.

Eagles making an Electric Slide music video this time out http://pic.twitter.com/q4RTtlXYZC

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) November 26, 2017

The celebration only counts if the play stands.

LATE GAMES, FIRST HALF

— Totally biased late slate entertainment rankings:

Seahawks-49ers. Here is my weekly apology for being a Seahawks fan. If I could stop, I would.

Saints-Rams. This should have been flexed into Sunday Night Football. I reject Brett Hundley from primetime.

Jaguars-Cardinals. The Calais Campbell/Blaine Gabbert revenge game! Also, Blaine Gabbert versus Blake Bortles reminds me of one of my favorite tweets.

Broncos-Raiders. I appreciate the bad blood, but “Paxton Lynch versus Marshawn Lynch” doesn’t quite move the needle when both teams have losing records.

— It’s rainy and windy in Santa Clara, and on the first play from scrimmage, Russell Wilson ignores a short throw to a wide-open J.D. McKissic in order to throw to a blanketed Jimmy Graham. Eric Reid picks him off.

— For a couple of blissful minutes, my kids play together peacefully without any involvement from their parents. Is this ... Could this be a glimpse of what we hoped for when we had kids 19 months apart? Like, OF COURSE, they’ll fight over toys, but the mere NOTION of entire minutes where I don’t have to actively parent one or both of them makes my heart sing.

— After a Seahawks drive stalls, Blair Walsh is wide left from 48.

“He only missed PATs for one season.”

— Saints-Rams is finally underway. The Rams put together an impressive drive and go up 7-0 on a short slant to Sammy Watkins.

— RedZone’s first look at Broncos-Raiders is a knock-down drag-out fight between Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib on the sidelines, and on the field, and across the field. Both players — as well as Gabe Jackson — are tossed from the game.

It started the play before, when Crabtree punched Chris Harris in the stomach. On the next play, Crabtree blocked Talib, and the cornerback took the opportunity to snatch the Raider’s chain for the second year running.

I know that fighting is bad, especially given that players are already trying to murder each other within the rules on every play of the game, but ... this was all WILDLY ENTERTAINING. Like, Marshawn Lynch escorting Talib out of the game is only the fourth- or fifth-most intriguing part of this.

Marshawn Lynch escorted Aqib Talib out of the game. http://pic.twitter.com/D2Cci6Ks3c

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) November 26, 2017

I’m so bummed that this is the second Broncos-Raiders game of the year. I want another one!

— Bobby Wagner straight up ROBS a man of a catch, and the Seahawks get the ball at 14. Two plays later, Russell Wilson’s read-option fools the camera man (and everyone else) as he scoots in for the touchdown.

After review... It's a @Bwagz54 INT! #Seahawks http://pic.twitter.com/HQTT7JFBqO

— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2017

.@DangeRussWilson will do it himself! #Seahawks http://pic.twitter.com/GbC1G1o1g8

— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2017

— Alvin Kamara breaks a 74-yard run for a TD. Holy crap. The Saints cut the Rams’ lead to 10-7.

He. Is. GONE. 74-yard @A_kamara6 TOUCHDOWN! #GoSaints http://pic.twitter.com/EhnZE2cAFX

— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2017

I will never forgive myself for not getting Kamara in any of my fantasy leagues. All of the excitement at the beginning of the season for Kareem Hunt and Tarik Cohen has faded, and it’s Kamara who’s the real truth. I love that dude. (NOTE: I have no idea what he looks like without a helmet.)

— We get my parents on a Facetime call so they can see the kids. I say “see” and not “talk with,” because conversing with the kids through the screen is almost impossible. My son only wants to get close enough to touch the screen (he constantly hangs up on family members), while my daughter becomes hyperactive, running from room to room, posing in downward dog, and crawling through a collapsible tunnel we’ve laid out. After each trick she runs to the iPad to make sure she’s still being watched, shriek-laughs, and runs off to do something else.

— Even though Talib got the better of Crabtree, the actual football game has been all Raiders, thanks mostly to Paxton Lynch. Jared Cook makes a nice catch in the back of the end zone, and the Raiders lead 14-0.

wow that stat http://pic.twitter.com/C6lZQIwgN5

— Harry Lyles Jr. (@harrylylesjr) November 26, 2017

— ENDORSEMENT: The frozen mini chicken tacos from Trader Joe’s. They’re one of the rare foods that both of my kids will eat every time without complaint.

— The Jags get on the board with a field goal before the half; they trail 13-3. Nothing about the Cardinals’ lead feels safe, yet Blake Bortles isn’t exactly the man I’d choose to lead a comeback. The Jags will need a defensive or special teams TD to get back in the game.

LATE GAMES, SECOND HALF

— The 49ers open the second half with a big dose of Carlos Hyde, who batters the Seahawks D and carries the Niners into Seahawks territory. A field goal cuts the Seahawks’ lead to 7-6.

— One of my daughter’s pretend games is a spin on the Sleeping Beauty/Snow White plot: She puts me or my wife to sleep with magic, we fall asleep, then she wakes us up with a kiss. When she comes to work her magic on me, I fall asleep very slowly, yawning as I watch Russell Wilson convert a 3rd and nine by hitting a leaping, twisting Doug Baldwin downfield. She kisses me awake before the next play, another shot downfield to Tanner McEvoy. The quick drive ends with a Nick Vannett TD and no other magical comas.

— RedZone shows clips of Calais Campbell reuniting with his former teammates before the game. And yet no mention of the respect Jaguars players surely have for Blaine Gabbert. What a shame.

— I have the TV muted while we listen to a Beatles playlist. I’ve never cared much for the Beatles, but their work holds up as children’s music. The Beatles are like if Raffi had an edge and more instruments.

Now, some people might be angered by that take, but I’m not trying to be incendiary. Revolver and Sgt. Pepper are two of the best children’s albums ever made, and I’ll take “Yellow Submarine” over “Banana Phone” any day. Well, almost any day. Banana phones are pretty funny.

— Both defenses in the Saints-Rams game have stiffened — no points in 3rd quarter, and not much in the way of drives, either.

— Bork Birdles scores on a bootleg. The Jags trail 16-10.

— Jimmy Graham scores a touchdown on a short slant. With the ball on the left hash, the Seahawks lined up five wide receivers -- three on the left, two on the right. Then they motioned Tyler Lockett to the left, leaving Graham isolated on the wide side of the field. A fade was the obvious call, which is probably what made getting open on the slant so easy.

I wrote all of that out because it took the Seahawks TWO YEARS to figure this shit out, even though the Saints printed money with plays like that for five years.

— Let’s check in on Paxton Lynch:

Paxton Lynch is 7-of-12 for 35 yards, 0 TD and 1 INT. Vs. the NFL's worst defense. It's more than halfway through the third quarter.

— Frank Schwab (@YahooSchwab) November 26, 2017

— With the kids in the bath, my wife has switched to a Christmas music playlist. My daughter splashes my wife after being told not to do so, so I come in to levy the punishment. I pull my daughter out of the bath, and she starts screaming. It takes some of the enjoyment out of Mariah Carey singing “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Only some of it, though. That song is a fortress of good cheer.

— After my daughter calms down, I put her in her pajamas. “What was your favorite part of the day?” I ask. “Was it splashing in the bath?”

“Yeah,” she says, though not with conviction.

“Was it playing with Evan and eating my breakfast sandwich?”

“Yeah.”

“Was it going to church with Mommy?”

She pauses. “No.”

— With the Saints down by 13 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Alvin Kamara adds “hurdling guys” to his repertoire.

This just in: Alvin Kamara is extremely talented #Saints http://pic.twitter.com/uobNEKP6R0

— Clay Wendler (@ClayWendler) November 26, 2017

On the same drive, the Saints go for it on 4th and five at the edge of field goal range, and Brees again goes to Kamara, which sets up first and goal. But the drive stalls, and the Saints kick a field goal like a bunch of cowards. They’re gonna lose the game now.

— While I sing “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic” to my kids, Calais Campbell scoops up a fumble and runs it in to give Jags a 17-16 lead. I love how predictable the Jaguars are. NOW GIMME SOME BORTLES IN CRUNCH TIME.

— With about a minute and a half remaining, the Niners lose C.J. Beathard to an injury after a hard hit from Michael Bennett. IT’S GAROPPOLO TIME.

Down 24-6, Jimmy G calmly steers the Niners a whole 19 yards, culminating in a touchdown on the final play of the game. Just a really thrilling ending for the Niners faithful who stuck around, and a devastating turn of events for the heroes like me who had the Seahawks defense in fantasy.

— Strangely, the Broncos scoring points has coincided with Trevor Siemian replacing Paxton Lynch, who left the game with an injury.

This @TrevorSiemian TD pass... #DENvsOAK http://pic.twitter.com/0HDLVieQKl

— NFL (@NFL) November 27, 2017

That score makes it 21-14, and the Raiders will need a first down or two to kill the clock.

— Late in the fourth quarter, with the game tied at 24, Jacksonville intercepts Gabbert, and Scott Hanson actually says, “Blake Bortles getting a chance to be a hero...”

Come on, now. We know better than this. When Bortles is in charge of a two-minute drill, don’t frame it in the positive. At the very least, be noncommittal. “Let’s see what the Jaguars do here.” “We’re heading for an interesting finish.” “Surely both sides are nervous here.” Hedge your bets, man.

On 3rd and six, at the outer edge of FG range, Tyrann Mathieu intercepts Bortles.

— On 3rd and eight, deep in his own territory, Derek Carr hits Cordarelle Patterson deep to kill off the Broncos’ hopes for a comeback.

Oh my, @ceeflashpee84! 55-yard gain on the pass from @derekcarrqb! #RaiderNation http://pic.twitter.com/ahy06MkyFl

— NFL (@NFL) November 27, 2017

— Alvin Kamara gets in for another score, and it’s back to a one-possession game with 1:45 remaining. It is unfathomable to me that Kamara only got 11 touches in this game (for 188 yards and two touchdowns). I understand that he’s not built like a workhorse, but Sean Payton may want to revisit that decision after this game.

The onside kick is no good, and the Rams win.

— The Jaguars have gotten the ball back with the game still tied. Once again, Blake Bortles has a chance to be the hero, which is to say: He throws another interception. Phil Dawson kicks a 57-yard field goal and the Cardinals win.

— As the games wrap up, I knead the mixture that will become tonight’s meatloaf. I won’t go into my mother’s full recipe — although putting a recipe at the end of 4000 words of derivative bullshit would make this a typical internet recipe — but the combination of ground beef, ground pork, raw egg, bread crumbs, and various sauces and spices is less than pleasant.

It gets better as I go, though, and after I shape the loaf and wash my hands, I put the pan in the oven and watch RedZone’s touchdown montage. It goes on a little too long, but then, so do most things about the NFL.