#benji rowe

[oddcryptidwrites]

Trick or treat!

Since you're anon I can't send trick, so TREAT time! Here's another character from Neon Squad, a new Athens WIP coming to a blog near you soon!

Here's Benjamin "Benji" Rowe, your local genderfluid shapeshifter (any pronouns)! Xe is the only member of the Squad bound to the Rosa strain of Neon. While he can shapeshift, it's painful and not something he enjoys doing, plus there's a few things like his eye color, height, and build that he cannot change. They're the only member of the Neon Squad whose "talent" is actually something they trained in before and after being exposed to Neon: archery!

Benji is my third favorite character from this cast and she is babey :)

[bigboyplaya]

Posting this now in case i don't finish the entire page. I'm making a new boss to keep things fresh. He's called "Benji Murasaki." He's completely unrelated to my main Saints AU.

I want him to be quiet and mysterious but at the same time actually follow with the Boss shown in the games and not have to suspend my disbelief. quite difficult to do when i play saints row tbh.

My Kanji writing is super rusty lmao I haven't written Japanese script since high school so if "紫" looks wonky, then oops!

I also really like the current Fortnite season's battlepass skin "Daigo," and wanted to base Benji's face off of his model.

[infamoussparks]

Chapter 8: Reunions & Relationships

Approx. 4700 words; 30 minute read

He recalled the conversation and found it to be strange, especially paired with Lucky giving him this paper. Benji suddenly had the realization that this could be one of Celia’s doves and he swallowed his worry that Lucky was working with Celia. Her name hadn’t come up in the conversation between Makayla and the others in the office, but this dove couldn’t simply be a coincidence, right?

“... the hell, Umbra? I told you a full blackout!”

“Fetch, I did exactly that. But you heard her! She was having a panic attack. I couldn’t just leave her like that.”

“I don’t care if she was having a baby, you need to follow instructions.”

Makayla groaned softly as the arguing voices started to come in clear within the small room. Both of the voices immediately halted and Makayla struggled to open her eyes. Once fluttered open, the bright lights within the sterile white room were grating on her nerves. She didn’t even try to move her limbs, just turned her head to the side to take in both Fetch and Benji standing over her bed.

“... Hey, losers.” Makayla smirked and then winced. Pain flared at her core. Fetch frowned unimpressed and Benji looked Makayla over before clearing his throat.

 “Makayla?” Benji spoke cautiously as though afraid to cause her more pain with his voice alone.

Makayla forced a single laugh, “I’m not gonna break.”

“She’s fine. Clearly.” Fetch rolled her eyes, shifting her weight to her opposite hip and crossing her arms over her chest. She looked absolutely pissed.

Makayla was tickled pink internally. Good. Let the neon punk be annoyed by her. She enjoyed knowing she was under Fetch’s skin. Makayla went to move her arms and realized she was cuffed to the side of the medical bed.

“You think these will hold me?”

Benji sighed, “No one is holding you here, we just have some questions for you.”

“I’m holding her here. I’ll be honest,” Fetch barked.

“Fetch.” A fourth voice cautioned. Delsin entered the already cramped space. Fetch rolled her eyes and pouted. Makayla felt herself mimic the same expression herself. Delsin turned his focus to the bed, “So… Makayla Grayson, correct?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s me. What else did Benji tell you?”

Benji interjected, “Nothing, just your name, honest. I haven’t seen you in years.”

Makayla sighed, “Yeah, well you dropped out. So did I. College wasn’t working for me.”

Delsin glanced between the two, “You went to college together?”

“Had one class together, but we were in different years.” Benji confirmed.

“Interesting,” Delsin seemed as though that was something newsworthy. “Makayla, you’re working for Celia?”

Makayla laughed, “Not for her, just with her. I liked the promise she offered.”

“... Which is?” Delsin prodded.

“Freedom.”

“Same ol’ song and dance from Doves. Let’s lock her up and figure out next steps.” Fetch sounded impatient.

Delsin gave her that look. Oh, boy. Fetch was in trouble and Makayla loved to see it. She smiled to herself. “Fetch, meet me in the office.”

“Fine. I’m bored of babysitting anyway.” Fetch flipped Makayla off as she turned to leave the room. Makayla returned the gesture with a loud clanking of handcuffs against metal.

“Makayla, listen,” Delsin sighed and spoke a little softer, a little kinder, “We need as much information as you can give us on Celia and her plans. I don’t want to hold you here and I’ll let Benji uncuff you. But if you can help us, I’d appreciate it.”

“Why?” Makayla insisted, “Why should I help you?”

“Because we can give you freedom, too. The right way. You’d have safety here and a place to train and you clearly have friends here already. Just… think it over, yeah?”

Makayla looked from Delsin to Benji and back to the beanie-wearing man before offering a small nod. Maybe Celia’s version of freedom was a bit skewed to being more like a personal vendetta than an actual, attainable goal.

“How long do I have? To think it over?”

“A few days. Benji, here,” Delsin tossed a set of keys to Benji and he caught them easily with his left hand. “Let her free in a minute. I gotta make sure Fetch is in the office.” Then Delsin left.

Makayla was alone with Benji and while she didn’t consider them “friends” she knew Benji had vouched for her and tried to help her, even if the darkness was his fault.

“How long?” His voice pulled her from her thoughts.

“For what?”

“Since you’ve been a conduit? One of us?”

“Oh,” Makayla turned her attention to the ceiling, “Four years.”

“So, you knew while we were in school?”

“Yeah. But you can’t fault me. You never said anything about your powers, either.” Makayla snapped back. Benji looked hurt but he approached her side and started unlocking the cuffs as promised.

“We’re good here. I mean, I think you’d like it here. No one forces you to use your powers if you don’t want to. And I’ve really learned about a deeper level of control,” Benji spoke softly, a kindness mixed with his words, “Not that you don’t have control, just that… it’s an option.”

Makayla rubbed her newly freed wrists and sat up carefully, already feeling a lot better. She checked her stomach and saw only a smudge of scar tissue that was already fading.

“You didn’t have to save me back there, you know.”

“I couldn’t stop myself. You were–I was so worried about you.” Makayla could see the honesty in his eyes and for a moment they reminded her of Cassidy’s eyes. Her best friend. Her ride-or-die. Her would-be girlfriend, if the accident hadn’t happened. She pulled her attention back to her hands and blinked away the tears that seemed to suddenly be tugging at her eyes.

“I don’t know what they want from me here. At least with Celia I just do what I’m told and even then I’m pretty shitty at that, too. But here? Fetch wants me dead and Delsin doesn’t seem too keen about allowing me to stay…” Makayla took a breath and looked at Benji again, “I have no place to go if I don’t go back to Celia. And I’m not sure what will happen if I do. I failed.”

“Then just stay here. I promise they’ll come around.”

“And if they don’t? Then I’m back out on the streets. Alone.”

Benji gave her a quizzical look, “Listen to me, Mak. Pleas—“

Makayla snapped, “You don’t get to call me that! Ever! There's only one person who can call me that and it isn’t you.”

“I’m sorry. Makayla, please listen to me. I’m not your enemy here.”

“You’re not my remedy, either.”

Benji took a step back and composed himself in silence. Makayla sighed loudly, the rush of air messing up her fringe in a gust before the black and neon green strands fell back into place over her forehead.

She started again, “I’m sorry, that was… Listen, I’m just nervous. I only know you here and you can’t vouch for me forever. Plus, I dunno if you know this about me but I’m kinda on everyone’s hit list here.”

Benji laughed, the sound breaking the awkward nerves in the room, “No shit, really?”

Makayla twisted and threw her pillow at him. Benji caught it an inch from his face.

“Listen, I don’t need saving but I’ll help as much as I can. Celia is acting really weird lately and assigning what should be my missions to Orion. It’s not fair and something is up.”

“Let’s get you settled in and then I’ll tag along when you go to talk to Delsin and Fetch about everything, deal?”

“Deal.” Makayla smiled and suddenly felt relieved, like she had been holding her breath and finally surfaced. It was a weird feeling for her, but something told her she could relax here. Maybe she could even trust someone other than herself for once.

“Remember to breathe, Dr. Hutch.”

The lessons were hard but Rosaline was pushing herself anyway. For Caly, she reminded herself. For Caly.

Originally Eugene had tried running a few simulations with her using his power to project holograms, but these didn’t seem to work with Rosaline’s magnification abilities. It was hard to unlock a more mental-focused power with something that demanded a more physical approach. But after a few more tries, Eugene had an idea and phoned a friend. It took a bit for them to arrive but when they entered the training arena Rosaline instantly felt a wave of calm and encouragement from them and now they were sitting cross-legged on the floor facing one another.

“Please, call me Rosaline,” Rosaline concentrated on her breathing as instructed, “Like in yoga class… I’m finding my center.”

Her teacher reached out and touched her hand, “Stop that. This isn’t yoga. I want you to focus on connecting yourself to your power, not your center.”

Rosaline took a deep breath and pulled her long, red hair into a messy bun atop her head, which nearly matched the size of the pink bun her teacher had atop theirs. They spoke like they’d taught people how to really connect to their powers all their lives, but something creeped into the back of her mind, like that was a lie or a façade somehow. Like maybe this was just how they taught themselves. And maybe that was enough. Rosaline didn’t need to see transcripts or a list of names of successful students, she just needed to make this work. For herself. For Caly.

“Okay, Garrett. Let me try it again.”

Eugene sent an email. Another call for help. At first it bothered him to have to rely on others for help when he was a powerful conduit with connections, to boot. But it was these connections that were a boone to his power, not a fault of it. So now Eugene reached out unabashedly and continued to work while waiting on responses.

This response came at lighting speed. As expected. Childe was one with the Internet, after all.

They seemed happy to help and Eugene toasted his half-empty cup of coffee to them from his side of the computer screen.

“I just need to attack this from both sides. If we can crack this database wide open we’ll be saving a lot of conduits. I have a feeling Stratego may have additional facilities that we simply don’t know about yet.” SEND.

The reply came quickly. {I’m on it. I’ll be in touch.}

“I’ll drink a coffee for you, Childe. Thanks so much.” SEND.

{LOL! Thank you.}

With this being worked on, Eugene finally felt like he was making big strides instead of banging his head against the wall. Amazing what a small breakthrough, some powerful conduits and a few cups of coffee could accomplish.

The meeting between Makayla and the Heroes went better than Benji was expecting. Fetch had seemed annoyed at first, but as she was taking in what Makayla offered, she started asking more questions and by the end of the meeting seemed to be a little more amicable toward the toxin user. Benji was pleased.

Now, Benji was alone in his dorm which felt odd after spending so much time with Caly in here. He was sort of at a loss on what to do with the silence… video games? Art? Homework? Nah, not homework. But his eyes landed on his desk anyway and zoned into the folded paper he had left there. The one from Lucky.

He picked it up from his desk and turned it over in his hands. It was an origami dove and he wondered if maybe Lucky needed help afterall. 

“Are you okay? Do you need help?”

“I’m better now, thanks. Take care of Caly. Good luck, Benji.”

He recalled the conversation and found it to be strange, especially paired with Lucky giving him this paper. Benji suddenly had the realization that this could be one of Celia’s doves and he swallowed his worry that Lucky was working with Celia. Her name hadn’t come up in the conversation between Makayla and the others in the office, but this dove couldn’t simply be a coincidence, right?

Benji was flicking at the folds of the paper when something told him to unfold the dove and he pulled it apart carefully. Inside on the paper was the following message:

Grasp your FREEDOM, now Consider this your invite Accept your calling

“Oh,” Benji whispered to himself after reading the note, “I need Makayla to tell me where to go… I need to warn Lucky about Celia.” And he started tossing things into an old backpack. This was his hero’s calling, he could feel it in his bones.

“Benji? What are you doing here?” Lucky spun around running to Benji with a look of concern on her face. She grabbed him by the wrist and tugged him back into the shadows away from the entrance of the abandoned train yard. Benji thought she’d be happy to see him but her actions spoke louder than words.

“Are you safe? I unfolded the origami you gave me and I came as soon as I knew where to find you.”

Lucky gave him a puzzled look and moved her hand from his wrist to interlacing her fingers with his. Benji felt his cheeks warm and was thankful for the shadows for once in his life.

“Are you okay? Is Caly?”

“Yeah, Caly is fine. I’m fine,” Benji was trying to read her. Something seemed off but he couldn’t figure it out yet. It didn’t help that her hand felt warm in his and it was throwing his senses off. No one ever held his hand. This was new to him and it was really nice.

Benji shook himself to pull himself together, “Listen, Lucky. You may be in danger. That origami dove you gave me? It was one of Celia's, right?”

Lucky furrowed her brow, “Yeah, how did you kn–”

“Celia is using you for some self-important job. She’s going to hurt you once she no longer needs you,” Benji cut in, “You need to get out. Now.”

Lucky’s eyes searched his face. Benji wasn’t sure if she was finding what she needed or not. He just hoped she believed him.

“It may be too late for that. But you shouldn’t be here. If she sees you here…” Lucky’s voice drifted off and she quickly glanced over her shoulder as if she heard something he missed. “Good luck, Benji. You need to leave.”

Benji felt a rush of… something. Like a splash of water in his face. It was a strange sensation and he realized he had felt this once before with Lucky. She went to drop his hand and he grabbed her hand back quickly, holding it between both of his hands now. He was searching her face now and she looked slightly terrified.

“I’m not leaving you here. Come back with me,” His voice was a hushed whisper. He was begging her.

Lucky seemed to hesitate for a moment. It gave Benji a surge of hope. But then she glanced at their hands and she gently pulled hers away again, “I wish I could. I have to stay. For now.”

“Is she hurting you?”

Lucky seemed caught off guard by that assumption, “What? No. I mean, I can leave soon. I’ll find you again, I promise.”

Benji shook his head. He was not accepting this weird flow of words from Lucky. Something was clearly wrong and he decided to stay. What did Fetch tell him? Sometimes you gotta trust your instincts and choose the lesser evil. Let’s hope she wasn’t wrong.

“I’m staying with you, then. I want to see what Celia has planned for myself.”

“Benji I don’t think that’s a good idea…” Lucky started but noticed Benji seemed to have made up his mind. She sighed, “Keep your power hidden but ready. Something is changing and I’m getting nervous.”

Benji nodded as Lucky took his hand again and led him into the tunnel that held their small cohort of a team and Celia’s hidden base for Operation Freedom.

The knocking was loud. Then louder still.

“C’mon, Benji! Open up! I know you’re skipping class,” Fetch’s voice was muffled beyond the dorm door. “I’m letting myself in on the count of three.”

Fetch counted as she found the key she needed and then she unlocked the door to Benji’s room. She was hoping the conduit was just asleep since he was now off babysitting duty and had just used a massive amount of power at her behest. So, when Fetch opened the door and found the room all but empty, she was very, very confused.

And then she noticed something on Benji’s empty desk. A piece of paper that had familiar folded lines which had been smoothed out.

Fetch entered the room and picked up the paper, reading the message inside before fisting it with anger that all but set her neon ablaze. She left his dorm room, closing the door behind her but leaving it unlocked and headed not back to the office, but to another dorm down an opposite hall.

Another loud knocking on a closed door but this one was quickly answered.

“Yeah, yeah, what do you wa–oh, Fetch.” Makayla raised a single eyebrow while standing in her doorway.

“We have a problem that I think you can help with,” Fetch held up the scrunched paper in her fist and Makayla looked from it to Fetch’s face before nodding quietly. “Meet me in the office, now.”

Delsin and Eugene were already in the office planning lessons for the upcoming semester when Fetch crashed that party with Makayla in tow. She stormed to the desk and slapped the paper down on the wood.

“We have a big problem. Benji is gone.”

“Gone?” Delsin read the paper and then looked to Fetch and passed the paper to Eugene to read over as well.

Makayla sat carefully on the armrest of the couch, as though she may need to bolt from the room at a second’s notice, “He’s with Celia. I know where her base is.”

“We are not going to her base. It would be like walking into a trap,” Delsin strategized.

“Smart. I see why people call you the ‘Hero of Seattle’,” Makayla seemed to relax a bit on her perch.

Delsin nodded and then leaned into her bubble, “That’s why you’re going instead.”

Sweat beaded along her forehead as Lucky pushed her abilities and dodged an attack aimed at her head. She had been standing still with her eyes closed, tapping into her luck and relying upon it to guide her actions. It wasn’t a perfect dance, not yet anyway. But Lucky was determined to fine-tune this new skill.

“Too slow!” Her brother’s voice shouted from someplace in front of her, a noise like a razor upon glass alerted her to a new barrage of his mirror shards flying her way. Lucky dove left but as predicted, she was a second too slow and one shard sliced into her calf.

Lucky cursed under her breath, rolling until she sat up and could check the damage. It wasn’t a deep cut but she still frowned at being cut at all.

Orion approached her and stood over her, hands resting on his hips. “I told you to just fight me normally. This whole pushing your luck is going nowhere.”

“Stop being such an ass about this, Orion. I really want to try this. I think I can make it work somehow,” Lucky reached up to him and Orion grabbed her wrist to pull her to her feet while rolling his eyes.

The pain was sharp and sudden. Lucky gasped and glanced down seeing a shard driven up and under her ribcage. She blanched and stumbled forward into Orion’s arms. He held her gently, whispering into her ear.

“You trust too easily, sister. You need to build your pain tolerance before you try new tricks.”

“... Orion… Why?” She inhaled and held her breath, her fingers finding the shard before she wrapped her hand around it and yanked it from her skin. The pain caused tears to escape from the corners of her eyes and she pressed her bloodied palm to the wound as the shard fell to the grass at her feet.

Orion pushed her away from his embrace and ran his index finger under her chin, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. “Anger looks good on you, Lucky. Ready to fight me now?”

Lucky narrowed her eyes, forcing celestial light into her hands. The one over her wound flared with pain as she focused on cauterizing the wound with the heat. She flicked her free hand upward to latch around Orion’s wrist, the burn registering as pain flashed across his features. Lucky smirked internally knowing she had bested her brother for a moment.

Orion yanked his arm from her grasp and immediately summoned more mirror shards to his aid with a flash of golden crescents flickering in his eyes. The shards flew like arrows loosed from an invisible bow and Lucky dodged them all gracefully.

While Orion pulled more shards from thin air, Lucky forced celestial light in his direction. It flew like a thrown sparkler, sparks flying and her aim true. As it reached close enough to Orion, Lucky clapped her hands together and the sparks of light exploded in his face. She was quickly disappointed as the smoke cleared and her brother appeared from behind a mirror shield he crafted to protect his face.

Lucky scowled but then she was hit with sudden dizziness and her steps faltered. A glance down told her the stab wound was still bleeding and that this mini skirmish needed to quit while it was just between the siblings.

Benji caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.

“Lucky!” He was looking her over quickly and then his eyes started fading into this blue-gray color and Lucky reached up one hand and cradled his cheek. Her touch canceled his call to his power and he looked back down at her.

“I’m fine. Don’t hurt him.”

“But he hurt you.”

“And I’ll do it again if she wimps out with our next sparring session,” Orion cut in standing before them both. His arm was sporting a burn mark in the shape of her hand and his face looked marked by small dots of burns. So she had hurt him with her attack. Lucky smiled to herself. “I’m leaving. Let Celia know I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“What? Where are you going?” Benji shouted after him as Orion turned and started walking toward the city.

“To the bar. I’m hunting for trouble.”

“I hope it eats you alive, brother,” Lucky called after him and then she moved to sit in the grass, leaning back against her hands to relieve some pressure from her wound. Orion scoffed and waved but never looked back.

Benji dropped to sit next to Lucky, his eyes still darting from her face to her wound. He looked concerned for her and she gave him a soft smile.

“I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“You aren’t healing?”

“Oh… Yeah. About that,” She shifted a bit and winced just a smidge, “My power is luck-based and that’s pretty rare to drain. So healing is a slower process for me. I will heal, it just takes a little longer than most other conduits.”

Benji frowned a little at that but then sighed softly, “What can I do to help?”

Lucky gave him her full attention and for a moment said nothing at all. No one had ever offered to help her before. No one had ever seemed to care. She searched Benji’s eyes but only found genuine kindness. Her heart fluttered for a moment in her chest.

“Stay with me?” He’ll get hurt if he stays, Lucky thought to herself, But he isn’t going to want to leave you, not like this.

Benji just nodded and scooted closer to her on the grass, “Yeah, sure. I’m here, Lucky.”

“Thanks, Benji.”

The bar was a loud, public place with a thin haze from cigarettes and cigars lingering in the air. By the time Orion pushed through the doorway and approached the bar his face was fully healed and the mark on his arm had faded to a shadow of color. He asked for something strong and smooth and let the bartender work their human magic on a drink that met his requirements. He took a long sip from it before taking a moment to look around him and start to narrow in on a target.

A lot of people were keeping to themselves at the bar, or enjoying the company of friends at the few tables scattered throughout. A few people seemed to be running on liquid courage, while alone with a potential partner for the evening. But as Orion took another long sip from his glass, ruckus laughter pulled his focus and he narrowed his eyes at a man with a slight build and blonde, spiky hair. The man was not alone and he demanded an audience. Orion felt his pulse rise with the thought of stealing that attention for himself.

“... tell us about your new boyfriend, Luca…”

Orion smirked and finished his drink, slamming the glass on the bar before leaving his spot and heading for the blonde, a single, overheard name whispered under his breath, “Luca.”

The goal was simple: Push. If this guy was a conduit, push harder. Orion was looking for a fight and starting one in this crowded bar would be easy for him. A necessary release of anger, energy and power. He wanted to feel something tonight and either Orion would get his ass handed to him, or he’d get what he wanted–it was simply up to the tipsy, laughing blonde that was in his sights.

The night would be a smashing success either way.

“What do you mean?” Benji asked Lucky curiously. The two had been up all night talking and the sunlight was beginning to creep into the space they were sharing within the abandoned train yard building. It had been easy to talk with Lucky about anything and Lucky seemed to enjoy his company, so he stayed. Benji was also sticking by in case her unpredictable brother came in and decided round two of fight club would start before Lucky was fully healed.

“I mean, I think something is going on between Celia and my brother. Orion has been really combative with me for a few days now and just the other day Celia gave him a ‘secret mission’.” Lucky put the words in air quotes, “I’m starting to suspect Celia has it out for me somehow.”

“You should come back with me. I’ll protect you,” Benji took Lucky’s hands in his own, “I mean, the warehouse will take you in. We have Makayla healing there now.”

Lucky gave him a quizzical look, her brows furrowed in a way that read as her trying to understand what he had just told her. “Makayla is staying at the warehouse?”

“Yeah,” Benji confirmed, “At least, I hope so. She seemed like she was done with Celia’s bullshit and now hearing a similar story from you… I think you may be in trouble if you stay here.”

Lucky held his gaze and Benji felt a strange pull toward her. The way the sunlight was playing off her light skin and catching on her dark eyelashes… He shook his head slightly to shake off whatever was washing over him at the moment.

“Okay.” Lucky gave him a curt nod.

“Okay?”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there. As soon as I know my brother is back here safely, I’ll sneak out and find you.”

Benji tilted his head slightly and gave her a slight frown, “Why are you protecting him?”

“I’m not,” Lucky quickly answered, “I’m protecting you. You need time to get back to the warehouse and let them know that something big is coming and it’s going to get bad. If I’m right, Celia is priming Orion to fight by her side and knowing him as well as I do, well, he’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants out of this.”

“What does he want?”

“Control and power.” Lucky answered. “All of it.”

[lovefrenchisbetter]

The Row Benji Pull

[murderyn]

i am so deeply tired that i should just go to bed but if i go to bed too early my cats wake me up early (note: they still wake me up even if i go to bed later. they just wake me up... later! sometimes!)

[fingertipsmp3]

I know what I don’t want for tea but I don’t know what I do want. (Mark Corrigan voice) this is the worst thing that has ever happened to anyone ever

[spryfilm]

Movie review: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” (2023)

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem��� (2023) Action Running Time: 95 minutes Written by: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit Directed by: Jeff Rowe Featuring: Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, Nicolas Cantu, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Natasia Demetriou, Ayo Edebiri, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Brady Noon, Seth…

[thenerdsofcolor]

Capturing the Perfect 'Ninja Turtles' Look with 'Mutant Mayhem' Cinematographer Kent Seki

Capturing the Perfect 'Ninja Turtles' Look with 'Mutant Mayhem' Cinematographer Kent Seki #TMNTMovie #MutantMayhem @TMNTMovie

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is officially in theaters! And if you haven’t seen this one yet, we cannot recommend it enough. It’s spectacular! And part of the reason this one is special is because of how beautiful and charming the movie looks, from it’s wonderful animation style to the filmmakers’ abilities to put some challenging but gorgeous action sequences on screen. And none…

[bob-the-movie-man-film-reviews]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (PG): How to Milk Turtles Without Nipples.

#onemannsmovies review of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" (2023). ##TMNTMovie. Animated yarn that the kids will enjoy. 3/5.

A One Mann’s Movies review of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” (2023). The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” have been trotted out to the cinema for each new generation of kids. Looking at IMDB, there have been films in 1990 (then sequels in 1991 and 1993), 2009, 2014 (and then 2016) and as recently as last year’s “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie” on Netflix. And…

[yikes-aemond]

Hello!!!! How are you? Are you willing to do a Benjicot X Tully!Reader oneshot?

Benji being a little puppy in love with a serious, blunt, very introverted and book-loving Tully, since they were children, and that is the reason why he often bothered her. Tully! Reader has a habit of throwing things at his head when she loses her patience.

Many hugs 💖💖💖🤗🤗🤗

You can hear it in the silence.

pairing: Benjicot Blackwood (fancast!Kieran Burton) x Tully!fem!reader (no physical descriptions of reader)

warnings: none, pure fluff

summary: You and Benjicot Blackwood meet as children and proceed to hate each other for years. Until one day, you didn't.

word count: 3.1k 

author note: Thank you so much for the request! I’m sorry it took me a little while to complete it, but I hope I did your story idea justice. I’m hesitant to say this because I should be working on the next part of “I love you. It’s ruining my life.” but I have an idea for a part 2 to this story, so let me know if there is interest! Love you babes. Happy reading! 

On your tenth name day, Benjicot Blackwood put a frog in your bed.

First light had not yet broken. You floated in that hazy space, not quite dreaming and not quite awake, content to stay beneath the warmth of your covers. 

You had stayed up too late the night before. After stealing a half dozen honey cakes from the kitchens, you had wandered to the library, seeking comfort from the rows upon rows of books until the hour of the wolf ushered in your name day. 

You did not recall how you made it from the library to your bed. Your father most likely. 

Lord Elmo Tully was prone to sleepless nights, and often took to walking Riverrun at night to ease his troubles. On more than one occasion, he had found you face down on a study table, cheek pressed into the page of a book, after spending too many hours lost in tales of knights and princesses and children of the forest. And each time he found you, he would pick you up gently, careful not to wake you, and carry you back to bed.

Elmo Tully was not always the most present father. But he did not discourage your preferences for reading over needlework. He defended you when the Septa scolded you for ink-stained hands and unkempt dresses. And he did not try to force friendship between you and the other ladies your age.

You would not call yourself a lonely child. Although you often kept your own company, you did not mind the solitude, did not mind the quiet and peace compared to the noise and chatter that often accompanied children your own age. Sure, there were those in Riverrun who called you strange when they thought you and the rest of the Tullys were out of earshot, never daring to speak too loudly when your grandfather was the Lord Paramount. 

Not that the whispers bothered you. As long as you had books and honey cakes, you were happy to be alone. 

A fact that you were rudely reminded of when you rolled over in bed on the morning of your tenth name day, seeking out the touch of your favorite doll. But instead of feeling the soft, plush doll, you felt something slimy and cold and wet. And then you heard a distinct croak. 

Screaming, you leapt out of bed, sheets twisting around your body. Frantic to get away from whatever creature had scurried into your bed. You landed on the floor with a harsh thud. From your vantage on the floor, you saw a frog leap from your bed toward the window on the far side of the room.

Frogs were not an uncommon sight at Riverrun. After all, your home was surrounded on all sides by rivers and moats and marshland. But never in your life had you heard of a frog sneaking into someone’s bed. 

Only when you heard laughter on the other side of your chambers’ door did you realize what had happened. 

You cheeks flashed hot as you picked yourself up off the floor. Seeing red, you threw the door open, a glare so disapproving on your face that it would have turned a lesser man to stone. 

But not the idiots who stood before you. 

Your brothers, Oscar and Kermit, were clutching onto each other, eyes nearly in tears from the force of their laughter. You would have words with them later. You knew the real culprit behind the prank. 

Leaning against the wall with an insufferable smirk on his face was Benjicot Blackwood. Heir to Raventree Hall, your brothers’ best friend, and the bane of your existence. 

“Something amiss, my lady?” He had the audacity to ask. 

At the age of two and ten, Benjicot was tall for his age. He had not quite grown into himself, all long limbs and sharp angles. Despite his prowess with a dagger and sword, he had not yet matured out of his love for boyish pranks. 

And he especially loved tormenting you.

Benjicot had no younger siblings. His aunt Alysanne was the closest relative to his age, but she had little patience for Benjicot, preferring her bow to most people. A sentiment you shared. 

You first met Benjicot when you were seven, and he was nine. For the last three years, Benjicot had spent a few weeks in the high summer months as a ward at Riverrun, training and sparring and hunting with your brothers. The three were thick as thieves—Oscar and Kermit had loved Benjicot instantly. All close in age, all young and eager to prove themselves.

You had never been close with your brothers. You had little in common with them. But when Benjicot came to stay, and when you watched them laugh and joke and share secrets, you felt that sharp pang of otherness. Felt the sting of always being on the outside, both from your own family and the rest of those who resided at Riverrun. 

And now he had dared to pull a prank on you on your name day. 

“The only thing amiss is your presence here, Blackwood. Were you not supposed to return to Raventree Hall yesterday?” 

Benjicot shrugged. “I wouldn't dream of missing your name day.” 

You wanted to launch yourself at him, tackle him to the ground and remove that insufferable smirk from his face. You resisted the urge, but just barely. 

“The best name day present you could have given me would have been your absence.” You sneered. 

Huffing a laugh, Benjicot straightened and grabbed your brothers by the shoulder, nudging them away from your chambers. “Sorry to disappoint. I had rather hoped you would have liked the frog.” 

Turning away from you and following your brothers, Benjicot called out over his shoulder, "Perhaps you should have kissed the frog, my lady. Could have turned it into a prince like in all those fairytales you love so much.” 

You clenched your fists and tried to think of clever response. But nothing came to mind, so you settled for slamming your door closed. You could still hear the echo of their laughter in the hallway. 

Back against the door, cheeks hot and flushed, you slid to the floor and wrapped your arms around your legs, bringing your knees to your chest. 

It was not the first time Benjicot Blackwood made you cry. 

No matter how hard you tried to ignore Benjicot during his yearly visits, you were never successful in escaping him. Every year he managed to find you, tease you, get under your skin and stay there. 

There was the year he hid rotting fish in the floor boards of your chambers. The smell was so unbearable that you had to move rooms. 

Or the time he startled you when you were helping a kitchen maid carry a sack of flour, sending the sack flying and leaving you looking like a ghost. 

Passing you the salt instead of sugar for your tea, causing you to spew tea all over the dining table at breakfast. 

Hiding your favorite books in the armory. (When you finally discovered the books, you chased Benjicot around the training yard, hurling the books at his head, much the amusement of your father and brothers.) 

Sending you on false errands on supposed orders from your father, resulting in you interrupting a meeting of the River lords that left you so embarrassed and humiliated that you refused to come out of your chambers for three days. 

Benjicot never went too far, never did anything so terrible as to warrant true ire from your father and grandfather. Each time you voiced your hatred for Benjicot and his pranks to them, begging them to send him back to Raventree Hall, they patted your head, said boys would be boys, and moved on. 

With each passing year, your tolerance for the pranks grew less and less. Even if you had come to expect them. 

So, on your fifteenth name day, you were not surprised when Benjicot sought you out in the library. 

You knew he had arrived for his stay earlier in the day. He was delayed in returning to Riverrun this year—a skirmish with the Brackens had resulted in weeks of tension and negotiations amongst the River lords. 

At seven and ten, Benjicot was nearly a man. He had grown into his height and filled out in his shoulders, lean and strong and, if rumors were to be believed, now lethal with a sword and dagger. 

Never backed down from a challenge. Fearless in a fight. Ruthless to those who crossed him. 

Your brothers, with all the cleverness in their heads, had nicknamed him Bloody Ben. 

You could not quite merge the two Benjicots in your mind—the boy from your childhood who teased and taunted but was quick to laugh and joke, with the man who had taken his first kill with a smile on his face. 

When Benjicot appeared before you, leaning over the table where you sat with your book, you were not sure what to make of him. 

Snatching the book from your hands, you watched as his eyes skimmed the first few lines on the page, before he smirked down at you. “A romance? I did not take you for a simpering romantic.” 

You rolled your eyes and grabbed the book back. “And I never took you for a deaf half-wit, Blackwood. I distinctly remember telling you at the last assize that I never wanted to see your face again.”

Last year’s assize had been rather uneventful. That is, until the closing feast when Benjicot had teased you relentlessly for reading a book at dinner that you felt compelled to throw the book at his head. Of course, you missed his head, instead hitting a poor servant who was tasked with carrying the roast pig, sending both the servant and pig to the floor. 

Your father and grandfather had been less than pleased. 

Benjicot looked at the ceiling to hide his amusement before glancing back at you. With a smile on his face, he said, “You wound me, my lady.”

You narrowed your eyes, shooting him a look of disbelief. “And you annoy me, my lord.” 

Rather than be put out by that insult, Benjicot looked delighted. He leaned a little closer into your space, so much so that you felt the hair on your arms stand to attention, your skin turning to gooseflesh at his proximity.

For as much as you hated Benjicot, hated the way he teased you, hated the way he sometimes made you feel like an outsider in your own family, he was one of the most handsome boys you had ever met.

Dark, wavy hair that never seemed controlled. Eyes that turned green in the sunlight. A small scar on his upper lip that somehow made him look distinguished. 

You hugged the book to your chest and tried not to fidget under his gaze. You exhaled slowly before asking, “Why are you here?” 

Benjicot held your eyes for another beat before breaking the contact and straightening to his full height. Reaching into the pouch fastened at his hip, he said, “I have a present for you.”

You leaned back in your chair and crossed your arms. “I have never much cared for your presents. They tend to crawl or smell.”

Laughing, Benjicot pulled a necklace out of the pouch. “You will be pleased to know this gift neither crawls nor smells.”

You were stunned to say the least, eyes wide and mouth parted in surprise. You probably looked like a fish, but you could not help it. 

The necklace was beautiful. A delicate, silver chain with two gemstones at the end. A mud-red ruby and a blue sapphire—the perfect representation of House Tully’s colors. Simple and elegant. You were at a loss for words, and you felt your cheeks flush at the gift. 

Your heart skipped a beat as Benjicot approached you. The smile he was giving you was one you had never seen before—warm and soft. All traces of teasing gone from his demeanor. 

He stopped just before you. Holding out the necklace for you to take, he asked, “Do you like it?”

You stood, heart hammering as you took the necklace from him. You turned the necklace over in your hands, admiring the detail in the braided chain and the quality of the stones. Your throat felt parched, but you managed to say, “It’s lovely.” 

You glanced back up at Benjicot to find his eyes already on you, face closer to yours than you remembered. “I’m glad you like it, my lady.”

You had never seen Benjicot like this. Had never seen him be this sweet or shy before. You were not even sure he was capable of being sweet. 

Of course, there were moments over the years when he had shown you kindness. He was not always playing the jester. 

When you had twisted your ankle while walking in the godswood, Benjicot had insisted on carrying you to the maester, even when you protested that you were fine and perfectly capable of walking on your own. 

When you had gotten sick with a fever two years ago, leaving you bedridden and delirious for weeks, Benjicot had brought you dozens of books from the library, anything to keep your mind sharp and spirit strong.

And when you had mentioned that your favorite sweet was honey cakes, Benjicot brought you a batch from the cooks at Raventree Hall, claiming that Raventree’s cakes were superior to all others. (They were.) 

You had never felt more aware of yourself than you did at this moment, standing before Benjicot. You were in uncharted territory. Heart thumping in your chest. Palms beginning to sweat. Cheeks warm and flushed. You were nervous. And you had never been nervous in front of Benjicot before. 

You smiled, small and shy and a little embarrassed. You did not know where you found the courage, and you could not hold his gaze, but you found yourself asking, “Will you put it on me?”

Benjicot’s smile widened, nodding eagerly as he took the necklace back, your hands brushing in the exchange. Only for a moment, but enough to send a small jolt through your arm. 

You turned, giving him your back so that he could not see how deeply you were affected by the brief touch.

But with your back to him, you did not see how Benjicot looked at you. Did not see the way his eyes softened and traced your form. Did not see how his own cheeks flushed. Did not see how he had to swallow his nerves as he gently moved your hair off the nape of your neck. 

You felt the cold press of the chain against your neck and chest, felt the warmth of Benjicot’s fingers as he fastened the clasp. His touch lingering perhaps a second or two longer than necessary. 

You turned before Benjicot had a chance to step back. Your chests nearly touching with how close the two of you stood.

You had never been this close to a boy before. Had never felt your breath mix with another. Eyes locked on each other, gazes searching. 

Benjicot slowly raised his hand, fingers leaving a feather-light touch against your cheek as he moved a lock of hair behind your ear. 

You watched as his eyes shifted down to your lips before returning to your eyes. There was a question in his gaze, one you were not sure you knew how to answer. 

You had read about kisses in books. Kisses shared between a knight and a fair maiden after a daring escape. Secret, daring kisses between two lovers caught on opposite sides of a war. Passionate kisses. Sweet kisses. Slow and deep, or fast and hot.

You had never been kissed before. Had never given much thought to who would claim your first kiss. You had assumed the kiss belonged to your future lord husband, as propriety demanded.

But in that moment, in the quiet of the library on your name day, you wanted to give that kiss to Benjicot.

Maybe somewhere in your heart, hidden and buried deep, you had pictured the kiss being with Benjicot all along. He could have easily been another brother to you, with his obnoxious pranks and teasing smiles.

Except that you never thought of him as a brother.

He was Benjicot Blackwood. Someone who was always there, even when you did not wish for him to be. Strong and dependable. A force to be reckoned with, one who demanded your attention and settled for nothing less. You could not imagine a world in which he did not exist in your life.

You licked your lips and slowly closed your eyes. 

Benjicot took your cheek into his hand, tilting your head slightly to the right. You felt his other hand pull at your waist, bringing the two of you even closer together. 

You knew what was about to happen. Knew that despite all the teasing and hostility and pranks, you were about to have your first kiss. You had never dreamed of this, never thought you would ever be in this position. But the moment felt right—

“Benjicot!” 

You had never moved so quickly. The two of you leapt apart, both breathing heavily as you turned to see Oscar and Kermit stick their heads into the doorway of the library. 

When they spotted the two of you, they smiled, completely oblivious to what they had interrupted. 

You had never hated your brothers more. 

“Come on, Benji!” Kermit shouted, gesturing for Benjicot to come join them. “Father wants to see you.” 

Benjicot nodded, and you watched as he transformed into his usual easygoing demeanor and started toward the door. But at the last moment, he seemed to change his mind.

Turning to you, his back to your brothers, Benjicot reached for your hand and brought it to his lips. A quick press of his lips to the back of your hand had you flushing red all over again. 

“Happy name day, my lady,” he whispered. 

And then he left.

You did not know how long you stood there, unmoving and still as a statue. At some point, you returned to the table, leafing through your book without comprehending a single word. More than once, you caught yourself reaching for the necklace, seeking confirmation that the gift was real, that the moment with Benjicot was real. 

You finally gave up on reading your book, moving to lean against the windowsill and watch the sun set over the training yard. 

You replayed the afternoon over and over in your mind. And the longer you sat with the knowledge that Benjicot wanted to kiss you, and perhaps more surprising, that you wanted to kiss him, the more you wished that your brothers had waited a few moments longer. 

Just before the last light faded and gave way to night, you spotted Benjicot walking across the training yard with your brothers trailing behind. You watched as Oscar gestured wildly, apparently recounting some unbelievable tale to Kermit and Benjicot. Even from a distance, you could see Kermit roll his eyes, exasperation clear on his features. You watched Kermit shove Oscar playfully, causing him to lose his balance and fall into the dirt. 

And while Kermit and Oscar continued to pick at each other and squabble, Benjicot’s gaze shifted to where you sat at the window. Any surprise he felt at finding you watching them quickly dissolved into a wide grin. Ignoring your brothers, Benjicot lifted his hand and waved. 

You answered his wave with one of your own. A soft, secret smile on your lips as you held his gaze. A thousand unspoken words between the two of you. 

A happy name day, indeed. 

final author note: I hope you enjoyed! Any feedback is greatly appreciated. (I think everyone in the taglist below asked to be tagged in all my Benjicot/Davos Blackwood fics, but if I'm wrong, please let me know!)

taglist:

@alifeinspiredd @crownofdecitreadingrespectfully @altaircc

@someblessedgal @devildelilah

[aghostnamedcalamity]

If this hasn't already been asked, what is Benjamin's favorite toy? If he plays pretend, what kind of stories does he gravitate towards?

His favorite toy is his stuffed bear named Mookie! Most of his play-pretends revolve around playing doctor, especially after Mordecai bought him a Little Family Doctor kit.

Here’s a little snippet of the fanfiction where Mordecai purchased Benji his stuffed bear! For context, Benji was just recovering from the flu and Mordecai visited an A&P store that were getting popular around this time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The black cat swiftly made his way through the vehicles passing by and came up to the large promotional signage decorating the store, gingerly pushing the doors open and entering.

As a first impression, he was unimpressed. It really wasn’t much different than the stores he was used to albeit a bit larger and whole lot whiter. He could only hope the hype was more in reference to the product available than anything else. It was, in fact, rather strange to see articles of clothing being promoted alongside dry food products.

Mordecai made his way to the counter as he continued to look about himself. The young attendee was a bright, yellow-haired girl wearing puffy sleeves and an apron with the company logo embroidered in the corner.

“Good morning, sir!” she greeted cheerfully with a large smile. “Welcome to A&P - the modern way to shop and the sure way to save! What can I get for you today?”

Mordecai stared dumbfounded at the girl, not quite sure whether he liked receiving a greeting as part of a promotional slogan or not.

“I’d like some tea,” he finally responded. “Earl Grey herbal. What brand do you carry?”

“What brands do you prefer?” the girl said. “We cater to your personal needs!”

“Twinings,” responded Mordecai, feeling himself becoming mildly agitated at the excessive joyfulness of the attendee.

“You’ve got it, sir! I’ll have it ready for you at the cash register,” the young lady said as she turned and weaved through the endless rows of shelves and boxes behind the counter.

Mordecai shook his head lightly as he watched with displeasure. As a second impression, he was still unimpressed. And, frankly, verging on developing outright dislike for the establishment.

As he waited with his arms crossed at the register, he let his eyes wander around the array of items displayed for customer viewing behind the counter and on the wall. At the window, a variety of toys sat and dangled, beckoning children to drag their unsuspecting parents into the store.

There was a stuffed bear with brass button eyes propped on a stand, staring out into the passing crowds on the street. He had brown fur and wore a bright yellow hat and raincoat with feet just a little too large for the rest of his body. Mordecai stared at the toy, pondering why a bear would need a hat and raincoat. And if he did need a hat and raincoat, why wouldn’t he need rain boots?

The black cat thought he recalled Benjamin going on about something regarding a bear that had a coat of some sort. He wasn’t entirely sure. Usually he’d just zone out when his son was being particularly talkative or passionate about some hyperfixation. But he did remember him ranting about someone wearing a coat and making funny voices on the radio.

“Do you like our new Mookie bear?”

He almost startled as the same attendee from before interrupted his focus. She had in her hand a tin of tea that she set in front of him on the counter.

“Mookie?” Mordecai questioned in confusion.

“Oh yes!” she continued and quickly grabbed the bear from where he was propped up. She brought it back to the counter and extended it out in front of Mordecai. “This is Mookie! He’s very popular right now. He’s got his own talk hour on the radio. The kids love him!”

Mordecai slowly reached up and grabbed the bear that was being offered to him. He held it in both hands as he stared at the layers of clothing it was wearing. Under the raincoat, the bear wore navy pin-stripped pants with a white collared shirt and bowtie. He was a very well-dressed bear, Mordecai noted.

“Toys are on sale today!” the young lady edged on in a sweet, encouraging voice.

“How much is it?” he asked.

“This little guy retails for $1.50 regularly, but today you can take him home for just $1.30!”

Mordecai grimaced. “That’s a bit steep for a stuffed bear, don’t you think?”

She shook her head in response. “Not for the most popular toy of the year. I’ll tell you what. If you decide to take him right now I’ll give you a discount from my manager! You can have him for $1.20.”

The black cat squinted at the bear as he pondered whether he really wanted the thing in his home. The bear looked nice enough, he supposed. The quality felt decent in his paws. He was also a quiet toy, which was something Mordecai continuously found himself on the search for. No shaking or rattling or whistling involved. Nothing to encourage his already-too-loud child to get over-excited with. He sighed dejectedly.

“Fine,” he said, handing the bear back to the attendee. “Just add it in with the tea.”

The girl quietly but excitedly clapped her paws together with a big smile before grabbing the bear.

“Wonderful!” she said, returning the bear to his place in the window. “I’ll be just one second, let me grab one from the back.”

Mordecai contemplated for a second and wondered whether he’d just been brainwashed or not. Would this constitute a brainwash? He shook his head in response to himself. He was fairly certain he was smart enough to avoid falling into up-charging schemes. The bear was nice enough, he justified himself. Benjamin would enjoy it.

He’d just grabbed the tin of tea that’d been sitting on the counter to inspect it when the young attendee popped back in holding an elaborately ribboned and wrapped gift box. She placed it on the counter in front of Mordecai where the tea had sat.

The dark furred feline stared at the present in confusion. He pointed at it and turned to look at the girl.

“What exactly is that?”

“It’s your Mookie bear!” the girl responded, beginning to add the costs onto the cash register.

“Yes, but why is it wrapped? I didn’t ask for it to be wrapped.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, sir!” the girl said. “I assumed it was for a child. Was it for you?”

Mordecai furrowed his eyebrows at the girl. “No, it’s not for me. I just don’t need it wrapped!”

“I see,” the young woman responded, placing one finger on her cheek. “Well, sir, I could always…unwrap it for you, I suppose. It’s standard company procedure to wrap toys and clothes I’m afraid. However, I should warn you that the cost of the wrapping is already included in the cost of the product and I unfortunately won’t be able to deduct that. Would you like me to unwrap it for you, anyways,?”

Mordecai sighed in despair, officially deciding he no longer cared for this store and would possibly never purchase anything here again.

“Just tell me what I owe,” he submitted, pulling out his wallet to try and get this transaction over with so he could leave already.

He felt ridiculous lugging the present around the rest of the walk home. It wasn’t a particularly large box, but it was so needlessly bright. Any chances of inconspicuousness vanished as it contrasted vividly against the darkness of the rest of himself. He grumbled in discontent as he made it home. It didn’t help that, thanks to the crowds of people alive and bustling at this hour, he felt the need to take an extra long detour to his home to ensure no one was watching him and this stupid clown box.

The black cat felt the exhaustion in every part of himself as he hung his house key on the hook by the door. He frowned at the box in his arm before tossing it on the couch dismissively and beginning the process of hanging his outwear

[oddcryptidwrites]

Oc Bag Game

@anyablackwood tagged me in this and I'm gonna leave it an open tag for anyone to hop on and play!

Rules: Name five things (or more!) your OC would have in a backpack or any bag at school.

(Since I've already done this for IASH, and most NYTF characters don't carry bags, I'll move onto the Neon Squad universe, since I've been giving them love in my head recently)

Cassander (on his person, he doesn't carry bags):

Wallet

Car keys

Aspirin for his knee

Handgun + bullets

Cell phone (that is 5+ years out of date because he refuses to upgrade)

Felix (in a small cross-body bag):

Protein bars (at least 4)

Epipen (as many as he can fit)

Whatever the most recent thing he stole is (which Cassander will make him take back)

3 weeks old phone (the screen is already cracked)

Wallet (likely lost) with no money in it

Max (in a fancy messenger bag):

Notebooks (one for each class he's taking)

Exactly 3 random pens

Epipen (1)

His laptop (fancy) and charger

Phone with a built in wallet case (with his student ID in the front)

Expensive headphones

September (tote bag):

Jar of dirt (large)

Black cloth (about 1'x1')

Approximately $49.38 in cash and change in a coin purse

A flip phone

Bones (who knows where they came from)

A piece of paper with entirely incoherent writing on it

Briana (expensive purse):

Excessively large water bottle (empty)

Fifteen used tissues (shoved in a side pocket)

Three empty chapstick tubes (and one half-used)

Epipen (1) (Notice a trend yet? it's because they need the epinephrine, but not for allergy purposes. It's about to get excessive)

Sunglasses

Wallet and keys to her car, connected together with several key chains

Dead phone

Benji (also a tote bag):

Six tubes of lipstick in varying colors

Epipens (3)

Metal mint tin full of hair ties, clips, earrings, and 100$ in cash

A single rock

Two handguns, sixteen bullets between them

Drivers License (loose)

KiKi (bookbag which hangs on the back of her wheelchair):

Literally so many books and notebooks the bag hardly closes

Ancient laptop with a fraying charging cord

Ungodly amount of pens and pencils

Lab coat and goggles

Student ID (on a lanyard attached to the bag)

Phone without the notifications turned off

Wallet (somewhere)

Tylenol bottle (almost empty)

Several used and unused epipens

Dina (in a duffle):

Scarf pins

Chapstick (one tube, cherry flavored)

Epipens (6)

gym clothes

combo lock

Phone and chunky headphones

weightlifting belt and gloves

Cael (bookbag):

Sketchbook (mostly full)

Pencil pouch full of colored pencils, pens, graphite pencils, you name it

School-owned laptop and his personal laptop (both are dead and they have no charger)

wrist braces (2)

Dead phone

Loose SmarTrip card (almost empty)

[thebearsthings]

Why was Benjis desk like that at the CIA in rouge nation???? like its in the middle of the room with no one else around surrounded by rows of servers but also its like in a glass room???? was it to keep an eye on him?? but then why did no one point out how he was plaiyng halo during work??? very trivial thought...

[infamoussparks]

Chapter 7: Sound Choices

Approx. 4800 words; 30 minute read

“Doves…” Fetch tensed as she spit the name from clenched teeth, neon dancing at the ready behind her fingertips. Delsin held an arm out as though both protecting and preventing Fetch from making the first move.

“Ms. Walker. Pleasure to see you again,” Celia spoke nonchalantly from behind her rabbit mask, her head tilting in an uneasy fashion, “And you as well, Mr. Rowe.”

“I’ll help where I can,” Rosaline was in the office and speaking to Eugene while the screen of the laptop reflected off each pair of glasses.

Fetch was discussing something quietly with Delsin at the other side of the desk. It didn’t seem too heated at the moment but it definitely gave off the impression of being a super serious conversation between the two.

Benji sighed softly to himself as he sat on the couch beside Caly. He offered her markers and paper and they were drawing together to keep the kid occupied. Caly seemed content to be in a room full of adults and was now wearing one of Benji’s t-shirts. She hadn’t exactly been dropped off with clothes of her own and Rosaline had seemed too busy to bring anything extra for the small child, but Benji had plenty of t-shirts and didn’t mind sharing one with the tiny girl. It looked like an oversized dress on her and Caly rocked the look regardless.

“I like that kitty, Caly!” Benji grinned and added some orange color to the small cat-shaped art Caly was drawing. She flashed a huge smile at Benji and seemed to appreciate that he recognized the animal so quickly. She went to clap or sign but the paper fell to the floor off the couch and she immediately reached for it, nearly falling off the couch herself. Benji reacted quickly, grabbing her by her outfit which pulled the shirt up slightly but saved Caly from a scary tumble to the concrete floor.

“I’ll get the paper, Caly,” Benji spoke softly as he retrieved the paper from the floor and then knelt before the toddler, “Are you ok?”

Caly nodded but her face looked twisted as though the fear of what had nearly happened was settling in. Benji scooted himself back to the couch and right up against the small child before he realized some of the markers were uncapped and had accidentally left a mark on Caly’s leg. He reached out to wipe away the lines before he noticed a black smudge that wasn’t exactly going anywhere… and it looked familiar somehow.

“Hey… uh, guys?” Four pairs of adult eyes came to rest on Benji, “I think you need to see this…”

Eugene narrowed his eyes at the mark that Benji had found on Caly’s thigh. “Is that a… a QR code?”

“What?” Fetch was making her way toward the couch now with a look of intense curiosity. Delsin stayed where he was and Benji watched as Delsin exchanged some sort of look with Rosaline.

The shutter noise of Eugene’s phone brought Benji’s attention back to Caly, who was still drawing on the paper and ignoring the attention. Strange, Benji thought to himself. She definitely doesn't act like a 4-year old.

“I think this is coming up with a backdoor to Stratego’s website. Hang on a minute,” Eugene was looking at a basic encrypted website on his phone and he moved back to the laptop to scan the photo he took of the QR code with this bigger screen. In a minute he had the website up for everyone to look at on the laptop. 

Delsin was running a hand through his hair, his beanie in his other hand suddenly as he seemed to be processing this information. Rosaline was studying Caly in silence. Fetch was pacing the room, her black boots moving back and forth in front of the couch. Benji took it all in while wondering what was going on. He hadn’t heard the name “Stratego” before.

“Can you hack it from there? Looks like you need a password,” Delsin pointed out the obvious.

“Yeah, I’m on it. I can also compare the code from this page to the code on the main website to see if I can find anything to help me with this. I’ve got this, Del,” Eugene said. The laptop screen showed a basic website login screen that was an odd crimson color and had an owl logo near the top, in the center. Below that was the word “WELCOME” and then below that was a white field with a blinking cursor clearly waiting for the correct password to grant access to whatever was stored here. Benji suddenly felt uneasy, like maybe he shouldn’t be here for this part of the discussion.

Before he could mention anything about possibly leaving the office, Fetch sat on the other side of Caly and caught Benji’s eyes, “This stays here, not out there. Top secret stuff. Understand?”

Benji nodded. He was stuck now and he knew it.

But it did feel good to be trusted with whatever this was. It gave him a little bit of a boost as a potential hero-in-training. 

Suddenly, everyone was talking over one another. Commands, lists, ideas, strategizing. It was a little overwhelming and Benji was lost in the sounds of voices all speaking at once. He turned his attention to Caly, who had been focused on her drawing but was suddenly frozen, a marker in her grip leaving a mark on her paper that was bleeding and spreading as the ink continued to flow. He went to reach for her hand but before he could touch it, Caly let go of the marker and it fell to the floor. He bent to pick it up and was suddenly was hit with a wave of calm. As if everything was going to be okay. As if everything was going to work out just as planned.

He sat back and handed the marker to Caly and she shook her head at him as she hummed softly. She seemed to have switched from art to music. That seemed right to Benji, somehow.

“... but they marked her? With a tattoo?” Fetch looked angry, gesturing to Caly from her seated space on the other side of the girl.

“It’s not an ordinary tattoo.”

“What do you mean, Dr. Hutch?” Eugene asked over the top of the laptop screen. He was typing furiously but Benji couldn’t see what was on screen now, he only assumed as much from the amount of typing sounds he heard.

“Kids grow too fast to tattoo so young. The design would stretch and be unrecognizable in a few weeks, if not sooner. That has to be the work of a conduit,” Rosaline spoke and her hazel eyes were fixed on Caly, “Maybe an ink user? Or someone who could alter pigments within the skin?”

Caly’s soft humming was slowly becoming louder and Benji looked from Rosaline to Fetch. Fetch eased herself back into the cushions on the couch and closed her eyes for a moment. She seemed to be relaxing instead of remaining heated from the discovery.

“Of course. They had conduits there, they could have been using them on each other too. Like in Curdun,” Delsin grumbled and strode closer to Eugene behind the desk. Rosaline stepped to the side to allow Delsin some space between them.

Rosaline’s voice was quieter now as she spoke up, “This website may not only have a backdoor to Stratego, but a way to learn more about Caly?”

Now everyone seemed to be exchanging glances. Rosaline yawned suddenly and pulled the desk chair over as she dropped into it. Eugene’s typing seemed to be slowing as well and Delsin replaced his beanie on his head with a half-hearted motion.

“It’s possible,” Eugene said, “I’m so tired though. Could we break for coffee?”

Fetch straightened from her spot on the couch, “You too? I thought it was just me.”

“Definitely not just you. I’m ready for a whole nap,” Benji chimed in.

Then everyone seemed to realize at once as five pairs of eyes fell on Caly, humming from her seat. She gave them the biggest smile, content that the room seemed calm and quiet again. Her humming stopped abruptly and the edge of sleep stopped just as quickly.

Now everyone was looking wide-eyed at everyone else.

“Holy shhh–” Fetch cut herself off, but everyone was thinking the same thing. Immediately, coffee and doubling down on hacking this website seemed to be the first priority in the room.

It had been several hours and Eugene felt like he was on the edge of cracking the code. Or cracking up with insanity. It was hard to tell which. Delsin, Fetch, Benji and Caly had left long ago, each with their own agendas, but Eugene had coffee and he had Rosaline, oddly enough. The doctor had decided to stay to try to figure out the password based on what she knew about Caly. Nothing had worked so far but neither conduit was any closer to giving up, either.

“Would you help me with something, Eugene?”

Eugene sat back in his chair, sipping his coffee and letting his eyes rest, looking away from the screen for a moment, “What’s on your mind?”

Rosaline perched slightly on the edge of the desk, “Remember how you offered to assist me with… expanding my powers? Or getting to understand my limits?”

Eugene nodded.

“I’ve… heard some whispers in the hallways in regard to trust and the school itself. I would be willing to test my limits with possibly calming the situation, if you’ll grant me time to explore my abilities.”

“Ah, yeah,” Eugene sighed, “We’ve had some unfortunate instances lately with a group of conduits who seem intent on pulling the warehouse into chaos. Delsin, Fetch and I have done our best to avoid any issues, but we’re seeing more students off campus than on these days and that’s worrying.”

“Let me try. I may predominantly work with babies but I know a few things about the human condition as well. It comes in handy for working with adults and I would be willing to try to use what I know here as well.” Rosaline held her coffee in her hands, twisting the cup slowly as she spoke.

Eugene contemplated her offer. It wouldn’t hurt to have her try. And if anything, her abilities could be an amazing boon to the warehouse team overall. “I’ll have to run it by Del and Fetch, but I have a feeling they’ll oblige.”

Rosaline offered a small smile, “I hope they do. After everything the warehouse has done for Caly and myself, this would be a small way I could repay my debt.”

“You don’t owe us anything, Rosaline. I hope you know that.”

Rosaline nodded but Eugene could see her mind was made up and she was here to help for as long as she would be useful to the team. He was secretly relieved about that because after everything they had come across in such a short amount of time it seemed that getting help on their side was as important as ever.

Eugene took his phone from beside the laptop and sent a text to the group chat consisting of the heroes of Seattle with Rosaline’s proposition. He received a text back immediately from Delsin who was in. Fetch did not reply, but she had never been much of a phone person. He put his phone down and turned his attention to the laptop. He had the new backdoor Stratego website up in one window and the code for the website in another. He was scrolling the code when he had a thought and brought the website to the forefront. He moved his cursor into the password box and typed in a single word. Then he released a shout of accomplishment. The password was cracked and the website began to load the next page.

Rosaline moved to stand directly behind Eugene as the website loaded and Eugene made a note on some scratch paper on the desk, circling a single word.

“That’s her. That’s Caly,” Rosaline breathed as she neared the screen from over Eugene’s shoulder. The video conduit pulled his attention back to the screen and there he saw a photo of Caly and a blog of sorts with information and updates on her status. He started to scroll through but noted that a lot of the experiments were heavily detailed and he instead closed the laptop before Rosaline could read forward too far.

“I’ll show this to the group. I’m glad we have this though. Hopefully I can use it to discover more about the team behind Stratego and what their goals were. Also, this gives me a way to get information on a potential… criminal,” Eugene spoke carefully, choosing his words slowly as he sat back in his chair. He could use this new database to aid him in a search for records on the other ‘Projects’ kept by Stratego. He could try to find information on whoever Cindy Signet was too. This could help answer so many questions.

Rosaline seemed curious as she raised a single eyebrow but said nothing.

“I think…” Eugene hummed, “that you should join me in the training room. If just to show you where it is and how we run powers in there. Plus, I could use a good stretch.”

Rosaline contemplated the offer and checked her watch, noting the time. “Alright. I could use more coffee afterward.”

Eugene chuckled, “I can help with that. Follow me.”

Rosaline followed behind Eugene, leaving the laptop in the safety of the office while Eugene ran scenarios in his mind that could be used to help Rosaline push her powers or encounter new ones. He didn’t know much about magnification and he was curious to find out more about it from the doctor at his heels.

It was late afternoon and Delsin and Fetch were atop the roof of the warehouse meeting up for what felt like the millionth time that day. Fetch was tired and hungry, the day fallen to plans and schemes built around what-if scenarios that may never come to pass. She watched Delsin send a text to a new group of people pulled from his contacts–two new additions to the normal office team that now made up the new “Stratego Situation” group. Her phone buzzed lightly in her back pocket and she didn’t bother to fish it out, already knowing Delsin was summoning Eugene, Rosaline and Benji to the rooftop. 

So it didn’t make her feel any better when a familiar tingle lit the hairs at the back of her neck in a timely interruption of the oncoming discussion. A swirl of paper fragments wove between them, fluttering quickly before coming to rest at the top of a capped exhaust stack, revealing Celia in their wake.

“Doves…” Fetch tensed as she spit the name from clenched teeth, neon dancing at the ready behind her fingertips. Delsin held an arm out as though both protecting and preventing Fetch from making the first move.

“Ms. Walker. Pleasure to see you again,” Celia spoke nonchalantly from behind her rabbit mask, her head tilting in an uneasy fashion, “And you as well, Mr. Rowe.”

“Celia. To what do we owe the pleasure?” Delsin spoke harshly but did not move his arm from in front of Fetch. She growled lowly behind him, clearly frustrated with the forced patience.

Celia hummed softly not bothering to move from her perch as she addressed the question. “I want the same thing you do, Delsin Rowe. I want freedom for our kind. I want us to be in full control. Isn’t that something you still want, too? Isn’t that the final outcome for this place, your warehouse? Your school?”

“What? No, that’s so–”

“Fetch.” Delsin snapped her name and the neon user bit her tongue. She glanced between Celia and Delsin from her space slightly behind him and felt her anger blooming in her chest.

“Celia, I don’t think you understand,” Delsin started again, “That was the past. I was younger, we were both younger then. Now we have the world at our powered fingertips and all I want is for people like us to feel accepted and acknowledged without feeling afraid of who they are.”

Celia laughed. It sounded cold and empty. “And you train them to build their power so they can hide it for the rest of their lives? I think you can do so much better than that.”

There was a sound of commotion from below and Fetch heard Delsin curse under his breath. There was a clatter of what sounded like multiple powers clashing at ground level and Fetch realized too late that Celia was only a distraction.

“Maybe you should take a few minutes to really look at what you want from this idea of yours; are you helping your students or are they simply pawns in your version of Curdun Cay?” Celia tossed out a single hand and a whip of paper shot through the air at blinding speed. Delsin and Fetch both leaped away from one another to avoid the attack. Fetch shot neon in response, her missiles of bright light finding their mark just a second too late as Celia leaped over them and landed a few feet away on the rooftop.

Celia shouted, “You owe me a thank you for taking down Stratego, by the way. I hadn’t known that faction was still operating. It’s as dead as our enemies now.”

“We don’t owe you anything, Doves!” Fetch shouted in response. With the chaos erupting below and now on the roof, Fetch readied a new shot but Delsin told her to hold. She did as she was instructed and then Eugene was at her side, angels of blue pixels lining up before the Heroes for added defense and support. Celia cocked her head, her mask tilting to one side before she laughed again. This time it sounded full of vitriol. And then she vanished in a swirl of paper speeding toward the opposite end of the rooftop.

A scream from below had Eugene gasp and he looked over at an angel who was hovering just off the side of the building. A flash of steel wings glinted with the sunlight as a male student flew up to the roof. He was panting slightly, a grimace on his freckled face, “She’s back. The poison one.”

A splash of water was heard over a rupture of shouts and then the steel wings folded and the male student took a calculated dive from his height. Fetch huffed at seeing Brent and knowing his twin sister, Jean, was bringing water to a gas fight. This wasn’t going to plan. At all.

“Celia brought her friends. Of course she would. What is she after?” Fetch hissed and flared her neon at her hands. Colors of pink and yellow arched up her arms.

“Caly. I think.” Everyone turned around and faced Benji who was rolling his shoulders and standing behind them on the roof. “I ran into Rosaline on the way up here and she said Eugene told her to get Caly and stay in the training room.”

“I did. When Rosaline and I got to the rooftop door I could see Celia and I sent her back downstairs,” Eugene confirmed.

“Great,” Delsin griped and then blew out a rush of air before quickly forming a plan, “Eugene, with me. We’ll tail Celia. Fetch? You take Benji and go after the intruder. Everyone protect Rosaline and Caly at all costs.”

Before anyone could alter the plan, Delsin was off rushing in a trail of smoke toward Celia’s game of chase, Eugene and his angels regrouping and falling in line behind him.

“Sure, Smokes. You and Gameboy go after Doves. I’ve got Hazard.” Fetch was furious, fists balled up at her side as neon licked up her arms. But she was ready this time. She knew what was at stake. She knew Hazard’s ability and how to counter it now. She wouldn’t be caught off guard, not again. Never again.

Having Benji with her was a risk but he had an incredible power and a plan started forming as Fetch nodded to him and bolted off in the opposite direction, Benji following her closely as he utilized his parkour skills to the fullest of his abilities leaping over items on the roof with ease.

“How much power do you have stored up?” Fetch dropped into a crouch at the edge of the rooftop, surveying for Hazard below. A burst of neon green gas caught her focus and she narrowed her eyes, tracking the girl like a trained sniper. Old habits die hard.

Benji crouched next to Fetch on the rooftop, “I’m full.”

Fetch cocked an eyebrow and then rolled her right shoulder backwards, loosening up for the battle ahead, “Good. On my signal I’m gonna need a full blackout. Think you can handle that?”

“A full blackout? But it’ll affect you, too. Are you–”

“Benji. You wanna be a hero? Sometimes you gotta trust your instincts and choose the lesser evil. Hazard is a menace and I can handle a little darkness.”

Benji worried his lip for a moment before nodding and taking a deep breath. Fetch watched him carefully and then stood tall and strong, looking focused and calm.

“Follow me, but keep to the rooftops and out of sight. On my signal, full blackout. No hesitation,” Fetch shook out her arms and legs and tested her knees. She was ready to spring to the ground from this distance with her brilliant neon on full display, “And if things go wrong, don’t let Hazard get too close. Keep her as far from you as possible.”

Fetch tracked the neon green bursts for a moment longer before dropping to the ground in a bright display of her own neon colors. She had planned for this location drop and was smirking with satisfaction when the poison girl flit right into place. Hazard paused in her movements, turning to face Fetch with all the confidence of a bird with puffed feathers. She shifted her goggles up over her fringe and gave Fetch the biggest grin.

“I see you woke up! I hope you enjoyed your timeout, Neon Princess.” Makayla hissed out the name like a slur.

“I’m back for my rematch, Hazard,” Fetch snarled in response.

“‘Hazard’? I like that one. Thanks,” Makayla inspected her fingernails for a moment and Fetch tensed seeing the girl bring her hand close to her face in such a familiar move.

Fetch let off a missile of neon directed at the girl before her and it landed at her feet. Makayla leapt backwards, dropping her hand and the toxic gas with it. Without direction, the gas was useless and dissipated quickly into the air. Makayla frowned with the distraction.

“Okay, fine. You’re on. But you’ll have to do better than that, Fetch.”

Fetch straightened her posture, her hands flicking forward with neon ebbing and flowing like waves around her arms. “I never miss my mark.”

Makayla reached up and quickly adjusted her goggles back into place over her amber eyes. She smirked and seemed to welcome the challenge. Then she acted. A blast of green gas was forced toward Fetch but the neon user was quicker and tossed up a shield which lasted long enough to prevent the gas from being breathed in as intended. Makayla took another leap backwards and quickly glanced behind herself. Fetch was all rough edges now, colored in neon light and looking more dangerous by the second. But this spot was perfect as it was the back wall of the warehouse with no place to run. A deadend. Makayla would need to rush past her to get free, or use a new trick.

Fetch wouldn’t let either happen. Revenge was on her tongue and it tasted bittersweet.

Makayla blew more gas toward Fetch, but the neon user instead wasted no time and raised one arm to the sky, releasing a blast of Neon straight into the air. Fetch watched as Makayla flinched and then followed the neon blast with her eyes before she burst out laughing.

“I thought you said you never miss? I’m right here!”

Fetch shrugged, “Maybe I wasn’t aiming for you.”

Makayla stopped laughing immediately and started looking around for anything that would be broken or could possibly trap her right here. Fetch watched as the girl started to slowly be swallowed in a dense fog that was building from the ground up. As it came for her as well, Fetch crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

Benji wasn’t sure what the signal would be but when he saw the neon flare fly straight past him into the air, he knew. He crouched on the rooftop and dug deep into himself. Using his power always made him feel uneasy and nauseous. He hated his specific power. It had always been one thing to be teased about his skin tone and how he “blended into shadows” or “disappeared at nightfall”, but it was another thing entirely to control those shadows now. Controlling the only thing people compared you to in jest was a harsh reminder of how others viewed you. Benji knew not everyone saw him this way and he had been reminded of that when Lucky touched him but it was a hard idea to shake completely.

He shook the feeling of his heart being in a vice grip and poured his focus into calling forth shadow in a way that was an ultimate power move. The shadows rushed from his fingertips and crawled over the edge of the rooftop in a mass of what looked like a shadow waterfall. He could feel when the shadows hit the grass and he pooled and pushed them together, building the shadows into a dense darkness that took over the area and blocked out the light.

Benji worried for a moment about Fetch, but the release of power was a high unmatched and he found he was pushing himself to really make this the best blackout he’d summoned. He would become a true hero, if only by his own standards.

Nothing was coming down. Nothing was loose or shaking. Whatever Fetch had aimed for had missed its mark, of that Makayla was sure. She shook out her hands and started pooling more toxic gas when Fetch seemed to be fading into a fog.

Makayla wiped at her goggles. Sometimes they steamed up when she was in the heat of battle. But the fog didn’t wipe away. Now she shook away her gas from her fingertips and moved the goggles up into her hair. The fog seemed denser and Fetch was surely receding into it. Which is when Makayla looked down at her own hands and noticed the same thing happening to herself. The fog crawled up her body and was slowly pulling her into the darkness.

Panic began to set in.

Makayla swallowed heavily and tried to wave the fog away, but it didn’t budge. The color was slowly shifting from a light gray into a light black, each second passing by in slow motion. The darkness blotting out the sun from overhead and devouring Makayla into shadows she could not escape. A strangled cry came from her throat as the panic took hold and she realized she was fully lost into darkness. Her breathing came in quick heaves, her hands started to shake and her knees collapsed onto the soil beneath her. She realized she was sobbing, wailing quietly to herself as she wrapped her arms around her middle and rocked herself in one place. The darkness was inescapable. This was terrifying.

It was so dark. She could no longer see anything. Not even her own body that she was holding so tightly her fingernails were causing pain to her sides. She was sobbing so much she could feel snot dripping from her nose but she couldn’t regain control here. This was her nightmare come to life.

Then, with an unexplained quickness, the darkness began to recede. It was pulled from her like a million blankets over her head and she gasped for air, a full mess of tears, ruined makeup with snot and spit dripping down her chin.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry…” A voice laced with heavy concern and regret came from her right and she looked quickly in that direction like a wild animal caught in a trap with no place to run. A man stood there, his eyes glowing a soft gray color before he blinked and the shadows disappeared just enough to make out all of his features. His brow furrowed with recognition as he took in her sorry state. “... Makayla? Is that you?”

“Ben–Benji… ?” Makayla choked out his name and then a bright neon blast knocked her backwards into the grass and everything went dark for the second time.

[fianllyclean]

Hey, bestie!

Maria, @taylorsmygirl13 and I both collectively feel like vomitting because we can’t believe that the tour is:

A. ACTUALLY HAPPENING.

B. IT IS ?! SO SOON?!

We have missed you so so so so so much. I think that everyone can collectively agree that when we left our final show on the rep tour that we didn’t think we would go the number of days it has been since we would next see each other. Almost 5 years, one pandemic, 2 degrees, 5 birthdays, 4 records, a bunch of happy times, a bunch of sad times, moving cross country, and new friends later, here we are about to embark on this new journey of tour!!!! I’m collectively just here to say how freaking much I am so thankful to be able to have tickets to the 2 shows that I was able to get. But most importantly that Maria and I are actually living a dream that we talked about for almost a decade. Being at opening Night! We are hecking excited to let all these emotions of the last 5 years out together and share this night with you, T. Maria and I became besties (I mean look at our prom pics in 2016 Lol, because of you.) She has taught me so much and led me toward some of my greatest accomplishments while always encouraging me to constantly keep pushing. I genuinely can’t wait for you to experience her radiant happiness that she emits into any room that she walks into, because every human deserves it. When you realize that she has been there on your side since 2006, at the age of 8 and is now 25. Wow what a journey and special relationship that is. She’s been there for every release day; midnight music video release, traveling hours for tour, spreading your message with her tiny students, and thanks to you, grown into the most successful and beautiful lady I know.

So excited to see you opening weekend at the Glendale shows!!!!

Glendale Night #1: Section C, Row 13, Seat 1.

Glendale Night #2: Section 129, Row 30, Seat 9.

Thank you for giving us a reason to see the desert 🏜️ 🌵, we wouldn’t go the middle of no where for no one else :)

We are so so so so so mega excited to see you and I want nothing more but for you and Maria to squeeze each other and share all these years of memories in conversation.

P.S. Tell Mer and Liv to not worry, I’m bringing Temptations for them and a special “nice to meet you” gift for Benji. 🐱🐈

WE CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU FRIDAY ☘️🇮🇪AND SATURDAY🪩🤠

@taylorswift @taylornation

[fallstaticexit]

Benji has always been a bit different from the other Briars. There's no doubt he loves his family but money talks and his phone is always ringing.

prev / next

Benji: Go for Ben.

Ami: Guess who had a very amazing 6 month check up.

Benji: Obviously it’s our best girl-

Finn: Hi papa! S’ Finn!

Benji: Hey, buddy. Had a good day in school?

Finn: Uhhhh huh!

Ami: He was the line leader a 4th day in a row.

Benji: Line leader today, global powerhouse tomorrow, you know.

Ami: Are you sitting down?

Benji: Yess...?

Ami: So...don’t make a big fuss but, Mama and Baba invited us over for dinner.

Benji: Ami...

Finn: Yay!!!

Ami: You have to come this time, Ben. Baba is starting to get antsy.

Benji: Well Baba thinks Papa is a big stinky poopy head.

Finn: [giggles]

Ami: He does not. You know Baba. He’s...traditional. He doesn’t understand the vast complexity and nuances of the corporate world. He values family.

Benji: I value family! Our technology advances the modern family dynamic. Servos pick up the slack so parents can spend more time with their kids-

Ami: I know that, Ben but Baba is old school. He thinks you can work and play and you do too much work. It’s just dinner.

Ami: Tell papa, Finny.

Finn: Yeah, papa. S’dinner!

Ami: Your mother and father will be there. So no excuses.

Benji: [grumbles] ...yes, dear.

Ami: We love you. Dress casual. That means wear jeans. Bye-Bye.

Benji: [groans]

Secretary: Sir? You have a representative from the Landgraab Foundation on line 2 about the merger.

Benji: Take a message, please. I have dinner with my in laws.

Finn: Hellloo! Yooohooo!

Mama Ito: Oh, I am so glad you all were able to come for dinner. You all look like you’re hungry!

Elliot: Thank you for having us.

Benji: Oh yeah. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Baba Ito: Mhm. No big hot shot meeting to tend to, Mr. Hot Shot?

Ami: I thought you said you’d behave?

Baba Ito: What! I only make small talk. They don’t small talk in those big shiny offices?

Baba Ito: How was your trip back home, Willow?

Willow: Oh, it was lovely! I’ll take any chance I can get to see our family.

Baba Ito: So your mother makes time to visit family in the states, eh? When is the last time you seen your family, Benjamin?

Ami: Baba...

Benji: I mean...it’s been...some time...

Willow: I was just telling Benji that we’re invited to his Uncle Silas wedding this fall. Perfect time for the kids to meet the rest of the family.

Benji: And that does sound lovely, but the quarter ends at the beginning of fall. My schedule will only allow one trip, and that’s for Winterfest.

Baba Ito: Tuh! You think you have it so good, business man. Next thing you know, you’re an old man and time has passed you by. What then!

Elliot: Mr. Ito is right, beta. He has alot of wisdom we can all learn from.

Baba Ito: Heh. Yeah. Yeah! I am right, aren’t I?

Benji: My company can’t run itself, you know!

Finn’s Inner Monologue: I sure don’t know what the heck is going on here and I’m not sticking around to find out. See ya next episode!