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ghostly-cabbage · 4 years ago

Text

Frigid (Chapter 3)

Genre: Horror, Angst, Enemies to Friends

Chapter Rating: M (Language, Underage Drug Use)

Word Count: 5,326

AO3 FFN

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Dear old Dad got home late that night while Wes and Kyle were tucking into a plate of pizza rolls. Wes heard the door open and his Dad's voice from down the hall.

"Tell Roger that it doesn't matter, whatever it takes, Mr. Masters expects it to get done." He walked past the living room without so much as a glance at the two of them. His voice faded down the hall punctuated by the sound of his door closing.

Wes snorted and stuffed another pizza roll in his mouth. Stupid Dad with his stupid government job. Why the hell bring them to Illinois just to ignore them? He curled his fingers into the upholstery of their new couch, gripping it until his fingertips ached and the smell from the Ikea warehouse threatened to make him sick. He forced himself to swallow the bite and shoved his plate onto the coffee table.

He got up and went to the kitchen for a capri-sun. If it hadn't been Kyle that bought them, he'd be pissed about that too. His Dad seemed to treat him like he was still in elementary school no matter how old he got.

Wes slammed the fridge door hard enough he heard the dressing and condiment bottles rattle inside. He went back to the living room, the TV illuminating the space in it's flickering light.

He flopped backwards onto the couch, pushing his back into the corner of the sectional, wishing it'd swallow him up. Kyle was watching some alien history documentary. How ghosts could be pure fiction but aliens were "science-fact" was beyond Wes. He rolled his eyes and got out his phone, pulling up his knees.

Instagram was a short reprieve, or it should have been. He scrolled past post after post of his old friends back in California, smiling wide in front of the beach, or the boys at the park playing basketball. Over there they hadn't even started school yet, and wouldn't until the end of the month. To say he envied them was a gross understatement.

"Are you gonna eat those?" Wes glanced up over his knees to see his brother pointing at his abandoned pizza rolls.

"Go for it," he said. Kyle scooped up his plate and went to town. Wes really should be doing his chapter reading for History, but the thought made him want to set something on fire. A part of him felt like he should be grateful for a fresh start after the divorce, but another part of him wanted nothing more than to dig his heels in. Just because his Mom was a liar and his Dad was an asshole didn't mean they had to move across the country, why didn't they get that? Maybe they did, and just didn't care.

He scrolled on his phone long enough for Kyle to watch another episode. By the end Wes had been sitting and refreshing his feed over and over again. He watched the buffer wheel spin, screen go white and the same post as last time take its most recent position at the top. He pulled down again, and watched the wheel spin for the millionth time.

"Dude, this is just depressing to watch."

He glanced over at Kyle, narrowing his eyes. "Got nothing better to do." It was a lie and they both knew it. Kyle flicked the TV off and stood up from the couch.

"C'mon." Kyle came to stand in front of him expectantly.

"What?"

"Let's go have roof time."

Wes made a face. "You're so weird, don't call it that. Cringy as fuck, man."

Kyle grabbed a pillow and swung it lazily towards Wes' head. "C'moooon lil bro! It's roof time!" He said it in a big brother voice that always pissed Wes off.

"No. Fuck off." Wes held up an arm to shield his head.

"C'mon!" Kyle insisted. "Don't you wanna spend time with your brother?" he pouted. He swung the pillow at him again.

"I'm gonna kick you in the balls."

"Weeeeesslleeeyyyy! C'mooooon."

"Oh my god, you're so fucking annoying." Wes kicked half-heartedly towards his brother. He held up both arms to try and fend off the onslaught of his brother's pillow attack.

"I'll stop if you agree to go sit outside with me, Wes! Surrender, you're out matched, kid!" Kyle picked up another pillow in his left hand, and continued batting at him. Wes tried to bury the beginnings of a smile behind a sour expression.

"You just—Ow, stop— You just wanna go get high, don't you?"

"Oh, absolutely. But you think I'm going to sit out there alone like some kind of loser?"

Wes anticipated his brother's next swing, and snatched the pillow from him. Now it was his turn. True to his word, he kicked a foot out directly into his brother's crotch. Kyle grunted and stumbled back a step, hands going down to grab his groin. Wes capitalized on his opportunity and lunged forward, springing off the couch to tackle his brother to the ground.

They hit the carpet with a loud thud, and became a tangle of limbs.

"Oh it's on, kiddo!" Wes couldn't hold back a laugh as he wrestled his brother. He attempted to push the pillow onto Kyle's face at the same time as his brother was trying to twist his arm around in a joint lock.

"Shut up, you're only a year older than me," Wes said, wriggling out of his brother's grip, and yanking his hat down over his eyes.

"A destined rematch to determine the stronger brother! A tale as old as time!" Kyle fought blindly to get a hold back on Wes. Wes whacked him on the side of the head with the pillow.

"You're a moron," he said without any real venom. Kyle flung his hat away.

"Don't make me purple nurple you like last time."

Wes hit him again with the pillow as Kyle tried to steal it from him. "Try it, bitch, I'll kick your ass."

"I did wrestling for two years!"

"Yeah, in middle school, now you're just lame and out of shape."

Kyle gasped. "Bro, take it back." He twisted the pillow hard to the right and broke Wes' hold on it.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You're not out of shape, just the lame part." Wes tried to get out of Kyle's reach to escape retribution, but he wasn't fast enough. Kyle got a hold of his shirt, and yanked him into a headlock. It had no real pressure behind it.

"Hah ha! What have we here? Could it possibly be that I win again?"

Wes rolled his eyes and pushed up on his brother's arm to break the loop. "Shut up, stupid-ass," he muttered. They broke apart, and Kyle stood up, offering him a hand. Wes accepted it with a puff. Kyle yanked him to his feet and punched him in the center of his chest.

"Ow."

"Kyle : 1 Wes : 0!"

Wes stopped. "Hey, wait, our score was up in the hundreds! What gives? I was winning you asshole." He'd challenged Kyle to a game of Horse last month and it had been a slaughter to say the least. Kyle was walking towards the stairs.

"Nu-uh, new-state-clean-slate, bro, we're starting over!"

"That's stupid, and I didn't agree to that. You're just a sore loser." Wes trudged up the stairs after his brother.

"Guess you'll just have to wait till our next rematch." Kyle shrugged, pushing into his room with a shoulder. Their rooms shared a wall, Kyle's being the furthest down the hall. They both had north facing windows that had access to the brow of the roof which overlooked the pool in the backyard. Moving from a place with obscene living expenses to the armpit of Illinois had its perks he guessed.

"Pick the challenge then. How about MarioKart?" he offered.

"After last time? No way dude." Kyle went to his bedside table to retrieve a small baggie of weed and his pipe and lighter. Not that their Dad ever checked, but a pipe was easier to hide, and less hassle than a bong. Or so Kyle said. Wes didn't really mess around with the stuff if he could help it. The times he tried made him so paranoid it felt like the end was nigh.

"Ugh, fine, princess. What about Smash?" Wes slid the window open and popped out the screen.

"Best outta five?"

"Sure, tomorrow after school? You can't play worth shit while high."

"Bruh, I'm great at playing while high, makes all the distractions just—" he wiggled his fingers— "fall away."

Wes snorted. "Sure, keep telling yourself that. The AI Pikachu wiped the floor with you." Wes climbed out onto the roof, scooting to the side so Kyle had room to clamber out. Kyle handed him his pipe to hold and followed after.

"No, that's not what happened, okay?" Kyle pointed an accusing finger. "I let that adorable little rat fuck win, because what kind of monster would I be if I destroyed Pikachu?"

Wes rolled his eyes. Kyle settled next to him, hanging his legs over the side and reached for his stuff back. Wes looked up at the sky, leaning his weight back on his hands. It was another clear night, the stars bright and unblemished. He heard the flick of his brother's lighter, but paid it no mind. The lack of light pollution was nice, if there was one positive from this whole situation, it was that.

The wind stirred, a chill laced in that made Wes wish he'd brought his jacket. He was looking forward to the snow. He'd only seen snow once when was ten and his parents took all of them on a skiing trip to Lake Tahoe. He remembered biting it on the bunny hill, and how Kyle laughed so much while picking him up that he'd dropped him more than once. The memory felt brittle, like if he touched on it too much it might break into a million pieces. It always felt like that, remembering what it was like to be happy, to be a family. His parents had broken enough, he wanted this thing, this one little thing to stay whole.

Was it childish to want that?

He glanced at Kyle, who exhaled a plume of smoke, the slope of his shoulders loose and relaxed. For all his flaws and his seriously maddening, downright annoying personality, Wes was glad to have Kyle. After the divorce they'd gotten closer, and he wasn't really sure where he'd be right now without his brother.

Not that he'd ever admit something so fucking embarrassing out loud. Jesus, what was he? He sounded like a Hallmark card.

He rubbed an eye, and laid back, the shingles of the roof cold against his back. The two were in a comfortable silence, Kyle too preoccupied with making short work of the bowl he'd packed to make conversation yet. That was alright with Wes. He was tired and still a little freaked out after today. He knew better than to bring up his run in with the ghost at school to Kyle.

This place was weird, and he had so many questions he felt like he was going insane. First thing tomorrow he was going to ask someone what the hell was going on in this town. He could try and ask the Danny Fenton kid, since his parents were apparently the ghost experts. He rolled the idea around for a few seconds in his head. Maybe it'd be best to ask more than one person. Leave Danny as a last resort.

He was staring at the first stars of Orion as they peaked over the dark horizon. That's when he saw it. His brows furrowed and he sat up.

"Dude, do you see that?" He smacked the back of his hand against Kyle's arm.

"What?" Kyle looked up.

"That!" He pointed. In the sky and getting closer was a glowing streak.

It wasn't a star, or a comet, that was for damn sure. It was flying in a wide circling pattern. It was fast, whatever it was.

Kyle gasped next to him. "Holy shit, a UFO." Kyle fumbled around to try and get his phone, in his haste he sent his lighter tumbling down the roof and off the edge. Wes trained his eyes on the shape as it got closer, squinting. Kyle had gotten his phone and had started recording, feverishly commentating about the time, place, and the appearance of an "alien craft".

Wes leaned forward, straining his eyes. As the shape wound closer it looked… almost humanoid? It seemed to move in a thoughtful systematic way. Like it was covering specific ground.

"I'm so putting this on my Snapchat story," Kyle said. He turned his phone towards Wes. "Say hi! In case it goes viral."

"Dude, stop." Wes pushed his brother's phone away from his face and back towards the… well. UFO.

As suddenly as it had appeared, it sharply changed direction and flew away, before blipping out of existence entirely. It hadn't gotten close enough to identify, but Kyle seemed to only care about his video and nothing else. Wes sat there thoroughly confused, staring at the point in the sky the shape had vanished into thin air.

"Clearly this is evidence of alien superior technology. The fact it sped up and disappeared so fast means they've cracked flight speeds faster than light, dude!" Kyle buzzed. He was tapping on his phone, already sending the video to everyone he knew.

Aliens, really? Could this day get any weirder?

"Look, look, Hannah, snapped me back." Kyle leaned over so they could both see his screen. He opened the Snap, and Wes saw a girl with blonde hair and dark eye shadow. He vaguely recognized her from school, part of Kyle's new stoner group of friends. The video showed just the top of her face as she looked down at her phone. Her eyes were crinkled at the corners.

"Kyle, what the fuck," she laughed. "That's not an alien, doofus. It's clearly a ghost. Probably Phantom. He flies around almost every night." She leaned back and sprayed canned whipped cream directly into her mouth. " 'Aliens'! Oh my god I'm totally telling Jennie." She snorted as she laughed and the snap ended.

Phantom? That was Phantom? The image of the ghost boy from earlier lingered in his mind. Kyle was already recording a video to send back.

"Hannah, obviously you have very little experience with UFO's. I know an alien when I see one and that was an A L I E N. Okay? Don't buy into this ghost conspiracy, it's what people want you to think, but it's probably all aliens! Or beings from like the 4th dimension, I don't know."

His brother's voice sounded too loud. His eyes traced the place where the shape… the ghost had been. He rubbed at his temples with his fingers. Kyle continued arguing with his new local friends, protesting the idea of ghosts. Wes sighed, a headache building behind his eyes.

He nudged his brother with an elbow. "I'm gonna get to bed." Kyle gave him a distracted goodbye and Wes headed back inside, mind swirling with the image of white hair and glowing green eyes.

***

Joy.

His sleep that night had been fitful and interrupted. He didn't have any nightmares, or at least none he could remember, thank God. But there were a few times he could have sworn there was someone standing in his doorway, watching. He shook it from his thoughts by busying himself with his camera.

The final bell for first period rang and with it commenced the beginning of the school day.

Students with no cameras of their own were having some checked out to them for photography class. The teacher told them to check over everything and make sure all previous files were deleted from the memory card, and there were no cracked lenses. He ignored the majority of what was being said.

When he was young he would use his Mom's camera. Just to mess around really, it wasn't like he had the lofty goals of being a professional photographer. But his Mom didn't see it like that. She bought him lenses and his own high-end camera for his 16th birthday. That was before everything fell apart. Before he found out about Emily.

Once the class started going he hoped he'd enjoy it and actually learn something. He was ready to start taking pictures already. Unfortunately, the day's class was all about the different buttons and functions on the cameras, explaining exposure, aperture and manually managing the iso. Uck. Yawn.

Towards the end of class Ms. Fletcher let them have "free time" to explore the options on their cameras on their own. Learn by doing and all that.

"This is way too much all at once," complained the girl next to him. Mia, was her name, if he remembered correctly. She had brown hair, and light eyes, her tan skin suggesting a mixed heritage. She was turning her camera around in her hands like a kid trying to find the on switch on a new toy. He smiled, turning toward her.

"First time using a fancy camera?"

She let out an agitated sigh. "Yeah. I took this class because I thought it'd be easy and I could just, I don't know, take cute pictures of my dog or something." She put the camera down on the table, gently, like she was afraid of breaking it despite her frustration.

"Yeah, it can be complicated at first." He lifted his own to inspect it.

"You brought your own, right? That's not a shitty school one."

"Yeah, it's mine. Birthday gift."

Mia whistled. "Pricy, your parents must be loaded."

Wes shrugged a shoulder, "I wouldn't say that exactly."

"Don't be modest, it's okay!" She patted him on the shoulder. "Plus I'm sure however rich your family is, it's nowhere near the Mansons."

"The Mansons?"

"Uh...yeah." She looked confused for a second before understanding flickered in her eyes. "Oh, that's right you're new. Sam Manson, the spooky goth chick that hangs around Fenton and Foley. She's in our homeroom class." She held her pointer fingers up by her ears to mime bat ears.

"Oh, yeah, her."

"She says she doesn't like people knowing even though it's super obvious. Her parents are always in the news for making donations and stuff."

They fell into an awkward silence, and Mia shuffled her feet.

"Well, uh. Tell you what. If you help me with this camera crap, I'll…" She stopped to think. "I'll give you the inside scoop about the school. Help you get caught up and fit in, ya'know?" She held her hand towards him. "Sound good?"

Wes would have helped her out even if she hadn't offered to keep him in the social loop. It could be useful, especially for a few things in particular.

"Deal." He shook her hand, a little surprised by her grip strength.

"I'm not as popular as Paulina and Star but I still have an ear to the ground. So if you want to know who's single or who can write your english essay on the cheap: I'm your girl." She pulled her hand back to jab a thumb at her chest for emphasis.

Wes chuckled. "Thanks. I actually do have some questions."

"Shoot."

"This Phantom ghost, what do you know about him?"

She looked surprised, before she smiled. There was something in her expression that Wes couldn't place.

"Phantom? Really?" She shrugged. "Alright, I see you." She scooted her chair closer to his. "Phantom showed up freshman year, no one knows why, but since he popped up he's been saving Amity from all sorts of ghosts." She said it like it was the most normal, perfectly sane thing. "Not only is he hella cute but he's also basically a hero."

Wes frowned in confusion. That wasn't at all what Mr. and Mrs. Fenton had said. "Why would a ghost help people? What's he get out of it? Also, isn't he… you know. Dead? Isn't it kinda creepy to have a crush on him?"

"How should I know? And dead or alive, he's still a total heart throb around here, get used to it." She sighed, looking fed up with his lack of understanding. "Listen, all I do know is that if an evil ghost is breathing down your neck your only real hope in this place is Phantom. Really, ask anyone." Wes' thoughts drifted back to his brush with death yesterday..

"You shouldn't be telling people the fantasy version of things, Mia," came a cold voice. Wes jumped, turning to look at the girl looming over them. Her arms were crossed over her chest, curly hair back lit by the fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling. Fantasy version? What was Valerie talking about?

Mia's face went from warm and open to closed and stand-offish. She crossed her legs and sat back in her chair.

"Oh come on Valerie, we all know you're not a fan of him, but you could at least try and be reasonable."

"Reasonable? Don't listen to her new kid," Valerie jabbed a finger towards him, "if there's one thing Phantom is good at, it's manipulating the public perception. Don't be fooled like the rest of this school, Phantom will ruin your life without an ounce of remorse."

Wes blinked, caught off guard by her ferocity. In chemistry she seemed like a perfectly normal, kind girl. He made a mental note not to get on her bad side.

Mia made a dismissive sound in the back of her throat. "He wasn't asking you Valerie, he was asking me. Butt out."

Mia and Valerie glared hard at each other, neither backing down. It went on for what felt like ever. Wes was afraid he was about to end up right in the middle of a cat fight. But eventually, Valerie let out a sound of disgust then turned and stalked off back to her table. Mia watched her go, gaze steady. Once Valerie sat down, Mia relaxed and let out a breath.

"God, she really needs to get that stick out of her ass."

"What the hell was that about?"

"Apparently freshman year her Dad lost his job and she's convinced it was Phantom's fault." Mia uncrossed her legs, sitting more casually again.

"Was it?"

Mia looked annoyed. "I don't know, I wasn't there." She ran her fingers through her hair, taking a small swatch and braiding it absentmindedly. "Listen, people have different opinions... but Phantom saved my life." It was small and serious the way she said it, like it was a confession. "And not just once but on several occasions. It's fine to ask questions, I don't blame you. But just wait and watch, then decide for yourself." Before Wes could say or ask anymore, the bell rang. Mia started collecting her stuff.

"See you tomorrow, Wes," she said brightly, as if the seriousness from before was just a figment of his imagination.

Sixth period rolled around and Wes was ready for the day to be over with already.

In his previous classes he'd asked other students here and there about the ghosts, and even if he didn't directly ask about Phantom, the conversation eventually led there anyway.

"Uh, yeah. Tomorrow." He watched her go, getting up and gathering his own belongings.

***

He did regret asking Star during lunch, which seemed to have summoned Paulina from the aether. She went on almost the entire lunch period about how her and the ghost boy were "meant to be" and how cute he was, with his snow white hair and tanned skin. Wes was debating faking a family emergency to get away from her. Talk about obsessed.

He shook his head at the memory and closed his locker.

He started walking down the hall, daydreaming about whatever gourmet frozen dinner him and Kyle would have later for dinner. He was about to turn the corner down the hall towards the chem room when he heard a raised voice.

Next up: Chemistry. At the thought he deflated further. He'd totally forgotten about the quiz today. Damnnit, Fenton.

“Hey Fentina, watch where you’re fucking going.” He turned towards the sound to look. The halls were clearing, there being only a minute or so till class, but that didn’t stop the few scattered people from stopping to idly watch Dash Baxter slam Danny Fenton against a locker. Wes couldn’t help but wince. From the sound alone he’d guess that was going to leave a bruise.

“You might be taller now but that doesn’t mean I won’t still flatten you, got that?” Dash announced. He was clearly making a show of it. Wes wondered why. Fenton was definitely the lowest on the social ladder, why would someone like Dash need to establish his power over someone who had none? Wes shifted his weight, remembering that trying to apply logic to bullies was a losing battle.

Danny though… He seemed completely... unfazed. He looked at Dash like an overworked retail employee looked at a raving customer. The dark bags under his eyes and the uncaring air he had coupled with his black hoodie and torn jeans made him look like an emo band's wet dream.

“Got it, now can we all get to class, please? I’m trying not to be tardy as much this year,” Danny said. Dash leaned further into Danny’s space.

“Dream on, Fenton,” Dash leered. He leaned back and let Danny go. He made to leave, or at least Wes thought he was. Danny seemed to think so too. Which meant he was caught off guard when Dash turned and punched him in the stomach. Even from a few paces away, Wes heard the air rush from Danny’s lungs. He staggered a bit, arm wrapping around his midsection.

Dash laughed and walked off, flexing an arm to his football team buddies who joined in as they made their way down the hall like a pack of hyenas.

As if that was the cue, everyone that had stopped to watch went back to their own business, as if nothing happened. Wes didn’t know what to think at that moment. He knew everyone called Danny a loser, and he hadn’t exactly gotten along with the guy himself but… That felt like a step too far. He couldn’t help but pity the poor dude a bit.

It had been a long time since Wes was the one pushed around the school yard. He remembered what it felt like though, and he had never been in a rush to expose himself to the kind of treatment again. In fact he’d done just about anything to keep himself from the bottom. He’d done his fair share of looking down on losers and saying cruel things to be accepted into the throng of popular kids in California. He wasn’t proud of it, as he got older he realized that. It made his stomach clench with guilt and shame.

He’d have never done what Dash just did though.

Wes watched Danny lean a shoulder against the wall of lockers and catch his breath. He glanced around, and when he was satisfied that no one was still watching, he straightened, took a breath and rolled a shoulder, nonchalant.

Wes felt his brain stutter and stop.

Uh. What?

Just a second ago Danny was writhing in pain the way someone just punched in the gut would, and the next he was acting like he was fine. Like he’d just got done with a leisurely jog.

At this point Wes was starting to wonder if he was being gaslit by this whole school, what the fuck?

He watched Danny put a book into his locker, and then lock it up. He started down the hallway, no evidence he was in any pain or struggling for breath what-so-ever. Wes turned and walked towards the classroom. He didn’t want Danny to know he’d been watching from around the corner.

Wes sat down, spreading out his stuff, trying to make it look like he'd been there for ages. A few seconds later the tardy bell rang. Another few seconds after that, Danny walked in.

“Mr. Fenton, you’re late—”

“Uh-huh.” He didn’t make eye contact with the teacher, just made a beeline for their desk and slumped into his seat. Mrs. Merriweather looked ticked.

“Pick up your tardy slip at the end of class young man.”

“Yep.”

Even Mrs. Merriweather seemed taken aback by Danny’s odd energy, but she said nothing else. Instead she jumped into the lesson plan for the day.

Wes wasn’t paying attention. He was looking at his lab partner, still trying to figure out what he’d just seen. Maybe Danny had just been acting like it was worse than it was to… what, get sympathy? Have Dash back off quicker? Both seemed likely, logical. It must have been, what else could it be?

Danny seemed to feel his eyes on him. He turned to Wes, his blue eyes sharp and angry.

“What?” he snapped.

“Nothing. Sorry.” Wes disengaged, looking down at his blank notebook page. He heard Danny sigh, but he didn’t know what sort of emotion drove it.

Class dragged on, and they didn’t say another word to each other the entire period. But that wasn’t too surprising, considering Danny left in the middle of class.

They’d just got done taking their lab safety quiz, and were handing them back when out of the corner of his eye Wes saw Danny shiver. He also saw a flash of… what looked like smoke? Vape? Was Danny seriously vaping in class?

“Fuck,” Danny muttered under his breath and his hand shot straight up into the air. “Mrs. Merriweather, can I use the bathroom before we start the lab?” Danny’s typically tired and slouched posture had gone ramrod straight, and the air around him felt desperate and panicked. Mrs. Merriwether studied him seriously for a second, before she relented.

“Alright, don’t take too long.”

Danny scrambled from his seat and out the door. It left a weird silence in the classroom.

O….kay? That was weird, super weird. He looked around the class. A student adjacent to him caught his confused look and shrugged.

“He just does that, always has. Some people think he has some sort of chronic illness or something.”

“Quiet please, everyone. I’m passing out the lab instructions and then we’ll be getting started.”

Wes couldn’t help but look towards the door where Danny had disappeared seconds earlier. He felt pretty safe in saying not only was the town weird, but everyone in it. But maybe Danny more so than the others.

#Danny Phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #Danny Phantom fic #phanfic #wesley weston #kyle weston #my writing

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theawekwardnerd · 4 years ago

Text

TW: My Struggle with Depression and Recovery

Around this time last year, I started showing some early signs of depression. I did not feel like getting up in the morning to go to office. I lost the ability to concentrate at work. I would randomly remember things from my past and start crying, in the middle of work. It was perplexing because I wasn't really the emotional and 'cries-easily' type.

A month later my country went into lockdown due to Covid, and my mental health went from bad to worst.

That feeling of not wanting to get out of bed goes beyond laziness and procrastrination. It's just this intense and perpetual feeling of despair and sadness and stress. And worst of all, hopelessness. I didn't want to wake up in the morning because I felt like there's no point. I got annoyed and angry at small small things. I snapped easily. (Sorry to my bro and mom :p) I cried a HELL lot. More so than I have in my whole life.

And for the longest time I told myself I was just being lazy and weak. I berated myself for it. I tried to sweep all my problems under the rug and told myself 'you just need to start doing things and life will automatically fall into place'.

I tried writing poetry to cope. But stopped after 2 weeks. I took up sketching, gave that up after two weeks as well. A few months went by and finally I realised that I HAVE to reach out and take therapy. Otherwise I would just break and say goodbye to my life without even living it.

Therapy helped a lot, I understood so much about my thought process and negative behavioral/thinking patterns in just a few sessions. The terrible hopelessness I felt was gone, but the helplessness stayed. I still couldn't bring myself to take charge of my situation. I knew I wanted to live. I actually believed now that I could do much much better. But I still couldn't bring myself to take action.

So I decided to take a break and quit my job. Since I wasn't doing anything, I told myself I will just go out for a walk everyday and that would be my only aim. Rest of the day, I can lie down doing nothing if that's what I want. It was a tough call for me to take, because I'm at a stage in life where everyone expects me to always be on my feet, to make something out of my life.

I got into self-care. Made it my only aim. Slowly I started meditating daily to regulate my moods. Then I started reading again ( a hobby I've cherished deeply but didn't feel like practicing when I got depressed). And so slowly, I built up my capacity to sit at the table everyday and do something productive (studying, writing, researching, etc).

All along I focused super hard on observing my thoughts, changing my thinking patterns, and looking at life in a more positive light. I taught myself how to accept bad days and failures on a regular basis. I taught myself strength and how one bad day or bad emotion doesn't mean the end of the world. I had to teach myself how to be confident and have faith in myself. I had to challenge my fears and self-doubt 100 times a day to reduce their power over me.

I stopped giving a fuck about what other people thought of me and my choices (which was tough because I'm a super conscious person and I cared a lot about other people's opinions about me).

I practiced compassion for myself, and moreover, I learnt how to accept life for what it is, and not live in some fantasised, naive version of it where everything is supposed to be perfect and ideal and just fall into place.

I had to teach myself to live in the present and try to savour every moment, no matter how ordinary it is. (This is a very important step, because it brings back your will to live). I also struggled to not get overwhelmed and tried to take it one day, one activity at a time.

As you can see, a lot was wrong in the way I was living and looking at life. I had to unlearn almost everything and re-parent myself. And all along, I had to trust myself and my instincts.

I'm still in my recovery phase. Most days are good but some are bad. Today is one of those bad days, so I just thought I'd recount all my struggles and share them here. Just to show myself how far I've come. And also if someone else relates or is going through the same thing, I know you've probably read or heard this a 1000 times already, but it really IS going to be okay. So just hang in there :)

Here's to the fools who dream and fall 20,000 times but get up each time anyway. Until they finally succeed!

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aqvarius · 5 years ago

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Masquerade Kiss: Do Bad Girls Like to Self-pleasure? Kazuomi Shido - otona love - chapter 2 summary/translation

sorry this is coming out a little later than i anticipated. i bought and read the entire story in advance to get a sense of the length but my strategy backfired and now after reading it, i find translating more tiring since i already know what happens lol. but there were requests for me to keep translating so naturally i had to do it. once again, i’ve placed a cut because this translation is long and image-heavy, so make sure to click the “keep reading” to see the full chapter.

you can read the previous chapter here, where kazuomi accidentally sees you doing ~something~ to yourself under the sheets...

you’ve told him to take a shower and you’re moving under the bedsheets.

feelings that he can’t remember [feeling before] well up in kazuomi at the sight of what looks like you pleasuring yourself.

“...was there a problem with how we make love?”

“i thought i satisfied both your body and soul...”

however, looking at it now, it seems like that’s not the case. perhaps you’re taking care of yourself because you’re unfulfilled or dissatisfied with his actions.

“i thought your reaction in bed last night was more than sufficient”

he thinks maybe he should have been more relaxed/taken things easier, and not just in bed. maybe he should have listened to you vent out all your work stress?

“sensitivity comes from daily heart-to-hearts...”

basically he’s saying that the connection between you two is strengthened through daily everyday communication ughaskjlsd kazuomi is so sensitive and romantic i can’t deal.

“certainly, i’ve been so busy these days that we haven’t had time to meet,” he thinks, but didn’t realise that it would have such have such a direct effect. this kind of thing has never happened to him before, so he’s unusually confused.

“is my love not being conveyed enough...?”

to calm himself down, he quietly closes the door so you won’t notice him.

you tell him you need to leave early this morning. taking your turn after him, you’ve had a quick shower and got ready in no time.

“...the mood is pretty awkward”

he wonders if you noticed what he saw, or maybe you’re just embarrassed after doing ‘that activity”.

you’re about to leave, but he says

“whoa, can’t i get a goodbye kiss?”

(there’s that cheeky おっと again)

“ah... yes...” you say, and stretch up, holding onto his shoulder to get closer to him. you usually kiss him for longer, but today it’s just a quick one. you tell him you’ll contact him again. he takes a sip of his completely cold coffee, thinking back on what you did yesterday.

“...i didn’t make any mistakes. everything should have been perfect”

“and yet, she still wasn’t satisfied...”

he had completely no idea. frowning over his cold coffee, he gets up.

anyway we’re at the club now and i’m just laughing at the background because this is the first time i’ve seen it so large (since i’m reading on my laptop) and look at how many couples are inexplicably here together? also that random couple on the second table which is mirrored in the next one lmao. and having pole dancers and cancan dancers next to each other with the musicians at the top of the stage... what kind of club do the three musketeers run...

“that night, i was at the usual place with yuzu and kei.”

he’s eating the food that’s being brought in, but the sights that he saw the other day won’t leave his head. (i’m a bit confused by the wording of this because didn’t it happen just this morning?)

kei: “how are things? kazuomi”

kazu: ahh... well...

they were making plans for a “secret room” for the new resort he’s developing. it’s progressing without any problems, but honestly that’s not the issue right now.

kei: ...kazuomi?

yuzuru: “you’re very absent minded”

kazuomi thinks that you’re feeling lonely* because you haven’t seen each other for a while. he wonders if you’ve been self-pleasuring in that way in the meantime.

*honestly i can’t tell whether or not he think you’re feeling lonely or if he’s feeling lonely bc there are no possessive pronouns lol.

so in the meantime [that you’re apart] he might have become not enough. in that case, the issue after all is the time when you can’t meet. (basically that the issue is that you don’t get to spend enough time together).

he thinks about that melty face you get in bed.

“up until now, there hasn’t been a woman i haven’t satisfied.”

the confusion he felt this morning gradually disappeared, and now he’s filled with the feeling of being faced with a new challenge. “if that’s the case, how do i satisfy her?” he wonders. he declares (in his head) that he’ll satisfy you to the point where you can’t live without him.

kei: “hm? are you planning something fun again?”

kazu: does it seem like that?

yuzuru: “when you have that look on your face, you usually are”

kazu thinks that it seems that it did show on his face.

yuzu: so, what is it that you’re going to do?

kazu: nah, it’s not a big deal

kei: you’re grinning while saying “it’s not a big deal”? you’re not fooling anyone

“talking to you guys is annoying”

(bruh lmao)

kei: hmm, now i definitely want to hear

yuzu: usually you cause trouble by yourself, but i like to be entertained too occasionally

kazu: don’t i always entertain you?

kei: well, it’s as yuzu says, the one who causes the most trouble is kazuomi

kazu: you guys never change (? not sure if i translated that right)

he thinks something about the fact that they’re poking fun at him.

kazu: actually, this time...

when he tells them what he saw, kei’s eyes widen slightly.

kei: “hmm. so mc-san** masturbates even when kazuomi’s there”

**i finally changed my name to my usual キラ but he’s basically saying your name there so i’ll use mc to refer to “your name”

yuzu: is that why you were so absent minded?

kazu: even up until now, i’ve never experienced this kind of trial the day after embracing someone

“there are countless women who have pleasured themselves during the times when we can’t meet”

(lmao!!!)

kei: well i’ll neither agree nor disagree with that... so, what conclusion have to come to as to why mc-san did “that”?

(i’m actually not 100% on what he said but i think that’s what he means through context)

kazu: i’m stumped because i have no idea

kazu: well, strongly speaking(?), i’ve been so busy lately that i couldn’t look after her***

***he means this in the emotional sense, like he hasn’t had time to worry about her concerns/really care for her

kei: but you met her in person and satisfied/appeased her, didn’t you?

kazu: that was my intent

yuzu: in other words, she wasn’t as satisfied as you thought

(bro why you gotta be so blunt lol)

“...are you trying to make me depressed by treating me like i’m seeing you for a consultation?”

yuzu: i didn’t say anything about getting a consultation

kazuomi unintentionally smiles wryly while taking a sip of champagne.

kazu: anyway, that’s the main reason ... have i not said enough? (i think basically he’s wondering if he and his mc haven’t been talking enough)

kei: to mc-san? i think you’ve said plenty. when mc-san came to masquerade just recently, you were murmuring so affectionately it was annoying.

yuzu: “yeah. the things you said were nauseating”****

****set his teeth on edge - literally make his teeth float

kazu: what words...? i don’t understand what you mean since i normally say them unconsciously

(lmao!! kazuomi is a natural cheeseball)

kei: in kazuomi’s case, i urge women to breathe (no idea what this means: kei says “息するように女性を口説くからね” if anyone can help)

“sorry but my only partner is mc now”

yuzu: “do you want a consultation? [or] do you [just] want to brag?”*****

*****惚気: speaking fondly of a love one, praising/bragging about one’s spouse

after all that, the cause of mc’s “~activity~” was still unknown.

aaand that’s the end of chapter 2! i really like the direction this story is going in. i think a lot of people’s fantasies are that he would find it really hot but honestly kazuomi just wants to fully monopolise and satisfy his lover. tbh i’d be hella insecure if i had sex with my bf and then he went to go jack off again after lol. it was really cute seeing slightly insecure kazuomi but of course i love seeing him bounce back and treat it as a challenge, as he always does with everything in life, but especially with his mc. it was really fun getting to see some quality banter between the three “S”es, although it was a nightmare to translate some of it... i did learn some new slang tho.

i hope you enjoyed this chapter! please let me know what you think is going to happen. if you want to read more of my translations from voltage’s otona love, you can read my completed translation of soma’s super steamy “not the story of your first night” (chapter one here) or check out my translations page.

i’ve set up a ko-fi page here and would be incredibly grateful if you would like to support me for translations and being able to purchase more routes to recap in english!

click here for chapter 3

#kazuomi shido #voltage smut #otona love #otkoi #summary #translation #voltage #voltage inc #voltage otome #otome game #otome blog #otome romance #love 365 #love 365 find your story #マスカレード・キス〜危険な駆け引き〜#獅堂和臣

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temarisnara · 4 years ago

Note

for the meme: naruto, sakura, sasuke, kakashi

THANK YOU!!!!!!!

naruto

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (i haven’t actually thought too much about these so i’m going with my gut here but dicey and i were talking tonight about the generational difference between naruto and jiraiya when it comes to loyalty. jiraiya grew up in a time of war and is a solider, he was trained to be loyal to the village. if it came down to it, he’d kill even tsunade if she betrayed the village. naruto is loyal to people. if sakura betrayed the village, he would never give up on her, just like he never gave up on sasuke. naruto wants to protect the village because the village is where the people he loves live. naruto’s entire narrative arc is about bonds so i’m pretty sure he’s a hufflepuff) best quality: god i just wrote a fucking essay above about it- his loyalty and bonds to other people. everyone he meets is now his friend whether they like it or not ! he was just such a lonely kid, desperate for attention, for love, for acknowledgement, anything at all. and it would’ve been so easy for him to sit in that, to let himself hate the village, to resent them- but he didn’t. he set out to prove them wrong and he did. he is so, so, so fucking good. worst quality: HIS TASTE IN MEN. okay like, on the real, it’s not his fault and boruto isn’t real but it’s such UTTER BULLSHIT that the entire fucking series he met these people who got fucked over by the village status quo and he promised them he was going to change it when he became hokage and he fucking didn’t. its BULLSHIT. it’s not his fault, that’s not him, but GOD i’m MAD. ship them with: SAKURA, sasuke, gaara, shikamaru, sai, kiba, hinata. brotp them with: SAKURA- in fact all of the above list. he has great dynamics with them. also, kakashi, iruka, jiraiya, tsunade, choji, i like to imagine his and ino’s dynamic as fucking hilarious when they’re older. oh and i want him and karin to be annoying cousins together like PLEASE i DESERVE THIS. needs to stay away from: STOP SHIPPING HIM WITH KAKASHI!!!!!!!! ENOUGH!!!!! GO TO JAIL!!!!!!!!! misc. thoughts: that’s my fucking BABY i’ve shed SO MANY TEARS over this blonde idiot. he’s so good.

sakura

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (again, havent thought about it before now, but my gut SCREAMs gryffindor. she’s so...punchy, and head strong, and hard working. just like. all the gryffindor traits!) best quality: sakura’s character development lives rent free in my head. like. okay. sakura always had potential. she ranked high in her classes, she had better chakra control than naruto or sasuke, mastered things quicker than them, was observant and book smart. but physically and emotionally, she was weak! she could not hold her own in battle the way naruto or sasuke could, and often her fear got in the way, if not straight up controlled her. when naruto and sasuke fought, she could do nothing but beg them to stop. when sasuke left the village, he easily knocked her out. and sakura knew she was the weak link of team 7. so she resolved to get stronger. she sought out tsunade and trained with her for four years. and like, tsunade is an insane person. sakura would break her bones and tsunade would have her keep training and just heal them later. she mastered healing. she mastered chakra control. she developed fucking superhuman strength. she refused to be the weak link anymore, to just sit back helplessly while naruto and sasuke fought. she’s from a civilian family, she has NOTHING in terms of innate ninja abilities like literally everyone else in her class, but she became the strongest female ninja of her generation and surpassed her legendary sannin mentor through sheer hard work and determination. FUCK. she’s so cool. worst quality: again, this is NOT HER FAULT, it’s bad sexist writing, but sakura is such a fun and obnoxious character who matches naruto beat for beat, but when sasuke comes around she’s a shell of herself. even when she’s MARRIED TO HIM she doesn’t act like herself. she’s reverted back to that inflatuated 12 year old she’s long outgrown! bro, WHAT! ship them with: NARUTO AND INO. and. ok. listen. i’ve become soft for sasuke/sakura’s potential. if sakura got to be herself with sasuke, they’d be, at the very least, FUN. and sasuke/naruto/sakura is so fun. also rock lee is so sweet, i would not have been mad if they’d been endgame. brotp them with: NARUTO AND INO. kakashi, tsunade, hinata, rock lee. needs to stay away from: STOP!!! SHIPPING!!! KAKASHI!!! WITH!!! HIS!!! STUDENTS!!!!!!! misc. thoughts: i knew i would love sakura. look at her. she has pink hair and she punches things. 10/10. but she quickly, quickly became not just my favorite naruto character, but one of my favorite characters in all of shounen anime. the ball was dropped with her, multiple times, but she’s still such a dynamic fucking character with the best character development.

sasuke

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life | there aren’t words to describe how i feel about him hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (sasuke is...hard. i think the argument for gryffindor could also be made, but i’m leaning towards slytherin) best quality: i’m so tired. the thing about sasuke is....he deserved so much better than he got. i can’t tell you what his best quality is because his entire character arc is him being self destructive. he’s not fucking well!!!! the good parts of him he either tries to snuff out, or the story glosses over them to show how far he’s fallen. I think, the one good quality that refused to die, is his protectiveness. Him protecting Naruto in the Zabuza arc was such a pivotal moment for him, for his and Naruto’s relationship, for Team 7, for the story. It was the moment where everything changed. He was so desperate to protect Naruto from Itachi, he was super protective of Sakura in the forest of death, and even in Shippuden, he’s protective of team Taka, and unfortunately the moment I finally broke and said fuck it, I love Sasuke, is when he protected Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi from the infinite tsukiyomi. worst quality: his extremism lmao like. god. again, dicey and i have talked about this, how characters who challenge the status quo are portrayed as ~crazy~ and extremists so yet again, its BAD WRITING but also PROPAGANDA! god. but like, i’m sorry, fuck the village but he wanted to go after people who were not involved in what happened to Itachi. I understand his anger, but I wish the narrative had treated it and him with respect rather than throwing a fucking dart at a board to decide what Sasuke’s character arc was going to be about this week! ship them with: naruto, suigetsu, juugo, and again, lowkey sakura. brotp them with: naruto, sakura, kakashi, team taka, itachi needs to stay away from: STOP SHIPPING HIM WITH HIS TEACHER AND BROTHER. YALL. misc. thoughts: i’m so fucking tired. what was kishimoto trying to do with him! i don’t understand! sasuke was right! he was fully right to hate the village, to demand change. why did kishimoto have the village repeatedly doing heinous, evil things, validating sasuke’s resentment, but sasuke was portrayed as being in the wrong. ALSO, the ENTIRE. FUCKING. POINT. of naruto is bonds, and how important friendship and love is, and sasuke’s entire GODDAMN NARRATIVE is about him breaking those bonds to become stronger, and destroying himself in the process, and everyone he loves telling him this isn’t the right path, and FINALLY he accepts it- and then in boruto he’s JUST. ALONE? HE HASNT MET HIS DAUGHTER IN 12 YEARS WHEN FAMILY WAS SO IMPORTANT TO HIM???? I HATE IT. I HATE IT. THIS IS SO BAD. SASUKE DESERVED BETTER.

kakashi

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viggwigg · 5 years ago

Text

Pretty Faces | Chapter 1

Pairings: Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: You are a rising makeup artist whose talent is quickly taking off. When one of your closest friends happens to be a big-shot director, you get the gig of a lifetime working next to him and his crew. No one could ask for a better workspace when surrounded by people you already love. Just what happens when the biggest crush of your life walks onto the set, ready for his close up?

Disclaimer: Cursing

A/N: OOPSIES totally my bad. Got kinda busy and put this off until now. But here it is! 🤩

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SFX, beauty, costume, you name it. You had done it all. No makeup challenge had ever held you back from a 110% attempt on your part.

Even if you didn’t do so hot on your first try, you continued to perfect your technique with every opportunity you got. You had the kind of drive that inspired other artists to pull out their own strengths in their work. To take pride in their profession.

Not to mention your humble personality about your talent. In your eyes, your abilities were earned through blood, sweat, and tears.

With how much fun you had playing around with it, it just made sense to enter into entertainment. You didn’t mind using crappy written tv shows to jumpstart your career. Nothing really slowed you down in your mind.

From weddings to the Halloween photoshoots, your name circulated around L.A. in a slow burn. And then an all at once fire.

Your credibility doubled as multiple directors could vouch for your performance. It took a load off their shoulders seeing their actor’s bloody lip look completely real.

You were called on last-minute set emergencies with how reliable your skills were.

And when your buddy Jesse came to you with a job offer, you knew that you were at least somewhat qualified for what he would throw at you.

It’s not to say you weren’t shitting bricks, no, of course you were. However, you would have to admit to yourself that you were doing significantly better than when you started out.

Due to how highly acclaimed Jesse’s movies were, he never offered you a spot on his team in the past. It’s not to say that he wasn’t impressed in your work; he definitely believed you would become great. But he didn’t want to hand you a job without you having earned it first.

And with the last production you were a part of wrapped up, Jesse thought the timing couldn’t have been better.

He invited you to be an artist in his upcoming movie. Casting for the roles had just been finished and filming would commence within the month.

He had a devilish laugh when you curiously asked about the casting list, yet he wouldn’t budge and insisted that you had to wait like everyone else to find out.

Being the director’s best friend seemed to have little benefit at this point.

You rolled your eyes as you thought back to your conversation with him. If he was gonna be stingy with his information, you were going to be stingy with your kindness.

Currently, you were walking with a multitude of bagels and coffee in your arms, on your way to the meeting point. The makeup artists usually weren’t invited to the production meetings but today they were assigning departments and groups to certain divisions.

This was the first day that all crews and actors would see each other.

The treats you were bringing were for your fellow artists who you have met a couple times before today. You guys went over your individual techniques so that you could have a consistent result when the time came around.

Had Jesse not been selfish with his list, an everything bagel (bro I love these bagels so much) would have been delivered to him as well.

But alas, he would have to suffer.

Your arms were starting to cramp up at the odd angles you were holding everything at. The short walk from the cafe to the set proved a harder trek with the extra baggage.

Although, thankfully, the doors to the right place were insight. Today’s meeting would be held at a regular building and later in the week you would move to the actual set.

Your heart was beating a little faster than usual. Your fellow beauty gurus were nice for sure, but who could tell how these next few months would go.

Still, working with your best friend was gonna be awesome.

You walked in and flashed your ID badge to the receptionist, quickly greeting her. It was surprisingly quiet in the building considering the whole place was rented out.

However, as you neared hall doors, you could hear the muffled voices of everyone behind them.

You took a quick breath and turned the door handle.

The room was fairly large with little decoration. An elongated table sat in the middle of the room with many people around it. Some were sitting in the various chairs scattered about, but most just stood in a group of their respective departments.

First impressions were positive. Many smiling faces, a few dead stares, and a single person completely asleep on the table.

You could make out some well-known faces in the quick scan through you made.

Jesse looked away from the production manager he was talking to and caught eyes with you.

“Y/n!!” His eyes lit up.

The production manager was cut off mid-sentence. Jesse hit him on the chest playfully and excitedly in happiness.

“Dude, this is who I was telling you about,” he said as he dragged you towards them.”She’s the leech that always hangs around me and my sister.”

“Ouch-and here I thought we had something special,” you said dramatically.

The two of you paused and stared at each other before bursting into a fit of giggles. The excitement of working together seemed to hit both of you simultaneously.

The production manager just stared at you both before moving to introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Justin. It’s nice to meet you…”

You shushed Jesse and offered your hand, “Y/n. It’s nice to meet you too-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll get through intros later,” Jesse interrupted. “Right now there are much more important matters to attend to.”

He guided you both to some seats and began.

“Okay, so we’re just waiting on a few people before we begin. We should start- wait what’s with all the stuff?” Jesse gestured at the coffee and bags in your arms. His mouth began to water.

You made eye contact with the group in the back of the room and smiled, “Oh these are for the other artists actually.”

“Aw, how sweet of you! Where’s mine?”

You moved your arms away just in time to miss his grabbing hands at the bags.

“Hands off, Jess! I didn’t get any for you.”

“Yo, what hell, y/n,” he whined. The sense of betrayal he went through could not be described in any other words than unforgivable. You knew this place had his favorite danish.

You had to be the devil.

“I invite you to be on my crew, MINE, and this is the thanks I get? That’s it, we’re through. I mean it.”

He huffed and turned away from you.

Justin looked at you with entertained admiration and chuckled to himself.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry,” you picked up the coffee and pastries.”Just let me hand these out and then I’ll figure out how to make it up to you.”

“Whatever”

However, just as you began to stand from the chair, the doors to the room swung open yet again.

A man tall man with glasses walked into the room. He nodded at the various people in the room and moved along.

A shorter man with chocolate brown eyes trailed behind. He wore some comfy joggers and had a cap covering much of his hair.

All eyes shot to the second newcomer, everyone unanimously recognizing the familiar face.

Jesse recovered from his depressive state and replaced it with a shit-eating grin.

Justin rose to greet the man and give him the rundown.

You paused mid-air from your seat with wide eyes.

Tom Holland stood before all of you with a friendly smile and wave, “Hey, guys, I'm happy to finally meet you all. Sorry I’m a bit late.”

...What the actual fuck.

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A/N: My god this is so unrealistic. I literally don’t know anything about where they do all their meeting and how they film so that’s why its so vague. I am so uneducated on this 🤦‍♀️ Lol thanks for the love on the prologue though! 💌🥰

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Tag list: @greenarrowhead @diamonddia-mond @jackiehollanderr

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oops-prow-did-it-again · 5 years ago

Text

Pokémon Sword & Shield: The Novel (Prologue)

Find more info about Pokemon Retold series here

Part of Pokemon Retold. Find it on AO3

Pokemon Black on FFN

Pokemon Black on AO3

Pokemon Sword/Shield on FFN

Pokemon Sword/Shield on AO3

He’s chasing a ghost and she wishes he’d see sense. Follow Hop and Gloria as they discover themselves on a trek through Galar.

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Pokémon Sword & Shield: The Novel

Prologue - Endorsements

Charizard huffed as its feet touched the ground. Powerful wings beat against the wind to keep it steady until it was supported properly by the earth below. Leon’s hands had been coiled deliberately around its horns, while he had sat safely between the Charizard’s shoulder blades. His legs had been swung around past the creature’s neck. Charizard shook its head and glanced back at Leon patiently. Leon chuckled in amusement and hopped off the Charizard’s back. He petted its muzzle gently, and thanked it kindly, recalling it so he could go inside and keep a low profile. Or attempt to. Being the champion, it was a little difficult to keep hidden, and to be honest, Leon enjoyed the attention and fame. Being surprised by suspiciously observant fans was a treat he guiltily relished.

Not that he thought there may be any here, however; he was standing just outside of his family’s home in Postwick. Tall hedges and a long, winding walkway with a steel gate at the end kept most nosy fans at bay. His Charizard had just landed over it and in front of the doorway. He was greeted by a noisy Wooloo skidding across the grass toward him as he approached the door to the house. The Wooloo gently headbutted his leg to say, “hello!”

Leon issued a short series of three knocks and then flicked the doorknob. Upon entering the house, he called out for his family. His mother and father both gave a startled reply, but Hop was silent. “We’ll be right down!” his mother called. “And Hop’s away at Wedgehurst right now; he was helpin’ with the tourists down that way!” his father added.

“Alright, I’ll go make myself at home then,” Leon laughed back at them cheekily. He went into a pristine, almost unrecognizable living room, and flopped on a blue cloth chair. When he had stayed at home last, the living room had constantly been in a state of busy disarray, thanks to his and Hop’s obsession with championship matches (both new and repeats – they often would watch matches again and again together or the rare recorded match from another region). There would often be myriad red solo cups scattered across every available furnished surface in the room and blankets and pillows would end up on the floor. Today, however, the room appeared untouched. Soft white carpet, only lightly brushed with aged stains here and there, covered the entirety of the room’s floor. A pastel blue couch lined the back wall and two recliners to match were aligned to each adjacent corner. A medium-sized flatscreen projected at a slight angle from the wall. The screen was blank.

His parents soon joined him. His father set a couple of mugs of coffee on the table on square Yamper coasters, and his mother moved over to hug him tightly. Leon happily obliged and curled his arms around her. He squeezed jokingly. She huffed and laughed, “Calm down Brutus!”

“Why couldn’t you have called first?” his father complained. “Hop’s away at Wedgehurst, he’s goin’ to be so upset he missed you comin’ home.”

“Oh, I was plannin’ to be here tomorrow, see,” Leon said smoothly. Really, his reasoning for avoiding Hop was a lot more complex than that. “It’s a bit busy, bein’ champion and all.”

His mother rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, Lee, we know. We’re very, very proud. Now, what brings you today?”

“Well, to be honest…” Leon leaned forward and put a hand to his chin. “I’ve been thinkin’ about something lately and I can’t seem to figure it out. Hop’s friend, Gloria, I keep hearin’ about her and all the cool stuff she tells Hop, and I even met her a few times… She really seems like she’d be a good fit for the gym challenge, you know? Seems to really have her head on her shoulders straight.”

“But?” his father asked, giving him a knowing look.

“But… I’m not sure if I’d be comfortable with Hop gettin’ an endorsement—”

“That’s why you showed up while Hop was out,” his mother muttered.

“—because he just takes everything so to heart, you know? I feel like he’d have a really hard time findin’ his stride.”

“You’ve so little faith in him,” his father remarked. He took a sip of coffee; his hand obscured most of the Boltund image printed on the side of the dark blue mug. “He’s your brother. You’re the champion. Why aren’t you more willing to give him a chance?”

“And you want to endorse his best friend but not him? My, Lee, I think that would hurt a lot more than anything any random trainer or challenger could do,” his mother said, shaking her head. She sighed and looked at him in the eyes. “We’re very proud of you and Hop too. But Hop idolizes you. He just wants a chance to prove he’s got some worth. We know he’s got worth without provin’ anythin’, but he doesn’t. We’re honestly strugglin’ to keep him busy, and you know how he gets when he’s bored. Why don’t you just endorse him?”

Yeah, Leon did know how his brother acted when he was bored. He was prying, irritating, and somehow also became very depressing to be around. He would just mope because he had nothing to do, it was so strange to Leon; he loved it when he had nothing to do! He sighed and looked back at them without meeting their eyes. “Maybe I’ll just wait to endorse them both next gym challenge season,” he said a little weakly. They had no actual power over him, of course, and he knew that. Leon just enjoyed approval. Disappointment was foreign to him and the idea of it alone was enough to put a bitter taste on his tongue.

“Fine,” his mother huffed. “Now can we talk about literally anything except the gym challenge?” She scooped up the TV remote from the ornate coffee table. “There’s always—”

“I’m really sorry,” Leon interrupted her, “but I can’t stay much longer. I just really needed a quick chin-wag to get my thoughts clear.”

“We understand, son,” his father said and smiled warmly after him. His mother nodded after him, but Leon couldn’t quite shake the nagging feeling she was unhappy with him. He thanked them for their time and left the room, heading for the front door.

He felt a bit guilty for wanting to push back Hop and Gloria’s endorsements for season. It was only three months, but he had no way of knowing that he would be willing to do it then, either. He thought that perhaps he should do something else nice for them to soften the blow from him refusing to endorse them still. Maybe, he thought, he’d give them a Pokémon they could bond with in preparation for the next gym challenge season! Maybe then he would feel much more confident about sending them off with recommendations next season.

He snapped his fingers. “That’s the perfect idea!” he said aloud as he shut the door to the house behind him.

“What’s a perfect idea, Lee? Also, you’re here!”

Leon looked up and saw a thin figure racing toward him. He blinked and suddenly the breath left his lungs as arms tightly latched around his torso. He laughed and looked down at Hop. His younger brother was just so energetic… not to mention fast! Not that Leon himself was laid-back by any means, but he admired Hop’s enthusiasm. “Yes, yes, I’m here. And I was just thinkin’ that tomorrow I’ll visit again, and tomorrow… well, I might have somethin’ for you and your friend.”

Hop slowly let go and raised a brow as he looked up at Leon. He had puffy black hair that gave off an almost purple sheen in bright sunlight, much like Leon himself. His golden eyes glowed brightly in excitement. “What do you mean…?”

“Tomorrow,” Leon started and drew in a slow breath to up the tension, “I’ll be bringin’ you lot a Pokémon.” He abruptly started tickling Hop and shoved him a little. Hop began to sputter and push him away.

“A Pokémon? For real?!” Hop exclaimed once he was free, completely ignorant of every other detail of the conversation thus far. “You’re goin’ to bring Pokémon for us?! Like, one for battlin’? Not a Wooloo?”

“What other kind? You’ve already got a Wooloo,” Leon snorted in amusement. He ruffled Hop’s hair and adjusted his cape. “Alright, now while you ruminate over that for the night, I’ve got some business to tend to. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright, little bro?”

“You got it, Lee! I’ll definitely make sure we’re ready!”

“Good,” Leon snickered as Hop bolted into the house. The front door waved wildly behind him, as it was forgotten in Hop’s fervor. Leon shook his head and closed the door for them. Then he tossed out his Charizard again. The Pokémon calmly looked back at him and then spread its wings and leaned down. Although Charizard was strong, Leon didn’t like forcing it to carry him around too much, so he and Charizard had adopted an unspoken rule; if Charizard did what he was doing now, it meant Leon was allowed to ride him somewhere. If Charizard stayed upright or yawned, Leon wouldn’t even ask. He thanked the Charizard and got into place about the creature’s shoulders. It hoisted him up and off into the skies with ease thanks to its muscles that had been honed over fifteen years of battling.

#pokemon #pokemon swsh #swsh #pokemon sword and shield #sword and shield #pokemon sword #pokemon shield #sword #shield #hop #gloria #leon #wooloo #postwick #hop and leon's parents #fanfiction #fanfic

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1stunseeliefaelass · 5 years ago

Text

Strife's Younger Years Part 2

Strife was determined to understand more of what happened that day. He'd find out somehow, and he couldn't really sleep now anyway. Picking up a nearby crystal, he used a smidge of magic to call his elder brother. The crystal began to quietly pulse with light and a quiet rhythm of sound. He didn't expect much, beyond Death being slightly pissed off at how late it was for both of them. Strife lived in a hunter style shack in the Fae Realm, whilst Death still lived in his humble abode within that dead world. Both places always seemed to be close when it came to time zones and stuff. Didn't make Death's home any less depressing. Strife mused on Death's choice of home for a time before hearing his crystal emit a louder beep of sorts, a sign Death had finally answered.

Death had finally, truly fallen asleep. Sleeping was never easy for him, due to nightmares and the occasional night terrors. So naturally him being woken up now was annoying to say the least. He growled as he tried to ignore it for a moment, but the pulsing light and sounds from his crystal persisted. Finally he sat up slowly and reached clumsily for the crystal. Now that he was paying attention, the way the sounds...well...sounded and the frequency they emitted from the crystal, indicated who was contacting him. Sighing he answered at last,

"Strife....it's late."

"I know dude I know. But I really need to talk to you man." Strife told him earnestly. He heard a sigh before Death spoke again,

"Is it an emergency? Or important...to some extent?"

"First off....maybe? Secondly it's kind of important." Strife said a bit unsure himself.

"Can it wait til morning perhaps....I just got to sleep." Death inquired.

"I know sleeping is hard as fuck for you. But I really need to get this out. Can we please just talk bro? Please?" Strife asked desperately, and immediately regretting sounding like that. He furrowed his brow in annoyance at yet another sigh from Death, this time deeper.

"Alright....do you want to talk over crystal? Or shall we speak in person?" Death asked him at last after a pause.

"I'd prefer to talk in person, if ya don't mind." Strife stated simply, hiding a bit concern in his tone.

Death picked up on it regardless and felt a twinge of guilt for being annoyed. Or at least showing that he was annoyed. Regardless he told Strife to come by his home and began to prepare for what he figured might be a lengthy discussion. He tried as quietly as he could to prepare two cups of tea. Mostly for himself to stay awake through the chat, but he figured Strife might appreciate the gesture at least. He heard a little puppy like yawn from nearby and looked down to see a small pet bed with Fuzzball stretching in it before looking up at Death a bit annoyed himself. Then he heard Dust's wings flapping, and could swear the bird looked grumpy.

"Sorry you two. It's going to be a late one. But I won't force you to pay attention. Feel free to go back to bed." Death told them simply.

Dust preened a little bit before placing his head back under his wing again. Fuzzball in the meantime went in a few circles in his bed, stamped his little paws on it, then laid back down to sleep. Death finished the tea before too long and just as he'd set up the table, he heard a knock. As expected, Strife was at the door. He came in quickly and rubbed his neck,

"Hey big bro....hehe..."

"Hi. So then, let's talk shall we?" Death stated before leading him to the table.

Strife noticed the tea and decided he may as well at least try one cup. He wasn't that fond of tea usually, but since Death was being 'nice' enough to host him, he may was be polite and try it. It was refreshing at least, with a faint hint of a caffeine taste in there. He didn't comment on it though, instead telling Death,

"So about why I'm here..."

"Yes we've established that, but go on." Death said sarcastically.

Strife glared at him briefly before saying, "I'm just worried you'll brush me off again. Like you do everytime I ask about this."

"What are you talking about?"

"Bitch don't play dumb with me. You know what I'm talking about." Strife insisted.

Death simply shrugged, leading to Strife saying with an annoyed tone, "The dreams about me being a little kid, like itty bitty? Where I see you and Absalom beating the shit out of each other?"

Death stopped midsip and placed his cup down, "Ah yes....that again."

"I want answers Death, legit answers. I don't want you to brush me off again, or to give some bullshit answer that doesn't make sense." Strife insisted.

"What do you want me to say? Beyond that it was a memory?" Death asked him.

"Dumbass I just told you. Quit playin' and just tell me what the hell went down that day! I want to know that much, and I wanna know why it happened too!" Strife demanded, even slamming his fist on the table.

Death remained collected however, and thought for a moment. Then finally asked Strife cautiously, "Why do you want to know? And are you SURE you want to know?"

"I'm pretty fucking sure at this point Death. And I wanna know because I want to be able to understand it. Maybe then I'll stop dreaming about this shit. You stopped having dreams about when Ale witnessed your creation after you met up with her again. You didn't settle for the bullshit answers Absalom gave you, you sought them yourself and kept pushing for the truth. And you GOT IT. So why SHOULD I SETTLE then huh? Why should I not keep trying to get you to finally tell me the truth damn it?" Strife stated in earnest.

Death thought for longer this time. Realizing that, yes, he had been doing what Absalom did to him originally. Only he'd done it to Strife for a lot longer than Absalom did it towards him. After a long moment of silent contemplation, he sighed softly and finally looked up at Strife. Noting his younger brother's rising anger, he softened his tone as he answered him,

"You're right. I should've known you'd not settle, because I influenced you to not do so. You deserve to know the truth, just as much as I once did. So to start with..."

Strife waited patiently as Death unraveled part of the bindings on his arms. He normally would've taken them off before bed, but simply forgot to this time. Death then spoke a few silent syllables before a ball of light appeared between them both. Strife leaned forward, and found himself shocked at seeing the faint scars along his wrists. Mouthing a what the fuck as he sat back again in shock. Death nodded and began wrapping his arm back up again,

"These are the result of Absalom's constant pressures on me. Absalom had no heirs to speak of, so that meant I was to step up. I'm sure you remember that much clearly."

Strife nodded, "Yeah. And now that I think about it, you and Absalom had similar fights to the one in my memory. You got physical with each other a lot when you trying to get him to tell you the truth about Ale. And later on as we started to slowly become tired of everything, the fist fights started again."

"Yes. But bare in mind, these fights were VERY one sided back then. I never put my all into them, which led to me losing more often than not. I also made a habit of trying not to fight in front of you three when I had a mind to remember that. And the fights weren't all that went down. I never spoke of this, as I didn't want to worry either of you. And I don't need you to worry now, I broke that habit a long time ago. Thanks to Ale's help mostly, bless her soul."

"Ok so what didn't we see?" Strife asked concerned.

"Absalom often pushed me to beyond my limits when grooming me for leadership of our race, should he ever die. The pressure was often high to the point of anxiety. I learned to hide it when in front of others, because Absalom made damn sure of it. It started with him being the one to inflict the cuts. Overtime, he'd force me to do it while practically brainwashing me into believing it was....'for my own good'. I knew this habit was a bad one deep down, that it wasn't helping me. That it only made everything worse. But before long, I didn't know what else to do."

Strife, noting his brother's shameful tone, asked gently, "Is that why you went to Ale?"

Death only nodded at the question.

"But..what does this have to do with my memories again? Just wondering?" Strife inquired a bit confused.

"Because the first time Absalom and I ever got physical, was that day. I came across him abusing you in an attempt to..'toughen you up' as he put it. I couldn't let it continue, not on my watch. But after forcing him out of the tent, I saw he wasn't finished. To prevent you from being involved, I told you to wait in the tent. I never realized you'd left the tent at all. That you were watching at Absalom wiped the dirt with me in that ring. I was just about unable to keep it up much longer, my body was on fire and close to giving out on me. That's when you rushed between us and demanded Absalom stop, in the only way you knew how. Being a toddler and all." Death stated quietly.

"Yeah I remember that much. But what happened after that? I just remember suddenly waking up in your tent again."

"Absalom took your little gesture as a challenge, laughing before backhanding you. It was enough to knock you clean out. I scooped you up briefly, and in a mix of panic and rage, I went for Absalom again. That was the only physical altercation I ever won against him. I was exhausted afterwards, but still made an effort to carry you back to my tent for your safety. I didn't let myself rest and forced myself not to pass out, wanting to make sure you were ok before I finally let go."

"I do remember that seemingly after that point, you made sure Absalom never touched me again. Not that he didn't try." Strife said a bit amazed.

"Yeah. I also did my best to make sure he backed off with abusing you in other ways. Be it through overdoing it with training, purposely trying to get you killed through bullshit 'missions', etc." Death said simply, rubbing his temple slightly.

"Maybe we can continue this later on or something? You're tired as fuck, and I don't wanna keep you up much longer." Strife said getting up to leave.

Death simply chuckled, "Right. Well goodnight and see you later Strife."

"Night bro, see ya around." Strife said leaving the house.

Death remained at the table for time, staring into the half empty cup of tea in front of him. He then suddenly jolted in realization before rushing to the door. He called to Strife upon opening it, and Strife turned around from where he was. He was only a few feet away from Mayhem.

"What was spoken about in this house, stays in here! Got it?! The others don't need to know what I've told you tonight!" Death shouted to him.

"Don't worry bro, you know I'll keep your secrets any day! I still have mine after all!" Strife shouted back contently.

Death accepted the answer before going back inside, locking the door behind him. He then laid back down in his bed at last, taking a while to pass out again as he thought of their discussion. Even looking down at his binded arms again. He said one final thing to himself,

"Why did I EVER idolize you, I'll never understand it Absalom. Nor will I understand why I keep grieving for you."

With that he finally fell back into a deep sleep. Strife did much the same, he couldn't help but wonder however,

"Just how much pain do you live with everyday? Seriously Death."

#Darksiders Fandom #Darksiders Scenarios #Mature Content Ahead #Triggering Content Ahead Beware #Death #Strife #Major Feels Ahead #I'm Really Sorry If This Upsets You Guys

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gumnut-logic · 5 years ago

Text

Ostinato: A Tale of Sotto Voce

Oooh, look what I finished :D

-o-o-o-

Title: Ostinato

A Tale of Sotto Voce

Author: Gumnut

Aug 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Why the Hood didn’t currently have him under his thumb, why he could now see and speak to John without innate terror, why he hadn’t thrown himself into Thunderbird Three’s silo and why Thunderbird Five was still mostly in one piece. But most of all, why he was still alive.

Word count: 8400 ( that is not a frickin’ ficlet!)

Spoilers & warnings: Angst, hurt/comfort, family, science fiction

Timeline: Shortly before the last scene of ‘Il Mago’, as they don’t know the identity of Il Mago, definitely before ‘Father’.

Author’s note: Nutty’s Fandomversary Fic Ten – Prompt: ‘I’d still love to see a brother (maybe Gordon while healing from injury) sleepwalk to five or John sleepwalk down to TI.’ for @melmac78

I’m afraid I don’t think I answered your request ☹ Because Eos monitors the space elevator, it would only be with her permission that the prompt could happen. So, to get as close as possible, I delved into Sotto Voce. I hope you enjoy what resulted anyway. Sorry I couldn’t answer correctly.

Also, it is midnight here and I will admit that I haven’t re-read the last bits of this as thoroughly as I should, but I’m tired and just want to post this. I’ll probably curse it when I discover some horrible error in the morning, but I need to go to bed. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Many thanks to @vegetacide and @scribbles97 for their help on this one.

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

“Virgil, you there?”

“Hmm? Yes, John?” He let his fingers dance over the piano keys seeking reassurance. Today wasn’t one of his better days since the Maggot and he was doing his best to turn it around. Piano was good. Piano gave absolution.

The ivory was smooth under his fingertips.

“I’m sending the elevator down. Could you pack me some Y-345 and T-3245 process rods? Brains needs to replace six of each in the computer core.”

Virgil arched an eyebrow. “So, I’m allowed in the hangars now?”

It had been a long recovery. Since the attack, he had been plagued by headaches and an awful narcolepsy that had kept him down and barred from the hangers for safety reasons. It had gotten to the point that Virgil was surprised he was allowed on the balconies without a chaperone.

But then he had one anyway, didn’t he?

I wouldn’t really call myself a chaperone, Uncle. More of a supervisor?

Supervisor implies you can tell me what to do, Eos.

I can. Not that you’ll listen.

You’ve got it in one.

John, unaware of what was being said, but suspecting something was afoot, glared at him from his little hologram on top of the piano. His hair was still blond, though the red was starting to show. “Have you two finished?”

Still playing, Virgil hid a smile. “She’s your kid, bro.”

“And you are still a bad influence.”

The smile broke into a grin. “Glad to be of service.”

“That’s fabulous, but could you be of better service and pack me those process rods?”

The grin faded to be replaced with a frown. “What’s wrong?” John was uncharacteristically on edge.

“Nothing.”

Virgil’s frown deepened. “Do I have to speak to Eos?”

John glared at him, and Virgil swallowed. Something must have registered on his face because John was immediately contrite. “I’m sorry, Virgil. It’s just with Scott, Alan and Gordon on rescues and TB5 not fully up to par. It is a little frustrating.”

Virgil cursed himself for his reaction. When the hell was he going to get over that?! Most of the time he was fine, but on the now rare occasion, John’s expression would trigger him and he couldn’t help himself. John scared him, but it wasn’t John who was the cause of his fear. It hurt the both of them and he hated it.

“No, it’s not your fault. Never your fault.” A sigh and the music came to a stop. “I’ll hunt down your rods and meet with the elevator.”

“Thank you, Virgil.”

“Not a problem.”

His brother signed off and Virgil pushed himself back from the keys. At least he could be marginally useful. He was still banned from working on his ‘bird. He was getting better, but there were still moments.

A roll of his shoulders to loosen up his muscles and he stood.

Grandma was the only person on the island with him at the moment. Kayo was with Penelope, continuing their hunt for his assailant, while Brains was up on TB5 with John. It was so quiet, it was lonely.

He shook himself. God, the self-pity was ridiculous.

Eos didn’t remark at that thought but there was a wash of indescribable emotion.

He ignored it and headed for the elevator. Process rods were one of the many spare parts stored in the lower caverns. The network of caves below the villa was massive. It was the reason his father had chosen this island and it served them all so well. Cavecutters had ground out the spaces not naturally provided and International Rescue was able to operate solely because of all the automatic machinery these caverns housed.

The elevator hit the hangar floor and Virgil walked past his beloved ‘bird to the cavern access on the far side of the bay. The module train sat snug in its niche and he found himself blinking at the familiar sight.

More self-pity.

Shit.

He was on a roll today.

Another sigh. Calm, keep it calm. No need to trigger one of those blasted headaches again.

Maybe this was a basic reason to keep out of the hangers. Too much temptation and memory. Here was where he had kidnapped Brains. Here was where he had nearly shot his brother with Thunderbird Two’s laser. Looking up, he could still see the scorch marks on the massive hanger door.

Self-pity shifted to hate for a man now dead.

He grit his teeth.

Focus.

The storage cavern was full of neatly organised and labelled resources. Virgil, of course, knew exactly where to find what he needed. The process rods were light in his grasp. He threw in a few extra and with a further thought, grabbed a trolley and threw on some of the standard supply run items that his brother might need, plus a few extra processors for Eos.

Thank you, Uncle.

Are you watching everything I do? It was both annoying and reassuring.

Of course, I am. You’re in the hangars.

And I can’t be trusted. His shoulders slumped.

You know that is not the reason, Virgil.

Yeah, well, it sucks anyway. He shoved a few more components into the trolley.

You are getting better.

It is taking forever. So he was being petulant.

“Virgil?”

Another sigh. “I’m fine, John, just gathering your stuff.”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine!”

The line fell silent and he knew his brother didn’t believe a word. Another wave of disappointment in himself hit. Man, he was in the dumps today.

A dozen LED spots landed in the trolley with a clunk.

Okay, this was getting ridiculous. He grabbed the spots and checked them over visually for damage. Maybe he shouldn’t be in the hangars if a depressive mood had him breaking things.

Another sigh.

For goodness sake, get the hell over it! This wasn’t him. This wasn’t how he thought. Where was the positive? Where was his strength? He leant over the trolley, his elbows on the handle and rubbed his face.

“Virgil?”

“Okay, okay, I’m coming. Be at the elevator asap.”

Focus, for crying out loud.

He shoved the trolley ahead of him, darting among the shelves.

There was another trek across the hangar past his ‘bird which he purposefully ignored, into the elevator and up several levels to the space elevator’s dock.

The cavern beyond was so empty it hurt. TB1 and Shadow were absent and the space echoed his loneliness back at him.

For Christ’s sake!

A sudden roar as the elevator fired its thrusters, slowing its descent. At least the noise filled the vacuum.

A clunk and she docked solidly. “Elevator secure.” Eos’ voice echoed over the comms.

“Thank you, Eos.”

“You are always welcome.” There was a smile in her voice.

He placed his palm on the hatch control and it blinked in recognition, the airlock opening. He strode in and found a stash of recycling in the freight containers. A little component juggling and he had the necessaries loaded and the unnecessaries lined up for the recycler. “Okay, John, she’s almost ready to haul up. Give me a sec for a pre-flight check.”

“FAB.”

Virgil paused a moment, staring at the controls of the elevator. A breath and his fingers ran through the checks automatically.

It was good to know that the knowledge had survived the frying of his brain.

His shoulders shifted under the weight of the depressive emotion that followed.

Definitely a bad day.

He needed his piano. Or paint. Or something.

Goddamnit!

Something shifted in his head.

Oh, shit.

He suddenly knew what was going to happen. No, not here! He turned towards the hatch. Get off the elevator. Get off-

He was on the decking, his hands barely catching him as his body succumbed to the sudden forced sleep cycle.

His head hit his forearm, and the world faded.

-o-o-o-

Eos knew the moment her uncle lost consciousness. She brushed electronic fingers across his interface and was reassured that he was simply asleep, victim of his narcolepsy. The fact he was asleep on the floor of the space elevator was the challenge.

“Father?”

John was in conversation with Scott on the far side of the planet, the Eldest struggling with a plane that was determined to fall out of the sky. Thunderbird Two’s presence would have been preferable and the man’s profanity proved that. However, neither Two nor her pilot were in any condition to go anywhere.

Current situation more than enough proof.

“Yes, Eos? Is the elevator ready to return?”

“Yes, John, but-“

“Please launch it, Eos. Scott, I am sorry, but my scanners are not at full capacity. This is all the information I can give you.”

Eos flicked back down to the elevator and checked again on her uncle. A number of calculations, safety variables. A glance in her father’s direction. A decision.

She fired the elevator’s thrusters and it launched from the island.

For the next eight minutes she hovered over that elevator, micro-firing adjustments, protecting her uncle as he was not fastened securely. She got him through the jet stream, up through turbulence until he was finally free of the atmosphere. Braking started early, the elevator slowing incrementally in order to prevent Virgil from being slammed into the ceiling at speed.

“Eos, what are you doing with the elevator?”

Her father had finally noticed. “We have a visitor.”

That drew his full attention. “What? Who?”

“Virgil fell asleep in the elevator.”

“He did what?!”

“His narcolepsy flared as he was doing pre-flight checks.”

“And you launched?!” The frown on her father’s face was volatile.

“You asked me to.”

“Eos!”

“He is safe! I would not risk him.”

“But why?”

The elevator was travelling so slowly by this point it was hardly moving. It slid into dock with barely a vibration against its moorings. “Father, his thoughts have been somewhat depressed. I thought company would help.”

The worry on John’s face spiked. “What thoughts?”

“Father, I respect his privacy, however, today his emotional status has been poor. I don’t think being alone is in his best interests at the moment.” She paused. “You can do things I cannot.”

He looked up at her camera, expression thoughtful. “Monitor my brothers while I attend to Virgil.”

“Yes, Father.”

John propelled himself towards the airlock.

-o-o-o-

It had been a hell of a day. That was the only excuse he had and it was a poor one. He had thought offering his brother that simple and urgent task would have helped him.

Apparently not.

And now he was asleep in their space elevator.

The seal hissed as he released it and floated through.

Virgil hovered just above the floor, his open red-checked shirt moving as the man breathed. His eyes were closed and shadowed, his whole body limp.

His brothers had commented often on how Virgil fell asleep all over the house. It had stopped happening so frequently, but not completely.

Virgil was going to be so pissed when he woke up.

John reached out and touched his brother’s cheek. Whispered. “C’mon, bro, let’s get you secured.”

It took John activating his suit’s attitude adjusters to create the momentum to get both him and his much heavier brother moving through the airlock. Some careful manoeuvring through the comms module and he almost ran into Brains as he entered the gravity ring.

Fortunately, the engineer overcame his surprise enough to help catch Virgil as the gravity caught the sleeping man.

“He fell asleep in the elevator.”

Brains’ eyes were roaming over the prone engineer assessing his condition.

“Eos, has been monitoring him. He is okay.”

“I-I will be happier w-when this in-voluntary sleeping c-ceases.”

“Won’t we all.”

They carried the man down the length of the ring to John’s quarters and secured him in his brother’s bed. Virgil’s boots landed on the glass floor.

“He packed our supplies before collapsing. Could you alert Grandma of Virgil’s location and ask her to send up some of his things once the supplies are unpacked?”

Brains nodded and took the gentle request for what it was and left.

John turned back to his brother and sighed.

So much fear and so much anger was wrapped around his big brother. John had done his best to help, but due to the situation, he was often part of the cause. He had run out of profanity to aim at the deceased Hood and the energy along with it.

All that was left was the need to help his brother recover.

And protect him as much as possible.

Il Mago was still out there, somewhere.

Scott...Scott was volatile. Their big brother was struggling with his inability to protect Virgil. John, at least, had tools at his hands to set up digital wards and Eos patrolled continuously. Scott was after the perpetrator like a man possessed. They still didn’t know who it was. Kayo and Penny were desperately looking for clues. Virgil had managed a drawing of the man’s face, but even the artist wasn’t happy with it and facial recognition had been unable to connect any dots. Eos had also seen the man, but she saw things differently in the virtual world and the concepts didn’t quite translate.

It left Scott fighting an unseen foe and so much broken gym equipment. Today’s rescue had at least been a break from the confines of Tracy Island for his eldest brother.

With that thought came the sad irony that someone had to be in danger for the Tracy family to catch a break. Their lives defied logic at times.

Reaching over, he brushed a stray hair off his brother’s forehead. Virgil snuffled in his sleep and began to drool on John’s pillow.

A fond smile was all the astronaut had for that.

All he wanted was for his brother to recover...well, as much as he could. That thought lay embedded in a darkness reeking of a need for revenge that could never be sought as the perpetrator was already dead.

A sigh. He had to get back to his other brothers. “Eos, keep an eye on him.”

“Of course, John.”

The astronaut returned to the comms module and the business of saving people.

-o-o-o-

“Virgil? You awake yet?”

The fog of sleep stifled his response, but he did open his eyes.

“Hey, Virg!”

Blink. Alan?

Try again. “A-Alan?” Ugh, his throat was dry. Air conditioning parch. The pillow under his head had an interesting smell.

Another blink. This wasn’t his pillow. Focus. Hell, this wasn’t his bedroom.

“Three to Virg, are you reading me?”

“Go away.” He swiped a hand in his brother’s direction.

“Do you have any idea where you are?”

“I’m in hell and you’re my penance.” He rolled away from his brother and face the wall. A very wrong coloured wall. What the-?

“You’re on Five, bro. John says you sleep-rode the elevator.”

The elevator?! He shot up in the bed, the lower gravity sending him almost bouncing off the ceiling. He caught himself at the last moment as his head spun and sprouted a whopper of a headache. “Ah, shit!” He dropped his head to his hands and gouged his eyes out with his palms.

“Hey, Virg, take it easy.”

A hand landed on his arm and Virgil forced down a flinch. He groaned. “Alan, what do you want?”

“I was in the area and thought I would check in on you.”

A long drawn out sigh and he forced himself to sit up straight. Alan had been on a rescue. “Status?”

The astronaut’s response was habitual. “All three passengers and the pilot accounted for. Brains is checking them over.” A breath. “Now what about you?”

“Just fabulous.”

Alan peered at him up close. “Tell that to the red roadmaps on your sclera.”

An irritated blink. “How do you even know that word?”

“Did the same first aid courses you did, bro.” Alan sat on the bed beside him. “Headache?”

He gave in. “Yeah.”

“I’ll grab you some pills.”

Whispered. “Thanks, Alan.”

His brother squeezed his shoulder and left the room.

Virgil took the moment to centre himself. A breath and he levered his feet off the bed and onto the glass floor.

Far beneath him the world spun away.

Starlight danced on his skin.

The world spun back into view...Australia, New Zealand...Tracy Island...

The world spun away again.

He closed his eyes against the stars.

Alan’s step was quiet on the glass, his uniform boots designed specifically for this kind of environment. Virgil became abruptly aware of his own lack of uniform. Breach of regulations, breach of safety.

Alan must have picked up on his thoughts. “Don’t worry, Eos had Grandma fetch some of your things. Apparently, John doesn’t think you’ll fit into his.”

Alan’s smile was a little infectious and Virgil found his spirits lifting just a little despite himself.

Quietly. “Thank you, bro.”

Alan’s smile broadened as he handed over the tablets and a bottle of water.

Virgil downed the medication in two quick gulps. The water was lovely and cool on the back of his throat. it loosened tight muscles.

Alan sat down beside him on the bed again. They sat together staring out through the floor.

“I have to say, this view never gets old.”

Virgil blinked. “No, it doesn’t.” Admittedly, he could probably list on one hand how many times he had been up here without a mission. The brothers were happy to call John down, but few of them, except perhaps Alan, came up here much. “It has its own beauty.”

“John said you’ve been having a bad day.”

He darted a glance at his little brother, his head not appreciating the abrupt movement at all. Eos!

Father was concerned! What was I supposed to do? You were asleep in the elevator. You were having a bad day. You were frightened by John at least once. You spent all morning at the piano attempting to chase away negative thoughts, which is probably why you crashed in the elevator. I was worried. John was worried. Youngest was worried. Eldest is currently pacing the comms room, worried. Only the second youngest isn’t worried because Scott ordered me not to tell him.

That is why you don’t tell everyone when I’m feeling like shit, Eos! They worry. I don’t want them to worry. They’ve worried enough. I’ve hurt them all too much already.

The thought hit the core of the matter and he found himself caught in the concept. He hitched in a breath and fought to keep himself in one piece. His brain hammered on the inside of his skull.

“Virgil?”

“I’m-“ He closed his eyes. “Alan, could I have a moment to myself please?” The words were tight and parched.

His little brother stood up. “Uh, yeah, sure. Call if you need anything.” The brush of Alan’s fingertips on his shoulder nearly broke him.

The door slid closed.

He could hold it all back no longer. It was everything. It was what had been done to him. What he had done to his family and the simple fact that he was no longer the Virgil Tracy he wanted to be.

Head in his hands, he let go.

-o-o-o-

“Father!”

John swung around, sonic screwdriver in hand. “Yes, Eos?”

“Virgil is...upset.”

John’s eyes widened. “What happened?”

“The youngest spoke with him. He has a headache and the youngest gave him medication. Virgil admonished me for telling you of his ‘bad day’. His mood shifted to one of despair. He excused the youngest and now he sits with his head in his hands. He is in pain. Please, Father, what do I do?”

John swallowed and wished Scott was here.

But wishing was useless, as his Dad used to say. Work with what you have. And Virgil had John.

“Leave him to me.”

As he moved to leave the comms hub, Alan barrelled in. “John, it’s Virgil. Something’s up.”

A squeeze of a shoulder. “I know.” he handed his brother the screwdriver. “Here, comm relay to Brains and do as he asks. That panel over there.” Without another word, John pushed himself through the airlock and onto the gravity ring.

A sigh as his feet touched down on the floor.

A matter of steps and he was opening the door to his room.

Virgil sat on the edge of John’s bed. Elbows on knees, head in hands. He didn’t react to John’s presence at all.

On soft feet, John crossed the glass and sat quietly beside his brother.

Virgil’s shoulders were shaking.

A moment of hesitation and John reached out and gently dropped a hand on flannel covered shoulders.

The muscles beneath immediately tightened, a shudder echoing through Virgil’s frame.

A whisper barely more than breath. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

John’s throat knotted. “Not your fault.”

“No, it never is.” A ragged breath. “But it always is.” Another shudder and his brother straightened, obviously attempting to throw the emotions off. The face that emerged from his hands was pale and tearstained. A sniff and Virgil rubbed a hand across his eyes. “Sorry I worried you again.”

“Virgil.” His brother’s name fell from him in a rush. The man was emanating pain and John felt so inadequate.

Work with what you have.

His arm snaked around Virgil’s shoulders and he drew him closer. Virgil looked at him, a frown on his face.

A sudden dread that his brother might be triggered by his closeness and the anger flared in the back of John’s mind. But Virgil’s brow only crinkled in query.

So, John did something that he had wanted to do so many times during recent events. He wrapped his big brother in his arms and drew him close, bringing his head to rest on his shoulder.

The bigger man shuddered again. “John-“

“It’s okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’ve got you.”

John bit his lip and found his own eyes wet as his brother shuddered again in his arms.

Virgil’s voice could barely be heard, its baritone strength whittled down to nothing. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“I-“ And it was replaced with a sob. “No. I can’t-“

“You can.”

His brother groaned in pain.

“Virgil.”

“‘S not fair.”

“Never is.”

What would Scott say? What were the magic words to release the family rock from his self-imprisonment?

“We love you, Virgil.”

The next sound was a broken sob, followed by another, and finally his big brother was crying.

He wilted in John’s arms, his massive shoulders, depleted by his illness, became frail under the emotional onslaught. John blinked away his own reaction and simply held on.

All the pain, the anguish, the torture, the arguments, the fear, the accusations...his brother had been through so much. It would be foolish to think a bout of tears could fix it all, but the release was a start, a chance to give the man a little healing.

It was a complete shock when his brother suddenly went limp in his arms.

“Eos!”

“He is asleep.”

“Again? So soon?” Virgil’s head lolled on John’s shoulder, tears still tracking down his cheeks from beneath wet eyelashes.

“He was emoting heavily. I suspect it triggered his narcolepsy.”

Damnit, the man could not get a break.

Awkwardly, John lowered his brother’s head back down onto the pillow. Standing, he dragged Virgil’s feet onto the bed and wrapped him in the thin blanket.

Once he was secure, John left the bedroom and approached the nearest holographic comms terminal.

“Thunderbird Five to Tracy Island.”

-o-o-o-

The smell of hot coffee woke him.

Virgil screwed up his face and let the muscles go, his eyes blinking. What the hell? He had been...speaking to John. Another blink and memory surfaced of what exactly he had been doing to his brother.

Shit.

“If you start kicking yourself for what happened earlier, I’m going to ask Eos to play some Neo-Boney M on loop.” John’s tone was firm from the end of the bed.

The threat was solid. Virgil hated the revival group. There were certain things that deserved to stay buried.

“Do that and I’m torching your ABBA collection.”

A snort. “You’d have to find it first.”

“I have an AI in my head.”

A pair of turquoise eyes pinned him to the pillow. “Really? You want to test my daughter’s loyalty?”

Virgil sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, hoping to god his brain would spare him the headache if he moved.

“Do that and I’m joining the circus and moving to Venezuela.” Eos’ voice was light over the comm system and a laugh echoed somewhere in the back of Virgil’s head.

John sipped his coffee. “Then I guess we won’t be doing that.”

Virgil frowned. “What’s in Venezuela?”

“Oh, they have been doing some very interesting AI experiments down there. Joe 23 is quite charming.”

Both brothers stared up at her camera in astonishment.

“You’ve spoken with other AIs?” John’s voice was strangled.

“Of course.”

“I hope you have considered the security risks, particularly considering recent events.”

Virgil’s heart froze. If Il Mago got his hands on other AIs...

“None of them have my capability. None could reach Thunderbird Five, much less endanger Virgil.”

Virgil’s eyes widened and his heart hit the floor. “Reach me?”

“Eos!” John’ voice was sharp.

“What? They can’t hurt him.”

“Eos! We will discuss this later!”

He hadn’t known there were other AIs. It made sense. Eos was unique, but experts had been experimenting with artificial intelligence for a very long time. The thought that he might be vulnerable to other intelligences....

Voice parched. “There better be more coffee where that came from.”

John didn’t answer. He reached behind and pulled out a sealed thermos and handed it over.

Virgil sat up in the bed and accepted the drink.

I’m sorry, Virgil. Are you upset about the other intelligences? They can’t reach you. Some of them can barely speak. None of them are capable of what I am. A pause. Are you okay?

He didn’t answer, not wanting to think at all. The coffee was scalding hot as it hit the back of his throat and he was ever grateful.

Please, Virgil. I’m sorry. I won’t speak to them again, I promise. She was getting agitated and it vibrated his mind.

The breath rushed out of him. “It’s okay, Eos. I’m fine.”

You’re lying! I can tell. Please, Virgil. Forgive me?

“It’s fine, Eos!” Just...just give me a moment. Please!

She backed off immediately.

He sighed, took another swig of coffee and closed his eyes. Just breathe.

Breathe.

“Virgil?”

“I’m fine!” It was a shout and it was loud.

John raised a hand and backed off as much as his daughter.

And Virgil felt worse.

“Shit.” He rubbed his face with his hand. “Sorry.”

John was staring at him, thoughts darting back and forth behind his eyes. A drawn in breath and his brother’s expression became firm. “Virgil, I want you in the infirmary.”

He blinked. “John-“

“Now.”

“I’m fine.”

“You are not fine!”

Virgil jumped. John rarely raised his voice. It was his turn to stare.

“You’ve been to hell and back. You can’t possibly be ‘fine’.” That last word was snarled. “I need to check you over.”

“I’ve spent most of the last couple of months in the infirmary, John!”

“Then a few more minutes won’t hurt. You can visit mine for a little variety.”

“John-“

“Don’t argue with me, please. You will go to the infirmary even if I have to wait you out until you fall asleep again and I will check you over then.”

Virgil froze, lack of choice and power slapping him in the face.

“Father-“

Virgil cut her off. “Eos, shut it.” It came out sharp and nasty.

Well, that convinces me that Father is right. You need an examination.

“Leave me alone!” It came out as a desperate plea as far from his usually calm self as it could be. His head spun. “Leave me alone, leave me alone, please leave me alone, I can’t, I can’t, please, god, please, no more, please no more, make it stopmakeitstop, please make it stop, please, please...” Part of him sensed that something was very wrong. The rest of him was lost in a maelstrom.

An alarm sounded somewhere. Eos was calling his name. There were hands. He fought them, but more hands appeared and he was trapped.

That only made him fight more.

There was yelling. A young woman with flame red hair and a white dress caught his face and held him still. Uncle!

Hands held his body, but her eyes held his mind. Eos.

Green, aquamarine, turquoise, so deep he could fall into them.

So he did.

-o-o-o-

It happened so quickly, John was slow to react.

One minute he was verbally wrestling a stubborn brother to submit to a medical examination, the next that brother was pleading, heart wrenchingly desperate, tears in his eyes.

Eos was alarmed, reporting anomalous brain activity. Virgil’s coffee hit the floor and the hot liquid ran along the gravity ring.

His brother’s anguish drew him close in a need to comfort, but the moment his hand touched a shoulder, Virgil started fighting him.

It was uncoordinated and hysterical, but Virgil was a big man. An alarm sounded in the satellite and John vaguely registered Eos calling Alan and Brains. John was too busy avoiding getting his head handed to him.

A fist caught him on the arm as John grabbed a wrist. “Virgil!” That wrist yanked and John lost his footing almost immediately. He was dragged a couple of steps, but Alan grabbed Virgil’s other hand and the panic was deflected.

Neither younger brother was strong enough to tackle their tank of a brother at his usual fitness level, but the last few months had taken a serious toll on his health and the strength just wasn’t there anymore.

Brains grabbed a first aid kit. John and Alan struggled to hold Virgil...

“Father!”

Virgil dropped like a ragdoll, John and Alan staggering to support his sudden weight.

“O-on the floor. L-lay him on the floor. Vitals.”

John’s heart was in his throat as they ascertained that their brother was breathing, heart beating, alive.

His own respiratory reflex shuddered and let air out between his teeth.

Alan grabbed a collapsible hover gurney from the tiny medbay and moments later their brother was ensconced in the tiny room.

“What happened?” Alan’s voice hit a high pitch of worry.

“Th-that is w-what we will ascertain.” Brains worked with the tiny facility, connecting Virgil to an array of monitoring equipment. The reassuring beep of a regular heartbeat was a beautiful sound.

“Eos?” His daughter was unusually silent. When he got no response, his heart rate jumped a notch. “Eos!”

It wasn’t another attack was it? Please, no!

“John?” His heart missed a beat as she finally answered him.

“Eos? What can you tell us?”

“I...” Her voice trailed off.

“Eos?”

“He overloaded his system and forced a shutdown.” Her voice was puzzled. “Why?”

John glanced at his prone brother. So pale, so hurting, so wane. “Was there any incursion?”

“No. His...thoughts grew more and more distressed until he shut down.”

There was a mutter from the bed. Virgil’s head moved first to one side and then to the other. His eyes scrunched up and he groaned.

“V-Virgil?”

Another groan and he opened his eyes. “Brains?”

“How are you f-feeling?”

Those eyes blinked slowly. “Like crap. M’head...”

“Pain level, one to ten?”

It took Virgil a moment to answer. “F-four. Where am I?” Brown eyes peered slowly around the room until they latched onto John. They widened for just a microsecond before relaxing. “John. Thunderbird Five.”

So, his pain level was probably closer to eight if his previous report record ran true.

“H-have you eaten today?” Brains consulted a readout on his tablet.

Again with the slow blink as Virgil turned his head towards Brains again. “Umm...”

“He hasn’t eaten since he arrived here and that was a good five hours ago.” John mentally kicked himself. Busy was no excuse regarding his brother’s health.

Virgil was staring at him. “Five hours?!”

“You’ve been asleep for most of it.”

“Asleep?” The word was whispered and those eyes closed and didn’t open again.

Soft breathing and John realised that was exactly what his brother was doing. “Brains, what the hell is going on? He’s fallen asleep again.”

Brains was muttering to himself, fiddling with a hypodermic. He strapped up Virgil’s arm and drew blood from a vein. Shoving the sample into the blood analyser unit, his fingers danced over the controls. “I have my suspicions. I-if it is w-what I think it is...” There was an uncharacteristic anger in Brain’s voice. A blink and John realised the engineer was glaring at the analyser.

John’s hand drifted down to rest on Virgil’s leg. His brother didn’t notice.

There was a solid moment of silence punctuated by Virgil’s soft breathing before the analyser pinged its readiness.

Brains hit a few more buttons, muttered again, before hitting more, drawing further information from the machine. Another moment and it pinged again.

“Brains to Tracy Island.”

“Brains? How is he?” Scott had returned to the island half an hour ago, but he was still in his uniform, his expression predictably worried.

“Virgil is experiencing a dangerous deficiency in several crucial minerals, mostly iron and magnesium. I will send you a formula. I need you to visit Wellington and pick up some supplies.”

Scott paused a split second before moving. “FAB.”

Brains cut off the connection, turned back to Virgil and activated the bed’s holographic interface. A hologram of his brother’s body flickered into existence above the bed. A twist of his wrist and Brains focussed in on Virgil’s skull, bringing the image to a larger size and higher resolution.

The metallic filigree of the interface spiderwebbed across his brother’s frontal lobe.

John shivered.

The engineer continued to mutter to himself, focussing as close as the equipment would allow. “I have a th-theory. Virgil is showing a depletion of his mineral stores well into a serious d-deficiency range. This would explain his d-depression and ir-rationality. However, it does n-not give us a c-cause.” Brains frowned. “I had s-suspected this w-would be a problem and Virgil has been given sup-plements, b-but even if he m-missed one, the d-deficiency should not be this bad.” Another frown and the engineer returned to muttering.

John stared at the holographic portrayal of the device that had caused so much pain.

“Eos?”

“Yes, John?”

“Are you able to check on the condition of the interface and the nanites in Virgil’s system?”

There was a silence. Virgil began to snore. Another moment.

“Interface is fully functional. Virgil is asleep, however his mind is somewhat chaotic. Nanites...count is higher than previous.” There was a frown in her voice.

“There are more nanites? How?”

There was silence for a moment. “Father, they have reproduced. System logs report...the interface was damaged and required repair. More nanites were needed, so more were made. Checking....redundancy code was activated and enacted. Resources were required.”

And Virgil was the resource. It was left unsaid, but as Brains straightened, his expression grim, it didn’t need to be.

“Damn.” It came out as a single whispered breath. “Eos, we went through that code with a fine-toothed comb, where was this redundancy code? We rewrote the majority of their programming to prevent something like this from happening.”

Brains shifted where he stood and frowned. “W-we were more concerned with stopping the growth of the in-terface, J-John. We kn-knew there would b-be a m-maintenance cost. Unfortunately, it c-caught us un-awares.” A sigh. “We can c-correct this and m-monitor closely. It is j-just a m-matter of b-balancing between wh-what the nanites n-need and levels of toxicity in relation to the r-rest of V-Virgil’s body.”

On the bed, Virgil snorted in his sleep and rolled over, curling up as if cold. John grabbed one of the medbay blankets and, reaching through the holograms above his brother, draped the thin covering over the sleeping man.

As if to be particularly endearing, Virgil immediately snuggled up under the warmth. Another snort and soft snoring echoed through the room.

John swallowed. “Brains, are you saying that the levels of minerals the nanites need could be toxic?”

The engineer sighed again. “I d-don’t know yet. I need to run further tests. Extra supplements as w-with any m-medication have their limits.” He shifted where he stood. “W-we will start with an increase and see how we g-go.”

The expression on Brains’ face wasn’t giving John the greatest confidence.

Virgil snorted again, muttered something in his sleep, and began drooling on his pillow.

-o-o-o-

Uncle?

Hmmm-mmm.

Virgil?

Soft piano music began playing and he couldn’t help but smile. Chiddi’s sonata, a light and lively dance on a Sunday afternoon. It always made him feel like dancing. He swirled around the wooden floor of the comms room and found a young woman in his hands. Red hair, green eyes and a flash of white dress as they spun around together.

It was nice to have someone to dance with.

Uncle, are you going to wake up? She was smiling up at him and while the room continued to spin around them slowly, they had stopped moving. Who?

A sparkle in her eyes.

Eos.

Time to wake up, Uncle. Her hand was in his.

She took a step and he had to follow.

Pain crashed into him. Voices. God, his head.

“Pain c-count, one to ten?”

Eleven. “S-six. Brains, what the hell?”

“His estimate is actually much higher, Hiram.” Eos’ voice danced all around him. Don’t lie about your health, Uncle.

“I will do what I damn well want to, Eos!” Augh, he clutched his head. Damn, that hurt.

Fingers fumbled at his wrist and something cold shot up his arm. He groaned, but then the pain started to fade. Oh, thank god. He melted into the bed. Yes, he was lying on a bed.

“Better?” The soft voice came from near his head. He blinked and a blue and gold blur slowly resolved itself into little Johnny.

“Better.” It came out little more than a sigh. A blink. A frown. “What happened?”

“You fell asleep again.”

“Again?” Another blink. “I was dancing. Around and around.” He smiled. “With Eos. She looks so much like you. Lovely long red hair, eyes aquamarine like the ocean in the sun. So young, so old, so amazing. We need to protect her, John.” He reached out and grabbed his brother’s arm. “Promise me we’ll protect her.” His brother’s eyes, that same aquamarine, widened and stared down at him. “Promise me, John, we can’t let him hurt her. We can’t.”

His brother nodded slowly. “We will protect her, Virgil, I promise.”

He believed him. If anyone could do it, Johnny could. “Thank you, thank you.” He squeezed his brother’s arm and John’s fingers wrapped around his, tightening in return.

-o-o-o-

Virgil’s eyes were glazed by the haze of necessary medication, but he was awake. Three times he had awoken and fallen asleep almost immediately.

Brains actually swore. It was something John had never heard the engineer do, and in his native language no less.

Eos had been worried as much as John and Scott...Scott was only on the Island because Grandma ordered him to stay put. Consequently, John was on a five-minute update rotation for his eldest brother.

Speaking of which...count down....

Scott’s hologram flashed up beside the bed. “Thunderbird Five, report!”

Virgil jumped, his eyes going wide. “Scott? Is that you? Really you? Please be you. Eos? John?” His brother’s eyes latched onto him and widened even further before darting back to Scott, to John, to Scott...shit. “Not you, too, Scotty, please no.” Fear crumpled his brow.

“Virgil.” John squeezed the hand on his arm, holding it close. “It is Scott. I promise. Eos, tell him.”

Virgil’s frown deepened for a moment, his eyes going distant. A soft smile spread over his face and he closed his eyes.

It was John’s turn to frown. “Eos? Tell me what’s happening.”

“I’m sorry, John, but he’s slipping into sleep again.”

“Sleep?” Scott’s voice was worry itself. “Are we any closer to working out why?”

Brains, who had been absorbed in a readout from the EEG woven into Virgil’s hair, suddenly spun and grabbing a hypodermic needle, quickly drew some blood from the tap in the crook of Virgil’s elbow.

Virgil didn’t notice. He began to snore again.

John sighed.

The blood sample was shoved into the analyser and Brains stabbed the machine. “Eos, I-I need a nanite activity r-report. Access their logs and send to m-my t-tablet, p-please.”

“Yes, Hiram.” The tablet pinged.

For a few minutes there was only the sound of Brains muttering to himself and Virgil’s soft snores.

The expletive that shot out of Brains’ mouth a moment later was enough to curl even John’s toes.

“What’s wrong?” Scott still hovered beside the bed, his gaze caught between his brothers and the once again muttering engineer.

“They are p-putting him to sleep.”

“What? Who?”

“The nanites. When m-mineral r-resources drop too low, they stimulate a sleep cycle so Virgil’s body shuts down.” There was an untranslated mutter. “This cannot stay this w-way. They cannot have control.” He turned away again, stabbing the analyser with his fingers.

“John?”

He didn’t have any answers. Not yet.

Virgil snorted and rolled over in his sleep, dragging cables and IV. John gently untangled him.

“John?”

“I don’t know, Scott. As soon as I do, you will, too.”

His brother’s expression reflected the frustration in his own. “Understood, Tracy Island out.”

The hologram dissipated.

John sighed. “Do we have anything, Brains?”

“It appears the interface m-may have been damaged during the encounter with Il M-mago.”

“We didn’t detect any damage.” Both John and Brains had scanned their brother thoroughly after the incident, desperate to make sure he wasn’t hurt further.

Brains looked down a moment. “I’m afraid we m-must have missed something. The n-nanite logs definitely show a sudden increase in activity.”

“They didn’t at the time.” John’s stomach twisted. He hated this. The not knowing and his brother’s life in the balance.

Brains sighed. “No, they didn’t.”

John straightened. “Eos, I need a complete listing of all the nanites code. I want all their logs. I want everything.”

“Yes, John.”

He gently squeezed Virgil’s hand and placed in on the bed beside the sleeping man. “Brains, I’ll be in my office.”

“I will monitor him.”

“Thank you, Brains.”

The image of their genius engineer leaning over his prone brother kept him company for the following hours of writing code.

-o-o-o-

Do you like dancing?

I love to dance.

I’ve never seen you do it.

It is much more fun with a partner.

You have your brothers.

He laughed. Not quite the dance partners I had in mind.

What about Kayo? She has a great deal of control over her body.

Virgil frowned and stared at his niece. To be honest, it has never occurred to me.

You should ask her. I’m sure she would love to dance with you.

He shrugged. Grandma has danced with me in the past.

It was Eos’ turn to eye him as they spun around the room. While Mrs Tracy is quite capable, I don’t think she is quite the partner you have in mind either.

Virgil led her into another twirl across the balcony of the comms room, reality intruding on fantasy. It doesn’t matter now.

She drew them to a stop. What do you mean? You said you loved dancing. Why don’t you find someone to dance with?

Eos-

If you are going to use the interface as an excuse, I’m going to pull out that Neo-Boney M recording.

Don’t you dare.

A quicksilver smile and his niece danced across the balcony by herself, her arms outspread, dress twirling. I agree, this is fun. You should do it more often.

He sighed. Have you finished updating the code yet?

She spun again while staring up at the sky. Oh, that. I managed that in the second before you realised I was even here.

What?

I wanted to try this dancing again. It is lovely.

He searched his memory looking for any change or difference and found nothing. Is it working okay?

She stopped spinning and faced him. Everything is fine, Uncle. I promise.

Okay.

We will make this better. She approached him slowly. Hiram, Father and I will make this work.

I hope so.

He backed up and sat himself down on his piano stool. This place was so real, but so not home.

Can I wake up now?

She stared at him, her head tilted slightly to one side. Hiram, has started a regime to replace your mineral stores. He has given you several injections and is monitoring the results. There have been more blood tests.

He would have complained about being a pincushion, but to be honest he had had so much worse. Can I wake up?

You don’t want to dance anymore?

Eos.

Okay, okay. She reached for his hand and he let her take it, following.

-o-o-o-

John was tired, but determined.

“Eos, how is he?”

“Memory response is good. Knowledge retrieval fast. The interface is working well. Nanite response in minimal. He wants to wake up.”

“Give it a moment longer.” He turned to Brains. “Are his levels responding.”

“Slowly. It will t-take some t-time to b-bring them up to healthy levels. He will n-need m-monitoring for some days p-possibly weeks. I r-recommend we r-return him to Tracy Island for his own comfort. Mrs T-Tracy, Scott and G-Gordon are fully c-capable of r-retrieving the blood samples n-needed. I can m-monitor from here and continue r-repairs to Thunderbird Five.”

“Virgil is far more important than Five.”

Brains stared at him calmly. “He will be well, J-John.”

John let his shoulders drop. He hated this. Hated this powerlessness.

“Virgil is becoming insistent.”

“Okay, Eos. Wake him up.”

His brother lay on his back, face pale...which wasn’t surprising since he was actually anaemic. Eyelashes on pale cheeks fluttered. Brown irises sought his.

“Hey, Virgil. You with us?”

A blink. A frown. “I think so.”

“Are you in any pain?” Brains hovered beside the bed.

Virgil turned his head towards the engineer. “Headache.” Another slow blink and he turned back to John. “Eos likes to dance.”

It was John’s turn to blink.

Brains interrupted by relaying Virgil all the necessary medical information about his condition. His brother nodded once before once again latching his eyes onto John.

Somewhat unnerved by the intense but silent stare, John shifted where he stood. “You ready to go home, Virgil?”

“Home?”

“Back to Tracy Island.”

“Oh, yes, sure.” The stare continued.

“Virgil?”

His brother didn’t answer immediately, still staring at John. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly appeared at a loss for words. A blink and then, his voice rough, “You should be proud. Very proud.”

It took John a moment to connect the dots. But when he did, he straightened.

“I am.” A dip of his head. “Of both of you.”

-o-o-o-

Virgil returned home. He was quiet, but his mood appeared to be stable and possibly improving. Brains and John sent him down via the elevator, Scott at the other end to help his brother out of the seat and harness. Between Grandma, Scott and Gordon, he wouldn’t be alone at all. It was thought best that considering his induced depression and possible mood swings, that he should not be left unattended.

Virgil grumbled, but complied.

Of course, his blood tests would continue and Eos was monitoring the nanites closely. Virgil couldn’t sneeze without someone taking notes.

It was necessary. He had to be saved.

That bastard was still out there. Somewhere.

John floated in the hub, eyes scanning the code output of the nanites in Virgil’s blood. He watched their reactions to Virgil’s reactions. His brother was currently grumbling at Scott. Eos had rolled virtual eyes at that, throwing several exasperated questions at John as to why his brother was such a stubborn ass.

“Because that is one of the reasons he is still alive.”

And why the Hood didn’t currently have him under his thumb, why he could now see and speak to John without innate terror, why he hadn’t thrown himself into Thunderbird Three’s silo and why Thunderbird Five was still mostly in one piece.

They all relied on that stubborn.

John sighed.

The code scrolled past.

His eye caught something. “Eos, can you pull up that secondary function on the third tier?”

“This one?”

The code lines appeared midair and he re-read them. “I didn’t write this.”

“No.”

“I’ve never seen this. I thought we pulled all the code.”

“One moment please.”

John waited.

Waited.

“Eos?”

“Please hold.”

His shoulders grew tight under his suit.

A breath.

Another.

“They are capable of writing their own code.”

“What?! How?”

“Investigating.”

“They are reacting to certain situations. When one gets triggered another will respond and alter the code of the first to assist its needs.” The AI paused. “It is rather an intriguing concept.”

“How does this affect our code? And how did we miss the code that initiates this process?”

“I don’t know, John.”

“Then we need to find out. This is Virgil’s life!”

“I know, John. I will do my best.”

He sagged where he floated. Damn. “I know you will, Eos. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted.”

His eyes returned to tracking the code, now picking out the small differences that weren’t there when he input the code. “Eos?”

“Yes, John.”

“Do you feel hate?”

“Are you referring to the people who did this to Virgil.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then most definitely.”

“He is still out there. He could attack at any time.”

“I know. I have put up as many defences as possible.”

“You know they won’t be enough.”

Silence.

“Eos?”

“I have to protect him.”

“But you can’t.”

“I can try!”

A swallow. “So can I.” He straightened, determination and his own version of Tracy stubborn setting in. “I want every piece of information we have about the interface, how it functions, what it is made of, everything. I want it here now.”

“John?”

“We are going to find a way.” His lips thinned. “Virgil shouldn’t have to stand alone.”

“I’m going to stand with him.”

-o-o-o-

FIN.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Virgil Tracy #John Tracy #Hiram Hackenbacker #Eos #sotto voce #tales of sotto voce

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juju-on-that-yeet · 5 years ago

Text

Wipeout

Prompt: Whumptober Day 10, Unconscious

Summary: MarkBop tries to skate down a handrail, key word being “tries.”

Warnings: Head trauma, some graphic descriptions

Tagging: @peribloke (ask to be tagged!)

Read on AO3 (Full Whumptober Series)

Enjoy!

It was a bad idea from the start, but when did that ever stop Bingiplier? And when did that ever stop MarkBop from joining in, too?

“You sure about this, Bing?” Bop asks, staring at the handrail before them both. They’re at the top of a staircase near the skatepark, one that plenty of people have skated down before.

“Of course, dude!” Bing exclaims, “This’ll be sick! We’ve been practicing, haven’t we?”

That’s true, they have. But the rails they practiced on were shorter, and easier to grab with the board. A fall from their practice rail might bruise a knee. But here, to fall is such a long way down. The handrail is long, the staircase is steep. Bop is nervous.

Then again, Bop is nervous very often. Eric Derekson may have taken up the mantle of “house worrywart” since he came to Ego Inc., but the title was Bop’s first, and he’s still a close second in terms of freaking out about everything. So maybe the fact that Bop is nervous about skating down this handrail doesn’t mean much. Besides, Bing is so excited, and Bop loves seeing his boyfriend so happy. He doesn’t want to rain on his parade.

“You first, then,” Bop finally says. Bing grins.

“Challenge accepted,” he replies.

He gives himself a running start, of course, going back a few yards before putting down his board and kicking off. He glides, building momentum, until he reaches the handrail and jumps. The board follows like it’s attached to his feet, landing perfectly across the rail. Bop’s heart catches in his throat as Bing slides down, arms out to keep balance. It’s the same terror and thrill that stops his heart with every trick Bing attempts. But Bing glides all the way down the stairwell and jumps off gracefully, though his stumbles a bit on landing and slides right off his board.

“Oof,” Bing grunts, rubbing his side as he picks himself up off the ground. “Well, I think that was still pretty good. What do you think, babe?”

“It was great!” Bop exclaims, and he means it. “I was real nervous, but you barely even wobbled! That was so cool.” He looks at the handrail with trepidation. “I doubt mine’ll be as good.”

“Aw, you’ll do great, Bop!” Bing encourages. “Maybe you’ll be the one to stick the landing.” He grins sheepishly at his own joke. “Or maybe best two out of three.”

“Maybe just one…” Bop mumbles, too quiet for Bing to hear from the bottom of the stairs. Bing has already moved out of Bop’s way and is looking up at him, waiting.

Well, here goes nothing.

Bop uses the same running start as Bing. This part’s easy; Bop glides as smoothly as Bing did. The jump to the rail isn’t that hard, either; he’s done similar plenty of times before. The balancing, though, taking the railing one long second at a time and not getting psyched out, not looking down…that’s the difficult part. Bop’s landing on the rail isn’t as good as Bing’s was; it’s wobbly, and he does his best to recalibrate, regain balance on the way down, but speed and balance tend not to agree. He’s only made it halfway down the handrail when he loses his balance completely.

His head strikes the edge of a concrete stair. The effect is instant. The sun turns off.

~~~

Coming back is not instant. It’s laborious, long. Bop’s head feels underwater; heavy and indistinct. When he finally manages to crack his eyes open, the room is too bright to make anything out. There’s someone there with him, maybe more than one person, and he’s laying down in a bed. If his head were clearer he’d be able to put it together, but his brain feels like soup. Soup that aches.

“Oh my god, Doc, is he awake!?” someone cries. It sounds dull and faraway. “Is he okay, is anything–”

“Easy,” says someone else, “He’s still hurt, I need to evaluate him. We have to be alone for that.”

“Doc, c’mon, please–”

“Bing, come on,” says a third voice, more patient but just as worried, “We’ll see him later. It’s okay.”

The name “Bing,” even in the state Bop’s in, strikes him as important. But he’s still blinking the room into focus, still trying to recognize the one remaining person.

“Are you there, Bop?” he asks. He strokes Bop’s hair, and Bop sighs at the gentle, comforting touch. “That probably felt better than everything else your head’s been through lately, huh?”

Finally, Bop starts to see clearly through the fuzzy, aching haze.

“Doc?”

“Yep,” Dr. Iplier affirms, giving Bop a gentle smile. “You sure freaked us out earlier. How are you feeling? You shouldn’t be in much pain; you’re on about as much painkiller as I can give you.”

So that’s why Bop feels so detached and indistinct.

“Feel weird” he manages, “Headache.”

“Sounds about right,” Dr. Iplier says, “You managed to give yourself a depressed skull fracture; you’re lucky you didn’t get any brain damage. You’ve got a lot of screws and stitches in your head now, and they’ll be there for a while.” He pauses. “You have an interesting side shave now, too, under all your bandages.”

“How…long’s it been?” Bop asks.

“Five days,” Dr. Iplier answers. He sighs. “I won’t lie, Bop, it was pretty dicey for a while there. You lost a ton of blood and there was a lot of swelling and fluid buildup in your brain. I did some surgery to put your skull back together and ease the pressure on your brain, and you’ve been in a medically induced coma for the past few days to stave off brain damage. The fact that you can talk and have some awareness of yourself and your surroundings is a good sign, but you’ll be in the clinic for a while longer.”

Bop’s head is still swimming, but for a different reason now. It’s hard to believe he’s been out for so long, hard to believe all that damage happened to him. He’s only just now remembering what happened, but he can’t remember how exactly he got hurt. He knows he was skating with Bing, he knows they were gonna finally skate down that handrail, but he can’t remember actually doing it.

He explains as much to Dr. Iplier, answering as many questions as he can about how he feels and what he remembers until his eyes start to close against his will.

“Tired?” Dr. Iplier asks, a smile in his voice. He strokes Bop’s hair again. “Go to sleep. I’ll keep checking in, but press the call button if you need me.”

Bop nods minutely before sinking into deep, painkiller-laced sleep.

~~~

It’s a few more periods of wake and sleep spread throughout one more day before Bop feels well enough that Dr. Iplier decides he can have visitors.

Bop is sitting up in bed when Bing comes in. He’s an android, so he has no bags under his eyes, no bloodshot veins crisscrossing the whites of his eyes, but the fact that Bop can see his eyes at all is unusual. Bing’s sunglasses are tucked into his tank top, and his expression is more gutted and afraid than Bop has ever seen it. But even so, there’s a light to his eyes and his posture is so loose he looks fit to collapse with relief.

“Boppy,” he murmurs as he sits beside Bop in the plastic clinic chair, “How…how are you feeling?”

“Better than yesterday,” Bop answers. His head is still swathed in bandages, but he’s not on as many painkillers and his mind is clearer. He’s even gained some memory from immediately before the accident. He offers Bing a smile; he can tell he needs it. Bing’s answering grin is shaky.

“Awesome, that’s–” He cuts himself off, savagely rubbing his eyes as his grin vanishes. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”

“Bing–”

“It was horrible.” Bing’s eyes are already overflowing with tears as he starts to tremble. “You were bleeding all over the place, your head w-wasn’t shaped right, and you wouldn’t w-wake up. I thought you were dead. I thought I got you killed.” He sobs. “And then when Doc did surgery on you and said he had to put you in a medical coma, I th-thought you were gonna die. Fuck, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I pressured you into skating the handrail, I never should’ve–” He can’t talk anymore through his sobs, and he helplessly buries his face in his hands.

“Bing, honey,” Bop murmurs, nearly moved to tears himself at Bing’s despair. He puts an arm around Bing, pulls him closer, tugs him until he’s laying on the clinic bed with Bop. Bing sobs into the crook of Bop’s neck as Bop strokes his hair, using one arm to hug Bing against him.

“I’m sorry,” Bing sobs again when he can.

“It wasn’t your fault, honey,” Bop tells him, “You didn’t make me do anything. I would’ve refused to do it if I’d wanted to, just like I’ve done before.” It’s true: Bop may have been nervous, but he wasn’t nervous enough to stop. He knows full well that Bing would never judge him for passing on a trick. He would’ve passed on skating the handrail if he’d known it lead to this, but at the time, he hadn’t wanted to. “How much did Doc chew you out for this one?” Bop asks, trying to bring some humor into the conversation. Bing laughs wetly, wiping his face as his tears start to diminish.

“Not at all, actually,” Bing admits, “I guess he figured I was suffering enough.” He pauses, biting his lip. “Dark let me have it, though. He was pissed. Yeah, I know,” he responds to Bop’s confused look, “I guess he can’t, like, subjugate us properly or whatever if we all crack our heads open and die. I think he would’ve yeeted me right into the void for a while if Doc and Ollie hadn’t vouched for me learning my lesson.”

“Is Ollie doing alright?” Bop asks. He remembers the third voice he heard when he first woke up.

“Yeah, maybe a little better than me,” Bing says, “Since he’s got his bros and everything. He’s…really been a godsend this past week. I don’t know what I would’ve done without him.” He sits up to look at Bop. “Even with Ollie, I don’t know…” He swallows, near tears again. “I don’t know how I’d live without you.”

At that, Bop can’t not cup Bing’s face in his hands and kiss him, gentle and slow. Bing kisses back just as softly, hugging Bop to his chest like he’s a security teddy bear.

“I’ll be okay,” Bop murmurs after they break apart. “I already feel better than yesterday, and figments heal fast, right?” He smiles, then pauses thoughtfully. “Doc told me I have a side shave now, I guess ‘cause he had to get my hair out of the way for surgery?”

“Yo, that’s sick, dude,” Bing says, “Once you get your bandages off you gotta, like, do something really cool with it! It can be like a thing.”

“Oh man, I don’t know,” Bop laughs, “That might be a bit much for me. But I guess I’ll see how it looks. I haven’t actually seen it yet.”

“Yeah, your bandages cover everything. But I bet it’s cute.” Bing smiles. “You’re always cute.”

Bop laughs as Bing kisses his cheek. He hums when Bing kisses his lips like before, quiet and comforting.

#whumptober2019 #no.10 #markiplier fanfiction #markbop #bingiplier #markiplier #kristin says stuff #fanfic #my writing #poor boppy #he needs some MILK

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dietaku · 6 years ago

Text

Amazing Quest 1: Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Heart of a Pudding

(You find yourself exactly where Chapter 6 left off, with Kord mumbling to himself about his incompetent peers)

Hiro: So, are we cool, or....

Kord: Oh, yeah, man, we're the best of buds!

(Kord gives him a slap on the back that sends him flying)

Kord: Oh, uh....HAHA! TAKE THAT!

(He does the same to the rest of the party)

Kord: Ha! No one's the wiser! Kord, my man, you are one smooth operator!

You land nearby a gigantic looming tower with a unique sprite and a large city. Welcome to Gemadne, and ironically, this is only about 2 screens northeast of where you were! Yeah, you could've walked here in five minutes, even if you factored in the random encounters.

--Gemadne, the City of the Dark Puddings--

This place is gloomy and not at all enheartening. The locals mention how the winters are cold, and that food is stale and tasteless, being grown on the irradiated plains nearby. If you talk to an elderly man in the pub, he mentions how in ancient times, a battle between two goddesses warped the land and caused their current misfortune, but considering this is next to a clown doing a juggling act who yells “KATZU BICYCLE SOUP!”, you can take that for what it's worth. However, you need to go to the large dome on the northeast side.

(Man in a robe): Hey, you guys are new....and that scar! You must be the ones.

Hiro: Are you going to fight us?

Man: Naw. I'm on your side. Kind of. You can call me House Man (No, seriously. This is his name in Japanese as well. His name was translated into German as Hausen Mensch, and, the series director liked it so much, she kept that as his name. And now that I've sufficiently raised the blood pressure of veteran AQ players...) So, you want to challenge Zoddon? He's tough and wise, but you can do it. However, I'd recommend going in here first. You'll need this, though (He hands Hiro the PAPER)

Hiro: Is this just a piece of paper?

House Man: NO! It's PAPER

Hiro: Ooooooh.

In any case, head over to the door, where a guard awaits us. With the PAPER, we can now pass, lest the guard turn us away for being unqualified.

Guard: Papers, please.

Hiro: (Presents PAPER)

Guard: Ooh, nice!

Hiro: Eh?

(Hiro looks at the PAPER, and realized there's a picture of a woman's butt on the other side)

Moore: Nice!

Loyroll: Eeeeeh.

Hiro: I...I'll be going now.

Welcome to the Pudding Shrine

--Pudding Shrine--

This area is a stark marble building, with robed monks and nuns slowly processing through. Don't attack them (You get the option if you talk to them), as they do nothing but pray as you hack them down, and really, it's not worth it, as they give pittances of gold and exp. Continue on, and you'll see various portraits of apparently famous people, and on the west side, you can see a trio of large statues, one of Zoddon, one of Jaydea, and the third being a woman whose face is cracked and marred, making it unrecognizable. On the east side, you find a giant slab titled the “Wall of Memory, and all the Dark Puddings you killed are marked here. However, as soon as you stop reading it...

Armored man with flared eyebrows: Impressive, is it not?

Armored woman with a flash of white in her green hair: The Light Pudding, so weak with his P-Centage, and yet he has bested five of our siblings.

Man: PRAETORIAN LAA

Woman: PRAETORIAN TII

Laa: These halls, where the ghosts of our comrades cry out, is a fitting locale for our duel. Now, draw your weapon. You must answer to your ancestors!

Tii: Say your prayers to the finest of Zoddon's Praetorians, Light Pudding!

Hiro: Who are you guys again?

Laa: LET US DO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE!

Hiro: Seriously! Did you listen?

Kimyawa: Hiro-nii-chan, they just introduced themse--

Tii: AAAAARGH!

Loyroll: Let it go, sis

Hiro: HIYAAAAAAAAH!

Kimyawa: S-sumimasen...

--Boss Fight!--

Praetorian Laa x1

Praetorian Tii x1

Laa

LP: 36000

MP: 3500

Tii

LP: 36000

MP: 3500

You're probably thinking, “Oh, these two won't be so hard. None of the other Praetorians were that hard. HAHAHAHAHA....HA. No. These guys don't let up. Laa begins the fight by “Flaring up a Storm,” and then casting 'Storm Shield, that cuts all physical damage by half. This includes Pudding Forms. Tii, on the other hand, will begin by engaging her Pudding Form, and attacking with “Frozen Custard Tart” which inflicts water damage and also has a good chance of Depression. As if this weren't bad enough, when you defeat one, the other will “Steel their brow” and then being to use “Pudding Braver,” a move that hits all party members for large water and air damage. Press on, and you can do it!

--Boss Fight!--

Laa: Urgh, e-even with our combined power....

Tii: I'm s-sorry, my siblings....

Laa and Tii: (Explodes)

Hiro: Just like the others, they all are willing to sacrifice themselves for Zoddon's ambition. C'mon! We need to stop him.

Ozma: YEAH!

Kimyawa: HAI!

Loyroll: Hear, hear!

Mancala: Yeah, whatever!

Deima: C'mon, then!

Hiro: YEAH, I...

(Hiro hears a squeaky noise he hasn't heard since--)

Hiro: WAIT!

You then have to search around for the noise, and cannot leave as Hiro cites “This is super important,” the source of the noise is the upper right corner of the room. Inspecting it now will open a hidden door. Go down the stairs to enter a caged room where someone we haven't seen in over thirty hours now is sitting.

Hiro: EMILIA! YOU'RE ALIVE?!

Emilia: Oh, hey, I thought you were the guard. They gave me tacos last night, and YECH, my bucket needs to be changed.

Hiro: I WAS SO WORRIED, AND—Oooh, urgh, yeah, you're right.

Emilia: Sorry. Who are all these people?

Hiro: These are my friends! We're here to save you and stop the Dark Puddings!

Emilia: Stop them? You?

(A clanking noise begins as a feminine robot appears)

Robot: YES, HOW AMUSING, STOPPING THE DARK PUDDINGS. TIME FOR YOUR DAILY MEAL AND BATH, EMILIA, AND FOR ME TO TAKE OUT THE RUBBISH!

--Boss Fight!--

Nannydroid x1

LP: 43000

MP: 4500

After the Praetorians, this is nothing, She's fond of “Hell Duster” a hit-all earth based move, and “Take out the Trash,” a move which can instantly kill one party member while inflicting Drunk on another, both of which are randomly selected, but she isn't too tough.

--Boss Fight!--

Emilia: Anyways, You...You came for me. I thought you were going to curl up into a ball and Ladd or Lady would come, but you...I'm proud of you, bro! And, you also got yourself some nice friends.

(Turns to the party) Look, I see where you all are coming from, but he's emotional and naive. If ANY of you break his heart...No monster, devil or sealed ancient death goddess will stop me from tracking you down. GOT IT?

Party: ….

Nannydroid: M-must take out trash. Executing final cleansing routine

(She explodes, vaporizing the entire building, leaving the party in the rubble of Emilia's cell, with Emilia huddled behind a wall.)

You then can talk to her, where in Japanese, she'll complain of a draft. In the Localized version, she yells at you for not having stopped the Nannydroid from self-destructing. You see, the blast very clearly blew Emilia's pants off, even in the Localized version.

Emilia: Goddammit! Hiro! You can't leave me like this!

Hiro: I'M SORRY!

Emilia: I'm staying RIGHT HERE until you fix this!

Now, the trick to rescuing her, and making her playable is not what you'd imagine. The canny among you would scour the globe for “Pants” armors or items. The amusing thing is, the solution is right in front of you. You know, how you pay Loyroll to use better swords? Well, if you get to his tenth sword, the Plasmium Blade, you get the option of upgrading again. If you do so, he'll upgrade to Emilia's Saber, that energy saber Emilia used in the opening fight. How Loyroll came across this, we'll never know. However, if Loyroll has it, and you talk to Emilia...

Emilia: Oh, hey, one of your girlfriends has my sword, give it here!

Loyroll: My dear lady, I'm a ma--

Emilia: Yeah, sure, whatever, toots (Steals the sword out of Loyroll's hands) I'm pretty sure I've kissed girls more manly than you.

Hiro: Wait, WHAT?

Emilia: What happens in Girl Pudding Summer camp STAYS in Girl Pudding Summer Camp!

And with that, Emilia leaves her wall, and joins the party! Yes, she wasn't complaining about her lack of pants, but her lack of a weapon. Go fig. Anyways, you now can explore the ruins of the Pudding Shrine, where if you go near where the three statues were, the one with the broken face is still mysteriously intact. Go behind it, to go down a hidden flight of stairs, where you'll find a blue-haired woman in a robe.

Woman: Halt? Who dares challenge the wielder of the power of....Emilia? Hiro?

Emilia: Wait, MOM?

Hiro: I...I thought you died?

Mom: No, I was taken here by those damnable brats years ago. However, they couldn't kill me. So, they locked me up here! However, I can see it in your eyes. Your quest of vengeance! Very well, if you wish to wield my power, you must battle me!

Emilia: Hiro! This is it! We must fight as one!

Hiro: R-right?

--Boss Fight!--

Saint Cocoa x1

LP: 50000

MP: 6000

You only get Emilia and Hiro for this fight, but that's all you need, if you're smart. If you proceed with brute force, you'll get destroyed, as Cocoa will engage her Pudding Form, and more or less go Super Saiyan. She'll blast you with “Pudding Stream” a powerful magic attack that ignores magic defense, and “Rich Flavor” which will raise all her stats based on the last digit of your gold. Yes, YOUR amount of money powers up Cocoa. When she gets down to half health, she'll begin abusing “Cut your teeth,” a move where she randomly punches the party ten times for physical damage. This can be dangerous, especially if she focuses on Hiro. However, if you are strategic, and abuse Emilia's Steam Breath in her Pease Pudding form, you can win!

--Boss Fight!--

Mom: Emilia, Hiro. I-I'm so glad I could see you before I pass on...You are both members of the Royal Pudding Line, and within you is the power of [Golden Choco Majesty]. Realize it within yourselves, and it will be you's! Now, with that, farewell...

(Mom collapses, dead)

House Man: (Claps) Excellent! I knew you could do it! Now, you can fight Zoddon on even terms!

Hiro: Uh, thanks?

You can now proceed to Gemadne Keep. Well, you could do so before, perhaps advisable, to acquaint yourself with Emilia's skill set, but you would be hard pressed to be able to beat Zoddon as you were.

--Gemadne Keep--

This gigantic fortress is just as gloomy as the town it stands before, with “Dark Pudding Veterans, Dark Pudding Survivors, and Dark Pudding Centurions,” all as common enemies. Funnily enough, the GBA version retains an amusing programming error, where a certain corner of the third floor has a tile which always queues up a battle with three Veterans and a single Dark Pudding Rookie, the kind that you'd fight in Ddimopint, way back in the first section of the game. The fans loved him so much, he shows up as an Easter egg in various places in later AQ remakes, known as Dark Survivor Zechs.

Returning to important matters, the trick of Gemadne Keep is the elevators, as each goes to only certain floors and you need to find the right ones to proceed. Basically, my best advice is to go left to right as far as you can, and those elevators will be the ones you need to use to proceed. When you get to a single large room, you're where you need to be.

Zoddon: (Sitting in a large throne) Light Pudding. You arrived. I am genuinely impressed. You have a cut a path through my subordinates for your own ambition. However! Your burning passion and my own can not coexist in this world! Whose will be doused?

Emilia: OH MY LULZ! SHUT UP, ZODDON!

Zoddon: Hm? And the Sword God has been freed? You are a truly implacable man. Very Well! Steel Yourself, Light Pudding!

--Boss Fight!--

Dark Pudding Lord Zoddon x1

LP: 75000

MP: 5500

Zoddon, is, understandably, the hardest boss up to this point, as his LP count might indicate here. He will engage his “Noble Pistachio Pudding Form,” and then begin his assault. He is fond of using 'Burning Ambition,” a move which inflicts heavy fire damage on one target, and “Towering Presence,” an earth move which deals heavy damage to one target and deals splash damage to adjacent party members. He also rarely will raise his sword. Be wary, as his next action will be the devastating “Pudding Grande Destroy” or in Japanese “Boddhisattva Pudding Ignorance Cleaver,” which deals a huge amount of Light-based damage. My best advice is to use Emilia's “GET BACK” action, which causes all non-Puddings to flee, which might seem bizarre until you see what the Golden Choco Swirl does. It is an androgynous, golden figure with glowing aura and flashing eyes. It screams in an auto-tuned voice with each attack, and has a chance of doing either “Pudding Slice,” a single physical move, “Golden Slam,” a powerful light elemented magic attack, or “Golden Aura Slice,” a physical move which hits all enemies and induces Depression. If you can land one of thees, then you'll most likely be pleasantly surprised to see it shave off 9999 damage off of Zoddon.

“Great,” I hear you say,” Why don't I use this swirl all the time?” because this form is berserk. You can't chose who you hit, and many times, Hiro will take his time blowing away his own friends, drunk on the massive influx of power the fusion with his sister provides.

So, yeah, now you see why I don't recommend doing this fight with everyone around.

--Boss Fight!--

Zoddon: (Clutches his bleeding chest) I...I see. Your will is stronger. Listen to this man's final words, Light Pudding. Light, Dark. These aren't Good or Evil. Nor are they families. They are your Will. Go now, Go with my sister, and forge a world where Puddings rule. We have been trampled countless times in the past, and yet we are the strongest clan on the planet. Your mother aided us, once. We worked together to build this place and free others from the Golden Tribe. With you and Emilia, now, we could wipe away all the chaos and produce a world free of strife. Be that man....

(Zoddon collapses)

Emilia: Goodbye, Zoddon.

Ozma: Is this it? Did we win?

(Jaydea runs in, a look of pure shock on her face)

Jaydea: ZODDON! ZODDON! ANSWER ME! THEY....They killed you!

Hiro: Give it up, Jaydea! Your brother wanted us to work together! Listen to his request! You can't win!

Jaydea: Oh? Do you know what I need to unlock the Goddess?

Emilia: The blood of a Royal Pudding and the Five Talismans, right?

Hiro: And we have three of them!

Jaydea: Hehehehe, correct. And, well, you're wrong, too. Y'see...Do you remember when I let you borrow my razor?

Emilia: Yeah, I cut my le—Oooooh, you bitch....

Jaydea: Yup! And on top of that? Remember that one weekend at Girl Pudding Summer Camp?

Emilia: You bitch, you promised we'd never speak about tha--

Jaydea: (Produces a walkman with a microphone) “I'm lonely. I miss my little brother, and I'm cold, could I sleep with YOU?” Do you want me to continue? If so, I can. If not, give me the Talismans.

(Emilia, face beet red, rummages in her backpack, producing the Talismans as the Party can only look on in shock)

Jaydea: Thank you! (Warps away)

Hiro: (In a squeaky voice) Sister....WHY???

Kimyawa: BAKA BAKA BAKA! WE'RE ALL DEAD NOW!

Mancala: I wonder if I can get a coffin sale going?

Deima: Relax, we can still win! It takes a while to unlock Halst, and she needs to GET to the seal first!

Hiro: Where IS that?

Deima: The Tower of Zyrtroph, the Flying Dragonfish.

(You might have seen a giant floating...thing out in the middle of the ocean. THAT is where the seal is. However, we're going to ignore that in Chapter 8 as we do a roundup of ALL the remaining side missions and fetch quests available.! See you then!)

#Adventure #fiction #fantasy #writing #science fantasy #infrequently asked questions #Amazing Quest

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nubnubblr · 6 years ago

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If You Do .16

CHARLIE

"I think that I should just cancel, it's not like I can even play," Sam stated.

He was lying on the lounge, the same place he had been all week. Not that I blamed him, he couldn't go to work and it's not like he could do much else, but he had fallen into a depressed state and that wasn't allowed to happen. Sam is always positive and happy, even if the rest of us weren't.

"Get dressed," I stated.

"Why?" he sighed.

"Because I think you need to go,"

"So I can stand there and watch everyone else play?"

"I'm pretty sure Haka wants your voice in his band, besides I think it would be good for you to be able to be a part of music while you're waiting to play,"

"His name is Leo,"

"Just get dressed, what's the worse that could happen? You decide you don't want to?" I challenged. He let out another sighed getting up.

"Fine,"

"Be quick about it, I've got dance rehearsal tonight,"

"You've had dance rehearsal every night this week," he retorted.

"Because I have a show tomorrow," I shot back.

I've also had the past two weeks off from the dance company because of the douche trio and their antics. I felt like I was behind, even if I was told I didn't have to come in ever night.

SAM

"This is where he lives?" Charlie frowned.

"It's the address he gave me," I shrugged.

"How exactly does he afford this place?"

"I'm pretty sure he and his friend own it,"

"He owns it? But he looks like a gypsy. I was expecting a bus,"

"I think his family is loaded,"

"Of course," she rolled her eyes.

She had a, not so secret, disdain for trust fund kids. Mostly because they have money they don't have to work for, but Leo was different, he was actually trying to work towards his dream, he just had the luxury of having the cushion cash flow while he did so.

Leo came through the white gate and open the larger white gate to let us up the driveway. He smiled and waited for us to get out of the car.

"How's the shoulder?" was the first thing he said.

"It's nice to see you too Haka," Charlie frowned at him disapprovingly.

"I see Thea is making sure my new nickname is catching on,"

"You are the one who performed the haka in the middle of a bar," I pointed out.

"This is true," he nodded

"So where is this band room?" Charlie asked.

"Follow me," he gestured.

We followed him back through the small white gate which led into the backyard. There was a stepping stone path that forked out leading to the house and what looked to be the garage. In this back corner of the yard was a school bus, I withheld my laugh as Charlie pointed to it giving me an 'I told you so' look.

We turned towards the garage which looked longer than it needed to be. Once we'd followed him through the side door I realised that there was a wall through the centre dividing it into two spaces. We walked through the garage section which was big enough for three cars but only sat one. He led us through another door which brought us to the band room.

"Charlie, Sam, this is Jeff and Dylan," he introduced.

THEA

"I need 5 kilos of potatoes peels, 3 kilos of carrots peeled and diced, and a kilo of onions diced," the head chef stated pointing at each of us as he listed the prep items.

"Yes chef," we stated in unison.

He left to give other students instructions. Cory started on the carrots, Benji took the onions, and I was awarded with peeling 5 kilos of potatoes. Technically I didn't even have to be here, but I like taking the extra days just in case something happens and I have to miss a day. Benji and Cory were just behind.

"So, how are talks with that guy going?" Benji wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"We are actually going out to lunch tomorrow," I nodded.

"Want us to come?" Cory offered.

"No, I'm an adult I can go on a date without back up," I frowned.

"Charlie's going with you isn't she?" Benji stated.

"Yes," I mumbled.

"You're so predictable," Cory shook his head at me.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes.

"On another note, how are the birthday plans going?"

"Don't even go there," I sighed shaking my head.

"Not well?"

"There are so many people coming and so much food to make, I swear I'm going to spend most of the night cooking, I miss my mum," I whined.

"Are your parents coming down for it?"

"They can't get time off," I shook my head.

"What about your brother?"

"Nope," I cleared my throat.

It wasn't really unusual since they move up north I haven't seen them much, maybe once or twice a year, if I'm lucky. And never on my birthday, is usually the busiest time for them because it's so close to Christmas. But it still sucked, I miss them normally, but even more so on my birthday.

"Well we'll be there," Cory nudged my shoulder with his.

"I'm sure we can be as annoying at your brother," Benji smirked, tears starting to fall from his eyes.

"Awe, bro, are you getting emotional?" Cory teased.

"It's just so sad," he fake sobbed.

"Chef is going to tell you off if you don't stop," I shook my head.

"He's busy giving out tasks," Cory shrugged.

"Thea is right, I'm okay with you guys taking but you need to be serious, especially around knives," Chef was standing behind us arms crossed over his chest.

"Yes chef," Benji nodded.

"Told you," I mumbled.

CHARLIE

He wasn't sure, he was definitely reluctant about standing in front of a microphone stand without a guitar. He was fidgety, probably because he's not used to having his hands empty. He looked at me and seemed to calm down a bit, taking a deep breath he nodded at Haka who started to play a melody, Jeff and Dylan joined in and a few seconds later Sam started to sing.

It didn't take him long to fee his comfortable, his hands were on the microphone stand, fingers tapping along to the beat. He even smiled, this was definitely something he should be doing, not just while he's waiting for his shoulder to heal.

"So what do you think?" Haka asked the room, he was already sure he wanted Sam to join the band.

"Good," Jeff nodded, Dylan agreed. The spoke in broken English and it was honestly so cute.

"Sam?" he asked hopeful.

"It was fun," he nodded still unsure.

"So are you joining our band?"

"I have to think about it a little more," he shrugged.

"Okay," Haka nodded disappointedly.

"We have to go to the hospital for a check-up, but I'll call you when I decide," Sam stated. His appointment wasn't for another hour an a half but I didn't say anything, it was clear he wanted to leave which just confused me.

SAM

It was fun, and I enjoyed it until I realised how much I already missed playing guitar. It was like being hit by a bus, and I just wanted to leave.

"Oh, okay," Leo nodded confused.

He offered us something to eat before we left but I really just wanted to get out of here, I felt like I couldn't breathe. It took all I had to not run to the car, Charlie followed behind me with a concerned look plastered on her face.

"What's wrong?" she frowned as we pulled out of his driveway.

"Nothing," I shook my head, I felt really stupid.

"Right," she raised an eyebrow. I sighed.

"I didn't think it would be that hard to not play guitar, I felt like I was suffocating,"

"Playing guitar as always been your outlet, it's how you vent and you haven't been able to do that so you've been bottling everything. It's no wonder you felt that way," she stated.

"I guess,"

"You just need a new outlet,"

"Like what?"

"Why don't you start writing music again? Your new band is going to need original songs," she hinted.

"You think I should join?"

"Yes,"

"Because it will stop me from moping on your couch?"

"No, because you enjoyed it because it's something that I think you suit and works for you,"

"But also the couch thing," she smirked.

"So what now?"

"I don't know, your appointment isn't for another hour or so," she shrugged.

"Food?"

"I know this great cafe,"

"Hey, there brother of mine," Coco walked through the door.

"How was your time down south?" I asked not looking up from my clipboard.

"12, 7, 42, 69," Jae laughed.

He had been sprouting out random numbers for the last 10 minutes because I was doing stocktake and writing up the new order. He thought it would be fun to see how many times he could make me restart counting. So far, I'd had to start again twice.

"It was fun, sorry we stayed longer than planned, you didn't need my help here did you?"

"Nope, if I opened this place on the condition of you help then I would be a little screwed what with your job involving a lot of travel,"

"Right, so how is Sam?"

"He's okay, in a bit of a self-pity state, he's been sitting on the girls' lounge for the past week. He hasn't been up for much so,"

"He was supposed to have band practice today, I'm not sure he went through," Jae shrugged before continuing with counting.

"Bro, would you shut up?" I frowned.

"Did you screw up again?" He smirked.

"Can you go and distract him or something, I need to get this done," I sighed.

"Why don't I do that? You're irritable and likely to make a mistake," she slid the clipboard towards her.

"You think you can block him out?"

"I've spent half of my life blocking him out," she commented, I frowned.

"What? He's super irritating," she shrugged.

CHARLIE

I parked the car and we walked into the cafe. Skye who was behind the counter smiled up at me she was new and really only got called into work when me or Jae couldn't come in.

"Hey, I thought you worked this morning,"

"I did, we were just in the area and thought we would stop by for a coffee," I shrugged.

"Do you want to make it?" she asked.

"Sure," I nodded as Whitney walked through the door.

"Oh thank god," she sighed when she saw me.

"Is your boss being a pain?" I raised an eyebrow.

"He was fine this morning, then we had a double booking with important meetings because he has temporary receptionists, it was a mess and he couldn't even have coffee because you finish at 12," she vented.

"Do you want me to make a few?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"I can do it," Skye smiled, I think she was trying to help.

"It's fine," I shook my head.

"But you're not supposed to be working," she frowned.

"My boss won't drink the coffee unless it's made by her," Whitney shrugged.

"Then why did you come in, know she had finished her shift?"

"Because the coffee cake you guys have he loves, so I figured if he couldn't have coffee, the cake would be a fair substitute,"

"Guess who makes the coffee cake," I smirked.

"You're like some kind of coffee wizard," she laughed.

"Not really," I shook my head.

"Is it weird that I know your work schedule?" she laughed to herself.

"I think is weird that your boss only drinks my coffee," I shrugged.

"Oh I'm so sorry, can I get you anything?" Skye asked Sam who had sat in one of the waiting chairs.

"I've got it," I shook my head.

"Oh he's your boyfriend?" she raised an eyebrow. She had flirty eyes, I didn't like it, so instead of saying no.

"Yes," I stated seriously giving her a warning look. She backed down pretty quickly.

"I didn't think you had a boyfriend," Whitney hummed.

"Now you know, how many coffees do you want?"

"Can I have 3, no wait, four,"

"It's 2 in the afternoon, what does he need with four coffees?"

"He has to stay late to get stuff done, he has plans tomorrow and can't come I to the office," she shrugged.

"It must be nice having your own business and deciding when to work or not," I commented.

"I'm pretty sure he's going on a date his friend is setting him up,"

"Maybe he'll get laid and be less high strung"

"Here's hoping," she laughed.

"How about I get you some coffee cake too?"

"I love you," she laughed.

THEA

Sam and Charlie still weren't home at 6.30 so I was guessing that Charlie had just taken him with her to dance practice. I still hadn't asked her about coming to lunch but I was pretty sure I knew how I could get her there without actually asking g. She probably wouldn't be happy about it but from the photos I've seen of Mark, she'll be fine with it after a while.

It was almost 9 when o started cooking dinner. She would have finished practice at nine and it only takes about half an hour to drive from there to here.

I decided o making fried rice because it took a while to make and also Sam loves rice so I k ow he would eat it. He's been a little off food lately which for Sam is really weird but I guess with everything he's been through lately is a little expected.

He had been staying with us since his surgery because for starters is more sanitary here, and the boys would be any help with changing Sam's dressing, they would try but they would just mess around or be grossed out by it. Also, there was no way Charlie was going to let him out of her sights for a while. The other two tried to stay here too, but she just kicked them out.

"I smell rice," Sam exhaled as he walked through the door, followed by Charlie. Volk bolted down the hallway, instead of jumping up like he normally does he nudge his head against Sam's hand like he knew Sam was injured.

"Yes you do," I nodded turning the stove off.

"Great, I'm starving," he picked up a bowl.

"How did practice go?" I asked casually, he sort of shrugged but didn't actually answer. I looked over at Charlie who just shook her head as if to tell me to let it go.

"Do you want some?" I asked her.

"Do we have seaweed?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Duh," I waved the snack packets in the air.

"Then yes," she nodded.

I waited until we were sitting in the lounge room eating before I mentioned anything. That way it came out more casual and she wouldn't think that I was up to something.

"You have your dance show tomorrow night huh?"

"Yep,"

"What time do you have to be there?"

"5, why?" She frowned.

"I was just thinking that after the past few weeks we've had we could have a bit of a girls day, we could go see Kiwoo and get out hair done, you could get your nails done, maybe a bit of shopping and some food?"

"Don't call it a girls day," she shook her head.

"Dudes day?"

"It would save me having to do my hair and makeup," she nodded.

"And if you don't want to wear your stage outfit then you can just bring it I your bag," I shrugged.

"That would mean carrying a bag. Pass. But sure," she nodded.

"So we'll leave here at about 12 tomorrow?" I suggested.

"What am I supposed to do?" Sam frowned.

"We can drop you off at the bar?" I shrugged.

"Or at Haka's," Charlie mumbled.

"You really think I should do it?" He sighed.

"Yes, I do,"

"I'll think about it," he sighed.

SAM

"Can you guys drop me off at the bar on your way?" I asked.

"Sure," Charlie walked out of her room dressed in a fishnet bodysuit under a cropped top and short that wear barely visible under the shirt she had tied around her waist. Like, Damn. I mean she is always attractive, but when she is stage ready, I mean, wow.

"Ready to go?" Thea followed.

"You're pretty dressed up for a girls day," I commented.

"What's the point in getting your hair and makeup done just to be wearing g shabby clothes?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Point taken," I nodded.

"Let's go," She chirped.

The dropped me off, asked me the usual motherly questions, well Thea did. Charlie just told me not to do anything stupid.

BM was stocking the shelves when I walked in, he seemed a little surprised to see me.

"Hey man, how did you get here?" He frowned.

"The girls dropped me off, they're heading I to Perth for a girls day," I shrugged.

"Sure they are," he laughed nodding.

"Seriously, that's what they're doing,"

"That's what Thea told Charlie they're doing,"

"I'm confused,"

"Thea is having lunch with that guy she's been talking too and she didn't want to go along e but she figured Charlie would just say no, this a girls day," he explained.

"Won't Charlie feel a little third wheeled?"

"He is bringing a friend too, but we all know how Charlie feels about being forced into something,"

"She gone be mad," Jae walked down the stairs.

"Should we text her?"

"She won't get it, she has a dance show today," Jae stated.

Charlie generally ignored all calls and texts when she had a show, mainly so she couldn't be called into work or something. If there was something important they would have Thea's number.

"I feel bad for the guy that has to deal with her," BM smirked.

"She's not that bad," I frowned.

"Are you kidding me? Not only is she being forced into something, shes being tricked into being forced. The attitude that guy is going to get,"

"And I bet you she is in her stage outfit because she's too stubborn to carry a bag," Jae stated.

It hadn't registered in my head that she was wearing her stage outfit, which wasn't really too different from what she normally wears, but she was showing more.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I frowned.

"Nothing really," he shrugged.

"Stop stirring the pot," BM shook his head.

"What?" Jae raised an eyebrow.

"So what brings you home?" BM turned to me.

"I just thought I would come and hang,"

"Right,"

"My lyric books are here," I said as I headed upstairs.

They were in a box under my bed, I had never been so glass to have a loft style bed. I slid the box over to the sitting area, also under my bed, and sat down.

CHARLIE

"Bitch, did you get a new job?" Eddy raised an eyebrow at me when we walked in.

"What are you trying to say?" He just pulled a face.

"She has a dance show tonight," Thea stated.

"No kidding," he laughed.

"Seriously?" Thea sighed.

"What?"

"Your friend is here," she pointed at Yuri.

"Why are you surprised?" I raised an eyebrow.

Yuri was best friends with MinSung, who also happened to be dating Kiwoo. Yuri noticed us as smirked walking over. Thea let out another sigh, she still wasn't over that face that he had slept with us both.

"Hey girls," he winked.

"Hey," I nodded.

"Yuri," Thea stated before walking away, he just let out a slight laugh.

"What brings you here?" He asked.

"What do you think?

"Dance show?" He raised an eyebrow looking me up and down.

"Yeah,"

"Maybe I should come," he shrugged.

"Hey," MinSung joined us.

"Hey," I nodded.

"You kind of look like a hooker,"

"And you're dressed kind of like a dick,"

"Oh, actually he is a dick," Yuri smirked.

"Charlie," Kiwoo smiled.

"Hey,"

"You two aren't bothering my clients are you?"

"Not just dressed like one then," Minsung joked.

"Shut up," I frowned.

THEA

"Go have lunch and get out of my salon," Kiwoo ushered them out.

"See you at home babe," Minsung kissed him.

"Where is mine?" Yuri puckered.

"You already had him once. He's mine now," Kiwoo playfully glared at him.

"You got told," I smirked.

"Yuri is kind of like you, he has slept with everyone," Charlie stated.

"Hey, we are nothing alike, besides Minsung has slept with more people in this room,"

"Not true, Yuri as slept with everyone we know in here except Kiwoo," she corrected me.

"Seriously?" I frowned at Eddy.

"Bitch, don't you come for me. You've seen him," he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"So what are we doing today?"

"I want something different, I don't know what but you know me," I shrugged.

"And you?"

"Colour fix, makeup and maybe my nails,"

"Let's get started,"

2 notes · View notes

prism-rush · 7 years ago

Text

Prism Rush Main Story Episode 4 Chapter 2

Beyond the Rainbow!! -sparkling acceleration to spring-

Episode 4: The Reason We Will Give Our All #2

First Previous Chapter

Translators notes: I hope you enjoy Kakeru and Yu’s adventures in the land of freedom and burgers the size of small children! If something seems very familiar about this chapter, that’s because... it is?

Yu: Hey!! What are you planning to do with me?!

Kakeru: It seemed to me like there was something on your mind lil’ bro. So I thought that if I took you to the birthplace of entertainment, Hollywood!!

...Then you would be able work some things out. I just happen to have a business meeting in the states anyway, so this is on me!

Yu: Well that’s all well and good, but why did you have to kidnap me?!

Kakeru: I just figured if I invited you the normal way you would be weird about it. Hollywood is where that genius songwriter Kouji Mihama is, right? He’ll be the perfect resource for all your songwriting troubles, yeah?

Yu: I.. I don’t need Kouji’s help to write a great song!

Kakeru: Oh, we’re almost there! Fasten your seat belt lil’ bro! We’re going down!

Yu: Wo.... woahhhh!

Kakeru: See! You made it here in one piece!

Yu: I... I thought I was a goner for sure.... And by the way, I haven’t prepared for this at all.

Kakeru: No problem, I brought your passport!

Yu: Oh, I see.... wait, how did you get my passport?!

Kakeru: Details, details. Look, it’s time to head through immigration.

Yu: Hey um... what is he saying? I... only know the English I learned in grade school... Wait! Kakeru, you’re fluent in English?!

Kakeru: Ahah. I guess you could say that... I took some courses for business reasons...

Yu: Woah...

Kakeru: W... well anyway, let’s enjoy the good ol’ land of freedom, the U.S.A!

Yu: Ah! Wait for me!

Kakeru: First let’s get something in our stomachs. Speaking of America, hamburgers are just the thing right?

Yu: Woah it’s huge. Uhhg... I can’t eat any more....

Kakeru: It’s about as big as your face, lil’ bro! That’s America for you! Everything’s on a totally different scale! This anything goes type of atmosphere is just right for the two of us, don’t you think?

Yu: Maybe not for me... I ordered coffee and they brought me cola...

Kakeru: It’s difficult to pronounce coffee in English isn’t it? Oh! Maybe they thought you were too much of a kid for coffee.

Yu: S...Shut up!

Kakeru: WOAH?! Hey, look over there!

Yu: What are you talking about..? Hm? That’s?!

Kakeru: It’s only that super famous actress Pangelina!! Wow! I can’t believe it’s really her! I’m floored!

Yu: Oh.. and over there is... Prad Pit!

Kakeru: You’re right!! That’s Hollywood for you! They’re always doing film shoots all over the place.

Yu: Wow, it’s like watching a live movie....

Kakeru: Oh ho ho. Even you can be a fanboy sometimes.

Yu: It’s not like that!

Kakeru: I’m just glad you’re happy lil’ bro!

Yu: I’m not I... Well, I guess it’s pretty cool we got to see such a rare sight. Hey! Wait, no!

Kakeru: Huh?

Yu: We’re not here for sightseeing! We came to Hollywood... to see Kouji!

Kakeru: Oh, oh yeah. Well, here’s the address for the studio Kouji should be at. I have a meeting soon, so you can go in the meantime.

Yu: What?! By myself...!

Kakeru: Well you’re the one who needs songwriting advice. Or were you hoping for moral support from little ol’ me--

Yu: No! Okay fine, I got it. I’ll go see Kouji by myself.

(In front of the studio)

Yu: This is the place... wow it’s so glamorous...

*ding dong*

Kouji: Hi.... Yu?

Yu: H... hey... long time no see....

Kouji: What are you doing here?!

Yu: Kakeru said he had a business meeting so I got a lift on his personal jet.

Kouji: Oh I see... so... what else brings you?

Yu: Umm.... I just came to make sure you’re taking care of yourself!

Hiro, Kazuki, and my sister have been worried sick you’ll be found dead on a roadside or something being all the way out here in America.

Kouji: You came all the way out here for that?

Yu: Well....

Kouji: ....Is there something you want to talk about?

Yu: Huh?!

Kouji: I can tell a lot about you from looking in your eyes.

Yu: Kouji.... I....

Kouji: But there’s nothing for us to discuss.

Yu: Wha.... ?

Kouji: I’m glad to see you again. But if you’re not able to solve your own problems by your own wits, it won’t mean anything.

Yu: .....

Kouji: I’m sorry, Yu. I have a lot of work to do.

Yu: Yeah... of course... I’m sorry I interrupted you...

Kouji: It’s no problem. Well, see you.

(Later)

Kakeru: Well, the meeting’s over. Oh, hey lil’ bro! How’d things go with Kouji-san!

Yu: .....He sent me away.

Kakeru: WHAAT?! What do you mean?!

Yu: He took one look in my eyes and knew I brought some kind of baggage.

Kakeru: Well, that’s Kouji-san.

Yu: I wanted to hear what kind of songs he’s been working on over here.

Kakeru: Yeah...

Yu: I know Kouji better than anyone. But that just makes me want to know more and more about him. So I.... I wanted him to listen to my problems... but...

Kakeru: Hey, hey don’t get so down! I’m sure Kouji-san was just really busy, right?? He probably has some big deadline coming up. If we go again tomorrow...

Yu: He slammed the door in my face... Kouji.... Kouji......

Kakeru: Lil’bro....

Yu: ...........KOUJI!!!! THAT FRIKKIN JERK!!!!!

Kakeru: Wha?! I thought you were super depressed. But you’re actually just really angry?!

Yu: Don’t go all thinking you’re hot stuff just because you’re big in America! I didn’t cross a whole ocean just to bow down to you! How dare you kick me out before hearing even a word I have to say! Are you kidding me?!

Kakeru: Oh.... It’s great yelling at the ocean, isn’t it?

Yu: Kouji’s totally underestimating me. I have no choice but to get revenge until he’s groveling at my feet, kissing my shoes!

Kakeru: Revenge...? What exactly are you planning to do?

Yu: I....

(Back at the studio)

*ding dong*

Kouji: Yu... You’re back? And you brought Kakeru?

Yu: Kouji. I challenge you to a Prism Show battle.

Next Chapter

#prism rush #king of prism #kinpri #kakeru acts kinda weird when yu compliments his english #I wonder if he's just embarrassed by a sincere compliment or if there's another reason #I like how going all the way to America to have Kouji ruin your life is an actual recurring trope #fuckin kouji

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smellycinnamonthundahfudge · 6 years ago

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tumblr fweinds

a year ago, i was tagged by @suplosers on two questionnaires and it is only now, a year later that i was able to answer em. i’m so sorry it took me this long but yah i’m just glad to get thru dis milestone, answering the first tumblr get to know ya post i was @ at... yaayyy ^^

rules: answer these 85 statements and tag 20 people.

I tag: tbd haha i still have to dig thru meh notifs to see which ones apparently took an interest in me so i’d like to take an interest in as well haha but oh @you-guys--are-losers, ur doing this whahaha hope it’s not too much of a bother, no presh watsoever ;3

the last

1. drink: ughh it's dis shitty stuff called hydrite w/c is basically salt water cus im sick rn and it's supposed to rehydrate ur shts or something hahaha

but dat was like a week ago... as of da moment i posted dis, it’s coffee from mini stop dat i drank at like 530 in da morn while i waited until i could enter the school cus i had to commute 3 hours w/ lil to none sleep

2. phone call: my father or one of my best friends

3. text message: the last one i texted was my sister and the last one i got a text from was dis org in school about the location for recruitment/auditions/interview

4. song you listened to: billy jean by michael jackson and i listened to it for meh tomdaya fic hahaha. But i also listened to halo by beyonce, untouchable and dress by taylor swift, and some other songs magmt mentions in her tomdaya fic hehe a week ago

rn, a metal cover of toxic by our last night

5. time you cried: haha i don't actually remember the context of it (i could find out tho haha cus i sent da pic to my best friend) but i took a pic of it while i did it which was on... july 16 hahaha. Oh but w8 oh sht i think i cried after that fudge w8 i don't remember the date (i think i can find this out too hahaha) but i wrote a sortof goodbye confessions letter to one of my dear friends and i wrote there that i externally cried (b4 i just said internally haha) so i'm not entirely sure i cried but i think im pretty sure i teared up hehe

6. dated someone twice: hahaha i haven't even had a legit love interest yet 😆😂 buuutt my best friend and i have "dated" as in spent entire days together w/ just the two of us, we even went to mcdonalds for valentine's day and got each other gifts hihihi aahhh gosh i miss her :'(

7. kissed someone and regretted it: haha im not even sure if dis happened and i have no plans on asking her about it but i remember when i was a kiddo, when my sis came home for some reason i kissed her on the lips hahaha dont remember if accidental or i just brain farted heck i aint even sure if it happened but das all i can answer cus well like i said, see #6 😆😂😆😂

8. been cheated on: hhmmm probs not, i have no idea if ive been cheated on in an unromantic way hahaha but in da romantic way, like i said, no love interest hahaha

Oh w8 does being someone's crush (i aint sure but it seemed like it) and crushing on dat dude but dat dude crushing on someone else too count as cheating? 😆😂😆😂

9. lost someone special: yes, all of my grandparents are dead. I've also lost pets, and i fear i may lose some of my friends due to the distance among us in this time of our lives

10. been depressed: i always wanna be careful over how to define depression. Like wat constitutes it... but yes, i think i have. Not sure, mind you, but yes, at the beginning of gr 7 i was really alone, i think i was bullied and i think i was depressed and going thru a really dark phase of my life back then. But then again, i have to say, i'm not sure.

11. gotten drunk and thrown up: hahaha nope. I'm looking forward to getting drunk tho. Im currently underage so im not allowed to drink dat much yet but yeah i wanna know my limits hehehe i hope im da kinda gurl who can handle her liquor but i have drank and i have to say it made me all loopy and weird and just like woke or high or something hahaha so yeah man im excited to get trashed on my 18th bday hahaha (hopefully i get to do this tho huhuhu)

3 favourite colours

12. Pink

13. Blue

14. Gray

in the last year have you

15. made new friends: yyeeesssss and i'm so glad i have hihi. I have made friends w/ a select group of my blockmates and they're awesome and weird, i hope to strengthen our bond in da future hehe. Ooohhh and i sure hope that you guys are losers is my friend cus she's been rlly great :')

16. fallen out of love: i guess the closest i've come to falling out of love in a romantic way is moving on from da heavy crushin on meh crush. But i dunno, i still think he's a unicorn n pretty special to me so i dunno hahaha.

But bro, i do think i have fallen out of love. With tv shows, with characters. Like i used to be so passionate about a few shows and characters but now all i have towards them is regret heck i cant even remember wat dey are but i know dat der was love lost. I know it.

17. laughed until you cried: hahaha yaasss i think so. It's either when i was with my best dearest friends or during the class of dis really cool and funny as heck joker teacher who makes us laugh in EVERY SINGLE CLASS hahaha ahhh das guy's so cool

18. found out someone was talking about you: oohh yah yah i think so. Either from my best friends or from a few of my old classmates i care about and had gotten close with. Da best friend ones was about something in my past/history (g7) and the classmates one i think was just dem talking about me and they told me about it ooohhh i think it was my crush hahahaha. They told me dat my crush actually admired me a lot hehe. There was one time my friend (the one who told me about dis) was putting make up on me for a school film, and my crush was da cam guy and he told my friend i looked pretty. Sooo im pretty lucky dat- oh sht w8 i dunno if it's dis year but oh w8 no, it was on my bday last year (dec 20) and da same friend said she was sorry cus apparently da bois make fun of me or something and she was sorry cus she laughed along too hahaha but i didnt mind cus i know im weird and i dont even know what dey say about me in da first place hahahaha. Ok das it im done, i think ive overshared now hahaha 😆😂😆😂

19. met someone who changed you: my best friends. Ive thought about it based on wat sup losers said about change for da better and i dont rlly think of change as something dat happens quick, i think it happens over time and u dont even notice it. So ok oh sht i think im wrong cus i met my best friends 4/6 years ago hahaha but for reals tho, i was in a dark place and if it werent for dem i think id still be lost lonely and sad. Uuhhmmm in regards to answering the question correctly, i guess my blockmates count since they inspire/challenge me to be better. OH SHT W8 i def think you guys are losers and dead end street and tomdaya receipts and tout de suite have changed me hehehe. Da first 2 in dat dey inspired me to write more hehe. Da 1st one inspired me to do this so i think this counts as change hehe. And da last 2 changed me in dat bcus i met dem, i became OBSESSED w/ tomdaya hahaha.

20. found out who your friends are: yes, i have actually. And it's all because i am now currently a college freshman as well as my friends.

21. kissed someone on your Facebook list: hahaha my fam i guess hahaha. But no one in a romantic context.

general

22. how many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: hhmmm i guess id say about 200 since i know 4 sections of around 40 ppl and da rest is like fam and ppl ive met once/twice or have passed by haha

23. do you have any pets: yaaaassss 3 doggos: albie, juju, and biggie girl. Juju has a pupper named tchalla called dat cus he black hehehe and biggie has 2 biglets named mermer (meredith) and crissy (cristina) cus they're sisters 😍😊😊

My fam have also had a buncha dogs n puppers before but they were either given away or passed away. My bro also has dis cat named bob and i think he counts as a semi pet since my bro's home is a fam home.

24. do you want to change your name: uuhhh i wish i had an alliterative name like superheroes. Buutt im pretty happy w/ my name :')

25. what did you do for your last birthday: oohhhh i think i was at my section's christmas party it was pretty nice n emotional and i spent da rest of da day w/ 2 of meh best friends who bought me cake n food when my own fam didn't 😆😂😆😂

26. what time did you wake up: 4 am to shit cus im sick, but fell asleep again and officially got up around 730 or 8ish

27. what were you doing at midnight last night: haha tryna stay awake cus i had to drink meh meds and failed oh so much and i think i was asleep by midnight hahaha

28. name something you can’t wait for: tomdaya content, chatting/being w/ my best friends, watching da stuff i wanna watch, tumblring, reading sht i wanna read, vacation, writing fanfics, learning how to do a buncha stuff (write screenplays, make films n gifs, draw better), my bday when i hopefully get to do wat i want haha, avengers 4 and smffh, and captain marvel and antman and the wasp too i guess haha oh and the incredibles 2 and httyd 3 😍😍😍 oohhh and crazy rich asians

29. when was the last time you saw your mom: on monday which was when i was at home and not at my dad's n sis' n i's apartment in manila for school/work

31. what are you listening to right now: commercials on da tv as i answer this long ass questionnaire hahaha

32. have you ever talked to a person named tom: hahaha i had to think about dis one but yah i have actually haha he was my gr 8 class mate n i like to think semi friend back den at least haha. Oh w8 but he doesn't go by tom tho, it's just thomas haha

33. something that is getting on your nerves: myself hahaha my shitty lazy ass procrastinating self hahaha 😅🙍

34. most visited website: fb specifically messenger, youtube, and tumblr

35. hair colour: hmmm black w/ a bit of brown i guess (ASIAN, YO! 😆😂😆😂)

36. long or short hair: neither, medium i guess haha. I like how long hair looks but it's such a bother n hassle haha. So i def would prefer short hair on a practical standpoint hahaha (im actually thinking of shaving the hair above my nape, yknow on da back of my head hehe)

37. do you have a crush on someone: well i dont have dat much of a crush on da crush i mentioned before, like i said haha. I have a crush on tomdaya, does dat count? 😆😂

38. what do you like about yourself: hahahaha nothing 😆😂😆😂🙍

Naahh uhhh i guess i like how much i love tv shows, i love meh fangirl self, and i like how diff n unique n weird i am, how i stand out, n dat i think my dreams are noble n worth tryin out. N i like how supportive n nice i am n im just chill on da outside haha. N sometimes i like meh face hehe. And i think dat im hilarious n weird n ppl should appreciate me more hahaha das y i crave for more validation dan consulting researchers hahaha (no one laughs at dat jokes and it's like im da only one who finds it funny and come on, man, i managed to make a research joke. Cant ya give a girl a break?)

n i guess sometimes it's good how much i care but sometimes i wish my feels could just chill for just like a minute pls

Thanks, man. I usually just focus on meh bad qualities so thanks for dis question, man :')

oh and i like dat i can swim hehe

39. piercings: i have holes on my ears for earrings but i don't really wear dem

40. blood type: a, i think?

41. nickname: sam, sab, and i rlly want to be called smells cus it's like a more me version of mels from melody hahaha

42. relationship status: single, yo. Oh w8 but i am married to my bed and fandoms so dey always come first. Plus i love my friends 😍😊

43. zodiac: sagittarius i think but i dont rlly know/care about zodiac sht. Tho it's nice if it does match up hehe

44. pronouns: uhhh i dont know wat to put here but i assume dis refers to wat i wish to be referred by ssoooo she, her, and a genderless pronoun in my language siya

45. favourite tv show: ughh i cant choose. Friends, grey's anatomy, phineas and ferb, avatar: the last airbender, black mirror, doctor who, and all of michael schur's stuff, and modern family, grimm, person of interest, pushing daisies, scrubs, happy endings, forever, how i met your mother, gravity falls, sherlock, and yknow wat? Yah, supernatural too and the httyd shows and suits :') oooohhh w8 and how to get away w/ murder and i guess big bang theory as well 😃 the end of the fucking world, legends of tomorrow, crazy ex-girlfriend, the good place, timeless but it’s kinda depressing so speaking of w/c game of thrones and west world and a series of unfortunate events and stranger things and scorpion and lost in space and for anime, let’s go with yakitate japan and boku no hero academia

46. tattoos: none, but i rlly want one and even have a list of tattoos i want (pretty minimalist), i just have to think of da perf place tho (both where to put it and where to get it) and find out if i can still donate meh bod if i have tattoos, but one of da ones i rlly want is smileys on meh fingers hehe

47. right or left handed: right, but my ma says im kinda ambidextrous n i kinda wish i could develop it hehe

48. surgery: haha nope, never. But in terms of an interest, i love grey's anatomy 😆😂

50. sport: ooohh my main sport is swimming cus my siblings are all swimmers so i am too. But i have played other sports for school like badminton, table tennis, volleyball, some water game i dont remember haha, and a combat sport in my country called arnis

51. vacation: christmas vacay and i cant wait huhu

52. pair of trainers: uhhh are trainers rubber shoes? I have a couple, i guess.

GENERAL

53. eating: my dad (who cooked our meal), sis, and i ate afritada (chicken dat's tomatoey basically) for dinner

54. drinking: just water, but ugh i have to drink da hydrite sht again 😑😒

55. I’m about to: finish dis questionnaire n fall asleep haha

56. waiting for: sleep n happiness

57. want: to sleep n write n tumblr n watch n read n for all my problems to disappear

58. get married: yeahhh... but i think it's highly unlikely, man. So i aint counting on it but i do want it to happen, it seems nice having someone to spend da rest of your life with :')

59. career: hahaha i'm still just a college student, just a newly minted freshman actually. But i like to consider myself a fulltime fangirl hahaha

WHICH IS BETTER

60. hugs or kisses: well, i havent rlly made out with anyone yet so im gonna have to say hugs i guess w/c ofc i love haha but i wish someone bigger than me could cuddle me for once in my life 😢

61. lips or eyes: lips cus they just seem so soft and sensual hehe. Plus i dunno man, eyes are kinda gross with muta (da sht in da corner of ur eyes when you wake up, it's a filipino word) and sht. And ya have to wear glasses/contacts if dey weak so it's just such a hassle. Tho i do recognize their importance n stuff 😊

62. shorter or taller: ugh TALLER. im a pretty tall gal so for once id like to be da lil spoon for once, for someone to be able to carry me and ya know all dat jazz. But i wouldnt give up my height for anything, makes me feel confident and better than everyone else mwuehehehehehehe

63. older or younger: uuuhhh for now i think it's a bit weird to date someone younger dan me, but for me personally, wat age i'd like to be, YOUNGER ALL DA WAY. it was just way less stressful and innocent back den, id give anything to go back 🙍

64. nice arms or nice stomach: haha nice arms if it means i can swing around them and they can carry me whahaha. But i do like em abs, i wanna feel wat abs feel like just once in my life hahaha

65. hookup or relationship: ooohhh i guess i fancy myself having a relationship for now hehe. Havent even had one yet haha.

66. troublemaker or hesitant: i am a hesitant troublemaker whahahahaha. Like i have all these ideas of thangs to do n sometimes i do dem but sometimes da situation n context scares me into not doing it like a wuss hahaha

HAVE YOU EVER:

67. kissed a stranger: haha nope.

68. drank hard liquor: haha nope but am looking forward to it hehe

69. lost glasses/contact lenses: thankfully i havent needed any yet whew

70. turned someone down: uhhh i guess the closest i came to "turning someone down" was being awkward around my crush haha but to be fair i think he was awkward too hahaha. And in an unromantic sense, i turned down a blockmate who offered to be my partner in an assignment becus i already had a partner hahahaha 😅

71. sex on the first date: haha havent experienced it if das wat ur askin. Maybe imma be dat kinda person after ive had a couple of relationships but for now i'll settle for someone actually being interested in me hahaha

73. had your heart broken: yes, by tv shows, and by da crappiness of life in general 🙇

74. been arrested: hahahaha nope but dat would be CRAZY hahaha

75. cried when someone died: yes, whether in real life or in tv shows, i have cried bcus of death 😢

76. fallen for a friend: look, man, my best friend's probably the most important person in my life who i couldnt bear to lose. I love her more dan anything in da world so i dunno if our friendship is something more dan da "typical" best friends i just know dat i love her n dat i dont wanna lose her n dat our bond's nothing like any other relationship ive ever had

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

77. yourself: hahahaha not rlly 😅 im pretty unreliable tbh and i make tons of mistakes and ill never be enough ever and just in general hate myself and have 0 self esteem hahaha 😅😅😅😓

But there's a chance i could improve tho, a very very VERY small tiny chance... but i guess i'll take wat i can get :/

78. miracles: hhmmm not in da way most ppl think about miracles in dat, it's da impossible event. I like to think it's a miracle that i have the family dat i have, da friends dat i have, and da life dat i have cus honestly i think i'd be dead w/o em. It's a fucking miracle i have things im passionate about and things that i love and im surrounded by ppl who i love and who love me as well. So yeah, i guess i believe in those kinds of miracles :')

79. love at first sight: hahaha not rlly. Look, man, im a fat girl who doesnt rlly care dat much about looks so unless a person manages to fall for someone while dat someone was doing something dat was a huge indicator of their personality and thus it's not only da appearance dat da person "fell in love w/", den i rlly dont believe in love at first sight. It's just infatuation, bruh. Love at first sight is cheap and u dont rlly know any thing about dat person other than the fact that they're pretty (why they caught ur eye in da 1st place imo) and nothin, zilch. Unless, like i said, they were doing something important to dem n indicative of deir personality. But even then, it wouldnt be love. Like i said, it'd be infatuation cus imo love is deep and takes time and cant just HAPPEN just cus u looked at someone and thought he/she was pretty 😒. True love would mean knowing dat person to deir bone but wanting to know more about dem. So to conclude a ted talk from a bitter person w/ a non existent love life 😆😂😂😂, love at first sight doesnt exist, is cheap, and is discriminatory to "ugly" ppl.

80. santa claus: hahaha i know he probs doesnt exist and is u know basically just capitalism n marketing hahaha. But i dunno, man, i kinda wanna believe he exists just cus it's more fun n childlike n innocent 😍

81. kiss on the first date: hahaha yeah i guess so but i think i probs would have had to known dat person for a while before we decided to date. I havent had a first kiss yet sooo i aint just willin to give dat out to someone i just met/knew for like a day or something hahaha (i have no idea how dating works) 😆😂😆😂😆😂

82. angels: huh... i like to think guardian angels exist cus dat means there are like angels of pure light sent down from heaven to protect us from any harm w/c is just nice to think about, yknow? Hehe. But angels in da catholic sense... i dont think i do, bruh. Sorry :/ *shrugs*

OTHER:

84. eye colour: uuhhhh brown, i guess? Like i said, i dont rlly care much for eyes hahaha 😅 ooohh but da purple eyes thang ive seen on da internet sounds cool hahaha

85. favourite movie: aaaahhhhh there's just so many good movies thoo

But agghh fine. Ive come to notice dat my genre's pretty lighthearted w/c is nice actually hehe

Spider-Man: Homecoming, Rogue One, 10 Things I Hate About You, Moana, Coco, Mulan, Avengers: Infinity War, White Chicks cus it's just so goddamn funny and iconic 😆😂😆😂😍, i'm not- ok you know wat, da Pixar movies in general ok? I mean, how can ya not? Oh which reminds me, Tangled, and The Princess and The Frog, oohh The Avengers is also a pretty solid movie, ooohhh Love, Simon, godhs dat was just such a wholesome sweet n nice movie :'), oh and den i freaking love the Scream franchise, man. It's so good :'), oooohhh w8 maybe The Dark Knight cus heath ledger was just da fuking bomb in dat movie, oohh and About Time's da sweetest time travel movie :') w/c reminds me dat the Back to the Future franchise was just such a classic, man :') oh and yknow wat? Unbreakable's actually pretty fucking cool, man. I get shyamalan know haha. Oh and yknow wat? 100 Tula Para Kay Stella is da 1st filipino film i actually liked so it has a special place in meh heart :')

ooohhh and Black Panther, man, gods how can one not bring up Da King™? WAKANDA FOREVER :') 😄

Oh and hey yknow wat? I have a sweet spot for the Sorcerer's Apprentice. It's kinda a guilty pleasure of mine hehe 😅

Whiicchh reminds me... the HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON FRANCHISE HAS GOT MY HART WHIPPED 😭😭😭

Oh and i also rlly like when harry met sally hihi :') and i guess the OG Star Wars trilogy's got a special place in my heart even if it is da way dat it is now 😢 :')

oh and i can't forget meh guardians :') Guardians of The Galaxy is such a solid film, bro. I loved it :') ooohhh and yknow wat? I actually rlly like Ready Player One, Baby Driver, and The Mummy (the brendan frasier one, who ya kiddin 😑)

oh and yknow wat? The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates, and Music & Lyrics has got a special place in my heart, man. Gotta admit it :')

aawww and amelie, and begin again, and flipped and hercules, and room, and spotlight, and shape of water, and ladybird, and the princess bride, and the iron giant, and the lobster, and we're the millers, and what if and man up and shrek and kimi no na wa and a quiet place and inception and the lion king and to all the boys I’ve loved before and oooh tim burton movies are pretty cool, the animated ones, and I did spend a good amount of time obsessed w/ dis one so I guess cap civil war, and then big hero 6 and wreck it ralph, and the martian and inside out, and gone girl, and the lion king and forrest gump and spider-man 1 and 2, and les miserables and the devil wears prada and the book of life and the intern and the princess diaries and miss congeniality and aladdin and confessions of a shopaholic

And ok, ok, i think im done. Hahaha das it das my list of meh all time fav movies and i feel like rewatching all of em now hahaha 😍

#jazzessments

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