#but along the lines of the drama that we see in the red death outfit in phantom of the opera

[snail-shell2335]

i had a dream last night that i managed to sneak into the very front of a ghost concert and i was up close to copia and i got to see his new outfits and one of them was this insane green pirate outfit?? 😭😭😭? (complete with sword and everything) AND. the black cassock was back.

[bengiyo]

Never Let Me Go Ep 1 Stray Thoughts

I can't believe we have new shows from Jojo two days in a row. Who ever thought we'd be here?? (I did, in 2012) Very excited about this one, but desperately hoping that Pond comes through for us this time.

I do like a slow-moving shot to open a show. I am prepared to feel moody.

Don't know if Neung is queer yet, but if he already is then I will have thoughts about gay boys and their moms.

Glad the father isn't actually negligent. Neung wasn't giving off a long-suffering air. It's nice to know that he feels like a beloved son.

This feels like a lot of weight to put on a young person, but Neung is coming of age and so I respect the dad trying to prepare his son for coming duties.

This rainy alleyway scene is giving Batman.

As others have pointed out already, this pendant is so huge. We get the metaphor, but goddamn.

Phuwin gives a strong performance here. I'm glad the sound editors toned down the sonic presence of his scream, though. I felt it was too loud in the trailer.

Every time I see Perth I'm like, "Welcome back, baby boy."

I've been complaining about the use of Dutch angles in GAP, but I think they're appropriate here. Neung's world is tilted by the loss of his dad, who clearly loved him (he literally named his son "Only One").

Love the use of this red outfit to announce that Tanya will take over as CEO.

I'm so glad Nat is in this show and linked with Perth. They're going to be fun to watch.

Glad this show is using Phuwin's multilingual talent.

Pond looks good in this so far. The school uniforms did not serve his frame well.

I like how workmanlike Jojo can be about exposition. Sometimes it's more efficient to have a character detail their limitations and worldview quickly so the audience knows their starting line. We can figure out the reasons as we go along.

Love that conversation with the bodyguard/chamberlain outside school. The shifts in your relationships as you come of age is always hard.

We never had anyone this famously wealthy at any school I went to.

Chimon remains excellent at building onscreen chemistry with literally anyone so well.

I will be very disappointed when we learn that Chanon was somehow involved in Pipop's death. Both Neungdia and Tanya assert that they feel like he's family. For Chanon, though, it probably isn't his reality. This is going to get messy and I'm here for it.

Almost gagged when I saw Apo and Mile in a product ad at the start of part 2.

Not to be too distracted by the gun, but what is in this notebook that Neung keeps in the same drawer as the gun?

Also noticed the retro style speaker, and the painting of a piano full of butterflies.

At least Neung has some trigger safety.

I'm so proud of the hair and makeup team so far. They have not missed once. Phuwin looks amazing sitting in the pool.

Fantastic choice to show Palm's commute. After seeing the wealth of Neung's life, the signs of poverty and frustrated hit hard.

Ball is life (and apparently a gambling opportunity to cause problems later).

I will never, ever tire of boys pulling each other into hiding spaces and getting too close to each other's faces. Mutuals, feel free to do this to me.

Nat is so good. I am so invested in this beef between Tanya and Kit, and am so curious about the family history that led to the exclusion of Pipong's brother.

The Gifted has forever ruined the arm grab for me in these dramas. It only ever reads as hugely manipulative.

What does Neung know about these family troubles? He didn't seem surprised about the tension when he walked in, and looked to Tanya for guidance on whether to hug Kit back.

Is Palm choosing to not wear a tie, or does he not have one? I'm not surprised he wears the uniform loosely after working as a fisherman.

I don't blame Neung for bailing on a father's day event.

Chanon definitely assigned Palm as a bodyguard. I think Tanya is aware of it.

Who is this taxi driver and why is he willingly contributing to truancy?

So we finally know what building these windows have been in. I have seen them in The Gifted and War of Y.

Neung isn't dumb, and I'm glad he's aware of what's going on.

Every time they say they trust Chanon, he gets uncomfortable. Is that guilt?

Oh ho, we're going to start seeing more of Perth next week.

I had a great time with this first episode, and like that both of Jojo's shows feel so distinct from each other right now. I completely forgot that Phuwin is playing Ice in The Warp Effect. Hoping to see Pond blossom as this character comes out of his reserve.

[bumblesimagines]

Green Thumb

Part 4

Request: Yes or No

TW: Drug mention, needle mention, overdose mention

I'm still unsure on the twins ages in age of ultron since one source says 16 and the other says 26 lmao. Imma just say the twins are 17 or 18.

~

You stared down at the city below with a frown. You knew Clint wouldn't rest until Natasha was found. Everything had happened so quickly and even if you had tried to catch her with a root, you would've been pulled along. A sigh left you as you sat down at your desk. Your room in the tower felt like a cell. Gray walls, white bed, white desk. The only real color in the room came from the line of potted flowers on the desk. You felt your stomach grumble, standing up and leaving the room. You headed to the kitchen, getting a granola bar. You opened it, taking a bite from it. You almost choked, hearing crashing and arguing. You swallowed the bits of granola as you followed the noises to the laboratory. You headed up the stairs, dodging a flying Steve.

"What the fuck?" You turned your head, seeing the Maximoff twins. "What the fuck?" You repeated, watching them in bewilderment. Another one left you when Thor crashed through a window, raising his hammer and letting the electricity power the cradle. Nothing happened for a moment before the cradle burst open, causing Thor to fly back.

"I should've stayed with Laura." You whispered, staring at the red man that emerged from the cradle. He slowly stood, looking between everyone. His gaze settled on Thor, lunging for him but Thor grabbed him and threw him to the side, causing another crash.

"(Y/N), stay close." Clint called, eyeing the twins. You quickly walked over to him, hearing the crunching of glass beneth your shoes. While Thor and Steve took the dramatic way, you chose to use the door and head to the room Vision was in. Thor raised his hand, stopping Steve from attacked. The man stared out into the city, staying silent and motionless. Thor set down his hammer as the man landed on the door, apologizing to Thor and mimicking his cape.

"Thor, you helped create this?"

"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all forms of life and at its center is that." Thor explained, pointing at the crystal in the mans forehead.

"What, the gem?" Bruce asked, watching Thor look at him.

"The mind stone." He corrected. "It's one of the six infinity stones. The greatest power in the universe with destructive abilities." Thor explained as he faced everyone.

"It looks like a citrine." You muttered, continuing to unwrap the rest of your granola bar, swiping away the crumbs that fell on the floor with your foot.

"A what?" Clint asked softly. You glanced at him.

"It's a type of gemstone. It's supposed to motivate you to take action." You shrugged lightly. Gemstones were pretty interesting to study, even more so when they had so called 'destructive abilities.'

"Stark's right."

"Oh, it's definitely the end." Bruce said quietly.

"Why does your vision sound like J.A.R.V.I.S?" Steve asked as he watched the man walk forward. Tony explained why, still in awe and surprise. The man looked at Steve.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" Though it sounded like a question, it was obvious it was a statement.

"You're not?"

"I'm not Ultron." The man replied softly, almost confused. "And.. I'm not J.A.R.V.I.S either."

"I looked in your head and saw annihilation." Wanda said, stepping forward as she glared at him. Clint scoffed softly, walking towards everyone. You followed, tossing the wrapper into the trashcan.

"Look again."

"Your approval seems jack to me." Clint said, gaze staying locked on the twins. Wanda's gaze went to Clint before going to you. You maintained brief eye contact. It wasn't everyday you met another meta.

"Her powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultrons powers.. They all came from the mind stone. Nothing compares to what it can unleash." Thor revealed. "And with it on our side-"

"Is it?" Steve interrupted, looking at the man again.

"Are you? On our side?"

"I don't think it's that simple." He replied softly.

"Sounds pretty simple. Death or life for humanity." You said, shrugging. He looked at you, giving a small nod before looking at the others.

"Then.. I'm on the side of life. Ultron isn't." He took small steps forward, not wanting to agitate anyone.

"What's he waiting for?"

"You." The man stared at Tony. You were already coming up with names for him. Tony Jr was the one sticking.

"Sokavia's our best bet." Tony said.

"Nat's there too." Clint told them, looking at Bruce when he approached the man.

"If we're wrong about you..." Bruce started softly. His threats were always amusing until he turned green. He stared at Tony Jr, letting it up to his imagination, if he had that.

"I don't want to kill Ultron." Tony Jr walked around Bruce, continuing past everyone.

"He's weak.. And in pain but that pain will roll over the Earth, so he must be destroyed. Every forms he's built, every sense of his presence on the net. We have to act now and not one of us can do it without the other." Tony Jr turned, facing them. He looked down at his hands.

"Maybe I am a monster. I don't know if I will become one.. I'm not what you are. I'm not what you intended. So there may be no way for you to trust me but we need to go." Tony Jr finished his speech, picking up Thors hammer and handing it to him. The room stayed silent as everyone took it in. Thor took his hammer, clearing his throat and nodding.

"Alright." He gave a small smile, walking away. You sighed, turning around and walking towards the bar.

"Don't even think about it." Clint called as he walked past you. You huffed, watching him go.

"Seriously?" You rolled your eyes, looking over your shoulder at the twins. They walked away in amusement, following Steve's directions to the lockers. You walked to your room, putting on the outfit Clint had designed for you. You looked at a picture of you and Clint, smiling softly. You left the room, walking down the hall. You noticed Thor and Tony Jr talking outside, arms crossing as you approached the glass. You stared at the two, gaze locking onto the reflection of the twins. You turned to face them, seeing Wanda pause and stay in her spot.

"Sorry about choking you." You spoke first, looking between them. Wanda gave a small nod, hand gently gripping her arm.

"Did you get experimented on like us?" Pietro asked, head tilting. Some white strands fell over his face. You shook your head, biting your bottom lip as you thought on how to explain it.

"From what Bruce told me, my mother had drugs in her system during labor. It was an unknown drug that they still haven't identified but Bruce says that it might've given me some freak cell mutation that gave me these powerd. It's weird. Clint said it took a long time to even find any information on my family. I don't know if it's true or something that they told me to make me feel better about being orphaned." The twins gaze softened, glancing at each other. Wanda licked her lips, glancing at the ground.

"When were you orphaned?" She asked softly.

"When I was a baby. My mom died in labor and my dad had been found dead with a needle in his arm a day later. I was put into an orphanage cause my parents were seen as a Jane Doe and John Doe. Again, it's weird." You told them, shrugging lightly. Pietro took in a soft breath, gaze becoming distant.

"We're orphans too. I'm sure you already know what happened by now but.. A bomb killed them." Pietro said softly. He took in a deeper breath, giving a small smile to lighten the mood.

"I suppose that's another thing we have in common." He pointed out with a small shrug. You nodded, smiling softly. It was nice to be around people your age who understood you. Even Wanda seemed relaxed and more comfortable.

"(Y/N), what'd I say?" You looked up upon hearing Clint's voice.

"You were the one who left me alone to change." You reminded him with a soft huff, going around the twins and approaching him. Clint shot you a pointed look, glancing at the twins. You understood why he was distrustful of them.

"Clint, they're like me." You said quietly as you walked with him to the aircraft.

"You're not like them."

"Yes, I am. They're metas and around my age. Weren't you the one who said I had to work on my people skills?" You cocked a brow as you stared at him. Clint stayed silent, giving you the answer.

"They were fighting for their country after it was attacked. They have all the right to be distrustful-"

"After one conversation, you can tell apart the difference between good guys and bad guys?"

"I don't know, Clint, you tell me. You were the one who chose to take in a kid who almost choked your best friend to death and attempted to impale Americas biggest playboy with a fucking branch." You hissed lowly, frowning and looking forward.

"You were, and still are, a kid." Clint said, voice becoming hard and stricter.

"Oh, well, fuck me, I didn't realize the twins were in their eighties."

"Quit giving me attitude, (Y/N). I want to protect you. You don't know if they're gonna stab us in the back when we least expect it. If we destroy Ultron and they stay on our side, you can play dolls with them." Clint said, approaching the aircraft.

"Whatever." You entered the aircraft, taking a seat. The others entered not long after. The twins sat down beside you as Clint headed to the front.

"We didn't get you in trouble, did we?" Wanda asked quietly, glancing over at Clint. You shook your head, toying with the roots in order to relax.

"No, just.. Strict dad drama." You muttered. Wanda tilted her head, making eye contact with Pietro before it clicked.

"Oh.. He adopted you? That's nice." Wanda gave a small smile. "Maybe the Avengers aren't so heartless."

"We aren't." You assured, looking between her and Pietro. "It'll take a while but.. We can all grow to trust each other."

"I hope so." Pietro breathed out, hands going to the belt as the aircraft lifted up. You chuckled at the nervous look on his face.

[youranxiousnerd]

Second Chances Thoughts

bc what

spoilers below

i have...thoughts

ah no chaotic intro, f in the chat

it’s still a nice intro, tho

IM SORRY ARE THEY NOT SHOWING THE TRANSFORMATION?!?!

WHAT

THIS IS A HATE CRIME /j

i used the thingy

no bows either?!?!

this is called high school musical: the musical: the series not high school musical: the backstage drama: the series

wow they got changed fast

“Passable!” 

I’ll be the judge of that oh wait i cant bc they didnt show us

YES QUEEN ASHLYN GETTING THE LOVE SHE DESERVES

ashlyn is such a queen

the perfect belle, stunning

“A couple letters, actually” it’s a sign (literally)

flower touch

AWWW REDLYN

STOP THEY’RE ADORABLE

they love each other so much

east high kids be snooping

not me thinking about carlos’ hand on seb’s back we were robbed im taking what i can get

“You were the perfect Belle tonight. I was really proud”

“Evil genius”

they’re so happy

AWWW A REDLYN KISS WHOOP WHOOP

kourt and howie are so awkward 

“drumroll?”

howie and seb would get along

weird little playoff, maybe he is lying?

they’re cute, tho

sad that they didn’t really get any build-up

“happy now?” “yes”

“If it’s with you, always” MY HEART

just like a fanfic

kourtney just invited north highs beast to east highs cast party

OH MY GOD MAZZARA IS ACTUALLY GETTING A STORY ABOUT HIM

i was not expecting that okay

ej and mazzara are the best

gina is so happy too bad it wont last

gina is an actress 

gahhhh portwell drama

oh god rini let the drama begin

that was very calm, did someone possess nini and ricky?

i really like them as best friends. i was a hardcore rini shipper last season but with all their constant conflict i realized how much fun they are as friends

“we are literally on the same page” 

“just for a moment” I LOST MY SHIT

miss jenn no

oooo seblos please be good

Seb calling Miss. Jenn out on her bullshit since idk when

“That’s a hard never mind now” okay wow

Miss. Jenn is Carlos’ godmother 

This is theatre, not football

CRYING GINA

gini

GINA SUPPORT DAY IS A THING PEOPLE!!!!!

oh wow a plot line actually being addressed

season 1 callback im not ready

gina and nini people!!! 

very sweet scene

ahha jamie callback we all knew it

i would really like to see miss jenns batb audition notes

“I’m in a great place, mentally” if you were you wouldn’t be saying that

OMFG IS SHE NOT GOING TO APOLOGIZE!?!?!

like that was a big deal, a big effing deal and then nothing?

you told a kid to jump off something high and you can’t even say “sorry”?!?!

back to the miss jenn love triangle

“I think I’m happy, or gettin’ there”

ricky you don’t have to be there yet it’s okay

that line hit

SEASON 1 OUTFITS

CORE 4 SONG

killer harmonies

sofia giving us that alto rep!!

portwell duet! audition outfits

very good, very very good. this song kinda screams autotune but it still sounds very good. 

last song of the season NOOO but very fitting

Is it just me or does “Second Chance” look like a music video they show in Justice (the teen store) in 2014?

cast bonding yay!

PAUSE THE ONLY SEBLOS MOMENT WE GOT THIS EPISODE WAS A WRIST HOLD?!?!!

DISNEY WTF

LIKE EVERY COUPLE GOT THEIR MOMENT AND ALL THEY GET IS A WRIST HOLD

BFBLBFIWGFSDMBF

shit why does my favorite ship have to be the gay one on a disney show?

east high booing the lily and french boi has me on the floor

“Big Red, you were also in it” BEST LINE OF THE FINALE OMFG

i missed antoine 

sorry carlos has glitter on his face

seb’s smile and wave at north high why am i laughing?

off topic but i have unintentionally started doing the seb wave (you know the one) (with the fingers) in real life.

also gay chair sit

e.j is also doing the gay chair sit 

lily what

you have had like one conversation

ew

she says she likes his face but not his personality? 

im calling bullcrap

pause didn’t lily steal the harness? are we just going to forget about that

probably, the writers did forgot to develop seblos

Let Ricky be single challenge

ANTOINE MY LOVE

REDLYN I LOVE YOU

SHUSH EJ’S SPEECH TIME TO SOB

ummmm

so this season has been for nothing?

all the shit they went through (the self-doubt, relationship problems, the injuries, the death threats) is for nothing?!?

since when does Miss. Jenn not care anymore about the Menkies?!?!

I actually get the kids side of this, but not Miss. Jenn’s. 

I was surprised they took this route with the Menkies, didn’t even cross my mind 

“It was five”

Big Red x medicine 

bet your ass ashlyn would have gotten a nomination best actress

“We got a pizza oven” THE EAST HIGH KIDS ARE COMMITTING ARSON

is mazzara staying for miss jenn? they could do long distance but it doesnt have the best rep in this show

gini

ashlyn is the captain of the portwell ship and nini is her right hand man (or whatever second best is called in sailing)

NINI MAKIN THE DEALS

RICKY WHY ARE YOU CALLING HER

WHYYYYYY

“Will you be my first kiss” smiles

OH MY GOD

WAIT NOTHING

WHAT

OMFG THEY CUT IT LMAO

“this summer is about to get hot” SUMMER SEASON 3?!?!

ANTOINE

OMFG HE BETTER COME BACK

I LOVE ABF

WAIT THATS IT

FWBEGLEWG

THATS IT

hey they ended with andrew barth feldman what more can you ask for?

Thats...it?

Oh wait some cast stuff...brb ima cry. The ending has some very series finale energy...I’m scared. Natalie wouldn’t have done the “buckle up wildcats” if there wasn’t a season 3, right? But the bloopers at the end...

The cast ending was great. “You are the Music in Me” was so heartfelt and I’m a sucker for bloopers.

Wait so no Lily home? It was probably a cut scene. 

If we got Lily home, can we get an album with the cast singing all the BATB songs? 

I have so many mixed feelings about this episode. Here is the thing, if you love the core 4 then this was your episode. If you’re like me and prefer the side leads then this was probably a little disappointing since we barely saw them. This episode felt rushed and a little messy, but there were some great moments. Season 2′s writing has felt a little weird. This season lacked the chaotic theater kid energy season 1 had. It was one of the reasons I fell in love with the show. If/when we get a season 3 I really hope the writers find that energy again.

Let’s all give a round of applause for the cast and crew who filmed majority of the season during a global pandemic. That could not have been easy. They gave us a pretty good season under crazy conditions. They definitely had to change some things to fit the current climate. Overall, hats off the the cast and crew because you guys killed it. 

I’m really going to miss this show, hopefully it gets renewed. It has become a comfort show these past several weeks. My sanity says “no, don’t go” but my sleep schedule says “leave.”

To second chances!!

[quickspinner]

A for Effort

Written for the @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers Sprint Challenge. This week’s challenge was a round robin, and I got to write with @sapphicmarinette and @ladycat1! 

Our prompt was Ladybug Juleka and Black Cat Luka are superheroes who keep having to rescue their respective pink damsels in distress...but I read it completely wrong and I was the first sprinter, so we have Black Cat Juleka and Ladybug Luka instead! We had to take a little extra time to do this because after our allotted 3 sprints we had the first half of a chapter of a multipart epic, so we had to do some last minute brainstorming to reign it in....but I really hope one of us chooses to expand on it further because it’s such a fascinating idea!

Thanks for writing with me friends! 

Luka and Juleka trooped into their room, one after the other, and both of them flopped on their beds with identical groans of exhaustion. 

“When we find Hawkmoth,” Juleka mumbled, “I get first dibs.” 

Luka snorted, but for once, didn’t rise to the bait of their typical post-battle debate. “I can’t believe you did that.”

Juleka frowned. “If I hadn’t jumped in front of it, that blast would have—”

“No, not that,” Luka interrupted, and then sat up and flopped in the other direction on his bed so that he could look across at her. Juleka looked over and knew the smirk on his face was trouble. She started turning red, and Luka laughed. “See, you know exactly what I mean,” he chortled, flopping onto his back. Juleka glared at Plagg, who was snickering from his perch on her foot. 

The kwami’s only response to her glare was to shove more of his disgusting cheese in his mouth. Juleka groaned, and pulled a pillow over her face. “I can’t believe I did that either,” she muttered. 

“You kissed her hand .” Luka grinned, handing a giggling Tikki another cookie. “You swept her up in your arms, carried her to safety, and then you got all up in her face—” 

Juleka folded her arms over the pillow and screamed. 

“I’m dying to know what you said,” Luka added.

“NO,” she barked, and he chuckled. 

“And then you took her hand and you—”

“What about you?” Juleka said suddenly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and sitting up, hurling the pillow at him all in one smooth motion that he had to admire. 

Until her words hit him. “What?”

Juleka smirked. “ She was there again too.” 

Luka’s ears went red, and Juleka smirked wider. “Is that why you tripped over that fire extinguisher?” Juleka asked innocently, and cackled when he threw the pillow back at her.

“I really hope she didn’t see that,” Luka muttered, slapping his hands over his face and dropping back on the bed. “I just wasn’t expecting to see her there!”

“Especially not wearing that outfit,” Juleka snickered. 

“Oh my God,” Luka groaned. He definitely hadn’t expected to see her in that sweet little red and black spotted dress. “I thought I was going to die. Worst hero death ever.” He couldn’t help the goofy grin that wanted to tug at the corner of his mouth. “Just imagine if your little blonde pixie—” 

“Her name is Rose .” 

Luka rolled over to look at her. “Imagine if you showed up and Rose was wearing that dress, only in black and green.” He raised his eyebrows. “With kitty ears .” 

Juleka blushed again, and sighed. “It’s a good thing we have practice today,” she muttered.

“Tell me about it,” Luka agreed. “I’m gonna be playing this out for days .” He frowned, and Juleka raised her eyebrows as his expression grew thoughtful. “There sure are a lot of akumas coming out of that school,” he said at last.

“Well, the mayor’s daughter does go there,” Juleka pointed out, rolling her eyes.

“True. I’m glad you didn’t end up going there. Still.” He shook his head slightly. “Maybe we should go over there sometime and...I dunno. Investigate.” He cringed slightly at the sound of himself. He was good at making plans in the moment, but when it came to the larger goal of capturing Hawkmoth over time, he felt pretty deficient. 

Juleka pretended not to notice his insecurities. “It might be worth it, I guess,” she shrugged, and then gave him a sharp look. “And if we just so happen to run into a pretty blue-eyed, black-haired girl—”

“Or a blonde,” Luka grumbled, picking at the rips in his jeans.

“I don’t know if you’re a genius or an idiot,” Juleka muttered, and then sighed. “All right. I’m in.” 

 ***

A few days later, Juleka texted him a flyer. Gaming Tournament 15/2, at Collège Françoise Dupont, students 13+ from other schools welcome! Luka had agreed that it was the perfect time to investigate. They’d have a reason to be there, and they’d be able to go as civilians, not Misterbug and Lady Violette. Going as superheroes would mean the public would be watching— Hawkmoth would be watching. There would be more breathing room as Juleka and Luka Couffaine.

On the inside, Collège Françoise Dupont seemed fine. The hallways were clean, the furniture was in good shape, and the adult who greeted them at the door seemed perfectly pleasant. 

The gaming tournament was held in the library, with a big projector screen on one wall with rows and rows of audience chairs. The two gamers would sit on two separate seats near the front, with everybody watching them. Luka realized that he might not want to play a round, with all those strangers staring at him, but he signed up his name on the registration sheet anyway.

The room was dark to accommodate the bright screen, so Luka actually couldn’t distinguish the faces that were not directly in front of him. It made him feel more at ease, at least. “Have you seen Rose?” he asked.

“Not so loud,” Juleka hissed, socking him in the shoulder. Luka laughed good-naturedly, even though it hurt. “She could overhear you and then wonder how I know her name.”

“Hey, I just thought you wouldn’t want me to say ‘blonde pixie—’”

“Shut up,” Juleka replied with a huff. “Come on, let’s sit in the back.”

“Sure,” Luka agreed, deciding that he had filled his annoying sibling quota for the day already. He followed her into the back row, which was currently empty.

“Hey, that’s her,” Juleka said, and Luka followed her gaze to find Rose. Rose was talking animatedly to another student and holding a gaming controller. She must be going in the next round, which meant that Juleka would be distracted for the next ten minutes. Maybe now would be a good time to leave the room and scout around a bit.

“I’m gonna look around a bit,” he told Juleka, who nodded and gestured him off. He considered saying something along the lines of we’re not here just to watch pretty girls play video games but then decided against it. It was not like there was an akuma, after all. It was okay to let Juleka have fun for a night.

Luka slipped out into the hallway just before the next round started, letting out a sigh of relief the moment that he was on the other side of the door. The bustling atmosphere of the gaming room wasn’t a bad thing, per se, but he certainly lost his taste for it after a while. Especially since it was a room full of strangers.

After he took a moment to calm his breathing, he tried to think of what he should be investigating. How far could he wander and still be able to claim that it was to ‘look for the bathroom’? Maybe just this first floor, then.

“Can I help you find anything?”

He recognized that voice. Of course he recognized that voice.

Luka schooled his facial expression into something neutral and unaffected before he turned around. “I was just getting some air,” he told her. “Thank you, though.”

“I understand,” she said. It was a little surreal, seeing her in a quiet environment. There was no akuma threatening her or the rest of Paris. It was just the two of them in an empty hallway, and she had absolutely no idea who he was. “Sometimes it gets a bit too loud for me in there, too! Are you a student here? I’ve never seen you before.”

Luka only let it hurt his feelings a little bit. “No, I’m not,” he told her. “Um, we actually came because my sister was thinking of transferring here. Do you…do you like it here? Are the students nice?” The concept of Juleka transferring to this school was only a half-lie. On her worst days, when she’d come back from school with a clear air of frustration, she’d mutter about transferring somewhere better. Certainly never to Collège Françoise Dupont, though.

She lit up, as though it was the best question that she had ever been asked. He found himself proud that he had been the one to put that expression there. “Oh! Yes! I’d say that the majority of students here are super sweet! There are a few students who…struggle with manners, I suppose, but I think it’s dealt with well. I’ve also heard that there’s less drama in the other classes. I happen to have a few… conflicting personalities in mine. What’s your sister’s name? I should introduce myself.”

“Her name’s Juleka. She’s a little shy,” he said. He wondered about this class of hers. Was the mayor’s daughter in it, like Juleka suggested? How many of them made up the akumatizations? Luka debated the social etiquettes of it, and then asked, “What’s yours?”

“Oh! I’m Marinette.”

“Luka,” he introduced himself in return. Marinette. It was a pretty name for a pretty girl. “Well, I’m certainly honored to have met you, Marinette.”

Something about his words made her stumble, but she seemed to recover quickly. “Have I… have I met you before?” she asked.

Luka paused.

Yes. He wanted to say. You’ve met me in my superhero form. But he knew better.

“I’m...not sure.” he answered instead. “I don’t think so.”

Marinette shrugged, and wrapped a lock of her hair around her finger. “Oh, okay. For some odd reason, your face looked familiar,” she explained. 

Satisfied with her answer, Luka nodded, then stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Are you playing in the tournament?” he decided to ask. Marinette’s face lit up once again, and Luka couldn’t help but suppress a tiny smile at how cute she was.

“Oh yes! I’ve actually loved to play video games since I was a little girl! Are you playing in the tournament?” she asked. Luka nodded in return.

“I’m not that great at gaming though. Not really anyone in my family. We’re more music-oriented.” he said. 

“Music? Do you play any instruments?” Marinette asked, and Luka internally winced at how off-topic the conversation had gone. After all, he had come here to investigate the number of Hawkmoth akumatizations, not chat about instruments. Nevertheless, he answered. 

“Yeah. I play the guitar—actually both Juleka and Ma do too.” He answered. Marinette nodded, an awkward silence falling over them.

Gesturing back to the hallway that led back to the library, Luka shuffled his feet a bit. “Well I should go back in there now,” he smiled, “Since the tournament is done, you know.” he said. Marinette chimed in a ‘me too’, and the two walked silently to the library. Parting ways at the doorway. Luka quickly paced to Juleka, who was still ogling at Rose, and tapped her on the shoulder.

“The game’s over, Jules. You don’t have to keep staring at her like that, y’know.” he said, rolling his eyes, and Juleka turned around and shot him an irritated look. 

“You didn’t have to say that so loud, you know.” she mumbled, causing Luka to smile. “Anyways, see anything interesting while you were looking around?” she asked. Luka shrugged and shook his head. 

“Not really. Met Marinette though,” he smiled, a grin appearing as he recited Marinette’s name.

“Who’s— oh.” the words dying in Juleka's throat, as she saw the dark-haired blue-eyed girl grab a game controller and a nametag with the name ‘Marinette’ on her.

“So that’s why you didn’t see anything worthy to investigate. You were distracted. ” Juleka smirked, and Luka gave her a look TM . “Anyways, this school seems pretty tame. The only thing that hints upon the reason for the number of akumatizations that happen here is the mayor’s daughter—Chloe Bourgeois. I heard a few kids talking about her here. A real big drama queen—and a huge school bully.” Juleka shrugged, and Luka nodded. That made a lot of sense. But it wouldn’t really help in the long run finding Hawkmoth. Perhaps Hawkmoth’s civilian identity was linked to some students at this school. Or maybe he worked here. That would be a valid reason for him targeting most students at this school.

Luka jerked suddenly as his name was called, and he turned around automatically. The organizer was standing at the front with a clipboard and—and Marinette was approaching him. Luka’s gaze snapped up to the board they had set up and saw his name across from Marinette’s.

Oh— 

“I’m going to kill you slowly,” Luka said conversationally as Juleka began snickering behind him. “Tikki, what the hell happened to that whole ‘good luck’ schtick?”

There was a high-pitched but quiet giggle from his hood. “It all depends on your point of view, doesn’t it,” Tikki whispered as Luka made his way mechanically to the front. 

He was going to have to play in front of all these people, and against her , and oh this was possibly the worst idea he’d ever had. 

“Don’t worry,” Marinette smiled at him as he sat next to her. “I’ll go easy on you.” She winked, and smirked , and Luka was pretty sure his soul departed the building at that point.

His body, however, was still stuck there, and he tried to get his head in the literal game so he didn’t look like too much of a fool. 

Marinette was really good, though. Luka had good reflexes and excellent hand-eye coordination, but damn . Some detached part of his brain noticed that Marinette was a tactical thinker, and he had to appreciate that. He wondered briefly what she would do with, say, the mouse miraculous, that they rarely used because it was physically weak but in the hands of someone like Marinette, it might really be— 

He stared at the flashing screen dumbly for a moment before he realized that his thrashing was finally over. He mustered up a grin for Marinette and turned to congratulate her, and froze when she held her hand out to him. 

He had never touched her without his suit in the way. 

But if he didn’t, she would think he was a sore loser and—

Luka swallowed and shook her hand awkwardly. Her hand was tiny in his.  

“Good game,” he managed to say, letting go of her as quickly as he could. 

“You did pretty good!” Marinette smiled encouragingly. “Especially if you don’t play that regularly.” She made a face and Luka felt his own turning red. “Sorry you had to go up against me in the first round, though. Luck of the draw, I guess!”

“It’s all good, I was only playing for fun anyway,” Luka said, hoping he sounded, if not smooth, at least natural . “It was kind of a whim. Sometimes I just get these crazy ideas, and you know, why not?” He clenched his teeth against any more babble. 

“It’s good to be spontaneous,” she said kindly, and Luka tried to think of a way to make a quick exit. He didn’t know why he ever thought it was a good idea to meet her in his civilian identity, she must think he was so lame—

Her head tilted slightly and she gave him that look again. “Are you sure we haven’t met before?” she said, scrutinizing his face, and Luka was suddenly looking at her lips and remembering how she’d kissed his cheek the last time he’d saved her and he needed to get out of there now .

“Uh...I mean well— you wouldn’t know!” Luka managed to stutter out, but then slammed his out shut, realizing what he had just said. 

Idiot. 

He had practically given himself away! Sweating nervously, Luka glanced around— anywhere but at Marinette’s face —to find an escape.

“Wait... what?” Marinette asked, bewildered. “What do you mean?” she asked, slowly, as realization struck on her face.

Crap! He felt a hard tug on the back of his hair and knew that Tikki was also freaking out back there in his hood. Ugh, he had to do something!

Luka fidgeted nervously, panic coursing through his veins. He silently prayed that somehow an akuma would appear so he could leave. Fortunately, luck was on his side as a bell rang through the school indicating that an akuma had appeared. Finally. 

“I s-should really get going! Ma doesn’t like it when J-Jules and I stay out during akumas!” Luka rambled, running up to Juleka, and grabbed her hand. Marinette pulled a skeptical face as she saw Luka leave. 

“What was that all about?” asked Juleka, as the two ran into an alleyway to transform.

God, he was so screwed.

[jq37]

The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 15 The Two Balls

A Hard Knock Life

Welcome back to A Crown of Candy as we march ever closer to the finale which is good because I can only take so much more chocolate coated drama. The party has just killed the SPF and, as Rina and her crew start to exit the temple, she enters a flashback that’s intense enough that they used a CW so, for that reason, I’m going to put it under the cut.

It’s the year 1196 and it’s almost High Frosting’s Eve (read: Bulb Christmas). A five-year-old Rina is being kept at the Abbey of the Shimmering Cream in the Dairy Seas but she’s not being kept well. As she looks out over the sea, waiting for the day her mom will sail back in and realize she made a mistake in abandoning her as she is wont to do, a nun shows up to bring her to the Mother Superior who’s sent for her. 

On the way there, she catches a glimpse of Lazuli in a mirror who comforts her and says that she’s not bad or wrong for being able to do the things she can do and that, “The world is dark and dangerous but there are forces other than wickedness in this world.” Lazuli starts to say that she’s been trying to help but--and she’s cut off as Rina walks into the next room and loses sight of the mirror.

The Mother Superior is waiting for Rina, switch in hand, and says that she’s heard kids talking about some crazy magic stuff Rina can do. Rina lies and says the kids are making it up and the Mother Superior switches her across the face saying that lying is a sin. She straps Rina to a chair and asks if she sees eyes in the mirror. Rina (who is still being played by Emily even though she is five) says, “Doesn’t everyone?” The Mother Superior doesn’t appreciate the line as much as I do because she smacks her again. She says that all she wishes for Rina is obedience and silence and asks what the woman in the mirror says to her. Rina, knowing that whatever she says is gonna get her smacked, says that the woman says that there’s nothing wrong with her and she doesn’t have to hide the way she is. In response, the Mother Superior takes out a holy symbol of the Bulb and starts heating it up in the fire. 

The box the symbol came out of has enough of a reflective surface inside that Lazuli is able to tell Rina that there are people in her corner and she’s suffering now but it won’t be forever but she’s again cut off by the Mother Superior who says that this self acceptance nonsense sounds like Hungry One talk. Rina says she’s not scared of anything physical the Mother Superior can do to her but, unfortunately, she’s not here to do anything to her body. She’s here for her soul. She presses the now heated holy symbol into Rina’s chest, causing her blinding pain and cutting her off from Lazuli who desperately tries to keep the connection open.

When she comes back to herself, devastated and tearful, the Mother Superior pledges to burn the Hungry One out of her as many times as it takes and send her to her room without sans morning breakfast privileges. Before she can go however, the Mother Superior stops her and asks why she’s always staring across the sea. Does she really think her dad is Prince Amethar? Not only is that obviously false but, even if it was true, he clearly doesn’t want her. Not even her mom wanted her. Rina (sounding like she’s trying to convince herself) says that her mom did want her. She was just scared and wanted to protect her. The Mother Superior says that her mom was trying to protect the world from her because she’s dangerous and her father isn’t Amether, he’s nothing. Rina shoots back that if her father is no one, then how come she can speak to the winds and command the waves? And why is she so scared of her? The Mother Superior doesn’t have an answer for that. She sends Rina to her room.

In the present day, Rina descends the mountain, dragon around her neck, followers by her side, and crown on her head. She will never be hurt like that again.

Ruby watches them go (Theo and Cumulus going with her and talking strategy) and then goes to find her dad who is still on the ledge. She asks Amethar how peace happens? How do you keep living once you’ve been through something like this? He answers that he’s the wrong person to ask. He’s just been going through the motions since the Ravening War ended. But they reaffirm that they love each other and hug before realizing they can’t see Liam anymore. And, speaking of Liam…

Gastronomy and Cosmology

Liam feels himself falling through endless fire and he can smell cinnamon and it hurts terribly but almost in a good way because, as we can recognize by the way Brennan describes it, he is essentially experiencing the sensation of being eaten and he knows that he tastes good.

As we heard last week, Liam felt a hand grab him but it’s actually less of a hand, more of a paw--a little chocolate rabbit’s paw. Lapin! He and Lapin are in this weird kinda semi disintegrated part of the Ice Cream Temple that’s continuing to break apart. Lapin is also disintegrating but not fully. It’s like the pieces that are coming off of him flaking off and cycling back continually, like Thanos is trying to snap him over and over. Additionally, the middle part of him is translucent and there are three foil-wrapped, chocolate egg-wishes in his chest. 

Anyway, we learn that Lapin is essentially there to pack up because the party killing the SPF means he and all the other residents of Candy Heaven have been evicted (which, yeah, checks out--you destroy a load bearing boss, her heaven implodes) and have to go to the Hungry One. Liam asks if that’s a bad thing and Lapin says not necessarily but it does mean they won’t be able to communicate with them anymore. But, on a happier note, Preston is there! He’s apparently not stopped following around Lapin since he was told to.

Liam tells Lapin that they’re super screwed and asks what they should do. Lapin in response takes Liam up to a viewing balcony so he can better see the state of the weird extraplanar space they’re in. The illusion-castle is in the middle of the two titular balls--one red, swirling and consuming, the other bright and shining. The Hungry One and the Bulb. And Lapin gets to fully explain his pre-death realization. The Hungry One and the Bulb have no agency. They’re simple light and dark. Creation and destruction. Two sides of the same coin. Cosmic constants. They’re not really gods and neither are beings like the SPF--(spirits like her are more like living spells). Liam confirms that there’s no way to get back the people they’ve lost and asks if there’s any point in killing more people. Should he just be a seed guy again?

Lapin says there’s nothing wrong with being a seed guy and the three eggs in his chest meld with the three peppermint heart seeds Preston coughs up and float in front of him--one is glowing red, one is glowing gold, and the third is shimmering like Lapin’s robes. They represent the power to destroy, create, and change. Lapin offers him one and Liam--unsurprisingly to anyone who’s watched Ally play D&D for any length of time--picks the change one instantly. Lapin says it’s good to see Liam again and he wakes up in the dragon’s nest, Ruby and Amethar above him. He tells them everything he learned and shows them the egg/wish/seed. None of them can tell exactly how it works or what it does so Liam stashes it for safekeeping.

The gang checks out the section of the temple that had the illusion and conjuration magic. The illusion magic has faded and all that’s left is the conjuration so it seems like whatever they see will be true and what they see is scenes of the past in ice crystals on the walls (before they’re whisked away by Lapin from the other side). Everyone rolls to see what they see--and Ruby rolls a Nat 20. Liam sees memories of dragons past, huge and terrifying. He also sees Lapin in his youth as a street urchin, breaking into a druid monastery, stealing a spell meant to summon the SPF and force her to give you three wishes, and having it Fullmetal Alchemist backfire on him so that he instead had to serve her and give her three wishes. Ruby wants to see who’s loyal and who’s not. She sees that there are people in Rina’s camp, Jawbreaker’s crew, and back home who aren’t on the level but no named characters. Cara’s all good. Joren is and the four sisters were all good. Rina and her closest confidants are all sincere in what they’ve been saying. Amethar sees memories of him and his four sisters. Then (on Ruby’s passed on Nat 20) he sees a memory from when he was about 16 of his sisters having an argument with their mom who they did *not* get along with about the war which hasn’t fully broken out yet. King Jadain is in the middle trying to keep the peace but really trying to just escape the conflict. He says he has to use the bathroom and peaces out to sit on the steps where Amethar happens to be.   

Amethar asks if he’s alright and Jadain tries to play it off like he wasn’t shaking and near tears. He says he wishes he was as strong willed and decisive as his wife/daughters. Amethar asks for assurance that he’s going to fight but Jadain says that their motto is In Sweetness There is Strength and fighting wouldn’t be very sweet. He asks Amethar if he’d ever want the crown because he could have it if he did. Amethar says he doesn’t. He’s a war guy like Joren. Jadain says that there may be a time for war guys soon. He then says that he never wanted to be king. It’s too much responsibility and it’s not fair. Young Amethar says that, regardless, he’s king. He has to be king. Words that echo in his head in the present.

Parties and Planning

Rina and crew gather enough weapons to outfit maybe 100 guys and then Rina blows up the entrance to the Temple so the Sanctus Putris (or whoever else) can’t get in but they can come back later to get the rest of the loot.

They go back to Manylicks which has been retaken and is now flying House Rocks and House Jawbreaker flags. One of Liam’s dick older brothers makes the mistake of trying to mess with the newly minted war guy and gets fully shot on sight. 

There’s a lot of partying for them and, at the end of the week, it’s Liam’s 18th birthday. His dad gives him Chillguard--a breastplate that raises his AC to 16. Joren says that since they’re out of the Concord, he doesn’t have to be a ward anymore and he can come back home but Liam says he doesn’t really want to. He says that he’s asexual, he’s gonna find himself a romance partner someone to settle down with, go back to being a seed guy, and move out because Castle Manylicks kinda sucks for him. His dad says he’s super valid and they hug (and also talk about polyamory because when Brennan gets into it, he gets *into it*).

War updates! There are still crusaders in the South but they’ve been driven out of the Mountains. The Imperial force backed out--Ceresian forces along with them--because Primsy wrote a letter saying, “Uh, hey, remember that Concord thing we’re all a part of? That’s still on and you’re breaking it. There’s another heir.” The crusade is still on though and Cruller is still letting it happen. 

Rina has her coronation which envoys from both the Dairy Islands and Meatlands attend. It’s a fully pagan ceremony but there’s just enough of a veneer or Bulbian propriety that they can stamp their approval on it and call it legit. Post ceremony there’s more partying which at a certain point devolves into a Bulb Bible Bonfire which Cara is super not about because she is an actual, practicing Bulbian. 

Primsy, who arrived with the Dairy peeps, swears to Rina and then goes to see Liam who she has a little bit of a flirtatious conversation with. She’s already been married once so she’ll probably end up in a political marriage with a minor noble like a count (what a coincidence, Liam happens to be a count!) and she’s not interested in being slammed down big style. They go to hold hands and take a walk.

Ruby and Amethar get Jack to give them Jet tattoos over their hearts. 

A lot of espionage happens. Rina uses two artifacts from the temple to help here--a crystal milkshake pool and flock of white chocolate ravens--while Liam (who got a Nat 20 +12) is leading a team of rangers to ambush messengers and intercept messages. Cumulus and his order are also getting a lot done now that their magic is coming back online. 

In the Southern Great Stone Candy Mountains, the above group ends up in a burning town where everyone except Bulbians have been killed by crusaders. Jon Bon pulls a bleeding priest out of the church and demands that he produce a letter and he does--it’s from the Pontifex. As Rina is about to read it, Cinnamon clocks the Bulbian holy symbol he’s wearing and snarls. Rina grabs the symbol and Creates Bonfire on it. As she does that, the spot above his heart on his chest starts to glow just as Cinnamon’s eyes do. Rina takes a moment and then says, “Go for it baby.” Cinnamon leaps off of her neck and starts ripping into this guy and all of her men start killing the other priests. The villagers start to run and the marauders are about to chase them but Rina orders they spare them and her men obey. Cinnamon finishes up the priest by eating his heart and Rina swears, he looks just a little bigger. I hear Feed Me Seymour playing faintly in the distance and I don’t like it.

Rina casts Cone of Cold with Winterscoop to put out the fires and looks at the villagers--the villagers who must be having a roller coaster of a week because they are Bulbian but got conquered by Bulbians and then saw a bunch of other Bulbians get absolutely viciously slaughtered. She says that many of them probably went to the Bulb for salvation, but hopefully today, they’ll see who really saved them.

Cinnamon looks at all the dead priests and looks to Rina for permission. Emily, who also clearly hears the Little Shop of Horror music playing, takes a moment and then Rina allows him to feed and feed and feed.

Oh, and the letter! It’s from the Pontifex to Kerradin and it says that the meeting with all their enemies will be in about 2 weeks. 

Gooey heard news that there are Bulbian crusaders hiding in Port Syrup waiting for the church to save them. Rina sends Gooey to go take care of it and, with some hesitation (and with the help of some dragon-puppy dog eyes), also sends Cinnamon who is now the size of a horse (mmm, don’t love that).

All this info gathered, there is a war council. The attitude seems to be that Primsy’s letter is helping for now but they really need an emperor/empress on the throne or else people will be coming for Candia again. The group talks about going to Castle Candy as a small assassination team (with a small contingent of soldiers) and sneaking in the way Theo snuck out with Cara. They can’t teleport there though because the crusaders destroyed all the standing stones close-by. But they can hitch a ride with Annabelle if it’s just a few people. Rina sends her ravens to look at Castle Candy and sees that there are lot of guys surrounding it but they’re un-unified crusaders so as long as they move really fast, retaking the castle is doable. 

They also plan to send some troops to Castle Candy from the North so it seems like that’s the real invasion force while they sneak in from the Cola River (on Annabelle’s ships). Primsy says that she can write to Cruller to say that she’ll finally recognize him as legit so that when three Dairy Island ships arrive, it won’t be suspicious. 

They go to Port Syrup to meet with Annabelle and see that the town has been wrecked. The Bulbian churches are totally destroyed. People are scared. Everything smells like ash and war. Cinnamon, now the size of a house (!!!), finds Rina to beg for pets like a dog.

Amethar, while wandering the city, finds the corpse of Sir Morris Brie who they left in charge of Port Syrup and, as a Bulbian, was caught up in the sacking of the city. Amethar sadly sits with his dead friend’s body, fused into his armor.

Rina goes to Theo and tells him that she loves Cinnamon so much because he’s the only one who’s ever loved her with the unconditional family kind of love but she knows that, for that reason, she can’t be trusted to be rational about him so he needs to tell her if she’s going to far. Theo says that if they’re going to use Cinnamon, they need to be careful and not just send him off. He also says she needs to discipline him which makes her remember all the ways she was disciplined as a child. 

Ruby goes to find Annabelle to try and get some life advice because things are so crazy. Annabelle assures her that things are really bad--she’s not just overreacting--and tells her that when she was stripped of her titles and land, it was a choice she made for freedom over responsibility. She doesn’t know if it was the right choice but it’s what she had to do to be free. Even so, she recognizes that she did turn her back on responsibility. Then she says she has to talk to Amethar.

Annabelle finds Amethar and tells him they found Catherine Ghee’s gravestone. She died in 1196 on the 12th of Harvestdusk. She got really sick after she sent Rina to the Abbey and was really scared of the Rocks family coming after her (or maybe became really religious). Amethar thanks her and goes to tell Rina. Rina accepts the news and asks who sent all the people to threaten her. When Amethar reacts with confusion, Rina explains that when she was a kid, her mom was scared all the time because Candian messengers threatened her. Amethar says that he only sent people to find her which Rina confirms with a Detect Thoughts. He loved her and just wanted to see her again which is news to Rina. Amethar says he’s sorry about the life she’s had and he’s sorry he screwed this up too and Rina says that it means a lot to her that he even tried to find Ghee. Rina also asks if she detected any love for her in Amethar thoughts and is told that there’s a very small part of Amethar that wants to love her. 

Amethar goes back to his quarters and tells Cara the news (and I have to imagine she’s like, join the club buddy). She asks when she died and he says twenty years. Her eyes go wild. When exactly. What’s the exact date? 12th of Harvestdusk, 1196. That’s five days BEFORE he married Cara. Which means he’s NOT an oathbreaker. Which means their wedding was LEGIT. Which means the Pontifex had NO GROUNDS to kick him out of the Concord. He is the RIGHTFUL KING OF CANDIA.     

(”Bastard no more!” Siobhan crows.)

And that’s it for the week!

Things I’m Concerned About

Mmm, ok so Cinnamon. It’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where this doesn’t end in disaster for someone. Like, as the eating and growing was starting, I felt this deep rooted sense of dread and I couldn’t remember exactly what was pinging until the next day and it was, as I’ve referenced twice previously in this recap, Little Shop of Horrors. This is clearly a full Audrey 2 situation except Cinnamon is a lot more ambulatory than a plant. He at least seems like he still recognizes Rina as his mother, which is good but I *really* don’t like where this seems to be going. And listen. If Cinnamon has to go down, you *know* who the person best positioned to do it is. Rina is the most major magic user, she has ice magic which he’s vulnerable to, and he trusts her enough to let his guard down around her. And, most importantly, it’s exactly the kind of mean choice Brennan, “All the Bad Guys” Lee Mulligan would love to foist upon a PC in a season like this. Bad!

And, connected to this, I don’t love how the marauders are handling the whole reverse crusade. Like, not that there’s a perfect way to do this--if someone were trying to genocide me and I had a dragon, I would for sure be deploying the dragon. And Rina did tell them to not kill the people who just happened to be Bulbian in the village but weren’t participating in the crusades so that’s at least some level of care. But what happens when she’s not there to rein them in? Well, we know what happens. Sir Morris Brie. Which is so messed up. You’re a good guy. You stay behind to help with the war effort and protect the town, and then a couple of weeks later you get torched alive by your own team in your armor because it has the wrong symbol on it. It’s messed up. Like, I don’t have the answers on how to wage an ethical war--which sounds like a full oxymoron. I just don’t love what’s happening.

Also, when Brennan said the guy’s chest was glowing before Rina had Cinnamon eat him, I thought it might be that he was unwillingly branded as a child like Rina, but lol guess we’ll never know.

And, addendum, Cara is a devout Bulbian--but obviously a relatively chill one because she’s down with Sweetening Path stuff too because of Lazuli. If she gets caught in the crossfire...like if you’re Ruby and your life just went to hell and your sister is dead and you have a new sister and you’re trying to accept her but you can’t and then her pet kills your mom who you never even really got to make up with? You’re not my queen *or* my sister at that point and it’s instant PvP. I killed a god, what makes you think I won’t fight you? So anyway, hope that doesn’t happen. lol.

So, we now know that the grounds under which Amethar was kicked from the Concord are false which means he is king still and the invasion is unlawful--even without Rina’s existence. But like, a lot of this season has been about political reality, right? So how much utility does this revelation serve? Everyone’s already rallied behind Rina and she has a contingent of very loyal and skilled soldiers who I don’t think would be happy to hear this news (and may think to try and make the problem go away in a stabby way). So if they go out with this info, it calls into question all the work they’ve already built up, forces them to get this new game plan to all their allies, potentially pisses off Rina’s people (and possibly Rina herself depending on how much she’s willing to go with them as allies and without being the lynchpin), and doesn’t give them much more than they’re already getting with Rina on the throne since their goals are mostly aligned as far as we know. And, anyway, Amethar was named emperor which will stand whether or not he’s king. They just need to get his hand on the Book of Leaves and that should be good to go. Rina gets the Candian throne, Amethar gets to be (or has to be depending on your view) emperor. Of course, clearing his name might be important to him and it probably bolsters his position in other ways but I’m just thinking about the big picture politics of the matter. 

Does Ruby keep her Shadow Sorc levels now that Jet is gone? How does that work?

Five More Things

Lol, love how the big twist of CoC is that there are actually no bastards. Only legit children in the eyes of the Bulb. 

Rina as a 5 year old was like that Matilda kind of 5. She was dropping some *intense* lines. Also, imagine having to have your scene right after that one. Yeesh. I recapped that flashback separately from the rest of the episode because it was so much and it was only 14 minutes. Everything else I did in basically one shot!

What did Jadain mean about Amethar getting the crown if he wanted it? What was that about? Brennan gave Lou the Jadain flashback on Siobhan’s Nat 20 so I wonder if that’s a relevant piece of info. Also, the voice for him caught me so off guard. I was like, huh. OK, yeah, checks out. 

Zac, low key king of comedy, in response to Emily/Rina explaining the concept of movie popcorn salad: Are we joining the Ceresians?

Lapin! Oh man, I was so shocked and overjoyed for Lapin to get another scene. I missed that bunny. And to have him kinda allowed out and joking out with Liam (“Are you in pain?”/“All the time.”) was so good. His, “I’m not mad at you,” was so funny and also genuinely emotional? And also, I’m so happy Liam got some closure for Preston. What a banger of a scene. Big props to Ally and esp Zac who also had to give the once per season, “Here is how the universe works,” talk to Ally’s character. 

One More Thing!

Oh man you gotta check out this AMAZING Crown of Candy animatic by @kindlespark. What a killer use of Glitter and Gold. And so comprehensive of the season so far, even recent stuff. So much obvious talent and hard work on display here! 

[therucrap]

RPDR 13 Episode 1 RuCrap

Hello dear internet! I just started a new page for my first ever RPDR RuCrap so please share and follow and I’ll continue if they catch on! Hope you enjoy!

The lucky 13th season of RuPaul’s Trauma Spectacular launches with the promise of “all new surprises” and a brand new twist that will leave you wondering how you ever sat through a boring old premiere with a coherent intro, climax, and conclusion when you could be enduring a dizzying hour and a half of WOW presents Happy Death Day 3: Covid Edition!

We open up on the trusty trauma center - I mean Werk Room - and the first to enter is NYC’s “Dominican Doll” and human drag lingo See ‘N Say Kandy Muse in an elaborate bejeweled patchwork jean mini dress and MATCHING DENIM BOOMBOX and she immediately informs us that we may know her from the now former Haus of Aja which was recently deconstructed like the pair of Wranglers that Kandy is wearing as fingerless gloves. Kandy is no longer alone in VIP because the befeathered Joey Jay arrives and half-heartedly delivers her intro line. “Filler queen!” We discover that Kandy is likely going to provide our Greek chorus confessional this season and all in a soft smoky eye when she informs us uncultured swine that Joey is wearing the cheapest variety of feather - chicken. Kandy didn’t construct an entire outfit from the remnants section of a Joanne Fabrics and not learn a thing or two about quality, sweetie! Joey is determined to beat viewers to the punchline and immediately clucks around branding herself as “basic” and “filler.” Joey is from the city of Phoenix (and possibly the online University as well) but she’s here to rise like a chicken!

Thunder mysteriously rumbles as RuPaul appears on the digitally enhanced Werk room TV but what could this be?! For all you newbies this is one of the several instances in every season where Ru mixes things up and gives us what we really want: a twist that is equal parts confusing, fucks up the natural order of the competition, and is ultimately unfulfilling! Come on season 13, let’s put a bunch of queer people through even more turmoil in a pandemic! Ru has a surprise but they’ll have to head to the mainstage to get the full story that they’ll be recounting to a mental health professional later!

We’re merely four minutes in and here comes Ru down the runway dressed like a glitterdot jellyfish! Our tour guide on Trauma Island introduces us to the main panel of judges for the season - Disco Morticia Addams and the two human Trapper Keepers who are now separated by glass because for the first time in Drag Race herstory we’re in the middle of a international health crisis, mawma!

Now let’s get down to trauma! Ru explains that the queens will be pairing off to lipsync unexpectedly as they enter! What could possibly go wrong? Well if you’re hoping that someone comes in wearing blades on their feet well just stick around because I have quite the treat for you! Our Dungaree Diva and the Chicken Feather Filler hit the Mainstage looking as confused as Shangela researching CDC protocol on her way to Puerto Vallarta last week. The judges interview our test subjects and immediately bring up the Haus of Aja and Kandy clarifies that she’s now an esteemed member of The Doll Haus along with last season’s ever-gorgeous Dahlia Sinn. I personally prefer not to say that Dahlia was eliminated first but instead that she was season 12’s brocco-leading lady! (Writer’s note: if you’re thinking “there’s a drag show called The Doll Haus in my hometown... is it THAT Doll Haus?!” No, there’s a drag show called The Doll Haus in almost every city in America but now, like with the former Sharon Needles, Kim Chis, and Penny Trations of the world, this one’s been on TV and alas, the others must now rename themselves)! Joey also charms the judges with her plucky demeanor and it’s already time to lipsync feather they like it or not!

Gay anthem Call Me Maybe by Canadian legend Carley Rae Jepson begins and Kandy immediately pushes a fake button on her DENIM BOOMBOX to start the party. Honestly... crown her right there on the spot. We will ALWAYS give points for prop work and the Carrot Top of the Bronx does not disappoint. Both are energetic but it’s The Dutchess of Denim who wins by infusing humor and our feathered friend is given “the Porkchop” but before we can even wrap our head around what this means for the state of the competition we snap back to the Werk Room to meet our next unsuspecting victims!

Now dear reader, this is the part where I’m just going to cut the shit. The set-up they’re selling us is that the losers of these premiere lipsyncs will be eliminated from the show but they are obviously not about to Porkchop half of the cast on day one so just stick with me while we suspend disbelief and go on RuPaul’s Totally Twisted Trauma Adventure as she convinces 6 gay people who just spent upwards of $10,000 on clothing, jewelry, and hair and then meticulously packed it into regulation suitcases to travel here during a pandemic after probably not making any money for the last four months (this was filmed in July) that they are going home on day one! This herstory-making twist, like so many before it, exemplifies the show’s worst qualities: a lack of empathy for its contestants, an underestimation of viewer intelligence and ability to decode heavy-handed editing witchery, and its love for completely dismantling its own format every year for the sake of drama. Whatever keeps the Emmy’s coming, baby! When you’re on the other side of one of these twists you usually feel like you just finished your morning coffee only to find out that the barista gave you decaf. Your mind will be blown when it’s happening but the payoff is usually at the expense of the show’s own legitimacy. With that said... this is the punishment we come to gleefully endure every year and we’re not here to complain, we’re here to watch gay people break down, dammit!

It’s deja Ru all over again as we snap back to the Werk Room where Chicago’s Denali walks in on ice skates and immediately ruins any chance of a deposit return for the bumpy, rented roll-out vinyl floors and declares “Let me break the ice!” She’s wearing the expensive feathers that Joey Jay didn’t spring for. Denali might not be the first ice skater on Drag Race but she’s the one I didn’t watch shit on a dick on Twitter last week so let’s give credit where it’s due. Ugh I wish Trinity the Tuck could block THAT from my memory! Next up is Atlanta’s Lala Ri whose white blazer, body suit, and unteased hair is immediately called basic by an icy Denali in confessional. Denali is confident but we know something that she doesn’t and Lala is wearing a sensible dancing ankle boot not two blades on her feet so let’s see how this turns out!

The lipsync song is “When I Grow Up” by Nicole Scherzinger and her assistants who were accidentally given microphones a few times! Denali struggles to conceal her wayward nipples during some ambitious dance moves and all while in skates but Lala gives us a good old fashioned drag performance and a big finale split unbothered by an elaborate costume and ultimately ices Denali who signs off with “Feeling icy, feeling spicy!” Asking these queens to lipsync upon entering is one thing but asking them to improvise their exit lines 10 minutes in is just cruel!

Denali heads backstage devastated where SURPRISE... Joey Jay is sitting alone in a sad room made of plywood walls featuring a bunch of pictures of first eliminated queens, an ominous “Porkchop Loading Dock” sign, and some cocktail tables with no cocktails (how dreadful).

Before we get the full picture and God for bid our bearings on Mr Charles’ Wild Ride let’s leave this plywood hellscape and jump back into the familiar comfort of the Werk Room’s pixelated neon pink faux brick walls where LA’s modelesque Symone stomps in wearing a dress made of tiny Polaroids of herself. She’s stylish, her energy is fresh, and she’s clearly one to watch. Then dear reader life as we know it changes. A breeze comes through the room and God herself blesses us when living legend and matriarch of the Iman dynasty Tamisha Iman from Atlanta arrives in a pointy-shouldered red power suit and proclaims to us simple townsfolk “Holler at me, I know you know me. Holler at me, I know you know me. Tamisha is here!” The sea parts, the crops are replenished, and all war stops on Earth. On stage Tamisha reveals that she’s been doing drag for 30 years (which seems like a long time to us mere mortals) and that she was originally cast last season but was diagnosed with colon cancer two days later and had to stay home for chemo. The lipsync gods wisely choose The Pleasure Principle by Janet Jackson and Tamisha gives us exact Janet arm choreo while Simone is sultry yet commanding as she shakes her Polaroids. The judges determine that Simone was picture perfect and American hero Tamisha Iman is sent to Porkchop’s Shipping Crate of Horrors to join the nest with the fancy feather option and the chicken feather option.

We begrudgingly crawl back onto RuPaul’s ever-circling carousel of doom and plop back into the workroom where accomplished LA celebrity makeup artist GottMik stomps in wearing a wacky toile dress and a full face of white makeup declaring that it’s “Time to crash the system!” GottMik is Drag Race’s first trans man contestant (and first knowingly cast trans contestant at all) for which we cheer excitedly and then immediately look at our watches because that took too long. Next up Minneapolis’s towering Utica wriggles in with a sneeze and declares “She’s sickening!” which is just the pandemic humor I came here for! Contaminate me, mom! This gay scarecrow is wearing a series of crazy patterns and a big strawberry on her head and the two of them appear to be from the same traveling circus. These two Big Comfy Couch characters slink over to the main stage where Utica explains that her cranial statement fruit symbolizes tackling obstacles because she used to be allergic to strawberries as a kid but she grew out of it. In RuPaul’s heavy universe of heart wrenching struggles that contain chronic illness and societal rejection, Utica’s animated world that suffers only of outgrown childhood strawberry problems is a welcome one. These two lanky rag dolls will be lipsyncing to Rumors by her majesty Lady Lohan of Mykonos and the vibe is instantly wacky. I wouldn’t say that either of them are the next Kennedy Davenport but they did complement each other well on the invisible obstacle course they were both miming through. Utica’s hair flops over her eye, there’s galloping and floor humping, GottMik does a split, there’s elbows and knees aplenty, and all that’s missing is dancing poodles. The judges are tickled by the kookiness of both of these human windsocks but Gotmikk snatches the win. Neither of these two are going to win So You Think You Can Dance but luckily this is RuPaul’s So You Think You Can Trauma so we’re in luck!

Our homosexual Groundhog Day continues back in the Werk Room where we meet NYC’s Rosé who gets the Brita treatment where she’s presented as a legendary New York queen and then the editors quickly get to work making her look delusional. She’s accomplished, confident, and Drag Race’s favorite personality type to dismantle and then trick into returning to All-Stars for a redemption only to dismantle again. Rosé’s fresh-faced foil Olivia Lux enters and lights up the place right away in a velvet pink and yellow gown. She’s a humble NYC newby who has competed in shows hosted by the established Rosé and we already know what’s about to happen here. The lipsync is Exes and Oh’s by Elle King which which was a choice. Olivia strips off her gown to reveal a bodysuit so she can really articulate and Rosé does the world’s least exciting split that looked like me trying unsuccessfully separate wooden chopsticks. Olivia triumphs and Rosé fizzles as she heads to the It Didn’t Werk Room aka Porkchop’s sparsely decorated storage closet to be with the other Have Nots.

We’re almost to the finish line and we limp, slightly disoriented, back to the Werk Room where we meet Tina Burner, another NYC theater kid with the confidence of a thousand Patti LuPones who is dressed like a Ronald McDonald firefighter. What she lacks in nuance she makes up for in nonstop fire puns. Next Chicago’s glamorous Kahmora Hall saunters in glowing and is clearly unimpressed with Tina’s constant Joan Rivers impression but maintains a full pageant smile. No choice but to stan. Our final queen is the refreshingly optimistic Elliott with 2 T’s who busts in wearing a bolero jacket, some red pants from the store, and a short pink wig that screams “Sorry I’m late! Here’s my flash drive! I can go on whenever!” Elliott dances in sing-talking her entrance line like the TGIFriday’s server she is: “I’m the queen you want to see. Elliot with two T’s. Okay! Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh! Okay!” Elliot is a dancer from Las Vegas and has the unhinged camp counselor energy of someone with snacks in her purse at all times.

On the Mainstage Tina cycles through the last of her introductory fire puns and tells the judges she was in a boy band which honestly tracks. Tina and Rosé share a similar NYC gotta-get-a-gimmick energy but for some reason production has decided to give Rosé the womp womp edit and Tina the superstar edit. The song is Lady Marmalade because we haven’t been though enough and Kahmora serves subdued sexy glamour, Elliott does the splits, and Tina bobs and weaves between the two with full play-to-the-back-row comedy queen energy. Tina extinguishes the dreams of the other two and RuPaul sends the final two losers to the chokey.

The worst is over (we think) and our frazzled cast of hopefuls finally gets to know eachother in their two very different groups. The winning queens in the Werk Room are celebrating and as blissfully unaware of the doom around them as Miss Vanjie and Silky Ganache at a Puerto Vallarta circuit party during a pandemic. Over in Porkchop’s Junk Drawer the camera looms unnecessarily close to the crestfallen losers’ now disheveled wigs and sweat drenched makeup. Ru’s voice bellows over the speaker to tell this motley crew to get out and then as the last bit of light leaves their weary eyes she checks back in to tell them that she wasn’t serious! Oh good! Finally a moment of mercy for these once hopeful queens on their first day of RuPaul’s Wipeout! She then reveals that the full twist is that she is only going to send one home but they have to vote amongst the group of losers to decide who it is! Yes, that’s correct! This group of broken queens who just met and mostly have never seen eachother perform will now be expected to turn on eachother and give up their last bit of dignity to either grovel or just straight up fight with eachother! This must be what the Donner Party’s last night looked like. The queens look around broken and wounded but still hungry, their eyes barely open, their lacefronts only partially attached to their heads, and start deciding which of their own is about to get consumed. Her highness Tamisha Iman reminds them "Well, I'm the only black girl so don't vote me off” and just like that we are TO BE CONTINUED!

Thus concludes our first headspinning episode that despite being reliably frustrating has once again sucked us in and against our better judgement entertained us to the fullest! As for our 13 queens- you can use code HERSTORY on Talkspace while relaying tonite’s events to a sickening liscensed therapist!

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-05-19

Figured an upd8 was coming, it’s felt like enough time has passed for one.

Huh, looking at my last post I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to play through Pesterquest sometime... work is busy and stressing me out a bit, I’m not sure when I’ll have the energy on the side to do that.  (Maybe I’ll livetweet it like I did Undertale a while ago, but this time not looking at my twitter replies so I don’t get spoiled by One Guy™?)

Also, including bonus commentary on A Threat Sensed.

Okay, going in completely blind.  I’d guessed from context that we’re hopping over to Meat side to get a chapter there before we can come back to actually see Yiffy?

Yep.  Okay, what is this about exactly?

(Agh, dammit, I’ve been copying and pasting so much at work remoting into Windows lately that now I’m automatically trying to hit control-C instead of command-C to copy.)

> CHAPTER 9. How Goes The Eulogizing, Dear?

CONTENT NOTE: This chapter contains Child Abuse.

Which one???

Wait

JANE: (Where is he?) JANE: (It's a question I've found myself asking many times in recent days.)

Holy SHIT we get two Candy chapters in a row???  So we might see her right away??  No, it’s gotta just be another tiny glimpse.

(Has two Candy chapters in a row happened before?  Future Boots, scroll back up and put this here. FUTURE BOOTS: “I forgot to scroll back up and put that here.” EDIT: Also, not the first time with two in a row, but it IS the first time with THREE in a row, huh.)

So Jane has to be talking about either Tavros or Dave.  --Oh, if this was a Candy Side chapter title, I guess Rose or Jade is eulogizing Dave for John?

> (==>)

JANE: (Where now is our merry savior?) JANE: (Where is the horn that was honking?) JANE: (Where is the cape and the codpiece, and the...) JANE: (The...) JANE: (Oh, fiddlesticks.)

What?  Is she reading a childrens’ book?  --Oh.  She’s eulogizing Gamzee.  So that gives us a third option, where the rebellion crashes the funeral somehow, probably audiovisually rather than in person.  (Which would make sense, given Candy practically began with Gamzee crashing Dirk’s funeral.)

> (==>)

Ah never mind, she’s still writing it.

That sure is a single button drama-remote that’s going to be pressed at some point.  Oh, and who the fuck keeps a spork in a pen cup???  --No no, don’t say it’s one of those pens with a spork at the eraser end, either ready-made or rubber-banded to the side.  That would make sense.  You totally know it isn’t that and is just a spork.

JANE: (Okay, poetry is out.) JANE: (What else?) JANE: (Hrm...) JANE: (I've always been pretty good at crying on cue.) JANE: (Could I try staging an emotional breakdown?) JANE: (That could work; playing to people's humanity.)

Why were you crying in Jake’s arms about his death if you didn’t care that much?  Did you just want him to hold you and kinda make him feel in on things again?  Or did you just cry yourself out about him?

JANE: (Or whatever is the more inclusive term.)

I bet the rest of Earth C figured out a more inclusive term millenia ago FUCK I accidentally added millennia to my dictionary misspelled instead of correcting it hold on--

...There, killed the entry for it.  ...Huh.  Take a look at my Chrome dictionary’s custom-added words over the years, apparently:

Caliborn Eridan Kanaya Matriorb Meenah Tavros alchemiter dichotomic nephilim reblogged uncaptchalogues uncaptchaloguing

That’s fun.

Okay back to reading. Millennia.  Phew!  Where was I.

JANE: (One really good and calculated weep could do it, I think.) JANE: (But then there's the danger that I might get carried away and do it for real.) JANE: (And I can't risk that.)

So still feeling something, just too used to calculating over the past years.

JANE: (What can I say about him that will stir up their emotions?) JANE: (Do I mention the stuff about the milk?) JANE: (Think Crocker, think.)

WHY would you-- how much did Gamzee normalize adult breastfeeding?!

JAKE: Ahoy over there!

Not the best time.

(The thing with the divorce papers from the Epilogue and John implying he was planning with Jake to execute something that sounds like a divorce... is that going to be sprung here?  Did her lawyers send the divorce papers way back when she was in a fit of pique, and he just had them available to sign now at the tactical moment? Or... let me pull the exact text...)

JOHN: now, harry anderson, i know that you and tavros haven't always gotten along. JOHN: but i am going to have to ask you to try and look out for him for the time being. JOHN: your uncle jake and i... well, i'll explain later. JOHN: let's just say that gamzee isn't the only family member jane is losing today.

(So is John going to submit the papers? Or did they already go through a while ago and default custody to John or something who’s going to adopt him too or some nonsense?  And did he plan this out with Jake NOW, or a while ago, and if only a while ago, is Jake going to KNOW whatever John’s about to pull in that respect is about to happen??)

> (==>)

Butte

Janepalme

> (==>)

JAKE: Er... how goes the eulogizing, dear?

Gah.  I completely forgot again that capitalized-first-letter chapter names don’t mean KANAYA is saying them.  That probably makes a lot more sense out of my wondering about the chapter title earlier to those of you who didn’t realize I was making that mistake.

JANE: It turns out that it's mighty difficult to find touching things to say about a person, the relationship with whom was predicated on deep-seated mutual loathing.

Hah!

--A loathing you regarded as largely more important to you than Jake ever was, by the way.  You asshole.

JANE: I imagine this is one of the reasons no funerary tradition was ever established on Alternia, besides the barbarism of their culture. DIRK: Jesus christ. JANE: Not only did a significant proportion of their interpersonality depend on romance in the form of hatred, but it was a society based on cruelty and violence. JANE: What reason could they have had to provide for the dead? JANE: What kind of last rites could they have even imagined?

I wondered for a moment why (bg!)Dirk of all people would react to a single line of her starting to bring up prejudices, but then I realized that (1) Brain Ghost Dirk is a little more Jakey, and (2) Dirk knew that more ranting would follow the first line.

JANE: I can't think of anything good to write about him because deep down, I hated his guts. JANE: But he was and is beloved of the multitude, so I have to think of something regardless. JAKE: Im not sure i understand. JANE: Don't worry your pretty little head about it. JANE: This is politics, Jakey. JANE: Lying through your two front teeth about people you hate is about as good a definition as it's possible to get. JANE: But, by gum, is it tiring work.

Mm.  It’s a position Jane put herself in, but it’s still a legitimate position once you’re there.

JANE: The funeral is tomorrow, after all.

Got it.

DIRK: Dude, the bowl. JAKE: Hm? JAKE: Oh, right. JANE: What is it now, Jake. JAKE: I brought something for our guest as well. JANE: You mean the prisoner. JAKE: Y...es.

Wait, bowl?

Oh god damnit which of you had the idea to feed her with a DOG BOWL.  Either of you could have thought of it, and either of you would be horrible for it.

> (==>)

Huh, that outfit on Yiffy looks familiar, like a reference to something.  And a black tail?  This definitely isn’t quite the look I was expecting from Jade Plus Rose, but I suppose the snazzy tie is a Roseish vibe.  Also reminiscent of Jade’s old Dead Shuffle dress.  Formal wear and soccer cleats??

JANE: She's over in the corner. JANE: Don't worry, she won't bite. JANE: I've seen to that already.

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN.  I don’t see anything over her mouth!  Did she stick something in it, or drug her?  File her fucking teeth???

I mean I did forget the Child Abuse trigger warning to be fair.  Hoping whatever would be on her mouth is just not shown in-panel yet for stylistic reasons.

> (==>)

JAKE: Its only mac and cheese, sorry. JAKE: Its all I know how to make, haha. JAKE: ... JAKE: I um... hope you can safely partake of cheese? JAKE: ... JAKE: Well, JAKE: Bon appetit.

How the fuck did Jake eat on his island then?  --Oh right, preserved food cans that Grandma Jade stored up, I think I remember.  Why would cheese not be a thing for them, if it’s fine for Jade?  I know he’s probably not just worried about lactose intolerance.

Either way, if she’s drugged here, that’ll mean we won’t get a good idea of her for a while, so which is it...

> (==>)

DIRK: Bon appetit. DIRK: Seriously dude? JAKE: (What? Did i pronounce it wrong?) DIRK: Jake. DIRK: You put the food in a fucking dog bowl. JAKE: (It was all there was, ok???) JAKE: (I feel awful enough as it is without you getting on my case about it.)

Ah, missed the bone pun.  AND, yeah, Jake, you’re a fucking idiot, you could have put it in a cup or something.

JAKE: (So far ive yet to see anything come of that brilliant plan of yours.) JAKE: (Are you sure sending that message to the others was enough?)

Okay, so he IS coordinating this slightly.

> (==>)

Horrifying image to contemplate, eh Jane?

Or anger-inducing?

> (==>)

Seems about right!

> (==>)

Oh that’s a GREAT exasperated Jane face.

JANE: I hope you're not expecting dessert, young lady.

I like how Jane didn’t notice, comment on, or care about the bowl.  How can you hate a kid so much??

> (==>)

Oh I know why I felt like I recognized the outfit style, it’s because it’s ANIME AS FUCK.  Feels like some Persona 4 Arena nonsense, and I say that not having played any of those games or even remembering what they looked like.  Also, white hair, black fur’d dog parts?  Nice change of pace.

YIFFY: GRRRRRRRRR... JANE: Oh no you don't.

Red text?  What color exactly... “#D00009”?  Huh.  That’s nowhere near Alt-Callie’s #FF0000, and darker than Dave’s #E00707.  In fact, let me go back and check those spilled color pins the commentary pointed out from an update or two ago...  no, the red pin is #E63225, closer to Dave’s color.  (Also, is Yiffy blocking the doorway out?  That’s a pretty slack chain then.)

Did Jane see to it that she wouldn���t bite with like, a water spray bottle?

(EDIT: Oh my FUCKING GOD, THAT's why it's #D00009...)

> (==>)

FUCK I didn’t notice the shock collar in the Yiffy image!  FUCK YOU, Jane.

> (==>)

Keeping someone in line with collars, especially ones that punish whenever one strays out of line, has always been a decent way for her to mix in some Doomy control of others to show how she’s “grown” to balance her main role and her Tiara-controlled-like inverse for more power.  Doom in part represents boundaries that you can’t cross without getting hurt or punished.

> (==>)

FUCK, those little buck teeth!?  D’:

JANE: That's more like it.

She HAS to have more of a reason for hating her than hating her parents, right?  Like, more than that and general racism applying to partdogfolk?

> (==>)

Hey fuck off with that!

> (==>)

This is a pretty cool ima-- are those piercings on her dog ear?  I didn’t notice that in the first shot, neat.

JANE: You've been a thorn in my side ever since I agreed to enroll you at the academy, little madam. JANE: Back then, I was doing a favor for two old friends who made a disgusting mistake. JANE: I'm no longer going to play nice with you just because of your parents, however. JANE: That truce is over. JANE: Do I make myself understood?

What the fuck?  WHY would you do that?  Why does Jane run "Ms. Paint’s Home for Inconvenient Girls”?  What did Yiffy do to piss her off so much there, how much trouble could she have caused?

I don’t know if she’s referring to the behind-Kanaya’s-back part as disgusting or she’s just being MORE racist.

> (==>)

JANE: We don't want you passing out during the ceremony, do we?

Oh, just showing the hostage off during the clown funeral, huh?  Classy much?

> (==>)

JANE: Now, be a good hostage and get some rest, Yiffany dear. JANE: We've got a big day tomorrow.

For a politician, Jane’s not good at looking at herself in a mirror.

> (==>)

JANE: Night night. JANE: Hoo hoo.

> (Yiffy: Lights out.)

Huh, dream stuff is gonna be relevant out in Candy then? *click*

Okay, dark background all of a sudden.  Properly dramatic?  You even have to highlight the non-link “>” part of the Next link to see it.

> (==>)

-- thespiansGlamor [TG] began pestering adamantGriftress [AG] --

Well, I don’t know WHY it’s happening, but the white-backed pesterlog suddenly on the dark site framing is certainly evocative.  Of like, a mood, or something.

TG: i thought he was pretty quiet down there. TG: we'll make a rebel of him yet! AG: Lol. AG: I think it's more that he can't sleep. AG: I know how he feels. TG: yeah. TG: today was a lot. AG: ... TG: do you wanna talk about it? AG: Ugh, not you as well.

It’s really jarring to transition between Homestuck’s “kids jarringly mentally resistant to freaking out about the end of the world” to HS^2′s more realistic “kids traumatized by their first firefight even though it was an overwhelming victory-escape”.

TG: but seriously, do you? AG: Not really. TG: not even about... you know? TG: her? AG: No. TG: ... are you sure? AG: A8solutely. AG: What are you, my moirail? AG: Just leave it, Harry. TG: ok.

Are they about to have an “I wonder what Yiffy’s like” talk?

> (==>)

Very similar Tav/Vrissy convo to the previous one.

GG: I havent ever shared a bedroom before,,, GG: Not even for a slumber party,,, AG: Tavvy, you are just a8out the saddest person I've ever met.

Well, we have an even better idea how horrible Jane can be with kids, now.  From Nanna to THIS is quite jarring.  I wonder how the double Nannasprites that must still be around here somewhere feel?

> (==>)

TG: nothing about my dad is cute. TG: what are you even saying. AG: Lmao. TG: seriously! TG: i think he has something against that word, even. he gets super weird about it. AG: He's a strange and funny m8n. TG: yeah. TG: ... TG: i think something bad must have happened.

...um.  What?  Why would John have some sort of trauma about the word cute or being called it?

Did John dress up as a hint of his buried June ambitions as a kid and Dad lavish him with “SO CUTE” praise in an epic supportiveness backfire that caused him to shelve the idea of wearing non-masc clothes and being happier on the flipside of gender ever again???  Because if that’s how June gets canonized as promised, it’s a little harsher than the back of my mind was hoping.  I guess it kind of had to be though from the premise of how it was read into his childhood for the original idea, though.  Fuck, I hope this Cute business is about something different from that (like a Terezi reference or such) just to get less John Sads.  (But still June.  Definitely still want to get June.)

> (==>)

Oh, and now Vrissy is doing nothing but talking about what she said she didn’t want to talk about, of course.  (Also I like how JANE’s now being called the Batterwitch.)

AG: And the worst part was they didn't even fight a8out it! AG: That made me madder than 8nything else. AG: It felt like I was the only person who even W8S mad! GG: I dont think thats true,,, AG: What would you know a8out it?! GG: Maybe nothing,,, GG: Sorry,,, GG: Its just,,, GG: To me,,, all the way through the conversation,,, aunt kanaya looked even angrier than you,,, AG: ... AG: Adults are so fucking weird.

Guh, I don’t want to be reminded how hurt a good chunk of the fanbase is by Kanaya getting hurt this badly.

Original Tavros was always SLIGHTLY perceptive of others sometimes, but maybe perceptiveness is being hinted at as a Tavros specialty?  We still don’t know his classpect/hero-title or have any firm guesses based on purely him evidence.  (Also, frightened kids of abusive households tend to learn to get perceptive pretty fucking quickly I hear.)

> (==>)

TG: dad was sitting in the cafeteria with aunt jade and your moms. TG: it looked like they were discussing something important... they were whispering and stuff.

[etc etc] Alright, the what-happened-to-Dave bit.  And I imagine they’re kind of helping John grieve there, since Rose and Jade have talked that out already.

TG: aunt kanaya's was the only face i could see. TG: she was standing next to them, but she wasn't looking at what was going on. TG: almost like she couldn't bear to. AG: I doubt it. Kanaya's got a8out as much Emotivity as a very reclusive stone. TG: ok, i think that is bullshit but whatever. TG: she saw me standing there, but didn't say anything. she just shook her head slightly, and pointed back out into the hallway i came down.

Yep, giving them some space to grieve.  Also-- gosh, shouldn’t Vrissy have the same emotive senses that Aranea implied Vriska shared with her?  Kanaya isn’t that EXPRESSIVE but she’s certainly full of emotion.  Also, I hope part of her not bearing to watch wasn’t lingering anger toward Jade and Rose mixing with that, but there probably was a bit of that too, though Dave being gone is so much harsher than that. --I just realized they might not have broken the news to Karkat yet, either.

AG: I guesadxcxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz TG: vrissy?

Put to sleep by someone slumping down on your phone keypad, or surprised by something about the other conversation?

Oh shit, “other conversation” reminded me I didn’t look at Tavros’s chumhandle:

glutinousGymnast [GG]

HHHHHhhhhuh.  Hm... huh? hhhh.  huh?  what, but.  Why would.  ?????

I really don’t understand what that chumhandle or any of its entendres should signify in this context.

Also, this means for our new four kids we have TG, GG, AG, and ??.

> (==>)

GG: I think she might have succumbed to sleep quite suddenly,,, GG: It would explain the,,,,,, interesting messages I've been getting for a while,,, TG: hehe. TG: i guess that tracks. TG: she does that from time to time.

That’s... strange.  Homestuck’s taught us to be suspicious of that.

TG: ... TG: tav? GG: Yes,,, harry anderson,,,? TG: what does it feel like to know someone who's died?

Who is Harry referring to? (EDIT: Yes I know Gamzee for Tavros, but I meant Harry talks like he's worried he'll have to feel that way soon?)  Is he just kind of inferring that something bad might have happened to Uncle Dave?  Got that perceptive “parents are about to tell me about a death in the family” vibe?  Or did he overhear more than he let on to Vrissy?

...alright, that’s the last page of this update.  Looks like this chapter is going to continue to have a good bunch of grieving, or talk around it.

---

Now for Bonus Commentary for A Threat, Sensed.  For some reason I have a dim memory of like... reading this myself without commenting on it?  Or skimming it?  But I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that.  Weird.  Must have imagined doing it.

Ah, I think I saw the opening paragraph scrolling Patreon, and my mind kinda filled in the blanks, this is still looking new to me.

Okay, mostly banter and japes in the commentary here.  About Dirk “throwing a huge tantrum in his philosophy cave”.

We’ve had quite a bit of speculation on whether this is “really” Andrew. To that, I think we’d say that it doesn’t “really” matter.

Really?  That was speculated about?  :/

Here we discover that Dirk has not, as some people have speculated, been directly intervening into the Candy timeline, or influencing it in any way. In fact, he has a very hard time seeing anything going on there at all.

Mhmm, and that was a pretty important thing to learn.

A couple of years ago I might have agreed with the take that everything happening in Candy is simply too outlandish to ever happen naturally, without direct, villainous interference, but that was before literally every fucking batshit insane thing that has happened on Real Life Earth started going down, and now I will believe literally anything. 

This is a nice bit of distraction from the idea that at least the opening parts of the Candy story were written/narrated by Original, Alive Calliope over on meat side.  To refresh your memory of what was pointed out to me:

ROXY: back when jade first got all effed up callie saw somethin and it made them freak out ROXY: it took me weeks to convince them that it was safe to come home ROXY: but now we got the opposite problem and they arent leavin the house at all ROXY: they stay home all day with the blinds drawn paintin some weird ass shit on the walls TEREZI: WH4T? ROXY: its not as bad as it sounds i promise ROXY: some of it is like ROXY: weird and violent?? ROXY: like lotsa nasty purple blood and um ROXY: nudity???? TEREZI: >:? ROXY: yeah yikes ROXY: but MOST of it is cute stuff like... various combos of all of us being happy and gettin married and shit ROXY: anyway thats kept callie kinda busy

Which tracks with the initial out-of-character-seemingness of almost everyone at the start of Candy, and how they kind of tried to railroad things back onto the “Happy??” track after Dirk derailed it with his weird self-accumulation suicide, along with some of the flowery-idyllic descriptions of characters seeing each other bathed in a halo of light and such.

Of course, they’re not going to out-and-out STATE that Calliope was at fault for that narration, helping the Candy story not necessarily fall out the way it did “naturally”, until we finally get a glimpse of her on the heroes’ ship in Meat probably still painting the continuing Candy events, inspiring them into the void of the singularity with her latent powers.  Til then, it’s a bit of misdirection whenever the topic is to be brought up.  Along with a mix of Roxy’s late-Candy point to John of more or less “why COULDN’T we have done this naturally? you don’t know”.

He might even think that he has more direct power over the narrative than Hussie does himself. Surprise, motherfucker, you are a fictional character. 

:p

I’ll quote this next part in full:

There’s been talk of whether or not this bonus was written in the two days between its release and the Yiffy reveal chapter. The answer is--no. It was written over a month ago. But I think the things it addresses were not difficult to suss out. Obviously, Dirk is highlighting the issues that the readership are having with Yiffy, in his typical Dirk fashion. If it seems a little defensive, well...I suppose it is. Yiffy is one of the two hard lines drawn in the sand, and all of us love her, and we’re hoping that everyone else will love her too. But more than that, it focuses on the fact that update culture has a rhythm to it--shock, revulsion, acceptance (or not), and then excitement (or not). Will it follow that pattern this time? Who knows. I guess we’ll find out. 

Yeah, given what was going to be dropped on us I expected they would have had exactly this lined up, especially because Andrew specifically mandated Yiffy.  --I wonder why they aren’t mentioning that somewhere in the commentary and only on one of their Twitters?

Also quoting this:

There’s something both incredibly “cringe” and self-indulgent, as well as philosophically intriguing, about the author arguing with his villain, especially since he’s writing both halves of the conversation himself. You are, for all intents and purposes, trying to solve a problem that you have created for yourself. You are looking an aspect of your personality in the eye and asking, hey, what the fuck, man?

But in the end, isn’t that what every story is? Trying to untie knots that you put in the rope yourself?

Since it’s part of the central struggle of this story, and kind of the question Andrew’s tried to imply with every Homestuck work about what right we have to keep these characters trapped in a story, and if they’d be better off escaping it.

I’m really trying to avoid quoting so much of this, since the commentary is paid...  but I think we can make an exception here?  I’ll have only quoted about half of it; just, the really plot-important half.  Plus, I left out a LOOOT of japes.

Dirk has a certain idea of how stories are supposed to go. That’s pretty much what the Epilogues is about. The audience also has a certain expectation of how a story is supposed to go. In a way, the Epilogues were also about that. They were taking a story that had reached the traditionally “acceptable” happily ever after, and saying, wait, no. What happens next? Thinking past happily ever after in any story is a terrifying prospect. Once Cinderella marries the prince, what then? Sure, she got what she wanted, but who knows that it will be everything she dreamt it would? What if she changes her mind, if not today, what about ten years from now? What if the prince dies of malaria? 

And I’m...

Yeah I don’t have anything else to add here, I’m kind of out of brain juice to think about this tonight.  BUSY day I had.  Y’all take care!

[voidvoyeur]

GIVE A MAN A MASK ...  

As always, a disclaimer that this is my personal lukewarm take, imbued in my portrayal. I do not regard the following analysis as an objective truth to all - but an important facet to the writing and characterisation on this blog.

The use of masks in the horror genre has consistently been a crux to unsettle its audience. By not showing a face we perceive as ‘true’ there is the instinctive notion that such a character who wears a mask has something to hide. A masked villain is intentionally separated from their cast of heroes, victims and extras, all of which are unveiled. In Michael’s case, his mask is meant to unnerve these characters before it terrifies, at first sight forcing the onlooker, Laurie, to question whether she has something to fear at all, if she is being too superstitious - especially on Halloween of all days.

 This is achieved with the mask’s design, an uncanny impression of a man’s face (originally William Shatner’s...). The facial structure alludes to an initial, unremarkable presence of a passing stranger, but the hollowed, black eyes and impossibly white pallor intrude - presenting a loss or absence of humanity. One of the most succinct explorations into this effect is by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas in Masks in Horror Cinema: Eyes Without Faces, most relevantly quoting J.P. Telotte, ‘[the mask] is neither grotesque or distorted nor natural, but more resembling the face of a dead man.’ With this analogy, it becomes clear that Michael’s face serves as a reflection of the fate of his victims, inhabiting both the fear he evokes and death he inflicts.           Doctor Loomis prophecises this in his monologue, detailing the ‘blank, pale, emotionless face’ and ‘the blackest eyes, the devil’s eyes’. What makes this a prophetic monologue is that this reading of Michael’s maskless face becomes a reality which we and Laurie have experienced, and will continue to do so with Michael’s ‘mask’. It is now an argument of whether the mask is a mask at all, but Michael’s true face. If Michael himself is aware of this encapsulation of both fear and death, then Loomis is a mouthpiece for Michael’s own self-fulfilling prophecy, embracing the belief of being ‘pure and simply evil’ - using the mask to enact his role, as Murray Leeder claims, ‘Like an actor in a Greek drama, [wearing] his villainy plainly on his face,’ but I would modify that it is not ‘on’ his face but ‘as his own face.’           In Dead by Daylight, his place as a killer among killers still may not deter from how eerie he is to see from a survivor’s perspective. Applicable is thegamingmuse’s analysis of Valtiel in Silent Hill 3, ‘He looks more human than almost all the other creatures we see, but that only makes him more upsetting. The similarities make the differences stand out all the more.’ Michael stands within the space between the familiar and unfamiliar, what we know and what we don’t know. In the film, he demands to be looked at, especially in Haddonfield where he agitates the suburban safety of the town. And when he is not in the scene at first glance, he still demands to be looked for because we know he doesn’t function within the same physical laws as a human, but we do not know the exact extent of what that power means.           When comparing his 1978 mask to the 2007 remake’s, the original mask’s ‘wholeness’ is much clearer. For the most part, Carpenter and Hill’s Michael is pristinely presented - his mask unblemished, suggesting a fully realised sense of self in both his role and belief of being a villain. In contrast, Zombie’s Michael is damaged and deteriorating. Befitting the director’s more psychological interpretation of his character ambling between the role of victim and villain - a cracked and marred mask portraying a more ‘damaged’ and unstable sense of self, a malformed identity hinged upon reuniting with his sister - and when he fails to do so that mask and identity becomes all the more ‘incomplete’ in the sequel. Whereas in 1978, Michael is (presumably) completely extricated from his family after murdering Judith, assured and arrogant in his character of stalker, perpetrator and killer. What is notable is its only point of damage would be a hole in the neck from Laurie stabbing him with a knitting needle - leaving a permanent mark in the same area of anatomy Michael exploits to overpower his victims through strangulation. Her action in the narrative showing her refusal to be disposable — consequentially having ‘living’, tangible proof.           She, along with Loomis, is one of the rare few to try and prove his mortality - only to result in him getting back up, asserting his enduring immortality. This immortality is even foretold in his face, ever watchful with an unblinking stare - bearing a likeness to ivory statues and figure sculptures throughout Western art history, depicting culturally significant fictional and historical figures. Just as sculptors like Michelangelo, Bernini and Rodin have brought such characters to solid life, Michael is immortalising himself just as these statues are commissioned to immortalise their subject, mythologising himself (which ... considering his fandom cult status). If he is likened to a marble statue then he assumes the infallibility of the same material, his silicone flesh does not decay. Simultaneously, we know he can move therefore we are prey to an ominous atmosphere, led to think when he is not immobile within our line of sight, he is still able to walk behind us without our knowing. It also raises the question of if his mask is what grants him infallibility to death...           In contrast to his impassive white mask, his smiling clown facade at the start of the movie seems to be a hyperbolic mockery of emotion. Compared to Zombie’s choice of Michael wearing his most recognisable mask when murdering Judith, Heller-Nicholas stating, ‘Here the mask has a distinctly adult look, and on Michael’s body it suggests he is a child capable of committing ‘adult’ crimes.’ Whereas in the original, the clown mask has a disarming playfulness and infantile innocence, further adding to the shock reveal that this was a child who killed his older sister. For five minutes (or a few seconds if you were unaware of his age) he fits within the uncanny child trope, defamiliarising what we expect a child to be capable of, the unmasking of a child doubles as the unmasking of a killer. More so is it unnerving to consider how much in the same way clowns exist between comedy and tragedy, evoking laughter from their audience with staged stunts going awry and choreographed misfortune, the young Michael derives joy from the tragic act of murdering his sister. It is also important to note that Judith immediately recognises her younger brother while he is masked, solidifying he will be the mask he wears. Fifteen years later, his victims are deprived of this same familiarity and knowledge.            The sinister truth of the clown costume is brought home all the more when Jamie Lloyd chooses similar garb as her trick or treat outfit in Halloween 4. Later fulfilling - or possessed by - the same prophecy of evil when killing her foster mother at the end. Throughout the movie, everything she feels is written on her face, she is unmasked and entirely honest in her terror, pain, brief happiness and sympathy until she has inherited Michael’s evil, the red pom-pom nose referencing Michael’s own crime when he was a child, while the eyemask also references his visibly void gaze now – adopting his mask’s dead-set impassivity with her own face.  Again, the child’s crime is shocking but there is no moment of unmasking, rather the opposite: an inherited mask.           Even beyond the Halloween franchise, the significance of Michael’s mask is brought back into the pop culture consciousness through the subversion of other killers in the same genre. In Scream, Wes Craven creates a direct relationship with Halloween while transgressing from it, parodying the slasher horror formula. This is even evident when comparing Michael and Ghostface’s masks; the two are similar in their pitch black eyes and white faces but where Michael’s is intended to evoke fear in the audience and narrative’s victims, embodying a disturbing synonymity between an everyman and dead man, Ghostface’s mirrors the screaming faces of the audience and characters - mocking their fear. Much like Jamie Lloyd, Ghostface credits a certain lineage to The Shape, but where Jamie unwittingly follows in her franchise father’s (or uncle’s) footsteps, Ghostface is the teenager trying to rebel against his forefather’s conventions.           Ultimately, Michael’s mask serves as a blank page or screen to project our fears, ideals and theories onto. As much as anyone, including his own psychiatrists, would want to know why he wears a mask, there will be a range of readings that can only be individual interpretation because the only certainty is the mask is designed, as a cinematic device, to be emotionally provocative of caution and fear. Nonetheless, my own interpretation is exactly that - he wears it to primarily provoke a reaction and to witness the expression of those who witness him, knowing full well he is personifying the horror his victims suffer -- and we as an audience experience.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Alright 5x19 let’s DO THIS.

(Warning: This will probably be long.)

WE BEGIN...by visiting Leviathan’s underground speakeasy.

The shot of Lex in the glow of the Kryptonite is great, 15/10 iconic Kryptonian Killer.

But SPEAKING of things that are green and bad...Gemma’s outfit is stage magician meets Mera from Aquaman and WAIT, WAIT, I’m just now remembering that the character in the comics was linked to Atlantis. Is that why they’ve gone with a green motif for her all season?

Probably not. Either way, still gives me knockoff Mera vibes. (*whispers quietly* I don’t like Mera’s outfit either.)

(I’m reading the Wikipedia entry for Gamemnae and did you know: she was exiled from Atlantis for being blonde?)

Anyways!

That’s just a very long-winded way of saying that the costume is kind of a weird choice.

Then we’re back in Kara’s loft and finally, FINALLY...someone tells Lena that there are BIGGER FISH, STOP REMINISCING.

And then the Superfriends arrive on the scene and they are ready to throw down.

Honestly same bro, same.

Also M’GANN IS ON THE TEAM I love it please, SG, please, hire Sharon Leal full-time. 

What is the current door-kicking tally--how many front entrances have the Danvers girls destroyed?

“Well the joke’s on Rama Khan and his big dumb gladiator outfit because I already defeated him once.” THIS. IS. WHAT. I. HAVE. BEEN. SAYING.

THE COSTUME IS SILLY AND NOT IN A FUN WAY.

Leviathan just has terrible fashion sense, is basically the theme of this season.

Oh my gosh M’gann being the one to suggest the multiple Karas and the WINK I love her, I love her so much.

PLEASE NOTE: That J’onn was like ‘the skirt is surprisingly comfortable’ but his response to the pants is, ‘they’re gonna chafe.’ 

J’onn J’onzz, Skirt Supporter. 

Then the Alex suit reveal and ooof, ooooof, probably the wonkiest of the scenes, unfortunately. (Can’t decide if I appreciate the effort of the CGI Alex or if it’s simply too uncanny valley.)

Also, put a pin in the Alex suit reveal. We’ll circle back to it.

(Oh wait and also: Kara’s scream and J’onn’s reaction all A+.)

Breaking chronological order here to just touch on the highlights and maybe discuss particular chunks in detail SO...let’s get right toooooooo....

Rooftop scene with Alex and M’Gann! Nice! But also I was like, ‘Alex just...has a bazooka? ...Yeah that tracks.’ And then I remembered that she has the martian weapon...honestly kinda prefer my accidental headcanon that she just owns one. 

Then back to Lena and Kara and we’ve come full circle because folks...they figuratively flew to Luthor-Corp...on a bus.

Oh if only that was the actual goal of this entire plot. I would applaud it.

SG writers, always: REAL threats come in groups of THREE.

I actually don’t mind it. They aren’t given a big introduction and amount of screen time, so it’s pretty unobtrusive. 

Then we get a Luthor-Corp lab scene AND a good look at Alex’s suit so LET’S CHAT.

Okay first and foremost: not opposed to vigilante Alex! Especially if it means she can work with Kara a bit more directly.

Love the color scheme! Love the hood! Love that the boots are no longer the stealth wedge heel but are just...heels. Good, yes, good! Also love that you can see it’s basically built on top of her DEO suit which totally makes sense, as...I guess Alex is building the suit mentally, not physically, technically, but she’d still be using stuff she’s familiar with to put it together in...her...mind?

I also think the top portion sits better than the DEO suit, which had that awkward...square-ish portion that covered the front of the torso.

But hmmmmmm the eye makeup is...a statement. 

Confused as to why they didn’t go with a domino mask...maybe it was an actor comfort thing but HMMMMM not my personal favorite, admittedly. (Also don’t love the lace up look on the front portion but that’s because it’s reminding me of some of the terrible costumes from Arrow.)

And then the hair clip, which. Okay. As someone who has been struggling to find a way to pull back short hair during this time of no haircuts...can’t be mad about it.

In fact, catch me over here, taking notes.

Alright, costume rambling OVER sorry for the tangent but, you know. New super suit, it’s always exciting. 

I like that Kara had to deal with not being able to be out fighting the threat! That’s a good bit of character stuff there.

“William went after Eve ALONE?!?!?” “No super hearing!” 

“Please, be careful.” “You know me.” “Yeah, exactly, that’s what I’m worried about.” And then a HUG and they’re just the best.

 Dunno if I’ve mentioned it yet but I love the effects they use for Gemma’s ‘true form.’ Very cool and creepy.

Does Andrea just...not question Gemma’s evil villain outfit...or...?

Much like Alex’s super suit we’re puttin’ a PIN in the Brainy plot we’ll get there but FIRST...

THE KARA AND LENA CONVERSATION.

Do I think it should’ve come earlier in the season? Yes! Do I care at this point? ...Okay, still yes! But that’s another pinned point I’ll get back to, right now let us just bask in the beauty that is specifically, verbally laying out all the CRAP Lena put Kara through, and Kara making sure Lena understands THAT is what hurt her, not ‘working with Lex.’

“You never understood.” BINGO. “I know I hurt you by waiting so long to tell you my truth but what about all the ways you hurt me?” EXACTLY. 

“I made one mistake, one mistake that was only ever meant to protect you and in return, all you did was hurt me in every way imaginable.”

Then Lena finally apologizes. For, you know, the stuff that was actually upsetting Kara. So. We got there. ...Eventually.

Then it’s off to save William and he’s talking down Eve! We love a noble journalist.

Kara cauterizing the bullet wound and William being like ‘DO IT no wait DON’T DO IT’ and Kara’s just like, ‘TOO LATE, IT’S DONE.’

RETURN OF THE POWER RANGERS SUIT NICE.

And theeeeen a lot of scenes that are fine but it’s mostly just legwork to get us to the bigger parts of the episode sooooo we’re jumping to...

Andrea! Pleasantly surprised with her part in the action of this episode. Had that nice moral conflict we saw in the front half of the season. It’s a little crammed in here, at the last minute, but. Still enjoyed seeing it.

A personal quibble on the visuals: I prefer the simple elegance of the season one hope speech, (Just a lone camera, in a rundown radio station XD) but I understand they had to convey ‘scale.’ Still think it’s a little much.

Oh man, totally forgot to mention, loved Nicole’s line read for, “Maybe you should’ve been meaner.” It was GREAT.

So there’s the fight against Rama Khan and his buddies, and Kara’s trying to talk people out of a MMORPG, AND Andrea shows up ready to kill somebody. 

The drama! The suspense!

THE SCORE.

I have another quibble with the cutting back and forth on the hope speech and it’s largely to do with perhaps inadvertent implications regarding who has to grow from pain and what pain in particular, but that might just be a ‘me’ thing, reading the scene a particular way, so I’m just gonna move on and say LOVE TO SEE A HOPE SPEECH.

Also:

Supergirl: “I believe in you.”

The VR peeps and us, the audience:

Alright time to talk about BRAINY.

Admittedly haven’t loved double agent Brainy, which felt more like a, ‘let’s add some drama’ move than anything else.

I do still stand by my assessment that Brainy being a few steps behind Lex made sense given his distress re: Nia and the Superfriends.

But also...was a little wild, IMO, that he didn’t have...some way to at least circumnavigate the radiation shield? Or at the very least limit it.

But again. DRAMA.

All that said...wow. Loved the two Brainys at the end, there. Genuinely touching.

“Will you stay with me?” “Till the very end.” 

BRAAAAAAAIIIINNNNNNNNY.

How do you make another Luthor reveal work when you ALREADY pulled the, ‘It was Lex all along!’ like, twice before?

You MAKE IT LILLIAN.

Like, dang it, I enjoyed it. How dare you, SG.

But THAT’S IT. NO MORE SECRET LUTHOR REVEALS. 

The terminator look and death shriek for Gemma was fittingly creepy very nice.

But also WOW, she never interacted with Kara. I am DISAPPOINTED. 

So anyways, that second Lena and Kara conversation! 

It was fine. It’s fine. This is fine. It’s...it’s fine.

(Except that it highlights a problem with the way this whole thing was set up and it’s not something unique to SG! It’s a problem I’ve noticed with a lot of redemption arcs--which seem to be all the rage, as of late--and that is a disproportionate amount of bad things done by the one character, and putting off the turn until like, the last possible minute to increase the drama factor and thaaaaat...is not a super satisfying conclusion because it’s a HUGE amount of build up for a relatively small pay off. Like, as Kara is listing the stuff that Lena’s done, it’s kind of a stark reminder that Lena physically and emotionally hurt Kara on purpose which. Is a glaring red flag. That’s the kind of thing that needs to be unpacked, maybe! Given some space!

Which isn’t to say that characters should never be forgiven, or that they need to be excessively punished. It just needs time. So saving the ‘redemption’ part for the very end where the characters NEED TO BE HEROES RIGHT NOW IN ORDER TO HELP OUT it’s...hmmmmmm. Too rushed.)

AND SO, SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON THIS, THE SEASON FINALE, AND THE SEASON AS A WHOLE:

Wow but I did not like the focus on Lena. Not fun. No thanks.

Which is only made worse by the trashfire that is the SG fandom. 

Loved the moments of growth and agency for Kara, though. 

Loved the big crossover! It kinda made for a wonky set up of Earth-38 plot vs. Earth Prime plot but honestly anything the writers set up in the front portion of the season was going to be at the very least interrupted, if not completely derailed simply given the nature of what they intended to do with the merging of the earths.

Like give me SG’s approach to handling the front half of the season over Flash’s any day. 

Still too many characters! Still too much plot! Still weird pacing issues! XD

Forget it, Jake, it’s Supergirl.

Oh, honorable mention: The handling of Kelly! She was integrated so well into a nice intersection of plot points and characters that when she’s there to hack into the Obsidian stuff in the finale it’s like, ‘well naturally she’d be here.’ EXCELLENT WORK. 

William and Andrea win ‘most improved over their intensely unlikable introductions.’

To be clear: I liked this season finale! And the fact that it all came together as well as it did is a testament to the skill of all the folks involved, considering the awful extenuating circumstances.

Though, upon further introspection, I think I really do dislike the CGI Alex. Too far into the uncanny valley, sorry. 

IN CONCLUSION: Very, very sad that it’s gonna be a whole year, or possibly longer, before we get new SG content but, glad that the actors will have a little more time off than they usually might, and I’m all for holding off the production as long as possible, in order to keep folks safe.

WHAT are Lex and Lillian up to, like, specifically, and WHAT is Alex’s superhero name??? WILL the folks in charge of the new Superman show remember that it’s a Supergirl spinoff?!??! Find out NEXT YEAR only on SUPERGIRL! (And Superman & Lois!)

EDIT: I used the word ‘quibble’ twice which feels like one time too many, but also it IS a fun word to say. ‘Quibble.’ Ha. XD

[phantomphangphucker]

Ectober Day 2 - Homecoming - We Welcome Back The Lords Of Chaos

Danny, Sam, Tucker and Valerie - lovingly known as the defect quartet - may have been held back one year but there’s no way they aren’t starting off their last year with dramatic bullshit. Because, honestly, they're tired of wearing masks and the lies. Besides, they’ve all moved to the Ghost Realm anyway, so what does it matter.

Danny lounges across the arms of a high backed chair, lazily swirling a half-filled wine glass of ectoplasm. Sighing up at Sams’ bedroom ceiling, “so we’re really doing this huh?”.

Tucker huffs from where he’s sprawled out on the floor, “might as well dude. It’s our last year to really throw Casper High through a loop”.

“And sources say, all the fuckers we should have graduated with last year will be there”.

Danny tilts his head down to look at Valerie, who’s repairing an ecto-blaster, chuckling at her, “is that your way of saying you spied on everyone?”.

Valerie just smirks making the halfa laugh, as Sam comes in the room. Everyone looks to her and takes in the deep red and orange knee-length dress made of felt leaves, dark purple under-bust corset; the arm sleeves long flowing sheer black and decorated in gold filigree. Black hair short and spiked, with leaves sticking out in places; her ever-present combat boots on, grapevines for shoelaces.

All three make a point of whistling.

Valerie kicks Tucker, “your turn to get dressed up, techno geek”.

Tucker grunts, “ladies first”. While Danny laughs, “Tuck fuck, you’re the one who’s going to enjoy this most. Parading around your royal ass for chics to fawn at”. Making Tucker groan as he rolls over and pushes to get up, “y’all are never going to let me live down that shit are you”.

“Nope”.

“Not a chance”.

“Wouldn’t think of it”.

Tucker just flips them off as he leaves the room.

Danny downs the rest of his glass and flips in the chair to be sprawled out on his stomach; chin up on the armrest and feet touching the floor. Blowing cold air at Valerie who sends him a dirty look as he speaks, “you’re not gonna take long are ya?”.

“I’m a girl”.

“But you’re well, you”.

“Asshole”, Valerie smacks him over the head with the butt of her gun, “but no, unlike you lot I’m not going all ghost royal to freaking homecoming”.

Sam rolls her eyes as she does her make up, “wait for prom, this is just basic lazy day royal garb”.

Tucker comes back in seconds later, a white intricately pleated kilt with gold trim and belt. Simple chain mail t-shirt and white robe, tied closed loosely with a silk rope. Topped off with a large bronze necklace etched with snakes and jackals, and wearing no less than fifteen gold, silver, and iron bracelets and rings; embedded with gemstones.

Danny, raising an eyebrow, “fucking speeding dressing? Is that a challenge?”.

“Dude no”, Tucker continuing to speak as he puts on a pair of sandals, “you can make your clothing appear instantly and out of thin air. Meanwhile, I simply calculated the highest rate off efficiency based on my clothing and accessories. You know, a real skill”.

Valerie snorts as she stands, tossing the ecto-gun on the bed, “I don’t know Tucker, creation and teleportation of damn ghost clothing sounds like a far superior skill. And less geeky”. Tucker makes a show of looking offended before pulling out black eyeliner and green eyeshadow; joining Sam at her vanity.

Danny flings over the chair, standing up as Valerie leaves to get dressed. Danny walks over to the vanity and squeezes his two friends' shoulders, “we are going to freak everyone out, now hand me an eye darkness stick”.

Sam snorts, handing Danny an eyeliner pencil, “drama queen”.

“King actually”.

Sam just rolls her eyes while Tucker points at her, “he’s right though. No one will be surprised by you, miss ooky spooky, but the rest of us? Just chaos”.

Danny snickers as he leans over them, pulling down at his eyelid as he lines his eyes, “poor Mr. Lancer’s going to have a never-ending stream of heart attacks this year and we’re starting it off today with a showy flashy bang. I’m surprised we even got Val to go along. The quartet’s truly complete”.

Sam smirks as she finishes off her lips with a metallic purple, gold shimmer layered over top, “I just want to see Paulina’s face. She couldn’t even afford Tucker’s outfit”.

“Isn’t she, like, a small-time model now or something?”.

“Yeah dude, for cars I think? Course she only stuck around Amity for your ghostly spandex covered ass”.

Valerie leans on the doorway after reentering, “well it is a great ass”.

Danny slaps his ass and winks exaggeratedly, “you mean it’s deadass drop-dead gorgeous”. While Sam and Tucker both turn their heads to take Valerie in, being the only one who isn’t some kind of ghost royalty. Knight was close enough to garner looking fancy as shit though. Having been knighted by all three of them.

Red titanium breastplate, waist plate, shin plates, and forearm plates; breastplate etched with black images of battling hellhounds, the rest etched with blood blossoms. Over top of a sheer black near floor-length pleated sleeveless dress, a dark cherry red silk knee-length long-sleeved pencil dress underneath that. Long curly hair pulled into a low ponytail and laying forward over her shoulder. Simple black titanium band rings on every finger and black dress shoes.

Danny makes a show of swooning as he hands her make up bag over. Which she uses to bop Danny on the nose with, as he leaves to change.

Shaking her head as she trades seats with Sam, who goes to sit on her bed and paint her nails black. Valerie only somewhat seriously asking, “so just how excessive is he going to look?”.

Sam chuckles, not even looking up, “good luck getting him to not wear a velvet cape”.

“My god what have I signed up for”.

Tucker snorts, “generalised suffering and ringing in the year of mischief”.

Danny dramatically swishes the vines covering the doorway out of the way, near shouting, “more like singing in the mighty reign of the defect quartet! Humanities rejects!”.

Valerie points towards his voice, “hey now, I still live in the Mortal Realm...mostly. I haven’t totally defected from normal human soci-”, cutting herself off as she turns around and gapes.

Danny’s standing there in a Superman pose, floor-length black crushed velvet cape with white plush lining; clasped together by two large green skulls, images of flames etched in pale green, and connected by a loosely hanging large blackened silver chain. Over top of a silk dark purple surcoat with black satin swirling embroidery, black leather double belt decorated with black spikes, and long-sleeved fine silver chainmail under it all. Black clawed titanium gauntlets and segmented knee-high boots of the same metal; both embedded with emeralds, rubies and onyx stones, at every joint and the cuffs. The whole ensemble finished off with a black leather choker, a green skull centrepiece with a large black obsidian ring hanging from its mouth.

Sam and Tucker start laughing at Valerie’s still gaping facial expression, while Danny slumps exaggeratedly, “What? Too much?”.

Tucker laughs hard, thankful his make up is already set, “dude! We’re going for street royal! Not ‘we’re going to the opera house’!”.

Danny sticks his arms out to the side slightly and looks down, “this is street royal”, plucking at the cape collar, “this cape is barely one step up from civvies”. Making Valerie finally lose it and start laughing her ass off. Wheezing, “you! You’ve been! Been here too long!”.

Tucker points at Danny’s shoes, “at least go for low top shoes and wrist-length gloves”.

Danny rolls his eyes and alters their length, before sticking in decent sized emerald earrings and giving himself black leggings, “happy?”.

Valerie shakes her head with a smile, “this school year is going to be a mess”.

Danny smirks, “perfect then. They have the audacity to hold these royal and knightly asses back a year then they deserve it. Plus”, pointing at everyone in turn, “how has no one figured shit out yet. Like this is getting sad, and it’s not like any one of us actually need the acceptance or even tolerance of the mortal world”.

Everyone sighs, “would still like it though”, before shrugging, “screw the lot of ‘em otherwise though”.  

Tucker points at Danny, “really says a lot when even Mr. ‘Oh-Ancients-what-if-they-don't-accept-me?’ no longer gives a damn”.

Danny shrugs, “kind of hard to care when my folks and your folks, and maybe Val’s, are the only ones I’ll ever really be seeing again. And they’ve all accepted our crazy bullshit”.

Sam groans as she sticks her nails in Danny’s face for him to freeze-dry, “and lucky me, I get to be the odd one out in the acceptance train. But hey, it’s not like I ever actually cared. Not to mention Nana Ida is leaving the four of us everything”.

Valerie coughs, nearly messing up her dark grey lipstick, “wait, I’m included now?”.

Sam rolls her eyes, “duh. All of team Phantom is and you’ve officially joined the chaos”.

Danny smirks as he flops back down in the chair, “there’s no way out and nothing but dead ends. But rejoice! For death is only the beginning”.

Valerie squints at him as she finishes, “that's way more ominous than you think it is”. While Tucker gets up and rummages through Danny’s bag, lifting up their assorted headgear. Tossing it to each of them and smirking at Danny’s ‘simple’ three-peaked green crown covered in obsidian stones, “well at least this one doesn’t float, or burst into flames, or give off mist, or give off the horrifying wails and moans of the dead”.

“I’d like to actually be able to hear the music, Tuck”.

Danny adjusts his ‘small’ crown and admires everyone else. Sam in her silver elven like crown wrapped in ivy vines and leaves. Tucker’s golden band of coiling snakes and rubies. Valerie with a blackened silver headband with titanium black ram horns, green skull wrapped in vines with a snake winding through its eyes at the centre. Nodding curtly, “alright, y’all ready to go freak all our former and current classmates out?”. All three of them give devilish grins so Danny continues, “well then, it’ll be a pleasure doing this song and dance with you all”, nodding at Sam, “Botany Lordess NightShade”, nodding at Tucker, “Ranatheo Pharaoh T Duulaman”, nodding at Valerie, “High Dread Knight Rufescent”.

The three of them nod back, “Phantom, High Ghost King”. Before everyone bursts out into laughs as they hop into Sam’s pumpkin carriage drawn by three black horses with flaming manes. Deciding to save Danny’s skeleton procession and fanciful Litter, as their ride for prom.

They all agreed to arrive fashionably late, since being tardy was something all of them were well known for. So it seems no surprise to them that things have already gotten started by the time they get there. Danny’s the first to hop out and holds the carriage door for everyone else. A dude smoking outside going bug-eyed at them and coughing, though the quartet completely ignores him.

Tucker, snickering at Danny, “dude, you’re the highest royal of us all. The fuck you doing?”.

Danny smirks, “gotta take care of my underlings Tuck. And y’all are mortals after all”. All three of them flip him off before the defect quartet head inside sneakily; all of them seriously wondering how long it will take for anyone to notice them.

Valerie makes her way over to the food stand, which honestly seemed like a dumb idea to have in the same room as a high school dance. Munching on some cheesy snacks, there really wasn’t a Ghost Realm equivalent to this level of greasiness and synthetic cheese, when someone taps on her shoulder. Turning around to see Star with some curly-haired brunette. Star speaking with shock, “oh! Valerie?!?”. Valerie just waits and smirks into her drink as Star opens and closes her mouth before speaking, “why? How? Armour?”.

Valerie laughs, takes a sip of her drink and eats a few more cheesy snacks before responding, “yup, it’s the last year and none of you noticed just how weird we were. So we decided fuck it, let’s really be straight strange. And the armour is a status thing, Star. Kind of came with the whole getting knighted thing”.

The brunette speaking up while Star just stares, “you know, I heard there were some unusual people in this town but, uh, this is a bit above and beyond”.

Danny laughs from behind the two girls, “you really have no idea Brittney. There’s no place stranger”, making both girls jump.

But Star quickly collects herself, recognising Danny’s deep and rather unique voice before turning around and stopping. Rubbing at her eyes as Danny and Valerie laugh. Brittney nearly whispers, “how do you know my name?”.

Danny smirks and shrugs loosely, cape bunching up. While Valerie speaks, “oh don’t mind that. Danny knows everyone’s names”.

Star looks back to Valerie while pointing at Danny, “okay...What is going on here? Those are, that is a lot of precious gems”.

Danny waves her off, “these are my less decorated clothing. Probably the most dressed-down I’ve been in a solid month”, chuckling, “ah the joys of being royalty”.

Star chokes and it looks like they’ve finally started to get other people’s attention. Multiple girls are poking at Tucker’s finery, Sam looks to be arguing with some popular girls who took Paulina’s place after she graduated. Dash, Kwan and Dale slowly walking over while eyeballing Danny. “The Hell Fentit?”.

While Sam slips over, escaping the clutches of the younger A-Listers, “hey now, is that any way to talk to your future king”.

Dash scoffs, “Fenturd is no one’s king. What are you four pulling?”.

Danny laughs and pats Dash’s head, Dash goes to whack it away but goes through Danny’s intangible arm. Making Danny laugh even harder, smirking down at the stunned Dash, “I’m everyones king in death Dash. Well, if you become a ghost that is”.

Dale squeaks, “you’re a ghost!”.

Tucker tosses his arm around Danny as the two laugh, the jocks and girls changing to glaring at Tucker. Dash muttering, “what the hell”.  

Tucker chuckles, “naw he ain’t flat out dead. None of us are. Ghost royals all the same though”, plucking at his gold bracelets, “comes with plenty of positives I’d say”, before flicking sand at Danny, who flicks snow back.

Sam glares and shoves her head in between the two boys, “how dare you leave me out”.

Danny points at her as she flicks leaves at them, Danny speaking with a shit-eating grin, “we’d never leaf you out”.

Star slowly looks back to Valerie, “when the heck did you all acquire powers and what’s up with the king thing?”.

Valerie chuckles as Star and Brittney join her in leaning against the food tables, Valerie replying, “like I said no one noticing was getting annoying so we’re not even bothering to hide it anymore”.

Danny sticks his head close and smiles, “if you recall, there was a point in time where the trio went from just the losers three to the weirdo trio. Quite a time that was. Ghosts popping up all of the sudden. The mad man king of ghosts stealing our town into another dimension only to be defeated and dethroned. Only for a certain someone to find out they were the rightful heir to said throne”.

Tucker joins in, “dude yeah, crazy shit. And then the school goes on weird field trips only for another certain someone to find their look-alike in an ancient museum while some crazy evil ghost awakens. And then of course, as things always happen, turns out that look-alike is the rebirth of the ancient ghost pharaoh and thus heir to the throne”.

Sam smirks, “and who could forget the time this dumb town decided to destroy all the plant life only for some crazy powerful ghost lord of plants to turn everyone into mindless zombies and fertiliser. Only for said ghosts to pick a certain someone as their queen and mother to all plants. Before, obviously, getting defeated”.

Valerie shrugs and smirks at Star, “and then what certain someone turns out to be a freakishly skilled fighter and ghost hunter, and friends with the aforementioned certain someone’s. A certain someone who only needed to share their secrets to unlock the door to knighthood”.

All four grin while everyone around just gapes at them, everyone in the room having gone silent shortly after Danny had started speaking.

Dash blinks before blurting out, “that’s bullshit”.

Danny rolls his eyes and snickers, “is that the ‘how dare you do better in life than me’ kind of ‘that’s bullshit’ or the ‘you are lying’ kind of ‘that’s bullshit’?”.

Dash glares at him and crosses his arms, “the second Fentoad. You four are weird but that’s it”.

The four exchange glances and snicker.

Star shakes her head and puts on a smile, “well whatever, you’re all here so things can actually start now”.

Valerie raises an eyebrow while Danny asks, “wait what?”.

Star nods to someone and suddenly a banner drops down reading ‘Respect, Protect And Never Forget. The Defect Quartet!’, and the music starts up in genuine, playing weird intense songs that are decidedly not normally played at any dances. Balloons and streamers start going off all over the place; most people breaking out into erratic dance, everything from the monster mash to the creep. One person appears to be doing a mash-up of the chicken dance and cotton eye joe. Anyone not dancing wildly in the whirlwind of streamers and flashing lights is leaning against the gymnasium walls watching the chaos.

Danny makes a show of looking like he’s about to faint, “they love us, they really really love us! Catch me”, before going to fall over.

All three others speaking in unison, “no”, as Danny just collapses on the floor.

Sam points at Dash who just finished doing the wiggle, “don’t you jerks hate us?”.

Dash shrugs, “Danny’s the only one I could pummel that would still stand up to me. Not to mention he never seemed to actually get injured”.

Danny blinks and tilts his head, still laying on the ground, “you actually noticed that?”, laughing, “sweet Ancients someone did actually notice something!”.

A couple of people who were just standing around come up, “plus you four are basically a staple of the school and town”.

“Your bullshit is Amity Parks hazing ritual”.

“You’re our mascots”.

Danny flings himself up and yanks the other three in for a tight hug, “guess we have to frequently visit our mortal lair now! Haha! The mortals have accepted their fate!”, before dragging them all onto the dance floor and all four of them break into weird ghost dances. The most ridiculous or over the top ones they can think of.

Danny’s bouncing around on his palms, cape dragging all over the floor and surcoat folding over his face. Sam is stomping and swaying her hands through the air like she walking through vines and pretending to have a seizure. Tucker looks to be doing a version of the robot that involves swords, bracelets jangling loudly. Valerie looks like she’s fencing while doing ballet, occasionally clanging on her breastplate for the sound effect.

The four bursting into an erratic mock fight as Freaks by Timmy Trumpet comes on. People laughing and eventually joining in. Danny notes that even Mr. Lancer, Mr. Lewis, Mrs, Testlauf and Ms. Trent seem to join in.

Danny shimmies his way over to Mr. Lancer, who’s now panting, elbowing the teacher who’s now shorter than him, “thought y’all would get back at us by making things as weird as possible huh? Try to shock us for a change?”.

Mr. Lancer waves him off, “as some would say, ringing in the new year and your last one”, standing up fully, “and yet you all still managed to startle everyone. What even is this Daniel?”.

Danny laughs exaggeratedly, “y’all only have the tip of the iceberg on our oddness. Literally in my case”, Danny swishes his cape out, snow falling out of it, as Danny goes back to the dance floor,

While Mr. Lancer is extremely confused, and then startled by Valerie coming up from behind and stomping her feet; making a show of standing ridged before bending over in laughter. Patting Mr. Lancer’s shoulder as she stands, “Mr. Lancer, you really should have expected us, especially Danny, to pull some shit. Out weirding him is honestly impossible. But hey, that’s the High King of Ghosts for you”.

Mr. Lancer coughs, “what?”, while Valerie winks and walks off. Mr. Lancer looks around, Samantha’s lifting a teacup made out of a leaf with a vine, Tucker seems to have a magically appearing red carpet of bandaging appearing in front of his feet and Mr. Lancer’s pretty sure he sees brown snakes winding around him in places, Valerie seems to be showing off a green and red board sword - where did that even come from? - to Mia, and Daniel is seemingly hopping around and changing the colour of the floor every time he lands. Mr. Lancer is officially both in awe and fear of what this year is going to be like. Watching as the Defect Quartet, which he honestly thought was a pretty insulting name for the group, all collapse in a heap on the ground; Daniel throwing his cape over the other three dramatically like a large blanket, while the music quietens down.

Star and Kwan, the previous years' homecoming queen and king, take the stage. Star grabbing the mic, “okay now that we’ve had a chance to adjust to the strange and bizarre again. It’s time for this years homecoming king and queen!”.

Star waits for the cheering to stop, though some are booing too, expected honestly. Clapping her hands, “so the votes were cast by everyone as they entered, meaning!”, Kwan holds up two envelopes that Star points at, “we don’t even have to wait!”.

People cheer and hold up cups while Star opens a pink one and Kwan opens a blue one. Meanwhile, Sam mutters about gender roles, stereotypes and colours.

Star smiling down at the paper and lifting up her head, “the homecoming queen is...Valerie Gray!”.

Valerie sticks her arms out to the side speaking as people cheer, “the fuck? I’m only here, like, half the classes?!?”.  

Jesse elbows her above the metal, “but you have literally saved people's lives and not to mention basically taught everyone how to work ectoweapons”.  

While Kwan leans into the mic, grinning like an idiot, “and the homecoming king is...Danny Fenton”.

Sam, Tucker and Valerie slowly look to Danny with expressions of mock horror, while people cheer. Danny blinks once, twice, three times before going stiff and pitching sideways, laughing and shouting, “you poor innocent fools!”.

Valerie sighs and grabs Danny’s arm, pushing up his cape to do so, and drags him with her towards the stage. Danny points behind him at Sam and Tucker, “chant as we rise”.

Sam and Tucker shrug and start stomping their feet, “before the armies, start the chaos. ‘Cause these boring skies will be no more”.  

Dash snorts at Dale, “they are really going all-in on this act, aren’t they? Kind of makes me miss Highschool”.

“It’s only been a couple of months dude”.

While Danny bends forward to let Kwan awkwardly put the puffy homecoming king ‘crown’ over Danny’s actual crown. Valerie doing the same as Star tries to situate the tiara in between the horns. Star muttering at her, “this is absurd”. Making Valerie and Danny smirk.

Star and Kwan step to the side and bow at the crowd while Danny does silly hand waving; Valerie being more normal about it even if light is bouncing off her armour.

Star and Kwan hop down off the stage as Valerie grabs the mic and points at Danny, “the Zone were you all thinking putting him up here?”.

Multiple people shout at them about how they basically defined the town and school, were a vital part of the atmosphere and culture. And that Danny was basically the epicentre of it all.

Danny laughs and leans over the mic, looking at Valerie, “face it Val, I’m the perfect collection of blood, guts and other assorted candy store viscera”, before turning to the crowd, “Imma tell y’all a story. ‘Cause unholy guacamole, you have no clue”.

Valerie looks at him and snorts, “origin story time?”.

Danny just smirks before speaking, “you see, it was many years ago. Before you or I, but not really ‘cause I was here and so were most of you. I decided this reality wasn’t for me, space was always my shit. Hence why I get called space boy so much. Anyway, so I tried to aim for a better world. And then what happened? I accidentally opened a hole into the realm of the dead! And you know what I did? What I goddamn did? Waltzed in and screamed ‘Honey! I’m home!’”, clapping his hands before pointing them out at everyone, “and now I’m here with you fucks again, in a town known for its ghostliness. Which I am absolutely the epicentre, or whatever, for. So y’all want atmosphere, I’ll give ya atmosphere”, snapping his fingers making green mist appear in the air, “this year is going to be a dissection of weird for all to see!”, Danny leans against the podium, posture instantly becoming more serious, well sort of serious anyway, “but really, the lot of us genuinely debated whether to even stick ‘round Amity”, Danny laughs as multiple people gasp and some shout “no!” and “never leave us!”, most people just going along with the quartets dramatics at this point. Danny smirks as he continues, “this silly mortal plain can barely handle us, we are in league with the dead after all. But fuck it, this town’s dead enough for our asses and y’all clearly accept our shit”. Resulting in a bunch of cheering, even if most people are incredibly confused.

While Danny nods at Valerie to speak, letting her step up to the podium with a dramatic bow. Valerie chuckles and smiles at him before turning to the crowd, “so obviously I’m the least odd of the quartet. I’m also the only one that isn’t straight up accidental ghostly royalty”, Valerie shrugs, “up to you whether you believe any of us about our bullshit. But just keep in mind, we have been ‘away from town’ all summer. Take a good guess as to where. Anyway, let’s have a wild year and remember”, Valerie leans forward almost menacingly, metal wrist guards clanging on the podium, “this is your final chance to take us down”.

Danny throws his arm around Valerie, “and you call me ominous!”, turning to the crowd, “is our lives nothing but strange or just hard to believe? Question our behaviour but it’s never what you guess. So just let go of what you don’t know. You laugh at us and you laugh with us. But we can be anything you don’t want anyone to be”, snorting and laughing, “because we are humanities defects!”.

Valerie pushes him off the stage and grabs the mic, “he’s a drama queen, obviously”.

While multiple people whisper about how it seemed like the quartet are the ones who came up with their name, which honestly tracks.

Danny shouts from the ground, “KING!”, before springing up and adjusting the fake crown over top of his real one and smiling wide at everyone, “best boil my blood and gouge my eyes, for I’ll never learn to hold my tongue”.

Valerie shakes her head as she hops down from the stage, going with Danny for a dance, “you ominous bastard”.

Danny laughs as he takes her hand in his, “ah sweet sweet normalcy”.

While Tucker and Sam dance, snakes and vines weaving in a dance as well.

Mr. Lewis watches from the sidelines over the rim of a paper coffee cup, “you know, I thought aliens were the weirdest shit I was ever going to see”, shrugging, “but hey, at least no ones tried to kill me yet”.

While the defect quartet roamed the dance, confusing every person they talked to or stood next to or so much as looked at.  

End.

[logansanderslove]

Logan 3.0  (6/?)

CO-AUTHOR: @demented-dukey

Summary: Remus is an incorrigible flirt, and Logan can only bear the innuendo for so long until something has to give. Passions erupt, but there are more lasting repercussions than either could have predicted, including a significant transformation to Logan himself! How will these new changes affect the delicate balance of Thomas’s mental state? When a new dark side threatens the lives of several of the other sides, will Logan and Remus’s love be strong enough to save everyone, including Thomas?

Ships: INTRULOGICAL

Sanders Sides: Logan, Remus, Thomas, Roman, Virgil, Patton, Deceit

Fic type: Drama, Romantic, Action, Flirty

Trigger Warnings: No character deaths, but a lot of very close calls. Consensual knife play and bloodplay, and lots of bloody fighting and monster attacks. If you’re sensitive to unsympathetic characters, some parts flirt pretty close to that, but there’s also a lot of extenuating circumstances to explain the situation, and there’s a happy ending once you get through the angst and misunderstandings. Self-harm and references to such, and suicidal tendencies.

MASTERLIST

Chapter 6: A New Way Of Things

It was early morning when Remus stirred, blinking his eyes open. He crossed his eyes, watching the tiny spider tap on the bridge of his nose with one limb. "I'm up," Remus murmured under his breath, and the spider grabbed a strand of silk and crawled back up to the ceiling.

Yawning, Remus disentangled himself from Logan, careful not to wake his love. He wasn't sure what time Logan usually woke up, but he doubted it was much earlier than Thomas himself, which meant he had about an hour - plenty of time to see what Virgil wanted and come back with some breakfast to surprise his lover in bed. Remus grabbed his phone and slid on a dark green satin robe that ended mid-thigh and loosely tied the belt, leaving the top to gape open. Slipping out of his room, he headed to the dark side kitchen, the smell of coffee luring him more than the obligation of conversation.

There was a mug ready for him, and Remus accepted it and downed half the contents in one long swallow. Virgil took the time to let his gaze travel down and back up Remus's body, nose crinkling at the smell of sex and dried blood. "Geez, you know that stuff's supposed to stay on the inside of your body, right?"

Remus chuckled, proud of the marks his boyfriend had given him, and glad he had the opportunity to show them off a little. "You should see the other guy."

Virgil grimaced, "Let's not and say I did."

"Your loss," Remus said, and sipped the coffee, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "So, what's up?"

Virgil sighed. "Pat wants to talk to Logan. He wants to try to figure out how things are going to work around here now that Lo is Neutral and all that. Not my scene, but hey, I'm the only one who can get into your room right now.”

“Can’t you stall him?” Remus asked.

Virgil lifted one eyebrow, “I’ve been stalling him. How do you think you managed to get a full night’s sleep? Or a full night’s… whatever…” he said, gesturing at Remus’s chest.

Remus groaned, crossing his arms on the table and burying his head on them. “Fiiiiine,” he muttered, muffled.

"Could you tell Lo? I don't want Patton to break through the floor with all the pacing he's been doing. I'm surprised his legs haven't fallen off by now." Virgil shrugged. "Anyway, yeah, that's all I need. Please don't share your fucky time stories with any of us, none of us need to know, okay, Re?" He stated, then he spun and walked away, giving him a glance over his shoulder. "You and Lo are still cute together, though."

Remus called after him, "If that jealousy ever gets to be too much, you're welcome to join us some night."

Virgil laughed, flipping him the bird before disappearing down the hall. Remus finished his coffee, then refilled his mug along with a second one for Logan. Grabbing a tray, Remus collected the makings of a hearty breakfast: steak, steamed spinach with apricots, ramen swimming in maple syrup, and tomato juice. He came across a jar of Crofter's in the cabinet that had not been there yesterday and kissed the jar, sending wordless thanks to Virgil who must've filched it from Roman's hoard to surprise him. Remus spread a sizable amount of the jam on several slices of toast and took the tray of food back to his room to surprise his lover.

~

Logan stirred when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He groaned, then a kiss on his forehead brought a smile to his face and he opened his eyes to Remus' smile. "I brought you breakfast, love." He said, and Logan sat up with a yawn, stretching his arms over his head then grabbing his glasses, adjusting them before he turned back to his boyfriend. He looked down to see the large array of food, but his eyes were stuck on one thing. Remus chuckled and pushed the toast towards him. "Toast with Crofter's. Your favorite, darling."

Logan grinned, taking the toast and immediately snacking down on it, sighing in contentment. He finished the toast in no time, as he and Remus made humorous conversation over their coffee, then finally Logan stood up and grabbed his clothes, headed towards Remus' bathroom. "I'm gonna take a shower. Please tell me you have something other than your own brand of soap in here," he shrugged. "No offense to you, love."

Remus chuckled and nodded. "It’s a compliment. Yeah, I grabbed a bunch of your stuff from your room yesterday and brought it here. I had a feeling you’d want a shower after last night."

Logan chuckled, then walked into the bathroom. Moments later, Remus heard the shower turn on, then he heard humming. He smirked. Standing up, he went to lean against the bathroom door. 

"So, when you get out, Pat wanted to see you."

There was a pause, and then Logan's voice floated out, "The timing is deplorable, but I suppose it's to be expected."

Remus agreed, but then again, anytime before the sun eventually collapsed in on itself was too soon for Logan to leave his room, if you asked him. He stepped further into the bathroom, fishing out his phone from his robe pocket. "We might be able to put him off a little longer," Remus said, using the bathroom mirror to take a few more selfies of the bloody mess that was his chest, side, and back. "Virge said he was getting pretty impatient, though, so maybe not."

"Mmm. Better to confront this head-on." 

Remus hummed, conceding the point as he picked out one of his fluffiest towels and hung it within easy reach of the shower. Stepping back out of the bathroom, he collected his clothes from the pile on the floor and tossed them in the direction of the dirty clothes hamper. Pulling an identical outfit out of the closet, he draped it over a chair to change into after his own shower.

Meanwhile, Logan sighed, running his hands through his hair under the showerhead. It was odd to have his hair shorter, even if just by a little bit. As he washed his body, he smiled as his hands ran over each and every line that had been cut last night. Red swirled at the drain as the dried blood began to wash off. A few minutes later, Logan turned off the shower, stepping out to grab the towel that Remus had left for him. Drying himself off, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

He'd have to deal with Patton at some point or another, might as well get it over with.

He pulled on his underwear, then his dark jeans, followed by pulling his shirt over his chest, careful not to hit any of his cuts. Tucking it in and then tying his new all-black tie, he looked in the mirror, brushed his hair back, then walked out.

"Ah, there's my handsome boyfriend," Remus remarked.

Logan chuckled, then sat down to pull on his socks and sneakers. He looked up at Remus. "I hate to say it, but I have to go. Patton won’t wait long, we both know how impatient he is."

Logan stood up then brushed Remus' cheek with the back of his hand. "I love you..." 

He gave Remus a quick kiss before sinking out to face his friend and the million questions he was bound to have.

Remus sighed and let the robe fall off his shoulders to puddle on the floor. Kicking it aside, he strode into the bathroom to make himself "presentable" and get ready for the day.

~

Patton was brooding in the Light Sides' kitchen, sipping on a drink that looked like it contained far more cream and sugar than actual coffee. He looked up as Logan arrived, automatically reaching for the coffee pot to pour a second mug.

"No, thank you," Logan said. "I already had coffee with Remus."

"Oh," Patton visibly deflated. He fiddled awkwardly with the mug in his hands. "Is this... is this how it's gonna be now? No more famILY breakfasts?"

Logan hesitated. "Hardly a family breakfast with several members not invited," he finally pointed out, purely objectively.

Patton winced, staring into the depths of his coffee.

Logan sighed. "I...I'm sorry, Patton. That came out much harsher than I meant it to." He sat down across the counter from him and laid his hand atop Patton's. The Light Side looked up at the Neutral. "I know...I know that things are changing. That things aren't going to be the way they were. But that doesn't mean we aren't still a family, Patton." Logan said softly, then he frowned at the look that Patton gave him. "What is it?"

“It’s just… you’re really different, Lo. It’s not just the outfit,” Patton said, waving a hand at Logan’s new appearance. “The way you’ve been acting… it’s gonna take some getting used to.” Patton brightened, “I could make you some toast! Thomas just picked up some more Crofter’s, and-” he trailed off, dimming at the expression on Logan’s face, “-you’ve already eaten with Remus, too.”

A soft, fond smile crossed Logan’s face. “Re surprised me with breakfast in bed.”

“Thoughtful kid,” Patton admitted. “He seems to really love you.”

“He does really love me.” Logan corrected, his voice firm.

Logan immediately bit his lip at Patton's slightly shocked face, knowing that his tone had changed drastically within a matter of seconds. He hung his head, closing his eyes. He hated to admit when he had made mistakes, he hated to admit when he was in over his head, but now, with something this new, he wasn't as hesitant about asking. 

"Patton...I need your help."

“My-my help?” Patton said. “I mean, of course! I’ll help any way I can! What-” he pushed up his glasses, peering curiously at Logan, “What do you want me to do?”

Logan sighed. "Pat, despite feeling clearer than I ever have, I've never been more confused. Well, confused isn't the right word... I'm just uncertain and scared."

Patton leaped up, coffee forgotten on the table as he enfolded Logan into a hug. “You’re not the only one,” Patton confessed, squeezing Logan tight, “I’m uncertain and scared too. But Thomas is gonna be okay, and I think we will be too.”

The Neutral side shook his head, leaning against Patton's shoulder. "It's not just what's happening with Thomas, but what about me, Pat? I know I said I'd be able to, but I'm starting to doubt whether or not I'll truly be able to control both aspects." His breath shook as if he were holding back tears.

Patton rubbed Logan's arm. "Lo, I know that you can do this. Do you know why you, of all the sides, turned to a Neutral side?" He asked, then upon Logan's eyebrow raise he squeezed his hand. "Because you're the strongest of all of us. You always have been. You're the only one able to handle this. I know you're scared, Lo. But you know that I'll be here for you the whole way. Anything you need, I'll help you with. Promise."

Logan looked up with tears in his eyes. "But...but aren't you afraid of me? I could just snap at any moment! My whole life I've been Logic, but now I have to focus on keeping the aspect of Anger in check, too? How am I supposed to just jump right into this?!" His voice was becoming hysterical, and Patton wrapped him in a hug, comforting him.

“It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, and it’s going to take time to get used to it,” Patton said, rubbing gentle circles into Logan’s back. “But I’ve been thinking about it all night, and Dee’s right. This is something Thomas needs right now, and you wouldn’t have been given this new aspect if Thomas didn’t know deep down that you could handle it.”

He leaned back a little to look into Logan’s eyes, “Yeah, you could snap. But so could any of us. If you go too far, we’ll reel you back in. If you break, we’ll pick up the pieces and put you back together again. You’re not alone, Lo. No matter what.”

Tears dripped down Logan's chin, and he nodded silently. "Thank you, Patton…" He sniffed as he wiped them away with his hand, wanting to be sure that no one but Patton could know he had cried. Then a sound from the other side of the room showed Roman walking out of his room, stretching with a yawn. Logan smiled. 

"Good morning, Roman."

Roman jolted, still not fully awake. "Lo! I...uh...I thought you stayed with my brother last night..." he said, the idea still a bit odd to him but he was willing to endure if it meant both Logan and Remus' happiness. 

Logan nodded. "I did. But Patton wished to speak with me. I apologize that I have already eaten, but feel free to sit with us." He said, and Roman lifted his eyebrow in slight caution.

"You okay there, Lo? You seem...unusually calm. And...nice."

Logan rolled his eyes with a smile. "Yes, well, I am trying very hard, trust me. But, Patton has assured me that he is going to help me get through this new change." Logan chuckled nervously. "I'm not sure if you can tell, but I am honestly absolutely terrified of what could happen. But Thomas needs me for a reason, and it is my job to keep him functioning. So I will endure."

“Fortune favors the brave,” Roman said, clapping Logan on the back. “Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered we’ll be there to fight by your side, Specs. Never give up, never surrender, and just keep swimming. This too shall pass. Stay calm and don’t blink.”

“That was a whole lotta different pop culture references you just mashed together, Princey.” Virgil wandered into the kitchen, refilling his extra-large mug of coffee. “I thought you weren’t supposed to cross the streams?”

“They’re all applicable, Peter Vexing-man!” Roman exclaimed, and then grinned at Logan, “And I do have so much trouble picking just one.”

Virgil sipped his coffee, eyeing Logan. “You’re looking… normal. Ish.”

Logan smoothed down his tie self-consciously where it had gotten wrinkled from Patton’s hug. “Were you expecting something different?”

Virgil grinned, “I saw Remus this morning.”

Logan blushed, and Patton looked between them, confused. Roman started to gag, “Oh, gross, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.”

Logan scoffed. "Oh, grow up, Roman." He said, bringing a snicker from Virgil.

Roman frowned. "UH UH! I don’t need to be hearing about what you and Remus got into last night-"

"So how many scars do you have, Lo?" Virgil asked with a smirk. "I saw how many Remus had. You guys certainly had fun." He remarked, bringing a retching sound from Roman and wide eyes from Patton.

"Scars? What...what is he talking about, Lo?" Patton asked with concern, and Logan opened his mouth to answer, hesitated, then shook his head.

"No, you're too innocent to know. I'll tell you when you're older." He said with a wink, standing up after deciding to pour himself another cup of coffee.

Virgil was trying not to laugh at Roman's efforts to keep his stomach contents down just thinking about what Lo and his brother must have done. He knew about a lot of his brother's...kinks. Had Logan really gone along with them? Had he changed that much? He shuddered, then sat down with a sigh, surprised as Logan slid a cup of coffee in front of him, made exactly the way that Roman liked it, two creams and three sugars. His eyes went wide, looking up at Logan.

"You haven't made me coffee in years," he said, and Logan just smiled. 

"Well, I still remember how you take it. Consider it an apology for my actions yesterday." He said with a small hint of pain, and Roman nodded. 

"Thanks, Lo."

“Now that everybody’s kissed and made up,” Virgil drawled, “we should probably figure out what’s on the docket for today.” He had his phone out and was scrolling through the various social medias. “Word about the fight hasn’t gotten out to the fanbase yet, but it’s only a matter of time before it does, and they should probably hear it from Thomas first before the rumor mill gets going.” Virgil winced, “Broken wrists take, like, eight weeks to heal minimum, and that’s going to put some serious delays in Thomas’s video schedule unless Logan or Joan can figure out a way to film around it.”

“Thomas should rest!” Patton exclaimed, “He needs to heal and get better!”

“He can heal and surf the internet at the same time,” Roman offered. “And it’s a noble tale to tell, our Thomas coming to a prince’s aid! There’s no shame in letting people know what happened.”

“Except that Thomas got in a fight.” Virgil stressed, “And he got beat up. People are gonna be mad that he didn’t just let the police handle it, and they might think he’s weak because he didn’t win the fight. Plus, telling the story might make some of Thomas’s younger audience freak out and be too scared to go to Pride events in the future!”

Logan took a deep breath. "Or," he began, "We could consider the logical approach. Thomas does explain the truth, and considering the fact that had he waited for the police to handle it, a young boy may have died, as well as he was doing the honorable thing to make sure others were kept safe. It's not a matter of whether he lost the fight or not. It's the principle. Thomas's fanbase, although they will question him for getting into a fight, will most likely see him as a hero; he was a Prince who chased after the villain to protect the people he cares about." Logan looked around. "Not all battles are going to be won. But the important thing is that the truth comes out and that Thomas is okay, aside from a broken wrist."

He then shrugged. "And I believe that Thomas won't let a broken wrist stop him from making videos. He's Thomas." He linked his hands together calmly. "Does that sound acceptable?"

“Sounds logical,” Virgil agreed, hiding a self-satisfied smile behind another sip of coffee. He’d maybe reached a little in an effort to ramp up the panic, but Logan had responded exactly the way he’d wanted, calmly shooting down the irrational fears and distilling the situation to its key points.

"Thank goodness Thomas is left-handed!" Patton said, looking on the bright side. "He can still write, and eat, and do other things one-handed!"

Virgil choked on his coffee, coughing and sputtering.

"Yeah, lots of other things he can do one-handed," Roman snorted.

Patton blinked, "...yeah? Like scroll through his phone? Or pet dogs! Or, um, give one-arm hugs?" Logan and the others were quiet, exchanging glances and trying not to laugh.

Logan nodded. "Ah, yes, Patton. That is exactly what he can do. NOTHING else," he glared at Roman and Virgil with a hint of amusement, because he knew that he himself was trying to hold back the urge to make the dirty joke.

God, was Remus rubbing off on him (well, of course, he was, but in a very different sense), or had his personality changed so much that he now had a... sense of humor?

“Don’t be silly, Logan! There’s probably lots else Thomas can do with one hand!” Patton bounced, warming to the tangent. “Like snap his fingers! Or play a triangle! Or crack an egg! Or play a board game… Ooo, do you think Talyn or Joan might want to come over and play a game? They could sign Thomas’s cast!”

Logan bit back every single remark he wanted to make and finally had enough self-restraint to answer. "Y-yeah, Pat. I'm sure he could do other things. And your idea of Joan and Talyn signing his cast is a fantastic idea. Perhaps he could go to all his other friends, too. I am sure they would be more than willing to sign his cast."

Patton squealed, clapping his hands excitedly. “Oh! This’ll be so much fun!”

“Speaking of,” Roman added, “I think I remember where I put that Sharpie multipack Thomas bought a few months ago - we could have each of Thomas’s friends sign in a different color! Go full rainbow!”

“Could be gayer,” Virgil snarked.

"I'm not sure how?" Roman shot back, grinning, "But I'm open to suggestions, my Dark and Stormy Knight?"

Logan gave Virgil a disapproving look, mouthing the words, 'Don't you DARE'. He knew exactly what Virgil had meant by that, and although the same thought had popped into his head, at least he wasn't about to say it out loud.

He then forced a grin. "Roman, why don't you tell Pat where the sharpies are, and he can go get them while I have a little chat with you both?" His voice was stern, and Roman nodded immediately.

"Yeah, Patton, the container is upstairs in the bookcase in my bedroom." 

Patton jumped up with a smile and ran up the stairs. As soon as he was out of earshot, Logan grabbed the front of both Roman and Virgil's shirts. He looked them dead in the eye.

"Okay, you two. There is absolutely no need for you to be taunting him like that. Sure, he doesn't get the jokes, he's too innocent, but it still doesn't make it right. And I know I made a few, too, but it stops now, okay? We're a family, and we respect one another. Got it?" He hissed, and both boys nodded, then Roman drew back.

"But how can we not think about it when you come here this morning after fucking my broth-"

Logan dragged Roman close, inches from his face. "DEAL WITH IT." He snarled. "There is no reason to bring it up, I had no plans to, it was Virgil who mentioned it. Now, I have fairly good self-control, Roman, but you know as well as I that I can be very violent. So, you might not want to cross me now that I also hold the power of Fury. Are we clear?"

Roman's eyes were wide with fear, nodding quickly. "Y-yep. No problem, Logan." 

The Neutral side released Creativity, a smile back on his face as if nothing had happened. "Wonderful. I'm glad we're all on the same page." He said casually, taking a slow sip of his coffee.

Virgil and Roman met wide eyes, moving over to the couch. Virgil scooted closer to Roman, whispering, "Okay, as cool as he is now, he also scares me. He is completely different." His voice was nervous.

Roman raised his eyebrow. "You mean he didn't scare you before?" He then shook his head. "But I agree. Logic might still be Logic, but Logan isn't the Logan we knew."

"For obvious reasons."

The smooth voice behind them made them both jump about a foot, spinning to see Logan leaning on the back of the couch with a smirk. "You two aren't that great at trying to hide conversations. I could hear every single word."

He sighed.

"Virgil, I apologize if I seem to frighten you now. I am still trying to learn to properly balance my responsibilities, seeing as they are doubled now. However, I also appreciate your praise of calling me 'Cool'. It is certainly nice to be considered as such." Logan turned to Roman. "And I'm well aware that I'm not the same. I know this is going to take some getting used to for all of us. But trust me when I say that this is for the best. This is what Thomas needs, and as Logic, I am Thomas' primary function. Without me, he wouldn't be able to breathe. So remember that I am still Logic, Roman. I understand your fear at the thought of Fury. Until now, yes, it was a side that we hoped never to encounter, however, I knew that someday I would have to take the responsibility."

There was a clattering sound like a herd of elephants tumbling down the stairs, then Patton burst into the common room, waving the Sharpie multipack like a prize. “Found it!” Pat was grinning, oblivious to any remaining tension in the room. “I was thinking I could draw some puppies and kittens on Thomas’s cast! And then write, ‘Sorry you're feeling ruff. Hope you're feline better soon!’ Get it??”

Logan groaned, shaking his head with a smile. "Will your puns ever cease?" He remarked, but Patton only stuck his tongue out. Logan sighed then crossed his arms. "Shall we call Thomas in and explain everything we've just discussed? I would like to get to work."

“Perfect timing,” Virgil said, looking at his phone, “Dee just texted - Thomas woke up a little while ago and is finishing breakfast now.” His phone hummed as another text came in, and Virgil chuckled, “We should probably rescue Dee anyway - he gets cranky when he doesn’t get his beauty sleep.” 

Logan scoffed quietly. "Yeah, cuz 'beauty' sleep has done him so well in the past..." he muttered, then he looked up to see the others staring at him. He returned a flat face. "What? Nothing. Ah, Patton, can you call Thomas in? He seems to respond the best to you."

“Now Logan,” Patton frowned, his voice taking on a disappointed paternal tone. “Everybody is beautiful, including snakes.” he chided, but let the topic drop. He tucked the markers under one arm and closed his eyes, rubbing his hands together, “Calling Thomathy, come in Timmy Tom-boy Tammycakes.”

A moment later, Thomas rose up into the mindscape, cradling his cast. The skin around his eye was a deep, angry purple, and there was more bruising around his lip, but otherwise, he was alert and intact. “Heyyyyyyy, guys,” Thomas said, embarrassed. “Guess you all heard what happened yesterday?”

Logan nodded, meeting Thomas' eyes. "Indeed we did. And..." he cleared his throat. "I do believe that I am at fault for much of it."

Everyone snapped their gazes to Logan with wide eyes. He had actually admitted to a mistake?!

Logan adjusted his glasses. "I...I am truly sorry for what happened to you, Thomas. As you saw yesterday and as you see now, my purpose in your mind has shifted, causing my aspects to...transition."

“Logan,” Thomas yelped, “I don’t blame you for anything! I chose to get in that fight, and I didn’t stop to think…” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck ruefully, “I’m sorry if my actions forced your aspect to change. I… I can’t say that I’d make a different decision if I had to do it all over again, but I know how hard change can be, and I’m sorry I’m putting you through that.”

Logan's eyes went wide, startled at the apology, then he smiled faintly. "There is no need for you to be sorry, Thomas. In fact, although I am still adjusting to this, I feel like I have more clarity in my life than ever before." He sighed. "I believe that I knew that eventually, I would have to accept the burden of Fury. That's not to say I was ready for it, but I am more than willing to carry the weight if it means you remain well-functioning."

“Well, hopefully, it won’t be too much of a weight,” Thomas smiled. “I don’t plan on losing my temper very often, but if it gets to be too much, please let me know. I… don’t know what I’ll be able to do to help, but I still want to know.”

Logan chuckled. "I will be sure to let you know if it starts to be." He tapped the tips of his fingers together. "Now. I have a solution as to how to explain what happened, and what we can do about it. The four of us," he gestured to Patton, Roman, Virgil and himself. "Discussed the best course of action, and we decided that it is to tell the truth about what happened, what you did. We should not wait for the fanbase to hear about it from somewhere else and then rumors get twisted and spread like viruses. And as for your broken wrist, let us be thankful that it is your right hand so that you may not be hindered from your work. Meaning you can still film. Patton had the idea of getting all of your friends to sign your cast," Patton smiled and handed the pack of Sharpies to Thomas. "I believe that as long as we stay positive about all of this, then there will be nothing to worry about. And Thomas?"

Thomas was nodding along, brightening with every word. This was good, he could do this. His sides had a plan, and it was a good plan. “Yeah, Lo?”

Logan smiled warmly. "I'm proud of how you handled the situation. Even if it ended in a fight, you were willing to risk your own safety to stick up for a kid you didn't even know. That's admirable."

“You proved yourself quite a knight in shining armor!” Roman proclaimed.

Virgil admitted, “You didn’t let your anxiety stop you from doing the Right Thing.”

“I’m just so gosh-darn proud of you!” Patton exclaimed, throwing his arms around Thomas in a bear hug.

“Guys!” Thomas sputtered, patting his Morality on the back, “Thank you. It… it really means a lot to me that you all support me so much.”

Logan shrugged, crossing his arms. "Mental health is important, and if I can't keep you going, then hell, none of these guys can!" He chuckled.

He then looked up when he heard it go quiet to see everyone staring at him with wide eyes. "What?”

Roman blinked a few times. "You...you made a joke. Genuinely. You...you laughed. What?" He said with shock, causing Logan's eyebrow to rise, tilting his head.

"Was I really that much of a bore before that a simple chuckle now seems like a biblical-sized event?" He asked. He looked slightly taken aback. "Frankly, that's rather insulting."

“No!” Thomas assured him, “You weren’t a bore! You were just… serious.”

“You used to laugh a lot more, back during the early videos,” Patton murmured. “I… I missed it. It’s nice to see you smile again, Lo.”

Logan stood silent for a moment, then a very faint grin slowly spread across his face as he tucked his hands in his pockets. "So, you...you don't mind that I'm different now? You don't care that I'm...basically half Dark Side?" He asked quietly, quickly glancing down at himself then back up.

“It might take some getting used to,” Roman said, slinging an arm across Logan’s shoulders, “But… it’s good to see that Gloomy Gus exterior crack a bit.”

“Life’s too short to be serious forever,” Virgil said, smiling morbidly.

“You’re still you, Logan, and we love you, no matter how you change or grow.” Patton’s voice was soft, sincere. “That’s what family’s for.” 

Thomas nodded, “Different can be good! Life would get pretty boring if nothing ever changed, right?”

Logan blinked a few times, then smiled, leaning against Roman. "I guess things are a lot better, then. Because I feel more complete than I ever have.”

Virgil raised his eyebrow. "You sure Remus doesn't have a part to play in that?" He asked with a smirk. Logan's eyes went wide.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH."

"Wait, what?" Thomas said, looking between his sides. "What about Remus?" Logan glared at Virgil, who mimed zipping his lips, while Roman looked torn between amusement and nausea. "Guys, what exactly did I miss while I was asleep?"

"Oh! That's right! You don't know yet!" Patton chirped, his eyes nearly dancing with little heart emojis, "Logan and Remus are dating now!"

Thomas blinked as he processed the information. "Really?" he asked Logan, unable to hide his disbelief.

Logan smirked with a shrug. "What can I say? I admire his spirit."

"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" Virgil snarked, pretending to cough.

Logan rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Oh, shut up, Virge." He flicked his eyebrows up. "Are you jealous or something?" He snarked.

“Kiddos,” Patton warned them, “I’m sure there’s plenty of Remus to go around.” Ignoring their shocked expressions, Patton turned back to Thomas, his voice dropping back into an excited-kid whisper, “Did you know he can make tentacles? He can hug each of us at the same time!!! I’m kinda jealous…”

Logan's eyes went wide. "Uh, Pat, that's not exactly normal... And trust me, you really don't want a hug from those things."

"Yeah. Don't be jealous, Padre! Your hugs are the best!" Roman chimed in.

Patton squealed, happily launching himself at Roman, who caught the fluffball in open arms and hugged him tightly, spinning him like a Disney princess.

Logan caught Virgil's eye, both appreciating the childhood innocence that Patton still possessed. Logan then met Thomas' eye. “Yeah, I'm dating Remus. Oh, and you should probably know that Roman tried to maul me when he first found out."

“I APOLOGIZED FOR THAT!” Roman shrieked, lowering Patton to the ground, “Can’t a prince make a mistake without it coming back to bite him every five minutes???”

“I dunno,” Virgil snickered mischievously, “Logan’s the expert in things that bite, apparently.”

Logan snapped his head to him with wide eyes. "WILL YOU SHUT UP?!"

"I would say, ‘Make me’, but I'm pretty sure Remus would get jealous if you tried." Virgil teased.

"OKAY! Okay!" Thomas waved his hands wildly in the air, before covering his own ears as well as he could with one hand in a cast, "That's enough for today, I don't need to hear anymore!"

Every single pair of eyes spun to Logan, whose own eyes darted nervously around the room. He then shook his head. "HEY, VIRGIL IS THE ONE WHO BROUGHT IT UP! I NEVER WOULD HAVE SAID ANYTHING!!"

“Sorry,” Virgil said, not sounding sorry at all. “I just can’t help myself. You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”

Logan narrowed his eyes. "Careful, Virgil. You're poking the dragon here. And my flame is pretty painful." His voice was stern, but not truly vicious yet.

Virgil raised his hands, palms out, “S’all in good fun,” he said, but let the topic drop again. Thomas hesitantly lowered his hands, watching the other sides carefully in case he needed to cover his ears again.

Patton gasped, poking Logan’s new dragon ear-wrap, “Is that why you have the new cute little earrings?” he exclaimed, bouncing giddily, eyes wide, “Can you really breathe fire now??”

Logan bit his lip. "That was more of a metaphor than anything, but...ah..." He bit his lip as he scrunched up his face. "While we are on the topic..."

Everybody took a hasty step back from Logan. "If you're going to try to breathe fire, can we go outside?" Thomas pleaded, "I know this is the mindscape, but Remus setting fire to everything during his song and dance is still pretty fresh, and I'd rather not go through that again?"

Logan shook his head. "No, no, nothing like that...It's just..." He looked up at Virgil. "You know how each of the Dark Sides has their correlated animal, correct? Remus-octopus, Deceit-snake, you-spiders?"

"Creepy crawly death dealers," Patton muttered under his breath, shuddering.

Logan sighed. "And I'm sure that you also know that you and Deceit and Remus share traits with said animals, such as certain body parts and the ability to communicate?"

Virgil shot Patton a sympathetic glance, and nodded at Logan, "...yeah? You're saying... what? You have dragon body parts now?" He eyed Logan from head-to-toe. "Are they under your clothes?" he asked, wincing.

Logan face-palmed. "NO. THAT IS NOT WHAT I AM SAYING. " He then took his hand away. "Well, not exactly, at least..."

"What are you saying, Logan?" Thomas asked, curious.

Logan rubbed the back of his head. "Weelllll....since I'm not a Dark Side or a Light Side, the rules are slightly different for me..."

The sides and Thomas glanced at each other, clearly not sure where Logan was going with this. "And that means…?" Patton encouraged.

Logan pushed his glasses up with his fingers, rubbing his eyes. "Ah...go outside. I'll show you."

Together, the group trooped outside - but instead of the community of other apartments that Thomas lived next to in real life, the "outdoors" of the mindscape opened into a sunny meadow with a forest beyond. Patton spun around happily in the sunshine while Virgil raised his hood to protect himself from the evil light, and Roman dug a pair of stylish sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on.

"Okay," Thomas said, gesturing at Logan. "What did you want to show us?”

Logan clicked his tongue, took a deep breath, then as if someone had erased him from existence, he was gone.

The others snapped their heads around, looking frantically. "Where did he go?!" Patton cried.

Roman's heart was beating frantically, then he saw a small movement on the edge of the trees. His eyes narrowed as he lowered his sunglasses. A dark, large, creature. His eyes went wide. "There's something in the trees-"

Suddenly a roar sounded, making everyone shout. The shape sprung into the air, and Roman's eyes were wide as the animal he had admired since childhood circled the air above him. His breath was taken away when he saw the shape of the dragon.

"That...that's a Night Fury...they're so rare...Did Logan conjure it or something?" He murmured, but Thomas shook his head.

"I don't know! I don't know where he is!"

"Guys." Virgil pointed out the obvious, "I think... Logan is the dragon."

Suddenly the dragon dove, landing on the ground directly in front of them, its bright green eyes staring at all of them. Then in a flash, Logan stood where the beast had been, arms crossed with a smirk, the green eyes fading back to his ocean blue. "You wanted to know, now you know."

Patton began to vibrate, squealing high enough that the glass in his and Logan's frames threatened to crack.

Roman was also having a personal meltdown. "You can turn into a dragon now? That's so not fair!" he turned to Thomas, "I want to be a dragon! I demand you make me a dark side too!"

Thomas held up his hands in defense, "I-I don't..."

"It doesn't work like that, Princey." Virgil chuckled.

Logan laughed. "It sure doesn't. Not even Virge, Deceit or Remus can morph completely." He flicked his eyebrows up. "I'm one of a kind."

"You're Toothless!" Patton breathed in awe. "That's so cool!"

"Pretty nifty," Virgil added.

Logan forced back a smirk. "I have a perfectly functioning tail, mind you."

"Fully functional and anatomically correct," Virgil murmured, humming a few bars of Voltaire. Logan shot him a glare, and he stopped.

"S'not fair," Roman whined under his breath.

"How old are you, Princey?" Logan asked. "Whoever told you that life is fair? You know it's not. Yeah, I have this gift. But would you like to be the one carrying around two world's weights of aspects and having to keep a strong handle on both to make sure that Thomas doesn't devolve into a horrible, dysfunctional mess?"

"Geeze, lighten up a little, dude?" Virgil said. "Roman's just jealous because dragons used to be his thing. No need to freak out on him."

"Yeah... and besides, that whole... 'horrible, dysfunctional mess' thing... " Thomas bit his lip, obviously worried, "That's not likely to happen... is it?"

"Of course not!" Patton assured him. "No more than usual! We know from when Virgil tried to duck out that any one of us losing control could cause you to devolve into a horrible, dysfunctional mess!"

Thomas whined unhappily. Virgil face-palmed, "Not helping, Pat."

"Yeah, Pat, you could have said that a little less cheerfully," Logan said, then frowned at Thomas. "Apologies for the worry. It was merely a statement to prove my point. At no point in my entire life will I ever allow that to happen to you, I give you my word, Thomas."

Thomas smiled, “Thank you, Logan, but I’m not gonna hold you to that. Nobody can tell the future, and I don’t want you to stress so hard about being perfect that you run yourself ragged or break under the pressure. Please let us know if it gets to be too much, especially while you’re still getting used to this new aspect, and we’ll work it out together. Okay?”

Logan nodded. "I certainly will, Thomas. Now," he flicked his hand and suddenly the five were back inside. They jolted, shocked, then turned around to see Logan pick up his mug of coffee. "What else needs to be addressed?"

Virgil shook his head, shrugging. "I don't think that we need to address anything else. Thanks for all your help, Lo!"

Logan blinked, then took a sip of his coffee. "Alright, then. I am going to head back to my room to catch up on my Philosophy readings. I wasn't exactly able to concentrate recently, and I must say that I miss reading them." He smirked at Thomas. "I will see you later."

With that, he sank down, leaving the others to contemplate all the new things that they were learning about this Neutral Logan.

[shybunnystudios]

chapter 02

word count: 2654

“I pretend I’m not anxious, but oh. You’re driving me crazy.”

- Demi Lovato

- No, Jimin! No fucking way you’re doing my makeup!

- I’ll choose your outfit then and you have to wear it. - he playfully said, making his way to my closet.

- In your dreams...

It was finally friday, the day of the party which Jimin almost begged on his knees for me to go. My colleague had let him join too, causing his excitement to practically triple the size today. I did my makeup while my best friend made a mess with my clothes, and me whole room too. I threatened him, saying I’d sleep in his bed when we’re back if he didn’t tided mine up before we go.

- Done. - I put the pinkish nude liquid lipstick back in the drawer, Jimin came up to see the results.

- You’re kidding, right?

- What?

- This is just what you wear everyday, you’re no fun! - he reopened my drawer and started making a mess in there too.

- Hey! The party’s at Hoseok’s, not here.

- Girl, you don’t have a single liquid eyeliner? - I snorted, annoyed, but lightly pushed his hand away and after going through the mess he made I gave him the only small flask of it that I had.

- Okay, come here. - he pointed to the only still available spot in my bed while opening the eye liner.

- No way, you’ll make me look like Katy Perry in that ancient Egypt music video.

- Stop the drama, I promise I’ll make the thinnest line possible if you agree on wearing a darker lipstick.

- Our friendship has too many negotiations, don’t you think? I’m already going to this party because of you.

Jimin groaned in pain with his hand on his chest, acting up.

- That was mean. - wiped off fake tears. - I’m here being a nice friend, wishing to make you look pretty for a night out with your college pals and that’s how you treat me? - his pretend crying voice made me laugh, I can’t with this boy.

- What a cry baby! - I got up from my mirror and sat on the bed. - I’ll wear a darker lipstick then, but nothing redish.

- What about a short dress?

- No.

- You’re no fun.

Half an hour later we were on our way to the party, I convinced Jimin on letting me wear a pair of jeans for comfort reasons, but I gave in to a cropped top he found in the back of the closet along with fishnet that showed above my pants’ waistband. It was a bit cold outside so I grabbed an oversized cardigan just in case, but Jimin just wore tight black jeans and a simple white shirt tucked in.

- You really showed up! - Moon Byul welcomed us by the door with one of the biggest smile I’ve seen on her. - Come on in, we’re all talking about Disney. Maybe Jimin will feel a bit lost, but you know… what do you expect when you get the Design and the Games classes together?

So this is the course that is doing the seminary with us, we laughed along as we followed her to the kitchen.

- Make yourselves at home, there’s alcohol but there’s some soda too. Get something and then joins us at the living room, okay?

As soon as she left Jimin attacked the first alcohol bottle he saw.

- You’re that desperate? - I joked, opening the fridge to get a can of soda for me.

- Shut up. - he laughed as he made his drink, then he seems to look at something out of the kitchen. - Angel, in what course that Jungkook guy is?

- I don’t know, I didn’t ask yet.

- What? How can you not ask that?

- I don’t know either, maybe nervousness. But why you ask? - I opened my can, leaning my body on the kitchen corner, facing him.

- Because I think I just found it out for you. - Jimin pointed with his head towards the living room.

And when I turned 180 degrees to look, there he was. Jeon Jungkook, laughing with a pizza slice in his hand on the couch. All the anxiety I brushed off came back at once hitting me like a train, fuck. I look back at Jimin, who now had a naughty smile on his face.

- No…

- Yes.

- No!

He finished making his drink and started pushing me not so gently towards the living room, almost making me pour my soda on the floor in the process.

- Wait, I’m seeing a mirage, right? - Yeonjun said when he saw me. - Sun Hee? In a party? - some of them laughed lightly, I already could feel Jungkook’s gaze on me.

- You’re so funny.

- And Jimin?

- I came along because or else your friend here would come at all. - Jimin mocked.

- At all? - I heard Jungkook ask with a low voice and finally looked at him, he seemed upset, thanks for nothing Jimin.

- Sure, it was only because of me and not the filled cup in your hand, of course! This knucklehead can’t even think about alcohol without wanting to drink it right away. - I mocked him back, winning some laughs.

- And you’ll stick with soda only? - Yeonjun asked.

- I’d reather too, already make too much mess while drunk so now I stay away.

- Oh… what’s up with that? Let us know the stor-

- She doesn’t like talking about it, - Jimin interrupted while sitting in an available armchair, he knows how this topic makes me uncomfortable. - now pass me a slice of pepperoni, please?

To my relief no one insisted and the previous subject was resumed, I noticed there was no available seat for me so I stayed standing beside Jimin’s armchair, but Jungkook soon noticed it and waved at me.

- Come here, I’ll seat on the sofa arm. - he got up and gave his spot on the couch to me, I thanked him and sat down. He sat on the sofa arm as he said, his thighs now being dangerously close to my face.

Since Jimin’s arm chair was perpendicular to the couch it was easy for us share eye contact, and obviously he has a naughty smile on at the moment. I rolled my eyes and reached out for a slice of pizza myself.

- Oh no! Don’t you guys talk about Coraline!

- Why not, Hoseok? That movie is amazing. - Yeonjun said.

- It scares me to death, when I watched it the first time I spent a whole week having nightmares about the “Other Mom”. - everyone laughed at the host’s story.

- If someone I know happened to be afraid of stop motion, it had to be you, Hoseok. - Jungkook made fun of Hobi as he leaned more and more on the back of the sofa, almost laying down behind my head.

I looked at Jimin, who raised an eyebrow suggestively at me before staring at the thighs of the brunette beside me. I gave him a questioning look, he laughed and then gave his pizza slice an exaggerated bite while looking at Jungkook’s thighs once again but with wide eyes this time, I had to hold back a good laugh but also became red in the face right away. At least him making me laugh helped me to relax once again.

- Sun Hee, why are you red? - Yeonjun provoked.

I spoke too soon.

- A-ah, I don’t know, am I? - I disguised it, putting a hand on my forehead as if measuring my own temperature. - I must be hot.

- Wanna go out take some fresh air? I’ll go with you. - Jungkook offered, worried.

Yeonjun growled suggestively, but Jimin had my back again and I decided to follow Jungkook despite being nervous as never before.

As soon as we walked out the glass door that took us to the backyard I regret leaving my coat at the kitchen, I don’t know if it was actually cold or if I was just anxious about being alone with Jungkook.

- Are you okay?

- Oh, yeah. I’m just really not used to coming to parties.

- I see, me neither to be honest.

- But you seemed to be having fun, or was you trying to find a way to talk to me by any chance? - I provoked, bringing back the day we met. He laughed, staring at the tiles on the ground.

- Maybe, was I too obvious? - I joined his light laughs, nodding my head exaggeratedly, playful. - But I’m really not much into parties indeed, I came tonight for them. They embraced me nicely since I moved here so I thought it would be impolite to refuse, it’s for sure fun sometimes but not usually my first plan.

I know it’s cliché, but Jungkook was different from most boys I’ve ever met. He was reserved but his shyness wasn’t in the way of his moves, however it helped on making them not be too bold. Everything about him seemed perfectly balanced, thing which scared and comforted me at the same time, see? Balance again.

We found a wood bench in the backyard and stayed sitting there for a while, talking about a few random subjects. Through text he was more shy, face to face he could go deeper with more freedom, it was cute how his eyes shined while we talked about the reason we choose our courses. He gestured around with his hands a lot, couldn’t stay in the same position for more than five seconds, checking my reaction at each detail he described. Everything sounded too personal, and he was trusting me to tell.

He looks gorgeous like that.

For a moment I imagined him talking like that about me, thought that made me smile and my heart race.

- You must think I’m crazy, you’re not saying a word. - he laughed slightly.

- Of course not, silly! Quite the opposite, I love listening to people talk about what they love. I’m just paying attention.

He smiled widely to me, thankful. Then offered to go get us something to drink, I volunteered to go with him but he insisted that I should wait. I took that time to think, I was very comfortable there with him, I’m not used to it but I like the feeling. Yeah, I think I really do like him.

- They’re playing truth or dare back inside, wanna join? - Jeon mocked, coming back with our drinks.

- Oh God, no way! - I laughed nervously, thanking him for the soda and taking a generous sip of it.

- Why? Bad nostalgia from high school? - he took his seat back beside me.

- I wish it was just it.

- Does it have to do with the incident you mentioned earlier? - I nodded.

- I had just turned eighteen and...

- You don’t need to tell me if you’re not comfortable with it, Sun Hee. - he interrupted.

- But I am… very comfortable, actually.

We locked eyes for a few seconds, the longest as I could look in his eyes without getting all red again.

- I had just turned eighteen and Jimin took me to a club to celebrate, we didn’t have many friends at school so it was just the two of us. I ended up drinking too much and he winged me for a guy, I lost my virginity and I don’t remember a single detail about how it was. - Jungkook was looking gently at me, paying attention. - I know it sounds stupid, but hook ups don’t make sense to me. So this episode haunted me for a long while, giving myself to a stranger just for the sake of getting laid, you know?

I felt Jungkook’s hand take hold of mine, caressing it lightly.

- It’s okay, I mean, to regret doing it. But it was experience that taught you something about yourself, if you hadn’t gone through this you wouldn’t know you don’t like it, right? - he smiled, I never thought about it that way.

- Thank you, Jungkook. For real.

- To be honest I also learned something similar in the worst way. - he lowered his head and it was my turn to caress his hand, encouraging him to open up to me once again that night. - I had a girlfriend once, we dated for eight months. We met at one of the few clubs I went my whole life too, where we hooked up and got each other’s numbers.

I smiled sadly at the fact that both our stories had in common.

- I don’t like hook ups as much as you, but back then I was experimenting indeed and it happened. The first months were very nice, enough to kill the need, you know? But I guess I got attached, I still don’t know exactly what it was, actually. - I tilted my head, confused.

- What do you mean?

- I think it depends on who it is, some people I just feel like hooking up but I don’t see me dating them, and vice versa. After some time we started fighting all the time because she wanted to go to clubs again, but I was over that phase because since we were together I had no reason to go. I told her that and she asked for a break, I went out the next weekend and found her hooking up with someone else. I lost feelings for her right there instantly and called her the next day ending things for once.

- Damn, right away like that?

- Yes, I was as confused as you now back then. I was so attached to her, but it seems like as soon as I saw it wasn’t mutual it was like I had flipped a switch inside me and I felt a awful feeling of emptiness for a while after that.

- Damn, Jeon. I never heard anything like this before, but I think it’s just how your body works, there’s nothing wrong with you. - we were sitting very close by now, approaching each other both physically and emotionally while we talked.

- I know, nowadays I deeply analyze what I feel before I get involved with someone. - I looked at him with one of my eyebrows raised.

- Was that supposed to be a move? - he laughed and turned to face me.

- If that’s how you saw it, maybe.

We locked eyes one more time, Jungkook changed his gaze from my eyes to my lips, what made me almost freak out. So I diverted my eyes and took a deep breath, disguising what my body felt.

- Thank you. - I let out quickly. - For making me feel safe to open up to you, and for trusting me to open up too.

- What? Sun Hee, no need to thank me. But if that’s the case, thank you too.

We locked eyes again, but this time our faces were even closed than before. His hot breath hit my face lightly, contrasting with the cold air of that night and sending a small shiver down my spine. I couldn’t help from changing my gaze to his lips as well.

Guess I already resisted for too long, right?

It wasn’t an intense kiss, but it was what we needed at the moment. It was delicate, almost like an ask for permission which both our racing hearts were enough to answer in sync.

- Sun Hee, are you free next saturday?

“Don’t even know where we’re going, you make me live in the moment. Keep driving us, baby.”

(Hitchhiker)

BTS MASTERLIST

main masterlist

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (18) Vowing

Marinette had thought Highschool had been hard. Right now, in this moment, she'd give anything to go back to those petty arguments and gossip fueled drama. But she couldn't. Instead, she and Adrien were trapped here, being punished, humiliated, tortured, for being heroes, all broadcasted for the world to see. At least she and her kitty were in this together. For now. Whump!Fic

Ao3 | FF.net

Before we get into this chapter, I just want to thank each and every one of you for sticking with this pain for so long. I know it hurts, but man, I really want the ending to be worth it for everyone. Just stick with me for a little longer!

This chapter may be the most dark. We are Adrien and Marinette, and some sad stuff is going to happen. But I have ended the chapter with some fluff to balance it out. And I think we are halfway through. We’ll see if the ending drags on longer.

I hope you all forgive me.

—

Marinette had officially lost track of the days. It was a feat that she had kept up with it as long as she had. But given there were no clocks and no sunlight, she was forced to conclude that time didn’t matter in this place.

Given the amount of times she ‘rested’ in her cage, she’d put their stay at either 5 days or a full week.

Could torture grow stagnant? Because that’s what it was starting to feel like.

In the mornings, there was some form of humiliation tactic being used. Degrading names, dehumanizing acts. Forced to eat food off the ground, forced to crawl and act like animals.  

She was getting used to it.

And that was concerning.

In the afternoon, they’d hang from their chains, and in the evenings, they played the noose game.

Adrien at least coped better than he did at the beginning. He kept his eyes clenched shut and refused to cry out. When he began to hyperventilate, he would remember how to breathe, and calm down for a moment, before repeating the cycle.

Had Salo run out of ideas? Or was something worse coming?

It seemed the questioned would be answered after the fifth ‘rest’.

Marinette awoke to someone stomping on her hand, which was outside of the cage, holding Adrien’s.

She recoiled with a hiss, pulling her hand back in and holding it.

“Isn’t that just so disgustingly sweet?” Salo asked, as the chains on her door were unlocked. “You’re sure going to like what we do today!”

Marinette was grabbed by the wrist and pulled into another room. Obediently, she didn’t ask any questions, but she was keenly aware that Adrien wasn’t following her.

In the new room, Marinette was made to stand. It was a small room, one light on the ceiling, with a table off to the side. A paper bag sat on the table.

She was alone with Salo. But that gun was still on her hip.

“Are you ready for the most important day of your life?”

Marinette hunched her shoulders. What was that supposed to mean?

“I…I don’t know.”

“Of course you don’t, you stupid bitch.” Salo laughed. “Now strip.”

A precursory glance around the room showed that there where no cameras in the room.

It’s not like it mattered though. Paris had already seen her naked.

So she pulled at the ties and took off her robe, laying it on the table nearby.

Salo didn’t say anything, just took out some white fabric from the bag. A corset and tutu, to be exact.

Marinette stared at the outfit with some degree of confusion.

“What, you’ve never seen a wedding dress before?” Asked Salo, with a little grin.

“Not…one that looked like that.”

She laughed. “Oh I know it’s a little different. But you’ll look so stunning!” She opened up the corset and wrapped it around her waist, fastening it in the front. “Oh good, perfect fit. I worried we’d have to starve you for another week before you could fit into it.” She turned her around, and began to tighten the ribbons.

“Why...am I wearing a wedding dress?”

Salo giggled, “why do you think silly girl? You’re getting married!”

Marinette’s heart felt unbelievably heavy at that announcement. “To who?”

“Why, to Chat Noir, of course. No one else wants you like this.”

Well, that was a relief. And it wasn’t like they were actually getting married, right? This was another one of her sick games. Making a mockery of something beautiful, joyful. Desecrating the sacred, and ruining the perfect.

Salo pulled the ribbons tight, making it hard to breathe.

“Oh, but I know what you’re thinking. This is just some sort of joke, right? No no, my dear. I’ve got a mayor here to make it official. I’m not going to tell you where he’s from, but all the paperwork has already been submitted. In a few hours, you’ll be Mrs. Adrien Agreste. Isn’t that just exciting?”

No.

It wasn’t.

Not like this.

Of course, she loved Adrien. And she loved Chat Noir too, by extension. She always dreamed of marrying him and having three kids and a hamster.

But that was when she was a kid. She was older now, and recognized that she wasn’t ready for marriage. Her and Chat had good camaraderie, Adrien and her were good friends. But a good friendship and business partnership did not a marriage make.

“Aw, you’re so happy you’re crying!” Salo cooed.

Marinette covered her face with her hands.

Her mother was supposed to be here, helping her put on the dress. And Alya, she was supposed to be here too. And her father was going to walk her down the aisle!

Where was the dress that she designed herself? Her flowers? The lovely chateau for the reception?

No, all she had was cold, dirty cement, and a too-revealing dress. If you could even call it that.

“There, let’s do your makeup. No bride is complete without a makeover!”

Marinette shook her head and backed into a corner. “No, no please, I don’t want to do this!”

“What’s wrong? Do you not love him?”

“No, I do! But I—“

Shit.

A malevolent smile came over Salo’s face, snagging onto the information and tucking it away for future use.

“No!” Marinette protested. “I meant that I love him, I care for him, but he’s like my brother! I love him platonically!”

Salo obviously wasn’t buying it.  

“You know I hear everything you two say in that room, right? And so does everyone else in Paris. We all know that you had a crush on Adrien, and that he’s in love with you. There’s no use lying to make it easier.”

Salo walked slowly over to her as she talked, and then grabbed Marinette by the hair and forced her to look her in the eye. “Because whether you ‘love’ him, or not, torturing him in front of you is still going to hurt like a bitch.”

Marinette just moaned in pain. There was no winning with this woman.

Salo grabbed her by the wrists and had her sit at the table.  “There there, pumpkin. We can’t have you crying while I put on your makeup.” She wiped her face with a handkerchief. “Now, to make you all pretty.”

Clown makeup.

Specifically Pagliacci.

A white face, with thick red lips, black outlines around the eyes, and black lines that looked like tears.

She looked demented.

Crying would only make it look worse.

“Now come along,” Salo grabbed her wrist again. “Your groom awaits you.”

Marinette was dragged by the wrist into the room she was so familiar with. The air reeked of alcohol. Men sat in chairs in rows, forming an aisle. At the end, a man with a book stood at attention.

And Adrien. Who was completely naked except for a bowtie. The bruise from his arm was now a sickly green, while the bruise on his chest from the crowbar was dark purple.

At her entrance, his jaw dropped, his eyes sparkling with tears. Sure, she had wanted her future husband to cry when he saw her in her wedding dress.

But not like this.

Never like this.

The audience stood, wobbling. She recognized that most were some sort of drunk.

Salo looped an arm around hers and started to walk her down the aisle.

The assembled started to sing, in a slur of drunken gaiety.

Here comes the bride,

All dressed in white.

Marinette couldn’t help it. She started to cry. How desperately she wished to hide, to cover herself, to never leave the house again.

Sweetly, serenely in the soft glowing light.

A hand grabbed her butt, and she sobbed outright.

Lovely to see, marching to thee.

Sweet love united for eternity.

Then she was next to Adrien, his mouth still open, searching for words to say.

But he had nothing.

No comfort.

No affection.

Just hopeless silence.

She wasn’t much better.

“Why are you doing this?” She asked Salo, in a stint of bravery.

Salo smiled, in what looked like patience. “In my research of the Ladyblog, I found a recurring theme. A lot of people in the forums wanted you two to get together. Not only that, but they wanted you to have a public ceremony, so everyone could be a part of it. And you see…you both are going to die here. I figure, you probably both wanted to get married someday. Who am I to take that away from you?”

Who indeed?

Adrien reached out and took her hand, squeezing.

Now that she was in front, Marinette noticed something very off about the officiant.

He was shaking like a leaf, and very pale. He didn’t look the least bit jolly like the rest of them. He actually looked downright terrified.

Salo needed an officiant. So, it was likely that he was being held here against his will. Just like them.

“Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to join…Chat Noir and Ladybug together in holy matrimony.”

Holy. There wasn’t anything holy about this. God had his face turned away.

“Adrien, do you take Marinette to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poor, until death do you part?”

Adrien swallowed and answered with a whisper. “I do.”

“And Marinette, do you take Adrien to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poor, until death do you part?”

“Yes, I do.”

The officiant sighed heavily. “The brands?”

Now, Adrien may have had his entire wedding to Ladybug all planned, but no where in all his research, did he read anything about brands.

There was an echoing squeaking coming from the hall, before another one of Salo’s men wheeled in a cart. On it, there was a cast iron pot with hot coals in it, and two pieces of metal sticking out.

Marinette stood a little closer to Adrien, fear overwhelming her. Likewise, he held her hand a little tighter.

Salo, and two men stood from the crowd, and went to Adrien, and took his bad arm, laying it flat, palm up on the cart.

Salo took a pair of heavy gloves and gave them to Marinette. “Alright, you’re going to take this brand right here, and you’re going to press it to his palm for five seconds.”

“I’m not doing that.” Marinette protested.

“Fine, then I’ll do it for you, and make it hurt so much worse. I’ll burn right through his hand.”

“No, wait…” Marinette clenched her fist. “I’ll…I’ll do it.”

“That’s a good girl.”

Marinette slipped the gloves over her shaking hands, and picked up the designated brand. Trembling, she held it over his open palm.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Repeat after me: with this brand, I thee wed.”

“With this brand…I thee wed.” She trembled, before plunging it down.

It sizzled on his skin as a scream ripped from his throat. His fingers twitched, and his other hand grabbed at the nearest body and fisted in their shirt.

It couldn’t have been five seconds. Surely she counted too fast. But she couldn’t stand the sound, the smell. She ripped the brand off of him and dropped it on the floor.

In an act of mercy, Salo dropped his hand in ice water, which made it better before numbing his hand completely.

Marinette tore the gloves off. Wanting to take him and hold him, begging for forgiveness.

But she didn’t. She just stood there sniveling.

Without anyone forcing her to, she laid her arm down, where Adrien’s had been, palm up.

“No, no Mari, don’t.” Adrien begged.

“Please…it’s only fair.”

Adrien took his arm out of the water, holding his palm open for her to see.

The skin was blood red and bubbling, but in center of all the gruesome gore, the word ‘Ladybug’ was written in a fancy cursive font.

A brand. He belonged to her.

And soon she’d belong to him too.

She nodded him on.

Salo put the glove on for him and pointed out the correct brand for him to use. Because he was using his non-dominant hand, he braced his elbow on the edge of the cart to keep steady. The last thing he wanted to do was mess this up and cause her unnecessary pain.

A rivulet of sweat broke through her face paint and tracked down her cheek.

The officiant, with his eyes shut tight, spoke, “repeat after me: with this brand, I thee wed.”

“With this…this brand, I…I thee wed.” He stuttered, not even processing what he was saying. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he pressed the brand into her skin.

Marinette seemed to take it better than him. She turned her face away so she didn’t have to see. Her freehand came up to bite her knuckle as a very slightly muted scream rose from her chest.

White hot searing pain, that burned and sizzled all the way up her arm.

And just when she stopped feeling it, he pulled away.

The brand clattered to the floor, and Adrien held her fingers as she panted. Finally, she dared to look at her hand.

‘Chat Noir’ was written in matching script to Adrien, and the surrounding skin was raw, blistering, and bleeding.

The officiant took a trembling breath. “Then, by the power invested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

It felt too weird, and too inappropriate to kiss at a time like this. This bastardized wedding didn’t deserve romance. It was wrong and awful.

But Adrien came closer, and caressed her arm gently, full of affection and love.

“May I?” He whispered.

“Yes,” she returned, just as softly.

It was just a peck. Certainly not the type of firework-filled kisses in the movies.

Neither of them enjoyed it anyway.

“Oh that’s not a kiss! Give her a real smooch!” A man heckled in the crowd.

Adrien bent and kissed her again, lingering longer this time.

“Nah kid! Use the tongue!”

Adrien grimaced, and helplessly shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know how to tongue kiss.”

“Me niether.”

“Then ya better get ta practicin’!”

There were days in school, where Marinette would gaze longingly at the back of Adrien’s head, imagining him pining her to the wall, running his hands up her thighs, and swirling his tongue with hers.

But this just felt lewd and wrong. Especially with everyone whooping and hollering in the background.

She kissed him back, her heart pounding in her chest.

Just for once, she wanted to enjoy and remember a kiss with Adrien. Was that too much to ask?

Adrien pulled away, looking incredibly sheepish.

“Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Adrien Agreste.” Said the officiant, with some relief. He rested a shaky hand on both of their shoulders as he presented them to the crowd. A tear rolled down his cheek. “Will you let me go now?”

Salo smirked, standing, as her hand went to her hip. “Yeah, you can join your wife and daughter.” Then she withdrew her gun and without warning, shot the man in the head.

Marinette shrieked as he hit the floor.

The drunken mass of an audience all started singing the wedding march, out of tune and too loud.

“Daaa! Daaa! Dadadada—!”

Marinette just started bawling, her tears making the black paint melt and run down her cheeks in thick lines.

This was the second murder she had to witness in a week. And it wasn’t getting any easier.

Was this supposed to be a farce? A mockery of everything pure and clean?

Marinette looked and Adrien, only to see him covering his eyes with his hand as he sobbed.

Everyday, she felt more and more helpless. But this took the cake.

The chairs in the room rearranged and tables were brought in. She and Adrien were sat alone together at a little table, while everyone else gathered around. Then, the smell of food wafted through the air, and Marinette’s stomach twisted.

The body of the dead officiant was right there, his soulless eyes looking up at her.

The food came. Dishes passed between the men, drinks being refilled and clanged together.

No one brought anything to the sordid couple.

Salo stood, raising a wine glass. “I’d like to make a toast.”

The laughter settled down.

“To Ladybug and Chat Noir. May their last hours together be pleasurable and full of love.”

The words settled on Marinette’s shoulders heavily, making the floor feel like it was opening up beneath her.

Their last hours together?

She looked to Adrien, seeing his face full of panic as well.

“What do you mean by that?” Marinette asked.

But Salo didn’t answer, and the party continued without them.

They sat alone at the sweet heart table, the difference in the attitude of the room being palpable. The door to freedom was just on the other side of the buffet table of burly, well armed men. A perfect wall.

Adrien lifted his dead arm onto the table, looking at the branding on his hand. He gave a little smile, and confessed, “If I had to be branded with anyone’s name, I’m glad it was yours.”

Marinette mimicked him, setting her hand next to his. “Me too.”

He reached up and swiped some of the paint off her cheek. “I miss your face. You were hiding behind a mask all this time, and now you’re hiding again.”

“I want to take it off. I look so ugly.”

He shook his head. “It’s impossible for you to look ugly. Even with bad makeup.”

She took hold of his hand that rested on her cheek, and brought it to her lips to kiss, leaving some red paint behind.

Salo stood again, her chair scraping on the cement.

Marinette clenched her eyes shut and held his hand tightly. She didn’t want to be separated from him. Not now, not ever.

“I think it’s time for our lovely couple to go on their honeymoon! What do you fellas think?”

Of course, there was a drunken cheer that hurt the ears.

Two people each grabbed them, and hauled them down the hall. This time, they were led past their normal room, and into a closet. It couldn’t have been more than three or four feet wide on each side, and with both of them in there at the same time, space was limited.

Salo was giggling like a schoolgirl. “Now, have fun you two! We’ve got plenty of cameras and mics in here, so make sure you put on a good show for everyone at home!”

With that, the door slammed shut, and the laughter on the other side faded.

“Adrien…I…I can’t.”

“No, don’t worry about that. I would never make you…” He felt along the walls. “Here, let’s sit.”

He sat down first, and then pulled her to sit on his lap, their skin pressed against each other.

“Are you comfortable?” She asked, shifting.

“As much as I can be. Don’t move like that, please.”

Her face tinged pink. She leaned back against the wall, and just tried to allow herself to breathe.

Adrien’s good hand wondered over her back and shoulders, absently. She was sure if she asked him to stop, he would have, but she didn’t want him to.

“We’re not going to do what Salo wants us to do in here,” he said with finality. “I’m not ready for that.”

Marinette breathed a sigh in relief.

“But…I would like to hold you.” He whispered.

Marinette turned to lean into him. “I want you to hold me.”

She arranged his bum arm to rest on her legs while his other arm wrapped around her waist and held her tighter.

“So…” he began, “I’m the ‘other boy’ right? The one you kept rejecting me for?”

She scoffed. “You just figured that out?”

“Yeah well, it just hit me. I asked you how long you’d been in love with me for, and you said since that day in the rain…”

She ran her hand up his arm. “We really are stupid, aren’t we? If…if I had just agreed to let us share our identities…”

“No.” He said, a bit forceful. “You were smart on having us keep them to ourselves. Look at us now. Everyone knows who we are, and…” He rested his head against hers, as a way of ending the thought. “I’m just happy I have you now. I love you so much, Mari.”

“I love you too,” she whispered back.

This was cruel and unusual. Adrien was finally in love with her.

And this was the last time she see him for a while. Maybe ever.

The closet they were in was much too dark. A scant bit of light leaked in through the bottom of the door, but that wasn’t enough to see him.

“Can…can I kiss you? Properly this time?”

She took his face in her hands. “Please.”

This kiss felt much better. Prompted on their own, in their own world, despite the threat of cameras. It was soft and sweet, and everything she wanted in a first kiss.

Though it didn’t come first, this is the one she counted.

When they broke apart, he leaned his forehead on hers.

Timidly, she pushed some hair behind her ear. “I…I dreamt about marrying you. You know? I had the whole ceremony planned out.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah…”

“Would you tell me about it?”

She blinked with a blush, not expecting such an intimate question. “Well...” she swallowed. “I was expecting my father to walk me down the aisle. And for my mother to help me put on my dress.”

“One that you designed?” He asked, his voice soft and eyes closed, like he was trying to imagine it.

“Yeah.”

“What would it look like?”

She smiled slightly, picturing the drawing she had in her sketchbook. “A soft rose pink. Made of silk, with lace sleeves. I want to honor my heritage by embroidering a rose gold phoenix on the skirts.”

“That’s a really nice touch,” he hummed. “You’d look beautiful in it.”

She blushed again, ducking her head to lay on his shoulder.

“What about the ceremony? Where would it take place?”

“A chateau in Giverny. Where we can get married out in the gardens, under a wisteria tree. I just want lots and lots of flowers.”

“I like that idea. Certainly better than mine.”

She giggled. “You had a wedding plan?”

“Every bit of it. Even down to the color of the napkins.”

“Then pray tell, what does our wedding look like to you?”

“Well, it was going to be in Notre Dame…and then I had to change it to Chartres Cathedral.”

“I could get behind a Cathedral.”

“It’s so beautiful in there, My Lady. The gothic architecture and the stain glass windows. It’s like a castle, fit for a princess.”

“Do they allow cats in cathedrals?” She joked.

“Rude.”  

“What kind of cake?”

At the same time, they said, “Vanilla Raspberry delight from the Dupain-Cheng Boulangerie Patisserie!” They laughed together.

“And what about the honeymoon?” He asked, “We can go anywhere in the whole wide world. Where do you want to go?”

She was quiet for moment, thinking. “Have you ever seen ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’?”

“Every Christmas.”

“I like the scene, where George and Mary loan out all of their money to the people in town, so Mary goes back to the abandoned mansion and makes a resort just for them. With posters of all the places they wanted to go, and a little dinner. And then they kiss to the sound of the rain, and Bert and Ernie singing ‘I love you truly, truly dear’.”

“That part always makes me cry.” He admitted.

“My point, is that it doesn’t matter where we go, as long as I can be with you.”

He kissed her forehead. “In that case, let’s get a sailboat. Sail the world. At night, we’ll be just a silhouette surrounded by a myriad of stars. Spend our nights on the glassy water, where you can't tell where the sky begins and ends. Just the two of us, free to go wherever we want.”

“That just sounds too good to pass on. You promise? We can do that?”

“When we’re out of here, we’ll have our perfect wedding. And then we’ll go, and never look back.”

[burntcopper]

Top Ten (ish) theatre of 2019

Box of Delights (Wiltons) Matilda (Cambridge) Edward II (Globe) Pirates of Penzance (wiltons) Richard II (Globe) Romeo and Juliet (Globe) Macbeth (Watermill) All my Sons (Old vic) Swan Lake (Bourne) Small Island (NT) Death of a Salesman (Young Vic) Emilia (Vaudeville) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bridge) As You Like It (Rain or Shine) Merry Wives of Windsor (Globe) Present Laughter (Old Vic) Peter Gynt (NT) *endless screaming* *left at 2nd interval* The End of History (Royal Court) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bridge) Henry IV part 1 (Globe) Henry IV part 2 (Globe) Henry V (Globe) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Regents Park) A Midsummer Night's Dream (globe) As You Like It (globe) Romeo and Juliet (Bourne) Tree (Young Vic) Dada Masilo's Giselle (Sadler's Wells) Lungs (Old Vic) The Antipodes (NT) The Wind in the Willows (Rain or Shine) Fairview (Young Vic) Teenage Dick (Donmar)

Best... however many?  Which, er are 99% Shakespeare?

Richard II at the Globe was glorious and golden with a way of bringing out the words and just damn good acting. All female, all WoC, with an emphasis on them all wearing the clothes of their ancestors and changing depending on class of character.  And one of those endings of 'fuuuuuck' as the entire stage became the English flag as a banner of red fell from the ceiling in a bang.

Swan Lake (Bourne) - My happy place of swans and insecure princes falling in love with each other and gauche royal girlfriends who get more adorable with each production. Always cheer the corgi.

Small Island (NT) music and fabulous use of a giant stage to show off the tiny horrible minutiae of racism in England and dreams and love not being what you think and using people to get away.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bridge) WE WILL BE GAY AND WE WILL DANCE TO BEYONCÉ AND BE BITCHY AND BE MORE GAY THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY THINK. We're going to swap Titania and Oberon so he can fall in love with Bottom but the problem is Bottom's only really interested in a one night stand. And the lovers are very bisexual and Puck is bitchy and Mancunian and the fairies are on silks and Gwendolyn Christie will be glorious and regal and the competition for the acting job will go full X-Factor while the previously tyrannical Theseus falls totally in love with theatre and the mechanicals'll nick your phone and take a selfie and we're going to cover the groundlings in a giant rainbow flag and send out a giant inflatable moon for us to bounce around while we dance to Beyoncé.

Present Laughter (Old Vic) Andrew Scott is being world weary, full-on channelling Noel Coward and going full drama queen. Indira Varma is here to deliver fabulous put-downs whilst wearing amazing outfits. We've also gone very bisexual. Bonus slutty tux wearing Enzo Cilenti.

Henry IV and V (Globe) all day Henries! By the time Henry V came round the groundlings and actors had gone a wee bit loopy so they and we were giggling at every other line in the prologue. Henry IVs - Falstaff! Falstaff that nicked anyone within reach's beer and cider (and yes, was drinking it!). Changing clothes onstage so you had some beautiful, strangely affecting moments where Henry IV changed into or out of Doll Tearsheet - a speech would become Henry psyching himself up as he removed his makeup, with scenes overlapping. All the genderblind, Sarah Amankwah as Harry not as psycho as some Harrys (looking at you, Jude Law) and not as inspiring as others (of course I'm bloody talking about Jamie Parker) but resolute and forthright and driven. Henry V was not quite as impressive in my memory but I did get bonus handful of chewed up leek.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Globe) - all carnival, all fun. Half the reason Demetrius dumped Helena is because she's so aggressive - he's actually scared of her. Lysander croons soul music constantly. Oberon's an old queen and Bottom truly loves herself, and we totally understand why Quince desperately wants to throttle her. Totally justified. This production goes full audience participation, getting a member of the audience to play one of the rude mechanicals along with the usual Globe party and groundlings. This production has the unique selling point that *everyone* is Puck - all the cast plays them at some point in a t-shirt with 'Puck' spray-painted on it and a pair of deely boppers - with them often only doing half a scene and another taking over. Which came to its awesome fruition of them all blowdarting the others to get to do the next line of Puck's final speech. (blowdarts established as Oberon's way of sending people to sleep) Plus Hippolyta runs off with Bottom.

As You Like It (Globe) Return of last year's production, complete with genderswapped and genderqueer Orlando (Bettrys Jones) and Rosalind (Jack Laskey) and deaf Celia (Nadia Nadarajah) and Jacques (Sophie Stone), more genderblind casting for the others, more genderqueer, more signing, the Duke's now at least partially deaf and hiding it, and James Garnon's playing Touchstone and I may possibly be in seventh heaven. He signs almost constantly out of reflex from years of being around Celia, and will get into gesture fights with bearded members of the audience in the gallery, as well as being really quite possessive and attached to Audrey after a while. With added bonus of military helicopters going over just as Celia and Rosalind are discussing how the court's getting more hostile and Rosalind gesturing 'see?'. Sophie Stone as Jacques is possibly the most sad (and mournful) Jacques I've seen, her deafness closing her off from society and being hurt by it as the court hurt her carelessly with thoughtlessness (she only signs when she knows someone)

Teenage Dick (Donmar) I was really regretting booking this. Richard III rewritten for American high school where Richard is running for school council? US High School politics and world has been done to death, for fucks sake, and it's so screwed up and alien it's ridiculous. However. This is hysterical, Richard weaponises his disability (hemoplegia in this case), it's constrated with Buck's experience of being in a wheelchair where she's quite happy with her lot - pointing out the difference in lived experiences - Susie Wokoma as the teacher who's desperate not to give offence but constantly putting her foot in it. Anne's role is greatly expanded and she's given her own story and wants separate from politics, with a quite brilliant dance sequence with Richard. Biggest bonus points, however, are how Richard has a habit of dropping into Shakespearean and everyone thinks he's a weirdo for it. Speeches to the audience? Buck: 'He's gone again.'

'Fuck off, keep fucking off, and fuck off again, you're boring and tiresome and self-involved and why the fuck should I care about you?' Award:

Peter Gynt (NT) reworked Peer Gynt. Oh god it's Ibsen. Why did I book this. WHY. Peer Gynt is now Scots, makes up stories that all come from old films, everyone knows it. there's random musical scenes that Do. Not. Work. The trolls are full on Bullingdon Club in pig masks, WE GET IT, the love interest he left behind wants more than this provincial life, random shagging, and second act he gets rich, goes full Trump, there's rich people conferences in the desert and fake cults and OH DO FUCK OFF YOU'RE TIRED AND HEAVYHANDED AND NONE OF THIS IS INSIGHTFUL. This gets the award of only the second play I've left at the second interval.

[a-walk-in-silence]

Falling For You (One)

Pairing: Harrison Osterfield x Fem!Reader

Word Count: ~4.2k

Summary: You’d only known Haz as a voice over the phone. A close friend to one of your close friends. But one night, the two of you start talking alone. What happens from there?

Warnings: Cursing, anxiety, major flirting, pretend death, pretend affairs, pretend drama (fellas it’s a murder mystery party idk if these require warnings but I’m tagging them any way)

A/N: So the prologue didn’t get quite the attention I wanted it to get. It really discouraged me from writing this, but I finally think I can write this. I can only hope that it gets the recognition I want it to. So, as a reminder, I ask that if you read this to please leave likes and comments! They are really appreciated!

Masterlist | Prologue

You stared at your reflection in the bathroom mirror. The person staring back at you was... almost unrecognizable under all the makeup that one of Ana’s friends had done for you. If you recalled, you were certain it was something along the lines of Laura, but you couldn’t quite remember.

In the past hour alone, you’d met a handful of new people who had previously been hidden away under avatars. You didn’t know these people in real life.

And you still had another three handfuls or so of people left to meet.

Luckily you did have a little bit of a kicking stone in your advantage. You had previously met Tom and Z, but only briefly. Still, it was better than nothing, you supposed.

The person staring back at you had lips the color of both every berry and none at the same time. The color screamed berry and yet it had no natural berry tones in it at all. Your face had been contoured and highlighted. Your eyes had been darkened by eyeliner and given a surprisingly elegant smokey eye. But it just wasn’t you, in that reflection.

And the clothes... God, how did you ever convince Ana to let you wear this getup? You felt silly in a crop top tee, booty shorts, black fishnet leggings, and a witch hat. You never dressed like this normally. The shorts... maybe. But the crop top? Fishnets? Why did you ever think this was a good idea?

You sighed to yourself before slowly emerging from the bathroom. An entire crowd of people were now milling around. Everyone had a red solo cup in their hands as they chatted lightly among one another. In the background played Rocky Horror Picture Show, filling in the occasional silence with the sound of music and screams.

The moment you stepped out, you were greeted with the overwhelming feeling of panic. You had gone into the bathroom when there had been about 4 people besides yourself and Ana. And now?

You felt extremely suffocated in this group. Was the room this tiny before? You couldn’t really tell at this point. Maybe if you just... laid on the floor for a moment... then...

“Woah there!” shouted someone, catching you before your body could hit the floor. You were suddenly snapped into awareness, eyes wide open from shock. Your savior smiled at you, a boyish grin sitting on his otherwise beautiful face. His baby blue eyes smiled at you with all the warmth of a thousand suns, and his blond curls beckoned to be woven into by your fingers. “Hey now, I’m used to beautiful girls falling for me, but not in the literal sense.”

There was a familiarity to his voice that suddenly snapped you into complete spacial awareness. “Harrison!” you shouted, jumping to your feet. “Holy shit, I almost didn’t recognize you!”

“Oh, Y/N?” His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as a playful smile took over his features. “You look different. Maybe because the only pictures I’ve seen are you are the weird ones Ana sends. You look great thought!” He was quick to correct himself before smiling and glancing down at the ground. He grabbed your witch hat, which had fallen off of your head, and placed it on his own. “What’s up with the hooker getup and how much are you for the night?”

You rolled your eyes in feigned annoyance, snatching your hat from his head and placing back on it’s perch. “Cute. As if you could afford this.” You glanced over his shoulder, staring at the crowd that seemed oblivious to the fact that you had almost fainted. Typical. You were as invisible as ever, even with the large ass witch hat to show your location. “It’s not a hooker getup. I’m a witch... kind of. I don’t know. Ana said this would be a cute modern witch idea and it turned into-”

“A three dollar hooker,” Haz finished for you.

“Exactly.” You sighed and leaned back against the wall, staring down at your purple converse. “I feel silly and like I’m about to get suffocated by this crowd.”

You glanced back up to see those bright blue eyes studying you with curiosity. “Claustrophobia?” he asked, studying your face for a reaction. You shook your head and he seemed to ponder for a moment longer. “So it’s a fear of crowds...”

You cleared your throat to get his attention, and he acknowledged you with a small tilt of his head. “It’s called Enochlophobia. And yeah, a recent fear actually. I’m sure Ana’s mentioned it. She’s known for spilling everyone’s information.”

Harrison chuckled at your small quip before cautiously offering you a hand. “I can get you to somewhere less crowded and not in the middle of the fray. It just means you’ll have to stick to me like white on rice. Can you handle?”

There was a moment of hesitation as you studied him, unsure of just what to make of him. Sure, you knew Haz. You knew the part of him that had been retold to you through stories and in short conversations online. But now he was here, holding out a hand to you, and you were hesitating. Why?

He seemed to sense your hesitation because he only chuckled and lowered his hand. “I’m just gonna drag you over to the dining room, I promise. No small broom cupboards or anything, love.”

Love. Wow, what a name to be called within meeting for the first time in real life. You shook the thought from your head and cautiously entwined your arms with his own, pressing your body against his side. “Okay. Anything to get away from here.”

A beautiful chuckle came from him. It was deep, deeper than you thought it was possible for one human being to possibly go. As he managed to skillfully weave through the crowd, you took a moment to take in his attire. He wasn’t really dressed for a Halloween party. In a blue plaid button-down and shorts, this was the most casual outfit he could have possibly picked. Slung around his neck was his camera, dangling precariously in front of his midriff.

“You take photos?” you managed to ask, making sure to focus solely on the back of his head and not at the people milling about. “I do a little bit of photography myself. Maybe you could help me get better.”

He threw a cheeky grin at you as the two of you finally emerged at the other end of large room. The two of you stood in the doorway that separated the large living room from the dining room, watching as everyone milled around and talked casually. “Yeah, happily. Did you bring a camera or are we going to have share mine? I don’t mind of course, it’ll just be a tight squeeze with both of us under the lanyard.”

You rolled your eyes once again before motioning to the dining room table where your bags were currently sitting. Your camera bag, a simple black square bag was sitting with your purse propped against it. “It’s on the table.” You unwound your arms from his as you moved over to the table to assemble your camera and show it off.

A loud whistle came from Haz as he examined your camera, admiration sparkling in his blue eyes. “A Rebel Canon? What a beaut.” He snatched your camera and examined, his eyes twinkling with joy. “This is a really good camera. Tom’s brother, Harry, would be jealous.”

“It was a birthday present for my 17th birthday, actually. It was the only thing I got ‘cause it’s expensive as hell but it’s really good. Just really persnickety. The flash always turns itself on  unless I have my camera on the “no flash” setting, which means I can’t do any kind of special features without it turning on.” You held out your hand patiently, waiting for him to finish examining your camera. In the meanwhile, you decided to talk more about your camera. “I use it primarily for landscape and nature photography. I need to get better with taking photos with artificial lights without the camera doing weird shit.”

He finally looked up from your camera, having toyed around with it thoroughly. His eyes flickered over to your outheld hand before he smiled with all the cockiness of a fuckboy as he took a step back, holding your camera up to his eye. “Say cheese, beautiful.”

You gave him a stern and unamused look as you listened to the shutter go off, accompanied by the bright light of your flash. You blinked rapidly, trying to regain your vision from the blindspots that had developed due to the flash in the otherwise dim living room. “And that’s why I don’t use the flash,” you grumbled, rubbing at your eyes in the hopes of getting rid of the offending spots in your vision.

Once you stopped furiously rubbing at your eyes, he handed back your camera and you opened up the gallery to see just how horrible you looked. However, when you finally managed to get to the most recent picture, you were moderately surprised to see that Haz had managed to find a photo composition that both made you stand out without being overwhelmingly present. “Wow,” you mumbled awkwardly, staring at the photo. “Not bad. Too bad your subject wasn’t very into it. Could have been cute.”

“I think my subject was very cute, actually,” he chided in. You flipped the camera around so he was looking at the picture he took. “A bit of editing on the lighting and this really could be an award-winning photo. Beautiful subject and all.”

“A modern day DaVinci. Of course.” You shook your head before turning off your camera and slinging the lanyard around your neck. “So, how does one go around taking stellar pictures like a pro?”

He opened his mouth, ready to spew some bullshit about just taking your time to line up the perfect shot with the perfect photo composition, when Ana came bursting into the dining room with Tom in tow.

Ana was dressed up as one of the workers from the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney, one of her favorite rides. She wanted to be a ghost host for tonight’s Murder Mystery, so she decided to take the roll to the extreme. Tom, meanwhile, was dressed in a dark gray tee with a black jacket and black pants. His hands were squished into fingerless gloves, and his dark brown curls were lightly tousled.

“Y/N! There you are!” She sighed in relief before wrapping an arm around your shoulders and tugging you further away from the crowd of people in the living room and kitchen. “Hey, we need to start the murder mystery. Can I pull you back to Z’s room so we can finish up some last minute details?” She threw a smile over her shoulder at Tom and Haz who were studying the two of you with curiosity. “Sorry fellas, I have to still Y/N. You can flirt with her later, Haz.”

The blond rolled his eyes as he leaned against the kitchen table, fiddling with his camera. “I wasn’t flirting,” was his only response as Ana dragged you the long way to Z’s room.

When you entered, you saw the dark-haired girl hunched over on the floor, scribbling words onto the back of a puzzle. One of the clues that you and Ana had specifically planned for the murder mystery. “Alright, how can I help?” you asked, causing Z to jump before looking up at you.

Her dark brown eyes instantly softened as she glanced around the room. She studied everything for a moment before shrugging. “I actually can’t think of why we needed help. Ana just said she needed to find you.”

You threw an accusatory look over your shoulder at Ana who was shifting awkwardly on her feet. “Ana, what gives?”

“I need to see where your loyalties lie,” she mumbled awkwardly before glancing out the bedroom door and into the busy living room. “By loyalties I mean... you were 100% flirting with Haz! What gives, dude? I thought you were sworn off men?”

Your jaw dropped at her accusations. Flirting? With Haz? “As if! He’s not my type. He’s a player. Slept with more people than you can possibly count. Hell, he’s slept with more people than people I’ve had crushes on. Why would I ever want to flirt with Haz?” You shook your head before offering her a smile. “He was trying to help me with my camera. I promise. Nothing is happening between us. Just casual banter.”

“Casual flirting, you mean,” Zendaya joked as she finished with the puzzle. You turned to look at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she jumbled up the puzzle and tossed it into a plastic ziploc baggie. “Oh come on, Y/N. I’ve met you once and I can tell that you were flirting from what I saw. It’s fine. Just don’t go around getting hurt. Don’t want the two of you causing a split in our friend group, ya feel?”

You rolled your eyes before plopping down on Z’s bed. “No. I could never be with Haz. It wouldn’t work. Not with who is and who I am. Relax, girls, I’m still sworn off men and women. I want to be single for a little bit.” You glanced to your left and caught sight of the stack of cards with Haz’s sitting at the top. You grabbed it, and a pen, and scribbled one more “secret” onto it. “Like, am I flirting? Maybe a little. But it’s all just for fun. Nothing will come out of it.” You returned his card back to the pile.

Sitting up, you watched as the two shared a look before moving with synchronized ease. They pulled your feet and handed you the rules list for the Murder Mystery. “Well, since you made the rules, you get to read them. Then we can start the party,” Ana said. “And Z, you should hand out everyone’s cards.” She handed the stack of index cards that the two of you made to Z, who escaped out of the room. You were about to follow her when Ana stopped you, offering you a soft smile. “Just be careful, okay?”

“I will be. Don’t worry. I’m not keen on getting my heart broken again.” You pulled your best friend into a hug before following her out of the room. The two of you moved to the front of the living room, where Z was finishing up passing out all the cards. She handed you and Ana your cards before going to rejoin the crowd.

“Good luck. I’ll do my speech once you’re done,” she mumbled before slipping into the crowd and cuddling into Tom’s side.

A moment of panic struck you as you looked out into the crowd of people who were now staring at you expectantly. Kneeling in the front, though, was Haz, camera poised as he snapped pictures. You forced a momentary smile before glancing down at the paper in your hands. The further you stared at it, the sooner you realized that your handwriting was fucking illegible.

You sighed before looking back at the crowd. “Hey everyone,” you said awkwardly, waving. “Some of you only know me from Discord, but I’m Ana’s roommate back at college. Together, with Z, we are here to bring you the Murder Mystery. There are a few rules that I want to go over before we get started.”

Your eyes flickered down to Haz, who was smiling at you with all the light of a thousand suns on a cloudless summer day. Or maybe a billion moons shining down on you on a midnight stroll, guiding your way home in an otherwise dark world. There was something about the way that he smiled so calmly and warmly at you that put you at ease.

“The first is your card. On it are secrets about who your character is, whether your a victim, bystander, police man, private investigator, or the murderer. Whatever your card says is your secret.” You finally glanced back at the crowd and smiled warmly. “You don’t get to share your secret, otherwise we could all just talk right now and figure out who the murder is with the first clue and everyone’s secret alone. The only people who can are the police officer and the P.I.’s, and that’s because they’re supposed to be spear-heading the investigation by asking questions. However, for the rest of you, your card does give you some people you can talk to about your secret. Say, if you’re a drug dealer and someone in the party is your boss, the two of you could subtly talk about drugs to one another.

“Every roll is important, and there will be many red herrings. Work through the clues as a team and you’ll do fine. Just remember to have fun, most importantly. This is for you guys, and if you aren’t having fun then what’s the point?”

A few seconds of silence followed the ending of your small speech before everyone cheered and started to get hyped up from the event. The overwhelming noise that hit you made you laugh nervously before escaping to curl up on the couch and hide away from the crowd. The moment you stepped away, Ana came to the front of the crowd and began her speech.

You tried to pay attention, but your heartbeat was hammering through your chest and you felt so overwhelmed. You curled your knees up to your chest, staring intently at your laces.

“Hey,” Haz muttered, pulling you from your trance. He sat down on the floor right in front of you and continued to take pictures of Ana and what was happening at the front. “When I’m panicking, I find things to ground myself. 5 items you can spot with your eyes. 4 things you can immediately touch. 3 sounds you can hear. 2 you can smell. That kind of thing. It helps me, maybe it’ll help you.”

At his advice, you decided to try and focus your mind on the simple task. You could spot the television, and the clock chiming in the distance. You could smell the hot pizza and the bubbly coke in the cup sitting on the coffee table to your left. You could also smell Haz’s cologne, and god, it was so intoxicating-

Ana started to cough at the front of the room, and you remembered that her speech was coming to an end with her death. You instantly jumped to her feet and ran to her side as she collapsed. “Holy shit! Ana!” you shouted, grabbing at her arm and testing for a pulse. It was strong as day, but this was all pretend. “Guys! She’s dead!”

Everyone instantly jumped into the investigations, looking for clues that would point towards the killer. Ana sat up and shook her head, smiling at you. “How was my speech?”

“It was great, you got your lines perfectly,” you said before sitting down on the floor next to her. “I guess I should cuddle up to your man since he decided he wanted to have an affair. I’ll go make sure they find the letters.”

Ana shot you a dirty look as you talked about cuddling up with Tom but let you leave nonetheless. As you walked back to Z’s room, you set the letters that detailed the affairs before an idea popped into your head. You took the letter you wrote to Tom and hid it in your shirt, choosing to hide it on Tom and get suspicion for him as the murderer going.

“What’d you put up your shirt?” Haz asked, poking his head into the bedroom. You jumped before sighing in relief. “Just a ghost, sorry.” He chuckled before holding out his hand. “I’ll be taking that evidence, love. Don’t want you hiding important information.”

“You’re going to have to pry it out of my cold dead hands, Mister Murderer.” You smirked up at him before relaxing onto the bed. “Besides, you can’t read the letter. Not yet.”

He closed the door and joined you on the bed, smiling happily in your direction. “As the murderer, I could just kill you and take the paper from you. Besides, who says I would spill your dirty little secrets to the group? No, I think I’ll keep it as bargaining chips.”

You leaned really close to him, studying his face for a moment before settling on his lips. “Well then...” You leaned over and gingerly pecked him on the lips before leaning away from him. “I guess you’ll have to kill me for it. After all...” I pulled out my card, covering everything besides the word “VICTIM”. “My fates already sealed.”

I pulled the letter out of my shirt and walked over to the door, smirking at the stunned look that had settled over Haz’s face. “I’m sorry I don’t make the rules, Mr. Osterfield. All I’ll ever be in a victim in your eyes. This letter is my last testimony of setting up a red herring. It’s needed for the story to be good. Did you read your card fully?”

He gave you a weird look before pulling out his card and reading over it. “Wait, when did you add this? Ana told me what was on the card earlier and I-”

“Your girlfriend has a big secret, bud. It’s all written here. If you want it, you’ll have to take it from Tom and then kill me for it.” You winked at him before escaping back into the  main room.

You smiled to yourself, happy with how you left Haz near stunned with the kiss. Was it really a kiss though? Just a small peck. But God, it felt so god to leave him speechless.

The fact that you could feel his eyes on you as you left the room was almost empowering. The way you could feel his blue eyes burning a hole into your back was almost exhilarating.

A thought occurred to you, though. What if this went to far? What if you both ended up catching feelings while having some meaningless fun? What if you got hurt from this?

You pushed the thought from your mind as you rejoined the group at the Murder Mystery.

The night went on about as expected. Everyone found the letters, pieced together who was sleeping with who and who was responsible for what. You died a dramatic death once your affair with Tom had been made public, and Haz was the one to read the letter. The two of you fought, as any “couple” would, and then you went off and died from poisoning. Everything eventually boiled down to where the murderer was revealed.

And then the party went on as it had before. People drank, played a game called “Werewolf”, where three people were werewolves, and everyone had to figure out who before they killed everyone in the town. Horror movies played in the background, and socialization happened inbetween games.

“Hey you,” Haz said, pulling you away from the crowds, thankfully. He found a remote little corner in the dim dining room where no one was at currently. “I have to get going. Issues with roommates and all that. ‘Pparently Allison had an allergic reaction and I gotta get going.”

“Oh.” The joy you had been feeling from the party and finally relaxing around the crowd slowly depleted at his words. “Okay. Well... will you be at the Christmas Party? I’m helping plan that one, too.”

He gave you a cheeky smile and draped his arm across your shoulders, tugging you into his side snugly. “I’ll try to be. Walk me to my car?”

You nodded and the two of you sneakily escaped from the party and to his car. It was, admittedly, a very run down convertible that you weren’t quite sure if it should be able to run. You were about to make a snarky comment about his car when he surprised you with a kiss. You were so taken aback that you weren’t able to fully process just what was happening until he pulled away.

“I... what-?” You were at a loss for words and could only muster a jumbled sound of random vowels and consonants. He only chuckled and walked around to the driver side door, ready to just leave you standing on the sidewalk with a shocked look on your face. “Wait, hold on! What was that?”

Haz, who already had the door open, leaned against the hood of the door and smiled at you with what could only be described as an award-winning smile. “Think of it as a promise. I’ll text you.”

With that, he ducked into his car, slamming the driver-side door shut behind him. You watched as he easily pulled away from the curb and drove off down the road. You crossed your arms across your chest, watching as he turned the corner and left.

What the hell were you supposed to do now?

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