#but i just wish they'd actually mentioned whatever happened to her

[novelmonger]

Back at the beginning of this year, I made a silly New Year's resolution to watch a movie made in the year I was born. I had a few possibilities in mind, but just the other day, I happened across a movie I saw when I was a kid and mostly forgot about, but it's been on my mind lately as I've been thinking about one of my original stories. Then what do you know? I discover that it came out the year I was born! At least according to IMdB, which only has release dates for Australia and the Netherlands, which is a different year than what it says on YouTube, where I'm watching it, but whatever, we're counting it!

It's a TV movie (I assume?) called On Our Own, about four siblings who have recently been orphaned and run away because they're afraid of being split up if they're sent to foster homes. I know it's been at least a small unconscious inspiration for my superpowered siblings story (though a much bigger inspiration for that story was Escape to Witch Mountain, since that's about orphans who have supernatural powers), so I was curious to watch it again with an adult's eyes.

So without further ado, here are some thoughts I had while watching:

How is it that this movie, which I must have seen on TV one time when I was 6 or 8 or something, maybe at my grandparents' house (or it might have been from the library or something), still feels so familiar, like a movie I grew up watching over and over again? Like, if you'd asked me before I started watching how the movie begins, I probably couldn't have told you, but as soon as the first shot of an ambulance driving through the streets came on, I was like, "YES! OF COURSE! I REMEMBER THIS!"

Wow, the acting is terrible in this XD Not just the kids, who can be somewhat excused for lack of experience, but none of the adults are that great either ^^'

Even though these siblings are two boys and two girls, while my story is about one brother and three sisters, I can definitely see an influence on my characters and how they interact. Particularly in the older two siblings, who end up kind of having to be de facto parents to their much younger siblings.

I get that this is a movie intended for kids to watch and understand, so the writing is pretty blunt, but yikes, the adults have no tact when discussing the kids' future and how they'll have to be split up, never see their dog again, etc.

When escaping the orphanage, Kate hands Mitch the suitcase, and he accidentally drops it to the ground several stories below. Then he immediately turns and says, "Okay, hand me Lori." I snorted XD

I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about the way they filmed the scenery shots of city streets and highways that just feels very low-budget. Even though they probably had to use a helicopter for some of them.

Uh...is every song on this soundtrack with vocals from Kidz Bop or something? <_<

The most unrealistic thing in this whole movie may be that Mitch can drive a stick-shift Volkswagen beetle across two states with only the very occasional issue when he's only driven in the parking lot one time before -_- (Not to mention that that tiny car has enough gas to get them as far as they go before having to get more.)

Okay, wait wait wait. They only have $9 to get them where they need to go, and Mitch comes out of the gas station with this big brown paper bag full of food that cost $8? Like...yeah, he said he didn't get Twinkies or plastic cups, but...wait, how much is that in today-dollars? *calculates* $19.32 Okaaaayyy....

Yay, obviously over-dubbed little girl who sounds completely out of place and not like it's actually Lori at all.

"Of all the turkeys in the world, how'd I get hung up with this hamster going all the way to Arizona?" - What kind of line is that??? XD

Also, like...these are police chasing the kids, right? Yet they're like, "Oh no, we only have a ZIP Code from a torn envelope [at least, that's where I'm assuming they got it from], and all we know is that there's someone they call "Uncle Jack." But we don't know what his last name is! There is absolutely no way that the police could look up public records and find out what their mother's maiden name was and see if there's somebody at that ZIP Code named Jack who also has that last name!"

Random non-sequitur moment #125: "Hey, look at this old old bottle!" *no one responds and it never goes anywhere*

Okay, like the one thing I remember from this movie is Mitch falling asleep at the wheel. Guess that made a huge impression on me, like a cautionary tale. But why did he keep driving so far until he hit a cactus??? Ever heard of brakes, kid?!

Wow, watching this as an adult really drives home how completely helpless these kids are. I'm sure when I watched this movie as a kid, Mitch and Kate seemed so old and responsible and capable. But now, watching Kate break down because they have no money and no food, and with the car crashed and not starting, all I can think is how young they all look.

This framing story with the grandma making a cake or whatever and getting the whole story told to her on the phone is completely unnecessary, but funny in a very stereotypical sort of way XD (But yikes, I don't wanna see her phone bill at the end of this!) And lol, she doesn't even take her burning cake out of the oven, just turns it down and leaves it in there!

This movie feels like its message is "As long as you're desperate, anything is excusable." Just judging from the triumphant "we're gonna make it!" music that plays every time they steal a vehicle -_- Aaaand not thirty seconds later, he runs into a conveniently placed...stick? that conveniently stabs the car and makes in unusable. Because that's a thing that often happens.

And then Travis puts a quarter in a slot machine and wins the jackpot??? What are you trying to convey to impressionable kids, movie?!

HOLEY SLICES OF BREAD, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY! Two bullies come after the kids, trying to steal their winnings, Mitch threatens to throw a rock at them with the most unconvincing threat in the world, then they're scuffling around like these two guys couldn't take all four of them with their hands behind their backs, it's intercut jarringly with Peggy driving up in a truck full of sheep...and then out of nowhere, she pulls out a gun?!?!?

*pointing gun* "I know how to use this!" Uh...yeah, real convincing. Still, can't blame those guys for backing away slowly from the crazy lady with the wild eyes.

Oh, okay, it wasn't a real gun. I was about to get upset about gun safety when she just tossed it onto the ground at a kid's feet.

And...the car is magically fixed now? They just drive off no problem? Okay, who cares about continuity anyway?

OH MY GOODNESS LORI IS ADORABLE :3

Oh, okay, the car is not perfectly fine. But it sure took a long time for the smoking engine to become a problem again.

What a cascade of revelations one after another. Jack isn't really their uncle (so I guess it wouldn't have worked for the police to look up their mother's maiden name after all), he's got a...girlfriend? with a son, and their father is in prison. I wonder what for? Will we ever find out?

That was the most awkward little fist-fight ever. It was like...sluggish? No tension, no sense of danger. Like...oh noooo, he grabbed the carrot. Oh nooooo, he splashed some water on him. And then Travis has to be super gross and grab horse manure and throw it at him. Just...why?

"If I wasn't bleeding all over the place, I'd clean your plow!" Is that a thing people say??? XD

"Tell you the truth, it's something I've been wanting to do for quite some time." Okay, I had to play it back like three times, but I finally realized that Jack is saying he wanted to bust his girlfriend's kid's nose and throw manure at him. Uh...okay then ._.

Aha, the bus! This is the other part of the movie I actually remember, where Mitch somehow knows how to drive a whole freaking bus when he's supposedly never driven before.

Why is the guy selling bus tickets giving me such creepy vibes??? <_<

*Four children drive off in a bus* Peggy: "Oh no." Super convincing, lady.

Really? The police are too slow to catch them, even when they stop the bus so Travis can hop out and get their dog, because the policeman accidentally got into the back seat instead of the driver's seat? Literally when would that ever happen??? And then they just drive right through a stack of...banana crates? I don't even know what those were. And then he doesn't even notice there's a one-lane bridge ahead and ends up in the creek. The kid is better at this than you, Mr. Detective!

Police cars swiftly gaining on them from behind, a roadblock ahead, a freaking prop plane touches down right in front of them, and what is Mitch's response? An eyeroll.

Oh, okay, now he's crying. Poor kid has had a rough day or two.

Whoa, attack of the over-dubbed Mitch whose voice suddenly got a lot deeper!

"I'm a real strong worker, you'll see!" *Uncle Jack gives him a blank stare* A+ acting all around, fellas.

Wow. The police explain how, legally, they can't just let the kids stay with someone who's not a relative in a completely different state, but then he says, "Come to my house and have some barbecue and we'll work this out." AND THEY GO FOR IT. Did the people who wrote this script know the first thing about how laws work?

Oh, okay. They did have to go back to LA and get it worked out in the court. And Mitch and Kate had to do community service to make up for all the laws they broke.

"They must have had a pretty bad example from their alcoholic father." Okay, movie, sheesh, you don't have to yell in our ears that alcoholism is bad. We get the picture.

Why on earth did I remember the last scene so clearly? As soon as the grandma starts putting the little decorations on the cake, it was like I remembered every single word everyone said. "Because I'm a grandma!"

Huh. A weirdly long stretch of black screen after the credits are done, but the music isn't quite finished. Usually you just fade out at that point, you know.... (I'm not exaggerating when I say there's like a whole verse and chorus left after the credits where you're just staring at nothing.)

Well, all in all, this was a fun trip down memory lane. I'm glad I managed to track it down again, and see some of the ingredients in the idea soup for my own story of four siblings running away. But...it's not a very good movie, all things considered XD

[morinuu]

☀︎｜tamaki x female reader drabble. you're a client and jealous asf. pining for tamaki lol. angst? maybe. mention of nsfw but nothing's reealllyyy happening. also u have ear piercings & you know haruhi's a girl.

your hands trembled a bit as you stared at the butter knife in held between your fingers, stopped mid-action from spreading the jam on your bread any further.

ouran had the tendency to make you feel lonely, rejected. generally... unhappy.

although there was one thing existing within the grand corridors of ouran that shone like the sun, blinding, immediately burning all of those emotions away. a tall boy whose smile seemed contagious, never failing to make your chest feel fuzzy and warm, as if you'd met a saint before entering heaven.

his blond hair almost radiated a halo surrounding his head, one you could never help but stop and admire.

but you knew you wouldn't be entering heaven, not when you couldn't defeat the disgusting, vile jealousy that sat in your throat whenever his hands would pat her head. or when his words would compliment her 'cuteness! purely adorable manners!' and whatever else he found just delightful on her.

so maybe he wasn't actually burning the negative emotions away. perhaps he was replacing them with others, and not with better ones.

it took a while before you realised tamaki suoh had been waving his hand in your face to bring you back to the conversation.

"miss yn?"

you blinked your thoughts away and looked back at the boy in front of you. with a quick cough to clear your throat, you nodded at the boy and finished spreading the jam on your toast.

"sorry, what were you saying?" you asked with a gentle voice, trying to seem unaffected by the thoughts occupying your brain viciously.

you didn't want to think you disliked haruhi, because she wasn't a bad person. nor had she done anything wrong. she wasn't the problem.

tamaki was.

he and his stupid amethyst-like orbs that sparkled in the sun under the cherry blossom trees during that shitty event the host club was partaking in. his long slender fingers that didn't hold a single scratch on them, proving just how little they'd physically struggled. his delicate pale neck that would be painted a bright pink whenever haruhi did anything.

he was the damn problem.

because you wished his eyes would stare down at you lovingly instead, while his pretty fingers swiped up your folds and played with your clit, his neck and ears flushed because he was rutting his hips on you, panting because of you.

haruhi wasn't to blame if tamaki refused to smear your lipbalm by kissing and licking your mouth in the changing rooms before he had to entertain another client.

so why was she such an irritating sight?

"is everything okay, dear? you haven't finished your tea yet and our date's almost over. that's unusual for you." he frowned slightly and moved a bit closer to you, brushing your hair out of your face to caress your cheek tenderly, as though you were to break.

you always would take the opportunity and lean into his palm, closing your eyes a bit to pretend that any of it was real. he made it seem real every time. and every time you fooled yourself without failure.

'he remembered my tea order!' last week.

'he noticed my haircut!' the month before.

and all those other small, teeny tiny specks of attention he paid to you - they all contributed to your delusions.

"everything's fine, tamaki. i'm just a bit tired. thank you for asking." you assured him and thrived in the feeling of his warm hand on your cheek for however many seconds he'd keep it there before inevitably having to stop.

you wished you could lean just a bit more to the left and peck and bite his fingers as softly as you could.

"if anything is on your mind, remember you can always share it with me, darling. you know i care for you." his hand moved up to caress your ear, the pad of his fingertips tenderly playing with all sorts of different jewellery you'd inserted throughout the surface, before it moved down to your jaw and finally completely separated from your face to rest back on his lap.

oh how you hated (or, tried to at least) his gentle stare and angelic voice that spewed lies in your face shamelessly for money.

that same stupid voice that suddenly got honest and passionate only for the first-year girl disguised as a petit boy.

'liar.'

you shook your head and gave a polite smile, repeating to him that "everything's fine" because you'd rather have the earth swallow you whole than admit your stomach was twisting and turning with raw, sinful envy.

tamaki opened his mouth to say something else, but just before his melodic voice could escape his throat, a yellow dress worn by his next client came into view. 'oh, right. end of appointment.'

"until next time, dear." he chuckled a bit before kissing the back of your hand as farewell.

he might've been called a prince in his club, but your type was always 'the dickheads' as your mum called them. in an ironic way, it made complete sense.

you stared at him walking away while trying to finish your aforementioned tea but to no avail. it was too bitter on your tongue, despite it being your favourite drink of choice, and you couldn't help but feel guilty. because you knew the reason you couldn't stomach it anymore wasn't because it'd gotten cold.

but because just before he went to sit with his next client, he went to check on haruhi.

because he would never turn to look at you the same way - or at all really.

it felt like he belonged to her, with her, and your pathetic attempts at getting closer to him were just an example of you being impudent.

you knew tamaki would never be yours.

and you didn't hate haruhi, but you really fucking wished she would disappear.

[harmonysanreads]

different anon! but what if arlecchino doesn’t like lyney’s s/o for some reason, maybe they have strong morals and despite accepting lyney’s ‘occupation’, she feels like their relationship could compromise her operations or something

[ Previously ]

I waited until we got more information on Arlecchino to answer this and after her story quest, I can say that Lyney just having a romantic interest would complicate things a lot — at least on the surface.

Arlecchino is hardly someone who adheres to clear-cut principles, every word of her has double meaning and even if she didn't initially speak with such intentions, she can expertly twist words to her advantage. This tendency also shows itself in her actions, as seen by the way she operates the House of the Hearth. She's always scheming, simply put and thus she's the Knave.

For most of the ordeal, Arlecchino doesn't intervene, as she believes that children need their own space, but she's aware of everything that's going on from the start. Problem happens if it appears as though Lyney is neglecting his training and some sort of a scheme arises which suggests that he might be planning to betray the House. I wish they'd told us what exactly the rules of the HOTH are apart from the 'Betrayal is not allowed' since Arlecchino exerts her control through them. But for now, let's go with what we have.

Notice how I emphasized 'appears and suggests'? Arlecchino's story quest has made me respect Lyney's character a lot and from it, I can say for sure that if Lyney genuinely loves you, he'll do anything to protect you. Despite how he presents himself, he's serious about the House and him becoming Arlecchino's successor. In which case, he'd never actually betray the House but since we're talking about Yandere!Lyney, his unstable feelings might temporarily give the impression that he's doubting his designated role. Stretch this leeway some more and we get a new family drama.

This is the scenario where I can see Arlecchino personally intervening ; perhaps she starts by offering some generous 'fatherly' advice to Lyney through a letter or conversation, then maybe she pulls some strings to see what your deal is but the brunt of it will go over Lyney.

Now, Arlecchino's core belief is quite clear for this case ; she'll not interfere with whoever Lyney chooses to do whatever with after he's achieved his seat. But until then, she is in charge and anything that might prove to be a threat to the HOTH must be handled. As such, Lyney will have to pass acid test after acid test to earn her approval and you'll be dragged in them regardless of whether you return Lyney's undying love or not.

Thankfully, Lyney actually does have the spine to stand up for things and as I mentioned earlier : if he truly loves you, he'll fight for you, too. If you ask me though, I'd say to not worry too much overall. The deal with Arlecchino is that she likes to keep people questioning, which creates this fear surrounding her image, one that she leans into as well. But the center of the dilemma is always simpler than what you might be led to believe.

Even if she's against it, there's always a chance to win, you'll just have to fight tooth and nail for it.

[icallhimjoey]

All Goes South

♥ ♥  Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: Joe is overworked, tired, exhausted and just... he needs a break. Everyone knows it, too. None of it is really exciting to him anymore. Then, he meets you, and something reignites within him.

CW / disclaimer: 18+, language, drinking, rpf, fem!reader, angst, mentions of smut

Author’s note: Wee woo wee woo! Last part alert! The 2004 film that inspired me was First Daughter (and I guess, that means Chasing Liberty too). Some girls got it shockingly fast and my inbox is full of messages of girls guessing correctly, so well done! Hope you all enjoy this last part!

Wordcount: 5.5k

part one - part two - part three - part four - part five

Mistake.

That was a mistake. All of it. You. You were a mistake.

“Yea, well... we’ll see,” Joe could hear your voice echo in his mind. He’d seen it now, and desperately wished he could unsee it all.

In the car on the way to Joe's film premier, he stared out of the window with wide eyes, a hand covering his mouth, brain buried deep in thought. In shock, because what the fuck had just happened?

"She was just doing her job, mate... I don't know what to tell–"

"She's an undergrad." Joe interrupted, voice stern, not blinking, eyes still staring. You didn't have a job.

"Yea, she's interning for Victoria. Josephine helps her out a lot too... she'd been given an assignment, and... fucking aced it, if I'm being honest, so Vic's gonna offer her a job,"

Joe then turned his head, looked at his manager and felt something snap and recoil inside his head.

Joe's manager saw, and immediately jumped to your defense.

"We needed to get you out there, Joe... you were calling in sick left, right and center - we asked if you if minded an intern joining the team, you said you didn't mind, so an intern joined the team. I don't know what to tell you..." 

Joe tried to ignore it, looked away, eyes trained out the window, worked away the tears that built in his eyes from sheer anger, and got his phone out to distract him. Pretended he wasn't trapped in a car with someone defending you, standing up for you, after the most devastating thing ever had just happened to him.

"You fucked off to the toilets again, and were in there for, what, twenty minutes? She asked if she could try something, and Victoria told her to do whatever because none of us were getting through to you, we tried everything, didn't we? Josephine said she'd get Victoria to hire her right after her internship if she could manage to get you to stop canceling on everything... we were at our wit's end,"

Joe's breathing grew heavier, and if his fingernails were longer, the palms of his hands would've bled.

"And she fucking nailed it, didn't she? She did a stellar job. Got you out there. Got you smiling, all... I don't know, all happy? Paid your bills–"

"Don’t."

So close to breaking, Joe only had to say that once to shut Alex up fully. Knew if he would've kept going, Joe would've broken down completely. Would've started crying for real, and Joe didn't know if he'd be able to stop himself if that were to happen.

A silence took over, Joe's mind reeling, and then, he blocked your number.

What a fucking mistake, how the fuck could he not have seen it? Could he not have puzzled it together? He couldn't actually believe it. This was taking humiliation to a whole different level.

He tried to make sense of it, but couldn't for the life of him.

You'd eavesdropped on Joe's meeting at that restaurant you said you used to work at. Made it sound like you weren't with them, with him, at all. They'd been lies. Lies by omission, maybe. But still fucking lies.

You'd shown him out that backdoor, and then he'd asked if you wanted to join him, like an idiot, and Joe realised, that was the first mistake he had made. He remembered all the phone calls and the texts he'd gotten that night from his team. Had you not received any?

The second mistake was banning chat about work. Would you have told him if he hadn't swiped the topic off the table? Would your silly round of questions have involved work-related questions? And would Joe have learnt then that you were part of the team of people he'd ran away from then?

These were questions he knew he was never going to get an answer to.

He could think of so many more mistakes. He should have never let you take him over to Swingers, should have never taken you over to Duck & Waffle and should have never insisted on taking you home.

And you had fucking warned him too, hadn't you?

Joe closed his eyes, absolutely livid with himself as he realised you'd actually warned him. You'd been so hesitant, had said, "I don’t want to make mistakes," which then lead to Joe taking full responsibility for all of the upcoming mistakes the two of you made. Why did he do that? What the fuck was actually wrong with him?!

But it was never fully his fault.

Because Joe didn't know.

Joe had no idea.

Joe could blame himself for a lot, but the biggest mistake was the one that you made. The biggest mistake was the information you'd withheld. The purposefully vague explanation of your internship, the exclusion of any details of what it really was that you did. That was all on you.

Joe angrily puzzled things together in the silence of that backseat. Things sort of started dawning on him. Started making sense a little more. In hindsight, Joe felt like a fucking idiot because hadn't it all been so fucking obvious?!

You'd been very jittery a lot.

Very nervous.

Would almost succumb under a pressure Joe never fully understood, but he had wanted to be so helpful, so supportive.

Was it all fretfulness to be found out? To run into someone who was going to tell Joe? Tell him that the girl he'd fallen so hard for - fuck, he was in so fucking deep - that she was lying to him? Is that what that stupid bouncy leg was all about? The clammy hands? Those fearful eyes?

Joe realised he'd bitten through his bottom lip when he suddenly tasted blood.

Shit, he fucking loved you. He realised it then and there and wanted to smash in the windows. The whole thing was a disaster.

The taxi pulled up outside of the office where Joe got changed into a fancy looking suit. The office was just around the corner from Leicester Square anyway, so he made it perfectly on time. Didn't look anyone in the eye, though. Not until he stepped foot onto the red carpet.

Joe smiled at people behind the barriers.

Joe smiled at the wall of photographers.

Joe smiled at the people holding microphones.

Joe smiled at his coworkers, at his costars, at other celebrities.

Joe smiled the whole time.

Yet, it never reached his eyes.

Joe loved you, and you'd gone and fucked it all up.

Once people started making their way inside, Joe was pulled aside, and then, was told to go home. He looked awful, like he was on the verge of a mental break down. But then Joe said,

"Oh no, I'm staying." and turned into a real bitch of a man.

"This is important, isn't it? Can't skip my own premier, oh no, this is the type of shit you come and get me for, right? The big event that I definitely wasn't allowed miss out on, just, had to be dragged from a date–" Joe closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose in frustration. He didn't like that he'd just called that a date.

"I'm staying." He finished, but as he said those last two words, he was already walking backwards.

"I'm staying. Because you need me out here, right? Need me to stop canceling on everything? I'm staying. I'm fucking staying." and then Joe stretched out both his arms with both middle fingers raised, and left.

Joe sent an e-mail to his team from the car that drove him home.

"Taking an indefinite leave of absence. Please direct any and all questions towards Alex, he'll assist."

And then, for the next two and a half weeks, no one managed to get into contact with him. They tried - you tried - but Joe dodged all calls, blocked various numbers, and let all e-mails go unanswered.

He needed time to think.

Joe granted himself the break he needed a long time ago, got drunk more than was good for him, spoke to his mum and dad a bunch, and cried when he found the toothbrush you used in his medicine cabinet.

All for a fucking job.

And sure, Joe had seen your flat, had seen the way you lived. Had heard you wish for a real job, one that would pay you enough to move to a different place. One without a messy flatmate, and one with a gorgeous bathtub.

But still.

Joe couldn't get it out of his head.

Couldn't accept that in such a short amount of time he allowed himself to fully love someone that could do such awful things to him.

Couldn't accept that he loved you at all.

And that he missed you.

Fuck, he missed you so fucking much.

Joe dreamt about you a lot. Somehow couldn't shake your face in his sleep. It found him every time, and each morning, it took him real convincing not to call you. Not to reach out. Not to pretend that nothing bad had ever really happened. He had to actively remind himself that you pretended you were something else to get him to do his job.

He just hoped not all of it had been pretend.

Some things had to have been real... right?

Joe dreamt and reality-checked for days, until time settled things. Anger settled into sadness, and sadness dulled over time.

Joe was never mad at his team. He realised they were all nice, kind people who wanted nothing but the best for him. So when, after seventeen days, Joe's manager decided to stop by to check on him, Joe didn't hesitate to let him in.

Alex didn't come over to talk Joe back into work, but after a short catch up, apologies exchanged, Alex suggested for Joe to stop by the office. Not for any meetings. But, just to come by and see everyone. Joe's team cared about him. They wanted to know if he was doing all right.

But the chances of running into you made Joe hesitate.

Alex immediately took back the suggestion when Joe didn't really respond to it. "Take however long you need, mate, no rush,"

Joe blinked and smiled, but it was sad.

"No, no, it's just... I can't run into her," Joe confessed, and immediately knew he shared too much when he saw his manager's face scrunch up in confusion before it turned into a frown.

"Were you dating?"

It was as if the penny only just dropped for him then, and Joe thought, why else do you think I reacted the way I did, you fucking idiot? Didn't say that, of course. Instead, he stared at a fixed spot on his kitchen island and said,

"I think it was somehow more than that,"

Alex frowned deeper.

"Didn't you only meet like, a month ago?"

"Yea," Joe's eyes grew but remained fixed on that same spot. "It was a second nature sort of... instinctual thing. Makes it all worse, somehow,"

The fact that all of it was based on lies, Joe meant.

A moment of silence passed where neither man said anything, and Joe let his mind drift off, thought of your face for a little bit, until suddenly, he cleared his throat loudly and then Alex slapped his own legs.

"Well," Alex said before getting up, and finding his jacket to sling his arms back into. "No need to worry about running into her at the office,"

Joe looked up at his manager, blank faced.

"She concluded the internship, and then didn't take Vic up on the job offer, so, you know,"

"Hang on," Joe placed a hand over his eyes for a second, now his turn to be confused. "She didn't take the job?"

"Probably for the best, isn't it? Seeing as there... was something, between the two of you," Alex gestured vaguely, unaware of how this little piece of information derailed just about, um, everything.

You didn't take the fucking job? What the fuck?!

Alex saw Joe tap impatient fingers on the counter as his eyes darted around, clearly calculating his next move. He was about to say something, but then Joe said, "Thanks, Alex," before redirecting his attention to his phone.

You put plates down onto a shelf and rubbed the back of your hand over your brow when your phone buzzed in your pocket. You weren't meant to answer, but you couldn't help sneak a look at who was trying to reach you. When you saw, you thought for a second you were making things up.

That said Joe.

Joe was calling you.

Without even checking if any of the guests could see you from where you were stood, you answered.

"Joe?"

"Where are you?"

It took you a moment to register Joe's question, his tone of voice, and the urgency with which he spoke.

"I'm..."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at work, Joe. What's going on?"

"Where's work?" Joe sounded impatient and was loud, practically screaming down the phone. You heard keys jingle and the bang of a door slamming shut.

"I- I got my old job back, at the restaurant... Joe, are you all right, what's wrong?"

But Joe'd already hung up. You texted, "I'm working til close, do you want to meet after?" but the text bounced. You were still blocked.

You spent the next however many minutes eyeing the entrance of the restaurant like a hawk from behind the bar as you absentmindedly twirled a dry wineglass in a dry towel.

What the fuck was going on? Why had Joe called you? Why did he need to know where you were? And why did your gut feeling tell you that something was terribly, terribly wrong?

You watched the entrance and twirled that wineglass, long dried by now, until you convinced yourself that Joe wasn't actually going to come over to see you.

Then suddenly, you saw him.

But he rushed past the windows. Power-walked right by the restaurant without glancing inside.

Shit.

The back door.

You put the glass back on its shelf and hung the towel neatly on its hook, before stepping into the kitchen.

You already heard it then.

Loud, rapid banging, unmistakably from both of Joe's fists that hammered the door urgently.

The loud banging stopped when the door opened a little at first, and then a lot, as you fully pushed it open.

Joe was there, panting in the alleyway, and he looked unwell. Pale, eyes red-rimmed, and harshly underlined by dark circles. He looked broken in a way you hadn't been able to even imagine him, and it stabbed you right in the center of your heart.

Joe looked awful, like he hadn't slept in weeks, but above all else, he looked fucking furious.

"Joe," you croaked, barely a whisper that had to compete with the loud noises coming from the kitchen behind you.

Joe's face was like an open book, so expressive, which was just the worst. You saw everything. All of it. His outrage, the humiliation, the clear desire to inflict harm, upon you, you imagined. All so recognisable, so familiar. You wished you couldn't see any of it, but you could. Joe wanted you to, and it made the guilt that had camped out in your chest for weeks now grow to a new size.

It instantly made you want to burst into tears. It was painful, but you understood you deserved that.

Joe didn't move. Just stood there, breathing heavily, looking at you, and you understood this was going to be it. Joe was going to get all of it out. Confront you about everything. Make you feel horrid in new and different ways, and even though inside the restaurant it was busy and you had a job to do, you decided that this was more important.

Joe was here to end it.

Okay, you thought definitively. If Joe needed this, you were going to bear it. It felt like the least you could do.

"I'm taking five," you shouted over your shoulder, and you stepped outside, letting the backdoor fall shut behind you. Now it was just the two of you in that grimy alleyway where you remembered Joe asking you to come with him weeks ago. When it all started.

“Hi,” you said on an exhale when the silence dragged on too long. It felt stupid, but you didn't know what else to say.

Joe faced everything he’d been afraid of facing. His heart broke and leapt for joy all at once. He'd missed you. So much. Seeing you in the flesh made it undeniable which was really fucking annoying. You'd hadn't even known each other for two months, and hadn't even seen each other for over half of it. And yet, he had missed you so, wanted nothing more than for you to collide with each other in this moment, because even though there were so many things he was mad about, he really fucking missed you.

Joe's throat swelled and his expression faltered slightly. He swallowed hard, not fast enough for you to not see it, but he hoped you didn't notice the softness within him that he still kept for you. 

The air between you was sweltering despite the low temperatures and for a moment, you allowed yourself to close your eyes. Geared up for whatever Joe was going to throw at you. Gathered what you needed and made more room in your chest because more bad feelings were going to have to fit in there.

"Look at me," 

You did, but immediately wished you didn't. You could see how devastated Joe was in close-up detail, all of the inner turmoil that bubbled up inside him, and you kind of wanted to self-destruct. Wanted it to hurt you, wanted that punishment - anything to make this inside ache go away.

Joe took a long look at you and held your gaze and fuck, it was really difficult to not look away. Then he drew a deep, angry, close-lipped inhale and finally said, 

"You didn't take the job?"  

Joe spat the words at you accusingly, eyes narrowed, facial expression one of pure disgust, like it was the worst thing you could have ever done to him. You frowned a little, confused, because that wasn't what you expected. But he was right, you didn't take that job. How could you have?

"Of course I didn't," 

Thing is, that was exactly the wrong thing to say. Joe didn't want to hear about how you had taken the moral high ground. He didn't want to hear the explanation you had ready from the start, one that hadn't changed throughout the weeks, hadn't really transformed into anything deeper. 

You looked at the person that you loved, and then hurt so viciously. 

"How could I have?" 

Joe glared at you, anger building and starting to spill out, sort of like he couldn't believe what you were saying. You thought it made perfect sense, though.  

"So you made me go through all of that for fuck all?" 

Joe gestured wildly, took a step back and started pacing. You could practically feel the anger exuding off of him. It was so heated - hot enough to burn you, if you weren't careful. 

"Made me question everything for no reason? Why? Was I not worth it?"

There wasn’t much more you could do but show your defeat. Stand still. No movement. Just, sad eyes. Let Joe know you never meant for any of this to happen, even if you understood that it was your fault that all of it had.

"Joe, I'm sorry," your brows knitted together. You were sorry. Would tell him a million times if you needed to. But you also knew that it was never going to be enough. You'd clipped Joe's wings and were now telling him, oops, shouldn't have done that. Like that was going to fix anything.

Joe then whirled around, arms held out wide, like there was an audience. 

"What does that even mean?" 

You went cold all over and could feel tears welling up as you frowned hard. 

"It means I wish I didn't fuck all of it up–" 

"You didn't take the job!" Joe interrupted loudly, making you flinch, before he continued speaking on a more sensible volume level. "You didn't take the– she didn't take the fucking job," Joe kicked against a steel bin, made the lid go flying which crashed hard against the asphalt. You flinched and saw Joe place both hands behind his head as he stared down the alley towards the main road with wet eyes and a red, blotchy face. 

"You didn't take the- you decided to lie to me for weeks, fucking weeks, and then... for what?" 

You distantly felt tears spilling down your own face, but couldn't focus on anything other than Joe who seemed to slowly, kind of... lose it. Lose himself, in real time, right in front of you.

He couldn't even look at you. Fuck, he thought so many things, but most things died in his throat because, look at you. 

He fucking loved you.

The overwhelming need to comfort and care for Joe started filling up the empty spaces in your chest and it melted together with the guilt. It made a scolding, hot, thick mash that boiled your lungs.

You took a single step forward. Wanted to take Joe's hurt away and slot that shit into your own chest where it belonged.

"Joe," 

You reached for Joe's hand, but got his arm instead. You took it. Would take what Joe was going to give you. Joe let you hold his arm with plenty of noticeable distance between you still.

"Why did you do it?" Joe's voiced cracked right down the middle, all filled with hurt and complex anger. The eyes that watched you seemed a little cooler then, that fiery heat simmered down a little.

Your eyes moved between his in a long gaze that pleaded for forgiveness you knew you didn't deserve. Your mouth was dry as you began to speak, and you croaked, "How could I not have?"

Joe scoffed, rubbed a palm at his mouth and looked away from you. It was the space you needed, the distance the loss of eye-contact granted to get all these dangerous feelings out. 

"It.... it was magic." you sighed, and saw Joe crumble, his head fully turning away from you as you moved memories to the forefront of his mind. 

"It was so beautiful, Joe. It was real, all of it was. We went and flew south together, and it was never meant to be more than me getting you out of that meeting... I just wanted to get you out, give you the break you so desperately needed. They were all saying it, how you needed a break. And I risked my internship because it almost felt inhumane what they were making you do. I'd seen your schedule…" 

Joe impatiently shook a knee in and out of over-stretching, and you knew it was because they were difficult words to accept. You watched Joe's face scrunch up, brows knitted together, and he was completely open. All vulnerable, all real. Nothing exaggerated.

"You lied to me," Joe's voice sounded like it was made of glass, and you instinctively ran a hand down his arm to clasp his hand. To your surprise, Joe let your fingers intertwine and squeezed your hand impossibly tight, desperately clinging on.

It might have been a moment of weakness from his side, but that would be fine. If Joe was to snatch away his hand in a second, at least you, got to hold his hand for that single second. It was more than you deserved, you were well aware.

"I did," you breathed heavily, closed your eyes and lowered your head. Accepted that Joe had seen the worst of you. "I did and I am sorry, I should've told you right from the start, but then–" 

"But then you didn't," 

You let your other hand reach up to cup his cheek, and Joe immediately leant into it, closed his eyes and granted himself this little moment of closeness.

"But then I didn't, and now..."  

You didn't need to finish. 

A silence followed, and for a second, your mind went back to where you were. You were in the alleyway behind the restaurant you worked at - currently were working a shift at. Any minute your manager was probably going to come out and get you. 

"And now you didn't take the job," Joe finished your sentence for you, and for a small moment, you thought he was going to step away. Let go of you. Walk away without looking back.

But he didn't.

Instead he blinked tears into his lashes and looked down as he let the hand that wasn't holding onto yours play with the ties of your apron that was wrapped around your waist.

This wasn't the end.

"I'm so sorry," you repeated yourself as you blinked tears down your own face, your hand now sliding down Joe's chest. You tried to hold yourself together as much as you could, and then promised, "I'll do whatever I need to do to make this right. I fucked up. This is my fault."

Joe let go of your hand and brought both hands to your waist before letting his forehead fall against yours.

"You should've taken the job," Joe whispered before sniffing thickly, exhaling wetly through his mouth. "It would've made it all so much easier,"

Had you taken the job, Joe could've just let hate take over. Slot you into a box labeled terrible people alongside others that wronged him in his life. But now it was all fucked up because not taking the job meant something to Joe.

Mistakes.

They were all mistakes.

And people... people made mistakes. All the time. Never intentionally. Mistakes were never intentional.

Joe felt you shake your head a little against his, and your bottom lip trembled, but you sounded surprisingly solid when you said, "Taking the job would've meant losing you. I'd rather lose a job than destroy every ounce of a second chance I know I don't deserve,"

Little did you know that the minute Joe learned that you didn't take the job, you'd been granted all the second chances you'd ever need. Joe found himself suddenly made from second chances then, all of them individually crafted specifically for you.

That's when Joe's arms wrapped around you and he pulled you into a hug that made your knees nearly give out at how much you wanted it. Your arms slung around his neck, and Joe pressed his face into yours. It was all wet.

When he spoke again, his voice was muffled but rough, not angry but strengthless. "You're all I can think about, no matter how hard I try not to." He burrowed deeper, gripped harder and you felt the shudder of a sob as you pressed your full body against his. "I've only known you for like, a second, but I can't stop thinking about you,"

Fucking hell.

You were in the alleyway, hugging each other tightly after weeks of hatred and humiliation and guilt and regret, and you were both crying.

"I'm sorry," Joe whispered when he collected enough breath to shape the words, and his words took you off guard.

"No, this is my fault," you reassured.

"I'm sorry," Joe said again, and it made you move back enough to take careful hold of Joe's face. You had to dip your head to force eye-contact, to make him look.

You wanted to tell him he didn't need to be sorry. You wanted to say he had nothing to be sorry for. You wanted to let him know again that this was all on you. You wanted to repeat your words until they didn't feel like real words anymore.

Instead Joe leant in and kissed you.

He came in harsh, and it was deep and intimate from the get-go, his tongue in your mouth and coaxing yours into his, his breathing erratic from crying, lips and tongues smacking - it was fucking obscene, but so easy to drown into. It was wet, and salty, dried tears mixing with fresh ones, all dramatic, drenched in pent up emotions that had built up for weeks. 

You let Joe maneuver you back up against the brick wall, which scraped harshly against your skin and hurt the back of your head, but you didn't care. 

Joe's grip on you strengthened as did the pressure of him pushing himself into you more, like he was working out deep-seated anger, which, yea, kind of checked out, and you made a noise that sounded so stupidly fragile, you had to pretend it wasn't you who let it slip. 

There was no need for pretending, though. Joe had already swallowed it, and responded with a moan of his own. 

Joe was kissing you, none of it gentle but instead violent, and breathless, and you didn't want this to end, ever. Wanted Joe close forever. 

Joe pulled back enough to ground out, "Up," as his arms curled around your backside and with a little hop, you were up in a powerful hold. You immediately locked your legs around Joe's waist and without a single inch of separation between your bodies, Joe sighed deeply into your mouth as your fingers scraped into his hair on either side of his head.

Close.

You could feel Joe's erection bulging tightly in his jeans.

This is what you meant when you said that it was magic. You belonged in Joe's arms like this. This was a thing of pure beauty. This was the earth pulling the moon. The moon pulling the oceans, creating high tides Joe didn't really know what to do with. You were ethereal. This was everything.

This was birds escaping their cages, leaving the cold weather for others to deal with, flapping wild wings, and flying south.

Birds escaped their cages when the backdoor of the restaurant swung open and interrupted you. You were asked if you were going to come back inside since you were on the clock, and Joe said, "No, she’s not." You looked at Joe, all confused, still held up in his arms and pressed against that brick wall and asked him, "I’m not?" It wasn’t enough to make Joe laugh, nowhere near, but you could see a little smile that only lasted a second. It was the first stretch of wide wings, feathers reaching out, finally free of constrictive confines.

Birds left the cold weather when you woke up in Joe's bed the next day in the early morning sunlight in the nude, soft limbs tangled, hearts singing and healing, and he smiled at you before telling you he just got off the phone with his publicist. The job offer was still standing, and if you wanted it, Joe thought you should seriously reconsider. "You’d make such a great publicist," he said. "Not yours," you carefully joked, and he laughed, "No, not mine."

Wings flapped wildly and took you up high into the air when weeks later, you were talking to a client in the kitchen at the office and Joe walked by but stopped to blow softly into your ear before carrying on. A tease, a sure-fire way he knew he was going to make you blush and get all flustered. You only raised a quick shoulder to it, powered through, facial expression unwavering, and the person you were talking to had witnessed these types of things between the two of you so often, they didn’t even acknowledge it. Just kept your conversation going as you both heard Joe chuckle to himself before he entered a meeting with his team.

You flew south, crossed borders into warmer weather when, about an hour later, you saw Joe wait for the elevator after his meeting and you decided, as payback for earlier, to quickly join him for the ride down. You joined a couple of other people, and then when the doors closed and everyone stood facing the same way, you placed a warm palm over his crotch with a straight face and Joe had to close his eyes and bite his lip to make sure no noises would slip out. When the doors opened again at the ground floor and everyone filtered out, the two of you remained and Joe whispered, "This is not the same as blowing some air into your ear," and as a reply you squeezed, and Joe couldn’t wait and so didn't wait for the doors to close before he launched himself at you.

Joe'd been right when you'd first met: lone birds were bad luck.

These two birds were flying south and there was no fucking way one was going to leave without the other.

One for sorrow. Two for joy.

And it was beautiful down south. Blissfully gorgeous. Warm, and soft. Tender, and fun. Real. It was all laughter, all scalp-scratches and pure, utter, sheer magic.

It was magic.

the end

---

The Taglisted: 

@ghostinthebackofyourhead @dirtyeddietini @jasminearondottir @josephquinned @cancankiki @sidthedollface2 @dylanmunson @munsonsgirl71 @alana4610 @emmamooney @sadbitchfangirl @thatonefan-girl @paola-carter @figmentofquinn @haylaansmi @thewondernanazombie @munsonmunster @kellysimagines @mybffjoe @chaoticgood-munson @sherrylyn628 @bdpst-massacre @05secondsofsexgods @lovelyblueness @adoreyouusugar @nadixq @prozacandnicotine @munsonswhore86 @alwayslindie @thefemininemystiquee @hauntingbastille @eddie-joe-munson @ali-in-w0nderland @pepperstories @phyllosilicate-s @thebellenouvelle @luvrsbian @joesquinns @choke-me-joey @alizztor @thelostmoonofpooosh @did-it-work @capricornrisingsstuff @quinnsbower @frogers @kennedy-brooke @daleyeahson @eddielives1986 @harringtonfan4

(taglist currently full, sorry)

[blush-and-books]

Also thoughts on finale!!!!!

AHHH OK I HAVE A LOT

1. Yes, felt a bit like a rushed finale, trying to tie up loose ends and whatnot. It is what it is, but in the 16-episode seasons the writers definitely were able to pace things insanely well, so you feel how clipped they are in this 10-episode season.

2. I was totally misled by fics and other posts that Harvey like pressured her into marrying him and that he had decided to move to Seattle without us getting to see them talk about it, but I was pleasantly surprised to not feel that way about how it went down!! When Donna brought up the concern that their families weren't there, he instantly said they'd do it again, and IDK something in Donna's vibe was just giving of crazy "yes I need to marry you right now" energy. The man she's been pining after for years is literally proposing to her with his grandmother's ring THAT HE WAS KEEPING IN HIS POCKET!!!! yeah i would fold and have an impulse wedding too. she got her bag!!

about Seattle, I made a post about this but lowkey it felt like an idea that Donna had, knowing that Harvey was leaving the firm and that with everything that's happened, they both needed a change of pace and a support system in Mike and Rachel. Huge bummer that we don't get to see how the decision was made, but her adamant behavior in telling Louis that they both want to leave and also her checking in with Harvey and asking HIM "are you sure you want to do this" felt very much like she was checking in because he had agreed to HER plan, not the other way around. She's very clearly comfortable and happy with the decision. We love to see it.

3. When Louis mentioned (before the Faye takedown) that him, Donna, and Harvey were all that was left of PEARSON HARDMAN, I fucking cried. I hadn't heard any of the characters call it PH in so long and it was a crazy realization that they really were the originals from before the series had even started.

4. Donna's dress was so beautiful at the wedding I kept looking at it like 🥹

5. Donna saying in her vows that 100 years would never be enough time with Harvey.... Yeah I felt that. They wasted so much time not being together that now, no amount of time is enough.

6. WE FINALLY GOT TWO FULL "I LOVE YOUs" FROM HARVEY TO DONNA LMAO

7. I wish after the wedding they were at least a little more affectionate with each other and we got one more "my wife"/"my husband" (DONNA DESERVES TO FLAUNT HER BAG!!!! (her bag is harvey <33)). Like I wish we just got a little more juice or something about them being excited to do this next chapter together or whatever. But oh well that's what fanfiction is for

8. When Donna instantly went to hold Lucy first and Harvey was just smiling at them.... Oh my mind was at WORK!!!

9. As iconic as it would have been for darvey to be walking out of the offices together, I actually really appreciated that last moment between Donna and Louis, because their friendship is incredibly strong and I liked that it was acknowledged!!! And having Harvey be the last one out was just very iconic like yeah I ate that up that's our man

10. name partner katrina bennett my beloved <333

Sorry for the long post!!! Thank you for asking about my thoughts I'd love to hear how you feel about any of the bits and just how the episode goes overall

(I also cannot wait for Netflix to finally drop season nine so I can get more darvey stills at last)

[theerurishipper]

Hey I have a question I read some takes that Adrien is a supposedly good liar? How though are there any examples..I always just assumed people never put two and two together with his identity is because he doesn't connect much with the class nor does Gabriel so it made sense in my head. I'm sorry if I don't actually make sense I just assumed that if even one of the classmates kept getting closer with him maybe he'll open up. I thought that'd be Nino but like I feel that he's so much more closer to his girlfriend and with Kagami that scene where she backed him into the wall and she said that wasn't the real him when he did goofy poses made me uncomfortable and sad for him. Marinette kind of disappoints me as a love interest like that time he was in the park on the bench and she decided that this was the perfect time to give him a present made me annoyed like I understood she has such a huge admiration for the guy and will climb mountains for him but I thought she'd get past that and they'd have like a one on one you know a talk. Usually the love interest would start to bond and grow closer but like I feel she's more into the relationship for herself because of this whole fantasy she builds up in her head it's why their relationship kind of a bummer.

I don't think Adrien that hard to get him to open up to but again this is my own opinion. I don't know really I just feel if someone like a teacher, classmate or even Master Fu get him to open up more and more and they start to bond. I feel like all he wants is a relationship to not be so conditional if someone kind enough allowed him a shoulder to cry on or even acknowlege his habits or when he's in a bad mood I think it'd work I ain't sure though. I wish the dude had more male friends.

I don't really get why the classmates just think Gabriel a strict dude when he seems pretty abusive. Marinette especially she knows how strict he is especially in season 5 and the whole adrigami thing and even with Chloe mom lol I think abuse or parental abuse just doesn't register an actual thing in her mind which is weird lol.

I don't watch Miraculous religiously lol I just watch it sometimes so if my takes and memories are wrong please forgive me. I am so sorry for this being a long ask I ramble way to much.

No need to apologize anon! Feel free to ask me anything.

Personally, when I say that Adrien is a good liar, I don't mean lying in the traditional sense. He doesn't do a lot of actual lying (except when it comes to his secret identity), but it's more than he doesn't really reveal his true self to anybody. He doesn't fake his personality per se, but he only shows people the parts of himself that he thinks they will like because he's been conditioned to believe that he has to conform to everybody's expectations of him and be perfect for them. It's why Chat Noir is so different from Adrien Agreste™, because he's always performing in every part of his life. And putting on a mask at all times isn't the best way to connect on a deeper and intimate level with the people around him. I think Adrien's friendships with Nino and Kagami and everyone else is real, and whatever he shows them is genuine, but it's still not all of him, and he still feels the need to hide the parts of him that he feels they won't like. His relationship with Ladybug is an exception (obligatory until Season 4 disclaimer) because while he's still putting on a performance, it's not for the sake of pleasing her.

You mentioned his closeness with Nino, and I always felt that Adrien was more at ease with Nino than anyone save Plagg. He was more relaxed and at ease with Nino in like, Seasons 1 and 2, enough to show a little more of himself, and I got the sense that he was a little more open with Nino. Then Rocketear happened and Adrien pretty much shut down on that front and started to put on the mask even more, and their friendship never was the same after that.

The thing with Kagami is that she was right about Adrien. Chat Noir isn't his "true self," it's a persona based on him acting out in the way he's never allowed to as Adrien. And the model Adrien is a persona crafted based on the demands from his abusive father who expects him to be perfect. Kagami isn't able to see under Adrien's mask, but she's able to understand that he's putting on a front, and she wants him to quit it.

Marinette kind of disappoints me as a love interest like that time he was in the park on the bench and she decided that this was the perfect time to give him a present made me annoyed like I understood she has such a huge admiration for the guy and will climb mountains for him but I thought she'd get past that and they'd have like a one on one you know a talk. Usually the love interest would start to bond and grow closer but like I feel she's more into the relationship for herself because of this whole fantasy she builds up in her head it's why their relationship kind of a bummer.

This is exactly the problem I have with canon Adrienette. Marinette literally doesn't even know that Adrien is putting on an act, and she literally thinks he's perfect. It was so funny to me when Pretension made Gabe out to be so wrong and evil when he accused Marinette of falling wholesale for Adrien's performance, because Gabe was fucking right, damn it.

The problem is that the show never challenges Marinette's view of Adrien. She doesn't have to learn to look past his masks and see him for who he really is, he just up and tells her thanks to an Akuma's influence, and then he spends the rest of the time in Season 5 pursuing her, so she just gets handed her trophy boyfriend without having to put in the effort of getting to know him as a person. The show never wants Marinette to be inconvenienced by *checks notes* learning to see Adrien as a person, and it just wants her to get her dream relationship without an effort on her part to truly understand him. She's not much different from the rest of her class or any of Adrien's fans, because they all just see what they want to see and what he shows them. By virtue of them being the endgame, Marinette should have been special in that she tried to look past the masks to understand the real Adrien once she realized his "perfection" was a front and an act, but she didn't. She remained as delusional about him as she always was and got the relationship dropped in her lap. Thanks, I hate it.

I don't think Adrien that hard to get him to open up to but again this is my own opinion. I don't know really I just feel if someone like a teacher, classmate or even Master Fu get him to open up more and more and they start to bond. I feel like all he wants is a relationship to not be so conditional if someone kind enough allowed him a shoulder to cry on or even acknowlege his habits or when he's in a bad mood I think it'd work I ain't sure though. I wish the dude had more male friends.

I don't think it's that simple for him to break out years of being conditioned to conform to other people's needs, but the fact remains that, you know, no one even cares. Kagami was literally the only one who cared enough to try and understand him, and even she was made to spend Season 4 as Adrien's bitter ex (not Kagami salt, I love Kagami, this is just writing salt). The rest of the class admits in Felix that they don't really know him, and they never really seem to try to get to know him either. They do care about him, but not that much, you know? Everyone is honestly content to keep seeing him as the perfect guy, and no one tries to see the real him. Like I said, I feel like he was a little more open with Nino in the earlier seasons, and he's more open with Plagg, but that's about it. He was a little more open with Ladybug, but that also went down the drain in Season 4 because of the Ladynoir conflict. It took an Akuma for him to open up to Marinette. I don't blame anyone for falling for his act, but they clearly don't really care to get to know him either. I think you're right in a way, that he would be a little more willing to drop the act if someone tried to understand him, like Nino and Plagg. But no one cares, unfortunately.

I don't really get why the classmates just think Gabriel a strict dude when he seems pretty abusive. Marinette especially she knows how strict he is especially in season 5 and the whole adrigami thing and even with Chloe mom lol I think abuse or parental abuse just doesn't register an actual thing in her mind which is weird lol.

Tbf they don't know much about what goes on inside the Agreste household, and they are just kids, so I understand that they wouldn't be able to completely recognize what's going on with Adrien. But the show itself doesn't think Audrey and Gabriel are abusive, and Marinette is basically the mouthpiece for all that, hence the solution is that apparently Chloe and Audrey should just bond, and Adrien should be fed a lie that Gabriel is not a bad guy actually. Marinette seems to have a pretty black and white view of the matter, and since she comes from a loving home, it doesn't really register to her that parents can be so awful. But the show frames Marinette as in the right to push Chloe and Audrey together when what Chloe needs is to get the hell away from that abusive person. It tries to frame her as right for gaslighting Adrien into loving his abuser. It's pretty nasty stuff.

But that's just my opinion. Honestly, I think the best meta on this subject is this excellent post by @fearlessinger. It's a wonderful analysis, I highly recommend it.

Thank you for your ask!

[riordanness]

delicate - [l.valdez]

1.6K wordcount

warnings: mentions of nightmares,, super old writing so proceed with cringe warning

requested: no

a/n: i wrote this in quarantine, early 2021. i lowkey predicted the future w this fic bc i was obsessed w the colour maroon at the time and made y/n wear a maroon coloured taylor swift shirt… never guessing that she would release a song called maroon?? so yeah, fun fact <3

I sat bolt upright in bed, my head pounding. It took me what seemed like forever to calm down, even thought it was likely to have only been a handful of moments. I forced myself to steady my breath, and realise I was safe. My hands were tightly clutched around my sheets, and that helped to ground my thoughts a little.

I looked around my familiar cabin and took a deep breath. My fairy lights shined softly on the walls, making me feel cozy and warm. I had specifically requested fairy lights. They'd always been so reassuring and calming to me, what for I had no clue. But Leo had been all to ready to equip me with fairy lights in my cabin, so I was glad I had asked him for them. They always helped with the nightmares.

I carefully slipped out from under the covers and put on my sneakers. I fumbled through my chest drawer and pulled out a black zip-up jacket I had stolen from Leo, and yanked that on too. I had black leggings and a maroon Taylor Swift T-shirt on, so I felt warm enough to go outside, where the freezing Greek air would surely be uncomfortable.

I needed to clear my head, and get some fresh air, and talk to someone. All that would happen on deck, where there was bound to be at least one crew member on duty. Besides, Leo never went to bed, it seemed. He would most certainly be up there, and I needed to see my best friend right now.

I tiptoed past the other demigods' cabin doors, trying not to wake anyone up. I had no wish to anger anybody who slept with a sword constantly by their side.

I crept upstairs and came out onto the deck, the moon covering the world with a ghostly layer of magical light. I loved the moon. If Artemis, the moon goddess, wasn't a maiden goddess and actually had demigod kids, I'd've given anything to be her daughter. She was definitely one of the best Greek goddesses.

As I'd suspected, Leo was still awake, even though it was probably at least three in the morning by now. He stood with his back to me, tinkering with something on the ships' control board. I stood there for a few seconds, biting my lip and staring at his figure in the dim light, debating whether to bother him or not. In the end, I decided to walk over.

"Hey," I said quietly over Leo's shoulder.

He flinched, looking up at me with startled dark eyes. "Jeez, carinó, don't scare a man like that!”

My eyes widened in sudden alarm. "I'm sorry!"

Leo managed to crack a smile for me. "No, it's fine. Hey."

He turned back to the controls. "I'm just turning off the sonar and switching to radar. We're going airborne soon. Percy's gone downstairs, and it's Jason's turn to watch."

I nodded. "Okay." I knew what he was doing. I didn't dare one but for that kind of information, it was useless to me and I usually forgot it in about four seconds. Leo did it because he knew I adored listening to his voice. His accent was so calming to me, just like fairy lights and Taylor Swift songs were.

I loved him so much for doing that for me. I was so lucky to have this boy in my life.

There was silence for a few minutes. That was the way it usually was with Leo and I. We were comfortable with whatever. If we wanted to talk, we did talk, about everything and anything. But if one of us felt like being quiet, that worked too. It was just nice to be with each other, together.

We didn't have to be talking to enjoy each other's company, and I loved that about him too.

"I had a nightmare..." I said at last, drawing out the words, as if me saying them slower would make it harder for Leo to understand them.

Leo's eyes immediately snapped to meet mine. "You did?" His voice flooded with concern. "Are you okay? Was it that same one, or different? Was it a vision, or —?"

I laughed lightly. "Calm down... I..." My smile dropped as I reflected on my nightmare. "It was..."

I shuddered. "Um, it was bad. I just... I just wanted to be around someone. I didn't want to be alone in my cabin."

Leo nodded. He reached for my hand and squeezed it gently. His touch sent a tingle up my spine. Leo didn't really do touching; I think he was wary around it with his fire powers, so it was nice, but a little strange, to hold his hand.

"Come on," Leo said. "I'm done here. Festus will guard until Jason gets his lazy butt out of bed. I want to show you something."

I managed a smile. "Okay, Repair Boy."

"Hey, don't call me that!"

"Why not?" I reasoned. "You call me carinó, and I don't even know what that means."

Leo's eyes glittered with mirth, as if he was sharing an inside joke with himself. "Well... fine then."

He led me by the hand downstairs. We passed a bleary-eyed Jason on the steps, who nodded mutely at us and kept going. Hopefully he wakes up enough to fight off any monsters who decides our ship looked tasty.

Leo led me past the cabin doors, careful to walk quietly. When he started down the second level of steps, I raised my eyebrows.

"I've never been down here," I whispered.

"I know," he whispered back. A nervous, but excited shiver ran down my back.

Leo pushed open the first door on the left. Inside, an intricate engine (at least I think it was an engine) took up most of the room. Pipes and cords ran absolutely everywhere, winding around and around each other.

Random work tools rolled along the floor every time the ship listed sideways, spanners and hammers and screws going everywhere. The engine hummed softly, filling the air with a pleasant kind of feeling. I instantly understood why Leo liked this place. I know he often spent a lot of time in here, and I could now see why. It was exactly his sort of room.

"Wow, Leo," I said. "You built all this? You're amazing."

Leo blushed. "Thanks, carinó."

I glanced at him with a smile, and he looked confused. "What?"

"Nothing," I said slowly. "I'm just really glad you're my best friend." I gave his hand a squeeze.

Leo looked away. "Uh, great, well..."

"You wanted to show me something?" I prompted.

"Oh yeah!" He pulled me along as he walked to a cabinet against one wall. He opened one of the drawers, dug through it, closes it, opened another one, and smiled triumphantly.

"Close your eyes, carinó," he told me.

I did so immediately. After all, I trusted Leo completely. Okay, maybe not with shaving foam or my wallet, but for anything else? Of course.

Leo suddenly laced his fingers through mine. "Open them," he said, his voice low and kinda gravelly.

I slowly opened my eyes. Leo held out his palm.

On it, a beautiful necklace lay. A beautiful, incredibly intricate flower was made out of see-through gold, hung on a thin gold chain.

I gasped softly. "Oh, Leo..." I didn't know what to say. "It's... it's beautiful. Oh, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"It's not the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Leo muttered. "I mean, uh, thanks. I made it for you."

I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. "It's amazing. You're amazing. Thank you."

Leo pulled away, laughing a little. "Okay, okay. Here. Want me to put it on for you?"

I nodded. He carefully stepped behind me and fastened the clasp around my neck. The necklace laid on my chest, and I gazed at it for a moment, before smiling up at Leo.

"Thank you so much, Leo," I said. "It's the best thing I've ever received in my life."

"Really?" Leo seemed surprised. "Well, let's see how many times I can break that record."

Before I knew what was happening, Leo stepped forward, cupped his hand around my cheek and gently pressed his mouth to mine. He only kissed me for a second, moved backwards, red as a beet, and opened his mouth, stammering, "Oh, I just... did that. I— I'm sorry —"

I smiled dryly. "Don't you dare be sorry." I stood on tiptoe and kissed him again, longer this time.

I felt like I was on fire. I wasn't, and neither was Leo (thankfully), but my entire body was hot all over. I don't know how long we would've stayed there, but someone decided enough was enough.

"Hey, Leo, are you — holy Hera!" Jason stumbled into the doorframe. "Uh..."

Leo and I broke apart. His face was a red as mine felt. "Oh! Hi Jason." Leo grinned. "What's up?"

Jason pursed his lips. "I... uh, I forgot. What the Hades are you two doing?"

"Making out," Leo replied.

"Leo!" I exclaimed. "I wouldn’t put it that way! That’s so… crude sounding.”

"Oh. Okay. We weren’t doing that then," Leo agreed. "What's wrong, J-man?"

Jason looked confused. "Um, well... we're nearly to Athens. None of us can work out your controls, Leo, so you need to come and uh, work your magic."

Leo nodded. "We'll be right there."

Jason disappeared up the hall. Leo and I glanced at each other.

"So?" Leo asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"So... what?" I asked back.

"Did I break my record?" He grinned cheekily. "Of the best things you've ever received?"

I blushed. "I guess so. Yeah. Yeah you did, Repair Boy."

"Good," Leo said, grabbing my hand again and pulling me towards the deck. "Now, let's go save the world, together."

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 106 Thoughts: Bon Voyage...

Hello all. I hope these last few months have been kind to you in some way. These months have been... a lot. Some very good things happened, and some very bad. I wish we lived in a world were tragedies were just fiction, but that sadly isn't the case. I won't elaborate, but I promise, I'm okay. I just hope 2024 improves, though I know for many others, just hoping isn't enough.

I'm sorry for this late post. Once again, real life had me so distracted that I honestly forgot about Houseki no Kuni's chapter coming out this month. I only remembered when I saw activity around my older HnK posts.

Well, I finished reading the chapter and it was very beautiful and sad in different ways. I'll share more of my thoughts, though I don't think it'll be as long or detailed as my previous ones to be honest... Though I could be wrong! We'll see how it fairs. And who knows? Maybe I'll make another post to dissect this chapter further. But for now, I'll just write whatever comes to mind and try to make it as coherent as possible. I hope you like it. And as always, please feel free to share your own thoughts!

Here we go!

Thunderous Spectacle: The Final Journey

Once again, Ms. Haruko Ichikawa decided to flex her art skills by making beautiful, bombastic illustrations that encapsulates the chaos that is happening on Earth. And the ship departing looks straight out of a sci-fi movie; my mind went to Star Trek when I first saw those pages. Maybe Dune would be more appropriate; I actually don't know, I haven't read or watched Dune, though I hear it's very good.

I wish I had more to say about the visuals for this chapter, but I think they speak for themselves. I will say though...It's moments like this when I marvel... this was originally about a silly gem child trying to find their place in the world. And this is how their journey is finally coming to an end. Almost nothing is recognizable. This certainly was not how I thought this story, or specifically Phos' story, was going to unfold. I wonder if this was Haruko Ichikawa's plan from the beginning? Who can say...

Speaking of plans... Let's talk about Phos's and Eyeball's conversation.

Manipulation or Consideration: Humanity's Parting "Gift"

That was an interesting conversation Eyeball and Phos had when they were finishing up putting the little pebbles onto the ship. I think I remember stating in the last post how I thought it was odd that the Lunarians had this ship prepared for Phos. I'm glad this was somewhat addressed, but the conversation reveals that there was more behind this literal Deus ex Machina ship.

(I will never stop calling it that)

So if I'm understanding Eyeball's logic, Adamant and the Lunarians were considering Phos in the end? That after Phos fulfilled their last duties to the remnants of humanity that they'd be given the chance to leave the planet with whatever species came about before the planet died- Oh. Wait.

Wait.

Was this the thing that Adamant and Aechmea were alluding to back in chapter 96???

Oh my goodness, I think it was.

As I was typing this and going over some of the saved pages I had from the previous chapters, I saw the one with Euclase and I suddenly remembered their weird conversation with Adamant and Aechmea. I also remembered wondering what the heck they meant in the later chapters since their plan for Phos seemed to only be self serving.

HUH.

( Please let me know if I'm way off! For all I know, I could be making stuff up, but oh my goodness, when I made that connection AAaahh)

This was not how this portion was originally going to go, but there you go. I was going to talk about how twisted but not surprising how calculated everything was from the the Lunarians and the other ruminants of humanity's end. And I was also going to mention how the Doctor also fit into this since she was also calculated and manipulative in her own ways. Despite the different forms it takes, humanity didn't seem to change much in this world...

I was also going to originally say that the Deus ex machina ship feels like a backhanded "gift" for Phos, especially after everything that happened to them. And though I still feel that way, after thinking back to chapter 96, I'm now starting to see Phos's perspective of this gift. That despite everything that they put them through, Phos's former families still left this parting gift for them so they could live on elsewhere after they are long gone and when Phos was free from their duties. It's still a backhanded gift in my opinion, but it showed that they cared... at least a bit.

And the fact that their plan also included Eyeball is just wow. I do not blame his small, comedic outburst for that realization. He was manipulated too from the getgo!

At least in the end, Phos chose not to go into the ship. Phos intended to burn that bridge. Even though this thought was implanted by Sensei, Adamant, and the Lunarians, Phos still made that choice on their own and they are owning it. It's bittersweet, though, because regardless of whether or not they stayed or went, Phos's decisions were still a result of them being manipulated one way or another. Pretty much a lose-lose kind of situation, but at least the choice that Phos chose in the end still aligned with what they wanted in they end.

They are giving Eyeball and the little pebbles a chance for a fresh start while Phos can finally end the cycle... By taking humanity and himself to bitter end...

Or does he?

Goodnight, Phosphophyllite

The final farewell between Phos and Eyeball was touching. In a last minute decision to give Phos closure and in an act of true salvation, Eyeball took the last piece of Phos with him. The true remaining piece of Phosphophyllite. To me, this action felt more earnest and heartwarming than the Deus Ex Machina Ship (but that's just me).

What will happen with that piece of Phosphophyllite? Who knows? Maybe that piece will gain sentience and live a peaceful life with the pebbles? A life free of all the constraints as well as the freedoms that was intentionally and unintentionally reinforced within societies created by the former remnants of humanity? I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

As for the Phos that was left behind? The Phos that we've watch evolve from the beginning to end? They will finally rest.

They will finally, and truly be free.

(Albeit in a seemingly not so pleasant way?? Well, they weren't complaining so maybe the lava and other harsh elements isn't hurting them. I hope that's the case.)

I had the feeling that this chapter will be the last time we see Phos, or at least this version of Phos, and it would be a sad but proper send off.

But after seeing THIS at the end, I'm not so sure:

Of course Haruko Ichikawa decides to be cheeky with that little note. Ma'am. Why did you say this???

Is this her roundabout way of saying that Phos is kind of back to square 1? Of being the lonely, jobless Phos who no longer has a purpose and is left with nothing to do but "think." That's pretty funny/messed up joke if that's what she's hinting at.

But again, we'll have to wait and see.

WELP. That's all I have for you all. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter. We're nearly at the end of this saga. We're are almost there...

Please be worth it.

[orionsangel86]

What do you think sex means for an entity like Morpheus? Even between us humans it means different things for different people

Thats an interesting question. Probably not one anyone but Morpheus himself could answer. As you said it means different things for different people. Sometimes sex is just a primal desire for carnal pleasure, sometimes its about developing a deeper connection, sometimes its about "love making" with someone you are intimately connected to, sometimes its simply an act for reproductive purposes.

From a human perspective it is very difficult to imagine sex and sexual intimacy from the view point of different beings. We are still only in the very early stages of understanding the importance of sex among other animals on Earth outside of just reproduction, and we know that some animals also have sex for pleasure or for intimacy bonding.

Morpheus, like all of the Endless, is a creature that exist so far outside of anything that we can truly understand. They are anthropomorphic personifications of concepts. What is sex to a dream? When a dream is such a loose concept in itself - dreams and wishes, and midnight sleeping hallucinations created by the unconscious mind... that sex is often a part of, sometimes in insanely bizarre and disturbing ways. Dreams and sex kinda go hand in hand, and Morpheus IS Dream, sooooo... sex is probably quite important to him in lots of ways...

Okay maybe I went a bit too deep there for a moment lol. Lets tackle this on a smaller scale. We know from the comics that Morpheus, as a human shaped creature, has sex. We know he has taken many lovers, only some of which we ever actually learn about. We know he has the ability to reproduce, since he has a son. We know he has human genitals (thank you Sandman: Overture for the full frontal nudity) and that as a male shaped being he prefers to take lovers of a female shape (though juries still out on what exactly happened between him and Lucifer with his smooth Ken-doll groin).

We know from Calliope's rather inappropiate speech at the Wake that not only did they have plenty of sex, that he was very very good at it, enough for Calliope to feel completely consumed by their passion. We know he enjoyed sex with Nada so much that he projected their love making to the entire collective unconscious at the time (one hell of a leaked sex tape there!) so not only is he an excellent lover who is very good at sex, he also clearly enjoys it himself if he can lose control that much from it.

I am hesitant to say that he only has sex with people he loves, though it does seem rather consistent, other than perhaps the situation with Titania which we never learn anything more about - the Audible audiobook briefly elaborates and has Morpheus and Titania very briefly mention that they slept together and it appears to be something they both think of fondly but certainly aren't in love so I wonder if Titania was just a casual fling? Otherwise I doubt they'd still be on good terms! (It's funny how fandom jokes that he commissioned a Midsummer Nights Dream as a way to insult Titania but in the actual comic this totally is not the case, he commissioned it to honour her and her people. Whatever happened between Titania and Morpheus, it did not end on bad terms.) So because of that, I can't really say that he only ever has sex with people he is deeply in love with.

Honestly I reckon that since he was created by a cishet allosexual man he was written with the sexual appetite of a cishet allosexual man. He probably isn't demi or ace and he probably isn't meant to be queer (though arguably a creature such as he could never be shoved into such a limited box as "heterosexual").

Note: I don't even want to attempt to get into the various "aspects" of Dream where there is a version of Dream for every living thing that dreams in the universe and therefore have to contemplate whether Dream has also had love affairs with creatures of all different types outside of regular human shaped female creatures though I am very curious to see if the King of Cats ever took a female cat lover (i mean honestly if regular Dream was totally cool flirting with Lady Bast...) in which case we can also argue that fem!Dream takes lovers, weird robot alien Dream takes lovers, Martian flaming head Dream takes lovers and so on and so forth.

There is also the interesting dynamic between Dream and his sibling Desire, because sex is what Desire is all about, and sex technically falls under their remit - hence the many many falling outs and tensions between them where Desire appears to be the principle instigator of Dreams romantic woes. I think that for this reason, Dream probably represses his desires for sex (and love) as much as possible, and if he were on better terms with his sibling, would probably seek out sex and romance more often than he does - Thessaly being an outlier because I fully believe he pursued her as an attempt at self sabotage as an awful rebound affair following the situation where he had to face his romantic failings with Nada, Calliope, and Alianora in short succession.

In some attempt at a conclusion: what does sex mean for Morpheus? Well, its something he likes, is good at, and if given the choice would probably like to have more of it, preferably with someone he is in love with who loves him in return, given his romantic inclinations. At the same time, bearing in mind who and what he is, there is probably nothing that even the absolutely filthiest of kinksters could come up with that would surprise him, nothing that he hasn't seen or used in some way to create the most bizarre sex dreams possible, and nothing that would shock or disturb him (it's not like he ever blinked an eye even on his trips to Hell). Though whether or not that means he is into kinky shit well, the only indication of his preferences we can conclude is that he likes strong confident women who can talk back to him, and impress him and treat him as equals rather than the powerful creature he is. So maybe he's secretly a sub? :P

[myloveforhergoeson]

Hiya! 😊 You're now a writer for the show. What three episode storylines are you gonna write? (In other words, what are you gonna make the boys do?)

ohm y god i literally have so many episode ideas but i'll try not to repeat any of the ones i've made posts about (except my first bullet bc im so passionate about it) so i'll give you my big list. most if not all will likely be something i DO end up writing about in my own story because ehehe i love making them do things

ones i think i've mentioned before:

a returning to minnesota chapter!! not for anything but nostalgia, getting to see the guy's favorite places, seeing their friends and families, bringing them back to realize how far they'd come. not so shy spon for my fic but i wrote a chapter like this last month and it's probably one of my favorite things i've written to date. it let me explore some of the boys' past, family dynamics, a little bit about Katie and agh i can't believe btr didn't capitalize on that at least once. ik its expensive to fund sets and hire new actors but idk i imagine it like an hour special where they could afford to shell out a bit more. idc when it happens, could be after they sign their record contract or the last episode or whatever :)

sketch comedy episode, something akin to saturday night live or so random

graduation! like you and i talked about lol i think it would be sweet

get me in the writers room stat:

originally i'd planned a "home alone lost in new york" like chapter for my story around thanksgiving where the boys are going to perform at the parade in town but they end up having their own adventure around the city beforehand. boyish antics, screaming gustavo, beautiful scenes, the works. i was just in too much of a slump to actually put it to paper :)

more tour-focused chapters (again, spon for my own fic lol) the episode in Canada was cute and the one on the bus was fun but idk there's just so many elements toward touring that i think they could've capitalized on; homesickness (for CA or MN), hardship of a go go go schedule, or fun things like being able to travel with your best friends and not ending up on the world's most wanted list lol. i know they tried really hard with this one so i don't blame them too much but my vision is just different and that's okay!

crossovers! while i'm so very happy dan schnider didn't have either of his disgusting hands in big time rush, i do remember watching the icarly/victorious crossover for the first time and wishing big time rush were there. it takes place in LA! the victorious kids are singers! carly, sam, and Freddie are pop culture experts! it would've worked really well :) so i'm writing that as a chapter for my fic LMAO

generally either an episode focusing in on or more scenes including james and lucy since the writers wanted them to be together so bad. inherently there's nothing wrong with them being together, but i do not think the relationship was given enough time to develop. give me lucy discovering her feelings for him, give me james not being creepy and obsessive about her; something more needed to be done on both of their parts to make me believe in it

additionally on that note more with jo/kendall and logan/camille; i love them both but they also had little development, just more than james/lucy. maybe they give carlos a gf (not alexa IMO, sorry. that got into weird territory for me idk why they made him be with a "real" person when he isn't other than they were already together irl) earlier and they can all have like conversations about their gfs and how much they love being together idk

and another generally, there were many songs btr put out that i love so much and feel like deserved their own episodes for hehe. i know not all of them have storylines easily transposed but i think they used confetti falling like four different times in the last season when any other love song from their third album could have been placed instead

and also another generally, and i know the early 2000s would've never allowed this for children's television but they should have and i'm the writer now!!!, but more representation all around. maybe some episodes about cultural heritage that didn't make stereotypes the main focus, canon LGBTQIA+ characters, holidays that aren't christmas, aspects like that where all kids can see themselves represented... LA is such a huge melting pot, it's not all white kids trying to make their dreams come true!

good god that was long SORRY AKJBSKJGBAB i have a lot to say and there's a lot im trying to incorporate into my story to add in what i think enhances the already present storyline. that's what's so beautiful about fandom, i love that we can have conversations like this :)

but what about you? anything you'd like to add in? i'd love to know <3 thank you for the question!

ask me a question! save my life!

[chaifootsteps]

I see a lot of people discusing how Vivzie could end in legal trouble for her actions, and while i know wishing bad things on other people is wrong, i would be lying if i said i dont find that idea very funny. I was the one that sugested that if Hazbin Hotel ended up being edited the same way that the trailer did then someone would end up sued for causing motion sickness to someone on the public.

But then i thought, if it does happens, that Vivziepop ends up in jail for abusing her workers or comiting tax fraud, whatever it is, her stans will simply negate everything.

If thats happens, the first video about it we will have will be some AyyLMAO shit titled like "Vivziepop on LEGAL TROUBLE over this DUMB thing..." and just create a narrative that she got in trouble not because she did something bad, but because the world hates her so much for being famous that people told lies about her to the police to get her arrested. Acting like she is some little poor soul "hated for no reason" and again ignoring the fact that she is rich and got privileges.

There was a case years ago where a woman got arrested for doing something horrible that she had no shame on admiting, and somehow she still got a lot of support and people asking her to be freed because of shit they literaly made out.

(Content warning: mentions of abuse, child homicide, psycological damage)

This woman killed her 4yo daughter, and also abused her boyfriend, leaving a big psycological and emotional damage in him.

Naturally, she got arrested, but it awakaned some weird ass "feminist movement" where a bunch of women got around the prision and asking for her to get freed. When asked about it, they said that its because they belived that "maybe he (her ex) was the one abusing her", so she was actualy the victim for them.

There was proof that she did all of that. It wasnt even a question. She ADMITED IT, yet these people where there insisting that "maybe" something that THEY COMPLETELY MADE OUT happens instead of what every evidence said and aparentely that was enough reason for her to be inocent.

I feel like Vivziepop's fans would do the exact same thing if she gets arrested. They would all gather around the prison, with the merch of the show and protest signs that are decorated with her ugly characters, screaming about how she should be freed.

And when they ask why they think she is innocent they would say "well we belive that MAYBE she didnt do that and uh its actually a conspiracy of people lying about her because they hate her because they are jealous of her and... uh maybe the proof is fake because everyone hates Vivzie for no reason and um... eh... and even if she did those things, uh it wasnt that bad and y'all are mean for arresting her".

Sorry for the negativity and the rant, Vivziepop's fans geniunely scare me, they have proven they will do ANYTHING for their "goddess", i feel like they would even commit a crime if it means procting her from facing the consequences of her actions.

Yeah, as overdramatic as it might sound to say it, I sincerely, genuinely think Vivzie could shoot someone and her fans would resort to weird conspiracy theories before admitting she did anything wrong. Hell, they'd probably blame me.

[mrbottomhat69]

Evidence as to why I think Sarah x Jareth is one-sided (movie and novelization)

Addressing the massive elephant in the room, I know this is coming out later than I said it would. This semester was full of work and no time to actually sit down and watch the movie, since the only way I could access the movie is through my DVD edition.

Some of the evidence I have overlaps with the movie and novelization, so I'll start with the movie and continue with the novelization

The movie

.whether or not the events of the movie was a dream, Sarah clearly didn't expect anything to happen when she wished Toby away. Once it happened, righting her wrong became the main thing on her mind

.Sarah's stepmom mentions that Sarah should have dates at her age, implying either that Sarah doesn't have a lot of people she's close with besides her family or she's not interested in that kind of stuff

. A lot of the interactions between Sarah and Jareth carry this specific vibe that Sarah is less attracted to him and more trying to impress him like he's some sort of cool, older friend and she needs to prove to him that she's nonchalant and means what she says. The novelization leans into this a little more.

. Exception to the previous is the ballroom scene, where Sarah seems more dazed and confused than anything. She's just kind of going along with wherever and whatever the movement of the crowd leads her to until she realizes what's going on and breaks free.

The novelization

.The first chapter not only adds lore to Sarah's bio mom that was regulated to background details in the movie, but also gives Sarah the characterization of being fascinated by the idea of fame. Also in the first chapter, Jeremy is introduced via flashback/exposition. Who's Jeremy? The guy Sarah's mom left her dad for and Jareth's "real-world counterpart" (though more on that later). He seems aware of Sarah's fascination with fame (both in general and her mother's fame), with it being mentioned within the flashback to Sarah's 15th birthday that "he kidded her that a flashbulb meant they'd be all over the gossip columns the next morning, and all the way home he drove fast, to shake off the photographers, he claimed, grinning" (page 18). Both him and her mom are used to similar kind of stuff, so it makes sense that Sarah would admire having that kind of attention and that her mom would give her the chance to feel like a celebrity for a day as a gift.

.Going off of the above, this passage from page 16:

"Perhaps I will have a date, she thought, perhaps I will, but you will not like it, not one bit, when you see who's dating me. I doubt you will see him. All you will know about it is hearing the front door shut behind me, and you will sneak to the window, as you always do, and poke your nose between those horrid phony-lace curtains you put up there, and you will see the taillights of a wicked dove-gray limousine vanishing around the corner. And after that, you will keep seeing pictures in the magazines of the two of us together in Bermuda, and St. Tropez, and Benares. And there will be nothing at all you can possibly do about it, for all your firm views on bedtimes and developmental psychology and my duties and rolling up the toothpaste tube from the bottom. Oh, stepmother, are you going to be sorry when you read in Vogue about the cosmic cash that Hollywood producers are offering us for-"

She doesn't mention an actual thing about her fantasy boyfriend other than being a celebrity and them becoming the new couple everyone obsesses over (*cough cough* like the way Sarah's mom and Jeremy are described together *cough*)

.On page 65, at the point of the story where Sarah ends up in the oubliette, Jareth reminisces about Sarah and how she's "too young to be kept". Sarah, on the other hand, has no mentioned opinion on him.

.Close to the end of chapter 5, it's noted that Sarah only says "it's a piece of cake" to Jareth's question about how she was enjoying the labyrinth because she's trying to come off as nonchalant and not intimidated

.Honestly, the way the ballroom scene is described in the novelization makes me kind of uncomfortable. The other dancers leer at Sarah in a way that could be interpreted as sexual and one even makes a comment about her beauty after looking at her breasts and hips. She feels dizzy, but it goes away once her and Jareth are dancing together. He leans in to kiss her and she initially embraces it until she notices the room is silent and sees that the other dancers are around the two of them, attempting to hold back laughter. She tries to leave, but she can't and he kisses her in spite of her now being aware of what's going on. Only then does she break the bubble she's in and exits the ballroom scene. The whole point is that Sarah is uncomfortable with a capital U.

Extra point that @thehumantrampoline mentioned that I feel like should be mentioned:

"[Jareth's] an archetypal oxymoron. He's both the dastardly baby-stealing villain and the royal love interest trying to relieve the heroine's suffering, Cinderella-style. He's fucked either way by being both. [Sarah] doesn't know if SHE wants to be the villain or the heroine until he shows up and then she decides on the heroine... [Jareth's] just a story for a teen girl to grow up in, and as the villain [he has] to be defeated. He's so complex because his tropes contradict themselves, and he doesn't understand why he has to lose when he was only doing the job he was given."

(check out their post, it goes into a lot more detail than what I quoted)

Ultimately, this sums up what could be concluded from everything. Jareth isn't a reflection of love or someone she aspired to be with, he's a reflection of her desire of fame and the stories she caught herself up in. She doesn't love him, she loves the story he's a part of.

[buds-and-baubles]

☔️!

☔- is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? if so, what is it?

this was really hard for me to answer actually. probably the one where i let apollo and kon sit down and talk. it could happen, but it'll be a while until i can read for kon.

i can't explain how they got to the point where they'd talk or whatever but the idea of kon being able to talk with another adult who has a similar origin plus having similar powers and experiences following after the origin (though canon either brushes past some of this or mentions it once and i find difficulty writing some parts of it)? it compels me.

now this in no way discounts what kon has with say dubbilex, clark, the rest of the superfamily and his friends. in fact who knows, maybe apollo and midnighter would get to meet the other CADMUS clones since they understand and may share the same origin story.

for whatever reason i can picture it being nighttime at kent farm. they're sitting in the living room and ma and jenny are in the next room.

kon explains on how CADMUS created him and everything that followed immediately after that. apollo offers in return how he isn't sure whether he was a former u.s. soldier conscripted, a kidnapped child, or modified cloned human dna from a petri-dish grown to adulthood but that the end result was that he too was experimented on like kon, and what followed after that.

by the time they're done talking they're both tense about it but apollo forces himself to talk so he can hear what he wished someone offered to him;

"you're not alone and it's not your fault."

"but maybe–"

"it's not your fault."

"but–"

"it's not your fault, and it wasn't my fault for me either."

kon and apollo both cry. apollo leaves it so that he's open for a hug if kon needs one but won't force him to after such a heavy talk.

kon falls asleep after all the crying and leaning slightly on apollo's shoulder, with ma and jenny coming in. ma places a blanket over kon and kisses his forehead before she sits down in her chair, jenny sitting precariously on the arm of the couch next to apollo.

it closes with a conversation between ma and apollo where apollo kisses jenny's forehead who has also fallen asleep with his arms wrapped around her;

"thank you visiting with jenny today and talking with kon."

"it's no problem, he's a great kid who has been through far too much so young. it's the least i could do."

"that kindness in you reminds me of both clark and kon in equal measure. the sorta kind heart that needs reminding sometimes that you aren't alone either."

apollo offers a tired barely there smile that hides the things he's seen and been through.

"if that's an offer for us to talk each other's ears off then i'm in."

ma offers a similarly tired smile that hides the things she's seen and been through too.

[abeinginsand]

Scary has four memories involving her stepdad's old mirror. Out of the four, she's only looked at her reflection once. Parts: Prologue (Ron & TJ), Memory 1, Memory 2, Memory 3 (here), Memory 4 Warning: Mentioned bullying by classmates (not graphic detail) ---- It's been one week since Scary's eaten breakfast with her mom on a weekday (due to hefty work load). One week of sitting with Terry Junior and trying to not tear up at the sight of the empty chair across from her. Because any tears are a sign of weakness and the chumps at school get bored faster if she pretends she's unbothered by their words and hair yanking when the coach isn't looking. The pitying and sad puppy eyed look of a grown man her mom married is also just as cruel actually. So she has to keep the eye sweat in check. At least she can feel safe complaining about one of those situations. Terry's a softie after all and no matter what she does (or doesn't do), he never gets mad.

By the end of the week, her step...whatever...has not only ramped up his papaganda chatter but is now sitting in her mom's seat. The meal set up neatly on the table is her favorite kind of soup too, paired with a sorry attempt at a folded napkin. Its a bowl of red blood (tomato soup) and the fish that it came from floating on the surface (three-cheese-blend goldfish crackers). She mutters the quietest of thank you's under her breath and enjoys the soup in wonderful, definitely not awkward silence for a few minutes.

A silence soon broken by Terry asking stuff she wishes her mom would be here to ask. Except Terry cannot replace her dad and especially not replace her mom. Shouldn't be sitting across from her with the concerned yet somehow happy look on his face either. She glares in his direction, says a short "no" to him checking on her and asking if she remembered to pack her backpack. She goes back to eating the tasty soup.

After four days of this undeclared war with him, she finally hears him let out a heavy sigh. She smiles into her next spoonful, victorious. It felt nice to be on the other end of a conflict, to be the powerful instigator and not the prey. The silence returns, the two wash their own dishes and then it's off to the car. Scary sets the radio to the latest kidzbop album with her phone app and Terry triple checks everything in the car--especially seat belts and airbag locations before pulling out of the small driveway.

Maybe if Scary looked over to him at any point during the ride, she'd notice the anxiety written all over him. Instead, the teenager is writing poetry and doodling cross bones in her journal until the school drop off point is in front her door. She gets out without a good-bye and pretends it doesn't feel odd that Terry Junior doesn't say anything either. School happens, she has fun in creative writing and then she skips her last two classes to dye her hair in the abandoned girl's bathroom. ...Or she wanted to but she opened up the box, tried to read the complicated directions, got frustrated, and decided she'd try at home tonight instead. It's nice to avoid the mean girls in her gym class though. In the meantime, she changes out her low pony tail for a high and poofy one. She's one of the tallest girls in her grade so the yanking will be much harder with her hair not dangling past her shoulders. No matter what she doesn't want to cut it, since it took so long to get it this length.

At the end of the school day, her mom's black and shiny car pulls up. Scary slips into the passenger's side and is about to turn on her music when her mom speaks up.

"Terry..." "It's Scary, Mom." "Scary, my little grumpy pumpkin, what are those paperclips doing on your ears?" Scary puts her phone on the dashboard and crosses her arms. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe they'd be piercings though if you let me get some already."

---- Veronica Marlowe Stampler sighs but it has a much different vibe than Terry's one from this morning. His sounded like the air slowly flowing out of a popped balloon. Her mom's sigh sounded like one of those cartoon horses breathing out a smoke cloud through their nose as their gear up to sprint. The fingers tapping on the steering wheel as they remain in the school parking lot are like drumrolls before a battle reenactment (she saw one during a history class field trip last month). "We've talked about this so many times. No piercings, no guitar, and no tattoos until you're a bit older. And aren't you going to ask why I'm picking you up today instead of your step-dad?" Scary pouts at the familiar words and looks out the window, avoiding her mom's burning gaze. "Ugh! Can't believe a mother would bully her precious daughter like this--" The girl sputters at the question. She forgot for a second that Terry should have been here. Scary got lost in the fact that her mom was instead (after barely seeing her this week). She turns away from the window and looks at her mom, checking her expression for clues on how serious this might be. Her mom has a few new wrinkles and small gray hairs. Her eyes say "I'm tired" and her straight posture in the seat could mean too many things. Scary is crossing her arms still, but it feels more like she's hugging herself now. "Terry's okay, right? I mean not that I care. But, w-what's going on?" Seems her response is enough to get her mom to relax and move to hold one of her daughter's hands. Scary doesn't stop her but doesn't squeeze her hand either until she gets a response. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like that. Terry's not hurt, he's just stuck in traffic. I was trying hard to finish up early today to surprise both of you anyway. Headed over here instead of to the house when I got his call." "Really?" "Really, I promise he's okay. I just...work's been a lot and I had some bad news for clients and maybe I'm carrying that stress into every conversation lately? I'm really sorry about all of this, the nagging, and the missing breakfast stuff too. I'm really messing up this mom stuff lately, huh?" Its not the first time her mom's mentioned stuff like this and Scary gets it. But still doesn't know how to make it all better. She moves to hug her mom instead of responding with words, thinks about demanding Terry be extra nice to her mom later too. They sit in the parking lot like that for another ten minutes, before they head home. Her mom's other car, the one Terry was borrowing, is in the driveway. The house smells like various spices and the dinner is delicious. Scary keeps stealing glances at Terry throughout the meal too, wondering about the traffic thing. Thinking about that one night that she held his hand and he cried even though he'd been mostly gentle and all smiles before. After dinner, her mom volunteers to wash the dishes this time. Both her husband and daughter say they'll take care of it at the same time. She smiles and puts her hands up in surrender, giving Terry a quick kiss and hugging Scary one more time after the girl makes a grossed out face at the parent pda. The dishes are done in silence until Scary interrupts to ask him if he's chill or whatever. He takes a few minutes to say yes, looking intently at the suds on the plates. They meet up at night again, both having woken up past midnight to wander the house quietly. Scary stops in the hall, looking at the chip bags in his hand while he stares right at the hair dye box in her hands. "You didn't see anything, Terry." "Guess I didn't see it and you didn't see the chips either. That's a shame though." Terry pauses in his soft speech to smile and point to the box as he continues talking. "Because I could help you use that, hun. I've dyed my hair with that brand before." ----

So, she ends up sitting in front her step dad's weird floor-length mirror that night, finally looking at her reflection in the glass. Terry's right behind her with a fold-up table. She watches as he gently works to turn part of her dark hair to a bright pink. It makes her feel different, cool, seeing the obvious, self-decided change taking place. The girl looks up at the engraving of Stud on the mirror and smirks at it.

The two talk a little too, the chatter turning into many a heated whisper. Its part of why Terry suggested going into the storage room anyways, so their talking wouldn't wake her mom. They argue quietly about best chip flavors, top 5 kidzbop hits, or about the awful ice skater tier list they both saw online the other day. Scary doesn't ask if he's okay again, because he's amused and lively look in the reflection is enough to convince her. Scary, against all hater urges, is starting to look forward to these nightly truces where maybe having to get used to a step dad doesn't bother her so much.

[mimiruku]

█     𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐒 : 𝑰𝒇 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑶𝑪 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏.  ⸻   ( ⚝ ) ╰┈┈➤  It's so crazy because this actually disappeared from my inbox and then just suddenly appeared ?! With that said ! Thank you for sending in some fun questions ! Let me answer this !!! This might get long . . . but here we go ! ( @cloudvaria )

─── If your character had a breakout show ╱ film ╱ comic, what would the plot be? Who would be in their supporting cast? ❛❛ 𝖬𝖨𝖭𝖠𝖱𝖠𝖨 𝖧𝖨𝖳𝖬𝖠𝖭 𝖬𝖨𝖱𝖴𝖪𝖴! ❜❜ — ( Apprentice Hitman Miruku! ) is an unserious spinoff starring Miruku and his shenanigans as Reborn's apprentice, it has twelve short episodes where the main cast appears periodically. Very much written like the ' daily arc ' & the plots are inconsequential, however! you will learn a little bit more things about Miruku! . . . I imagine this is not popular with the fandom however. ─── What corners of fandom would consider your character blorbo material?

Miruku is for the girls and the gays and the aroace! I believe Miruku might just hit that sweet spot for the ambiguously gendered characters the internet ecosystem gnaws on. He might belong to the roleplay community for this reason, but other than that I can't imagine him being popular in the fandom if at all! He'd have been amongst the many forgotten faces of Reborn!

Also, because I didn't understand this question, I've decided to ask Nimo about it and this is her answer.

NIMO : Oh! If I'm understanding it right…like what corners of the fandom would consider Mimi their blorbo…off the top of my head "Villain Defenders/Fuckers" lol since Mimi IS a villain. I could see Mimi being popular in some shipping corners but it's Momina x Miruku or, like, (y)(a)(i)(o) ships with Mimi… ngl I could see Kawahira x Mimi or Reborn x Mimi being really popular too? What other corners… People who are super into writing Metas would love Mimi! They'd think there was a lot to chew on but lament how little spotlight Mimi got. They wished there was more focus! But I can see there being lots of deep dives.

─── What do you imagine the most popular ship(s) for your character would be?

I think the most compelling relationship around him would be Kawahira & Miruku, Reborn & Miruku and Momina & Miruku, but I think it would be seedy and under the umbrella of proships for the first two. I've mentioned this before, but I'm under the impression that it would be difficult for Miruku to triumph against 8059 and D18, I'm already pushing it with sliding against R27, so my reasoning shall be that, ' his most compelling and most difficult interactions were between Kawahira and Momina.'

─── How does fandom characterize ╱ mischaracterize your characters ship in fanworks?

That he could romantically fall in love and I believe Miruku will be a victim of the uwu-fi-cation beam. He'd likely always be the 'bottom' in the relationship for quite some time, softening his assertiveness. If not that, he might be depicted overly flirtatious and provocative. If there is any fanworks about him to begin with, it might also revolve around a lot of toxic relationship and angst, the worst artist would have depicted him heartless and insincere, very typical edgelord material?

ALREADY ANSWERED QUESTIONS UNDER READ MORE.

─── Are there ship wars? Are they a popular character to ship, or the kind of character that gets shuffled off and away from shipping for whatever reason? ( answered )

─── Are there any tropes fandom would put upon your character, for better or for worse? ( answered ) I need those ' Massive polycules ' tropes injected into all of the KHR cast tbh . . . so here is to hoping somewhere out there, this is happening.

─── What would be the ‘incorrect but wildly popular’ interpretation of your character in fandom? ( answered )

─── If your character isn’t designed for shipping/isn’t interested in shipping, how hard does fandom have to mangle them to make them shipping material/open to a relationship? ( answered )

─── Be honest. What song is playing over an AMV/tiktok of scenes between your character and their love interest? ( answered )

─── What is the wildest crackship you can imagine for your character, whether in-universe or in crossover? ( answered )

[writing-oof]

what am i if not a dog - Richas (8)

(or: the E.G.G.s have superpowers. this, surprisingly, is only the beginning of El's problems.) (or: or: El Quackity gets rehabilitated like a rabid dog, Quackity yoinks his evil little brother, and A1 is safe and sound at the end of things)

TW: danger, hypersomnia (kind of), nightmares mentioned, anxiety

Richarlyson is surprisingly good at tag.

He didn't know if he would be since he's not a very fast runner, especially since his prosthetic has started to click and crunch when he bends the knee wrong, but he's very good at jumping out of the way just in time. He's an egg of near misses, and by the time Cellbit and Roier have stopped whispering while they watch the eggs scurry around, Richas is the only egg who hasn't actually been tagged.

Unfortunately, Richarlyson knows what it means to be the only egg to avoid failure, and he braces himself for what comes next.

He's won the game, gotten too good at being the best, and now his siblings are going to gut him like a fish. Even Pomme, who usually doesn't get very upset with him even when he tripped with his sword and ruined her hat once, is glaring at him.

He has ten seconds before they swarm him, and he shoots off like a bullet, speeding as quickly as he can without falling flat on his face. Behind him, he can hear the 'it' spreading between them like the plague.

He's a survivor with a whole horde of zombies behind him, and it's really just a matter of when he dies and not if. He can't run too far away, or his pai Cellbit will make a face and ground him to sitting next to him and Roier on the bench.

Richas knows he means it, too, since Tallulah had to sit on the bench for half an hour for wandering off a bit even though it wasn't on purpose. Usually, the adults wouldn't care so much, but whatever's happening has made them more careful for all of the eggs.

Still, Richarlyson swerves between the trees, the horde moving behind him quickly.

His feet--or foot, really--slam into the ground as he runs as quick as he can through the trees, jumping over tree roots and going around prickly bushes. He jumps really high over a tree root and lands funny, his prosthetic crunching loudly beneath him as he curses everything.

If he fails now, he's going to die, eaten by his crazy zombie siblings.

He makes a wide turn to keep far away from a burr bush and feels the ground disappear beneath his feet, suddenly looking down to a steep and long drop, sharp jagged rocks lining the bottom.

Suddenly, that dying seems a lot less pretend, and Richas wishes he'd just let them tag him.

The air rushes past him and he feels stuck frozen as he starts to drop. A hand snags the back of his hood, tugging him up until another arm wraps around his middle and hoists him up against a warm chest.

"Richas!" Forever scolds, "You're running like a crazy person! Do you want to fall?"

Richarlyson blinks. He looks down at the bottom of the fall that would have probably broken his legs. He blinks again. It takes too long for him to wake up from the shock, and the tiredness he's been running against for weeks now seems to come back in full swing as he finally slumps and shakes his head.

'We were playing tag,' he tells his pai with slow signs, pulling back enough that Forever can see his hands, 'Final Elimination.'

"Ahh," Forever says understandingly. Richas squirms a little, but Forever just adjusts his grip, walking right back to the place Richas had just been running from. Fortunately, Forever's arrival must be much more exciting than defeating Richas because his siblings don't even bother to tag him when the group rushes over excitedly in a swarm.

"Forever!" Roier calls, seeming confused but not upset, "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Bad?"

Forever winces, making the kind of face the adults have been trying to hide from the eggs, and Cellbit furrows his eyebrows.

"Richas, all of you go play over there," he says, pointing to a spot they'd already given up on because of the lack of good fighting sticks.

Forever deposits Richas back on the ground and Chayanne has to grab onto his elbow to keep him from tipping onto the grass when he wobbles, his prosthetic crunching again.

'You okay?' Chayanne asks.

Richarlyson nods, heading over to the patch of clearing they've been directed to, wishing he could take a million naps instead. He would sleep on the dirt if he weren't so worried about Romero Richas causing more trouble.

Still, Richarlyson just wants to go to sleep.

---

Chayanne calls the Council of Eggs to order.

They sit on the dirt almost shoulder-to-shoulder with each other in their usual circle, and they're careful to keep their signs closer to their chests in case any of their parents--or anyone else--tries to listen.

There's an empty spot they have to scoot closer together to fill, right between Ramón and Leo.

Richas tries not to think about it.

'Something's happening,' Chayanne says, meeting each Egg in the eye so they can tell how serious he's being, 'Something even crazier than what's happening now.'

'They've been planning more,' Leo agrees, eyeing the three nervously chattering adults skeptically.

'Whatever it is, it's going to happen soon,' Chayanne says. 'We have to be ready.'

Will they be? They don't even know what's going to happen, or really what's happening now. How are they supposed to be ready for a monster they can't even see yet?

After a moment, Pomme speaks up, extra careful to keep her signs hidden.

'I heard they're going to attack the Federation,' Pomme explains with quick flitting things that are hard to read on purpose. Richas has to squint for a minute, making some of the motions with his own hands tucked to his chest until he understands.

He knows the other eggs can tell something's wrong, but he hopes they just think he's only his usual kind of tired.

'Maybe they'll find tío Quackity,' Tallulah says hopefully. Richas doesn't know how he feels about that.

Leo raises an eyebrow and signs, 'But then what will we do with El?'

'Why would we do anything?' Chayanne asks, scowling a bit, 'He's a jerk.'

'He saved my life!' Pomme says, 'He's…just confused I think.'

Chayanne makes a skeptical face, one Richas definitely relates to, but just signs, 'Okay.'

'About El,' Leo says, a funny look to their eyes, 'what do you think he is? I heard my dad talking to Bad about it, and they don't know either.'

'Maybe he's a clone,' Ramón offers and Tallulah nods eagerly.

'Probably!' she says, 'That's why he looks just like Quackity.'

'I think he's a monster,' Chayanne signs grumpily, but he looks like he wants to take it back when he sees Pomme's face fall. 'Sorry,' he says instead, probably because he meant it.

Pomme waves him off. 'It's fine.'

'Maybe he's an egg,' Richas jokes, cracking the tension with his expertly crafted pickaxe of comedy, and Tallulah snickers. Leo levels him with an unimpressed look, but Pomme seems to find it funny too so he doesn't mind.

'No way!' she denies, stifling giggles, 'He doesn't have any powers! He can't be an egg!'

Richas pretends to be put out, sighing. 'Yeah, maybe not.'

'It'd be cool if he was, though,' Tallulah muses once the laughing's died down, but even Richas thinks that maybe would be a little too crazy.

'You'd want to be related to that jerk?' Leo asks.

Again, Pomme points out, 'He isn't a jerk! He saved my life! He didn't have to, but he did!'

Leo makes a face, but gives in when Chayanne pokes her in the side, smacking his hand. 'I guess.'

The conversation changes to something else and Richarlyson finds himself watching Chayanne's hands as they move, his signs feeling far away even though they're all right next to each other.

He only watches for a little while, his brain feeling foggy and slow, before Leo demands his attention.

A finger pokes into his side and he turns to Leo. He stares at them, waiting for something, and they stare back at him with a weird look on their face.

'Are you okay?' Leo asks, almost suddenly, still staring at Richarlyson.

Richas blinks, waiting for him to explain why he asked. Of course Richas is okay.

'You look sick,' Leo finally signs and Richarlyson recoils, Dapper still fresh on everyone's mind.

'I'm not sick!' he says, signing quicker than before, but his fingers stumble with every other word, 'I'm just tired. I'm…very tired.'

'Did you sleep?' Ramón asks and Richas wobbles his hand. 'A little.'

He peeks to make sure none of the adults are looking and admits, 'I've been having more nightmares.'

Pomme shudders. 'So has everyone, I think.'

'More Romero Richas?' Leo asks and Richarlyson nods, a yawn finally breaking free.

He knows Romero Richas is part of his power, or at least everyone thinks it is, but no one knows what his power really is. He doesn't remember the nightmares or the diary, or the weird-looking egg that keeps showing up in all of his new paintings. He doesn't want to risk anything if his power could be something dangerous, and he definitely doesn't want his parents to look at him worriedly like they do when they find him and his burning paintings.

Normally, he's not as worried about Romero Richas, but everyone's worried about everything right now and it's hard not to do it too.

'I don't like it,' he admits.

'You'll get sick if you don't sleep,' Leo points out, but Richas shakes his head adamantly.

'What if when you start having a nightmare, I'll play my flute in your ear until you wake up?' Tallulah asks.

That's really a good idea. Richarlyson yawns again, finally nodding and lying down on the grass until Chayanne pulls him over to rest his head on his lap like a pillow.

It takes a minute, but the others start signing together and he just listens to the world around them with his eyes closed. Leo drapes her jacket over him like a blanket and, when he starts to get restless, Ramón lets him hold his hand.

Richarlyson is out like a light after that.

---

Part 8 of ? First Previous Next