#but maybe there is a little creek in the park in the city but i couldnt swim there i bet. unfortunately.... sigh. but this is where partner

[nomairuins]

i want to watch the things on my watchkist but i also never do its rly tragic

[ellieswifie]

hi!! i wondering if you could do a matt fic based off of the song “all too well (10 minute version)” by taylor swift? maybe it can take place a few moths after the reader and matt’s breakup? i love your writing btw!

︿︿ ੈ [ ☕️ ] ༉‧₊˚✧

all too well tmv | matt sturniolo

♪ all too well tmv - taylor swift

summary: you and matt were happy, but push comes to shove and years later you guys see each other’s future and your not in it. (ft. all too well 10 minute version short film.)

warnings: matt!exboyfriend x fem!reader, no happy ending (i’m sorry guys!), shouting, cursing, little gore, toxic relationship , use of y/n (once), the other woman

authors note: so this has been the drafts since august bc i don't think it's one of my best works. i tried my best to incorporate the film to this fic as best as i could but i believe i failed. i’m glad you enjoy my content, and i hope you enjoy this too!! ps!! i skipped some lyrics so don’t get too confused haha.

˗ˋ.*✧·˚ ೃ࿔₊•

an upstate escape, past

your walking hand in hand with your boyfriend, matt as you walk through the door of his parents house. it was freezing outside mid october. leaves were falling, air was cold, everything felt perfect.

"i walked through the door with you, air is cold. something about it felt like home."

matt’s head turned to you while he untwined your hands and rushed to turn the heater on. the house was quiet as you followed matt towards the living room where he lit a fresh fire in the fireplace.

you couldn’t help but smile at his face noticing how quickly he was to turn the fireplace on. his face grew flushed as you reached for the scarf hanging around your neck to place it on the near by couch.

“and i, left my scarf there at your sister's house and you've still got it in your drawer even now"

before kneeling down besides your boyfriend and wrapping your cold hands around him.

"warm enough?" he whispered, rubbing his hands towards the fire.

you nodded, kissing his cheek. a cheeky smile spreading against my face.

there isn’t much to do in small town boston. going into city causes loud noises and angry drivers, two options why you and matt decided taking a stroll through the woods is a better idea. matt grew up going to this creek that wasn’t too far away from where he lived. he enjoyed growing there with his brothers and old time friends.

you’ve met chris and nick several times before you and matt called things official. you admired how funny chris was, and how quick nick is at speaking his mind.

and matt. you lived just about anything matt said. the smallest things he’d say or do made you smile and stare at him like he was everything to you. and he was. he was everything you needed and cared about always.

"oh, your sweet disposition. and my wide-eyed gaze"

"so when’s nick and chris coming up?" you asked as you sat in the passenger seat while matt drove. his eyes were focused on the road ahead, attempting to find a parking spot or somewhere to park before the two of you started your trail.

"umm chris said sometime later tonight. but it’s chris he’ll probably not be leaving til tonight." matt replied, switching through the radio stations. you nodded your head, watching him. he turns and smiles at you before reaching for your hand once he’s found a good song on the radio.

"we're singing in the car, getting lost upstate."

your eyes tore from matt’s as you tightened your hold on his hand. nothing with matt felt real. it was incredible how the air felt so crisp and clean, the way the wind in your hair caused goosebumps along your skin. the leaves falling down like december snow.

it was like heaven with matt.

"autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place. and i can picture it after all these days."

the first crack in the glass

when matt asked you if you wanted to meet his friends, you were immediately excited at first. you already knew some of the kids he grew up with in the past, but meeting his new youtube friends seemed exciting, but also incredibly nerve racking.

you all sat at a large dinner table seated for eight while matt, nick, and chris and all their friends sat around it. you were seated beside matt as you listened in on what the group was talking about. majority of the group was doing big things.

it was youtube, music, podcast, etc.

but you. you were just you. continuing your major in college, just shaking your head when someone mentioned if we’re getting into social media.

matt and you knew social media wasn’t in the pictures for you, but you lived what matt was doing with his life and supported him and his brothers channel.

you listened as nick and chris called matt out for all of his silly childhood behaviors. you couldn’t help but laugh at your boyfriends flushed face when his brothers started pulling out pictures of him from when he was younger.

"photo album on the counter. your cheeks were turning red. Your cheeks were turning red. You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed."

his friends all around laugh for a long moment, before bringing out more social media career opportunities. it made you feel out of place, unwanted. your eyes looked towards matt while he continued listening to one of his friends talk about touring. you wanted to feel matthew’s comfort in any shape or form, but his eyes were glued to anything but you.

you groaned, picking at the food in front of you, thinking about some of past conversations you’ve had with matt. every little conversation ending in sweet "i love you’s" or meaningful kisses. you just loved that about him. you loved his love language was always physical touch and affection.

"and your mother’s telling stories ’bout you on the tee-ball team. you told me ’bout your past thinking your future was me."

so you did what any girl who wanted comfort would do. you reached to hold your boyfriends hand, but his body jerked slightly, placing your palm back on the table where it was before. he patted softly, pissing you off, but crowding your thoughts with sadness. you couldn’t believe what just happened.

you felt embarrassed.

you just wanted to walk out right then and there, and leave. but you just sat there, staring at it hand for a long moment before meeting eyes with your boyfriend. he sent you a smile which made you more angry.

so you turned your body away from him, making yourself feel invisible.

"you taught me 'bout your past, thinkin' your future was me.”

"hey your quiet.." you heard matt whisper behind you as you tossed the remaining dishes from your guest into the sink. "what’s up?"

you wanted to ignore him so bad. you felt childish for getting mad over something so small and meaningless, but you just felt so out of place and angry. it just felt like he didn’t care. like you were a ghost.

"he's gonna say it's love, you never called it what it was."

"nothing." you hissed back, scrubbing the dish a little too hard. "i’m just tired."

your boyfriend nodded, moving around the kitchen to place a soft kiss against your forehead. "i’m tired too, dinner was good."

"yeah, sure whatever."

matt head darted toward your annoyed tone. he was finally catching on. “what’s wrong with you?"

the breath that escaped your lips was heavy. you wanted to shove your arms at his chest and shout and scream at how angry he made you feel, but you couldn’t snap the cord, not yet.

"nothing. i’m fine."

"you sound pissed and far from fine." he repsoned, leaning against a counter, across from where you stood, back turned.

"i’m not pissed, i’m just-" the plate in your hands shattered, making a loud clattering noise. you gasped, a large piece of glass scraping against your palm, causing blood to drip. "shit." you hissed, immediately grabbing the cloth.

"'til we were dead and gone and buried. check the pulse and come back swearing it's the same."

"fuck-" matt curses under his breath. walking toward you, but you placed your steady hand towards his chest, stopping him.

"and then you wondered where it went to as I reached for you. but all I felt was shame…"

"i’m fine." you argued. matt stepped back watching your eye brows draw together in anger. "just- why do you have this fucking problem with me when we are around people? it makes my skin crawl."

matt grew confused watching you. "problem? what are you talking about, babe?"

you nearly laughed at his comment. he knew exactly what you were talking about. it’s like he has this on and off switch. when your together, alone he’s obsessed with you. buying you gifts, loving you, he only has eyes on you. when you guys are in public, with friends it’s like he’s distracted, never noticing your there.

like at dinner…

"oh i don’t know, maybe the fact you dropped my fucking hand in front of everyone. then send me a smile like it didn’t happen."

matt stood still, watching you grow angry. he didn’t know what to say. that he’s sorry? no that’s just pathetic and a dick move.

"i’ve never felt so out of place, matt. it was like i was invisible, sitting in a room crowded of people." you confessed, letting the blood bleed through your towel.

"i look like a fool." you frown, noticing that the cloth isn’t helping and your just ranting.

matt switch turned back on, rushing to grab a larger cloth from the stove, placing it onto your hand. his eyes met yours as he shook his head. "your not a fool."

"i’m a fool." he whispered, looking at the wound. "the one girl i care most in the world felt uncomfortable and hurt and i was an asshole for not even noticing. i didn’t mean to drop your hand. i was distracted and just was being a dick. i’m sorry."

you just stared, watching him closely. his eyes were apologetic and his words seemed like they had some meaning, but you just weren’t sure.

"okay…" you whispered.

"i mean it. i’m sorry. your the only person i care about. you know that right?” you shrug, just nodding. "okay. good."

you both starred at the space between you guys, before matt mutters "come here", wrapping his large arms around you. "i really am sorry." he whispers against your hair and you just nod.

"and you held my lifeless frame."

"i know." you respond licking you lips. "it’s okay."

are you real?

"'cause there we are again in the middle of the night"

a smirk placed on your face as you held a single uno card up to your face. you had a plan, one the was currently working. you played your weakest card, so your now holding your strongest one, just about to win.

matt wasn’t too far from you, he had four in his hands, taking forever to take his turn.

"we’ve been playing since six matthew. it’s three." you giggle, wanting him to just play a card so you can win.

“wait your turn pretty girl, i’m thinking."

you blushed at his comment, narrowing your eyes at his lips pressed together, before you lock eyes with the cards.

"pretty girl?" you teased, twirling your hair with your free hand.

"yeah," matt whispered, placing the cards face down on the table. "you are very pretty."

you moved the hair tangling in your hair to poke his nose playfully. "thank you… but it’s still your turn boy. go."

matt held his hands up in defense, before placing down a plus four. but you weren’t fazed. you stared at the card, before stacking your draw four ontop of his. you giggled at his stunned reaction before jumping up from the table and dancing in his face.

"i win!! loserrr…" you teased, before matt snaps, and grabs you by your hips, spinning you around. you laugh at the sweet touch before wrapping your arms around his neck.

"you definitely cheated." he replies, swaying your hips as you guys began slow dancing in the middle of the kitchen.

"we’re dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light."

it’s dark, but you can see the light in matt’s eyes when his hands fully sneak around your waist, pulling you closer.

he looks beautiful in the light it’s impossible to look away from him. he’s smiling and his cheeks are a small tint of red.

"i’m no cheater," you whisper. his brows raise for moment, before he lifts your arms, spinning you like a princess.

"down the stairs, i was there. i remember it all too well."

"and there we are again when nobody had to know."

you bit the inside of your cheek as you stood behind matt, hand holding his behind his back. his head glanced down at you smiling, before he turned back towards his brothers nodding and listening.

you hated how this was how things was. you felt secretive, hidden, unaware of. you just stood in matt’s shadow always.

"you kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath.”

"what about you?" you heard nick say to you, lifting your head to face him. "tacos or burgers?" he asked, smiling.

matt rubbed his finger along the back of your hand, waiting for your answer.

you lips licked before smiling at them. "tacos?"

matt kissed your head, smiling at your answer, before slipping away from your hand. "tacos it is!"

"sacred prayer and we'd swear. to remember it all too well, yeah

the breaking point

when you wanted to ask matt to come over, your intentions was to hangout with your boyfriend and cuddle up along the couch. but when you opened the door and watched him linger there, you knew something was off.

his poster was low, his eyes seemed dark, he didn’t look himself.

you held the door waiting for him to walk in, kiss you numerous times, but he stood, quiet.

"well, maybe we got lost in translation, maybe i asked for too much."

"hey is everything okay?" you asked, forcing a smile. you stepped forward and matt backed away slightly, reaching his hand to his ear to scratch. you notice these small ticks. he only ever did it when he felt uncomfortable or nervous. you never made him feel either of those things through your entire relationship so seeing him now made your heart sink.

"but maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up."

"i’m fine- can we talk?" he asked, voice shaky, hands moving to shove in his pockets. you head turned to look over his shoulder. your neighborhood was walking into her apartment with her significant other, giggle and matt followed his glaze, tilting his head down. "please?"

"runnin' scared, I was there. i remember it all too well."

your head shook for a moment, bringing yourself back in time. "sure." you muttered, stepping from the door, hands feeling shaky. you moved towards the long couch, taking a seat as matt made his way in front of you, standing. your head looked up at him while he looked around your apartment.

it was cleaner, more decorative. you spent all of yesterday making the place look nice for matt, but seeing the expression on his face, you hated yourself for changing the place.

"the place look really nice." matt said, glancing at the pillows and blankets laid against the couch.

you ignored him, looking at your hands. "what do you want to talk about?"

"and you call me up again just to break me like a promise. so casually cruel in the name of bein' honest."

matt looked back towards you, kneeing down on his knees to sit in front of you. you looked at his face, seeing his eyes wonder anywhere but yours. he’s always distracted. "i wanted to talk about us…"

your breathing picked up as he placed his hands on your thighs, reaching for your shaky fingers. "i love you so much." he says, meeting your eyes. "your important to me and i want you to be happy always."

you waited for the but. there’s always a but.

he intertwined your fingers, looking at how small your hand looked in his. "but things between us have been off." he whispers, and you look away from his face, staring straight ahead. your eyes felt watery, but you weren’t going to cry. not in front of him. "and i know you’ve noticed, because filming and the podcast and everything really."

his voice gradually got quiet as you felt him just listing out excuses.

"i’m a crumpled-up piece of paper lyin’ here. 'cause I remember it all, all, all."

"matt stop-" you chocked out, stopping him immediately. your fingers slipped out of his and you kept staring away from him. "just stop."

"they say all's well that ends well, but i’m in a new hell everytime. you double-cross my mind."

he pushed back slightly, watching your watery eyes drop to his face. "this isn’t love." you whisper. "love is magic. it’s happy and healthy and you fight for love. you don’t push someone away because it’s getting too hard."

"i’m not pushing you out i’m-"

"matt you saying things have been off. we can work though off. if you care for me you’d fight for me."

"i’m doing what i think is best for you." "you said, "i think we should stop seeing each other."

"and that made me want to die."

"seeing each other? matthew what the fuck." you stood, causing matt’s eyes to lift you and follow you. he rose from his knees, standing up in front of you. "we’ve been dating for years matt and you think we’re just seeing each other?"

"no-" he quickly said, tilting his head down. "that’s not what i meant- you know what u mean."

"the idea you had of me, who was she?" a never-needy, ever-lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you."

"no matthew i don’t. you’ve been off. not us, you. it’s like your some switch where you don’t act like yourself when we’re with other people. it feels like i’m clinging to a fucking shadow. and i’m sick of it."

"not weepin' in a party bathroom, some actress askin' me what happened, you. that’s what happened, you"

"you don’t mean that." he breathed. "you’ve just been distant to us and it’s confusing me."

your nose scrunched as you stared at him. you were done you hated what was happening and it made your stomach twist, but you knew what had to be down. "matt get out."

his eyes widened and you were quite surprised yourself. "what?"

"i said get out." you said once more, but quieter and more hesitant.

"i wanted to talk, not us completely cut off communication."

"you’ve said and done enough." you whisper, looking at his eyes. "you want to stop seeing each other, then leave."

and so he did. just walking out, not hesitating.

the reeling

"time won't fly, it's like i’m paralyzed by it. i’d like to be my old self again, but i’m still tryin' to find it."

picking up the phone, you stared at the black screen for several long seconds. you weren’t happy. you were absolutely miserable, laying in your bed til twelve, falling asleep til three, you were unlike yourself and growing unhealthy.

it’s only been a month or two since your harsh break up and you couldn’t help longing for a message or a call from him, but you knew it wasn’t happening. you knew he was happier, healthier. and it made you want to die.

"after plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own. now you mail back my things and i walk home alone."

you finally turned on the phone, opening instagram and searching up his instagram. his posts hasn’t changed since you checked, his inactive on his insta. which didn’t bother you, it made you feel a sense of comfort.

you then open his shared account with his brothers. scrolling through the latest posts with him either smiling with his brothers or posing for the camera in the next. you smiled at how happy nick and chris looked, a small tear falling from your glossy eyes. you let your eyes linger on matt for a moment looking at the red sweater he was wearing.

"but you keep my old scarf from that very first week. 'cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me. you can't get rid of it"

it reminded you off the old scarf from you and matt’s past trip from the beginning of your relationship. it made you tear up even more, curling up in your bed, to continue scrolling.

"'cause i remember it all too well."

thirteen years gone, present

you rubbed your shivering hands together as you walked inside the small coffee shop. the autumn air was cold, it’s suppose to be a busy day in the office, so a small coffeee in the morning wouldn’t hurt

you found a small empty booth in the back of the coffee shop before pulling out your phone. the line is long and standing while waiting didn’t seem like your crowd. you quickly place a mobile order, waiting for your coffee.

you pull out your laptop, hiding in your tote bag, before scrolling through your recent works for work. your an interior designer for some company you applied for last spring. you love your job so much and the environment is healthy and makes you feel safe. your coworkers are crazy nice, and you have never felt happier.

as you scroll through your up coming projects, a waitress delivers you your small coffee to you. you mutter her a thank you before you hear the front door ding, causing you to raise your eyes.you have a bad habit of watching people in big scenes. not in a stalker way, but more in a curious way.

but when your eyes land on the man walking in, you nearly drop the hot coffee in your hands.

you handed seen him since he walked out your apartment years ago. it took you months to finally grow from how horrible and torn that relationship make you feel, and now seeing him dressed older, wiser, happier... it makes your heart sink.

"and i was never good at tellin' jokes, but the punch line goes, "I'll get older, but your lovers stay my age. from when your brooklyn broke my skin and bones. i'm a soldier who's returning half her weight."

his blue eyes still look and make your heart race the same. you can't help but let your eyes linger at him. his hair looks more put together, he has grown a few inches maybe, and his style as certainly improved. you have to tear your eyes away from him when you start getting flash backs from your past relationship.

"and did the twin flame bruise paint you blue?"

you stare at the computer seated in front of you before you hear your name from the side of you. your scared to turn and look, because you know who it is. it shouldn't surprise you he wanted to talk, it's matt.

your eyes turn and meet his bright blue. he's got a small smile, while he carries a refresher in his left hand. your not sure what it is, but it looks refreshing...

you let your eyes travel before they stare at the small ring wrapped around his ring finger. it looks beautiful, elegant.

you want to say something, smile, do something, but your heart is racing and your brain is fuzzy.

"i can't believe your here." matt says softly, letting his smile fall. "you look incredible."

"just between us, did the love affair maim you too?"

you loved when matt complimented you. it always made your insides curl and explode with butterflies, but does he compliment his wife like he use to compliment you? where is his wife? what does she look like? thousands of thoughts and questions about his relationship with this other woman fills your brain.

'cause in this city's barren cold. i still remember the first fall of snow and how it glistened as it fell."

a cold breeze goes straight to your cheeks when you hear the door ding again. you turn and see a smiley woman walk in. she looks around for a moment before she sees matt and smile. she walks towards where you and matt are, giving matthew a quick kiss.

matt whispers something to the woman and she then sends you a smile before finding a small booth. your eyes go back to matts, while he avoids yours.

"how have you been? it's been... forever." matt asks, looking back at you, and now your avoiding his glaze.

"i remember it all too well."

"i've been fine." you whisper, trying your hardest to hold in tears. "you seem to be doing fine yourself." you add, clearing your throat.

matt turns to the table the woman is seated at. "yeah... that's gigi. do you remember her from high school?"

your head shook, earning an oh from matt. a long pause escapes between you before you both speak up.

"y/n-"

"matt-"

"no please you first." matt says, stopping himself.

you have so many things to tell him. you want to shout at him for not fighting for you guys, you want to scream at him for breaking your heart, you just want him. again.

“just between us, did the love affair maim you all too well?"

you head falls, looking at the computer time. it's nearly nine and you don't want to be late for work. you start backing up your belongings, while matt stares at you confused.

his hands rest on yours as you feel your whole body react to the physical touch, but you tear yours away quick enough so gigi cant see.

your eyes lock with his and it feels like your nineteen again.

"i-i have work. i'm sorry." you swing your bag over your shoulder and matt watches you try to escape.

"do you need a ride? i know how much you hate driving in the cold-"

"matt." you stop and you both just stare at each other. it was so painful just standing there remembering how little he cared back then. your head just shook, grabbing your coffee and ignoring his pleading glaze. "goodbye."

and it was just a goodbye.

"just between us, do you remember it all too well?"

[stargazer-sims]

In The City of Love

Belle: Excuse me!

Belle: Hello, parents! Is that necessary?

Davian: As a matter of fact, it was.

Félix: We are in the City of Love, after all.

Belle: Yeah, City of Love, not city of lust.

Davian: Hey! How do you know what lust is?

Belle: You and Félix are my parents. Do you think you really need to ask that?

Davian: No, seriously.

Belle: I'm ten years old and I know how to read at a university level. I find out stuff. Plus, you should visit the trailer park sometime. You can learn a lot, hanging out with Dylan and Nadim.

Davian: No thanks. I had enough of the Willow Creek trailer park when I was a kid. And now I'm not sure I want you visiting Junior any more when he's over there with Dylan and his boy toy.

Belle: *giggling* Boy toy.

Félix: We can discuss all of this when we're back at home.

Davian: Right. This trip is supposed to be all about fun.

Belle: And minimal embarrassing public displays of affection.

Félix: Belle, the last time Davian and I were here was when we were expecting you. We have a lot of nostalgia for this place. We'll try to restrain ourselves, but a few public displays of affection may be inevitable.

Belle: I thought you went to Tartosa while you were expecting me.

Davian: We did, at Christmas, but we came here in February. I got a contract offer that I couldn’t turn down, and Félix didn’t want me to leave him, so…

Belle: But, my birthday is in March. You must've been like, super pregnant or... whatever it's called when you have a science baby. It couldn't have been much fun to be here.

Félix: I had a few good days, although I'll admit it would've been more fun if I hadn't been so tired and uncomfortable. I'd say 'super pregnant' is an accurate description.

Davian: So much so, he actually needed a note from a doctor to say it was okay for him to travel.

Belle: Really?

Félix: We were here during the week of Valentine's Day, and you weren't supposed to be born until the eighteenth of March. We thought there'd be plenty of time between our trip and the date my surgery was scheduled for.

Davian: Except there wasn't. We were home for... what? Maybe less than a week before you started having problems?

Félix: Which were entirely my own fault, in retrospect.

Davian: You weren't going wild at the love hotel by yourself, you know, and we weren't exactly taking it easy when we got home either. I'd say it was partly my fault too.

Belle: Eww! Love hotel!

Félix: The important thing is, we got home safely and it all worked out in the end. We may have had you a little earlier than we anticipated, Belle, but I promise nobody was complaining.

Davian: The moment I saw you, I said to myself 'that is a princess'.

Félix: He did, honestly. The first words out of his mouth when he saw you were, 'our princess is here'.

Belle: I'd rather be an archaeologist than a princess.

Félix: We know, but you'll always be a princess to us. Besides, princess and archaeologist aren't mutually exclusive.

Davian: We're going to make this trip as much about you as it is about us, okay? We want you to have a fun time and learn a lot. Félix and I have some memories to revisit here, but we want to make a bunch of new ones with you, too.

Belle: I don't mind if you want to revisit old memories or whatever, but can you promise me one thing?

Davian: What is it?

Belle: No going to the love hotel, okay?

Davian: And leave you alone at our rental? I promise that's totally not going to happen. You don't have to worry.

Belle: Good.

Félix: Speaking of the rental, we should check the address and see if we can find it before dark. If it's not too far, I think it'd be nice to walk there.

Davian: Sounds good, and if it is far away, maybe we can hail one of those pink taxis.

Belle: Ooh pink taxis? Even if we can walk to the rental, we have to ride in a pink taxi at least once before we go home.

____________

BONUS: Here is their rental house!

[peppymintdreams]

barista gets hurt while them and elias finally go out for the first time again

Unexpected Trouble

Elias x Barista

It was supposed to be simple. After days cooped up in the safe house, Barista and Elias were finally allowed to step outside, enjoy a normal day for once. The sun was shining, the streets were busy with people going about their day, and everything felt... right.

Barista was practically bouncing with excitement, and Elias couldn’t help but laugh at how genuinely happy they were. A simple trip to the park, a café, maybe some window shopping—it didn’t matter. They were just two people enjoying a bit of normalcy.

They strolled through the city, Elias keeping an eye out, always a bit cautious, but allowing himself to relax just for a few hours. They laughed about trivial things, shared jokes and stories, and for a moment, it was just the two of them, away from the stress and danger of gang life.

After visiting a bookstore and grabbing some coffee, they decided to walk to the park. It was peaceful, a quiet escape from the bustling world around them. Barista was practically skipping ahead, marveling at how nice it felt to be outside in the fresh air, without the constant worry of being watched. Elias followed, hands in his pockets, just enjoying the moment.

It wasn’t until they reached a small bridge over a creek that things took an unexpected turn.

Barista, eager to explore, stepped onto the bridge to get a closer look at the water, leaning over the edge for a better view.

“Careful!” Elias warned, eyes flicking toward them. But it was too late.

Barista lost their balance, slipping on the wet edge of the bridge, and in the next second, they were stumbling forward.

"Elias!" Barista yelped as they flailed, their arms grasping desperately for something to hold onto.

Elias reacted without thinking, lunging forward to grab them, but the sudden movement caused him to lose his footing as well. The two of them tumbled onto the bridge with a crash, their combined weight sending them both sprawling.

Elias groaned, his body on top of Barista, both of them tangled in the mess of their fall. For a moment, there was only the sound of heavy breathing and the quiet rush of the creek below.

"You okay?" Elias asked, pushing himself up slightly to check on Barista. He looked concerned, his voice a mix of worry and frustration.

Barista blinked, dazed for a moment, then grinned up at him. "Well, I didn't exactly expect a romantic fall, but... yeah, I’m fine. Are you?"

Elias frowned, rubbing his head where it had hit the ground. “I should’ve caught you better,” he muttered, trying to push himself up. "You okay, though? Any bruises or broken bones?"

Barista rolled onto their side, wincing slightly but laughing. "I’m fine. Just a little scraped up... and maybe a bruised ego."

Elias sighed, standing up carefully and reaching out a hand to help Barista up. They both looked a little worse for wear—Barista had a scrape on their elbow, and Elias had a cut on his hand from the rough landing.

“Okay, this was not the fun outing I had in mind,” Elias said with a frustrated laugh. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Barista smiled, accepting his hand. "I’m really starting to think that going out with you means trouble." They looked at him teasingly. "Guess we’re just not meant to have normal days, huh?"

“Maybe,” Elias said, pulling them back toward the park bench so they could sit and catch their breath. "But at least we’re still alive to talk about it."

Barista leaned their head on his shoulder, their voice a little softer now. “I’d rather be here with you than anywhere else.”

Elias couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips. “Yeah. Me too.”

They stayed there for a while, resting, the noise of the city around them fading into the background. No one had seen them fall, and no one had caused the trouble—it was just one of those moments where things didn’t go as planned.

But it was still worth it, in the end. Because sometimes, when you’re with the right person, even the unexpected mishaps are part of the adventure.

[weird-dirt-creature]

Living in a state with not much going on rock and mineral wise is so difficult. All I want to do for my long weekend is to find a creek somewhere that's connected to a little public city park or something so I can go pick through gravel for a few hours unmolested. I don't want to pay someone to be there and I don't want there to be anyone else around. I've resorted to trawling across the satellite map to see if I can find any spots but there's nothing I can be confident about that's worth driving out to. Everything is private property 😭 is a couple fossils, a cool stick, and maybe a geode piece really so much to ask :(

[roxyteal]

I swear to GOD mobile loves doing this thing where instead of saving an existing draft, "Save" means "I'm gonna post this whether you like it or not". Jesus fuck

Anyway I guess y'all are about to get some stuff about Imnever (WTTW) early. Sigh

Also contains WTTW spoilers but in a B-plot kinda way

He lives in an otherwise uninhabited area that resembles a forest with a creek. He likes the nature and seclusion. His school was modified into a traditional Japanese house, with a garden and everything (holy shit). There's still a lot of yellow, however. It is about a ten minute walk to the city area

Viktor has asked him to move so developments can happen but was refused several times. Even to a point of protest by literally sitting in the garden and not leaving. Eventually Viktor decided that fighting him on this wasn't worth it and left him alone

He finds Billy "cold" and "hard to read", and thus doesn't trust him

He is a Rare Snacks Enthusiast, or so he claims. But really he's just a Snacks Enthusiast

He also appreciates the little things in life, such as a snowflake landing on a bird's cheek or seeing slivers of blue sky on a cloudy day. And also he believes that sleeping for rest is good for mental health (unproven for AIs such as himself, possibly just a placebo)

As mentioned in the Joe 5 post, he is an animator by trade, but teaches art at Baldina's school. What hasn't been said is that it's not coincidence. The two have history together, similar to Text and Lady Blossom's original circumstances

They are best friends who vowed to meet up at the Webspace together, but a mishap caused Baldina to enter first, Imnever eventually making it roughly two months later

Anyway by animator, I am of course referring to 3D animation. He makes them in his free time

In fact, he has Animation Powers. Fastforwarding or rewinding, pause, play, shuffle or loop frames. Requires physical contact with the subject to initiate, but is automatic on himself. Lasts only a brief period, though (fifteen seconds at most), and even shorter if said subject is particularly resistent

So even if he held onto Alex the whole time, he would still break free quickly...

Was injured in the Incident, via a non-lethal stab in the shoulder. He was already too drained to rewind it. But he has long-since recovered, don't worry

Another friend and colleague he knows is Dave 46, the algebra teacher (of course). He always tried getting Imnever to be a little more assertive, but it usually never worked

He left with the other staff for the Yellowstone National Park field trip, while Joe and 46 stayed behind. Joe was to be a lookout, while 46's reason was a mystery. Of course, later on, it all became clear and Baldina fired 46 for coup participation. Imnever has heard him out after the fact, and remains his friend

Meanwhile he asks what Joe thinks about all this and he's just like "i never want to talk about daves ever again". Oh yeah... He saw them flying to Infinity School. He called Baldina and said that "Hell must've froze over because the Daves are rioting". Understandable, have a good day

Still, he's trying to pass on what he knows to Baldina in hopes of reinstating 46. Unsuccessful thus far. Maybe he could have a hearing? Baldina is reluctant

Some other things would go here but the draft posted early so sorry I don't have anything else for you THANKS MOBILE!!!

[steven1123x]

A Half-Gem Boy’s Adventures In The Creek: Chapter one

Steven and Greg relocate from Delaware to Maryland in order to help Steven transition away from gem-related activities and towards a more typical life with peers his own age.

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A mid-1970s Dodge Tradesman drove down a road in. The van was a white, two-door, open pickup truck with a unique design. The van has a large logo on the side that says “Mr. Universe." It appears to be a customized vehicle, as it is painted in bright colors and has a distinctive look.

Inside the van were two people, a man who had long brown hair, and a brown beard. The man wore a black T-shirt. He also had blue eyes.

Next to the man was a boy, who had curly hair, he wore a red star t-shirt, cuffed jeans, and salmon pink flip-flops.

But what was unique about the boy was that he was half alien — Half Gem to be specific from his mother’s side.

“Dad! why did we have to move?” the boy asked. His father looked at him, a concerned look on his face. He didn’t want them to move. But to keep his son safe he had to. The man spoke;

“Because, Schu-Ball. Pearl and the others wanted you safe and not involved in this stuff. I… I thought I lost you when Jasper kidnapped and held you prisoner. I was so scared that day. Maybe this new life isn’t going to be so bad. You're going to make a lot of new friends in Herkleton.”

Steven just sighed and looked out the window, the radio was playing rock music, and the boy put his palm to his cheek and stared out the window.

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Twenty minutes later, they were in Maryland, Steven looked at the city. Greg turned to a neighborhood, it’s For Sale sign was still up on the front lawn with a little wooden board that said 'SOLD' on it in big red letters, Greg stopped his van

Steven sees a two-story home with a modern design, situated on a quiet suburban street. The house is painted in a light gray color and features a large front porch with a porch swing. The front of the home is covered with a roofline that provides an expansive outdoor living space for relaxation and entertainment.

The house is surrounded by lush greenery, including trees and bushes, creating a peaceful atmosphere. The presence of a car parked near the front of the house suggests that the owners have a driveway, providing convenient access to the home. The overall design of the house and its surroundings reflect the harmonious blend of nature and modern architecture, making it a desirable place to live.

Steven looked at the home in question…. It was nothing like the beach house/Crystal Temple, but. It was a house….

Greg grabbed the keys from the key box that was by the door, he stuck it in and opened the lock, the house was already fully furnished. Steven stands there at the front entrance. His dad put all of their things inside.

“Why won’t you help me, Sthu-Ball?” he asked.

Can’t he see that I’m hurting? that my friends are gone now because of THIS! CAN’T HE SEE THAT?

Steven wiped some tears that were coming out of his eyes. Greg saw him and put a box down, he was about to walk up towards him, but Steven backed away.

“I want to be alone,” he muttered

“Steven—“

“I SAID I WANT TO BE ALONE!” he screamed. Without thinking, Steven ran out the door. he ran into the woods and kept on running, he wanted to go back home! he missed everyone, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Sadie, Lars, Buck, Sour Cream, Jenny, Kiki.

And Connie.

Steven ran and ran until he was out of breath as he put his hands on his knees, the boy heard something. The Half-Gem looked up and gasped, he saw a bunch of kids, He was looking at a lush green forest with trees and bushes, giving it a natural and serene atmosphere. There was a large cooler in the middle of the creek, surrounded by kids who were going to trade in stuff for snacks and supplies. A few other items can be seen scattered around the scene, such as a backpack on the ground and a bottle near the cooler.

In addition to the cooler, there are two smaller objects placed on the ground, one closer to the left side of the frame and another one on the right side. These objects could be anything from rocks or fallen leaves to small animals or other natural elements that have been gathered in the creek.

Steven walks to the cooler and reads the sign. ‘The Trading Tree.’ Steven saw a girl standing there.

“You have anything to trade?” A girl said, Steven looked at her. She has brown skin, dark brown braided pigtails with a widow's peak, and wears glasses. She wears a light blue shirt. She also wears a keychain around her neck with five different keys on it.

“Um…I’m new here. What is this place?”

“This is the Creek! I’m Kit, what’s your name?”

“Steven Universe.”

“Like the show?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yeah.”

“Is your middle name really after Rose Quartz?”

“Yeah,” he said awkwardly.

Kit knew that she’d seen him from somewhere before, and his name did sound familiar to her, she smiled “Oh, since your new. here is something for free.” she said pulling out a choco roll that came with two choco rolls in the rapping, Steven smiled.

“Make sure that you have something to trade for tomorrow, alright?” Steven smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. He walked away from The Trading Tree and found a log to sit down at to eat his snack.

Steven opened the wrapper and began to eat the sweet chocolatey roll. As a girl walks up towards him. Steven looked at the girl, she was about nine. the girl was fairly short She had peach skin, ankle-length strawberry-blonde hair tied into a large bun at the back of her head, she also had brown eyes. “Hello! I’m Steven.” the boy said, sounding much happier than he did before.

“Hi, I’m, Kelsey,” she said, extending a hand. Steven took her hand and shook it. The boy smiled at her. “Hey, you wanna meet my friends?”

Steven nodded and stood up. They both walked to an area with a tree stump, her friends were there.

“Hey Craig, JP! I’m back, and I met this boy!” she said. Steven still stood next to her Craig walked up.

“Hi, I’m Crag Williams!”

“And I’m JP.” the taller boy said.

Steven looks at both of them; JP is tall compared to most kids in the creek. He has light skin, a large head with proportionally smaller cheeks, black eyes, and eyebrows, and red hair.

He also wears a long-sleeve orange and white striped V-neck hockey jersey, black shoes, and tan pants with a tear on his right knee.

Then he looks at Craig;

Craig is of normal stature for a ten-year-old boy and is rather slim. He has dark skin, large eyes, similarly sized ears, a prominent flat nose, and black hair. His head is also large in proportion to his body, he is the same height as Steven.

“Hi!” Steven said.

“Hi!” Craig and JP both waved at the boy.

“Um, what do you do here?”

“You get to play all day until it’s time for dinner, or on weekdays until six, but we can play all day long since it’s summer vacation,” Craig said. Steven was confused by this until six, how come?

“Um, I have a question. Why until six?” Steven asked the three kids.

“We have school. So we get to the creek at three and play for three hours.”

“School?”

“Oh, right! you're a gem. It’s a building that you have to go to and learn a bunch of stuff.” Craig said. Steven nods. He thinks it sounds miserable, being in a building for eight hours a day, sitting down in a classroom, and being told what to do by a teacher. He got that enough already from Pearl.

But, on the other hand… He could be a normal kid and go to school with them. Steven looks at them, he’d just met these kids a few minutes ago. “Hey, me Kelsey and JP are going to the Candy Bar, you wanna come?”

Steven smiled at that, Finally. No responsibilities of being a Crystal Gem, he can be a kid for once in his life! He looked up. “Alright! let’s do it!” he said.

They walked to the other side of the creek, which wasn’t being controlled by the king of the creek anymore, King Xaver. Kids can play freely without the king telling them what to do.

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Steven was walking with them when they saw a large tree, and he took a second to look at it. He saw a hole that was made up of leaves, Craig, Kelsey, and JP all walked inside, and Steven did too.

He heard a piano playing, two boys were playing as kids of all ages were getting candy and soda from the bartender.

“Four sodas, please,” Craig said.

“Craig!” a boy said, walking behind the counter. Steven observed the boy; He had dark brown, chocolate hair, and burnt-sienna skin. His face flaunts a near-constant blush and he is thinner, as well as a little taller than Steven.

He also wore a tucked-in hoodie with gray shorts and white shoes.

“Hey, Shawn!” JP said.

“Hey, guys. How can I help you?”

“Can we get gummy worms and gummy fish with soda please?” Craig asked.

“Sure.” He said, pulling out four plastic mugs placing soda in each of them, and filling them up with the gummy candies.

“Thanks, Shawn!” he said carrying the two in his hands, then going back and getting the other two.

“Here, Steven,” he said, placing the pink plastic cup in front of him. Steven looked at it.

“Um… Is this even edible?”

“I drink it all the time!” JP said, putting his mug down, two gummy worms hung from his mouth. Steven picked it up and took a sip. He bit into the gummy candy and smiled.

“Hey!” he said, clewing it. “This is pretty good!” he said, continuing to eat/drink it. Craig, Kelsey, and JP all smiled.

Steven heard a tuba playing a single note and someone yelling ‘Dinner’

“What was that?”

“Oh, that’s the dinner tuba. It signals everyone to go inside and have dinner.”

“But… I have dinner whenever I want to.” Steven said, walking with Craig.

“Oh, but you want to go home right?

Steven nodded. they both went in the same direction to their houses. Craig opened the door to his house.

“Hey! It looks like we're neighbors!” Steven said, about to open his door.

“Yeah! well, see you tomorrow, Steven!” he said, going inside. Steven went inside the house as well. Then a familiar ringtone rang out, Steven smiled as it said ‘Connie’ on his phone’s screen, it was a picture of him and her in Beach City. Steven was holding up two fingers to make a peace sign. Connie was smiling and making a funny face. Her glasses were tucked in her shirt. Steven smiled and answered the phone.

“Hey, Connie!” Steven said happily, he was glad that he was able to talk to her on the phone, Maybe she could come over to spend a day in the Creek with him and his new friends.

“Hey! How’s Maryland?” that was her first question.

“It’s so fun! I met new friends and went to this place called the creek. it’s a vast place where kids can play!”

“That sounds so cool! Oh, can’t talk now, I'm going to have dinner soon, I’ll talk to you later!” Connie said, hanging up.

Steven went deeper into the house. He looked at some boxes on the floor that were unpacked yet. Steven texted his dad, wondering where he was. When he got a text back that he was getting sushi for dinner. Steven felt relieved that he wasn’t hurt.

The boy walked upstairs and went into his room, his room was fully furnished also with a bed and a desk. He sighed and started unpacking the box that said ‘STEVEN’S ROOM’ in a black Sharpie and a bunch of star stickers.

Steven opened the box and saw that all his stuff was inside. He picked up a purple controller that was tied up.

Probably Pearl did that. he thought to himself

He unpacked his posters. Then he found his GameCube that was at the bottom of the box. Steven set the purple Nintendo console on his desk with the controller that came with it, then he unpacked more stuff.

Greg reached the door with two boxes of sushi, one salmon for himself and one cucumber and avocado for Steven.

“Steven?” he called out, setting the boxes and his keys down on the kitchen counter.

Steven walked downstairs, hearing the sound of his father’s voice. The boy walked towards him, Greg smiled and knelt to his level. “Hey… You alright? you kinda got a little emotional a few hours ago.” Steven nodded in silence. Greg smiled once more.

“Come on, I brought us some dinner.” Steven sighed, grabbed his trey of sushi, then left. “I’m gonna go eat in my room.” Greg watched sadly as Steven walked upstairs to his room to continue unpacking. He walked out back and opened the sliding glass door and saw a man. He wore a blue polo shirt with white jeans and green shoes. He has curly black hair with a slither of gray in the middle and a black beard.

Greg waves at the man.

“Hey!” the man said.

“Hi! I’m Greg Universe!” he said.

“I’m Duane Williams.”

“Hi Duane,” he said.

“Duane! come and help me!” his wife called out from the kitchen.

“Coming, Nichole!” he said, walking back inside the house. Greg looked at his sushi for a few minutes, He put his sushi in the fridge and sat in the living room.

Pulling out his phone, he decided to text Pearl.

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Steven’s phone played Your the Anchor That Keeps My Feet on The Ground by Mayday Parade. He was lying on his bed. He was halfway done packing. He decided to take a break, his tray of sushi was left on his desk, Steven sighed and turned his body, the boy sighed, he missed his home and his friends.

He can’t run away…. Maybe he can call Pearl to come pick him up. He paused his music and sat up. He scrolled down to Pearl’s contact and his finger hovered over the blue number.

He wanted to call her so bad. But he can’t do it.

Steven Quartz Universe, what are you waiting for, do it!

Steven sighed and put his phone down, he closed his eyes and went to bed. Another day awaited for him at the creek.

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Steven opened his eyes, yawned, and stretched. He took his empty tray down to the kitchen. Steven went back upstairs, went into his bathroom, and turned on the faucet to brush his teeth.

Once he was done, he went to his closet and picked out a shirt, he picked out his red star t-shirt and slipped it over his head. Steven grabbed a pair of jeans and put them on, then socks with a pair of black Nike low tops and put them on. Steven looked around his room, he could unpack the rest of his things later.

He opened the door and walked down the hall. His dad was still asleep probably. it was eight in the morning, and he still hadn’t found a job yet, granted, they did move in yesterday.

Steven walked downstairs, his shoes touching the white tile flooring of the house, he went to the kitchen, but he remembered that they hadn’t bought any food yet for the house, so Steven decided to go next door.

Opening the door, the boy walked to the Williams house and knocked on the door. A woman opened the door. The woman initially was wearing a blue shirt with gray jeans and black shoes. She switched to wearing a black shirt with beige pants. She wears gold earrings. She has black braided hair.

“Hello, and what is your name?”

“Steven.” he said. The woman smiled. Craig had told her about this boy yesterday, and he’d also told her that he was half-alien.

“Of course. I heard from Craig you and your father moved in yesterday,” she said, Steven nodded. Steven walked into the house and went to the kitchen, Craig was eating cereal.

“Hi, Craig!” he said cheerfully.

“Hi, Steven! do you want to have breakfast with us?” Steven nodded and sat down.

Nichole handed him a bowl, Steven poured the cereal and milk. Then a boy walked downstairs in a work uniform. Steven looked at him;

He seems to be an average-height male who wears glasses with the whole top of his glasses black and he has tall black hair with shaved sides. He wore a green polo shirt, khaki pants with an apron with pockets on the front, he’s wearing red and white sneakers. The boy also wears a brown watch on his right wrist.

“Do you want some breakfast before you go to work, Bernard?” Nichole asked. Bernard shook his head.

“No,” he said, putting his backpack on his back, and grabbing his phone.

Steven turned to look at Craig. “Hey, Craig. where is your dad?”

“Oh, he’s probably looking for work. He hasn't found a job yet,” he said, putting his bowl on the counter, Steven stood up and did the same.

“Bye, mom! we're going to the creek now!” he said, running out with Steven following behind him.

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Craig and Steven walked to the creek together. They saw Kelsey and JP waiting for them at the stump.

"Hey, guys!” Steven said.

“Hey!” Kelsey and JP both said. Steven waved. “Alright, what are we going to do today guys?” Craig said.

“We can be warriors and fight in the heat of battle!” Kelsey said, pulling out a PVC pipe taped with a piece of cardboard and a toilet paper roll.

“Yeah! And I will be your defense!” Steven said, summoning his shield from his gem.

“And we can be the bad guys who’ll try to destroy you!” Craig said, JP smiled and picked up a stick, Craig did the same and they played.

“Steven, cover me!” Kelsey said, Steven protected her as Craig and JP ‘struck’ them with their swords. Steven blocked the attacks.

‘Hey, Steven! you have anything to trade?” Kit asked.

Steven took out a few items from his pocket.

“I found this plastic ring in my room,” he said, putting it on the cooler, Kit smiled and nodded.

“Alright, Steven. What would ya like?” she asked, Steven thought about it for a few seconds.

“Do you have any chips?” he asked, Kit smiled and nodded, she pulled a lever that was attached to a filing cabinet, the cabinet pulled up and he saw slots for nine types of chips, Lays, Ruffles, Doritos, Cheetos, Pringles and popcorn. Steven looked at the section and thought for a few minutes.

“I want the ruffles, please,” he said, Kit grabbed the bag and handed it to him.

“Thank you, Kit,” he said, smiling at her and walking away from The Trading Tree.

Steven walked over to the stump. He then saw another boy he had his dreads in a ponytail with a single hair strand hanging on the right side and he was wearing a green shirt, that had light and dark green lines in a pattern, gray pants, and dark gray shoes.

“Hey, Steven! this is Omar.” Craig said, introducing the two boys to each other.

“Hi, Omar!” he said waving.

“So, Omar. how was that trip to California?” Craig asked, Omar popped the lollipop out his mouth and spoke;

“It was good, it was a lot of fun, I wanted to see the Walk Of Fame. That was cool!” he said. pulling up pictures from his phone, Steven looked at a gold star with a little TV set in the middle, and above it, it said 'STEVEN UNIVERSE’ on it.

“Woooah! Cool!” Steven said, stars in his eyes as he looked at the picture. Omar smiled and nodded.

“Hey, wanna go to the other side and go to The Creek’s Kitchen?” Steven was confused. These were some new places that he had never been to before. At the same time, he did move yesterday. So, he couldn’t complain much.

“Let’s go,” Omar said, walking ahead of them, Steven walked behind them, looking at the kids and the creek happily playing. Thankfully it was June, so he could play in the creek with Craig and his new friends.

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“So, Steven. What was Deleware like?” Craig asked.

“It’s nice, I live on the beach, and my dad used to work at a car wash. And before that, he was a rock star.”

Craig remembered seeing an episode once where his father showed him a VHS tape about how his parents met each other. They both fell in love and eventually had Steven. But it came at a price. Rose and Steven couldn’t both exist, so Rose had to give up her physical form to birth to her son.

“That I know, and your mom gave up her body to have you,” Kelsey said, Steven nodded and put a hand up to his arm and rubbed it.

“You alright?” Kelsey asked.

Steven nods and they keep walking, they walk through the overpass to get to the other side.

The other side of the creek was a lot nicer than the other part of the creek, he’d been here yesterday to go to the Candy Bar, but it got more and more impressive to look at. Steven saw kids playing freely in the creek.

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They walked to The Creek’s Kitchen — now called The Creek's Restaurant, he saw that the restaurant had tables and chairs set up. Steven remembers one time that he brought the Pizza restaurant and the Fry shop together in Beach City.

They all sat down, Steven saw a boy handing them menus. He saw the boy who was about his and Craig’s height. He has dark hair, dark blue-rimmed glasses which have one of the lenses knocked out, as well as a cast in a sling on his arm, due to his gathering mishaps.

“Hi, Craig.” the boy said.

“Hey, Tien,” he said waving, Steven looked over his menu.

MAIN DISHES

Grilled Cheese,

Sliders

Chicken tenders. (Buffalo, garlic, regular)

cookie selection (Oreo, chocolate chip, or frosted sugar cookies)

DRINKS:

Coke Zero

Water

Fanta

Root Beer

Lemonade

Kool-Aid

Regular Milk

Chocolate Milk

Strawberry Milk

Steven read the items. They all looked good,

“How many pieces of chicken are there?” Steven asked. seeing no description of the item. Tien walked over to the boy.

“There are five tenders. And you have some choices of sauces like ranch, barbecue, buffalo sauce, and honey mustard.”

“I love ranch!” the boy smiles.

“And what would you like to drink?” the boy smiles.

“A Coke Zero, please,” Steven said, Tien smiled again and wrote it down on his notepad.

“What would you guys like?” Tien asked

“I will have the Sliders with a lemonade,” Craig said.

“Kelsey and I will both share the cookie selection and two glasses of Chocolate milk,” JP said, Kelsey nodded in agreement.

“I’ll take the grilled cheese with Kool-Aid,” Omar told him, handing him the menu.

“Alright, I will be back with your drinks shortly,” he said.

Steven pulls out his phone and gets a missed call.

Connie

Missed Call.

Steven swiped his finger to the right and put the phone on his ear. His fingers drumming on the table as it was ringing.

Craig looks at him, and Steven’s eyes keep darting from left to right.

“Hello?”

“Connie!”

“Hey, Steven. How are you?”

“I’m good, what are you doing?”

“I’m about to go train with Pearl.”

“Oh, are you at your house?”

Connie was packing up some stuff such as a tank top: shorts and his mother’s soward. “Yeah, I’m going to do some training with her,” she said, picking up her duffel bag and walking downstairs. Steven nodded.

“Okay, Connie. I’ll talk to you later,” he said, hanging up. Steven set the phone down and looked at the table.

Craig, who sat next to him, put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Steven, you okay?” he asked his new friend, Steven nodded and waited for his snack.

Tien came back With their snacks and drinks.

“Here you go guys, your snacks,” he said handing them out, Steven smiled as he put his napkin used for his fork and knife on his shirt.

“Thank you,” he said, as he took his fork and took a chicken tender and cut it with his knife. Craig didn’t want to judge him too much, so he ignored it and ate his snack.

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Craig, Kelsey, JP, Omar, and Steven all went back to Stevn’s house, they wanted to have a sleepover at Steven’s probably this week. Greg will have to talk to their parents on the phone first, Steven couldn’t wait! he can be a normal kid after all. He was so excited for this! He took a selfie with them and sent it to Pearl.

Steven’s phone buzzed and he looked at the notification

Pearl

‘You guys look so adorable!’ then she sent an emoji holding back tears and smiling.

Steven chuckles to himself and puts his phone back into his pocket. They'd made it into their neighborhood, Steven pulled the key out of his pocket put it in the lock, and opened the door.

“Is your dad home?” Craig asked. Steven shook his head.

“His van is gone. He’s probably picking some stuff up at the store,” he said, walking farther in. They went to the living room. Steven saw something hanging on the wall, so he called someone.

“Excuse me for a second guys.” Opening the sliding glass door that led to the back, he tapped Pearl’s contact and put the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” Garnet’s voice was heard on the other end.

Steven looked back to the picture hanging above the living room’s couch, the picture was hanging in the temple after he was born in 2000.

He was trying not to throw up or pass out. His hands were shaking, Craig stepped outside and saw Steven holding his phone up to his ear and standing still. He stood there for a while. Crag walked up towards him, Steven stood frozen, not talking.

“Steven?! Are you alright, are you hurt?” Garnet asked Steven wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. He stared at the phone,

He stared at his cell phone with various icons and buttons displayed on its screen. In the center of the phone, there is a white caller ID labeled ‘Garnet’ with a phone icon next to it. The screen also has other icons, including a clock, a car icon, a letter icon, a heart icon, and a microphone icon.

The phone also features a speaker, a camera, and a mail icon. There are several buttons on the screen as well, such as a back button, a home button, a recent apps button, and a share button. Additionally, there is an arrow icon at the bottom left corner of the screen.

Steven put it on speaker, and then he spoke.

“Y-Yeah…. I’m here. And no I’m not hurt.” Garnet didn’t believe that for a minute, she could sense that something was wrong.

“Steven…” She said. Steven clenched the phone in her hand as she continued. “I can tell that something is wrong. Are you homesick?”

“I was,” he said, looking at Craig. Then he smiled, he had friends in Deleware and Maryland. And he loved going to the creek. “But after a day being in the Creek and playing with my new friends. I’m not anymore.”

“That’s excellent to hear, Steven! But why did you call exactly?”

“Um…” Steven said, as he walked up to the open sliding glass door and looked in the living room, and saw his mother’s picture up on the wall. She looked so peaceful and beautiful, yes. It was a picture but he could feel her watching them from heaven — or within him.

Steven was eating dinner with his father. The smell of shrimp pasta hung in the air. “So, how was your day, Dad?” the boy asked.

“It was good, Schu-Ball. You had fun at the Creek?”

“Yeah! hey Dad, I have a question.”

“What’s up?”

“Did the gems give you the picture of mom?” Greg nods.

“Yes, they did. Why?”

“No reason, I thought we didn’t have that in the house yesterday.”

Greg twirled his fork full of pasta and put it in his mouth. “Well. I asked Pearl and she said that I could take the painting, they miss her too as much as I do.”

“But you have me, Dad.”

Greg smiled, he stood up and ruffled his black curly hair, Steven smiled and stood up, putting his plate in the sink. Greg looks at him. “Why won’t you watch cartoons?”

“Aw, yeah!” Steven ran into the living room and jumped on the couch.

Picking up the remote and turning on the flatscreen TV, changed it to Nickelodeon SpongeBob Squarepants playing, Steven crossed his legs and watched the cartoon.

🌳⭐️💎🌳⭐️💎🌳⭐️💎🌳⭐️💎🌳⭐️💎🌳

Steven was getting ready for bed, he took a shower and put his PJs on, and now he was in bed. he went to sleep, and a new day was upon him tomorrow.

🌳⭐️💎🌳⭐️💎🌳⭐️💎🌳⭐️💎🌳⭐️💎🌳

A\N: Hey guys! This is a new story I’ve been working on! tell me how you like it, and I’ll see you later!

[rorirevolutions]

World Building Pt.4: Actual 'world' building

So obviously we know that most of the towns and cities in the shows don’t really exist. However, some of them have stated specific regions and states where they are set such as Mighty Med taking place in Philadelphia, PA. As for the others such as Swellview I did a little sleuthing to figure out roughly where each of these take place based on little things mentioned in canon and weather patterns.

The Lab Rats home of Mission Creek is another easy one because they at one point it is stated that it’s in California. I’m not stopping there though, personally I believe it takes place in SoCal near Orange County. Which given the climate it would make sense that the Bionic Island is just off the coast in Baja California. This would also mean that Tasha and Leo, assuming they arn’t transplants, would use SoCal slang. However, I don’t believe the trio would necessarily have Cali accents. Maybe Bree would to fit in more, but after living so long detached from society I believe that Adam having only really heard Donald for the longest time would share his accent for the most part and Chase probably dosen’t have a definable accent. He has a computer in his brain and access to every bit of slang/inflection that has ever been recorded. So he probably dosen’t speak with much of one. He might have picked up more Cali slang and gestures from his time with Leo, but I doubt he uses them unless specifically talking to Tasha or Leo. 

It isn’t ever brought up were Centium City resides, but based on the fact that it appears a lot colder and is the home town of both the Davenport brothers and Principle Perry. I believe that Centium City is in the state New Jersey. Perry has a lot of stereotypical qualities(I apologize to anyone from NJ, I’ve never been and all I have is media for examples) that kinda makes me think that she would be from there. Also could you please imagine Perry, Donald, and Douglas with Jersey accents. Incredible. I think that the brothers have probably lost a good bit of there accents from time away, but whenever they are near each other or are particularly emotional the accents come out in full force. Otherwise Donald probably dosen’t have a  very definable accent due to all his traveling and working with a wide array of people, and Douglas probably has nothing but different bits of mixed up slang due to his colorful environment.

Henry Danger/Danger Force were a bit difficult until I rewatched the Game Shakers x Henry Danger crossover special. While discussing places to go Kenzie brings up Swellview and states that its in ‘The Heart of America’. While many states can try to claim that they are the heart of the country, the only one that is usually agreed upon is Kansas. Climate wise it also makes sense as swellview has shown to be rather windy and Kansas in right within Tornado Alley. This means that Swellviews hilariously named neighboring towns also take place in Kansas. All the characters (with the exception of Schwoz) would also use more Kansan slang as all of them have stated to have lived in the area their whole lives. Which leads me to bring up Dystopia where the original Danger Crew moved to after S5. All we know about Dystopia is that its really dangerous and kinda nearby as Henry seems willing to get there without the use of Miles’s powers. Now for this I looked up where the most dangerous cities in America were and I’m so sorry Missouri but you guys have several cities in the top 10 list. It is also right next-door to Kansas. 

Like HD/DF the Thundermans home of Hiddenville doesn’t have a named state. It also appears to have a fairly neutral environment. Initially I was thinking of Tennessee but all things considered there’s a distinct lack of countryisms (I know not all Tennessee is county music and farm life but it still dosen’t quit fit). Then I was thinking Washington due to the ‘Land of 1,000 parks’ bit(According to google Seattle, WA has 874 parks), but theres a lack of mountain ranges. However, it’s the closest I’ve got to a real answer so I’m sticking to it until I find more evidence. Even if Hiddenville is in Washington, I don’t think any of the Thundermans(with maybe the exception of Chloe) would have any slang or dialect from there. The family transplanted more than likely from a different state to go into hiding. Given that Metroberg is basically the Capitol of all USA Supers, I think it would probably also be in Virginia nearby D.C. Meaning the family would have similar accents and mannerisms to Virginians. At least in the beginning, later on the kids probably adopt the slang of those nearby.

Finally Villains of Valley View. It’s already mentioned in the show that Valley View is in Texas, but like the Thundermans the Madden family is also transplanted and on the run/in hiding. While it’s never truly stated where they came from we can infer from some details. Eva has a very noticeable British accent so she probably moved to the US as a young adult. I don’t know what it is but for some reason Vic gives me NorCal vibes specifically Sacramento, CA. I have no clue why but he does. I imagine that after they unofficially wed(they couldn’t legally get married as wanted criminals) Vic and Eva moved to the Bay Area where they did some villainy and started their family. I don’t have a name for the town/city where they grew up yet, but I am absolutely accepting suggestions.

[whoreforharlow]

Chilling around a open fire maybe surrounded but his friends and it’s once of the first time she’s meeting his friends

Unspecfied mmc, can be either Jack or Urban

"What? Too much?" You ask, feeling mildly embarrassed and shy under his gaze. He had invited you to meet his friends for the first time, a little kick back one of them was hosting at a clearing by the creek on the outskirts of Louisville. According to him, it's where they used to go all the time as teens in highschool and that it was totally safe. You on the other hand, a city girl to your core, was a bit more skeptical of being out in the middle of Nowhere, Kentucky—the large can of bear-be-gone held in his hand a testament of just that.

"I've been going there for years, I don't even think bears live around there." He chuckles, turning the can around to examine it.

"Listen, it's better to be safe than sorry." You shrug. "My girls are gonna clown me at my funeral if I get mauled by a bear." You exaggerate, knowing your city friends are already confused by your frequent trips to the Midwest, emphasizing that nothing good ever happens out in the country.

"There are no bears, baby. You watch too many movies." He dismissed your dramatics.

"Movies? Is that what we're calling the News now?" You retort, making him chuckle.

"And all this?" He asks, changing the subject, gesturing to the several platters that you were currently wrapping in plastic wrap and foil.

"What? You think I was gonna trust a group of white boys to put together a cookout? Sorry, but no. I'm not eating chips and grocery store turkey sandwiches." You shake your head, looking at the spread you had put together.

Truthfully, you had spent the day stress cooking at his apartment, the thought of meeting his friends giving you major anxiety and you wanted to make a good first impression. He had stepped out for a few hours, a last minute work engagement he needed to take care of before he could have the rest of the day off, returning to see his island filled with everything he could imagine, even though he had insisted everything would be taken care of. You were always taught not to show up empty handed, and perhaps you had gone a bit overboard, but who could get mad at too much food?

"I'm sure they've put something together, baby." He says as he came up behind you, wrapping his arms around you as he placed a kiss to your neck. "They're gonna love you, ya know?" He knew you well enough to to know when you were anxious, and he knew that feeling wouldn't leave until you finally crossed that bridge.

"You keep saying that, but what if they don't?" Your voice was small as you put the lid on the deviled egg tray, twisting to lock it in place. "These are your people, babe. They mean a lot to you." You look up at him with worried eyes.

"You're my person. You mean a lot to me." He reassured you, placing a soft kiss on your lips. Your heart swelled at his words, he always knew how to make you feel better.

"Alrighty, Smush, let's get this stuff in the cooler and into the car. Oh, and don't let me forget the cake in the fridge!" You tell him, grabbing the deviled eggs and potato salad.

"You made a cake too?!"

"It's ice box cake, it's nothing." You brush off his surprise, causing him to shake his head at you with a smile.

—

The two of you pull into a small make shift parking space on the grass, the two of you having driven down a dirt path off the main road for about 10 minutes, your anxiety shooting up as you kept glancing at your phone to make sure you still had cell service.

"Relax, babe, it's alright." He grabbed your hand over the console and give it a squeeze before leaning over to place a quick kiss to your lips. When you pulled away, you saw two tall guys walking towards your car, both in white beaters and strange patterned shorts. You get down from the car, greeting the two of them and introducing yourself as you slung your tote bag over your shoulder. The four of you unloaded the car and walked down the slight hill to the clearing where you could hear music playing.

To your unsurprise, there was only one white fold out table and a grocery store sandwich platter and several bags of assort chips. You turn around to eye your boyfriend, giving him your best "I told you so" face, before turning around feeling confident in your choice to bring real food, as your grandmama would call it.

When you had arrived to the table, it had already been cleared by his friend with the arrow tattoo, the bags of chips haphazardly thrown on top of one of the coolers to make space for what you had brought. You gestured for your boyfriend to place the potato salad and macaroni salad down next to the deviled eggs and baked beans that you had placed before him. His other friends each carrying a tray in one arm as they both held one end of the cooler between them. They placed the corn cobs and green beans on the remaining space of the table, plopping the cooler on the ground near the table before peeking inside to see the fresh watermelon you had sliced up and the s'mores ice box cake.

You felt a hand on your lower back as you were introduced to a group of about 15 people, their names kind of lost on you as they all spoke over each with praise and thanks, specifically hearing one of the girls scold her boyfriend, saying "I told you we should have brought something." You giggled lightly, shyly thanking them for their kind words as you cuddled into your boyfriend's side.

Thankfully there was already paperware, so everyone was able to help themselves to what you had brought, collective moans from everyone as they dug into the delicious food. You took a moment to look around you, seeing some people sitting in beach chairs, some sitting on coolers or upside down crates, some sitting on the picnic blanket that was set up under an umbrella. Naturally, the girls had set off to sit under the umbrella, insisting that delicate feminine skin should not be subjected to the harsh summer sun. You didn't have the heart to object to that logic, sending your boyfriend off with a generous schmearing of sunblock, a kiss, and a slap on the ass.

You were glad to have broken off into the smaller group, getting a thorough run down on every single one of the guys, the ladies leaving no piece of information out. By the end of it you knew everything, about everyone, including your own boyfriend. Granted, none of the information was concerning, more so information to tease him about later on.

As the sun began to set a bit, you and the ladies decided to come out from under the umbrella, joining the guys who were currently trying to use the watermelon juice to make some kind of vodka cocktail. You went over to your boyfriend, wrapping your arms around his waist as you leaned up to kiss him, the taste of chocolate from the ice box cake still lingering on his lips making you plant a few more. He giggled at your antics, the two of you lost in your own world as you heard someone gushing over how cute you two were.

The two of you heard some clamoring from behind you, two of the guys stacking some logs in the middle of a circle made of stones. You two walked over to one of the beach chairs, wanting to guarantee a seat as you sat on his lap, his hand across your lap securing you to him, yours in his hair, the two of you watching as they got the fire started.

"Have fun today?" You heard him whisper to you, you nodded to him with a smile.

"I like your people, they're nice." You compliment. "I also didn't need to use the bear spray, so that's a plus." You joke, making him roll his eyes at your dramatics.

Read more

[hibiscuslynx]

i keep imagining the statehouse as this huge house in the middle of nowhere. the entire property is in the middle of a grassland—yellow-green grass that reaches up to your knees kind of grassland. the plains. and there's a fenced off backyard behind the statehouse, but not more than a few hundred feet after it there's a forest—a temperate deciduous forest, like you find in the eastern U.S., with a creek a little ways in. venture deeper and you'll find a river. there's a mountain backdrop as well, and you know they're huge mountains, but they're so far away they appear a little small.

the house itself is... queen anne meets folk victorian-ish. shades of golden brown and white. there's a paved road leading up to it and a parking lot off to the side, about the size of a decently sized high school parking lot. and the road ends at the house. if you keep driving the other way, though, you eventually make it to town. a fairly urban city, with your standard fast food joints and stores and gas stations and whatnot. it's not the heart of a metropolis, not the suburban edges of it, but a decently populated urban city with a freeway or two running through it. somehow, somewhere, after a bit of an elevation drop maybe, absolutely rural plains gives way to the city. blink and you'll miss it, except no matter what you do, you'll always miss it.

the thing is, i keep imagining the statehouse and the land surrounding it as this little pocket in time and space, that exists on vaguely the same line as where central time meets eastern. the states are immortal, and that's practically magic, so why can't the statehouse be magic as well?

[div1nity]

𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 : it was easier to get lost , lose yourself in the busyness of it all . the sounds that never ended , the sea of people where you never saw the same face again , buildings so tall ﹕ stacked with so many people you couldn't help but make up stories of each light that switched on late in the day . the perfect distraction , it would always be home .

still , there was no denying how she was held captive by the beauty of colorado - south park was the right amount of quiet &. crazy ⎯⎯⎯⎯ the perfect balance . maybe it came with getting older , the need to get away from . . . everything . life was far too overwhelming these days , isolation became a need ﹕ something new , something that was hers ( I'M BEGINNING TO LOSE MY IDENTITY A LITTLE THESE DAYS ) .

the only light beaming down in the kitchen was the full moon that peaked through the opened window , it was so much brighter here compared to the city ( it was easy to forget about the pollution ) the stars twinkling , picturesque .

spoon swirls in bowl , allowing the vanilla to melt a little more as eyes remained locked on the : though tranquillity is soon ruined , lost to the small creek of the stairs , reminding her of where she was . not good . eyes narrow down , scooping up the sugary goodness &. popping it in mouth . maybe she was getting far too comfortable at the marsh's house ﹕ but when there's conflicted emotions , high stress ⎯⎯⎯⎯ &. A CONTRACT ON THE LINE FOR A TERGRITY X ASTRAL HARVEST SHE NOW COULDN'T RISK ⎯⎯⎯⎯ well , the fridge seemed to be the normal option , at least for most people ( never sleep with business partners , idiot ⎯⎯⎯⎯ then stop doing it , thousands of weed farms in the sea ⎯⎯⎯⎯ . . . no , maybe , shut up )

@friendscfmine : ❛ did you just finish the last of the ice cream ? ❜

ah , not ideal ; then again it was his house , coraline really had no right to ransack the fridge ; looking down at the tub , she can't help but feel a little guilty . while not all of it was gone , she had eaten a far amount - hit with the slight concern of getting fat , was that a thing ? was it possible ? head shakes , sliding the tub over to show stan how much she'd stolen ❛ i ate most of it , not all ❜ same difference ❛ i ⎯⎯⎯⎯ sorry , i'll send you some money to replace it ❜ ( JESUS , I SOUND LIKE MY DAD . . . &. MUM &. BROT - nevermind , i'll be here all day if that thought continues )

there's a harsh hit against the bowl , gifting herself a distraction ; unsure how to proceed with the current situation - if coraline were stan , well , she'd hate her too ( so smart , yet so incredibly stupid ) ❛ i can leave if you want , i don't want to intrude . . . anymore ❜

[kimwexlers-brownhair]

Oh back to Yellowsuccess! I think after the plane crash Logan would become obsessive trying to arrange a rescue until enough time passed for him to "cut his losses" and shut down, and things would get even nastier between him and Kendall because of how it seems that he's brushing off the disappearance of his supposed favorite child like it's nothing and Kendall takes out his own feelings of guilt for being a shitty brother onto him. He's also the first to recognize that Shiv is probably dead while Roman is the last, coming up with elaborate scenarios in his head for what she might be doing and maybe for a while believing he's got some kind of psychic connection with her. And then of course things gets Very weird when it turns out she's been alive after all.

Logan is not an idealist. He never claimed to be.

Look, life's not a walk in the fucking park. It's a rollercoaster that goes off the rails onto the crowd below. If you’re lucky, you scramble over the crushed bodies beneath you out of the wrecked train, bleeding all over the cotton candy squeezed in a dead fist. It's a shitstorm.

Terrible things happen. People die.

You can't make it to the soccer match that gets your daughter's team into Nationals. There have been too many whispers about cruises lately, so you need to be at that board meeting. To make up for it, you hire a few nonunion mechanics to spruce up one of your recently decommissioned private planes so your daughter and her teammates can fly to Seattle in a little luxury. The thing's no hunk of junk, just a little smaller and more delicate than the top of the line, newest models. It's not like they're flying to fucking Hong Kong. Compared to the far flung cities Logan regularly flies to, a quick trip over Canada from New York to Seattle is a mere hop, skip, and a jump. It'll be fine.

But no, actually, because the fucking plane crashes somewhere in the Canadian rockies.

Terrible things happen. People die.

But Siobhan --

Siobhan's not People. Siobhan is his.

It is nearly four in the afternoon. Logan skims over another damn contract about some obnoxious port problem off the coast of Brazil. ATN drones on in the background about Dubya's daring new Medicare cuts. Outside the glass doors he suddenly hears hurried feet, rushed whispers. He glances up and a PA is darting here, another darting there, and here comes Gerri looking pale as if she's about to lose her lunch. Frank and Karl follow, looking about the same. The new press girl Karolina trails them, speaking rapidly into her phone.

"What," he barks as they hussle in. God, don't tell him there's another NRPI situation he needs to sign away discreetly while deliberatey avoiding the written details. On top of this fucking Brazil thing --

But no, Gerri's pallor, Frank's stony expression --

"Logan," Gerri's voice is weaker than he's ever heard it, but as always she's keeping it together. "Logan, it's Shiv."

It doesn't occur to him. Not yet. But Gerri's face.

"What about her?"

Her tongue darts over her lips quickly and he's never seen her like this.

"The plane" --

Karolina cuts in, shifting her phone away from her mouth. "It's leaked. I've given Cyd the go-ahead so ATN can announce it first."

Gerri closes her eyes.

Fear, fear Logan is mostly able to keep at bay, rushes in like a flood from the creek Rose drowned herself in --

"Someone fucking tell me right now or you're all fired!"

Before they answer, from the TV comes, "We're getting word now that a private plane carrying a high school girls' soccer team to Nationals in Seattle has lost contact with airport authorities after being overtaken by a storm surge over the Canadian Rockies. It's early hours yet, but authorities fear the plane went down --"

Water, rushing water all up and down inside him, plummeting.

Nothing's quite real anymore.

Rose....

But Siobhan is not Rose. Siobhan is a scrappy fighter like him, a survivor. She has Ewan's annoying habit of disagreeing with him. She has her mother's acid tongue, his mother's grit. She has none of Rose's vulnerability. They don't even look that much alike outside of the coloring --well, okay, that's not strictly true, they look a little bit alike, okay, now that Logan thinks about it, they look a lot alike -- but they're not the same.

No. Shiv's tough. Shiv's tough. She's a survivor. She's his whip-smart Pinky with the wicked smile, his little hell-raiser confidant. His girl.

Logan doesn't believe in any of that woo wee woo, cosmic bullshit about feeling whether someone close to you is alive or not, but...Logan would know.

Shiv is his blood, his self. Add Shiv and her brothers up and they equal Logan. Ken, Rome, and yes, Connor -- sometimes they make up the parts Logan loathes about himself. But not Shiv.

So he would know if she was -- he would feel it, no matter how much he disavows that spiritual shit.

He doesn't feel it, not now. He didn't feel this coming at all. Shiv is alive. Shiv is alive.

Shiv is alive, so he has to act, now.

"Call DC," he says to no one in particular and so that means everyone. "Tell Cheney we need a search party. Top of the line military OP types, no bleeding heart volunteer morons. If he flinches, tell him we've been sitting on that story about the Chump-in-Chief falling off the wagon in Key West. Tell Laird to pucker up and suck off whatever Canadian officials we need to get full access beyond the border. Who's overseeing this? Get me on the line with them, now."

This is different from Rose because he is in control now. Total control.

Evening. The door opens and Roman is there in the study. His eyes are more haunted and frightened than Ken can ever remember them being, and Rome often wore that look in his childhood.

They embrace.

"Like, what the fuck, man? What the fuck," Roman asks into his shoulder.

Ken gives him a squeeze. "It's going to be okay, Rome. Shiv's too much of a bitch to go down that way."

Roman hiccups a laugh. "Yeah, she probably pushed the pilots out of the way and landed the thing herself. She's going to get those poor bastards fired."

They don't separate until Connor arrives. He wraps them both in his arms.

"Hey, guys. Whatever happens, it will be okay."

Both secretly resent him saying that, since it implies something might happen.

The door opens and here comes their father. He whispers a few words in Gerri's direction and for once shuts her and the rest out to address them.

Sill, when he speaks, his voice is as impersonal as the one he uses when trying to boost morale amongst hired underlings. Almost light, airy.

The only difference is his eyes. They're glassy. Unfocused. He doesn't meet any of their gazes.

He claps, starts. "Boys, uh, glad you're here. Glad you're here. Thank you for coming. Uh, it's all good. All good. We've got search parties setting off now. And we're getting word they've picked up a signal from the plane's transmittor. So it won't take long now."

He hasn't once said even her name.

Still, not just for Logan, but for Roman, Kendall says, "Yeah. Yeah. Of course. It's, like, impossible for a plane to completely go missing these days. They'll find the signal and pick them up."

"Right." The briefest of nods from his father, a rare sign of acknowledgement, thanks. He takes in a breath and finally brings her up. "Your sister's tough, now. She's tough. She's going to be just fine. Isn't she, Connor?"

Connor's sitting on the back of the sofa, and his face is grim. Still he nods. "Sure, Pa. Sure."

Roman's too much in shock to notice what they're doing. It's for him. With Shiv gone, Roman is the baby. It's a show for him.

The youngest son says nothing, just gives a weak smile behind the fingers covering his face. His shoulders are hunched upward like a dog mincing away from the whip.

"Uh-huh. Okay." Logan's eyes wander over the room. If they didn't know him, they'd think he was a confused old man who doesn't quite remember where he is. But Dad's not old, they all tell themselves. He's not. And he knows what he's doing. He's just a little...unsettled. "Thank you, boys. Thank you."

"Uh, dad," Kendall clears his throat. "Is there...is there anything I - we can do right now? Like, does the search party need volunteers?"

"Huh? Oh, no, son. We've got top of the line -- it's taken care of. "

"Okay. How about, how about Mom? Does - she knows, right? Or --"

"Ah? Oh, your mother. Uh, yes, I'm sure she knows by now. Someone must have...I mean, if you want to call her..."

"Sure, dad. Sure. I can do that."

Logan's gaze finally rests on Kendall, and there's true warmth there. "Thank you, Kenny. Okay, boys, I'll keep you posted." Then, without another word or glance, he leaves the boys behind him, their haunted eyes on his retreating back.

It's about five in the morning when Logan's bedside phone starts ringing. He's only been in bed for three hours, and been asleep for just about one. He'd just been dreaming of a campfire, and girls were laughing. Shiv's face is covered in soot but she's smiling, eyes sparkling as she knocks shoulders with one of her teammates --

However, he's awake instantly and answers. "What? Siobhan?"

Gerri. Her voice is very quiet, which means there's bad news.

Logan listens.

His veins are on fire. He's sitting on the edge of the bed and the darkness of the room turns red. "What? How? How can they lose the fucking signal? Those boxes are supposed to be goddamn indestructible, aren't they?...I don't fucking care that they're doing their best, Gerri, I need them to...well, don't they fucking know by now where the signal was coming from before it went away? Didn't they have jets going there?...oh, don't give me that garbage about the storm, I fucking know about the storm, that's how the plane -- interference? Fucking...what the fuck good are those fucking boxes if they can't give you the correct location through a fucking storm? Don't give me any shit about interference, Gerri!"

He listens a few moments more, breath chugging out of his nostrils like a bull ready to charge. "Well, you tell Cheney and the air force that I don't give a fuck. Tell them to keep pushing. This isn't some run of the mill commercial flight with some hodunk assholes from Iowa flying to Florida for vacation, this is my daughter. In fact, there are a lot of fucking important daughters on that plane. Tell that reptile that if he wants his braindead idiot reelected, I better not hear one fucking word about the operation slowing down. Fucking got that, Ger?"

He slams the phone down. His nerves are open and raw, and the darkness is too close and Shiv is out there, she's out there and the signal is gone.

From below, Richard, giving the morning's instructions to staff, hears a roar and the phone crash against Logan's bedroom wall.

Eleven-and-a-half months later, Kendall has to see it on the news like everyone else.

He doesn't give Richard any time to warn Logan before he bursts into his father's home office. His father is not at his desk but sitting on the couch holding a scotch, staring at nothing.

"What the fuck, Dad? What is this? You're fucking calling off the search?"

His father doesn't move, doesn't look at him. "It's been almost a year, Kendall." His voice is a thousand years old.

"So? That's it? We're done? You're not gonna fucking..."

"Not gonna fucking what, Kendall?" At last his father turns to face him, and his glazed eyes are even older than his voice. "We've done everything. Searched everywhere in that damn wilderness." His eyes are on the amber liquid in his glass. "Nothing."

"W-well," Ken's stammer is back. "We-we-we can"--

"Kendall," his voice is sharp, commanding. "It's done. There's no going back. Your sister..." Kendall must be rocking on his feet, because it looks like his father is swaying. "Your sister is gone." His voice cracks at gone.

But Kendall won't hear it. "Come on. Come on, Dad. It's not like you to give up like that. We"--

"The shareholders aren't going to want anymore money going to a search party that isn't finding anything."

"So that's what it all comes down to? Fucking money? Dad? Again? That's all that matters to you, now even?"

He sees the storm cloud gathering in his father's face. "We can't keep throwing resources" --

"Throwing resources? That's what you call funding the search party to find your fucking daughter? Your alleged favorite?"

"Don't fucking push me, son."

"No, this is -- wait." Ken's eyes cast about the room. "What...where?" He cranes his head all around, checking every end table, every surface. "Dad, where..." his eyes focus back on his father. "Dad, where are her pictures?"

Logan says nothing, stares into nothing, his face saying nothing. The only horror is in his wide glazed eyes.

Kendall points to the hutch against the wall. "The picture of her and Rome as kids? Her yearbook picture on your desk? The team on the wall? Where...where the fuck are they, Dad? Where did you put them?"

Logan's voice is as low as it is ever capable of being. "They're in her room. Which is locked."

Ken is too numb for a second, but then the pain and anger burst out. "In her room? Locked away? Like she never even fucking existed? Jesus fucking Christ, Dad"--

Logan is all at once on his feet, the drink slammed down on the coffee table. "And what the fuck have you been doing, Kendall? Hm? What have you been doing to find your sister? All this time, playing with your dick in your overpriced dorm room at that Ivy League dump instead of joining the search party?"

Kendall doesn't know whether to laugh or scream. "You told me not to volunteer, Dad. You told me not to interrupt my education. You said I wouldn't know what I was doing and I'd only get in the way"--

Logan's red face is inches in front of his. "Oh, you needed my permission, hm? My permission to go out and find your baby sister?"

"That's not fair" --

"GO ON. FUCK OFF. Your sister is gone, Kendall, and no amount of mewling about her pictures is going to bring her back. So, GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND STOP WASTING ANY MORE OF MY GODDAMN TIME."

Logan turns away and marches over to his desk. His back is to Kendall, but Ken sees his arm go up over his face. Blocking everything out.

A stab of love. "Dad, I" --

"Go on, Kendall. Go on. Go and see to your brother. I can't right now. I need...I need some time."

Roman's sitting on the stairs when Kendall comes out. He's been home since everything started, "for Dad", he says. As if Logan has noticed at all. He's insisted throughout that Kendall stay at Harvard, but he's never given a serious shit about what Roman does.

"Is...is it true? He's called off the search party?"

"Yeah, Rome. Yeah, it's true."

"But why?" His voice breaks. He's trembling. "Why would he do that?"

Ken feels empty, like a clockwork man. He parrots his father. "It's been close to a year, Roman."

"So?" Roman is on his feet, arms wrapped around his slim body. He's been losing more and more weight recently. "That doesn't mean anything. If...if they're close to water, if there's game, they can still be..."

"Roman." Kendall closes his eyes, breathes. "Roman, she's gone."

A jolt shakes Roman's body. "Oh, fuck you, Kendall. You don't know that."

"Rome" --

"You don't know that. Anything could have happened!"

"We would have heard by now."

"Not necessarily! There's a lot of fucking wilderness out there."

"Right, so the chances of them making it this long"--

He stops short as Roman suddenly shoves him hard in the chest.

"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up, man! You don't know shit!"

"Hey, hey, Roman" --

"No! Fuck you! What, they teach you about surviving in the woods in your fucking Harvard business classes?" Another shove. "You're just fucking useless."

Kendall can't take it and he spits back. "Oh, yeah? Well, at least I'm not delusional."

"I'm not delusional."

"Yes, you are. This whole time you've never even considered that she might be" --

"Because"-- Roman cuts himself off and turns away, hands on the back of his head.

Kendall frowns. "Because what, Rome?" His shoulders slump. "Not because of your dreams. Bro, please don't tell me that."

Rome's arms are crossed again, still turned away from his brother. "Fine, I won't," he mumbles.

"They're just dreams, Roman," Kendall says for about the millionth time.

They started soon after the plane went missing. Shiv almost burning up on the crashed plane, but Roman tore off the seat belt so she could escape. Shiv happily splashing her friends in a lake they just discovered. A creepy cabin in the woods. A dark-haired girl wailing over a frozen body as the first snows fell.

Roman would never meet Ken's eyes when telling him, usually as they sat on his bed in the evening. He'd stare at his bedspread and say, "I don't know, they just feel really...real. Like I'm actually in front of her. Sometimes she sees me and gets really shocked but we..talk and stuff."

Ken never said much in reply.

He didn't want to say he'd been having the same dreams.

And now, he just won't put up with it. "You don't have some kind of psychic connection with her, okay? Like, you're not even twins, you're Irish twins." Born barely a year apart. Logan liked to throw the term around because he knew it bothered their old-English mother who deep down carried an ancient bigotry against the Irish like the rest of her family.

Roman finally faces him. "Yeah, I fucking know that, okay? But they feel more like visions than dreams"--

Kendall now shoves him hard, because he just had a flash of his own dream from last night, of Shiv stumbling in the snow and sniffling. She looked so relieved when she saw Kendall standing there in the cold, ready to help her up.

Another shove, and Roman whimpers. "You're fucking delusional, Roman. She's gone. She's dead, all right? She's fucking dead."

He doesn't wait to take in his brother's tears. He storms out of the house, pushing past Richard.

Roman collapses on the steps.

Logan can hear his youngest boy's sobs through the closed door. He's relieved. They're covering the choking sounds he himself is making. He's slouched over the window seat, clutching the curtains.

He can't stop it now, tears cloud everything.

Just last night he was sitting by Siobhan on the bank of that frozen lake again. She was wrapped up in that patchwork coat made out of bear and deer skins. He could see scars on her face. That wolf nightmare was true. His arm was around her, and he was telling her stories about how he and Ewan used to ice fish.

A little over nine months later, the call comes. Crash site found.

Survivors found.

[slashervideo]

➠ New Muse Added: Benjamin McKenzie - OC

✘ stats

muse level: primary

fc: dan stevens

type: oc

age: 37

gender: cis male

pronouns: he/him

sexuality: bisexual

occupation: small town cop / former homicide detective in NYC

✘ notes

This is my grumpy man who refuses to believe in the paranormal, even though he has a history of seeing and interacting with ghosts. Below the cut is a ficlet detailing his background.

It all started when I was ten years old. The summer of 1997 in Falmouth, Massachusetts was an unusually hot one. I spent my days out of the house, playing in a creek bed that ran through a forest behind my house. That was where I met Bobby Brinley who was one year older than me. We'd meet everyday out there and play pirates, or cops and robbers. We even built a small tree fort with scrap wood we "borrowed" from my dad's garage. I liked Bobby. He was kind and outgoing. His energy never seemed to dim. We could play in that forest for hours on end until the sun went down we had to part ways for supper.

It was near the end of that summer, late at night, when my parents' voices woke me from my sleep. They were agitated. It wasn't entirely unusual for them to have quarrels now and again, but hearing my name piqued my interest. I crawled out of bed and sat on the floor by the old air vent where I could hear the echoes of their argument with perfect clarity.

"It's not normal, Susan! How can you encourage this?"

"Imaginary friends are a good sign of creativity. Besides, wouldn't you rather he be outside in the fresh air instead of rotting away on the couch all day with video games like those Kelley boys do?"

"Bobby Brinley??"

There was a feminine sigh of exasperation. "He probably heard the name on the news or something."

"You know who my imaginary friend was? Blackbeard. A man of legend and fame. Christ, he could even make someone up for all I care. But ours is the only boy who's imaginary friend is the murdered dead kid they found in the river those years ago!"

That was all I remembered of the argument before a ringing in my ears took over. I stayed up the whole night, unable to sleep as I puzzled over what that meant. When morning came, I ran out of the house so fast that I barely stopped to grab a Pop-Tart on my way. Just as I had for weeks before, I went to the spot at the creek bed to meet Bobby. Only this time, he wasn't there. I yelled his name. I waited for hours. The sun eventually got low in sky, shadows growing longer, when I realized that he wasn't coming. In fact, I'd never see Bobby Brinley again.

The experience didn't instill a belief in the supernatural. Quite the opposite. Even as a child with a wild imagination, I knew that ghosts had no place in reality. I was twelve when I was allowed to use the microfiches in the library by myself. I poured over every article I could find that mentioned Bobby Brinley. Though he was found in the river, he died of strangulation. The killer was never found. A new obsession was ignited within me. I wanted justice for my friend. I wanted justice for all the children who's lives were snuffed out too early while their killers walked free. I studied to become a cop, and eventually, I moved away from the placid little town of Falmouth and became a homicide detective in New York City.

I was damn good at my job, able to notice the small details that most people overlook. Maybe I was too good. I never settled down or married or anything like that. My life was the job, but I didn't mind it that way.

At least, not until that night last November when my very beliefs would be tested to their core.

Homicide in the big apple is no walk in the park. I see the worst of the worst, day in and day out. Things that make an Eli Roth film look like a kid's movie. Though the majority of my cases are one-off's, like petty squabbles turned deadly or mindless thievery gone wrong, every now and then a real sicko comes across my desk. I was working a serial case, trying to track the killer before he could strike again.

It was late that November night and rain pelted the windshield of my old 1970 Chrysler 300. The car was built like a tank, painted tan and chugging along down the street. There had been a phone tip about unusual activity at a particular house in a little suburban neighborhood and I wanted to do a drive by to see the place for myself. The rain made reading the addresses on the houses difficult. As I was squinting to make one out, I suddenly caught sight of the figure in the road. Slamming on the breaks, the Chrysler squealed to a stop before I could hit the girl in the street. Her hands were up and she was screaming, pleading for help. Leaning across the velvet bench seat, I unlocked the passenger side door and she quickly took the invite and hopped in. The poor girl had to be no more than twenty. She wore blue cotton shorts and a pink tank top with no shoes. She shivered as her long, brown curly hair dripped around her face.

I turned on the heat and started again down the road. "The station's not far from here. I'll get you help. You're safe now," I tried to reassure her.

"No!" she yelled. "Right! Turn right! Turn right now!"

There was such a frantic determination in her voice that I was compelled to comply. That's when I heard her mumble a number over and over. It wasn't hard to decipher that she was giving me the address. "Fifty-one fifty-two. Fifty-one fifty-two. Fifty-one fifty-two."

When I saw 5148, I knew I was close. Grabbing my radio, I called for back up, having no idea what I was walking into. Then 5152 Elm Lane came into view. The small, one story house sat dark, appearing as though it were trying to look hidden on the street. "This one?"

The girl looked right at me, opened her mouth, and let out a heart rattling scream. It startled me and I jumped slightly, but quickly composed myself. She was clearly under duress. "It's ok, it's ok. Stay in the car and lock the doors. I'll be right back, okay? Lock the doors." I grabbed my gun from the glove compartment, checked the chamber, the holstered it before getting out into the unrelenting rain. Catching her eye, I pointed at the door handles and she understood, leaning over to lock the doors of the old car. Satisfied that she was safe, I headed into the house.

"This is the police! Is anyone home?" The first thing that hit me was a wave of a putrid scent. I knew that sickening smell all too well. It was the smell of death. This was definitely the right house. "I'm armed! Come out slowly." Unnerving silence was the only reply I got.

Gun held, just as I was trained, I slowly made my way through the living room and towards the kitchen, straining my ears for any sound that didn't belong. "I repeat, this is the police and I'm ar-" A sudden movement whipped behind me before something large and heavy was brought down on my head. Knees buckled and I fell to the linoleum floor, trying to blink away the stars in my eyes. Looking up, I saw a young man standing over me, the bat in his hands raised above his head. I was startled to see how normal he looked. Clean cut, short blonde hair, jeans and a sweatshirt. But those eyes... There was nothing in those brown eyes, even as they widened to show off the whites all around the irises. They were dead eyes, and I knew they were the eyes of a killer.

The bat swung again and I felt a sharp pain in my fingers as my gun went skittering across the floor. I stared up at him, waiting for the final blow as he raised the bat once more. Instead of my skull being cracked in, I heard two gun shots. A small spray of blood hit my cheek and I looked up to see the crazed man fall to his knees, a look of disbelief written across his face as he hunched over onto the floor.

Back up had arrived in the nick of time. As the cop tended to the wounded assailant, I grabbed up my gun and got to my feet. "McKenzie!" I heard the familiar voice of my partner yell from down the hall. "Get in here! You'll wanna see this." I knew instantly that the sight that awaited me was in fact something I'd never want to see, but something I had to. Joining my partner in one of the bed rooms, I was met with a grisly sight indeed. A young girl lay sprawled across the bed, her limbs tied down. She wore blue cotton shorts and a pink tank top. Her eyes were open with the unmistakable vacant look of death in them. It was the long, curly brown hair that stood out for me.

"Jones. What about the girl in my car?" I asked, unable to tear my eyes from the body.

"What girl in your car?" Jones replied quizzically. I met her gaze and saw that my partner was speaking in earnest.

Without explanation, I hurried out of the bedroom, down the hall and out the front door of the house. In the driveway sat my 1970 Chrysler 300. Empty. But the locks on the doors were still down, showing that it had been locked from the inside.

That was the last case I worked in NYC. After packing up, I moved back to Falmouth and took a job as a cop there, hoping for a quieter life. And therapy. Oh, there was so much therapy. Because surely the problem was with my head and not actual ghosts, right?

Surely there couldn't be ghosts...

[ashtraythief]

Supernatural is depressing as a rewatch. It has its fun moments, but that show hurts. It wasn’t depressing when I first watched it, but over time…. The rewatches are especially depressing. You just know they aren’t going to get their happy ever after since the life of a hunter is absolute hell. Well, I guess no happy ever after in their actual life, they do get to enjoy heaven together. So yeah, I get you there. What shows do you usually rewatch instead? Have you seen Parks & Recs? It seems like you would like it! Such a comfort show.

Yeah, the Supernatural rewatch can be hard. I have to say though, I’ve rewatched the show more since it ended, because I liked the end and knowing the show ended in a way that made me happy (well, it was obviously a fucking tragedy, but like, narratively speaking, it was a good ending because this entire show is a horror/tragedy), it made it way easier to enjoy the rewatches. The knowledge that in the end, they get an ending that honors the life they led and that they got a period of happiness on earth without apocalyptic disasters and then happiness in heaven. Occasionally, like every few years, I get the bug and start a rewatch from the start, and then at some point, which can vary, I start skipping eps 😅 Mostly though I have a few… thematic rewatches I do.

I either do a Fun Episode rewatch, including eps like Hell House, Monster Movie, Bad Day at Black Rock, The French Mistake (controversial, I know, I know), Mint Condition etc. Then there’s the Extreme Brothering rewatch, which is Sam and Dean being codependent little soulmates and just brothering all over the place, like Scarecrow, The Usual Suspects, Red Meat, Safe House, etc. Sometimes I also rewatch early season Winchesters vs Law Enforcement, which is fun and some really good episodes. So there’s room for rewatches, but except for the Fun Episodes, it’s not really comforting.

I do enjoy Parks and Recs, mostly. Tom is a lot, especially in the early seasons; I don’t do well with that particular brand of womanizing character, and I had to fight my way through season one, but then they really hit their stride. I love Leslie’s and Ron’s friendship, and generally a lot of th friendships and romances in the show are just really well done. I really disliked Andy in season one, but he got good with April. Ron and April is adorable and of course, Ben is just a gem in whatever combo.

I do rewatch Leverage a lot, Sophie is a queen, I loooove the OT3 and watching evil rich people get what they deserve is just very cathartic right now. Plus, I love a good heist and the new characters in the reboot are actually great. Maybe I should rewatch White Collar next...

Recently, I rewatched the Good Place and Schitt’s Creek, though I do have to fast forward through the more annoying scenes with Roland and Moira, sometimes they get a little much 😅

Sometimes, I rewatch old Crime shows, the early seasons of Bones and Castle, before they went too far off the rails lol. Like all procedural shows, they somehow think they need to go bigger every season, with bigger and badder villains, and it just gets ridiculous when an NYPD homicide detective needs to save New York from a bomb and Homeland only sends someone to liaison. Well, you know, more ridiculous than it is anyway. There’s a sweet spot, and small procedural shows saving cities/states/the world ain’t it.

I do also rewatch movies a lot, old romcoms, old action movies, Star Wars and Marvel when it was still good. Easy viewing. And now I just sound really old and crotchety…

I also like new stuff! And sometimes, when I have enough spoons or the right company, I even watch more serious and heavy stuff. It depends a little on whatever is available on streaming, I don't have all services all the time, so sometimes I'm limited in my choices.

(If someone’s interested, I guess I could make a rec list? For whatever?)

Nonnie, I’m not sure, but I think you might have sent me several asks, so if you want, just message me! No pressure, obviously, but the door’s open. Or, well, the inbox is. Seems we're kinda on the same wavelength, entertainment wise. Otherwise, feel free to keep sending me asks!

[transxfiles]

Mal Yoo is a girl who has spent her adolescence in concrete deserts, navigating landscapes of pavement and steel, chasing friends through shopping complexes during games of hide-and-seek, seeking refuge behind shuttered fast food joints when she needed somewhere to vent, somewhere to cry, somewhere to just exist beyond the looming shadows of No Loitering signs. Mal doesn’t quite reek of the city, but it’s intrinsically a part of her. When she laughs, Molly can hear the rumble of a freeway in her chest. When she smiles, it’s in searchlights and sirens. Beaming. Shaky. Impossible to ignore. 

Molly Powell is not quite from the countryside, though she’s not quite from country clubs either, and it’s something that bothers her mother so entirely and Molly just can’t help it. Molly is accustomed to well-worn forest trails and foraging for wild berries and tearing expensive fabrics on thornbushes, no matter how much her parents tried to keep her inside, shuttered behind glass, behind pretenses, like some coveted precious thing that could snap at any minute. Like a harp strung too tight. Like a timebomb. Molly’s hands are calloused from tree climbing, not guitar strings. Her nose still scrunches up when she smells gasoline in the distance. Molly did not grow up surrounded by the forest but when she hears wind through tree branches she thinks that’s what home feels like, maybe just a little. More than whatever that was. Whatever her family tried to offer her.

They sit in the shadow of a tree together beside a sleepy creek and the whole world is humming around them and Mal traces a hand down Molly’s chest just to feel her breathing. Molly’s hair got snagged on a branch on the walk here, came out of its neat braid and now it falls wild over her shoulders, and she asks Mal to fix it for her, and Mal’s shit at braiding hair, always has been, has always worn hers short, never played with dolls enough to learn, but Molly talks her through it and she tries her best anyway, and when Mal’s fingers comb through her hair it’s with all the love of a highway breeze on a warm summer morning, carefree and content, soft and loud and strong all at once. 

When Mal sings, Molly can feel the strength in it, the power of concrete columns, the resonance of an empty parking garage on a lazy afternoon. When Molly tries to follow along they both dissolve into laughter, fall on top of each other. There’s something there, in the convergence. An almost-eclipse. It hurts too much to describe. 

“I want to show you my world,” Mal says. Or something along those lines. When Molly looks back through her memories of that summer they’re all a little blurry. Sun-faded, warped around the edges, like maybe there’s been water damage, or maybe it’s just that she’s trying, now and then, to forget. 

Sometimes Molly remembers and it almost doesn’t hurt. Sometimes it goes down like a fifty-cent lukewarm lemonade on a hot summer day. But sometimes it’s more like sunburns. She picks and she peels and she lets them all fall off of her. 

And they almost go away.

[theghostpinesmusic]

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness Loop (3/3)

So, this hike out to the car from Strawberry Lake was maybe the shortest day I've ever had on a backpacking trip, but considering the sheer amount of distance I'd covered in the previous six days, I wasn't disappointed at all to wake up and walk only a mile or so.

I'd wanted to get an early-ish start despite the short distance, only because I still had to drive the six or so hours home from Prairie City before dark; however, it had been surprisingly cold overnight, and so I spent some time in the morning waiting for the sun to clear the rim of the basin before I climbed out of my tent for good.

In the morning light, Strawberry Lake was gorgeous. And yes, there were more lake reflections.

On the hike out, I circled around to the west side of the lake instead of the east side that I'd spent so much time "exploring" the previous night. This gave me some further, final great views before I got on the trail and took it north to the car for a mile.

Having never completed a solo backpacking trip of this length before, I was already feeling like I'd accomplished something momentous, but then just before reaching the parking lot, I looked up at the cliff hanging high above the trail and saw...a mountain goat.

Of course, I have no way of knowing that this was in fact my goat "friend" seeing me off before I left him to his own goat-devices in his wilderness, but I immediately decided to believe that that's what happened.

I couldn't get a good picture of him, but you might be able to make him out in the center-distance...

Finally, for the sake of thematic consistency, I got a bit cleaned up at the car, changed into some clean(er) and comfortable clothes for driving, and then proceeded to have another celebratory muffin along another creek before finally pointing the car toward home.

In the end, Strava tells me this is what happened:

Day 1: East Eagle to Crater Lake - 7.25 miles, 3,187 feet gain Day 2: Crater Lake to Mirror Lake - 18.25 miles, 4,247 feet gain Day 3: Mirror Lake to Hidden Lake - 11.75 miles, 2,850 feet gain Day 4: Hidden Lake to East Eagle - 9 miles, ~0 feet gain Day 5: Strawberry TH to Little Slide Lake - 5 miles, 1,800 feet gain Day 6: Little Slide to Strawberry Lake - 17.5 miles, 3,000 feet gain Day 7: Strawberry Lake to Strawberry TH - 2 miles, 200 feet gain

7-Day Total: 70.75 miles, 15,285 feet gain

Yikes.