#crystal: how about we plan like a hug surprise instead. hows that for a prank. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

artificialqueens · 4 years ago

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Blue Neighborhood Series: TALK ME DOWN (Group) - Mac

AN: A million thanks to Meggie who I would simply die without. Thanks to her for beta-ing and being a star. Thanks to the people that always leave comments, it really warms my heart! Seriously. So thank you!

This chapter is a LOT longer than the others, but I hope you like it anyway. Much love!

Summary: Heidi’s boyfriend cheats on her and the neighborhood comes together to get revenge.

This was not the way Heidi envisioned this afternoon going.

She had expected to be sitting in her regular spot in the overcrowded bleachers cheering and screaming like a crazy woman. She would be wearing his jersey, his number and last name printed neatly on her back, declaring to everyone that she had worth. She was dating a guy on the football team, goddamn it. She mattered.

She hadn’t expected to be sobbing on her floor with a bottle of expired rosé and eleven girls looking at her with concern.

Crystal had called them, Heidi was sure of it. She was the only one Heidi had told originally, after Widow and Dahlia of course. She hadn’t really meant to tell them, but they had overheard the fight that started it all.

Heidi had been minding her business. Making her way down to the art room, rather than her calculus class, as was her routine at this point because fuck math. Nothing Heidi wanted or would do in the future had anything to do with math. She had made that promise to herself a long time ago. Right after she had sworn that the first thing she would do in college would be to buy a jar of peanut butter and eat the entire container for breakfast.

That was beside the point. Heidi didn’t need math, and she definitely didn’t need calculus; she still wasn’t entirely convinced that anyone needed calculus. For all she knew it could be a damn government conspiracy. It sure sounded like it.

As she was wandering toward the art room, trying to reason out if calculus was indeed a scam created by the government, her attention was pulled by the sound of a familiar voice.

She thought she had imagined it at first because there was no sign of anyone else in the hallway, but a moment later she heard the voice again. It seemed to be coming from the janitor’s closet. She heard a decidedly female giggle a few moments later, and her curiosity got the better of her. Heidi was nosey, she admitted that openly, and she inched closer to the door, straining her ear for the voices.

She pressed her ear to the door after another loud chuckle could be heard through the strong wood. It was a boy and a girl, that much was clear, and if Heidi knew her peers, she knew what was about to go down.

As she pulled her ear away, something in the male’s voice caught her attention. There was that familiar upward lilt, and she could practically hear the smile in his words.

Heidi’s body made the connection before her mind did, because she had the sudden feeling she was going to be sick.

She threw the janitor’s closet door open to reveal her boyfriend of three months with a random girl in his lap.

Heidi didn’t give them a second to breathe before she started yelling. And she didn’t remember when or where they came from, but before Heidi could blink, Widow and Dahlia were on either side of her yelling at him too.

Jacob gave lame excuses and begged her to stay, but Heidi ignored his impassioned pleas and went to storm off. Instead, she found her face wet with tears and two strong bodies leading her down the hall.

Widow made sure the coast was clear before pulling Heidi into the bathroom. Dahlia started talking calmly to her, trying to get her to stop crying, while Widow dabbed at Heidi’s eyes with paper towels.

It only occurred to Heidi that she hadn’t properly spoken to either girl in nearly four years of high school.

She held up a hand to stop Widow, words coming out between sniffles. “Why y’all being so nice?”

Widow smiled lightly, knowingly, and shrugged. “We’ve all been there, sis.”

“Men fucking suck,” Dahlia chimed in.

Widow rolled her eyes. “Just cause you in love with someone else’s boyfriend doesn’t mean all men suck.”

“I didn’t mean Joe, you bitch.” Dahlia elbowed her friend in the side. “And I’m not in love with him.”

“Mhmm, sure you ain’t.” Widow shot a look at Heidi as if to say she totally is.

It made Heidi laugh. Louder than she meant to, sooner than she thought she would. Widow and Dahlia just smiled encouragingly at her and went back to helping her clean up and calm down.

Dahlia ran to her locker to grab her makeup bag and the three girls spent half an hour touching up their makeup, or in Heidi’s case, redoing it.

As the bell for lunch rang, Dahlia and Widow both gave hugs to Heidi and walked her over to the art room. Jackie and Crystal were talking quietly and abruptly stopped when the three girls entered.

Dahlia murmured something to Widow about needing to go and the two gave one last reassuring look to Heidi, as well as their phone numbers before leaving.

Crystal was all over her in seconds. “What happened? Are you okay? What’s going on? Have you been crying?”

Heidi just shook her head and said something about Jacob being an asshole and them breaking up. She didn’t want to get into the whole thing, embarrassed enough as it was. Jackie nodded her head sympathetically, but Crystal looked at her hard like she could tell there was more to the story.

Nicky entered a few moments later and the looks of concern and warning stopped her in her tracks.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Boy troubles,” Jackie answered simply.

Nicky walked over to Heidi and gave her a quick hug, before pulling back and addressing Jackie and Crystal. “Who do I need to kill?”

“Yeah, where did you say he lived again?” Jackie asked.

Crystal chimed in. “Drop the pin, girl, we just wanna talk.”

Heidi chuckled lightly and brushed off their concerns with a wave of her hand. “It’s fine. He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

“If I have anything to say about it, you’re damn right he will,” Nicky said, concerningly serious.

Heidi had no intention of telling anyone what really happened, but Crystal followed her after lunch and cornered her at her locker under the guise of making sure she was okay. Heidi told her the whole sordid story and how she had been suspicious for a little while but hadn’t wanted to say anything.

Crystal hugged her close and with a familiar sadness in her eyes, she assured Heidi that everything would be okay.

So now here Heidi was, with the entire neighborhood staring at her, unsure of what the next move was. If Heidi could stop crying enough to see, she would see the variety of people that had come to show their support. It was a verifiable breakfast club moment, with each school archetype represented in some capacity.

It was weird as all hell and the tension in the room only ratched up a notch when Crystal cleared her throat. “Okay so, umm, how about everybody sits down and we can talk about the plan.”

The group of girls lingered for a moment, before shuffling to find a place in Heidi’s small bedroom to sit or lay or stand.

“There’s a plan?” Widow asked, settling down on the bed next to Heidi and Jackie.

Crystal nodded firmly. “Yes, there’s a plan.”

“That’s news to me.” Widow turned to look down at Jan, who sat on the floor. She just shrugged. “Did you know there was a plan?”

“What kind of plan?” Gigi piped up.

“Is it illegal?” Rock asked nervously.

“Wait hold up what?” Jaida exclaimed. “Who said anything about illegal? I thought we were just havin’ a girl’s night.”

“Okay, everyone shut up!” Crystal called out over the many voices. The group of girls quieted down, and Crystal gave them a small grin before she turned to Nicky. “Can you bring that whiteboard over here?” She motioned to the portable whiteboard she had brought from home.

“She brought a whiteboard?” Jackie whispered to Aiden who rolled her eyes.

The girls gathered around, scooting forward to see Crystal in all her glory.

“Okay, so, thank you all for coming.” Crystal smiled politely at the group. She turned to the whiteboard and winced when the marker screeched out as she wrote. “Welcome to operation Jac-ass. I—”

“Wait when did we decide on that name?” Jan called out.

Brita seconded her. “Was there a vote? Did we miss the vote?”

“Why can’t we just call it Operation Revenge?” Jackie asked.

Jan shook her head. “That’s so boring.”

“Guys! Pay attention!” Crystal reprimanded. She took a deep breath in and out before continuing.“As you all know, that dipshit Jacob hurt our dear friend Heidi. He’s a cheating scumbag and he needs to pay.”

“I love a good revenge killing,” Nicky spoke quietly.

Jaida’s jaw dropped in shock. “Hold up, who said anything about killing?”

“Wait, you want us to murder him?” Rock asked incredulously.

“No! Guys! Pay attention!” Crystal sighed. “We’re going to pull some good old fashioned pranks on him. We’ll split up into smaller groups to cover more ground. Quite a few pranks I planned take place in his house so we need someone to distract him at the football game.”

Everyone turned to look at Dahlia.

“Oh, so I’m the bait?” Dahlia raised an eyebrow at the other girl’s looks. After a moment she shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Crystal smiled appreciatively, but Dahlia ignored her and started picking at her nail beds.

“So, we need a group to deface Jacob’s jersey in the school gym, a group to vandalize his car, a group to steal all but two remotes in his house, and a group to stay back with Heidi and work on destroying his character on social media.” Crystal smiled wickedly. “Then we’re all gonna egg his house.”

A few of the girls looked at Crystal in surprise, and while a few of them cheered, Jaida just looked around at them with concern.

“Hold up, you guys are just totally fine with this? Half of this shit is illegal.”

“It’s not that illegal,” Aiden defended.

“She fucking wrote ‘vandalize his car’ on the whiteboard,” Jaida argued.

“I think it serves him right,” Jan chimed in. “I’ll do the jersey one.”

Jaida rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s the least problematic one.”

Crystal nodded. “Okay, then Jan and Jaida you guys can go deface his jersey in the gym—”

“Wait, why only two of them?” Gigi interrupted.

For the first time that night, Crystal looked at Gigi. The tension in the room seemed to skyrocket the longer the two girls looked at each other.

“You can join them if you really want,” Crystal said, voice devoid of emotion.

Gigi nodded.

Crystal looked away and Heidi could tell she was mentally trying to regroup. “Ummm, Winona, you and Brita—”

“I’m good at the petty blocking and social media stuff,” Widow cut her off.

“Okay,” Crystal looked back at the group of girls, her groupings having been thrown off. “Brita, Jackie, and… Aiden, I guess, you guys can do the inside jobs.”

The three girls looked at each other strangely but nodded.

“Then that leaves Nicky and me to vandalize his car,” Crystal said, looking up at the group.

The nervous energy seemed to spike in the small bedroom as the silence took over. Each girl acutely aware that the present company was unusual for her, and yet none of them were as uncomfortable as they should be, all things considered.

“Alright team, let’s move.”

…

Jackie smiled hesitantly at her group.

It was strange.

Jackie only ever really hung out with one friend group at a time, so having them merge like this was… strange.

She and Aiden had a completely different relationship dynamic than she and Brita. Neither was more or less intense than the other, they were just different.

That was made evident when both Brita and Aiden tried to sit in her passenger seat.

They awkwardly offered it to each other for ten minutes until Aiden sat in the back.

Jackie waved to Nicky and Crystal as they passed before getting in and starting her own car. Heidi had told her where the spare key was and that was it. Jacob’s parents were out of town and Jackie, Brita, and Aiden were supposed to go into his house and steal some television remotes and get out.

The plan was for everyone to do their own separate tasks and meet back up at Jacob’s house to egg it. To do that, they needed eggs. Since Jackie’s group was already going to be at the house, they had the most time to run to the store. So as Jackie’s car hummed to life, she mentally mapped out the path to the nearest grocery store and waited for the other groups to head out.

Halfway into their journey, Aiden mentioned that they ought to do more.

“Listen, I’m just saying. He’s a shit head. He deserves a lot worse than a few missing remotes.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” Jackie asked.

Aiden shrugged. “Nair in his shampoo.”

“Jesus, Aiden,” Jackie exhaled harshly. “That’s insane.”

“No, I agree,” Brita chimed in.

“Brita!”

The cheerleader just shrugged. “Go big or go home, right?”

Jackie shook her head fiercely. “That could do like, permanent damage.”

“Oh, c’mon, it’ll just make his scalp itchy for a while, it won’t burn him irrevocably,” Aiden said.

“No! We aren’t doing that.”

Despite her protests, ten minutes later, Jackie found herself in the beauty aisle holding a carton of eggs in one hand and a bottle of Nair in the other. Aiden and Brita had disappeared in the store, fueling each other’s weirdly specific revenge fantasies.

The three girls met back up at the checkout line. Aiden and Brita each had three cartons of eggs, additionally, Aiden had a bag of Jolly Ranchers and a box of instant mashed potatoes.

Jackie didn’t ask.

The house was silent and dark when they approached. It looked normal. Completely and utterly boring and normal. Not like the scum of the earth lived there.

Jackie cut into the other two girls chatting animatedly in the backseat to point out that they did in fact have something to do and weren’t on a joyride. Brita’s cheeks heated up after the admonishment, but Aiden only rolled her eyes.

The three girls piled out of the car and walked up to the front door cautiously. Jackie worried her lip between her teeth as she lifted up the potted plant to find the spare key.

The house was empty, just as Heidi promised. It felt eerie with all the lights out, but Jackie pushed forward, scoping out the living room. Aiden and Brita followed in after her, whispering back and forth. Jackie heard something about shorting out the electricity and she stopped, whipping around to confront her teammates.

“Okay, so what the hell are you guys doing?”

Brita looked at Aiden for confirmation in the form of a nod. As soon as she got it, she launched into a rambly explanation about how she had watched this video on youtube about putting instant mashed potatoes in a yard and then spraying them with a hose. Apparently it was impossible to clean up. The same video also said something about licking and sticking Jolly Ranchers onto windows so that they shattered when you tried to pull them off.

Jackie’s stomach dropped. “You guys are talking about serious property damage here!” she almost yelled.

Brita nodded, oblivious as to why that would be an issue.

Aiden sighed. “Listen, he deserves it.”

“But his parents also live here.”

“They should have raised him better,” Aiden countered.

Jackie shook her head.“We don’t know all the facts.”

“We know enough.”

Jackie looked at her hard. “Why are you so hell-bent on this? Why are you so angry?”

Aiden blinked twice, clearly not expecting Jackie to have paid much attention to her. But Jackie knew. Aiden liked to pride herself on being a quiet observer, picking up on things most people would miss, but Jackie had learned a thing or two over the years. Aiden was pissed. She wasn’t showing it outwardly, but her hands had been clenching and unclenching into fists since she heard the story.

“It’s Heidi,” Aiden said simply. “I can’t stand the bitch most days, but…”

“You care about her,” Brita filled in the rest of her sentence.

Aiden nodded once, firmly, before looking both girls in the eye. “But if you tell her that, I’ll kill you both.”

Jackie shook her head, smiling. Brita just chuckled.

“Alright, fine. He sucks, Let’s fuck his shit up.”

…

Nicky smiled patiently as Crystal shoved her planning materials back into her bag, a strand of her red hair falling into her eyes as she bent over.

“You ready?” Crystal asked, turning to Nicky with a determined look.

Nicky just nodded and followed her outside. They each gave Heidi a hug as they headed to the door and Crystal whispered something that Nicky couldn’t make out before they left. It must have been important because Heidi held fast to her hands and whispered a response. Crystal just shook her head with a sad smile and turned back to Nicky.

They ran into the other girls in the driveway, Jackie and her group were bickering about something or other, but briefly waved before piling into Crystal’s tiny two-seater car.

Nicky would usually complain about how small the car was and how ridiculous she felt having to bend her model-like frame in half to fit inside, but she sensed Crystal’s nerves and bit her tongue on a smart remark.

Crystal started driving; they were the first ones headed out from the house and they drove in silence for all of about three seconds before Crystal snapped her head over to look at Nicky.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? It’s so quiet in here, should we listen to some music? You can put on some music so it’s not so quiet in here—”

“Crystal?” Nicky cut her off.

“Yeah?” Crystal exhaled.

“You haven’t ever done anything like this before,” Nicky said. There was no question in her words.

“No, and I’m kinda freaking out if you couldn’t tell.”

Nicky chuckled. “Oh, I could tell.”

“Well…” Crystal hinted, nervous energy in her voice causing a smile to spread across Nicky’s face.

“Well, what?”

“Say something encouraging! Or distract me! I’m freaking out here, I’ve never done anything illegal before,” Crystal worried.

Nicky smiled widely. “You’re cute when you’re stressed.”

It was dark, but Nicky could make out Crystal’s flush reaching her hairline.

“Did that help?” she asked teasingly.

“I-I… don’t know.”

Nicky chuckled and Crystal looked over to her with a smile on her face. “You gave us the easiest job,” Nicky said reassuringly. “All we have to do is slash his tires and spray paint a few bad words on his car. What could go wrong?”

“Don’t say that!” Crystal exclaimed. “You’re gonna jinx us!”

Nicky rolled her eyes. “It’s gonna be fine, you’ll see.”

They arrived at the school parking lot which, despite the team’s losing record, was heavily crowded. Only their school could lose every game and still draw such a crowd. Nicky counted them lucky though at that moment, seeing as the football team was so bad, the cheerleaders never had to attend any of their games. Which made this whole revenge plot a lot easier.

Nicky pulled out her phone and opened the group chat Crystal had made for all the girls. Heidi had sent a picture of what his car looked like, and the two girls spent a while going up and down the rows of cars before finding the vehicle in question.

Crystal parked her car and they hopped out. Nicky followed Crystal’s lead as she went around to open the trunk, pulling out a hefty looking duffle bag full of spray paint.

“I’m an art kid,” Crystal said by way of an explanation.

Nicky held up her hands. “I wasn’t gonna ask.”

Crystal threw the bag over her shoulder, a look of realization passed over her features as she moved to close the trunk. “Oh fuck.”

“What?”

Crystal’s hand went to worry her forehead. “I don’t have anything sharp to pop the tires with.”

Nicky held up a finger and rummaged around in her pockets for a few moments before coming back with a switchblade.

Crystal looked at her, mouth hanging open. “Nic, what the fuck?”

“What? It’s for self-defense.”

Crystal stared at her wide-eyed. “Have you done this before?”

“Oh, ma belle, too many times to count.”

Crystal just raised an eyebrow. “Lots of cheaters in France?”

“Lots of men in France.”

Crystal laughed, poorly concealing her nerves. Nicky reached over and squeezed her hand once for reassurance, ignoring the sudden increase in heart rate in favor of comforting her friend.

The two walked over to the car and Crystal paused. “So… should we—”

Nicky cut her off by pulling out the blade and stabbing it forcefully into one of the tires.

“Nicky!”

“You were taking too long!” she exclaimed.

Crystal just shook her head and started uncapping the spray paint. The hissing sound of the tires and the paint cans filled the anxious silence.

The whole ordeal took only about ten minutes. Nicky popped three of the four tires because apparently insurance only covered the damage for four. The words ‘cheater’ and ‘pig’ as well as a few other choice adjectives covered Jacob’s shiny new Lexus.

Crystal’s hands shook the entire time, and Nicky teased her lightly but ultimately ended up spray painting the rest of the vehicle. The two ran back to Crystal’s car, not that they needed to as the whole school was still focused on the game, but the adrenaline flowed hot through their veins and made them both giggle as they collapsed back into Crystal’s car.

Only after catching her breath did Nicky notice how close Crystal was. She admired the way the younger girl’s lips quirked up at the sides of her mouth and her eyes creased at the edges. Nicky could practically feel Crystal’s breaths against her cheek, and they were suddenly coming faster.

Crystal seemed to realize this at the same moment because she looked away and fumbled around for something. “I should probably text the group.”

Crystal pulled out her phone with shaky hands. Nicky didn’t back away, content to breathe in Crystal’s presence for as long as she could before the younger girl pulled away.

“Why didn’t you pair yourself up with Gigi?” Nicky asked before she could think better of it.

Crystal nearly dropped her phone. “Oh, y-you know. Can’t make it too obvious.”

Nicky raised one eyebrow skeptically. “Right.”

Crystal looked back down at her phone and bit her lip.

Nicky knew she had hit on something. The younger girl always seemed to get weirdly tense when she mentioned her crush on the cheerleader. And not in the embarrassed, nervous sort of way that she got when Nicky flirted with her. Crystal got… sad almost.

“Gigi was being so weird when Jan and Jaida paired up,” Nicky threw out, seeing if she could get Crystal to bite.

“Yeah, I guess,” Crystal shrugged, a bit too eager to change the subject.

Nicky pushed on.“Since that picture of them came out I thought it made sense for them to go together.” Crystal didn’t say anything, staring hard at her blank phone screen. “Are Jan and Jaida trying to keep on the down-low?”

“I don’t know!” Crystal snapped.

Nicky balked at this. “Sorry. Didn’t know it mattered that much to you.”

“No, I’m sorry. I just…” Crystal sighed. “Let’s not talk about them right now.”

Nicky nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Crystal turned the key and the car hummed to life. “The jersey group is done so we can head over to Jacob’s place now.”

“Cool.”

The sudden silence in the car was deafening.

…

Gigi breathed in and out slowly as she looked between Jan and Jaida.

This was fine. Everything was totally fine.

It’s just that the whole school was under the impression that Jan and Jaida were sleeping together when they weren’t, but Gigi couldn’t really come out and say that because that would expose the fact that Gigi was actually the one sleeping with Jaida.

But Jaida and Jan weren’t exactly trying to get rid of the rumors, having been seen hanging out during school hours. Not to mention during practice.

Jan had come back to school after a few days, pretended like everything was fine, her usual bubbly self back in full force. No one seemed to question it. And no one seemed to notice the extra attention given to the women’s varsity basketball team captain. Except for Gigi.

“So, um, do either of you have like, spray paint or something?” Jaida asked.

Jan perked up immediately and mentioned something about some prom committee mockups and how she had a whole bunch of paint left over.

“You would have a closet full of paint,” Jaida chuckled, sounding oddly comfortable in Jan’s presence.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the younger girl exclaimed.

“Oh, nothin’ Miss President.” Jaida shook her head with a smile.

Jan rolled her eyes fondly and bit at the corner of her mouth to hide her own smile, even going so far as to look down at the floor to avoid eye contact.

Gigi watched this whole interaction with a raised eyebrow.

“Cool, so we can just hop over to yours and head to school,” Gigi cut in.

Jan looked up quickly, almost like she had forgotten Gigi was there. “Yeah, sure.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jaida nodded.

The three girls said their goodbyes to Heidi and weaved through the other groups before walking the short distance across the street to Jan’s house. The student body president told them she’d only be a minute as she disappeared into the house.

Gigi turned to face Jaida who had her arms crossed and was looking anywhere but at her. The tension only grew when Gigi went to speak.

“Jaida—”

The older girl shook her head. “Nah, Princess. Not tonight,” Jaida wouldn’t even look at her, the pavement beneath their feet holding her attention.

Gigi scoffed. “You don’t even know what I was gonna say.”

Jaida raised her gaze and the look in her eyes made the few feet between them suddenly feel like miles. Jaida blinked at her once, twice, and shook her head. “Don’t need to.”

“Jaida—” Gigi cursed her voice for coming out desperate and clingy, though she knew it was the truth.

The basketball player just shook her head. “We talked about this, Princess.”

They hadn’t. Not really. Jaida had texted her the day after the picture leaked, said they should talk, but so much had happened since. They just hadn’t found time.

So no, they hadn’t talked, apart from the previous conversations where they promised not to fool around anymore, only to go back on that promise a few hours later.

Gigi wanted to say more, wanted to yell or scream, make herself heard. But she didn’t. She just looked at her feet.

And that was it. They waited in uncomfortable silence for another thirty seconds before Jan emerged, smiling proudly with three cans of spray paint.

Jaida led them over to her truck, opening the door and offering a hand to help each of the girls up. Gigi tried not to read too much into the fact that Jan was sitting in the passenger seat, while Gigi had been pushed to the back.

The car ride was relatively silent, at least on Gigi’s part. Jan and Jaida made comfortable small talk and laughed like old friends. Gigi did her best to ignore them, focusing instead on counting the streetlamps they passed.

The school building was dark, illuminated only by the stadium lights in the distance. Jaida pulled into her usual spot and hopped out to offer her hand again to help the girls down, this time, Gigi didn’t take it.

There was a flash of hurt on Jaida’s face, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

Jan seemed oblivious to their interaction as she approached the school, scoping out the building for any way inside. They were lucky the art room door was propped open, making their entrance to the school relatively easy. The dark, empty hallways filled Gigi’s chest with a weird feeling that she couldn’t altogether name. It was strange, seeing this place she had spent four years practically living out of, abandoned. She felt a weird sort of nostalgia take root in her stomach and she shook her head.

This night was bringing out all these… feelings in her that she’d rather not admit.

The three girls came to a stop in the middle of the gym, scanning the walls for Jacob’s last name.

Jan spotted it first, pointing to the far wall. “That’s his.”

The glass-enclosed jersey was high up on the wall, higher than Gigi had expected. There was no way, even with all their cheerleading prowess, and Jaida’s long legs, for them to deface the jersey from the ground. They needed something more.

“There’s a ladder outside the theatre,” Jan offered. “They’re doing some construction stuff with the stage I think.”

“I’ll go grab that.” Jaida said firmly, heading toward the gym doors. Gigi couldn’t help but think that she had volunteered in order to put as much distance between them as possible.

“Holler if you need help,” Jan called after her.

Jaida spun around and gave her a wink. “Will do, Miss President.”

Gigi waited until the sound of Jaida’s footsteps faded out before turning to look hard at Jan.

The older girl looked right back, before sighing. “What?”

Gigi did her best to school her features, only allowing one eyebrow to raise in suspicion.“What the fuck is going on with you two?”

“Nothing, we’ve just been talking,” Jan said unconvincingly.

“Mhmm, yeah that looks like just talking.” Gigi couldn’t help the bitterness from seeping into her words.

Jan’s head snapped up to meet Gigi’s eyes, something burned in her dark brown orbs, and Gigi almost gasped aloud at the sight. The sight of her friend truly angry was a rare occurrence.

“What the hell do you care?” Jan snapped. Regret flashed in her eyes a second later, but she stood firm in her words.

Gigi sighed, imploring Jan to listen. “I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

Something in her tone must have tipped Jan off because the older girl took a step back in shock. “W-we’re just friends. It’s not like that.”

Gigi knew. Of course, she knew. Jaida wasn’t like that. No matter how much she liked to portray herself as the cocky player type, she never could commit all the way. The prime example being how she always texted Gigi after they fucked to make sure she was okay. Jaida tried to be arrogant and cocky, but her eyes always gave her away.

“I know. Just… Be careful with her, okay?” God, why did her voice nearly break just then? Gigi needed to get it together, needed to get all these emotions clogging up her lungs to stop. She needed to be able to breathe again.

“Gigi, what—”

Jan was cut off by Jaida returning, ladder held tightly to her chest. Gigi didn’t notice the way Jaida’s muscles bulged out around the metal rungs of the ladder. Not at all.

They decided that Gigi should be the one to actually do the defacing, which was fine by her. Jaida and Jan held the ladder firmly in place as she ascended the steps. She did her best not to look down and focus only on the next step in front of her.

Gigi’s legs still shook.

She wrote ‘cheater’ in big letters over where his last name was and did her best rendition of a hand flipping the bird. Jan and Jaida teased her about messing up the number of fingers on a hand and Gigi let herself laugh a bit, the tension in her gut dissipating with each heave of her shoulders.

As Gigi descended the ladder still shaking, they heard footsteps. They exchanged a wide-eyed glance before booking it toward the gym doors that lead outside.

They heard the footsteps increase their pace, but didn’t look back until they had sprinted out to the parking lot.

They ducked behind Jaida’s truck just as the gym doors slammed open on their hinges. The footsteps resumed and began to walk up and down the rows of cars. Instinctively, Gigi reached her hand out towards Jaida. When her brain caught up with her, Gigi went to lower her hand, but Jaida grabbed it, squeezing it twice in reassurance.

Gigi’s heart jumped wildly in her chest at the gesture, and she didn’t have it in her to scold it.

The person following them must have given up, because the footsteps retreated a moment later. The three girls breathed out a collective sigh of relief, and if Jan noticed Gigi and Jaida’s fingers intertwined, she didn’t mention it.

They made sure the coast was clear before piling back into Jaida’s truck and texting the group chat. The sound of Jaida’s tires peeling out of the parking lot rang in Gigi’s head.

…

The moment everyone left the house, Heidi started crying. She couldn’t stop the tears and the sobs that wracked her small frame.

She felt a solid pair of arms wrap around her shoulders and hold her tightly. She buried her face into the mass of Rock’s cotton candy pink hair, sniffling as she heard whispered words of encouragement. Widow patted her back soothingly and typed away on her phone.

After an immeasurable amount of time, Rock pulled back to wipe Heidi’s tears away with the pads of her fingers. The older girl gave her a weak smile, which only made Heidi want to cry more.

Widow, sensing this, cut in and spoke in a calm but firm voice. “No, no more of that, we ain’t crying over no stupid boy.”

Heidi looked up at her through bleary eyes. Widow gave her a reassuring smile and took her hand. “Come with me.”

“What are we doing?” Heidi questioned.

Widow sat Heidi down at her mirror and started surveying her makeup products. “We…” She motioned Rock over. “Are doing a good ole fashion makeover.”

Rock squealed excitedly beside her, and however much Heidi was not in the mood for this, she sighed. What could it hurt?

Widow made to start picking up products, but after two minutes, Rock shooed her away, claiming that she could take care of this part. Widow backed off and sat on Heidi’s bed, connecting her phone to a portable speaker and blasting some feel-good music at the highest volume setting.

Rock hummed under her breath and Widow chimed in every five or so minutes with a compliment on how great Heidi looked. It was almost comfortable.

But something in Heidi was still nagging at her. Crystal’s words as she had exited the house, she had said, “I know from personal experience.” Heidi knew for a fact the only person Crystal had ever dated was Gigi. It suddenly made sense as to why she was taking this whole revenge planning so seriously.

Rock, oblivious to the cogs turning in Heidi’s head, smiled at her sadly as a single tear escaped the side of Heidi’s eye. She brushed it away quickly and kissed the top of her forehead before continuing on her blush. Heidi felt her heart take root in her chest and ache at the tenderness.

She needed to distract herself or she would start crying for a completely different reason. She turned to look at Widow who was looking down at her phone and typing wildly.

“What are you doing?” Heidi asked.

Widow looked up, a mischievous smile on her face. “Just signing Jacob up for the Scientology email subscription service. As well as about sixty others.” Heidi’s eyes went wide as Widow continued talking. “And I’ve hit up all his friends on the football team, called in a few of Dahlia’s favors, they’ll be waiting for him after the game tonight. They aren’t fond of cheaters.” It was Rock’s turn to look at Widow shocked. “Oh, and I may have set you up with seven or so different guys to rebound with, you can pick your favorite from the list.”

Heidi just stared at Widow, mouth hanging open in shock.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

Rock shook her head and chuckled before going back to add the finishing touches on Heidi’s makeup.

“Now we’ve got to pick out an outfit…” Widow said hopping off the bed.

Widow blew through her closet like a hurricane, throwing out dresses and skirts and shirts and pants and accessories. Rock, bless her, was scrambling about, picking up all the thrown clothing articles and putting them back in their proper place.

Widow finally stopped when she came to a pastel blue sundress. It was off the shoulder, covered in ruffles, with neat brown buttons lined up nicely down the middle of the dress. She held it up to Heidi’s confused glance, before sighing and throwing the dress at her.

“Let’s go, bitch, we got a photoshoot to do!” Widow exclaimed. “We gotta show him what he’s missin’” she said by way of an explanation.

Widow rushed Rock and Heidi, saying something about the lighting being off if they waited much longer. It was dark outside, so Heidi had no idea what she was on about, but she hurried anyway.

They piled into Widow’s car and sped off down the road.

It was then that Heidi noticed the massive camera bag in the passenger seat.

Widow admitted sheepishly that she was a bit of a photography geek, and would have joined the school newspaper if they hadn’t all been lame weirdos.

They stopped outside a local coffee shop. Then a grocery store. Then an elementary school. Then a gas station. Somehow, with only a camera and Rock’s phone flashlight, Widow managed to get hundreds of photos. She directed Heidi’s poses and bossed Rock around to get the best lighting angle. It ended up being a long endeavor and Heidi’s body ached after all the strange angles she had to hold. But in the same breath, she couldn’t help but smile at the lunacy of all of it. At one point she was sitting in a tipped-over shopping cart and looking directly up at the sky above her.

This was not at all how she envisioned her night going.

When Widow finally flipped the camera around to show Heidi the results, she nearly choked. Each and every photo looked like it belonged on the cover of a magazine. The high-quality image and the positioning of Heidi’s body had turned out looking downright professional.

Heidi just stared at the photos with wide eyes.

The longer she said nothing, the more Widow fidgeted. “These are just the raw ones, I can edit them to be whatever you want.”

Heidi just kept looking through them.

Widow’s voice tinged on anxious as she spoke next. “Sorry if I got a little carried away, I just thought about what would help me most if I were in your situation and I—”

“Thank you,” Heidi cut her off. She looked up to meet Widow’s eyes. “You got no idea how much this means.”

The anxiety faded from her face as Widow let a smile take over. “Yeah, ‘course.”

They were interrupted by Rock calling out their names. Heidi turned to see Rock holding her phone above her head. “It’s go time, ladies!”

…

As Widow’s car pulled up to the oh so familiar house, Heidi felt her stomach twist. This time it wasn’t in anger or guilt or fear. The sight of three other cars outside, as well as the crowd of girls gathering on the sidewalk in front of the house, filled Heidi’s chest with joy.

Widow put the car in park and Rock squeezed her hand, then before Heidi could blink, they were on the sidewalk in front of Jacob’s house. Had she not been surrounded on all sides by her friends she might have broken down, cried and screamed and yelled about how it wasn’t fair and how she had given everything to him.

But she wasn’t alone.

Jackie placed a gentle hand on her back and held out a carton of eggs. Heidi looked up at her and gave a smile. But before she did anything else, she pulled Crystal, who was watching her intensely, into a giant hug.

“Thank you,” Heidi whispered into her shoulder, attempting to convey her every emotion into those two syllables.

Crystal just nodded and squeezed her harder. “No problem.”

Heidi exhaled and turned back around to Jackie. She grabbed an egg, its smooth hard surface feeling firm in her hand.

She inhaled the past. Jacob’s sweet words, his dopey smile, the way he said her name, how he kissed her.

She exhaled.

And threw.

Before she knew it, eggs were breaking apart against the hard brick of the house from every direction. There were whoops and hollers and a general sense of catharsis.

Heidi looked on either side of her to see all the girls in her neighborhood getting in on the action, even quiet mannered Rock was chucking eggs like a sprinkler. Heidi couldn’t help but laugh. And laugh and laugh and laugh.

God, she was so fucking sad just a few hours ago, sure that her life as she knew it would be over, and now, surrounded on all sides by girls, most of whom she hadn’t spoken to in years, she had never felt more loved.

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aura-loveshine · 5 years ago

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Fringe-dweller’s true tales.

I looked up at the half moon, and thought “this will be the 5th full moon since you died”...

Three nights before you were so suddenly taken from the physical earth, you camped overlooking the beautiful large body of water. you explored the multifaceted countryside, you were always like a kid when it came to exploring. you would have honoured and felt connected with nature. you would have sat with a j and admired the full moon on Friday the 13th. it would have been so beautiful to see the full moon over the water, the reflection, the light bouncing off the rippling water and quartz crystal sparkly rockbed...

I hope those days spent at that campsite were healing, I hope you felt at peace, I hope you spent those days happy, content. I imagine you playing guitar and adventuring with our magic merlin dog, enjoying the wildlife, the peacefulness. I imagine you listening to the abc radio you loved and talking to the other campers, sharing your quirky unique self, making people laugh, or think. I imagine you satisfied to have achieved the long time goal to drive to the tip of Australia, from Cook Town to Cape York in your FWD. I imagine you had chocolate or something sweet even though you were running out of everything else.

I wonder if you dreamt those nights... I wonder if you had a feeling something was coming. I wonder about the last conversations you had with tribe. i wonder about where you thought the wind might take you next. I wonder if you actually were on your way to visit me... ill never know whether I/you/we could have done anything to change what happened... I can't believe after all the physical pain you endured through-out your 34 years, that you experienced pain in your last alert moments... I think about our dog being with you when it all happened...

I imagine you loving being omnipresent, exploring the universe in your cosmic pirate-ship with Xena, your beloved 17 year old dog. I'm not surprised she passed 12 days after you... I'm glad your both free of your aching sore physical bodies. You both lived so adventurously. you and Xena are the only ones I know that can say they lived in their vehicles/bus for over 11 years, driving over a million kms around and through Australia. I also don’t know anyone else that helped as many fringe-dwellers as you did, loved and supported so many beautiful women without trying to take it to a sexual level, who invited people to travel with you and see new incredible parts of Australia. you saved forests, educated people, changed Bunnings national policy, inspired people to live better and more freely, you lived more in your short life-time than anyone I know. you experienced pain, near death experience, limitation childhood abuse and death of loved ones and still managed to be the incredible being full of enthusiasm with an open heart and playful inquisitive nature.

I was relieved to hear you had been reconnecting with your mum and family. that our close friends had quality time with you before everything changed... I know you knew there was a high chance of you dying while on the road due to road death statistics... but all the justifications can't outweigh the heaviness of not being able to message you, call you, find out where you are now, what your building or what fascinating experience you’ve had recently.

You were the first and only male partner I have shared a ‘de facto’ type lovership with, having only been with women until you. you were so respectful, you were loving and gentle... travelling in a old coaster for 6 months with you living a true dream... you built us a bush shack in two weeks, you built us a bush palace in a month and a half, all while been technically ‘disabled’... you showed me sacred sites of Australia, you climbed into caves, swam in ocean with crocodiles a few kms away,, we ate dinner alone with Dick Smith in the desert, casually chatting. you introduced me to Robin Mutoid at Burn out, I loved sitting with you and Robin in the coaster watching you two light up talking about mad hatter genius building ideas... and plans to create an explosive pineapple grenade to the filming we were doing.

Some of my favourite memories of my life-time, have been with you. I cherish you, I cherish my photos of you, I'm relieved I didnt listen to you when you told me to stop taking photos and be in the moment, but now I can look at those memories when I need to see you. every time I see a old coaster van I'm going to think of you... so many things remind me of you... having merlin with me is the silver lining, I'm relieved she was safely found after 15 days of being missing in the bush. I'm relieved she's with me. but I wish I was instead bringing her back to you...

You led such an incredible life I hope to share your stories and pictures with the world. you inspired so many people while you were alive... and even after... thousands of people read about your death on social media and tv... the articles and posts used the photos I took of you. it was surreal to see you and our dog in articles, for what happened to be so publicised... for a tragedy so personal to be used as ‘grief porn’... I hope to use the publicity of it all to make change to the stretch of road. needs better signage, a lower speed, something! I can't get it out of my head that you were the 9th fatality out of 30 accidents in 31 years, within a 4km stretch of road... 9 fatalities is too many. 9 is the final number. you are the last one to be taken out there...

The bush fires started raging not long after you died... in a strange way, the fires seemed fitting in my state of grief. Our lives were all forever changed... I was forever changed. The fires burning for months. My grief, anger, shock and feeling of helplessness burning inside me for months. the sense of emergency through out the country, the sense of disaster within me.

It was all a bit much trying to deal with you dying, Xena dying, merlin being missing for 15 days and everything else that happened over the next 2 months as well the fires raging, rainforests burning, native wildlife in crisis, homes burning, people dying and the nation all in panic and smoke. Being 1500kms away from my forest home and family while the fires burned out of control less that 40kms away, with road blocks and potential fires in between. Trying to have your life celebration festivities while experiencing heavy rain, wind warnings and strained tumultuous emotions all round... thunder and hail while my mums saying she is taking all my valuables and art to a safe house coz the fires are getting closer, and they are prepping to have to evacuate with the dog, cat, ducks and chickens... luckily, it never came to that, the fires were contained 25kms away from our home, contained only 20kms away from my closest town, a well known beautiful alternative community.

A moment that will always bring a smile to my heart, was when I was finally driving home. Id had a really rough night, id been holding so much in, trying to just get through everything to get home, id started falling apart... we had just started driving, when we saw a small’ish’ dust devil. the ‘tornado hunter’ part in me instantly wanted to drive up the near by road to chase it. I held back, until I heard my friend say “we could throw some of him ashes into the dust devil”... and I zoomed up the road as quick as I could. although the little twister had gone out of reach, I trustfully threw some of your ashes towards it. my heart felt uplifted as I watched the ash catch, float up and dissolve toward the dust devil.

You weren't scared of dying, you lived actively seeking to push your own limits, always with a cheeky grin. but you always landed like a cat, you were always there, doing your thing... alive. you always came back... you would have heard about the fires and driven straight to help, you would have fought the fires like you had before. you would have used the experience as a way to further pursue actual change for the planet, would have been apart of the vocal community questioning how the government failed to protect and how we needed to have upheaval and revolution...

You drove so safely on the roads. I dont know what happened to the other driver, except that he was seemingly uninjured. was it actually an unfortunate accident? or did the driver lose control going around the corner at 130kms in a 100 zone....

Was it really ‘your time to go’? if I hadn't been to the crash site and dealt with all that I have, I might fantasise the idea that you pulled the ultimate fucked up prank, that your hiding out in your doomsday bunker, mischievously laughing at no one knowing your alive, being completely ‘offline’, plotting the moment to reveal yourself... to see you, hug you would be....

We separated as lovers 15 months before you died, as we had to go on seperate journeys, we had to become individuals again. we were both struggling with very different things, we had to salvage our friendship and love, to take a break, allow some time... and then... you died 7 hours away, on your way to my area... on your way to see me and Xena.. I can't help but feel I'm being punished somehow, question if I shouldn't have made you leave. you might still be alive... am I silly to dwell on thoughts like that? I thought we had more time.

All I can do is live passionately, continue to be inspired by you and cherish you and our time together, learn from my experiences, healing these wounds by living, by loving, by sharing truth, by having daily gratitude and celebrating the positive events and changes as they come.

I know, for a long time, I will count each passing full moon...

You will always be my gypsy pirate king.

Fly Free my Lover. I'll see you on the other side once again.

#writing #writeblr #original writing #angst #gypsy #pirate #king #bohemian #hippie #australia #bushfires #truth #car #death #aura loveshine #fringe dweller #love #activism #moon #inspiration

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bluerosesburnblue · 6 years ago

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Liz Liveblogs Bravely Second: Chapter 5, Part 1/2

The final stretch is here. Welcome to Chapter 5: This is Our Coup de Gravy!

I’m splitting Chapter 5 into two parts due to length. This part features an amazing climax boss, and is then followed up by the Sidequest Roundup, which ended up longer than I expected! We’ll resume with the plot next go around. I understand if anyone wants to skip this one, since it is mostly sidequests, but at least read the beginning because reveals abound and the plot starts to really kick into gear. No more messing around this time!

No introduction is needed. It’s time to end this before it begins. Let’s make sure the Kaiser rests in oblivion

“I deny you all” you know, Oblivion. Buddy. Synonyms exist. Try them sometime

Between the start of the scene and actually attempting the fight I started drinking some hard cider. So if the team members are siblings, I’m the tipsy extradimensional aunt at the reunion. Let’s punch Kaiser’s blond chinstrap beard in

Aw, damn. They switched Magnolia’s and Edea’s positions in my party. Muscle memory is gonna smack me down in this fight

Edea took out about half of Kaiser’s health in one full BP volley. Not so tough now, huh? Really should be buffing your defense, instead of the attack power of everyone on the field

Oh no. The magical domino mask that everyone seems to think hides your identity but really, REALLY doesn’t fell off

Kaiser is Yew’s missing big brother. I’ll... get into why that doesn’t surprise me in a minute

...that’s not the pronunciation I expected. Denys Geneolgia. I read the name as “Dennis.” Yew just pronounced it “Denny.” It’s... uhh... I can see why he went with “Oblivion,” even if it does make him sound like an edgy 13-year-old trying too hard

So. Yeah. One of the few things I was spoiled on was that Kaiser’s real name was “Denys Geneolgia,” and after Yōko’s prank with the Danzaburō illusion and the zoom-in on Kaiser’s prosthetic hand... I kinda figured he had to be Yew’s brother. I’m sure there was probably some foreshadowing that I missed, but I feel like I caught a fair amount of it

Fuck, I can’t believe Yew’s brother is the restaurant chain Denny’s

I can’t believe Denny just got arrested before he could give us exposition. That’s totally unexpected for a JRPG. Wow.

GOOD NEWS THOUGH. Tiz and Agnès are finally in the same room as each other. I... perhaps should not have made him a ghost knight for this reunion, but she’s seen him wear worse. It’s fine

AAAAAAHHHHHH that hug was so cute. “...You came for me!” HE SURE DID. ACROSS TIME. All for you, Agnès! Tiz will never let you down!

And from her perspective, Tiz is still in a coma. It’s like he came back to life miraculously just because she needed him

AND EDEA’S MADE IT A GROUP HUG. AHHHHHH. WHERE’S RINGABEL GET HIM IN HERE FOR THIS

Nevermind, Magnolia and Yew are joining in and that’s cuter. But still. We’re missing our sixth teammate, Ringabel~

Time to give Alternis, Braev, and Agnès the low down on the end layer, and how we sent player with the Bravely Second

Agnès can actually remember parts of it because she’s also synced up to the hourglass, but since she didn’t travel through time with the party, it’s more of a dreamlike recollection

One last job. Kaiser’s in jail, but his soldiers aren’t. We need to take them down and extract or destroy the Ba’al locked in Skyhold. But this time, we complete the ceremony and join the Orthodoxy and Duchy. Two forces once at war with each other, now at each other’s backs to save the world

Ag... Agnès maybe don’t base your speech on events that now no longer happen because I changed the past?

Apparently there was quite a bit of time looping for her. She was whisked away to the edge of time “over and over” again? Was that the result of being in a timeless space, or is she referring to various new games on the cartridge, of which there are none because I only have the one (now two due to New Game+), so...

This speech almost doesn’t work because they don’t make the player go through several meaningless loops this time, so even from a meta perspective, she was only kidnapped once. So unless Agnès has lived through save files I never made, I don’t know what she’s going on about

Didn’t take the Empire long to bust Denny out of prison

Altair didn’t even help with Anne’s bestiary entry! Why couldn’t it have been written without him?!

...glad the chest key for blue chests was just sitting out on the floor of the church there

Yeah, of course it was Janne and Nikolai who broke him out. We can’t have pancake night without Denny’s!

“Does the name Jerome Balestra mean anything to you!?” Janne... Janne you fucking idiot. Mook #4 didn’t kill your dad. None of these guys know what you’re talking about. But no, kill them. Fine. You useless brat

I DON’T THINK THESE GUYS, SPECIFICALLY, KILLED YOUR DAD, JANNE! They all look the same! How can you tell?!?!?!?

You. Are. SUCH a child. Get over yourself

Nikolai should not be that acrobatic

Oh good. Bella and Cú are back. Hey, Bella, is it awkward that Yew’s rocking your getup right now? It is, right?

Denys, why are you enabling the use of “coup de gravy”? No self respecting older sibling would let him get away without some serious teasing for something so cringey. I’m an oldest sibling. I’m speaking from experience here

After Bella’s speech, I can’t tell if the Empire is just Denys accidentally adopting people who need help, or a cult

Bella mentions crimes against “her sister.” She’s a “Dark Vestal” with black hair and seems to give prophecies of doom. Is Sylvie her sister? Did Bella do something to make her mute? Sylvie was one of the big mysteries from last “arc” that never got answered, so I’m hoping for payoff here in some fashion

Not even a moment to breathe (or save). Time to battle Bella and Cú once more!

Okay, so Bella’s sister was killed on the night Eternia was founded, by the “witch” who began the Plague, mentioned in the last game. Seems that may have been started by the Crystalguard

She tried to revive her sister, much as Geist tried to revive his son. But all she made were monsters. And Cú, whose resurrection she messed up. But none of them were Donna. (So, not Sylvie. Should’ve just given her a minute to monologue). She named her doll after her sister

Cú wasn’t even technically resurrected. He’s just a statue that she managed to animate

My Spirit Magic is so much stronger than Bella’s at this point it’s comical

Cú. You’re using up Edea’s special. Hurry this monologue up

Dammit Cú. I had Critical up by 300%. Thanks for wasting that

We spared them. Of course we did! This is the Best Timeline™, guys! No one dies, no one gets to economically ruin a nation!

Yew’s determined to show Denys’s people that the word can change so long as people are willing to work for it. Stop living in the past and wishing you could undo mistakes. Time to start working for a better future. And I can’t think of anyone better to show them than Agnès

“We can’t risk her Holiness...!” Othar, Agnès killed Ouroboros, the Devourer of Worlds. I think she can handle Sad Bella and her horse man without her useless bodyguards

I like Cú. He’s a man... horse of honor

And Agnès let Bella keep Donna, her doll. So sweet

Oh just let me save the game already!

We called in Braev, Alternis, Norzen, Kamiizumi, Goodman, and Lotus to hear our story. Lotus... has no idea who we are, unless we either called him from Sagitta and told him offscreen, or he somehow also had his memories hooked up to the Second

At least Norzen won’t arbitrarily attempt to kill us this timeline

Eisen and Eternia are teaming up to make sure Agnès can’t be kidnapped to use to awaken the Crystals

Magnolia’s got a plan to take the Skyhold. “Lord Arima and Sakura remember you well. Together, we’ve been preparing for this day.” Is this Kingdom Hearts logic, where all memories are connected, so as long as we remember the last timeline, so does everyone we befriended? Who, exactly, was memory synced to the hourglass?

...is it me? It uses the player’s SP, so as long as I remember the events of the story, so do they? Lucky for you guys I’ve been doing a liveblog, huh?

...that’s actually gonna suck if the sidequests remember Bad Timeline events, because now it’s a betrayal

Agnès has given everyone pendant pieces, so we’ve got a group call with the team now

“Take back the compass”? I don’t believe they’ve stolen it yet, Magnolia

Thank GOD. I can finally save and take a break

Denny’s got the team together to recoup after having his little brother time travel just to punch his face in. Understandable

He does genuinely seem to care about his underlings, so I’m pretty sure “savior of the lost” is the kind of person we’re dealing with here

“They went down fighting for the cause.” Janne, stop. They’re not dead. Best Timeline™

So Denys, Nikolai, and Janne all remember the past timeline, too. Who... who does and does not remember? Someone needs to get me a comprehensive list. Alternis may or may not get super pissed that I intend to “betray” the orphans this go around if he remembers

I like the fact that the villains in this game are as perceptive as they are. “If we remember, then I’m sure they do, too. No element of surprise with our plans, so we need a change of course”

“My friend...” Denys is the same as Yew. He adopts people. The empire is to him what the party has become to his brother: a second family to make up for the one they botched

They’re sending Geist to claim the compass instead of Minette this time. If the catsassin ain’t a secret, may as well go with our strongest operatives

New Game+ means both New Enemies+ and all sidequests from past chapters are open, so let’s go clear out some Catmancy skills, then fix the mess I made of the last timeline and see if I like the quests any better when I like the ending. We’re leaving the Bestiary until I get the Yōkai job’s Obliterate skill to make it easier on me

I’m gonna take the quests in order of appearance, so first up is Jackal vs. deRosa, where we side with Jackal instead of letting deRosa maybe accidentally start a Cold War for the sake of making some kid happy about his thesis project

Okay, they did exactly what I was hoping they would when I realized that everyone retained their memories. Event scenes are heavily abridged, but it seems like only the party remembers everything. So they go “hey, is this what’s happening? Okay, we can help let us fix this.” instead of having the situation explained. That’ll make it easy to collect the rest of the jobs

deRosa may remember. He knew everyone’s noodle orders, but doesn’t seem like he remembers anything about the Wellspring Gem. So... I dunno

Also, WHY DID YOU TELL HIM. You know it just causes a fight with Jackal!

“For every five years our research is delayed, the world suffers a decade of sorrow...” Okay, kid. Stop being dramatic. Your thesis project is not some high-end deal and not worth destroying at least one, maybe several towns over. He isn’t even a high ranking Al-Khampis student. Sorry, dumbass, I’m not letting you make a fantasy nuke

At least he’s got his heart in the right place. He’s gonna find a solution that doesn’t need the Gem, so that everyone benefits and they don’t have to destroy a city to do it. G... good job? You should’ve considered that from the start

Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s find Gho Gettar and slyly whisper to him that there MAY be an owl-man hanging out in the Northeast of Eternia that MAY have what he’s looking for ;)

Weird that the Gho sidequest starts up with meeting him and Mephilia in the woods to deliver Kamiizumi’s letter when the event we got the letter from didn’t happen in this timeline. Maybe he handed it off to us during the big peace talks in Gathelatio?

I’ve been listening to Critical Role too much, because when I heard the voiceover for Kamiizumi’s letter, I couldn’t picture the character, just Liam O’Brien’s goofy smile

Follow your dreams, Gho. I promise, Amaterasu is just a (very long) boat ride away

Kamiizumi thinks we’re being naive, because being a low-ranking worker isn’t anything shameful, and we’re encouraging Gho to be a quitter. And I agree, yeah, there’s nothing wrong with being a labor worker. BUT! It’s also not for everyone. Some people are AMAZING at those kinds of jobs, and some people shine in other areas. I don’t see Gho shining as a factory worker. I just see it crushing his spirit. And his sense of dedication is not an issue, because he is putting in just as much effort into summoning Amaterasu as he did working in that factory, but the summoning work makes him happier. He’s no less a hard worker for focusing his efforts on a strenuous process that makes him happy than one he doesn’t care about

“You counsel a guileless youth, still ignorant of the world, to throw up his hands at the first hint of hardship.” But we aren’t, though. You think there are no hardships on the path to his dream? That it won’t be difficult? No, we just refocused his efforts on something he cares about. He’ll struggle through just as many hardships, but with this he’ll want to go through them, want to make it through because they’ll be for something he’s passionate about. He’ll actually have the motivation to get through those hardships, and he’ll be more pleased with the results. Sorry, Kamiizumi. Just because it’s not for a job you particularly find tasteful doesn’t mean he’s not working just as hard. Maybe even harder, since he’ll be more excited to do it

The Kamiizumi fight is much easier once you remember that your Hawkeye has the Condor ability that can pierce default

And this is what I’m talking about. Gho is getting frustrated that he still can’t summon Amaterasu, he’s putting in so much effort, but now it’s for something he’s passionate about. It might not be as fast as he accomplished something of note as he did in the vs. Mephilia ending, but he’s accomplishing just as much, and I’m proud of him. Sometimes it takes just a little longer to do something truly great, as opposed to just something good

Oh, wow, I forgot about Sage Yulyana. Not his existence, but the fact that he hasn’t been relevant to this game. We still haven’t been to the Yulyana region

According to Mephilia he fought a Ba’al about a year ago, told her about Amaterasu and one other summon (Susano-o, the one she was searching for last game, or Charybdis, the other new one from this game?) and then either left this world to hunt down the Ba’al... or just died. Honestly, either would be pretty in-keeping with the good old sage. Just as well we probably won’t be seeing him, though; I only ever used Conjurer for Obliterate

Yeah, I’m happier having Gho follow his dreams than slave away at a job he hates, even if he managed to make that job more efficient. I’ve got faith he can do just as much, if not more good like this

Well, on to the next... oh. Oh god no not Holly vs. Profiteur again oh good lord come on, let’s try to stop this economic disaster before a child gets lost in the freaking mines again

Huh. This timeline they’re all just... talking it over like mature, responsible adults. And while Profiteur is going to make sure his economic argument is sound, Holly is... going to gorge herself in Heartschild. Great. Just go to Barras in Florem and leave the rest of us alone, you loon

And even the girl is more sympathetic. She still wants to stay, but she’s scared of her granddad having to go out and fish on the open water every day if they do stay there. And, kid, I got wrecked by a Monoceros out there and this party is TRAINED to fight, that is a very good fear to have

Oh thank GOD it’s not making me chase Profiteur down again

Greater good! GREATER. GOOD!

Oh, cool, Holly’s fucking drunk. Really making a good argument for yourself there, hon

Profiteur’s plans will “only help the few?” How so? Seems to me a flourishing economy benefits EVERYONE. Besides, I’d rather side with someone taking the situation seriously than one drunk madwoman

I’m almost happy that they made Holly so unsympathetic this go-around

But... now the kid’s back to being a brat. She’s throwing a tantrum because she doesn’t want the house sold. Too fucking bad? How many kids do you think would end up homeless if they didn’t sell? I don’t think an eight-year-old should be making the financial decisions in this family. They’re not good big-picture thinkers

Also, no need to be so hostile to Profiteur, Edea! Holly’s feelings aren’t the benchmark of morality, either!

I still have so many problems with the way this quest is written, as though the conflict is modest-but-happy lifestyle vs. lavish-but-empty lifestyle, when it’s really a needs of the many vs. needs of the few scenario. As though someone being sad is a decent argument for a large decision like this. As though kids are good at making rational decisions. Sometimes families move, sometimes things change, and it’s hard and sad and difficult to adapt to, but you need to. And this opens up so many possibilities for her that she can’t even see yet. Better schooling, a better home, good jobs, heck, she’ll be able to spend even more time with her grandpa if he doesn’t have to work all the time to get her food!

The one thing this quest has going for it is that I totally buy Profiteur’s redemption from the last game. He’s still a moneygrubber, but he’s a moneygrubber who’s genuinely looking to open up some honest jobs and help a country out

“You can trust in Erutus Profiteur! If you think I am taking too long [making this country a better place], you may come to blast me away at anytime!” God speed, good sir. He sounds so excited to make this work, and I’m glad to make it happen

Sidequest still wan’t great, but much more bearable than the first time. A kid didn’t even have to almost die this time around!

Well, now it’s time to go get stuck in Grapp Keep. If we were smart, we’d tell everyone to get out before the place collapsed, but then we wouldn’t have a conflict? Oh well. Let’s go kick Ominas and his baby dragon’s asses

I don’t foresee that fight being a problem, since I have Magnolia as an Astrologian with Elemental Barrier

...at least Edea tried to avoid slamming into that guy this time

The saga of Magnolia’s cooking continues. Seems she’s gotten to be a much better chef

Oh god it just hit me. The Edea punching the wall scene happened again. We caused the damn cave-in

And they tried to warn them of the cave-in, but we still got trapped. But of course

And Artemia and Ominas definitely don’t remember the last timeline. This time, though, we’ve told Risotto’s father to form a rescue party in advance. No worry about a search party not showing up. Now we have even less reason to side with Ominas! Food for everyone! Femto Flare later, when not under threat of hunger

Ominas, dude, just learn Femto Flare when we get out of here. World isn’t screwed because a tiny dragon didn’t learn it this second. Besides, the way this is going, it ain’t gonna matter much this timeline, anyway

Man, that is such a nothing quest. No real stakes, no real emotional involvement. Nothing. Cool. Moving on

...why does the Bestiary make it sound like Bahamut is dead when the actual epilogue says he’s fine?

Kikyo vs. Heinkel was enjoyable. Let’s hope it is again, yeah?

I like the premise of “oh we already know who did it, let’s set up a trap to catch the culprit”

And they aren’t even pretending it wasn’t Whitson. Hell, Edea’s blatantly guilting him, without actually saying his name

Let’s get Sholmes in on the police force. He needs to learn a little temperance. His big problem is jumping the gun with his intuitive responses. Putting him in a position that encourages him to think more logically and put together better evidence for his reasoning can only benefit him. Intuition is best used when you understand why you’re having that gut reaction in the first place, and it’s not the only thing that makes a good investigator

Kikyo’s still an annoying fight what with her constant evading and Transience skill, but Ninja was one of my top classes last game so it’s good to have it back

Yes, yes, we know what the truth of this incident was. I don’t need to hear it again, game

And you know, I’m liking this new, mature Sholmes. Good. I’m glad he’s finally wising up

Still a decent quest, I just almost wish the stakes were higher. ...then again, this game has proven that higher stakes in these quests tends to lead to higher stupidity from Edea, so maybe it’s for the best this stays low-scale

Who feels like opening up the first co-ed school in Florem. I do! Equality of the sexes!

Straight to the fight! This one was pretty straightforward

A co-ed school with optional enrollment is moving too fast? Really Einheria? Shut the fuck up. Both of your sisters are smarter than you right now, and one’s a psycho summoner and the other grew up in the woods

I just Summoned a Friend. He named his attack “Shot thru the <3″ and had Yew’s finishing line be “You’re to blame.” What a freaking legend

Oh no Rhea’s crying. What a shame

Einheria can’t even remember her name while proclaiming her loyalty to her. God, how could you forget a name like Rhea Veeling

And Swetti’s crush is still a thing. Great

Barras has licenses to teach various forms of martial arts and 22 fields of medicine? Dude, hey, go down to Eisen, find your drunk girlfriend, and go settle down yeah? Keep her out of trouble because you’re clearly the responsible one in this relationship

Eugh. Rhea’s Bestiary entry says she only joined the Bloodrose Legion after they ruined Florem, and her whole “making up for the sins of the past” shtick was an act to get the teaching job. Wow. Fuck her, glad this is Best Timeline ending

“Regardless, she is probably the most rational of the three Venus sister...” Not in this scenario, Tiz. Not at all

Back to Florem to respect the wishes of a deceased artist. Arca Pellar’s song will see the light of day. And then eventually Praline can remix it, but I don’t think she’s gonna have the patience to, honestly

So Pellar... remembers the last timeline? But Praline and Barbarossa don’t? What... why??? What are the rules for cross-timeline memory!?

At least it doesn’t seem like we have to trek through the Witherwood again. Good

And our plan is scream our answer into a microphone so that Praline and Barbarossa hear it and the loser challenges us to a fight. We’re just provoking the boss at this point! Why???

*mic voice* FUCK PRALINE. SHE AIN’T SHIT

I still can’t hear her over her background music

“Why not recreate that song as something people today will be able to enjoy?” Why not make your own freaking song!? There’s market for both genres! It’s not like the freaking Beatles are any less popular because their stuff’s old, you know?

Praline I am far too cynical to fall for false tears. I didn’t even cave to a child’s real tears. You think that’s gonna stop me?

Oh lord her awful song’s the boss music. You know, I like Jpop every once in a while. It’s a decent genre! This... this is not a good song

See? Barbarossa just handed Praline a commission to do a song for them. It... was for Arca’s song, though, invalidating everything I’ve done. At least this time the sailors are working with her to keep true to the original spirit of the song

Well, that totally invalidated my entire choice, but at least everyone’s happy?

The Bestiary has a few interesting tidbits. Rabbits are sacred on the moon (because this game was made in Japan, of course they are), Praline has been lying about being 17 for a long freaking time, and Nikolai was apparently a fan. I... Nikolai, buddy, really? Never would’ve thought

Time for one last diversion: solving the economic crisis of Grandship. Alternis may have his heart in the right place, but his clouded judgement will wreck Grandship in the long run. Let make the Best Timeline one worth living in, where everyone’s happy

It just occurred to me that there’s over 30 Jobs. That’s nuts

Just heading straight to the council meeting, huh? Just as well, we already know who we’re here to support. Though I wouldn’t have objected to hanging out with Datz, Zatz, Alternis, and the Proprietress for lunch again

(Also, side note: The salted caramel tea I’m drinking right now is ~amaaaaaazing~. I’m not even really a salted caramel person. Bigelow teas are a gift to this earth. Alternis is gonna get a beating while I sip tea dramatically)

Shoot. The elevator’s still locked. Guess I’m dungeon running with encounters off again. Teeeeediuuuuum~

(I get the point is probably new encounters but: I don’t have Obliterate yet and I’m still overleveled. So!)

We aren’t abandoning the orphans, you overdramatic dork!

Wow. That might be the first boss I’ve lost to.

Alternis, you’re proposing now!? In the middle of combat over the economic security of orphans!? Learn some tact, doofus!

Minus Strike is complete bullshit when Alternis has 100x the max health we do. That’s just an instant kill

And Khamer seems really devoted to helping the poor despite all this. “Maybe we can have our cake and eat it, too.” Yeah, I like it!

Oh, sure, cut to starving orphans to make me feel bad

Oh, I love the Proprietress. Now that people have money to spend, they’re spending it on helping the poor! And the kids are being offered an apprenticeship and schooling! Exactly how it should be. I was worried they were gonna vilify my choice for a second there

I forgot Edea was only 18. These kids really are all younger than me

Ah, that’s cute. Magnolia wonders how terrifying Alternis’s face must be in the Bestiary and Edea can only reply with “...” Yeah, mmmhmm. Good response to the pretty-boy pompadour guy

Thank God those are over. I love this game, but that was basically an hours-long boss rush. Most of those were a bit more tolerable than the Bad Timeline runs, but I still don’t think they were written well. The flaw is in the fundamental conflict setup... but I think I’ve talked enough about my problems with them in previous entries, so let’s make like a New Timeline and cut the chit chat because we already know what’s up

I’ve finally escaped Morality Sidequest Hell. Now, there’s at least two more sidequests in the game, but I have high hopes for them. Mostly because they won’t be confined to the Choice structure that all of the others have been stuck in which means: 1. no moralizing (probably) and 2. development for party members other than Edea, because the Tiz, Yew, and Magnolia might as well have not been there at all for all they contributed to these quests

Wow, that ended up being way longer than expected. I was hoping to get right into the story this liveblog, but I guess that’s not gonna happen. Well, check back next time when I go race Geist to the spacetime compass. He... unfortunately has a good headstart considering I just did eight sidequests, but now the whole party’s level 60 and ready to go! He doesn’t stand a... geist of a chance

#bravely default #bravely second #liz liveblogs bravely second #woooooooo that was a long string of fights #but with that out of the way part 2 should be a breeze #i want to beat this game this month #so let's shoot for a halloween finale

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kpop-melody · 7 years ago

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BTS reaction to their GF being a crybaby

Anonymous said :

HI! Can i request? If so, can i request bts reaction to their girlfriend being a cry baby? + a short scenario pls! Thank you! (((-: <3

Hi cutie~thanks for requesting ! .. here’s your requested reaction and I hope you like it >< .

Jin :

As a young girl ,one of your dreams was to learn how to drive .. and your boyfriend Jin was there to stand by and help you to get your driving license .As your hands were holding the steering wheel with nervous ,you hoped that time not to make a disaster and hit someone .. or something .You could feel how your body was super taut as the wheel began to be slippery because of your sweaty palms .

“Y/N .. try to relax !” Jin said ..smiling with admiring eyes .

“Ohhh ..say is easier than deed !” you said as your eyes were locked on the gas pedal ,so concentrated on it ,so you weren’t even looking at the road in front of you ..till Jin raised up his voice and shouted out your name .

“Y/N …WATCH OUT !” Jin’s shout blew your mind as your leg moved automatically to the breaks ,and stopped the car ,which made both of you rush forward roughly .

“you were about to run over the cat !” he sighed .

Just by staring in front of you ,your brain was off as you couldn’t find a way out of this situation but crying ,your eyes started tearing up with no control ,as his shout was repeated over and over again in your head ,and you could clearly see the scene again in front of your eyes .But the only thing that made you take a big breath to start sobbing is Jin calling you ten times before grabbing you to his chest ,patting on your head and saying :

“Shshsh ..it’s ok ..nothing happened ..everything is find ..calm down !”.

Suga :

You knew he was cold , savage .. mean ,and you knew too that he was that warm to care about you and never showing it ,but unfortunately ..sometimes you were forgetting that he never meant his jokes ,and he says them just to annoy you .

“Baby .. what do you think ?” you said ..as you walked out of your room ,wearing a new dress to show .

“ oh ,nice ..” he said after taking a fast glance and locking his eyes back on the screen .

“What ? ..do I look that awful ?” you pouted .

“You want my real opinion ?” he raised up his eyebrow ,so you shake your head ,not that ready to hear a rough comment .

“I think you gained some weight lately “ he scanned you from head to toes ..then back to the screen .Yes you knew he was going to comment with a bad joke but you couldn’t hold back your tears ..and began to sob loudly .As he rolled his eyes and bite his lower lip ,Yoongi ran to you and hugged you tightly, then looked deep in your eyes .. wiping up your tears .

“How can’t you not to get used to my jokes ? .. I’m sorry ..and you know something ? ..you look amazing !” .

Rap Monster :

Dating Namjoon meant to be prepared for any surprising accidents ,any sudden falls ..and any unwanted scratches .One day ,you received a call from him ,as he wanted to cancel the date due to an important thing happened .

"important ? ..you usually - ..you usually say what happened ..but- .. but- ..did I do something wrong ?" you said as you imagined him breaking up with you ,just remembering that all your friends suffered from a cold boyfriend before breaking up ,and now your love canceled a date ? .. that must be the end (or that's just what your mind told you! ) .

"ohh no babe .. I just broke my ankle while dancing .. and the doctor said not to move for a couple of days .." he said with a nervous tone .

"you- ..you what ?" with a shaky voice you said ,trying to take a breath and realize what he just said ,maybe because you couldn't wash away the idea of breaking up ,and now he just broke his ankle ? . Your sobs were able to be heard by the other side as you said :

"are- .. are you ok ?" ..he let out a confused short laugh .

"babe .. why are you crying now ? ..yes I'm ok ,but really ..there's no need for crying now ! .."

"you broke your ankle ! " ..you said as the tears showered your face ,yes .. you lost control of yourself .

"ohh you are a real pure cutie ..what about you come to the dorm and cuddle with me ? " he said ,trying to calm you down .

J-hope :

Your face was covered by your hands ,taking fast glances from time to time ,so you won't get a heart attack all of a sudden .You and Hoseok planned to be courage for one night and watch the new horror movie everybody watched but both of you ,he was next to you ..biting his lip as he held the bowl of popcorn near his face ,to cover it whenever a surprising scene showed up .

"ho- .. honey .. what about we play another movie instead ? " you said as you looked at him ,catching a chance not to look at the screen .He nodded with a pout on his face ,the background music of the scene was frightening enough to let him lock his eyes on the T.V and wait till he get shocked ..and it didn't stand for so long till he screamed and threw the bowl on the glassy table which broke it .The sudden crush sound and his fearful behavior scared you to the death ,your screams were louder than his as you buried your face in his chest and held his shirt tightly ,panicked enough to start crying so hard .He didn't move for a while till he realized what just happened ,turned off the movie and hugged your head ,kissing it many times .

"ohh ..we- .. we should never watch this again ,it was a stupid decision .. " he wasn't less scared than you ,because in situations like these ,he could be a crybaby too ! .

Jimin :

You lied your head on his shoulder ,both of you buried you bodies under one blanket ,on one sofa .It was a usual Thursday night ,you used to name it (the movies night ) cuz you are used to ! .That night ,you chose a casual romantic movie ,and you both were taken by every event in it ! .Until ,the actor broke up with his girlfriend in the most heartless way ,and as a sensitive person you are ,your imagination played with you ,thinking when this perfect lover would break up with you .You felt a sudden heartbreak ,blocked you from breathing as an emotional wave was sent into your body which made you start crying silently .

"Y/n ? ..are you ok ?" he paused the movie .

"yeh .." you wiped your tears ,but that didn't stop your brain from repeating that scene over and over again .

"no you are not ..tell me ! " he looked deeply in your eyes .

"I know I would sound silly ,but will you ever break up with my like- ..like this ?" Your sobs became higher and higher .

"ohh ,you ARE silly ! ..come here ..I'll never leave you " he smiled ,kissed your forehead and pulled you into a warm hug .

V :

A baby Tae is a baby Tae ,and his pranks are endless ! .For the new joke ,he planned to make you afraid ,so he bought a fake jewelry similar to that one your late grandma had and broke it ! .As you were washing the dishes he stood out of the kitchen door and held the broken glass in his hands .

"I'm sorry ,I didn't mean to ! " he acted professionally ,as the regret mask covered his face .

"ohh babe ..what happened ?" you dried your hands and went straight to him ,too look with shocked eyes at the shiny purple broken crystal .

"ohh my God ! ..why ?" you held the peaces and started sobbing super hard .

"ohh she would be super angry up there ! " he waited a minute before putting the real necklace on the fake one .

"don't lie .. I got you this time ! " he said with a boxy smile and loud giggles .You kept staring before starting all over again ,but this time cursing him with tears all over your face .He looked with wondering eyes as you made your way toward your room .

"she overreacted ! ..how am I supposed to make it up now ? " he pouted as he planned to let you calm down before apologizing .

Jungkook :

Jungkook stared at you in utter confusion as you cried over the death of your Sim character. He chuckled to himself as you begun to whine about it, how could you cry over something so simple was a mystery to him.

"Can you believe that she died?" You turned to him and he froze, he hoped he was about to say the right thing .

"No, I can't" he would creep out of the room laughing to shelf hoping that you would eventually stop crying .

GIFs are not mine .

Requests : closed !

thanks Admin A >< .

-Admin K .

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bapyess1r · 6 years ago

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Sum’n Bitch: pt 9

|June...|

It was my 20th birthday. However, granted all my birthdays sucked in one form or another, this one seemed to be considerably the worst. Sure I graduated with honors and all that. I put in a few applications just to see if I’d even get in to some schools. I got into three: Princeton, Stanford, and UCSB. My father was excited for me and so was Dean. My graduation party consisted of him, my father, and Dean. Literally the only people I ever talked to while I lived in Lawrence. My dad baked a cake for me in the kitchen while John cooked a few burgers on the grill in our backyard outside. Dean made a few Throughout the year, not only did I grow as a scholar but I grew as a witch as well. Dean was teaching me more and more and I studied more and more. I was powerful enough to be Matilda by now. It wasn’t Hermione Granger stat or anything but it was enough to have fun with. On this day, I was extremely melancholic. After the party, I caught my father looking at old pictures of me with my mother. My birth mother was the love of his life. He’d been struggling to keep his heart happy since she passed. According to him, I’m a lot like her. I figured having me around wasn’t as easy as he made it to be. Then he went through pictures of him and Stephanie. Even though she came at me wrong, I knew he still missed her. It had been a while since he found someone who clicked with him. I wanted to do right by him for a change.

Dean picked me up late to go cause some trouble in the streets as we would do. Since these new powers, we’d been pranking people with things like making people’s soups explode in their faces or levitating half of their plates over to us. One time we even stole a whole two pies from a diner and they had no clue it even happened. He’d take me to bars and we’d sing karaoke and dance. Another time, I even dragged him to the mall. Between all these great things though, Dean would leave at the drop of a hat. Any time his father called, he was ready. Throughout the year, he’d leave suddenly for a hunt. It started to surprise me less and less. In the middle of the school year, he left for three months. The entire time he was gone, he did not text me, he didn’t call, he wouldn’t email…. This wasn’t the first time he’d left on a hunt and decided not to contact me. And when I asked him why, his answer was always: “In this life, with this job I have, I refuse to lose anybody else.” I would groan for the umpteenth time and complain how I just wanted to know what was going on. “I don’t want to be the reason that your father has to call me to tell me that you’re dead.” He would say.

“I’m not the one hunting, Dean! You are!” I would snap. Every single time he left, it would be like this. Over time, I just became more and more numb. He’d leave and when he’d return, my attitude was just the same. I wasn’t as happy with him as I once was. I figured that maybe it was time to move on. My Grammy always told me, “Don’t stay for the boys. Stay for growth.” There was nothing else to help me grow anymore. I decided that the only logical move for me would be college. And I knew for a fact that Dean wouldn’t be all too happy about it. I had a very busy day ahead of me. took time to think it over. I didn’t know what was the best for me yet so I did a bunch of unnecessary research on all the schools and the majors that seemed the most interesting. After sharing them with my father, I hopped in my ol’ beat up Ford and drove to the garage to see John for a fresh set of eyes. Dean was off handling a short mission for the day which was absolutely perfect. I didn’t want to tell him just yet.

When he heard the sound of my rickety truck turning into the parking lot, he’d peek behind the hood of his project and grin, wiping his large dirty hands with a towel. “Maya! Good to see you!” He smiled, hugging me briefly. “Deano’s not workin’ today. He went to go handle some yard work at his grandmother’s.” He said. I knew it was a lie but my smile never faltered. When Dean explained to me how he was raised…. it just didn’t seem fair. I could see where John was coming from but I didn’t think his wife would like it much. He turned to continue work under the hood of the beige Prius. “He should be home by the end of the day. I know that’s when you two hangout anyways.”

“Actually… I'm not here for Dean today. I was looking for you!” I chuckled leaning against the car door. He flashed me a shy but radiant Winchester smile. ‘Yeah, he’s his father’s son alright…’ I thought as I rushed to my truck to gather my research. He threw his towel on a desk nearby and met me halfway to look at my papers.

“What’s all this?” He asked.

“Well, I was looking at schools the other night and I’m kinda having a hard time deciding where to go. I showed my dad and he thinks Stanford, which I kinda like. I just needed a fresh set of eyes to see where they thought I should go…” I explained.

“College. Wow. You know my other son, Dean’s brother Sam. He goes to Stanford. Undergrad Law.” He told me with a big smile. He seemed proud to be able to tell people that. “I visited there one day just to kinda...check up on him. It’s a nice campus. Do you know what you’re going to school for?”

“Well not just yet…. UCSB has a Zoology course that I’d love to take but unfortunately that’s all that seemed remotely interesting to me there. Stanford has Biology and Theater and Performance which would be ideal for me… Princeton has music and psychology….”

“That could be cool. Princeton is pretty pricey though, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… you’re right… Stanford is really sounding like a good move right now.”

“Shouldn’t you be talking to Dean about this stuff? I mean you guys are close-”

“He doesn’t even know that I’m going….or at the least just considered it.”

“Oh boy…”

“Yeah. I know… I don’t know when the right time to tell him is…. do I do it now or wait until a week before I leave?.... that day I leave? Y’know it’s like…. it’s just difficult.” I frowned as John turned to his toolbox.

“Man… that’s gonna hurt him. I tell ya- Dean has been around the block but I have never seen him talk about a girl the way he talks about you.” He said shaking a finger at me before delving into his work again. I wrinkled my brows.

“Yup. Just keep rubbing salt in the wound. While you’re at it, wanna throw some Isopropyl on it too?” I joked. John gave a hearty boisterous laugh; one that was much too similar to his eldest son’s. I could see where his charm came from. The beauty had to have come from his mother. In the small awkward silence, John forced a laugh he thought I couldn’t hear. I looked to him as his face contorted a bit.

“Hey uh… you aren’t still messing with those crystals are ya?” He asked. I narrowed my eyes and gave a confused smile.

“Eeeeyeah….. I think I’ve moved beyond that in the past year…” I said picking my words.

“Don’t go too deep into that stuff, sweetheart…. that’s something people don’t normally take too kindly around here…” he warned me. I mentally groaned. I had too many people telling me that. Dean never missed a chance to tell me so. He acted like a strict teacher when I would go off on my own to learn things. He would deem them unsafe. He’d say that I could get hurt or worse…. I already knew my soul was on the line when I played with magic. I was leaning towards giving it up for a while anyways. I wanted to be a normal college kid that my father could be proud of. Instead of saying something borderline out of pocket, I decided to just give a smile and shuffle my feet.

“I haven’t been practicing much recently…. I’m so damn weird I’m scaring off my dad’s dates.” I chuckled feeling bad all of a sudden. I took a deep breath to keep my emotions in check.

“There’s nothing wrong with bein’ a little weird, Maya. I’ve always told you that. I’ve grown to care about you like the daughter I never had so I’ll always be there for ya. No matter where ya go.” He smiled.

“Aww!” I grinned softly before going over to hug him and he kissed the top of my head. “Alrighty then… I’ll leave you to your work. I’m gonna go take a drive to think about some stuff…”

“Alright, kiddo. See ya ‘round.” He said waving to me as I backed away towards my car. I was going to drive to the lake to clear my head. Before Dean left, he stocked my tool box with small coolers full of beer. I planned to drink as much as possible tonight.

#dean winchester #sam and dean #sam winchester #supernatural #supernatural headcannons #supernatural imagines #supernatural poc #supernatural fandom #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural smut #john winchester #dean winchester smut #sam winchester smut #sam winchester x oc #dean winchester x oc #supernatural fanfic #sumnbitch #fictober18

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downtowns-universe · 6 years ago

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52 stories #37

Sentence prompt - “Hey, can you -“

“Sorry I’m dead.”

“...what?”

“Um,” X stuttered, before deciding to commit to it, “yeah didn’t anyone tell you? You can see ghosts.” (x)

Character: Jack

Words: 2097

[some events/background mentioned in this story have since been retconned]

“Happy birthday, mum.”

Jack stepped into the kitchen, where she was preparing food, and gave her a hug.

“Thank you, Jack,” she smiled. “It’s good to see you.”

She peered around him into the hallway, a curious look on her face.

“Just you?” she asked.

Jack detected a slightly disappointed undertone, which she covered up with a smile.

“Yeah.”

He rubbed his neck – a nervous habit – and shrugged apologetically.

“Chris was, uh, busy.”

“I see,” his mum nodded.

She moved closer and took his hand, looking into her son’s eyes.

“You know we’re all okay with this, right? You don’t have to hide anything.”

Jack felt his face turn red.

“Mum, that’s not it. He just has to work, that’s all. I promise I’ll take him along next time.”

“Alright, then. Why don’t you go get some cake, I left you a nice, big piece.”

She gestured at the fridge while tending to the food again.

“Awesome. But before I forget: I got you something.”

Jack rummaged around in his pockets and handed her a small box with a ribbon tied around it.

“Oh, you didn’t have to!” she said while taking it.

This was true: he really didn’t have to. Now that all of them were adults, they’d decided as a family not to do birthday presents anymore. Instead they’d go on fun day trips together. Jack remembered they had something planned for next month, but he’d forgotten what exactly already.

She opened the box and pulled out a necklace, a silvery chain– which, for obvious reasons, wasn’t actual silver, but steel – with a crystal pendant hanging from it.

“It’s beautiful!” she gasped. “I love that colour! Thank you, Jack.”

She put it around her neck.

“It goes so well with this dress,” she smiled while admiring herself in the mirror.

It would also protect her against various forms of magic, but Jack wasn’t going to mention that. She wouldn’t understand anyway.

He picked up his slice of cake and went into the living room, where several people were already sitting. Of course, his siblings were here: Christine with her boyfriend Mark, and Tony with a blonde girl who he assumed to be his new girlfriend, Lisa. Then there were his two aunts, and grandma. After having awkwardly greeted his family – and endured comments such as “you’re getting taller every time I see you, aren’t you?” despite having been the same height for about ten years now – he moved over to the new girl.

“Hi, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Jack.”

“Lisa.”

When she shook his hand, he could tell she was a Natural. And a strong one too. Not as strong as him, but definitely stronger than Tony.

“Nice to meet you.”

Jack dropped onto the couch next to his brother.

“Where do you keep finding these girls?” he grinned.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Tony smiled mysteriously.

“Actually, I don’t really need a girl at the moment,” Jack winked.

“Right.”

Tony took a sip from his coffee.

“When do we get to meet Chris, anyway?”

“Later,” Jack said. “I’ll make sure to bring him next time, I promise.”

Although he’d told them about his new relationship – and sexuality, apparently – none of them had actually met Chris yet. He’d been sparse with giving information about him, and he definitely hadn’t told them about the circumstances of their meeting, or about his job. He’d leave that up to Chris: it was better to come up with your own lie than to have to repeat someone else’s. He didn’t like lying to his family, but he didn’t really have any other option. To some of them, including his mother, he’d been lying basically all his life already – what would one more lie on top of that be?

Lying to his siblings was harder. With Tony he’d always been able to talk: they were going through similar experiences, with both of them being Naturals. There was an understanding between them. Most of the time, sharing a look was enough to get a message across. After some pressure, Jack had even told him about being a werewolf. When Jack still lived with them, Tony had been the one to come up with excuses for why he was gone all night.

Christine didn’t have any abilities, but was clever – and nosy – enough to figure it out eventually. She didn’t like the way her brothers acted all mysterious and distanced themselves to talk in private. One day she’d burst into the room, fully expecting them to be smoking or doing something illegal, and instead had found them calling flames to their fingertips. After some explanation she’d demanded they teach her, but that was impossible since she wasn’t a Natural. She’d been bitter about that ever since, even though she pretended not to be.

Their father was a different story entirely. He knew about Jack being a Natural, and hadn’t stuck around for long enough to even find out about Tony. Jack had later learned that he was a hunter, while accidentally running into him one night. Of course he hadn’t recognised his son in the wolf he’d tried to shoot, so Jack could still pretend he didn’t know. Not that he ever had to do so: they barely saw each other. He’d asked Chris about him but they didn’t know each other, which confirmed Jack’s suspicion that he’d moved to a different part of the country. At least he didn’t have to worry about that. He’d have his hands full with the other hunters already.

“How’s work?” his mum asked when she’d returned with some snacks.

“It’s alright. Although I’m a little short-staffed at the moment. I could really use someone extra.”

Jack didn’t add that he was actually looking for someone who could take over the place. He’d been very busy with things for Dai lately, and he suspected that would only increase over time. Eventually he wouldn’t be able to manage both and he’d have to sell the garage.

“Has anyone applied already?”

“Not yet. But I only posted the offer yesterday, so I didn’t really expect anything yet.”

“Fair.”

Throughout the afternoon, they talked about everything and nothing: family members, recent local events, the economy, Tony and Lisa’s holiday… Jack mostly sat and listened, pitching in every now and then, but not actively coming up with anything. His head had been acting strangely all day, being very quiet and then suddenly bursting out information all at once. When that happened he couldn’t really follow the conversation at hand, and the nagging headache he’d been feeling turned into a stabbing pain. His mum, observant as ever, had asked him if he’d like some paracetamol, but he’d refused, knowing it wouldn’t help anyway. The only thing he could be sure would help were some concoctions Tharryn had made him. One would help with the headaches, the other would disable his ability completely for a while. Jack was starting to regret not having asked Tharryn for some before heading here.

“You okay?” Tony asked while they’d been sent to the kitchen to get everyone more drinks.

He sent him a meaningful look while filling up a glass.

“Yeah, just a headache,” Jack sighed.

“Doesn’t look like “just” a headache.”

Tony knew about his ability, but not that it had been growing stronger after he’d been recruited – he didn’t know about the recruitment either, Jack still needed to find a way to explain this, but wasn’t sure whether he should in the first place. Still, he knew Tony could tell that something was up. He’d always been good at reading people or noticing slight changes in the atmosphere. When he was little, teachers often described him as “a sensitive boy”. They adored him because he was quiet and never fought with the other kids – something they’d changed their minds about later.

“You’re right: it’s one of those,” he said in a hushed voice, vaguely gesturing at the air around his head.

“What’s it say?”

Tony had also lowered his voice, even though the conversation in the living room had continued and they probably wouldn’t be able to overhear.

“A lot of things. Nothing in particular.”

Tony put his bottle down and leaned against the counter, looking at him intently.

“You’ve been having more headaches the last couple of years, haven’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought so. I’ve never mentioned it, but you’ve felt different for a while now. Like your energy has changed.”

So he had noticed. Jack couldn’t say he was surprised. He suspected it was some kind of Natural talent: Tony wasn’t very strong, but was skilled at detecting magic. He could usually tell whether someone was a Natural before Jack did, even when his head was working properly. When they were younger Jack had rarely been able to prank him using his abilities: he could always tell if something had been magically tampered with. This had been bad news for Christine, since it meant she was now the prime target.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well…”

Tony considered this for a second.

“At first I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. You were training, people get stronger while training. And there was also the werewolf stuff to factor in.”

His volume dropped even lower at the word “werewolf”.

“I don’t really have a point of reference for how that develops,” he shrugged.

“Lately I’ve started to think something might be up, but I was kinda hoping you’d tell me…”

“I, uh,” Jack started.

“Do you need some help, or what?”

Christine entered the kitchen, probably wondering why her wine was taking so long. After seeing their jumpy reaction she immediately knew something was up.

“What?” she squinted.

“We were just talking about Lisa,” Jack lied. “She’s a Natural. I just wanted to know what she could do.”

In reality he wasn’t really interested in that, and he surely hadn’t planned on “outing” her to Christine, but he also knew that sharing any Natural fact would explain the secrecy and keep her from asking more questions.

“Scared she’s stronger than you?” she scoffed.

“Of course not,” Jack grinned. “I was just worried whether Tony could handle her.”

That comment earned him a punch in the arm.

“Looks like I will have to be a good hostess since you two are acting like children,” Christine sighed while picking up a bottle.

Jack laughed and snatched it out of her hand, holding it up high where she couldn’t reach.

“Ugh, grow up!”

“Can’t. I’m dead,” Jack grinned.

“…What?”

Two confused faces were staring at him. Christine just seemed to question from which strange corner of his mind that response had come, but Tony seemed to be more serious, as if trying to figure something out. Shit. Time to improvise.

“Uh, didn’t anyone tell you?,” he asked, briefly turning invisible. “I’m a ghost. You can see ghosts. Guess you’re a Natural now, congratulations!”

He patted her shoulder, handed her the bottle, then quickly slipped past her, back to the guests. Tony and Christine looked at each other and shrugged, tending to the rest of the drinks.

I should really stop joking around about this, Jack thought. It was a joke often made while hanging out with his friends – so often that it had almost become an automatic response – but it didn’t translate very well to literally any other situation. Besides, this might be just the hint Tony needed to figure things out, assuming he knew a thing or two about Downtown – Jack didn’t actually know whether he did. He’d rather tell him personally when he thought the time was right. Whenever that would be. One thing was for sure: this wasn’t it.

He sat back down on the couch, the headache creeping up again. The many suggestions were still unintelligible, and he’d stopped trying to make sense of them. Instead he tried to focus on the story his aunt was telling.

After a while his siblings returned. Tony sat down next to him and quietly handed him a beer. Jack tried to gauge whether he suspected anything, but already knew his head wasn’t going to cooperate. He didn’t think a simple remark was enough for him to figure it out, but their talk would definitely be continued later.

Later in the afternoon grandma and the aunts went home, leaving just the six of them. Jack’s mum looked at her children gathered on the couch, talking about some new TV-show.

“Will you all be staying for dinner?”

Even though his headache had gotten worse, Jack managed a smile.

“That’d be great.”

#story #52stories2018 #it's not directly quoted but close enough #jack

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