#east bay kids

[violetsmokes]

LMK AU ~ TJTTW Part 2

Wow okay, so some of you actually like my au idea so here I think I'll go over how exactly Macaque becomes the Monkey Queen, immortal, and a different punishment instead of everyone getting a mountain thrown on them. Comment, leave some questions or suggestions <3

First things first Macaque is just as immortal as Wukong, it's why during his fight with Wukong he doesn't die. Macaque ate the peach, drunk the wine, and took the pill. He fought heaven and they tired the same punishments to kill him, no luck but someone did get their hand bit and spent the rest of the day wondering if they got magical money rabies. The smirk Mac had didn't help. Wukong didn't get trapped under a mountain for 500 years, no Buddha decided to use a different punishment for the to monkeys that seem to be attached at the hip. "The hero and warrior were like the Sun and Moon." Buddha trapped Wukong in the Sun and Macaque in the Moon. Wukong could only walk the Earth in the day while Macaque could only walk in the night this kept the two separated for 500 years untill Wukong would leave for the Journey of the West. Side note getting trapped in the Sun and Moon had a few unforseen consequences, such as our monkeys gaining powers usually connect to the Sun and Moon. Powers such as the ability to control fire and water along with healing abilities, they can now control Sun and Moon when either one loses control of his emotions. Yes this is why Buddha will not fight them again. He didn't realize the punishment would somehow make two already overpowered monkeys even more OP and is afraid that fighting them again would tear the universe to shreds. No he will never let the monkeys know this mainly because his think Wukong would tear the universe apart for fun and Mac keeps no secrets from his mate. Buddha doesn't know how to tell the Jade Emperor that if the monkeys go crazy again then there is nothing anyone can do to stop them. He is 68% sure the Jade Emperor already know tho.

So that how we get two OP immortal monkeys but how does Macaque become Monkey Queen because currently his is still know as the King's Warrior. Well when Wukong leaves for the TJTTW Macaque for the first time ever doesn't go with him and stays to guard Flower Fruit Mountain and to care for the monkeys. Well a troublesome Baboon King hears about a beautiful mountain with rich fruit and water and many other resources. He hears how the king of this mountain had left for long journey leaving his beautiful mate and their hoard of monkeys without a leader. The Baboon King gathers his army and heads straight for Flower Fruit Mountain when they arrive he sent and small group of baboons to attack any near by monkeys. This quickly gains Macaque's attention and he confronts the Baboon King who tells Macaque to surrender and be his mate or the baboons will enslave the monkey army and kill the cubs. Macaque is given one day to make his choice and being the warrior his is chooses to fight for the only home and family he's ever known. This leads to years and years of a bloody and vicious war but also this is when Macaque makes an alliance with the Spider Queen and the Scorpion Queen trading food and gems for venom, weds, and a few illusion spells. Meanwhile the Baboon King was growing crazier by the day, especially when his general and number one supporter died is battle. A battle that took a heavy hit on the baboons, many missed home and were growing desperate and defeated. The new general just want this war to end and was ready to surrender. This general and many of the other baboons were losing respect in their tyrannical King. Finally the war came to an end when Macaque lead a small group immoral monkeys to ambush the baboons camp leaving them open to a large attack from the rest of the monkey army and hopefully driving the baboons off Flower Fruit Mountain for good. The attack went as planned until the final battle between Macaque and the Baboon King, the Baboon King was losing and noticed his general had managed to sneak up behind Macaque and yelled for the general to strike Macaque but as Macaque turn to defend against an attack the Baboon General dropped his weapons and raised his hands is surrender begging Macaque to let the remaining baboons leave the mountain. This gained the attention of every monkey and baboon as they paused to see what was happening between the leaders. The Baboon General's surrender angered the King and in a manic cry threatened to kill the general and any baboons that didn't fight. With that the baboons turned on their King dropping their weapons and bowing before Macaque, the general knelt down and loudly proclaimed Macaque as the Monkey Queen followed by the monkeys bowing with the baboons and everyone chanting for their new Monkey Queen as he read out the former Baboon King's crimes and landed the killing blow. From here the baboons and monkeys joined forces and lead by their new Queen built a strong kingdom on top of Flower Fruit Mountain.

One last bit before I end of this post with some songs. After the war and rebuilding a kingdom Macaque misses Wukong and is worried about his mate. He had been gone for so long and they hadn't heard anything. The monkeys were both hurt and angry, they loved their Monkey King but felt betrayed that he was always leaving the mountain and causing trouble. It didn't help that during the long war Wukong had not been seen or heard from at all. When Macaque announces that is leaving to find Wukong his monkey generals try to convince him to stay and opened up about how they should forget about the Monkey King for betraying them. Macaque sees through the anger and finds their pain in being left behind and their fear that if Macaque leaves then he will never return. Macaque reminds everyone that Flower Fruit Mountain is his home and as long as he is Queen Wukong is King and that he will bring Wukong back for good. Everyone respects their Queen and knows to trust his words. Macaque leaves unaware of the mess Wukong has gotten himself into and the Journey East he will soon face.

WOW MY GOD THIS WAS A LOT! And I have so much more! How Wukong and Macaque met, the actual journey to the east, does MK or Bai He play any roll, Mayor is still a fucking gremlin, Macaque and Tripitaka become friends and respect eachother!?!?!??!??! But as promised some songs that go along with the AU one in way or another.

This just matches with the punishment between Wukong and Macaque and how the only time then could see eachother was when the Sun and Moon shared the same sky.

Remember the small ambush on the baboon camp well Macaque gives a similar speech to his troop like Odysseus. But I guess the last bit of the song could be considered foreshadowing. For what? That is for another post, but incase anyone wants to know what Macaque fights for its for his King and their home.

For this one its mainly at the end of the song, 3:06 onward, were Odysseus confronts the cyclops. Yes Macaque gives Baboon King the same speech before kill the lunatic.

Part one https://at.tumblr.com/violetsmokes/thank-you-sasunaru22fy-and-everyone-who-got-me-to/uuaxds90kupm

[midpenmedia]

Wanted to remind everyone, our after school filmmaking course is back!

Learn the art of storytelling, scriptwriting, camera techniques, and editing from industry professionals. Collaborate with aspiring filmmakers, unleash your creativity, and produce your own short films.

Lead by Pedro Arenas, with years under his belt of teaching film to kids and adults.

AGE: 10-17

Schedule: every Friday 4:30pm - 6:30pm, every Saturday 9:00am - 12:00pm, no classes on Thanksgiving weekend, between 19th of December and 5th of January, April 4, 5, 11 and 12.

Go to link in our bio to find us on activityhero and sign up!

[santaclaralocalnews]

One story about Bay Area Host Committee CEO and President Zaileen Janmohamed’s childhood tells you one important thing about this enterprising child of East African refugees from civil war and Idi Amin’s murderous regime: She doesn’t give up. “My parents were so nervous about being in a new country [Canada], and raising first-generation kids, where society was so different than what they were used to,” she said. Read complete news at svvoice.com.

[depressedraisin]

here's how armand can still be bengali

why do i think so? no other good reason than i am bengali myself and i want armand to be. (also assad zaman's family is from bangladesh. bengali solidarity!!!)

bengal: the region in south asia comprising present-day bangladesh and the indian states of west bengal, odisha, assam and parts of bihar.

armand said in the season one finale, that takes place in 2022, he is a 514 year old vampire. is it 514 years including or excluding his human years? let's go with including. that means armand would have been born in 1508.

now what was going on in india and bengal in 1508? well, the mughals hadn't come to india yet; it's still about two decades before babur makes his way here. delhi was under the rule of the lodi dynasty, the delhi sultanate was in its dying days. most of north india, mainly uttar pradesh and bihar was under the jaunpur sultanate. bengal was still it's own independent kingdom, called the bengal sultanate. alauddin hussain shah had just seized power and become the sultan of bengal in 1494, beginning the hussain shahi dynasty (they ruled in bengal till 1538 when the mughals captured the region).

india as a country did not exist yet. even it's conception would be a few centuries away still. the subcontinent was a collection of big and small kingdoms and sultanates, constantly warring amongst themselves, some ruled by hindu rulers others by muslims, each with their own distinct histories and cultures. bengal was one of the most prosperous and thriving among them. the bangla language and bengali culture was just beginning to develop.

vasco da gama had arrived in india in 1498, landing at kozhikode on the malabar coast. this began the arrival of the portugese in india, and soon other european colonialists followed. they soon set up their capital in goa, built forts all along the western coast and established trade through obtaining licenses and exclusive permits from local rulers. they first made their way to the bay of bengal region around 1516, with the first portugese representative- a guy called joao coelho- coming to chittagong (present day bangladesh). the first factory was set up in chittagong the next year.

the portugese traded in spices and cotton and fruits and muslin and also slaves. the european indian ocean slave trade began with the coming of the portugese in the early 16th century. slavery in south asian societies had obviously existed long before, and it was a deeply complex and diverse system of dependency and regimes of slavery. slavery of youth and children was also pretty prevalent: it would not be uncommon for poor, farming families to sell away themselves or their children to zamindars (landlords) and colonial overlords in desperation. there were many, many cases of young children being forced to get onboard ships where they'd be held agains their will and taken to europe, the americas or south-east asia. goa and lisbon were the two cities that linked the movement of goods and people between the indian and atlantic oceans, but goa wasn't the only place where enslaved children were traded in portugese india nor lisbon the only european they were taken to.

one of those kids might as well have been arun.

i know the brief glimpse at the talamasca files showed armand's origin to be in delhi but in this particular scene he clearly says that he was sent *to* delhi, thinking he was going to work on a merchant boat.

this is just a theory i have btw. armand could've been from maharastra or the deccan as well idk. anyway.

armand is a monster, a vicious, villanious creature of unfathomable powers and ferocity. but he is also so deeply tragic. he had been forcibly torn away from his people and his land. he has no memory of his family or his humanity. he has lived for over half a millenium. the india he might've known hasn't existed for centuries, and he never got to know the one that exists today. the bangla he might've spoken no one remembers anymore. he has nothing left of the human he was except that name.

further readings (STRONGLY SUGGESTED!!!):

[sixx-sixx-sixx]

THE TRADER’S DAUGHTER — cooper “the ghoul” howard x female!oc

EDIT; FOLLOW @bonafideyapper FOR FUTURE PARTS

warnings(?): dbf!cooper, female!oc, oc is described as brown eyed (but feel free to picture whatever you want), proofread to the best of my ability (correcting capitalization is not my priority on my phone, this is hard enough to format as is), this series will have smut at some point but let me work up to writing that (meaning, let me smoke this joint and see where the wind takes me), there’s allusion to smut in this towards the end but it’s nothing wild

(this is part one of some) - part 2

Daisy hadn’t seen Cooper for a very, very long time. She’d never forgotten the charismatic cowboy that told her stories of the old world and of his encounters with creatures in the wasteland. The ghoul that would bring her little trinkets from his travels, gifting her a pearl necklace for her 10th birthday. A single pearl on a dainty silver chain that she would wear every day until it wore out. She was 13 when that happened, and was utterly devastated. Thankfully, she had charmed a local boy for a new chain, sneaking behind her dad’s back to go on a few dates with the kid. She’s continue to flirt with men and make empty promises to them to replace the chain each time it broke.

Cooper had gotten himself into some thick shit, spending a good time locked up by some raiders and other bullshit that got him sidetracked. On the other side of the goddamn wasteland, on the fucking east coast. How did he even get to the fucking east coast? By the time he made it back to the trading post, over a decade had passed, and it showed in the size of the once-familiar settlement. More gambling, more fighting in the streets, whole lotta bad shit that he didn’t have time to get involved with. He made his way through the town, his gaze trained on the old trading post at the center of town. He took careful notice of how men sneered at him as he passed by them, mumbling some racist bullshit about his ghoulishness.

Fuck them, he thought as he stepped up to the door of the trading post. He opened the door to hear the old bell jingle to alert his presence, watching as a young woman walked out from the back room with a routine “Welcome to Jo’s Shack, what can I get you?” leaving her pretty pink lips.

Daisy was almost in shock, seeing the ghoul standing in her doorway. She had assumed the worst over the years, as his visits had become less and less until they were not at all. She figured he was dead, shriveled up and baking in the sun. Or worse, she worried he had gone feral, which was always going to be inevitable in his case. Either way, she would keep extra chems stocked for the day he returned.

Cooper strolled towards the counter and looked at the girl, recognizing those big brown eyes from a mile away. “Hey, little flower. Your daddy around?” He asked her, his eyes flickering down to look at the pearl around her neck. Huh, he didn’t know she’d have kept it all those years. Pretty things were hard to keep around these parts.

Daisy’s face broke out into a grin and she gave him a little nod, leaning forward to get a good look at him. “Sure is, I’ll go get him for you. he’s not gonna believe this.” She had to fight to maintain her composure and keep her excitement at bay, going through the back room and up the stairs to the second floor of the shack to where her father was sleeping. In the ghoul’s absence, Daisy had grown to be a respectable trader, taking over the face of her father’s shop after growing up learning from the best. Although the population was tougher, she was just as tough, and nobody dared to fuck with Jo’s Shack or the woman running the place.

She stepped back out to the main room and leaned against the newly-reinforced counter, a bright smile on her face as she gazed up at him. He was just as handsome as she remembered, though she was never truly able to capture how his eyes lit up at the sight of her.

“Flower, you are just as pretty as a peach.” Cooper flashed her a wide grin, unashamedly flirting with the girl who he had essentially watched grow up. And whew, did she grow up good. He couldn’t help himself as he let his sunken eyes roam over the smooth, exposed skin of her chest, the tank top she wore under her unzipped jacket left little to the imagination.

Daisy thought his southern drawl was absolutely intoxicating as she slid a little box of chem vials across the counter to him, “Thank you, Coop. Don’t tell dad I gave these to you.” She winked and leaned back as her dad came out to greet his old friend, letting the two men greet each other like they hadn’t spent any time apart.

“Cooper Howard, you son of a bitch! I hope you brought me that Brahmin you still owe me.” Josiah grinned as he pulled the ghoul in for a hug, giving him shit over some long-forgotten wager on a card game. Coop patted him on the back with a shit-eating grin, “Yessir, why, yo’ momma’s waitin’ outside!”

Daisy watched Cooper closely as she stood beside her dad, taking in the way his skin had started to redden in places she didn’t remember being scarred over before. She had spent her whole adolescence infatuated with him, playing it off as a silly little girl crush on a big strong man (who had killed for her, but that’s a story for another day.) Her pulse quickened as she overhead her father invite the ghoul inside for a drink and to rest, watching him come around the counter to push through the curtains leading to the back.

It was fucked up, Cooper knew that. He knew it was fucked up to already be thinking about the woman behind him. Thinking about how sweet she sounded when she said his name, thinking about that little pearl necklace dangling in his face as she skillfully sat atop his—

He really needed that drink, and maybe a puff of his inhaler before he went feral at the thought of something as soft and pretty as his Daisy having anything to do with something as scarred and distorted as him.

a/n: okay yall what do we think about part one? I got to the app to post it and immediately rewrote the ending because I hated the original, so I hope this was good!

taglist: @savanahc @one-of-thewalkingdead @silverose365 @neverendingdumptser

[miryum]

Always in All Ways (Mattheo Riddle x Reader) Great Gatsby AU

Warnings: angst!!!! (but a happy ending) Reader wears a dress (once) cause it’s the 20s. Talk of kids and a future together. For the sake of incest, we’re gonna ignore the fact that Enzo and Mattheo are half brothers… And if you squint, there could be a sign of domestic abuse (but it is so little there that I'm not sure if you can call it that). Reader is married (not to Mattheo at first) and it's not technically cheating.... it's hard to explain. As always, swearing. Not entirely proof-read, but will get it done soon

Lorenzo Berkshire had moved into a gated, two story house, surrounded by a thick forest. The neighbourhood he had moved into was affectionately called Diadem East. 

Diadem East was surrounded by a large bay, which, in turn, separated it from Diadem West. Diadem East and Diadem West were similar in the fact that they were obscenely rich. Even though both had enough wealth to buy the island of New York, Diadem West looked down on Diadem East because of generational wealth. Diadem West had come from old money - long lines of families that treated life like a simple game of chess and they could move others like pawns. Diadem East were those who only recently came into money and spent it freely and without care.

Lorenzo had moved to Diadem East in hopes of getting away from his overbearing parents, and it helped that his cousin lived right across the bay in Diadem West. 

Y/n Pucey was a recent newlywed to Adrian Pucey. Lorenzo hadn’t been able to make it to the wedding, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to see his baby cousin married to a man fifteen years older than her. Y/n had always been Lorenzo’s favourite cousin; she was a bubbling, carefree girl, probably due to the fact that from birth, she had no restrictions with her father’s money. Now that she was married to the pretentious Pucey family, Lorenzo doubted she was familiar with the word ‘no’. 

What Lorenzo did doubt, however, was Y/n’s happiness. He remembered a time, back when she was nineteen, that he had visited her over summer break. She told him tales of a man that had captured her heart. Lorenzo remembered how Y/n’s eyes gleamed and her cheeks burned with her extensive smiling. He remembered laughing with Y/n in the sunroom, saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy.”

“I’m in love, Enzo,” she had replied simply. 

Needless to say, Lorenzo couldn’t wait to see his cousin again. He also couldn’t wait to return to a normal sleep schedule, given that his new neighbour wouldn’t stop having parties every single night that blasted light and music into Lorenzo’s bedroom window. It wasn’t until Thursday at four pm when a butler knocked on Lorenzo’s back door, holding a silver plate with a letter positioned on it. “Can I help you?” Enzo asked slowly, leaning on the door frame.

“Mister Riddle requests your presence on Friday night for a party he is throwing,” the butler said. 

“Mister… Riddle?” Enzo reiterated. “I’m sorry, who?”

“Your neighbour, Mister Mattheo Riddle,” the butler explained. “He wanted to welcome you into the neighbourhood.”

“Right,” Enzo trailed off. “I’ll be there.”

“Mister Riddle looks forward to making your acquaintance.”

****

The next day, Enzo drove up to Diadem West, the hilltop Pucey Manor looming over everything. As soon as Enzo finished driving up the winding gravel road, the front door swung open dramatically. Y/n stood there, arms flung wide. “Darling Enzo!” she squealed. “Oh, how I’ve missed you!” 

“My sweet cousin!” Enzo called back, bounding up the steps. He whirled Y/n up in his arms, swinging her back and forth, much to her delight. Her sundress flared around them in a swirling dance. “How have you been?”

“Lively,” Y/n answered simply. “How are those back home? You must tell me everything.”

Enzo flung his head back and said dramatically, “they miss you dearly, loving cousin. When I passed through town, everyone wept when they heard I was to see you. Jealous men came running down from their houses and begged me to take them with you. Mothers sobbed and cried out how they wished their daughters would turn out like you. Children dashed through the streets, racing after my carriage with joy.”

“They did?” Y/n beamed, gripping onto Enzo’s arms. “I do miss them, you know. Perhaps I should visit next summer.”

“They would all love to see you,” Enzo stated plainly. “Yet I have a question for you. Do you know of-”

“Lorenzo Berkshire,” a voice boomed from the front door. “What’s a man like you doing in these parts?”

Enzo stared up at Adrian Pucey, the esteemed husband of Y/n. “Adrian,” Enzo peeled himself away from Y/n and sauntered up the steps. “It’s nice to see you again.” He held out his hand for the man to shake.

“Get in here, good pal.” Adrian clapped Enzo’s hand and pulled him into a rough hug. Enzo let out a huff of air as he collided with Adrian’s chest. “Wonderful to see you as well. Tell me, how’s the stock business going?” Adrian placed a nonnegotiable hand on Enzo’s shoulder and led him inside the Pucey mansion. Y/n let out a noise of surprise and hurried in after them, determined not to be left behind. 

“Good, good.” Enzo made senseless conversation with Adrian as he tried to take in the curated house he was in. All the doors and windows were open, letting in a soft breeze and the stinging smell of the bay water. The curtains fluttered around Y/n as she walked, her eyes cautiously on her cousin and husband. No matter how she acted, Lorenzo knew of the whip sharp mind that Y/n had.

“And you know where he’s living, Adrian?” Y/n cut in, moving to recline gracefully on the settee. “In Diadem East!” 

Adrian’s brows rose and he turned to Enzo as the men sat on the couch. “Why not buy a house here? Hell, you’re welcome to stay in our guest room. Anything for a relative.”

“No, please.” Enzo held a hand up. “I’m perfectly fine on my own and I don’t want to intrude. It’s a nice, cosy house looking over the bay. In fact, if I look towards the right, I can see the end of your pier.”

“Really?” Y/n lit up, head turning towards Enzo. “How sweet. It’s almost as if we’re neighbours.”

“Speaking of neighbours,” Enzo took this opportunity to ask, “my own seems to be very eccentric.”

Adrian chuckled and poured himself some whiskey. “How so? Do you want any?” He gestured to the whiskey.

“No, but thank you.” Enzo adjusted in his seat and crossed his legs. “My neighbour throws these obscene parties almost every single night. I’m convinced that if it weren’t for the trees, I wouldn’t be able to get any sleep.” Y/n stretched out her legs and leaned her head back until it was resting on the arm of the chair. “But the oddest thing happened - he invited me to one tonight.”

“Really?” Adrian sipped his drink. “And who is this poseur?”

“A Mister Riddle.”

Y/n’s lips parted and, almost in slow motion, her eyes flickered to Lorenzo before going back to staring out the window to the gleaming blue water outside. “Riddle?” she murmured. Adrian glanced at her and Enzo’s brows furrowed. “I mean, there must be a thousand Riddles… why, in fact, just last month, I was introduced to a Ryder. Which is like Riddle, I guess.”

“Y/n, are you alright?” Enzo asked softly.

“Yes, are you well?” Adrian added on.

“I’m sure I’m fine,” Y/n said. “Perhaps just lightheaded. I’m going to go lay down now.” Her hand flit to her collarbone where a small chain was tucked under her dress.

“Okay.” Enzo stared after her, admittedly worried about his cousin, before standing and adjusting his suit. “Well, I'm afraid I have to go. Mustn’t be late to this fellow’s party.”

“Of course.” Adrian stood as well, in common courtesy, knowing that the two men had nothing in common or nothing to do with each other without Y/n as the mediator. “Riddle…” the man muttered. “I could’ve sworn I heard that name somewhere.”

“It’s a common name, you know.” Enzo chuckled as he swiped out the door. 

“Yes, I’m sure.” Adrian closed the door behind Enzo almost as an afterthought.

****

“What do you want, my darling? Anything you wish and I will make it happen.”

“I’m happy with just you, Matty.”

“That’s not a good enough answer, and you know it. Now, I’m going to ask again: what do you want?”

“… I… I want a big house. Overlooking the water so our kids can play in the water.”

“Our kids, hm?”

“Oh, yes, Matty. Our kids.”

“Alright. And what else?”

“Hmm… and a big ballroom that we can dance in. And all the paintings will be our favourites. And big parties for every occasion. Perhaps a pool. Or a sunroom. And the largest bedroom ever.”

“Is that all?”

“As long as I have you, Matty, that’s all I ask.”

****

While everyone else arrived to Riddle’s party in new and shining cars, Enzo simply walked. People of all backgrounds were streaming in the doors and Enzo was pushed into the unrelenting mob of partygoers. Enzo shoved his way to the first butler he saw and presented his invitation. “Uh, yes. I have this invitation here…” 

The butler glanced down at the letter and said stoically, “you needn’t one.”

“Pardon?” Enzo had never been to a party where he didn’t need to be invited. 

“The guests come and go as they please - per Mister Riddle’s orders.”

“Alright,” Enzo pursed his lips together and nodded awkwardly. “Thank you. Do you know where I could find Mister Riddle?”

“No, sir,” the butler replied. “He likes to socialise with his attendees and be in the throng of things. He likes to make sure that everyone is comfortable and having a good time.”

Enzo hummed and nodded in thanks before allowing himself to be swept up in the current. He was carried further into the opulent mansion and Lorenzo needed to remind himself to close his mouth at the palatial nature of it all. 

Practically every surface was plated with gold or made of marble. The ballroom opened up to a balcony that overlooked a large pool which was currently populated with dozens of people. On the other side of the ballroom, a large sunroom was occupied by a throng of people, cigarette smoke wisping up through the open roof. The stars were obscured by not only the smoke, but by the fact that every light in the mansion was turned on. Marble stairs led down to another open room which held a stage and a band whose music filtered up throughout the rooms. Congressmen, celebrities, and random people off the street were packed into the house, booze and drugs were passed around and waiters tried to filter through the crowd to hand out refreshments and food.

As he passed, Enzo heard tidbits of conversations about their host. “Did you know he was a bootlegger?”

“No, no, I heard he fought in the last war.”

“Well, whatever it is, it’s all terribly romantic.”

“Well, I thought that he was chasing a girl-”

Enzo managed to fight his way to the balcony and snag a glass of champagne on his way. He sighed in relief at finding a bubble of air to himself. A man dressed in a finely pressed suit jostled into him and quickly apologised. “Terribly sorry, old friend,” the man said. “I didn’t see you there. It’s a rowdy party tonight, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Enzo replied loudly. “Is it usually like this?”

“Unfortunately,” the man grinned. “Although few frequent. I always find that many people come once and then never return.”

“You seem like you know an awful lot about Mister Riddle’s parties. Do you come here often?”

“Yes,” the man tsked. “As hard as I try, I can’t pull myself away from this old mansion. Something always draws me back. Did you know that Mattheo Riddle built this house from scratch?”

“I did not.”

“Yes,” the man laughed, his lips curing up. “Of course, he didn’t build the actual thing, but he bought the land and drew up the blueprints years ago. Six, to be exact.”

“Why is that?”

“No one knows for sure. There’s a lot of rumours circulating around Riddle.”

Enzo shouted over the music, “I was actually invited by Mister Riddle himself. But his butler seemed surprised by that.”

“Yes, it is very rare that one is personally invited to these gatherings.”

“Do you know where I could find him? Mister Riddle, I mean.” Enzo took a sip of his champagne.

The man laughed again and raised his own champagne glass. A smirk coiled up on his face and he said simply, “why, you’re talking to him, old friend. I am Mattheo Riddle.”

The party noise faded in Enzo’s ears. “Oh. I’m so sorry.” His hand shot out for Riddle to shake. “I didn’t mean to be rude. Pardon me, Mister Riddle.”

Mattheo Riddle shook Enzo’s hand, still grinning. His eyes held a mix of anticipation and happiness. Those who were close to Mattheo Riddle - which, really, was no one - had never seen such joy on Mattheo’s face. “Oh, call me Riddle. Or better yet, Mattheo. I feel as if I already know you, old friend. And, seeing as we’re neighbours, I hope to get to know you even better. How would you like to join me in my study?”

Enzo raised a brow and cliched his champagne fluke. “May I ask what for?”

“Oh, well, to tell you my life story, after all.” Mattheo clapped a hand on Enzo’s shoulder, much like Adrian had hours earlier. But unlike Adrian, Enzo found himself agreeing to go along with this man he only met today. 

Mattheo led Enzo down the hallway and nodded to a butler who was standing guard over an oak door. The butler opened the door up to Mattheo’s study, which was more of a library. The library was a much different aesthetic than the rest of the house. While the mansion next to Enzo’s little cottage was energetic and extravagant, Mattheo’s library was dark and cosy. Instead of gold and marble, it was made of oak and the flickering flames of candles.

“An impressive collection,” Enzo commented, glancing around the room at the rows of books.

“Why, thank you,” Mattheo replied. “It overlooks the bay, you see?” He pointed towards the window that, true to his word, was directly facing the large water. 

Enzo peered out the window and huffed a laugh when he saw Y/n’s house staring back at him. “That’s my cousin's house,” Enzo glanced back at Mattheo to see his gaze locked on the Pucey mansion. 

“I know,” Mattheo said quietly. 

“You know?” Lorenzo repeated questioningly. 

“Yeah,” Mattheo nodded. “You’ve heard rumours of me.” It wasn’t a question. Before Enzo could answer, Matthei continued, “but I can assure you, only one of those is true, old friend. I am… a helpless romantic.” Mattheo chuckled lowly, a sad layer in his eyes. Instead of sitting behind his large desk, Mattheo opted to lounge on a couch and Enzo sat in a loveseat next to him. 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“About… eight years ago I met this girl. God, she was absolutely perfect.” Mattheo gazed out at Diadem West. “I have been bereft of her for so many years… And I finally hope to make it up to her. I’ve become the man that will be good enough for her archaic parents.”

“Where did you meet her?” Enzo asked quietly.

“I was visiting her hometown one day, eight years ago. And I just…” Mattheo took a moment to wet his chapped lips. “She had all other eyes on her. She was simply walking down the street, yet she drew everyone to her. And when I was blessed enough to hold her in my arms… to kiss her lips is better than heaven.”

“May I guess her name?” Enzo’s smile grew larger. “Is this lovely, captivating woman my cousin, Y/n Pucey?”

“How did you know?” Mattheo’s voice was airy and wistful.

“Many men have tripped over their feet just to take a glance at my cousin. She is not only beautiful, holding the Berkshire genes, but witty, magnetic, and gentle.” Enzo finished his champagne and lit a cigar that Mattheo had offered him. “And, well, she might have mentioned you once or twice. She was in love with you when she was nineteen. Perhaps she still is.” Mattheo’s eyes snapped to Enzo. “Then she was married to Adrian Pucey. Honestly, I’m a little surprised that you’re living right across from her.”

“Yes, I’m aware of all that,” Mattheo stated. “But nothing has been an accident, Mister Berkshire. There’s a reason why I host parties every weekend, why I keep the lights on every night, why my home is directly across from hers, and why you, her cousin, is renting next to me.”

Enzo scrutinised this stranger across from him. “You’re obsessed with my cousin,” he stated, somewhat disgustedly. 

“No,” Mattheo whispered. “I’m in love with your cousin. I have always been in love with her - in all ways. And she is me. Mention my name around her and you’ll see.”

“I have,” Enzo admitted. “She looked as if she’d seen a ghost. But she also looked guilty, Riddle. She’s married. She has a life. She wants children.” Mattheo’s jaw jumped as Enzo continued, “you can’t rip her away from that. It’s been years, Riddle. She hasn’t seen you for years.”

“I know…” Mattheo trailed off. “But just to see her again would fulfil any wish of mine. I have a vow I need to make due on. I- uh, I was wondering if you could invite her over for tea. And I could drop by. Just one day.” Mattheo’s eyes felt dry and he quickly blinked. 

Enzo sighed deeply and after a long moment, said, “okay. Tuesday? At three?”

A weight lifted off of Mattheo’s shoulders. He now had all the time in the world. In his eyes, everything was finally falling into place. Mattheo would finally get to be happy again. “That sounds absolutely perfect.”

****

Tuesday was outrageously cloudy. Lorenzo could hardly see the sun as he drove back to his house. As he pulled into his driveway, he came to see an ostentatious green Rolls-Royce convertible that was blocking his drive. Enzo stared defeatedly at the car for a long moment, knowing exactly whose it was. 

Mattheo Riddle leaned on the hood and proceeded to wave at Enzo as if the man wasn’t hours too early to tea. 

“You have a watch, don’t you?” Enzo called out, getting out of his car. 

“I couldn’t wait,” Mattheo admitted. “I had nothing else to do today - well, that’s not true. I in fact cancelled some meetings that were set to take place today, but no worries.”

“You cancelled - you know what? Nevermind. Look, Riddle, I sure hope you know what you’re doing. Y/n… she’s changed from when you met her.” Enzo couldn’t look at his neighbour as he unlocked his door. Mattheo followed in after him, glancing around courteously, as if the real reason he was here wasn’t sending waves of nerves through his stomach. Enzo glanced back at Mattheo and moved to the kitchen to make some tea. Mattheo followed after him, his gait slow. “She used to believe that she could live any way she wanted,” Enzo continued. “But then she met Adrian.”

“Hm.” Mattheo made a low noise in his throat, fingers reaching out to play with the teacups that hung from a shelf. 

“She’s not… unhappy with Adrian,” Enzo tried to explain. “But she’s putting her happiness aside for the grandeur of life.” 

“I could give her that grandeur,” Mattheo muttered. 

“Do you know how people back home would treat her if they found out she got divorced from Adrian Pucey just to marry a man who is rumoured to be a bootlegger?” Enzo asked, aghast. He roughly swallowed and said quietly, “I’m sorry. That was out of line.” 

“No, no,” Mattheo waved him off, still seemingly fascinated by Enzo’s teacups. “It’s perfectly in line. You make a valid point. Though I can assure you, I am not a bootlegger. Far from it.”

“Then what is your line of work?” 

“Never you mind. When is Y/n coming?” Mattheo turned to Enzo, changing the topic at an alarming speed. The teacups were long forgotten.

Enzo exhaled and dunked a teabag in the teapot. “She said she’ll be arriving around three. However, that means that she’ll either be arriving at two-fifteen on account of wanting to escape Adrian, or she’ll arrive at four-thirty because Adrian needs something from her.”

“Let’s hope it’s the former,” Mattheo growled.

As if on cue, the two men heard the rumbling of a car approaching. The air in the room stilled. Mattheo’s face dropped and he turned pale, staring at the door. They heard Y/n’s honey voice call out, “Lorenzo!” Enzo quickly came to his senses and rushed to open the door. Y/n was driving up, waving her hat enthusiastically in one hand. A smile split on Enzo’s face as he rushed over to help her out of her car. “I must say, I was wary when you asked me to visit without Adrian,” Y/n chatted as Enzo escorted her into the house. “I couldn’t possibly think of anything you would need from me.”

“Can’t I just ask you over for tea?” Enzo chuckled. “Does everything I do need malicious intent?”

“Based on your past, yes.”

Enzo rolled his eyes playfully. After he took Y/n’s coat and hat, his eyes darted around his house, but he couldn’t find one trace of Mattheo anywhere. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll… I’ll grab the tea,” Enzo muttered. He moved to his kitchen, and seeing his back door ajar, he shoved it open. “Where are you going?!” he cried out to Mattheo who was currently halfway across the lawn.

Mattheo spun back to Enzo, fear deeply rooted in his expression. “I can’t,” he whispered after he jogged back to Enzo. “I can’t do it. You’re absolutely right. She... she has a life. And probably doesn’t even remember me. It would be cruel to subject her to such emotions. I don’t want to cause her any harm.”

Enzo shook his head. “I will not have invited my cousin to tea under false pretences,” he said slowly and firmly. “You owe this to her,” he added. 

A droplet of rain fell from a passing cloud and fell faster and faster until it splattered on Mattheo’s wrist. The water was absorbed by the cuff of Mattheo’s shift, but a small bit of the water rolled down onto his hand and drifted its way down to Mattheo’s ring finger. A thin gold band sat snug there. “Do you know what a pyrrhic victory means?” 

“Yes.” Enzo frowned inquisitively. “It’s victory that cost the victor more than it did the defeated. But what does that have to do with Y/n?”

“My love for Y/n has cost me everything,” Mattheo muttered. “But she is everything. I'm used to people hating me for my wealth and how reserved I am. What I'm used to isn't people's love. And now, my love is with Y/n and I'm not letting anyone ruin that or take it away from me.” More raindrops began falling from the sky until a gentle pitter-patter could be heard all around them.

“So why don’t you come in and tell her that?” Enzo asked, gesturing towards his door. 

Mattheo’s jaw jumped but he nodded, giving in. He shuffled through the door and into the living room where Y/n sat. Enzo grinned to himself and shut the door behind them before hearing Y/n gasp and the sound of a glass breaking. Enzo cursed to himself, knowing one of his precious teacups had now lost its life.

“M- Matty?” Y/n murmured, eyes wide. “Oh- oh, dear.” She stared down at the broken teacup on the carpet and bent down, hands shuddering. Mattheo crouched down as well, maintaining eye contact with Y/n the entire way. Y/n shook her head and focused on cleaning up her mess. Enzo noticed her whole body was trembling and he took a step forward as if to console her. Mattheo beat him to the punch. He grasped her forearms and helped her up, leaving the teacup behind. Y/n sniffed and repeated, “Matty?”

“Yeah, darling. It’s me,” Mattheo murmured, stepping closer to her. His hold on her arms softened and his cheek brushed against her forehead. 

Y/n exhaled shakily. “What are you doing here?” she whispered, tipping her head to lean into a more intimate position with Mattheo. Enzo slid out of the room, smirking faintly.

“I live next to Enzo,” Mattheo said, neither one bothering to look for Y/n’s cousin. 

Y/n chuckled humourlessly. “Tell me the real reason, Matty. I know you better than this.”

Mattheo smiled - the truest smile Enzo had ever seen on his neighbour’s face (not that Enzo was watching from the next room) - and leaned down to bump his nose against hers. “I could never hide anything from you. Not that I ever would, but I digress.” Mattheo reached down and gently lifted Y/n’s hand to his lips. He pressed featherlight kisses along her fingertips and confessed, “a year after you married Adrian, I built a house across the bay. The mansion whose windows are alight every single night with fireworks going off every weekend… that’s me, darling. Trying to get you to even glance over at me. Renting the neighbouring cabin to your cousin… that’s me. Every little detail, down to my car, is so I can see you again.”

“You did all that for me?” Y/n ran a soft thumb over Mattheo’s jawline, making the man shiver. 

“And I will do so much more,” Mattheo promised. “I am yours, my love. Always in all ways.”

****

Y/n sat curled in Mattheo’s lap. The pair was under a tree on a picnic blanket, far from the L/n Villa. “I’m sorry I couldn’t spend my birthday with you, Matty,” Y/n murmured to him. “I know you had a surprise for me.”

“It’s alright, darling,” Mattheo whispered back, dragging his fingers through Y/n’s hair. “I know nineteen is a monumental birthday for your family.”

“But now you have me all to yourself,” Y/n lightly laughed, turning to grin at her lover. “What was the surprise you had for me? You’ve been awfully suspicious these past few days, Matty.”

Mattheo hummed, looking to the sky and rhythmically tapping his fingers against you. “Well, I don’t know, my love,” he teased. “What could I possibly get the most perfect girl for her birthday?” After your protests, he continued, not before kissing your temple. “I got you my heart,” he whispered. Out from his pocket, he pulled a thin chain. Dangling teasingly from the chain was a golden ring. “So I can be with you always,” Mattheo explained quietly. 

Tears pricked at Y/n’s eyes as she gently took the necklace from him and thread the chain through her fingers. “You… you’re being serious right now?” Her focus was drawn to Mattheo’s own ring finger, where she noticed a new, immortal band lay proudly. “Are you…?”

“Only for you,” Mattheo reassured her. “Don’t worry. It’s my way of showing my devotion.” He twisted the necklace around her neck, clipping it there. 

“Only for me?”

“Always in all ways,” Mattheo vowed.

****

Y/n frequented outings with her friends much more often as of late. Adrian only sent Y/n away with a half-committed kiss on the cheek and eyes fixated on his golfing or his business contracts. Y/n would get in her car (or Enzo’s if he was feeling nice), and drive down to Mattheo’s mansion. Most days, there would be other cars there, waiting for Riddle’s house to open to party. They would be carrying booze and wearing all fashions of clothes, and when they would walk up to his door only to be turned away, they would pout and groan. Mattheo’s house wasn’t blazing his lights anymore, nor were there any fireworks crackling each weekend. His car was kept parked in his garage and his smile was constant. 

The first time Y/n had gone over to Mattheo’s mansion, so conveniently and coincidentally located across from hers, she had been in awe. “It’s exquisite!” she had exclaimed. She had run all over the house, marvelling at the floors and the ceilings, dragging Mattheo along behind her. Mattheo laughed loudly, his joy echoing off the walls. Of course, all of the art decorating his walls was accented to Y/n’s taste and the colour palette was exactly as Y/n had hoped for all those years ago. 

“Dance with me,” she beckoned Mattheo one day, already spinning on the deserted dance floor. Mattheo would lock the doors to his manor and keep out the partiers forever and always if it meant he could see Y/n on his dance floor, waiting for him. 

Mattheo stared at her, his eyes bright with love. He swept her up in his arms, pressing her close, and they danced to nonexistent music. Y/n rested her head on Mattheo’s chest and whispered, “this is nice.”

“This is very nice, indeed. I hope to do it more often.”

Y/n’s fingers gripped onto Mattheo’s shoulders. “Matty…” she whispered. “You know my feelings for you. But I- Adrian-”

“Please don’t speak his name,” Mattheo pleaded. “And I know about him. But I don’t care about him. Please tell me you don’t care about him either.”

“He is my husband, Mattheo.”

“That doesn’t mean you care about him.” Y/n took a breath and stepped slowly back from Mattheo. His mouth parted slowly and desperation filled his eyes. His hands reached out in anguish. “Please, my love. Don’t do this.”

“I will never love him as much as I love you,” Y/n clarified gently. “But I don’t hate him, either. Over the years, I have come to care for him. It’s a complicated feeling, Mattheo, I’m sure you understand.”

“Marry me,” Mattheo suddenly declared. “I promise, my dearest, I will give you all and more.”

“It’s not fair to Adrian,” Y/n protested, her hands dropped to her sides. “We don’t live in a life where one can just divorce their spouse to pursue another. You know of the rigidity and the silent rules that if we don’t follow, the exile we face.”

“Exile of what?” Mattheo cried, helplessness in his voice. “You can move in here. I can give you the life we dreamed of.”

“The life I dreamed of included my parents and my loved ones,” Y/n objected. “Not an isolated life with only one of the many I love.”

“Anyone you love can come visit you if they want,” Mattheo offered. “I won’t push anyone away. I just want you.”

“You know they won’t visit,” Y/n’s voice broke. “You know people will ridicule us. And I am so sorry, Matty, but I don’t know if I could live with that.” Mattheo didn’t speak for a long moment, staring at Y/n’s neck. “What’s wrong?” she eventually demanded. “Do I have something on my collar?”

“No,” Mattheo murmured softly. “It’s just… you kept it.” He pointed to Y/n’s neck and reached out to finger the chain around Y/n’s neck. The woman couldn’t help but shiver under his light touch. “You kept it,” he repeated. Carefully, as if afraid he might break her, Mattheo lifted the hidden necklace that was tucked under Y/n’s dress. “My ring.”

“I couldn’t bear to get rid of it,” Y/n’s breath hitched and she swallowed back tears. “I’ve never taken it off. Even- even on my wedding day.”

Beside himself, Mattheo chuckled, though it quickly turned to a gasp for breath. “So even when he made love to you, you always kept my ring around your neck?” Tears slipped down his cheeks and Y/n reached up to quickly wipe them away. 

“I don’t want you thinking about that,” Y/n muttered, shaking her head at the absurdness of it all. “Please… just be here with me.”

“I’m here,” Mattheo could hardly get a couple words out. He pulled her close to him and pressed a firm kiss on her forehead. “You still haven’t said no to my proposal.”

Y/n laughed loudly. “I didn’t think you were being serious.”

“With you, I am always serious,” Mattheo grinned, bending down to look her in the eye. “And that wasn’t an answer. Why are you avoiding the question, darling?”

Y/n sighed, a coy smile on her lips. “Would I simply leave Adrian? What of my things? Adrian would come looking for me, you know?”

“I would buy you whatever you’re missing a thousand times over.” Mattheo stared at Y/n, his eyes holding all the tenderness that a lover was supposed to have. “I would protect you and Adrian would never know where you are. He will never harm you, I promise.” 

Y/n tapped Mattheo’s chest thrice and hummed. Mattheo’s heart fluttered and his lips brushed against her temple. Silently, he begged all the gods he knew of that Y/n would agree to be with him. His lips moved wordlessly, pleading, before Y/n said, “I will call you tomorrow, Matty. I’m sure Adrian already knows of our endeavours, but give me one night to collect my thoughts. Can you give me that much?”

“Of course, my love. Whatever you need.” He kissed Y/n’s forehead again. “Always in all ways.”

“Always in all ways,” Y/n repeated.

****

“Where are you going?”

Y/n’s shoulders tensed and she slowly turned around to face Adrian. A packed bag was on her bed. “Enzo, the sweetling cousin he is, invited me to stay with him,” she said. “I thought it would be fun to spend a night in East Diadem. To see how others live.”

“You? In East Diadem?” Adrian chortled a laugh. “And why, pray tell, would you do that?” 

“Because I love my cousin,” Y/n reiterated firmly. “Are you forbidding me to see my family?”

Adrian’s head hung and he shook his head. “I may be rich, but I’m not stupid.” He hesitated before stating, “I know about Riddle.”

“My old friend?” Y/n asked smoothly. “Yes, he was a friend of Enzo’s. That’s how I met him, you know.” She cleared her throat and zipped up her bag. 

“You’re fucking him, aren’t you?” Adrian then suddenly shouted out, his hair flying out of place and his face turning red. “He’s fucking my wife, that bastard! Why, I should- I outta- you bitch!” He growled and whirled around, dragging a hand through his hair. 

“Adrian.” Y/n held up her hands, trying to soothe his emotions. It was the only way she learned how. “I haven’t been unfaithful to you, I promise. I made a vow on our wedding day and I have since upheld it.”

Adrian grunted and demanded, “so tell me you love me.”

Y/n swallowed. “I- I love you, Adrian. Just not in the way you want me to.”

Her husband let out a yell of frustration and slammed his hands down on the back of an armchair. Y/n flinched. After a tense moment, he hissed out, “go, then. Leave me.” His voice rose to a crescendo and he shouted out, “but know that I will never let you back into this life again! No one will ever let you step inside Diadem West without rumours and hatred trailing behind you.” He let his voice drop and as Y/n shuffled back, he raised his head and looked at her, pleadingly. “I want to make you stay,” Adrian whispered. “I want to tell you all the ways I love you. But… But I think we both know I can’t.” He took a step towards her and held a hand out as if he wanted to cup her face in his palm. “You are so beautiful, Y/n,” he muttered. “But he makes you feel alive. You- you deserve that.”

“So do you, Adrian,” Y/n choked out. 

“I know,” he nodded once, conceding. “I know.”

****

It took four weeks for Y/n to officially move into the house across the bay. Immediately, she had sought out her cousin and stayed with him for some time. She spent many of those days sitting out on the lawn, staring out to the bay and her old house. Her hair would whip across her face and sometimes, Mattheo would come and sit a couple feet away from her, not saying a word. Mattheo knew she was experiencing the eroding feeling of guilt. He didn’t dare disturb her thoughts if, eventually, it would lead to him. What’s a couple more weeks when he had been waiting years?

Then, one day, Y/n turned towards Mattheo and said, “you promised to love me always and in all ways.” 

Mattheo’s head whipped toward her. The shame in his eyes was deep. “Yes,” he uttered.

“I think I’m ready to take you up on your offer.” 

Mattheo broke into a smile.

A year later, the pair was married. The band that had been around Y/n’s neck was now around her finger. Y/n’s parents refused to attend and she had spent the night crying in Mattheo’s arms. Enzo had taken the place of her father and walked her down the aisle. The wedding was sparse and while Mattheo’s aunt had come to offer her congratulations, as had one of Y/n’s old friends, the couple knew that their life would be a lonely one until they either made new friends or Y/n’s old friends in Diadem West came around. But they were happy. 

Grand parties weren’t a frequent occurrence, though every month or so, Mattheo threw a celebration for an unimportant holiday, simply to show Y/n off. He finally had the pleasure to kiss her in a room full of people and not be ridiculed. However, parties weren’t needed. As long as Mattheo woke up with Y/n in his arms, he would call it the most wonderful day ever. 

And when years had passed and their children would move out to begin their own endeavours, the house would lay empty. After decades had gone by and the mansion was simply a statement of extravagant wealth and the jubilance of society, people would wander in the house, marvelling at the gold and marble. Whispers would echo the hallways of the great love story that transpired within its walls. A large, dusty old portrait of the couple still hung above the fireplace, their eyes holding as much love as there was water in the bay.

[iww-gnv]

An Oakland-based Popeyes franchisee operating restaurants in the East Bay and San Joaquin County was expected to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars after a federal investigation found that minors as young as 13 years old were allegedly working at the fast-food chain restaurants, the Department of Labor announced Wednesday.

[cringywhitedragon]

Some Halloween TC Rambles/Headcannons

It’s spooky season so to celebrate why not share some little bite-sized ramble ideas for some of the TC/TT cast for the spooky season

Being in the hospital can suck, especially for children during the holidays. Caduceus is well aware of that which is why both of the US (To fix the discrepancy in New Blood, I head-cannon that Caduceus has 2 branches in America, Caduceus USA East (Maryland) and Caduceus USA West (Angeles Bay)) and the European branches like to hold a little day of celebration. Staff will decorate the halls and most of the children patients will get the chance to participate in little activities related to the season. That even includes a little trick-or-treating event.

Dr. Niguel isn’t a big fan of the whole tradition unlike the rest of the staff as he usually just spends the whole day cooped up in his lab. Though it hasn’t stopped him one year from using a small pumpkin to test out a new surgical laser he was working on that then proceeded to sit on his desk proudly for the rest of the week leading up to Halloween or the rare thank you Leslie got when she decided to bring him the leftover candy from that year’s hospital trick-or-treat.

Tyler and Amy often go out trick or treating together when he can with this little tradition beginning as far back when she was just a toddler. Though this did get put on pause when Amy came down with GUILT but it didn’t stop them from finding other ways to celebrate together (Though there was a bit of somberness about in Tyler’s eyes at the possibly that Amy wouldn’t recover, yet that all changed after Derek came around and well you know the rest.)

Resurgum does have some similar traditions for Halloween a bit like Caduceus but on a lesser scale because they are a much smaller hospital.

While it’s not one of the busiest holidays in terms of calls, Maria Torres still gets a handful of strange cases that she and the other paramedics have to respond to that involve people doing stupid stuff sometimes. But hey, at least it’s not Christmas, The 4th of July, or Black Friday which often tend to be a whole lot worse.

Naomi, similarly to Victor, wasn’t really one who paid much attention to Halloween until Alyssa came into her life. The two went trick-or-treating one year with Alyssa dressed as a cat and Naomi has become known by several children who trick-or-treat in the neighborhood as the house that hands out those types of candies that look like eyeballs and fingers and whatnot (But hey, the kids, manly the boys, love it)

And just one more just for fun. About a year after the whole GUILT Pandemic, Derek had invited Angie to his place one Halloween after their shift had ended just to hang out when a group of kids passed by. One of them recognized Dr. Stiles as the one who had saved his dad which lead to the poor doctor to get surrounded by the boy and his friend group who were just in awe. When asked by Angie on what his costume was supposed to be, the kid responded that he was dressed as a doctor like his hero. Angie would not let poor Derek live that down.

[follow-up-news]

On a muggy July evening, Delaware state biologist Jason Davis is doing what kids have done for ages: Trying to catch a firefly. It’s nowhere near as easy as the summer evenings of his own childhood, with only a few in this large wetland between a bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Davis sees the double flash of a male and chases after it. It zags west. Davis follows. It zigs back east. Davis says the bug seems to be toying with him: “I think they’re having fun.” Finally, he flicks a long net to snare what some people call a lightning bug. ”That was four years of high school lacrosse,” he says. The firefly that Davis chased, the Bethany Beach firefly, is so rare that it’s likely to become the first of America’s fireflies to be put on the Endangered Species List later this year, experts said. It’s in trouble due to rising seas from climate change, and rising housing developments. Davis and others estimate no more than 1,000 are left. For many Americans, the flash of the firefly calls up memories of summer childhood evenings gone by — and now, the worry that the bugs are disappearing.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The movement to ban Republicans from using public bathrooms is launched. : [Thanks Robert Scott Horton]

* * * *

[from Anne Lamott]

I have located my pink pussy cap but am not yet ready to put it back on. These things take time. A whole week passed after the election before I could turn on CNN. My personal husband has a tool he promotes The Things I Do Every Day, and once again, I wrote out my list: Prayer, chores, meditation, my animals, friendship, walks, a little writing, a nap in the late afternoon,

Also, I live by Auden’s advice: Trust in God, take short views, and read the New Yorker. (I am sure he meant to include People magazine, and Us.)

When I feel most like a walking personality disorder, I go to meetings of other people who have somehow, miraculously gotten and stayed sober, and other meetings for people with tiny control issues and the disease of good ideas for other people, usually family, and one other group of people like me who have eaten entire carrot cakes in their car in parking lots.

(I am addicted to almost everything, except gambling, although I do get a thrill loading dollar bills into change machines, when the quarters drop down, often getting more change than I need.) (It’s really sad.)

I also go to church every Sunday and five days after the election, I drove to the east Bay with my friend Teri. The sermon, projected on the screen behind the pulpit, was called You Must Have Forgotten Who You Are.

And I had. I’m a news junkie who couldn’t look at the news, someone for whom reading has been the great love of my life, who couldn’t read the papers or Twitter or get lost in a book. Someone who rises up in protest against war and political madness. An agitated, self-righteous woman of peace and love.

But I noticed a few things,

I noticed that I was not alone. I was with a dear if cranky friend, the single most Jewish and lesbianic person I’ve ever know, with whom I ride to church every Sunday. Our shoulders were touching.

And I was in what Martin Luther King called the beloved community, a rich, gathering of people who were singing their pain, and their gratitude and faith, their hopes, focused not on their grieving, terrified selves but on the sweet, sweet shepherd of their lives, and other people’s hurts.

I started remembering who I was, not in my head but in those connections— a dear friend, my community, and the sacred. I could breathe again in a way that I hadn’t since November 6h. This little church starts the service with Sacred Breath from the pulpit, where we all close our eyes and breathe in holiness, as one. Of course, I’m sitting there going, Breathe in God’s love—my butt itches, I wonder if I left the back door open and the kitty got out, and the coyotes ate her—deep breath out—I’m so happy to be there, that woman should wash her hair more, my butt still itches. But when all else fails, follow instructions, right? So I breathed.

In her sermon, the minister made a passing reference to Jesus’s admonition that when injured, we turn the other cheek. Some theologians think that turning the other cheek is actually an act of civil disobedience- a protest, of sorts, standing firm in what we believe in—to do what is right, which in the end always means love. This is so subversive, to take injury and say, You don’t decide who I am.

But when does the resistance to the rising tide of Christian Nationalism begin? My darling friend, the writer Douglas Foster had texted me that morning: “It already has. Pro immigrant organizations burgeoning in every city. Big philanthropic moves to clothe, feed and house people. Lots of examples of new public housing and mental health provisions seeking to scale up, support groups for women, and families with trans kids who will need help getting to places where their health care needs will be met. You, me, a bunch of others.”

After church, Teri and I always eat sandwiches as we drive home, the sacrament of peanut butter and jelly, possibly my favorite food, the sacred elements of dark bread, creaminess, sweetness. We unwrapped our sandwiches, tapped each other’s food in a toast, no pun intended. Cheers. And it was good.

Anne Lamott

[midpenmedia]

AFTER SCHOOL IS HERE! If your child enjoyed our summer camps, they will love this. This year we offer 3, repeat it, THREE after-school classes for kids. We got animation, we got filmmaking, and we got acting! You can learn more and sign up via this link: https://www.activityhero.com/search?view=activity&q=Midpen+Media+Center&location=Palo+Alto%2C+CA+94303%2C+USA&radius=50&activity_types=camp%2Cclass%2Cevent

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Gestation 1.2 Live Reactions

(This is me, writing reactions as I read, because why the fuck not. They're not complete, mature thoughts taken after I sit back and evaluate what I've read. Consider them as such)

My thoughts were on Emma on the bus ride home.  For an outside observer, I think it’s easy to trivialize the importance of a ‘best friend’, but when you’re a kid, there’s nobody more important. 

Yeah, that definitely feels like it hits/rings true for me.

Of course, what's weird about this phrasing here, are the 'when you're a kid' and 'for an outside observer' bits. Like, that's more self-aware than I think Taylor should be, and the latter part especially feels like something someone reflecting back on these events years later would say, rather than what someone in the moment would think?

But maybe that's just Taylor's voice.

A friendship that deep is intimate.  Not in the rude way, but just in terms of a no-holds-barred sharing of every vulnerability and weakness.

"Not in the rude way"? I'm... I mean, contextually I think I guess this means like 'not in a sexually intimate' way, I guess, with the use of that phrasing, but that's got to be the weirdest way to put it I've seen, nor did it seem altogether necessary. I don't think anyone would have assumed it was meant that way. I certainly wouldn't have, but it's not like it ruins the work.

That notebook was – had been – my notes and journal for my hero career.  The testing and training I’d done with my powers, pages of crossed out name ideas, even the measurements I was using for my costume in progress.  After Emma, Madison and Sophia had stolen my last backpack and stuffed it in a wastebasket, I had realized how big a danger it was to have everything written down like that.  I had copied everything over into a new notebook in a simple cipher and wrote it bottom to top.  Now that notebook was spoiled, and I was looking at having to copy some two hundred pages of detailed writing into a new notebook if I wanted to preserve the information.  If I could even remember what was on all of the ruined pages.

And so the history of the wormverse turns. Without this, without the kickstarting element, and having that kickstarting element destroy so many of her notes and ideas... she doesn't go out half-cocked like she does. Doesn't face Lung, doesn't meet the Undersiders... and so the wormverse turns.

Many worm fics, especially Altpower fics, do indeed start with the Locker, or even whatever the alternate trigger is, or somewhere similar, and that is understandable, but it also makes a great deal of sense for Wildbow to start here. Three months between the locker and Taylor actually doing anything would have been very dull to read, even if much of it was skipped over. And having Taylor immediately go a-heroing as soon as she was recovered (as much as one can be) from the Locker would have been indicating a very different sort of personality for Taylor. Taylor did got get the most immediately useful power - and she's already probably a pretty thoughtful person, based on what I indirectly know of her.

So it's another key establishing character element for her. I can certainly see why - if every character is established so well - so many of Worm's cast burrows themselves into various people's minds and won't let go. I can see why Worm would have grabbed readers once they started, with all these well-placed hints and details.

Okay, so it had been harder than that.  Not just any spider worked, and the black widow spiders themselves were hard to find.  They weren’t typically found in the northeastern states, where it was generally colder, but I was fortunate that that key element that made Brockton Bay a tourist destination and a hotspot for capes also made it a place where black widow spiders could live, if not thrive.  Namely, it was warm.  Thanks to the surrounding geography and the ocean bordering us on the east, Brockton Bay had some of the mildest winters you could find in the Northeastern States, and some of the most comfortably warm summers.  Both the black widows and the people running around in skintight costumes were thankful for that.

Which came first? Brockton Bay being unusually warm for it's location and thus black widows? Or black widows and this Brockton Bay being unusually warm for it's location?

With my power, I had ensured the spiders could multiply.  I’d kept them in safe locations and fattened them on prey I directed straight to them.  I had flipped that mental switch that told them to breed and lay eggs as if it was summer, fed more prey to the hundreds of young that had resulted and had earned countless costume spinners for my trouble. 

Honestly, this is a reason shard-granted powers are pure bullshit (affectionate), because sweet jesus, this level of control over the bugs, which should have minds humans can't understand? That should not be so simple, and yet.

Yeah, I needed a life.

Yet another cornerstone of a stable timeline. Taylor not having a fucking life.

It wasn’t a great looking costume, just yet.  The fabric was a dirty yellow-gray.  The armored sections had been made out of finely arranged and layered shells and exoskeletons I’d cannibalized from the local insect population and then reinforced with dragline silk.  In the end, the armored parts had wound up dark mottled brown-gray.  I was okay with that.  When the entire thing was done, I planned to dye the fabric and paint the armor.

Knowing what Taylor will be experiencing shortly, it's kind of surprising she didn't realize how villainous her costume looked, but I do suppose I can understand a combination of a desperation to be a hero and being too close to it, and probably just... not wanting to think of it, etc, was a factor.

Also, and like - I've seen lots of very clear dates for various events, where do those come from? It's not in the text, is that something Wildbow provided later? did people run the numbers using the existing dates and just hope they weren't missing anything?

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday James “Midge” Ure born October 10th 1953 in Cambuslang.

Born to a working class family Ure attended Cambuslang Primary School and Rutherglen Academy in Glasgow until he was 15 years old. For the first 10 years of his life he lived in a one-bedroom tenement flat. After leaving school Ure attended Motherwell Technical College and then began to work as an engineer, training at the National Engineering Laboratory (NEL), in nearby East Kilbride.

Midge started playing music in a Glasgow band called Stumble in 1969, before joining Salvation, a Glasgow-based group that became the bubblegum band Slik in 1974. Upset in the change of direction, Ure left the band to join the Rich Kids, a punk-pop group led by former Sex Pistol bassist Glen Matlock. The Rich Kids only released one album, 1978’s Ghosts of Princes in Towers, before breaking up later that year. Ure spent a brief time with the Misfits (not the American band) before forming Visage with drummer Rusty Egan and vocalist Steve Strange; he left the group to replace Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy, who had left in the middle of an American tour. After the tour was finished, Ure fulfilled an agreement to join Ultravox as the replacement for John Foxx.

Once he joined the band in 1980, Ure helped make Ultravox a mainstream success; during this time he also worked as a producer, making records with Steve Harley and Modern Man. In 1982, Ure released a solo single, a cover of the Walker Brothers’ hit “No Regrets”; it climbed into the U.K. Top Ten. Ure and Bob Geldof formed Band Aid, a special project to aid famine relief efforts in Ethiopia, in 1984. The two wrote the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and assembled an all-star band of musicians to record the single; it sold millions of copies over the 1984 holiday season.

In 1985, Ultravox was put on hiatus and Ure began to pursue a full-time solo career. Recorded entirely by Ure, his 1985 solo debut, The Gift, launched the number one single “If I Was,” as well as the minor hits “That Certain Smile” and “Call of the Wild.” The following year, he recorded the final Ultravox album; in 1987, the band broke up and he began recording his second solo album. The resulting record, 1988’s Answers to Nothing, was less successful than The Gift in the U.K., yet it charted in the U.S., which is something Ure’s previous album failed to do. Three years later, Ure released his third album, Pure; while it didn’t do any business in America, the album featured the Top 20 British hit “Cold, Cold Heart.” He attempted a comeback in 1996 with Breathe, which went ignored by both the American and British markets. Four years later, his score for the Jon Cryer drama-comedy Went to Coney Island was issued by the Evenmore label.

Ure’s recording activity during the 2000s began with Move Me, which featured some surprisingly hard rocking material. A few years later, he published an autobiography, If I Was, and then, with Geldof, arranged the Live 8 concerts.

Following the release of the covers-oriented 10 IN 2008, Ure participated in an Ultravox reunion and continued to record as a solo artist. Fragile was issued in 2014, and featured the Moby collaboration “Dark, Dark Night.” In 2017, he collaborated with composer Ty Unwin on the album Orchestrated, which featured orchestral reworkings of Ultravox songs, as well as songs from his solo career.

In 2020 Midge released an album Soundtrack 1978-2019, he was one of the lucky artists to have completed his tour promoting this in February that year.

Midge has recently revealed why he turned down an offer to join the Sex Pistols, telling The Telegraph that he considered that taking up the invitation from the band's manager Malcolm McLaren would have been like "joining a slightly edgier Bay City ­Rollers". He received the offer to join the fledgling punk band back in 1975, while on a visit to McCormack’s instrument hire shop in Glasgow.

In an interview published in the Telegraph he said;

"I was stopped in the street by the Clash’s manager, Bernie Rhodes, who then introduced me to Malcolm McLaren, I didn’t know who either of them was, but they literally asked me to join the Sex Pistols without even asking what I did. To me it would have been like joining a slightly edgier Bay City Rollers, so I turned them down.

Last October Midge celebrated seven decades of music with a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Concerts coming up for Midge are, 24th October: Tvonica Culture - Zagreb , 31st October: Stadfeestzaal - Aarschot, Belgium with Lena

Lovich, before 27 dates in Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales ending in December, he then travels to United Arab Emirates for a gig in February, March sees the hard working Scot play 11 nights in Sweden and Germany.

Midge Ure is one of Scotland’s all-time most successful musicians. He is married with four daughters and lives in Somerset.

The video is Midge, with Pilot,s David Paton from a Live Hogmanay show in 1995.

[randomingoftherandomness]

Fic: shovel talk (Qiubing)

A/N: you know why you're tagged @snicker-doodles 😝

--

"May I know to what displeasure do I owe to have you all..." Qiu Qingzhi trails off, lazily flicking his gaze up from his documents to eye up the five men currently fidgeting under his focus. "Here."

This seems to cause a furious rush of whispers as Alibaba elbows the stocky one he knows is Sun Bai, while Cui Bei and Chen Shi side steps the whole mess. Eventually the glib tongued Wang Qi clears his throat.

"This is..." He smiles, bowing deeply with a smile that would not look out of place on the face of a swindler. "General Qiu, we of Mingjing Hall, have come to ask... That is, we represent the vested interests of Mingjing Hall--"

"If you're going to be beating around the bush like this, might I just make this easier and get Li Bing here to explain it to me why five of his men have practically forced their way into my hall to have an audience with me?"

This seems to spur them into a physical reaction of having the fear of the gods put right into them. Good, Qiu Qingzhi thinks, maybe they can hurry up and tell me what they want so that I can get back to my reports--

"What are your intentions with Li Bing!"

Shocked silence ensues while all eyes turn to look at the quiet Cui Bei who is practically wilting in mortification.

"And what would have given you the idea that I... Had any 'intentions' with him in the first place?"

"This..."

Eyeing them up for a bit, he sighs. Qiu Qingzhi sets aside his report and neatly steeples his fingers. "Go back to Mingjing Hall and come back in two days with a properly constructed script of what you'd like to say to me in defence of your Vice Minister. If you're going to give me a shovel talk, do it right."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The suffering continues.

Lamenting, not for the first time since he trusted his heart to be honest, at the way his ears are burning while the lilt of laughter fills the night quiet, he tries to turn away from his companion in the bed they share. Only to be bodily hauled back into his arms.

"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore," Li Bing chuckles. Hand slipping into Qiu Qingzhi's, he tucks his body back into the warmth of their embrace. "So, they came to give you a shovel talk, eh?"

"It was embarrassing. I was embarrassed for them."

"So you gave the kids homework to do," Li Bing giggles, breath dancing over Qiu Qingzhi's neck. "How adorable."

"You deserve people who can give a good shovel talk in defence of you," Qiu Qingzhi says simply. As if stating facts like how the sun rises from the East and sets in the West, Li Bing deserves nothing but the best.

A gentle touch settles over his heart then. "So do you, too. And I'll gladly accept any shovel talk that comes my way for you."

Qiu Qingzhi smiles a little at that. Brushing his lips to the other man's brow, he murmurs, "No need. I already gave my heart to you since the beginning."

[kickthecan-revolution]

I love this girl.

I ended up privatizing my experience at acupuncture last night. I woke up with it so heavily on my mind and this….absence of rage. A noticeable, significant absence. Something happened, I’m not sure what but I’m so thankful it did.

I drove to East Bay to get some Christmas shopping done - I’m about halfway through, just a few more things. I took my time, tried a few things on and like what size pants I’m fitting in. I’m happy about my presents, I splurged on everyone and am getting the kids gift cards and cash, but also something to open. In the past I’ve been anxious about presents, what if they don’t like them? But it’s different this year, it really is the thought that counts, the effort.

I’ve also decided to take my sister to Greece next year. Ahhhh! I’m a little freaked out about the money but I’m just going to do it, it’s her bucket list trip and she’s been so incredible. I bought her a Greek flag coffee cup and a travel book so we can start planning. It will either be April/May or October - I kind of want to do October so it can be the first thing I do after I leave my company.

I’m so happy with where I’m at right now. Not tons of energy but enough. Still coughing, but better. Not feeling anxious or depressed, more of myself. Some hope and excitement for the future is beginning to show itself again. The kittens are healthy. Thank you, thank you.

[only-lonely-stars]

Orange is the New Black (Chapter 3 - L-L-O-Y-D!)

[Chapter 2] // [Chapter 3 - you are here!] // [Chapter 4] – (FFN) (AO3)

Part of @ninjago-fic-fest!

Summary:

A rift opens in the sky above Ninjago City just as Cole continues his track record of falling from tall places. The place he wakes up in isn't the same as the one in which he fell... and who's the kid with a man bun who looks just like him?

Chapter summary:

Cole experiences a number of small yet confusing moments and questions his sanity.

Things in this alternate Ninjago City seemed to move both faster and slower than Cole expected they would.

Wu had offered him a cabin on the Bounty, inadvertently the one where Cole had once lived with his brothers back when Lord Garmadon had been their biggest threat. He’d settled into his old cot with a sigh, the mattress just as hard as he remembered, and slept as well as the earth he mastered.

He woke late in the morning, remembering the last wisps of dreams. He’d been somewhere lush and green, not unlike Hiroshi’s Labyrinth. Princess Vania had been with him, doing… something… 

He tried to remember it, but couldn’t… and with the absence came a painful homesickness.

Wu had nearly knocked down the door a minute later, balancing an entire tray of breakfast food on his staff, and they had breakfasted right there on the floor. Wu didn’t answer any of his questions, instead telling him to be patient, and the clipped tone of his voice made Cole remember that this wasn’t his Wu.

They finished their meal quickly, so with an entire day to kill, Cole went for a long walk around the city.

—

The Ninjago City Tour began at the bay where the Destiny’s Bounty was docked. Cole could see the whole city without having to turn his head! It was small, yet reaching high into the sky, and extremely colorful.

It wasn’t like the Ninjago City he remembered, or anything in his Ninjago.

He began to walk toward what he thought was east, toward where he thought the sun must have risen from. It was already nearing its zenith.

Cole smiled and shielded his eyes, appreciating the heat.

It felt like home.

East took him toward the coast of the bay, where it was sandy and populated. While there weren’t many waterfront properties, the skyscrapers even came up to the edge of the sand, as if taunting the very geography.

Wasn’t that a safety concern?

Why was this place so strange?

Cole was so distracted that he didn’t realize what was happening until he walked right into someone and knocked them over.

“Ow!” The person fell backward, landing on the sidewalk. “Watch it!”

“I’m sorry!” He reached down and offered a hand to help the person up. She was middle-aged, with long, platinum blond hair tied into a high ponytail.

She gave him a dirty look and got up on her own, brushing herself off. “Thanks. Now I’ve got dirt on me, right before my Pilates class.”

“I said I was sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going, it was a complete accident.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m fine.”

She walked on, and Cole stood still in amazement.

What was that all about?

He looked around again. There was nobody else around– not even anyone on the boardwalk he’d somehow found himself on. How had he managed to run into someone?

This place got stranger and stranger…

—

A few hours later, Cole stood in the shallows at the beach. He’d discarded his tabi boots a few meters back and rolled up his pant legs. The water was just a little warmer than the air, and he smiled as it lapped against his shins. The relaxing rush of water was still something familiar, not unlike when Nya was meditating and practicing her elemental skills. If he closed his eyes, he could envision Kai playing with fire, taking videos for his social media. Jay would be messing with some device, trying to wire it in a way that could possibly start an electrical fire. Zane would sit nearby, supposedly to relax, but really so he could quench Jay’s project if needed.

Oh, how Cole already missed them… but he had to look on the bright side. This was a good place! It was still Ninjago, after all.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad to be in another realm, listening to unfamiliar radio playing through loudspeakers and children shouting excitedly. The beach was crowded enough that he only had a little space to himself, but Cole didn’t want to isolate himself. He’d done enough of that when he was a teenager.

A teenager like Hence, who walked around with headphones on all the time, who wore all-black and tried to be cool but obviously wasn’t happy.

If he was as similar to Cole as he appeared, Hence was struggling, and Cole probably knew why.

But how did you help the alternate version of yourself? It was like those stupid interview questions from the Ninja’s celebrity days. What would you tell your younger self? Any advice? 

I’d tell him to be brave, and to talk to his dad earlier. To ask about his mom, to not worry so much about other people’s opinions. To not let himself be talked into stupid interviews on live TV so people could poke at a non-existent relationship.

A fish swam up by Cole’s toes, investigating. He wiggled them, scaring the little minnow off.

Maybe he shouldn’t say anything.

But what if it helped? Wasn’t that the job of a ninja?

The radio blared on. “That was ‘Everything is Awesome’ by Tegan and Sara, featuring The Lonely Island! Now Davy, wasn’t that something?”

“It sure was! I’m telling you, this is a beautiful day in Ninjago City. A full two days since Garmadon’s last attack! So you all know we’re overdue, but still.”

Overdue? Cole scoffed. What was Garmadon, a volcano that was ready to blow? Never mind the actual volcano Garmadon supposedly lived in, not even three kilometers away from shore.

“Well let’s get back to the music! Next up, it’s Chen’s newest hit, ‘Boo Lloyd!’ Hit it, Davy!”

The lyrics floated down the beach to Cole. At first, he didn't pay attention, but a few words were familiar made him listen out of disbelief. 

Cheerful drum beats and synths heralded the baffling chorus. “L-L-O-Y-D, his dad is bad and so is he! Boo Lloyd!”

No. Surely he was imagining the earworm he was currently being subjected to, which called Lloyd out by name and mocked him openly.

Lloyd was just a kid here! The son of a famous warlord, yes, but an innocent teenager all the same.

Never mind what he’d thought about this being a nice realm. What was wrong with these people?!

—

Cole burst into the bridge of the Destiny’s Bounty, panting from a flat-out run. “Master Wu!”

The ninja master looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. He sat at a short table, sipping tea and eating what looked like crab cakes. “That is my name. Don’t wear it out.”

Cole sighed in relief, closing the door behind him. “I’m glad I found you. I– I need to talk to you about something.”

“So much is obvious. Sit down.” Wu took out a second teacup and filled it, offering it to Cole as soon as he was seated. Cole took it and sipped, and while he drank, Wu watched him expectantly. 

“Master, something’s wrong here. I was out on a walk in the city, and I– well, I was all over, but I was at the beach for this part. They were playing the radio, and this crazy song was playing. I almost thought I was going crazy!”

Wu hummed and sipped his tea, taking so long that he ended in a drawn-out slurp. “I do not know if you are crazy. What song was it?”

“I don’t even know what it was,” Cole admitted. “I felt like I was hallucinating. The announcer said it was called ‘Boo Lloyd’? Which is exactly why I felt like I was crazy! Am I crazy?”

Wu watched him.

Cole waited.

The ninja master sighed. “No. You are not crazy.”

“Oh, thank goodness. But then–?”

“Yes, it is a real song.” Wu sipped again, slurping loudly. “..It is my nephew’s burden to bear.”

“But– but it’s bullying! He’s never done anything to them! He’s even protected them!”

“They do not know that. His identity is a secret, as is every ninja’s. Perhaps your realm does not take secrecy seriously?”

“Well– we never really needed to keep anything secret.” Cole looked down at his teacup, feeling ashamed. “I just… didn’t think anybody would go after Lloyd like that. Our Lloyd never got treated that way, and his dad was so much worse. No offense.”

“Perhaps he had other lessons to learn.”

“Lessons? What does anyone learn from bullying?”

Wu raised one eyebrow. “Resilience, perhaps patience. He will not learn them if someone else solves his problems for him.”

Cole gaped, struggling for words. “Wh– that’s not– you’re letting him be bullied?”

They stared at one another, the sound of slurping barely registering in Cole’s mind. When Wu finally moved, it was to set his teacup down and pour another, then to slurp from it instead.

It was time to change the subject. “Why are their identities secret, anyway? They wouldn’t be hurt by anyone as their civilian selves, except maybe Garmadon, and they can take him. Right?”

This time, Wu glared at him. “...They are children.”

“I wasn’t any older than them when I started.”

“And your master wanted your enemies to know that?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say he wanted it, but it couldn’t be helped! We had to stop Lord Garmadon before the prophecy could come true.” Cole crossed his arms. “So we were a little young. Big deal. Your ninja will have to defeat him before the Overlord comes into play, right?”

Now it was Wu’s turn to look confused. “What overlord?”

“The Overlord. The greatest force of evil in the whole realm?”

“This sounds like something out of a children’s story,” he commented, matter-of-fact. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“No? You don’t have a prophecy?”

“No. Only the five elements…” Wu shook his head. “They are too young for them. The Ultimate Ultimate Weapon cannot be used. They will have the elements when they are ready.”

“And when will that be? When Garmadon has already been defeated?” The very idea made Cole sad. “Come on, Wu. You’re not letting them stretch their wings.”

The way Wu shifted was enough for him to know that the comment landed, so Cole continued. “You have to let them grow up. They’re not children, they’re teenagers. Soon they’ll be adult ninja. What if they can’t be your students anymore? You can’t keep big secrets like the elements from them.”

Wu set down his teacup, emptied for the second time, with a sharp clack. “You do not know what I’ve seen–”

“I can guess,” Cole interrupted, “and that’s good enough. They don’t know. You need to tell them.”

“It is too much for them. They deserve innocence.”

“Then start small! Start with the elements, or– or leading themselves, or choosing whether or not to stay secret. They should be able to be real ninja, not just pretend to be ninja in front of the rest of the world. If you don’t let them choose their own paths, they’ll be haunted by past failures.”

Wu stood up, suddenly looking very old and very tired. He looked at Cole with aging eyes. “You know too much.”

Cole frowned, heart aching– he missed his Wu, and this doppelgänger just wasn’t him. “So do you.”

They watched each other, and deep down, Cole knew he wouldn’t understand why this Wu was so different. He’d tried to understand his own Master Wu, and that had been under extenuating circumstances. 

No one would ever understand his relationship with Wu… not unless they’d seen it grow. No one else would ever know how it felt to be someone’s student, son, and father.

No one would understand why Cole knew so much, or hurt so much.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push.”

Wu shook his head, exhausted. “...We leave early tomorrow,” he said, as if it was a dismissal.

Cole stood and bowed to him, feeling oddly ceremonial. “Sure. See you later, Master.”

He left the bridge, head spinning and heart aching, wondering how he’d gotten to the position he was in. Somehow, he felt just as old as Wu–

His reverie was broken by the sound of a blaring alarm. “Garmadon alert! This is not a drill. Garmadon alert!”