#gonna be honest this question threw me for a complete loop when i first read it

[rppik]

As a lesbian,what is it like to like dick? I need this answer spiritually

Aha, well... To get the spiritual food you need, I hope you don't mind that this got a little long ^^;;

I'll preface this by saying that there are lesbians who like dick as well, it's just that aforementioned dicks are usually attached to women or feminine-aligned folks, yeah~? Not saying that that necessarily applies to you, but it's worth noting. I understand you probably didn't mean any harm, but when you phrase a question like that it can come across as being transmisogynistic or erasing lesbians who date folks with penises. As such, it's important to me to address it first and foremost.

To get to the nitty gritty of the question, though, being in a relationship and doing sexual acts with someone who has a penis is,, pretty much the same as doing that stuff with anyone? By which I mean to say, no matter who you're getting into bed with, no matter what they've got in their pants, you're going to need to work out your boundaries and what you're comfortable doing with them all the same.

Every relationship is unique. Every partner you have is gonna bring different limits, wants, and needs to the table. I can't exactly generalize the experience of loving them based on their genitalia (^^;)ゞ I may as well try and describe what's it like to be into blondes, or people who are shorter than me, or folks who have love handles. Breaking up humanity into groups based on those features or on their private parts is going to yield a far too variable group for me to accurately state that "dating someone who has ___ is going to be like like ___."

As disatisfying as it may be to hear, the only honest answer I can give is that the experience of liking dicks depends on the individual people they're a part of, just like it does for anyone with any set of genitals.

[cutegirlmayra]

*Slurps on ice coffee* ey yo Mayra what's cracking? I need some good ole fashioned protective Sonic of Amy I̶'̶m̶ ̶b̶a̶s̶i̶c̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ . Maybe something like the press or newspaper attack Amy's character which upset her and Sonic defends or tries to comfort her? That'd be great thanks *Puts on shades and skateboards away*

What up, homie? How’s the skate? Don’t get home to late, my man, you know how these streets be at night. OUR TOWN. That’s what’s up! -slaps hand into yours and does a bro-hold-

You can see my response and thinking for this on the Pajama Blogs! (x) Timecode: 28:12

Referencing my fanfiction: Trying to ‘Tap’ into Love

PROMPT REQUESTS ARE ON SHUTDOWN, DO NOT SEND ANY TO ME, please and thank you ;3c

Prompt:

It was a pretty late night. I hadn’t seen Amy so upset before.

Usually, in the past, it wasn’t uncommon for Amy to come rushing to me--arms flung out and moving like a speed train with tears that sprawled into sparkling stars against the sky.

I always, usually, kinda-sorta, caught her and just let her cry it out with an awkward smile to my face.

But this time... Amy wanted to be alone.

That was weird. I first heard about it from Tails, who said that she had been reading some articles about the team and how they’ve said some pretty critiquing things about her... I’ve never really dealt with anything like that.

Joking, completely, I’ve totally had my fair share. But what about Amy? I always figured... well, she came off as pretty independently confident all on her own. I didn’t think she cared that much about what everyone thought of her.

So I was a bit concerned by Tails’s words, but I thought nothing of it. Waved it off as a momentary sadness for her, after all, this was Amy! She could bounce back from anything.

If it was really serious, I figured she would have come charging after me like before.

The stars weren’t here tonight... odd.

Sorry, where was I? Oh, yeah. The second time I heard anything a little more alarming was from Knuckles. Apparently, Amy had come to seek some solace from the unconditionally loving Chao--now this had been a solid day and half since I’ve heard about the incident of her wanting to be alone after reading some bad commentary on her--and she would shake the chao away from clinging to her.

He said he didn’t get it, cause she used to love to cuddle them and they all were really hurt by her wanting to keep her distance and just pat their heads.

Now, if anything were to set me and Knuckles off, it was that.

His face was so strained as he talked to me about it, I’ve never seen Knuckles trying to hold back so much worry and anger before. He said he tried to go over and give her a piece of his mind, but when she turned around, her eyes were vacant of anything but tears.

“It looked like she thought she had done something wrong before she even did it.” He stated, “I didn’t have the heart to continue yelling at her, so I just shooed her away, telling her to pick on someone else if she was feeling that crummy.”

“Harsh, Knuckles. Harsh.” I joked, but there was a low-key truth to what I said. “Tails said something about harsh comments on some articles she likes to read about us.” The old alter of the Master Emerald’s shrine was as stony and gravely as ever. The little pieces of chipped pebbles always grinded and dug themselves under my fur and into my skin every time I sat there, but Knuckles acted like nothing ever phased his tough skin.

I was acting kinda tough, too... to be real honest with you.

Knuckles huffed, grumbling as he picked up some berry juice he had squashed into a half-coconut  bowl and passed one over to me. “Doesn’t excuse telling a kid they can’t hold ya.” He was right... but then again...

“Maybe she just didn’t want the sympathy.” It was hard to look at it from a girl’s point of view, I didn’t quite understand what would tip her over the edge like that. Maybe they said she wasn’t pretty enough..? Ehh..?

“Girls really care about how others view them, you know?” I took a sip. It did in fact taste good, and I leaned back to let the slight acidy feel tingle against my throat as its favorable burst went down the ol’pipe. “Ahh~ That’s the spot!”

“...I don’t think you should be acting so carefree about this, Sonic.”

His sudden tone made me stop enjoying the berry sensation and look back to him, a little surprised but not by much. Knuckles always chose the direct route in any conversation, it’s what made him so easy and frustrating to talk to.

I smiled and closed my eyes, putting a foot down a step to stretch it out and sighed.

“...Yeah. I know.”

“If you know, then why don’t you do something about it!?” Knuckles, always ready to pull his voice out and speak up when he sees something he doesn’t like. “The very fact that she’s a girl means you should do somethin’ about it! Girls aren’t meant to mope about, they gotta be treated decently! Ain’t that half your job?!” ...Still, it made me like him like that. He was a good guy, and had the real makings of a hero--at least, to my standards--and a good friend at that!

“Half, huh?” I took another sip. Did everyone think me and Amy were something more..? After all these years, I hadn’t the slightest clue. Seems everyone else held a standard in their mind about it though...

“I’m serious! Aren’t you planning to do something about it?”

“Am I?” I smirked, not liking to be asked direct questions about myself. I took the coconut drink down and set it to the side, getting up and stretching my arm out in a few simple gestures. Spreading it across my chest and pulling it with my other hand, then twisting my torso right and down as I put the other arm back and used the one I’d momentarily stretched to reach sky high with it. “Boy, that feels good!”

“Grr... Sonic... if you’re making fun of this, I’ll-!” Before getting Knuckles too wound up, seeing him lift his fists again, I flicked myself in my usual--Sonic Charm~

I winked and wiggled my pointer finger, turning one leg to be slightly bent as I was about to speed off anyway.

I had heard what I wanted too, now time to do some more digging before investigating it right at it’s source.

“Don’t worry so much, Knuckles! Like I’d ever leave Amy to her own assumptions.” I still wasn’t sure what she was struggling with... but wanting to be alone and not have anyone clinging to her in affection?

Didn’t sound like Amy Rose to me.

While heading to dart off the island, I stopped by the chao and asked them what their story was.

Squatting down, I think I mustered up enough of my expertise in games to figure out their charaded play. It seems the chao could tell something was off from Amy’s usual, cheery nature. To try and help, they tried to swarm her as she usually did with endless hugs, but she delicately plucked each one off at a time and set them back down.

All she wanted was to sit, looking sadly between her arms and legs--I’m guessing the chao were trying to do the fetal upright position but their budgy bodies just can’t do it.--and pat their heads.

It made them uncomfortable to not be able to love on her, I assumed, and they continued to show me great concern as they held my arms in different places and showed me their adorable eyes.

“I get it, don’t worry, Amy’s gonna be just fine.” I smiled the best I could, but hearing... well, seeing their side of the story really... heh, opened my eyes?

Puns. Always a defense mechanism when you don’t intend to use them that way.

Something had me wanting to wait before I saw Amy again, though. Usually, that wasn’t like me, but I wanted a bigger picture.

I sped over to Cream’s and Vanilla’s, where I thought more insight might be had.

Tails had already called them, doing his own work to try and collect the pieces before directly asking Amy. We all knew Amy could be a bit... Nah, I won’t say it. But we wanted a better idea before we approached her about it.

Just safer that way...

I rubbed my head, remembering how easily one could fall into that hammer’s swing if they didn’t word things a bit more carefully, as Cream and Vanilla recounted Amy’s strange melancholy behavior, and how she wanted to seem less-

“Feminine?” That threw me for a loop, and trust me, I’ve had my fair share of running through loops.

“Well, not quite.” Vanilla was sitting on her lovely coach with Cream and Cheese sitting adjacent but slightly on her lap. She looked down at Cream who held her chin up a moment, wanting to be polite as she addressed me.

I did my best to hold a steady and kind eye-contact, but I could tell she was struggling to admit what she heard and saw.

“Miss Amy kept asking me strange questions. Like... Was she too much on something. I didn’t understand and she kept insisting I shouldn’t coddle her or lie to her. I didn’t know how to take that... I would never lie to Miss Amy! I just... didn’t understand what she wanted from me.”

It pained me to see that Amy had hurt someone from her own insecurities.

That was everything Amy stood against, and that’s when I knew this was getting out of hand.

I had let her be for a day just to see if she would either work it out on her own or come crying to me... but she hadn’t done either.

She was now hurting those close to her... and so it was time to intervene.

“Thank you for telling me that, Cream.” I purposefully spoke as tenderly as I could, “I’m sure that was hard for you. I’m very grateful you told me what happened.”

She buried herself into her mother’s chest, still hurt, and that drove a powerful fire through me.

That does it, Amy.

You don’t hurt people when you’re injured.

You come to someone stronger to help heal you if you can’t do it yourself.

At the time, I was really upset. Amy must have been polarized by the media.

They call her too traditional? Is that why she wanted to be more ‘tough’ like? Too protected? Too appeased?

Feminine... did she feel like a damsel in distress instead of our trusted friend?

I was trying to keep my head leveled, but I ended up closing my eyes during my run and letting the night’s air beat against me to try and cool myself off before finding her.

She wasn’t home, I checked the windows. No lights.

Unless she was sitting the dark, Amy always had a reading light on. She only turned every light off in her house when she was going to bed, so she could see the stars and feel like we were watching them together, no matter if we were far apart or not.

I looked to see she hadn’t any dirty dishes in the sink, and while peeking through the window, I noticed her drapes were down as well. That means she hadn’t been cooking or baking, and that she hadn’t opened the windows and pulled the drapes to let the smells carry, hoping I’d catch wind of it and invite myself in for a dinner with her.

I sped over to the city, thinking maybe she went on one of those ‘journey walks’ where she just window shops but ends up buying too many bags and waiting for me to bolt by and help her with them. She liked to think and experience things outside the home too... but I didn’t see her struggling with shopping bags anywhere.

She wasn’t watching Twinkle Park’s lights from her favorite outdoor restaurant, or purposefully losing her hat in hope’s I’d somehow see it and return it to her. She wasn’t sitting on her favorite spot with her favorite outdoor umbrella with her typical strawberry and vanilla shake and pretending she was too cold to finish it, bundling up and hoping I’d make a move and pull her closer or something.

She wasn’t in the fields where she’d pick flowers with Cream, or stare up at the clouds and reminisce about old times and stories we used to tell each other, or have her head on a bed of flowers so butterflies would come and sit on her still face as she dreamed of a future with me in it. Waiting for me to zip by and have the butterflies spread out and fly through my backdraft as the air around where I just blazed through would slowly return to a even, equilibrium.

She wasn’t anywhere I usually found her at.

I came up to my last spot I could think of. Why was this so hard? Amy could find me in a heartbeat... which... I couldn’t quite feel right now because it was fluttering dangerously like my shaky breaths.

I kept a strong look on my face, simply because I was worried my fear at not finding her would leak through and make her feel bad about being too well hidden.

I didn’t want her to feel bad... I didn’t want her to be alone for this long.

It had been the dark of the second day... I just wanted to see her. Make sure she was okay...

That anger that once fueled me was now popping in sparks of concern that made me walk around the rolling hills of Green Hill zone.

If she wasn’t here... looking for me... then I truly didn’t know where she was.

Eggman... would have been my next guess.

That, or Amy was replaced by a robot of his and was terrorizing the living daylights out of her friends!

... It was concerning. I wouldn’t worry. I couldn’t worry... Amy wasn’t a little girl anymore and hateful, spiting comments were to be expected when you live in the spotlight.

But I was just wanting to know where she was... how she was... It was starting to drive me crazy.

“Where are you... Amy?” I looked up to the sky, blank and black, and I didn’t like the omen it sent me. Like chills down my fur, the wind finally got to me. I felt the cold... empty world for the first time... realizing Amy was out in it without me.

Was she without her coat? Was she silently re-reading those awful articles?

‘Amy... Amy... Hear me... You’re not alone.’ My thoughts channeled through to my feet and I kept searching, darting here to there, scouting out east and west, north to south was like zig-zagging till every blade swayed left and right to make sure she wasn’t hiding somewhere in it’s darkened shade...

A crescent moon... not a full one. She liked the full moon.

‘Amy...’

As I ran through a rather flattened terrain of another zone, I watched to the side of me how the treelined slimmed down and the edge of the world rose up on a hill... that soon became a mountain.

Blocking my view... of any light the night could have brought to her.

She only liked the dark when she was about to sleep... it’d be too dark to really see her way home, soon.

I had confidence she knew her way home, that the world wasn’t that dangerous... but I wondered if her mind could be.

‘Amy...’ I bit down my teeth, charging forward in a streak of blue.

“AMMMMYYY!!!!”

----

As though hearing something in the distance, I raised my head and looked back over my shoulder.

Something kept telling me Sonic was looking for me... but I wondered if that was true this time.

I turned my solemn head with a sigh back to the last shred of light from the fading sun... I felt like... if I got any closer, I would feel it’s warmth envelop me completely... and I’d disappear from this world.

All these awful words in my head would cease, all this terrible feeling of not being enough, or too much, or just dull and unwanted... I wanted it all to go away.

I had cried and thought so much, self-reflected to the point of not even knowing where I was or how far I had traveled off too.

Tails said I was acting too sensitive to words that random people that didn’t even know me had said. Knuckles yelled at me when I tried to change my behavior so I wasn’t what those people had written about. Cream even got tongue-tied trying to voice her own thoughts about me... and ended up just saying something to ‘feed my ego’ as they put it.

No... Cream wouldn’t do that. Tails wouldn’t try and be so dismissive of me like they said they all are. Knuckles... Okay, Knuckles is loud and yells a lot, but he meant well..!

She groaned and let herself flop back to lay against the cold grass, still holding her arms around herself as she was getting terribly cold in her heartache.

Knuckles just didn’t like how the chao were reacting to my new behavior... it’s understandable they would have been apprehensive to me trying to love them a little less directly... But practicing my new, refined self on them didn’t seem to have any good effects...

Maybe I’m overthinking... but I just want someone to tell me... I’m alright.

She put her arms over her eyes, refusing to look up at such a dark and ugly sky tonight.

“I just-” she sniffed, feeling the hot tears break through her already stained, sticky cheeks full of her earlier dried tears again. “I just want someone to tell me I’m perfect the way I am..!”

A sound arrowed itself into a bow along the plain of where Amy was, a sound that soared through her like a sonicboom that cracked through to her heart and made her sit up, looking as though with outrageous hope towards the last lowering light of the sun’s touch...

The grassy hill behind her seemed to have made a sound like something was moving quickly across it’s tundra... like something was refusing to let her sit in the quietness to let her thoughts overwhelm and consume her.

Her thoughts could hear someone calling her name...

“Sonic..?”

She lightly whispered his name out.

Then, as though pushing her lips back to not bother him, but wanting more than anything to jump into his arms-!

“SOOONIICCC!!!”

-----

He zoomed back to the sound, his eyes raising as though elated to finally get a trace of her.

And those tears that sparkled and lit up the entire night sky with stars...

And those arms that reached out for him, as though stretching on for eternity... a never-ending yearning he always accepted, granted a little half-heartedly, but never refused.

That scene was forever imprinted on him... and he wasn’t letting Amy leave his sights till she was her usual, teasingly flirty and emotionally unbreakable, spirited and youthful self again!

[sarcastic-sunshines]

Before Abiona Interlude Part 8: Meet the Parents Part 2

Pairing: T’ Challa x Black!Reader

Warning(s): None

Link to ABIONA by @aloevverified

Link to Face claims (2)

Previous Chapter: Interlude Part 7

A/N: It's been a minute since I've updated this story, and I still love it and have written quite a bit of it and just haven't shared. I'm gonna be posting the chapters I have done and updating my masterlist. I won't be tagging anyone but if you do find time read, I hope to hear what you think about it. As always, hope y'all are staying safe, and please go get vaccinated.

Meet the Parents Part 2

T’Challa checked his watch before turning back to the television. Alix had been getting ready for a long time. He was more than ready to head to dinner with his mother and Shuri. Alix as usual was taking her sweet time finding something to wear. It seemed to be taking a little longer today, and T’Challa knew it was the nerves. He finally got up and headed to the bedroom to find Alix on the floor in one of his T-shirts. He smiled a bit at the site but also knew that meant his closet had been raided and was probably a mess.

“Alixandre, may I ask why you are on the floor in my shirt while this room looks like a tornado has made a visit” Alix rolled her eyes before turning to look at him.

“I can’t find anything to wear”

“That is because your closet is a mess”

“No! It’s because nothing fits! I look like a beachball!” T’challa took a step back sensing her frustration.

“Okay, how about you and I work on this together?” he said, kneeling down to help her up.

“As much as sitting here sulking feels like the preferred option I cannot let you do that so how about we get up and find something that I know you will look amazing in. Plus I am looking with non-judgemental eyes”

“Fine” She reached down to grab a couple of the options she didn’t completely hate and dropped them on the bed next to where T’challa had decided to sit. She looked at him as though she was waiting for something.

“What is it?”

“Close your eyes I can’t change in front of you.” T’Challa rolled his eyes.

“Alix you can easily go to the bathroom, but to be honest there really isn’t anything I haven’t seen before,” He said with a smirk as Alix threw a piece of clothing at him.

“I don’t care. Close your eyes T’Challa” T’Challa continued to smile at how flustered she was becoming. “T’Challa now!”

“Okay, okay, okay” She slipped on the first look and faced him before tapping him to see.

“I think you look lovely, but you seem a little uncomfortable and the restaurant we are going to is a bit more formal.”

“I thought as much” She stared at T’Challa waiting for him to close his eyes

“Oh, right I forgot” She smiled softly before picking another dress and tapping T’Challa. He slowly opened his eyes and was immediately enamoured with Alix’s beauty.

“So are you going to just stare or are you going to say something” T’Challa blinked a few times before speaking

“Alix you look absolutely stunning. Just so much beauty that my words are lost” Alix smiled but looked away. “However, this is too formal. It is not a wedding, just dinner.”

She rolled her eyes, making T'Challa laugh as he closed his eyes.

“Okay, you can open now” T’Challa opened and smiled.

“I think we have a winner. You look gorgeous”

“You said that about every look,” Alix said, turning for T’Challa to help with the zipper while smoothing down her dress.

“And I was not lying, he said with a kiss on her shoulder. Plus you look comfortable in this one”

“Okay fashion critic, the show is over. Maybe you should start coming with me to the shop since you love everything” She joked

“I would be honoured. Now finish getting ready so we can go please.” T’Challa said before exiting the room. Leaving Alix to have to sit to gather her thoughts. She didn’t understand how someone could be so unintentionally sweet, yet it was one of her favourite qualities about T’Challa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alix peaked over at T’Challa as he drove, he looked calm, meanwhile, she felt like she was holding a huge breath that she wasn’t sure when she could release.

“So, I guess it is my turn to ask but is there anything about your mom or sister that I need to know that I don’t already” T’Challa glanced at her quickly and could feel the nervousness radiating off of Alix. He grabbed her hand and kissed it.

“ Don’t worry, you will be fine. My mother is very sweet, and will only ask you questions to try and get to know you. As for Shuri” He smiled before continuing “You will love her, she is the funniest and smartest person I know. But do not tell her I said that. It makes her head big”

“Sounds like someone I know,” Alix joked as T’Challa laughed. “So your father, he couldn’t make it then?”

T’Challa grew quiet as he carefully thought about what to say.

“Baba had a meeting that he would not - I mean could not miss. That he could not miss“ T’Challa grew quiet as he tried to steady his face to avoid showing any of the pain that his father’s disapproval brought him. Alix looked over and grabbed his forearm in an attempt to comfort him.

“No one said merging worlds was easy right?”

T’Challa smiled at the contact before nodding in agreement. As they pulled up to the restaurant, Alix noticed some women in simple black dresses and shaven heads waiting outside. T’Challa opened the door for her, he nodded in the direction of the women, confirming Alix’s suspicions that they were Doras.

They entered the restaurant and the hostess immediately recognized T’Challa and led the two of them to the back of the restaurant, which was already fairly empty despite the time of the evening. Alix held on to T’Challa’s hand and said

“ I mean I knew you were important, but never did I imagine being in a near-empty restaurant that is being guarded by your nation's most powerful warriors”

“Does that scare you?” He said, slowing down and looking at Alix.

“No, but it is just a bit strange if anything. I forget this is what your normal life is like. And reminds me how much you keep it away from me and I will be getting more exposed to once the baby is here”

“I hope you know I will try my best to maintain your sense of normalcy and independence. But let's not worry about that until later okay” T’Challa finally turned back to the hostess who held a door open for them. Once they were in, a huge smile covered his face as he let go of Alix’s hand and walked over to Shuri who he greeted by doing their handshake.

“It took you long enough brother. I was starving.” T’Challa sarcastically rolled his eyes still smiling before going over to his mother and hugging her and kissing her cheek.

“Hello Mama, I am sorry for being late. Though I have a good reason and she is standing over there” T’Challa held his mother’s hand and guided her towards Alix who was trying to portray the normal level of confidence she usually possessed.

“Mama, Shuri, this is Alix Ajayi”

“It is lovely to meet you Queen Mother”

“It is nice to finally meet you too. I have heard so much about you” She said pulling Alix into a hug.

“Yes, brother literally never stops talking about you. Like ever” Shuri said before hugging Alix who quietly laughed as T’Challa struggled to hide his embarrassment.

“I have other matters I discuss”

“Yes, but your favourite is Alix and the baby.”

“Maybe we should all sit now,” Ramonda said as the siblings stopped their bickering. Alix took a seat next to T’Challa who casually placed his hand on her thigh. He had become more physical with her as time went on, but for some reason, she was letting her boundaries fall and couldn’t find it in her to do anything but enjoy it.

“Alix you look beautiful by the way. You are absolutely glowing” Ramonda complimented

“Yes, your outfit is amazing. The colour red looks lovely on you” Shuri continued

“Thank you both”

“So how far along are you now?”

“I am six and half months. More than halfway there” Alix replied smiling at T’Challa

“That’s less than three months. So am I having a niece or nephew because I have a few name suggestions for both” T’Challa decided to answer for Alix.

“Actually Shuri, we do not know. We are keeping it a surprise”

“Why?”

“Yes why Alix, I have been asking T’Challa for weeks and still nothing. I was telling him that I have some baby designs I would love to get started on”

“I know you all find out quite quickly, but I have just decided to wait and find out when the baby is here.”

“Plus either way we will love the baby, and its sex does not matter. And mama you can make clothes after I promise” T’Challa said knowing Alix did not feel like sharing her reasoning with anyone so he did not mind keeping his family out of the loop on this one. He was just happy that he was able to see the three most important women in his life sitting together. Food was brought out and everything seemed to be going well.

“Alix, do you have any siblings?” Shuri asked.

“ I actually have a younger brother. His name is Jules. He is really funny but has a big heart. We have a big age gap like you and T’Challa.”

“ Is he excited to be an uncle like Shuri here cannot wait to have the baby in her lab”

“I am hoping the baby will be as smart as me even though I am smarter than their Baba”

“I allow you to think you are smarter”

“Your designs and projects would beg to differ” Alix laughed at the exchange, it reminded her of Jules. She also loved how relaxed T’Challa was around his family, his smile appeared brighter

“ My designs and projects are just as good as yours little sister”

“Yet somehow remain archaic and lack swag”

“Shuri” Her mother warned as T’Challa smirked at his sister’s scolding. “Anyways, what about your parents Alix, how do they feel about this ?”

“They were both a bit apprehensive but they are now excited to be grandparents, especially maman. And she loves T’Challa. They are always gossiping to one another”

“Of course they are, Brother loves drama, but pretends he doesn’t”

“It is not pretending if it is true” All three women laughed at his statement knowing he was lying.

“Brother you know there is a new season of Golden City Housewives”

“Hmm, interesting” T’Challa said nonchalantly although everyone knew he was already scheduling time to watch it later.

“What about your father, how does he feel about everything?” Both T’Challa and Alix looked at each other trying to find the right words to describe Tolu’s disdain for T’Challa and his involvement in Alix’s life.

“Umm, he is coming around slowly”

“Well, at least he and Baba have something in common” Shuri said as she avoided her brother’s piercing eyes. “Anyways, I have to know, what in Bast name attracted you to my brother”

“Shuri!”

“What I need to know, she is dating him” T’Challa and Alix again turned to each other.

“Actually, we aren’t dating, right now just focused on bringing this little person into the world,” T’Challa responded as Shuri looked at them skeptically.

“You are kidding right”

“No we're not, your brother and I are taking this slow”

“Not with all that hand holding your not” Alix immediately let go of T’Challa’s hand. T’Challa looked a little hurt but wasn’t shocked by Alix’s reaction.

“Why don’t we get dessert and then Shuri and I can start heading home.” Everyone awkwardly agreed before calling the waitress over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ride home did not lose its awkwardness and at home was not different. They got home late so Alix assumed they would just go to bed. But T’Challa never showed up. So she rolled out of bed and headed to the living room where only the light from the television was illuminating the room. She found T’Challa eating the cheesecake that he made the waitress pack for him, totally absorbed by whatever he was watching. She slowly approached him and he turned to look at her. He paused the tv before speaking.

“I thought you were sleeping”

“ No I was waiting for you but you never came” Alix took his plate to the kitchen and added a slice of cheesecake and another fork before coming back and sitting next to T’Challa. “What are you watching?”

“Golden City Housewives” Alix turned to look at him as he tried to hide his smile.

“You are so predictable sometimes”

“The housewives of Birnin Zana are much different from the Americans yet hold the same level of dramatics. It is good research. And I had to see whether Bugani ever confronted Akhona about not choosing her restaurant as the location for her gallery” Alix laughed as she took a bite and laid her head against his shoulder. T’Challa noticed and smiled, “Fair warning Alix, all this contact may cause the TV to think we are a couple” Alix lifted her head to face him

“I didn’t mean to make you feel like-”

“I didn’t feel anything. I wasn’t surprised. You do this quite often and that is okay. I wish you wouldn’t but I understand that is all confusing to you” He said in between bites.

“ And this isn’t for you?”

“I came here knowing I wanted to be with you Alixandre. My time here has only turned that want into a need. I am just waiting for you to join me. I don’t mind waiting” He said before turning back to the television, leaving Alix to take in his face and marvel at the man who made her question every move that she made while also allowing her to be as carefree as she pleased.

“ Your mother is very sweet, yet she has a serious aura about her. I can see where you get it from. “

“Mama can be serious when she wants yes, but she definitely is often my comfort. It has really helped me to have her on my side during all of this”

“ And your sister is a firecracker. She makes me laugh”

“Yes, I saw how hard you laughed when I was the bud of the joke.” Alix giggled “But yes, despite the age gap, she sometimes is my best friend.” T’Challa ended with a smile, “I think it went well though. Shuri told me she really likes you”

“And your mother”

“She said she understands why my father had so many headaches dealing with you and she admires your persistence and sense of self”

“Hmm I like that, you think the worlds are starting to merge?” she asked while putting down the plate and leaning back on his shoulder.

“They have definitely moved closer,” He said, kissing her hand before closing his fingers around hers. Alix smiled and kissed his shoulder in return. T'Challa started to feel like a need as well. She didn’t know how to feel about it but was happy T’Challa was willing to wait for her to figure it out.

[hvlfwygod]

dare | brent & macey

date: july 2014 summary: Brent follows Macey out of a party after a drinking game took an unexpected turn

Macey wasn't sure if the stunt she pulled back there was gutsy or embarrassing. But, the way she dipped from the party the moment it started to wind down seemed to lean towards the latter. Hopefully he hadn't noticed. "—So stupid, oh my Gods." She scolded herself. It's fine. Who cares? It was one quick little kiss. Rae said kiss the person in the circle Macey thought was the most attractive. So...she did. It was a nice compliment for him, if anything. He probably didn't even think twice about it. And yet her brain wouldn't seem to shut up. Macey wasn't even sure where she was heading to, just speed walking anywhere that wasn't back there.

There were still plenty of people around him, but once Macey left the room felt strangely empty. Brent watched her leave with a slight frown. His gut instinct was to follow her, to talk about what had happened. It was a stupid dare and a nothing kiss. He knew that. But the memory kept playing on a loop. Someone was telling the group a story and Brent didn't hear a word of it. His lips were tingling, and suddenly he realized that he didn't want to be here anymore. Brent finished his drink, excused himself, and walked outside. He spotted Macey in the distance and broke into a jog to catch up. "Uh—!" he started as he got closer. "Hang on. Hey."

Shit. Macey arranged her face into its usual unbothered look and stopped, turning around to meet him. "What's up?" She asked, seemingly clueless.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. As he fell into step with her, Brent nudged Macey with his elbow. She looked so casual, he almost second-guessed his concern. "You just left pretty quickly."

"Oh," She shrugged, nodding quickly, "Yeah, totally chill. I just—" Macey realized she hadn't thought this far ahead.  Any sort of excuse was lost to her racing thoughts,  "Had somewhere else to be." She waved a hand somewhere off in the distance. Gods, she was fumbling. The lie wasn't even convincing.

Brent laughed; he found her bad lie endearing more than anything else. "Oh, sorry, let me not bother you on your way to your secret late-night meeting." Despite saying that, he stayed right by her side. "Was it the dare?"

"No, it was the shitty drinks." Macey sighed, the sarcastic inflection of her voice stating it very much was about the dare. She squinted up at the sky as an excuse to avoid his face.

He felt a pang of... he couldn't quite name it, but something unpleasant twisted in his stomach. Outwardly, though, he was calm, nonchalant. "I helped mix those drinks, rude" he said, chuckling. "But seriously, I'm sure Rae wouldn't have cared if you didn't want to kiss anyone."

"Well, I'm not just gonna back down from a dare." Macey shrugged as if that were obvious. She tried to come up with a way to change the subject, but all she could think about was the weird lump in her throat and the spot on her arm he'd nudged her moments ago. "I just...felt bad putting you on the spot like that." More importantly, all the implications that held. She refused to shrink into herself, staying relaxed and confident as usual. But, her words were uncertain, "It was like, awkward...probably."

Brent pressed his lips together. He was a little unsure of how to feel, of how Macey felt, but a smile involuntarily spread over his face. "Yeah, because you're such a terrible kisser. How dare you put me through that."

Whatever part of her brain made her cheeks flush was a dirty, rotten traitor. Macey raised her eyebrows and did her best to hide it with a smirk, "So what I'm getting from this is you're admitting I'm a good kisser? You? Can I use that direct quote on my resume?"

"Me?" Brent replied, copying the way her voice emphasized the word. The smile grew only wider as he placed a hand on his chest and blinked at Macey. "Sorry, what about me makes this so important?"

Macey hoped for a second that maybe the ground would just swallow her up right then and there so she'd never have to answer. When that didn't happen, she just tilted her head to the side, "You didn't answer my question."

Smirking, Brent nudged Macey again, looking happily off into the night. "And you're not answering mine."

She nudged him back. "Well, I asked you first, so..."

"Alright, fine, fair enough." Brent glanced back toward Macey. "That was definitely not the worst kiss I've ever had."

Macey nodded in approval, "I can live with that." Then added, "You were okay."

Brent made a face. "Just okay?" he asked, shaking his head. "Only because you caught me off guard. Now tell me why I'm so special."

"Oh, just because you were caught off guard, eh? Uh-huh. Okay." Macey teased. Her next words felt risky, like she was toeing some sort of dangerous, invisible line by being this honest. "I don't know if you know this but, you're probably one of the coolest, most badass—" A fraction of a hesitation, "—hottest people here. If anyone doesn't like you they're, like, stupid. Y'know?" Her chest felt tight. She cleared her throat and shrugged, "That's all.”

He broke into a grin and tilted his head to the side while he listened to Macey compliment him. His chest felt warm, his head light. "They're stupid, eh?" he asked.

She felt her face get warm again. "Stop it," Macey whined at his teasing, pushing his arm lightly, "I was being so nice—which I never do—and all you got out of that was the 'eh'?"

As Macey's hand made contact with his arm, Brent lifted his own to hold onto her elbow lightly. "Hey! I got a lot out of it, I promise." He laughed, pulling her closer and draping an arm over her shoulders. "I appreciate you being nice for me."

The movement was smooth and sudden, it took her by surprise. By now she was used to being near him, but, being this close? Feeling his arm around her like this? Her heart was pounding. "Yeah, well, you're welcome." Macey rolled her eyes, continuing to play it cool, "Now we can go ahead and move on like that subpar kiss never happened."

Brent was suddenly much too warm, but he kept Macey close. "Subpar? You're demoting me from okay to subpar?" He scoffed, feigning insult. "I would have kissed you much better if I was more prepared."

"Oh yeah?" Macey looked up at him. Something about his words, the closeness, it all felt very...intentional. A small voice in her head insisted she was overreacting. For once she ignored it. "I'll keep that in mind next time."

Next time. Brent felt his heartbeat stutter, but he kept it cool as he leveled his gaze down toward her. "Good," he said, smirking. "Cause this time doesn't count. Our first kiss is not gonna be subpar. I won't allow it."

Her mouth fell open slightly, unable to hide the surprise on her face. She blinked, heart now racing, "And when is that?"

He didn't have an immediate answer for her, surprised he was both at his own brazenness and her ability to match it. "Well..." he eventually said. Brent slowed to a halt and turned to face her; his arm slid off from around her shoulders but he didn't want to break contact completely, so he linked a few fingers with hers. "It could be right now." His other hand lifted and pressed, carefully, to the side of Macey's face. "Can I kiss you?"

Macey couldn't believe this was happening. Her head naturally leaned into his hand. It felt so nice. "Yeah," She breathed out, still at a complete loss for words."Please do."

Her eyes were gleaming, her lips slightly parted, and Brent wondered if, in the back of his mind, this had been his goal the entire time. If he'd followed Macey out of the party for this. More than likely, yes, and he felt like an idiot for not noticing until just now. He stared at her for a moment longer, his skin electric where it was touching hers, then finally leaned in and pressed his lips into hers. The sensation was different than before, less uncertain, and he leaned into it, his other hand floating to the back of her head.

Movies always talked about sparks or butterflies happening during a kiss. Macey wasn't sure if it was correct, but, it kind of felt like she was melting in the best way possible. Earlier felt rushed and scared. This was confident, excited. She threw her arms around his neck, standing up on her toes to reach better as she kissed him back.

Her more than enthusiastic response wasn't totally unexpected, but Brent still made a surprised hum as his arm moved to wrap around her waist. He pressed her into his chest, lifting her until her toes were only just touching the ground. Brent held her there, letting the kiss linger until he slowly, reluctantly, pulled back. "How was that?"

Without thinking, she found herself leaning in as he pulled away, until she realized he was speaking. Coming back into focus, Macey bit her lip, smiling. "You were right." She wanted to laugh. "Much better."

Brent returned the smile. "Okay, so that one counts," he told her. "And now you can't tell anyone that we had a subpar first kiss." He leaned in once more and kissed her again, more quickly but with the same amount of heat. "Or second. Got it?"

The second kiss came and went so quickly she barely had time to process it. Macey gave a dramatic sigh and tilted her head back, returning to her usual form, "Yeah, yeah." She looked back at him, "You're a good kisser. I got it." He was still holding onto her, just now noticing that her feet were barely scraping the ground. "Is...that it?" She honestly wasn't even sure if her words were hopeful, a question, or an invitation.

He laughed, charmed all over again by the question. "It... doesn't have to be." His voice lowered into something smaller and softer as reality started to creep back in. As he started to remember who exactly he was holding. But he couldn't bring himself to let go. "I'm enjoying myself."

Her eyes darted around for a moment as if she read his mind, the breeze against her back a small reminder about where they were and what they were doing. But, Macey was not one to be responsible, and she was selfish. And his answer felt like enough of a green light to proceed. She brought her voice down as quiet as his, "Me too."

“Okay.” His smile returned; he twirled a piece of hair around his finger, and eventually remembered that he had to let go so she could walk. “We should go to— an empty cabin, probably.” He left the why unsaid (they both knew why, and he wasn’t going to think about it anymore tonight) and kissed her again.

Macey felt herself be lowered back down to the ground, but, she was too focused on everything else: Her hair around his finger, the words coming from his mouth, and then they were kissing again. Macey nodded after finally pulling away, words still quiet, "That's...a good idea. Yeah." She glanced back towards the cabins, the realization of everything hitting her once again. This was the stuff of her daydreams and wandering thoughts. Now that it was right in front of her, Macey had no idea what was going to come out of it. "Not the Hera one." She joked, "That's some sort of curse just waiting to happen."

Brent laughed, but it was quiet, like he was afraid he might break whatever spell they were under if he raised his voice. For all the easy confidence he had holding and kissing her, internally, Brent was nervous. Almost in disbelief. “Of course,” he assured her, gripping her hand to confirm for himself that this was happening. This was happening. He started walking, keeping his fingers intertwined with hers. “You know I never thought my night would end up like this.” That teasing smile from before returned to his face; easy, spell unbroken. “So, thanks, I guess, for picking me.”

[permanentcrossfics]

Permanentcross Patreon Exclusives

Exclusives available only on Patreon! x

*for smut

Blurred Lines: Until They Met Again extended ending

“Think this is my favorite Mexican takeaway,” he said, digging into the pile of nachos he’d stolen from before.

“Do you remember the first time we had it?” you asked, smirking just before taking a bite.

“Yeah,” he said. “Thought it was the best damn Mexican takeaway I’d ever had,” he repeated. “Probably could’ve asked y’to marry me right then and there.”

Behitched

You didn’t even know what made you do it, really, and all you could come up with was that you hadn’t been thinking, because he’d hardly finished before you grabbed his lapels to bring him in for a kiss. Firm but quick, you broke when he teetered.

“Look that good?”

“You look like a husband.” Out it came, and you had the grace to feel the embarrassment in every fingertip and toe, but his jaw dropped through his smirk.

Comfort*

He didn’t need this -- he didn’t want this, he wouldn’t like this. If he’d had his head on straight he wouldn’t even have done it.

(Right?)

And you? You should’ve been responsible. You should’ve told him no, you should’ve told him to stop for his sake.

Sundays

Nothing happened on Sundays -- it was the one day in a week where you both slowed to a complete stop, only moving with the wind that carried you. They were quiet days that didn’t have to be shared with anyone else if you didn’t want them to be. Sometimes, you woke up and stayed in bed for hours, gently wiggling your toes under the duvet and listening to his wheezy breathing until it cut off, shortly and abruptly, and you knew he was awake, too. 

Do You Trust Me?*

...if you dragged it on any longer with this two steps forward, one steps back business, it didn’t matter what you wanted or if he trusted you, his patience would be stretched so thin he wouldn’t want to even if he wanted to.

“If I wanted to watch you—“ you bobbed your loose fist mid-air and Harry laughed, one loud, single bark that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. “Would you let me?”

“Is that the question?”

“Yes.”

No Harm*

He grabbed a towel but you grabbed his wrist with both hands. “Harry….”

What? It was on the tip of his tongue and he’d just opened his mouth when, meeting your eyes, he stopped short. You were looking at him so earnestly — eyes wide and imploring.

“Been trying to get y’alone forever!” he said weakly. “I’ve been asking you out for ages, but every time you— if you’re not interested, I can take that, I just don’t know if you’re doing it on purpose or….”

Sometimes (Bad Day)

Sometimes, he just woke up like that.

That. Surly, annoyed, sarcastically biting, and quick to ignite in his own way. Whether it was a bad night’s sleep or a minor inconvenience that set him off and smacked his orbit in reverse, it just… happened.

Blurred Lines: He Really Loved When You Did That (an I Love... extension)

Straightening up, he balled the shirt and threw it into his suitcase with force, heart hammering and hands on his hips. He’d fucked up. It was something fun with someone interesting — someone safe despite all the odds — and now he had butterflies. He’d made love to you, he was tingly, he ached, and all he wanted to do was call you and ask you to go out to dinner with him. Maybe an ice cream, too. But his flight was in five hours and he had to leave for the airport in two. 

Watermelon Sugar High*

“Complaining about me loving on you?” he asked.

“Just trying… trying to figure out what you want.”

“You.”

It was the quickest way to make you melt -- one single syllable infused with such raw, honest need -- but….

“I’m not having sex on the beach with you,” you gasped.

Got A Question*

“Do I act obligated?”

“No,” he said almost pensively. “But I wouldn’t want you t’be.”

Rolling your eyes, you settled down again, curled up on his chest. “I missed what happened,” you mumbled.

“I like your pussy.”

Casual, conversational, like he hadn’t just suckerpunched you, and you gasped. “What are you doing?”

Blurred Lines: Met Gala Rewind Outtakes

The carpet one,” he asked. “How come? What’s special about it?” He knew — it was why it’d been chosen and why people had raved about it — but hearing you say it….

“It was sexy.” You curled up before twisting your neck and his mouth went dry when your eyes met his. “You looked sexy.”

Ravage Me, Darling (Good Behavior) - Remember This sequel*

Great friends -- best friends -- and somehow better sex. This tape? It hadn’t even captured the best of it. The part he really wished he had came after, and he spun through those moments on a loop, aggravated and annoyed if he felt like pieces of it were chipping away. 

Remember This*

“I’ve got… I mean… I’ve got m’pink phone with me.” You must’ve looked as puzzled as you felt, because he cleared his throat again. “It’s safe… secure… I’ve never been hacked.”

“I know,” you said slowly.

Cheeks flooded, he gave a sort of halfway jerk of his head. “Wanna remember this,” he said. “I wanna… y’know? If… it’s just one night. I wanna remember. And it’s safe.”

Swipe Left*

Grabbing his elbow, you tugged as hard as you could, but you knew by the look on his face alone and the way it fell that he was in and he was reading. He was reading every word of one of the three conversations you’d been holding on and off over the past few days, and he stumbled when you pulled his arm again. “Stop it,” you choked harshly. “If I wanted you to read, I’d….” You’d what, exactly? 

Take Good Care*

“What’re you laughing about, bro?”

Bro. Always with the bro, always a little too familiar for his liking, and always so God damn oblivious. He just hadn’t known it ran this deep.

“You can’t make her cum,” Harry wheezed, shaking his head. He tingled from head to toe, whether from tequila or the sheer delight and triumph at knowing that this wanker was as worthless as he’d seemed, he couldn’t tell.

Break Up With Your Boyfriend

“Why?”

If he hadn’t seen your mouth move, he’d never be sure you’d said anything at all. You lifted your head higher and dug your nails into your arms.

“Sorry?” he rasped.

“Why?” you asked. “Why are you asking? What is it you want?”

“What--?” What was it he wanted? Wasn’t that obvious? It wasn’t like people went around asking people to break up with someone if…. “Be with me.”

Never Shave Again

You were pouring boiling water into two mugs when he got to the kitchen, and you squeaked when he wrapped his arms around you and tucked his face into your neck. “It’s hot!” you whined. “Be careful!”

He squeezed you with a groan before pressing puckered kisses to your cheek.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

“Sayin’ hello,” he mumbled. “Shaved for you and everything.”

“Why?”

Ring On Your Finger*

“Jeweler called.”

You jumped when Harry slid his hand over your neck and squeezed, kneading the tense part of your muscle.

“Ring’s ready.” He kissed the side of your head. “Gonna head out to pick it up. D’you wanna come with me?”

Five Steps To Saying Yes (He'd Know)

Never before in all his maybes and not quites had he ever thought about marrying. Looking back, when marriage came up, he always pictured someone he hadn’t met yet. Someone else. Someone other. Now, though, it was a punch to the gut, because when he thought about marriage and a future -- the person he was going to share his children with -- he thought about you. For the first time, he knew who it would be. They had a face, and it was as shocking as it was patently obvious.

Impulse (Special Circumstance)* 

“So, if I want to get tied up by the neighbor or carry bags, that’s my choice.”

“D’you wanna get tied up by the neighbor?” he asked. Your lips thinned and nostrils flared. “Do you want to get tied up?”

“Stop it,” you whispered.

“Do you?” he pressed under his breath, cocking an eyebrow. “Are you into that?”

Fine Line: One More Time Outtake

Nobody knew. For months, you holed away in his place and nobody knew, not even your nearest and dearest — not even his mum when she called and you were snuggled into his side.

Damsel in Distress*

“Need some help, miss?”

Cheerful and friendly as he was with his slow drawl, you scowled, lips thinning.

“Is it your engine?”

“No,” you said at last. “I’ve a flat on the front.”

Home for the Holidays (Happy New Year, Darling)*

“So, you did get me something.” You plucked the top button of your shirt open and a lump rose in his throat. “I’d like to give you something, too.” You popped the next button.

“What are you doing?” he asked, eyes trained on where he could see a whisper of a lacy bra peeking out from under your shirt.

“Giving you your Christmas present.” You fumbled the next button and your fingers trembled visibly.

Blurred Lines: Outtakes From New York*

“‘Sex’?” A question or a quote from the shirt you’d stolen, all you did was nod, and he shifted to lie more fully on top of you, deepening the kiss. Truth be told, he was exhausted -- so much so his ears were ringing and the room spun when he closed his eyes -- but you were asking and being so soft about it, and he couldn’t say it hadn’t been on his mind.  

“I wanna be on top,” you whispered.

“Give y’anything you want.”

For the Rest of Our Lives*

Harry spluttered and one of his hands slipped on your hips. “Stop,” he whispered. “Stop, please….”

“I want to!” you breathed. “You asked me— you said you wanted a baby—“

“I do!” His eyes popped open and he stared at the ceiling, mouth shaking and cheeks sweaty and flushed. “I do, do!”

Secret Song*

“Want you to hear it.” He’d said it so sweetly while nuzzling your temple that you couldn’t help the smile pulling your mouth, and that was your fatal mistake. That told him your answer was yes, and it put him in control.

“Right now?”

“It’ll be quick.” His promise rumbled against your chest through his. “I swear.”

Simple*

“You ok?”

At first, you said nothing. Finally, though, you pulled back to look him head on. His lips were thin and his eyes bounced around your face.

“Are you?” you asked.

If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. All he did was blink rapidly before nodding. “Yeah, m’ok.”

“I thought this would be more difficult,” you admitted.

Undercover

“Han undercover tonight?”

“Something like that,” you said wryly. “More like Princess Leia and her bailiff.”

Silly Boy

“Have to bleach it t’get the color to stick.”

Tongue between his teeth he dipped the brush again, but in the next second you were at his elbow pulling his forearm down with an iron grip while knocking the pot into the sink and turning the tap on.

“Oi! Stop that, what’d you do that--?”

“You stop it!” You yanked the hand towel free from the hanger. “Get it out, oh my God!”

Another Man

“You getting turned on by a song?”

You grinned. “Maybe. Jealous?”

Harry grunted, mouth pulled thin and taut.

“What?”

“Nothin’.”

Easy, Love*

The room smelled like sex already — that heavy, unmistakable scent of sweat, and cum, and pheromones. Cheek pressed into the mattress and ass raised high in the air, you took short, shallow breaths, the soap and shampoo fragrance that’d soaked into the sheets and pillowcases lulling you in your otherwise anxious anticipation. 

It Felt Good*

“But you’re right,” you said. “It has to happen at some point. And he’s nice — I think you’d like him.”

Harry’s lip twitched.

“He’s nice, and he’s intelligent, and he’s polite, and he likes me. I think… he really likes me.”

“D’you like him?” Harry asked without opening his eyes.

You smashed a chip with your fork.

“It’s just a kiss,” you mumbled. “I shouldn’t be making a big deal out of it — you didn’t.”

“Says who?”

Wake Up, Lover*

“Please, darling?” he tried again. “Please, baby? Honey?”

You snorted.

“Sweetheart, angel, kitten, gumdrop—“

“Stop!” you whined, mouth pulling at the corners despite yourself. Harry grunted when you elbowed him so you could wriggle your way around and look at him face to face, and, squinting, you opened one eye. “What do you want?”

Bit of a Pinch*

“Wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t, would I?” He shook you lightly. “C’mon, now,” he said. “Just a needle, innit? Little pinch, little blood—”

“Don’t,” you moaned and he pressed a kiss to your stomach.

“Probably won’t bleed,” he said. “Just a little pain, but it’ll all be worth it. Wouldn’t ask anyone else t’help me with this — know that?” 

Sure, Darling*

Holy shit!” Low and throaty, your mouth fell open in awe when he rolled the wand gently up and down. “Wow, wow, wow—“

“Breathe,” he reminded you, but it was that moment that the head caught the sensitive underside of your clit. You kicked your leg and the one jammed into his side nearly slipped out, but he held firm even as you pulled in the belt. “Knew that was a good idea,” he muttered and you shuddered when he pressed it against you more tightly.

For Better or Worse

Remnants of your trousseau littered the tabletop next to the flowers, including the silver sixpence Harry had proudly furnished and placed in your shoe himself.

“Nan saved a few,” he said when he was on his knees in front of you with your skirt flung high over yours. “Mum got this one and she let me have it for you — real silver, too.”

“Think seeing me will negate its luck?” you asked cheekily and he grinned up at you with a roguish wink.

He Had An Idea*

“I was going—“ Harry stopped and sighed heavily. “I was going to,” he said, slower and more carefully than he would’ve been a moment ago. “Tonight. If we weren’t at each other’s necks, I would’ve asked you—“

You arched an eyebrow and heat crept through his neck and up his face.

“Summat,” he said.

“What?” you asked and he ground his teeth.

“Gelato,” he said between them. “Somethin’ like that. Dunno, really, but I had— I had an idea, and it was gonna be nice. Better than this.”

Bathtime*

Him reading to you was one of your very favorite things to do, but you’d never wanted it to be over more than you did now, and when silence fell, you could’ve wept from relief. You just needed a minute — one minute — to breathe and collect yourself so you weren’t panting like you were a virgin in heat. Off to the side, you heard a clink and rattle of his watch being laid to rest on the sink, and in the next minute his mouth was next to your ear and his hands were under the water on your thighs and stomach.

Those Three Words

He was striding by when someone screamed it at him — even you heard it over the pounding base and sharp guitar — but when his head whipped back, grin splitting his face, his eyes were locked on yours, and, hand over his heart, he said it.

“I love you, too, baby.”

Do You Mind?

“Do you mind if I get one like this?”

He lifted his head and you tapped the ring in question.

“I know they’re yours and your thing,” you said. “But I really like this one. Think I’d get it for myself even if you didn’t have it.”

Skin Hunger*

“At least we don’t sleep naked,” you said. It was a joke, but it made him pause and he tipped his head to the side.

“Actually….” He laughed softly and your throat closed.

“Oh….”

“Don’t worry,” he chuckled. “M’not gonna. I’ll keep my pants on, just for you.”

“Me too,” you said. “I mean, I sleep… I don’t wear anything usually, either. When I’m alone. It’s healthier, isn’t it? And feels—“

“Don’t have to tell me,” he said, the humor zapped from his eyes.

Skin Hunger Part 2*

You’d bitten your tongue against asking if he’dbe there, because of course he would be. He always was when they went to the beach — it was a rare excursion, and he predictably got a thoughtful look on his face and shifted things around to make it work whenever the idea was brought up.

Five weeks after ithad happened and you hadn’t seen him since. Five weeks after stripping out of your clothes and tangling up naked, unable to keep hands and mouths to yourselves, and you were going to see each other in glorified underwear.

Immersion*

Stop.

Teeth bared, he drilled his head back into his pillow, hand shaking at his side and body vibrating, cock abandoned on his stomach and about ready to burst. “Shit, don’t cum!” he whispered to himself with scrunched eyes when he throbbed in a way that he was sure would leave is skin wet.

He must’ve really fucking hated himself to do this and to think about pulling right out of you to have you whining underneath him, his wet, red cock on yourbelly instead of his. Oh, but to hear you beg for him to get back inside you…. To have your eyes well up because you were as close as he was and he’d taken it away and you wanted him back…. To keep it from you, and from him, until your bodies were resigned to being left unfinished, and then to just—

Sail Away*

Come to Italy, he’d said, dragging his hands without shame or restraint along your bare skin, cock hard and nestled between your thighs with his chest tight to your back.

“It’ll be fun,” he’d said, breath hot under your ear. “Pizza… pasta… better than Heaven, cause the clouds’ll be made of carbohydrates.”

You’d laughed, squeezing one of his wandering hands. “You’ll be busy,” you’d said, laugh turning into a gasp when he’d eased inside of you slowly, the fit tighter than usual at this angle.

Six in the Morning

“Didn’t even drink coffee much before I met you,” he said at last. “Chased down a lot of places but no one really makes it like you do.”

“Is that why you’re here?” you asked, voice scratchy. “For coffee?”

Harry shrugged, scratching his chin. “Summat like that.”

Another minute passed before you stepped back and pulled the door open wider, gesturing for him to come in, and when he did, you locked up before heading to the kitchen.

Vulnerable

“Am I a good boyfriend?”

“Horrible.”

You smiled, still stretched on your toes to reach the very top shelf in the cabinet, pleased with your quip. Harry didn’t make a sound, though, and your heels dropped and your smile, too, when you peeked behind the open door. Your boyfriend stood there, shoulders hunched as if defeated, hands stuffed into the pocket at the front of his jumper and bare feet poking out of his jogging bottoms. His hair, in desperate need of a wash, was on end this way and that like he’d been pulling on it more than usual, and you knew then. Something was wrong.

Take a Picture (It Lasts Longer)*

Just looking at the blurry, overexposed photo of his cock in one cheek and his hand on the other with his lace sleeve just in the frame, the bliss on your face…. It felt invasive to even look at it, and it wasyou. You couldn’t have pulled off him even if you’d wanted that, and just remembering how heavy he’d been and the taste of him had you pressing your thighs together.

Houtlander*

“You’re not like the others,” you whispered.

“How?” Harry’s voice stuck in his throat and your chest rose with your deep breath.

“I dunno,” you admitted, smiling slightly. “I feel it. There’s something different about you, and it isn’t just that you’re an Englishman. I’ve been around enough of them to know what they feel like.”

Harry bit a joke about feeling Englishmenout of his tongue as you bit your lips. “May I ask something quite forward?”

“Sure,” he said. “Of course.”

“May I kiss you?”

Runtime: Three Hours and Fifteen Minutes*

Eyes glued to the screen, you trembled your way through Jack and Rose climbing the bow of the ship, grateful Harry had quieted down with his criticism. This scene didn’t deserve to be ruined with commentary from either of you. Laughed at and lauded, it was arguably the purest moment the pair was allowed in their brief time together. No strife in sight, just the relief of taking that leap before the time ran out as fast as the sun could set.

“Come Josephine in my flying machine, going up she goes, up she goes….”

A chill ran down your spine when his breath tickled your ear and you inhaled sharply. “I thought you only saw this once,” you whispered.

“Did,” he said, nose against your temple. “Made an impression.”

Be Nice To Me

Mouth still on your head, he swallowed his beating heart. You loved him no matter what.

“Wearing m’sweatshirt,” he said. “Have t’treat me with kindness. Do you promise?”

“I’ll think about it,” you grumbled. “What do you want?”

Steeling himself, Harry counted to three and stepped around, the couch, pulling the box from his pocket and dropping to his knee in front of you.

Smudge

You’ve both been in the bottle — that’s the only way to explain why, after meeting him for the first time at this party with friends and friends of friends, you two have wound up in a corner with a bottle of nail lacquer gripped between your thighs and he sits cross-legged on the floor with one of his hands in your lap while you rub the chipped, dull black color from his thumb with a cotton pad soaked in acetone.

“Ouch,” he mutters, shifting on the floor. “Fingers are pinching.”

“Sorry,” you mutter, looking at him momentarily, but continuing anyway. “Just wanna get it all. It’s really in the grooves.”

Guy in a Bar: Alternate View*

“You can come back tomorrow morning,” they said and annoyance flared up in you for more than their flippancy.

“I don’t want to go,” you said.

“We have a table, and our ride’s there,” they said. “Come on, seriously, let’s go.”

Outnumbered and outpowered. What were you supposed to say? You wanted to stay for a talk and tequila? It was something that’d happened and then it was over. This was what places like this were for — to love and to leave — but walking out that door, you couldn’t shake the feeling you were leaving something important behind.

*Smut -- must be 18+ to read. Se

[comicteaparty]

February 29th-March 6th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from February 29th, 2020 to March 6th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is the thing you’re proudest about regarding your story?

Deo101 [Millennium]

I hope saying "That I'm actually doing it, and that I'm still doing it and loving every minute of it" Is an okay answer ^^ there is a lot that I am very proud of myself for with regards to this comic, but I think I take the most pride in actually sticking with something for this long.

carcarchu

I agree with deo, sticking with it is what i'm most proud of and it's probably one of the hardest things to do

Capitania do Azar

Hah I can't say I'm proud of everything, right?

It's hard to put it in words but I really enjoy the comic making process and I'm proud of what I'm accomplishing with it, both in terms of writing and of art. And I think it's rather visible that I put a ton of effort into it

Spring-heeled Jack

I am proud that I prepped ahead of time because the last two times I tried, I didn't. Both times I got about 10 pages in and quit because I felt overwhelmed. With the story itself, I think I'm proud of my characters. Characters are the easiest part for me (plot and central conflict I always flounder on) but I'm still so pleased with them.(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

For me, it's just getting the work out there. Actually finishing chapters. compared to the first comic story I want to put out, this story I know for sure where its going and gives me a sense of ease? There's some days when I feel i'm slumping along but in the end, I'm pretty happy how it turned out. Pretty much what Deo and carcarchu said lol: my story is long but not super long, but I'm glad I'm still working on it among my other stories I want to share (edited)

Ash🦀

For me, what I'm most proud of is my artist, Katie. We're a collaborative team, I'm just the writer so I don't do much. And she takes my words and just... adds so much life to them. Seeing every page she makes is so amazing. Every time she's growing in her style in leaps and bounds, and seeing her push her lighting, expressions, and unusual panel styles, ugh, it's just so cool seeing her grow. I am so proud of her and what she's done, she's a total rockstar and I love her. I couldn't have done this without her, and every day I'm more grateful to her.

DanitheCarutor

That is a really good question, I don't really show pride in stuff I do usually. I guess the closest to being proud was either when my new comic passed the stopping mark for my old comic, which was discontinued at chapter 3, or when I got chapter 1 rescanned for print recently. The latter was kinda challenging because I rebubbled the whole chapter, and how I rebubbled was a little... awkward, pasting over the old bubbles in photoshop afterward.

Sorry! Apparently the image file was weird.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I actually semi-recently wrote a raving tweet thread relevant to this topic. Basically, for years and years, I did not know what it meant to be proud of your work. I've been happy with my work, both the process and the result. But was "proud of my work" completely synonymous with "happy with my work"? I legit did not know. Even asked a former English teacher friend, who's very good at explaining this sorta things, and I still didn't get it. Then as I made progress through the most recent chapter, I noticed this brand new, strange feeling welling up in me. Yep, you guessed it. For the first time ever after starting this comic, I was proud of what I was making. Not just happy with it, but proud of it. Took me a while to realize, oh, this is proud. Afterward, something happened IRL that temporarily borked my sense of time (one specific week felt like months). So because it felt like it had been months since I made it, I got to experience the last couple pages of the chapter as a reader, not its creator. And I gotta say, thank you past me, you've made something truly heartfelt, and you had every reason to be proud of this. In short: I'm proud of how my comic is an honest reflection of what my heart wants to see, what I want to read. And I'm proud of my most recent chapter being the pinnacle of that. I hope to make more, higher pinnacles down the road, as I continue my way through this story.

spacerocketbunny

I'm proud of how me and @FeatherNotes(Krispy) have shaped our characters and fleshed them out! I'm also super proud of our team dynamic and how if something didn't feel right in the story or art etc., we've always challenged it and come up with something better and stronger! Because we've been so thorough and willing to reconsider, I'm always perfectly comfortable to stand by what we've put out there, even if we've had to go back and fix past mistakes!

Mei

Hoh boy, the thing I'm proudest about in My Husband is a Cultist is the audience interaction. I've been told the comic is funny, and that makes me immensely chuffed, because it means I'm doing something right. I'm always so nervous when putting my work out there with how it's going to be received. That seeing people engage with the story and find it funny and liking the characters... it just warms my heart so much, and it makes me truly feel like I'm on the right path. I'm also pretty proud of the stuff I've written that's not been featured in the comic yet. I look forward to developing those and making them come to life, and I hope people enjoy the grittier parts of this strange comedy as much as I do! And mostly I'm proud that I'm still doing it and haven't given up yet. My lord, I just don't know how it's gonna keep going! but hopefully just onwards and upwards!

eli [a winged tale]

Reading through all of these and I’m so touched. Super proud of you all!

I’m most proud in finally chasing my dreams. Life threw me a bunch of curveballs and creating this comic is a reflection of how I dealt with things and at the same time be thankful for what I have. When I reread my comic I can see mistakes but I also see parts of myself that are genuine. I can’t wait to continue on the story and let the comic be part of my life moving forwards

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

My comic went on so long behind the scenes before I was comfortable enough to share it, so I tend to think of my past self quite differently than my current self. So, I'm very proud of 'past me!' She started the project completely unaware of how long it would last or what it would become - just a few characters and story threads and a whoooole lot of ambition - and my present self has had the pleasure of weaving those threads into a project I'm truly proud of. The comic has brought me so much joy - much of it delayed, like a ticking time bomb - and it's all thanks to my younger self. She wasn't sure of what she was doing - but now I know she made some excellent decisions in the beginning. I'm very grateful she started all of this. It's made my life all the more joyful

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I got a BUFFER. My first non-fancomic died because of work-comittments and lack of buffer, but on Nyx+Nyssa I manage to work ahead. More than anything I am proud of the discipline I developed to allow for that.

FeatheryJustice

I'm proud of almost completing Teasday. I had some long hiatuses but I will finish the story for now. Also proud of where I grown from the beginning of that story to now. The time and effort shows that I did do a lot, which makes me really happy to know.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I'm proud of a lot of the work that goes into my comic, but what I'm most proud of was this page. I wanted this to be grand and a pivotal moment if what the comic was about. I don't think even a couple years I could've done anything at this scale, but I split the areas into chunks that I completed over the span of two weeks. Always look upon this page fondly.

eli [a winged tale]

That is gorgeous!

Spring-heeled Jack

Impressive!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I can point out four moments in Super Galaxy Knights http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/ that I'm the most proud of - 1. The end of Book 1 Chapter 4. Chapter 4 was intended to be a big "growing the beard" moment for the comic's action setpieces - the first three chapters were more about introducing characters and plot elements than actual action, so I consider chapter 4 to be the first "real" fight of the comic. The way the action was presented in chapter 4 would go on to represent how action would be presented throughout the rest of the comic, and IMO I pulled it off fantastically. 2. The end of Book 1. Kinda self-explanatory, but Book 1 was the first major story arc of the comic - the fact that I managed to pull together a satisfying conclusion, something that I theoretically could have ended the comic on, was super satisfying to me. 3. This page: http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/images/comics/160/30997a1543363807f2141157006.gif . When I wrote in my Book 2 script "they fight for a bit in a big looping animation" back in 2016 I was hoping my animation skills would advance to the point where I could pull it off. And it turns out, they did. 4. Well... today. Ever since starting the comic back on leap day 2016, I knew today would be a big milestone, and I'm proud of myself for sticking with this project long enough to get to this four year mark.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh my god, that looks incredible and I've never seen a page like that before!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I am not very far into my comic, but when I try to think about what I am most proud of in my work, it is definitely all the behind-the-scenes work I have put into the comic. The world-building. The map-making, language developing, culture exploring, building a political structure, writing histories, character work, etc. All this time and energy I devoted to something that wouldn't be seen by others for many years to come. It is only now starting to come to fruition, despite technically having been working on this project since 2014, with the first scripts, the first character designs, and the first paragraphs about the world of Whispers of the Past. All this work that nobody will ever see. I am proud of sticking with it and putting my heart and soul into it despite the lack of return for so long. I have given up my adolescence to this project, and I am giving up the rest of my youth. But when I think about it, there is no worthier recipient. Because without this story, I feel like a large part of my identity would be gone.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Thank you @Eightfish (Puppeteer) ! The storyboarding alone for that animation took a week so I'm glad you like it!

eli [a winged tale]

I totally get you Cronaj! So much goes behind the scenes but that creates the world’s depths and it will resonate with readers! continues dedicating the rest of my life to comics

SL Black

@Cronaj (Whispers of the Past) yes! There is so much prep work involved. I have three full scripts for UO that will never see the light of day (mostly because they are terrible). Comics are such a marathon. All that hard work will be appreciated so much by your readers!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@SL Black Man... That sounds like me. I myself went through at least 3 scripts too. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way about the BTS work

Desnik

I'm proud that I'm putting myself out there with a WIP comic script and learning how to not only write, but collaborate with other writers.

renieplayerone

Im really proud that i started a comic and have stuck with it for a year and just how much ive learned by making it^^

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I'm proud that even after 70 pages I've never missed a scheduled update!(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Awe yeee thats always good to have a streak like that!

eli [a winged tale]

That is #goals!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Agreed!

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Request: Rosalie Hale x Reader

You didn’t fit in with others your age. You’d grown accustomed to it years ago, as sad as it sounded but things weren’t so bad. You enjoyed your own company, your biggest past time reading a good book.

The Cullen's often spent their time during the breaks listening to conversations the humans had around them. It was rare that they found a more obnoxious person such as Jessica who spoke freely like no one could hear her. "I feel bad for (Y/N), sometimes. They must be very lonely." Angela spoke up. "No one makes her sit alone." Jessica retorted. "Jess, you know there's kids here that give (Y/N) a hard time." "Yeah and it's not right but it's also pretty normal in highschool." "Jess!" "I don't mean to sound rude but honestly Angela, there is always a handful of students that get bullied because they don't fit in. It isn't as though people haven't tried to be their friend." Jessica and Angela had tried to convince you to hang out with them but you turn it down each time. "(Y/N)'s a loner and I'm just respecting her decision." Angela didn't respond but clearly looked bothered by her best friends words. She didn't appreciate how dismissive Jessica was of your situation.

When you sat next to Rosalie in history, the two of you didn't even glance at one another as you sat down. Rose already sitting and ready for the class to begin. She always got into class early, much like the rest of the Cullen's. You scribbled at your notepad aggressively before putting down the pen. "Rosalie, do you have a pen I could borrow? Mine has ran out." You said it so nonchalantly, Rosalie was surprised to hear your voice. You rarely spoke. Rosalie stayed quiet, casting a glance to you. "...yeah." Rosalie bent down to rummaging into her bag, grabbing another pen and handing it to you, avoiding physical contact. You thanked her before turning your attention back to the notepad. 

You only got a couple of peaceful minutes before a paper ball, hurled at your head, landing on your notepad. You both looked up to see two guys from the football team laughing whilst eyeing you. You unravelled the ball to find a rather distasteful message written on the paper. You ignored it, tossing it to the side and another was thrown, close to hitting your head. You didn't bother unravelling it and adding it to the other one. A third was hurled but was immediately caught by Rosalie who snatched it before it could hit you in the face. She threw it back at the boys with a scowl. "Throw anything else in my direction and I'll throw my desk at you." There where a few whistles and cat calls at her warning but it was noted. No one messed with Rosalie.

Even though you both barely spoke even after she discreetly stuck up for you all those months back, the two of you developed a friendship. You were quiet, observant and a good listener. Rosalie needed someone that would listen to her, even when she wasn't saying much. Despite being quiet, you held a very welcoming presence. Rosalie was certain she felt it because she was older than she seemed and you were an old soul. That made you strange or out of place in the eyes of the humans but she knew better. You were intelligent and would likely be more successful than others with such qualities. She learned that you were shy, which was why you rarely talked. It was very endearing and that was probably when Rosalie's feeling grew into something more.

The whole situation got slippery from that point. She tried to ignore it but she was clearly going to need another solution. She asked Carlisle who couldn't really help if she was being honest. She didn't have the heart to cut ties with you since you didn't have anyone else. She couldn't protect you from students if she avoided you. She felt she had to now more than ever, growing worried you would be in danger at any moment. In the heat of her frustration she called your name as you passed, lunch tray in hands as you passed. 

You slowed down to look at her. "Come and sit with us for lunch." You were about to refuse but she sent you a look that held no room for argument as she caught eyes over your shoulder with a group of boys who were eyeing you. You sat beside her, unaware of the alarmed looks Rosalie's siblings sent her way. She ignored them but you immediately caught on to a tiny detail. "You guys aren't eating?" You looked uncomfortable that you had voiced such a question but you couldn't help yourself. "We got let out earlier before the bell rang." Alice said quickly with a smile. Rosalie will still distracted and glaring at the boys on the other side of the room. Jasper chewed at his lip, looking pained. You were about to ask if he was okay before Alice got up and moved to sit in the seat between you both. "I'm Alice, I don't think I've actually introduced myself." "I'm (Y/N)." "What class were you just in?" "Chemistry." "I chose Biology." Alice smiled. "I did consider chemistry though. What's it like? I’m thinking about switching next year." It was the go to tactic. Distract the human with things she already knew so your mind would be taken off of her mates and sisters bizarre behaviour. Edward twitched and Alice's eyed glazed over as you talked to her about the course content. She snapped out of it to hurriedly say. "(Y/N), get down!" Alice pushed your head down an apple made contact with the wall behind your head. Rosalie immediately stood up and marched towards them as Alice asked you if you were okay. You nodded. "You either have good reflex's or a super power. I didn't see that one coming. Thanks." Alice couldn't help but think how accurate you really were with your joke. She got a vision of you being hit in the face with the apple just as Edward's look changed to one of disgust when he heard the plan go through the boys minds. He remained silent, looking down at the table. You couldn't tell what Rosalie was saying to them but she most certainly wasn't happy.

A week later you told Rosalie that you had developed feelings for her. Completely ready for her to never speak to you again. Rosalie stayed quiet, looking annoyed. You were about to take it as a rejection and leave her alone but her words surprised you. "Yes, I do as well." Her eyes flickered to you. "There's something you need to know about me. I have been hiding somethings that only my family know about. If I tell you, you can't tell anyone." You promised her and she told you her dark secret.  At first you were scared, too scared to move. It didn't help when she told you that you couldn't tell anyone or else you'd die. Then she told you more about her diet. It slightly eased the fear but it wasn't enough for you to forget that she could eat you. Surprisingly, you both worked through it and you kept her secret like it was your own.

However, the worst fear was to come four months later. Your relationship had gotten rather serious and Rosalie informed you that her family wanted to properly meet you seeing that you would be a part of the family. Rosalie found it funny how nervous you had grown to meet her family asking silly things like if you could wear jeans. She eventually had to ignore all the questions, tell you to relax and eat something, after that, you'd be good to go. Rosalie and Edward came to collect you, Edward being the driver. "Don't forget to breathe." Rosalie said looking at you through the rear-view mirror, bringing you back to reality. "I'm trying." You said meekly. "What if your parents don't like me?" "I wouldn't worry about that. Esme will love you and Carlisle enjoys company like yours." Rosalie turned to look at you giving you a gracious and reassuring smile. "They are looking forward to meeting you."

Upon arrival, Rosalie took your shaking hand, knowing you were shy as it is and being around her big family wasn't the most comfortable of situations, especially if said family are vampires. Carlisle and Esme, arms looped around one another came into the living room with soft welcoming smiles. "It's so nice to finally meet you, (Y/N)." Carlisle smiled as Esme broke away from him to grin at you and pull you into a hug- quite possibly the best hug you had ever gotten. Then again, she's had centuries of practice. "We've been waiting for Rosalie to finally let us meet you as a family." Esme said taking a light grip on your arm, making sure you knew you were welcome. "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you both." You shyly smiled back as Rosalie took hold your free arm, not making eye contact with anyone, just gazing at your face briefly before he gaze dropped your arm.

That night, you and Rosalie headed to the balcony. Hearing about her grim past blew you away. It was sad that none of the Cullen's really had a happy ending to their human life and being immortal, they likely wouldn't have a happy ending to this life either. "You didn't deserve that, and he didn't deserve you." Rosalie let out a quiet bitter laugh. "I got my revenge on them, picked them off one by one, saved Royce for last." You didn't want to prod her for details, also a bit uncertain if you really wanted the details. "You know what this means now that I've met your family right?" "I know but I don't want it to be. I never got the choice to be like this, (Y/N)- none of us did. You do and by wanting this life, you're choosing wrong." "I'm not." You said quietly which sounded more fatalistic than intended. "I know everything now, if you don't change me, I'm gonna die." Rosalie stayed quiet, thinking it over and you were right. Even if you walked away now, it was too late. "Luckily for us, we have some time. Time for both of us to get used to this." "Thank you for meeting my family, it means a lot. Even if I tried to prolong it." You smiled. "You're welcome, consider us even for that pen you let me borrow." Rosalie cracked a smile. "In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have." You snorted. "You are absolutely correct. A pen doomed us both!"

[ladywinchester1967]

Made to Be Broken

Summary: She’s the President’s daughter and he’s head of her security detail. What could go wrong?

Pairing: Secret Service Dean Winchester x Julianna Mills (OFC, The President’s Daughter)

Word Count: 5104

Warnings: Language, Smut (of the dirty, filthy variety), secrecy, FLUFF (good lord, the fluff came from no where!), mentions of torture, angst, feels, dirty talk, unprotected sex. I think that’s it.  

Square Filled: Secretly Dating

A/N: Written for @spngenrebingo the title was inspired by THIS performance of “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls. It resonated with me and I hope that shows in this work (granted, I’ve seen the song performed a million times but for some reason, this one just stuck with me.) Unbeta’d, all mistakes are mine, but the pictures are NOT. I found them on Google, Pinterest and tumblr.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This was wrong, on so many levels. This could get him fired and her publicly shamed; that didn’t stop them however, God himself could have told them to stop and they wouldn’t have listened.

He hiked her skirt up as he flung her panties off as she practically ripped his belt and fly open.

“How long do we have?” She asked as she pulled his pants down

“Twenty minutes?” He asked “Give or take.”

“Better make it quick Winchester,” she told him as she feverishly kissed him “wouldn’t want anyone to come looking for us.”

“You’re with me baby,” he said “NO ONE’S gonna come looking for us.”

He pushed deep inside her as she moaned.

It had started eight months ago; shortly after Dean had been hired on as a member of the Secret Service. They’d first laid eyes on each other a few days before the Presidential Inauguration when they’d been introduced.

“Ma’am, this is Agent Winchester,” The Director of the Secret Service, Bobby Singer, has told her “Agent Winchester, this is Julianna Mills. You’re now assigned as part of her security detail.”

With raven hair, eyes as blue as sapphires; she wore a grey suit with a pencil skirt, a pale pink top poking out from under her suit jacket and t-strap pumps; she had black, winged eyeliner and ruby red lipstick on as well. She gave him a kind, white toothed smile and extended her small, perfectly manicured hand to him.

“Agent Winchester,” She said with a smile “a pleasure.”

Dean flashed her a grin; he looked sharp in a navy blue suit, white shirt and black tie.

“I completely agree.” He told her.

Dean had followed Julianna around like he was supposed to, keeping her moving as her father walked in front of her and her mother.

“Agent Winchester?” She asked him later that night as he walked her to her hotel room door.

“You can call me Dean, if that helps.” He told her and she nodded.

“Dean, how many people have you looked after?” She asked

“Quite a few,” he said “I was a body guard before a decided to join the Secret Service.”

“Have you ever killed anyone?” She asked

He shook his head

“A few well placed kicks and punches usually gets my point across,” he told her “but when I served in the military, yes I did.”

“Can you tell me more about that?” She asked

“Not tonight ma’am,” he said “maybe another time.”

“Why not tonight?” She asked “If you’re going to follow me around I should at least know things about you.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” Dean told her “If you don’t give me any trouble, I’ll tell you all about my military career. Deal?”

She stuck her hand out and shook his

“I’m holding you to that.” She told him.

“I know you will ma’am.” He said

“Please, just call me Julie.” She told him and he nodded.

The next day, Dean escorted Julianna to a local children’s hospital that she frequented. She loved to go in and see the kids and read to them; even bringing books she thought they would like. The Secret Service had gone ahead with dogs and made sure the room Julianna would be meeting the kids in was completely secure.

“Dean, we have a problem,” Dean’s brother, Sam, told him “we’ve got media outside and Julianna specifically asked that no media be present.”

“She did?” Dean asked “She didn’t tell me.”

“She told me this morning,” Sam told him “can you get the police or security here to get them to back off?”

“I’m on it,” Dean said and pulled out his phone “I thought it was a good thing for her to be seen doing shit like this.”

“It is,” Sam said as they walked “but she wants to protect the privacy of the kids.”

Dean was slightly thrown off, but nonetheless, made the call and got local police and hospital security on the media. Once they were back on public property, Dean went back to Julianna’s hotel room.

“Why did you tell SAM you didn’t want media presence and not me?” Dean asked, annoyed.

“I thought that’s what I was supposed to do,” Julianna told him “he’s Chief of Staff.”

“But I’m head of YOUR security. I’M the one in charge of YOUR safety, this is the kind of shit I need to know.” Dean told her.

“Are you mad at me?” She asked him, taken aback.

“When someone that isn’t me knows something that involves your safety before I do, yeah I would say that qualifies me to be mad.” He snapped at her.

“I’m sorry!” She shouted at him “I don’t know how this whole security things works! Ever since my Dad got elected, I’m having to answer a million questions and have my every move questioned and I hate it!”

They stared one another down and Dean’s expression softened

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout,” he told her “your safety is my number one priority and when my brother is telling me what I’m supposed to do to protect you, it threw me for a loop.”

She nodded and finished pinning her hair up. She wore a black and grey striped top, black pants and Converse shoes. Her hair was pinned into a proofed up ponytail along with her signature black eyeliner and red lipstick.

“Dean, can I ask your honest opinion?” She asked him.

“Sure.” He said

“Do I look okay?” She asked “I mean, for a president’s daughter?”

“Honestly?” He asked and she nodded “You look like a pinup girl and that’s not a bad thing.”

“Like Marilyn Monroe if she’d married JFK?” Julianna asked and he laughed.

“Probably, but better.” He said and his cheeks turned pink “Sorry, I’ll just wait outside for you.” He said and shut the door behind him. Her mouth curved into a smile as his comment sunk in. He thought she looked better than probably the biggest blonde bombshell of all time. She grabbed her purse as she blushed.

From then on, Dean always knew about what she was planning to do. Anytime her family stopped in a town, she always went to read to children. Her main platform was promoting literacy among children. Dean watched one day as she gave a passionate speech at a local school library one day.

“Without words we cannot communicate,” she had said “without the ability to read, how will we learn from our past mistakes and how to make our world better? That is why I want to issue a challenge to every child at Silver Springs Elementary and beyond. Nurture your mind the same way you nurture your body with a healthy diet. You’ll be surprised at what you can create.”

He watched as a smile crossed her face and she went on

“I’d like to tell you a story about a young lady that liked to write, just for fun and to tell stories to her mother and sisters. One day, she sat on a train and came up with the idea for a boy with glasses to go to wizard school. Today, we know that woman as J.K. Rowling and the boy she envisioned as Harry Potter. The only limit in your arsenal of written words is your imagination.”

The crowd clapped as she thanked the crowd and walked off stage toward Dean and the rest of her security detail. The rosy glow that illuminated her face was enough to entrance him.

“What’d you think?” She asked Dean as he walked her to her hotel room that night.

“You’re very passionate about reading and writing, why?” He asked and she had smiled.

“I’ll tell you my secret if you tell me yours.” She told him as they arrived at her door.

“What secret is that?” He asked

“About your military career.” She told him.

“Damn, I was hoping you’d forget about that,” he said and then added “pardon my French.”

She held up a hand

“Nothing worse than what I’ve said,” she told him “so care to tell me that story?”

“I’m gonna need alcohol before I tell that story.” He told her as they arrived at her door.

“Well, you’re in luck.” She told him “I can have room service bring it up.”

“You mean me?” He asked “Because I have to check everything you get sent.”

“Everything?” She asked and he nodded “Jesus, when do you sleep?”

“I get my four hours a night and I’m fine.” He said. She shook her head and rolled her eyes

“Fine, do what you must, but don’t keep me waiting.” She told him

“I would never.” He told her as they walked into her room.

She was surprisingly easy to talk to with all their formalities out of the way. Wearing her NYU hoodie and yoga pants with no makeup on, she was just as beautiful as when she was dolled up for the press.

“So you gathered information?” she asked, as she poured them another drink

“By whatever means necessary, yes, I did.” he told her, as he took the drink “Am I proud of what I did? I guess that depends on who you ask.”

“If I asked you?” she questioned and he shook his head as she sipped from her glass.

“The things I did to get the information I needed? No, I'm not proud of that.” he told her “The lives I saved because of that information? Yes, I am proud of that.”

“Did you ever think if those people had families? Children that were waiting for them?” She asked

He shook his head and knocked back the rest of his drink.

“No, I couldn't afford to. If I thought of them as more than a mean to an end, that made me weak. In my former line of work, I couldn't afford to appear weak.” he told her

“Why not?” she asked as she kept sipping.

“Weakness meant they could've found out anything about me. My family, my friends, anyone I had contact with and used it against me.” His green eyes were set, as he moved the glass from hand to hand “I basically had to turn off who I was; everything my parent taught me about being a good and decent person, I had to lock away while I tortured those people.”

She let out a breath and finished off the rest of her drink.

“You hate me, don't you?” he asked and she shook her head, rubbing her eyes.

“No, I couldn't hate you.” she told him “You're too good for me to hate. Do I agree with your methods? No.”

“But?” he asked “I'm sensing a “but” somewhere in there.”

“This is difficult for me to grapple with because of my background.” She told him “I mean, before my dad became president.”

“I'm intrigued,” he said “So you wanted to be a what before your Dad ran for president?” Dean asked as he poured them another whiskey.

“A human rights lawyer,” she told him as she took the glass “like Amal Clooney.”

He shrugged

“You’d be good at it, you could still do it.” He told her and she shook her head as she took another drink.

“Nah, my Mom said the family has to stick together while Dad’s in office. Looks better that way.” She told him.

“If you say so,” he told her “you’d do well at anything you try though. You’re really smart.”

She grinned

“Thank you.” She told him

“Truth or truth?” He asked her

“That’s redundant,” She told him “just ask me to tell the truth.”

“Okay, so tell me the truth,” he said “how had some little rich guy not come and swept you off your feet?”

She laughed

“Because they’re intimidated by me.” She told him “They’re not used to girls who speak their minds and who stand up for themselves. They want decoration and I’m not decoration.”

“You’re got enough to be decoration, just too smart for it.” He pointed out and immediately regretted it. She raised her eyebrows at him.

“You think so?” She asked

“Sorry, I overstepped.” He said and stood up. She followed after him, setting her drink down.

“Dean, please don’t leave.” She said as he walked to the door.

“I should,” He told her, not looking at her “I should walk out of this room and resign, go back home and live a life of mediocrity.”

“But?” She asked

He slowly turned back around, with his loosened tie, un-tucked shirt and light stubble on his face, he looked delicious. He set his drink aside and stood in front of her.

“But then I wouldn’t have the chance to do this.” He said and held her face in his hands as he kissed her, catching her off guard. He pulled back and she pulled him back in, kissing him again.

“No,” he said as they kept kissing “we can’t.”

“We shouldn’t.” She told him as she untied his tie, flinging it to the ground.

“I should go.” He told her as he unzipped her hoodie, peeling it off of her and leaving her in a thin tank top.

“Yeah, yeah you should.” She said as she unbuttoned his dress shirt and tugged it off of him. He picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist and carrying her over to the bed. He got on top of her and kissed her hard. “Tell me you don’t want me,” he practically begged as he kissed her neck and collar bone “tell me to fuck off.”

She tugged in his hair, making him look her in the eye.

“No,” she told him “I’m not gonna do that.”

“I could get fired for this.” He told her

“I’ll tell them I seduced you.” She shot back

“I can’t even begin to think of the names they’d call you.” He told her, his fingers trailing over her cheek.

“I don’t care.” She told him “I wanted you the second I laid eyes on you. I didn’t think you wanted me.”

“How could I NOT want you?” He asked

“I thought you’d want someone like my sisters.” she told him

Julianna had two younger sisters; Alexis and Claire.

“Alexis is the tomboy. They all love her because she likes to hunt, golf and fish.” She said.

Alexis was a brat, she didn’t care to attend much of anything and would rather spend her time on a baseball diamond than anywhere else.

“Claire is basically Biker Barbie, if anything I figured you’d go for her.” Julianna told him.

With a snotty attitude and a chip on her shoulder; Claire wore black eyeliner and her hair in braids, she was a bigger brat that Alexis.

Dean shook his head

“No, they’re beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t compare to you.” He told her. “You carry yourself with this quiet confidence and you can command the attention of a room without trying. You’re sharp and witty and you speak with such passion about the things you care about. That, to me, is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“You think I’m sexy?” She asked and he nodded

“Of course I do,” he said “who wouldn’t?”

She kissed him with renewed passion, locking her legs around his waist.

“I want you,” She told him as they kissed “fuck I want you so badly.”

She clawed at his belt and pants as he yanked her tank top off, leaving her topless. Her bare torso exposed to him, he kissed every inch he could get to, tasting the salty and sweet mix of her skin. He licked and sucked on her nipples, the pink, sensitive buds hardening in his mouth as she writhed under him.

“Dean, oh Dean!” She mewled

“What do you want me to do to you gorgeous?” He asked as he kissed down her belly and to the waistband of her yoga pants. “Your ass looks so fucking hot in these.”

“Mh, really?” She asked “Why don’t you pull those off and see what it looks like bare?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, but did as she commanded and realized she wasn’t wearing panties.

“You dirty, dirty girl.” He said as he spread her legs open, she was practically dripping with arousal. He looked up at her and she nodded, giving him permission. He picked up one leg and kissed from her ankle up to the apex of her thighs. He intentionally skipped where she wanted him most and kissed down to her other ankle.

“DEAN,” she hissed “don’t tease me.”

“Tell me what you want,” he said “and I’ll quit teasing.”

“Go down on me,” she told him “I want to know what that mouth can do.”

“Yes ma’am.” he said as he laid on his front, his head between her legs. He flattened his tongue and licked her from hole to clit, making her back arch. He placed his hands behind her knees and pushed her legs up. He licked the curve of her butt and the backs of her thighs. Surprising even herself, she cried out in passion.

“Ohhhhhhhhhh, that feels, FUCK!” She cried out.

He hushed her

“If anyone hears you, they’ll come to investigate,” he told her “you have to be quiet or I won’t get to finish you.”

She nodded and he went back to work, his tongue seeming to be able to find every spot between her legs that made her pant and bite her lip. He sat up a little, grabbing behind her knees and pulled her to the edge of the bed. He grabbed a pillow from the nearby chair, set it on the ground and placed his knees on it as he opened her legs again.

“Fuck, you taste amazing.” He told her as he dove back in. She sat up and realized what she was looking at. In the full length mirror, she saw the both of them. She looked strung out on passion and her hair was a mess, but the sight of her gorgeous head of security on his knees in front of her was intoxicating. She ran her fingers through his hair as he thrust his tongue into her, his mouth sealing over her pussy. She gripped his hair and rocked, his nose bumping her clit as he gripped her hips and moaned.

“Yes, like that.” He said as she rode his tongue.

“Fuck me Dean,” she begged him “god, please fuck me.”

Without a word, he stood and rid himself of the rest of his clothes. She had gotten glimpses of his “equipment”, his dress pants didn’t do much to disguise what he had, but the truth was far better than she expected. She reached out and gently ran her hand over his velvety length, the tip leaking pre-cum. She lapped her tongue over the tip and he nearly growled.

“Fuck Julie,” he said as he ran a hand through her hair. She took him into her mouth, bit by bit, adjusting to his length and girth, her hand compensated for what her mouth couldn’t take as she began to bob her head up and down him. He hissed and moaned as he held her hair and watched in the mirror.

Here he was, a guy from a small town in Kansas getting a blowjob from the President’s daughter.

It sounded like the plot to a cheap porn but he didn’t care.

“Fuck,” he moaned “you suck cock like a champ sweetheart.”

She hummed and he gripped her hair tighter and let her keep going. She was winding him tightly as she lightly twisted his skin and then started to fondle his balls.

“Fuck,” he hissed “oh fuck!” He yanked her off of him and said “I was enjoying that, but this is gonna be over a lot quicker than I want it to be if you keep going like that.”

She nodded and he helped her stand as he kissed her. He backed up until the backs of his knees hit the bed. Her wrapped his arms around her and sat down. She straddled him and took his length into her hand, guiding it to her waiting hole. She flicked him through her folds and moaned as he kissed her harder.

“You ready for me?” He asked and she nodded guiding him inside her. He thrust his hips up as she took him in, moaning. She quietly moaned his name over and over again in his ear as he grabbed two handfuls of her ass in his hands.

“Fuck,” he moaned as he kissed her “you have the firmest ass I’ve ever grabbed.”

She smirked and kissed him

“And you’ve got the biggest cock I’ve ever had,” she murmured in his ear as she bit the lobe “let me ride you.”

He pulled back as he fully sank into her and nodded as she moved her hips. The sound of her skin hitting his echoed in the room as she rode him slowly at first. She could feel every inch of him filling her nearly to the breaking point. He gripped her flesh hard, there would surely be bruises on her ass in the morning, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was them and being in that moment with him. He laid down, his back flat on the bed as she placed her hands on his chest.

“Mh, look at you riding me like a champ,” he commented “fuck, you’re so fucking sexy.”

She smirked and asked

“You like that? A girl taking charge over you?”

“No,” he said “a WOMAN.”

She bit her lip and slid her hands up and down her own body as he watched. She placed her fingertips on her clit and began to massage the engorged bundle of nerves.

“Fuck!” he moaned as he tried to push into her faster and she shook her head.

“No,” she moaned as she moved her fingers in a slow, torturous circle “I want us to take our time, I want to feel EVERYTHING.”

“Fuck, you’re so fucking sexy.” He told her as she moved and he drank in the sight on top of him. The girl he wanted, that seemed just out of his reach, was now playing with her clit while she rode his hard cock.

If this was a dream, he’d be royally pissed when we woke up.

“Dean,” she moaned “oh god Dean, you feel so good inside me.”

“That’s it,” he growled “use that filthy mouth.”

“You like watching me fuck you?” She asked “Playing with my clit on top of you?”

“God yes,” he groaned “taking what you want from me.”

“Sit up,” She commanded and he followed through, he watched as she glided her hands up her body and cupped both her breasts in her hands. “Mhhh, you wanna suck on these?” She asked him and he nodded

“Yes,” he choked out “yes ma’am, please? May I?”

“Such a-FUCK!-such a good boy. So polite.” She breathed as she kissed him “You may, you may suck on me.”

He captured her nipple in his mouth and sucked on it, his tongue flicking over the hardened bud while his other hand captured her other breast, his thumb flicking over the nipple, making her whine.

“Oh fuck, Dean! Dean, oh fuck!” She moaned “God, I’m gonna come. Fuck, I’m gonna come all over you!”

“Mh,” he moaned “Come for me baby, come all over me.”

She rode him hard, the sound of slapping skin getting louder as she dug her nails into his shoulders, screaming into his chest as she came. He bit into her shoulder and cried out as he let go deep inside her, finally stilling.

After their romp in the broom closet; they straightened themselves up and went back to the engagement she'd been dragged to. Dean watched as she navigated the flurry of people wanting to talk to her, asking which designer she was wearing and what lipstick she used. The black, winged eyeliner has become part of her style and the press pounced on it.

“The eyeliner and lipstick is by Wet N Wild,” she told the reporter “the eyeliner is H2O proof in black and the lipstick is Missy and Fierce in their Liquid Catsuit line.”

Dean smirked internally and said in her ear

“Time to go.”

She gave him a nod and said

“Thank ya'll, it's been a pleasure.” and shook the interviewer's hand.

The next night, they were allowed to go a little more casual; Julianna had ticket to see her favorite band, The Goo Goo Dolls, and wouldn't miss the performance for anything.

“I don't like this,” Dean told her as they walked into the venue “not at all.”

“Relax,” she told him “Secret Service was here beforehand and gave the all clear, don't you have any faith in your men?” she asked

“That's not what I'm worried about,” he said “drunken fools are more my concern.”

“Dean, can you do me a favor for tonight?” she asked and pulled him to the side, out of sight of the other concert goers as they filed into their seat “Please? I almost never ask you for anything but can you throw me a solid on this ONE request?”

“What?” he asked, his eyes searching around them

“Can you please, put the Secret Service on the back burner for ONE NIGHT?” she asked “Just this one? Please?”

“And do what?” he asked

She took his hands and placed them on her hips as she wrapped her arms around his neck

“Be my boyfriend?” she asked “We NEVER get to go out. Never get to be a couple. All I want is a night of normal. Just one, is all I ask for.”

He sighed

“But the risks.” he insisted and she kissed him

“We'll be fine.” she assured him “I know good and well off duty and undercover cops are here. We will be okay. Just be my boyfriend? Please? It would make me so happy.”

She gave him the sad puppy face and he laughed.

“Fine,” he relented “I cave, I'll do it. But just this one night.”

“Thank you.” she told him and kissed him.

Even though they were supposed to be a couple for the concert, Dean kept his protective guard up. He stood behind her, his arms wrapped around he shoulders, gently pushing away anyone that was too close for his liking. When The Goo Goo Dolls took the stage, Julianna swayed with the music in his arms as they both sang along to the songs they knew. Thunder cracked overhead and the sky opened up, raining down on the crowd just as the band was closing the show with their biggest hit, “Iris”.

“Come on, we gotta go.” Dean said in her ear as they both got drenched.

“No, please!” she begged as the song started and she looked at him “This is my favorite, we can leave after this. PLEASE just let me hear this song.”

He sighed, annoyed and nodded.

“This one more song and we're gone.” he told her and she nodded. His boots were soaked, his back ached and all he wanted to do was go the hell home, but hearing the familiar chords of the song brought him to a place in his mind that made him smile.

And I'd give up forever to touch you 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be And I don't want to go home right now

He held her through the song, singing the words in her ear as they swayed. She tightened her grip on his arms and closed her eyes. It was perfectly imperfect and that was what she loved about it and him. As the song ended, she turned to face him, rain rolling down her face

“When everything's made to be broken,” she sang back to him “I just want you to know who I am.”

They kissed as a loud clap of thunder sounded over their heads and he whisked her away as soon as the kiss ended.

The next day Julianna awoke and joined her parents and sisters in the dining room for breakfast where someone immediately poured her a cup of coffee. She thanked them and her Dad asked

“Have fun at the concert last night?” his tone seemingly off from his usual, neutral one.

A woman stood next to Julianna, waiting to take her breakfast order and Julianna looked up at her.

“Can I have eggs? Scrambled with some cheese, and turkey bacon please?” Julianna asked and the woman nodded as left. “I mean yeah,” Julianna said as she added cream and sugar to her coffee “I mean, it was the Goo Goo Dolls. Not Rage Against The Machine, but yeah they put on a good show.”

“You. Were. Seen!” her father said and stood up.

“Dad, I'm a little hung over, so if you could arrive at a point, that would be GREAT.” Julianna told him as Alexis and Claire giggled into their plates.”

“OUT!” her Dad yelled “OUT! EVERYONE OUT!”

The dining room cleared and her Dad threw the newspaper at her. She took a sip of her coffee and turned it over. The picture glaring back at her was of her and Dean making out at the concert and the headline read

“SECRET SERVICE TOO CLOSE?”

“Care to explain this?” her Dad asked, furious.

Julianna looked down at the paper, at her Dad and down at the paper again.

“Oh fuck.” she mumbled.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You guys good?! Enjoy that??? I hope so!!!! Kind feedback is always welcome, feel free to like, share and comment. Maybe hit that follow button? I love new friends!! All my boxes are open; so if you have any requests or anything you want me to write, drop me a line!!

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[littledreamybeth]

Tears & Fear

Okay this one is so messed up but blame it on my feelings! I recommend to listen to “Stockholm Syndrome” while reading because this song kinda inspired me to write this imagine. I don’t know how you feel about it so let me know! Picture is not mine and the GIFs belong to @stylesinthewild! Thank you for letting me use them! One question: Can you understand Y/N and the way she acted? I’d like to know!

Something wasn’t right. Something was definitely off with Y/N.  She had been acting completely strange for a whole week for some reason. Harry couldn’t tell what exactly was wrong with her but he was absolutely sure that she somewhat tried to distance herself from him.

First, he didn’t really notice her change of behavior. She only had been very still and not very talkative. However, the lack of interaction they had in the last couple of days caught Harry’s attention after a while. He realised that they only exchanged a few words throughout this time which consisted of “How are you?”, “Are you hungry?” and “I’m at the studio”. Harry thought it was because of her recent working shifts till late hours and maybe she had been too fatigued to handle a conversation with him. Amongst other things, he wanted her to rest instead and they could always talk the day after anyways.

That’s what he thought. But Y/N proved him wrong. It almost seemed like she intentionally wanted to avoid him. Whenever he entered the room, she made sure to go to another and sometimes she didn’t even greet him fully like she always used to do when he came home- with a hug and a kiss on his lips. Harry missed that physical touch.

Sometimes she didn’t even look at him in the eyes when he was trying to talk to her, searching for something else to lock eyes with. And when Harry tried to reach out to her, asking her if everything was okay, she just let out a nervous laugh and claimed she was finer than she ever could be.

He knew she was lying which stung badly but never pressured her into talking to him, I mean if she had a problem or something bothering her she would come to him by herself. Besides, he thought maybe she was going through a phase – she often had one- and just needed some alone time to gather her thoughts and be the old Y/N again.

At week two, Harry finally decided to break the ice at dinner. Not a single word was spoken between them, they just silently ate their meal. Well, at least Harry did. Y/N just sat there, one hand rested against her cheek while she poked around in her plate with her thoughts being miles away from their apartment.

“Y/N?”

When she didn’t reply, Harry tried once again.

“Earth to Y/N. Are you still with me, miss?” He waved at her.

She lifted her head when she perceived his movements on the other side of the table. Furrowing her eyebrows at him, she let out a short, “I’m sorry?”

“What’s going on with you recently? Is something bothering you?”

Y/N just shrugged her shoulders. “I’m tired, that’s all. Work is taking a toll on me.”

“Come on, love. We both know that’s not the entire truth. You can talk to me, you know that.”

Harry didn’t miss to see the glistening in her eyes, making him worry about her condition and before he could say anything further, she rose from her chair and took the plate in her hands, placing it on the sink.

“I’m gonna go to bed. Goodnight.” she said bluntly, avoiding eye contact with him.

“But it’s not even nine PM and what about our movie night? We already skipped last week because you claimed you weren’t feeling well.”

“Harry, please, I’m not in the mood right now.”

“You’re not in the mood to do anything with me for what two weeks?” He commented with a sarcastic undertone.

“Goodnight, Harry.” She ignored what he said before and left him all alone with his thoughts drowning his mind.

The desire to continue eating was gone as soon as Y/N went away and out of anger because she refused to talk to him, Harry threw his fork on his plate with all the force he had. She had never been like this so what in god’s name was going on?

But as we know Harry, he was never willing to give up until he put a smile on the faces of people that he loved. Right after placing his own food next to Y/N’s, he made his way to their bedroom in which Y/N fled into not even five minutes ago.

He knocked on the door to make sure she knew that he was there and then let himself in.

“Love, can we talk please? I really don’t understand why you’re so off lately. Y/N? Why are you crying?” He immediately ran towards the bed on which she sat, her upper body resting on her knees and her arms being wrapped around her legs.

She felt the bed shifting under Harry’s pressure but when he intended to bring her body into a warm embrace she stopped him in a second.

“Don’t! Please, I- I want to be alone.”

“What happened, Y/N? What made you cry, love? Why won’t you tell me?”

“Please, don’t ask, just leave me be. I wanna be alone.”

“Love-“

“Out! Get out!” she said by interrupting him harshly, pointing at the door. Harry’s heart broke in an instant due to the harshness she was treating him with. He only wanted to help because hell he cared for her so much.  Was he doing wrong? Shouldn’t a man comfort his woman when she was in distress?  Nevertheless, he let her mourn whatever she was mourning over and if she wanted to be alone there was nothing left for him except to live with her decision.

He went back to the other side of the room, grasping the handle of the door. He didn’t exit the room before Y/N knew how much he loved her despite the quick argument they had. “I love you, petal. I’m at the study if you need me.”

If he just realised what kind of emotions his words had triggered in Y/N. Once he was out of reach, she couldn’t contain another wave of tears and went back to her crying mode. She slipped under the covers despite being still dressed in her normal clothes but she was too drained of her strength to get changed.

She turned on the radio on her nightstand. The first melody to the song she was listening to now along with Harry’s voice hit her ears. No matter how much she kept listening to this special song, it always managed to make her cry for two weeks straight. When Harry wasn’t at home but in the studio instead, she would turn it on and cry for hours. It was not the entire lyrics she could identify herself with but just a few phrases which applied to her emotional state.

“Who’s this whisper telling me that I’m never gonna get away?”

Stockholm Syndrome described perfectly her inner debate that she had for so many days. The “whisper” in her case was her emotion, her love for Harry, telling her she would never gonna get away from him. All this time, Y/N was being cold to Harry because she realised that she was on her way to become a lot dependent of him. She could never live without him. She was so emotionally bonded to him that her love for this human being tore her apart. It hurt so much but yet was so beautiful at the same time. She would have done everything for him.

“But I feel I’m getting used to being held by you”

This line described how there was no way she could escape from Harry’s cage made of pure love because she knew he would never let her run away from him. He had her completely under his power and Y/N would never want to resist breaking out which made everything even more complicated.

“Baby look what you’ve done to me /Baby you’ve got me tied down”

“Baby I’ll never leave if you keep holding me this way”

If she couldn’t find a way out of this dependence she would be lost, at least that’s what she thought.

“Yeah I fell for you...”

“I love you, too...” she choked, her heart hurting so much that she struggled to breathe. “So, so much.”

She cried the entire night, lulling herself to sleep this way.

 Meanwhile, Harry was sitting in his study, scribbling something in his diary. Jeff had texted him if he wanted to join them to go out however he couldn’t live with himself knowing that he left Y/N alone with her situation. So he declined the offer.

After midnight, he chose it was the perfect time to stop his doings and finally join his love in their bed. It is an understatement to tell how much he wanted to be with her when yearning is the exact word to describe how he felt. He yearned for her. There was only a certain amount of time in which he could endure without her presence however his limit was already crossed a few hours ago. Whatever it was that bothered Y/N and made her push him away, left him in complete darkness and gnawed on his mind. For five hours straight, Harry was thinking about what he could’ve possibly done that she shoved him away and to be honest it made him damn crazy. Not knowing why and what your girlfriend was crying over is enough to make you wanna rip your hair off your head.

Her behavior confused him. Whenever she felt upset or down she always gladly accepted his attempts for a comforting embrace until she would relax and feel better again but this time she didn’t even gave him a chance trying to soothe her. The way she had reacted gave Harry even more determination to find out what was going on in that pretty little head of hers.

Rubbing over his eyes, Harry shut his diary close in which he wrote down some new songs ideas and placed it in the drawer of his writing desk.  Standing up from his chair, he left his study and went straight ahead to their bedroom.

The lyrics to “Stockholm Syndrome” hit his ears when he arrived at their private paradise, sending Harry to a complete bewilderment because she still had that song on permanent loop. But why? What was special about it so that Y/N kept and kept listening to it for hours? He couldn’t know. The only solution was to ask her himself.

He carefully opened the door and peeked through the door gap just to find his girlfriend covered in the thick blankets. A sheet of handkerchiefs decorated her bedside table, indicating of how much she must have cried throughout these hours.

“Y/N?” he called for her but when he got no response in return, he assumed she probably fell asleep.

Therefore, he switched the radio off, leaving the room in complete silence.

Observing her profoundly, his heart pained at the sight of her. The image that was provided to him left him utterly speechless. The spot under her eyes and her cheeks were totally red from her crying, redder than anything he had seen before, her lips chapped and bitten until they bled. She breathed through her mouth because of her blocked nose and her fingers tightly clung onto the bed sheets.

She was a mess and it literally shocked him to see this side of her. Entirely broken and lost.

His hand reached out to her head, softly wandering through the strands of her hair. Such a simple gesture as this was filled with so much love and devotion for the sleeping beauty in front of him.

“Why wouldn’t you talk to me, love?” he sighed, then got up to get changed from his daily clothes into his pajamas. He neatly folded his shirt and jeans and put them back to their usual place in his dresser.

With his bare feet, he tiptoed back to the bed after he turned off the lights, lifted up the covers and slipped beside the woman he loved. A wave of relief washed over him now that he was able to hold her again. He spooned her from behind, wrapping his arms firmly but yet gently around her waist and pressing himself against her back. His face nuzzled her neck, one of his favorite places. His lips touched the bare skin of her shoulder. Leaving a content breath, he felt his limbs slowly getting start to become heavy.

“Harry?” Y/N’s voice called for him in the dark. Her sudden talking took him by surprise as he was about to fall asleep. He thought she slept already but what he wasn’t aware of was that Y/N woke up as soon as he had entered the room.  He opened his eyes again.

“Hmm?”

“Let go.”

His head, which rested comfortably on the cushion before, shot up in an instant. What the hell? He turned on the light on his nightstand beside him. Furrowing his eyebrows confusedly, he moved forward so he could have a better view on the side of her face. There, he discovered that she had her eyes trained on the large bookshelf opposite of their bed.

“Excuse me?”

“I said let go. Please let go of me.” she said with her voice laced in a monotone tune, not pointing any hint of emotion.

“Why is that, love?”

“Just let go.”

“Did I do something for you to push me away?” he said, slightly angered, untangling his arms from her body. “Because if there’s anything then I have no fucking clue what I did.”

“Don’t be a baby because I won’t let you hold me, Harry. And no you did absolutely nothing.”

“What is this about then?”

“You’re asking too many questions tonight.”

“Because you gave me no other choice, for fucks sake!” Y/N flinched at the sudden rise of his voice. “For almost two fucking weeks, you kept ignoring me and never talked to me except if I talked to you. Fuck, you didn’t even look at my face so how can I not feel like I’ve done something for you to behave like this?”

“Stop, Harry. I can’t deal with this right now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to disappoint you miss, but that’s exactly what were gonna do now. We’re gonna talk, whether you want it or not.”

The next second, Y/N jumped out of the bed, throwing the covers aside which hit Harry’s face without hurting him. Harry was shocked about her outburst.

“I can’t. I’m sorry, I can’t. This is too much!” Y/N sobbed into her hands, then immediately ran out of the room to the guest room next door.

Harry was hot on her heels. He couldn’t tell enough how his girlfriend’s behavior just confused him.

He heard how Y/N locked the door, shutting him out.

“Y/N! Open this god damn door before I crack it!” Harry screamed, punching hardly against the door and getting even desperate every passing second. “Come on, love! Open up!”

“Go away, please just go away! I don’t want to see you!” He perceived her muffled cries from the other side.

“Love, I’m worried about you, can’t you see that? Tell me what I did and I swear I’m gonna leave.”

The fast the door was locked, the fast it was opened again, with Y/N having a distraught expression attached on her face. Her eyes spit nothing but fear and worry. She shook her head in denial.

“No.. no no no no no.. Don’t leave... Don’t leave… Don’t leave… Don’t do that to me… please…”

She tugged at her hair, almost ripping those strands off her head and Harry was afraid she could hurt herself.

“Yell at me, scream at me, punch me in the face but don’t leave me, I’m begging you,” she choked, her breath labored and her heart paining and aching terribly.

“Hey, I would never leave you, love. I didn’t mean it like that.” Harry stepped closer to her.

“Easy, love, at ease,” Harry said, grasping the apple of her cheeks despite the tears that were streaming from her eyes and stroking them gently. Her breath faltered the more she cried and Harry noticed that if he wouldn’t find a way to calm her down, she may have a panic attack. He had her face firmly between his palms now, forcing her to lock eyes with him.

“Breathe, love, just breathe for me,” he ordered. “In and out, in and out. You’re doing so well, baby.” He pecked her slight sweaty forehead, assuring her that he was there for her and that everything was going to be fine.

“It hurts,” Y/N choked, feeling her pain tightening her lungs and cutting her from getting access to oxygen. “It hurts so much, Harry. I can’t take it anymore!”

“What hurts, baby? Tell me what’s bothering you. Let me help you.”

“I love you, I love you, I love you…” she rambled on and on, clinging onto his body, her hand fisting the material of his shirt while she cried on his shoulder.

Harry didn’t understand the world anymore.  Was Y/N really crying because she loved him?

“I love you too, love. But what’s going on?” he asked nervously.

Y/N pulled away so she could look at his face. Her fingers played with the little hair at the end of his neck. She observed his beautifully sculptured features which shot another stream of theirs into her eyes. Her lower lip trembled enormously.

“I’m afraid, Harry.“ Her voice cracked. “I’m afraid of my own feelings. I’m afraid of loving you.”

Harry bent forward to capture their lips to a kiss. He felt like it was all she needed to relax. But deep down, he was still utterly confused.

“I don’t understand, love,” he stated. “Please, explain.”

Y/N, finally getting the control of her body back, took a deep breath from her nose before she replied, also giving him an answer why she acted the way she did throughout these days.

“What I feel for you is more than I can handle and it scares me. It scares me how much I love you. You- You’re gonna leave me. You’re either gonna leave me for somebody else or you gonna die on me one day but it’ll happen one way or another and I don’t know if I can deal with such a loss. I don’t know what I would do and I’m so anxious about it. Harry, my love for you is wider than the entire universe. Damn, if only words were enough to describe how I feel about you but they’re not. I don’t want to love you if it means it’s going to drag me down eventually. I don’t want to love you more than you will ever love me, Harry.”

Harry had the urge to laugh, but there was absolutely nothing to laugh about it. The whole time he thought he messed up something. However, the words Y/N spoke stung terribly. “I don’t want to love you more than you will ever love me” kept repeating in his mind. How could she say something like that? Didn’t she know already that Harry was willing to give everything up for her? That he would tear down the entire world for her?

“First of all, there is no way that you can love me more because I love you more than a man can ever love a woman. Y/N you make me so happy and so madly in love with you, I don’t even understand why you worry so much. You’re stuck with me forever, beautiful. I will never give you away because you’re mine and always will be. I wished you would have talked to me sooner about your feelings.”

“I’m not gonna force you to make a promise you can’t probably keep. It’s neither fair to you or me.”

“Do you doubt my love for you?”

“No.”

“Then stop talking nonsense. I already told you that you belong to me once and forever.”

“I’m sorry I was a bitch to you,” Y/N said sheepishly. She needed to make it up to him in the shortest time possible.

“Ahh, I’m not having you cursing at yourself, love. I’d rather know what had triggered this sort of feelings in you because this doesn’t come out of nowhere.”

“Both of my best friends lost their boyfriends and their relationships were the ones I admired the most. They were perfectly in love with each other just as we are, but then everything went downhill. One died in a car crash and the other one ended things with my friend. I couldn’t help but compare us to them. And it made me realise how much you have me wrapped around your finger,” Y/N confessed, slinging her arms around Harry’s body and pressing him against her.

“I won’t leave you anytime soon, love. I’d put my hand in the fire for that.”

He connected his lips lovingly to hers, showing all his love and affection with one single kiss.

Back in their bed , Harry was lying beneath her and she had her head rested on his chest. One of his hands ran softly through her locks while he let his other on run up and down her back soothingly. Y/N listened to the beating of his heat and felt the vibrations of his voice as he hummed the lyrics to “Just a little bit of your heart” that he wrote for another artist. The soft tune coming from his mouth lulled her to sleep.

“Just a little bit of your heart/ Just a little bit of your heart/ Just a little bit of your heart is all I want

Just a little bit of your heart/ Just a little bit of your heart/ Just a little bit is all I’m asking for...”

[ghostsinthewoods]

Bonus: Gregg and Bea Solve a Mystery

Early evening in Possum Springs. The sky was a sleepy orange, the setting sun poking out from behind a few scarce clouds. The weather was getting warmer. It was still appropriate weather for long sleeves and hoodies, but more and more people were just wearing t-shirts.

Not that Bea could appreciate the weather, really. She was stuck behind the counter at the Ol' Pickaxe. A whole day of moving tools, lifting supplies, and explaining different types of hammers to the customers.

They really needed to get someone else on the team. That guy Danny had worked for them for, like, two or three days before getting fired. Maybe Germ was looking for a job? He already helped out sometimes.

Bea almost considered if Mae might be interested, but she decided against it. She loved Maeday, but she didn't trust her around anything heavy and unwieldy.

Well, this was all stuff Bea could talk to her dad about. He'd been having a few good days recently. Bea would have been hopeful, but he'd had good days before. Without some sort of professional help, Bea didn't know if her dad would get out of the place he was in.

The bell above the door rang, and Bea already knew who it was. Mae stopped in to check on her friends every day. It was right before closing, so if Mae wanted to do something, Bea felt like she'd be down for it. She didn't really have any other plans.

But it wasn't Mae at the door. That threw Beatrice for a loop. Instead, it was Gregg. His expression was hard to read as he sprinted towards the shop's counter.

This was weird. Gregg almost never stopped in at the Ol' Pickaxe. It wasn't an unwelcome surprise, of course—she didn't hang out with Gregg that much, but she still considered him a friend. Still, something seemed wrong.

"Dude, the barn!" He said, stopping to catch his breath. "Burglars!"

"Okay, Gregg, I'm going to need a complete sentence," Bea said. "Also, hello to you, too."

Gregg seemed confused at first. He nodded, though, and waved. "Yeah. Hey. Hi, Bea. Hi. Someone broke into the Party Barn."

"Is it really breaking in considering it's abandoned?" Bea asked. "Because, if it is, then we break in there all the time."

"This is serious, Bea!" Gregg exclaimed. "They jacked our shit! All of our shit is jacked as hell!"

Okay, that was concerning. Bea knew that leaving the instruments in the Party Barn was a bad idea. It was a good thing she wasn't dumb enough to leave her computer in there. But now wasn't the time to say 'I told you so.'

"Have you told the police?" Bea asked. Almost as soon as she said it, though, she realized it was a dumb question. Gregg shared the same 'Eff the cops' mentality that Mae had. The antiestablishment fervor of middle class 20-somethings.

"If I tell the cops, they'll just say it was dumb for me to keep my shit in there," Gregg said.

"Okay, but it was pretty dumb," Bea pointed out.

"And that's why I'm not telling the cops," Gregg said. "I've already heard it from you."

Bea sighed. "Look, Gregg, I'm sorry. This really sucks. Is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah," Gregg said, "I'm gonna try and sleuth out some clues. Come with me. Let's be cops."

Bea wasn't even sure what to say to that. Over the few years she'd known him, Bea had never quite gotten used to Gregg's strange brand of zaniness. It seemed like every few days, he had something new to surprise her. This was one of those days.

"Okay, I guess I can help you look," Bea said slowly. "Should we, like, tell Mae or Angus?"

Gregg frowned. "Nah, Mae's doing something with Germ. And Angus has…" A look of mild disgust seemed to cross Gregg's face. "He's got family stuff."

Ah. 'Family stuff'. Now that she thought about it, Angus had mentioned his brother would be coming over for a visit a few weeks ago. That meant a visit to their mom. Bea felt her face contort into the same look of disgust that Gregg had.

"Alright," Bea sighed. "Let's go. I don't know what you're expecting, though."

Gregg grinned. "I'm expecting to solve a mystery, Beatrice."

The Party Barn seemed to never change. Ever since it had closed, and the supplies and furniture had been moved out, it seemed to be in a constant state of emptiness. It was like the pictures of abandoned building people posted online.

Well, it was an abandoned building. Most of the time. But whenever the band was in there, for a few minutes every night the building was full of music.

Tonight, though, it was only full of old confetti and two idiots looking for clues.

Bea wasn't entirely sure why she was there. It was probably just because she didn't really have anything else to do. It was a little weird that Mae had decided to just hang out with Germ without saying hi.

Then again, both Mae and Germ were a little weird themselves.

While Gregg searched around behind the Birthday Zone stage, Mae leaned against one of the support columns and lit a cigarette. Watching Gregg dig through the old streamers and decorations, Bea found it amazing that he had so much energy after a day of work.

"Oh, shit!" Gregg suddenly called out.

Bea raised an eyebrow. "What? Did you find something?"

Bea walked over to where Gregg was crouched down. She'd figured he hadn't found whatever clue he was looking for, and she was right. Gregg was pointing to the cement floor underneath the Birthday Zone stage. Graffiti of all sorts had been carved into it.

Gregg was pointing at a cluster of words in particular. 'GGG', 'KC', and 'MAEDAY'.

"Oh," Bea said. "I'm guessing this is something you guys did a while ago?"

"Yeah, when we were, like, 12," Gregg said. "For some reason, Casey thought it was cool for him to write his name as 'KC' back then." He shrugged, and then pointed to the three G's on the floor. "That's mine."

Bea blinked. She knew for a fact that those weren't his initials. "Why the three G's?" She asked.

Gregg smirked, as if he was holding in the greatest joke in the world. "They're the G's in my name," he said. "They stand for Gay, Gayer, Gayest."

Bea laughed. "You know, you're lucky your name has three G's in it. That joke wouldn't work if your name was, like, Lawrence. You should be thankful."

"I'm thankful that my name isn't Lawrence every day of my life," Gregg said.

Bea was contemplative for a moment. "So, like," she said, "I hope you don't think this is prying, but did you really know you were gay back when you were 12?"

Gregg didn't seem offended. He shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, I almost feel like I've always known. Like, I realize there must have been a point in my life when I didn't know, but… I mean, I dunno."

Bea nodded. "Right. Sorry, I don't know why I asked."

"Dude, it's cool. Don't apologize." Gregg laughed. "I mean, I knew who I was pretty early. I feel like a lot of people probably go through life not knowing who or what they're into, you know?"

Bea did know. Some people, like Gregg or Jackie, figured out who they were fairly early. Meanwhile, Bea wasn't 100% certain about who she was. She was fairly certain she was straight. At least, she thought she was. But every so often, something happened that made her question that.

Now wasn't the time to think about that, though. Gregg continued searching under the stage. After a few seconds, he let out a triumphant cry and pulled something out.

"Check it out!" He exclaimed. "A clue!"

It took Bea a few seconds to register what exactly it was. Mostly because she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"That's a bong," Bea said.

"Sure is!" Gregg said. "Our culprit must've dropped it when they were nabbing the instruments."

Bea didn't even know where to start with that. For one thing, it wasn't an old bong. The green glass wasn't dusty, so it couldn't have been here for long. Also, while Bea wasn't very knowledgeable about weed culture, she somehow doubted that people just carried bongs with them all over the place.

"Levy probably knows whose bong this is," Gregg said. "If not, he can point us in the right direction."

"Then what?" Bea asked.

"Then, we nab 'em," Gregg said with a grin. "We bring 'em to justice!"

"Gregg, we're not cops." Bea pointed out.

"We killed those weirdos in the mine. We're basically cops."

"That's not how being a cop works," Bea muttered. "That's the opposite of how being a cop works."

Gregg rolled his eyes. "Whatever. It's a lead. Now let's go out to the Food Donkey and find Levy." He crammed the bong into his leather jacket. The top of the pipe poked out of the neck hole.

There was no way this wasn't going to end badly.

Bea wasn't in the habit of hiking out to the Food Donkey. If she was, she probably would have felt like the trek took a bit longer than it normally would. The whole way there, she was terrified someone would notice the green bong poking out of Gregg's jacket.

To her surprise, though, no one seemed to notice. Even in Possum Springs, everyone was busy with their own lives.

"So," Gregg said as they made their way past the Clik Clak, "you and Angus have been friends for a while, right?"

"Since, like, 8th grade, yeah," Bea said. Then, she chuckled. "To be honest, I was kinda surprised when you two started dating. Like, you're complete opposites in a lot of ways. No offense."

"You're really worried about offending me, huh?" Gregg asked. "Don't sweat it. He's big and cool, I'm small and scrappy. He's a super genius, I'm… Gregg."

Bea frowned, stopping in her tracks. Gregg stopped alongside her. "I don't think Angus would agree with that. You're smarter than you give yourself credit for."

Gregg laughed at that. It was a sad bark of a laugh. They continued walking along the black tar of the parking lot. The two turned the corner around the Food Donkey, making their way to the back. Bea was beginning to notice the faint smell of glue.

"Man, it's my second time seeing Levy in less than a week," Gregg muttered.

"Who is Levy, anyway?" Bea asked. She hadn't always socialized with the same people as Gregg and Mae. She'd known Casey, sort of; mostly through his reputation as a troublemaker. But Levy? Bea didn't remember anyone named Levy.

"Eh. If you don't know him, you don't know him," Gregg replied. "Thanks for coming with me, by the way. Kinda bored without Angus or Mae."

"I still can't believe Angus's brother makes him visit their mom," Bea muttered. "Like, I get he's trying to do be, like, a bigger person and all, but—"

"There's a lot about Angus's brother I don't get," Gregg said. "Let's leave it at that. I don't hate the guy, but… yeah. I feel like it'd be better if he just left Angus alone."

Bea didn't know if she entirely agreed with that. She'd met Angus's brother once or twice. Still, Gregg did have a point; he needed to stop dragging Angus along to meet with toxic people from his past.

They were behind the Food Donkey now. While the front was simply abandoned, the back was a mess. It was covered in graffiti. A pair of half-filled dumpsters were lined out along the back. Two people were huddled between the dumpsters, relaxing.

Bea recognized one of them. And she was very confused.

"Mae?" Bea called out as they approached the dumpsters.

Mae waved cheerfully at Bea, a smile on her face. "Hey, kids."

"Mae?!" Gregg yelled a bit too loud. "What are you doing here, Mae?"

Mae blinked. Her smile was replaced with a puzzled frown. "What? Dude, you told me to—"

"Hey, Levy, what's this bong?!" Gregg practically screamed.

The huddled up figure in the green hoodie looked up at Gregg. He looked like a mess. His eyes were baggy and lifeless. He looked like he hadn't shaved in months. Also, he smelled like glue. Like, really badly.

"Hey, Craig," he said. Then, he looked at Bea. "Hey, Steve."

It took Bea a moment to figure out that she'd somehow been confused with Steve Scriggins. She and Steve didn't look anything alike. How did you make a mistake like that? The guy was clearly out of it, but still. Weird.

While Gregg fished the bong out of his jacket, Bea exchanged a confused look with Mae. Her oldest friend could only shrug. It seemed like she was as confused as Beatrice.

"Hey, man," Gregg said, "we found this bong at the Party Barn. Someone stole our shit, and—"

"Wait, what?!" Mae blurted out. "The instruments were stolen? When? Who? Why?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Bea said. "Apparently."

Levy, meanwhile, was transfixed on the bong. Well, not transfixed. But his glazed over little eyes were pretty focused on it. The stoner reached his arm up and wiped his nose off on his sleeve. Slowly, he stood up, and reached out his hand to take the bong. When he wasn't curled up with his knees to his chest, Bea was surprised by how tall he was.

"I saw a bong like this up in Bright Harbor once," Levy said. He turned it over in his hands with surprising delicateness. "Shit's legal there, man. Dunno whose it is, though. Sorry, Craig."

"It's Gregg," Craig said.

"Weed's legal in Bright Harbor?" Mae asked. "Whoa, wait, is that why you guys are moving there?"

Gregg stared blankly at Mae. "No, dude. I already told you why we're moving. It isn't for the weed."

"You don't gotta be ashamed, man," Levy said, handing the bong back to Gregg. "I'd move to where it's legal if I could afford to. You and your dude will probably have a lot of fun in Bright Harbor."

"Yeah," Mae said. "You'll have fun smoking pot and getting sheep tattoos."

At times like this, Bea honestly couldn't tell if Mae was joking or not. She sincerely hoped she was. Mae seemed to misunderstand a lot of stuff a lot of the time, though. It was like a weird gift she had. Although she wouldn't put it past Gregg to get a second sheep tattoo.

Gregg stuffed the bong back into his jacket. He had a serious expression on his face. In fact, it was a little too serious. Like he was trying too hard. "Look, the culprit left the bong at the scene of the crime. Can you tell us anything?"

Levy sniffed, pausing to scratch his nose. "I dunno, man. I mean, I'm pretty knowledgeable about weed culture, and I can tell you for a fact that people don't just carry bongs with them all over the place."

"Oh, hey, that's what I thought," Bea said.

Levy looked at her as if he'd completely forgotten she was there. He blinked a few times, and then continued. "Uh, yeah. Okay. Anyway, it might've been one of the folks off the train or something. I dunno."

"This is garbage!" Mae shouted, throwing her hands up into the air. Bea looked over at Gregg. She expected him to be similarly upset. Instead, though, Gregg had a much harder-to-read expression. Gregg's eyes flicked from Mae, to Bea, and for a moment he looked caught off guard.

"Extreme garbage, yeah," Gregg said. "Man, I'm so upset. I just wanna kick a tree." He nodded, slowly. "We should all go get pizza so I'm not mad anymore."

What was it with everyone in Bea's circle of friends and solving their problems with pizza? "I seriously think we should go tell the cops, Gregg," Bea said. "It might not be too late for them to do something."

Mae winced. Bea had a good feeling she knew why. "If you guys are gonna talk to the cops, I think I'll pass. I feel weird around cops ever since last year."

Levy nodded, seemingly in agreement. "Yeah, I don't like cops. I can't come with you guys."

Bea opened her mouth to tell Levy that this didn't involve him, so they hadn't really expected him to come along. But there probably wasn't any point. Levy seemed like he just kind of did things.

"We'll probably find some cops at the Clik Clak," Gregg insisted. "Anyway, we gotta carbo load if we're gonna report a crime to the cops. Need some cheesey pizza in our bellies. Cops won't respect us otherwise."

"Nothing you just said made sense," Bea said.

"Yeah," Mae said slowly. "But, I mean, all this talk about cheese has me all hungry for some pizz." Mae paused. "Er, I'm calling pizza 'pizz' now," she clarified.

"No, we all got that," Bea assured. She sighed. Why were her friends like this? She loved them, more or less, but still. It was like rounding up a bunch of children, and she and Angus were the parents.

No. Wait. That analogy didn't really work, because Angus was in a relationship with one of their adult children. This comparison was getting kind of gross. Bea decided to drop it.

"Fine," she sighed. "Pizza is fine. But if the cops can't find Gregg's instruments, it's you guys' fault."

Gregg threw up his arms and made a strange howling noise. Bea had heard him make it before. She figured it was some sort of in joke between Mae and Gregg. Either that, or Gregg thought he was a werewolf. Bea didn't think the second one was too likely, but Gregg was unpredictable like that.

Anyway, even if Bea wouldn't admit it, she was starting to crave pizza too.

"… And, like, at the bottom is the worst pizza, but everything else is still really good!"

The group had just finished eating their first slices, and Gregg was finishing up his explanation of the pizza scale. It had come up when Levy had complained about the pizza. He was fairly opinionated for a guy who'd followed them to a diner without asking.

To be fair, though, he at least had money to pay for some of the pizza. That was more than Mae could contribute. And she'd actually been invited.

Bea still wasn't sure why they were eating pizza instead of going to the cops. Sure, Gregg was a little impulsive, but still. Even Mae seemed a little on edge as she helped herself to one of Gregg's leftover crusts.

Meanwhile, Gregg was acting like nothing was wrong. In fact, he was fairly chipper. Out of the four people at the table, he was in the best mood, no questions asked. Mae was on edge, and Levy seemed just kind of… bleh.

"So," Bea said, trying to change the topic of conversation, "Gregg, you guys are going apartment hunting soon, right?"

There was an immediate shift in mood at the table. Gregg somehow got even more excited. Talking about the move always seemed to cheer him up. Mae, meanwhile, had an uncomfortable look on her face. She wasn't happy about Gregg moving; or, at least, she was conflicted. She didn't do a good job at hiding it.

Levy remained completely neutral as he ate a slice of pizza, crust-first.

"Oh, yeah. We're staying in some dumpy motel outside of town while we go searching." Gregg's eyes lit up. "Oh! You guys should tell me what you want! I'll bring you souvenirs!"

"I'd like some saltwater taffy," Levy said.

"Uh… I wasn't really asking you, but okay. I'll keep it in mind, dude."

"Do they have any places that sell, like, samurai swords?" Mae asked. Her mood had turned around a bit. Samurai swords tended to do that.

"Mae, I can't afford a samurai sword. If I could, the apartment would be filled with them," Gregg said.

"Oh." Mae frowned. "Alright, I'll take, like, a shirt, or whatever."

"I'm good more or less," Bea said. "You guys don't need to get anything for me."

"Oh, boo," Gregg said. "Live a little, girl. Jeez."

"Hey, I'm coming down, and I'm starting to realize you aren't Steve," Levy said, as if this was some major revelation. Actually, for him, it probably was.

No one seemed to know what to say to that. They just kept eating. Eventually, when they were done with the pizza, Mae spoke up. "Hey, Gregg," she said, "Why'd you tell me to wait for you behind the Food Donkey? I kinda wanted to avoid that place after last time."

That threw Bea for a loop, and raised a couple of red flags. "What?" She said. "Gregg told me you were off hanging with Germ or something."

Mae looked at Bea as if she'd just grown another head. "Uh, no?" She said. "I haven't even seen Germ today. He wasn't hanging out in the parking lot or anything."

Gregg wasted no time in changing the flow of the conversation. "So, Bea, how's the Pickaxe? Still killing you?"

Bea frowned at Gregg. "Don't change the conversation," she said. "Why did you lie about Mae hanging out with Germ?"

Gregg's eyes darted from Mae, to Bea. He looked nervous. Bea got the feeling that Gregg wasn't a great liar. That made sense; he was a pretty genuine guy. The problem was, Bea had no idea why he was lying.

Thankfully, Levy saved the day for Gregg by blurting something surprising out.

"Hey, so your stuff getting stolen reminded me of something," he said. "Did you guys know Possum Springs had a cat burglar in the 20's? Like, during Prohibition and shit."

Levy's sudden broaching of the subject distracted Bea from her suspicion. She'd remembered hearing something like this when she visited the historical society building back in high school. What surprised her was that Levy knew about it.

"A cat burglar?" Mae asked. "Like, the kind with a whip who flips through lasers?"

"Yeah, but it was the 20's, so the lasers probably weren't super-advanced," Levy said. "But back in the 20's, there were a bunch of dudes making moonshine up here. And I guess someone decided to, like, capitalize on that and steal shit."

"Whoa, that's cool," Gregg said. His nervousness was gone, replaced by sincere awe. "So, Possum Springs had some sort of weird super thief?"

"I mean, no," Levy said. "He stole shit for two years, but eventually someone living up in the hills shot him. Turns out he was some homeless dude from off the tracks. He buried everything he stole up near Possum Jump."

"Okay, I didn't know that part," Bea said. "Why'd he bury the stuff?"

Levy shrugged. For once, he didn't look like a stoner. He looked like a normal dude. A normal dude who happened to do drugs, but still. "I dunno, man. Shit's weird. Like, I think every town in the world is sitting on a crockpot of weird shit. And, like, if you dig deep enough, you'll find that crockpot."

"Wait," Mae said. "I'm confused. This guy buried crockpots?"

"I know a lot of stuff about weird shit in Possum Springs," Levy said. "Like, the Deep Hollow Hollerers, the town's secret society, Little Joe. It's all just interesting, you know?"

"I can kinda get that," Bea said.

"Yeah, Bea's a history nerd," Mae commented.

"I'm really only into history when someone dies or goes missing," Levy explained. "But that's, like, most of history, because most people die."

Bea blinked. "'Most people?'" She repeated.

"I don't know everything," Levy said.

That much was pretty obvious.

After dinner was done, it was time for everyone to head home. Mae had gone walking off on her own, and Levy had just sort of slipped away at some point after the meal. It was down to Bea and Gregg again. Since their homes were in the same direction, they were more or less caught in a conversation.

"Well, today turned out a lot more weird than I expected," Bea sighed. She was trying to light up the new cigarette she had placed between her lips. She was grateful it was staying brighter longer during the day. In winter and fall, when the dark came early, she sometimes had trouble switching on the lighter.

"I dunno," Gregg said. "I think by now we've all had much weirder nights."

Bea nodded. The orange flame sprung from her lighter, and soon the end of her cigarette had a healthy glow. God, she'd needed that. "Mhmm," she said. "I guess this night doesn't even rank in my top ten weird nights. Sorry we didn't figure out who stole your instruments, though."

"Oh, I did that," Gregg said casually.

Bea stopped in the middle of the sidewalk while Gregg continued walking. He stopped in front of her, and turned with a sheepish grin on his face. They were right outside the Snack Falcon; inside, a woman was frantically ringing up an insane number of bags of chips.

"What?" Bea asked. "Wait, so this whole thing was some stupid prank?!"

"No, dude," Gregg assured. "It wasn't a prank. It was a ploy."

Bea wasn't sure how angry to be. On the one hand, her time had been wasted. On the other hand, all she'd really lost was a few bucks spent on pizza. So, okay, Bea wasn't really angry. She was more… flabbergasted. That was a good word for it.

"Why?" Bea asked. "Like, seriously, Gregg. What the hell? I know you do a lot of wacky shit and get away with it, but this was really, really dumb."

Gregg chuckled, and shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "You and me never really hang out. I kinda wanted to, like, bond before me and Angus moved."

That caught Bea off-guard. She wasn't sure if that was sweet, or just really misguided. Probably both? Gregg was kind of misguided in general like that. Weird guy. "You couldn't have just asked me to hang out?" She asked.

"I got the feeling you'd, like, be busy or something," Gregg said. "I mean, if it wasn't for Angus, would you ever even bother hanging with me?"

Bea knew the answer to that question. She didn't really want to answer it, though. Gregg was a nice guy, she knew that. Despite her concerns about his relationship with Angus, she didn't have a problem with Gregg. But she and him were nearly complete opposites.

"So, I came up with a bogus emergency to get you to hang with me," Gregg said. "I stashed the instruments in my apartment, and set it up so we'd run into Mae because I knew you'd hang out longer if she was around."

Bea blinked. "How much thought did you put into this?"

"I mean, as much thought as I put into other things," Gregg said.

That didn't really explain anything.

"Okay, Gregg," Bea said, "I get that you thought that this was, like, a fun, quirky thing, but if you stop to think about it, it was kind of manipulative."

Gregg stared at Bea blankly. Then, a look of realization spread on his face, followed by an expression of shame. "Oh, shit," he said. "Yeah. Wow. This was kind of not a great thing to do, huh?"

"Yeah, like, I'm glad you want to be better friends, but if I didn't know you, Gregg, I'd punch you right in your jaw," Bea said.

Gregg nodded slowly. "Jeez," he muttered. "Yeah, sorry, Bea. I don't know why I do things sometimes. Like, I just get ideas, and I wanna do them. You know?"

"I kinda got that impression," Bea said. She could feel herself calming down a bit. The cigarette was helping. Plus, Gregg was genuinely apologetic.

"Tell you what," Bea continued. "Next time you want to hang out, maybe you could just ask me. And maybe don't ever pull a stunt like this ever again."

"Don't gotta tell me twice," Gregg said with a laugh.

And he never, ever did.

[comicteaparty]

September 13th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on September 13th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Gemini Journey  by Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Gemini Journey by Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero~! (http://geminijourney.com/) Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

Shen

i liked when she was getting ready for interviews and she messed up her makeup and her buttons popped 100% relatable

Tenor | Shinavar

Hi Hi! Q1: TOO MANY. But specifically I really enjoyed Veil's anger he morning after Gemini went missing. I just really appreciated getting to see someone actually care someone just wandered off, and him still having lingering emotions about the whole incident of her returning home.

aliceapproved

Oh gosh, that one was such a BIG MOOD!!!

saetje

whoo-hoo! Thanks @RebelVampire for putting on CTP. And hey all, thanks for coming :)!

Kabocha

Oh, boy, this is a hard one to answer, to be honest! I really liked the first chapter, where Gemini and Veil were going up against the Dragon-Roach... I was like "WAIT HOW CAN YOU HATE DRA--- Oh." Also, this scene: http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=69 Veil. You are the best.

It was fantastic handling of that... Creeper Kappa? Is the flasher a Kappa?

Shen

i just give 100% of my heart to Veil he works so hard hes so tired let him rest

Tenor | Shinavar

Flasher, I'd say

aliceapproved

Gosh, yeah, the dragon cockroach was really creative and I'm SO HAPPY there's a Kappa and they had to do the "bow" move to "defeat him"

Tenor | Shinavar

But yeah I love how 'street smart' he is about like, everything going on.

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

a book nerd with street smarts

Kabocha

Veil has no time for any of these Shenanigans

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

he's amazing

aliceapproved

I really love Gemini's "guilt" expression in one of the interviews

Superjustinbros

Hello!

RebelVampire

yeah i think veil is also a great character balance to gemini. cause when you have someone who is into the shenanigans, you need someone to be a grounding influence

Tenor | Shinavar

I also really like that though because he shows a level of attentiveness and perception to the world around him. <3

saetje

yess! It's a flasher Kappa! Glad you liked that scene.

Shen

yeah sometimes the "straight man" character can come off as a wet blanket but he genuinely cares for Gemini. i'd like to see more of that, like how they mnet or something one day in the future

aliceapproved

Yeah! Veil and Gemini are such a dynamic complimentary duo, from personality, body shapes, and orange and blue colors!

Shen

EXCELLENt design

Superjustinbros

Oh yea, huge props for how polar opposites Gemini and Veil are

aliceapproved

OH!!! One of my favorite scenes is when Gemini firsts visits the creepy circus and the scene transitions to her perfectly waking up in bed. That was such a cool transition!

Kabocha

Yesssss!

mathtans

Yes, I agree, the two play off each other well.

Kabocha

It was!

Superjustinbros

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=198 Also, I like this scene, in part cause it reminds me very well of what happens to me some days

aliceapproved

I'm really eager to see how the circus devolves and how Veil and Gemini will handle it. Also those rad fox twins!

mathtans

(I may have to leave at a moment's notice when the baby awakens, if I suddenly go silent.)

Jess

You guys are so nice. I don’t know if I can add smilies fast enough haha

Kabocha

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=55 Also, the lighting on this page was woooonderful. I wasn't sure how to read Veil's expression though. It was kind of like... "wait. Do you not want her to move out? Or... Are you just... ....caught off guard by dog fire?" ....Then the next panel is like "Back to reality."

Jess

Yeah the scene where it transitions from her as a circus performer to her in the bed was one of my favorites. @saetje really owned that scene

Tenor | Shinavar

I read it as he's a bit hurt at the "You can finally be alone!" more than her moving out

Superjustinbros

wow that is some really good lgithing

Jess

I think that was the first time that I didn’t second guess the panel format

RebelVampire

to repeat something already said, i loved the dragon bug. that was such an immensely creative idea, and i think it was a great way to open the comic. we get a great way to get not only the impression of what the world is like, but we get to get a great feel for the personalities of the characters.

mathtans

I gotta say though, my favourite was apparently Death owning a flower shop that has the slogan "You Don't Gno-me". Gotta love those little details.

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=44

Tenor | Shinavar

GASP I MISSED THAT

OMG I LOVE IT

Jess

Yaaaaay!!

RebelVampire

yeah i give death's appearance an A+. that and gemini's confusion about why death asked about her immortal soul

aliceapproved

I looove all the mythology monsters at play in the background!

saetje

A lot of those details are thanks to @Jess who does final rendering/lettering. Flower-shop Wraith/Death will actually be showing up again I think next update, haha.

RebelVampire

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=45 although i was also distracted by the page right after. this feels so true for getting a job.

mathtans

It's the Wraith of Khan.

Shen

LOL Gemini's entire job ordeal is so relatable. "i workeds hard on this one application im gonna go get a treat" girl, same

Superjustinbros

hehee

Kabocha

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=157 Veil's distress :<

Tenor | Shinavar

Gemini sets off my inner Veil tho bc I know so many friends who do like

1 app a week

Shen

UGH hes so cute when hes sad XD

Tenor | Shinavar

and it's like: HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

mathtans

Back to what Rebel said though, I agree the dragon as a bug was hugely creative, and a good way to see the main characters play off each other.

Tenor | Shinavar

istg I relate to Veil the entire job process lmao

Kabocha

I love the expressiveness of both Veil and Gemini, but yeah, I really really feel for Veil

aliceapproved

I love how much Veil cares! He cares SO MUCH!!!

Tenor | Shinavar

Did anyone else notice in he dragon roach scene Veil has Gemini's shoe the whole time as the weapon?

RebelVampire

i love that page, @Kabocha like the lighting plus that expression made my heart weep

mathtans

I like that Gemini did start to take it more seriously for Veil, or at least seems to have been at interviews.

RebelVampire

weep so dang much

mathtans

Tenor: I don't think I picked up on that.

Kabocha

Although, how much is Gemini caring vs the Circus influence infecting her with confidence?

Tenor | Shinavar

I realized it after I noticed Gemini running around without a shoe and had to go back to see where I missed it lmao

saetje

@Tenor | Shinavar AH! Someone noticed that!

Superjustinbros

(I'm gonna go AFK for a bit, got some things I have to do but I'll hopefully be back later!)(edited)

Tenor | Shinavar

IT'S CUTE BUT MAKES ME WONDER HOW WE GOT TO THAT POINT LOL

saetje

Yes, Veil took Gemini's shoe despite having larger feet than her. I could jsut imagine the behind-the-scenes squabbling about it

aliceapproved

OOOH Good point about the influence! I'm really intrigued by the hypnotic circus

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: Caring about what, specifically? Like, about the circus, trying to get a job...?

(Sorry if I'm slow on the draw, got kids here )

Jess

On our world dragons: Yeah. It came from a conversation that dragons are the pests of the magical/mythical world. To the roach/dragon thing just kinda took form from that Ahahaha

RebelVampire

yes i noticed the shoe and thought that was a great art touch of continuity

Jess

Ahaha yeah!!! I mean. My boi got nice shoes. He can’t be using them for that

aliceapproved

I'm really glad dragons have the roach aesthetic, too! As someone who loves all dragons, I draw the lines at cockroaches XD

Shen

yeah that poster at the end threw me for a loop i thought it was a legit magic look-alike so when i saw the poster i was like "whoaaa no way" haha makes me VERY interested to read more

aliceapproved

Veil is so clean haha!

Kabocha

@Tenor | Shinavar -- Just in general honestly. Gemini started putting more effort into things, but it didn't feel like she actually really gave a damn more than she had gained some level of confidence.

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

i really liked gemini's haunted mascara

saetje

I'm glad you all like the Dragon Roach opening/idea too. It's also the idea...trying to imagine how mythical things might have 'evolved' along with our modern world, and yeah. Dragons are pretty much pests you always have to exterminate, yeah?(edited)

Kabocha

Although maybe that's the magic of the circus

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

or maSCAREa

mathtans

I grinned at it being one of the flying types.

Tenor | Shinavar

Ooooh that's fair, and a good point.

mathtans

Made me think of ants. I hate the flying ones.

saetje

@mathtans directly related to past experience with real life 'flying ones'. Nothing makes a roach worse than realizing it's one of those

omg ants too

Tenor | Shinavar

Saetje: So would this modern world have those 'fortune cat' memes but with the dragons instead? Reblog for good fortune?

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

god i related to that line so much bcus of how often i had to deal with flying roaches as a young childe

saetje

hmm, fortune cat memes? Like on tumblr when someone reblogs a picture of a cat with money on its head? XD

Tenor | Shinavar

Yeah~

!*

aliceapproved

OMG

Kabocha

I could do without the flying insects aaaaaaaa

aliceapproved

gEmini and Veil on social media haha!

Shen

i bet Gemini is a memelord

Jess

Yeah!! For the circus - we’re at the point not where we can start unraveling some of the mystery. Throughout the story so far we wanted it to be sorta ambiguous about if that Gemini in the circus was the same one. In the next oncoming scenes you’ll see what’s real and what’s not. But hopefully the way it’s being read is that the readers (y’all) are realizing it might actually be Gem

Tenor | Shinavar

I'd collect flying insects if they were smol dragons justsayin

Oooou~!

Jess

She is definitely a memelord Hahahah I love that

saetje

I doubt about dragons being seen as fortune memes since dragons are seen as pests and they tend to keep you from your money (ala sitting on the horde and breathing fire) or take loose items into their hidey holes-- so they're not seen the same as lucky. But that might just be for Gem and Veil's part of their world

aliceapproved

I'm so excited for the Circus to "unravel"

Shen

i bet she texts memes to Veil from across the room and then just waits for him to look at her in disapproval =3

Tenor | Shinavar

I've been under the impression the circus might not be entirely real and the performers there are stuck against their will - kinda fae-style. <_< So either she's performing against her will and is not yet fully bound or it's been an illusion to GET her there

RebelVampire

is veil thus the type to post all the old timey book quotes then? XD

in regards to the social media thing

mathtans

Yeah, at first I thought maybe Gemini was just seeing herself in place of who was actually up there, but with the poster it seemed likely that they were actually making her do the things.

aliceapproved

Oooh, I think it could go either way with trapped souls and she's not bound yet, or it's all an illusion to trap her.

Also, Veil posts moody aesthetic boards

Shen

XD

aliceapproved

"Juggling is not a garbage job" :V

saetje

yeah we're getting into I guess the third act and I hope it comes together and makes sense. as we unravel some mystery. There's more stories we want to tell after "Barley & Bay-Lily" that all follow continuity, so I want to wrap Barley & Bay-Lily where you all know what's going on but there's more overarching questions than answered in some ways.

I'm loving these thoughts on it!

mathtans

Clever play on Barnum & Bailey, by the way.

Jess

Thanks!!

RebelVampire

i want to say i loved the juggler. that was a great design and gemini's reaction to it made me laugh. although i do wonder now if the juggler is part of the circus conspiracy

mathtans

I wonder if it's significant that they seem to be foxes.

Kabocha

Foxes are tricksters, so I mean

aliceapproved

Kitsunes!

Tenor | Shinavar

My fear about the poster though, and why I hink it's a trap, is it said her "final act"

mathtans

'Tis true.

Jess

Also I don’t know if anyone noticed but the juggler was only juggling 2 balls with 4 arms

aliceapproved

Very fitting to make them foxes! Cute and mischevious and devllish

Tenor | Shinavar

so it's like; HHHHHHHHHHHHH GEMINI BBY NO RUN AWAY

aliceapproved

YEAH!! GEMINI GET OUTTA THERE

Jess

So lots of talent going on in the streets of New Olympia hahaha

mathtans

Jess: I caught the four arms. Guess I didn't count the balls. Seems like less of a challenge there.

Shen

"mysterious circus ive never heard of down a dark alley? sounds like a great time and not at all suspicious!"

Jess

Right!?

saetje

yes, what @Kabocha said. The idea for GJ is this is HER story/myth/hero's journey. Foxes are pretty archetypal to suspect characters in folklore and fairy tale. WHAT they are exactly, well. More to be revealed :' D you guys have some awesome theories.

mathtans

Maybe there was a chainsaw off panel.

saetje

hahahaha

Kabocha

This'll be really cool to see as it approaches the end

(of the chapter, anyway)

Tenor | Shinavar

yeeees

Jess

That’s true! Whether she was a good juggler or not is the true mystery

mathtans

The foxes are actually out of work actors.

saetje

oh god.

Mathtan you figured it out

noooo

Jess

Yesssss

aliceapproved

I misread that as "work out" actors LOL

Tenor | Shinavar

choke

saetje

oh even better

Tenor | Shinavar

Explains why they are trying to start their own circus

aliceapproved

LOL "Get BUFF with JUGGLING"

Shen

LOL

mathtans

Appearing next in the Big Top - Jazzercize.

Tenor | Shinavar

WHEEZE

saetje

Possessed Scary Circus Zumba

Shen

Crossfit but its clowns

Jess

That’s terrifying

Tenor | Shinavar

I h8 u all bc I can't draw this right now

RebelVampire

i would pay to see clowns doing crossfit

saetje

now tHAT'S a million dollar comic idea, Shen

or idea in general, yes

aliceapproved

I know it's probably way off in the future, but I'm curious about plans for Veil-focused arc in the future

Shen

yeah same, im sure its planned but im interested

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. While searching for a job, Gemini clearly has gotten wrapped up in a dangerous situation involving a circus. What do you think the circus’ goal is in general for the people it entraps? Who exactly are the fox ringmasters running the show? Why was Gemini in particular targeted as opposed to other people in the audience? Why did Gemini seemingly come home in a trance, and what do you think it means for whatever is happening to Gemini? How do you feel the performer who represents Gemini’s ideals fits into all of this? Do Gemini’s anxieties have something to do with all this do you think? Lastly, how do you think Gemini will get out of this mess (or is she just doomed)?

Shen

i wanna know why he puts up with her tbh ^^; seems like she can be a bit self interested

aliceapproved

Also that it's confirmed he has friends cuz of that phone call. I'm sorry, I keep assuming he's a Sad Books lonely boy

Shen

no friends its just his mom

saetje

yeah you guys don't know if he's just sadly talking to a dial tone

Kabocha

The circus' goal is to... Basically steal her life energy! Somehow. But we'll see. Or enchant her and spirit her away~ Once she becomes part of the spirit world she won't really be albe to retuuuuuurn~

Shen

SAETJE THATS SO SAD XD

RebelVampire

well now you made it sad. XD

Kabocha

@saetje oh noooooooooooooooooooooo

aliceapproved

LOL! As for Question 2: Like most shifty magic things, steal her soul! Trap her in the circus

Kabocha

What about Gemini's mom? I'm sure he's probably got her on speed dial

RebelVampire

i assume soul stealing. i mean thats pretty standard evil fair. and who doesn't need a good soul

Shen

i dont think they targetted Gemini specifically as much as they laid out a trap and waited to see who stumbled in, and she did so they ensnared her

mathtans

Veil seems too organized to talk to a dial tone. It'd at least be the official time signal.

aliceapproved

I think the Circus targets ppl who are down on their luck or confidence or don't have a quote "real job" atm? Like job hunting is really stressful and feels hopeless a ton of times

so it looks for vulnerable ppl imo

mathtans

Gemini came home in a trance because the cab was too expensive.

Jess

That’s how I do too

saetje

BRB faking trance to get out of cab faire

aliceapproved

To heck with fantasy Uber and Lyft!

Kabocha

It shows them something akin to their best selves, maybe?

saetje

hahaha

RebelVampire

what if this is a known phenomenon in their world so when someone says "they ran away to the circus" they mean that whoops, got that soul life energy sucked out

aliceapproved

Yeah! The play of "UGH I should just run away and join the circus" it's so cool!

Shen

i once saw a video of a woman pretending to be a ghost to get out of paying a toll

Tenor | Shinavar

Q2: The specific part I havenb't already kinda answered is: I feel she is part of Gemini's subconciousness in the sense of having her "act" together. Her life wouldn't be too chaotic, she's able to balance all that is expected of her without being a 'clutz' or anything she seems to think at least minimally negatively on. (seen by her admiring the grace and such)

Kabocha

She's a representation of everything Gemini wants to be?

aliceapproved

^^^^

Tenor | Shinavar

Not exactly but def a bait, in some way

Kabocha

Except moving more toward that ideal means that Gemini gets trapped...

Well, representations don't have to be literal >_>

<_< I figured it was all pretty figurative

Tenor | Shinavar

True true

RebelVampire

the thing i cant figure out is why the trance thing. like gemini was in the circus, just suck out her soul. why give her the chance to escape?

aliceapproved

Since we see Gemini specifically, I'm assuming the audience members are just an illusion

Maybe these foxes like playing with their "prey" and make it a slow burn

mathtans

It could be through the music that the circus gets you. That alley cat seemed real scared of it, while Gemini was drawn in.

Alice: Oh, I like that.

Tenor | Shinavar

Rebel: If i works like fae magic, you gota get them to agree to it

aliceapproved

Yeah, why play if there's no risk involved?

mathtans

Rebel: To recharge?

Tenor | Shinavar

You also can avoid like - all legal repercussions if it's "willing" >_>

aliceapproved

^^^

Jess

Ahahaha consensual death is the best ... death?

aliceapproved

For lawyers, yES!

mathtans

Now waiting for the scene where Veil rules-lawyers the foxes.

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

thats how it be sometimes

aliceapproved

Law & Order with VEIL

Tenor | Shinavar

Also it hurt a lil bit I couldnt resist. Crossfit clown from geminis world lol

Shen

JKRFJGJHMHG LMAO!!!

saetje

omg @tenor hahaha

mathtans

That's a garbage job. ^.-(edited)

Tenor | Shinavar

BUT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE VEIL THROW DOWN VERBAL LOOP HOLES IN CONTRACTS

saetje

IT'S NOT A GARBAGE JOB, VEIL. I mean MATH.

Tenor | Shinavar

Just like, pops on some glasses and busts out a book from no where

Kabocha

That's Veil's magic power -- BOOK LEARNIN'

Tenor | Shinavar

YES

Jess

Yessss

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

magic is a thing, he probably just pulls out outta his pocket dimension- which is in his pocket

Tenor | Shinavar

He has a pocket just for his books

aliceapproved

I love all the art you guys do of Veil with his book beasts! They're the best!

Tenor | Shinavar

all 2k of them

saetje

haha,t hat's actually a joke we've been wanting to use somewhere-- "I love your dress" "Thanks it has pocket dimensions"

Jess

Omg I love it. All pockets are pocket dimensions from now on

Tenor | Shinavar

OMG YES PLZ

DO IT

aliceapproved

OMG PLS DO THAT

Tenor | Shinavar

AS A PARENT IT'S A NECESSITY wheeeeeeeeeze

aliceapproved

pockets are THE BEST

imagine a pocket dimension!

This world gets better and better! Minus the creepy circuses

Jess

Right

Hehehe

mathtans

"My pocket dimension is full of clowns...."

Jess

Nooooo worst dimension

Kabocha

I saw a few other people ask it, but... Why is Veil so tolerant of Gemini's shenanigannery? I mean, I am a far less patient roommate than he is...

saetje

I figure a pocket dimension dress would have to be some kind of plot device though for a future arc. i mean, HAVE to be.

Tenor | Shinavar

New def to clown car

Kabocha

matth whyyy

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: My shipping side if he finds it endearing

Exhausting but endearing

saetje

wellp, clowns ruined it

RebelVampire

i do applaud veil's sheer patience

Kabocha

I WAS LEANING THAT WAY BUT I DON'T KNOW IF HE'S JUST ENTERTAINED OR WHAT

RebelVampire

but i do assume the blushing is more than just blushing

Tenor | Shinavar

CON GRATS REBEL

YOU DID IT

Jess

Ah. Well be answering that soon. I think so far we’ve been focusing on Gem and some of her worst traits - her selfishness, but

Shen

nice~

mathtans

Kabocha: Because I can. As to why Veil's tolerant, maybe he knows someone like Gemini in his family or his past.

Kabocha

I figured Veil was kind of perpetually blushing unless otherwise upset.

Shen

i am absolute ship trash and i am waiting for this to sail but i am patient

Jess

And we’ve focused on veils best - his smarts and his loyalty

Tenor | Shinavar

I keep getting little hints Veil at least Likes her.

Kabocha

Hm. So he knows Gemini could be Amazing if she'd try?

RebelVampire

i think there is some of that yes

Tenor | Shinavar

But doesn't push it

RebelVampire

wait veil has bad traits?

i dont accept this

Tenor | Shinavar

No he doesn't

don't listen to them

shh

Shen

no, veil is perfect

Kabocha

Veil's afraid of bugs....

mathtans

Veil just likes Gemini for her shoes. Much shoe blushing, wants to wear them.

Tenor | Shinavar

Je

aliceapproved

I'm sure Veil totally finds Gemini charming and really.. pr-pretty BLUSH

RebelVampire

being afraid of bugs is a good trait

Jess

It’s true. And he won’t dirty his own shoes

RebelVampire

bugs carry disease

Tenor | Shinavar

But is he afraid of bugs

or the fact they can catch shit on fire

aliceapproved

Veil is very much a neat freak which is a double-edged sword

Tenor | Shinavar

like his books

aliceapproved

and not very impulsive, so Gemini helps liven things up for him

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

tenor raises a good point

Shen

thats more "quirky" than a character flaw lol

like "clumsy" girls XD

Kabocha

They're foils for one another, you say? That's how these sorts of friendships balance each other? NEVAAAAAAR! ....I ship them unless there is a reason I should not.

Shen

these ship goggles dont come off

Kabocha

Several people are typing...

aliceapproved

Yeah, this arc is very Gemini focused and how she needs to grow as a character

I'm excited to see how Veil needs to grow as a character in the future

Kabocha

Yesh!

Shen

aye

aliceapproved

Gotta take turns!

RebelVampire

admittedly i do think veil kind of needs to learn to have fun probably

as a character arc

Tenor | Shinavar

But books are fun

Work is fun

saetje

well but organization is fun

RebelVampire

although i do wanna know now who veil is calling

and what he does with his not gemini friends

Tenor | Shinavar

RESPONSIBILITY

aliceapproved

Yeah, that's definitely something I see with Veil

Tenor | Shinavar

Just what the dr ordered

RebelVampire

i agree with organization and books but i meant more in how he carries himself

Jess

Oh! It’s a dial tone

RebelVampire

gotta learn to tweet those memes back

saetje

hahaha

Tenor | Shinavar

lmaaao

Shen

thats fair he could stand to lighten up lol they both need to learn a bit from each other. hes not got time for fun if he has to always be the "responsible" one because someone else took up all the "fun" XD

aliceapproved

Yeah! Guy needs to party and have an impulsive time for once rather than strictly schedule

They need to work together

Tenor | Shinavar

I do agree tho, with how in the know he seems to be, I'd like to know who all he's got, esp depending how they'll influence stuff in the future.

bc it seems he's from here whereas Gemini isn't soooo <_<;

mathtans

Veil can be fun. Veil can't be impulsive.

RebelVampire

yeah i do hope this circus experience teaches gemini more responsibility. in that maybe she should fill out more than a few apps XD

aliceapproved

Does Veil have a hard time making decisions?

Shen

"look how impulsively i filled out your applications for you isnt that fun?"

mathtans

Alice: Not if blueberries are involved.

aliceapproved

And yeah, Gemini certainly learning more responsibility and also, to trust in herself if she applies herself and focuses

Jess

Ahahaha

Tenor | Shinavar

I think Gemini jus needs to get to the point she doesn't need a child leash

Jess

Well and for me - I think when people are going through hardships, like Gem not being able to land a job, sometimes the worst parts of themselves show up. And while I love the character - (and hopefully) she’s shown to be kinda funny and not overly mean - I thought it was important to show her bad side early on

mathtans

I don't see her as mean, just easily distracted.

Tenor | Shinavar

^Same

She's irresponsible but not in a malicious way

Like if she hurt someone I'd be dead up surprised if it was intentional

aliceapproved

Yeah, that's definitely it ^^

mathtans

Tenor: She killed a dragon.

aliceapproved

I never thought of her as "mean"

Tenor | Shinavar

she is a sweet widdle cinnimon bun who needs protected from circuses and flashers

I said someone

Not thing

Kabocha

Gemini is Dovahkiin now lol

aliceapproved

I'm sorry, Mat, but they're pests in this universe. Cockroaches uugh

Tenor | Shinavar

Difference ;)

RebelVampire

oh yeah gemini is still super likeable. its more shes that adult who hasnt quite grown up yet. and youre kind of hand waving her to make stop being a kid 100% of the time.

mathtans

Fair.

aliceapproved

Yeah! She's like a kid fresh out of college

Jess

Oh good! Was kinda worried. But she’s definite selfish and flighty and I’m happy to see that it’s coming through

Without making her irredeemable

Draco Plato

yeah she's definitely still likeable

aliceapproved

Open to the free adult world, but still needs to learn how to adult cuz lord knows school prepares us for THAT

Tenor | Shinavar

Yeah nah there's not a mean bone in that child's body

Free spirit, I think is a good desc?

mathtans

The foxes are also spirits, but they're not free.

saetje

I'm glad! That's what we're going for- she's not intentionally harmful but has a lot of growing up to do. I don't think she realizes when her actions can hurt someone else.

aliceapproved

She's selfish and irresponsible, but there's still potential to be redeemed. She's a well-rounded character that's set up to evolve from this story and that's what makes sticking with this story so worth it!

saetje

no one's free when they teach Clown Jazzercise

RebelVampire

those poor foxes. gemini is actually doing them a service

mathtans

I wonder if this world has the Zodiac? Is Gemini's name at all related to that?

Kabocha

Pffff

Tenor | Shinavar

Oooh. <.< Good q

aliceapproved

Like, Veil is obviously responsible and an adult, so Gemini doesn't seem to think she has to think about Veil's feelings or words on some matters? He's got it all figured out! Me though? I need help. Veil, veil help me! What applications?! Not boring help ;; That's how I see Gemini

Kabocha

Gemini's the twins, yeah? Does Gemini have a sister, or a hidden second side where she's actually really competent?

mathtans

Maybe she's the good twin, and the evil one is in the circus.

aliceapproved

OOH, I'm curious about that, too, Math. I'm a Scorpio!

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

that means you have a scorpion in the circus

Shen

"the twins" the foxes...

Jess

Ahahaha yesssss

saetje

Can't really reveal the Gemini connection yeeet buuut, duality and twins have some play in the overarching story yes!

aliceapproved

DUN DUN DUUUN

Shen

PS im a Gemini~

Jess

Me tooooo!! Yesssss

Are you also plagued by fox clowns out of work

Kabocha

Gemini probably hasn't really taken time to consider other people's feelings long-term. I don't think she's quite there emotionally, but when she actually like.... really has it sink in that she worried Veil, that'll be interesting. Although she did acknolwedge she scared him, so I mean

aliceapproved

Secret revealed, Gemini is called Gemini cuz Jess is a Gemini

Tenor | Shinavar

Naaaice ~ Also omg the fox twins ffft- Makes me think

Kabo: Yeah, I don't think she fully got how bad the scare was?

Shen

sweet im gonna name my next character Sagittarius

Kabocha

Yeah, it's the depth that I think she lacks

Tenor | Shinavar

Like "I'm sorry for scaring you but not sorry I did the action to cause it :D" levels of immaturity

aliceapproved

@saetje What's your zodiac sign if you don't mind sharing?

mathtans

Plot twist, Gemini sells her soul to the Flower Wraith Shop, and the foxes have to buy it back to keep their shenanigans going.

Tenor | Shinavar

kjdhaskj

Kabocha

When she gets more insight it'll be awesome as she grows

Shen

LOL

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: Yeeeeees

Jess

She’s two fishes

saetje

Pisces

aliceapproved

Yeah, Gemini maturing as an adult is really exciting to wait for

My sister's two fish, too XD

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

twins............. two fish..............................

i see a theme here

Tenor | Shinavar

I really wanna see Gemini work for Death now hhh-

aliceapproved

OMG

Yes haha!

Maybe a temp job that doesn't work out somehow

Kabocha

Twist: Death only claims dead plants

Tenor | Shinavar

Mostly bc I'm stuck with Death having the VA as the Death from Conker's bad fur day and I just. Can't.

mathtans

"You should probably hold the scythe the other way."

Kabocha

"You're going to hurt yourself if you trim the shrubberies this way."

Tenor | Shinavar

"Why are you wearing all black it's hot af out go change, child"

RebelVampire

i hope death only claims dead plants cause otherwise gemini is basically going from one soul threatening adventure to another

saetje

haha so true

XDD

Tenor | Shinavar

WELL I MEAN

she just have to give death her soul

it's never said when

mathtans

Does it have to be her soul, or just a soul? Or maybe soul music?

Tenor | Shinavar

oh god

Just a soul can be how we find out Death accepts plants

RebelVampire

death better be a fan of soul music

saetje

you've split this concept wide open Maths

Shen

the sole of this shoe

Tenor | Shinavar

Shen NO

Shen

=D

saetje

SHEN YES

Jess

Yessss

aliceapproved

Another note about this story, is that I think it's a really good Young Adult story, cuz I feel myself and a bunch of other adults or kids coming out of college can relate to Gemini's story of trying to find work after moving out to live on their own

Tenor | Shinavar

That's Death's brother, Reaper.

mathtans

Veil: "Your spell checker has done you in. Gemini only has to give you her shoe sole."

Jess

Awwww!! Thanks so much

Tenor | Shinavar

Alice: Yeees. Tho I think this first big arc is good for younger children too

RebelVampire

the shoe in the dragon part was foreshadowing

aliceapproved

Yeah!

Tenor | Shinavar

Like my kiddo would love the art and atm if it goes where I suspect it might, it's a great lesson to learn young

saetje

Thanks @aliceapproved !! that makes me happy to hear because that's also what we're going for

Jess

Yeah actually when whenever we show Gem getting rejected I get real sad. Since some of it draws from our experiences

aliceapproved

You guys nailed it

Yeah, it was a big mood for me this year, so this story has been helping

Tenor | Shinavar

Rejeced? D:

Jess

Younger out of college Jess applied to be the new death - and I got turned down

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. Though we certainly know Gemini and Veil a bit, much of their past history has yet to have been discussed. Why do you think Gemini has struck out on her own? Do you think it’s just to embrace adulthood, or is there something specific she’s seeking? Was there anything about Gemini’s journey into adulthood that you connected with? What about Veil? What do you think Veil’s backstory is? How do you think Veil and Gemini even know each other? Do you think Veil’s overprotectiveness of Gemini exists for a reason, or do you think it’s just part of Veil’s personality? In regards to their future, do you think that the two will be able to remain friends, or will their differing personalities get in the way of peaceful cohabitation? Do you think Gemini will be able to successfully get a job? Finally, will Gemini move out once she gets a job, or will Veil potentially actively sabotage it?

saetje

I guess now that we're getting more shows like "Aggretsuko" I'd say we'd like to hit around that target. Like, we're sort-of 'mature' only because of some of the (not-NSFW) themes resonates more with older folks. But hopefully there's still more to be enjoyed from a slightly younger YA/teen audience.

mathtans

Interesting last question there - I don't think Veil would actively sabotage, but might passively, without really thinking about it. "You can't move out next week, it's supposed to rain."

Shen

i think Gemini's irresponsibility combined with the double life (???????) shes got going on now is leading to a big fight with Veil. I dread it though

aliceapproved

SAME SHEN!!!

A big confrontation scene!

I can feel it coming

Veil finally calling out Gemini

I can only imagine the emotions!

Kabocha

...Can Veil handle confrontation where he gets pushback?

like, he can handle snark, but, an actual argument?

RebelVampire

yeah. veil might be the type who cant really deal with confrontation like that

Tenor | Shinavar

3: Gemini is homeschooled. If she's trying to branch out there's a chance she might either feel shackled a bit, or she's been encouraged by her parents to stretch her wings. Gemini ran into Veil lost puppy style, trufax. Brought her in from the rain and cold Veil's personality is probably tied to sorta trying to guide Gemini in the sense of law and order. Everything has a place, so you gotta do it- where you going coME BACK OMG I AM TRYING TO HELP YOU. I do believe here is going to be some strife at some point because Gemini has shown a lack of communication and emotional skill and Veil has shown a lack of willingness to bend. BUT I do believe this will clear up after some resolution from some juicy content So yes I believe they'll stay friends.

RebelVampire

although i think the confrontation is coming

saetje

That's a really great question, Kabocha. We haven't shown that yet :)c

Tenor | Shinavar

Maybe at worse a temporary not friends moment to crush our hopes and dreams

aliceapproved

Or maybe "not speaking" terms atm

RebelVampire

actually ya know what i could see as veil's big character arc is addressing change. cause the moving out thing may be more than veil just doesnt want gemini to go. it may be that veil is the sort that completely shuts down when there is change

saetje

y'all you guys have such insight, I'm loving your thoughts here. It's a relief to know you guys are getting a lot of what we're trying to put out and I love hearing your concepts, and concerns, for the characters!

Kabocha

I dunno that Veil realizes how overbearing he can be, to be honest. So.. Gemini's gonna get pushed to the edge and push back against him.

Tenor | Shinavar

Rbeel: Oooooh, that can be true too

aliceapproved

I think Gemini might resolve to move back in with her mom (which is LEAST wanted thing for her cuz I think she loves being out on her own), but Veil offers that she could still say with him, granted now that she has a proper not circus cursed job

Tenor | Shinavar

SOME chaos is good but what is his limit.

aliceapproved

RebelVampire, that's a really good note on Veil!

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: Yeah I get that. He seems so happy to 'help' but because he knows what you NEED to do to get done, he doesn't seem to fully 'get' that it's a lot for Gemini

aliceapproved

Veil's very much overprotective

Tenor | Shinavar

A bit of lack of empathy for the situation in the face of necessity?

aliceapproved

Yeah, like filling out applications is FuN???

Kabocha

He also doesn't understand how to break things down into smaller more completable tasks

mathtans

Gemini needs a source of income, maybe Veil's letting her stay for cheap?

Kabocha

he can handle a long list, but.... honestly, Gemini needs to feel accomplished at each step of the way and realize how much progress she's made

aliceapproved

Yeah, Gemini is a person that needs to be eased and break down steps, not all dumped at once

saetje

@Kabocha exactly- one of the flaws we've hopefully seen in Veil is that he can be pushy (literally physically pushing her around town int he beginning arc) and then tends to put too much on Gemini than what she's ready for at times.

Tenor | Shinavar

I got pushy though I didn' know the physical part was part of it

aliceapproved

Yeah! That page with her smushed with all his word bubbles was a great representation of that!

Tenor | Shinavar

I figured him grabbing her was because it was liTERALLY UNSAFE LOL

mathtans

Veil isn't as observant as Gemini, maybe because she's so distractible. He didn't realize she knew his fave berries and such.

saetje

Well I might've misspoke- it was more of a visual analogy for being emotionally pushy than, like, physically harmful or abusive.

Kabocha

He's basically trying to herd her lol

saetje

yes like a little sheep dog lol

aliceapproved

Yeah!

Tenor | Shinavar

OOOH OKAY

I getcha now lol

aliceapproved

Veil is honestly a toothpick and I bet a small breeze could push him over

Tenor | Shinavar

laskdjKLSDFJ

Jess

Lmao

saetje

omg

Tenor | Shinavar

Don't insult my son like that

just bc he can takje flight with those ears don't mean nuttin

Shen

LOL

aliceapproved

He's a GOOD SON!

saetje

oommg haha

aliceapproved

I love him!

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

veil is a good boi

aliceapproved

Boy ain't gonna win a bar fight is all haha!

Bless this sensitive boy!

Kabocha

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=178 "You are in my personal space"

Tenor | Shinavar

Nah legit tho being the tiny I'm surprised he CAN push her, or at least shows she's willing somewhat to be guided

Jess

Guys. It’s the nose isn’t it

Tenor | Shinavar

omg someone draw me Veil getting carried off by gemini plz

Jess

He can do no wrong with a face so right

mathtans

Veil has a large picture of Spock in his room. Big fan.

Tenor | Shinavar

That's exactly it Jess

saetje

Honestly Gem could just pick him up and swing him around like a baseball bat if she wanted, I think.

Tenor | Shinavar

kaisdjfKHJDSF

I mean he is such a stiff

saetje

@mathtans definitely a huge Spock influence!

aliceapproved

OMG BASEBALL BAT

RebelVampire

veil's number one advice to gemini is to just think of what would spock do

Shen

PFFFFF

RebelVampire

then gemini asks who spock is

aliceapproved

http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=186 < a M O O D

mathtans

Gemini to Wraith: "Dammit Bones!"

RebelVampire

oh i loved that page with the giant to-do list

it was a great visual gag

aliceapproved

I definitely "treat myself" for small tasks when there are still more or bigger tasks to do haha!

Jess

Lol me too

saetje

I was REALLY into Star Trek a while back and almost did some 4-panel Star Trek Gemini Journey AU comics...I don't know if I have the sketches anymore though. Kind of psyched myself out of them

I think everyone works differently. You gotta treat yourself once in a while though!

Tenor | Shinavar

^

Jess

But going back to the characters - we hope to focus on their dynamic more and more. We love all y’all insight tho!

Tenor | Shinavar

reating yourself is importaaant

I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC AND AM HYPED FOR MORE

mathtans

Their dynamic is mezzoforte.

saetje

yeah I'm loving hearing all your thoughts and getting some insight into how you all are reading the comic. It can be tough when you're so close to something to really 'see' it anymore

I appreciate your thoughts!

aliceapproved

Yes! They're a great duo!

I'm always excited when there's an update and Veil and Gemini are interacting

And yeah! Ofc dude! Lots of pairs of eyes help

mathtans

Just want to say the style of the comic is really interesting... I don't think I've ever really seen it before, just having the one panel. Most trend to pages or 4-panel or whatever. But one panel can really speak volumes, even if it's just a reaction shot, done in this way.

Jess

That means so much to hear!

Tenor | Shinavar

As someone with a messed up wrist I appreciate it too bc scrolling hurts so this worked great

aliceapproved

I think the webtoons layout for it works really well for scrolling! I love reading updates before bed It fits so well!

saetje

Thanks! Honestly it's how I've always 'seen' it and I'm glad you all like that-- It's been a bit of a point of uncertainty for us. I'm hoping in the future we can get some sort of swiping option for mobile devices to swipe between panels on full-screen instead of always clicking

and yes! Webtoons has done well for us too

Kabocha

Yeah, I'll agree - carpal tunnel makes scrolling format hard, but your website is perfectly suited

thank you for having both options!

Jess

I gotta be honest when we made the decision to do it this way - we were so conflicted. We wanted to do this format becuase we envisioned it with simple panels and @saetje really works hard to make things look cinematic

Tenor | Shinavar

omg if you get swipe in I'd be so happy bc I do like 90% of my reading on my phone ;u;

aliceapproved

Yeah, I would definitely love that as a feature in the future. Clicking is fine, but it can be difficult going back and forth and waiting for a website to load

Oh yeah! This story really reads well as a show or film! The storyboard format

RebelVampire

yeah i was skeptical of the one panel thing at first but once i got used to it i thought it was really nice. especially for how much it allows to be fit on any one "page"

saetje

yeah! Tenor, we always wanted it to be REALLY mobile friendly. Like my ideal is to just let the panels fill a mobile screen and swipe to read. We just....aren't really programmers so we haven't figured that out so much yet XD BUT- I'm really happy to hear the one-panel tapping is easy on wrists! I've heard other people call us 'accessible' for that and that was an uninentional side effect but I'm happy to hear it.

aliceapproved

Yeah! Plus, you get cool scenes like the circus sequence back to Gem waking up in bed in the same pose as the juggler

Tenor | Shinavar

It's muchly appreciated too <33

RebelVampire

on a different note, im really intrigued by the fact that gemini's savings are in the form of like actual treasure. and im really curious if thats literally their hard currency, and if not, where did gemini get all that treasure.

Tenor | Shinavar

I think it is bc she says the coffee was a gold coin + a virgin's tear

Superjustinbros

I'm back!

Shen

"a gold coin AND a virgin tear what a rip off"

mathtans

They're paste gems.

aliceapproved

I think it's Mom's allowance to her before she moved

Superjustinbros

And glad you're aiming for a smooth mobile experience with the comic.

Tenor | Shinavar

So I'm curious, if you two are willing to answer this (and it's cool if not!) But what's inspired you guys to tackle this story? :D

Superjustinbros

I have to admit, sticking to one panel per page helps a lot

mathtans

Yeah, maybe Gemini should store up her tears and sell them on the street?

Tenor | Shinavar

omg math

saetje

omg

Superjustinbros

@mathtans

mathtans

Tear-able idea, I know.

Jess

It’s probably a bit different for both of us: We’re huge myth nerds but we felt like there wasn’t a story that really talked about what ppl just starting their journey was like.(edited)

Superjustinbros

oooo

saetje

@Tenor | Shinavar no problem at all! Honestly GJ has been through many iterations including an animated series pitch in 20...12?? It was my and @Jess 's senior project! It was always very heavily myth-inspired because we're really into that. It's a modern hero's journey

Tenor | Shinavar

Oooh~! <3

saetje

but basically what @Jess said

Superjustinbros

Did someone say, animated series?

Jess

Like the feeling of being unprepared to adult and the lack of jobs. The scariness of being on your own. Finding love, and losing it. And the fear of letting people down.

aliceapproved

That's a really good point, a Journey!

Jess

It’s why Gemini’s full name is Gemini Journey

aliceapproved

Also mythology is SO GOSH DANG GOOD

mathtans

I thought that was a clever play on words.

aliceapproved

I love all the mythical creature references!

Jess

And plus—- all this myth jokes Hahahaha

saetje

Yeah. What can we say--- we were starry-eyed animation students once (well, @Jess was a graphic design major)

Superjustinbros

Seconding mythology

and wow, that's quite impressive!

mathtans

Wouldn't want to myth out.

saetje

yes! I'm REALLY into myth, folklore, and fairy tales. Bookshelves are lined with them, and I still don't know everything. It's a really rich topic.

Jess

I was not a animator hahah but I like them. They are awesome

aliceapproved

World Mythology class was one of my all time favorite classes in college haha!

Jess

Me too!!

aliceapproved

and your animated ad was BEAUTIFUL

saetje

same @aliceapproved !

and thank you!

aliceapproved

Seeing Gem and Veil move is gorgeous and I could see little gifs of them interacting

mathtans

As for the question of the half hour, I'm thinking Gemini answered a "want ad" from Veil, looking for a roommate, and she was the only one willing to take the place. Everyone else thought he was too strict, would get upset if they left the milk out.

RebelVampire

oh thats good to know. i did wonder what the significance was in that her name was gemini journey

aliceapproved

when time allows to work on those kinds of things haha!

Jess

I think myths in general tell important truths about people while still being entertaining. I hope our story gives them justice

aliceapproved

You guys totally do!

RebelVampire

veil does seem like the type whod make horrified faces at the milk being left out XD

Jess

Yeah. It’s a play on the Hero’s Journey

aliceapproved

I wonder if Griffins will make an appearance. I love that Teacup manticores exist haha!

saetje

Definitely lots of fights about how to load the dishwasher correctly (if they even have one)

Superjustinbros

lol

Tenor | Shinavar

I believe you guys give them great justice! I's def creative and fun for sure! :D

mathtans

"You bought the powdered soap again...."

RebelVampire

posting a bit early but i feel we are segueing into the next question already

QUESTION 4. Although the world has present-day elements, there are also a slew of magical things. What aspect of the world intrigued you the most and why? Are there tidbits mentioned that you’d love to know more about in the future? Alternatively, is there any magical related creature or being that you’re hoping to see make an appearance in the comic? In regards to actual story canon, do you feel Gemini is familiar with this magical world or that she still has a lot to learn? In what ways do you think magical elements might come into play and make trouble for Gemini? Regardless of magic, what sorts of other conflicts are you hoping to see/do you think we’ll see, especially in regards to Gemini learning to be an adult?

saetje

@aliceapproved honestly one of our downfalls is @Jess and I want to showcase TOO MANY mythological animals b/c we love so many of them and have a lot of ideas for how they'd work in our world. But, to what cost to plot, ugh.

and yeah griffins are like on that list b/c GRIFFINS

Shen

give me werewolves

ill give you a dollar

Tenor | Shinavar

brb

mathtans

Magical dishwasher.

aliceapproved

VERY GOOD

mathtans

Do they have flying cars?

RebelVampire

have we seen a minotaur yet? need some minotaurs up in this joint.

and unicorns

aliceapproved

What I'm interested is the fact that Gemini is an Antlantean and I wonder how that factors into future story elements if any

And yes, PLEASE griffins, unicorns, and minotaurs

saetje

WELL, here's something I think I can give away that hasn't exactly been pointed out a lot of times in our story yet (we are getting to it): there aren't any humans in the GJ universe (http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=74) so a concept of a werewolf to them would really be a "werehuman", haha. But there are other wolfed-figured beings like Wulvers from Irish myth.(edited)

Superjustinbros

Unicorns, you say?

~~suddenly thinking about centaurs~

aliceapproved

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT! I remember giggling at that "HUMAN TALE"

Human tale must be so boring to them XD

It's like OUR world, but NO MAGIC

oh wait, they're horror stories

saetje

^^ yes

mathtans

Is Gemini actually a magical girl?

saetje

I MEAN, there are some strong "Princess Tutu" influences already and even more so coming up

Shen

magical girls are my jaaaaaaaaaaam

RebelVampire

did notice gemini was an antlantean, didnt realize there were no humans

i actually hope the gemini veil fight happens

Superjustinbros

What does the transformation sequence look like

RebelVampire

so we can see gemini's home

that sounds amazing

Superjustinbros

I must know

mathtans

Gemini is a duck?

saetje

how did you know?

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

a WHAT

Jess

Nooooo you figured it out

aliceapproved

I wanna meet Gemini's mom haha!

I've seen the art but gosh

or Veil interacting with them

Honestly, Veil and Gemini meet the other's parent(s)

mathtans

Waiting for the episode where Cupid accidentally shoots Veil with an arrow.

Jess

Yeah admittedly - the character designs for gems mom @saetje has done I’m really digging. I can’t wait for her appearance

mathtans

Veil falls in love with a dial tone. Very embarassing.

Jess

“Accidentally”

I love that

We need to rewrite the next episode stat

mathtans

He meant to shoot Gemini but Veil protected her.

saetje

um YEAH Math is going to be our new head writer

awww

mathtans

aliceapproved

LOL

Superjustinbros

Math, you should re-write all our comics/stories

saetje

omg agree

aliceapproved

I think you guys have a great Valentine's idea strip coming!

Superjustinbros

mind blown from the idea of a Math/SJB production

puns and jokes and visual gags everywhere

RebelVampire

i hope gemini's mom is super awesome. i feel like she must be and gemini wants to be awesome like her

mathtans

Let me try to get to 10 people reading my own comic first, maybe.

Superjustinbros

lol

I read your stuff and it's pretty rad @mathtans

mathtans

Would Gemini's dad still be in the picture, I wonder?

Superjustinbros

Gemini's uncle?

aliceapproved

Gemini's grunkle?

Shen

My dad? your dad?

saetje

hahaha, Uncle Saggitarius, Auntie Pisces...

aliceapproved

OMG

Jess

All dads

Superjustinbros

OMG

aliceapproved

HAHA!!! Great idea!

Superjustinbros

I dunno why but i always caught onto the name Saggitarius

Shen

in a shocking twist, veil isn't Gemini's love interest hes her dad

mathtans

Gemini could have two moms for all we know.

saetje

LORD

Superjustinbros

and it's totally not because I love centaurs

mathtans

(I now ship Gemini's parents, I guess...?)

aliceapproved

For Halloween, there probably should be a "Scary Human Tale" and it's filing taxes

Shen

XD

RebelVampire

well to be fair, dont need to be blood related for him to be her dad in a way. i mean he is basically pushing for her to succeed, teaching her stuff, and generally being the responsible adult

Shen

Veil is her dad confirmed

he loves and supports her and wants the best for her even when shes at her worst

Superjustinbros

daww

Shen

ps saetje and Jess i hope you guys are in DMs with each other just screaming about all the dumb shit we're saying XD

Superjustinbros

lmao

Jess

Are... you here with us

Superjustinbros

I never thought of CTP's featured creators ever doing that

aliceapproved

Repeating what a previous comment mentioned, it'll be fun to see how Veil falls for Gemini, like the spark that ignited his feelings for her and hopefully for Gemini in turn

Shen

LMAO

mathtans

Veil is actually a magic clone of her dad that was sent by the ghost of her grandfather, Thor?

saetje

oh, @Jess is my S/O so we're just chatting in our living room together and loving everything y'all say

Jess

But honestly this has been so inspiring

Shen

oh even better!

Tenor | Shinavar

BACK. #4: THe aspect that inrigues me the most is how diverse the world is and how it just is all one big melting pot. It's colorful and you've no idea what's around the corner. :D I'm curious if something like a Wendigo might get seen! :D

Superjustinbros

Daww, that's cute! (edited)

also WB!

Tenor | Shinavar

THaaaaank

Superjustinbros

np~

brb for a sec

mathtans

Wendigos is scary stuff. O.o

Tenor | Shinavar

Yes they are

saetje

I LOVE the myth of Wendigo! No plans, esp. because they start out as human, but. I enjoy that one a lot

Tenor | Shinavar

But also like, one of my favorites so-

That's fair!

RebelVampire

can never see wendigo in a positive light. 2spooky.

mathtans

Wendigone.

Shen

that eliminates vampires, too....

RebelVampire

i hope there are phoenixes. and i hope gemini doesnt know them offhand and freaks out when one bursts into flames.

aliceapproved

Would aliens fall into the category or is that too sci-fi?

Lol a fantasy world that has stories that are sci-fi

Jess

But what if we made a chain. And it’s a reheaded wendigo that sells burgers with square patties

Tenor | Shinavar

Y R U MEAN TO THAT CHILD REBEl

omg

oMG

plz

Jess

I mean —-

mathtans

Oh, phoenixes are fun.

aliceapproved

Phoenix chicks!!!

Tenor | Shinavar

"We sell Hyumahn meat"

aliceapproved

Little baby Phoenixes pls haha!

Shen

phoenix lady dating a merman

aliceapproved

Fresh from death!

I mean Rebirth!

mathtans

Jess: I got that.

Sassy twitter extra.

saetje

We've been throwing around a phoenix story idea! They're also a personal favorite

again: too many great myth/fairy tale creatures we love, guuh.

aliceapproved

Again as said earlier, I'm really happy that Kappas made an appearance, too! I love it when mythical creatures from all over the world are in one place together

Shen

i just love how he knew how defeat the kappa lol

mathtans

"Why's that bird hanging around the Vietnamese shop?" "It's a Pho Enix."

Shen

BOOO MATH XD

saetje

IE: we thought of Veil and Gem "babysitting" a sphinx and Gem keeps feeding it puns and popsicle riddles (junk food) when it needs, like, existential riddles for nutrients, ha.

RebelVampire

yes i do think theres a great mixture of things from tons of diff cultures. it really makes the world extra super colorful.

Tenor | Shinavar

AWH

Yes plz sphinx bby

RebelVampire

i bet veil has some great existential riddles

mathtans

Aw, those are cute drawings.

aliceapproved

AAAAWW

Shen

GOSH

Tenor | Shinavar

I'll hate it because the puns will hurt so much but UGGGH IT'D BE SO CUTE I'LL DIE FROM IT

Shen

SLEEPY VEIL MELTING MY HEART

Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself

OMG CUTEEEEEEE

Kabocha

Awww, Veil, that is just way too cute ^_^

aliceapproved

Your sketches are SO GOOD

mathtans

(Speaking of, when do we get the pastries that I saw on Veil's plate for the CTP today?)

aliceapproved

Your guys' ideas are SO GOOD

saetje

older concepts BUT. Again. there are SO MANY potential for fun-myth-animal stories we tend to get lost in them, haha. I don't know how much/if any will make it into the comic

I'll mail them out Math!

Jess

The pastries were there all along. In your heart

aliceapproved

Do you guys plan to do little intermission stories before doing a big arc like this one?

saetje

yes! Just like the roach comic

Jess

Yup!

aliceapproved

Like the dragon cockroach felt like a good mini-story before we got a meaty story

saetje

we plan to do little minis between bigger arcs

aliceapproved

YEAH!

Tenor | Shinavar

Sweet! :D

Jess

We want to alternate between large stories and smaller world building stuff

Tenor | Shinavar

Exciiiiiited

mathtans

Anyway, gtg, baby needs me. Best with the comic!

RebelVampire

good luck math~!

Jess

Best!! And thanks for stopping by!!

saetje

thanks for coming Math! Best wishes

aliceapproved

Bye, Math!!!

Tenor | Shinavar

Oh more queestions~ Due to how your comic is constructed, do you find you have more time to work on it, and/or you got a good healthy buffer?

BYE MATH

saetje

oh that's a really good question Tenor!

Originally, for like the last two years we've had almost a 6 mo queue, because also only update bi-weekly. But we recently ran out of that queue because LIFE and freelance hit us hard XDD so we've been trying to catch up somewhat successfully. As far as page-speed creation, I think it can vary widely but both @Jess and I have gotten a lot faster than we used to be. When we're really able to focus after-work hours (no life and freelance jams getting too much in the way) we can do about 4-6 panels in a single week, about 10-20 hours between us

The thing is though, one of the draw-backs of single panel shots is you DO have to show a lot more, I think, than just a page-layout comic.

Superjustinbros

Oooh!

That's interesting~

also bye Math

saetje

like, if we took those panels and made them into a page layout we would get away with showing less, I think, and possibly saving some time? But it's hard to gauge because also there's panel layout and flow and page composition to consider that we don;t have to worry as much about

Jess

Yeah I was gonna say the same thing. Actually the full panels largest drawback is that you have to draw sooooo much. In a comic with many panels you could cut to a talking head suddenly - in ours, because of the layout we have to be very careful not to take them out of context too quickly and too frequently

saetje

yeah good point Jess

Tenor | Shinavar

That's a good point. It's such an interesting thing o consider because - I guess the easiest way I can describe it is like the illustrations in children's books. They can be just so world building and easter-eggy so it's interesting to consider the differences!

Jess

So it’s a mixed bag. On one hand you are making only one image at a time. Sometimes even usi a lot of the same assets. But on the other - it’s a full color illustration and having to show minute changes in expression to keep the pace from seeming too quick can be a challenge too

Yeah that too!!

RebelVampire

im curious if you took printing into consideration. idk if youve printed the comic before or ever intended too. just wondering how a single panel per page comic would work in that case.

Superjustinbros

Yeah, I see what you're saying, do one-panel updates but fill them with lots and lots of detail?

saetje

or if the pacing reads too slow too- panel comics (or comics made by animators in general) can also be too slow b/c us animators LOVE showing those minute pose/expression changes, which can sometimes read slow. I'm always stressed about the pace, ha.

whitneyandcompany

Hi! Love the comic

Tenor | Shinavar

I could see, in print form, largely remaining single panel per page, or for the more fast paced ones tweak to 2-3 on the page

saetje

@Jess and I always imagined the comic a digital-first production, but if we were to go to print it'd likely be something along the lines of what Ava's Demon did. Just, single panels-per-page. But @Jess being the graphic designer who often works in print too might have some other ideas on that

Hi @whitneyandcompany thank yoouu

Jess

So when creating one of the things we did as a priority is consider the mobile screen first. Which is the opposite of what is the norm. If we were to do a book it would be handled where we put a very limited amount of images on a page. Maybe 1-2 similar to Ava’s demon

aliceapproved

Yeah, the drawback of single-paged stuff is exactly that. Focusing more on some things, like a character going through emotions can read more slowly even tho it's important to the story

Tenor | Shinavar

ugh ilu for the mobile love lol

Superjustinbros

Just thought I'd say before the CTP ends- good luck with the rest of Gemini Journey, @saetje and @Jess. It's really coming along well and you're definitely got a good story here to tell as well.

aliceapproved

But it works so well for mobile scrolling, it's so friendly!

Tenor | Shinavar

Like I can't express how frusrating it is for me bc there's SO many people who own their own sites and it's not mobile friendly

saetje

thanks @Superjustinbros have a good night!

aliceapproved

Maybe you could have 3 panels per page if printed?

Tenor | Shinavar

I live on the go I NEED THAT MOBILITY ;n;

Superjustinbros

You too, and thanks for being here, @saetje!

saetje

@Tenor | Shinavar I got to be honest with you- as a webcomic fan and reader for MANY years I feel that

Kabocha

I really look forward to reading this in the future. It's enjoyable and to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what I was in for at first... BUT it is a pleasure to read!

Superjustinbros

And cya to you as well, @Jess.

Jess

Awwww thanks!!

Kabocha

Thank you for creating an amazing comic. :3

Superjustinbros

Anytime!

RebelVampire

yeah im glad priority was placed on mobile because it is basically the way thing are going, whether ppl want that or not.

Superjustinbros

^

Tenor | Shinavar

YES it was a fun surprise! (And def last minute for me bc I didn't realize it was something I could read lmao OTL)

saetje

Thank you @Kabocha for your wonderful insights and kind comments! Thanks for coming

RebelVampire

and its definitely a beautiful comic. i think the pacing works out great as well~!

whitneyandcompany

You guys are the reason I downloaded the web toon app, I look forward to every update

aliceapproved

Thank you for making such an inspirational and gorgeous comic!

Jess

Awww well it means so much to hear you guys say that

aliceapproved

I always look forward to your updates!

Superjustinbros

In that case, cya everyone!

aliceapproved

And yes, you're the reason I downloaded the web toon app, too!

saetje

oommmg @whitneyandcompany , thank you

Shen

im glad i got to read this story its so good so far and i cant wait to read more~

Jess

It’s been really humbling for us to put our work out there. But I am so incredibly touched right now

Superjustinbros

Glad to hear~

saetje

Thank you @Shen! I look forward to more of your comic as well! I'm glad you like it.

Shen

GOSH <3

saetje

Yeah everyone, thank you for coming and letting us know you thoughts It has meant the WORLD to us

aliceapproved

You guys are amazing and I love your work

Tenor | Shinavar

Thank you for signing up so we could disect it /shot

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero, as well, for making Gemini Journey. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: http://geminijourney.com/

Donate via Paypal.me: https://www.paypal.me/YeseniaCarrero

Tracy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/saetje

Yesenia’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Demongemini6

Comic Tea Party- Thursday Book Club

Next week’s Thursday Book Club will be about The Hunter of Fenaur by CalimonGraal. For participants, you have the next week to read as much of the comic as you would like~! We hope to see you on Thursday, September 20th, from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat in #thursday_bookclub!

Comic’s Main Site: http://hunter.fenauriverse.moe/

Comic’s Tapas Mirror: https://tapas.io/series/the-hunter-of-fenaur