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insomniacinserts · 3 years

Text

The confessor AU

Words - 4711 🥰🤤

AU - Father Clemens(c slater) is a professor at a religious school. Y/n is 18

A/N - I really pooped my blood, sweat and tears into this one. You kids are gonna eat well tonight 😘 sorry if it says michael Vincent anywhere it’s the name I used for y/n cause I wrote part of it in class. I’ll put a cut in it when I get to my pc I can’t open tumblr on my school computer

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“Mr. Y/N L/N.” Father Ortega stopped suddenly that I had bumped into him. He turned sharply and glared evilly before straightening out his attire and folding his hands neatly in front of him “I suggest you straighten yourself out before you step into your administrator's office. Father Clemens will decide a punishment fit for your sin.” I took a deep breath, I was pretty calm, way more so than I should be considering my situation. But Father Clemens was a pretty understanding holy figure, it’s what made him the most popular of the staff for confessions and counseling, so I had a pretty good feeling that Father Clemens would understand and not be too cruel.

“Y/N L/N, good to see you son. step in and have a seat.” Father Ortega nodded to Father Clemens then turned to leave and shut the door, once the lock clicked behind Father Ortega the room had fallen into an increasingly awkward silence, and the sheer embarrassment of my current situation snuck up on me and slapped me right in the face, the embarrassing shame had prompted a certain uneasy restlessness to settle in my limbs, I couldn't help but to slide down in my seat or keep my leg from bouncing rapidly and my fingers from picking at seemingly nothing on my hand “what is the problem that brought you in here today, Y/N?” Once Father Clemens had finished his paperwork he ended the uneasy silence that Father Ortega had left behind him. He sat with his hands folded sternly in front of him, he had tried to meet my gaze but quit when I continued to avoid him.

“If I am correct Father. Father Ortega had sent you an email before escorting me down here.”

Father Clemens sucked in a deep breath and unfolded his hands to look something up on his laptop “you are correct, Y/N” he turned away from his laptop to look back at me “but I want to hear it from you.” Father Clemens leaned back in his chair and ran his palms on his pants then he stood and made his way around his desk and stood behind the chair. I sat in “sit in your chair the correct way Y/N.” his hands came around the chair to grip my biceps firmly and followed stiffly pulling me up in the chair “back straight.” his hands ran up from my biceps and stopped on my shoulders to straighten out my back on the chair. “If you think I'm going to go easy on you and let you off with a slap on the wrist, you're wrong Y/N L/N.” he made his way to the side of the chair and sat in the one next to mine “do you understand that lust is a big thing? It's not something the board wants to be treated lightly.” I nod and look down at my hands in my lap, Father Clemens’s warm hand came up to grip my jaw and turned my face to him “I'm messing with you, kiddo. Loosen up, ok?” Father Clemens chuckled and sat back in his chair with his arms settled neatly on the armrests.

“In my opinion, kid. The bord and the teachers here are all way too uptight. You're a teenage boy, you're going to get those urges, you've got mass amounts of testosterone flowing through you. I couldn't help myself when I was younger.” I tried to bite back the flush on my cheeks at the thought of teenage Father Clemens touching himself so intimately but I was unsuccessful, the warmth of blood rushed through my cheeks coloring them a light pink then to a darker red when I glanced over at Father Clemens to see him staring straight at me with a smirk on his face. “A man thinking of another man in such a way as you are now is also a sin, young Y/N L/N.” Father Clemens shifted his chair closer to me then leaned forward bracing his elbows onto his knees “but you would know that already. Correct?” a sharp chill ran up my spine and the hairs on my neck stood. Father Clemens was not only the senior’s head administrator but he was the school's psyche counselor, and if I were to say he was a bad counselor I would be punished for untruthful accusations.

Even then, the way the school is run is purely based on academic achievements. So if Father Clemens was a bad counselor and it was reported by multiple students or student's legal guardians they would be dismissed, Due to Father Clemens’s charming academic records, his degrees, and his essays. Though when I say the complaints would be dismissed I only mean for the legal guardians, the students don't get off as lucky.

So him suggesting that I am romantically and sexually attracted to the same gender is terrifying on its own, even if what he was suggesting was wrong. “Anyway.” Father Clemens’ voice was like a gunshot, even louder accompanied by the loud clap he made when he stood up. It all made me jump and Father Clemens’s chuckle did nothing for my rapidly beating heart “relax kiddo. I didn't mean to scare you like that.” Father Clemens had stopped making his way back to his chair behind his desk and stood calmly behind my chair. “There's nothing wrong with thinking of sleeping with a man when you're alone, son.” His big warm hands settled to rub small sharp circles into my shoulders massaging out the tense knots “the church board and the school aren't very good at getting with the program.” his hands took to rubbing softly on my shoulders very melodically back and forth as if he were trying to calm me down. His hands stilled and he leaned down to whisper in my ear “you don't gotta worry about that kiddo. Ok?” he paused to watch me nod, his hands came up to my collarbone and ran his thumb over the nape of my neck “I’ll take care of you, kiddo. They won't bother you because of who you are.”

Father Clemens backed away from my chair suddenly and walked around to sit in his chair behind his desk. “You finished with your classes?” he turned to his laptop and began to type “no, um it should be around lunchtime now. Someone told Father Ortega that I was committing a sin and he came to get me to take me down here.” Father Clemens stopped typing and looked at me over his laptop “someone told him? He didn't catch you in the act?” Father Clemens’ stern gaze shot straight down my spine and sent me to a full-body shiver “no. he didn’t Father.” Father Clemens took a deep breath then closed his laptop to set it off to the side “who told him? Were they telling the truth?” Father Clemens leaned forward in his chair and folded his hands back nicely in his lap “it was one of the nuns students. She had begun propositioning me for a relationship and something more, back around October so a few months, and considering the circumstances every time she propositioned me I had respectfully declined.” Father Clemens pursed his lips and nodded rocking slightly in his chair.

“What was so different this time? Why did she lie about something like that?” I slid back down in the chair but quickly sat back up and corrected my posture after Father Clemens gave me a disapproving look “I had told her that if she kept propositioning me like that I would tell her administrator about her inappropriate behavior but she took it a lot worse than I thought and after she told Father Ortega she went around telling her classmates and my classmates as well as my friends that I was gay.” Father Clemens sighed and let his head fall forward slightly “have you eaten, son?” Father Clemens reached under his desk and brought out a bag that he stuffed his laptop in and set ti back down onto the floor “no, I have not Father” Father Clemens nodded and stood from his seat “I’m going to take you down to the detention hall and have you sit in there for a few of your lectures while I speak to Sister Mary. Father Young will get you lunch. What was the girl's name?” I shook my head and looked down at my lap “I'm not going to tell you.”

Father Clemens signed “are your peers saying anything to you?” I blinked rapidly to stop tears from coming and I pinched the inside of my hand “Mr. Y/N L/N. You look at me when I talk to you and you answer when you are asked a question.” Father Clemens' voice had lowered and out of the corner of my eye I could see his shined shoes move around his desk and stop to the side of me “look at me, son.” I shook my head and kept my eyes on the ground. “Son. I need to know these things.” his big hand had found its way under my chin and he gently lifted my face to him “are your teachers saying anything.” I averted my eyes and looked at the front of his button-down; it was in pristine shape, it was ironed, cleaned, it didn't have lint or hair on it and pretty soon I found myself wondering what human could keep something that clean “what are they saying, Y/N L/N.” Father Clemens’ voice was sharp and stern and it cut me from my daydream, but before I could say anything there was a soft knock on the door.

Father Clemens pulled back and straightened himself out before going over and opening the door “hello dear Grace Butler. I'm with a student at this moment but I'll have you sit in one of those chairs over there.” my blood ran cold at the mention of her name and my hands gripped the armrests “is the student in there Y/N L/N?” her voice made bile rise in my throat and the hair on the back of my neck stand “did you need something with him?” I could hear the cogs in Father Clemens' head-turning and figuring out what she was doing here “yes actually. It's very important and you two have been in there for an hour and a half, I’ve been waiting for him out here. It will only take a second and then you can get back to whatever you're doing.” I turned around to look out the door and see Grace standing there with her hands folded in front of her and an innocent smile on her face that turned to a sinister one when she caught my gaze and at that moment I could tell that Father Clemens had figured it out.

Father Clemens stood to the side and motioned for her to come in “it shouldn't be too important to not talk about it in front of me Ms. Grace Butler.” her smile faltered a little but she shook it off and stepped into Father Clemens office. She unfolded her hands and sat down beside me. I tried my hardest to scoot away from her but I couldn't go any further than the chair allowed. I heard Father Clemens shut the door, I didn't want to look behind me in case grace would try something but when Father Clemens passed me going back to his desk he gave a soft squeeze to my bicep. “Now. don’t let me bother you, kay?” Father Clemens picked his bag up from the floor and pulled out his laptop “I’m going to do some work, and when your done Ms. Grace if you would let yourself out Mr. Y/N L/N and I are still in the middle of a conversation so don’t beat around the bush, keep things to the point.” Father Clemens looked pointedly at me before opening up his laptop and getting to work.

“Y/N I have something very important to tell you.” grace began to fiddle with the ends of her blouse, I looked over and caught Father Clemens suspicious gaze “I’ve gotten expelled.” my brows shot up to my hairline and I snapped my head over to look at Father Clemens who in turn looked back at me with the same amount of confusion and surprise written on his face that I’m feeling “and why would you get expelled, Ms. Grace?” grace, still facing me, rolls her eyes at Father Clemens before putting on a sad innocent look and looking over at Father Clemens “they found out I was pregnant. I haven’t told them who the father was,” grace looks at me and scoots closer “because I didn’t want you to get expelled, Y/N.” I flinch at the obvious lie “alright, thank you very much for your time, Ms. Grace. Please see yourself out now. Mr. Y/N L/N and I have business that needs to be discussed. You, dear lady shout be with your headmistress.” grace holds eye contact and the smug look returns to her face before dropping when she gets up to leave the room “ill send Sister Mary to fetch you.” grace nods and leaves the room with a bounce in her step.

“Father- I- let me explain. Please.” Father Clemens holds his hand out to stop me from talking further “kiddo.” he locks his eyes with mine “I have a bachelor’s in psychology. Even then it doesn’t take a bachelor’s degree to see she’s lying. Your a good student, and a very good boy. even The head would doubt you’d do anything of the sort.” the light praise had sent a shiver down my spine that I prayed Father Clemens overlooked, then as suddenly as it came his soft look was replaced with a stern one “Grace Butler.” cold dread settled back into my skin I had thought we were going to move past this “Father. Please can we drop it? I can handle the things people are saying myself and you heard grace. Shes being expelled that’s one of my problems gone.” during my frustrating speech Father Clemens had walked around and sat on his desk in front of me “kiddo. This is our problem. I’m your administrator, I’m in charge of you and I care about you. I’m not going to let you handle this yourself. Your such a good kid, you focus on your classwork, and ill focus on this. Ok?” Father Clemens didn’t give me any time to answer before he picked up his office phone and dialed what I think Sister Mary’s phone number was.

I sighed and tuned out of the conversation in favor of studying a painting of what looked to be a nun in a forest at dawn or dusk on Father Clemens wall “hey. Kiddo.” I flinched and snapped my yead to Father Clemens backing my head away from his fingers snapping in front of my face “yeah? Sorry. I wasn’t listening.” Father Clemens smiled and let his hands fall to grip his desk “I asked if you lived on campus, I wanted to walk you back to your dorm.” I looked down at my watch “it’s five already? I’ve been in here the whole school day and I haven’t realized it. It felt like an hour the most.” Father Clemens chuckled and smiled amused by my current situation. He cleared his throat before standing up and going over to the coat rack by his door “do you live off-campus, son?” I rub the back of my neck “yeah actually.” I stood and walked through the door that Father Clemens opened for me “do you have a car?” he put on his jacket and slung his bag over his shoulder “no Father I don’t. Usually, I catch the bus.” Father Clemens turns away from me to lock his door “it’s too late for you to catch the bus now. I’ll drive you, kiddo.” Father Clemens turns back to me with a sincere smile and shoves his keys back into his pocket “no. Father I cant ask you to do that. It’s too far out of your way.” Father Clemens puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me further away from the way I came earlier and down a smaller hall to a door that led out to the staff parking lot

“I’m not letting you walk in this weather, not with that light hoodie. You’ll catch a cold then I won’t be able to see your pretty face tomorrow during the sermon.” my face flushes but it’s not because of the wether, Father Clemens hand had started to rub small circles into the small of my back as he was leading me to his car. “If it’s out of my way. Invite me in for a drink.” we get to his car and he opens the door for me “all I have is coffee Father.” Father Clemens gives me a look that he knows I’m a teenager and that I’m lying “you’d be watching me sin father.” the statement sounded a lot dirtier out loud than it did in my head and it seemed to sound dirty to Father Clemens because he chuckles and shakes his head before straightening out and leaning closer to my face “son. You’d be surprised how many sins id watch you commit.” my breath catches in my throat and my cheeks turn a darker red “get in the car. Son.” Father Clemens’s voice had taken on a darker tone and turned rough like he was thinking about me doing what he was mentioning. Suddenly I remember something that Father Clemens said earlier and a graphic image of Father Clemens touching himself flashed through my mind but instead of his face and body being younger it was how he looked now.

I nod and hastily get in the car, I go to buckle the seatbelt but Father Clemens stops me by leaning down into the car and grabbing my wrist “looks like you’ve got a problem there, son.” Father Clemens splayed one of his hands out on my thigh, the simple action, forcing me to be painfully aware of my hard cock straining against my jeans “sorry Father.” Father Clemens finished buckling the seatbelt and got into the car on the drivers’ side “as I said earlier, kiddo. A man thinking of another man in such a way is a great sin. If you don’t confess, ill have to deal with you as your administrator.” the current reality of what was happening sent chills down my spine and more blood down to my cock. “You won’t have to punish me, Father. I’ll confess.” I put on my best innocent pupil voice “even with your confession ill still have to deal with you as your administrator. We weren’t off the school grounds when you sinned.” I ran my hands up and down my thighs trying to keep them busy to avoid touching myself “what are you wanting to do kid?” Father Clemens’s tone changed and he got more serious, my cock was hard and straining the fabric of my jeans painfully “it hurts father.” his car slows to a stop in front of my apartment building let’s go inside kiddoI’llll deal with you where no one can see you. I want everything I’m about to see to be reserved for only me. I want to be the only man to see your cock hard like that and your nipples so purt and pretty.” I had to bite back a gasp when Father Clemens finger came up to circle my nipple “I want to be the only one to hear the pretty noises you make.” he leans over the center console to lick and nip over my addams apple, the action sending a jolt to my cock making it twitch and a breathy noise come out of my mouth “I want to be the only one to feel how tight you wrap around my cock and how pretty your face looks when you get my dick down your throat.” his hand falls from my nipple to run his palm lightly and playfully over my bulge “I want to be the only one to see you cum.” his palm ground down harder on my cock and forced a guttural moan out of the back of my throat.

Father Clemens growls in my ear and takes his hand from my pants “get inside boy.” the Fathers voice was rough and his pupils were blown wide “yes Father.” he unbuckled both of our seatbelts and waited for me to move around the car on the sidewalk “just call me daniel, son.” once on the sidewalk I pause to fish the keys from my pocket and flip through them to get the apartments front door key “you got it kiddo?” Father Clemens comes up behind me and settles his hand on the small of my back “yeah.” he nudges me forward and stays beside me with his hand on my back the whole way to the elevator.

“Comere kiddo.” Fathe Clemens voice was rough and he tugged me forward by my belt loops once the elevator doors closed “you know how long I’ve wanted to do this?” his voice got quieter with each word as his face lowered to mark hickies on my neck “tell me how long Father.” Father Clemens huffs against my neck and pulls back when the elevator dings, I wait for an answer but his hand finds its way to my back and he playfully pushes me forward “I thought I told you to drop the Father.” I smile and walk toward the end of the hall to my apartment door “you still have your collar on Father, I wouldn’t want to disrespect a man of God.” I playfully sway my hips in front of him and open the door, but before I could fully get in Father Clemens takes me by the scruff of my hoodie and swiftly moves both of us into my apartment, I don’t get a chance to flip on the lights before Father Clemens body is pinning my body against the door “stay.” he nips playfully at my earlobe and slowly backs away giving me room to turn around.

Father Clemens has his jacket off and tossed to the side and he’s taking his collar off with a hungry look, once-off he tosses his things to the side and pins my body back against the door, but this time instead of his clothed cock against the curve of my ass he’s pushing his hips into mine “no more father.” he presses a cheeky kiss to my lips and reaches between us to unbutton the first few buttons on his white shirt “fine. Would sir be better?” a smug smirk makes its way on my face when his breath catches in his throat and I take the short moment of surprise to flip us around, this time pressing his back against the door “your gonna kill me kid.” his voice sounded even more wrecked, I shake my head with a small smile on my face and lock eyes with him “actually I’m going to suck your dick first. Sir.” I draw the word out and slowly sink to my knees keeping eye contact.

“Kid-” his voice shakes and he fists a hand in my hair and tugs gently “what’s wrong sir?” he moans and bucks his hips, his clothed bulge nearly comes in contact with my chin but I settle my hand on his him and mouth hotly at his bulge “god that’s good kiddo.” he tugs my head back with his grip in my hair and undoes his belt “common kiddo lemme see your pretty lips wrapped around my dick.” I nod swiftly and shakily undo his pants so I can free his cock from his boxers. when it’s free I thank god that I got on my knees cause his cock looked so good; it was flushed at the tip, not small at all, and on top of that his cock was thick so thick my own twitched in my pants and I couldn’t help grinding the heel of my palm onto it “sir, I don’t think its gonna fit.” I hear a dull thud and look up to see he’s let his head fall back against the door “kiddo if you keep talking like that you’re not going to get a taste before I cum” Father Clemens foot nudged my hand away from my dick and took its place pressing down teasingly “I’m gonna put it in my mouth now Father.” Father Clemens’s foot pulled away from my cock “what did I say about calling me faAH” Father Clemens couldn’t finish his sentence before his cock was in my mouth, I tried taking all of his cock in my throat but gaged “oh, fuck kiddo. It feels so good when you gag around me like that.” I hummed and tried again, this time breathing through my nose. I took him a little further than before but still gagged “god. Common kiddo you can take it.” Father Clemens hands fisted in my hair and mine came up to wrap around what part of his cock I couldn’t fit in my mouth “let me fuck your face kid. Please.” I took a deep ragged breath in through my nose and let my hands fall to Father Clemens’ thighs. I looked up through my lashes when I heard a soft sigh, he was looking down at me with a look on his face that I didn’t recognize, and as if he could sense I was distracted he delivered a particularly deep thrust,

When he pulled back I could feel spit dribble down my chin “I wish you could see yourself son, god, you’re so beautiful.” Father Clemens started with a slow and deep pace lightly scratching his fingertips on my scalp “taking my cock so well baby. So good.” he pets the side of my jaw with his thumb then pushes my head down on his cock slowly until my nose was buried in his pubes “that’s it sweetheart. Breathe in through your nose. I wanna see how well your ass takes my cock.” with that he lets me pull off, I couldn’t help taking deep gulps of air and fuck I could already tell how wrecked my voice would be. “Get up son, let’s go to your room.”

#the confessor #the confession #christian slater #Father Clemens x male reader #Christian slater x male reader

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stillness-in-green · 2 years

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Chapter Thoughts: 359, Place of Learning

Sorry for the lateness on this one, gang; was tied up with other writings. Look for next week's to be more timely, and in the meantime, hit the jump!

"The messenger-bodyguard said he'll be going up top too!"

I hadn't caught this in just the scanlation, but comparing the official here to the leaks for Chapter 360, I guess that'd be Mirio, huh? I suppose he or whoever put down his game piece in the planning session figured he wouldn't be much use against Shigaraki—his phasing is great, and his fighting style even better, but a normal human punch is not going to do anybody much good against Noumu-style toughness.

Comparatively, his phasing probably allows him to get around the interior of the structure much faster, which is an advantage when supplies need to get from one point to another ASAP. But then when ShigAFO turns into an enormous barricade of hands, well, being able to phase suddenly looks a little more useful top-side, huh? I had been wondering as of the end of this chapter why he hadn't been with his Big Three compatriots from the start, so I'm glad to see this little nod.

The business course stuff:

I have somewhat mixed thoughts, but on the whole, I rather like it. On the one hand, I think "promoting heroes" has a tang of propaganda to it, which is rather at odds with the (nominal) objectivity of something like news footage or documentary filmmaking. Of course, any kind of information can be skewed by its presentation, but it seems to me that talking of hero promotion, of image and presentation to the masses, is inherently embracing a certain narrative you're trying to put across. Spiral Stack Hair Boy there even says it outright: He and his classmates are preserving a record of Heroes Victorious. They are not there to preserve a record of e.g. The Tragic Death of Shimura Tenko or what-have-you.

On the other hand, I like Spiral Stack firing back—against an uncommonly young parroter of the "you kids and your cellphones" complaint!—that having records of events is valid and extremely important work. He remains vague about "past wars",(1) but given how recently and repeatedly Skeptic and Dabi have demonstrated the impact of being able to choose how to frame a story,(2) the heroes would be wise to stop letting villains control the narrative!

In short, I'm dubious of the narrative that the Business Course kids are presenting, but I like that the story is engaging with the idea of how the events it's portraying look within the world. It's good follow-through from earlier iterations of the topic, from aforementioned villain meddling to all the eyes on Endeavor, and even the whole discussion about heroes-as-entertainment versus heroes-with-human-needs.

Bakugou Stuff:

I like the jolt of panic in Bakugou's eye when ShigAFO breaks his arm; it feels like a relatively rare expression for him.

I had jotted down in my notes, "Bakugou thinking about the gap is good Endeavor paralleling," but I gotta say I liked it better before it got localized with baseball metaphors. I already know there's a baseball OVA coming out, Caleb! You don't need to remind me of all the inane tripe meant to move keychains and vinyl standees we're getting instead of anything remotely interesting!

I don't have anything in particular to say about the whole "Bakugou is, in AFO's opinion, closer to Deku than anyone else." Frankly, as frustrating as it is being a villain fan at times, I'm extremely glad that I have barely any investment in Bakugou and negative investment in Deku, because I can't even imagine how much it must suck to be an even-keeled fan of either character trying to find any content that isn't vapidly OOC or vindictively mean-spirited. Good Christ, the spoiler tags were still a shitshow two full weeks after the initial leaks for this chapter.

Aizawa (and Mandalay):

The electromagnetic interference could be legit, but also feels a bit retconned, particularly the handwave of Aizawa protesting that she got Midoriya a bit ago, so why can't she now? Is the erratic communication going to serve a dramatic purpose at all? Is it just to keep Hori from needing to update the reader on what Deku ran into last time we saw him when he isn't ready to transition scenes yet?

Also, Aizawa, exactly how fast do you think Deku is going to get here from halfway across the country? Japan is seriously not that small. Honestly, the American jets picking him up really is your best bet.

I enjoy his desperation, though. S'good crunch.

On UA and the Big Three:

Man. They really did just take the whole school up, huh? Somehow I'd been under the impression that it was a fake, that Troy Fortress, not UA itself, but nope, that's absolutely UA. What happened to all the refugees? Are they still in the building, or hiding out underground? Were they evacuated out to the refugee housing on the campus before the school took off? But then why didn't one of AFO's spies contact him to let him know? What was the point of the whole thing where the facility connects to Shiketsu if the school was just going to fly off into the sky alone?

It's—a shame, I guess. I feel like there ought to be a lot of power in seeing the school trashed like this—it's been the main setting of the series for three hundred and fifty chapters! It's the place where a bunch of friendships have been made, powers forged, little day-to-day victories and losses accumulated, all things a student would remember upon seeing their high school demolished.

Also too, the symbol that UA represents is in ruins, the Number One Hero School that produces the very best heroes, the ivory tower the students were kept in that controlled what knowledge they gained and, for a very long time, cut them off from the world and the people they were training to protect.

UA needed to go down, I think, as so many other structures in this society do, but I wish the one toppling its towers could be Shigaraki Tomura, who once wanted to be a hero, for whom the whole building has been converted into a deathtrap rather than—per the title—a place of learning. Instead, we get the AFO Vestige, whose only attachment to hero schools has been plucking promising quirks out of them like grapes from the vine.

Further, the students we get reacting to the destruction aren't the students I'd expect—the students of 1-A, the ones whose schooling we've spent the entire series watching. Sure, the Big Three, as seniors, spent three times as long there as the main cast, so I'm sure they have a lot of regrets seeing those thrashed classrooms. But the audience has never been privy to Mirio and the rest's school lives, so what they're remembering and mourning here is entirely opaque.

The only emotion I feel looking at the three of them is sympathy pangs for Suneater, because Suneater's one of my favorite students, and he gives me moe aggression. That's entirely down to my being predisposed to empathy for Suneater when he's faltering, however, not because the story's given me any reason whatsoever to care about his feelings about seeing his school trashed.

Also, to come full circle back to the messenger/bodyguard, it's kind of eyeroll-inducing that Lemillion is now parroting the talk about holding out until Midoriya shows up. Maybe it's just to make Bakugou look more singular next week, maybe it's the streak of pragmatism Mirio learned from Nighteye, but it does feel kind of a shame that the young hero who ran ahead to fight Overhaul solo is now also trapped in that mentality that only One For All can strike the necessary decisive blow.

I critique him now, but Mirio will have a much better showing in the next chapter, and I'm looking forward to writing quite a bit about it.

Odds & Ends:

Hori's dedication to Ame-comi-style sound effect lettering continues to impress.

Oh my god, Nejire's girlfriend complaining about her hair. XD I did laugh.

Shigaraki's hair not even getting solid black outlines anymore, even in closeups. Good stuff. Wish I wasn't so soured on the anime so I could more genuinely anticipate seeing it in color.

That heavy black silhouette of Shigaraki against the shattered outline of UA fuckin' rules. Wish it was more "him."

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1: But talking about concrete records of wars at all is a possibly interesting choice, given Japan's noted tendency towards historical revisionism re: Japanese warcrimes.

2: Not just Dabi's video, but also Skeptic's doctoring of the Deika footage.

#bnha #bnha 359 #bnha spoilers #(mild ones for 360)#chapter thoughts #the ua big three #bnha worldbuilding #-ish

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kaimelia · 3 years

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can you do a prompt where instead of a boy, amelia and links first baby was a girl?

Snapshots

a/n: hi! this was a little disorganized and kind of random...but it’s just a bunch of moments from if they had a girl, and I hope you enjoy it! thank you for the prompt <3

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"And, do you want to know the sex?" Amelia paused for a moment in thought, her hands resting behind her head as she stared at the ultrasound screen in awe.

"I need to know everything," she whispered, watching as Carina moved the ultrasound wand on her stomach.

"Alright, you're having a baby girl, Amelia."

Amelia's mouth fell into a broad smile, and she covered her open mouth, her eyes watching her daughter move on the screen.

"Oh my god." Carina grinned and removed the probe, wiping it off before hitting a few buttons on the ultrasound machine. "Can I get pictures? Link would love them," Amelia pulled her scrub top down.

"Of course. And, you promise that you'll come in for regular appointments, now?" The neurosurgeon nodded her head.

"I promise."

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"Hey, Amelia," Link shouted, closing the door to his apartment and dropping his bag in the entranceway.

"In the bedroom!" He grinned and walked down the hallway, stopping in the doorway and staring at his girlfriend. She had her top pulled over to reveal her stomach, and her hand rested on the bottom as she scrolled through her phone. "Hi," she put her phone down and smiled at him.

"How did the ultrasound go?" Amelia sat up on the bed, moving a pillow to support her aching back as Link sat by her feet.

"Everything's perfectly fine," she whispered, reaching out for his hand. "We're having a girl, Link." His face was frozen for a minute as he processed what she said and his mouth soon dropped into a wide 'O'.

"Really? We're having a girl?" Amelia nodded quickly, grinning as she watched him react. "Oh my god, Amelia," Link pulled her into a hug, kissing the side of her head. "We're gonna have a little you," he whispered into her hair, embracing her tighter as he laughed in joy. He held onto her for another moment before pulling back and pressing his lips against hers. "Wait, you're happy about this, right?"

"Yeah, but I also know firsthand what it's like to be a teenage girl. And to parent one," she added, raising her eyebrows. "Plus, girls always hate their moms. She's gonna love you and hate me." Link rolled his eyes at her and kissed her again.

"She's not going to hate you, Amelia."

"Says the one who was never a teenage girl."

--------------

Amelia locked their hands together and squeezed his, watching as he browsed through the aisles of baby clothes. "Link," she muttered, wrapping her arm on the underside of her stomach, "I'm hungry. Baby's hungry." He turned around and pouted, squeezing her hand in response.

"We have to get some baby stuff, Amelia. Carina said she could come anytime now, and we've barely done anything to prepare." The brunette rolled her eyes as her boyfriend picked up a purple dress adorned with a tutu. "Look at this," he practically squealed, "we can dress her up like a princess all the time!"

"That's for 6-month-olds; it wouldn't fit her for a long time. We need newborn clothes." She dropped his hand and walked over to another aisle, picking up a pack of plain white onesies. "See, like these." He feigned a frown and moved towards her.

"Those aren't fun," he complained. "What about these?"

"Really? 'Daddy's little girl?'" He beamed a toothy smile and dropped the hanger into the cart. "You're just going to spoil her all of the time, aren't you?"

"What else am I supposed to do?"

--------------

"No dating until she's 18," he muttered, wrapping his arms around Amelia as she leaned against his body.

"18? Why?"

"Because I was a teenage boy, and I don't trust teenage boys." She scoffed, grabbing his hand and placing it on top of her stomach where their daughter was moving.

"And I was a teenage girl, and I know that whatever we tell her, she'll just ignore," Amelia laughed out, smiling as he began to massage lotion into her skin. "Ugh, move, I gotta pee," she lifted his hand away and stood up slowly, waddling towards the bathroom attached to the bedroom. Link set the bottle of lotion down on the bedside table as he waited, adjusting the pillows behind him. "Link!"

"Yeah?" He stood up quickly from the bed, hurrying towards the bathroom. "What is it?"

"My water just broke."

--------------

"Okay, give me one more push, Amelia." The neurosurgeon groaned loudly and squeezed her boyfriend's hand, causing him to cringe at the feeling. Their faces both relaxed as an ear-piercing noise filled the room, their daughter's first cry. "Dad? Do you want to cut the cord?" Link grinned and kissed Amelia's hand before dropping it, moving to where Carina held the baby. "Right here." He cut the cord, and Carina stood up, placing the crying baby on Amelia's chest. Link returned to his previous position, standing next to Amelia and putting his hand on the side of her head, smoothing down her hair. He kissed her head as she cried joy-filled tears while holding their daughter, her thumb brushing over the baby's tiny red face.

"She's so beautiful," Amelia looked over at Link as she spoke, tears running freely down her face.

"She looks just like you," he whispered, placing his hand over Amelia's. "She's perfect. Absolutely and positively perfect."

"Do you have a name yet?" The couple's eyes met at the doctor's question, and they shared matching grins.

"Charlotte."

--------------

Amelia groaned as she stood up, and Link immediately came to her side, placing a free hand on the small of her back. "Take it easy," he muttered, shifting their daughter in his arms.

"I'm not dying. I just gave birth." She took his hand as he walked her towards the bathroom, where she washed her face, muttering a complaint about how gross she felt. "I wanna go home. I just want to be in my bed with my blankets, and where I don't have to worry about one of my coworkers wandering in and seeing my postpartum underwear." Link laughed but quickly stopped himself at her stern expression.

"It's been less than a day, Amelia; we're not going home yet." The mother turned back around to see her boyfriend cradling their newborn baby, his grin one of the most genuine things she had ever seen.

"Don't you look happy. No postpartum pain for you." She pushed past him to sit back onto the bed, pulling off her robe and laying back into the pillow, using it to support her back.

"I don't think I'm ever going to put her down," Link confessed, rocking the baby back and forth. "Holding her is the best feeling, ever," he walked towards the bed and sat down on the side.

"Do I not get to hold her?" Link shook his head with a broad smile spread across his face.

"Nope. She's Daddy's little girl." Charlotte let out a small coo. "Oh, I have an idea!" Amelia raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to continue. "You know Scarlett Johansson, right? And how people call her ScarJo?"

"Why is this relevant?"

"We can call her CharJo! Charlotte Josephine, CharJo! Our little superhero," he kissed the baby's forehead.

"You are absolutely ridiculous."

--------------

"It's no fair. She likes you better, and I'm the one who carried her around for eight and a half months," Amelia groaned, handing the month-old baby to her boyfriend. The baby's eyes stared up at her father, and her fussing calmed almost immediately once placed in his embrace.

"It's because she's already a mini-you, and I doubt you would enjoy being put in a room with yourself forever. You like me; she likes me," he cooed, lifting the baby up and walking towards the window. "Plus, she's a baby; she's bound to like anyone who holds her." The mother shook her head in amusement and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's waist from behind, resting her head on his back.

"You do give great hugs," she whispered, squeezing his body. "Maybe I get it."

--------------

"Leave her alone, Link. You can't make her talk," Amelia muttered, pulling a dress over their daughter's head. Link had spent the past few days referring to himself solely as 'Daddy' in hopes of convincing the girl to repeat after him.

"Daddy wants to hear someone say his name!" Charlotte laughed as Link tickled her belly, reaching her arms out to her father. "That's right, Char, say Daddy!" She stared at him in confusion, her tiny eyebrow furrowed together as he attempted to coax her into speaking.

"Mm, sounds like somebody doesn't want to say Daddy!" Amelia sang out, wrapping her daughter up in her arms. "You wanna try saying Mommy, baby?" The seven-month-old stared at her mother with wide eyes. "It's useless. Her first word will probably be something stupid, like 'no' or 'hi.'"

"What was your first word?"

"It was no. Which, Derek always teased me about. He said it was their introduction to who I'd become," Amelia laughed, smiling as Charlotte tugged at her hair. "What was yours?"

"My dad says it was Dadda, and my mom says it was bye. I'm pretty sure it was Dadda; my mom is definitely too stubborn to admit if it was Dadda." He glanced down at his watch and sighed. "I gotta head out; I'll pick up dinner on my way home?" Amelia nodded and kissed him, walking towards the door of their apartment with him.

"Say bye Daddy!" Amelia waved goodbye, and Charlotte mimicked her mother's motion, opening and closing her pudgy hand.

"Bye, Char! Promise you'll record her all day? I don't want to miss her first words," Link pleaded, pulling on his coat. The neurosurgeon nodded, kissing the side of their daughter's head.

"Of course."

"Alright. I'll be home later; I love you!" He twisted the doorknob, waving a final goodbye before closing the door and jogging down the steps of their apartment complex.

"Daddy!" Amelia's eyes grew comically large at the sound of her daughter's voice, glancing over at the girl's outstretched arm, pointing in the direction of where her father had gone.

"Did you just-"She laughed and walked over to the counter, picking up her cellphone and clicking Link's contact. "You're never going to guess what just happened."

--------------

"Aw, Char, you look adorable," Maggie cooed, adjusting the flower in her niece's hair. "Are you excited?"

"I want Mommy." The aunt frowned, pulling the girl into a hug.

"You can see Mommy soon, honey. Okay, now show me what you're gonna do." Charlotte reached into her basket, pulling out a handful of pink flower petals and tossing them on the floor. "Perfect!" The door opened, and Amelia walked through, Meredith at her side, adjusting the skirt of her dress. "Amelia! You look beautiful!" The brunette grinned, giving a quick twirl in her dress.

"I love this dress, but I'm also already looking forward to getting out of it," she mumbled, walking in front of the mirror. "Will you make sure I don't trip while walking down the aisle?"

"We'll trip with you, so it looks like it was supposed to happen," Meredith shrugged, placing her hand on Amelia's shoulder. "You ready?" The brunette nodded, smiling at her reflection.

"Of course. I think this might be the first time in my life where I don't have any doubts." Charlotte ran towards her mother, wrapping her arms around Amelia's legs through the dress.

"Mommy, I'm bored." Amelia grinned, crouching down to her daughter's height.

"We can go home and cuddle later. But, first? Mommy and Daddy are getting married."

--------------

"You know, there's hardwood under the carpet; we could just rip it up," Link suggested, watching his wife drag her feet on the carpet in their brand-new house. "Woah there, be careful, Char," he grabbed the girl as she ran by him quickly, her short blonde hair flying by in the neat braids he had made that morning. "You gotta slow down; we don't want you to fall." She grinned at her father and placed her hand over his mouth.

"Go outside!"

"It's yucky outside; you don't want to play out there." He shifted the three-year-old to rest on his hip, wrapping his arm around her tightly. "Plus, it's your nap time." She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"No nap," she protested, looking over to her mother. "Mommy, no nap!" Amelia pouted her lip out and took Charlotte from Link.

"If you nap now, we can get you a treat after going shopping later, okay?" The toddler paused for a moment in thought before nodding eagerly. "And, you can go sleep in your brand new bed!" Link waved goodbye and watched as Amelia carried her up the stairs in the empty house, coming back down a few minutes later. "She said she wants her room to be purple," Amelia relayed, leaning back against the kitchen island.

"Mm, we can grab some paint while we're out later," he stepped towards her, wrapping his arms around his wife's waist, his fingers rolling the hem of her shirt up.

"What are you doing?"

"Charlotte's asleep; this house is practically empty," he whispered against her ear, pulling her shirt over her head.

"I like the way you think."

--------------

"Hey, I just got a call that Charlotte's in the E.R.; what happened?" Link jogged to catch up with his wife, who was speeding down the hallway.

"I have no idea; maybe she took a spill in daycare or something? Owen just texted me," Amelia muttered, grabbing Link's hand for comfort. "God, this is not what I needed today." She pushed open the door to the staircase and ran down the stairs and through the hallway, entering into the near-empty E.R.

"There's your Mommy," Teddy whispered, running her hand down the girl's hair.

"Mommy!" Charlotte's face was red, her eyes puffy and swollen.

"What happened?" Amelia sat down on the side of the bed and pulled her daughter into her arms, kissing the girl's head.

"Well, Charlotte took a big fall off of the play place in daycare. Everything is fine; she just seems to be a little shaken up." Amelia smiled, feeling slightly guilty as her daughter curled into her body, gripping tightly onto her mother's scrub top. "I'll come back down and send Tom to do a neuro exam later, but she seems to be perfect," Teddy smiled and rubbed Charlotte's knee before leaving and giving the family the room.

"How do you feel, Char?" The girl shrugged at her father.

"I wanna cuddle. Just me, you, and Mommy," she whispered, glancing up at Amelia. "No one else." Link cocked his head to the side and sighed heavily, suddenly understanding what was happening.

"Are you mad at us?"

"I don't want a baby," Charlotte whispered into her mother's shirt, covering her eyes with the fabric. "No baby. Just us." Amelia looked up and locked her gaze with her husband's.

"Char," she whispered, resting her lips on top of the girl's head, "the baby is going to come no matter what. And, I know you might be mad, now, but you'll love the baby when they're here."

"When?"

"In seven months," Link sat down on the foot of the bed, squeezing his daughter's foot and causing her to laugh. "Right before Christmas."

"Is Santa gonna bring the baby?" He nodded his head while chuckling.

"We'll have to see about that. Now, should we see if we can all fit in this hospital bed?"

--------------

"Are you nervous? To be parenting two kids?" Amelia rolled onto her back, lifting up her shirt to reveal the slight curve of her stomach that had formed.

"Not really," she muttered, running a hand through her hair. "I'm more worried about Charlotte. She's so used to getting all of the attention, I think it might be difficult for her to have a sibling." Link hummed softly and laid down next to her, his hand splaying over her stomach. "Are you?"

"A little. I love her, but she's quite the drama queen. Takes after her mother," he teased, smiling to himself. "And, I love her, and you, and all of the drama."

--------------

"Charlotte's worried we're gonna love the new baby more than her," Link muttered, shoving a forkful of food into his mouth. Jo raised her eyebrows.

"I still can't get over the fact that you're a Dad. To a real-life, living child who you've managed to not drop on her head. And, you're gonna be a Dad to another kid. You're such a Dad," Jo shook her head.

"Can you be serious for like, three seconds?"

"Fine. I don't think Charlotte has anything to worry about; that little girl has you wrapped around her finger. There have been way too many times when I've come over, and you're wearing a tiara," she sipped her coffee. "But, I'm serious. You're like, the best dad, ever. It's almost disgusting how much you love her. And I think you just need to spend some time making sure that she knows that. Because in her world, all of that love you have for her is normal for a Dad."

"So, you're saying that I love my daughter too much?"

"No, I'm just saying that she's incredibly spoiled with love and affection, like all of the time. Just make her realize that the baby is more love to share."

--------------

"I wanna cuddle," Charlotte walked into her parent's room, hoisting herself on the bed and crawling in between her parents.

"Mommy needs to sleep," Amelia groaned, shifting the pillow under her head. Link pouted and held his arms out for his daughter, who laid down on his chest.

"Mommy sleeps a lot."

"That's because the baby is coming soon, Char. Mommy needs to rest and make sure that she feels okay so that the baby will be okay." Charlotte shook her head, her blonde hair hitting Link in the face. "Why don't we go cuddle on the couch so that Mommy can sleep?" He stood up, tossing the girl up in the air and catching her again before walking out of the bedroom.

"Why do we have to have baby?" Charlotte asked as she laid into the couch cushions and her father's body.

"Mommy and I love each other, and we love you, and having a baby means that there's just more love for all of us," he whispered, pulling a throw blanket over them. "Plus, babies love attention, cuddles, toys, everything that you love." Her eyelids started to droop, and Link recognized his daughter's tiredness. "You ready to go to bed?"

"Stay here and cuddle," she mumbled, laying her head on his chest.

"Alright. We'll just stay here and cuddle."

--------------

"Hey, Charlotte," Link kneeled down in the doorway, waving quickly to his parents in the kitchen. "Are you ready to come meet your little brother?"

"A boy?" He grinned and took her hand.

"Yup, you have a little brother. He's at the hospital with Mommy right now, and if you want, I can bring you to go meet him." He waited as she narrowed her eyes in concentration.

"Okay. But only to see Mommy," she held up her arms, grinning as Link lifted her, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Only to see Mommy," he repeated, breathing out a laugh. "Not at all for the baby." Their drive to the hospital was quiet, Charlotte settling back in his arms once they had arrived and walked down the hallways of the hospital. "Now, you have to be super gentle with Mommy and the baby, okay?" She nodded her head as Link pushed open the door to Amelia's room.

"CharJo!" Nico laughed, turning to them as they walked in, bouncing the baby in the arms. "You ready to meet your little sidekick?" She buried her face into Link's chest, causing all of the adults to laugh.

"We're only here to see Mommy," Link relayed, slowly placing Charlotte onto Amelia's lap.

"Alright, I gotta head out; running your service is exhausting," Nico handed the baby to Link, patting his friend's back. "Congrats again, you two." They waved goodbye, and Charlotte curled into her mother.

"You sure you don't wanna hold him?" Amelia asked, brushing back a strand of her daughter's hair. "He doesn't bite. He doesn't even have teeth yet."

"What's his name?" Her voice was soft, and she sat up in her mother's lap, looking over at Link, who was pacing around in small circles.

"His name is Scout. Scout Derek Shepherd-Lincoln," Amelia beamed, kissing her daughter's head. "And he's super cuddly and tiny. Like your baby dolls."

"But, you can't play with him like your baby dolls," Link nudged the girl, leaning down so that she could see her brother.

"He looks ugly."

"Wow, brutal honesty," Link stepped away, shaking his head as he laughed.

"He's not ugly," Amelia poked Charlotte's arm. "That's just how babies look. You looked like that once, Char."

"No."

"No?" Link scoffed, bouncing up and down as Scout fussed.

"I don't like him. Take him back, please." Amelia stifled her own laugh, rubbing her hands up and down her daughter's arms.

"He's here to stay; the little man's not going anywhere." Link moved quicker as Scout began to cry, Charlotte's attention peaking at the sound.

"Why is he crying?"

"He's probably hungry," Link muttered, walking towards his wife. "Here, Char, Mommy has to feed Scout." He lifted Charlotte into his arms, and the girl watched as her brother ate.

"Why is he eating Mommy?" Link chuckled at the concern in her voice.

"That's where he gets food from, from Mommy's body," he whispered, swaying back and forth. "Babies don't eat real food until they're older."

"No mac and cheese for Scout?" He shook his head.

"Nope." They watched as Scout finished eating, and Amelia shifted him, taking a burp cloth Link had pulled out of the hospital bag and throwing it over her shoulder as she gently patted the newborn's back.

"Are you two just gonna stare?" Amelia muttered, folding up the cloth. "Can you take him? I need to stand." Link put Charlotte down and took the baby, resuming his previous pace around the hospital room.

"Can I hold him?" Charlotte's voice was soft as she tugged at her father's pant leg, reaching towards the blanket wrapped around her brother.

"Of course, come sit down," he motioned towards the chair, grinning as she sat down. "Amelia, can you grab a pillow?" The mother nodded, pulling a pillow off the bed and setting it down on Charlotte's lap. "You wanna make sure you keep his head up, okay?" He leaned over, gently placing the baby into his daughter's arms.

"He smells weird," she spoke loudly, staring down at the baby. Link kneeled down in front of her, placing a hand on her knee. "But, I think he's okay." Amelia covered her mouth as she laughed, smirking at her daughter.

"So, it's okay if he comes home with us?" Link asked, unable to stop his grin at the sight of his children.

"Maybe. I wanna think more."

--------------

"Char, can you go unlock the door, please?" The girl nodded, taking the key from her dad and running up the walkway to their house. Amelia placed her hand on her back, carefully stepping out of the car as Link took the car seat out. "You feeling okay?" She nodded.

"Yeah, just postpartum stuff," Amelia muttered, shutting the car door and walking towards the house. "Thank you, Char."

"Can we go cuddle, pretty please?" The neurosurgeon smiled, taking her daughter's hand and leading her towards the master bedroom.

"Of course. You know we will never say no to cuddles." Link joined them, unbuckling the baby from his carrier and laying him onto Amelia's chest on the bed.

"I think he can stay," Charlotte whispered, watching her brother fall asleep. "I like him." The parents both grinned widely, Link placing a kiss on his daughter's head.

"I'm glad. Because I like you all, too."

#amelia shepherd #amelink #amelia x link #amelink fanfiction #atticus lincoln #grey's anatomy #amelink fanfic #greys abc #greys fanfic #scout lincoln #meredith grey #maggie pierce #my fics

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myonechicagoworld · 3 years

Text

CHICAGO FIRE – FIREWORKS (S01E18)

[car door shuts]

Gabby Dawson: Hey, Chief. I just thought I’d… catch you before

shift started.

Chief Boden: You caught me.

Gabby Dawson: Uh, good morning, first of all.

Chief Boden: Morning.

Gabby Dawson: So obviously I heard what I heard last night. And I

guess I’m just trying to figure out what to do about

it now that it’s kind of out in the open.

Chief Boden: It’s not out in the open.

Gabby Dawson: Well, I mean it’s out in the open for me, because I

don’t know if you’re aware or not, but Pete and I

are dating.

Chief Boden: I’m aware.

Gabby Dawson: So you may also be aware that Pete’s become

increasingly convinced that people are keeping

secrets from him about his dad, vis à vis…

Are you gonna tell him what’s going on before he

hears it from Kelly’s dad?

Chief Boden: Benny Severide is not gonna be coming around 51

anymore.

Gabby Dawson: Still, Pete is gonna keep digging until he finds out.

Chief Boden: Gabby, your dogged inquisitiveness…is one of the

qualities that makes you such an effective paramedic.

But it is of no use to you in this matter, which is a

private one.

If you care about Mills like I think you do… drop it.

I’ll see you back at the house.

cutscene

[food sizzling in pan]

Benny Severide: Hey.

Kelly Severide: Morning.

Benny Severide: Morning. We got scrapple and we got eggs.

Grab a seat. There you go.

Kelly Severide: Thanks.

Benny Severide: So, um… Whoritsky’s offered me a teaching post,

and I’m-I’m thinking about doing it. Figured I

could come down and see you ever couple

weeks, hang out. What do you think?

Kelly Severide: Sounds good.

Benny Severide: Will probably have to spend one more shift at the

house. Kind of re-familiarise myself with a couple

of things. So why don’t you tell Boden I’ll be there

about noon.

Kelly Severide: What the hell’s going on with you and Boden?

Benny Severide: Look, Wally and me, we go way back. He and I,

one minute we’re at each other’s throats and-and

the next I’m helping to put a new deck on his

house, okay? This is nothing new.

Look, I promise you, I-I’ll be a choir boy, okay?

A mute choir boy.

cutscene

Chief Boden: Keep that 2 ½ on the roof line. I don’t want a flare-up

spreading to other buildings.

Kelly Severide: Oh, hey, sir, sir. You’re gonna want to stand back,

okay?

Man 1 (Owner): It’s my restaurant, are-are my employees safe?

Kelly Severide: (into radio) Hey, Casey, you got a search status?

Matt Casey: (into radio) Building’s clear, just opening up the ceiling.

Pop a couple of these tiles.

[tiles breaking]

Kelly Severide: Building was empty, your people are out.

Man 1 (Owner): Son of a bitch said I’d pay. I never thought he’d go

this far.

Kelly Severide: Yeah?

Man 1 (Owner): Ten years without a grease fire. I opened four

restaurants in the union, suddenly he sees money.

I refused to sign. They send this thug!

Kelly Severide: Sounds like you’re gonna want to talk to CPD.

Man 1 (Owner): What good would that do? This guy’s not gonna

stop until I’m-I’m ruined or dead.

Lady 1 (Owner’s Wife): [sobbing]

Matt Casey: (into radio) Okay, Chief, we’re almost done. Send in

engine for the wash down.

[ceiling crashing]

Firefighter: Whoa!

Joe Cruz: Casey!

- title -

Peter Mills: Lieutenant!

Joe Cruz: Mills, get out of here!

[grunts]

[glass shattering]

Joe Cruz: [groans]

Chief Boden: Hit him with the hose!

Joe Cruz: Come on!

[water spraying]

Joe Cruz: Lieutenant!

Matt Casey: [grunts] I’m okay [pants]

Thanks, Cruz.

[water spraying]

Matt Casey: Seriously, it’s fine. It didn’t burn through my gear.

Leslie Shay: Then what’s this?

Matt Casey: Ow.

Gabby Dawson: Hold still. It’s just a first-degree burn.

Will you give me that bandage?

Couple more seconds of whatever that was that

dumped down on you, it wouldn’t have stopped

at the jacket.

Leslie Shay: [sighs] It smells like fuel.

Otis Zvonecek: That’s ‘cause it was. Homemade gasoline fire

bombs in the ceiling.

Lady 1 (Owner’s Wife): [sobbing]

cutscene

Matt Casey: Back door was kicked in. It’s not like whoever did it

was making an attempt to hide it was arson.

Man 2 (James Whoritsky): CPD said they’d back seat to my office

on this one.

Kelly Severide: On that union rep who was threatened by the owner

of the diner?

Man 2 (James Whoritsky): Yeah, your owner, Stuart Tuxhorn, filed a

complaint against a, uh, Lou Krinsky

last month. We’re checking it out, but

with a case like this, the evidence is

circumstantial at best.

Kelly Severide: [chuckles] Yeah.

Man 2 (James Whoritsky): Did I say something funny?

Kelly Severide: Yeah, this union guy, if he’s connected to city

politics, you can’t tell me that someone isn’t

already trying to get this buried.

Chief Boden: Look, we’re good here. Just keep us posted.

Kelly Severide: Can I talk to you a sec?

My old man wants to come by the house again.

Chief Boden: Kelly, I don’t think that’s a good idea.

[door closes]

Kelly Severide: Whatever business you guys got, that’s your

business. But he said he’ll be a choir boy and

it’s-it’s one more shift.

Chief Boden: Here’s the deal, Kelly. I don’t know what your dad

has told you…

Kelly Severide: He hasn’t told me dick.

Chief Boden: Some guys when they retire and they come back

around the job, for some reason, they gotta tear

it down. I’m no psychologist, but your dad, he’s

always been really adept at tearing things down.

So that he’s the only one left standing. He has a

take on how Peter Mills’ father died, and it’s

untrue. And that would hurt Pete if that were

thrown in his face. I will not allow your father to

do it. So it would be in everybody’s best interest

if you were to meet your father in another house.

So… you can tell him. Or I could tell him.

[cell phone rings]

Benny Severide: Hey.

Kelly Severide: Hey. Uh, my buddy Jason Baseden over at Squad

One, you remember him?

Benny Severide: Yeah, sure, I remember Jason.

Kelly Severide: Well, he heard you were in town and he was…he

was…he was, like, “get your old man over here!”

It’s a newer house, all the latest bells and whistles

and I can stop by later if we don’t get a call. So…

so stop over there, okay? Jason’s expecting you.

Benny Severide: Yeah, sure, of course. No problem.

cutscene

Gabby Dawson: Hey.

Peter Mills: Hey. Um, hey, don’t be jealous, but, uh, Dolores down

at the records department of the academy… I sent her

a gift basket of cookies and brownies, just trying to

butter her up to try and get information on the fire my

dad died in, and… it worked. She sent me over the

Battalion Chief’s original report. And I am starting to

see why Boden and Kelly’s dad don’t want to talk

about it. Two firefighters dying and the other

fire-fighter’s wife was pregnant with her first child.

Gabby Dawson: Tough to relive through, you know?

Peter Mills: Yeah.

Well, Dolores is still searching, she’s gonna send me

anything that she finds.

cutscene

Joe Cruz: [growls]

[dog growling]

Leslie Shay: Hey, guys, what does ‘ebullient’ mean again?

Joe Cruz: No idea.

Mouch: Bull-like. To resemble a bull.

Otis Zvonecek: Means cheerful and energetic.

Mouch: Or that.

Leslie Shay: All right, thanks.

Otis Zvonecek: Why?

Leslie Shay: One of these guys used it to describe himself.

Matt Casey: Any guy that describes himself as ebullient, you don’t

want his sperm.

Leslie Shay: Yeah, right. Thanks.

Mouch: How much longer you gonna be on this donor kick?

Leslie Shay: Until I find the right guy.

Mouch: And you can just look at ‘em on your computer.

Leslie Shay: Mmhmm, like I’m doing right now. Correct.

Mouch: I admire your gumption. Most other people would, you

know, keep that behind closed doors.

Leslie Shay: Every time Cindy gets pregnant, Herrmann plasters her

sonogram images all over the fridge. And what? I’m

supposed to hide in a corner?

Mouch: I said I admire your gumption.

[phone vibrates]

Leslie Shay: Well, thanks.

Matt Casey: Hey Heather.

Heather Darden: I was in the neighbourhood.

Matt Casey: Great.

Heather Darden: Hey, um, did you notice an earring in your truck?

I’m missing one.

Matt Casey: Uh, I didn’t see it, but I can… I can take a look.

Heather Darden: Thank you.

Oh and by the way, Saturday the kids are staying

with my parents and I was planning on having

dinner with one of my girlfriends, but her dad’s

not doing so hot so she had to fly out to

Jacksonville. But I’ve already got that night free

so I was thinking, why don’t we grab dinner?

cutscene

[alert beeps]

Benny Severide: (over PA) Smoke eater in the house!

Kelly Severide: God damn it!

Benny Severide: Donut man in the house!

Donuts, everybody! Donuts!

Firefighters: Oh, hell yeah!

[indistinct shouting and cheering]

Benny Severide: Come and get it!

Kelly Severide: Hey, what happened to going to Squad one?

Benny Severide: I didn’t want to.

Come on, you guys, let’s get a donut.

Hi, Wally.

You know, I used to bring those to the ladies

in arson all the time. One of them, Ruthie,

she didn’t have anything personal in her office.

I mean, nothing. Not a family photo, nothing.

All she had behind her desk, right in the middle

of her tack board was this quote, “If you can’t

do anything about it, don’t worry about it.” And

I am, like, “Man, this Ruthie is locked into some

higher level stuff,” right?

Chief Boden: Benny, can I talk to you real quick?

Benny Severide: Yeah, just a second. So anyway, Ruthie retires

and I go in to say goodbye and I look at the

board and the quote is still there. And I say,

“Hey Ruthie, you forgot your quote.” And she

says, “That’s not mine, that was here when I

moved into the office.”

[laughter]

Benny Severide: All this time I thought she was like this oracle

or something, you know? Anyway, I kept the

quote. What the hell? Couldn’t hurt.

Lead the way, boss.

Chief Boden: You’re not welcome here.

Benny Severide: Yeah? Is that why you have my son hustle me

down the road?

Chief Boden: You are not welcome here.

Benny Severide: 25 years on the job, 15 of them in this house.

Nobody tells me when I can come and go!

Kelly Severide: Whatever you two are trying not to bring attention

to, guess what? You’re bringing attention to it.

Benny Severide: We got this, Kelly.

Kelly Severide: No you don’t!

He wants to stay here one more shift, that’s it.

Can you keep your mouth shut while you’re

here?

Benny Severide: Who the hell are you to tell me to…

Kelly Severide: It’s a yes or no question!

[knocks on door]

Matt Casey: Lou Krinsky, restaurant workers local 553 is here.

Looking to talk to us.

Chief Boden: We’ll be right there.

Matt Casey: Do I need to turn the hose on you guys?

Chief Boden: We’re good. We’re fine. We’ll be right out.

Hmph. You always had all the answers.

But I’m gonna tell you, this is your only shift. You

try and show up again for a second, I will put an

ass kicking on you 20 years in the making.

Benny Severide: Ooh! You still got it, Wally. I was starting to think

all those bugles had turned you into a big

marshmallow.

It’s the way it’s always been with me and him.

Kelly Severide: You didn’t own this house. You rented it. And I’m

here now, so show me some respect.

cutscene

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): Just curious why a report coming from this

house has the arson department trying to

finger me for burning down a restaurant.

Matt Casey: That report conveyed the owner’s statement to us,

that’s all.

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): Oh, okay. Well then, I would like to make

a report. Tuxhorn… rapes baby seals.

Put that in the report, have him have to

defend it.

Chief Boden: This is between you and the fire investigations.

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): Yeah, and it got that far because you

guys took the word of some sweatshop

owner over that of a fellow union brother.

Why don’t you show some courtesy, talk

to me first.

Kelly Severide: We’re not talking about a busboy who got fired,

Lou, this is serious business.

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): I know. I’m being accused of starting it!

Kelly Severide: We just wrote down what we saw and heard.

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): [scoffs]

Matt Casey: Guy’s a skull cracker.

[door closes]

cutscene

Leslie Shay: You’re awfully quiet? Everything all right?

Gabby Dawson: All right, let’s… let’s say that if you knew

something… What?

Leslie Shay: Nothing.

Gabby Dawson: No, no, no. Don’t give me that. What? What

is it?

Leslie Shay: Um…

[chuckling]

Gabby Dawson: Ohh… ohh…

Mouch: Oh, goodness gracious.

Leslie Shay: I’m not here to judge you.

Mouch: [stammers] I didn’t… see, that… when… when the…

what?

Leslie Shay: I’m not here to judge you. I just want to know how

it works.

Mouch: Who else knows?

Leslie Shay: No one.

Mouch: Dawson?

Leslie Shay: Just Dawson.

Mouch: Oh Shay.

Leslie Shay: Don’t worry. She’s sworn to secrecy. But, Mouch, I

gotta ask. Six foot? 175?

Mouch: I aged out. It was my understanding they were gonna

take that down.

Leslie Shay: Fine. Look, I got a million questions I’m gonna ask

you. Can I? Please?

Mouch: [sighs] Okay, I’m ready.

Leslie Shay: Great. First off, the sperm. Did you…

[fire alarm buzzes and blares]

Mouch: Oh!

(Over PA): Truck 81, Ambulance 61. Restaurant fire.

[sirens blaring]

[horn honking]

Kelly Severide: Mr Tuxhorn.

Man 1 (Owner/Tuxhorn): I never should have told you ‘cause

he’s gonna bury me now.

Kelly Severide: Stay back.

Lady 2 (Bus Driver): I’m the one who called. I was making my

stop and I saw a man on fire running

through the restaurant.

Chief Boden: Okay, no one goes in. Hit it from the window. Quick

takedown. If that driver’s right, this is gonna be a

recovery.

[water spraying]

Matt Casey: (into radio) Cleared the dining room and bathrooms.

No bodies. Moving into the kitchen.

Kelly Severide: Guess I don’t need to remind you to keep your

eyes on the ceiling.

Matt Casey: That’s exactly what I’m doing.

Kelly Severide: Hey. It’s the same entry point as the last fire.

Matt Casey: Wherever he is, he’s long gone.

(into radio) This is Casey. Building’s clear.

[door swings open]

Kelly Severide: Uh Casey…

Matt Casey: (into radio) We need a medic.

[indistinct radio chatter]

Gabby Dawson: [grunts] Let’s turn him over.

Leslie Shay: [grunts]

Gabby Dawson: Agonal breathing. Fire may have scorched his

lungs.

Matt Casey: How bad?

Gabby Dawson: I don’t know. Airway looks pretty fried.

Leslie Shay: His arms are burned. Can’t get a line in. He’s got

minutes at best.

Gabby Dawson: We move him or lose him. Give us a hand?

Leslie Shay: On three. Very gentle. One, two, three.

Gabby Dawson: (into radio) 61 to Main, let Lakeshore know we

are two minutes out with a burn victim.

Leslie Shay: Dawson…

Gabby Dawson: (into radio) 61 to Main. Cancel that. Victim is

DOA. We will transport from scene for safety.

Dispatcher: Copy that 61… [continues indistinctively]

cutscene

Man 2 (James Whoristsky): Well, we verified it. Krinsky’s alibi

clears him from the second fire.

Matt Casey: Come on, he’s union muscle. He could have had

one of his knuckleheads torch both places.

Man 2 (James Whoristsky): I’m not arguing with that. But as

of now, we don’t have actionable

evidence.

Chief Boden: I got a drawer in the morgue full of evidence. I

don’t care if the man inside is homeless or a

CEO, he didn’t deserve the death he got.

Man 2 (James Whoristsky): Oh, and I think he did? Come on,

give me a break.

Kelly Severide: The guy who owns these restaurants is fearing

for his life.

Man 2 (James Whoristsky): We need proof. Do I really need to

explain arson investigation to you

guys? It take a while.

Kelly Severide: Let’s go back to that second fire and look around.

Matt Casey: Yeah. All right.

Kelly Severide: Cool?

Chief Boden: Yeah. Take your dad with you.

Kelly Severide: Chief, he gave his word that he’d keep his mouth

shut around here…

Chief Boden: I know he’s a pain in the ass, but he’s a hell of an

arson investigator.

Kelly Severide: Oh yeah.

[door closes]

Peter Mills: You know, I could cook you up something if you’d

like.

Benny Severide: Oh, that’s all right. Thanks, though.

Peter Mills: I didn’t know that you and my dad were on Squad

together. And um… the other firefighter who died

with him.

Benny Severide: That’s right. Ross McGowan. Two years on

the job. About your age. Had his whole life

ahead of him. Never got to meet his daughter.

A real shame.

Peter Mills: Yeah, I’m sorry to bring that up. I know it must be uh,

really hard to relive.

Benny Severide: Yeah. Never should have happened.

Peter Mills: How do you mean?

Benny Severide: Well, like you said. It’s hard to relive.

Peter Mills: Respectfully, Mr Severide, I get the sense that there’s

something you really want to tell me.

Kelly Severide: Hey. Let’s take a ride.

cutscene

Leslie Shay: So, like the pamphlet says, you just…do it in a cup?

Mouch: No, uh, a…a gossamer-winged stork flies down and…

Leslie Shay: [sighs]

Mouch: Yes.

Leslie Shay: And have you had contact with any of the…

Mouch: With the kids? God, no!

Leslie Shay: Because…

Mouch: I’m Father Flanagan? No way! I treasure my privacy.

Leslie Shay: Damn. It just… seems so impersonal.

Mouch: Let me just stop you right there. My cousin Ted and his

wife, Patty, they tried for a long time, couldn’t conceive.

They decided to go the AI route, that’s shorthand for

artificial…

Leslie Shay: I got it.

Mouch: Okay. So now they have a lovely daughter Elsa who is

the light of their lives. And that family is filled with

nothing but love, despite the clinical origins.

Leslie Shay: That’s beautiful. I…Is that why you became a donor?

Because of them?

Mouch: No. The cash. 125 a pop. That’s what they call a renewable

resource.

Leslie Shay: I don’t know, man. Might have to figure something else

out.

cutscene

[door closes]

Benny Severide: So, Matt, was that Andy Darden’s widow I saw

you with at the academy dinner?

Matt Casey: Yeah, Heather. That was her. She just needed a ride.

Benny Severide: It’s good to see you guys haven’t turned your

back on her. That’s important.

Matt Casey: Yeah. Absolutely. I’ll take the back.

Kelly Severide: Both buildings were broken into from the rear

entry. Gas accelerants were used.

Benny Severide: Okay.

I don’t know about this teaching gig.

Kelly Severide: Why not?

Benny Severide: Job’s changed too much.

Kelly Severide: It’s almost exactly the same. It’s just better gear.

Benny Severide: Well, the people have changed is what I’m

saying. Back when I came up, you fought a

war at 18. You had kids by the time you were 22.

You’d live a life. You were a man. Now these kids

are coming straight out of their parents’

basements to the firehouse. What the hell can I

teach somebody like that?

Hadley: [indistinctive chatter]

Benny Severide: Like him.

Hadley: [laughs]

Kelly Severide: Who? Hadley? He’s fine.

Benny Severide: Yeah. Okay.

Kelly Severide: They still have wars. People still pop out kids. I

don’t know why you gotta piss on everything.

Benny Severide: Rubber. From the sole of a sneaker. That bus

driver was right. Somebody was on fire and

running through here. What was the homeless

guy wearing?

Kelly Severide: He had boots on.

Benny Severide: Then we’re looking for somebody else. It

wouldn’t be him.

Hadley: So this thing collapses and knocks us down… [laughs]

Kelly Severide: Hadley.

Hadley: Yeah?

Kelly Severide: Quit playing grab ass, would you?

Benny Severide: Look at this. You see that? Pry marks. This door

wasn’t breached from the outside. Somebody

had a key. The owner or somebody he hired.

They let themselves in the front door and then

they pried this open. Make it look like it was

broken in from the outside.

Kelly Severide: You gotta be kidding me.

Benny Severide: Inside job.

cutscene

Chief Boden: Thank you. Appreciate it.

15 minutes after the second fire was call in,

18-year-old kid walked into an urgent care unit

five blocks from the scene. He had second and

third degree burns. Claimed it was a barbecue

mishap. Memorial went and picked him up.

He’s there’s now.

Kelly Severide: I want to head down there and check it out.

Chief Boden: Kelly…

Kelly Severide: I don’t like getting lied to. I don’t like getting

worked. And if someone other than that union

guy got that homeless man killed, I want to

know.

Matt Casey: I got him covered.

Chief Boden: Hit it.

[door closes]

[knocks on door]

Kelly Severide: What’s up, Omar? Lieutenant Severide, CFD.

Teen 1 (Omar): Oh geez. Damn barbecue. Didn’t know the gas

was on and boom. Lucky I’m alive.

Kelly Severide: Where were you standing?

Teen 1 (Omar): Right in front of the grill, trying to light it.

Kelly Severide: Then how’d you burn your legs?

Teen 1 (Omar): I don’t know. It was a big ol’ fireball, though.

Kelly Severide: Those aren’t barbecue burns, Omar. I’d know.

I’ve responded to 20 of them.

Teen 1 (Omar): I-I swear to God…

Kelly Severide: And they’re gonna test the shoes you were

wearing against the rubber fixed to the floor

in that diner and it’s all gonna go south.

Teen 1 (Omar): Why? For what? I-I didn’t do nothing.

Kelly Severide: A guy was killed in that second fire.

Teen 1 (Omar): No. No, no, no, man.

Kelly Severide: Look, I’m not a cop. I just want to know

what happened and I’ll help you any way I

can before the cops get involved. And

they’re gonna get involved soon.

Teen 1 (Omar): Okay. All right, mayb… there’s one thing

maybe you can help me with.

Kelly Severide: I’ll try.

Teen 1 (Omar): It was an insurance scam. Tuxhorn and his

wife wanted two of the diners to go down

and they was gonna lay it off on some union

dude who he was beefing with. And he

asked my dad to help him do it. My dad

owes him a lot of money, so he said he was

in to settle up. But my dad, he got a knee

replacement surgery last year and he ain’t

too quick. So I said I’d do it. I was pouring

the gas… I don’t know. Maybe the fumes hit

a pilot light or something. And I was just

running through the restaurant all on fire and…

Tuxhorn put me out and he took me here and

he said to say it was a barbecue accident.

Look, man, I’ll take the ride for it. I just gotta

leave my dad out of it. Can I do that? Can I

leave my dad out of it with the cops?

Kelly Severide: Don’t bring up his name.

Teen 1 (Omar): Okay. Thank you.

cutscene

Mouch: Did somebody change his food, ‘cause there is

something going on here.

Peter Mills: Where’s Herrmann?

Matt Casey: Bar management seminar.

You guys close to opening?

Gabby Dawson: Uh, a few weeks…hopefully.

Joe Cruz: Hey, uh, Shay, where’s your iPad?

Leslie Shay: Put it away for a bit.

Joe Cruz: Did you find a donor?

Leslie Shay: Regrouping.

Joe Cruz: So you’re not going the whole sperm donor route

anymore?

Leslie Shay: What is this, an interrogation? I told you, I’m

regrouping.

Otis Zvonecek: So, um, who asked who out? I’m just

curious.

Gabby Dawson: [laughs]

Peter Mills: Um, wait. You did, right?

Gabby Dawson: What?

Peter Mills: Yeah, you asked me to dinner that one night.

Gabby Dawson: Oh no, that-that wasn’t a date.

Peter Mills: Damn.

Gabby Dawson: What’s up?

Peter Mills: Dolores from Records, she sent me an email

earlier. I just… I can’t open it on my phone.

I’m… I’m gonna try it in there.

[typing]

[tense music]

cutscene

Chief Boden: Hey, Kelly, great job.

Kelly Severide: Hey, thanks, Chief.

Chief Boden: You too, Benny.

Benny Severide: Thank you. I appreciate that.

How about I get a cup of coffee before

I take off?

Kelly Severide: All right.

Leslie Shay: Hey, you got a second?

Kelly Severide: Yeah.

What?

Leslie Shay: So how are you?

Kelly Severide: Um, what’s-what’s going on?

Leslie Shay: So here’s the deal. You know I’ve done

thorough research on this whole

insemination thing. And today I got… well,

I guess, uh, accidental window into how

the whole process works, and it really left

me feeling… hollow.

Kelly Severide: Okay.

Leslie Shay: And you know, I’ve been searching for the

perfect guy to be the father of my baby.

Someone honourable, strong, good looking

[chuckles] I mean, sue me. And maybe even

someone who would want to be part of the

child’s life. And someone who would want to

celebrate, you know, how beautiful it could be.

With me… a cool chick who’s not gonna freak

out and they’ll never have to worry about, you

know, me wanting a divorce or trying to take all

their money, or be a bitch or… [exhales] Kelly I

want to know if you’d like to have a baby with

me.

Kelly Severide: Look, Shay, I…

Leslie Shay: No, no, no. Let me finish. And we’d go through

the insemination process…

Kelly Severide: Um…

Leslie Shay: And… and yeah. Okay that’s it. I’m done.

Kelly Severide: I don’t… I don’t… I don’t know what to say.

Leslie Shay: That’s okay. I just… I just want you to-to think

about it.

Kelly Severide: I…

Leslie Shay: Thank you. And listen, if the answer’s no, I mean,

there won’t even be a hiccup between us. It…

it’s okay. It-It’ll be solid Always you and me.

Okay?

[kissing sound]

Kelly Severide: Uh…

cutscene

Benny Severide: Okay, that’s it. I’m outta here.

Mouch: Great to meet you, Ben.

Benny Severide: Good to see you again.

Joe Cruz: Such a pleasure.

Benny Severide: Good to see you.

Otis Zvonecek: Thanks for the donuts.

Benny Severide: Yup.

Matt Casey: Take care, Benny.

Benny Severide: Hey.

Peter Mills: Hey. Mr Severide, can I talk to you in private.

Benny Severide: Actually, I’m just taking off. It was nice

meeting you.

Peter Mills: Yeah, please… I really need to talk to you.

Benny Severide: Can you make it quick?

Peter Mills: Sure.

Um, the Lambert Tree Award. It’s the highest

award awarded to a firefighter. My father was

nominated and everyone up the line signed off

on it… except for you. Just curious to why.

Benny Severide: Some other time, kid, okay?

Peter Mills: Is this what you’re trying to say to me? Do you

feel bad about not signing off for it? That even

though my father was a hero… and even

though he gave his life…

Benny Severide: It’s an award for valor!

Chief Boden: Benny.

Benny Severide: He wants to hear it. I’m gonna tell him.

In the middle of that fire, your father

panicked and pulled off his mask, which

would have been his business, except

another guy died trying to save him. So,

no, I didn’t sign it. Because I could not in

good faith reward someone for

demonstrating cowardice…

Firefighters: Whoa!

Come on, man!

Hey! Hey!

Come on!

Benny Severide: Unh!

[panting] You want to know why Boden

thinks your father wasn’t at fault? Do ya?

‘Cause he’s an optimist, I guess.

I’ll see you back at your house.

Chief Boden: Mills… You are off duty until further notice.

Get your gear. Wait for Benny to get off site,

and you go home and you’ll wait to hear

from me.

Rest of you, get back to work.

Gabby Dawson: Hey, you okay?

Peter Mills: No.

Gabby Dawson: Look, I totally get what lead up to that

and I am so sorry, but you can’t just go

around punching people.

Peter Mills: My dad wasn’t able to defend himself. So I did.

[locker door slams]

Peter Mills: [sighs]

cutscene

Chief Boden: We were all real close. Henry and me. Benny.

Our wives. Then Ingrid and Henry, they

separated. My wife left me. It was during that

time. It just happened. Then I realised that

Henry might have still had feelings for her,

and I may have moved too quick, so I

stepped back just to see. And I was right.

Henry moved back in after a month. Ingrid

always says I broke her heart. So if you

think that there’s something that Peter needs

or wants to know, I’ll go to his place after shift.

I’ll tell him.

Gabby Dawson: Is what Benny said true?

Chief Boden: Not from where I was standing.

cutscene

Heather Darden: Matt?

Matt Casey: Hmm?

Heather Darden: You have like, two utensils in this kitchen.

Matt Casey: Yeah, it’s on my to-do list.

Heather Darden: You’ve been busy, huh?

Matt Casey: Yeah, it’s been one thing after another lately.

Heather Darden: Have you been dating? Since Hallie?

Matt Casey: Uh, there was someone for a minute, maybe

less. Wasn’t the right time.

Heather Darden: Sorry to hear that.

Matt Casey: What are you gonna do? Damn that smells

good. First home-cooked meal I’ve had

since… I don’t even know.

Heather Darden: It sucks having to come home to an

empty house, doesn’t it?

Matt Casey: Yeah.

Heather Darden: We don’t have to be alone. We don’t

deserve to be. We’re good people.

Why can’t we be happy?

Matt Casey: Heather… I’m really glad you’re here. And

if it was under different circumstances,

believe me… but Andy was one of my best

friends. And he was your husband, and… I

think we should honour that.

Heather Darden: You know what? You’re right. Let’s just

count our blessings

Matt Casey: Dinner and a movie. Let’s get the movie ready.

cutscene

[knocks on door]

Gabby Dawson: Hey, bruiser.

[door shuts]

[kissing sound]

Peter Mills: What’s the word? You heard anything?

Gabby Dawson: Yeah. I, um, spoke to Boden briefly.

Peter Mills: What did he say?

Gabby Dawson: Well, he hasn’t heard from Benny so

the hope is that he doesn’t raise a

stink. If that’s the case, then hopefully

this thing will stay in house. Boden

says to just sit tight for now.

Peter Mills: That’s all he said?

Gabby Dawson: That’s all he said to me.

Peter Mills: Okay, look… can I just say that even though

I’m… maybe in a jam right now, I feel… I feel

lighter. ’Cause since forever I’ve been carrying

around this weight of not knowing. And I could

always just tell that there was something out

there that wasn’t being told to me. At least now

I can… I can move on.

Gabby Dawson: Hey… what Benny said isn’t true.

Peter Mills: I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay?

Gabby Dawson: Baby, it’s not true…

Peter Mills: Look, I-I don’t want to talk about it anymore

[exhales]

cutscene

Matt Casey: Heather.

[orchestral music playing on TV]

[TV turns off]

cutscene

Benny Severide: He’s just like his old man. It was Henry

Mills against the world. The guy always

had a problem. So if people want to

knock me for being arrogant or

whatever, let them. At least I was

un-conflicted. And in this job, you

better damn well have that going for

you, or you and your buddy’s badges

will end up on the wall at the academy.

Kelly Severide: Well, I didn’t know his old man, but I

know Peter. And from what I’ve seen,

the kid has heart. He has courage.

Benny Severide: Yeah, well I’ve seen your squad. Maybe

you’re not the best judge of character.

[bag zips]

Benny Severide: Look, Kelly, I…I really did come down

here to spend time with you. I didn’t

mean for any of this to happen. And if

anything I did reflects poorly on you,

I’m sorry about that. I guess your old

man is just a guy stuck in his ways. But

hey… if you can’t do anything about it,

don’t worry about it.

[door opens and closes]

cutscene

[knocks on door]

Kelly Severide: Hey.

Peter Mills: Hey.

Kelly Severide: Listen, I know it’s been on your mind

and, uh, I think you’d be a really great

addition to squad. You’re gonna want

to take Hazmat Tech “A”, Vertical

Rescue and Building Collapse One. If

any of them are full, you let me know I

can…I can pull some strings.

Peter Mills: Really?

Kelly Severide: Really. Let’s push it, see what happens.

Peter Mills: Okay.

Kelly Severide: Great.

[chuckling]

- end -

Definitions:

Scrapple = Also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name Pannhaas or “pan rabbit”, is a traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed load, and slices of the scrapple are then pan-fried before serving

Agonal breathing = Medical term used to describe struggling to breathe or gasping. It is often a symptom of a severe medical emergency, such as a stroke or cardiac arrest. The gasping associated with agonal respiration is not true breathing, but rather a brainstem reflex.

Hazmat Tech “A” = Hazardous Materials Technician course provides the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities to operate offensively or defensively at an incident involving the release of hazardous materials.

Building Collapse One = This course is extensively hands-on and prepares the student to operate safely and efficiently at a building collapse incident. It offers practice in cutting, breaching, lifting, stabilising, searching, shoring, packaging, and removing victims from a simulated collapse environment

20 notes · View notes

official-alan-dabiri · 3 years

Text

Jesus Christ Blizzard What The Fuck

Alright, I just want to get my thoughts down on this because acknowledging it is mandatory and the more I think about it the more I have to think about it and holy shit. Jesus Christ Blizzard what the fuck.

Before the cut, the most important thing to say is that down here as physical people on the ground, our individual mental health matters more than making a gesture that might not mean anything. If thinking about the shit that happened hurts you, do yourself a favor and don’t think about it. Don’t worry: plenty of other people are being emotionally consumed by it at every hour of the day!

Additionally, if you want or need to be playing Heroes of the Storm - or whatever other games Blizzard made, if any - for your own mental, social, or emotional well-being, you aren’t morally obligated to stop. Do what you gotta do to make it day to day, okay? Obviously if you can stop giving them money, that would be great - some proportion of that money will indirectly go towards paying the lawyers who will be trying to dodge facing consequences for these actions. But please secure your own orcs-ygen mask before assisting others.

The second most important thing to say is that I wholeheartedly condemn the actions described in the DFEH investigation. The vast majority of those behaviors are monstrous and unforgivable, and the only thing worse is the implication - true or not - that Blizzard’s management and HR department either participated or was complicit in them.

With those matters said, I’ll put the rest under the cut to spare you all the dash space.

In case it needs to be said again: I am not Alan Dabiri. This blog is not affiliated in any capacity with Blizzard. I’m just some guy copying something cool I saw a lesbian do.

For the sake of everyone’s mental health, I’m not going to go into details about the report. If you want details, they’re all over the internet, but be warned that they range from frustrating to enraging to nauseating. Just searching for “Blizzard Scandal” isn’t specific enough, so I will say - for future generations who might be scrolling back and reading this in 2022, after “Blizzard Scandal” brings up a whole new thing - that this is in reference to the California DFEH discrimination lawsuit, wherein a 2-year investigation led to a laundry list of crimes committed by Blizzard and Blizzard employees against the women who worked there. Some of these are labor crimes, some of these are just dick moves, and some of them are seriously dark shit that’s going to haunt me every time a Blizzard game’s story decides that the only thing they can do with a woman is have her go crazy and get killed. What immediately followed was an outpouring of more horrifying stories across social media from others who worked for Blizzard, whose experiences were not included in the report.

Blizzard’s statements in response to the suit are a mixed bag. For one thing, they outright deny all the charges, insisting that many of the claims are distorted, out of context, factually incorrect, or - the most irrelevant kind of accusation - old. They hide behind an updated Code of Conduct and new training standards rather than do anything to acknowledge any of the wrongdoing. (Because no one would ever know that [redacted] was a morally disgusting crime unless an HR video told them!) Their statement instead points fingers at the state and their “unaccountable bureaucrats” driving businesses out of California. It’s the most childish response imaginable, and makes the whole thing look even worse than it already did. When you are accused of ignoring mistreatment of a specific group of employees, perhaps the correct response isn’t to ignore the accusations altogether and whine that you’re being bullied by law enforcement.

That said, the Blizzard response does have a grain of truth to it. The DFEH’s filing is outside of normal protocol. After the investigation, the DFEH’s normal procedure is to work with the company, resolving claims and concerns with them directly before moving to litigation, if necessary. Further speculation online has been that the state of California may be trying to make an example out of Blizzard. The games industry has long been full of this exact kind of discrimination and harassment. Coming down on Blizzard for this shows the industry that even their titans can and will be held accountable, even if it means going to court when it may not have been by the book to do so.

Maybe it’s not fair to Blizzard that they have been denied the opportunity to address these complaints in private with their own evidence and information. Maybe some of these complaints are indeed factually incorrect. Maybe some of these perpetrators faced serious consequences that the victims were not aware of. Maybe they did everything right to cut the problems in their internal culture out over the last few years, but the DFEH had already decided that Blizzard needed to be their scapegoat for the whole industry.

But Blizzard’s response being a tantrum cry of “nah-uh ur a bunch of fudging meaners” makes it look to me like they want to be that scapegoat. And if this is the only way the industry starts holding their supervisors and HR departments accountable for how they treat women and minorities in their employ, it would be a hard sell to convince me that the DFEH is making a bad call to take Blizzard to task for these offenses. Even if Blizzard puts to rest each and every claim with clear evidence of proper behavior on the part of the company in a court of law, I also find it hard to argue against having Blizzard submit to the public record a roadmap on how a large corporation in an especially abusive industry can eliminate a culture of harassment and sexism.

I, uh, don’t expect that to be the result. But boy, wouldn’t that be great? All the victims got their justice, Blizzard is exonerated, and every HR department in the nation is handed a toolkit to fix even the worst work environment? You want to talk about a fantasy setting, there you go.

#Blizzard Scandal 2021 #Seriously so many articles if you search for Blizzard Scandal are the Blitzchung thing #And the salary spreadsheet from last year #And Bobby Kotick doing Bobby Kotick things #I can't imagine what that search looks like a year from now

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twiceblackvelvet · 4 years

Text

Soulmates?

requested!

Early rises and strolls to work for the opening shift are far more pleasant than imaginable. The sun rising slowly over the horizon whilst the pathways are clear of other people and hardly any cars noisily taking up road space. It’s calming, beautiful, in fact, to see the change in hues in the sky from a deep orange to a lighter yellow once it’s high enough above everything else. A camera roll full of pictures taken with the beams blazing down could never possibly do it justice, but it does help take off some of the chills during the winter months just looking at them.

It’s quite an easy job, truth be told, the only complication that ever presents itself is through difficult customers and they are few and far between thankfully. Doing the rounds to turn on all of the appliances and the fridge lights is a welcomed routine compared to the never-ending cleaning that comes with a closing shift. It should be a world record how long it takes to hoover the floors, mop them, and then try not to mess up all of that hard work by creating a shoe path through the wet flooring.

For the last six months, Mina has been working at the convenience store, and taking on every single shift her schedule will allow whilst still trying to continue her studies. Serving customers isn’t the be-all and end-all but she is grateful to have been offered the position with no experience in hospitality whatsoever. The owners had recently had to let go of one of their original employees after he was caught taking money from the register thus she was hired before even sitting the interview out of desperation to replace him.

Whilst there are a few customers who are tough to deal with, there are also the locals who are always full of small snippets about their lives, or, will simply offer a courteous smile if their own day is not going as planned. Her favorite, however, is watching all the young and in love couples enter the store together, there’s something about watching their small yet romantic gestures toward one another, and whilst the green-eyed monster known as jealousy would rear its head for anyone else, Mina merely longs to feel what they are one day with her true love.

A soulmate is a difficult thing to explain to anyone which is why it is taught and told from such a young age. The idea that there is one single individual wandering this Earth who is meant to be just as in love with you as you are them, and no one else seems unreasonable or forceful at best. Every relationship in life is significant and can work if each of you put in the work to make sure that it lasts. Just look at how often people will get attached to celebrity relationships, only for them to break up a few years down the line and people are convinced love isn’t real. In fact, there are many people during her life who have told her it was a crazy idea to hold out for ‘the one’.

However, Mina has always been a hopeless romantic and never been able to grasp the concept of dating multiple people when there is a very clear sign on her right hand linking her to the one she’s meant to be with. The one who will offer her a tingling feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever they exchange so much as a glance. The one who she’ll meet for the first time and something inside of her will click, telling her that they are the one for her. The one who will offer her endless reassurance whenever things in life get difficult. She’s always wanted it all, and more. But, they’ve yet to enter her life and whisk her off her feet.

Her mother would often share tales about meeting her father when they were younger, both of them too scared to reveal their markings, both of which being on their legs in the shape of a tiny rocket, to confirm what they had believed to be true, that they are soulmates. But, one day her father invited her mother to a break from an intense study session by going into his pool. They had both completely forgotten about having not shown their markings but as it turned out, they were the exact same. It was always Mina’s favorite bedtime story to hear about how her parents fell in love with each other, their own firm belief in soulmates only furthering her desire to find her own.

There were plenty of people during her early years that Mina thought were going to be the one, and rather than following entirely in her parents’ footsteps, she’d find any excuse to look at people’s right hand, such as holding their hand as she grabbed a skipping rope from them, or even going as far as gifting the girl next door an orange every single day on the bus to school until one day she took it with her right one. All of which failed miserably but she never gave up hope that one day it would simply happen without her having to think too much about it.

A small four-leaf clover resting directly in the palm of her right hand. It’s beautiful, and Mina often finds herself tracing it back and forth whenever she’s bored. Her father had explained to her that it must mean her life with her soulmate will be full of luck, but finding them alone will require a lot of luck, Mina isn’t so sure she’ll be gifted any more beyond that.

Today is no different from every other morning shift, no one bothers to enter for at least the first hour which means restocks and ordering anything that appears to be running low. The higher shelves she has to grab the old wooden ladders from the storeroom in the back, which, she’s convinced are going to one day give way and break causing her to crash through the display behind her. However, the manager, Mr. Kim, no matter how many times she asks him to get some new ladders simply states that he’s going to soon. When soon is exactly, Mina has no idea but she doubts it will be soon.

“Is anyone working?” A high-pitched voice calls out close to the counter. From her spot on the bottom rung of the ladders, Mina can only just say make out some brown hair.

The bell for the door to signal a customer had entered has clearly not done its job as Mina quickly rushes around to see who it is that’s waiting for her. Fortunately, it isn’t one of the angry customers who no doubt would have put in a complaint about her for not being at the counter, but instead, it’s Sana who works in the coffee shop just up the street and often calls in for a morning visit when they’re both on earlies. Mina thinks Sana has a sixth sense about this because they’ve never formally exchanged schedules with one another nor do they know each other beyond each other’s respective workplaces.

Sana’s own soul mark is directly under her left eye, a small golden star with sparks flying off of it. Mina adores it and finds that it makes Sana’s already beautiful eyes even more charming to look at.

“Ah, there you are Mina. Here, I brought you your usual. If the morning is kicking my ass, I know it is for you too.” Sana says as she hands over Mina’s usual order of an americano. Her eyes look tired and Mina can tell she isn’t fully present as of yet. “What were you doing? Do you know the bell is broken?”

“Restocks,” She quickly takes a sip of the piping hot drink, Sana subconsciously doing the same but regretting it when it burns her tongue a little. “Thank you for this. It was warm out on my walk-in but those clouds look threatening.” The pair of them look out the window to see the sky now lacking the sun-flamed sky that Mina adores and replaced by dark, overcast clouds. “No, I didn’t know the bell was broken until now, it seems everything is falling apart in here.”

“Did you get your new ladders yet?”

“Nope.” Mina pauses to look back toward where they’re just standing in the middle of an aisle and gives herself a mental reminder to move them once Sana leaves. “I’m thinking about just fetching my own in from home, we’re never going to get them and now, the bell probably won’t be fixed for the foreseeable.”

Sana’s eyes follow Mina’s toward the aisles and then drift up toward the bell above the door. She places her cup down onto the counter and taps Mina’s hand to get her attention back on herself.

“Don’t bring your own. I might know someone who can bring you some and fix the doorbell, you’ll still be here at 1 PM, right?”

“Yeah, I finish at 3, but you know he’ll never agree to pay for any repairs Sana, and especially not ones he hasn’t personally authorized”

“Don’t worry about it Mina, she owes me a favor anyway. Just take it as yet another act of kindness from your favorite and prettiest barista.” Sana chortles, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Oh, Jeongyeon is going to get some new ladders for me? I didn’t realize that’s what you meant.” Mina jokes knowing just how to make Sana a little jealous.

“Very funny, you know I meant myself, not her… Though now you’ve said it, you’re right, it could have meant her.” There’s a quick flash of Sana’s eyes unfocusing and drifting off likely to thoughts of her co-worker who she’s been dating for around a year. They aren’t soulmates but Jeongyeon isn’t a believer and Sana thinks she has too much love to give for one person. However, Mina has often caught Jeongyeon tenderly stroking Sana’s soul mark whenever they believe no one is around.

“Who is it?” Mina queries upon realizing Sana never said who it was that would be her savior.

“Hm? Oh… right. Don’t worry about it, just a friend of mine who can repair it for you.” Sana quickly looks up toward the clock on the back wall and picks her cup up from the counter before shifting toward the door, bell once again not working when she opens it. “Okay, I gotta go but 1 PM, be here not hiding in an aisle, or next time I might just snitch to Mr. Kim. Bye!” She shouts heading out before Mna can say goodbye in return.

It’s a fairly easy day, the weather does indeed end up turning sour as a downpour quickly starts not long after Sana had left and doesn’t ease up even for a second. There are only a handful of customers who enter and the majority of them are simply trying to escape the rain, which Mina is supposed to ask whether they’re going to purchase anything or not but she doesn’t have the heart to force them out into the cold, thus there was at one point just a collective of people stood by the door hoping for a dry spell that never arrives. They do all fortunately shuffle off one by one, all of which running to their cars or the next building for shelter.

By the time 1 PM rolls around, Mina had completely forgotten about her conversation with Sana. The ongoing entertainment of watching people force their jackets up over their heads whilst trying not to walk into streetlights had provided enough of a distraction for her. So, when someone with their coat up over their head holding a pair of ladders enters the shop, Mina simply believes they’re a customer.

The coat comes down to rest around her shoulders and reveals a face that is small yet striking. Eyes dark and wide, nose bright red from the cold, and the rest of her skin an olive color. She’s tall, quite tall in fact as she stands above the very ladders she’s holding around her left arm. A toolkit rests in her right hand, it’s small but looks heavy, however, if it is, the girl doesn’t let on as she carries it easily. Her frame hidden by the huge coat slumped around her but Mina finds her breathtaking and can’t quite remove her eyes from her face.

“Um… hello?” The girl waves a hand in front of Mina’s face dragging her out of the hypnosis she’s sure this girl had just put her under. “Are you Mina?” Yet again, Mina drifts off elsewhere upon hearing her name exit this girl’s mouth so softly.

“Y-Yes... I am… Mina. Yes. Sorry. I’m Mina.” She stutters, quickly trying to make even a slight bit of sense.

“Yeah, I got it the first time. Sana told me you need some ladders and your doorbell is broke?” The girl poses as a question but quickly gets to work looking at the doorbell which isn’t far away from her head but Mina would struggle to get anywhere close to reaching it. “Those are yours, by the way.” She points toward the ladders. They’re brand new, metal. Far sturdier than the wooden ones.

“Thank you, um…” Mina hesitates, realizing she hadn’t asked for the girl’s name as of yet, nor did Sana tell her who she was.

“Tzuyu.” She states flatly, never bothering to look back toward Mina whose eyes are piercing through the back of Tzuyu’s head never moving.

It doesn’t take her long to fix the doorbell. The batteries inside had managed to corrode and damaged some of the inner-wirings but luckily, Tzuyu had some spare on hand in her toolbox and got it back to signaling the door opening and closing in no time. Mina has no idea what Tzuyu has just technically done as she’s never been the most gifted when it comes to repairs, however, watching her weave the wiring together and connect all of the pieces back together certainly looked impressive.

There’s an awkward silence for a second as Tzuyu steps away from the door to finally look at Mina once again, neither of them knowing how to finish off this unpaid transaction of services.

“Um… Thank you,” Mina starts, but is unsure how to continue, just knows that she wants to continue talking. “So, Sana said you’re doing this as a favor to her?” Mina tries to ask, Tzuyu, however, moves to retrieve her toolkit from the ground.

“Yes. She’s a good friend.” Tzuyu says coldly, turning toward the door to leave but then swiftly back to the counter. “It was… It was nice to meet you, Mina.” Her voice more upbeat this time, yet forced as she outstretches her right hand in front of Mina.

Without hesitating, Mina grasps her hand in her own in a handshake. However, her skin immediately feels an electric shock the second their palms connect with one another, and Mina is stunned into just standing there frozen. Tzuyu is the first to pull her hand away which startles Mina back to reality realizing she wasn’t alone in feeling it. But, before she’s given the opportunity to talk to the girl in front of her the small four-leaf clover resting in the center of Tzuyu’s palm quietens any words that were close to escaping leaving them stuck in her throat.

Tzuyu catches sight of Mina’s same soul mark and immediately rushes out of the door and away from her without a word.

A big part of Mina is telling her not to be stupid, telling her not to risk her job by chasing after her and potentially being seen as a weird stalker. However, the other side that desperately wants to figure out if this moment is the one she’s been searching for, the one she’s been seeking since the very first time she was even told about soulmates. With the consequences for her actions at the very back of her head, she dashes out of the door following Tzuyu and runs to catch up with her, stopping outside of the coffee shop where Sana works as she grabs onto Tzuyu’s arm to stop her, the same shock feeling coursing across her skin as she does so.

“You have it too and you feel it. Tell me… that you feel that.” Mina huffs out, breath struggling to catch up to her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tzuyu blurts out hurriedly upon noticing some eyes starting to watch on, her own eyes refusing to look at Mina. “Let me go.”

“No, I know you feel it. I saw you pull away just before… and you have the same mark like me. You know what this means, right?”

The silence between them returns as both Sana and Jeongyeon exit the coffee shop together to watch the interaction between the two girls unfold, a few people stop in the middle of the street to eavesdrop in, one of them even pulling out their phone to record it. Jeongyeon moves to ask them to put their phone away and they reluctantly comply.

“Is everything okay, Mina?” Sana asks.

“Yes, Sana, everything is fine.” Tzuyu answers for her. “Go back inside.”

The two girls shuffle back into the coffee shop, however, they remain by the door just in case whatever is happening between Mina and Tzuyu goes further downhill than it clearly already is even if neither of them will say why.

“Please, just say something… I know you have it too.”

“Look, Mina… I don’t know what kind of fantasy world you’ve created for yourself inside your head that you so clearly live in… but just because you have the same tiny little mark as someone doesn’t mean anything. Yes, everyday people rely on such a silly little thing to determine their entire lives, and good for them if that’s what they want. But it isn’t for me. You’re not for me.” Tzuyu’s voice cold and without any emotion whatsoever, and yet Mina can feel every single emotion inside herself all at once fighting for dominance over which one will retort back to her.

“But…” Mina barely whispers, unable to form a full sentence.

“But nothing, we just met.. You can’t really believe that we’re now supposed to spend the rest of our lives together because of that one single moment.” Tzuyu pauses, waiting to see if Mina will answer before continuing when she doesn’t. “Plus… I already… I already have a girlfriend.”

For the first time in her life, doubt about who she is supposed to spend her life with has managed to creep up and break down all of the previous standards for love Mina had put. Her hand uncurls itself from around Tzuyu’s arm and she sinks down to the floor because she’s right. All this time, Mina thought that having a soulmate or one set person who you’re supposed to always be with was how life is supposed to be, giving it far too much control and power over her to the point where she has likely pushed away plenty of others who would have no doubt made her happy, made her fall in love, and made her look forward to her future.

Instead, she’s given all of the power and control to someone she hadn’t even met yet. Now that she has, she realizes her mistake because Tzuyu could never be the one for her, even if the mark is there. They are not compatible whatsoever, not at this moment. Perhaps, during different times in their lives, they could be perfect for one another, and perhaps they could live out all of the things Mina has dreamed about. But Tzuyu is taken, and Mina is too much of a fantasist.

Mina can feel Sana and Jeongyeon slowly raise her up off the ground, however, her entire focus is on Tzuyu’s retreating figure walking away from her down the street. She can hear them talking to her and asking what has happened but her throat is unable to produce sound. Everything feels so cold and as if she’s surrounded by emptiness.

Perhaps, there is no such thing as soulmates after all. Perhaps, there never will be.

#twice imagines #twice scenarios #mina imagines #tzuyu imagines #mitzu #mina x tzuyu #kpop imagines #girl group imagines #kpop scenarios #girl group scenarios #twice angst #twice fic #mina #tzuyu #myoui mina #chou tzuyu

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unholy-renee · 3 years

Text

Hey guys here’s a draft I forgot I had started a while ago. So here’s my uhm first opinions on Outlast 2! Btw spoilers for anyone who hasn’t played also I’m annoying so I somewhat suggest not reading this all unless you want really wanna sorry :(

So I’m stuck at this one point in Whistleblower so I decided to check out the very beginning of Outlast 2 (story mode), so far:

I both love and hate that we get to hear Blake’s voice! I would’ve preferred if they stuck with the silent main character that we’ve had so far, but I also already feel connected to Blake having heard his voice. Sadly, he doesn’t say much, why add lines at all if there’s only screaming, swearing and “I need to find Lynn” or other Lynn related lines. He can say stuff other than “what the fuck?” And “holy shit”, you realize that right? Maybe he could’ve been trying to hype himself up more or you could’ve put more in about his life and family like him saying stuff about missing them and hoping to see them again (like Waylon). I hope as I progress stuff gets better with the script.

Him grabbing Lynn to save her from falling out of the chopper 🥺 go Blake go!

Those guys walking backwards while mumbling and not taking their eyes off me? Not scary but unsettling and made me stop playing the game! It made the atmosphere go from almost a worried “omg we gotta find this guys wife” to a scared “screw that lady I gotta get outta here” vibe

The controls??? Uhm no don’t give me two games worth of the same control then switch some buttons up on me. I was crouching Trying to look around and I didn’t even realize I was crouching I thought he genuinely like hurt his leg or something 🙄. Although I am happy we have some new mechanics! Smashing square (PlayStation) to get the door of the chopper off is very reminiscent of moving the thumbstick back-and-forth to get out of the chair of the Dr. Trager puts you in, in the first game.

The fact that it’s like recording without me having to press a button to make it is cool, happy it’s automatic but it doesn’t tell you where to point the camera, so sometimes I’m moving the camera around the whole area trying to figure out if I need to record anything, missed a couple recording because of it. :(

I’m not playing anymore till I finish Whistleblower though.

Now that I’ve played more of the game I have almost the same opinion! Rip :(

1. His lines didn’t get better! I still haven’t finished though so again we still have hope and I’m purposely not watching anyone play the game past where I’m at so I don’t get spoilers. The complaint about the overuse of Lynn related lines has now double because they have Jessica now! Let’s only ever talk about these two women who are dead and currently kidnapped. It’s not like there are most likely a million other people you’d be thinking about to in this situation. Parents, Siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts/uncles? Lol no. I’m probably being nit picky but whatever. I’d have liked hearing more about other aspects of his life than just his wife and one past trauma. Now I understand that both of these women are main plot points in the game and it makes sense that he’d focus on them but like there are a lot of other things people also think about in these situations. Like lots of people think about their family and how their going to deal with their death or whatever is happening to them. Or long lost friends they haven’t seen in years and thinking about them maybe never finding out about their death.

Sorry okay I’m done with that now please ignore my annoying ass.

2. Mechanics! Alright so then chasing you under the houses and shit? 😳. I like it :) it’s adventurous since the characters in the first two games couldn’t do anything even close to that, but I’m happy they decided to include it, it really feels like a mature step for the Outlast series and it wasn’t too out of left field that it didn’t fit. Warm welcome to these new antagonist moves!

3. Recording makes me even more mad now then before. JUST UGH tell me what to record! Am I the only one who is too stupid for this or something? “Record mutilated corpses” boom that easy! “Record Marta talking” aha bam! Again me being annoying!

4. Uhm I love Marta! She is the Chris of 2 in my opinion and some of my fellow Outlast playing friends. So far she just chases you saying religious stuff though which is kinda annoying because I’ve heard that she doesn’t like commuting the murders and is only doing it because she is close with Knoth? If that’s true I would like to hear about her doubting herself and doubting what Knoth is having her do, then maybe “snapping back” into going along with it because she trusts him. Not sure if that mad sense.

5. Nick and Laird needed more time. I loved them as antagonists and they were some of my favorite to “go up against”, I wish they had more game time and backstory but that’s okay.

6. Related to 4 and 5, there are too many characters in my opinion. No one really equal game time or backstory to me, although the length of the game is growing on me and the more I play the more the game proves itself to me as a somewhat acceptable “Outlast 2”!

As I slowly continue to finish the game I’ll probably keep making posts on it. Idk though

#outlast #outlast 2 #outlast whistleblower #outlast father martin #outlast waylon park #the outlast trials #outlast eddie gluskin #outlast miles upshur #outlast chris walker #outlast the twins #outlast 2 Marta #outlast 2 Knoth #outlast 2 Nick #outlast 2 laird

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marvelmadam08 · 4 years

Text

Baby Blues 8/?

Summary: Chris is stuck in Mexico and Alex, now on her own, makes a last minute decision about Ace without telling him.

Warnings: Jealousy, mentions of sex, anger, angst, sad/jealous Dodger

A/N: Updates will be moved to Wednesdays until further notice. I do not own the GIF provided.

~~~~~~

5 Weeks Old

"How bad is the storm?"

Lightning crashed on Chris's end, making both him and Alex flinch. Ace continued to nurse from Alex, unmoved for once.

"Does that answer your question?" Chris laid back against the pillows in the bed of his hotel room " All the flights have been cancelled until further noticed, so I'm stuck in Mexico for a few more days."

Alex hid her pout as well as she could, but her voice gave it away "Yeah, it was raining pretty bad over here not too long ago. So, I'd rather you be safe than try to get on a plane that weather."

“Is your dad doing any better?”

“Yeah, but my mom said dealing with Ace was a lot easier though.”

Chris’s eyes lit up at the mention of his son "How's everything going with Ace?"

"He's eating more, so expect a little chubby cheeked smile when you get back. He's getting use to tummy time, but he still doesn't like it too much." She did her best to suppress a yawn and failed “And he’s still keeping me up all night and all day.”

“Al, I promise, I’m taking over all the diaper changing and bottle feedings when I get back.”

“No, no bottle feedings. I don’t want to switch between back and forth with formula yet.”

The crease between Chris’s brows wrinkled “Really, what changed your mind?”

Halfway into her second trimester, Alex started reading any baby-prep book she could get her hands on. Many suggesting for new moms, if they can, to switch back and forth between breast milk and formula. And after copious research and talks with Chris, Alex figured she’d be back to working in record time and to save time, and sleep, she’d introduce Ace to formula a little early on. However that wasn’t the case now.

She enjoyed to bonding time, feeding gave her and Ace. The skin to skin contact would lull Ace, and herself, and helped him sleep. And after talking to her agent, Alex wouldn’t have to be back to work for some time.

“I just don’t wanna give it up yet. I really enjoy this time with him, y’know?” Ace’s fingers wrapped one of Alex’s, Chris felt his heart sink, watching the innocent gesture.

“Can’t say I do.” He mutters

Alex started to move Ace over her shoulder, she took in Chris’s sour expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just- I thought we’d rotate with the schedule a bit when I got back.”

Alex shrugged “Yeah, but since you’re gonna be working I figured you’d be too busy.”

“You didn’t ask.” Chris cuts her off

Alex tensed slightly. “I didn’t I had to- just like you didn’t ask me about having my mom come up.”

“You said you weren’t upset about that anymore.”

“I’m not.” she half-lied

“Then why bring it up now?”

She shrugged “Why mention hurtful social media comments, when we do our best to avoid them?”

Chris exhaled “I apologized for that. Alex if it still bothered you them why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’ve been a little busy taking care of our son.”

“Exactly, ‘our son’ and you cutting me out of his schedule all of a sudden really pisses me off.” Chris was sitting up now, Alex could see the storm raging on behind him, matching his mood “You think I like being here, away from him? Away from you and Dodger?”

Alex gasped, looking around the room for the canine in question. She was suddenly aware of how long it had been since she saw him in the house. Ace whined and squirmed, sensing his mother’s mood change. She set him down in the swing cradle, turning it on to help soothe him back to his restful state.

“What’s wrong?” Chris asked, watching his wife jump up from her spot on the couch and running out of view

“I think I left Dodger outside.”

“You think?”

Surely enough, still wet from the rain and with the biggest ‘how could you’ eyes in existence, Dodger sat at the back patio doors; waiting to be let in.

“I’m sorry Dodge.” Alex unlocked the door, finally letting him inside

He padded over to where her phone and Ace were.

“Hey Bubba.” Chris smiled

Dodger shook the excess water off, knocking over the phone and splashing Ace in the process.

“No, no no. Dodger you know better.” Alex reprimanded

Ace cried and Alex shooed Dodger back.

“Alex?” Chris’s voice call out from the phone, face down on the floor. Dodger swooped down and grabbed the phone in his mouth before running off with it.

“Dodger get back here!” Alex ran after him “Drop the phone.”

Ace continued to cry and watch Alex run behind Dodger, Chris still on the phone and telling the him to put the phone down as well.

“Dodger sit!” Chris commanded. He slid to a stop, doing as he was told and sitting on his hind legs “Drop it.”

With a whine Dodger set the phone down on the floor. Alex huffed out an annoyed breath and snatched her phone back.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

“Well he could be upset because you left him outside, in the rain.”

“I forgot, I already feel bad about it.” Alex wiped the drool off her hands “But now Ace is upset, I’m upset and you’re apparently pissed off at me for making a reliable feeding schedule for Ace.”

“Am I not reliable?”

“Your work schedule isn’t.”

“And yours is?” he challenged “Al, there have been plenty of times when you put a deadline in front of everything else.”

Alex rolled her eyes “Not this again.”

“Yes this again. Alex between the two of us, you’re the one who’s always buried in work. You take it with you everywhere, on vacation, at home- in bed.” he hinted, reminding them both about the time Alex stopped a very intimate moment to run and add another few paragraphs to a chapter.

“What was one time. And I don’t recall hearing any complaints when I made it up to you.”

Chris’s brow twitched slightly “Al, I don’t want to fight with you about this, not right now.”

“When do you wanna fight about it?” she argued

“I don’t know, but I’m sure you can squeeze me in somewhere in your new schedule.”

“Chris, I-” Alex groaned “Can we put a pin in this for right now? I’m tired, you’re probably tired too.”

“I’m not tired.”

Alex looked over to Ace, grasping at the colorful toys above him “Well Ace is, I gotta get him to sleep.”

“Call me back, we need to talk about this.”

“Yeah okay.” She nods softly before ending the call

Her shoulders slumped forward, truly tired and aggravated, but overall just mentally drained from the day. Alex knew it would get better, she hope it would but they never argued this much before. Holding on to and bring up old arguments wasn’t something they did, that was hitting below the belt.

Alex couldn’t figure it out, has many time as they butted heads they always managed to come to an agreement in the end. Now each argument rolled into the next, and she was unsure if she was doing it on purpose or if something was truly wrong.

#chris evans x black ofc #Christopher Jamal Evans #Black Writers #chris evans x ofc #black ofc #marvel #Black Widow #Defending Jacob #a starting point #Sebastian Stan #peter parker #babyblues #scott pilgram vs the world

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vgckwb · 3 years

Text

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 53: Blackmail

The next day, Makoto was called into Principal Kobayakawa’s office. “You wanted to see me sir?”

“Ah, Niijima-san,” Kobayakawa said. “I just wanted to apologize for yesterday.”

“Apologize?” Makoto wondered.

“Yes,” Kobayakawa insisted. “I got a little too heated, and I feel the need to clear the air.”

“I see,” Makoto responded, wondering what this conversation was going to turn into.

“Of course you know I want nothing but the best for these students,” Kobayakawa siad. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that I dislike the Phantom Thieves because they exposed Mr. Kamoshida. I’m just worried. They might think that honest, hard-working people, such as myself, might be a target for their changes of heart. All because I didn’t know about the heinous actions being taken by Mr. Kamoshida. And if they think I might be an acceptable target, who knows who else might fall under that?”

“I see,” Makoto said. “So, your worry is similar to that of Akechi-san’s, right?’

“Why yes,” Kobayakawa said. “That boy sure is smart.”

“Smart enough not to go to school here, apparently” Makoto whispered under her breath.

“Did you say something?” Kobayakawa said.

“Oh” Makoto said, a little embarrassed. She decided to play it off. “It’s nothing. Akechi-san just works with my sister a lot. I feel like I’m a bit jealous because he gets to see her more than I do these days.”

“Why, that’s nothing to feel ashamed about,” Kobayakawa informed her. “I’m sure you’ll be just as successful as your sister once I write you that letter.”

“Oh, right…” Makoto said.

“So, I’m sorry I put all that pressure on you,” Kobayakawa apologized.

“But you still want me to find the Phantom Thieves?” Makoto asked.

Kobayakawa nodded. “I understand, go at your own pace, but I would appreciate it. And so will you.”

“Hm. Thank you” Makoto said. She walked out.

“I knew she’d see it my way,” Kobayakawa said, once he was alone.

Makoto, outside of the office, sighed. “I used to think you were that honest, hard-working person you claim to be. I kind of wish you still were…” She walked off to class.

At lunch, the Phantom Thieves group chat went off again.

Ryuji: Yo. I was just thinking.

Ryuji: While we might be able to look for a new big target, we could do some Mementos missions if we have any.

Yusuke: Isn’t that the opposite of laying low?

Ren: We might as well.

Ren: I wanted to meet up today anyway.

Sumire: Why’s that?

Ren: Something happened last night, and I wanted to talk about that.

Yusuke: Very well then.

Yusuke: The usual place?

Ann: Yeah.

Jose: OK.

Jose: See you after school.

They put their phones away and turned their attention back to class.

After school, Ren and Ann were heading out when Ann’s phone rang. “Oh, sorry. That’s my agent, I gotta take this quick. You go on ahead, I’ll meet you all there.” Ren nodded as Ann walked off to take the call.

Before Ren could continue walking, she came face to face with Makoto. “Ah. Nice to see you, Amamiya-chan.”

Ren was caught a bit off guard. “Likewise” she responded.

“If you don’t mind, I would like to talk with you, is that OK?” Makoto asked.

“Uh, sure” Ren said, feeling unsure about what was happening. “I was going to meet up with some friends. Mind if I tell them I’m going to be a bit late?”

“That’s OK,” Makoto said.

Ren got out her phone and sent the message. “OK.”

“Great. Now, if you don’t mind, could you follow me to the student council room?” Makoto asked.

“OK” Ren said again, still a tad nervous. The two started heading to the student council room.

Morgana opened the bag just a crack. “You don’t think she’s onto us, do you?” he whispered.

“Well, she might be if she hears you” Ren whispered back.

“All she’d hear would be meowing,” Morgana said.

“That’s also a problem!” Ren fired back.

“Are you alright?” Makoto asked.

Ren seemed a little flustered. “Fine.” Makoto seemed curious, but decided to not push it right now. She nodded and continued on. Ren sighed and continued following her. Once the two of them entered the student council office, they sat down across from each other. “Is it just you today?”

“Yes,” Makoto answered.

“You...know I already talked to someone about Mr. Kamoshida, right?” Ren continued.

“Of course,” Makoto said. “I was the one that orchestrated all of that.”

“So, why am I here?” Ren asked.

Makoto kept calm. “I called you here because I want something, and I believe you can give it to me. You, and your friends.”

“Oh?” Ren said, matching her calm demeanor.”And what would that be?”

“Hm. I’d like you and your friends to change someone’s heart” Makoto requested.

“I see,” Ren replied.

“She DOES know,” Whispered Morgana.

Ren decided to not let that remark bother her. “Well, I know I did well on the show with Akechi, but I can’t be expected to be able to convince everyone of whatever you need. After all, I couldn’t even convince Akechi in the end.”

Makoto smiled. “Resilient to the end. I like that in a leader. I guess I have to say it to get you to move. I’m making a request to the Phantom Thieves to change someone’s heart.”

“Crap!” Morgana muttered.

“Well, there’s the Phan-site,” Ren pointed out. “You can use that.”

“Why would I?” Makoto asked. “I’m speaking to their leader right now.”

“That’s a big accusation” Ren stated. “What makes you think that?”

“Well, I could list off all the circumstantial evidence I have,” Makoto began, “but I’m willing to bet that one way or another, you’ll deny it or obfuscate. I’d do the same in your shoes.” She brought out her phone. “So, let’s go to the hard evidence.”

Makoto pressed play. On the phone Ryuji can be heard saying “we busted our asses as the Phantom Thieves to get him to confess!”

“Ryuji…” Morgana whined.

Ren’s face was beat red, and looking down. “So, I assume this is enough then?” Makoto asked.

Ren looked up, smiling. “How do I know that isn’t doctored?”

Just then, Ren’s phone rang. “It’s OK, you can answer it.”

Ren did, worried. Of course, Ryuji was on the other end, and of course he was loud. “Yo, Ann just got here. All we’re waiting on is for you, leader! C’mon! Let’s get to some Phantom Thieving!”

Ren looked defeated. “Are you going to tell me that was doctored too?” Makoto asked, shrewdly.

Ren sighed. “I’ll be over in a few. But there’s a bit of a change in plans. Also, next time we get ramen, you’re paying.”

“Huh? Why?” Ryuji asked.

“You’ll understand as soon as I get there,” Ren replied.

“Um, OK?” Ryuji said back, sensing something was a bit amiss. “...Well, seeya then.”

Ren hung up. “Ugh.”

Makoto chuckled. “Don’t worry, I know how hard it can be to lead something.”

“Thanks” Ren snarked back. She sighed. “Though I doubt you actually have any ill intent towards us.”

“How do you figure?” Makoto asked.

“Because you came to us,” Ren answered. “You could have turned us into the police or something with something like that.”

Makoto was blindsided by Ren's deductive reasoning. “Yes, well, I am my own person, with my own opinions at the end of the day.”

Ren nodded. “Well, we should get going. We don’t want them to wait for the surprise.”

Makoto laughed. “You’re more relaxed about all this than I thought you’d be.”

“Eh, it’s something I’ve gotten used to,” Ren admitted. The two of them headed out.

The rest of the thieves were waiting. “Where is she?” Ryuji wondered.

“Hey everyone” Ren said, slightly nervously.

“Oh Hey Reeeeeeeee…” Ryuji said, as the thieves looked up to see that Makoto was also with her. “What’s she doing here?”

“I don’t know Ryuji, what IS she doing here?” Ren snapped back.

Makoto took out her phone and pressed play again. “we busted our asses as the Phantom Thieves to get him to confess!”

The thieves were surprised. “Ryuji…” Ann said, exacerbated.

“Oh…” Ryuji said, feeling guilty.

“That’s why you’re paying for our next ramen outing,” Ren said. “And don’t think I’m going to go light.”

Ryuji’s face went pale. “I’m...sorry…”

“So what are you going to do?” Ann sniped. “Take this to the principal.”

“Um, why would she be talking to us if she was going to do that?” Sumire asked.

“Sumire brings up a good point,” Yusuke said.

“She wants us to change someone’s heart,” Ren explained.

“Oh…” Ann said, now a bit embarrassed.

“Well, we’re willing to help,” Jose said. “Do you know who?”

“A mob boss,” Makoto said succinctly. The thieves were shocked. “You can do it, can’t you?”

“Of course we can,” Ryuji fired back.

“How are you acting so high and mighty now?” Morgan wondered.

Before Ryuji could angrily retort to the cat that Makoto doesn’t know can talk, Ann said “We’re going to need some more information. Like a name for instance.”

“Oh” Makoto said, taken slightly aback. “Well, we’re not sure yet. Maybe you can help with the investigation?”

“What?!” Ryuji said.

“Need I remind you what I have recorded?” Makoto angrily replied.

“No!” Ryuji whimpered.

“We’ll gladly help,” Sumire said with a smile.

“Excellent,” Makoto said.

Ren turned to Makoto. “So, what information do you have so far?”

“Well, not a whole lot,” Makoto admitted. “But they’ve been scamming school kids left and right. Not just at our school either. But we’ve received multiple complaints, and as student council president, I would like to put a stop to this.”

“I see,” Ren said, impressed with her spirit. “Well, we’ll join this fight.”

“And if you’re successful, I won’t release this audio,” Makoto said.

“Hm. Sounds like we have a deal” Ren said.

“Quite” Makoto agreed.

“Now, uh, if you’d excuse us, we’d like to discuss this as a team” Ren said.

“Oh!” Makoto said, surprised. “Of course.” She bowed. “Have a good day.” She walked off. Once she was far enough away, she sighed. “I guess they don’t fully trust me yet…” She continued walking.

Once Makoto was fully gone, Ann smacked Ryuji across the head. “Ryuji!”

“Ow! Sorry!” Ryuji said.

“No, I should apologize,” Ren said. “I should have known something was up.”

“Come now, it’s no one's fault,” Yusuke said.

“Besides, if we change this guy’s heart, then everything will be OK” Jose chimed in.

Ann groaned. “I guess…”

Ryuji similarly groaned. “I’m sorry…” he muttered again.

“So then, what’s the game plan?” Sumire asked.

“Well, we’d have to figure out who this mob boss is,” Ren pointed out.

“Do you think anyone knows in Mementos?” Ryuji asked.

“Even if they did, I might advise against it,” Morgana said. “That Makoto person seems keen to keep an eye on us. If we were to go through Mementos, we might have to explain more than she already knows.”

“I guess you gotta point there” Ryuji sighed.

“Still, you shouldn’t underestimate what you can get from this world,” Jose said.

“Jose and I will ask around Kosei to see if anything has come up there,” Yusuke explained. Jose nodded.

“We can ask around Shujin,” Sumire added. “And I can see what I can get at practice.”

Ren looked at her bag. “You wanna see if you can get anything tonight Morgana?” Ren asked.

Morgana popped out fully. “Well, I guess there’s no harm in trying.

“Great, so it seems like we have a plan then,” Ryuji said. “I guess all that’s left is to execute it.”

“Wait!” Ann said. She turned to face Ren. “What happened last night?”

Ren was surprised. “Oh, right. I did say I wanted to discuss it.” She proceeded to explain her meeting.

“Woah!” Ann said.

“Grah!” Ryuji said. “Usin’ people like that. Pisses me off!”

“Why didn’t you tell me last night?” Morgana wondered.

“Well, I figured it was best for the group,” Ren answered.

“Why should we believe her when she says that she hasn’t corrupted anyone?” Ryuji asked.

Ren sighed. “I believe it because lying about this isn’t Eris’s style.”

“But she’s all about chaos, isn’t she?” Jose wondered.

“Yeah, but her brand of chaos is obvious,” Ren explained. “She wants people to see what she’s wrought. She’d tell me to watch me squirm as I couldn’t do anything rather than lie, because if the truth is chaotic enough, it might make me think about joining her team.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Ann said.

“Still, it sounds as if Eris herself has the same resentment toward the people with palaces and such,” Yusuke noted.

“Yeah, I get that feeling too,” Ren said. “But she’s not doing all too good a job at endearing me to her side either. Her end goal might be similar to ours, we both want to expose the evils of society, but I cannot condone the way she’s doing it.”

“Well said,” Jose replied.

Sumire looked at her feet. Ren noticed this. “Sumire?”

“Huh?” she said, looking up. “Oh, sorry. It’s just… I’m wondering if I would have been someone Eris targeted… Or if I’d have a palace myself…”

“Sumire…” Ren said, gently.

“I was in a really bad place until recently,” Sumie said, tears starting to form. “Just the thought of one false move, and I’d be your enemy. I’d hate that.”

The thieves were stunned silent for a minute. “Hey” Ren said, walking over and lifting Sumire’s head up. “We’ve all had our share of bad days.”

“Yeah” Ann said. “And besides, who says we only fight people we dislike? I mean, I fought my best friend.”

“And I fought a fellow student, as well as someone I respected,” Yusuke added. “And once the battle was over, we respected each other again.”

“Yeah” Ryuji said. “Friends don’t have to agree on everything all the time. But if you’re still friends at the end of it, everything’ll be fine.”

“Even though I’m not all too well-versed with humanity yet, I can still see the power friends like these have” Jose said. “And as long as you have us, you don’t have to worry.”

“Yeah!” Morgana laughed. “If you need to talk to any of us, just let us know.”

Sumire smiled. “Thanks guys.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I guess I’m a little more nervous than I thought. I have a big gymnastics meet coming up, and I think it’s starting to get to me.”

“Really?” Ren said. “Are you up for it?”

Sumire giggled. “Coach thought the same thing. She said she could get me out of this one if I needed it.” Sumire grew determined. “But I feel like I'll be ready for it.”

“Well then, looks like we’re going to need to clear our schedules” Ren said.

“Huh?” Sumire said.

“If we’re going to cheer you on, we’ve gotta show up,” Ren said.

“Oh, um,” Sumire started getting flustered. “You don’t have to.”

“Nope. We’re not taking ‘no’ for an answer” Ann said.

“Yeah! If it’s important to you, it’s important to us” Ryuji said.

Sumire started crying again, this time with tears of joy. “Thank you everyone.” She checked her phone. “Goodness, it’s getting a bit late. We should get going soon.”

Ren chuckled. “Yeah, alright.” The thieves left their hideout and headed home for the evening. Just as Eris said, trouble came knocking, but they knew that together, they could overcome it.

#persona 5 #persona fanfiction #persona 5 royal #p5 rework #p5r rework #p5 femc #p5r #p5 #FeMC #female ren #ren amamiya #makoto niijima #Ryuji Sakamoto #kobayakawa #morgana #ann takamaki #Sumire #yusuke kitagawa #jose

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telli1206 · 4 years

Text

A Christmas To Remember (Ch.4)

@vndooms @descendantsgiftexchange And here’s Chapter 4 😁 One Chapter left, which I hope to have up in a few days.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Chapter 4 - Falling For Christmas

Jay grunts softly, his eyes fluttering open at the intrusive sounds echoing from downstairs. He had resolved himself to sleeping in with Carlos this morning, so of course there would be a ruckus to ruin his first solid sleep this week.

He sighs, glancing down at the boy cradled in his arms. Carlos is settled peacefully against Jay’s chest, even breaths gently ghosting through his pretty pink lips.

Jay snuggles in closer, hugging Carlos tightly to his chest to fully enjoy this restful moment. It’s almost too tempting to just stay here for the day and not move a muscle, but before he can even really entertain the idea he hears a familiar snarky cackle ring out from downstairs.

He bites back a smile, sliding out of bed all too quickly and almost stumbling over his feet, waking Carlos with his movements. The boy next to him pops up, looking surprised to see Jay awake.

“W-What...are you doing?” He yawns, propping himself up on his elbows. Jay smiles at Carlos’ adorable sleepy face, unable to resist leaning over for a kiss. But once he’s back over the bed, Carlos takes the opportunity to grab Jay and press his hands into his back, trying his best to pull him back into the bed.

“Mmph! ‘Los!” Jay resists, pushing back from the bed. “Ben and Mal just got here!”

Jay springs backward when Carlos releases his hold and sits upright. An excited smile splays on his lips, and he drops out of bed to join Jay and get ready quickly. In record time they’re making their way down to the kitchen together.

The kitchen is erupt with laughter when they walk in. Ben, Mal, Evie, and Doug are sat around the table with Lonnie as she animatedly tells the story of her and Jane, again, while Jane sits in her lap, giggling happily. Ben and Mal are clearly absorbed in the story, Mal nodding her approval and Ben glowing his usual reassuring smile while they listen to Lonnie.

“That’s so cool you guys decided to give it a shot,” Mal mused, giving Lonnie a pleased smirk as she turned to nuzzle Jane’s neck. “Like, you got to be such close friends for so long before you dated. That must’ve made things just, so much...better. Huh?”

Lonnie seems speechless, for once, simply grinning at Jane while she nods vigorously at Mal.

“Isn’t that right, Jay?”

Jay chokes back a chuckle. Mal’s not even looking at him yet, but he knows that smug grin is meant for him. She turns slowly, flashing the grin his way as her eyes trail from Jay to Carlos and back. Carlos buries his face in Jay’s shoulder to hide his reddening complexion.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s great. Thanks Mals, good to see you too.” His eyes never leave Mal’s as he returns her smirk, letting go of Carlos to stride over to her and swoop her up into a hug. “Missed you, M.”

Mal leans into the hug with a smile. “Missed you too, Jay. I’m glad Ben could finagle at least a couple of days off for us,” she teases, stealing a glance over to her husband.

Ben’s already engulfed in a hug with Carlos, but he pulls away and quirks a smile Mal’s way.

“I did my best,” he concedes with a shrug. “I know it’s not much, but the royal court is fully adjourned at least, so we shouldn’t have any disruptions for the next couple of days.”

“Shouldn’t, being the key word,” Mal needles, poking at Ben’s chest. He scoffs at her snide comment though, sneaking a quick peck from her before running off to grab more coffee.

“Well, I for one am glad you’re finally here,” Evie says with a squeal, smiling brightly as she leans into Doug, looking over his shoulder at Jay. “Jay has been our Christmas activity coordinator all week, and you’ve been missing out on all the fun!”

“Oh! Oh! Yessss! It’s been so fun!” Lonnie agrees, eyes alight with excitement. “Jay’s got all the great ideas. Like, Christmasy stuff but super fun and exciting. Never a dull moment!”

The murmurs and nods of universal agreement have Jay swelling proudly, puffing up his chest as he smiles around the kitchen.

Once he catches the look on his boyfriend’s face, however, he physically deflates.

Carlos is chewing on his bottom lip, eyes cast downward as he scuffs at his foot. Jay observes him, silently, until he hears Doug clearing his throat.

“Anyway, what’s on the agenda for today, Jay? Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be great to have Ben and Mal joining us!”

Evie grips Doug’s arm, eyes wide and focused in a silent thank you as he places a hand over hers. Jay sucks in a slow, stuttered breath, forcing a smile at them and silently promising to pry about what’s bothering Carlos later. Besides, he saved the best for last, for when Ben and Mal arrived, so Jay has no doubt that everyone will have fun today, especially Carlos.

“Well, why don’t we go find out? We’ve all gotta dress warm again…” he adds, talking over a few groans at the request. “It’ll be worth it! I know it.”

-----

Getting everyone dressed and out the door was a lot easier this time around. Jay likes to think that all of his surprises have been so fun that no one feels the need to question why they always have to go outside, but deep down he knows that Ben and Mal’s presence have more to do with it than anything. Ben is always willing to join his friends without question, and Mal has been hyping up their day so much that Jay’s really starting to wonder about her. Mal’s not the...cheerleader type. But he can’t think of another word to describe how she’s acting right now.

“Jay-bear, I think I figured out where we’re goooing,” she coos.

“Oh, did you now?” Jay quips, trying to glance quickly behind him. He knows she’s grinning, but their banter just doesn’t feel right if he can’t match his arrogant looks to hers.

“Yep, and I’m pumped.” She grabs Ben’s arm excitedly and stares out the window as they arrive. Jay’s pulling up to the lake now, fully frozen over and empty, with a fresh dusting of snow on top that’s been left untouched.

“Ice skating??” Lonnie practically shouts, jumping up from her seat in the car. “Yes! Let’s do it! I love it!”

Jay lips curl into a smile at the warm response to his plans. Even Carlos reaches over to intertwine their fingers and flash a happy grin. Well, a sort of persed, tight-lipped grin with a slight hesitation behind his deep brown eyes, but Jay pushes away the need to address it, yet. They only just got here, so there’s plenty of time to warm up to the idea still. And all their friends are here, so what’s not to love about this?

The sounds of excited chatter and elation as skates are being put on heartens Jay. Even Evie cheery smile stays put through the wobbling on her skates, and the mild offhand complaint about them not matching her outfit. Jane is giggling with every step, emulating a newborn foal with the ways her knees are knocking, but still eager and ready to get on the ice.

Carlos is not much sturdier than Jane on his own skates, but Jay keeps a firm grip on his waist and elbow as they walk, and despite a few harrowing teeters on his blades, Carlos glides onto the ice with surprising ease. Definitely a better start to their outings than previous days, and enough to stir a glimmer of happiness inside Jay as he and Carlos fall in sync on the ice together.

Of course, Lonnie still tries to stir up trouble by flying by them on the ice with Jane and getting a little too close , but even with that close brush Carlos manages to stay upright, maybe just holding Jay’s arm a little tighter.

He heaves a sigh of relief once they pass, and Lonnie throws a wink to Jay over her shoulder.

“We’re racing later Jay, you better be up for it!”

“You’re on!” Jay shouts back. He shrugs when Carlos shoots him a troubled glare, but once he squeezes Carlos’ hip and smiles reassuringly, he gives in with a resigned sigh.

“Don’t worry, I won’t leave you skating alone. Maybe you and Jane can keep each other...up?” Jay grits his teeth, biting back laughter at the thought.

“Ha ha, very funny,” Carlos quips, bumping him on the shoulder. “I was more worried about your dumbass racing yourself into a tree or something. You and Lonnie aren’t exactly...thoughtful, when you challenge each other.”

Jay chuckles, turning their bodies to ease around a bend in the lake. “I’ll be careful, ‘Los. You know you can trust me.”

Carlos nods silently, choosing to lean into Jay rather than respond, which Jay is fine with. He’s content to enjoy this time with Carlos before their friends disrupt them, which usually happens all too soon anyway.

Especially when Mal is around.

“Jayyyy!”

He’s startled by two hands on his shoulders, and Mal’s body slams into him from behind before he can react. “Whoa! Sorry,” she cackles, wrapping her arms around to hug him. “I wanna do a whip, Jay! Assemble the troops!”

She pushes off of him, just as Ben skates up and grabs her hand, gesturing for Jay and Carlos to join them as she leads Mal to the middle of the lake. Jay groans as he starts to spin them around.

“You heard the queen,” he snarks. “You wanna grab Evie and Doug? I’ll get Jane and Lonnie. Let’s get this over with.”

Carlos giggles and shakes his head as he skates off to do Mal’s bidding. Jay wants to keep a sneer on for show, but Mal’s eagerness to has him feeling giddy. Even Carlos wasn’t fighting back his smiles, despite being out in the bitter cold. Things were finally going well for him.

-----

The rest of the day on the lake had been fun, but largely uneventful. Jay was happy for that though, because really, most of the events of the last few days had some sort of minor disaster tacked onto the end of them.

The whip had been exhilarating in its success. A knot had twisted in Jay’s gut as they all got lined up, the thought of Carlos potentially finding himself at the end and getting whipped into a snow mound had been swirling in his mind when they finally started. But to his luck, Jay had finagled the anchor position, and was able to keep Carlos at his side, ensuring his safety...for the most part.

Carlos’ breathless laughter and toothy smile remained etched in Jay’s memory, making the day more than worthwhile to him. He even managed to race (and beat) Lonnie, with Carlos conceding to skate with Jane for a bit while they did.

“Oh come ON! How did you do that? Tell me you cheated,” Lonnie pants, trying to catch her breath. Jay doesn’t want to sound as winded as he is, but sucking his breath down only leads to an awkward wheezing, which makes Lonnie laugh out loud. “Careful grandpa, you’re gonna hyperventilate! Deep breaths!”

“Shut up,” Jay retorts, unable to bite back his smile. “I beat you fair and square, Li- loser.”

He snorts when she slaps his back, hard. “Fine! Just don’t get a big head about it, cause it’s not gonna last long, you hear?”

Jay nods, letting his laughter die down as his breaths come in more evenly. His eyes dart around the lake until they land on Jane and Carlos, arms linked as they skate slowly, chattering quietly and smiling to each other. It’s only when Lonnie leans in to follow his gaze that he realizes he’s been staring.

“They’re fucking cute, aren’t they?” she muses, smiling softly as she watches them. “The cutest little nerds…” she adds with a quiet chuckle.

Jay nods, but jumps when Lonnie spins to face him, lips painted with a playful smirk.

“They really needed us you know? To show them how to let loose and just have fun.” She turns back to steal a glance at them again. “I just assumed Jane would always be uptight. I still liked her though, still wanted to give it a shot. And...she’s actually really fun. She’s always up for anything when she’s with me.”

Lonnie continues to watch Jane, and Jay almost has to choke back a giggle at the dreamy look on her face, but he’s able to control himself. He’s too happy for Lonnie anyway, he doesn’t even feel his usual need to tease her.

She finally seems to snap out of it, looking back at Jay with only a half quirk of a smile. She huffs a laugh at him, shaking her head.

“You gotta do the nerd stuff too, though, don’t you? Just to make them happy. It’s not so bad though. Jane loves when we read together. And we do puzzles allll the time.”

She scrunches her nose when Jay chuckles at her, giving him a nudge with her elbow. “Turns out, I actually like puzzles. I had no idea. I guess that makes me a little bit of a nerd too, huh?”

“It makes you a nerd for Jane.” He actually laughs this time, and Lonnie rolls her eyes at him.

“I hate to break it to you, but you’ve been a nerd for Carlos even longer.”

Jay scoffs, pulling her along as Jane and Carlos start to skate back to them. “If you say so, Lons. It doesn’t matter anyway, cause I’m not about to complain.”

Lonnie seems eerily quiet for a moment, but just as she reaches out to grab Jane’s hand, Jay hears her barely mumble.

“Me neither.”

-----

Jay feels his happiness creeping through him for the entirety of their drive back to the castle. The car is relatively silent, Evie and Mal are already both sleeping, clearly feeling physically spent from the long day outside. Jane and Lonnie talk quietly in the back for most of the ride, while Jay lightly strokes Carlos’ hair as he lays his head against the center console. He’s smiling sleepily, and a rush of joy consumes Jay from the inside out. Ice skating had gone off without a hitch, and at this point he couldn’t have wished for more. Today was perfect.

Well, almost perfect.

When they arrive at the castle, Carlos pulls Jay aside and into the hallway as they’re walking in.

“So. Don’t be mad, but-” Jay’s already frowning, so Carlos turns a weak smile. “-would it be ok with you if I just went to our room now? I really want to lay down, I’m beat.” Carlos bites his lip and looks downward, refusing to meet Jay’s gaze as he waits for him to respond.

Jay’s trying to be understanding, but really, he isn’t. Sure, today was tiring, but everyone else is still choosing to hang out together, and Carlos is never one to turn down time with friends. And Mal and Ben just got here today! This just, doesn’t seem like something that Carlos would do.

Carlos finally looks at Jay, giving him wide, pleading eyes and his most regretful smile.

“I mean, if that’s what you want. You know I won’t stop you.” Jay mumbles, trying his best to look sincere.

Carlos nods, kissing him quickly on the cheek as he passes by to retreat upstairs. Jay huffs a sigh as he watches, eventually trudging glumly back into the main living room alone to rejoin their friends.

-----

“Jay, will you get your mopey ass in here already?”

Mal shoves another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth, letting the spoon dangle from her lips as she waves Jay into the kitchen. He follows her command wordlessly. All the will he had to enjoy her company and banter went upstairs hours ago, leaving him alone so his mind could formulate all the potential scenarios that sent Carlos upstairs and not with Jay on Christmas Eve.

“Are you just going to sit around all night and wonder what the hell you did wrong?”

Jay grits his teeth as he slides into the chair next to Mal. “No,” he grumbles, but she’s already flashing a shit-eating grin.

“Yes, yes you are, Jay-bear. You’re not fooling me. Never could, so stop trying,” she chuckles and dips her finger in her ice cream to smear it across Jay’s nose. He swipes it off with a sneer, shrugging her arm off his shoulder.

“Fine, who the fuck cares?” He bursts, tossing his hands up in frustration. “I spent weeks planning out this trip, and all I’ve managed to do is drop a tree on Carlos, knock him out with a toboggan and make him want to go to bed and ignore me. I think I have the right to fuckin’ be upset, ok? I ruined our first Christmas together. He probably hates me.”

“Ok, stop with the pity party. He doesn’t hate you. I saw him with you all day today. He does, like...the exact opposite of hating you.”

Opposite of hate? Jay’s lip trembles, but he forces back his smile. “But, he couldn’t get away from me fast enough tonight. And I thought he had a great time today.”

“Jayyy,” she sighs, “I love you, you know I do. But not everything is about you. Did you ever think that maybe Carlos was...tired?”

Jay shrugs, a little disbelieving. “He’s skated before, it’s never that exhausting. And he’d never give up the chance to see you and Ben. We’ve been wanting to see you guys for so long.”

“I know,” Mals says, squeezing Jay’s hand. “And we’re excited to see you both too. But from what Evie’s been telling me, you’ve had all of them running laps for days with all your, Christmas activities.”

Jay snorts at Mal’s finger quotes, slapping them down with a smirk. “So what’s your point? I’m just trying to make the most of this trip, and really get in the Christmas spirit. You know? Make it a memorable Christmas for everyone.”

“And I’m not arguing that at all, Jay. Really, Evie, Lonnie and Jane wouldn’t stop raving about how fun it’s been thanks to you. But-”

“But? Oh great, here it comes,” Jay starts to moan.

“Just shut up and listen, ok? When you were making all these, Christmassy plans, did you stop to consider the things that Carlos likes to do?”

Jay pauses, licking at his lips as he thinks. “He likes...Christmas. Being with friends.”

“He likes sitting and talking, playing board games, doing puzzles,” she explains with a quirk of her brow. “Sure, he does sports. Sometimes. But mostly to spend time with you, like with tourney. But, you fell in love with a nerd, Jay. Don’t forget that.”

Jay scoffs, turning away from Mal with an angry furrow in his brow. But he releases with a sad sigh. “Fuck, you’re right. I know you’re right. I should’ve made at least one day about doing what he loves, not me. Dammit.”

He drops his head, clenching his fists on the table. But Mal reaches out to him, softening his grip with her fingers.

“Will you chill? We can still fix this.”

“Mal, it’s Christmas Eve. What the hell are we gonna do?”

Mal’s smile stretches wide and triumphant. “I thought you’d never ask. E! Get in here!”

Jay here’s some stumbling in the main living room, followed by quickening clacks.

“You called, M?” Evie sing-songs as she pops around the corner.

“Remember what we talked about? Jay does need our help,” Mal tells her, smirking at Jay’s surprised look.

Evie grins toothily at Mal. “Oh good! Craft time!”

#jaylos #jay x carlos #jay son of jafar #Carlos De Vil #evie grimhilde #doug son of dopey #li lonnie #jane fairy #ben florian #mal bertha #jannie #devie #bal #descendants #descendants gift exchange #vndooms

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5secondsofdrama · 4 years

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Just gotta say it's nice to find fans who are OG and also a similar age to the boys cos fr I feel like the majority of the fam are like 14-16 (18 tops) and I'm out here the same age as the boys like ... Ahaha. And I do think it gives a different pov of their music to be their same age. Like, SGFG is my favourite, but ofc it is "immature". Nonetheless, a good half of the SGFG songs they could still perform today and it wouldn't sound weird for a mid 20s to perform (eg SOAU, V, OS, C22) 1/?

Like, dgmw, I adore JBH, but it's whole vibe is so teenage that I would have thought they would have dropped playing her by now (likewise with SKH...) Heck, even their early stuff they could still play and it not be weird (the exception of the obvious being like 18, KMKM, LB) but fan faves like WAYF or IYDK I don't think would be weird for them to play. They could also change the songs up a bit, too to make them sound more mature. Idk, it seems a waste if they plan to shift fully away. 2/?

They have a catalogue of what, over 100 songs? And seem to want to move away from all their early stuff when so much could still be played today. Yb is a great album, it's matured and you still have alot of SGFG (and even their 2014 EPs) vibes in there. So I'd say it's objectively my fave as I can understand the direction they took to mature to get there. CALM however I can't stand. It feels so try hard. I'm all forcreative expression but honestly can't stand the tinny RnB mix acoustic style 3/?

The mainstream complaint of the boys back in the day was that they were a boy band who were try hards to not be and to be punk rock when they aren't punks cos they don't have that edge to their attitude that punks do. But now they're very obviously trying sooo hard to be mainstream people don't seem to pick up on that. The whole RnB vibe when let's be real, it doesn't suit who they are at all. 4/?

Last one I swear sorry but I was just thinking about all this before I went to sleep aha. They claimed CALM was genre bending when it just doesn't work to be (while Yb was more so and actually worked) and also as tho that's unique to them when you have artists like Post Malone, YUNGBLUD and MGK out here executing genre bending incredibly well but that blatantly isn't their aim, they just make music they enjoy. Wish 5SOS could just reflect and do the same instead of being try hards.

*************************************************

Ok so, I think this last one goes with this grouping but I’m not sure? It’s not numbered and I technically already answered it but I’m throwing it in here anyways.

There are a lot of younger fans, I try not to judge them too much bc I was pretty young when I started listening to the guys, even tho I’m closer to their age. This being said there are definitely 15 year old fans out there being super problematic and immature on twt and everywhere else. The fandom was toxic way back when too tho, and there are people in their 30s, and mid twenties out here acting like immature disrespectful brats. You can find 16 y/os who are respectful of others, they may still have some growing up to do but I don’t think it’s fair to group alll younger fans into one category and all older fans into another. As I mentioned there are some pretty poorly behaved older fans out there, who flaunt their behaviour, as immature as it is. I think overall maturity is majorly lacking across all facets of the fandom. You’re lucky when you can find small pockets of it.

When we were on ST people liked to call us all sorts of names and sent us hate. And would turn around and say that we were so immature and hateful to Sierra. Reality is that we’ve never stooped that low, and we never will. We don’t post hate, we don’t send it and we don’t promote it.

As for age changing how people experience music, I tend to agree with you. There are certain songs that are attached to young experiences of mine. I think self-titled is the most immature, Amnesia makes me think about my high school heartbreak. I can’t relate it to my current life at all. I don’t really think SGFG is that immature, a part from the name. I think they just had a lot of other influences. I disagree that JBH has a teenage vibe to it. I would say for songs like Money, SKH, and Hey Everybody, or Gotta Get Out, Social Casualty, Reject etc. But JBH has more of an undercurrent of mental health than a need to break free of social constraints put in place by school and parents.

I fully agree that they should play more of their old stuff they have some amazing lock ass songs. Ones that didn’t become massive hits, but the majority of people that buy their records and come to their shows are fans that have been around awhile. They have it in their head they need to appeal to a bigger audience. Whether that’s a then thing or that’s soemthing management is imposing we can’t be sure. I feel like overtime they’ve grown less appreciative of the fans.

People have said if they didn’t evolve their sound they wouldn’t have survived, and I think some evolution is important but I don’t know that an outright complete genre switch is necessary for them to remain successful. Youngblood was a change from their punk pop roots, which we embraced and it was good but it was different. Why they felt the need to entirely shift from that seems so strange to me, and almost unnecessary? Maybe they are having an identity crisis. Even if they had stayed pop punk forever I think they would have been fine. As you mentioned the fanbase was always so strong behind them and a lot of the fans will blindly buy whatever they put out. I’m glad we got YB, I don’t understand why they could have just evolved form their rather than doing whatever the hell they did. Overall, I agree with a lot of what you had to say. And if also like to add I miss the punk vibe and the damn lip ring, grumble.

#red replies #ask #anon #08/22/2020

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fromcrossroadstoking · 5 years

Text

Talbert and the Potatoes

Part 2 of Welcome to the 5061st

“Army food sucks” - Floyd Talbert, probably

Tags: @gottapenny @itisjustmethistime @indigosandviolets @scarecrowmax

-------------------------------------------

May 15th, 1115

Floyd Talbert was not supposed to be a cook. He signed up to be a man with a gun, fighting shoulder to shoulder with his fellow infantrymen. But no. The Army shoved a spatula and a handful of laminated recipes at him and now here he was - surrounded by crates of mostly identifiable ingredients. The lettuce, although now more brown than green, was at least still obviously lettuce. There were the potatoes, of course - the never-ending, always there, always sort of mushy, potatoes. The carrots, inexplicably, were more like pale orange-ish sponges. The meat was, well, meat. Of a sort. What that sort was, Talbert wasn't sure and the label on the crate wasn't kind enough to say.

He was still staring at the crates when the head cook, Grant, walked in.

"Anything good Tab?"

"Is there ever?"

Grant grinned as he started poking around the crates and putting the food away. Talbert sighed, picked a crate, and started putting stuff away as well.

Just then the door swung open and in sauntered Luz.

"Grant! Tab! If it isn't my two favorite cooks!" A massive grin was plastered on Luz's face.

"And how can we help you today Luz?"

Luz turned very serious, "Glad you asked, Grant. I need food for my child."

Talbert and Grant both stopped what they were doing and turned to face Luz.

"The hell you talking about Luz? You don't have a kid."

"Actually, I do. Just adopted."

"Bullshit," Grant scoffed and turned back to his work.

"Its true! He's adorable. He's a little guy - brown eyes, brown hair, long ears. Named him Scruffy."

Talbert smirked and shook his head, "You adopted a goddamn bunny?"

"I did! And he's hungry. I'm sure no one will miss a couple carrots and some of that lettuce, so cough it up, yeah?"

"Can't help you Luz. They barely give us enough to feed the people here, never-mind pet bunnies. Just feed him some grass or something huh? Isn't that what they eat?" With that, Grant left the kitchen to pile some of the empty crates up outside.

Luz turned to Talbert, giving him the best damn puppy eyes he could, "Come on, Tab. Just a couple carrots? A handful of lettuce? Don't let an innocent bunny starve."

Talbert shot a furtive glance towards the door and quickly stuffed a few things in Luz's hands.

"Here take these and get out of here before he gets back."

Luz grinned, "Thanks Tab. Knew you were a good man."

Luz turned to go but Talbert grabbed him by the elbow and leaned in to whisper, "You know you should tell Roe about the adoption. He might be in to single dads."

Talbert released his arm and winked as he went back to unloading one of the crates.

Luz could feel the heat rise in his cheeks and silently prayed he wasn't blushing too badly.

"Gee, Tab, thanks. I'll get right on that." As Luz turned to go he added with a hiss, "And also, for the record, I said he was cute, not that I was in love with the guy."

"Whatever you say Luz," Tab's voice was the sing-song tone of a tease.

Luz turned on his heel and made his exit. He had a bunny to feed.

May 15th, 1145

Talbert was just beginning to peel the mountain of potatoes when Grant finally returned.

"Jesus Christ, Grant. How long does it take to stack a few crates?"

"Don’t be dramatic. I haven't been gone that long."

"Its been an hour!"

"It was a half hour tops!"

"Fine! Half an hour! It still only takes five minutes to stack crates."

"Yeah, well... " Grant added nothing further and simply went back to making preparations for the day's remaining meals.

After several moments of silence, Talbert couldn't help but add, "Nice hickey by the way."

Grant immediately readjusted his shirt, pulling the collar closed as best he could while mumbling a quiet goddammit.

"Alright, fine. I ran in to that real cute nurse. You know the blonde one? Kinda tall?"

Talbert grinned wickedly, "Oh, yeah! Name's uhhhh... it rhymes with Boe Biebgott yeah?"

Grant threw a potato at his head.

May 15th, 1300

Talbert had the great pleasure of serving lunch that day. The usual chorus of moans and groans and complaints filled the line as he scooped the standard Army fare on to everyone's trays.

The only person who never really complained was Roe. He always gave Talbert a small smile and nod of appreciation as he moved through the chow line. Spina, on the other hand, who was almost always right behind Roe, was never afraid to rib Talbert about the state of the food.

Except for today.

Roe and Spina moved through the line without so much as a sound - no hello, no food jokes, no smiles or nods. They had been down a surgeon for two weeks now, leaving them overworked and exhausted.

They looked like the walking dead.

When Talbert had a moment, he placed an entire pot of coffee on their table.

May 16th, 0700

Talbert walked in to the kitchen to start his day and was immediately confronted by a massive pile of potatoes.

Potatoes. Again.

"Grant, tell me I'm hallucinating."

"Sorry, Tab."

"We've been serving potatoes and meat patties for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!For weeks!"

"I know."

"We keep this up and we're going to be facing a revolt! I'm surprised no one's started building a guillotine yet!"

Grant finally looked up from the potatoes he was peeling, "Don’t be ridiculous. No one's going to build a guillotine. Too much work. Now a noose... that's easy and quick." Grant grinned at his own joke as Talbert sighed, picked up a potato, and got to work.

May 16th, ????

He wasn't sure how long he had been peeling potatoes. Had it been hours? Days? Weeks? Had he ever done anything besides peel potatoes? He had a vague memory of hitting a ball with a bat. That had been something different. (Or maybe it had been a potato he hit? And maybe the bat had just been a peeler?)

May 16th, 1115

"Tab! I need some more veggies for the little guy, please and thank you!"

"Luz! Glad you're here! Look at his!"

Talbert held out a potato for Luz's inspection.

"...a potato? Yeah, Tab, uh, we've seen a lot of those lately."

"No, look at it!"

Luz stared at the potato, not entirely sure what he was looking for, "Can I have a hint?"

"It's a face! A famous face!"

Luz's eyes darted between his very obviously not okay friend and the potato.

"I don't see it."

Talbert gave an irritated sigh and started pointing out the supposed facial features of the potato.

"Do you see it now?!"

"Umm, sorta?"

"It's MacArthur!"

Luz gave Talbert a long, hard look.

"Jesus Christ, Tab. You gotta get out of the kitchen."

May 16th, 1415

Floyd Talbert made a very solemn vow to himself that once the war was over, he would never peel another potato again.

May 16th, 1800

He wasn't supposed to be serving dinner. It was Grant's turn but Grant had disappeared without a word.

The MacArthur potato was nestled in his apron pocket. He wasn't sure what to do with it yet. Maybe he'd give it to Winters.

(Liebgott didn't show up for dinner either.)

May 16th, 1845

A Korean kid, no way any older than 13, came through the line. He didn't know where the kid came from but since the kid was scrawny as all hell, Talbert gave him extra portions of everything.

He also handed him the MacArthur potato.

It seemed fitting.

May 16th, 2200

After he finished up in the kitchen, Talbert had gone and played cards with Luz, Roe, and Spina. It had not gone well for Talbert and now he was completely broke. Broke and bone-tired.

Sighing as dramatically as he could, he entered the tent he shared with Grant, Sisk, and Babe.

His less than quiet entrance earned him a very adamant "shut up" from Sisk, who was curled underneath his blanket, attempting to sleep.

Babe was already snoring away. Grant looked dead to the world.

Realizing everybody in the tent was asleep (or attempting to sleep) and wasn't going to listen to his prepared rant about the unending monotony of war and the lack of decent pay and Roe being an absolute goddamn card shark, he decided to just turn in for the night.

Pulling back his covers, he immediately froze.

Potatoes.

Fucking potatoes.

His bed was covered with them.

A sudden howl of laughter from behind him caused Talbert to whip around. Grant was very much awake and laughing so hard he was gasping for breath.

"We - " Grant broke out into a new round of laughter, "We aren't serving them tomorrow and -"

"And-"

Grant was struggling to get the words out.

"And I didn't want you to miss them!"

Grant crumpled into a fit of laughter, tears running down his cheeks, as Talbert stared disbelievingly at him.

Fucking potatoes.

#Welcome to the 5061st #floyd talbert #chuck grant #george luz #band of brothers #band of brothers fanfiction #band of brothers fanfic #i wrote a thing

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modmamono · 4 years

Text

Why Space Channel 5 is one of SEGA’s best dumbest games ever, no questions asked. (Report 2 cont.)

Here’s ramblings about Report 1 & most of 2: https://huskynator.tumblr.com/post/627109114690109441/why-space-channel-5-is-one-of-segas-best

Report 2 (Cont.): In which I analyse the Morolina boss battle with no point in mind.

So where was I?

youtube

BOSS TIME!

Jaguar (Age 35): The alien mothership is retreating. Don’t you have to follow them, Channel 5? Fuse: Blast you, Jaguar [Age 35].

With the pirates giving chase, Ulala is left with the cowardly alien robot to elegant music.

Ignoring the robot’s title, while silly, its cowardice is its greatest asset. For it has kidnapped some space schoolkids, making their space teacher worry.

Before I start, in-between phases there this chorus, and it’s great, awesome way to prep you to start Chu-ing.

So during Report 1′s Coco Tapioca’s battle, I had trouble describing how it was really all that different from every other battle up until that point. Morolina won’t have that problem because this bot is the toughest cookie so far. Lemme explain why:

Space Channel 5 uses two senses: sight and hearing. During the dance battle when a Morolian says Left, they also move Left. Ergo when they move Right, they have said right. Meaning that if you forgot what they said, you can still save you a lost heart if you remember which way they moved. You can rely on your eyes for a little help, but it is also possible to do it blindfolded.

Not so much during the shoot-outs, because of the hostages. If you play those blinded folded you will fail. You may hear Chu Chu Chu. But you’ll shoot hostages because it was Moro Human Moro. You didn’t see that because you were blindfolded you dingus! You gotta pay attention!

And Morolina is “Pay Attention” the Boss Battle. And I know that’s a good chuck of bosses ever but hear me out.

For its first two phases this is its formula: One or two directions. Pause. Chu Chu Chu.

That doesn’t sound so bad. But you need to use your ears on the directions and your eyes on the Chus.

Its Up and Down movements are straight forward. But its Left and Right commands are a little confusing.

This pose obviously is its Left command. But in motion it looks like the Right command as most of the movement comes from that free tentacle on the right, which while it points Left, it stays on the right side of the body where most of the movement is. Not helped that it doesn’t stay on its poses for long. (Not everyone’s gonna think its moves look reversed in motion but it certainly looks as such to me so I can’t be the only one.) So for that you gotta memorize with your ears.

After the second phase, he start throwing in space school kids into the mix, replacing the Morolians with its Chu Chu Chu. Thankfully, it’s always 3 sets of either Moros or Space Kids it shoves in your face, but that’s still paying attention with your eyes and that happens during the same turn as the paragraph above! It’s a lot for only 5 commands max.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a complaint. This is good game design if intentional. But I have a feeling it’s moreso because its limited by its animation then intentional misdirection. And the way I described how it’s in practice doesn’t happen in this game or the next, it’s a missed opportunity having a character say one command but moving differently.

In short: The unintentional misdirection adds more then in hinders, but you may wanna beware-y because of it.

And then it explodes!

It’s okay.

The next phases begin in zero gravity because the ship’s gravity generated has been damaged... When?

I love and hate this bit, it’s a shoot-out but with a twist. A literal twist. Many of them in fact. In practice, this is more of the same, but it isn’t a strict 3 Chus anymore it can have as many as it has tentacles that aren’t the 3 in front as it feels like.

But that’s not the twist. It still holds up Morolians and Space Kids but it does twists so you don’t have a visual aid of what he was holding during Ulala’s turn. You may forget if its holding Moros or Space Kids. Especially if it’s a short one.

Example: Morolina: (Turns) (Show Moro/Kid) Right Chu (Shows Moro/Kid) Left Chu (Shows Moros/Kids) Up ChuChu. (Retracts Moros/Kids so Ulala can’t see them until it’s time she would’ve shot her guns already.)

This is great stuff. This game adheres to basic game design and it’s great. It takes the simplistic controls and does as many things it can do with those controls to make a fair fight to screw you over.

Despite what it may seem like sometimes with Sonic games, and SEGA’s past failures, their studios can make great games. Even if they’re bad, it’s still clear to me that a lot of their games still had a lot of passion put into it.

I’m not calling Space Channel 5 a bad game for the record. But it’s clear there did went passion into it. I feel like it’s one of the last SEGA IP greats that aren’t Sonic, where they just a had an absurd idea and saw it though to the end. Super Monkey Ball is like that too, Billy Hatcher too but that might not be a good game (I wouldn’t know).

Sorry for that tangent, back to the game where Ulala gets licked.

Morolina kinda had to resort to this. It lost its tentacles because Ulala shot at them. Ulala had it coming.

Luckily Ulala has one hand free with a gun. And I love this section. Just two commands! Up and Chu! Up to roll Ulala out of the tongue as far as she can and Chu to shoot as usual as well as to roll.

You’d be surprised how much mileage you can get out of it.

Also it’s safe to say that it lost both its cowardice and elegance at this point. Shame, I liked the way it danced.

And then it stops anti-climatically. Boom! Status screen:

You saved the space kids and Morolina joins you in Ulala’s strutting. Also the gravity is fixed. When?

I have said that this is probably the most boring report, but wanna take that back. For one it has Jaguar (Age 35) and Morolina, the first true sign of what this game has to offer when pushing its gameplay.

Halfway done. No clue if anyone cares or not, but I know I cares a lot. Me gushing about Report 3 coming sometime in the future.

#space channel 5 #sc5 #ulala #dreamcast #chu #gushing #fuse #morolina #morolians

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hongism · 5 years

Text

finding beauty in your darkest places - chapter 2

this was originally supposed to come out tomorrow but i got excited and whoops!

Pairing: TBA (we’ll see where this takes us lol)

Genre: Psychiatric Clinic!au, Heavy Angst, Some Fluff

Word Count: 6315

Warnings: deals with mental and emotional illnesses and disorders as a heavy theme of the story, future graphic depictions of disorders - please do not read if this makes you uncomfortable also strong language in this chapter

Note: please know that nothing in this story is meant to be a glamorization of any disorder, this is meant to be a real approach and depiction of these things, and i did a LOT of research prior to writing this about every disorder mentioned so that i was careful about what i wrote about each one. I am trying to be as knowledgeable as possible in terms of the content written within this story. I will not glamorize any disorder within this story whatsoever.

Rating: PG-13/Mature

Summary: Everyone has their issues, and everyone deals with them differently. Jungkook thinks that avoiding his problems is the best option out there.

aka

Jeon Jungkook is the newest patient at the Omelas Specialized Psychiatric Clinic, and he just wants to get in and out as quickly as possible so that he can go back to university and be with his friends again. Of course, that doesn't work out according to his plan.

a/n: thank you so so much to @yoongi-sugaglider and @mikaeka for helping me out and beta reading this for me! it was such a huge help!

Chapter:

1 | 2 | 3

Finding Beauty in Your Darkest Places

Chapter 2: Curtains Over the Mind

...

The methodical brushing of Jungkook’s toothbrush against his teeth is the only sound in the room. Mind blank, he spits into the sink before looking up at his reflection once more. Silence. He is beginning to grow accustomed to the quiet of his surroundings, which has been his one companion in his room for the past six days. Putting his toothbrush back in its holder, Jungkook brings a finger up to tug at the skin around his eyes, then drags his hand down to pinch his cheek. A yawn pushes its way through his mouth, and Jungkook shakes himself out of the thoughts that try to invade his mind.

The moment he steps out of the bathroom, someone clears their throat and breaks through the solitude that Jungkook normally encounters in the mornings.

“Good morning.” Namjoon beams at him from the doorway, hands stuffed into the pockets of his sweatpants. “Did Tae already leave?” Jungkook huffs in response, pushing his sheets into somewhat of a clean state before joining Namjoon by the door. “I’m guessing that means no progress then.”

“None,” Jungkook replies. “He’s still avoiding me like I’m diseased or something. Did I do something wrong? Is that why he’s ignoring and avoiding me?” Jungkook wrings his hands together, brows creasing as he looks to Namjoon for answers.

“Jungkook, you’ve asked that same question at least twenty times in the past few days, and the answer is still no. You still haven’t even explained why you think Taehyung is avoiding you in the first place.” Jungkook relaxes his features and turns to look at the window instead. The memory remains fresh in his mind, a recording that plays over and over every time Jungkook sees or thinks about Taehyung.

“The bear. My bear. The stuffed bear that I always keep on my bed. It’s from someone important to me. I know it was there before I left the room earlier. I checked fifteen times, because I had to keep resituating him!”

Jungkook shakes his head.

“We put everything together in the order that you like and followed your instructions when doing so. It’s all put together the way you like.”

“It’s not. I would know. And you lost the most important thing!”

“I don’t know why.”

“Mr. Kim, did you take your pills this morning?”

“Nothing happened?” Namjoon asks further, but Jungkook refuses to take the bait.

“No, because things weren’t in the right order. I have to take them with the yogurt at the end of my meal, but no one brought yogurt this morning. It makes me antsy, and I can’t take them if it doesn’t follow that order.”

“It started happening after the first day. He just stopped talking to me after showing me the room.” He fidgets under Namjoon’s gaze, a rush of panic going through him. Namjoon looks away and heaves a deep sigh.

“I’ve talked to Taehyung—” Jungkook whips his head in Namjoon’s direction “—and he claims that he’s not avoiding you. Your schedules must not line up well or something. Let’s walk to the dining area before we’re late.” Namjoon places a hand on Jungkook’s sleeve and tugs him into the hall with little effort as Jungkook goes along with it without complaint.

“Taehyung is never there when I go to sleep, and when I wake up, he’s either gone already or still asleep. I never see him during the day either!” Jungkook counters. I can’t be the only one who sees it. I know he’s avoiding me. Namjoon doesn’t stop walking but passes a sympathetic grin Jungkook’s way.

“It must be a coincidence,” he reasons, “you shouldn’t read into it too much.” Jungkook opens his mouth to retort but decides against it at the last second, clamping his lips shut and falling into step with Namjoon without another word. It isn’t worth it to argue further about the topic, and besides, the dining room is within view now, including the outline of Taehyung’s profile at one of the far tables. He shifts his gaze, not wanting to reflect on the memory that lingers at the edge of his mind for a second time this morning, and you come into view instead. Hair loose and barely brushing your shoulders, you lean close to your companion, lips moving in haste as you whisper to the man beside you. Jungkook recognizes the owner of the black hair beside you instantly. Despite having sat with the man on more than one occasion over the past few days, Jungkook feels only discomfort when sitting with him, because Min Yoongi is the most intimidating person he’s ever come into contact with.

Your sharp eyes find his as he and Namjoon approach the table. You stop your train of thought, falling silent but maintaining your stare on Jungkook, and when Yoongi notices your sudden distraction, he leans back in his chair. A sigh starts escaping his lips before he even looks at Jungkook and doesn’t stop until he slowly drags his eyes over the younger man.

That’s the other reason why Jungkook doesn’t particularly enjoy being around Min Yoongi. Any time they’re in the same vicinity, Yoongi acts as though Jungkook fails to exist, rarely even breathing in his direction. In other words, Yoongi hates him, or so Jungkook has convinced himself, because he cannot reason a different explanation for the man’s behavior.

“Oi, Jeon!”

Jungkook knows that the noise doesn’t come from Namjoon, but he looks to the man at his side anyways before turning on his heel to examine the area behind him. The culprit grins at him, teeth parted just enough for his tongue to slip through and play with the left corner of his lips. Jungkook wishes he were invisible, because the attention Mingyu brought to him is nothing short of terrifying.

“Gotta ask you a question, Jeon. Why are you still hanging with those three dumbasses? Don’t you know by now that they’ll bring you nothing but trouble?”

A scene is the last thing Jungkook needs right now, so he opts to turn around and plop onto the seat in front of him. You sit directly across from him, gaze still bearing holes into his skull even with Mingyu’s lilting voice resounding in the background.

The table trembles. Namjoon sits down alongside Jungkook without retorting. Out of the corner of his eye, Jungkook catches the slight shift in his jaw as he grinds his teeth.

“Oh, no response? You’ve got no backbone, Jeon! Just doing exactly what they want you to do, being buttered up to become another lost cause.” Mingyu drags his words out, and Jungkook can envision the shit-eating grin still on his lips.

Palms slam against the table. Jungkook redirects his attention to you now, and your gaze has broken at last, now finding a new target in Mingyu.

“You’re damn lucky there’s nothing I can throw at you nearby,” you spit back, but a laugh comes in response.

“What, like cigarettes?”

“Um, do you have any cigarettes?”

“Mingyu, shut your mouth before you start a fight!” Namjoon yells over his shoulder, breaking the facade of calm in his tone for the first time. The ruckus behind him indicates that Mingyu is on his feet now. As much as Jungkook wants to turn around and see what’s going on, he doesn’t want to give Mingyu the pleasure of having attention on him.

“What am I doing wrong? None of the nurses are stopping me. You know why? Jeon, you better listen up if you know what’s good for yourself. The nurses know who the real issues are in here, and they’ll only react when one of you snaps.” You curl your fingers into your palms, knuckles going white as you increase the pressure. Jungkook maintains a steady gaze and watches your fists carefully as though you’ll lash out at any second. “C’mon, Y/N, aren’t you gonna throw something at me? Do it. Throw whatever you want at me, baby. Don’t worry, I’m a big boy, I can take it — unlike some other people.”

You're not the one who lashes out after all, and neither is Namjoon, or anyone Jungkook would’ve thought. No, it’s Min Yoongi who gets to his feet, quiet aura never wavering even as he glares across the room. Jungkook can’t guess what may be on his mind; the deadpan expression on his features stays glued like a mask. There is an unquestionable rage in his dark eyes though, which causes Jungkook to swivel in his seat to view Mingyu’s reaction to the stare. Instead of finding Mingyu’s face, though, Jungkook only sees his back, as the man plops onto his seat without putting up anymore of a fight. All the fire behind his words disappears in an instant, snuffed out by a simple ice cold stare from Yoongi, and even though he isn’t the recipient, Jungkook feels cold all the sudden.

Namjoon’s laugh cuts through the quiet surrounding the table, and Yoongi lowers himself back to his seat whilst perpetuating the stony facade.

“We haven’t even eaten breakfast yet, and I’m already done with drama for the day.” Jungkook laughs along with Namjoon if only to block the uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. And, as fate would have it, Jungkook garners no release from the panic building in his body, because here comes another mostly unfamiliar face that threatens to steal away Jungkook’s last shreds of normality. If he could, Jungkook would melt through the floor and disappear so he might be able to escape this awful and uncomfortable situation. Yet, that doesn’t happen, and Jungkook finds himself stuck as the newcomer gets closer and closer to their table.

“Kim Seokjin. Age 25. I graduated with a degree in film studies before coming here."

“Good morning,” he sings, falling into the empty seat beside you and glances across the table in Jungkook’s direction. His eyes are too wide and round for Jungkook to call them piercing, but the gaze behind them is surely intimidating nonetheless. The stare is constant and unwavering. Jungkook’s heart races in the confines of his ribcage. Slow blinking. Fast breaths. Five, ten, fifteen seconds without a word, then — “Have I met you before?”

“P-Pardon?” Jungkook stutters, a bit taken aback by the sudden question from the man.

“I feel as though I’ve met you before, but in a dream.”

Jungkook wants to say, yes we’ve met once before, but you didn’t speak to me at all. The words fail to come to life, and Jungkook lets them die in his mind. You and Namjoon exchange a glance, one that Jungkook doesn’t get the chance to analyze or read since it fades too quickly. Seokjin offers no chance for Jungkook to respond anyways because he turns his head towards you and begins talking about an interesting article he read last night. The words are gibberish and meaningless in Jungkook’s mind, and he can’t tell whether you are merely humoring Seokjin or actually interested in what he’s saying.

“There are biopsychosocial correlations and triggers in it, and I read that the prefrontal cortex may inhibit neural circuits that normally form the substrate of emotional experience. Sometimes there are some visual and auditory cortex abnormalities that can lead to issues as well, but the somatosensory cortex abnormalities are the most interesting ones because it affects sensations of pressure, pain, and warmth on and within the body rather than focusing on one single thing like hearing or sight. So wouldn’t that mean that those cortex abnormalities are also causing issues within the mechanoreceptors, chemoreceptors, and nociceptors?” You purse your lips, head tilting back and forth before passing an answer back to Seokjin.

“That would make sense since they’re all part of the somatosensory system, but without test to analyze a person’s receptors and sensory neurons, we couldn’t make any certain statements about it. Besides, one patient may have no issues with certain chemoreceptors while another could have problems in all of them, right?”

“True, true. The article didn’t mention that, but I should’ve thought about that. It addressed some other interesting topics though. I read that emotionally adverse scenes are activated by the right ventral prefrontal cortex, so if we can find some way to control the effects in that portion of the cortex, then we might be able to manage the scenes and keep them from occurring often. Also, I think that by combining the neuroleptics we can change how the abnormalities affect the brain and personality.” Jungkook stares at Seokjin, trying to wrap his mind around the barrage of information that he just spewed, but realizes moments later that he has no way of understanding anything that was just said.

“You have a solid theory, Jin, but there are major issues to think about as well,” you respond, eyes trailing over Seokjin’s face as you speak. “Antipsychotic medications worsen the effects of depersonalization to a point where it could be a larger problem that is was initially. We could try Modafinil to see how it impacts the prefrontal cortex and somatosensory abnormalities, but there is a small margin of error in mixing medications. You have to address the differences and similarities of disorders and consider how they play off each other.” Seokjin looks up from the table, and instead of countering your argument with one of his own, he examines the other people sitting around him as though noticing them for the first time.

“Sorry for cutting you guys out of the conversation. I didn’t mean to exclude you.” A laugh passes through his lips — a nervous one that is accompanied by a scratch behind his ear. “I got excited because I made it through the entire article without getting distracted. I think it’ll be enough to show the nurses that I can start helping out more and do other things besides showing new patients around.” Your expression shifts, lips curling downwards all of the sudden, but you say nothing that might hurt Seokjin’s mood. Yoongi, on the other hand, pulls no punches.

“That won’t happen any time so—”

“That’s great, Seokjin. I think you’re showing a lot of fantastic progress,” Namjoon cuts Yoongi off before he can finish his train of thought and dampen Seokjin’s hopefulness. Jungkook drifts out of the conversation again as he glances past Seokjin’s shoulder and spots someone of more interest - that person being Taehyung. His heart starts to race again. Taehyung’s eyes are on Jungkook, watching and calculating with great care. A brief exchange of glances, then Taehyung drops his chin before Jungkook can read the emotion behind his dark eyes. Taehyung’s lips move quickly as he whispers to the man beside him.

It hits in that moment of vulnerability.

A wave of cold washes over Jungkook’s mind as though someone has just cracked open his skull and let air hit his brain.

Where he balls the fabric of his pants between shaky fingers, knuckles turn white.

Pinpricks in the corners of his eyes.

Dampness on his palms.

And panic.

Sheer panic at what Taehyung might be telling Jimin, and cold dead panic around the way your gaze shifts to his rigid body, a strange dance being performed by the slow movements of your head and the rapid beats of his heart that he feels in his throat now.

Taehyung must think I’m stupid. I bet he’s telling Jimin that. Probably wishes he had a better roommate or didn’t have one at all. And Y/N must think I’m just crazy. I know I look batshit insane 90% of the time, so now wouldn’t be an exception.

Jungkook wants to look elsewhere, find something that will take away the panic, and be more calm than he is not. The sensation of paralysis governs his body from head to toe, and he feels as though he can’t even move his eyes. So, he stares at you with brows dipped together and lips parted slightly as he releases a panicked plea for help without a sound. Help. He doesn’t know what he expects you to do, in all honesty. There isn’t much you can do for him while he’s in this state.

“Jungkook, you never mentioned that you play the piano!” Jungkook nearly jumps in his seat, the suddenness of your statement catching everyone off guard — including yourself, because you cringe a bit as you realize the volume of your voice. It’s the first time Jungkook has seen your stony exterior falter, a slight shift in your composed attitude turning it into something frantic that Jungkook can’t quite pinpoint. You hesitate. Jungkook blinks at you, the wide eyes and round ‘o’ of your lips. Then, you recover, finding your words again. “Um, I overheard you playing in the entertainment room the other day. You’re quite good.”

“O-oh, thanks...you. Thank you, um.”

“How long have you been playing?”

“It’s, uh, been a few years.”

“It sounded like you’ve been playing for quite some time. You must have a great teacher then?” Your continuous barrage of questions serve a good purpose in that Jungkook can no longer focus on Taehyung or Jimin or whatever words they might be exchanging because you keep him glued to the spot. Words compelling, almost begging to harness his attention a bit longer, keep him in place and prevent him from drifting back to the panic.

“No teacher, a-actually. I taught myself to play as a hobby...when I was bored one day…” Jungkook trails off and blinks around the table, uncertainty coming forward. You encourage him with a small smile, and the forced action stretches your lips in an uncomfortable yet comforting way. Then your gaze shifts to the unpredictable man on your left, a delicate hand reaching out and latching onto his tense shoulders.

“You and Yoongi have even more in common than I originally thought. How about that?” No response follows, so you continue with your train of thought, “You know, it might be nice for you two buzzkills to spend some time together. Play piano, talk about the detriments of cigarettes, that sort of thing.”

“Did you harass him for cigarettes, Y/N?” Seokjin’s voice rises now, a slight panic to his tone as he reacts to your words.

“I did not, Jin! How could you think such a thing?” You scoff, shifting your arm so that your elbow now rests on Yoongi’s shoulder.

“If you get caught again—”

“I won’t.”

“You won’t do it, or you won’t get caught?” You fall silent at the accusation. The air remains quiet for the next couple seconds before Yoongi decides to pipe up and offer an answer to your previous suggestion.

“I don’t need to waste my time on a kid.” The words bite as Jungkook’s skin, and he argues with the statement internally, too afraid to voice it to Yoongi’s face. I’m not a kid though. And why would I be a waste of time? Is that how all of you see me? Am I just a waste of time getting in your way?

“Yea, I mean, I thin—I agree with him. I don’t want to intrude or mess with his routine or anything like that. Like, it isn’t even super important to me — piano, that is — it’s only a hobby.”

“Chill, you two,” you protest as you withdraw your arm from Yoongi’s shoulder. “It was just a suggestion to keep you guys off my back.” If you mean to say anything else, you don’t get the chance to because Seokjin jolts forward in his seat and shoots a hand out to latch onto your forearm. His grip is so tight that Jungkook can see the red forming on your skin already. It doesn’t take much effort to see why Seokjin lashed out, because his wide eyes have focused on something behind Yoongi. Jungkook shifts along with the other people at the table and follows his train of sight. At first, he doesn’t understand Seokjin’s reaction because all he sees is a patient with burnt orange hair walking to an empty table. A nurse, who Jungkook recognizes to be Nurse Kang after double checking, follows close behind. Despite knowing Nurse Kang, Jungkook can’t recall ever seeing the patient before. There are only fifteen patients, and he thought he would’ve seen them all after almost a week, but this is a new face. He looks to you for answers.

“Wow…” Namjoon breathes out. “I haven’t seen Hoseok in a long time.”

“Do you think it’s a good sign?” Seokjin directs the question at you.

“No, it’s just a good morning,” you refute almost immediately. “There are no good signs when it comes to Hoseok.” What? Jungkook blanches. No good signs?

“Good morning everyone! We’re going to start passing out breakfast trays. Remember to take your medications with the meal.”

No one mentions Hoseok again, which leaves a bad taste in Jungkook’s mouth. He stays quiet as the nurses bring the trays around to serve Namjoon and Seokjin first and then circle around the table until they reach Jungkook. Everyone starts eating straight away, but Jungkook hesitates. Instead, he glares down at the triangle of pills next to his water and juice, the round tablets that almost laugh back at him for his weaknesses. Across the table, he sees you thumbing over your medicine in a similar manner, pushing the pills around your palm but not throwing them back the way Yoongi does. And maybe Jungkook is just imagining things, but he swears he sees the same trio of pills in your hand that lie on his tray. They disappear into your mouth before he can check again.

The quiet while eating is something Jungkook should be used to since it’s a regular occurrence at this table, but today feels slightly different. Whether it’s because of the tense altercation that happened when he came in or due to the entrance of the patient Hoseok, Jungkook can’t pinpoint the cause. The sinking pit in his stomach heralds more danger and tension to come. His mind tells him that every day, so he wants to push it aside.

Then Jimin approaches the table, clearing his throat and tapping on your shoulder, and Jungkook knows that for once, his mind told the truth.

“Sorry to interrupt, but could I borrow you for a few minutes, Y/N?” You don’t say anything at first, responding with a sharp look at the man. Jimin clears his throat again. “Taehyung wants to talk to you, not me. If that means anything…” As Jimin trails off, you get to your feet without any more hesitation and step over to where Taehyung sits. Jimin’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise at your haste but fall back to a slight furrow within a second, then he turns on his heel and goes back to his seat.

Jungkook does his best to listen to the conversation, but Seokjin starts to talk again. Another rant about some article that only Namjoon is paying attention to, because Yoongi also leans back to watch your interaction with Taehyung.

Are they talking about me? Is Taehyung telling Y/N that I’m a bad person? That I did something wrong? Jungkook can’t stop the voices rushing to the forefront of his mind, the ones he tries to bury and dismiss. Taehyung is telling her how much he hates you. She’s agreeing with him. She knows you’re full of shit and worthless. Why does she even waste her time on you? Yoongi has the right idea: ignore you. That’s all you deserve. Think about it, Jeon. Think about it. What have you ever done to deserve an ounce of goodness in your life?

“I know exactly which son of a bitch did it.” It’s your voice, yet again, that shakes Jungkook out of his thoughts. Your voice to halt the ones chattering incessantly in his mind, and your voice that brings a hush to the dining area. “Thinks he’s all that, and he can get away with whatever the hell he wants.”

“Please don’t make a big deal out of it,” Taehyung cuts in, grabbing you by the arm when you get to your feet. Your glare focuses on someone across the room. “Please, it’s not worth it. It really isn’t. It’s not a problem, Y/N, please.” You ignore Taehyung’s pleas. Taehyung protests again as you tug your arm out of his grip, walking away from him and marching towards the table where Mingyu sits.

“Do you think you’re fucking funny, Choi Mingyu?” You snap, yanking Mingyu to face you. “Is this all a big joke for you and your friends to laugh at?” Mingyu blinks at your enraged face before collecting himself and covering his face with a stony facade.

“Sorry, baby, but I have no clue what you’re going on about. Did you miss your medications one day?”

“Miss L/N, you need to calm down and lower your voice. Please, we don’t want to distress any of the patients. Mr. Choi, we’ve discussed this before. You need to treat your fellow patients with respect.” A nurse steps forward to get between you and Mingyu but you retaliate and jab a finger at Mingyu’s face.

“He stole from another patient!”

“I didn’t do anything.” Mingyu’s voice is too calm compared to yours, he is refusing to show any signs of anger, which is strange to Jungkook considering how he behaved earlier today. “Maybe you should check with the resident kleptomaniac before you throw accusations around like that.”

“Mr. Choi, do not talk about your fellow patients in that manner!” Neither you nor Mingyu are paying any attention to the nurse at your side, however, and her desperate attempts to quell the situation fall on deaf ears.

“There’s no way it was anyone but you,” you argue. “I swear I’m gonna get it back from you and prove that you’re a lying asshole.”

“Well, if you want it that badly, I’m sure I can be gracious enough to work out a sweet deal with you. Of course, it’ll have to lean more in my favor since you’re the one asking for something in return.”

“This really is all a joke to you.” Anger drops from your tone, being replaced by disbelief. “I know this won’t fit through your thick skull, but what you stole is something just as important as medication. It helps Taehyung just as much as medication does, and by taking it, you’re taking away something he needs.” The bear? Jungkook swivels and looks at Taehyung, spotting his quivering lip. Was it stolen? I haven’t seen it in the room yet...maybe...is that why he’s been avoiding me? Why does he need it though?

“Oh sweetheart, you sure are full of shit as always.” A new yet still vaguely familiar voice cuts into the conversation. Jungkook hasn’t heard Yesung talk much since the first day. His laugh rings familiar, even now as there is a hint of ridicule in it. “You should try begging. I’m sure you’d be good at it.”

“Mr. Kim, do not step into this as well! If I have to warn any of you one more time, then there will be consequences. Do you understand?”

“Quit playing your stupid little games, Yesung. They don’t suit you,” you hiss through gritted teeth.

“Me? Playing games? Ha, wow! But I’m not playing any games. Say, Mingyu, should we ask Yoongi if she’s any good begging? I think he would know, don’t you?” A loud pop echoes through the room, cutting through the terse silence that follows Yesung’s question. Your hand still lingers in the air beside Yesung’s face, and the man slowly touches the cheek you so violently slapped. A streak of red glistens on his skin. There’s no way your hit broke the skin. The blood can’t be his. Jungkook can tell your chest is heaving by the way your shoulders rise and fall.

“Miss L/N! You will sit down this instant and finish your meal, then report to Dr. Choi directly after mealtime to tell him what you did wrong.” A nurse pushes you away from Yesung.

“Send me now. I’m not hungry anymore.” You shrug the nurse’s touch off and leave the room. Jungkook spots red on your palm as you go, thick droplets running down your fingers. Yesung’s disgusting laugh resounds alongside Mingyu’s. Jungkook watches him wipe the blood from his cheek, laughing all the while. His hands shake as he turns in his seat and faces his tray of food with a queasy feeling. If there is something good to say, Jungkook doesn’t know what it is. The one thing at the forefront of his mind is Yesung’s teasing question.

Should we ask Yoongi is she’s any good at begging?

Jungkook balls his sweatpants into his fists.

I think he would know, don’t you?

Yoongi didn’t say anything in your defense.

Not a word.

“Why didn’t you tell them they were wrong?” Jungkook asks. He knows it’s none of his business, he shouldn’t be asking, it’s not his place — but dammit, seeing you crumble like that felt wrong. “Why didn’t you defend her?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Jungkook leans back at Yoongi’s retaliation. He bites down hard on his lip and nearly breaks the skin as he does. Yoongi doesn’t say anything more. Jungkook can’t stand to look at him, so he redirects his attention to where Taehyung sits. It’s a familiar scene, one that brings memories of the first day back swiftly. He tugs at his hair, yanking and pulling as though trying to tear it from his scalp. Jimin is talking quickly, too quiet for Jungkook to overhear, and forcing his way into Taehyung’s line of sight. It must be the bear. The way Taehyung talked about it...I can’t imagine it would be anything but that. Why would Y/N be involved though? Thinking of you brings the image of your hand dripping blood to mind again, and Jungkook guzzles water to drive the picture away.

“She shouldn’t have let them get her riled up,” Namjoon mutters as he pushes food around on his tray. “That’s exactly what they wanted. They wanted her to lash out to prove a point.”

“What point?” Jungkook inquires. He’s the only person listening to Namjoon because Yoongi is glaring at his food without acknowledging anyone else at the table and Seokjin stares out the window with a blank expression.

“They wanted to prove that Y/N and the rest of us will bring you nothing but trouble.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“Thanks, but they aren’t entirely wrong. We have a bad track record — all four of us do for different reasons, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re the source of trouble.”

“What’s their issue anyways? Why are they so bitter and pissy all the time?”

“Surely you’ve encountered people like that at other wards you’ve been to. In some ways, Omelas is nothing different than those clinics. It can be worse at times because there are so few people here, and all the patients deal with multiple issues. A catalyst for disaster. I’m sorry that we’ve dragged you into a mess within your first couple days.” Namjoon reaches across the table all the sudden, carefully resituating your abandoned tray of food, which you jostled when you got up. He straightens it once, twice, three times before he is satisfied with the positioning, then passes a thin lipped smile in Jungkook’s direction. “Their actions were wrong and unnecessary. They shouldn’t constantly behave the way they do simply because they can’t get out of here yet. All they want is to be released, but they don’t ever make an effort to change. In Mingyu’s case, he’s got such a thick skull and ridiculous pride that it makes it almost impossible for him to change. His way of coping with that fact is to push his bitterness and spite onto others.”

Jungkook remembers the expression on Namjoon’s face when he spoke those words as he walks the halls an hour later. His normal routine would be a slight panic attack and a retreat to the bathroom for thirty minutes before going to his scheduled appointment. After the events at breakfast, Jungkook finds himself preoccupied with thoughts of that instead. He doesn’t even think about the doctor whom he doesn’t know and the invasive, personal questions that are inevitable. Your behavior, the fight, Yoongi’s rage, and Namjoon’s surprising crack in his usual calm facade. Jungkook thinks them through over and over again until he reaches the hardwood door of his doctor. The gold plaque reflects his eyes and the name Dr. Martin.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in!”

Jungkook drops his chin as he enters the room. The scent of lavender hits his nose, stronger here than anywhere else in the clinic.

“Good morning, Mr. Jeon. How are we doing today?”

“Just fine,” Jungkook murmurs back, finding his way to the cushioned seat in front of Dr. Martin’s desk.

“Fine? I heard there was an altercation this morning at breakfast. How did that make you feel?” A click of a pen resounds. Jungkook sighs and looks up at Dr. Martin so that the man can see the smile plastered across his lips.

“It didn’t upset me at all.”

“I see. How are you getting along with the other patients? Have there been any issues?”

“No sir. I’ve been doing well with everyone so far.”

“Is that the case? Your file reads that you suffer from—”

“I’ve been doing just fine, Dr. Martin.” Jungkook knows that there isn’t anyone else in the room to overhear the conversation, no way someone could figure out his weakness. Hearing the words aloud hurt in a different way though. Jungkook would be stupid if he let the voices in his head win another battle by listening to his weaknesses be recited like a menu.

“Which patients have you been getting close with? I hope you’ve chosen well.”

“Um Namjoon and…” Jungkook hesitates to add your name to the list. “Taehyung and uh, Seokjin. Y/N too.”

“Interesting.” Dr. Martin scribbles on his notepad but says nothing further. “Now let’s discuss your current prescriptions. I believe the list is as follows: Lexapro, Klonopin, and Prozac. Correct?”

“Yes sir.”

“How are you doing with those medications? Still well?”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m thinking of switching you to Zoloft instead of Lexapro.”

“I’ve already tried that though.”

“Do not argue with me, Mr. Jeon. I am making this decision because it is the best decision for you right now. I ask that you try the medication for at least one to three months before switching to something different again.”

He wants to refute again but decides it isn’t worth the effort. Dr. Martin smiles as Jungkook slumps in his chair, pen never ceasing its scribbling.

“We will meet again tomorrow, Mr. Jeon. You are dismissed.”

“Thank you.” Jungkook almost sprints out of the room, eager to be free from the stiff air and Dr. Martin. No one graces the halls as he makes the trek back to his room. It feels like the place has been abandoned, which is odd because over the last couple of days, Jungkook has always run into nurses and other patients when he gets out of his appointment with Dr. Martin.

Breakfast started the day off on the wrong foot, and the vibe for the rest of the day is going to be similar to it.

As Jungkook walks through the hall full of bedrooms, he takes the time to actually look at the rooms around him for once. Normally, he rushes through with his head ducked to avoid making eye contact with anyone else who might be in the hall as well, but since it is abandoned today, he decides to do otherwise. The small name placards to the right of each door tell him who resides where. The first name he spots is Mingyu’s, the first room on his right and two doors away from his own bedroom. He glances over the room on his left. He doesn’t pay too much attention to the open door and instead reads over the nameplate as he walks past.

Jung Hoseok.

He hesitates. Takes a step back and looks into the open room with those wide curious eyes. There the orange haired man sits, back facing the door and oblivious to the watcher on the outside. He stares forward. Jungkook blinks at the setting before the man, and a shiver passes through him, running down his spine and leaving him with a churning sensation in his gut. He glances at the window then the man one more time before hurrying down the hall to get to his own room before someone notices him.

Even as he digs through his bag and pulls out the notebook he stores there, Jungkook can't shake the uneasy feeling that arose when he saw Hoseok in his room. His hands shake as he drops his duffel bag. It hits the floor with a soft thud, but Jungkook pays it no attention. Rather he stares forward much like Hoseok had, gaze trained on the window before him that pushes bright light into the room. Two trees shrouding the edges of the frame, basketball court below empty of life. Blue sky bearing few clouds, the fluffy masses that linger there dark and grey.

Jungkook sees something out his window, but Hoseok did not.

He couldn't have.

Jungkook makes an effort not to look in the room again when he passes by once more, head ducked as he rushes past.

Because the haunting sensation that filled him when he hesitated in the doorframe was born thanks to the fact that Hoseok sat on the edge of the bed with chin facing a dark window and curtains over the glass.

...

written by: jungtaeyoongles

p.s. sorry for any mistakes!! i cranked this out because i was anxious to post it! lemme know what you think! who is your favorite character? what was your favorite part so far? what do you think each character has in terms of disorders? i’d love to know your thoughts!

consider sending me a ko-fi!!

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