#i did read a chapter of Adult Children of Immature Parents

[mearcatsreturns]

Today's good things:

My lunch was very tasty: ham and cheese croissant sandwiches, baked in the oven with eggs. I still have 2 sandwiches and I'll probably have them for breakfast the next couple of days.

I read about 5 chapters of House of Many Ways, and I played a couple hours of Luna's Fishing Garden.

[shutyourfacemonsterlover]

Thoughts on Susan Kay's Phantom, part 1: Madeleine

So I thought it'd be more diligent, and my analysis would look more organized if i observed the book as a whole, but considering how each chapter observes in a different facet of his life, with different characters and settings, maybe it'd also be interesting to observe each chapter as its own story. (and my ADHD is out of control and i wanna talk)

And I know the book is...flawed, but it would be interesting to observe and point out what works, what doesn't, and so.

Really saddened there aren't enough fairy tale motifs or dragon imagery tho.

I like this picture imagery Kay suggest with Erik's family at first, that had it not been for tragedy maybe he would've had been a loving, supportive family from the start. His grandfathers and parent sound absolutely sweet, and maybe would've helped with the child from the start.

I also like the nods to the novel and the musical (there's a mention of a grasshopper and mirrors), and a lot of Erik's genius and intellect.

The only thing I kinda don't get is a few elements that i feel didn't work as much as Kay wanted.

Madeleine could be a fascinating character to analyze, since there are shards of a tragic, complex character there. A privileged woman who lost everything in the span of a few months. Knowing how unfair society was back then, how she would resent everything, from her parents to her child to how she was raised. Maybe raise the same question the original novel and musical does, if Erik can still be loved after showin all his flaws; see if we can sympathize with Maddy similarly. But i feel she never develops besides "nasty shallow spoiled brat" and "horrible abusive mother".

Second is Erik's character, in particular his level of intelligence at such a young age. i understand Kay wanted to focus on the idea that he was a "genius", but my suspension of disbelief is a little high when i remember 7 year olds aren't as articulate as he is. (and the mention of him being smart by reading his grandfather's library is a bit of a cop-out). I also feel the moment where he acts "dark" seem a little...strange, like not well thought. i think it's behavior that would appear later on in his life and not so early. If anything he'd be more emotionally / socially stunted and immature than "wicked", if he's lived such an isolated life.

And the elephant in the room...The incestual elements.

I kinda get where Kay is going, and how she wanted to make Erik's abandonment the thesis of her novel, but it comes off as something rather unnerving with the large and erotic focus it gets. (but i guess, if the original source material can play with the Electra complex, this can do it with the Oedipus complex)

It also paints a more tragic picture of Erik, in that no matter which woman he loved, he would always be hunting for the shadow of his mother, and never really love the woman for what she is. And yeah, it's tragic, I get Kay wanted us to sympathize him to the ultimate, but it also diminishes any potential love he might feel for Christine (or anyone else in the realm of phantasies)

I also feel it's kinda incorrect. I might get this wrong, but i often heard children with abusive parents would later grow up to find partners that are very different in personality from their abusers- ea finding the love they were denied in their youth (and that it's often when children have absent parents that they go in search of their "Missing parent figure" in their partners as adults- i might have it wrong, seeing as i'm not a psychologist, but hey, neither is Kay). So Erik would go for somebody kind and gentle, who wouldn't strike him like Madeleine did.

[traumatizedmathilda]

reading another chapter from 'adult children of emotionally immature parents' and this is so sick and twisted!!!!!! I am going: crazy!!!!

I am an internalizer and I did receive superficial support from people around me, but now l have people in my life acknowledging my emotions and feelings, not just dismissing them and it throws me off so badly!!! worst mind fuck of my life!!!

[bandasaan]

“A not-so-mundane life”

Sitting here, thinking of how to introduce myself, write a catchy intro, and make you know me through this autobiography made me look back on the years since I’ve lived on this very earth. Even the tiniest details that one might not even be interested to read about come to mind. As I age, I think of my life humdrum, lacking waves of color and joy, but then as I look back through my camera roll, I think to myself, “this was such a fun time”, and relive the moment and conclude that this is a not-so-mundane life.

Born in a province on its way to becoming a city, Dasmariñas has been my home since forever. From living in the capital of Manila, my family settled down in a province, Cavite for reasons unbeknownst to me. I grew up just as a normal Filipino kid would, with parental issues and trauma. Kidding aside, I had a plentiful childhood, I had many friends, many of who I don’t talk to anymore but I have retained some friends that I still talk to to this day. I played around and was loved, did silly children things future me would have been annoyed to see. But then all of a sudden, I grew. Time flies by so fast that I still can’t grasp the fact that I’m 18. In my mind, I was still 17, in fact, I think I might have gaslighted myself to really think that I am indeed 17 as when people ask me my age I automatically say 17 absentmindedly.

Growing up, I had a lot of ambitions despite being timid and lazy. And now that I’m almost entering college, I realized that I have to work thrice as much as I did in my previous school years. Growing up is tough, especially when my frontal lobe hasn’t even fully developed and I’m still as reckless and immature when I should be “maturing” as I age. The pandemic really did a number on me, although I have been enlightened, I still think of the “what ifs” if ever the pandemic didn’t happen. Would I have been better or worse as an individual? Would I still like the guy I’ve liked for 5 years? Would I have lived differently? Many questions boggle my brain, however, I’d like to think that if the pandemic had not happened, I wouldn’t have moved on and focused on myself, I wouldn’t have been enlightened about various social issues and take a stand, and I wouldn’t have a changed as a person.

In a nutshell, my mother gave birth to me and I grew and I grew, although I am in “adult age”, I continuously grow as a being on this ground and as I enter a new chapter of my life, leaving my safe space and people I hold dear, I now understand and appreciate all that my parents and siblings have taught me and gave me. I really am on my own, I have always been. And that is why this chapter will be an adventure. Though I am excited about what is to come, I am also terrified, however, looking back on life, I have survived crisis and instability and who’s to say I can’t survive with what’s to come? My life had already begun life is full of new beginnings.

[hxhhasmysoul]

I don't like putting stuff under keep reading but this is mostly about the things under keep reading XD I hope you all have the feature that rolls down the long posts on.

_________

If you consider trash talking immature and losing his cool then sure. Sukuna can get very bratty and Yuuji irks him in a very special way, I’ve written about it ad nauseam.

I don’t perceive Sukuna trash talking his opponents as immature, he’s enjoying his fights a lot, trash talking is very common to fighting in general. His fight with Yorozu is the exception, and it’s honestly sad how he didn’t engage with her the usual way. It kinda felt that he wasn’t having fun fighting her and that made me sad. The fish monologue is just slightly too pretentious and poetic trash talking, Sukuna’s language is generally kinda old timey and poetic, but it doesn't really come out in the translations enough.

But, as I've written before, I generally like that Sukuna is kinda full of shit and to me it’s actually a nice aspect of his character that he doesn’t always manage to project the image he wants, that stuff gets to him. But I don't perceive that as childishness. Adults have emotions too, they can get affected, they don't always react in a perfect way. They are often better at that than children but Sukuna reacting with annoyance is just normal human behaviour.

(I don't want to go into a whole discussion about the societal conventions of adulthood and how showing emotion and imperfections in image are often weaponised to dismiss people up front without hearing them out, like it's done to children who by large chunks of society aren't really considered autonomous beings.)

_____

Megumi is usually a subpar friend to Yuuji, an equally subpar brother to Tsumiki, and a non-friend to anyone else, which I’ve also written about before. That doesn’t contradict the fact that he has very good reasons to dislike Gojou. In my opinion his attitude towards Gojou is his only relatable and not super meh quality. Megumi’s attitude towards Gojou and the value he does not put on his own life is very reminiscent of children whose autonomy had been repeatedly violated by adults and the trauma that comes with that.

No normal person thinks Megumi and Gojou have a family relationship of any sort. Gojou barely gave a shit about Megumi besides training him a bit. Megumi was starting primary school when Gojou became his guardian. In chapter 79 Gojou approaches a 6-7 yo and tells him he, a complete stranger, will become his guardian or alternatively Megumi can be sold to some other strangers. The only difference is that Gojou will not make Tsumiki’s life worse on purpose. He also tells Megumi that he will have to work hard, that he needs to grow strong. (Very in line with what Gojou says in the morgue that he needs strong allies to change jujutsu or what it really is: his power plays with the elders.) And in the scene where Megumi defeats Hana’s “mother” curse, Megumi isn’t much older than he was in that encounter. So what Gojou meant is that Megumi, a little kid, has to work off the minimal help he was getting by risking his life as a sorcerer. 

From the JJK official fanbook:

Q: How did Megumi and Tsumiki get by after their parents disappeared? A: Basically, Tsumiki did all of the housework. Megumi helped out. Gojo stepped in to pay for incoming utility bills before the small amount of money Tsumiki’s mother left them ran out.

Gojou created a situation where an 8-9 yo mothered a 6-7 yo. This man is made of money, he didn’t even get them a nanny (to live in or come at least on the weekdays), let alone take them in.

How did Megumi use to be emotionally closer to Gojou? Just because he let Gojou pat him on the head after a mission in chapter 210? In that chapter we can clearly see what comfort cuddling the White Dog brings Megumi and what face he makes when Gojou touches him. As I said, judging by what Megumi looks like, that happened not long after Gojou became his guardian. And we know Gojou doesn’t live with Megumi and Tsumiki, this is basically a stranger who makes Megumi work for his and his sister’s survival, touching him in a very familiar way. A stranger that has all sorts of power over Megumi - age wise, legally, financially, physically and in terms of jujutsu. Megumi's displeased and annoyed face is extremely warranted. It’s the first example where Gojou very explicitly violates Megumi’s autonomy, a child has the right not to be touched by an adult even if the adult just tries to be nice. And it’s on the adult to pick up the child’s discomfort which Megumi displays very clearly. It’s on the adult to respect boundaries.

Me saying that the joke Gojou makes in the Sukuna fight shows some level of hidden resentment is because it’s a bit of a mask off moment. It’s not open resentment and possibly not even one Gojou is aware of. But Gojou harbouring negative feelings towards Megumi is very understandable considering what Touji did to him. 

Megumi used the Magoraga move in the detention centre already, was the talk with Gojou before that? Probably. The way that talk goes also has Gojou’s resentment peek out. He frames it in the context of Megumi having the potential to kill him. He very clearly sees Megumi as a Zenin first, an identity Megumi has always rejected, of course Gojou isn’t sensitive to that, he has a pattern of disregarding Megumi’s will.

When Yuuji asks why his uniform differs from Megumi’s in chapter 4, Gojou says that he ordered a special one for Yuuji, who even mentions that he didn’t ask for it. But Yuuji accepts it because he thinks the uniform is fine. And he doesn't know what Gojou's like yet. But Megumi says “Be careful, Gojou tends to act like that/ is like that.” Some translations add some extra words to show that Megumi means that these are “odd behaviours”. But basically this is Megumi saying: watch out Gojou has a tendency to make decisions for you without any regard for what you want. And chapter before he puts Yuuji in the room just next to Megumi’s without considering Megumi’s feelings on the matter. Megumi is moody and unpleasant but for most of his life Gojou has treated him very instrumentally and the text implies that Gojou frequently made decisions for him on matters small and large.

Megumi, as the person he actually is, doesn’t fully reach Gojou’s thoughts. This is also very visible in how little effort Gojou puts into Maki, a fact that my dear friend pointed out to me a long time ago. She's another Zenin child, one with powers that almost killed Gojou. There’s nothing in the manga showing that Gojou put any effort in helping Maki grow, he actually dumps onto her some of the physical combat teaching, I don’t remember if it’s clear in the manga itself but Gege mentions it in the fanbook. Maki’s arc shows very clearly how she develops completely outside of Gojou. 

But back to the talk about Mahoraga. As a Zenin Megumi is seen by Gojou as someone capable of killing him. Why would Gojou explain Megumi’s potential strength like that? Why frame this potential power purely in the context of “you could kill me if you wanted to” when Megumi has never shown any intent to harm Gojou. He clearly dislikes Gojou but he never does or says anything that would imply that he’d try to get his freedom from Gojou through murdering him. 

Megumi seems resigned to the life he was forced into, to the system Gojou put him in. He has the cog mentality that he infects Yuuji with, though Yuuji seems to be getting over that disease. 

Gojou puts the idea of “the height of your power is achievable through suicide” in Megumi’s head and then he has to walk it back after the exchange event. Because that thought stifles Megumi’s development. Maybe Gojou was stupid enough to think that saying shit like that to a child would make that child’s potential bloom. I mean Gojou is repeatedly shown as a person with very low to none emotional intelligence and a shit teacher. But it might be also that since Gojou can’t get out of his head the idea of a Zenin as a potential threat to him, he might’ve stifled Megumi’s development subconsciously, as a self-preservation mechanism.

As per what you consider manga canon, it's your choice to treat an unfinished work like that. A choice that I personally, as an author of yet unfinished and serialised works, find kinda cruel. But I understand where it comes from, even if I don’t think an approach like that achieves your goal of analysing Gege, or any other author, as a storyteller. Mappa has made very questionable, in my opinion, changes in the anime, but the strolls were written by Gege, it’s just a fact. 

________

We know how Yuuji was revived, not how he survived. The body and soul are very closely linked but the soul does not die with the body, it feels more like it sheds it after the biological death and it seems implied that it can manifest a new body in the future through reincarnation. But the soul vacates the body after the body dies. Kenjaku is shocked that there’s some echo from Getou’s soul in the body. For at least a 1000 years of body hopping they had not seen anything like that, a soul lingering in the body spontaneously. But they are quite sure that neither Sukuna or Yuuji’s soul left the body after its death at the detention centre. And even the cursed spirits assume that the death of the body meant that both Yuuji and Sukuna left it. 

The question is why? 

Sukuna can be easily explained because Kenjaku apparently helped Sukuna achieve that situation in which his soul remains in his dead body parts. They helped turn Sukuna into a cursed object. Sukuna can transfer his own soul from body to body by feeding it a body part. And when he hopped from one teen to another, he did not take Yuuji’s soul with him so their souls remained very separate in that body.

After Yuuji’s body died without the heart Gojou could've assumed that Sukuna’s soul was still attached to it because that seemed to be Sukuna's thing. But Yuuji?

Sukuna wouldn’t have kept Yuuji’s soul there if he had a choice because Yuuji is an obstacle for him.

So either he needed Yuuji’s soul to remain for some reason and he used his own powers to retain it in the body.

Or he had no choice about it.

If the latter is true and considering how sure Kenjaku was of this outcome, a likely scenario is that Kenjaku made Yuuji like that. And we have no explanation as to whether that's Yuuji's completely separate quality or Sukuna is somehow a component or catalyst of that.

Gege could’ve made Gojou mention that there’s something special about Yuuji’s soul in the morgue or especially during the fight with Sukuna, because a few chapters earlier the readers are reminded again that there’s something about Yuuji’s soul that is special. Or even if Gojou wasn’t paying attention to others during that time, Gege could’ve implied that Gojou knew there was something special about Yuuji’s soul due to the Six Eyes.

But what Gojou says in chapter 224 doesn’t imply any of that. It implies the opposite actually, Gojou seems to believe that if a body dies with Sukuna inside it, both Sukuna and the host’s souls will linger in it and the host will be salvageable. Or maybe it even goes further, he thinks he can kill just Sukuna and not the host. And there’s no explanation as to why he would believe something like that, other than he genuinely seems far more interested in the fight itself than in Megumi. 

Got through 224. I don't like how Gege does fight choreography and paneling, so it was pretty boring to me, but I do want to pay special attention to what Satoru says when threatened by Sukuna (who acts like SUCH a child at the beginning of this, lmao).

As far as I know, this "special training" is never clarified. I don't know if Satoru means he spent a good portion of that month trying to figure out a way to help Megumi, or if he's referring to his childhood (as much of the writing before this fight implies that Satoru grew up in a way that dehumanized others).

My interest mainly lies in the "Dying once as Yuji was a mistake." line. I've seen the other panels before, but I'm miffed that I didn't see more discussion on this line, since I feel that it's so much more intriguing. It's unclear how much Satoru prepared for this in the month-long timeskip (whyyyyy), but the "Dying once as Yuji was a mistake." may give us more clues to where Satoru is really thinking. After all, what is he implying here?

Is he saying that Sukuna revealed a weakness by reviving Yuji in the Juvenile Center, when Yuji barely had any of his power? Does Gojo believe that Sukuna has skin in the game, and won't let Megumi die so easily, because he already brought Yuji back when the latter shouldn't have mattered? Does he perhaps believe that Sukuna is unwilling to lose any of his power?

Maybe he just takes it as proof that Sukuna CAN be killed. But regardless, "I'll worry about Megumi...after I kill you." suggests that Satoru believes Megumi will be salvageable after Sukuna kicks it. That there isn't need for alarm until after Sukuna is dealt with. Definitely, those who rely on Satoru need him to kill Sukuna no matter what, to prevent further suffering. All in all, it's a captivating set of lines.

I'm aware of certain developments in the future, but I'd like to delve into this more. My complaints for the lack of character interactions and the timeskips being weights on the story still apply.

[endlessly-cursed]

Another World, Another Primrose, Chapter Two: To Have Loved and to Have Lost

A/N: September is here and I wanted to welcome it with the second chapter of Primrose’s Legacy! 

Summary: A year after the successful birth of Primrose, their parents are ready to start discussing the future of Winbourne. 

TW: Swearing, miscarriage 

Characters that appear: Duchess Coventry @camillejeaneshphm Duchess of Alderly @gaygryffindorgal Lady Brokenshire @cursebreakerfarrier 

Taglist: @nicos-oc-hell @slytherindisaster @camillejeaneshphm @catohphm @hphmmatthewluther @thatravenpuffwitch

July, 1882

Primrose had turned just one year, and her parents, alongside the peerage, celebrated the little lady’s birthday. She giggled and played with other children as the adults sat on the different lawns made for them and chatted over business and gossip. Victoria sat with a polite smile as she listened to Princess Louise of Alderly chat about her recent soiree with the Prince and Princess of Wales, though she found partying all day with no sense or care rather childish and very immature, though she reckoned that as a princess and duchess, she could afford to do so. She too could send nannies for her Primrose, but felt wrong to be away from her. She even baffled her peers by breastfeeding her baby herself, though now she had a feeding bottle and had grown into an adorable baby girl who could beguile anyone with those rosy baby cheeks. She could spot her dear husband hearing to the latest business of the Duke of Alderly and could read his face very well: he was deciding whether to excuse himself or just hurl himself into the sun to stop hearing such things. She hid her giggled by pretending to sip her champagne and continue listening to Louise.

While chatting with the Duchess Coventry, she spotted Lady Brokenshire rather lonely, absently petting her adorable cat. She then looked at her ton “Ladies, do you mind if we include Lady Brokenshire?”

“I suppose it’d be rather rude to leave the poor woman excluded.” Louise conceded.

“Yes, do bring her in! I’ve been looking for an excuse to ask her something!”

“Lady Brokenshire! I say, Lady Brokenshire!” She called out, commanding both Lady Brokenshire and the cat’s attention “Do join us here, please!”

Her dear Vincent took the hint and signaled Lord Brokenshire to join the men as well. She sat with them and they welcomed her with a glass of champagne with a small cherry on it and delicious scones and pastries “Do be welcome, my lady!” Victoria smiled. She had met the lady at her time at Hogwarts, and she was aware they all talked about the famous heiress of the ancient house Somerset. Evelyn noticed that none knew of her particular education and a subtle signal of her silence was enough agreement “If I remember correctly, you have a daughter of Prim’s age, don’t you?”

Evelyn smiled at the topic of her baby daughter “Oh yes! My Lillian resembles her father greatly and grows bigger by the day! I’m afraid that if I blink again, she’ll be ready for school!”

Louise smiled “Oh, will you send her to the Paulinas? Please say yes! My girl could use a roomie!”

“We are… still debating school, but I will keep your offer in mind, lady…?”

“Duchess Louise of Alderly.” She replied, her haughty nature showing off like a peacock showing off its wings.

Evelyn’s eyes went wide and quickly offered a curtsy “Do forgive me, Your Grace.”

“Oh, don’t worry!” Victoria quickly jumped in “The lady is learning, but she makes a quick study, duchess! She will be familiar with the territory in no time!” She smiled as she beckoned her servant for a strong champagne for the duchess to compensate.

“I hope so, Lady Brokenshire.”

She nodded and gave a thankful glance to Victoria, who smiled at her and whispered “Worry not, for what I saw in class… we will soon laugh at this!”

The Duchess Coventry pursed her lips “Whatever it is you two are whispering about? I do hate being left out.”

“We were wondering where did you got such a lovely silk, Your Grace.” Evelyn quickly responded “I was thinking of getting one for my sister-in-law. She loves fashion.”

The duchess smiled “You could’ve just asked me, dear! I have this tailor in France…” she kept talking about it and Victoria winked at her for her quick learning. Most noblewomen were won over alcohol, flattery and pretty things. The higher you got, at least.

A while later, the topic shifted to matrimony and a rather tipsy Princess Louise said rather loudly “My dear Thomas and I have been discussing potential betrotheds for our only son and we have thought of your Primrose.” Everyone froze for a minute “Wouldn’t they make the most handsome couple when older?”

Victoria tried to contain her excitement and smiled politely “We’d be honored, Your Grace. You know our doors are open to you, and Henry is the most delightful baby. I’m sure no other man would be more deserving of her than him.”

She smiled and looked at her husband, who didn’t look amused. However could he not be? He was a prince, and was part of her royal family. Any girl would be lucky to be part of them! She knew that they’d have an interesting chat later, she could tell it.

After the party, as both changed into nightwear, Victoria finished to brush her hair and looked at her husband “I couldn’t help but see your expression when the Duchess mentioned a potential proposal,” despite her husband sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of his nose, she didn’t budge “and I think it’d be beneficial to our little girl.”

“She doesn’t have enough age to have a saying in this. She can’t even think yet! And you want to set her with a bloody Hanover.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with it.” She held her head high and her husband finally faced her.

“Can’t we wait until she’s at least sound of mind, hm?”

“They would’ve picked some princess already then!”

“Let them! I am not selling my daughter to the bloody royals!”

Victoria got up and went towards him “This is my house, my estate, and my child too! I bore her for nine months, I gave birth to her and kept her alive, so it’s fair that I get a saying in this!”

“She is a fucking child, Victoria! They both are! They do not even know what marriage means! How can we hurl them into it, eh?”

“Don’t you dare raise your voice at me, Vincent! I am more than your wife; I am your viscountess!”

He got closer and whispered “Who benefits from this, hm? Your ambition?”

“Our future son!” He froze, and she took a deep breath “I am with child, and the most gifted seer told me it’d be a boy with golden hair and would bring a golden age to Winbourne.”

“How long, Victoria?”

“Two months. I wanted to be sure.”

He closed his eyes and sighed, pacing around “I understand your motives, but she’s too young. She can barely make a sentence, let alone understand wifely duties, Vic. Please, tell the Alderlies that you’re flattered, but that she deserves to have a childhood.”

“This is how nobility spends their childhoods. Ensuring their dynasties and persevering the lines with auspicious marriages, cunning and deceit. That is our childhood.” She looked at her husband square in the eye, facing off.

“…So be it.” He picked his pillow and left. Victoria shouted behind him

“You think me selfish and cold, but when we’re surrounded by riches and with our problems and lives solved, you’ll thank me, I assure you!”

She huffed, hurling the brush and trying not to cry. He’d not have it. Not this time.

Six months later

One more month, Victoria thought. One month, and she’d have the son and heir she had promised to her father on his deathbed. She had to. What else was a woman to do in this man-led world? Sure, the times were indeed changing and the authorities were being questioned, even the fairer sex’s role was questioned, but Victoria was in too deep into the lifestyle to think about it. Perhaps her perspicacious daughter, who was proving to be witty and with a sense of humor from a young age, could change the pattern. Only time would tell. Who knows, perhaps in a future ladies wouldn’t take their husbands’ names! Though she suspected the Tories wouldn’t allow it. She had always been wary of them.

She was strolling the grounds with Alina, chatting and watching Primrose play with Ms. Barry when she felt a jolting pain on her stomach and gasped for air “Mama hurt?” Asked Primrose.

“Emma,” she breathed “take her out. Now!” Emma nodded and picked the curious girl and took her out of there despite her complaints. Another jolt of pain came towards her, and she gasped for air. The blood on her leg made her realise. She grabbed Alina by the arm “I’m losing my baby. I’m losing my boy.”

“Not if I have a saying on it. You!” She called to the butler “Fetch the doctor now! At once!”

He nodded and ran off as quickly as he could, and Alina took her to a small room and stayed with her, attending her every need. She also dismissed Vincent, saying that his presence would only make worse the ordeal after months arguing “She is my wife, and that is my child, I have a right to—,”

“After everything you’ve put her through while with child you have a right to shut your stupid mouth and obey me! You seem to forget that I am a Viscountess as well.”

“A Dowager—,”

“Who can feed you to the dogs and pluck out your heart if I wish to do so. Now, do Vicky a favour and be with your daughter and leave women’s business to the actual women.”

“But—,”

“Guard! Take him to his daughter, at once.”

The man hesitated “But, madam, protocol says—,”

“Don’t you dare tell me the protocol of my home! Out with you both! If I see another male here, I will personally feed them to the dogs!” She shouted, scaring everyone, her Ukrainian accent showing.

Every male in their presence left, afraid that she might try make her threats true. She huffed and went back to Victoria, whose condition had worsened. The midwife and doctor came in, she was in excruciating pain and certain that the baby wouldn’t survive.

“Madam, what do we do?” The doctor asked. And she knew well what he was asking.

He was asking her who lived and who died. And she knew who’d live and who’d die, “The Viscountess must survive this. Too many Somersets have died already.” He nodded and started to get to it with the midwife. “I need some air,” She knew what came next, she needn’t watch.

She took a deep breath and fidgeted with the ring that her late husband had once given her, a promise to grow old and make Winbourne everyone’s home. It seemed like another life. She wondered if he had lived and the two of them had another son. Perhaps nothing of this sort would’ve happened. Perhaps she’d be the one negotiating with the Alderlies for an engagement and Vincent and Victoria would’ve settled elsewhere.

But God had decided their destiny long ago and there was no coming back. Winbourne needed a male heir to survive, and it was all up to Victoria. She had thought to remarry, but there were no elder males with a solid claim. Only Vic remained, and the male line had been wiped out by war and sickness. Only the women had survived.

It couldn’t be so bad that a woman ran Winbourne by birth-right. The Queen had done an exceptional job, as had Anne I, Mary I and II, Elizabeth I… Why couldn’t the same rule apply to the nobility? If someone could raise a strong leader, that someone was Victoria. And she’d be sure to tell her.

That day was clear that Victoria’s third pregnancy wouldn’t come to term. Bells chimed in mourning for the lost son, and Victoria wept in helplessness and shame, and Vincent tried to have himself sorted.

Little Primrose observed as the tiny coffin was taken away. She couldn’t understand what was happening, she was too young. She was too damn young for this. Who was to tell her that nature had decided she wouldn’t have a brother?

Victoria later told her husband “We can’t lay such responsibility on her. It is too much for her.”

“Do you think a woman can’t be a viscountess?”

“I think that our daughter deserves a low-key and tranquil life, away from vipers who are waiting to end our line just because she’s a woman. She doesn’t deserve this burden. We must have a son, Vincent, or else this life may very well kill her. If someone must die the next time, let it be me.”

“Let us hope then that nobody has to make such a decision.”

He watched thoughtfully the stars, wondering if looking at these lines and dots full of light had any answer to this. He knew his girl was a though nut, but outside was ruthless and unkind to beautiful ladies with such power. She needed someone who wouldn’t get in the way of her claim and were able to protect her. And Henry wasn’t the one she needed to survive.

Even if he lost his family forever, he’d make of his daughter untouchable to others that nobody would doubt her claim or throw out hundreds of years of history. Not if he had a saying about it. He had loved three children. He had lost two. Whoever dared to touch a single hair of his living heir, would have him on their way.

[chronicallyblogged]

Continuing reading Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents. Though I still have my Opinions on it. And I can't help but wish it wasnt written as though the person reading it was an Mature Child. Itd be nice if there was consideration for those of us who grew Immature but wanted to heal. Anyways, this chapter sparked a few memories. One of which Im stuck on. My mom had a habit of lying for no reason over little things, a habit Im familiar with. Once in a text conversation she said that she left one store and was going to another. It didnt matter if she did or didnt but in conversation thats what she said. Then I got a phone call because she found a product she was excited about. At the first store. She never left. I asked why she lied about this especially since it didnt matter if she was there and she said "I dont know". This was a rare situation where my mom admitted to not knowing something. But she was highly emotional and childlike at that moment. The I don't know almost sounded innocent and pouty. Then she acted like she was frustrated that it mattered and wanted me to listen to her exciting find because it was so cool. I indulged her. I realized that this was not something I was going to be able to resolve. She was not at that level and doing this was clearly engrained at her. I was 16/17 at the time. I wish I never had to make those conclusions that young

[zozee122-2]

The War Ends at Dusk

This is my first fan fiction, so I worked super hard on it! This is the prologue, and the first chapter is finished so I will post that shortly. The premise is four years after the accounts of RWBY and Blake and Yang are awaiting the birth of their first child. Ruby, Weiss, Nora, and Ren are in the waiting room awaiting the birth of the bumbleby baby. The fic is centered around the bee family, and add a bit of found family trope and new age angst.

WC: 2,214

“Does anyone know how much longer this is going to take? I mean they’ve been in there almost 10 months!” Nora barked, getting up to stretch. Ren sighed and grabbed his partner’s hand.

“Patience, please Nora. This has got to be hard on Blake and Yang too.” Ren said ever ready to calm down his excitable partner.

Ruby chuckled, “Guess they’ll be as stubborn as Yang. Taking bets that they’ll be born tomorrow?” she said checking the clock on the wall which read 5:38 pm, the group had been there since Yang’s frantic group text that early morning that Blake was going into labor.

“I’ll put ten liens on that bet, Ruby” Nora said tossing Ruby a rolled-up bill.

Weiss and Ren collectively sighed at their partner’s immaturity and gave each other a knowing look.

“Ruby, your sister’s wife, your best friend, is giving birth to her first child have some sympathy.” Weiss retorted rubbing the bridge of her nose. The four of them sat in silence for a minute. It seemed impossible that they were here together to celebrate life. Something none of them saw in their future a mere four years ago when they were fighting for their lives and battling a unkillable creature. Ruby sat back in the hospital seat closing her remaining eye. She was about to be an aunt, she still couldn’t believe that they were all here like this, yesterday it seemed that Blake and Yang announced they were officially dating, yesterday that they were trapped in Purgatory without seeing any way out. Ruby smiled, she couldn’t quite describe how elated she was to celebrate this moment with her closest friends and family.

“You know,” Ruby started, “I don’t know if you all feel this way, but this feels unreal.”

Weiss looked to her best friend and smiled sincerely, “It does feel unreal. Like all the tribulations we went through as teenagers seems so close, yet so far away. I’m happy in a way that we were a part of the new future that we are giving to Blake and Yang’s child, to all future generations, that they will never have to worry about the things we did.”

“Never thought a future would exist for us like this,” Nora chimed in, taking Ren’s hand, “After everything, I am so thankful that I get to experience this moment. Can’t imagine what they must be feeling too and I’m glad Jaune is assisting in boosting her aura for childbirth.” She smiled and looked towards the birth wing.

Ren rubbed her hand with his, smiling contently, “When we became huntsman it seemed like a forever thing, like we would never be able to experience moments in life as precious as this. I felt like this at Yang and Blake’s wedding too. Their happiness and love for each other filled the room with pink petals, their emotions were so raw and real, I can even feel it today.”

The three smiled at him, “You always know what to say, Ren.” Weiss said, “I just cannot wait to spoil the little thing.”

The group laughed, “They just have to hurry up and get out into the world!” Nora yelled earning a strict look from one of the nurses. She uttered a soft apology while Ruby chuckled and in turn Weiss gave her a look.

Ruby sighed, “It is taking a long time, I hope she’s okay. Has anyone heard anything from Yang or Jaune?”

The four of them checked their scrolls, “Haven’t heard anything sense ‘Blake is 7 centimeters,’ and that was two hours ago.” Weiss replied, huffing quietly in annoyance.

“Hmm, well we could tell some stories to pass the time?” Ruby asked rubbing her chin.

Nora looked up at her, “Practicing your story telling skills on us before you have to tell famous, huntress who saved all of Remnant Auntie Ruby Rose stories?” Nora asked.

Ruby laughed, “Partially, I guess. So, yes, or no?”

Ren nodded, “I’d like to hear some, maybe some that we were not together for? Like what you’ve been doing now with Jaune and Weiss?”

Weiss looked at Ruby, not like her work now was anything confidential, just not something Ruby liked to talk about specifically. It hit close to her.

Ruby took a long sigh, she closed her good eye and raised her hand to touch her scarred over right eye, “I’d hate to put a damper on our good moods,” Ruby let out a long breath and Weiss put her hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you do not want to Ruby, it’s not an easy topic to discuss,” Weiss reassured Ruby.

Ruby looked to Weiss, who has been next to her throughout her whole journey, never questioning Ruby’s judgement, the most loyal person Ruby has ever met. However, Weiss was right, this was not an easy topic to talk about. Especially when this only mattered to her, but she has not discussed this with anyone except her teammates and Oscar. She was reminded of her mother for a moment, and Maria who did not have a lot of information to give her either on the silver eyed warriors. After seeing Salem’s Hound, she promised herself that she would do whatever it takes to end any part of Salem’s tyranny, and as of late Ruby found several lackey groups that still practiced horrid experiments on silver eyed people.

“I could talk about it, but I am not sure where to begin, it is not a particularly easy thing to talk about. You remember four years ago in Atlas, the Hound that was after Oscar and Penny?”

Ruby could feel the atmosphere shift. Weiss raised her hand from Ruby’s shoulder to fix her hair bun. Nora’s shoulders slumped and her eyes darted to the ground. Ren let out a long audible sigh as he straightened in his seat.

Ren spoke first, “It, it is not something I like to think about,” remembering his own impudence, “but I will never forget it.”

“I was thankful that I did not have to see it in person,” Nora added rubbing her lightning bolt scar on her neck.

Ren folded his hands on his lap, “It’s never something I like to discuss either, if the students ever bring it up, I mean.”

Weiss nodded, “Ruby and I have been well…” Weiss looked to Ruby.

“We have been finding Salem’s old research facilities and finding silver eyed people being experimented on.” Ren and Nora collectively gasped. “Yeah, it is not something, well it is not an easy thing to talk about. The hardest part was finding out that Salem, even now that she is gone, still has her clutches across Remnant.”

Weiss rubbed Ruby’s back, “As a huntsman rehabilitations counselor, I focus on finding homes for the silver eyed people who have either been born into the lab, or who have lost family members…” Weiss trailed off looking at her scroll to check any messages.

Ruby picked where Weiss left off, “It is not an ideal situation, but through Weiss’ company we are finding homes that are taking children and teenagers and Oscar is letting adults live in some empty apartments in Vale.

Ren shook his head, “I hate that there are still veins of Salem’s reign throughout the kingdoms, but I am glad that there is you two that are liberating these people.”

Nora placed her hands on her thighs, an exasperated expression on her face, “I have a student with silver eyes, they’re so promising. I can’t imagine anything ever happening to them.”

Ren nodded in agreement, “Yes, they are a wonder, though I am not sure they know how to use their silver eye powers yet.”

Ruby nodded, “It might be best right now, for your student to not know, it will paint an even bigger target on their back.”

Weiss looked to Ren and Nora, of course they would be worried about their students, even though there was peace many dangers still lurked around the corners, still small threats of Salem’s powers.

“Nowadays, huntsmen and huntresses are returning home, all of the small lurking problems are ones for the younger generation now.” Weiss said giving a reassuring look to Ren and Nora.

“Remnant is safe, yes though there are Grimm still lurking about, thieves trying to steal maiden powers or relics, even bandit troops are still around. While these new huntsmen nowadays don’t have to worry about the fate of the world, they are just cleaning up our scraps.”

Nora stood and looked Ruby in the eye defiantly, “Ruby, that is why Ren and I decided to become professors at Beacon. People will always be willing to help those in need and we will be there to offer support, just like our professors and mentors did for us.”

Ruby sniffed and stood to give Nora a hug, “I will always count on you guys to do that for us, and if you ever need a guest talk about the silver eyed warriors or to teach your student how to use their eyes, I am here for you. All three of you.”

“You guys, I love the sentiment, but you should really save your tears for Blake and Yang’s child.” Weiss sighed.

The group laughed. “I am glad our parents were allowed to go into the room with them, but I am a bit jealous,” Ruby said and continued, “Dad is so excited to be a grandpa and I know Kali and Ghira have been waiting for this moment too. I don’t think I have been this excited for something in a long time.”

“I couldn’t wait to meet the little cub since the baby shower, I think I bought too many gifts.” Weiss sighed leaning on her knees.

“I am surprised you still have money after that spree,” Nora said sitting back down next to Ren.

Ren laughed, “I splurged a bit too much as well, almost my whole paycheck.”

“Mrs. Xiao Long-Belladonna! Do not run in the halls!”

The group stood up when Yang burst into the waiting room.

“Yang! Is everything alright?!” Ruby and the rest stood quickly.

Yang ripped the hair cap from her head and pulled her surgical mask down, beaming from ear to ear.

“Guys! You’re allowed to come into our room, there is someone I’d like you to meet!”

…

The gang followed Yang quickly down the hallway to the room. Jaune was waiting outside for them.

“Everything alright still?” Yang asked him, leaning an arm on his shoulder.

Jaune looked to everyone, his eyes heavy, “Yeah, they are resting comfortably. Though, that kid is a fighter, I used up all of my aura.”

Nora stood by her teammate to rub his back.

“We really appreciate it, Jaune. Now guys, please come in.”

The group of seven walked in slowly passing by Taiyang who was standing in the corner of the room, weeping softly. Ruby placed a hand on her father’s back.

“Alright, Dad?” Ruby whispered. Taiyang nodded and ruffled Ruby’s hair. Yang passed by to sit beside her wife. Blake reached up and kissed Yang sleepily. Blake held a bundled blanket closer to her chest and smiled happily to the rest of the gang.

“Well don’t just stand around like that you guys! No need to be nervous!” Kali said grabbing Ruby by the arm leading her to stand by Yang.

Blake and Yang laughed as the group nervously huddled around Blake’s bed. Yang gently touched the bundle which in turn made a soft gurgling sound.

“Hehe, our little guy just ate, he and Mommy are super sleepy now, huh?”

Weiss raised her eyebrows and stared at Yang, “A boy?”

Nora and Ren bumped fists, “We knew it!” Nora cried.

The baby moaned a bit at the sudden loud noise and Blake and Yang were quick to reassure their newborn son. Ruby and Weiss shot Nora a look and Ren rolled his eyes.

Blake laughed after the baby calmed down.

“Sorry, Blake. I know you’ve had a hard day.”

Blake laughed again and looked at Yang, “Nora, this was one of the happiest days of my life. He was a sucker to push out, but I would do it all again to share this moment with the person I love the most and my most prized possession, our son.”

Ruby smiled and moved closer to Yang, “So, are you going to introduce us then?”

Weiss grabbed Ruby’s arm, Ruby leaned in closer to Yang, and Ren, Nora, and Jaune linked together.

Blake unwrapped the small bundle a bit where two little, folded blonde cat ears stood up.

Weiss teared up, “He’s beautiful, Yang, Blake”

Yang smiled and kissed the small head, “Well, I mean he came from the most beautiful woman on Remnant, of course he’s beautiful.”

Blake and nearly everyone in the room rolled their eyes.

“Yang, please. I love you, but please.” Blake pleaded, “Even the baby hated your joke.”

Yang chuckled, “No, he didn’t. Look at the perfect little kitten.” She said taking the small baby’s hand.

“So,” Ruby pleaded her eyes beginning to water, “What is his name?”

Blake and Yang looked at each other then to their son.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Dusk Yin Xiao Long Belladonna”

[suga-kookiemonster]

1/2 -- Hi Ashley! Umm so I write fics for another fandom and I recently posted something along the lines of "you shouldn't be reading my fics or sending asks if you're under 18," and then I got an ask (anon ofc) from someone saying they admit they're 12 years old. After that there was another one saying they were the same age too, but this -really stupid- child forgot to wait until I answered the other ask before sending the 2nd one so it's the same person. Running out of space haha.

2/2 -- I blocked the ip and turned off anon but I'm just horrified ig. Does this happen a lot tho? Also I wanted to know... is there a way to tell people about myself without using the word "I" too much? Like in my first ask I used it 4 times for such a short amount of writing and it just sounded weird, but maybe it's just all in my head. Loved the new chapter of satisfy by the way 💜 Jimin probably suspects something (right?) so I'm really excited to see what happens next!

so glad you enjoyed the satisfy chapter 💜 thanks for reading. but the rest of your ask is a doozy lol

honestly, because it's so easy to access things on the internet, i have no doubt that there are a lot of underaged users consuming adult content. i can often tell when someone is too young to be on my page when the way they type/the questions they ask me come across as a bit too immature for them to be anything but. 12 years old is way too young to be consuming mature content, and you are perfectly right to be horrified. not only for the child, but because it is completely disgusting and inappropriate for an adult to interact with a child about mature content, and you did not consent to that.

you can't really stop children from entering adult internet spaces (that's their parents' responsibility, not yours), but underage people should ABSOLUTELY NOT be interacting with adult content. for a site that preaches consent and respecting people's boundaries, it is entirely selfish to interact with an adult who has no idea you're underage when they have already told you they don't want you near them or their content. it is selfish, and it flat out proves your immaturity. IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY ADULTS DON'T WANT YOU IN ADULT SPACES, YOU'RE CLEARLY TOO YOUNG TO BE THERE.

[blairwaldcrf]

The Kids are Alright (Are We?) - Nate/Dan/Blair

ao3... gossip girl au. chapter 1/?

summary: when two children get detention together they never expect to unlock a secret their parents have kept (both knowingly and unknowingly)

i.e. Dan Humphrey and Blair Waldorf are disaster characters but I love them and so does Nate.

......

Sometimes Dan Humphrey wished he had made his morning coffee an Irish more than others, and this is one of them. Having finally gotten halfway into an op-ed he was supposed to finish by the end of the week, he had thought the day was going great. A phone call from the Principal of his daughter’s private grade school didn’t agree. Clarissa, adopted daughter of Dan and Nate Humphrey-Archibald, was a beautiful tiny nine year old girl with terrifying intelligence and aptitude for trouble. Maybe it was in the name, the ones the likes of Virginia Woolf and Samuel Richardson had waxed poetic on, but she was the kind of force Dan was all too familiar with. It was why he had fallen in love with her at the agency before they had even decided on the age of the child to adopt.

When he and Nate had gotten her a place in this prestigious school Clarissa had been a model student for the first semester. Any layman who had read even just one article on child psychology would say she was trying to prove her worth to her new parents, but when she had settled into the easy enveloping love that both her fathers and the extended Humphrey family gave, she changed. She became more herself, arguing with teachers about the quality of their class material-- at nine-- which Dan’s father liked to remind him was the age Dan had as a child. Before the year had even finished she had tested well out of third and into fifth grade. No longer met with educational boredom, she had instead turned to social approval and pranks to win over her classmates who thought she was a baby in comparison to their ripe old age of ten and eleven years old.

So now, on top of writing op-eds and working on his second novel, he had to volunteer on the PTA committee and make donations about once a week so his daughter wasn’t kicked out of the school that cost him and his husband Nate as much as community college tuition.

This time it was a prank that involved the teacher’s bathroom that required him to drive to the school office and deal with Principal Pipton, quite possibly the most annoying and frustrating woman Dan had ever had the misfortune of meeting. If he lived a different life he would very much wish to have gone into education and ousted her from the school himself.

Nicole, the young front desk attendant for the school, was nice enough to give him a sympathetic smile as she waved him back into the larger Principal office when he arrived. Nate was standing on the side of the chair Clarissa sat in across from Pipton’s desk, but there was an unfamiliar presence of two more in the room. From the look of things, Clarissa had finally found herself an accomplice.

Instagram models would have been jealous of the probable mother in the room, her blonde hair longer and shinier than anything short of a celebrity could accomplish. She was tall even without the heels she was sporting or the fashionable outfit that went along with it, but her and her child looked nothing alike.

The kid was probably the younger side of third grade but had no air of confidence about him as he sat in the chair too large for his frame. Physically, he reminded Dan of a younger version of himself. Mess of brown curls, big brown eyes, and pale skin. He wondered how on earth his daughter had convinced such an obviously straight laced kid to pull off a big prank. God knew that there wasn’t anyone who could have done it to him back in the day.

“Sherry,” Dan greeted the Principal congenially. The woman gave a dazzling smile that betrayed the clear annoyance given in the tight way she returned his handshake. “Let’s get this through, shall we?”

Nate sent him a warning glare at the slight-- it wasn’t Dan’s fault he always came off sarcastic to Nate’s amiability-- but the corners of Nate’s mouth still flickered with the same exhausted acceptance they had reached. Unfortunately Clarissa had caught the exchange and smirked, dark brown hair pulled out of her braid and wild as it always was. Despite the hours Dan had spent learning how to do hair from both his sister and online tutorials. When they both gave her unamused looks she turned back around and ignored them, grinning as she did so with the same charming smile that seemed genetically similar to Nate’s.

“Well normally we’d go through the usual routine with Ms. Clarissa here,” the Principal began. “But this time there isn’t any way she accomplished the feat alone and her dragging one of our star students like Eliot into trouble just isn’t acceptable.”

“Clarissa scores in the top of her class,” Dan replied, the edge not quite out of his tone. “I understand that she can cause trouble but implying that she’s tainting--,”

“What Dan means--,” Nate interrupted. “Was that we agree that her pranks are immature and need to stop, but that everyone should be accountable for their own actions. It would be unlike Clarissa to bully anyone into going along with her.”

Now it was the mother of said accomplice’s turn to talk, and she had a warm voice and a gentle calming hand on her kid’s shoulder. Instead of looking at the principal-- Pipton looked offended by this-- she turned to her kid and gave a small conspiring whisper. “Please tell me you actually let loose for once.”

Staring at his feet instead of any of the adults, Eliot admitted, “Yeah, I helped her.”

The woman grinned, much to Principal Pipton’s dismay. “I’m sure his mother Blair would have something different to say about that.”

Even though it had been years, Dan found himself having a pull in his chest at the name of the first girl to break his heart. Luckily it wasn’t a common occurrence, the name not quite popular. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t also had almost ten years to get over it.

“And I apologize that she’s busy defending a client in court.” Was the suddenly serious response, even if it held a gentle quality. “But since she’s not here, I’m sure we’ll be fine with whatever punishment you deem necessary for a ten year old.”

Nate barely veiled a chuckle as a cough in his throat but Dan couldn’t quite manage to purse his lips enough to cover his smirk.

Principal Sherry Pipton sent them off with detention for the children and heavy disapproval for the parents, and as they walked out of the office and past the front desk Dan does the most impulsive thing he’s done in ages and asks Eliot’s guardian, “What’s Eliot’s mother’s last name?”

She regarded him with confused surprise as most people would, but tentatively answered, “Waldorf. Why?”

Throat tightening as he stopped in his tracks, he gave a fake and dismissive smile. “Just don’t hear the name often.” Nate narrowed his eyes now, holding Clarissa’s hand as they all stalled.

“Dad, come on.” Clarissa complained. “I want to go home and read Dickinson now.”

“You read poems?” Eliot asked her, both kids oblivious to the emotional storm Dan was on the brink of showing. “What kind--,”

“Let’s go, Dan.” Nate interrupted, picking up on the seriousness. “It was nice to meet you all.”

Blair Waldorf . The girl that shattered his heart into so many pieces he hadn’t been able to let anyone pick them up except for Nate years later-- and that was only because he had never expected Nate to begin with. He’s numb as he follows his family out of the school and into the cab, barely making small talk as Nate covers for him by taking Clarissa’s attention. Eleven years. Eleven years had gone by since he had heard her name and now their worlds were colliding again because of their school children? I mean how had Blair even managed to have a ten year old?

Oh.

[ffamranxii]

I just finished Fruits Basket Another and I have some Feelings, okay? Under the cut, because spoilers.

THE CHARACTERS

Hoooo boy let’s unpack here. Furubana is about Sawa Mitoma, a nervous first year in high school. She firmly believes that she’s basically human trash, and resolves to take up as little space in the world as possible, and that’s not even me paraphrasing. She says within the first few pages she wants to take up as little space as humanly possible. We find out that she’s the daughter of an extremely abusive mother - emotionally abusive. Sawa’s mother never hits her, but she’s also never once nice to her in any of her appearances. She isolates Sawa from any and all friends, she constantly drags Sawa down, and she’s rarely even at home, even back when Sawa was a little girl. How long has Sawa been looking after herself? Sawa is what Tohru could have become if Kyoko had been involved with a gang member rather than Katsuya. 

The main trio of characters is rounded out by essentially the same trio as before: Mutsuki Sohma as the son of Yuki and Machi and Hajime Sohma as the son of Tohru and Kyo. Visually, they look nearly identical, which is why I chose that ^ picture. But they could not be more different. Sawa is every Sohma insecurity rolled into one, and the Sohmas are what their parents could have been without the curse and the constant abuse. Hajime is one of the oldest of the cousins, smothered with love and affection by his entire family, and is lovingly referred to as Dad and Papa (which annoys him), being one of the few in the family who cooks, cleans, or is, y’know, responsible. (Good job, Kyoru! Teach your boy right!) He is unwillingly elected student council president, and manages it easily. Unlike his father’s life, things come easily to Hajime, but he doesn’t let that make him conceited. He’s a down to earth character who trades biting remarks with Mutsuki. Mutsuki, on the other hand, I love. I adore. I want to erect a shrine to this boy. Poor Yuki, his wife hath birthed him a miniature Ayame. Mutsuki is trouble under a beautiful exterior, subtle snark and gentle teasing, but over the top in other aspects (like his thing that was once a desk and complete inability to do the most basic of tasks like buy laundry detergent, his utter willingness to let other people do things for him). He is also a deeply caring individual, and has an extremely close relationship with his cousin Shiki which is the complete opposite of his father’s relationship with Shiki’s mother that I nearly cried right there while reading volume three.

Kinu Sohma is the daughter of Hatori and Mayuko (a pairing of which I am not fond), and I actually was not fond of her until volume three, at which point she became a treat. A college student, Kinu seems to have no real ambitions or life goals (much like many college freshmen), spends much of her time sleeping, and only really sweeps in at the last chapter to comfort a very distressed Sawa in the way only a fellow woman can, delivering a wonderful speech right up with Kyoko’s Words Of Wisdom about how no one has the right to treat you badly, even your own family. No one has the right to abuse you, demean you, hurt you. That is a curse. She actually uses the word curse, and it makes me wonder what her parents told her of the Sohma curse, if Hatori ever mentioned how Akito used to be, or how Shigure was such a piece of shit about the seahorse, and it made me love Hatori all over again, for teaching his daughter such a powerful thing. Volume three also gave wonderful interaction between Kinu and the entirely deranged (but perfectly appropriate) Hibika Sohma, the daughter of Ayame and Mine. Just like Hatori is the only one who has any sort of control over Ayame, Kinu is the only one who can reign in Hibika. I believe these two are the oldest, out of all of the cousins, because in volume two, Hibika just fucking jets off to Paris with no warning, at the top of one of her tiny tophats instead of setting up her parents’ second store, because she needed inspiration to create new dresses. I don’t think a high school student could do that. Hibika may possibly be the oldest (Kinu is still a minor at 19 [Japan’s age of adulthood is 20]), because I don’t think a minor could do that either. She’s obsessed with Sawa and playing dress up with her, something Kinu is able to reign her away from doing with ease. She’s only the tiniest bit toned down from Ayame. I love her.

Michi Manabe is the daughter of Kakeru and Komaki and is sometimes at odds with Hajime. My biggest complaint with Furubana is that she is not in it enough!! Despite not being a Sohma proper, Michi is included in nearly all Sohma activities and all the Sohma cousins know her. She and Mutsuki were raised as siblings and address each other as such, which is precious because awww, but also because Kakeru has a deep sibling bond with his half sister as an adult, Komaki (who I view as another Tohru in a way, from how she was introduced) made an effort to keep Yuki and Machi in their lives and comfortable, and Yuki and Machi both created a family unit with the one family member who wanted Machi around, a bond so strong that their children saw each other so much growing up that they refer to each other as siblings. How precious is that?? Poor Hajime is probably the only voice of reason Mutsuki ever had in his life because you know Michi is to Mutsuki what Kakeru would be to Ayame. God I need a Kakeru-meets-Ayame-centric episode right now. Yuki would DIE. Riku Sohma is one half of the twin siblings born to Haru and Rin, and while he looks like Haru, this boy is a lot like his mother. He doesn’t have the anger issues his parents have, not really (except for instance of punching out Hibika’s brother), but he can be a bit spacey, he’s very serious and literal, and he likes to sleep. Everywhere. This family and their sleep. It kills me. He also gets himself a cute little girlfriend, and because of his crush on this girl and his watching of her, he notices her wanting to reach out to Sawa, and Sawa makes her first friend (mostly) on her own in nearly her entire life! On the other hand, Sora Sohma, his twin sister, is cute and spacey, a bit ditzy, and looks like their mother but is 100% Haru. She has nicknames for everyone in the family, and never calls anyone by their actual name. She’s my second favorite character after Hibika. Sora reminds me very much of Usagi Tsukino: instead of seeing a person, Sora sees a friend.

Poor Chizuru Sohma should’ve been Yuki’s kid. Honestly I’m surprised Ayame and Mine don’t have more kids, given how passionate I’m sure they are. And while Chizuru loves his father, he does declare the man crazy (as does every other character, minus Mutsuki, who says he’s “the most terrific of all uncles”) on more than one occasion. Chizuru is the more responsible of the Ayame/Mine Sohma children, setting up the Ayame II shop essentially on his own until Mutsuki offers Sawa’s help as a part timer (because remember, Hibika decided to go to Paris for the week).  He hates that others view his family as eccentric and him as normal and especially hates when they comment on it, and he tends to be a bit foul-mouthed and outspoken. A bit like Hiro. Poor kid. Rio Mosca is Saki Hanajima’s boy and he is NOT KAZUMA’S SON AND THIS MAKES ME SO SAD. His parents’ love story is rather cute, however. His father is a foreigner (Italian, given that his surname is Mosca), and the two met on a plane, making this a cute little callback to when young Megumi prayed for a someone for Saki to “get on a plane and meet her.” Mina Sohma is the most precious baby and is the daughter of our boy Momiji! Although, look at her - could she be anyone else’s child? She is sweet and cute and seems to be without Momiji a lot - Momiji inherited his father’s business (which seems to be international?), and he travels all the time. Mina has a great talent for batting and rather than be privately tutored and follow her father all over the world, she stays behind in Japan to play baseball for her school. Her dream is to take over the family business from her father like he did from his. It seems Momiji’s terribly tragic story ended happily, as it seems he reconciled with his father enough to inherit his business... (more on this later). And then we have Shiki Sohma, who is surprisingly the son of Shigure and Akito! :O Shiki seems to inhabit two worlds, much like the Sohmas of Furuba. On the one hand, he is part of a generation who was raised by those healed by Tohru Honda. Loving, caring parents who love and adore their children. He has friends who care deeply for him - his best friends, despite all being in different grades, are Chizuru and Rio, and they all play Go together in the school club. His family are all deeply committed to him - Mutsuki especially is close to him, as seen in the first volume where Shiki was teased at but not seen, as Mutsuki called him to come to the house where he, Hajime, Kinu, and Sawa were having a hot pot with Michi, Riku, and Sora.  His parents both are and aren’t the Shigure and Akito we know from Furuba - Shigure is still the immature jokester and Akito is still the serious head of the family, but they both love their son immensely, totally and completely in a way that Akito remembers being loved as a child by her father, in a way that Shigure’s parents probably loved him. On the other hand, in volume three, it is shown that, being the son of the head of the family, and living in the Sohma compound, with the old servants, the “old timers,” and Ren, subjects Shiki to some truly horrific abuse the likes of which no other second gen Sohma child has had to go through. Shiki would greet guests who would give him gifts, only to find that within those gifts were notes badmouthing his mother. Ren attempted to stab him as a small child, something the old Akito would and has attempted on the first gen Sohmas, and it’s implied the only reason was because Shiki was Akito’s child. Akito threw herself in front of Ren’s knife and took the blow for her boy. Shiki is a quiet and withdrawn child, one foot in each of these worlds, and seemingly paralyzed over how to act. Much like Sawa, especially once she meets the Sohmas.

Remember I said we’d come back to Momiji’s happy ending? See that woman in the top left? That’s Momo Sohma, Momiji’s sister. In Furubana, Momiji has reconciled not only with his father, but with his sister as well! Momo appears to pick up Momo from the Sohma house; she is Momiji’s assistant and Mina seems to stay with her sometimes when Momiji is out of the country. Momiji has his family back!!! Speaking of families, Hinata Sohma, Hiro’s little sister, is all grown up and makes her own appearance in the third volume (and is a slight alcoholic, lol). She also mentions brothers - did Hiro did another sibling after his curse broke?? Megumi Hanajima makes an appearance as a teacher at Kaibara High School, and this is my second complaint about Furubana - there is not enough Megumi!! He grew up sexy! Second best glow up in the series after Momiji! It’s Megumi who tells the romantic story of how Saki met her husband on the plane. Also making an appearance is Makoto Takei, former student council president, unwilling witness to Haru’s natural hair color explanation. He is now a teacher as well, and Sawa and Riku’s homeroom teacher. He’s also still in love with Yuki, and lets Mutsuki get away with anything. He is often at odds with Ruriko Kageyama, the daughter of Motoko Minagawa of the Prince Yuki Fan Club. Ruriko has inherited her mother’s obsession, though unlike Motoko and Makoto (god those two would’ve made a great obsessed couple), Ruriko loves ALL Sohmas. I don’t understand how the worship of an entire family to stalker levels is an official school club but whatever. Ruriko is actually pretty cool, and while she’s pretty strict, she’s also on somewhat friendly (like, “person I talk to at school but nowhere else” type friend) terms with Sawa. 

THE STORY

I feel this can best be summed up in five sentences and in reverse: When Sawa was little, she fell down the stairs. She was found by Shiki, who simultaneously called an ambulance and fell in love with her. Her piece of shit mother sued Shiki because he was rich as shit. Ten years later, no Sohmas harbor any grudges against Sawa, her mother is still a piece of shit, the Sohma children are full of Tohru-and-Kyoko wisdom passed down from their parents, and try to help Sawa. And also they all hardcore ship Shiki/Sawa. The end. 

No seriously, that’s the story. It’s beautiful. I wish there was one or two more volumes, a cameo featuring the adults, it would be perfect. Could you imagine the terrible awkward jokes Shigure would make? “Honey look, Shiki’s in love with the girl he pushed down the stairs as a kid. Was marrying her one of the terms of the lawsuit? Hahaha.” And Akito would just be like “....baby, you and Sawa go outside while I smack your father, you don’t need to see this.” And the two go outside and we then see Shigure fucking fly through the paper door and a loud “YOU FUCKING MORON” follow him out with the classic -_- “did I say something wrong?” Shigure face. And Shiki is just a fascinating color of ruby fire about the cheeks and mumbles, “so yeah... that’s my father....” and Sawa is a similar color and staring at her shoes like “he seems nice...” and Akito opens the ruined door as though she didn’t just beat the shit out of her husband and calls out to them, “come and have tea, your father had to step out for a bit. Sawa, dear, I’d love to hear more about you. would you prefer jasmine tea or green,” because Akito has done a complete 180 and become a decent human being since becoming a mother and Shiki is EVERYTHING to her and if her son loves this girl then GODDAMNIT SO DOES SHE. 

[coffereadsasoiaf]

Which p.o.v character do you like the most so far?

Hi anon! I’m sorry this became a very long post which i did NOT intend to, but that’s what happens when no one in you real life reads the same books as you:/

Short answer: it’s a tie between Bran and Cat.

Long answer for the brave of heart:

Cat I love because

she drives a lot of the politic-related plot, which makes it dynamic BUT her chapters still have a lot of bits that were left out of the show so I still get to read some surprising and unexpected stuff (which doesn’t really happen with Ned for example, and I think it’s because he was the Protagonist so they focused on his story the most? I still like his POV but a lot of it is verbatim from the show so yeah). ALSO she travels a lot! Through her i’ve seen Winterfell, KL The Eyrie, Moat Cailin, The Twins and now she’s gonna follow Robb in the Riverlands, and a lot of these places are awesome to read (the climb to the Eyrie was AMAZING and I wish the show had had that kind of budget back in season 1 lol) AND she meets a lot of different interesting people (I’ve just read her encounter with Walder Frey which was excellent) so yeah real fun

I feel very close to her character for some reason? I’ve always liked her in the show, but reading her thought process and her feelings here is even more interesting:) I feel like she is a very well rounded character, even if she’s far from being a perfect person. I feel like Martin built her emotional identity really well, not shying away from the “uglyness” (her feelings towards Jon for example, or the moments when she has to choose which of her children to dedicate her attentions to) but putting it in prospective and making the reader empathizes with her (even tho I know some people seem unable to do that but that’s another discussion). Tbh I could talk a LOT about her emotional state, her memories, her long-lasting grudges, her dilemmas… But I think I should contain for now lol

Bran I love because

I really like the way Martin deals with the magical elements of his story: he doesn’t go too heavy with them, he spaces them out through the book and never indulges too much on them but when he does I think that’s where his writing really shines. I’m not eloquent enough to explain why but let’s just say for example that the dream where the 3-eyed-raven teaches Bran to fly is probably my fave bit of the entire book so far… I find it very fascinating and interesting to read (it also revived my curiosity for the magical part of the story, which kinda faded in the show’s later seasons and eventually died with 8x03 lol). 

oh THE FEELINGS!!! Bran is the pov that makes me most emotional, which is a probably the result of a combination of 1) the terrible thing(s) that happened to him (being thrown from the window and losing the ability to walk when he used to dream of becoming a knight, but also the isolation he goes through afterwards, waking when both his parents and his sisters are gone and then having to see Robb go to war too I mean….) and 2) the fact that he is so young and YOU CAN FEEL IT. This is something I’m generally very impressed with so far! Martin knows how to write from a child pov, and even more importantly how to make their voices very distinguishable one from the other: Bran is clearly the youngest but also the most melancholic and thoughtful of the kids (which is heartbreaking since he seemed so vibrant and childlike before the fall), Arya and Sansa read as POLAR OPPOSITES which is even more impressive since I rarely find male authors who are able to sell me a girl pov (which also speaks for why I like Cat so much), Jon is older but still very naive and a little bit immature (which is great cause it’s realistic and also it means there’s space for growth!). The only child I think def reads as an adult is Danaerys, which might be because she is the only one who actually goes through VERY ADULT SITUATIONS AND EXPERIENCES THAT SHE SHOULDN’T GO THROUGH AT HER AGE, but yeah I definitely have to remind myself that she’s 14 cause otherwise I tend to forget and think of her as like old teenager going towards her twenties but eh:/

So yeah those two!

[audreyannerp]

Pen Pals

(A roleplay between @askaudreyanne / @audreyannerp and @red-rad-and-rod .) It had been about a week since Audrey met J.C. and his siblings. It was kind of hard to miss them, given Lola seemingly bee-lined towards them during their stay at the park. She was grateful for her pooch’s detour, however, as the three proved to be good company (as did their father, who they had lunch with.) She wasn’t sure how long she should wait before emailing J.C., but figured a week was a long enough wait to not seem overly eager. She did originally intend to only send pictures of the dogs to show his sisters, but now she wanted to talk to him too. She decided to start slow, with a simple email. This is J.C., right? It’s Audrey, from Michigan. Here are some pictures of Lola in some flowers. She wasn’t supposed to be in them, but I just had to snap a few pictures before I got her out! Let me know how you three like them! She hoped asking for a response would lead the way to them talking about more than dogs.

- Ping! Oh, thank goodness, something to actually respond to! Surfing through a seemingly never ending list of ads for things he didn’t need was starting to get tiresome. A few clicks later, J.C. found himself searching through his e-mail. Hmm…junk. Junk. E-mail from Audrey- wait. E-mail from Audrey? … Ah, right! That was who he met over in Michigan when he and the family were over in Michigan! Man…even though they had only hung out for a little bit, he missed her. Her beautiful smile, her cute giggle…sigh~ Snapping out of his little lovestruck trance, he went ahead and read through the message, snickering a bit as he got a glimpse of Lola being a goofball. A short while later (mainly after Syd and Kat stopped squealing over the little pup), he sent back a reply: Yyyyup, it is! At least, that’s what people have been calling me for 23 years… Ahaha, I kid, I kid. 😋 What a little goofball! She’s such a sweetie. Syd and Kat seem to think so too, given the fact that they’ve been fawning over her for the past fifteen minutes or so. And reignited the whole “Mum, Dad, let’s get a dog!” debate, but that’s to be expected. How have things been over by you? - Audrey wasn’t the type to live on her phone or computer, so it was a good thing she had written a note to herself to check her email later. Upon coming home that evening and checking her notebook of reminders, she brought up her email and took a look. She chuckled at J.C.’s response and promptly began typing a reply, pleased he wanted to chat. (Or was at least acting like he wanted to, in order to be polite.) Ohhh deeaarrr XD I hadn’t intended to start a debate. Could you please tell them I’m sorry? Anyway, things have been pretty ordinary over here. Weather is still pretty nice, so I’ve been taking Lola on longer walks. She got a little over excited today though and ran into someone’s garden, as you saw. I was sure to tell her no… after I stopped laughing and taking pictures! XD So, how have things been on your end? - After hitting send, J.C. had to think…did it sound like he seem interested? Did he sound bored? Should he have added more emojis? …Nah, maybe that would’ve been a bit excessive. Maybe a little immature…who knows, maybe Audrey would have thought that Syd or Kat took hold of his computer. Now came the waiting game. He would’ve done a bit more internet browsing, if he hadn’t have been dragged outside by Syd for a game of football. That was probably a more productive way to spend his time, anyway. No real need to worry. (…) Later on, now relaxing with a cup of tea, he went back on and found a reply. Haha, I will! They’ve been getting that for years, but I’m sure they’d appreciate the regards. Glad to see the weather’s manageable. Kind of makes me wish I was back there; right now, we’ve had a couple of gales come through. Nothing too bad, but having to be stuck inside for most of the day. Plus side, it’s supposed to clear up soon. Oooooh, Lola, what’s your mum going to do with you? 😂 Kind of reminds me of this time when Syd was a toddler…she’d done the same thing with our next-door neighbour’s back garden. I’ll have to send the picture in my next e-mail, but the end result was her being held (gently, of course) by her overall straps by our neighbour’s sheepdog! - Audrey discovered his reply the following morning. While she sent her reply early, it was likely the afternoon over where J.C. was. Wish you were here for the weather? Are you sure you don’t just want to see me? HA! I kid. I kid. We barely know each other. Aaaanywaaaaay… A sheepdog holding a toddler? That sounds both hilarious and adorable! You have GOT to send me that picture! Let’s just hope karma doesn’t come back to bite me. Mom and Dad recorded EVERYTHING when I was a kid. They have soooo many VHS tapes in the basement. Photo albums too. For a non-photogenic child, they sure loved taking pictures of me. - Why did time zones have to be a thing? He could respond at ten in the morning, and it’d only be five A.M. over by her…ah well. Upon reading Audrey’s response, he couldn’t help but blush a little. Okay, yeah, part of it was the weather, but part of it was because he wanted to see her. Weeeeell, that would be a major plus, if I’m being honest. …Does that sound creepy? Jeez, I hope it doesn’t; virtual communication’s tricky that way. 😓. If it did sound that way, I do apologize! Guess, ah…guess I should get on with the rest of this reply. Heheh… Don’t worry, little me wasn’t exactly the poster child for being photogenic, either. Guess it must be a parent thing…mine were the same way. I’ve made sure to bury one of the albums that has the MOST embarrassing ones as deeply as I can in storage, but somehow they keep finding it. Speaking of ‘embarrassing’ photos… Ask and ye shall receive~ Not going to lie, her face still cracks me up; sort of like she’s saying “Curses! Foiled again!”

- Audrey was pleasantly surprised to see that J.C. seemed to enjoy her company as well. Aw, really? You’re sweet~ <3 Don’t worry; no creepiness detected! Well, you know parents and their magic able-to-find-stuff powers. You could search for something for hours and they’ll point to it right in front of your face! That photo is somehow more adorable and hilarious than I thought it would be! She really was a scamp from the very beginning, wasn’t she? Anyway, if you’re interested, maybe I could tell you a bit about myself and vice-versa? Make sure I’m someone you want to see again? - Oh, good! This was off to a great start~ Phew! Good, good. Just want to make sure, y’know? True, true. Heck, you could try to send something that you don’t want seen to…I don’t know, Antarctica…and they’d still manage to find it. Haha, yeeeeah; once she started crawling, it was all downhill from there! Sure, why not? I think it’s better one-on-one as opposed to doing it in front of a group, like on the first day of school. That whole “what’s your name, what’s your major, one fun fact about yourself” spiel. How should we do this? Do you want to go first or should I? - Well, I suggested it, so I guess I’ll go first. Now let’s see… My full name is Audrey Anne Davis. I’m currently 24 years old and my birthday is March 27th. I’m a college graduate and I work as a personal trainer at a local gym. My hobbies include working out, cooking, listening to music, and dancing. Not sure what else to put so, uh, your turn! (P.S. Feel free to ask me anything!) - My turn it is, then. Soooo, let’s see…mine is Jean-Claude Henri Malone (née Bellerose), currently 23, aaaand my birthday’s August 23rd. Right now, I’m working on my bachelor’s (almost done, though!)…started in gen. studies, decided to do something with humanities. I do a bit of work at the student bookstore, aaaand my hobbies include listening to music, playing videogames, reading…aaaand I would say I enjoy a bit of footy every now and again. Aha, dancing, eh? Any specific training (e.g. ballet, hip hop, anything of that sort) or is it more like “put on some tunes and see where the music takes you”? (P.S. Likewise!) - I have to admit, I had to Google née and footy. XD Anyway, I learned to dance from my dad. He took some classes when he was a kid, but is mostly self taught. (He’s REALLY good!) I pretty much just go with the music. I know some specific dance moves, but I don’t really know how to do those fancy dances you’d do at a ball. What kind of books do you like to read? I’m not much of a reader myself, but I do listen to audio books on occasion. I’m not exactly the brightest bulb, so I try to stick to books that don’t have seven layers of meanings you have to analyze in order to understand and enjoy them. - Ah, yes, the “English to English” thing. If I find one of those sorts of dictionary, I’ll be sure to send it your way. XD Interesting! That’s how I tend to dance as well…I’ve been meaning to take one of those “ballroom dancing” classes, just for the heck of it, buuuut…dunno, haven’t had the time as of late. (Or a partner for that matter, but that was a different story.) Just kind of want it as some random skill to have under my belt. I’m not super picky- if something looks interesting, I’ll pick it up, read the first couple of chapters, see where it goes. Though I will say, audio books are a godsend…always good for plane or car rides, if you’re not the one driving. I totally feel you on that whole “analysis” thing; that used to throw me in secondary school so much. “The blue door is supposed to represent the main character’s feelings of sadness”…mmmmaaaaybe the author just really likes the colour blue? 🤔 Personally, I always like to recommend “Le Petit Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (don’t worry, there is an English translation…and about 298 others, haha). There’s some analysis like that that could come with it, but not a ton. It’s one of those stories that doubles as a “children’s” story and one for adults, as well. - You never know when you’ll have to break into a waltz! I jotted down that title in my handy dandy notebook, so I should remember to look into it. (The act of writing things down helps me to remember. You should see how many notebooks I go through in a year! LOL) Speaking of children’s stories, have you ever read any Goosebumps books? I only read one as a kid and it really scared me, so I never read any more. I wonder if I could handle them now. The problem is my fight or flight response is just a fight response. If I get nervous, I might hit things out of reflex. I once accidentally broke my dad’s nose as a kid because he snuck up on me. I felt SO BAD. My mom couldn’t stop laughing though. She was actually recording when it happened, so that infamous family moment is on tape. - True, very true! 🤣 I have, actually! Read a few when I was a bit younger- my favourite had to be the ‘Night of the Living Dummy’ stories. They were pretty creepy, I have to admit…although I stumbled upon another series around the same time that, I argue, is quite creepier. I’m not sure if a series known as “Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids” made its way over to the states, but hoooo boy. It was made into a TV series as well…not much better in terms of toning down the creepiness. I used to say it makes Goosebumps look like Mother Goose! 😮 (Granted, I don’t think Goosebumps is supposed to be a series that scares you into good behaviour whereas G.T.F.G.K. sort of is, buuuut…still kind of has you going “WHAT did I just read?!”) Okay, just reading that made me cringe, ouch! Remind me to never spook you…or if there’s ever a time we’re over in the states for Halloween, remind me to not take you to a haunted house/scary movie. If it’s any consolation, there’s quite a bit of embarrassing footage of small me as well, haha. “Cowboy J.C.”, “Super J.C.”, tiny siblings/cousins spitting up on me, you name it. 😅 - It doesn’t sound familiar to me, but I was never on the lookout for such things. Scaring kids into behaving? Ick. I’m of the belief that you should influence a child with positivity. I don’t mean in a spoiling kind of way. I just think finding the cause of a problem is more important than punishing the child. And when it does come to punishments, never do something that can damage them in the long run. Don’t be too lenient though. It is important to learn that actions have consequences. There has to be a balance. Sorry for the ramble there. It’s just that the way children are treated is important to me and I do not censor myself with such things. I’ll be sure to remind you. I’m not a fan of scary things. Unless they’re a fun type of scary, like paper bats or those fuzzy spider decorations. We’ve only ever had really silly looking spider decorations at our house during Halloween because my mom’s arachnophobic. If they’re too realistic, she gets the heebie-jeebies. Speaking of embarrassing, I feel it only fair to you and Syd that I share a photo of my own.

Guess who. - Hey, that’s fair! And makes sense, too. My thing is just…kind of let them do their thing (to an extent) and experience the world, just guide them along the way, you know? If they’re being a little butt (or rather, standard kid who’s still learning) about something, tell them why they shouldn’t be in a way that they understand; cause and effect. Like yes, you may want to eat six ice lollies in a row, but if you do, you’ll get a stomachache. Kiddo knows from experience that stomachaches suck, so a compromise of one or two ice lollies is made. As you said, balance is key. Aaaah, arachnophobia. Guess I’ll have to tell Syd that if she wants to show your mum a cool spider she found to…well, not to. XD; Awww-ha-ha-ha-haaaw, caught red-handed! I guess since I’ve put Syd and you through it, I figure one of mine wouldn’t hurt, either:

Apparently, small me did not like the idea of a fork, haha. - I’m glad we have similar views on children. I think we’re going to get along juuuuuust fiiiiiiiine. (Don’t get me wrong. I won’t hold it against anyone if they aren’t good with kids. Just don’t be mean to them.) Awww, you’re adorable~ Hmm… This email is a little short. I’ll just add some random stuff about me here. I love plush animals and have a LOT of them. My favorite fruit is either strawberries or raspberries. I hate pickles, but I like cucumbers. I can do the splits. … I’m out of stuff to say. - Right? I mean, they’re people, too. Just…y’know, tiny. XD As long as you try, then that’s what counts. Eheheheh, I mean…kiiinda? 😅 This was one of the ones I could find that wasn’t completely embarrassing. I think Dad’s in possession of one of the ones that would made me melt into a puddle of shame. Hm, so’s this one. Guess I’ll follow suit? My favoruite fruits are probably apples and watermelon. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue. I like those indoor trampoline parks, buuuut the last place you’ll catch me is in the foam block pit (of course, guess who loves to go in those). If I had to pick my top three favourite animals, I’d have to say either cats (big or small), dogs (same), ooooor elephants. - I can’t really think of much to say this time around, but I’ll leave you with this. Given your favorite animals, I’d say I can always rely on you to address the elephant in the room! - LOL! 🤣🤣🤣 Haha, that’s alright. Guess that means we’ll have more to talk about the next time around. I think?I hope? XD; - It was a few days later that Audrey took the time to really sit down and think of something to write. Sorry for the wait on this one. I wanted to actually have something to say this time. Before I forget though, did you guys remember to try Blue Moon ice cream while you were here? Anyway, I find it so odd to think about how, if it wasn��t for Lola, we might have never met. Well, maybe not never, given our dads work for the same company. We might not have met until much later, if not for Lola. How neat and silly is it that my dog found me a pen pal? Also, I was able to think up some more questions for you! What are some of your favorite animated movies? What about songs? Desserts? Oh! By the way, here’s a video of Daisy my mom took the other day. It’s amazing how high that little dog can jump when treats are involved. - Now, logically, J.C. knew that taking a few days to respond was no real issue. Perhaps Audrey had gotten preoccupied with other tasks. That was typical for a twenty-something nowadays (he should know, he was one). A small part of him, though, couldn’t help but feel as though she had lost interest in him. If he had, he wasn’t the kind of person to be bitter about it…maybe a bit upset, but…Audrey was her own person, she had the right to make her own decisions. When he got a reply a few days later, that fear had melted away…then again, a video of a little dog getting some serious air in the name of treats always helps. Hey, no worries! We did, actually. Interesting flavour! Kind of like cotton candy, but also kind of not. If “blue” itself can qualify as a flavour, I guess, that’s what I’d call it. Kind of bites that wer don’t have it over here. Guess that gives me a reason to go back to the States, LOL. Ooo, okay, let’s see…I’d have to say one of the more recent ones is Ernest & Celestine. When I was little, apparently, I used to watch My Neighbor Totoro at least once or twice a week. I don’t remember, though, if I had watched it in English or in Japanese with the subtitles on. Might have been the latter, I only know the song in Japanese (and that’s….probably the extent of my Japanese XD. I can’t translate it, but I can sing it, so there’s that!). Songs, I’m all over the place, so I can’t exactly list a specific one. Mum and Dad like the Beatles, and they grew on me, sooo I guess there’s them? Will have to get back to you on that one, haha. Dessert-wise…can’t go wrong with creme brulee, that’s for sure~ Hot fudge sundaes are a close second. To be honest, I’ll take any offerings when it comes to sweets. 😋 Ha! Man, she’s got some power there…imagine her trying to make slam dunks! …Granted…that’s….kind of hard to do without thumbs, but…you get what I mean. I think? I know, right? I’m not entirely sure what dogs think about, but can you imagine if she was actively/knowingly playing matchmaker? ‘yes, hello there other human, meet mine’. 🤣 Guess that makes it my turn for questions? Mine are kind of weird, but: What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to? What was the last song you sung along to? What’s your favorite type of day? (weather, temp, etc.) - Blue really is the best way to describe that flavor! Hard to imagine that ice cream as any other color. Then again, it might work in another color as long as it’s pastel. I think it’s pastel flavor. LOL Ernest & Celestine looks adorable! As for the other one… Honestly, it would probably have scared me as a kid. I think it’s the art style. Something about how big their mouths get, maybe. I don’t know… Nothing against the movie though! Just not my preference in style, you know?I’d say a few of my favorite animated movies are The Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, and the Emperor’s New Groove. I like to think New Groove is safe for any audience because no one dies; not even the villain.I like the Beatles as well! My music taste is varied. If something sounds good, I like it. Genre doesn’t really matter. Creme brulee? I’ve never had that. I do like custard though, so I imagine I would like it. And who doesn’t like hot fudge sundaes?! I love sweets as well! Yeah, I get it! Maybe we could get her a little basketball and hoop? She could carry the ball in her mouth! Her dribbling will be drool! XD I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what dogs are thinking. As for your questions, rock climbing might be fun? I’ve climbed indoor rock walls, but never the real thing. I honestly can’t remember the last song I sung along to. I kind of sing bits and pieces or hum when I listen to music, as opposed to full on singing along. Maybe I can go with the most recent song on my iPod? It was Fortune Teller by Maroon 5. I tend to find good things in any type of day, really. If I had to choose though, I’d say a sunny mid-spring day. The temperature would be right in the middle, not too hot, not too cold. Maybe the occasional cool breeze to help you feel alive, but enough sun that you don’t need a light jacket, but can wear one without burning up. Woof! That was a lot of typing! Maybe we could do an audio chat or something, one of these days? She hoped she wasn’t being too forward, but, seeing as they’ve spoken in person, she reasoned it wasn’t a big deal. - 😂😂😂 Eh, blue, pastel…close enough. Still tasty, regardless! 😋 Totally understandable! To each their own, right? Ooo, I might have to recommend New Groove to Kat. I’ve seen it a couple of times, but she hasn’t. I think anytime we’ve tried to settle down and watch it, something comes up (i.e., she’s going to a friend’s house, I had plans with a few of my friends, etc.). Lilo and Stitch is a pretty good one (def. one of Syd’s faves), and who DOESN’T like The Lion King? Can’t help but sing along with it, haha. Remind me to send you a recipe for some. It can be a little tricky, but it’s not like you have to have four or five things going at once. J.C. stopped typing for a couple minutes, trying to move his wrists around and get some of the building carpal tunnel aches to calm down a bit. Maybe Audrey had the right idea, switching over to audio calls… As for audio chat, I’m perfectly fine with that! Just want to let you know that I am about four to five hours ahead of your time zone (I believe that’s what it is? Daylight Savings is a weird concept…I guess for part of the year, it’s four and then the other part is five.). Whenever you’re feeling up to it. :) - Oh, right. Forgot about the time difference. Oops. LOL I tend to wake up at six in the morning and head to bed around ten at night. My work schedule isn’t a typical nine to five deal, being a personal trainer and all. I generally work when the client isn’t; so it’s usually in the mornings and evenings. I suppose the best time to catch me is early in the morning and midday, my time. Or on my days off, of course. Do you have an account on Discord? I figured we could do our chatting there. - Time-zones, mon amie; Une vraie douleur dans le cul…😩 Early morning, midday, and days off…duly noted! So that’d be afternoon to early evening here, I believe. Works out, though- my available times tend to be later in the day my time. I do- Name on there is OuiOuiJC#0714. If you see a profile picture that has a ferret in a beret, and they’re holding a baguette and glass of wine, that’s me. - Audrey couldn’t help but giggle at his username and profile picture. Rather than email him again, Audrey sent him a friend request from her Discord; AudreySugarSpice#1734. Her profile picture was a pink teddy bear. Guess who~ - Pink bear? Hm, unless one of his sisters had secretly made a Discord account (”Not until you’re older”, as per Mum and Dad’s rules), theeeeen this had to be Audrey. Looking at the username, that definitely confirmed it. Friend request accepted~ Guess who, eh? Hmmm….the Queen of England? 🤣 - Feeling a bit bold, Audrey initiated an audio call with him, planning to greet him with, “How’d you know?” followed by giggles. - …Well, she did say that she wanted to try out audio calls, so why not? Picking up, he answered with a comically dramatic gasp. “Your majesty~! I am not worthy!”   - Audrey giggled more. “I’d have followed up by pretending to be a queen, but, I don’t know how one acts and I can’t do an English accent to save my life,” she laughed. “Anyway, how are you doing? Can you hear me alright?” - “Incredibly proper, supposedly.” he chuckled. “Doin’ alright! Can hear you juuust fine. How about on your end? Hearing me and how things are going, I mean.” - “Same here! Glad I caught ya at a good time… I did catch you at a good time, right? It should be evening over there. Oh, I hope I didn’t pull you away from anything…” - “Haha, naaah, you’re fine! Been with the family for most of the day, so I’ve secluded myself in my room for a bit of ‘me’ time. It’s all good.” - “So I guess your me time is us time now,” she chuckled. “You live with your parents still or are you just visiting? It’s fine either way!” she added in a hurry. “The only reason I have my own place is because of Spike. He’s a workout friend of mine who works in construction and knows a few people in real estate.” - “Guess so; not that I’m complaining.” he responded. “ I spend most of my time here during the summer holiday…and, well, regular holidays.. During school, I live a bit closer to the campus. Soooo…I guess you could say both? Once I get my degree, I’m moving into my own. Haven’t settled on a location yet, really. Depends on if I want to be adventurous or not.” - “Ahhh. I see,” she nodded to herself. “What are some locations you’re thinking of moving to? Just curious.” - “Back to France is always an option…but knowing my family, either they’d be coming here at least once every couple of weeks or vice versa. Aaaaand that back and forth travel can be kind of pricey. I could always head up to and stay in Blackpool- where my university is. Or just take a total leap of faith and try somewhere else. The few times we’ve been over to the U.S. have been kind of nice- maybe I could live there. Might consider multiple citizenship, who knows. Eleven months there, one month here…” - “That does sound pricey… Though I’m sure you know that, if you’re considering the United States, I have to recommend Michigan. I’m biased, yes, but I have at least visited other states, so I’m not blindly swearing allegiance or anything. Fun fact, Michigan is one of the leading fruit growers in the States~ Cherries, especially,” she chirped. - J.C. laughed, “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea; being surrounded by fruit. I also wouldn’t mind living somewhere that gets actual snow in the winter. I mean, sometimes we’ll spend the holidays up in Northern Scotland, but not having to travel to see and play in the snow would be nice.” - “Oh, snow is definitely something we get up here,” she laughed. “Multiple feet of it, in fact. You should see Daisy during the winter; it’s hilarious! You just toss her outside and fwump; she disappears into the snow!“ - “Pffff! You might just have to tie a balloon to her collar or something and just track her that way. Or do you think she would float away?” - “Ha! Enough balloons probably would make her fly away! She’s so tiny! Truthfully, we just look for where the snow is moving. It also helps that she wears little sweaters when it’s cold out. Mom’s tried putting booties on her, but she just kicks them off.” - “Awwwhawhawhaw~ I’d hope she’d have at least a little something to wear. If I’m not mistaken, Michigan and a lot of those northern states can get pretty cold…like ‘stuck inside for days’ or ‘wearing five layers of clothing just to get the shopping done’ cold.” He thought for a minute. “Of…course, that’s all from word of mouth as opposed to personal experience, but…” - “I can confirm that it can get that cold. Ever see A Christmas Story where the little brother has so many layers of clothing he can’t put his arms down? It’s kind of like that.” - J.C. laughed, picturing the scene. “Oh, mon dieu. If we’re ever visiting during that time of the year, remind me to keep Syd away from metal poles!” - “Oh goodness… Yeah, that’s really a thing that happens here. Why do so many people think that’s a myth? Have they never gotten their tongue stuck to a popsicle before?” - “Apparently not. But hey, doing stupid stuff’s a part of life,I suppose. Maybe gain some status or fame in your friend group or among your class/workmates.” Sounded as if he was speaking from experience. - “Why do you sound like you’re speaking from experience?” she teased. - There was a brief moment of silence. “…Beeeee….caaaaaause I mmmmmmaaaaaay have done a few things that…could be qualified as such.” he responded, chuckling sheepishly. “N-nothing major, though.” - “Ooooooo~” she said, trying to sound like a studio audience. “What’d you do?” - The sheepish laughter intensified. “Aaaah…hm. You know those really, really hot peppers that are on the market?  Short and skinny of it is ‘Guys Night In’ and a game of ‘Truth or Dare’. It wasn’t a…Reaper? I think that’s what one of those are called? Only reason I know that is because I probably would’ve ended up in hospital, haha. I think it was aaaa….habenaro? One was, the other’s called  ‘Naga Jolokia’. Ate the habenaro with little issue, didn’t even get a full two bites into the other one before I was gulping down water like no tomorrow.” - “Oh noooo,” she laughed. “Oh nooo-ho-ho! That’s- That’s a ghost pepper, isn’t it?! Ah-ha-ha-ha!” She broke into a laughing fit. - His laughter became less sheepish and a bit more joyful. “Eeeeeeeyup, it is. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time, but hey. I will say, it did go better than when we played that one game with the Jelly Beans. …What’s it called? ‘Bean-Boozled’?” - “Yeah, it’s Bean-Boozled. Basically Bertie-Bott’s Every Flavor Beans but Jelly Belly brand. Dare I ask what could have happened when playing Bean-Boozled?” - “Weeeeell, plus side, I wasn’t the one who ended up with their face in a wastebasket.” he snickered. “The last few times we’d played, I kept getting the really gross flavours, and there was this joke that I was cursed. With our most recent game, the ‘curse’, I suppose, had reversed and the person who got all the good flavours last time got all the bad ones. He was fine up until…ugh, dead fish.” - “Ew-hew-hew!” she laughed. “Though, technically, all fish we eat is dead. It’d be pretty messy if we ate them alive… and gross… Say, that reminds me, you like scary movies, right? I have a question about zombies.” - “I doooooo. What’s your question?” - “How fast does a zombie need to eat before its victim becomes a zombie too and they don’t want to eat it? Like, zombies don’t eat other zombies, right? If you’re killed by a zombie, you become a zombie, right? How does that work?” - J.C. blinked, initially unsure how to answer. “That’s….actually a really good question. I like to think that it depends on the initial method of zombification. If it’s done via a curse, you’ve got a bit more time, whereas if it’s because of a virus, that time shortens, since you’ve got all this zombie saliva coming into contact with your blood. Blood takes about one minute to circulate through your entire body, so…you’d probably have to go all ‘pie-eating contest’ speed if your zombification is viral.” He stopped and thought for a minute. “Granted, you get bit regardless of the initial turning mechanism and still come into contact with their saliva…maybe one method is more virulent and fast-acting than the other? Kind of like how it can take something like food poisoning to show up in as little as half an hour to as long as four weeks, depending on what’s responsible for causing it.” - There was a long pause before Audrey replied with, “Huh… I don’t know what to do with this information… I’d write a story or something, but I don’t have the creativity for that. Hm… Maybe I should mention this to Adelyn… She’s good with this sort of thing.” - “Nor am I.” he chuckled, “Ah, Adelyn, eh? Friend of yours or a relative?” - “Relative,” she informed. “She’s my youngest cousin. She’s on the autism spectrum and is, like, really smart and creative.” - “Ah! Maybe she can tell me if the logic on my answer to your question seems sound.” All of a sudden, he heard a small sneeze outside the door, along with a small ‘THUD!’ and a young-sounding ‘Dangit!”. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “Hold on just a sec…” Getting up and walking towards his door, J.C. spoke to who he suspected was on the other side. “I know that’s you, petit singe. Are you eavesdropping?” “Noooooooo…a person can’t just chill against the wall in their own home?” “The wall that has their brother’s room on the other side?” “…All the other walls were taken?” - Though the voice was a bit faint, Audrey figured the little eavesdropper was Syd. “Tell her I said hi,” she called loudly, hoping J.C. could hear her from however far away from the computer he was. - “Can do!” he called back, before turning his voice back towards Syd. “Audrey says ‘hi’, by the way.” Syd gasped, “You’re talkin’ to her?!” She took a deep breath and shouted: “HI AAAAAAAUUUUDREEEEEEEY!!!” J.C., having been up against the door cringed and rubbed his ear a bit. Probably should have seen that coming… - “Oh wow, she’s got a set of lungs on her, huh?” she laughed. - “Tell me about it.” the older brother groaned slightly. “ ‘Kay! Soooo I’m gonna let yooooou twooooo get back to your conversation! Maybe we can do a chat later on; I don’t want to interrupt you two lovebirds~” the ten year old responded, laughing as she skipped away. Once she was gone, J.C. sat back down on his bed, rubbing his temple a bit. “Eheh…sorry about that. Siblings…” - “Never a dull moment, huh?” she chuckled. - “Never.” he laughed. - “Sooo… What were we talking about? … Oh, right; zombies. That reminds me; I punched a zombie once… Well, someone in a zombie costume… Did I tell you about that?” - “Pffffff! I don’t think you have…how’d that come about, anyway?” - “There was this haunted house a few years back. It was pretty intense, so children were required to have an adult with them. Well, these kids really wanted to go and every other adult they asked were either busy or flat out said no… So I wound up being that adult… Well, the haunted house did its job. I was on edge the whole time and, when one of the actors put his hand on my shoulder, I whirled around and punched out of reflex. I felt so bad! I kept apologizing and I even gave him a twenty dollar bill! I know they aren’t paid to be hit, but I had to do something!” - J.C. wheezed before collapsing into a fit of giggles. “Oooooh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho my lord!  That’s aw-haw-haw-haw-haw-haw-ful! Hilarious, as well, but still! But hey, at least you apologized.” - “The kids thought it was funny too,” she chuckled a bit. “Shame I got us kicked out.” - “Aw, that bites,”  the giggles started dying down a bit. “If it’s any consolation, I can be the designated adult if you and I are ever dragged to a place like that. I may let out a high pitch screech if I’m spooked, but I don’t think I’ll karate chop someone. At least, I haven’t yet…” - Audrey chuckled. “I’d appreciate that. I’m afraid my fight or flight response is just a fight response. Not a good scaring subject.” - J.C. snickered, “On the plus side, you at least know that. Better than running into a situation blindly and all confident, then end up running away.” - “As opposed to walking in scared and beating someone up? Not sure if I agree with that… If the person is innocent, anyway… I do wonder how I’d do, should I face a genuine threat… A non human threat, I mean. I know I can take humans.” - “Oh yeah, no; punching innocent people’s never a good idea. I’d imagine if you can pack that much of an unintentional punch on someone, intentionally punching can provide quite a…pack.” He chuckled sheepishly, “I was going somewhere with that. Sounded better in my head.” - Audrey snickered. “I think I get what you’re trying to say. I do imagine I’d do more damage from an intentional hit than I would a startled reflex.” - “D-D-D-D-D-Double comboooooo!” J.C. joked, mimicking a videogame announcer, “Nice hit!” - She laughed at that, having supervised enough sleepovers to recognize a video game reference when she heard one. “Which fighting game is that?” - “Aha, I’m not entirely sure if it is one? I was trying to go something ‘Mortal Kombat’ or ‘Punch-Out!!’-esque, but other than that…” - “Mortal Kombat’s the one with the ‘Finish him!’ line and the catchy theme song, right?” - “Indeed it is. I know there are a few newer versions out, but I prefer the older, less…aaah, gory ones.” - “You mean to tell me they get even gorier?! I saw some as a teenager and they were pretty dang gory.” - “I meeean….maybe more so in the way of being more realistic with the blood and guts and everything, but if you would qualify that as ‘gorier’, then yes.” - “Ahhh, I get it. I suppose that is gorier. It doesn’t matter how much red you add to a stick figure, I’m not really going to be affected by it.” - “To each their own. I suppose.” - “Hm? What do you mean? I thought we were agreeing,” she asked, confused. - “O-oh! I’m pretty sure we still are? I-I meant that in a…different context than what the original meaning of the phrase is? You’d said something about adding as much red as you can to a stick figure and it won’t affect you. I, ah, imagine it can be different for some? That…something like that would? “ J.C. chuckled sheepishly. “I was going somewhere with that, guess my train of thought got derailed…” - “…I think I was in the train when it got derailed because I have no idea where we are,” she laughed. - J.C. snickered before breaking into a short, impromptu song, “We’re goin’ off the rails with our trains of thooooooought…~!” - Audrey’s laughter increased with the song. “Oh my gosh! You are so silly!” - Her laughter had him laughing as well…aaaaand perhaps blushing just a bit. Good to see his dorkiness came in handy outside of cheering up a grumpy sibling or a bummed out friend. “I try, my dear, I try. Just how I am, I guess!” - She giggled softly at being called ‘dear,’ finding it both silly and charming. “Well, you succeed!” she chuckled. “What were we talking about? Fighting games? Something about fighting?” - “Something like that, yeah…come to think of it, how did we even get on that topic, anyway? What were we even talking about before that?” - “I have no idea. I don’t even really play video games. See, this is why I write things down; can’t remember a thing otherwise… Well, aside from the fact that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. That’s about all that stuck with me from school.” - “I wouldn’t call myself a gamer, really. Kind of in the ‘I know just enough to keep myself from getting my butt completely kicked whenever one of the munchkins wants me to do a Pokemon battle with them’ camp. Maybe the occasional party game like those dancing ones, but otherwise…” J.C. chuckled, “What about ‘Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally’ for maths, or ‘Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492?’. Granted, that’s probably going back a looooong time, but hey.” - “I can play a bit of those Mario Party games, but that’s about it. I mostly button mash everything else. It’s amazing how often I win doing that…” she trailed off. “I know those too! It’s just the cotton gin thing stuck with me, for some reason. When will I ever need that information? Elementary school Jeopardy?” - “Haha, Iiiii’d imagine so. I remember when I was still in primary school, we had this ‘Bring-Your-Parent-To-School Day’ thing, and we did have something like that at one point. Kids vs. the parents. Sort of like…what’s the name of that one show? ‘Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?’. Pretty sure that show wasn’t around when I was that young, so your description’s probably more accurate.” - “I suppose you have a point there. I guess I can use it in a competition with my future kids,” she laughed. “Assuming I one day marry and have them or adopt them or what have you.” - “Same, honestly. I like to think I’ve gotten enough practice with ‘Thing 1′ and ‘Thing 2′, and having a kid of my own would be nice. It’s….different from having siblings, you actually have something that you had a hand in creating, and it’s like a little you.” He paused. “I mean…they’re obviously they’re own person, but half of their DNA is yours.” Cue a small sigh, “I dunno, having a tiny person thinking you’re the coolest thing ever for a time is a nice feeling. Kind of want to experience it on a different level than ‘older sibling-younger sibling’.” Cue another pause, then a somewhat sheepish chuckle, “That…aaaah, I didn’t mean to dump all that on you at once. Had an idea and ran with it. I hope that made at least some sense.” - Audrey giggled, pleased with his ramble. She liked the way this man thought. “Oh, no worries. I like listening to people talk about things that make them happy, especially when it’s about kids. And I know what you mean. I can’t help but wonder what a biological child of mine might look like. What traits of mine might they inherit? That sort of thing.” - “Basically a game of ‘roll the genetic dice and see what happens’, I guess. Sometimes it can be a little scary if you’ve got some potentially harmful stuff in your history, but otherwise it’s kind of cool.” A thought occurred to J.C., evidenced by the sudden change in expression on his face. “…I wonder if anyone’s ever had a child that’s exactly half of one parent and half of the other. Like one side of their head has curly hair and the other side is straight? I guess that could happen with multiples, but I don’t know about a singular child…” - “I don’t think that’s possible,” she scratched her head as she thought. “I know eyes can be two different colors, but I don’t think you can have two types of hair on the same head… Not naturally, anyway. I mean, my hair is kind of in-between Mom’s waves and Dad’s curls… Probably closer to Dad in that respect. Can’t style it very well… It’s not both though.” - “Mm.” He nodded as he listened to Audrey’s thought process. “Guess it all depends on what exactly the DNA wants to do when, for lack of a better term, building someone from scratch happens. ‘You get your mom’s eyes, your dad’s hair, the dimples of some relative a few generations back…’. Genetics are weird.” - “Tell me about it. Dad has no freckles, Mom has a few, I have a ton. Apparently, there’s some hidden super freckle gene somewhere in my family.” - J.C. chuckled, “Guess so. I don’t know a whole lot about what ran in mine, other than brown hair from my mother and…” he paused, “I know there was something on my father’s side, though what it is is escaping me at the moment…” - Audrey figured he must be having difficulty remembering as it’s been so long since his biological family was alive. Deciding it better to change the subject before he delves too deep into such a topic, Audrey thought up a distraction. “Do you remember that thing in school where you draw a square consisting of four smaller squares to figure out possible gene combinations or whatever? I forget what it’s called…” - J.C. thought for a minute; that sounded really familiar… “The thing where you put, like…uppercase ‘B’ for brown eyes and lowercase ‘b’ for blue eyes? I believe it’s a Punnett Square?” - “Yeah! That’s it! You’d think figuring out the odds of certain traits would be more complicated than drawing a few squares, but, there it is.” - He chuckled, “I know, right? Apparently, you can use them in…I believe it’s algebra, as well, but it’s a little more complicated there. ‘Square this number, multiply these two’…” - “Oh, gosh; not algebra!” she yelped in faux terror before chuckling. The two went on talking for a good while after that, but ultimately had to end the call. Finding such a thing quite enjoyable, Audrey made sure to call J.C. again… and again… and again. They’d even gotten to the point where they did video calls. It practically became a routine, but there were still interesting moments to be had. “Check it out! I got a wireless headphone microphone thingy!” Audrey chirped excitedly, waving her hand around her head to show there were no wires. “Now I can still talk to you, even if I step away from the computer a little!” - J.C. let out a playful, dramatic gasp at the reveal. “Ah, fantastique! You’re not confined to having to be close to the computer like I am.” he joked, pulling at his headphone cord a bit, “I have one of those microphones that are built into the computer, but I’m definitely planning on upgrading to a more ‘external’ one soon…seven to ten business days to be exact, should the delivery go without a hitch. Merci, online shopping~” - “Tell me about it! Present shopping has never been so convenient~ Also,” Audrey clapped, summoning Lola to jump onto the couch with her. “No more nearly knocking down the computer whenever Lola wants attention!” - J.C. chuckled at the little pup, “Ah, bonjour, Lola!” “Did you say Lola!?” came a voice from outside his door. “Can I see ‘er? Please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaase?” The older brother playfully rolled his eyes, “Oh lord, sounds like I said the magic word. You don’t mind Kat popping in for a bit, do you?” - Audrey chuckled and shook her head. “Not at all~ Let me just turn the speakers on so Lola can hear her. You like the attention, don’t you, girl~?” she cooed as she pet her head. - J.C. gave the two a small smile before turning towards his door. “Entrez!” With a small creak, in came Kat, bounding towards her brother’s bed. Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about as much damage being done once she flopped onto it, as Kat was a good deal smaller than Syd. No real worries about his laptop flying off of the bed and onto the floor or the screen getting kicked in. Once she was on the bed, Kat crawled towards the webcam and made herself comfortable, smiling widely and cooing at the dog. “Hiiiiya, Lola! Hiya, Audrey!” - “Hiya, Kat!” Audrey returned the greeting as Lola stood up and wagged her tail at the excited voice. “Who’s that?” she asked playfully, getting a bark from her dog. “Yes! It’s Kat! Such a good girl~” she gave Lola a generous petting - The eight year old giggled at the dog’s response. “Kinda bites that you guys are so far away, an’ that I can’t reach through the screen an’ give her some pets…but seeing you two’s okay enough! How’ve you been?” - “I’m giving her plenty of pets for you,” she giggled, petting the dog. “Work’s been a little overwhelming here and there, but Lola and your brother have been doing a good job of helping me wind down. What about you? School treating you okay?” - “Uh-huh!”, the little girl nodded,  “Right now we’re doing our sevens times tables in maths and we’re reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School. We’re supposed to be starting this really cool science experiment next week, but I dunno what exactly it is, ‘cos our teacher’s keeping it a secret.” “Maybe you’re doing the ‘butterfly life cycle observation’ thing.” J.C. commented, “I remember doing that a few times in primary school.” - “Oooo, that sounds fun~ Glad that you’re enjoying yourself. School takes up a lot of time, so, best enjoy it, if you can. Maybe you can give Syd some pointers on that.” Syd struck her as someone who didn’t enjoy school much. - “I meeeean, I dunno what exactly it is they do in Year 6, but I can try? She likes when they do more ‘science-y’ stuff and reading more action-packed stories, than having to learn history or maths….buuuut I can try!”   J.C. smirked at his sister’s confidence. “Well, you know the saying: ‘Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it’.” - “Well… there’s a lot of action in history?” she shrugged. “Though that’s rarely a good thing in real life… And you need to know math in order to properly do science. Lots of equations and all that.” - “Yeeeeah, true. But I guess you gotta explain stuff in a way that’ll make it sound interesting with ‘er. Not totally sure how you could make maths interesting.” The older brother snickered, “Maybe if the question’s something like…’If there are 96 pieces of chewing gum in a candy machine and there are 8 friends, how many pieces does each friend get?’. Something that she can kind of relate to. Or at the very least, reword the question, but keep the same numbers.” - “I’d imagine she’d say something along the lines of, ‘Depends on who has to figure it out. They’ll get more than the rest.’ Gotta be careful with how you word these things,” she wagged a finger. - J.C. laughed, “She would. Or ‘Why would they be sharing, that’s 96 whole pieces of gum right there!’.” “I do know she likes when her class gets to do creative assignments, too.” Kat piped up, “Like when they have a spelling list, but get to write a story that uses the words in it. Or when they make a scene from something or a model in a shoe box.” “…A diorama?” “Yeah, that! She tends to make a big mess when she’s making it, but the end product’s pretty good…and she has fun doin’ it too.” - “That’s good! See, you’ve gotta focus on the good with these things. Focus on the bad and you’ll make yourself miserable. I mean, there are difficult aspects to my job, but I try to focus on the fact I’m helping people get healthy and/or stay healthy. Just remind her something good will come soon enough, you know?” - Kat gave Audrey a salute, “Can do!” “It takes a bit of patience, too.” J.C. added, “I know she wants to do some of the experiments that I did in secondary school and uni, but…well, you need to learn to crawl before you can walk, and know how to walk before you can run.” “It’s hard, though, when you’re little.” Kat piped up. “Trust me, I know. And I’m pretty sure Audrey knows too; we were both your age once.” - “Exactly,” Audrey nodded. “I used to get frustrated with what I wasn’t allowed to do, but, looking back, I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t go baking a cake without learning to crack an egg first.” - “…Ssssoooo she can’t exactly go sledding down the stairs without knowing how to steer the sled first?” J.C. snickered, “I mean, in theory, yeah, but you shouldn’t be doing that anyway because you could get seriously hurt. And that’s regardless of how many pillows you’ve tied to yourself, how many you’ve put at the bottom of the stairs, and with wearing knee and elbow pads and a helmet.” - “Even if you somehow managed not to get hurt, I can’t imagine it would be much fun. I mean, it’d probably be a really bumpy ride. I’d much rather sled in the snow.” - “But then we’d have to go waaaaaaay up north if we wanted snow. It almost never comes this far south.” Kat pouted. “If you want some deep snow, yes, but I think if we a tad bit as opposed to- as you put it- ‘waaaaaaaay’, it’d be fine. Maybe even go a bit west, as well.” J.C. looked to Audrey, “How much snow would you say you get over by you?” - “How much snow?” Audrey proceeded to cackle for a good long time before holding up a finger, asking for a moment to compose herself. “Sorry,” she cleared her throat. “We just get so much snow! I mean it. A lot. A little snow for us would be two feet deep. There’s a reason we have snowplows over here.” - Kat gasped excitedly. “We gotta go to Michigan for sledding!!” J.C. sputtered, laughing a little, “So you’d be willing to take a half-a-day flight just to go sledding? Not one that’d be maybe an hour, hour and a half at most?” “Yeah! ‘Sides, you’d be able to go an’ see Audrey! Us too, obviously, but still!” - “Oh, come now, it wouldn’t just be sledding… There’s making snowmen too,” she giggled. “Not to mention the feeling of coming inside from the cold and warming up with some hot chocolate.” - “And snow angels and snowball fights!” the little girl bounced excitedly. - Audrey chuckled. “Now, now, don’t get too excited. We don’t even know if this winter visit will happen.” - “Can it, thooooough?” Kat asked, giving the two the “puppy dog pout/puppy dog eyes” combo. As much as the older brother would love that, doing so was dependent on a lot of factors.  “Iiiiiit’s a bit too early to say yes or no, sooooo…I guess we can chalk it up as a ‘we’ll see’?” - “It’s not up to me, kiddo,” she gave the child a shrug. “I’d certainly welcome you, but I can’t exactly fly you over here.” - “Awww…” “Hey, it’s not a ‘no’.” J.C. pointed out, trying to make the situation a bit more positive. - “There’s still plenty of time to figure it out,” Audrey offered. “I mean, school only started a few weeks ago over here. It’s still pretty warm out.” - “Yeah. You’re telling me you want to skip out on your birthday and Halloween and just go straight to winter?” J.C joked. Kat let out a small gasp and shook her head ‘no’. “Theeeeeeeeen you have to wait, kiddo.” - Audrey chuckled. "I’m looking forward to pumpkin spice season, myself.” - “I love fall.” J.C. sighed, thoroughly content. “Part of it being the pumpkin spice, part of it the cooler weather…” “Part of it being that you can toss me into leaf piles.” Kat added, grinning. The brother snorted, “That’s something that you love, goofball…buuuuut I do get a good laugh out of it. Next time we get a deep enough pile, you’re getting launched.” Kat responded with her arms joyously shooting upwards, and a happy “Yay!” - Audrey let out a small giggled, one of joy more than humor. She really liked seeing this man get along so well with children. This man was destined to be a father, she thought to herself as she smiled dreamily. - “Maybe if you and Syd team up, you can launch me.” he joked. Kat scoffed before laughing, “Yeeeeah, maybe not? Now, Audrey probably could! Either with us or by herself!” - The laughter snapped her out of her dreamy state and she laughed too. “I can’t guarantee a soft landing if I do.” - “He’s had worse!” Kat snickered, imagine Audrey doing just as she stated. J.C. smiled and rolled his eyes at the blonde and ruffled her hair a bit, “Alright, alriiiight…hey, did you finish your homework yet?” Kat shook her head no. “I was takin’ a break. Guess I should get back to it?” J.C. nodded, “Then when you’re done, we’ll go over it….maybe practice some of your multiplication flash cards?” “ ‘Kay….but you promised we would have a tea party after that and dinner, remember?” “Of course I do. You, me, and Mr. Bunnysworth are going over the details of the deed to your dollhouse.” The way he said it sounded so matter-of-fact. Kat giggled at her goofball brother before turning to Audrey and Lola, “Sounds like I gotta get goin’. I’ll talk you guys later!” - Audrey giggled again. These two were adorable! “Talk to you later,” she smiled and waved goodbye. Once Kat was gone, Audrey turned the sound back to her headphones. “Tea party, huh? Since you’re in England, do you have actual tea at those?” - J.C. smiled and blew a bit of air out of his nose, “Occasionally, yeah. Kind of a toss up between that or some juice. In the winter, she’ll use hot cocoa.” - Audrey chuckled. “That’s basically what we do over here. That or we just sip on air. It’s usually air, unless we’re using real cups. Those play tea cups are so tiny.” - “I know, right? You have to take teeeeeeny tiny sips if you want it to last the whole party. Like a little mouse or something.” - “Imagine if you were trying to actually hydrate with one of those,” she snickered. - “Oh jeez. If you drink out of them like a normal human being, it’s almost like doing shots.” He paused for a second. “…Oooor at least, how I imagine one would do them. Never done them myself. The occasional glass of wine on special occasions or on vacation, but otherwise…” - Audrey snorted. “I just imagined someone doing shots of tea, but instead of getting drunk, they just get more and more English!” - “Ha! I could start out sounding like this.…” He mimicked downing a few cups of tea before speaking again in a “fancier” accent: “…to something like this. And as the day goes on, it just….waters itself down.” - Audrey couldn’t help but cackle at the demonstration. Once she calmed down, she glanced at the clock and spoke again. “Oh goodness; is that the time? I need to let Lola out before she messes on the floor. Be right back!” She darted off camera to let Lola outside. While outside, her headphones were out of range of her computer, so neither of them could hear each other. With the silence, Audrey managed to forget she was wearing the headphones at all. Making her way back inside (and back in range of her computer), she sang softly to herself as she went about getting Lola a treat. - “Can’t be having that now! You two go do your thing, I’ll be over here.” As the two went off, J.C. took the time to readjust a few things with his computer, answer an e-mail, comment on a friend’s photo. His ears perked up a bit when he picked up the sound of Audrey’s voice again. Was she…? She was. He’d heard her sing once already (he had joined in, after all~), but regardless of that, she sounded lovely. Cue a bit of pink coloring his cheeks. - As she made her way back to the computer, she stopped singing and went about taking the headphones from around her neck and putting them back over her ears. “Sorry about that,” she sat back down with a smile, oblivious to the fact he’d heard her. - “Huh? Oh! Oh, it’s no big deal.” He chuckled sheepishly, “When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.” Cue the blush getting a bit more noticeable. Seemed to be that she was unaware that he could hear her… - Audrey raised her brow at this and cocked her head slightly to the side. “You feeling alright?” - Ah, crud, he’d been caught. “You, ah….” he gestured to where her headset had been. “You had forgotten to take your headset off, and I caught a bit of you singing when you came back in. N-not that that’s a bad thing! I thought i-i-i-i-it sounded lovely…” - “Oh? Oh!” she brought her fingertips to her mouth for a moment, then brought them back down with an embarrassed smile. “Ah-ha… Oops… Thank you?” - “Eheh…heh…aaaah, no problem…” Well, this was awkward. - “What were we talking about?” she twirled some hair around her fingers as she tried to distract from what had just happened. - “Tea parties and fancy accents, I believe?” J.C. answered, going back to said “fancy” accent as a joke. - Audrey tittered and the two went back to talking. As time went by, the leaves turned color, the temperature got colder, and their online chats became more frequent. “Since Halloween is right around the corner, I have an idea I want to toss out there, if you’re interested.” - J.C., currently in a rather “spooky” sweater, looked up from his hot cocoa, curious. “Shoot. What’cha got rattlin’ around in that brain of yours?” - “You know how I don’t watch horror movies because I don’t want to hurt someone on accident or watch it alone? Well, I can’t really hurt anyone if they aren’t physically in the room with me,” she grinned a bit slyly. “Could be something a bit different, you know?” - “Oooo-hoo-hoo, I like~ So! How should we start out with this? Something super tame like….well, I mean Hotel Transylvania isn’t a horror movie, but it has monsters in it…or do we go for the big guns like The Grudge?” - “I was thinking an actual horror movie. My cousin Chloe got me a nice mountain of horror movie files to choose from. She may have been a bit over zealous though,” she chuckled. “I doubt I’ll ever watch them all. Anyway, I can send the files your way and we can watch it on that Let’s Gaze website we tested out before.” - J.C. laughed as well, “Fine by me! Anything in said mountain that’s catching your eye? I’m not super picky with what we watch.” - “Chloe did mention that some of them can have a bit of humor or ridiculousness to them. What were some of them? Child’s Play… Scream… The Cabin in the Woods… Any of those sound good?” - Taking a sip of his drink as Audrey listed off a few titles, he perked up at the last one. “Oooo, Cabin in the Woods, let’s go with that.” - “I take it you like that one?” she smiled as she went about sending him a link to download the file. - “It’s actually one I haven’t seen,” he clarified, “Child’s Play and Scream, I have seen, albeit a few years ago. Figured I’d start with something ‘new’ before going towards more familiar, y’know?” - “Sounds good. When do you think you’ll have time to sit and watch a whole movie with me?” - “Mmmmm, probably sometime a little later this week? Have a few ‘autumnal’ things that are going on with the family, so I might not be able to find some free time before then. I can keep you posted, though!” - “Is it apple picking?” Audrey asked enthusiastically. “Or throwing your sisters into leaf piles? Pumpkin picking?” - “All 3~” he smiled, “Maybe some preliminary costume searching as well.” - “Ooooooo~ Sounds like you’ve got some busy days ahead of you! My mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all going apple picking with me next week! We’re all gonna get some fresh air, pick some apples, make some apple treats… that sort of thing~” - “Ooo, sounds fun! Maybe I can suggest that to Mum and Dad; apple-flavoured stuff- rather, stuff made from apples- sounds really good right now. Plus, it can give Syd a chance to put some of her energy towards climbing some trees.” - “I can send you some recipes, if you need any,” she offered. - “Ooo, that’d be lovely, actually. Spice things up a bit in terms of autumnal snacks, you know?” - Audrey’s eyes seemed to sparkle at the concept of sharing recipes. “Oh! Oh! I have lots of recipes! What do you think you might want; pies, crisps, cobblers, muffins, cakes, cider, applesauce, fritters, breads?!” - Dang, she really DID have a lot of recipes! And they all sounded really nummy~ “Man, you weren’t kidding!” he laughed, “Hm, where do I even start? Maybe we can start with fritters and muffins and go from there.” - “Good choice~ I’ll be sure to send those your way.” She reached for her notebook off camera and jotted down a reminder. “Maybe I could add a nice apple drink recipe in there. Gotta wash those treats down with something~” - “Oo, even better. Kind of like a little bonus treat.“ - Audrey giggled at that. “A treat for your treats~” - J.C. let out a giggle as well…with an unintentional snort. Upon realizing that he had done so, his face went a bit pink. He was still smiling, though, so that was a good sign. - She didn’t comment on the snort. She didn’t want to embarrass him, especially when she did the same thing. “It’s a shame you live so far away. It’d be fun to bake together, I bet!” - He stopped for a second, a thought occurring to him. If they could talk to each other while being in two different parts of the world, what was to stop them from baking? “Unless…we do the baking, but like how we’re doing now. Find some sort of set up to where we can place our computers or phones or whatever out of the ingredient ‘splash zone’, and check on each other’s progress along the way. Baking together, but not physically together, if that makes any sense.” - “We should totally do that,” she exclaimed. “I wonder what we should make. I’d suggest an apple dish, but I don’t go apple picking until next week. Heh. Maybe we should try something simple, just to test it out?” She put a finger to her mouth in thought. “Perhaps a no-bake pumpkin pie? Still autumn themed. Do you guys have boxes of instant pudding over in England? Maybe we should make something with more common ingredients. Hmm… Oh! Pumpkin bread!” - “Oh definitely; do a test run, see how that goes, and then go from there!” J.C. agreed. “Do we have instant pu…I actually might have to check the next time I go out for groceries. Pumpkin bread might be a better option to start with, at least. I know for a fact that we have the stuff to make it here.” - “I’ll have to Google this sort of thing later,” she mused aloud. “I know you guys don’t have graham crackers over there. I’m guessing you’d use shortbread crust for pies in place of graham cracker ones…” - “Usually, yeah, or we use digestive biscuits in place of them. They may have them in the ‘’American’‘ section of a grocery store, but it depends on the store.” - Audrey nodded. “It really is wild how similar, yet different, our foods can be. I’ll try to look through my recipes for ones that are more basic. Here in the states, we tend to use shortcuts that you may not have; like instant pudding.” - “Right? And it can mean something completely different too. The kind that you’re talking about is usually called ‘custard’. If you look up ‘Yorkshire pudding’, that’s usually what we mean. Haggis is technically considered one. …English is weird.” - “Haggis?!” she asked with a weird face. “You’re right. English is weird.” She scrunched her nose. “I’m not going to lie here; if I asked for chocolate pudding and got haggis, I would be very disappointed.” - J.C. laughed, “Same, honestly. I mean, the food itself actually isn’t all that bad; it’s just the way it’s made that makes it sound gross…and…maybe some of what’s in it. To each their own, I suppose.” He shrugged, “I’ve only had it a few times that I can remember; usually when we’ve gone to visit one of my aunts up in Scotland.” - “I’ve never had it myself, but I know it doesn’t taste like chocolate pudding. Hence why I would be disappointed. I’m generally down to try anything at least once.” She thought a moment. “Scotland, huh? Is it as pretty as the pictures?” - “Always a plus.” he smiled. “I’d say so, yeah. One of my favourite places that we sometimes stop over in is Edinburgh, it’s kind of got a fairy tale-esque feel to it. Where my aunt lives is a bit further south, over in Dumfries; more of a riverside kind of town. If you go north enough in the winter, you’re able to see the northern lights, apparently. Haven’t had a chance to myself, unfortunately. I mean, we’ve been pretty far north there that time of year, but never at a point where we can catch ‘em.” - “Oh, that sounds lovely,” she smiled. “Maybe you could ask your relatives to send you pictures, since you haven’t been able to catch them yourself. Oh! Another name for the northern lights is the aurora borealis, right? Sounds all scientific that way,” she chuckled. - He laughed, “Indeed it does. …Y’know, that actually sounds like a good idea. Knowing my luck, if you and I got together just for that, there’d be a wicked snowstorm that moves in on the night we’d be seeing them.” Of course, the alternative of being all snuggled up indoors by a fireplace with some hot cocoa with her wasn’t bad. - She cocked her head slightly, a bit curious, but kept her smile all the same. How exactly did he feel about her if one of his first thoughts about the northern lights would be seeing them with her? “Well, I’m sure we’d find other things to do. Maybe hot cocoa and a crackling fire? I love those~” Seemed she had a similar mindset. - “Maybe in some comfy pyjamas, under one of those weighted blankets.” he added, goofy grin starting to sprawl across his face“…Ooooor a lightweight but super fluffy one. Either or.” - “Oooo~ Both are good! Might depend on how warm the fire makes everything.” She chuckled. “Here we go; talking about a fictional snowstorm. Our conversations sure are something, aren’t they? I was supposed to remember something…” Audrey opened her notebook. “Oh, yeah! I’m supposed to get you some recipes and find one we can both cook together!” Looking off screen, she spotted Lola. “Looks like Lola wants O-U-T and I need to look for some recipes, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?” - “Right, right! That should be fun; here’s hoping that when we do do that, the internet says running smoothly the entire time. Nothing worse that trying to get an exact amount of something from someone, and the connection starts to glitch.” At the mention of Lola, J.C. blew a bit of air out of his nose, smiling. “Haha, silly pup. You go on ahead; I’ll catch up with you later!” -End-

[the1rei]

Little Moments: Reboot Chapter Six: Family Matters By  Ericobard and shadows59 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Fandom: Ben 10 Series Relationship: Ben Tennyson/Gwen Tennyson Some Additional Tags: Bullying, No proofreading, Family is Drama, Long burn

It became known as 'Bloody Christmas.'  Which was sad as Ben and Gwen had been getting along so well.  Still, it gave Ben the chance to be Gwen's hero.

Read my review below:

It is unrealistic that the parents are so nervous about spending this time together. Ben and Gwen have spent the last three months studying together without much problem, and three months in close quarters before that. Their fathers seem to like spending time together 'watching the game at the pub', so it seems like Lili and Sandra can't spend a few hours together and manage to act like adults. If this was only Gwen and Ben's fear, this wouldn't be such a problem, but the parents recognize the potential conflict and can't take steps to avoid it? This paints them as just overgrown children.

Again here we have Ben's parents doting over Gwen, whereas Ben gets no reciprocal affection from Gwen's. This could be interesting if it fed into a complex on Ben's part, but there's no evidence of that in the story. So it continues only to serve to show that Gwen is the central character of the story.

Ben's parents insisting that Gwen call them by their first names only is very uncomfortable, to the degree that you would expect any normal person to reconsider insisting on it. However, this was and likely still is a fad among some parents. While I preferred it to be just vaguely talked about, I can't fault the way Shadows59 communicates just how uncomfortable it is.

Why are the 'Tradition is' sentences being cut off, there's no indication the women are cutting each other off so why aren't the sentences complete?

I love how fraternal Carl and Frank are in this story.

Why does Gwen beat Ben at the video game that he has been playing all morning and spends far more time in general playing video games?  Shadows59 is making it difficult for me not to call Gwen a Mary-Sue.

Gwen's mom got up to four, nearly to eight, what?  Where in the text is what they are talking about explained?

Shadows59 writes as if Ben picked up his present twice without putting it down. A proofreader is needed.

I'm not sure what is more unlikely. That Gwen would suggest a book on science at all for Ben instead of something he might read like a graphic novel or even just an adventure appropriate for his age range. That someone as meticulous as Gwen wouldn't have checked the book or wrapped it herself. Or that Natalie would think it was a good idea to go against her daughter's explicit advice and wishes to get her nephew 'A Brief History of Time' a book Gwen herself admitted she didn't fully comprehend. All this seems to occur for a bit of melodrama.  

I do like the idea that Ben would be interested in the guitar; he did seem to have some talent with them.

Adding Xylene into this earlier part of Max's life creates an unneeded conflict with the source material. Why put her into this story at all?

Again Gwen asserts that Ben is Max's favorite which makes the normally mature character seem unnecessarily immature and then she goes on to claim its a gendered thing and laments about her grandma being gone, the only reason for this is that she assumes that her grandmother with favor her for a gendered reason. All this even though she has never met Verdona and has no emotional attachment to her whatsoever as she says herself, no one talks about Verdona. Why is Gwen so sexist? It doesn't add an enduring flaw to the character and again just seems to be here for unneeded drama.

I do like that Shadows59 expanded on the book on magic that grandpa gave her. Writing out whole passages from it is probably a little much, but it's a good element to expand on.

The exchange about the King Arthur stories is needlessly complicated. First, Gwen has read them; then she hasn't, then she just skimmed the character names and remembered it, even though the Lady of the Lake has about ten names spelled in a variety of ways. Again this is just padding and fluff that adds nothing of substance to the story.

The fight, known as Bloody Christmas, is the key reason for this chapter being written. It starts out well; the parents are drinking wine, which can be very alcoholic, leading to speaking without entirely thinking. However, the need for it as a catalyst for the fight is undermined Sandra and Lili nearly getting into fights already and their anxiety about spending time together, showing that they are already childish enough to have this fight without any help. From there, a lot of the problems stem from people being childish. Frank has a childish temper-tantrum about Max never being there for them. In the original, the fallout of Max's absence from their lives growing up manifests in a friendly, bt cold distance between them. Shadows59 expertly compared their interactions with the interaction one has when meeting a former classmate. Here, Frank expresses jealousy over the time and attention his daughter gets from her grandfather. I do expect more maturity from this adult man, who has had a child of his own for a decade and a successful, high stress, high demand career, and being sober enough to drive home, Frank is not drunk enough to completely take leave of his facilities. Then Carl defends Max by attacking Frank's parenting. All that was said about maturity and sobriety apply here as well. Also, even within the reboot, there is no indication that there is animosity between Carl and Frank about parenting, they get along well by everything we've been shown. It's highly implied in both versions that Sandra and Lili are making the parenting decisions, and their husbands are going along with them; that's why the parenting fight was one between Sandra and Lili. I expect Frank and Carl to side with their wives, but generally to stay out of the fight because they are softer on the parenting question then their wives, as has been shown even in the reboot. That is why it feels too aggressive for Carl to take shots at Lili for her parenting; it's not his fight.  After the attack on Max, the fight again feels like it fits well, though it should be just Sandra and Lili fighting, right until the end, when Ben's parents attack Lili's motivation for her parenting method, but I'll address that next chapter.

I like the way Lili stands up for Ben's intelligence, it makes sense for her character given her problem is more with Sandra's parenting then Ben himself. It also gives back a little of the praise that Ben's parents have been showing on Gwen up to this point.

I like that in the middle of the fight Ben goes for the Omnitrix illustrating that he knows what's happening is wrong and the people he loves are being hurt, and his young mind only understands one way to stop something wrong and protect the people he cares about is a good piece of characterization for him.

Gwen's emotions causing magic to surge like that don't make sense within the context of how magic worked within the show. This shows how Shadows59 has changed how magic worked from both the original and the show. I will deal with this more in a later chapter.

"Gwen heard their parents scream and felt hers jump off the couch as they all went running around so they could unplug things and flip switches and find stuff to clean up with even as glass rained down on the floor." It is physically impossible for them to react this fast.

I like that Ben's first instinct is to protect Gwen even though this isn't a time that he needs to 'go hero.' However, it makes less sense that he would have this reaction to Lili, who was the least aggressive of the parents, and he just acknowledged that she defended his intelligence. Either of his parents would have been a better choice for this scene.

Shadows59 does a great job of expressing, in just a couple of lines, that Gwen feels responsible for causing the fight, by calling Ben a doofus. It makes sense for a character so young not to understand the difference between starting the fight and being the cause of the fight.

-Ericobard While I found things I liked in this chapter, it didn't add anything as a whole to the story and continues to add more to the problems that plague the reboot. Ben and Gwen's family is not your family; you shouldn't bring personal matters into a review or allow them to color your reading of the text. Sandra and Lili are the ones trying not to snap at each other, and their husbands are working to keep the peace. A characterization that is violated with the only excuse of 'they had a little too much wine.' Ben's parents aren't locked into a parenting style, that is the problem Lili has with them. Lili may think her method is the best, but Sandra has no method, just an ever-changing series of books. Lili isn't a perfect parent, but she is objectively the better parent.

(As always, please go leave Shadows59 a nice positive review he won’t delete.)

[popcultureoverdosed]

Youthful Dystopia of Narutaru

Narutaru was beneficial enough to have been made in an era where deconstruction series was gaining traction. If it were to made now, it'd probably be labeled as edgy without any mention of the actual quality of the story. Notably, the genre being deconstructing is the Mon( Digimon, pokemon, etc) genre. Unlike magical girl and mecha shows of today, Mon anime are still generally fluffy and childish so a darker take on the genre was definitely in order.

To give a little backdrop on the creator Mohiro Kitoh, he's pretty much a nihilist that rivals gen urubuchi in cruelty. His other works include a giant robot that steals the life force of children to destroy the multiverse and a psychic teen whom mass murders anyone who drives irresponsibly. He's that type of guy.

The main appeal of the story comes from the interactions between the children and their shadow dragons, rather than actual plot progression. Shadow dragons are mysterious creatures who bond to the characters with a psychic link, sharing their pain and inner thoughts. The names of the shadow dragons are often reflective of their user's psychology. For example, Norio's dragon is Vagina dentata representing his feminine appearance and inability to become intimate with the man he loves.

Our first real look into the world of Narutaru comes in the form of Tomonori Komori. The first few chapters spend time lolly gaging and establishing a vaguely foreboding mood, but, Komori establishes how this world operates. He a textbook level sociopath. A charming young boy who is revered by those in his neighborhood. All that charm is simply a facade he puts on to hide his true sinister views. He wants a Darwinistic world where all of the educated and well to do members of society are killed off, leaving the world in a survival of the fittest state. " Those who are weak and can't fend for themselves deserve to die," he says despite having a sick mother to take care of. He's ironically killed off by hoshimaru, one of the weaker dragons.

Komori is far from the only disturbed child in the series. The children have few qualms with murder and treat it casually. What sets this mon series from those of the same genre is that it treats its children character like actual humans. They aren't saints who only use their abilities for good. They're selfish and use these dragons to suit their own needs. It seems that being psychologically damaged is a requirement for having a dragon. Even upbeat Shiina has her hang-ups about her identity. This theory of trauma giving birth to shadow dragons is more or less confirmed with Hiroko.

She's a shy girl who's constant physical and emotional abuse from her bullies and parents allow her to awaken Oni. Her parents are representative of a common problem in Asian society. They only value their daughter for her academic status and chide her for being anything less than perfect. Her bullies torment her for being too smart and standing out during class. Both parties have opposite reasons for hating Hiroko, but, they both wish to strip away her individuality and turn her into a submissive slave of society. Awakening her shadow dragon allows Hiroko to finally get revenge on her tormentors, even if it means becoming a serial killer in the process.

The manga is definitely a character-driven tale that dwells deep into the psyche of highly disturbed children. You have Akira who has depression and suicidal tendencies, Aki Honda who raped a girl with a test tube and the girl in question who snaps and goes in a killing spree. You could say that all of this bleakness is a bit too much but honestly, it felt refreshing. Mon series are generally really cheesy with bland one-note characters and a story that only exists to sell merchandise. Narutaru breaks the mold and presents characters who are multi-faceted and lifelike. Contrary to popular belief, children aren't always innocent and they can be just as cruel as adults.

One major gripe I have with the manga is the art. Mohiro sure can write but his art isn't winning any awards, that's for sure. Character designs are bland and minimalist. I admit the military paraphernalia is drawn in extensive detail and the dragons have cool designs but that's about it. Other manga artists can do sketchy manga art perfectly but Mohiro isn't one of them.

I also wasn't too particularly fond of the second half of the manga. It drops elements of deconstruction and character drama to replace it with military affairs. I understand the writer is a military nut but having chapters littered with walls of text of JSDF members reacting to the shadow dragon was just so tedious. It would've been better if the plot focused solely on the children and how their actions affect their environment. The second half of the manga lost what made Narutaru so special. It started as a character study of how immature kids react to newfound power only for the story to get Monopolized by adults. some characters like Mamiko Kuri, Norio Koga, and sudo desperately needed more screentime and character development. Mamiko is the worst offender as she only exists to be overtly cryptic until the final volumes.

I highly recommend anyone curious to please read the manga. It's ultimately a story of children thrown into an adult world of violence with little room to grow up. It's a thought-provoking social commentary on the nature of humans and how far their cruelty can go. There's an anime adaptation that isn't as good but is still a fun watch. Even if it's unlikely I'd to see the anime get a remake with a bigger budget and completely adapt the manga. If it did get a remake, here's whom I'd want to work on it:

Studio Mappa/ Geno studio- They seem more willing than other studios to work on nontraditional anime. They also tend to have high production values, something the Narutaru anime desperately needed. Producer twin engine would probably need to be involved

Sadyuki Murai(scriptwriter)- His work on boogiepop Phantom and Juuni Taisen has shown he excels at character drama and psychological thrillers. His style would work perfectly with the narrative and maybe even give the side characters some much-needed development. Taku Kishimoto would be my second choice

Takahiro Kishida( Character designer)- He has a sketchy and rough art style that can perfectly encapsulate the feel of the manga. I'm sure he'd improve on the demure character designs and make them more dynamite.

Takahiro Omari( Director)- He directed Durarara and Baccano which tells me he knows how to work with an ensemble cast. He also directed Hell girl, which had heavy social commentary poised at Japanese society, something Kitoh would love.

Yugo Kanno(Composer)- This guy knows how to how to Composer dark and suspenseful tracks that can amplify the intensity of the manga.

Be sure to check out these two other blogs that went far more in-depth than I ever could.

https://hanagasaitayo.wordpress.com/2019/08/05/analysis-narutaru-mukuro-naru-hoshi-tama-taru-ko/

https://manymanytoes.wordpress.com/2018/10/17/narutaru-shadow-star/

[dat-fandom-losertown]

The Drift Between Us

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Chapter 1: The First Day

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Hank Anderson x Connor and Gavin Reed x RK900 (Ritch)

Genre: Fluff, Action, A bit of Angst, Pacific Rim!AU

Warnings: Referenced death, Swearing (do I need to put this as a warning? Probably not ‘cause it’s Hank we’re talkin’ about, but Ima do it anyway for this chapter lol)

Word Count: 9,563

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Synopsis:

    Ever since Connor was young, all he’s ever wanted was to become a real jaeger Pilot and take down kaijus with his twin brother, Ritch. After several long years of training with their stepmother, Amanda, that dream finally becomes reality. Well, almost. Things are made difficult after the identical twins admit that they refuse to pilot together. Their choices are find other people to partner up with, find a way to work together, or quit before they become official jaeger pilots.

    There’s no way they’re working together, and they aren’t going to throw their entire life away, so it’s option one, then.

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AN: Hello to anyone reading this! A few weeks ago @connorssock​ (this person is really cool and nice btw, would recommend) came up with a really cool Pacific Rim!AU and I just had to write it!! I got their permission to and now here we are! I plan for this to be a long, slow burn fic, and 8,000 words is the average amount of words I usually have for chapters. I’ve written fanfictions before, just not on this blog or for this fandom before! Whelp, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of The Drift Between Us!! <3

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Masterlist <~> Next

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    The first attack happened long before Connor and Ritch were old enough to actually remember anything, but they know that that first kaiju is the reason their parents aren’t around anymore.

    They weren’t the only ones to lose parents and families, obviously, but they took their loss much better than a lot of the other kids in their orphanage. The fact that everything happened so fast and they were just so young helped make it less traumatizing. If the twins hadn’t overheard their caregiver– as she told the young kids to call her instead of “mom”– telling someone what happened to their family, then they would have assumed they were abandoned or simply never had parents to begin with.

    Whenever the twins told anyone this, they would always get sad, pitying looks that were usually followed by “I’m sorry” or something of the like. Connor and Ritch agreed that they hate being pitied for something they don’t remember and had no control over, which is one reason why they stopped talking to the other kids altogether. Either they got pitied, or the other people expected to get pity from them when they “had it harder”, which didn’t make sense to the twins, even at the young age of seven.

    Pity can’t change or fix anything, and everyone at the orphanage obviously no longer has legal guardians anymore for one reason or another. Pain is pain; it shouldn’t be compared or ranked between people. This is one of the other reasons Connor and Ritch stayed away from others. They already had enough on their plate to deal with, they didn’t want to have to worry about other people’s problems and vice versa.

    However, their antisocial behavior ended when a woman by the name of Amanda Stern interviewed them for adoption one day.

    She asked questions like how they acted towards and around each other and others, what their favorite subjects were, and simple, normal questions like that. She didn’t once mention the parents they don’t remember, which, in hindsight, was normal for her, but at the time it was extremely refreshing, just like her lack of pity was too. Then she asked what they thought of jaeger pilots.

    Connor loved them, adored them, aspired to be like the new pilots Hank Anderson and Jeffrey Fowler one day. He had always wanted to be the hero that saved the day so desperately. Connor couldn’t have worded it properly at the time, but he wanted the praise of doing something good and the satisfaction of knowing he saved someone’s family, someone’s home. He even regularly pretended to be a jaeger pilot, ending the imaginary kaijus one by one and stopping the invasions altogether.

    Ritch had a slightly different reaction, but a similar answer. He admired jaeger pilots and found them to be very brave, but he wasn’t obsessed with them like Connor was. He didn’t really want to be a jaeger pilot, but Ritch liked the idea of helping and saving people enough that, if it was necessary to make Connor’s dream come true, he’d train and fight alongside him.

    Then Amanda asked if they were serious about becoming jaeger pilots. She said she could make that happen easily, but it would take work and dedication. It would take years and years of training, but if they did well and listened to her, they could be real jaeger pilots when they grew up. All they had to do was go with her, and she would do it.

    As if Connor could ever turn that down, which meant that Ritch agreed to go along with it too, albeit less enthusiastically.

    She officially became their stepmother soon enough after that day and brought them to her nice, large house away from any coastline, and any immediate threat of the kaijus along with it. The twins started their training the next week after their arrival, only given enough time to get on a proper “early to rise, early to rest” schedule and get used to how Amanda ran the house.

    They trained alongside each other nearly everyday for years. After they mastered the “basics”, Amanda began pairing the brothers against each other in roughly evenly-matched battles of wit and brawn, even though the brothers weren’t inclined to do so. Yet they had to. They had to because the longer they trained, the more Connor’s dream of being a jaeger pilot was slowly becoming Ritch’s dream as well, and they had nothing else to work towards in life by that point, so they put up with her games.

    It was during one of these matches that Amanda forced them into that something between them finally cracked. It was just a splinter in comparison to the big picture, but it was enough to start the collapse of everything. Amanda’s continuous meddling and manipulation didn’t help either, it made everything worse, in fact, but they had to fight through it. They had nothing else beyond becoming jaeger pilots, and Amanda was reminding them of that fact almost daily by that point. They couldn’t give up, and even if they were allowed to, their pride wouldn’t let them.

    Then it happened.

    Connor and Ritch don’t talk about it, even the mention of it is enough to make them recoil. It had ruined nearly everything for the brothers. Yet, not wanting to be thrown out like trash or abandoned like stray dogs, they continued to painfully push through Amanda’s games of both physical and mental kinds. They just had to make it another few months and they’d be well on their way to become official jaeger pilots. It was the only thing they could ever be useful for.

    In the end, Amanda kept her first promise (one of the very few that remained unbroken). They listened to her every order and every suggestion for years. They put everything they had and more on the line for this, just like she said they’d have to back in the orphanage, and now here they are. They survived, and they finally did it. The only problem is they don’t know what to do now that they’re actually here. For so long this day seemed like it would only arrive in dreams or fairy tales, and that might still be the case; they weren’t able to somehow change the forms Amanda filled out for them to be pilots together, and lying on those forms is a legal offense. 

    Finally getting loaded onto the large helicopter with fifteen other young adults, ones that still have that spark of life and innocence in their eyes. Connor and Ritch silently glance at each other. All it takes is one, tiny nod for them to agree that they’ll figure out some kind of plan when they get there. For now, though, they get buckled in for the trip to the Pan Pacific Defense Corps base.

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

    Almost all of the other cadets in the large helicopter have been complaining about their backs and necks aching for a long while now, and Connor is very close to telling them off for being children for constantly complaining about something as insignificant as that. However, when he turns his head to ask them to shut up, he just barely manages to catch sight of the edge of a huge, fort-like structure through the tiny window by his head. Reassured that their immature and meaningless complaints will very soon come to an end, Connor shuts his mouth and faces forward once more.

    Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Ritch staring at him with an eyebrow raised, a silent question of what made him change his mind (because of course Ritch knows he was about to make a comment to these people). Connor offers an answer in the form of nodding towards the tiny, reinforced window between him and Ritch. Ritch silently looks out, leans back a bit in attempts to see what Connor had, then smirks. He, too, straightens and relaxes in his chair, his slight smile never quite leaving his face.

    Connor assumes that Ritch is just as excited as he is to sleep in a real bed tonight, or as real as a cheap mattress or cot will be, anyway. It’s been nearly a week of traveling and layovers and such, and they haven’t slept somewhere that wasn’t an uncomfortable chair or the tiled ground in as long, too. The other cadets grumbled about them not getting any real beds while the staff had some the entire time, as well, which is why Connor was almost at his wit’s end just a few seconds ago. If he’s being honest, he still is.

    Their commander finally announces that they’re preparing to land at the PPDC, and to gather what little was allowed to remain unpacked for entertainment. The renewed chattering of the others annoys the twins, who are used to the constant silence of their old home, but it irritates Connor especially. He has always been more introverted and socially awkward than Ritch– much to Amanda’s displeasure– and there has already been a week of non-stop people and talking so far. Connor’s ready to spend some time alone in peace.

    He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to find a partner if he and Ritch are somehow allowed to stay as separate pilots, not if they’re all going to continue being this obnoxious, and especially not if Connor remains just as socially inept. Ritch must see something portrayed on his face because he leans over as much as he can with his harness being the way and speaks up for only the second time during this several-hour flight.

    “They’re still young, let them be children a little longer. I’m sure we would have liked a little more time as well.” Ritch says, ever the patient one.

    Connor sighs defeatedly. “I know we would’ve, but we were kids when we started and they’re grown adults. Besides, they’ve been talking constantly since we met at the airport earlier this week. Shouldn’t they have run out of topics to discuss?” Ritch takes a breath to say something, but Connor dismisses him with a wave, “Yeah yeah, I know. People talk about any and everything when they get along and they’re excited. And that’s okay, I’ve just been wanting some peace and quiet, and they only got louder.”

    Ritch nods sympathetically. “Yeah. We’re almost out of here though.” Connor nods back. Ritch hesitates twice before continuing, “Are you excited? This is your childhood dream coming true right now and you seem bored.”

    “This is only the boot camp. We could still get kicked out.”

    “Do you honestly believe that could happen?” Ritch asks almost sarcastically with a raised eyebrow.

    “Maybe, we still have our issue to deal with,” he looks pointedly at Ritch, who instantly knows what he’s talking about, ”but you never know. And to answer your question, I don’t think it’s hit me yet that I’m actually here. Ask me again in a day or two. Maybe in a week.”

    Ritch huffs a laugh, an actual, genuinely amused huff, “Yes. I feel the same way.”

    That was probably one of the most normal and pleasant conversations they’ve had in at least over a year. It was almost refreshing, if not awkward. Luckily, Connor is saved from over-analyzing their conversation by the helicopter finally landing. The doors open and all of the young adults hastily unbuckle, grab their duffle bags of clothes and supplies, then step out onto the landing pad. It’s a nice, clear day, and all of the trainees group together by the helicopter to listen to what this woman with braided blonde hair– obviously their guide for now– has to say. Well, more like has to yell over the surrounding machinery and wind.

    “Welcome to the Pacific Ocean Defense base! My name is Chloe and I’ll be giving you a brief tour of the place so you know how to get around without being run over or squashed! Got it?” The group nods in unison, a few saying “Yes, ma’am.” She smiles, “Good! Follow close behind me! Don’t want you getting lost on your first day, do we?” She sharply turns around and starts walking, not looking back or waiting for the group to follow.

    Connor and Ritch glance at each other quickly before following close behind Chloe, the rest of the group close behind them. As they walk up to the large, metal doors, they expect to see some kind of common area place behind them, but they instead open to reveal a large, heavy-duty elevator. The elevator is plenty large enough to fit the lot of them plus three, huge, glass containers and another person, who is fussing over the containers of… are those kaiju parts?

    “Excuse me, sir,” Connor tries grabbing the man’s attention, too intrigued to keep his mouth shut like he knows he should.

     The pale man shoots up from what he was doing and looks at the crowd, obviously trying to figure out who called him. Connor asks his question, confident that he’ll get at least a simple “yes or no” in return now.

    “I hope you’re not bothered by me asking, but are those pieces of kaiju?” Connor tilts his head curiously, knowing he doesn’t portray emotions well when he’s tired but wanting to show the man he is genuinely interested in his answer.

    The man’s eyes brighten up immediately, “Yes, yes they are.” He takes off his gloves and fixes the small bun on the back of his head before reaching out a hand to Connor politely. “I’m Elijah Kamski, the head scientist of the kaiju research department.”

    Connor takes his hand firmly and shakes it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Kamski.” Connor hears someone scoff from the other side of the otherwise near silent elevator, followed by a sharp “shh!”.

    The scientist releases from the handshake and drops his hand. “Please, Mr. Kamski will do, if you must. I don’t actually have a Doctorate’s degree, I’m just someone who’s interested in kaijus and happened to get lucky.”

    “It was hardly luck, Elijah.” Chloe jumps in.

    “Ah, well, thank you Chloe. It makes me happy you think that.”

    “Are these parts still functioning? Or just being preserved?” Connor brings the attention back to where it was originally, his curiosity far from quenched.

    Mr. Kamski sighs heavily and turns to the glass containers, “Just preserved, I’m afraid. We weren’t able to get to this kaiju in time to save any of its parts. But we do have some... somewhat functioning specimens down in the lab.”

    Someone in the group, a man with darker skin and a shaved head, speaks up next.

    “Why would we want to keep chunks of kaiju alive? Wouldn’t it be better that they stay dead for good?”

    The blond, fair-skinned man standing next to him answers, “I imagine if they can keep pieces functional long enough to figure out any more weaknesses, it could make our jobs in the future easier, Markus. It’s smart, really.”

    Mr. Kamski practically glows, “You’re absolutely right– uh, what’s your name?” He reaches his hand out to the blonde.

    “Simon, sir.” He shakes Mr. Kamski’s hand once before letting go.

    “Simon.” He turns to Connor, “And I never got yours?”

    “Connor.”

    “These are the new possible recruits for the new jaegers that are being built.” Chloe informs.

    “That explains why I haven’t seen you guys around.”

    The scientist chuckles in a way that makes it seem like he was trying to make it sound awkward, rather than it being a genuinely awkward laugh. Although, that may be just Connor over analyzing things again. He can’t really help it, old habits die hard, especially when they were critical to his comfort of life for so long.

    However, Connor definitely isn’t the only one to notice how the elevator is starting to slow down to their floor. Mr. Kamski puts his gloves back on and stands up straighter again from where he was leaning on the handles to the cart holding one of the large, fluid-filled, canister-type thing. Connor isn’t exactly sure what the containers are called, or what they’re actually made of. Mr. Kamski interrupts his thoughts.

    “Well, normally newcomers aren’t allowed in the lab, but if one of you guys happen to run into me and we’ve both got the time and interest to look at some kaiju organs and muscles, I wouldn’t have a problem showing you around.” His eyes suddenly have a curious, almost pompous glint to them, and his smile shifts minutely with them (though, Connor doubts anyone else notices this besides maybe Ritch. Stupid habits). “It’s always... nice, to find others who are interested in the kind of work I do,” he tilts his head ever-so-slightly, “So don’t be afraid to stop by.”

    “I’ll definitely consider it, Mr. Kamski. Thank you.” Connor, ever the people pleaser, tells the man as the elevator doors open.

    Most of the group politely waves goodbye to Mr. Kamski as they collectively step into the reinforced hall. They’re wide enough to comfortably fit vehicles through and the ceilings are high with pipes running up and down along them. Everywhere he looks is covered in sturdy metal, obviously reinforced and prepared in case a kaiju gets too close.

    They round a corner, and Connor realizes that Chloe has been talking. Yet here he is, still not really listening because he’s internally freaking out and having a painfully silent fanboy moment. Someone wheeling a large cart passes by and Connor can’t stop himself from briefly studying the foreign materials on it with a sense of awe.

    Connor has been waiting for this moment since he was a child. He’s looked up pictures that were leaked on the internet, he studied the backgrounds of the very few interviews held here at the base, he’s watched every documentary he could find on jaegers and their pilots. For a while, it was the only thing that kept him going, just the sheer strength and size of these machines that are so huge and powerful that one person alone can’t control it without risking mental overload and death. He thought he wouldn’t be as shocked as the others since he’s exposed himself to these battle machines as often as he could growing up, but it seems it’s very much the opposite in reality. He’s grown an appreciation for everything here that the others don’t have yet.

    He still isn’t listening to Chloe as she explains what this area is and little facts about the jaegers that he probably already knows. He can already see Crimson Typhoon, piloted by Ms. Chen, her newer partner, and whoever else is available and compatible with them, normally the testy Mr. Reed– if he remembers that brief interview correctly– and it uses a triple arm technique. Apparently it was extremely difficult to get it working and safe enough for pilots to use. To his knowledge, there’s no other jaeger that uses more than two pilots anymore because of it. The next one over is Cherno Alpha. It’s the last mark one jaeger still standing, and is currently the oldest and heaviest jaeger this base has, but its pilots, Mr. Miller and Mr. Wilson, can still pick one hell of a fight in it.

    The group starts turning to go down another hallway and Connor follows automatically, shamelessly looking at the the other jaegers down the enormous warehouse. He only recognizes one more of them, Striker Eureka, the only mark five jaeger in existence. All he knows is that it was decommissioned a day before its official release, but despite how much he searched for why it was shut down, he remains clueless to all else. They did a fantastic job keeping mark five quiet, so it makes sense that its shut down would be sealed up even tighter.

    He can’t wait to see what new technology and designs the architects and construction teams have put together for the possible future pilots. Their teams should be getting mark six and seven jaegers, which seems almost surreal to Connor, that he’s actually here and they’re going to get new and improved jaegers. He wonders if the other jaegers he can see on the other end of the enormous room are the ones they’ll be able to use if they pass training. He sure hopes so; they look fantastic.

    The group slows down and he realizes that he wasn’t listening to Chloe again when she calls his name. He cringes minutely, shameful that he still couldn’t force his mind away from the giant machines, then morphs his face into something he knows is almost unreadable and faces the blonde guide.

    “Yes ma’am?”

    “You’re really that interested in the jaegers?”

    Connor looks away as he answers more timidly, “Yes ma’am. Have been since I was a kid.”

    She pauses at that, putting in another code to another door.

    “Then you’d be able to repeat the guidelines of this particular room? If you’re familiar with all of this already,” she gestures to the vast area around them.

    As a matter of fact, Connor feels like he probably could.

    “May I try?” She waves him on silently, almost sarcastically it seems. “Watch where you’re going at all times, because there are a lot of people and heavy equipment moving about. Don’t meander or wander idly because people have jobs to do and are trying to get places. Don’t bother the pilots unless absolutely necessary because that’s just common courtesy, same goes for workers of any kind. Clear out quickly if a jaeger is being moved to deploy. That’s all I can think of, ma’am.”

    She nods thoughtfully, “If you were listening, you would have also known to just call me Chloe. Ma’am and Miss makes me feel old.”

    Oh. She doesn’t seem entirely mad.

    “Yes, M– er– Chloe”

    She chuckles as she walks through the now open door, and others snicker along. It’s only his first day here and he’s already made a fool of himself. Training is not going to go at all like how he was expecting and hoping. Ritch must see how he deflated because he nudges Connor and leans over to whisper in his direction.

    “I’ll be struggling to call her just Chloe for a while myself.” He straightens up. “Good to know I won’t be alone in this particular endeavor.”

    Connor nods, too surprised that Ritch is talking to him again to verbalize anything.

    The group follows Mi– Chloe, just Chloe, down some hallways and around some turns and bends. She talks about the specifics of what the different departments and areas of the base do and why they’re important, things that aren’t common knowledge for normal people, but have been drilled into Ritch’s and Connor’s heads over the past several years. She moves on to explain who’s in charge, the ranking system, and tips on remembering how to get to where they need to be and avoid where they aren’t allowed. It’s rather dull, but Connor easily pays attention now, giving only a small piece of his awareness to his surroundings.

    Sneakily looking to his left, Connor sees that Ritch is much less twitchy than he is. It’s completely expected, seeing as Connor has always had a stronger need to know his surroundings well, and the fact that what’s happening now has been in Connor’s dreams for so long, while Ritch was just along for the ride for a large part of it. Yet, the fact that he shares a dream with the others here doesn’t help Connor feel sane or like a normal part of the group. He’s long since used to being the outcast by now, but he’s hoping that he will get along with some people, since everyone here has a great interest in being a jaeger pilot (what exactly are they doing here if they don’t?).

    They take one last left turn and are met with what looks like a training room. Chloe has all fifteen of them line up in a neat row along the side wall, rather than muddled up against the back of the room. She then asks the people who did not come with a partner to take a step forward.

    Connor moves only his eyes to glance at Ritch, and catches Ritch doing the same. Without any “telepathic communication”, as Amanda and any others who knew them called it, Ritch takes a confident step forward, and Connor quickly follows. It dully hurts Connor for some reason that Ritch didn’t even seem to think before taking a step, but it’s not like Connor was enthusiastic to try to work with him. It just feels like there’s really no chance in mending their damaged bonds now.

    Connor can feel the confused gazes on his back, and he understands why. It’s obvious they came as a pair, if the fact they haven’t tried to socialize with the others as much as sticking to each other didn’t give it away already– even if it was just because they were both uncomfortable around strangers– then it’s their matching faces and builds. The only way to tell the difference between him and Ritch is their slight, unnatural height difference and the fact Connor prefers to wear grey and darker colors, since it’s harder to get messy and he believes it compliments his figure, while Ritch prefers white and lighter colors because he claims it looks better on him with his light eyes. It, admittedly, does look sophisticated on him in a way that Connor could never quite pull off with his dark eyes.

    Connor is pulled out of his head once again (how many times am I going to zone out today?) by the sounds of footsteps entering the room. The Marshal Jeffrey Fowler himself is walking into the room with an assistant of some kind. She’s holding a clipboard and plenty of relatively thin files. Connor wouldn’t be surprised if those folders held every single thing known about everyone around him. He doesn’t exactly want to know what his says, since all of the information on him and Ritch in there would’ve been given by Amanda or taken through spying.

    Marshal Fowler isn’t quite how Connor imagined him to be, which is to be expected for any type of celebrity really– if he ever counted as a celebrity at all, that is. While Connor remembers him being kind and open and definitely with less of a scowl on his face, Marshal Fowler seems to be sharp edges and angles and Connor can already tell that he won’t hesitate to put people in their places immediately, no matter how new they are or what age the person is. Connor isn’t exactly sure how he feels about this, but he’ll try his best to not step on his toes and avoid being a complete suck-up by accident, Both of those things happen more often than one would think.

    The Marshal stops in front of the two rows of trainees and seems to scrutinize each person and pair. He suddenly clears his throat loudly, as if gathering attention back to himself even though no one was distracted in the first place. Connor doesn’t know why anyone would become distracted right now in the first place, but some people are just plain old idiots.

    “Alright. Let’s get this done and over with. Miss Arlen?”

    The assistant takes a step forward upon hearing her name. Her dark hair is tied back in a neat, short ponytail and her lovely dress compliments her dark skin and figure well. She looks like a respectable, well-put-together woman, someone Connor could probably trust to send a message to Marshal Fowler in the event of an emergency or something of the like.

    “I’m going to call out your names so that if you prefer to go by a separate name, you can tell me now and I can write it down in your file for future reference,” she starts with a smooth voice, “Let’s start with the pairs then, shall we? Markus and Simon Manfred?”

    The two guys who were talking to Mr. Kamski earlier in the elevator call out.

    “Present!” “Here.”

    “Lily and Maveric Hallowitt?” Those two are obviously siblings with how similar their blonde hair and blue eyes are.

    “Here!” “Here.”

    “Joshua Manfred and North Adams?”

    “Present.” North says as the other informs Ms. Arlen that he prefers to be called Josh.

    Ms. Arlen nods an “alright” and writes something down in one of the files quickly, then takes a breath to call out the next group. However, Marshal Fowler interrupts her from doing so with a inquisitive hum.

    “We have a lot of Manfreds in this room. You all siblings?”

    “Not quite, sir,” Josh answers respectfully.

    Markus continues, “Josh is my brother, but Simon is my husband, sir.”

    The marshal nods and makes a noise of interest at that. “How long have you two been together?”

    Simon answers, “We’ve known each other since we were both children, but we married a few months ago.”

    “Well, congratulations. Hope this is the kind of honeymoon you wanted.” His face becomes stone-like again. “Who’s our next group?”

    “Connor and Ritchie Stern?”

    “Present, but I’d like to be called ‘Ritch’ please,” Ms. Arlen nods and scribbles in his file, and Ritch continues, “And I mean no disrespect respect when I say this, but we do not want to pilot as a pair, despite what our stepmother had made us sign up for, sir and ma’am.”

    Marshal Fowler properly glowers at them now. “Why did you let someone other than you make these decisions? Huh? ‘Cause I have a feeling you’re just in a little spat right now and are making rash decisions.”

    “Sir, he’s telling the truth,” Connor pleads timidly, “We had no intention to work as a pair from the start, but we were… forcefully instructed to sign up as a pair by our guardian.”

    “So you lied on the paperwork?”

    This is going bad, we need to just give up and try again at a later date. A much later date.

    “Not exactly, sir. We are just uncomfortable–”

    “Then you two can stay put just the way you are until further notice or else there will be consequences. Got it?”

    Connor drops his head immediately, but Ritch remains tall and proud.

   “Yes sir.” the twins echo at the same time in different tones.

    “Good. Miss Arlen, continue.”

    “Yes sir.”

    She goes on to call out the last pair, Kelly Wright and Leon Arsonilla. Then the singles are called out one by one. Traci Powell, Alex Mace, Melanie Goodwin, Jeremy Bukket, and Rico Salomon. She scribbles anything that needs to be written down on her notepad and in the appropriate file, then nods and takes a step back. Marshal Fowler takes this as his cue to step back into front and center to address the group.

    “As you may or may not already know, this training is extremely hard, and not many people graduate. Most drop out because this was tougher to get through than they thought, and some were required to stop because their bodies and minds couldn’t handle the pressure that’s going to be on you starting tomorrow. Take this as your warning now. If some of you are iffy now–” he pointedly looks in the twins’ direction “–then passing training will be impossible for you.”

    He turns his gaze to the class as a whole and starts slowly pacing again, “Most, if not all of you will not make it through training for one reason or another, so know that I have no real expectations for you lot. Do what you’re gonna do. Leave if you’re gonna leave. I don’t want to have to waste my time and resources on someone who knows they can’t stay to the end.” He stops front and center again, hands behind his back and looking almost bored. “Chloe is going to show you to your bunkers. You all have assigned rooms, pairs will share a room, singles will have a half-room or will be instructed to share temporarily. Dismissed.” He turns and starts walking out of the room.

    Before the marshal even reaches the door, Chloe is herding and leading the group of young adults out. She shows them how to get to their hallway, telling them when the different training sessions, meals, and free time will start for the next few weeks so they aren’t late. As they turn into the hallway where all of the pilots stay, Chloe hands each person a small, folded paper with their names on the outside. Connor opens his up to find his room number and a four digit passcode. Once she finishes handing all of the slips of paper out, she wishes the group good luck then leaves them behind.

    Everyone except Connor begins their hunt for their bunkers. The twin instead takes his time to finally get a good look at the place, now that he isn’t being rushed somewhere like a cattle in a traveling herd. The hallway here looks exactly the same as the first hallway they entered, only less busy and noisy. Connor starts stepping backwards towards where the others headed off to and notices that his boots don’t clang against the ground like he expected. He turns around to properly follow after the group, who are long gone now, and finds Ritch waiting for him with his arms impatiently crossed.

    “Almost done staring at the pipes?” He lifts his eyebrow grumpily.

    Connor lowers his head. “Yes. Sorry.”

    Ritch lets out a harsh “hmph” with a slight scowl and spins around and starts walking without waiting for Connor. The latter hurries after his brother, not so much worried about losing him, but worried that if he doesn’t stick near him he’ll get distracted and lose his sense of time again.

    They quickly and easily find their room. Connor puts in the pin, then Ritch opens the heavy, metal door. The space inside is kind of cramped. There’s more room in here than Connor expected, but it’s still small. Against the wall to the left are bunk beds, and against the wall directly in front of the duo is a desk and plenty of empty wall shelves for whatever they’ll need or want to store or display. They step inside and Connor notices a small bathroom to the right and locker-like closets against the same wall as the door. The center of the room has just enough open space to maybe fit a chair or two and still have room to shuffle around it, but Connor can’t see himself or Ritch wanting more than just the one desk chair in here, so it’s not a concern.

    Ritch wastes no time in unpacking his things into one of the locker-closets. Connor follows his lead and starts putting their bathroom supplies away. By the time an hour has passed, Connor is standing on the chair in his comfy clothes to position his old kaiju and jaeger figurines on the very top shelf, and Ritch is laying down on the bottom bunk (“Good luck getting up there when you’re exhausted beyond belief,” he said when Connor claimed the top bunk) with a book open on his chest. All of their books are on the second to top shelf, leaving the bottom two completely open and clean for whatever they’re going to need to store in the near future.

    Connor finishes messing with his figurines and hops down from the chair, pushing it in behind him as he makes his way to bed. He’s in the process of climbing up onto it (a slightly complicated task only because the bed is a bit smaller than a twin and has no obvious ladder) when someone knocks on the door. Ritch lowers his historical fiction book and looks at the door curiously, but makes no move to actually get up and answer it.

    “Fine then, guess I’ll get it.” Connor indignantly grumbles, hopping back down to the ground.

    “You’re the one who’s already up.” Ritch responds in a bored tone.

    With an angry sigh, Connor skips looking through the peeper hole and opens the door. Markus, Simon, Josh, and North are all standing with polite smiles and relaxed postures. Connor gives a smile back, suddenly aware that he still had a scowl on his face.

    “Hey guys, what brings you here?”

    “Hi Connor,” Markus greets pleasantly, “We were wondering if you would like to join us to the cafeteria?”

    “Dinner isn’t starting for another thirty minutes. What do you guys plan to do?” Ritch is suddenly standing right behind Connor.

    “Ritch.” Connor hisses.

    This is the first time he’s been asked to do something with the others. Yes, they were annoying the shit out of him earlier, but they aren’t bad people. Just very… lively, friendly. Connor doesn’t want to lose this chance on not being the outcast for once in his life. Stupid Connor and his stupid, puppy-like eagerness to please people and and to be liked.

    “I’m just saying, Connor. Besides, weren’t you complaining–”

    “Sure guys! I’ll come along!” Connor interrupts Ritch before he can finish that sentence. It earns him a glare from Ritch. “Just let me get some real clothes and shoes on! I’ll be just a moment.”

    He rushes to shut the door, afraid that Ritch will let something else spill that could ruin his chances of getting along with the others. He hastily pulls off his clothes, then a t-shirt on before Ritch says anything from where he’s standing by the door, very annoyed.

    “You’ve been annoyed with them all day.”

    “That doesn’t mean they’re bad people.”

    “You just want everyone to like you.”

    “Is there a problem with that?” Connor pauses in putting his second sock on.

    “There can be.”

    Connor groans and puts the sock on, then starts putting his left boot on.

    “Don’t give me that, Connor. We both know how you are with new people. You let yourself be used and don’t know when to draw the lines! Then you wonder why people use and get tired of you!”

    Connor starts strapping his belt on with practiced precision, “I don’t see how that’s your any of your concern, Ritch.”

    “Legally, we are partners.” Connor reaches for the door, but Ritch grabs his wrist. “You make a fool of yourself, you make a fool out of both of us. Amanda isn’t here to fix things this time, and she certainly can’t get us back in here if we get ourselves kicked out because you mentioned the wrong thing.” He lets go and steps back. “This is your dream career, Connor, remember that.” He turns and plops himself on the bed, the rustle of papers giving away that he’s gone back to reading.

    “Sorry for the wait, guys,” Connor smiles and pulls the door shut. “Ritch just had some… concerns. But everything’s okay now. By the way, what are we doing until dinner?”

    “We’re just going to stroll around, get used to the place.” Josh smiles politely.

    “Ah.” he nods

    “Do you wear anything other than that uniform?” North points to his outfit.

    “Uh...”

    Connor freezes and looks down at himself, with his dark grey t-shirt tucked into his lighter-grey cargo pants, his pants tucked into his black boots and held up by a black belt. It’s the same outfit he’s been wearing pretty much every day for the past decade, now. He looks back up at the others and notices their t-shirts with patterns, designs, and colors and jeans with simple tennis shoes. Hell, North is wearing leggings and sandals. Connor doesn’t think he’s ever worn sandals before in his life. They ruin posture, foot structure, and knee and hip joints if worn too often, and provide no coverage for people’s feet, so he hasn’t ever thought about wearing them. Yet, here he is, thinking about how it’s probably kind of strange that he hasn’t now that he really can’t wear them anymore.

    “North–” Josh starts to reprimand, but Connor doesn’t let him finish.

    “I guess not. I haven’t really thought about it until now I guess, but I haven’t really worn other types of clothing for the past several years.” Connor notes the genuine, innocent curiosity in his voice that he didn’t mean to let slip. He meant it to sound more sarcastic so they wouldn’t worry, dang it.

    He guesses North notices too because she sounds sincere when she asks her next question once they’ve started walking.

    “Several years? You’ve just been wearing boots and cargo pants everywhere for years?”

    Connor turns his head to North, “Yes, unless there was a social gathering we– Ritch and I, I mean– were required to attend.” He faces forward again, “In those cases we usually wore suits.”

    Out of the corner of his eye, Connor can see Markus lean forward to try to make eye contact with him, so he turns his head again. How do people handle talking to large groups like this? What if someone doesn’t get to speak because the others are too busy chatting away? His thoughts get back on track and in the present as Markus speaks.

    “Were these ‘social gatherings’ a normal occurrence for you growing up?”

    “Kind of?”

    “Kind of?” Simon repeats as a question of “what do you mean?”

    “Well, Amanda would have parties and gatherings often enough, but we usually weren’t allowed to attend since there was wine and other alcohol involved, so on those nights we stayed outside and trained in the dark.”

    “Training before you were legally allowed to have alcohol? Exactly how old are you?” Josh inquires.

    “We’ll be turning 23 in a couple of weeks.” 

    North’s eyes widen, “Woah, what the hell? You’re so young!”

    “Am I? How old are all of you?” Connor doesn’t know how successful he was in covering his slowly-growing anxiety at being the odd one out before getting a chance to fit in.

    Markus answers, “I’m 28, Simon’s 27, Josh and North are both 26.”

    “I’m turning 27 in two and a half months!” Josh proudly declares.

    Connor desperately wants to ask if that’s the average age for trainees to be, but is, quite frankly, afraid of what the answer will be. Therefore, he states an observation instead so there isn’t a noticeable gap while he tries to think something else up.

    “You guys are very close in age.”

    “Yea,” Simon nods, “I was in the same elementary class as Markus, and Josh was in the same class as North, and Markus and Josh are brothers so we all met up.”

    “Best friends ever since.” Markus smiles.

    “How long have you been training for, then?” North jumps into the conversation expectantly.

    Connor doesn’t really want to think about this, let alone talk about it with strangers who have been annoying him all week. It’s not their fault, and they’re really nice people, Connor just isn’t used to being around so many others for such an extended time. The fact that he hasn’t had any proper down time isn’t exactly helping his social aptitude, either. Maybe he should have listened to Ritch earlier, but he just wants things to be different this time.

   “Uh, well... How long have you guys been training?”

   “For about a year.” Markus answers easily.

    Oh.

    Something must show on his face because Simon asks how long he’s been training again, except this time he asks it in a way that seems more sympathetic and concerned. His tone catches Connor completely off guard. He doesn’t know what to do when people start treating him like more than some kind of dog or machine that’s eager to please, despite that being exactly what he wants. Those kinds of moments were few and far between before he got here. Now, it’s only been a week that he’s seen these strangers, and he hasn’t even talked with them properly before now, but they already seem to regard him as one of their acquaintances.

    And this exact moment is what Ritch meant when he told Connor to watch himself, isn’t it?

    Well, now Connor can’t exactly dodge the question any further, can he? Since Simon seems so genuinely interested. That, and there’s been a few, solid seconds of silence since the question was asked. He’d seem like an extreme freak to not answer such a simple question.

    “Uh–”

    Were all of those years of training and forcing ourselves on really for nothing? Was that Amanda’s deranged way of entertainment all this time? What if they’re the ones that are being too lax and won’t make it through because of that? But if we were meant to do heavy training before now, why would we have these months of official “training” on top of that? Did Ritch and I really have to push ourselves so hard? What if–

    “Connor?” Markus’ voice interrupts his anxiety.

    Stop it Connor! You’re starting to look like a freak! Don’t you want friends?

    “I think it’s been just over ten years now?”

    “Ten years?!” all four of them blurt out with varying levels of concern and bewilderment.

    Just stop talking Connor, you stupid fucking idiot! You need to give normal responses! Normal!

    “Yeah, it might’ve been a bit overkill, now that I think about it. But there’s no changing the past, right?” Connor sounds so awkward, but he doesn’t know how to make it stop. “Guess that’s just life.”

    “You were twelve when you started training?”

    “Uh– No. I– We were closer to ten? But I’m– We’re not bothered by it–”

    “Did you even get a childhood? Or was that spent–”

    “North.” Josh swats her arm.

    “What?”

    “I’m sorry about her,” Markus apologizes, “She can be a bit abrasive sometimes.”

    Connor wrings his hands together, “That’s alright. Isn’t everyone at times?”

    He definitely should have listened to Ritch back in their bunker.

    “I mean, I guess, but not as often as North.”

    “Hey!”

    Their playful bickering continues as they wander the halls, and they must pick up on Connor’s discomfort from before because they don’t ask any questions about him or his past anymore. There are times where he feels like he is intruding on their time together, kind of like the fifth wheel, but that’s how it always is when a group of friends try to accept a new member, right? That, and Connor also isn’t super into being a part of large groups anyway (anything larger than three people is a large group for him, though, so...).

    “Hey there, trainees!” a woman with tan skin and black hair calls out– jaeger pilot Tina Chen, “You’re heading to the cafeteria, yea?”

    “Yes ma’am.” Simon answers respectfully.

    “Just Tina will do. I’m on my way there myself. I can show you which tables have been claimed by who when we get there,” she smiles nicely, “C’mon. Let’s go get some grub!”

    They make it to the food court area, and Tina shows them which tables they should be welcome to sit at, and which ones they should avoid at least for now. There’s two tables she points out– the one closest to the door that’s completely empty and a partially full one towards the back of the room– that she says are completely off limits until further notice. When Markus asks why, she explains that she and her little group sit there, and two people in her friend group are known for being very easily agitated, so it’d be better for them to just stay away. She then goes on to say that the table by the door is just one that no one wants to sit at.

    Connor’s aware that there’s a warning in the way she says it, but he elects to ignore it. That specific table sounds like the perfect place to take a well-needed break from people and their accidentally invasive questions. He can just get up and leave when whoever sits there normally arrives.

    So Connor gets his food, and silently thanks whatever higher power there may or may not be when the group of four move to sit at a table in the center of the room without asking Connor where he’s going or if he wants to join them. He sits down on the farthest end of the barren table, noticing how clean it looks compared to the other tables. Connor idly wonders if it’s cursed or something. Even if it was, Connor would still sit here, considering he’s pretty sure he’s already been cursed to some degree–

    “Who the fuck are you?”

    Connor whips his head to the source of the gruff voice and is met with the Hank Anderson. Sure, his hair is grey and shoulder length rather than the neatly trimmed blonde it was before, and he’s definitely gained quite a few pounds, but there’s no mistaking that this is the person who inspired Connor to become a jaeger pilot those years ago. Which means this is the same Hank Anderson that retired due to unknown reasons. Why would he still be here if he isn’t a pilot anymore?

    “My name is Connor and I’m a new trainee–”

    “Yea yea, whatever, I don’t actually care. What I do care about is why the fuck you’re hanging around my table. You don’t look like you need anythin’.” The older man crosses his arms angrily, the smell of alcohol wafts from him, and Connor can just tell it’s not the expensive, celebratory kind that Amanda was known for providing.

    Connor doesn’t know what happened to make him slip like this during the past several years– because he’s pretty damn sure that the Hank Anderson from ten years ago was not this bitter and vulgar– but he has a pressing feeling that it’s probably the same reason he decided to retire from being a pilot. And while Connor wants to know what happened, he also has personal experience with people asking well-meaning but invasive and mildly to majorly triggering questions. Therefore, Connor doesn’t mention recognizing him, and makes a mental note to never ask him personal questions and such.

    Connor lowers his head just a bit, but doesn’t break eye contact with Mr. Anderson. It’s the perfect picture of being genuinely guilty and apologetic, according to Amanda’s and Ritch’s reactions to this posture. Anything to let him know that Connor really didn’t mean to intrude on his valuable personal time.

    “I wanted a break from all of the people and was told that this table was always empty and off limits.” Connor shifts, already grabbing his tray to move and eat in the hallway or against the wall or something. He’d prefer that embarrassment over having to deal with anyone else today.

    Mr. Anderson sighs heavily, then throws up his arms as a sign of “fuck it”. “Fuckin’ hell. Can’t deny a man some fuckin’ peace and quiet now can I?” He harshly points at Connor as he continues, “Just don’t think you can start botherin’ me or some shit just ‘cause I let you sit here today, got it newbie?”

    “Yes sir.”

    “And knock it off with the ‘sir’ already. I ain’t your boss.”

    Before Connor can even reply, the very-likely-drunk man stumbles off to the line for food. Connor catches some strangers’ eye from the table behind him and quickly turns to sit properly on the bench. Unlike before, Connor keeps his head and eyes down and doesn’t look up from his plate, despite the stares he can feel dragging along his back. This was the exact opposite of what he wanted by sitting at this table. He didn’t know what he expected, though– actually, he did.

    He expected that because people appeared to be completely ignoring the table itself, he was hoping he would be ignored along with it, but that is absolutely not the case. It’s only his first day here and yet he’s gotten himself on bad terms with the marshal, made multiple people think he’s some kind of pity-fest freak, and probably already managed to get himself a reputation of sitting at Hank Anderson’s table even though it’s very clear that no one is welcome. He’s probably going to be labeled as the “problem child” (or would it be “problem man”?) by the end of tomorrow if he hasn’t already, and anything he does is automatically applied to Ritch as well, considering they have the same face.

    Ritch is going to be pissed.

    “Would you stop with the fork thing, kid?” Mr Anderson’s voice snaps, “Fuck’s sake.”

    “I’m sorry.” Connor responds automatically upon hearing Mr. Anderson’s irritation. He isn’t even sure when he returned or how long he’s been sitting there.

    Connor has learned over the years that it’s always best to apologize first. It makes people easier to talk to and negotiate with. That, and rarely ever just say “sorry”, as that can too easily be mistaken for sarcasm or insincerity, but also don’t use the phrase “I’m sorry” too often, or people will come to believe that he’s rarely meant it genuinely. “I’m sorry”, “I apologize”, “My bad”, and “Forgive me” are the basic ones– the equivalent of the root of a word, one could say– and if it’s anything more serious, Connor uses “I sincerely apologise”, “I’m very sorry”, “I am so very sorry”, “Please forgive me”, “It’s my fault”, or a combination or repetition of any of these phrases.

    Stupid Connor and his stupid habits. Except this is one of the few habits he wouldn’t call stupid, since this one generally helps fix something or lessens the blow after he really was an idiot.

    Connor suddenly realizes that he hasn’t touched his food since Mr. Anderson confronted him earlier. Connor takes one more bite, but doesn’t try to force any more down. Amanda isn’t around and neither is Ritch (not that he’d really do anything, hopefully), so surely he can leave food on his plate, right?

    Wrong. He needs the calories if he’s going to continue working and training hard. He really doesn’t want to pass out mid-fight again; it never ends well for one reason or another when he does. Therefore, with a cringe, Connor forces himself to take another bite and chews slowly, as if the food will simply disappear in his mouth if he chews it long enough.

    “What the fuck’s got you in a twist?” the familiar gruff voice asks from the other end of the table. Connor notes that he sounds somewhat annoyed, if not a tad curious.

    Connor can fix that, probably, since he is the reason for his irritation. He straightens his posture and gets ready to get up and leave, despite there still being food on his plate. He ignores the rush of bad feelings he gets for not finishing.

    “Nothing that should bother me, if I’m to be a jaeger pilot.” Connor makes to get up and bid the older man farewell when said man speaks up suddenly.

    “What do you mean, ‘nothing that should bother you’? Are pilots not people?”

     A quick glance over at him shows that Hank has his eyebrows furrowed and his arms crossed in a defensive manner. Why does everything Connor does to try to placate people here always backfire? Is something wrong with him? Well, more wrong than he already knows, anyway?

    “I meant no offense or harm by that. It’s just been a long week for me even though it would be tame for a real pilot.” Hank opens his mouth to say something, but Connor cuts him off, “Ah– I’ve talked too much again. I’ll go ahead and get out of your hair. I apologize.”

    Connor gets up from the bench then promptly throws his tray out before his mind can force him to stay and somehow finish it. Connor takes a quick glance around the cafeteria area, noting with something weighing his chest down that everyone else in the room is in comfortable clothes or official uniforms except for Ritch, but he doesn’t seem too bothered with that fact with how he’s seems to be getting along with Simon and the others. He spins around to head out of the crowded area and go back to his room to reset after today and sleep. As he passes Mr. Anderson, who’s been staring at him like he’s trying to solve a difficult puzzle, Connor decides he might as well properly say goodbye, so he doesn’t come off as just plain rude by walking past Mr. Anderson as if he doesn’t exist.

    “Thank you for putting up with me today, Mr. Anderson, I hope your evening gets better.” after I ruined your peaceful dinner, Connor finishes in his head.

    Connor doesn’t see how Mr. Anderson tenses up upon hearing his name, because he never told Connor his name and he hasn’t met anyone who has recognized him in years because he’s fallen so far down. Connor doesn’t see because he's already hastily making his way back to his bunker, where he can’t possibly screw anything else up unless he’s still awake when Ritch gets back to their room. That doesn’t happen, however, because as soon as Connor gets inside, changes into sleeping clothes (because he was always told “pajamas” were for children), and gets himself tucked into his tiny bed, he’s out like a light.

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Masterlist <~> Next

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A/N: I hope you didn’t hate this chapter! This chapter is in Connor’s POV, I know, and I promise Reed900 will come soon, just not for a couple of chapters, ya dig? Gotta raise the anticipation (I hope)! Next chapter will likely be a mixture of Ritch’s POV and Hank’s. Maybe a bit of Connor too? I haven’t decided yet. Anyway, Ima go and stop procrastination housework Lol. Thank you anyone for reading!! Ciao! <33