#i have to help out at a gsa meeting for dos AND the next day is the dos AND that evening i have to run an improv show

[transxfiles]

arts hell week at my school again :'(

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for being condescending towards an asexual kid in GSA?

🙃🏳️‍🌈 to find later

Long post so buckle up.

I (17, they/it/he) am one of three co-leaders of my school’s GSA, along with R (18, she/her) and N (17, he/him). All three of us are openly bi, and I’m also openly trans and (most importantly) very loudly aromantic. We’re all in 12th grade now but we were leaders last year (in 11th grade) too. The school/GSA is small enough that all four grades (9–12, so around 13–18 years old) are in the same GSA, there’s no separate upper grade and lower grade groups. We also have two advisors, both cis queer teachers; and some younger queer faculty members also join sometimes for formal events. We take turns running events during club time, such as fun crafts or watching music videos. Sometimes we also do educational stuff or documentaries, including having teachers come in to facilitate discussions.

I’ve been planning (since early December) to run a two part series of discussions about asexuality and aromanticism (separate discussions of each). I really just wanted to do one day about aromanticism, but R said that if I did that, people would derail it and just talk about asexuality anyways, which both N and our advisors also agreed made sense. So, it’s two days, and the asexuality one is first so that the aromanticism one can be closer to Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week (ASAW).

There’s a girl in GSA, let’s call her A (16, she/her), who’s in 11th grade. She’s very socially awkward and if someone points out that she’s accidentally said something rude or offensive she’ll make a big deal out of not knowing and generally derail the conversation. Also, two years ago A made a ton of “jokes” about me and my little sibling (16MtF) being “secretly dating.” When I asked her (politely at first) to stop, she said she was just joking around, and kept doing it. I asked her again and also asked the theatre teacher and school counselor for help, and eventually she did stop. But A kept following me around and trying to be friends with me, and I was super uncomfortable to the point that I asked the school counselor to facilitate a conversation between A and I so that I could ask her to fucking stop. It somewhat worked. Now she still keeps trying to start conversations with me in the hallways and such, but I just brush her off or ignore her.

The one place I can’t do that is during GSA. Since I’m a leader, I have to be civil to everyone and actually talk to people (R, N, and I set norms at the start of the year during our planning meetings). A is asexual but not aromantic, and today she showed up like 5 minutes into lunch (cafeteria lines are annoying) and loudly asked if she was late. We weren’t doing anything in GSA today, just chilling. At some point during the meeting I announced casually that next week we’d be discussing asexuality, and then the week after that we’d talk about aromanticism, which leads nicely into ASAW during February break. When I said this, A immediately said that she would be extra ace that week [during ASAW]. I was like, “during aromantic spectrum awareness week?!?!” in the same tone of that “during pride month?!?!” meme. She looked like someone had just given her an F on the most important test of the year and said she hadn’t known.

I also made a comment about how there’s way more openly aspec people at our school than at most schools, and N said that maybe the presence of role models is part of that (clear subtext: he was referring to me). I said pretty loudly (more people could hear) that it was kinda funny that I’m the “ace role model” when I’m literally not asexual. A looked super lost and confused at this, and I think she might’ve thought I was ace, even though I’m super open about not being ace, and have told her directly more than once.

Here’s where the potential assholery comes into play. There’s an ad for PrEP that was fairly common on the back covers of theatre playbills in the past year. The ad shows a Black man dressed in ripped leggings with fishnets, shiny knee-length heeled leather boots, and some sort of white leather harness, doing a bridge pose with one leg extended upwards so that the “r” in PrEP is resting on the sole of the boot. The ad has a bright red background and text that says “you cast of PrEP options is changing” along with a small QR code and website link. The pose is somewhat provocative, but not out of place on a playbill for an all-ages show.

During GSA, A was saying that she thought the ad was bad, because of the leather being “fetish gear” and “weird” (basically the same arguments people use to say that gay people shouldn’t be allowed in public). I told A that there’s nothing wrong with someone wearing leather, and she said that “it’s fetish gear and that’s disgusting and degenerate and just bad advertising!”

I explained calmly, like I would to a child (although I probably wouldn’t talk about this topic with a child), that PrEP is a medicine that people take if they anticipate having sex with someone who’s HIV-positive, so it’s okay that the ad is somewhat suggestive. She seemed to accept that, but still said that the leather was weird, and the ad should’ve shown “a diverse group of people getting pills at a pharmacy” instead, because “fetish gear” was too much.

I asked if she thought that all leather clothing was inherently fetishistic, to which A said yes, and then I asked, “do you know that people can’t just choose fetishes?”

She hadn’t known that, but she still said the ad was too sexual. I pointed out that it was a fairly well-targeted advertisement, using theatre references, but maybe A was not part of the target demographic. I also said that sometimes outfits are just hot without there needing to be any fetishes involved, which she didn’t refute, and that even if it was a fetish, that wouldn’t make it inherently “bad” or “degenerate” at all.

A said that she still didn’t like it, and I told her that she was entitled to have whatever feelings she wanted to have, but that doesn’t mean the advertisement itself is a problem.

Another person (17, he/him) called out “[OP], what do you think about kink at pride?” in a sort of nonchalant way, so I walked over while saying “i’m pro–kink at pride.” The conversation eventually moved in other directions, and then club ended and we had to go to our next classes.

TL;DR: given my position of power and responsibility as a GSA leader, AITA for being kinda condescending towards an ace person who’s 2 years younger than me because she was being very sex-negative about an ad for PrEP?

What are these acronyms?

[vanillabat99]

I don't know where I'm going with this, but the other day my mom and I were having a conversation about her starting up a GSA in her office at work. She was telling me about the people she's been meeting and what she wants to do. She was telling me how she doesn't really want to make a float for the local Pride Parade, not because she doesn't think Pride is important, but because she wants to help the people who aren't able to go to Pride. She was telling me how she wants to find every resource possible and put them everywhere she can, all because she's learned through me that there are plenty of people who are struggling. She told me that I made her realise she cares. She told me that my coming out and my experiences so far have made her want to take action, because she knows how hard it's been for me.

My initial coming out was not an ideal scenario, I was peer pressured and met with indifference. After coming out, my parents would recommend lots of movies to me. Recommendations that I would dismiss as their usual weird 80s/90s media preferences. Movies that I have recently found out are monumental pieces of art about being gay or trans. Movies they would lovingly quote. Movies they wanted me to watch with them. Movies about people like me.

Before I came out as trans, I was having a rough night and asked my dad if we could go for a drive. It was late and dark and we were all alone on the dirt road. I remember telling him I don't think I even meet the base criteria for being a lesbian, and he told me I didn't have to have short hair and be tough if that wasn't who I was. That I could be any kind of lesbian I wanted to be. Even though I hadn't told anyone about my gender struggles, his advice really stuck with me. I can be any kind of person I want to be.

My father came back from a dragon boat competition in America with a little rainbow pin for me. My mother got pronoun pins that she wears to work. My aunt gave me my first binder.

The mother of some kids I went to school with runs a local transgender support network. I found out about it through an event they were hosting that my school's GSA was advertising. I went to many events with my friends. My parents would often drive us all. I remember the laughs and the tears and connections I felt. Family friends have a kid who came out recently and my parents told them about the local organisation. My mom ran a donation drive through her work for it. A coworker of hers told her she was able to help her kids after finding out about it through the drive. A whole spiderweb of connections and care.

I've had kids I used to babysit reach out to me. I've been the first person they've told about being gay or bi or trans.

I remember when I was younger and I accidentally got outed to my all-girls cabin at bible camp, and immediately responded with shame and embarrassment. I remember finding the small handful of other kids who were like me. I remember them consoling me over having to wear a dress, how maybe next year I can cut off all my hair and wear a suit. I remember sneaking out on the last night to hold hands and watch the stars.

I came out as gay when I was 14. I came out as trans when I was 17. I'm 20 now. I still think about the people I've met, however brief, and I wonder how they're doing, if they're in their 20s. I hope so.

I think I will watch those movies tomorrow.

[smolandweirdwriter]

I'd like to order one talk about Rebellion's not about labels please

But seriously, it sounds interesting so tell us about it!!

okkk so basically this is a fig-centric fanfic where she basically... helps her friends come out? kinda?

it starts with fig & kristen going to a gsa meeting in the beginning of junior year because kristen convinced her to go, and everyone is talking about like discovering their sexuality and coming out, and someone asks fig what her sexuality is & shes like "I don't really think it matters tbh", which prompts a whole discussion/debate and fig has literally never known that sexuality was this complicated and she goes home and starts to panic a little bit bit.

she & kristen talk and kristen says something like "if you're not sure of something, that's like a time of doubt right? I'd talk to Cassandra" & so fig talks to cassandra and comes to terms with the fact that it's okay if she doesn't want to label herself and it's ok if she's not super sure of who she is

she then helps gorgug as he's VERY much not certain if or why he likes Unit because they a) use they/he pronouns, and b) are a bronze cube???? so yeah gorgug's very confused rn. he's never really thought about his sexuality, although his parents are very open-minded (maybe a little TOO open minded), so now he's a little bit worried that maybe he's got it wrong. he & fig are recording together one day when unit texts gorgug. fig teases him about it, prompting gorgug's confession to his uncertainty. Fig basically goes, "But do you like them??" and when gorgug says yeah fig says, "Then ask them out, dummy!! It's ok if you're confused--but don't let that stop you from being who you are." so gorgug asks out unit

fabian has not asked mazey out yet, and at this point, riz has come out as aroace, and fabian is determined to support that. he's riz's best friend, he has to support him! he loves riz! but he realizes in one sickening, sleepless night: he loves riz. he really, really loves riz. panicking, he spends the rest of the night pacing and trying to convince himself he's wrong. the next morning, he finds riz and it's... not a great interaction, all things considered. afterwards, fig asks him what's going on and he confesses. fig winces sympathetically and asks him if he wants to go get ice cream. they get ice cream and talk about unrequited crushes (fig has had... many). and it's ok. he'll move on. eventually.

the next chapter is in the summer after junior year.

riz is asexual and aromantic. and he's learning that that's not bad, or wrong. but he's struggling with feeling alone. one day after school, fabian and mazey are on a date, and kristen and tracker are reconnecting after tracker came back for a bit after her breakup with Nara, and fig is supposed to go on a date with ayda but riz looks so, so lonely as he's walking home. so when ayda texts fig that she's realized she's supposed to have dinner with her dad tonight and can't go out with fig, fig's not too upset. she spends some time with riz and they have a sleepover and talk about the future until late at night. and in the morning, riz is happy because he's not alone, and he has friends who do love him, and there's nothing wrong with him, and fig won't leave him alone. none of them will. he's important to them all, just as important as their partners

later, they go to fallinel for vacation and adaine is?? having a crisis?? she thought she was straight, but wait she did not remember Nara being that nice or smart or pretty, what's happening to her? she doesn't want sex, but someone to hold hands with or kiss would that be so bad? but does she want to be in love with a girl? and is that real, because she's never even thought she was anything other than straight until her friends came out, so isn't that kinda fake of her? if she didn't know there were options other than straight, would she still be straight? she ends up voicing all of this to fig at 3 in the morning, who helps her calm down, and that's when the titular line is said by fig

[thinkingaboutyoungroyals]

Falling For You But You Are Worlds Away: Chapter 3

A/N: I had a day off from school and finished some of my homework so I had some time to write. Please don't expect this consistency, it's a rare occurrence lol

AO3

Simon’s stomach was in knots all day. Several times, he felt the urge to rush to the restroom and throw up.

His first couple of days in New York went fine. His aunt and cousin showed him around all the tourist areas, bought him souvenirs, and took him to their favorite restaurants. He even got a picture with Elmo at Times Square. (Why were there so many Sesame Street characters?!) They also got him a new phone number, showed him how to navigate the bus and the subway, and talked to him in English so he could practice.

Simon’s English wasn’t terrible, per se. He grew up watching shows and movies in English with Swedish subtitles. And he didn’t do too bad in his English classes. But, he never had to speak it 24/7 before.

So, when he walked into his new school with Ana, he was immediately bombarded with all the English words, phrases, and slang – it all made his head swirl. Ana introduced him to some people she knew, they spoke to him in English, and he stumbled through his answers. And, sadly, because Ana was a grade ahead of him, he was left alone to fend for himself when it came to time to go to classes.

He did manage to fake confidence, introducing himself to his classmates and answering a few questions. He could follow the lessons just fine and answered when called upon by teachers (except in American History, he definitely needed help there). But, for the most part, he stayed quiet.

At lunch, he sat with Ana, who introduced him to her friends. All three were girls. Two of them were Latina, Alicia and Luz, and one girl was white, Elizabeth (“You can call me, Liz,” she told him). They spoke to each other in Spanish (even Liz) and it was the first time all day that Simon felt the unease in him boil down to a simmer. It was still there but hearing the familiar language was a comfort.

And he now knew why Ana insisted they packed lunch – the school’s food didn’t look that appetizing. Even Hillerska had better food. (And thinking of Hillerska made him think of Wille, which just made him feel depressed again.)

When his last class of the day finally dismissed them, Simon was ready to go home and take a nap. He was exhausted – physically and mentally. But, Ana had other plans.

“Hello, everyone! As you can see, we have someone new joining us today!”

She gestured to him with a flourish and Simon blushed in embarrassment as many eyes focused on him – curious and interested.

“This is my cousin, Simon, he just moved here from Sweden. I hope everyone makes him feel welcomed. Please don’t scare him off.”

Simon awkwardly shuffled his feet as he waved. “Um… Hi… Um… I’m Simon. Sorry, uh, my English isn’t very good. But, I’m practicing.”

He was met with silent nods and Simon almost sighed in relief. Almost.

“You look familiar!” A guy with long blonde hair piped up from the back.

Simon’s stomach churned and he wanted to run away. No one was supposed to know who he was. They reassured him that the whole thing died down fairly quickly in America. How many of these kids have watched the video?! Did they know who he was as soon as he walked in?!

“You look like a Spanish version of Nick Jonas!” continued the guy.

The churning calmed a little.

Ana glared, placing her fists against her hips. “Shut up, Darren. Simon is not the Spanish version of anyone.” She paused and glanced at him. “But, if he is, he would be Harry Styles.”

“It’s the curls!” a girl with dark hair with pink tips called out with a grin. “They’re really cute!”

Before he knew what was happening, Simon was bombarded with compliments about his hair and face. He could swear he had never been as red in his entire as he was in that moment.

Soon, a different guy stepped up, willing everyone to calm down with his hands. “Okay, everyone, stop simping over Ana’s cousin. It’s time to start the meeting! We have a lot to talk about today!”

Ana nudged Simon and gestured with her head to the back of the classroom. Simon followed her. She took a seat next to the window. The empty seat beside her was across from the guy who spoke up earlier.

As the guy at the front (“That’s Dominic, he’s the president of GSA,” Ana had whispered to him) began to go over the agenda for the day, the guy next to Simon leaned over.

“Hey, I’m Darren,” he whispered with a toothy grin. “I’m your resident pansexual.”

Simon bit his lip and whispered back. “Simon. Do we… have to share our sexuality here?”

Darren chuckled and shook his head. “Nah, you’re not obligated to. Some people are here just as allies but a couple do end up figuring themselves out. So we tend not to label or share labels. But, I don’t give a shit, I want everyone to know they have an equal chance of dating me. So, that includes you.”

He winked and Simon, to his horror, felt himself blush again. He was just gonna end up looking like a tomato by the time he returned to Sweden if he kept this up.

“Darren! Anything you wanna share with the class?”

“Nope, prez. Just welcoming our new member. Please proceed, you know we love listening to your gorgeous voice.”

Dominic raised an eyebrow at him before getting back to what he was saying.

“I’ll get you to say ‘yes’ to me, eventually,” Darren muttered under his breath.

Simon couldn’t stop a chuckle from leaving his lips. Darren flashed him a grin and, for what it was worth, Simon finally felt a bit at ease.

He snuck a look at Ana, who caught his eye and smiled, encouragingly.

Maybe she was right. He could meet new people here and make new friends. Maybe, for just a few months, he could forget everything that happened in Sweden and just be... back to normal.

He was willing to try. If only this empty feeling inside him would go away.

.........

If Wilhelm thought that Christmas break without Simon was bad, being at school for a month without Simon was worse. Everywhere he looked and turned, he half expected Simon to be there, looking at his phone or eating a clementine or flashing Wilhelm a smile that made his cute dimples appear.

More times than he could count, Wilhelm had run after Sara, practically begging her for any information on Simon. The girl always refused him.

“Give her time,” Felice said to him one day after another failed attempt. “She loves her brother and she’s on his side.”

“I just want another chance to apologize,” said Wilhelm. “I want to make things right. And I want to at least be friends with him again.”

Felice wrapped an arm around him. “You will. Just give it time, okay?”

Wilhelm had agreed, if only to reassure himself that he was going to be fine. Maybe the longing would stop. Maybe he would wake up one day and just accept the fact that Simon was no longer in his life.

He knew it was all a big fat lie but it was okay to dream, right?

Which was why he decided to take his chances that one Saturday. Students were allowed to leave the school grounds on weekends to visit the town, if they so pleased, so Wilhelm took advantage of that. With Johan driving and Malin in the passenger’s seat, they left Hillerska for the day and headed to Bjarstard.

His stomach was filled with butterflies. Excitement or nerves, he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was both. He ran over various things to say in his head. But, when they pulled up in front of the familiar one-story home, he forgot it all.

Nevertheless, he raised his chin and marched with determination to the front door. He hoped Simon was home. That Wilhelm could finally see him. That they could finally talk. He just hoped he wasn’t overstepping any boundaries, that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Clearing his throat, he raised a fist and knocked, firmly and loudly, against the door. It took a minute but, eventually, it slowly opened, very slowly.

Linda peeked out, looking wary and cautious. But, when she saw Wilhelm, the guarded look switched to surprise.

“Wil… Your Royal Highness,” she greeted with a slight bow of her head.

Wilhelm hated it. He preferred Linda’s casual treatment of him as if he was any other kid. He supposed he didn’t deserve that anymore after what he did to her son.

“Wilhelm, please,” he said to her, managing a small smile. “Hello, Linda.”

The woman smiled, fondly, and she opened the door a bit wider. “Hello, Wilhelm. How are you, cariño?”

The gentler tone eased his worries.

“I’m… fine.” He cleared his throat. “Um… Is Simon home?”

Linda’s smile disappeared. “Why?” she asked.

Wilhelm flinched, hating that the guardedness in her voice was back. “I just want to talk to him. He left Hillerska and I… I just want to apologize again and… Please.”

He must have looked rather pitiful because he could practically see Linda’s resolve melting. She stared at him for the longest time, contemplating. Finally, she nodded and let him in.

Wilhelm’s heart skipped a beat and he had to hold himself back from running in and calling out Simon’s name. Malin, dutifully, followed behind him, shut the door, and stood guard.

“You can head on to the living room,” said Linda. “I’ll make us some tea.”

Wilhelm nodded and did exactly that. He made himself comfortable on the lumpy couch and looked around. The place looked neat and chaotic as always. A basket of Simon’s favorite, clementines, was placed at the center of the coffee table. He once told Wilhelm that it was the one fruit he couldn’t live without.

Then, he spotted a new addition against the wall that led towards the bedrooms. Well, not new per se but it was no longer in Simon’s room. (And, thinking of Simon’s room led him down a path of memories that made the longing in him increase tenfold. Where was Simon? Was he out for the day? Wilhelm would wait until night if he had to.)

“Here we are.”

Linda arrived with a tray filled with two mugs of tea and a plate of cookies. She placed it on the coffee table before handing one of the mugs to Wilhelm.

“Thank you,” he said taking it and looking back at the fish tank that was now placed against the wall. “Why did Simon move his fish out here?”

Linda, who was in the middle of placing the plate of cookies on the table, looked up towards the tank. A sad smile graced her lips.

“Well, I have to remember to feed them now so it’s easier if I see them,” she said, picking up her own mug and settling on the couch.

Wilhelm frowned, confused. “Why do you have to feed them? Doesn’t Simon do that?”

Linda looked at him for a moment, sad again, and took a sip of tea before placing the mug on the table. She tugged her wool sweater tighter around herself and crossed her arms at her stomach.

“Wilhelm,” she began. “I want you to know that… I’m not angry with you, okay? And, I’m sure that Simon isn’t either.”

Wilhelm’s stomach churned and he took a polite sip of the tea before following Linda’s lead and placed the mug on the table.

“What happened to both of you… you don't deserve it.” She reached out, probably to touch his hair, but refrained at the last minute. Instead, she patted his shoulder and pulled her hand back.

Wilhelm longed for her motherly touch.

“But, as a parent, I had to protect Simon.”

He swallowed the lump in his throat and brought a hand up to rub at his tightening chest. He didn't like her tone. It was foreboding. The gentle calm before the storm.

Linda’s eyes flickered to his hand and scooted closer. She placed a gentle hand on his cheek. Wilhelm leaned into it.

“Wilhelm… cariño… Simon left Sweden.”

Wilhelm’s world crashed.

“There were stalkers, they kept following him home. And the reporters wouldn’t stop asking him questions and one day… he got hurt.”

The tightening in his chest wouldn’t let up and he rubbed harder.

“I had no other choice. I had to send him away for his own safety.”

Stalkers... Reporters... Simon got hurt because of him. And, now, he was gone. No longer in Sweden.

“W-Where?” he managed to ask.

But, Linda shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.”

Wilhelm’s eyes stung. “L-Linda… I-I’m s-sorry… I’m so… s-so sorry…”

Finally… Finally… Linda moved closer and pulled him into a hug. Wilhelm couldn’t help himself. He hugged her back and cried into her sweater.

She rubbed his back, whispering, “I know. It’s okay to cry, Wille. It’s okay.”

Wilhelm didn’t know how long he cried but, at some point, he did calm down. Maybe it was because Linda started humming a nice melody to him. Or maybe he was just spent and tired. But, not once did Linda let him go. Despite everything, she still chose to comfort him.

He had to force himself to move away from her arms, guilty and grateful at the same time.

She smiled at him. “Feeling better?” she asked.

God, it reminded him so much of Simon always asking after him that he wanted to cry again. It was clear to see that Simon got his gentle kindness from his mother.

“Yes,” he croaked. “Thank you.”

She picked up his mug and handed it over with a pointed look. He obediently drank the now lukewarm tea. It did little to soothe his sadness, but it was still nice.

“He won’t be gone forever,” said Linda with a smile. “When this all dies down… when the country forgets and moves on to something new, he’ll come back. Just… for now… I need him safe in a place where no one knows him. It’s what’s best for him.”

It made perfect sense. But, it didn’t mean that Wilhelm liked it. Simon was further away from him than ever. At least, if he was still Bjarstard, Wilhelm could still visit. He could still try to rebuild their friendship. And, when he was finally ready, he could ask Simon to give him another chance.

But, now, Wilhelm didn’t even know where he was. And Linda clearly didn’t want to tell him, worried she was about Simon’s safety. (A part of him wondered if she was also protecting Simon from Wilhelm. That thought hurt but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.)

“Would you like to stay for lunch?” Linda asked. “It’s kind of lonely with just me now, with Sara at Hillerska and Simon...” She trailed off and sighed.

Wilhelm pressed his lips together. “I don’t want to impose.”

She patted his arm and offered a smile. “Not at all. Your bodyguards can join us, too. I have plenty. I’m still not used to eating alone.”

The temptation was too good to resist. Besides, he didn’t want to return to Hillerska and suffer through a meal where August only sat a couple of chairs away, always wanting to talk to him even though Wilhelm never responded.

“Alright,” he agreed, smiling back.

Linda beamed and stood up. “Okay, good. I’m almost done cooking. Make yourself at home.”

“Can I… Can I feed Simon’s fish?” he asked, nervously.

Linda chuckled. “Of course. Their food is right on top. You can just move the cover. Simon says four shakes is enough.”

With one last smile at him, she gathered up their mugs (she left the cookies on the table) and headed off to the kitchen. He heard her extend the invitation to Malin, who thanked her and promised to call Johan in.

Pulling himself together, Wilhelm stood up and approached the fish tank. A small container labeled “fish food” in Simon’s familiar print was on top. He picked it up before carefully moving the cover to the side. He counted out four shakes and watched as the little bits of food floated down towards Olle, Oski, Felle, and a fourth fish whose name Simon never told him (because Wilhelm had distracted him enough to forget).

“I miss him,” he whispered, watching them eat. “I bet you, guys, do too, right?”

The fish ignored him.

Were they mad at him, he wondered? Did they know what he did? Did Simon cry in front of them?

Sighing, Wilhelm put the cover back and the fish food on top of it. Then, he headed off to the kitchen to help Linda set the table.

It was the least he could do.

...

A/N: Yes, I went back to watch the scene and counted Simon's fish lol

[who-stole-my-serotonin]

Hi I have a modern day AU idea for you all.

-So Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Anakin are raising the twins and Ahsoka

-Padmé is district representative for the schools in that system, Anakin works for the police force, and Obi-wan works for the local FBI branch

-Ahsoka is a senior in high school and it's the twins' freshman year

-Ofc Ahsoka is delighted to finally have her siblings to make school-wide trouble with (no one has to know that tho)

-The twins meet Threepio and Artoo and become hella fast friends

-Threepio has so much anxiety and his hair is so blond it's yellow

-Artoo's hair is blue and he never fully left his rebellion phase

-Leia meets Amilyn who is a sophomore and they immediately hit it off and start wreaking havoc and being major activists around the school

-Luke hangs out with Artoo, Threepio, Biggs, and Wedge mostly and they want him to get more friends so they drag him to aviation club

-There he meets Han Solo who runs the club

-They become fast friends and become even closer friends after realizing they are both trans

-They often have arguments about which aircraft is the best

-One day at dinner Luke is talking about Han and Ahsoka is like !!!!!!!! I know him he was head of the GSA last year

-And then Leia is like ohhh that Han I dated him for like a week and everyone is like :o why didn't we know about this and she just shrugs and is like we knew we were better off as friends do it wasn't a big deal

-Anakin meets Han and is a little wary of him but Luke is like he's smart and cute and I like him

-Padmé and Obi-wan are cool with him tho they can see the moon eyes they make at each other even though they don't know it yet so they r like don't hurt our son

-Han was low-key involved in weed stuff in his sophomore year but no one needs to know about that (especially the Skywalkers' parents)

-Han introduces Luke to Chewie who likes him immediately and is like oh Han you have to keep this one

-Chewie is a junior just like Han and they met because they work at a car repair shop together

-They are all friends with each other but eventually Ahsoka gets sick of Luke and Leia pinning over Han and Amilyn so she invites them all over for a game night, which results in Chewie, Threepio, and Artoo tagging along (ofc)

-They end up becoming an even closer tight-knit group and the Skywalker parents are just so happy for their kids

-Except for the fact that now the capacity for trouble has increased tenfold and Luke and Leia are still being typical gays™ (Leia is a badass bisexual tho and don't you ever forget it)

-The school they attend isn't the most LGBTQIA+ friendly even tho they try to say they are, the GSA kids have been fighting for years for more rights and acceptance but not a ton has been done, the are rumors that the school wants to try to make more rules that are discriminatory against the LGBTQIA+ kids there

-The Skywalkers ofc cannot just let that slide so they start investigating, once they find out the rumors are true they immediately call all their friends and they start planning a protest, they even get their badass parents in on it

-During the time setting all this up they start spending even more time with each other (if that's even possible seeing how the already spend almost every waking minute with each other) leading to the twins finally figuring out their respective shit

-The protest ends up gaining a lot more attention and traction than they originally planned and gets the attention of city officials

-They investigate and find out that the vice principal is actually very homophobic and racist so they fire him and end up hiring Padmé as the new VP since she already worked closely with the school and others in the area

-They throw a huge party for her and that's when the twins are like oh hey btw we r dating these two nerds

-Their parents ofc are very supportive and Ahsoka gives them the shovel talk jokingly, Obi-wan does it half seriously, and Anakin does it seriously, Padmé just shakes her head seeing the love in the two's eyes and knows they would never willingly hurt her children

-Over the summer Leia and Amilyn work on starting a feminist club at the school next year with Padmé's help

-Ahsoka enrolls in the police academy and Anakin will never let Obi-wan live it down ("haha I told you my profession was superior!" "without my profession you guys wouldn't get NEARLY as much work done!")

-Luke gets his piloting license but not his driving permit because he just can't drive, Han will never understand how he is such a great pilot but such a terrible driver ("it's cause I'm gay Han")

Anywayyyysssss these r just some ideas I love. I really just want my babies to be happy okay. It's kinda all over the place so sorry about that too hhhh. I will probably write an actual fic from this eventually when I have the time but feel free to add if you want.

[anxious-logic]

Something New and Beautiful

@tsshipmonth2020

Day 11: Choose any Soulmate AU.

This is kind of a prequel for an endgame LAMP storyline that I thought up a few months ago. People get their soulmate tattoos when they are ready to meet a soulmate/spend the rest of their lives with someone (usually somewhere in their mid/late teens or early twenties). It is black, and when someone else in the relationship gets the tattoo as well it fills in with color. When a soulmate dies, the colored portion turns white.

Ship: Sleepxiety (Remy x Virgil)

Warnings: Very minor very background past character death, bigots being bigots, child neglect, panic attack, I think that’s all but lmk if there’s anything else and feel free to message me for more detailed warnings.

Word count: 1,795

Summary: Remy and Virgil join their school’s GSA. At one of the meetings, they discover something about soulmates that their school never taught them.

“We should join the GSA,” Remy said one say, spread out on Virgil’s bed. Virgil bulled his earbud out, staring at the other boy from where he was curled up in the corner of his bed.

“Y’know, I think I just heard you say that we should join the GSA. But that can’t be right, because you know I have anxiety, and you know better than to make me do something I don’t want to do, especially when it involves other people.”

Remy rolled over to face Virgil. “No, I’m serious, hun. It’d give you a chance to meet new people, and I’d get to flirt to my heart’s content. I’m not saying I’m tired of you, I’m not saying you have to date anyone, I’m just saying that it can be nice to have someone to complain to about me.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, but didn’t immediately argue. Remy seized on the silence.

“C’mon,” he wheedled. “It’d get you out of my house for a bit, and keep you away from yours.”

“Fine,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes and putting in his other earbud.

Remy knew the other boy was actually excited.

***

It was the fourth GSA meeting of the year. Virgil and Remy had made a few acquaintances; they’d begun hanging out with a couple kids named Kai and Elliott.

“Hey everyone!” Joan, one of the GSA leaders, said, to gain everyone’s attention. “Find a seat, and we’ll get started.”

As students sat in the chairs organized in a circle, Talyn, the other leader, spoke up.

“Today we’re going to be talking about soulmates,” they said. “This can be a hard topic for some people. There’s no shame in leaving now, or excusing yourself during the meeting if you decide to stay.”

“Talyn and I are going to stick around for a bit after the meeting,” Joan chimed in. “If you want to talk to one or both of us privately, you can do that then.”

A few people had quietly exited the room while Joan and Talyn were talking. Virgil had noticed one rubbing a mark that had turned white, on the back of xyr hand; another had left clutching the hand of her partner.

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” Joan continued. “This is just a topic that can be helpful to talk about for some people.”

Virgil was focusing very hard on not grabbing his mark, which had been filled in with dark blue a quarter of the way about two years ago.

“Let’s start with asking if any of you have marks,” Talyn said. “Again, you don’t have to share anything if you don’t want to.”

About ten of the twenty students present raised their hands. Virgil hesitantly joined them, ducking his head.

“Would anyone like to share their story?” Talyn asked, lacing their fingers with Joan’s. There was a pause when nobody responded, but then Kai raised their hand.

“Um… I can start, I guess?”

Talyn nodded at them to go.

“Uh. I guess… well, I got the mark when my dad got married to my stepmom. I was 15, it was just last year. It didn’t feel like it was a particularly climactic day, or anything- but, yeah. Um, I guess that’s it.”

“Thanks for sharing,” Joan said, fidgeting a bit with their beanie. “Would anyone else like to talk?”

A few other people shared how and when they got their soulmarks – all of them were 13 or older when they had gotten theirs.

Why was I only 6… Virgil couldn’t help but wonder. He… really didn’t think that a six-year-old would be ready for a soulmate. But that’s just the way things are, he reminded himself as he felt Remy’s fingers squeeze his.

“Um, can I go next?” Elliott said. They looked nervous.

“Sure!” Talyn smiled back.

“Um… okay. So… I got my mark young. I was 10.”

The room went completely silent.

“My brother was… a dick, sorry for the language. But… well, he hadn’t been very nice to me. My parents told me they were getting divorced, and I’d probably mostly stay with my mom. I was closer to my dad, so that was really hard to hear.”

They took a deep breath. “That was also when I first started to really question my gender. I was scared, and confused, and everything was changing, and I didn’t feel like I had anyone to talk to. And… I got my mark.”

Their hand wandered to their ankle.

“I always wonder when I would’ve gotten it normally, if I hadn’t been so lonely and needed the support.”

Vrigil froze. “What?” he asked, very, very quietly. The whole room heard him anyway.

“Well- it’s not talked about much, but you can get a mark for two main reasons. The first, which most everyone knows, is that you’re ready to spend the rest of your life with someone. The other reason, which is talked about much less, is that you need someone else; maybe to talk to or spend time with or just to love you. Not necessarily in a romantic way, but just because you feel so alone and helpless.”

Virgil didn’t know who said the words, but he heard them regardless. You need someone else… to love you… because you feel so alone and helpless.

Well, fuck. That made sense now.

He ran out of the classroom, ripping his hand out of Remy’s.

***

4. 7- try again.

4- it’s okay.

4. 7.

Knock knock.

“Hey, Virge? You okay?”

Remy.

Virgil blindly felt for the stall latch, unlocking it and letting the other boy in.

“Hey, you okay?” Remy asked, crouching to get on Virgil’s level. Virgil threw his arms around him in response, feeling the other boy stagger back a bit.

“Whoah,” Remy said, bringing his arms up to rub Virgil’s back. “What’s going on?”

Virgil just shook his head, hiding his face in the crook of Remy’s neck. He breathed in the calming smell of coffee-leather-Remy.

“I’m here,” Virgil heard. “It’s okay.”

He took a few more shuddering breaths, counting them out in his head.

4. 7-again.

4. 7. 8.

4. 7. 8.

4. 7. 8.

He backed up to look Remy in the eyes.

“Hey,” Remy said. “Do you want to tell me what that was all about, gurl?”

Virgil took a deep breath, squeezing Remy’s forearms and looking down.

“Promise you won’t be mad?” he asked.

“Hun, I promise.”

Virgil blew out a breath.

“Okay. So you know how when we got the big talk from the school about soulmarks, I told you I got it when I was 12?”

“Of course,” Remy said. “And then you asked if we could not talk about them anymore. And we haven’t.”

“Yeah,” Virgil replied, carefully studying the collar of the other boy’s jacket. “So… that wasn’t true.”

He ducked his head and shrank back. Remy didn’t respond for a few seconds.

“Um. Okay.” There was a pause. “Can you tell me the truth, then?”

Virgil could hear the hurt that Remy was trying to hold back.

“I got it when I was 6,” he mumbled quietly.

He felt Remy freeze, and looked up to see an expression of pure rage burning behind his eyes.

“Explain. Now,” Remy said, deathly quiet. Virgil gulped.

“Um. My parents… kind of neglected me. I mean, I had food all the time, and a place to sleep, and people to wash the clothes and do the dishes and stuff, but my parents were gone on trips and stuff a lot. I really only saw the housekeeper when they were gone, and he only came over a few times a week.”

Remy’s eyes were flashing, but he didn’t say anything.

“Um… technically, it’s still that way, I guess. I still don’t see them very often. But now I have you, so it’s okay.”

“It’s really not, babe,” Remy said, and took a deep breath. “But your mark?”

“I… um. Honestly, I don’t really know exactly when I got it. It might have been that I got a scrape and nobody was there to tell me it was okay; it might have been that I wanted a snack but couldn’t reach; maybe I was just feeling super lonely that day. I don’t know, I just woke up one day, and… there it was.”

Remy growled slightly, but seemed to catch himself. “So… did you just not know what it was for years? Or what?”

“Thomas – the housekeeper – saw it. He told me what it was, and why I got it. Except… obviously not. Because I wasn’t ready for a soulmate at the age of six. I needed someone. Anyone. And I didn’t have them. So I got my mark. I didn’t know there was another reason you could get soulmarks until today.”

Virgil pulled back to meet Remy’s eyes when he didn’t respond. “You okay?”

“Holy fucking shit I am going to kill your parents,” Remy said. The air around him seemed hot with fury.

“Please don’t,” Virgil said. “If you did that I’d have to live with Aunt Bertha, and you know how much we hate her.”

“No. No more jokes,” Remy cut in. “You don’t get to tell me you were so alone at age six that you got a tat, and then joke about your fucking Aunt Bertha.” He grabbed Virgil’s head, pulling him forward until their foreheads touched. “I promise you,” he continued, voice tight with tears. “I promise that you will never, ever, feel that alone. Ever again.”

Virgil blinked, surprised at the sudden forcefulness, but didn’t pull back.

“Well, thanks,” he said. “But how are you going to do that?”

Remy looked him in the eye, his jaw set and a tear trickling down his face. He seemed to make a decision, nodding suddenly.

“I”ll love you no matter what. I’ll support you. I’ll be there for you. Like a soulmate. Until we both meet ours.”

They were still pressed together forehead-to-forehead. Virgil’s breath hitched.

“I- what?”

“Virgil, will you be my boyfriend?”

Virgil jerked back.

“No. Listen. It’d- it’d help us with the bigots in town, ‘cause we’d be ‘practicing for the soulmate’ or whatever stupid bullshit. And maybe our parents would let us be together more often? And, um. Having someone who I know I can lean on… would be really nice.”

Virgil closed his eyes and counted a breath. Remy’s reasoning was good. It all made sense. And… even though Virgil had soulmates – three, judging by the tat – he never really… expected to meet them.

And maybe you wanted this before today too, a voice whispered. He very quickly stepped on that voice and killed it.

“Okay,” Virgil whispered.

Remy leaned forward, and their lips connected.

[ohmyhera]

Headcanon #19

Okay guys we’re still in the teacher au, but I thought I’d branch out onto other characters I’m quite fond of. Here we have Science teacher! Jason.

•He currently teaches middle school science about a city over from Nico and Will

•He mainly teaches the 8th grade with the exception of one 7th grade class

•and yes he is that science teacher

•the slightly crazy one who pulls off just slightly unethical experiments in the classroom that his students love

•He’s slowly but surely turning into Ms.Frizzle

•Every other week he’s taking the students on a different field trip

•He’s a very hands on teacher, doesn’t really believe that tests and quizzes do the students any good

•And sometimes his field trips are just for fun!

•but you’ve got to know how to word them right on paper

•the principles thought he was taking the class to view a botanical garden and collect data

•when in reality he just took them to the aquarium Percy works at and left them to free range

•In his defense the botanical garden is right next to the aquarium

•And if anyone asks they just stopped in to ask a few questions

•He’s gotten away with this more times than he could count

•In the warmer months it’s all outdoor learning all the time

•That is when they actually go to visit the botanical gardens and then maybe take a stroll around the city before heading back to school

•maybe

•He totally lets the students buy food from the food courts, they’re like 13 years old! He’s not going to force that school garbage down their throats

•He always slips the students who can’t afford to a ten when no ones looking

•Because he knows how it feels to be left out

•During the testing months he knows how stressed the students are so homework just stops existing from like the middle of April to the end of June

•He is still fighting the principles on end of year exams

•He hates them. He hates how sad it makes the students and he hates the resentment it causes

•He would much rather give them an end of the year project

•But he sadly can’t bend all of the rules

•So he tries to make it as manageable as possible

•Immediately after the tests are completed and graded all science work is abandoned

•He’s definitely on his schools equity team

•As someone who went through a private school with dyslexia and ADHD he knows first hand how it feels to be failed by the school system

•He has a 100% no bullying tolerance in his classroom.

•That is the only time students have seen him act even remotely harsh

•If you’re bullying someone in his science classroom you don’t answer to the office

•You answer to him which is arguably worse

•students who have had a talk with Mr.Grace can tell you first hand

•He also helps out with his schools GSA

•He was very excited to tell Nico when his schools GSA first got started

•Sometimes Nico will pop in as a guest speaker

•the first time Nico showed up the students were all very confused because um...whom???

•Jason just smiled and said “I would like for you to all meet my brother”

•Then of course the students were like ??????¿¿¿¿¿ “Is he adopted?? Are YOU adopted???”

•Nico found this so funny he begged Jason not to give them a straight answer

•So to this day, even to some of the students who are now Juniors in high school it’s a mystery

•This is only his fourth year of teaching middle school so his first class of students hadn’t even graduated high school yet

•But when they do you better believe he’s going to be in the front row cheering them on

•Because of course they could do it, they were all so smart and capable

•In the future he wants to move on to teaching high school, possibly get some of his old students again

•But middle school was such an awkward time when students needed the most support

•and until he felt like there was someone else there capable of doing so

•He would stay right where he was

A/n Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this one because I sure as hell enjoyed writing it! Jason is definitely one of my favorite characters in this au who’s not Will or Nico. If you want to see more come of Jason’s characters or even want me to delve into the lives of some other mentioned characters let me know :)

[angria]

This whole work week has just been....a lot.  Found out more faculty are leaving.  We are up to 12 leaving out of 40ish faculty.  Every day involved some new sort of drama.

This morning, I overslept and was late to school (past the time I normally get there) and ran into the principal on my way in.  We exchanged pleasantries, but she then asked to speak with me in her office.  Great...just what I need on a Friday when I already feel off from being late.  Like, what did I do now?

More under the cut...this got super long

Interestingly, she asked about the GSA meetings and whether the incident that involved the trans senior (which was grossly mishandled) has been mentioned.  Luckily, there hasn’t been much discussion about it specifically, so I didn’t have to lie.  But, this led to a conversation about how to improve the school’s response to queer students and how best to support them, especially nonbinary and trans persons.  She sounded genuinely upset by the whole thing, surprised when the students expressed how the school/admin does not support them or provide a safe space.  The whole entire thing, from both the students’ and administration/faculty’s perspectives, is a giant mess of miscommunication with zero effort to hear each other’s side.  Even still, over the last 5 years, the principal has kept my back with regard to the GSA and has fought so many battles on admin’s end to maintain this club.  So she has always been supportive.  Yet, it has become clear there is a lot of missed points and general ignorance within the faculty and admin, rather than maliciousness (not to say that doesn’t exist, because it does with certain people).

Even she expressed her own ignorance concerning terminology, resources, etc. (I did send her a chart I made with main terms afterwards)  So I explained to her how queer students do struggle within the school community, particularly those who are nonbinary or trans.  Just the repeated misgendering and use of deadnames.  We are a Catholic all-girls school so everything is in the context of female pronouns, language, and “correct” doctrine.  Because of this, the frequency of incorrect pronouns and names is fairly common.  And the principal was receptive to all of this, but continued to deadname two students, using female pronouns.  Like what did I just say?!?!  If you truly want to change, then you need to listen!!!  So there is the level of ignorance, but even worse, the hidden bullying.  That was news to her (which I kind of was like...seriously?  Always assume there is some level of bullying, but definitely with queer kids).  I did state that even the GSA kids barely mention it to me and it’s usually well after the fact, so she definitely would have no idea.

I also brought up the idea of introducing a pants option into the school uniform (right now it’s a plaid skirt, knee highs, and a white polo with navy sweater), describing how we spoke about it a couple years ago.  She shook her head out of frustration and revealed to me how she has brought this up multiple times, but the president (who is a giant manipulative bigoted bitch) and board of trustees (her minions) refuse and shut her down.  Her hands are tied.  So I told her I would be willing to speak with them, maybe if they hear it from someone who is literally on the ground with these kids and interacts with them every day.  Plus, we are one of the only schools within our Catholic order in the US that does not offer a pants option...there is no argument!!!

Overall, the meeting was positive and she genuinely wants to change things.  It was nice when she asked whether I would be willing to remain a resource for the school after I leave, like coming back to speak with the school or help out with the club.  And absolutely, I was planning to do so regardless.  We both expressed our worries over which faculty member will take on the GSA for next year, because not just any teacher can lead this club.  They need to be safe and supportive with the kids, be familiar with LGBTQ+ resources and vocabulary, and have an awareness of the school’s Catholic context and its resulting restrictions.  I hate having to be bound by official doctrine, but I also know how to navigate its politics and complexities, having the knowledge to defend the theological argument of why this club needs to exist at a Catholic school.  Over the past week, I’ve asked a couple teachers that I know the kids feel safe with about whether they would be willing to lead it.  They are open to it, but can’t say for sure because they don’t know what kind of workload and responsibilities they have for next year, if it’s too much.  And that’s completely understandable.  However, it just makes me worry all the more.  

This GSA is vital and needs to remain present and active at this damn school.  After all the fights and defenses and arguments I’ve had to make over the last 5 years, I will not let this disappear and end once I leave.  Having a rainbow sticker in your doorway means nothing if there is zero safety and support in the environment as a whole.

[365days365movies]

January 8, 2021: R.E.D. (2010)

Time to continue the action-comedy trend by getting away from the buddy cop trend, and hitting a different style of comedy: the ensemble. I’ll talk about this more during Comedy April, but one of my favorite comedies is an ensemble comedy. That would be 1963′s It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

I cannot properly explain how much I love this movie. It’s only grown over the years, and I WILL get into this one day. Don’t know HOW...but I WILL.

Anyway, what do I mean by the ensemble? It’s a cast composed of many big names, especially those famous or popular at the time the film is made. Nowadays, superhero films tend to be our ensembles, as well as some other action films that I’ll get to later this month.

But in today’s case, the ensemble is different. Rather than purely action or comedy stars, they’re kind of all over the genre map. But ere we go, here’s the list of stars:

Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Karl Urban, Mary-Louise Parker, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, Ernest Borgnine, James Remar. Seriously. LOOK at the list of people up there. That’s one hell of an ensemble. None of them particularly well-known for comedy, and that’s handled in a surprising way. Which movie is this?

R.E.D. is definitely an interesting movie as action-comedies go, but let’s get into it, shall we? SPOILERS AHEAD, as a warning heading forward!

Recap

Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is a retiree living in suburbia, reading romance novels, and calling Sarah Ross (Mary Louise Parker), a girl working in the GSA pension office. Sarah Ross is most likely the Inevitable Love Interest of this film. The two decide to meet up in Kansas City, where she works.

But no time for that, as a group of masked assailants invade Frank’s house to kill him. But, see, it turns out that Frank’s ex-CIA. He handily takes them and turns the tables, then goes into the basement to prepare. Meanwhile…

Not very subtle, huh? I feel like the neighbors know what’s going on at this point. Frank takes on the rest, the house collapses, and he makes his way to Kansas City...directly into Sarah’s apartment. She freaks out (appropriate reaction), as he warns that people are trying to kill her, because they know how he feels about her via their (likely surveilled) phone conversations. She’s not buying it.

So he kidnaps her.

Good start, building trust, establishing boundaries, good start.

We now cut to an opulent estate, where The Butcher/Executioner/Judge Dredd Karl Urban is killing a man. He’s playing William Cooper, a CIA agent tasked to kill Frank. After Frank drops off Sarah at a motel (still kidnapped, remember), he goes to meet Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), another retired agent living at a retirement home, with his…

...hobbies. Using his connections, they discover that the hit quad after Frank also killed a reporter. The plot thickens. Sarah escapes, and calls 911, a call which was intercepted by Cooper. A fake cop nearly kidnaps her, but Frank saves her. Cooper catches up, leading to…

OK, yeah, that was a cool shot. Literally. Frank sets up Cooper to get arrested by the local police, and escapes with Sarah to New York City. There, they meet the mother of the NYT reporter killed, and discover clues that lead them to the NYU library, and a book with a hitlist hidden within it. They discover that everyone on the list is dead except for a Gabriel Singer. However, tempered with that, we get some unfortunate news.

Joe’s dead. Which sucks, I honestly liked Joe. He was already dying of liver cancer, but he sadly was assassinated by a mysterious assailant.

Anyway, back to Cooper. He goes to visit the Record Keeper (Ernest Borgnine), who gives Cooper the mostly redacted case file of Frank Moses. An extremely effective black ops agent in his day, the now older Frank’s been marked “RED,” or “retired, extremely dangerous.”

FLORIDA! There, we meet the paranoid and flighty Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), who lives in the swamps of Pensacola trying not to get killed. He lives underground in a bunker whose entrance is a broken-down car, and I love it a lot. I love it a whole lot.

Turns out Marvin was given doses of LSD every day for 11 years while working for the government, which made him understandably paranoid. My MK Ultra senses are tingling, and Marvin retrieves a file detailing a case in Guatemala from 1981, in which Frank, Marvin, and everybody else on the hit list was involved. And with this, Marvin gets the pig.

I can’t wait to find out what the pig is. Because I know it’s gonna be some crazy weapon. And I’m excited for it. Now, we head to Mobile, Alabama to catch up with Singer (James Remar), the only living person on the list. Marvin then briefly holds a random bystander hostage, and he might be juuuuuuuuust a little unstable.

They meet Singer, and he explains that his job on the Guatemala mission was to carry a passenger in the middle of the night, for unknown reasons. Singer’s quickly assassinated from a helicopter after giving this information, and may I just say...these guys aren’t subtle about their assassination techniques. I feel like somebody would notice this stuff happening, throughout the entire movie.

Anyway, a group of assassins comes in to kill the group of 3. Including this person.

Nice. And as if that wasn’t enough, we now discover the purpose of the pig. It contains a grenade launcher. Of course it does. We get a cool firefight in which Marvin hits a grenade like a baseball, and Marvin and the woman from before face off in a Western standoff. And then…

Yeah. This is awesome. Seriously, I’m loving this so far.

Next destination, as our guys head to the Russian Embassy, where we meet Ivan Simanov (Brian Cox), an ex-KGB agent and former enemy of Frank Moses. The two catch up in a funny exchange, and they reminisce over their old days as agents and assassins. Almost sweet in a macabre way. Frank’s there to ask Ivan for help in breaking into the CIA, using schematics that they probably have.

Using the assistance of Sarah (who’s enjoying this a LOT, apparently), they get into Langley, making this the second movie I’ve seen this month where the protagonist breaks into the CIA. There, they meet the Record Keeper Henry, who immediately helps them, and gives them the Guatemala file. They also find out about Cooper, leading to Frank meeting him at his office, where a kickass fight ensues to some kickass music.

Frank’s not looking stellar after this fight, not that Cooper’s doing great either. They escape by setting up an explosion, stealing a firefighter’s uniform, and escaping to an ambulance There, they’re greeting by Marvin and…

Joe! He escaped, and killed the assassin. Now, it’s Joe, Frank, Marvin, and Sarah on the run in an ambulance. But Frank isn’t doing great, as he was shot in the struggle with Cooper. They head up to Chesapeake, Maryland, to the Eagle’s Nest. It’s there that we meet Victoria Winslow (Helen Mirren), yet one more R.E.D. agent, and a talented assassin as well.

They discover that the file has one redacted name, which is found on the reporter’s list as Alexander Dunning (Richard Dreyfuss), an arms trafficker and gangster, apparently protected by the CIA. Using Joe as a pretend buyer, R.E.D. infiltrates the mansion, as Dunning sneaks Joe into a safe room, where their negotiating can take place. Soon though, though, Frank and Marvin join in, and it turns from negotiation to interrogation.

We find out here that the Guatemala mission was meant to clean up the destruction of a Guatemalan village performed by the current vice president, Robert Stanton. Yikes. Apparently, he went nuts and murdered the entire village. And so, the hits are meant to cover up with war crimes, allowing him to run for President without fear of persecution.

After that reveal, Cooper calls the trio; looks like the mansion’s been surrounded by FBI, who were surveilling Dunning’s mansion anyway. Cooper, who’s been in doubt about the motives of this mission, tells Frank to surrender, and he’ll hear his side of the story. With little option for escape, Joe, who’s dying anyway, volunteers to take his place, as they know he will most likely be killed immediately.

And unfortunately, they’re right. Joe’s shot and killed, and Frank and Marvin escape with Victoria’s help. In the escape, however, Sarah falls and is captured by the agents. They escape with the aid of Ivan.

They need to get Sarah out of Cooper’s custody, while also deciding to end the cause of this: Vice President Stanton. Frank makes it into Cooper’s home, and calls him from there. This, of course, is a threat meant to protect Sarah. He also tells Cooper that he plans to kill the Vice President, who will be at a gala that night.

Vice President Robert Stanton (Julian McMahon) announces his intention to run for President, as Cooper, Victoria, and Ivan watch on. Ivan sprays a gas throughout the ballroom, while Victoria blocks the doors. Ivan causes a distraction, claiming the smell of gas (which he’s caused), then pulls a fire alarm. The Vice President is routed through the back entrance, where Victoria and Marvin are waiting with a machine gun.

They rig it to autofire, and chase the VP back through the building. Victoria’s shot in the process, and Marvin detonates a smoke grenade to aid their escape. He then rigs up a bomb to his chest and chases the VP away, into a vehicle driven by, of course, Frank.

Cooper’s defeated, and Frank has the VP, offering to trade him for Sarah. Cooper calls his boss, all of whom head to the rendezvous point. And alongside Cooper’s boss arrives Alexander Dunning. Surprise! He kills Stanton, and is in command of Cooper’s boss. And Cooper is NOT happy about that.

Cooper kills his boss, Marvin and Victoria kill the bodyguards, and Frank and Marvin kill Dunning. Cooper lets the REDs leave, unencumbered and free. But Ivan reminds Frank of his favor to him, and I smell a sequel as Frank and Sarah kiss.

Whew. That’s R.E.D.! And what a fun ride it was! Might not have come across in this recap, but this movie is hilarious fun, and I’ll explain exactly how in the review section, coming up next!

[speedycubed]

use the sleeves of my sweater.

summary: luke had been glad when his dysphoria shifted from being in the wrong body to being in no body, but that all comes crashing around him after playing the orpheum.

notes: this story features trans & autistic luke. i draw from my own experiences as an autistic transmasc individual when describing things that have to do with those features. // crossposted on ao3 if you would rather read it there.

triggers: descriptions of dysphoria, unsafe binding (not taking a binder off for extended periods of time & exercising in a binder)

The one thing Luke had been on board with after becoming a ghost was the lessened dysphoria. Without a corporeal body, most of the dysphoria the first few weeks had been about being intangible as opposed to being in the wrong body. It was blissful to have something else to focus on when it came to his body.

But after he had adjusted to being a ghost, and especially after the Orpheum performance, dysphoria came smashing back into his life. It had happened one day in rehearsal. He was jumping around, strumming his guitar as he always did when he felt a pressure on his ribs. Luke stopped jumping around, deciding to stand still, figuring that would solve his problem. A few minutes later, after they finished that runthrough, he sat on the couch, claiming to be worn out. That was when he felt it.

The press of his breasts against his binder.

He had died wearing it and since they didn’t need to breathe anymore and were made of air, he felt no need to ever take it off. After all, the phantoms had been distracted by the fact that they were ghosts with no bodies to speak of to focus on changing clothes. Even after they figured out that they could, it was all just to regain some normalcy in their (after)lives.

But after jumping and sweating for the hours of rehearsal, he was finally feeling it. That was going to bruise.

Luke looked up, noticing the concern in Julie’s eyes. “It’s fine,” he said, waving a hand to dismiss concern. “Just my ribs hurt after all that exercise.”

“Your ribs? That’s weird. Don't you mean, like, a stitch in your side or something like that?” she asked, wanting to make sure her boyfriend was okay.

Fuck. He should have just gone with that. Now he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Most people don’t get rib pain from exercise. They get other types of pain, sure, but this is a trans issue.

“Uh, y-yeah,” Luke pointed at her, nodding to cover his shame at almost getting caught, “That’s what I meant. Have a stitch in my side, yep, that’s what my pain is.” Stupid brain making him flap his hands and stutter through the agreement. Now she would know something was wrong.

“Okay. Well, if you can take it, there’s some Tylenol in the bathroom behind the mirror.” She nodded, dismissing herself, a worry still clear on her face, but not wanting to make it worse.

As soon as Julie was out of the studio, Alex was next to Luke, sitting on the floor in front of him.

“Take it off,” Alex said, voice stern.

Luke laughed it off, which only made the pain worse. “Take what off?” His nervous laughter filled the studio followed by coughing.

“You think we didn’t notice?” Reggie said from up in the loft. He tossed one of Luke’s bigger hoodies that still had the sleeves on it over the railing before poofing to be next to the guitarist. “You died wearing it and haven’t taken it off since.”

Luke huffed, crossing his arms. “It’s not like I needed to breathe! And until just now I didn’t even notice the pressure.”

“Breathe?” Alex and Reggie looked up, seeing Julie with a water bottle in hand. The bottle dropped, plastic making it bounce a couple of times before stilling. “And the thing with rib pain earlier…” She walked up to her boyfriend, kneeling in front of him. “You don’t have to answer, but this sounds familiar. I’m so sorry, I wouldn’t be asking unless I figured that knowing would make me able to help more. Luke—” Julie looked him in the eyes, wishing she could hold his hands as she spoke to give some comfort, but that might make it worse. “—are you trans?”

Luke looks up, fear in his eyes. Thoughts ran through his head a mile a minute. How did she find out? Is she going to want to date me anymore? Is she going to quit the band? How will I cope if she leaves? Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

She seems to see his panic and backtracks. “I’m so, so, sorry if you’re not and this makes it seem like I’m assuming things, but with the breathing problems and the sudden need to rest and the rib pain… It all sounds like what one of the boys at school was talking about during one of our gay club meetings. And if you are I want to be supportive and help in any way that you’ll let me.” Her words rush out, apologizing for what she said, telling them that it was rude of her to ever ask and that she shouldn’t have, it’s none of her business, that she wouldn’t have asked without a reason.

The other two boys in the room got it, nodding along to her apology while they tried to comfort their friend.

But the one she was apologizing to didn’t hear any of it. Luke was quiet, his brain still telling him that this was a bad idea. All he could do was let out some tears before grabbing the hoodie Reggie had brought him and fleeing off to the bathroom to change.

Yanking his binder off proved to both lessen and enhance his dysphoria. Now he couldn’t feel the pressure of having his chest tied down, reminding him that he had breasts, but now everyone else could see that he had them. Luke put his shirt back on, slipping the hoodie over his head, and poofed off to the beach where he didn’t have to deal with the fact that he was just basically forced out of the closet by his girlfriend.

He chewed on the sleeves of his hoodie, having chewed the strings out long ago, staring out at the people on the beach. Now everything felt wrong. His skin pulled tight and he felt all of the body dysphoria he thought he had escaped after becoming a ghost.

The corners of his sleeves were soaked in his saliva before he got tired of staring at the people on the beach who all just reminded him of what he could never be. He poofed into the bike shop that stood where the Peters’ house had once been.

There was only one worker, a teenager dressed in all black. But it was the music playing over the speakers that he really noticed. It was classical. Something he didn’t expect from a bike shop, but it helped. Classical had been the only genre he ever listened to before developing his own music taste. His mother and father were both classically trained string players who had signed Luke up for viola lessons as soon as he expressed interest in his parents’ instruments, so their house was always full of symphonies.

As much as it hurt to hear music that he always associated with his parents, it was nice to have something else to focus on. Now Luke just focused on picking apart the instruments used during each section, wondering how he would play it if given the sheet music. It was calming to try and remember each position and each fingering. It was calming to try and pick apart each line, each note, in order to try and find the key.

His concentration was broken by the sound of the phone ringing. The employee sighed, rolling their eyes as they picked it up. At the same time that happened, Luke heard a little “poof” next to him. He turned only to see Alex.

“How did you even think to check here?”

“Saw your silhouette in the window as we checked the beach,” Alex said.

Luke groaned at the “we.” That meant that the others were here.

“Did you tell her?”

“No.”

Luke fell silent once more. A part of him was glad that the boys hadn’t spilled his secret. It wasn’t theirs to tell, after all. But another part of him wished that they had just told Julie. That would have taken all of the pressure off of him.

He looked at Alex as the final notes of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons: Summer” faded and the host began to introduce the next piece.

“Can you tell her for me? I’m pretty sure that she already knows after earlier, j-just confirm it for her.” The guitarist hated that he had to ask—it put unfair pressure on Alex. Having to ask someone else to come out for him was a coward’s move, but Luke was so, so scared. He didn’t want to have to face Julie, knowing that no matter what she said, it was likely to worsen his mood. And that would worsen his dysphoria as his mind sat in its darkest corners.

“Yeah.” Alex nodded, poofing back out to the beach.

Luke turned around in the bike shop so he could see his bandmates. Even though he couldn’t hear them, he could tell exactly when the words left Alex’s mouth. He could tell because he knew Julie’s body language. He saw her nod and bite her bottom lip before opening her mouth to talk.

He could imagine her voice as she told the boys how she didn’t love him anymore. Logically, Luke knew that this wouldn’t be something that Julie would break up with him over. She often talked about Los Feliz’s gay club (the offical title was the Los Feliz GSA, but no one called it that, according to Julie) and suppoting her non-cis friends. But anxiety is a bitch. The voice in his head said that the reason he saw tears on his girlfriend’s cheeks was because she thought he had lied to her. The voice in his head said that he was about to get broken up with.

Luke decided that the voice in his head was a little bitch and poofed out of the bike shop, landing next to Julie.

She turned to him, wiping her tears. “You know I don’t think of you any differently because of this, right?” Her eyes were wide, pleading him to soak in her words. She loved him and nothing would change that.

I kn-know, j-just…” He pursed his lips, bringing his sleeve up once more. Luke hated his stupid stutter, especially when it came to difficult conversations. He chewed on his sleeves, trying to find the words. “Anxiety.” It was all that he could come up with as an explanation without devolving into word vomit.

Julie nodded in understanding. “Anxiety’s a bitch.”

The group fell quiet as Luke flopped onto the beach. He removed his sleeve for a moment to ask for hugs, which the boys gave. Julie sat next to him and held his hand so she wouldn’t be seen hugging air. They may have figured out how to talk to them in pubic (a pair of cheap earbuds with the wires cut off made for an excellent pair of fake AirPods that made people think she was just on the phone), but they couldn’t figure out how to make her be able to touch them in public without looking insane.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was out of line, that was an invasive question that I shouldn’t have asked. I keep talking about boundaries and yet I completely broke one of yours today.”

“It’s fine.” His voice was muffled from the stimming, but the words were easy enough to make out.

Julie looked to her metamour, asking for help. Reggie had known Luke a lot longer, so she figured he might be able to get the point across a little better. Reggie shook his head. This was between her and Luke.

“Hey buddy, are you better enough that Alex and I can leave? I think you and Julie need to have a talk—boyfriend to girlfriend.”

Luke snorted. “But you’re my boyfriend, idiot.” His eyes got sad once again, “But you’re right. See you guys.”

Reggie and Alex poofed out, heading back to the studio.

“You may say it’s fine Luke, but that’s not going to stop me from apologizing. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

“But y-you’re my girlfriend… Doesn’t that make it your bus-business?”

“Only if you wanted it to be. If it’s to become my business then you have to be the one to make it my business. You would have had to have told me first.” She shed a few tears, trying to hold back from crying until they finished this conversation. “I’m sorry I took that opportunity away from you.”

“I wanted to tell you, but I figured it didn’t matter anym-more—” he laughed at Julie’s confused eyebrows, “I haven’t felt major body d-dys-dysphoria until t-today. And I’m air, so I haven’t taken off my b-binder all this time.” Julie gasped. “It’s off right now if that’s what you’re worried about,” he glanced at his chest, nervous. “But, yeah, it’s not like I can do anything about it. I’m intangible, so I’m stuck in the body I had when I died.

“I figured that I would t-tell you down the line, after we had m-more time to get used to our relationship. But then dysphoria hit me all at once during rehearsal. Suddenly I could feel all of the things that I got rid of when I be-became a ghost.

“Sorry that you have a broken boyfriend.” He ended his explanation and stared down at the sand, putting a finger in his mouth, nibbling on the tip to give his sleeve a break. He didn’t want to ruin another one of his dysphoria hoodies. A few holes were nothing, but too many would destroy the sleeve.

“You are not broken. Not in any way.” Julie says, grabbing onto Luke’s shoulders so he has to look her in the eyes. At this point, she only cared about getting her boyfriend to believe her, not the people who would think she was crazy as she held onto nothing. “You are Luke, mine and Reggie’s precious boyfriend, a massive dork, guitarist for Julie and the Phantoms, one of the best songwriters I’ve ever met. There is nothing wrong with you—you’re just you. No one is broken, they just have different pieces. Please don't ever refer to yourself as broken ever again.”

“Okay,” he whispered, fear still jostling his thoughts around. “Let’s go home and cuddle pile with Reg.”

Julie laughed softly, sounding like a fairy from Tinker Bell. “Sounds amazing.”

[gigilalaka]

Meta Knight  HCs part 3

So I want to do a part 3 before I start on a Dedede and Kirby hcs as well. Just can’t get inn off of that knight.

Edit: I found that some of the words that I’ve writen was gone from this post, so I got them back. Also fixed, changed and added some words as well. Going to do that to my other posts as well. I’ve have some time right know so might as well do some of it. I might not have the change in some time after today. 18.02.20

-Back before Arthur found and rescued Meta, the hybrid was know as subject AX-Delta12-C99 for the project ‘Havoc Delta’. A project where NME wanted to make one of the most nightmareish creatures that would have made the wizared that much more diffecult to defeat had it succeeded.

-Havoc Delta was the last protostage left before the real makeing of elite monsters that would wreack havoc like never before seen. Sending death, pain, despair and fear like it went out of fashion. Too bad for that wizared that lady luck had other plans and made the project go south of the border.

-While Meta did not have the best of luck in his health, defects or start of life onpond his birth to the world, he had enough luck that one of the scientists that was in charge of his ‘birth batch’ selected the wrong puffball blood that was going in turing the creation of him and his ‘siblings’. Instead of normal puffball blood that was newly taken from a civilian, that blood belonged to a recently killed star warrior that was a brillient tactision and battleplaner. Thuse Meta was born smarter then most off his batch that helped him a great deal turning his first 1759 years of harsh and abusive life.

-Meta and his batch siblings was primarily of what-if-we-mix-a-puffball with this demon, that demon or maybe that one, with diffrent types of puffballs gens aswell, kindoff mix. This meant that no two puffball hybrid that came form Meta’s batch had the same genmakeup as the one before or after them.

-Neither Meta nor his batch siblings was born a infent onpond their birth, but as a physically 3-5 year old puff child, with the ability to understand what people was saying and understading orders from the first day they drew breath.

-However this made it diffecult for Doc Coldswager, Estella and a nurse name Kickcrack to find out just how old Meta really was. They thought he was at least 3000 to 4000 years old at first. But it became clear after some time that he was much younger then they thought.

-From a early age, Meta came to hate NME with a burning passion. The tremant along with how often the puff had to survive hell from both demonbeasts and scientists alike, with the added on that NME would often use defect products as toys or snacks for the wizareds more elite monsters, gave the puff enough reasons to hate that basterd way before Sir Arthur rescued him from that hell.

-The day NME realised just WHO and WHAT Meta Knight was, the wizared ended up swaring, curssing, killing many a demon and throwing things to the walls for weeks on end out of pure hate of himself for not seeing that not only had ONE of his prototypes survived the destrucsion of the lab AND was triving like no other in the war. BUT he was wielding the legendery sword Galaxia, was way more skilled than a defect sould be, could fight his most elite of demon generals in battle and wit, great leadership skills and a fighting terror that even the most brutal, smart and savage of NME’s comanders would respect. IT WAS ALL MADE WORST BY THE FACT THAT THIS CREATION OF HIS WAS FIGHTING ON THE WRONG SIDE!!!

-Galaxia became one of Meta’s most closest of friends as well as a good advisor. The sentient sword proved to realy be what the legends told off and would help Meta to best of her abilities both in battle and out of it to support him.

-Much to Galaxia’s embarrasment and shame, she would end up accidentally shock Meta with her thunder and lightning for the next 200-500 years after the puff became her championd. She couldn’t help it, her new champ had demon blood and bit of NME’s precent in him that she could not stop herself from doing it.

-After a little over 2000 years of living with his new famliy, many of Meta very bad as well as unhealthy habits, like attacking anything that comes too close and bitting people, became gone thanks endless paitent from Arthur and Estella, as well as Dragato, Nonsurat and Falspar determination to show their new brother that the world was not always trying to kill you.

-Before the mask that became one of Meta’s traitmarks as a swordman and knight, all Meta could see was from day one till before the day Estella gave it to him at the age of 18 586, was a very muddy, hasy, shades of grays and black with very little detali of anything, that was out to give him a painfull death. When the mask made him able to see, he not only had to relearn how to read and write, but also what colours where and what the world realy looked like.

-Meta has a scare  near his upper right wing after a training session with another soilder who wanted him dead simply becuse the woman did not like him much. He never found out why though, but Dragato did. The puff refuse to tell to this day what the reason was.

-Meta meet Galacta when he was around 7000 years old ( a 7-8 years old in human terms) and the mangeta puff was a newly orphaned around 12 000 year old ( 11-12). Galacta, later nicknamed Val by Meta, had manged to get lost in the GSA base that his aunt worked at and was scared out of his mind when little Meta showed up. They quickly became fast friends and Galacta would often help Meta fight off bulliys that thought it was fine to mess with those that wasen’t ‘normal’ or a freak of nature.

-Galacta and Meta ended up much later as a married couple, before Galacta was seald, when they became adults and their friendshipe blomsemt to something else entirely.

-The day Before Galacta had to be seald away so that NME could not gain any control of the powerfull warrior that the megneta puff had become, Gala gave Meta a handfull of small handmade snow white roses with golden spider silkweb adored with tiny dark firery ruby red stars. Meta in turn gifted Galacta a golden bracelet made to look like small dark blue sapphires lillys have grow around the endmeralds that was placed on the bracelet. Meta still has those roses lockt in a small chest to this day.

[lovelylogans]

are we ever getting dee’s backstory in the wyliwf verse? or actually are we ever getting more dee logan interactions?

alliance

“all warfare is based on deception. hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.” —sun tzu, the art of war

dee usually tries to subscribe to some of the life lessons in the art of war. he has no idea why, today, he has flubbed it this badly.

(or: dee accidentally spills a secret, and those sanders’ might not be as bad as he thought.)

part of the wyliwf verse.

ao3 | read my other fics | coffee?

warnings: deceit, snake mentions, mention of a fight, allusions to an unhappy home life, let me know if i’ve missed anything

pairings: logince, moxiety

words: 4,515

notes: thank you, anon! this references this ask i answered a while ago about dee’s backstory; not super necessary to read, since i cover a lot of it in here, but it does give some general background that might be nice going into the story. takes place after the black parade. happy birthday, deceit!

patton’s not usually home when logan gets back from school.

if paton did see logan right after a school day, it was usually because patton went to virgil’s for a mid-afternoon hot cocoa/coffee, or if logan walked from the bus stop to the inn. they don’t meet at home right after school.

today was different, though. because today, logan was bringing home his partner to do a project for the gsa.

logan had been kicking himself for not getting more involved as soon as he’d set foot at chilton. so, in the aftermath of the “I AM NOT DOING ENOUGH TO GET INTO COLLEGE” frantic list-making session of winter break, logan had joined a slew of clubs and activities; the cross-country team, with the intent of joining the track team in the fall, as long as it didn’t interfere with the newspaper, chilton’s book club, chilton’s quiz bowl team, the science club, photographing for the newspaper, when mel needed him to, backstage crew for the spring play, the debate team, and, of course, chilton’s gay/straight alliance.

that hadn’t been around, when patton went to chilton. patton likes to think that means that things are way better now—well, he knows things are a better now, there’s been so much progress since patton was a teenager—but, well. to patton, chilton’s always going to have that memory, to him. of being excised and bullied because he was trans.

but. anyway. logan’s part of the gsa now. logan’s bringing home a designated partner from the gsa, to help make some posters to put up around the school. so patton has some ulterior motives for being home right now. 

because, well, patton knows that logan’s mostly signed up for everything because it looks good on a college admission form, but. patton can’t help but think about logan’s not-super-hidden concern, the night before he’d started chilton—“what could he possibly be scared of? he’s the one staying at sideshire high. he’s always had other friends. he’ll probably make more friends now that i’m not going to be at school taking up all his time.”

and, well. involvement in things he’s interested in. which means other kids who are interested in the things he’s interested in. which means potential friends. 

with roman as the sole exception, logan’s always been slow to warm to people—he’s very particular about who he lets to be close to him. but once he does warm to them, he’s fiercely, intensely loyal, defensive, a good friend. a fantastic friend.

so maybe patton’s hovering a little to make sure that things go well for logan. sue him. but he can be a cool dad, that’ll help, right? he can offer snacks! and supplies for poster-making! and… and more snacks! 

so patton had been a whirlwind of activity, shoving most of the clutter out of sight so that the house looks slightly tidier, stacking outer layers on his coat rack that seems to wheeze under the pressure—patton practically has to tie things to it with his trans pride scarf, just to make sure that things wont fall down—and shoves dirty dishes in the dishwasher, out of sight, out of mind. he’ll wash them later.

he straightens up the bin of markers that he’d dug out of various desk drawers, and ensures that the glitter and glue are all grouped together, and that they’ve got pencils to sketch out a starting idea, because knowing logan, he’ll want to sketch out the idea first. 

he runs through the list of names that he’s heard logan mention as he straightens everything out—maybe it’ll be kai, logan had mentioned him and his interest in video games. or there had been a set of boyfriends the grade above him, corbin and… and sloane, wasn’t it, maybe it’d be one of them! or maybe someone that logan hasn’t mentioned. 

there’s the sound of a key at the door, and patton glances at his phone. right on time. he’d really expect nothing less, from logan, oh goD he should look like he’s being totally natural act natural patton!!!!!

so he quickly pivots and starts rattling around in the cupboards, and starts scooping coffee grounds into the coffee maker as he hears the door open, two thumps of backpacks hitting the ground, a mutter of “you can take your shoes off here” from logan.

“hey, kiddo!” patton calls, and a mumble of “my dad” from logan, and then the sound of two pairs of socked feet approaching.

“i wasn’t sure if you wanted some coffee too, so i figured i could ask you and your—“

he pivots, and the word “guest” dies on his tongue.

because, standing in yellow socks in the midst of his kitchen, with his strange, sneakily altered version of the chilton uniform, looking supremely uncomfortable, is dee slange.

the same dee slange that has been logan’s de-facto rival at chilton. the same dee slange that told logan he’d never catch up to the rest of his class. the same dee slange that goaded someone into hitting his son. that dee slange.

this is the worst outcome for “logan could be bringing home a potential friend!”

patton swallows, setting aside the scoop of coffee, and glances at logan.

“we were randomly assigned people to get to know them better, since it’s the start of the new semester,” logan says, a brusque explanation.

“right,” patton says. “okay. um. hi.”

“hi,” dee says, voice tight, tilting up his chin.

“do you want some coffee?” patton says stiffly.

a long pause. “sure.”

“right then,” patton says, and turns to the coffee machine.

dee slange. dee slange! god, it probably is a good thing that he’d decided to hover, because honestly if logan and dee had had to work alone patton probably would have come home to the house in shambles. 

but he has to be polite, patton tells himself. so patton wracks his brain for his (probably outdated) etiquette lessons, and, once he gets the coffee machine going, he turns, leaning back against the counter. 

“it is dee, right?” he checks. “i’d hate to be calling you something that you don’t particularly want to be called. is it short for something?”

“it’s dee,” he says. he doesn’t answer the other question. he’s busy glancing around the kitchen.

right, patton figures. time to move to the next small-talk topic.

“your grandmother’s friends with my mom,” patton tells dee. “evelyn, right? i always liked her.”

honestly, a lot of his mom’s friends had been a wild gamble, if he told them he was trans, and evelyn had probably taken it best out of all of them. that had been enough to earn his affection, even if evelyn’s general kindness hadn’t done that already.

dee’s dad, on the other hand… well, he’d been a flip side of that coin, but so had a lot of people, back then.

but dee smiles, ever so slightly, at the mention of his grandmother, so patton figures he hasn’t made any major social missteps. 

yet.

“yes,” dee says, refocusing from where his eyes had been briefly fixed somewhere beyond patton, back toward the entry hall. “she’s doing well. i’ll tell her you said hello.”

another long pause. patton clears his throat, tapping his fingers on the counter, before he says, “how was school?”

“fine,” logan says, with a slight grimace.

“there was that, um. the thing in latin today, right?” patton says. “the recitation thing? tempora cum causis Latium digesta per annum lapsaque sub terras… i can’t remember any more.” 

frankly, it’s a miracle he can’t. logan’s been reciting the first part of ovid’s fasti for the past week. he was pretty sure “scilicet arma magis quam sidera, Romule, noras, curaque finitimos vincere maior erat” would be running around in his head for a month, since logan had been chanting in his room like he was conducting some arcane ritual.    

logan scowls, a dark look flitting across his face even as he finished patton’s line, “ortaque signa canam. yeah, that was today.”

“and?” patton prompts. 

logan scowls. “he thought my pronunciation was over-rehearsed.”

“over-rehearsed?” patton says. “i mean—it would be, wouldn’t it? it’s not like you walk around and latin just casually tumbles out of your mouth.”

“precisely,” logan says.

“the man is an idiot,” dee says, brusque, turning his focus back again—patton didn’t think he’d done that bad of a job, tidying things up in there.

“i—well, now,” patton says, unsure of exactly how to step but he’s a dad it’s practically an instinct to instill manners, “don’t be mean.”

“no, he’s right,” logan says, looking at dee thoughtfully. “he is an idiot. he forgot to teach us the imperative verb tense and only remembered when all of us got it wrong on the imperative-centric quiz.”

dee rolls his eyes, the yellow one glinting. “i nearly forgot about that. my god, did the man get hired just because he plagiarized some old myths from percy jackson during the job interview?”

“those are greek,” logan says, “unless you’re referring to the later series.”

“my point,” dee says, “you cannot deny that charleston is a simpleton, look at the way he handled the moreno/watts situation.”

patton blinks. “what moreno/watts situation?”

logan also looks confused, but really the only way he can tell is because patton is his dad and knows when he’s covering up an emotion. well. most of the time. some of the time. more than most other people, let’s go with that one.

dee sighs, put-upon, before he says, “janey watts and sarah moreno were both taken to our esteemed headmaster’s office yesterday because mr. medina caught them about to claw each other’s eyes out in the alcove near the hidden rear staircase of the senior’s lounge. when attempting to discover what was wrong, mr. charleston’s first guess on what they were fighting about was that they were fighting over the same boy.”

logan allows his confusion to show. “but janey watts is a lesbian.”

“yes,” dee says, “and now you can see one of the many reasons why charleston is a simpleton.”

patton sighs. “well, charleston’s always been… a product of his time?” he says, and tries to elaborate. “you know, he backed up giving me a month of detention once because i refused to respond to my chosen name and pronouns.”

dee’s eyes darken. “bastard,” he spits out, filled with more venom than patton was expecting.

“hey, now,” patton says, even as startled as he is with… that. it’s not like dee and patton are particularly close, to warrant this level of defensiveness. well, patton guesses he’s in the gsa, so it makes sense that he’d be defensive of trans rights. “i could bust out the swear jar.”

“you’ve never had a swear jar,” logan says.

“i could start,” patton says. 

logan turns to dee. “i didn’t know you were friends with janey watts.”

“oh, i’m not,” dee says, and then, matter-of-fact, “she thinks i’m a slimy jerk with no morals and who would sell out his own grandmother if it meant getting further ahead.”

patton feels a little stab of hurt, the way he usually does whenever he hears someone talk bad about themselves.

“then how did you know what charleston said?” logan says, and hey, good point! but logan’s always been more observant than him.

“oh, please,” dee says. “logan, you’re a journalist, you should know that we all have our own sources.”

“in the headmaster’s office?”

dee shrugs. “to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but theopportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.”

“sun tzu,” logan says. “art of war. you could do with the seem humble part.”

“but you’re already so filled with conceit,” dee says, and patton’s about to burst in with a hey now, but logan just shrugs.

“i know myself,” logan says.

“so you can win all battles?” dee says. “i didn’t know you read had an interest in ancient chinese literature.”

“mostly just that one,” logan says. “do you have an interest in ancient chinese literature?”

“mostly just that one,” dee parrots. “shall we get started?”

“may as well,” logan says.

“you kids want coffee while you do that?” patton says. “oh, and would you mind if i did my homework, too?”

“for your business degree,” dee surmises, and really, patton probably shouldn’t be surprised that he knows that, but he’s surprised anyway, darn it. “fine. it’s your house.” 

so patton pours everyone some coffee and sets out cream and sugar, since he doesn’t know how dee takes his coffee, before he gathers up his own homework and settles in, listening absentmindedly as the boys sort through various options that’s been offered to them.

dee, it turns out, milks and sweetens his coffee to a frankly absurd degree—patton wouldn’t be surprised if dee would be met with a few mouthfuls of sugar-sludge at the bottom of his mug—and picks his way through snacks, eating them so swiftly and unnoticeably that patton doesn’t realize it until he goes for a pretzel and realizes the bowl is near-empty.

“i don’t suppose you want to do the ‘how i knew i was gay’ one,” dee says briskly. they’ve sorted through most of the list—this is the last suggested poster theme option—and then they’ll narrow down their yeses.

“certainly not,” logan agrees. “there isn’t particularly much to tell, anyway. boys were always just… pretty.”

“one boy,” patton murmurs slyly, grinning down at his homework even as logan half-heartedly stamps on his foot.

“not much for me, either,” dee says. “girls always had cooties, and i always knew i was a boy, so—“

everyone at the table freezes. and then things start to click.

the altered, strange uniform, as if to say look here, look directly here and nowhere else—hadn’t patton practically lived in too-baggy chilton sweaters, to hide his chest and later his binder from anyone who could have possibly seen it?

dee’s continuous glances toward the entry hall—not just at the clutter, but at patton’s trans pride scarf on display.

dee was short, and patton had been too—patton hadn’t even been 5′3″ before he started t on a more consistent basis, after logan was born.

dee for short, and nothing else—an unusual name, but it wasn’t like he could throw any stones with a name like patton, could he?

dee’s face shuttering in too-great anger, at the news that charleston had given patton detention for sticking up for himself—because he’d had experience with that, maybe?

and then:

patton thinks, oh.

as he stares at dee’s yellow-gloved fingers, curling into fists, he thinks: you’re like me.

the lashing out at other people. the isolating himself. the particular taste in clothes. the new name. the upper-class society. the potential clashing with parents.

oh, oh, oh.

if it weren’t for how perfectly, perfectly still dee was, patton could almost believe that he came out on purpose.

“okay,” patton says, when he realizes it’s probably been a too-long pause. “hey, it’s okay. me too, you know? we won’t say anything if you don’t want us to.”

dee dips his head in a nod, tongue darting out to lick his lips. 

“right,” he says hollowly, before he clears his throat and tries for his usual, arrogant tone. “of course.”

“we won’t,” logan agrees, and frowns. “i’m your academic rival, not some asshole that would out you without your consent.”

it’s at that that dee relaxes, fists unclenching. he smooths his hands over the poster.

“right,” he says, and clears his throat. “fine, then.”

patton hesitates, before he says, tentatively, “your grandma was really cool about it, when i came out. back in the day.”

dee’s lip quirk up, and patton knows he’s said the right thing.

“yeah,” dee says. “i mean, i can’t really remember it, it was back when i got adopted—”

“you’re adopted?” patton asks.

dee gives him an almost patronizingly amused look, gesturing to his dark skin, the vitiligo on his cheek. “yes, that’s such a shock, i’m sure, because my parents definitely match my coloring.”

patton flushes. “well, i’ve never met your mom.”

dee mutters something like what a blessing for you, and patton feels a flare of worry that he can’t really expand upon before dee continues, “yes, i’m adopted, from haiti. i was… i don’t know. four, five. i can’t remember it very well. but grandmother’s… yeah. grandmother’s the best.”

it’s the most fond patton’s ever heard him sound, and, from the look on logan’s face, it might be for him, too.

“i might try and get coffee with her soon,” patton says, casual. “and if, you know. if you want advice about, um. this. just let me know. yeah?”

dee’s eyebrow quirks at him, and he gives him a look full of quintessential teenage amusement and, potentially, embarrassment.

patton can relate. he was the same, a lot of the time, whenever people offered advice or help when he first came to sideshire.

well. maybe he was less sassy about it.

“can we focus on the project?” logan says tiredly. 

“what, are you jealous you can’t contribute to the discussion about various nicknames for testosterone?” dee says.

patton grins. “the testoster-zone.”

“the t-party,” dee offers.

“ooh, good one,” patton says. “um—”

“can we please focus on the project?” logan says, more pointedly.

dee rolls his eyes, but turns back to his poster.

patton tries to focus on his homework, but he just can’t help it, and—

“anti-cis-tamines.”

“dad,” logan groans, and patton and dee share an amused glance, and—

well. maybe dee wasn’t the worst potential friend that logan could have brought over.

⁂

this place might as well be the twilight zone.

dee has his bowler hat on, and logan’s tall enough that they’re probably at a decent angle that he can’t tell that dee is looking around everywhere he can.

if only dee had managed to shake him off—but mr. sanders (”please, it’s patton, mr. sanders is my father!”) had insisted that either logan or patton walk dee back to the bus stop and, well, honestly, logan was the lesser of two evils.

not that mr. sanders is evil. he seems removed from that. too removed, if you get dee’s drift. no one could possibly be that deeply nice. there had to be something going on there. a ploy to get people to trust him, or something. the defenseless little puppy defense, or something. playing sweet and kind until it suits him.

even as he’s thinking this, something in his brain refuses to let it click into place. dee shakes it off. he’ll investigate later—whether it’s an opossum defense or a ploy or something—there’s too much to see here.

it’s like a group of tv set designers got together and thought, right, what are all the clichés of a tiny small town, added some overgrown ivy and picturesque worn red brick, and the entire place reeked of domesticity. he means, really, who even has a town center gazebo? dee’s seen flyers advertising for a twenty-four-hour dance-a-thon. for charity. “costumes and periodwear encouraged.” what kind of periodwear did one wear for a twenty-four-hour dance-a-thon?

the buildings have those twinkly lights all around it. the streetlights are wrought iron instead of the stark poles that are near the streets of his neighborhood. there is a community garden. there is a punnily named cat-themed store. 

seriously. what planet is this?

they get to the bus stop.

(also—the bus? what was this, the middle ages?)

“right, then,” dee says. “you’re bringing the posters tomorrow?”

logan nods his head in assent, hands stuck in his pockets. apparently, that’s not a clear enough hint, but his research shows that logan doesn’t respond very much to subtleties.

“you can go,” he adds, bluntly.

logan shakes his head. “i’m just going to go to the diner for dinner, anyway, and not being there means that my dad can get sappy with virgil without my bearing witness. and besides, my dad would kill me for leaving you here alone.” 

dee stares at him. “you do realize the likelihood of someone attacking me here is approximately on the same level as greedo being the one who shot first?”

logan blinks. “you’re a star wars fan?”

dee shrugs a shoulder, before he says, “more when i was a kid. i’ve got three snakes named—”

“rey, finn, and poe?” logan says, with a twist of his mouth.

“luke, leia, and han,” he corrects. “i said when i was a kid, sanders.”

“kid is an unclear term,” logan says. “for instance, i could argue that your viewpoint on the superior space western is childish, since the clearly superior space western franchise is—”

dee scoffs before he can finish his sentence. “of course you’re a trekkie.”

“so you admit it,” logan says, and dee rolls his eyes.

“i was just narrowing down the number of popular space westerns, spock.”

“i prefer data,” logan says. 

another pause, before:

“snakes?” logan asks.

“garters, all three,” dee says. he hesitates, before he says, “luke and han are trans.”

“i wondered,” logan says. “since snakes can often eat each other, but if all three snakes were, ah—“

“afab?” dee provides.

“right, yes.” logan says. “may i see?”

“i don’t have them on me,” dee says, before he says, “yeah, all right” and digs out his phone, swiping for the latest photo of his snakes.

it turns out to be the one of grandmother, amused, looking just enough off-camera that it’s clear it isn’t candid, wearing leia as a necklace, luke and han in her upraised hands. logan smiles at the photo. well, smiles as much as he’s capable of smiling. dee thinks that the whole i prefer data thing might be a cover-up for the fact that logan might actually be a robot.

“the checkered one is leia, the one with the yellow stripe is luke, and the one with the brown stripe is han.”

“nice,” logan says. “and that’s your grandmother?”

“yes,” dee confirms, tucking his phone away. 

“do you spend much time with her?” logan says.

“frequently,” dee says, and lies, “she lives closest to chilton, it just makes the most sense.”

well, the first part of that sentence isn’t a lie. it’s just that that isn’t the whole truth.

but partial truths are what he works best with, and he notes that logan nods, seeming to accept it as a whole truth, before his eyes turn elsewhere.

dee follows his gaze. 

the window’s lit, gleaming softly, a wide window that allows a view.

there’s a boy in there, alone. he’s shirtless, and wearing red leggings typical of a dancer. even at the distance they’re at, dee can see his muscles straining as he moves, graceful and limbs elongated as he reaches and spins, slowly, achingly slowly, everything so precise down the slightest twitch of his finger, and logan is staring, eyes gone soft and awed and sweet, and—

“didn’t realize i was boring you that much,” dee comments, even if he is a little relieved that logan’s attention is off the question of his home life and on his pretty dancer. “that’s the boytoy, isn’t it?”

logan looks at him, eyes sharpening. “roman’s my boyfriend.”

“right, right,” dee says, waving it off. he’s distracted, good. “so that’s still a thing, then?”

“yes,” logan says. “that’s still a ‘thing.’”

he doesn’t use airquotes, but it’s a near thing. it’s basically implied in his tone of voice.

“do you like him a lot?” dee asks.

“i love him,” logan says simply—as if it’s a fact, indisputable, absolute. 

dee nods, turning his attention back to the bus stop. it should be coming soon.

“are you going to tell him?” dee says abruptly and oh, now he’s done it, losing control of his mouth just once today isn’t enough, he really needs to make himself look like a fool, doesn’t he?

logan turns his attention more fully back to dee. “no.”

dee scoffs. “right.”

“i won’t,” logan says. “really. roman would understand, he’s—well, clearly he’s gay too, he understands the importance of coming out on your own terms.”

dee glowers at the ground, scuffing his shoe over the cement, before—

“my dad and i were effectively homeless until i turned six.”

dee pauses, and turns to look at logan.

logan isn’t looking at him. he’s got his hands clasped behind his back, still staring ahead, as if he’s keeping an eye out for the bus.

“my dad worked at the inn—he’s manager, now, but back then he was a housekeeper. he worked his way up. we could only afford to live in the poolhouse because the manager, maria, gave him a major cut on rent. i was bullied about it, when i was a child. my dad doesn’t know that.” a pause, and then, “my grandparents don’t know about the poolhouse, either. they thought we lived in the inn proper and got an apartment much sooner than we actually did. they’re paying for me to go to chilton. it comes with the condition of going to their house for weekly dinners.”

dee stares at him. “why would you tell me that?”

logan shrugs, and turns just his head to look at dee.

“i know you’re trans, you know where i lived and that i can’t afford schooling,” logan says simply. “if either of us feel tempted to let it slip…”

“then we know the other one has something in hand,” dee finishes slowly, not admiringly. “mutually assured destruction.”

it’s a sound strategy, really. logan takes the assumption that dee won’t listen to promises, and uses a shortcut. it’s a dangerous move, a gamble. not one he’d have expected, from logan. this day’s just full of surprises.

“precisely,” logan says. “for whatever reason, i don’t think you hold very strongly to the sense of the honor of giving someone your word.”

that last part is said in the closest tone to sarcastic that he thinks he’s ever heard logan use. 

“you’re right, i don’t,” dee says, and swallows. “homeless?”

“i didn’t really put the pieces together until i was older,” logan says. “it still doesn’t seem like it, to me. we were happy.”

dee wonders what that’s like.

“well,” logan says, peeking down the way. “i think i hear the bus coming. i’ll bring the posters tomorrow.”

“right,” dee says. “so. are you going to suggest we dissolve the academic rivalry, then?”

logan hums, and tilts his head. “you know, you’ve been my only real competition since i showed up at chilton.”

dee does not preen.

“we’re the only ones who’ve ever challenged each other. without this, we’ll get lazy.”

“i’ll achieve nothing, i’ll become my mother,” dee quips, and logan smiles, just a little.

“right,” logan says. “so.”

dee pauses, before he says, “allies?”

logan smiles. “allies.”

as the bus rolls up, logan offers his hand, and dee shakes it, once. logan knows full well that he doesn’t hold to the honor of giving someone their word, but it still feels like they’re making a deal, anyway.

so dee clambers onto the bus, and settles in a window seat.

and if he smiles and turns details over his head the whole drive back, well. it’s not like anyone will know.

[thinkingaboutyoungroyals]

Falling For You But You Are Worlds Away: Chapter 4

AO3

Three months passed. The winter snow melted and made way for spring showers.

Simon was proud to say that he had managed to adjust to life in New York fairly well.

The first month was difficult, there was no doubt about that. He was constantly sad and missed his mother, Sara, Ayub, Rosh, and… Wilhelm. He mostly stayed home unless Ana or Tia Elena would drag him out. He hated the subway and how loud and tight it was. And he rarely talked to anyone at school unless he really had to and mostly stuck to Ana’s side during lunch and GSA meetings.

But, eventually, he got used to all of it. 

His homesickness was often abated by speaking to his mother every week and messaging Sara, Ayub, and Rosh on Instagram almost everyday.

“How are you, mi amor?” his mother would ask.

“I’m fine, Mama,” he would reply.

“How’s school?” she would follow up.

And, then, Simon would tell her about his day, what he and his new friends have been up to, and toss something in about how much the subway sucks.

“Spoken like a true New Yorker,” Ana said when she heard him.

Simon also made a new Instagram so he could post photos of his adventures in New York (he had to abandon the old one – there were too many creeps sliding in his DMs and many of them made him sick to his stomach). After much urging from Ana, he finally joined the school’s Glee Club and met some nice people he could hang out with. And he and Darren from GSA had become very good friends.

It was obvious from the get-go that Darren had the biggest crush on Dominic, the GSA president, and was always flirting and trying to get the older boy to go out with him. Dominic always refused, stating school as the priority over dating. It never deterred Darren, though, as he kept trying. Simon both admired his persistence and found him kind of idiotic for going after someone who didn’t want to go out with him.

(“All in the name of love, baby,” Darren said in response to Simon’s blunt observation.)

And, speaking of dating, Simon was pretty proud of himself for actually managing to go on a date. Even though he said he wasn’t looking to date, at first, he found himself wanting to give it a shot. So, he said “yes” to the one boy from Glee Club who asked him out. He was nice and had a beautiful singing voice. It didn’t really go anywhere, though. Simon partly blamed it on the fact that the boy wasn’t really his type and partly because he really wasn’t over Wilhelm, yet.  

But, it was progress… right?

And, today, he was making one more step towards it.

“I think you’re next,” piped Ana from the seat beside him. “You sure you want to do this?”

Simon swallowed the lump in his throat. “Y-Yeah,” he managed, a little nervous. “You said this will help.”

His cousin bit her lip and shrugged. “I mean, it’s a superstition… belief… thing. I don’t know if it works but people say it does.”

“No harm in trying.” Simon fiddled with the sleeves of his sweater. “Besides, it’s getting long anyway.”

“Hi,” said the kind-looking Asian woman. “It's your turn.”

Simon nodded as he stood up. He followed her until they reached an empty chair, which she swung towards him. He sat and she whirled it around to face the mirror.

“What would you like?” she asked as she fastened a long black cape over his body.

“Um… can you cut about… three inches?”

Her eyes widened. “Really? You have nice curly hair. Prettiest I’ve seen.”

He blushed. “Thanks. But, um, yes, just cut it, please.”

The hairdresser looked a little sad at the prospect of cutting Simon’s hair but she nodded and prepared her tools.

Simon took one last look at his hair – his curly mess of a hair that Wilhelm loved to playfully tug and run his fingers through.

It will be gone soon. And, maybe, along with it, his feelings for the Crown Prince of Sweden.

..........

Wilhelm was making no progress in moving on. Maybe because he didn’t really want to move on.

He had been regularly meeting with the school therapist. It helped his anxiety a little but it wasn’t like he could really talk about missing Simon, regretting his decisions, and how he wished (for the thousandth time) that he wasn’t a prince.

But, if there was anything he learned from being royal was that if you wanted something done, efficiently, you can either delegate or do it yourself. And since he could not delegate his search for Simon to others, he would do it himself.

The smell of hay and horses greeted Wilhelm as soon as he stepped into the stables. It didn’t bother him, he liked horses. They were nicer than people so he understood why Sara liked them so much.

One black horse tapped Wilhelm’s head as he passed and Wilhelm paused to rub its nose. The horse snorted, making Wilhelm chuckle before going on his way.

As expected, he found Sara in Rousseau’s stall, happily brushing him as she made small talk.

Wilhelm paused, unsure about continuing. She was still angry with him and he couldn’t blame her. But, three months had passed and he was desperate. He would face her wrath if it meant he could finally know where Simon was.

Clearing his throat, he stepped closer.

Sara turned her head and as soon as she saw him, her smile disappeared and her eyes narrowed.

“What are you doing her, Prince?” she practically hissed.

Wilhelm bit his lip. “I just… want to talk to you.”

Sara turned back to Rousseau. “I’m not telling you where my brother is.”

“Sara, please.”

She put away the brushes before turning to him. “Why should I do that for you?”

Wilhelm bit his lip, stumped. Sara’s gaze was piercing on him and if looks could kill, he had no doubt he was a goner.

“You’re not… doing it for me. Not really.”

She quirked an eyebrow.

Wilhelm took a deep breath and released a sigh. “I made a mistake,” he confessed. “What I did to Simon… it’s unforgivable. I shouldn’t have left him alone. I should have… done something different. But, it’s done and there’s nothing I can do anymore. That’s why I need to talk to him again. I need to make it up to him. I just… Sara, I just…” He bit his lip again. “I miss him… I miss, Simon. And, I know I don’t deserve him. But, I miss him.”

Sara continued to stare at him, her face unreadable. She wasn’t budging.

Wilhelm swallowed, not really wanting to resort to what he ended up saying next.

“And... You owe him… and me.”

Sara blinked. “What are you talking about?”

Wilhelm took another deep breath to strengthen his resolve. “I know that you knew that August leaked the video.”

He watched as her expression finally changed – from indifference to shock.

“He promised to help you apply for a grant but he didn’t. So, you told Felice what he did and she didn’t speak to you for a week. I know because she told me but begged me not to do anything. She cares about you. And I wouldn’t have anyway because you’re Simon’s sister and he loves you.”

It was Felice who helped Sara get the grant, gave her recommendations and everything.  

“But, you never told Simon any of this. So, yes, you owe him and you owe me.”

She glared at him. “I don’t like you.”

“I know.” Wilhelm took a tentative step closer. “Please, Sara. I need to talk to him.”

She sighed. “Mama will be angry with me.”

“I won’t tell her that you told me.”

Sara pursed her lips as she looked at him, as if examining him for more lies. Then, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again to catch his gaze.

“Just so you know, I’m just telling you so that you’d leave me alone. And don’t you dare tell Simon about me and August. I… I’ll tell him, myself. Just not right now because he’s not here and I don’t want him to be angry with me while he’s so far away.”

Wilhelm held his breath, his heart beating as he waited in anticipation.

“He’s in New York. We have an aunt there. He’s living with her.”

New York. Simon was in New York. That was only eight hours away by plane. The Royal family had a private jet. Could he get away with borrowing it and leaving for a weekend? Surely, it wouldn’t hurt to just pop in, right? He could come up with some excuse to his mother. Hell, maybe she didn’t even have to know!

“Wilhelm.”

His mental plans were disrupted by Sara’s firm voice. He looked at her as she frowned at him.

“I know what you’re thinking. And you shouldn’t. Simon is okay there. He has friends. And he likes New York.”

The hope in Wilhelm began to wither.

“It’s not forever, you know,” said Sara. “He’ll be back.”

Wilhelm swallowed, fingers digging into his palm. “Does he hate me?”

To his surprise, Sara chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do to make Simon hate you.” She stepped up to him and awkwardly patted his arm. “You don’t have to worry about that. Just… let him be, for now, okay?”

Wilhelm nodded.  “Okay. Thank… Thank you, Sara. Thank you.”

She offered him a small smile. “Anything else?”

He shook his head then looked at Rousseau. “Need help?”

Her eyes widened at that. “A prince? Helping at the stables?”

He shrugged and walked over to Rousseau. “I know how to ride and I’ve helped take care of horses before.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious, before shrugging. She picked up the brush again and tossed it at him.

“Then, get to work, Prince.”

Wilhelm smiled. He and Sara barely talked before, even when he and Simon were… together. He felt a little awkward around her, sometimes. But, maybe they could be friends. After all, they were both missing Simon. That was one thing they had in common.

“I still don’t like you, though,” she said.

One step at a time.

........

Wilhelm kept his promise to Sara and resisted getting on his private plane and taking off for New York.

He lasted until June.

And, it wasn’t his fault, really.

He heard Madison and Felice talking about the latter visiting her in New York during workies.

So, Wilhelm had leaned over and asked, “Can I join you?”

Maddie blinked in confusion. “What?”

“Can I join you in New York?”

Maddie's brows furrowed. “Um… sure. But, why, though?”

Wilhelm grinned. “Simon is there. And I want to see him.”

[swimmingnewsie]

Of Coffee and Cookies- Chapter 17

Link to AO3 

---

“Come on, slowpokes! We’re going to be late!”

Elsa couldn’t help but laugh as her little sister rushed ahead, running and tumbling through the streets. Though admittedly it still made Elsa nervous, parkour was an active part of Anna's life now- a part that made Anna happier than she had in months. The pure joy on Anna’s face as she swung around on dubiously strong light fixtures was worth the minor scrapes and bruises she helped fix up at the end of the day.

“Oh no you don’t!”

She shook her head as both Kristoff and Ryder ran ahead as well. They had gotten so competitive in the wake of Anna’s newfound strength, always wanting to race when given the opportunity. It left some sense of normalcy that had been gone for the longest while. But unlike her companions, she felt no reason to rush. Softball had nine innings after all; it was okay to take her time.The warm spring sun felt perfect on her face, a light breeze bringing her peace and clarity of mind.

As April turned to May, the weather wasn’t the only thing that was improving. After her night in the emergency room, things changed quickly for Elsa. Berkeley Behavioral Health had ordered a genetic test for her, one that tested the compatibility of antidepressants with her body. And after years of the wrong medication, Elsa finally had something that worked. Between that and exercise and the increased sessions with her therapist, the highs felt good again and the lows weren’t as scary. It was incredible what just a few small changes made.

She felt better than she had in years.

She could work again. Her responsibilities were still stressful; her students still emailed her at two in the morning over their exam results or advice for their papers; her dissertation was still a mess. But the mess was manageable now. Nights that might have otherwise been lost to crying and sleeplessness had turned into only an hour or two of distress. The chains on her mind had loosened, not broken, but there was space to breathe again. Space for fun. Space for life. And to her greatest joy, space for Honeymaren, who had been by her side the whole time, even when things were tiring or frustrating or upsetting.

Elsa could finally repay her for the previous months in gentle kisses and sweet love. She could be there for all the little moments they had missed before: rubbing soft circles in her back as she lamented the awful PTA meetings she was forced to attend; holding her as she told her about the awful phones calls she had to make that day; smiling as her love got excited over a lacrosse match. Or in this moment, getting to watch the middle school softball team she had heard so much about at night.

The sound of a ball clinking against a bat drew her attention from her thoughts. The faint sound of cheering followed, unconsciously quickening Elsa’s steps towards the small field.

The stands were relatively empty, not that Elsa truly expected much different. It was a sixth grade softball game in the middle of Thursday afternoon; parents were the target demographic. But even for the light crowd, the kids in the dugout certainly filled the field with energy and excitement.

Well at least the kids on the opposite team. Maren’s girls for the most part, bless their hearts, were terrified of the ball. And being a home game, it would take a while to get past the top of the inning.

“Come on, Janie! You can do it! Strike them out!” Maren cheered enthusiastically from the side. Elsa couldn’t help but blush; Maren looked good in her coaching uniform, highlighting more than her authoritative attitude. She couldn’t help but stare at her-

“Quit gawking at your girlfriend! There’s baseball happening here!” Anna shouted from above her.

Elsa laughed, racing up the bleachers to her sister. “You stinker!” she teased, tussling her sister’s hair. “I’ll get you back for that.”

Anna laughed in return. "I'm not the one eye-fucking my girlfriend at a children's sporting event."

"Anna, language!" she jabbed before any of the parents could do the same.

Anna rolled her eyes before looking at Kristoff and Ryder. "Am I wrong?"

Ryder shook his head laughing. "Sorry, sis. I'm asexual as they come and even I can tell that's what you were thinking."

"You've never been exactly subtle, Els," Kristoff chuckled, only causing Elsa to blush more heavily.

Elsa glared at him. It was good natured, but she would kill for the teasing to end."Hush up and watch the game."

"As you wish, your majesty."

---

"Eye on the ball doesn't mean it's gonna hit you! You can do it, Megs!" Ryder shouted from the stands.

Even he had to admit, this year's team wasn't the easiest to cheer for. The girls were quite timid and afraid, especially of the spherical object that ran the game. But, dutiful brother and occasional waterboy, he would cheer them on day in and day out. Even if they hadn't scored in four games.

"I'm sorry, Coach's Brother!" A dejected preteen shouted back after striking out.

"It's okay, kid! You'll get it next time!"

Ryder sat back down, resting between two bleachers. The innings were moving slowly, but at least they were moving. He looked to the field changing and then to his friends around him. Maren was high-fiving her students, making any attempt to bring their spirits up. Elsa on the other hand was still eyeing his sister, with Anna not so slyly taking embarrassing pictures. And then there was Kris.

Kris was engrossed in something, flustered by something on his phone. It was cute, the way that he bit his lip and scrunched his brow. "You know the baseball's up here," he teased, poking his ex-boyfriend on the shoulder.

“Sorry,” Kris sighed, putting his phone down. “Guess I’m a bit distracted is all.”

Ryder huffed, looking back at their friends. “Seems you aren’t the only one. But I think I’m better to help you than them, don’t you think?”

“Maybe.” He stretched his back, smiling at the satisfying crack. “Just looking at jobs, but I- I feel conflicted.”

“What over, find something better than baristaing?” Ryder teased lightly. “You’ve been applying for weeks, did you get a hit somewhere?”

“Sort of.” Kris ran a hand through his hair, his eyes looking around. “They’re offering me a promotion at Mermaid’s. They want me to be the assistant store manager. They want to train me to run the whole damn thing.”

Ryder couldn’t help but smile. The promotion would mean the world to Kris. He would be able to fix up his car properly and finally have a regular schedule and probably so many other things. “That’s amazing, dude! That’s so exciting! Why are you excited?”

“I- I don’t know,” he said, nervously picking at some grout in the bleacher. “I would have to take some more classes and certification. More food safety and even some management and marketing classes at the community college. But- I don’t know. Weeks ago I was so desperate to get out of there and now they’re offering this position and it feels almost like a betrayal to me? I don’t know it’s stupid,” he shrugged.

“It’s not stupid, man. It’s a big decision. And it’s not one you have to make right now.” He gave Kris a pat on the back, turning to get up. “You know what will make this better?”

“Yeah, and what’s that?” he asked, with that dumb little teasing sound to his voice.

“Nachos,” he said point blank. “I’ll be right back.”

He headed straight down to the small concession stand. He tried to be as fast as possible, but perhaps he was a little too fast when-

“Shit, not again! I’m so so sorry. Are you okay?” A young woman with bright multicolored hair ran into him, sending his food falling. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. Let me get you a new one? Please?”

“Um, I’m okay. Are you okay?” he asked, brushing the last of his chips off of his shirt, a bit baffled by what happened. “You don’t have to, it’s not a big deal.” If he was being perfectly honest, he wasn’t sure who had run into who.

“No, no please I insist,” she said, helping to brush off a few crumbs. “I’m Gale,”

“Ryder,” he said, starting back to the stand. He was finally able to get a good look at her- no them. He noticed a pronoun button, pinned proudly on a t-shirt for the middle school. “One of your kids go here? I’ve been around for a while, but I can’t say I recognize you.”

“My nephew,” they said before turning and ordering. “I think he has a crush on one of the girls on the team. He certainly has a sudden interest in baseball, that’s for sure. But who am I to object? I’ve always wanted to share it with him. Glad I finally can.”

Ryder smiled. “That’s sweet. Some of my favorite memories were of my dad taking me and my little sister out to play. Definitely something worth passing-”

“Gale!”

Anna was shouting up from the bleachers. How the hell did Anna know them?

“Hey! How’s my favorite barista?” they laughed as Anna started to come down. “I was just going to text you! What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“I get off at 10:30. Pre-closer, so hopefully I’ll be out on time. What’s up?” she said, dusting herself off. “Ryder, this is my friend Gale. I met them at my parkour class.”

Ryder nodded, grabbing the food that was set out. “So this is that Gale? Nice to finally meet you.”

Gale blushed. “Talking about me?” they teased. “Hopefully good things.”

“All good things,” Anna said rolling her eyes. “Like how badass you are, how you always manage to beat me in a race,all sorts of good things.”

They laughed. “Well I’m flattered. Well I was going to text you and ask if you would want to come out with me to Oaken’s tomorrow night? They’re doing a fundraiser for some high school’s GSA. Karaoke and drink profit goes to the school. What do you say?”

“How did a high school manage to run a fundraiser through a gay bar?” she asked with a small laugh. Ryder nodded; he was thinking the same thing.

“I think the owner’s kid goes there,” they shrugged. “Nevermind that, what do you think?”

Anna pondered it for a second. “What do you think, Ryder?”

HIs eyes widened. Was she trying to get them together? What was her goal here? “I mean it sounds like fun. You should go.”

“Think I would be fine bringing some others?” she asked.

Gale nodded enthusiastically. “More the merrier. It’s for a good cause.”

“Perfect! Ryder, you tell Kris and I’ll tell Elsa?” She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before running off. “This’ll be fantastic.”

Ryder stood in shock for a second. “Um, sorry about that. Anna has a bit of a habit of-”

“Meddling?” they laughed. “I know. She kept trying to set me up on dates until I told her I was aroace.”

He didn’t think his eyes could get any wider. That’s why Anna was asking what he thought. “I- I’ve never- I’ve never,”

They tossed some of their hair back. “It’s okay. A lot of people don’t understand. Don’t worry.:

“No, no,” he said, putting a hand out as if to catch himself from stumbling over his words. “It’s just- I just realized it myself a couple of months ago. I haven’t met someone- not in real life at least- someone like me.”

Gale smiled. “Well Ryder, I will happily be your first triple-A friend: asexual, aromantic, agender.”

Ryder smiled back at them. “Thanks.”

“Come on, we’ve got some softball to watch.”

---

“Elsa, come on. You are not going to a gay bar in your professor clothes.”

Elsa tilted her head at Honeymaren. “What do you mean? I look good.”

“You look professional,” Maren said, wrapping her arms around her waist. She leaned her head into the crook of Elsa’s neck. “Besides, how am I going to dance with you if you wear that stiff shirt?”

Elsa laughed a little bit as Maren nibbled at her ear with a kiss. “You seem to be doing just fine right now.”

“Mmmmm,” she moaned softly. “Perhaps, but you’ll get hot so quick in that.”

“Oh, you’re worried about me being hot?” Elsa teased, reaching back to touch Maren’s hips. “Then what do you think I should wear, Oh Great Firemistress?”

“You are such a dork,” she said, sneaking one last kiss. Maren searched through her girlfriend’s closet, working past her usual work clothes. “What about this? I’ve never seen you wear it?”

“Never the occasion. A navy sundress isn’t exactly lab attire?”

“Hmmm, well good thing we aren’t going to the lab,” Maren smiled mischievously. “For me?”

“Well,” Elsa smiled, tapping on her chin. “Only if you help me take this off?” she teased.

“Oh, that I can absolutely do.”

---

Kristoff paced nervously in the living room. He hadn’t been out in a while, much less going out with his ex-boyfriend and their group of friends. But this would be fun right?

“How long does it take to get dressed to go out? Elsa is a stickler for time,” Anna sighed sitting down on the ground, her back against the couch.

“Well I don’t know if you noticed, but my sister is also in there with your sister. We could be waiting a while,” Ryder teased, handing her a controller. “Might as well play.”

“Uck-” Anna said, taking the offered controller. “Don’t make me think about the fact our sisters might be boning while we’re home.”

“Hey, I don’t like it either! Why do you think I put on Mario Kart?”

Kristoff smiled. Even after all this time, Ryder made his heart flutter. He shook his head and pushed it aside. He couldn’t act on it. It wasn’t right. “You know we could just go bug them to hurry up?”

“And risk burning my eyes out? Fat chance,” he laughed. “You want in next round, Kris?”

“Sure, I’ll play winner.”

Maybe going out wouldn’t be so bad. He could let loose of it all, be whoever he wanted for a night. It would be good. It had to be.

---

Anna didn’t know what to expect when they arrived, but it certainly wasn’t the dance club they arrived at. She hadn’t heard much about it other than seeing it on the news when it first opened, but Anna hadn’t been much for clubbing when she had first come to the city. It was everything the old Anna would have loved: loud music, a large dance floor, and plenty of people.

She fiddled nervously with the bands on her wrist. She had to admit, the club was pretty clever. There were a set of bands for the gender you identified as and a second set for what you were looking for. It had always been a passive thing, something she and Elsa had talked about, but she never brought it out in public. She had been too vulnerable after Hans to try and deal with it. But wearing the bisexual bracelet made it real, powerful. She could be her true self with no limits.

The music blared an old pop song she couldn’t but dance to. She smiled, letting herself move freely towards the bar where Kristoff was sitting alone. “What are you doing here by yourself?” she asked with a little more gusto than normal. “You’re at a dance club, and you aren’t dancing!”

“I don’t have that kinda rhythm,” he laughed, sipping on his whiskey. “Go, I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Now,” she laughed, a bit giddy. “Come on, the song is called “Shut Up and Dance” not “Sit Down and Drink.””

Kristoff shook his head, downing the last of his drink. “You’re drunk.”

“Maybe...” she slurred. Her mind did feel a bit foggy, but it was a good fog. A happy fog. A fog she wanted to share with Kristoff. “Come on, please?”

Much to her delight, he joined her in dancing. Neither were particularly good, but they didn’t have to be. She danced against him, her back to his chest and breathing in his scent. Normally the musk of sweat and alcohol would have turned her away, but she found herself wanting to draw closer.

“Having fun?” he asked as her movements slowed. Her limbs were tired, and she just wanted to hold onto his warm embrace.

“The best,” she said, breathless. “The best because you’re here and it’s fun and it’s really really nice.”

She felt his chest shudder, but decided to ignore it. “Best because I’m here?”

“Mhm,” she nodded. “I know you’re sad about Ryder still, but you came and are having fun.” Her eyes opened wildly, gaze unfocused. “You are having fun aren’t you? I’m sorry. I’m so awkward. I’ll shut up and-”

“No, no,” he gave a small laugh that made her whole chest feel like it was about ready to burst. “Just not what I thought you would say.”

Her body relaxed again against him. “I’m glad you’re having fun,” she said, her eyes getting tired.

“You wanna sit down for a bit? Have some water?” He was holding onto her hand, leading her off the floor. She nodded slowly, letting him lead her to a chair. “There we go. I’ll be right back.”

“Thanks, Kris. Love you.”

She didn’t watch as he walked away, didn’t notice or care how he reacted. She was happy and warm and a little drunk. Everything else could be taken care of in the morning. But for now, she would live in this one perfect moment.

[elizabethemerald]

Uh.... how about Reckless GSA au?

Ah my shame, my shame, my greatest shame! I love the idea of this AU, but I just don’t have the ability to give it the love and attention it deserves. I feel bad that I probably won’t be able to continue this story, so I’m dumping all my current parts of the story here. 

My Reckless GSA AU is probably one of my angstiest AUs and that’s saying something considering Requiem for a Trollhunter literally starts with Jim dying. 

This AU is a canon divergent story. It follows the established canon up until Jim emerges from the vision Merlin gave him in Unbecoming. In my AU Jim takes the message from the vision that he is a Trollhunter, with or without the Amulet. So he decides to hand it over to Usurna. 

However Merlin built in a failsafe, that as long as the Trollhunter lives and is bonded to the amulet only they can destroy the Amulet. So Jim is able to reclaim his amulet and armor shortly. 

When the Krubera escort him, Claire and Toby out of Trollmarket, Jim gives them the slip and meets up with Vendel to talk about what to do next. Then Usurna makes her assassination attempt, not knowing that Jim is still in Trollmarket. Jim is able to stop the assassination, but he is severely injured in the process, in fact he is almost beaten to death by the Krubera. 

In order to save his life, Vendel bonds his soul to the Heartstone. He is filled with magic and his injuries are healed, but not perfectly. Vendel banishes Usurna (who was badly injured) and the remaining Krubera. Than he seals Trollmarket. Similar to what Aaarrrgghh did during Gunmar’s invasion at the Gyre Station, but with every possible entrance. All of the crystal keys are collected and put under lock and key. 

Gunmar attempts to invade shortly after. He can’t gain entry, but neither can anyone leave. Trollmarket is under siege. Claire and the Trollhunters are still able to go to school, with the help of the shadow Staff. 

After he is rebuffed from Trollmarket, Gunmar takes his rage out on the Janus Order. With the help of the Trollhunters a few more of the changelings are able to be saved from the slaughter. 

In the show Gunmar rebuilt his army by taking slaves from the citizens of Trollmarket with his Decimaar blade. Without that new blood he is unable to begin an actual war on the surface. Instead he has to work to find some way to take Trollmarket, gather allies, all while maintaining the siege. His methods grow steadily more cruel and viscous as Jim and his friends continually stop him. 

He targets their families, hoping to either Kill Jim, which would kill the Heartstone and thus Trollmarket’s protections. If he can’t kill Jim he tries to force Jim into surrendering by targeting Toby and Barbara. He targets Claire because he realizes she has the shadow staff which would allow him to bypass Trollmarket’s walls. 

SO all that above was basically the set up of the AU. The actual story hadn’t even started yet at this point. From this point things go very poorly for the Trollhunters, but never so poorly that the Eternal Night happens. 

Claire, Jim and Toby are all fighting almost every day to stop Gunmar. Strickler takes his position as principal and puts Nomura in his former place of history teacher. They, and the surviving changelings work to prevent word of Gunmar reaching the humans, they also protect the school and protect Barbara at work. 

Because Claire has no reason to activate the super portal she doesn’t get possessed, instead the corruption process by the dark magic of the Shadow Staff is slower, sapping her strength, destroying her body bit by bit. 

Jim feels like with his bond to the Heartstone, and the magic and healing that it offers he has to be the one to take the blows more than his friends. So his injuries are often worst than the others. 

Toby tries his best to spare Jim the pain he knows comes from being the shield to the others, but he has no magic, neither Heartstone nor Shadow Staff. So his injuries take time to heal and are constantly compounded as more and more injuries are added on top. 

At this point they join the GSA club for the school and long with Eli and Steve (Steli) and Mary and Shannon (Marannon) Possibly other members. Nomura is the teacher sponser for the club. The respective care givers for the kids are desperate for them to have some kind of normal safe place where they can just be kids. That’s what this club becomes. 

With the constant threat of Gumm-Gumms the caretakers for the trio have to be told about trolls. Nana is confused at first, but digs some old weapons out of her basement to defend herself with. Barbara is protected by Strickler and Nomura (Maybe they start dating? I hadn’t put more thought into that part yet). The Nuñez Family at first try to be supportive, until Gunmar finds out where Claire lives. 

Claire’s family is targeted so often by Gunmar so he can try and take the Shadow Staff that Ophelia kicks Claire out of the house. Ophelia blames Claire for her Enrique getting taken, and for the threats to the life of her son. They disown her, but Claire still makes sure that the house has the strongest magical Wards she can manage. Without her actually being present, Gunmar’s attacks taper off. 

She moves in with Jim. At first Barbara makes her or Jim sleep on the couch, but she would wake up every day to them sharing either Jim’s bed or the couch. They both had severe nightmares from the constant fighting, and needed the comfort of each other’s presence. Barbara realizes that the times are different enough that she stops trying to get them to sleep seperately. 

After Gunmar targets Toby’s Nana. He is terrified that Darci will be killed. So he tells her about Trolls, about Gunmar, and begs her to leave the city. Eventually she agrees and she and her dad move to Oregon. At first Toby is wildly depressed, but eventually he confesses that he loves Jim and Claire and all three of them start dating. 

Jim realizes eventually that just because his body is magically healing, doesn’t mean it is healing properly. Broken bones are healing while improperly set, and other injuries. So a little after he, Toby and Claire are all dating and living together, he has to go through a series of truly awful surgeries to correct the healing. 

His injuries lead to him having an almost permanent limp. He is constantly covered in cuts, scratches and bruises. And at a certain point stops trying to hide the signs of the injuries. Claire gets hurt as well, plus the corrupting influence of the dark magic she uses, causes her own injuries with their obvious signs. Toby creates a disguise spell for his collapsed hammer, so he can use it as a cane. 

Their friends in the GSA start keeping track of their friend’s injuries. Noticing how often Jim has bleeding wounds, how often Claire shivers and flinches at the slightest touch, how Toby has injuries sitting on top of injuries. 

Mary is the one who addresses it as a group matter first. The others have noticed separately but they didn’t know what to do. Steve, is terrifed that they might be being abused, either by Strickler or someone else close to them. 

And here was the point, where I kind of lost it. Like I really like Hurt Comfort. And so far this is like 100% hurt. And I was really struggling for any kind of conclusion, to this story. 

The Reckless Club would desperately search for the cause of their friend’s injuries. Then they would do whatever they could to help. They would provide small moments of safety and comfort for the heroes, while Jim, Claire and Toby fight a war of attrition against Gunmar’s forces. 

I don’t really know what to do with this sort of story from there. At some point I would presume that Jim kills Gunmar? But what would it take to get to that point? Would Merlin still be awoken? Would Morgana eventually be freed? I didn’t really have any direction to go with this so I just left it to work on stories that I did have a story for.