#it majorly connects to one of my other stories

[dharmasharks]

Heyyy hope you are good? Have an ask! ❤️❤️❤️ Ignore if interested but saying hi and that you are great!

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love! <3

Hello wonderful and great Zenaida! Thank you for asking. I can't seem to talk about my own fics without also talking about myself, which is horrifying! And why I took forever! Anyway!

Here are my personal favorites with just so, so much commentary (all stevebucky because that's what I do here!):

Keep a candle burning

A sweet and silly exes-to-lovers Hanukkah fic that was also a bright spot for me during an otherwise bummer of a time in my life. Basically, for the two straight weeks while I was posting, I pretty much stopped doing my actual job and wrote fic all day, because said job had just majorly screwed me over and I knew I was going to quit after the holidays. I had so much fun writing this to distract myself from dwelling too hard on the existential crisis of careers, what are they, why do I need one, what do I really want to do with my life, oh god, etc. No one was more surprised than me to learn what the fucking ~themes~ of this fic ended up being! Existential crisis avoidance aside, the holiday season can also be a pretty weird and lonely media consumption experience, because "holiday" almost always = Christmas. So sometimes you have to make the cute holiday = Hanukkah romcoms you wish to see in the world.

Always you

Part 3 of my canon-divergent shrinkyclinks series in which Steve and Bucky reunite in the mid-50s. I gave myself all my favorite SteveBucky flavors, ie the things that make me the most unwell about them: Steve n Bucky’s unshakable faith in one another, love as a choice you keep making, and the agony-hope of another chance to get it right. I also decided the best way to achieve all of that was via a nonlinear narrative and an amnesiac narrator, which was…really hard to do! I did not have fun writing this! I did, eventually, have a lot of fun trying to get it just right. It’s my favorite part of the series, so far.

Wanna do right, but not right now

A mid 50s (yes, again) no powers AU about peacetime Steve and purpose and restlessness. And also cheating on your wives at a cookout. I have written a fic for Steve's birthday every year since I started writing for this fandom but hooboyy was I scared to post this one. I'm glad I got over it, because the whole mood just really works for me. The problem though, is that I did all this world building for less than 4,000 words of story, so now I've got the rest of this whole ass world that I obviously find interesting rattling around in my brain forever, I guess! (What did I mean that Bucky was a POW in the Pacific Theater?? Why did I have to bring up the possibilities of stevebucky visiting mid-50s Miami?? Who the fuck is Dot?? Sigh. Ignore me. Ignore me!)

Till there were no more wolves in the West

It's a Civil War Western that I feel like I've talked about way too much already! But I was chatting in the comments of another fic about dealing with the loneliness that comes with toiling away on a historical fic and it made me think of this one. Look, eventually, some people found it and connected to this niche thing I was compelled to write. But in the beginning, I toiled so much, and it was really isolating. Where am I going with this? I have no idea. Writing is very lonely sometimes! But I guess I'm glad I didn't talk myself out of loving this, which is easy to do when you're alone in your google doc wilderness with all your ridiculous research notes.

The art of shadowboxing

Okay, I need more distance from this one to say anything coherent about it. So I'll just mention that the unifying thread of this whole bonkers list is "ambitions that exceeded my skillset, but I did it anyway, even if it took me way too long to figure out." Probably because there's nothing I wouldn't do for boxer violinist Bucky and union leader Steve!! I'm biased, but I think they just turned out so cute and sweet and brave.

[catientie]

TOO SILENT FOR MY TASTE ft. MAFUYU ASAHINA

words, 612 pairing, mafuyu asahina x fem! reader writing, short story/fanfic extras, i’m editing my whole acc layout for my upcoming works in here ignore lol

No one wanted to speak.

It was simple etiquette to disturb someone for your own benefits and preferences. The girl with h/c hair locks loved to listen to music whenever her heart desires; the simplicity of the music notes reinvented her mind casually with the passive-aggressive lyrics sewed directly into her brain.

Mafuyu, however, was different. Yes, she often indulged herself into the world of music, but only for the principle cause of desperation. Elements of pure freedom and despair made her whole, with mixtures of azure and violet irises gazing towards her every, eminent performances in the midst of her room. Now she realized that trying to get work done became futile, especially when songs like Les by Childish Gambino and Static by Steve Lacy blasted in awe from the very vinyl player she bought for Y/N for her 18th birthday.

Looking back at the memory, she deeply regrets buying such item, even for someone she majorly loves.

She was plainly bored (scratch that, she was practically fatigued by now) of her lack of creativity she manifested at night. After her archery club after school, the meeting with Nightcord at 25, you could say that her sessions at 2:00am to 4:00am were to resourceful and profitable towards the group, and now, she cannot write a single verse, let alone a lyric?

And the crumpled up sheets of paper that stacked the metallic, mini bin under her desk started to overflow, and so did her emotions on a single notebook.

But by the time that her music stopped just for a minute, Y/N now was aware of the sudden and reserved silence from Mafuyu as her eyes just lifelessly glinted at her page full of scribbles. Well, who knew that the Mafuyu Asahina was incapable of writing lyrics when she’s was a natural at the creativity with a lack of energy.

And there she was now, face to face with Mafuyu who’s facial features were carefully concentrated with the pen ink splattered all over her hands.

“Mafuyu, maybe it’s time to have a break. come with me.” but she was given back nothing from her. Asahina, who is incapable of tears, sat in despair as a single teardrop ran down her face; revealing not only herself with a line of no makeup but a snippet of her hidden feelings. Some feelings that were too raw to be exposed and discovered for anyone to see, or even understand.

In truthfulness, Mafuyu held on to a mask by her hand for too long, it became a routine for her — an unhealthy one by the fact.

The stops between herself and the girl with the bedroom and vinyls had her thinking of conflict in the head and the tension between the two strangely shook mafuyu to the core. All anxiety though, has risen away when Y/N gently tugged her by the sleeve and carefully caressed the outlines of the face to connect the lips together.

She was kissing her lightly, nothing more than a peck on those rose tinted gloss marked Mafuyu’s natural and raw lips. Flustered or not, her plum eyes met yet again with e/c eyes that mirrored her once of a lifetime beams of innocent joy and thrill.

“Look Mafuyu, I can’t be too sure if I’m the person that is able to save you, but when you’re saved from your feelings, I promise you that I will be there by your side no matter what.” Mafuyu was speechless when those words feel out of Y/N’s mouth.

Yes, she was sure that her girlfriend was different from her but yes, she knew when to put her differences in order to be sure.

CATIENTIE. any acts of plagiarism, tracing or translation is strictly prohibited on any other platforms.

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

Hi!! ヾ(˶•ᵕ•˶)੭o I hope all is well with you~

I have a question, but it's not related to MLQC. It's about the upcoming 3D Otome game!! Love and Deepspace really piqued my interest and curiosity these days, so if it's alright with you, may I ask about the personalities of the love interests there? Even just brief or what characters from MLQC kind-of resembles them?

I can already see a bit of Victor in Zayne/Li Shen (which is my type!!) and Gavin in Xavier/Shen XingHui though, but I'm not sure. ><

Thank you so much!! ⸜(˶ ˃ ᵕ ˂ ˶)⸝♡

hello ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡ well... things are pretty hectic still, but i’m fighting through. hope everything is well with you too~

sorry for the late reply, but i wanted to compare the changes in writing in the ongoing (3rd) CBT before making assessments. and tbh, the writing is still very much under development.

they have already made several changes in the main story plot, the interactions between the heroine/ you and the love interests (majorly with Li Shen as there were severe complaints regarding unstable writing + medically wrong terms after the prev. beta). and after the feedbacks from this beta, i’m sure there will be further optimizations until the official release, so it’s still pretty early to comment on the love interests’ personalities. but if you want me to analogize the current impressions to the lovepro characters, yes, you’re right on the money haha.

Li Shen does share the same strict and stern on the outside but a big bowl of marshmallow on the inside personality as Victor + the extensive use of idioms in the sentences, the either firm or gentle hold on your hand he always has are sure to remind you of a certain someone haha. Li Shen and the heroine have a childhood connection too.

as for Shen XingHui, similar to Gavin, assumption is he’d be a knight character. he is very sweet and happy-go-lucky, but there’s a calmness to him too. might be a little too bland for some people at first, but there’s potential, plus his identity itself makes him super important to the plot, so, hold on haha.

Qi Yu is kind of like a mystery to me still. yes he gives off that enormous bratty energy, but there’s also a quiet side to him (kind of a given since he’s an artist by profession). he’s more like a blend of Kiro and Shaw?? tho it currently feels like the writers aren’t really sure about how to balance his character, whether to build him around the quiet side or to focus on the young energy. b/c while it’s not impossible for them to coexist, too much of one trait could totally strike out the other and seem delusional.

anyway, final words, my recommendation would be to keep an open mind. while these characters do share traits with the characters of their parent game, they are unique characters of their own, embracing their own characteristics and stories. and the writing approach is still subject to change, so~ ∠( ᐛ 」∠)_

—

[saintkaylaa]

hi! I hope this question makes sense, lol. english is not my specialty. but what does everybody's y/n work as in your jjk smau? if she's a sorcerer for somebody, what grade is she?

Your english is great!

So, I’ve gotten this ask before and I debated whether to answer it or not because I really don’t want my smau lore to turn into OC’s. And yes I know that suguru/nanami’s y/n does cross over sometimes into that territory but it is what is with that one.

As far as the others, I do know their back stories but I don’t know if I want to share them. Including grades, techniques, jobs, family lineage, all that stuff. But again, because I don’t want them to be oc’s and want to try and leave them as self-insert as I can I don’t want to share that. Maybe one day I will reveal them as OC’s but until then it’s up for your interpretation.

I will say that all of them—with the exception of Higuruma’s—are sorcerers. As Higuruma, you are a legal assistant. That all just makes the most sense as generically as possible.

None of my lore affects anything majorly, so it doesn’t matter all that much if I share backstory things. It’s just fun to make connections between the characters lol.

out of all of them 1 is special grade and the other is special grade 1. i’ve already dropped hints here and there as to who, so go look for them🤭 if you get it right i’ll write whatever you want lol (with exceptions).

[aliensupersyn]

Shibuya to Shinjuku: Gege's Use of Disparity

My analysis will be centered around Gege's use of disparity between his characters to drive a high-stakes narrative.

TLDR: Both Shibuya and Shinjuku involve hopeless battles that the cast majorly struggle through. Victory will only come after an uphill battle that favors the remaining villain. I implore you to read the first section, as that's the heft of the comparisons between the Shibuya Incident and Shinjuku Showdown. The other sections offer context for the "Sukuna Cycle" and the despair it causes for both the heroes and the readers.

In Shibuya, characters were heavily underpowered and majorly unable to fight the disaster curses. Stakes were at an all time high, especially after Gojo's imprisonment, and still, the heroes mostly failed to defeat their respective enemies. Mei Mei failed to defeat Kenjaku off screen; Nobara struggled against Haruta; Yuji lost to Choso; and Dagon bodied Maki, Nanami, and Naobito.

For the most part, the jjh forces lost the majority of their match ups. Yuji's final showdown alongside Todo was an uphill battle that mostly favored Mahito. Similarly, Sukuna has dominated in Shinjuku and has gotten more advantages than the cast. As put by Technical_Oil_8868:

Mahito hit a black flash, pulled a 0.2 domain expansion and a transformation while Yuji got nothing and moreover I think the black flash on maki is more or useless because Gojo needed 4 bfs to gain RCT output to recover his arm

Sukuna received Mahoraga and Agito via Ten Shadows; he transformed into a body that gives him inherent advantages via an extra mouth and limbs; Sukuna developed a new overpowered cursed technique that's defeated three cast members; Uraume returned one of his ancient cursed objects; he survived Yuta's maximum output Jacob's Latter; and Sukuna hit a black flash. Sukuna Kaisen has set a disparity that resembles Mahito's seemingly endless power as he continued evolving until his final moments.

Before the last enemy's defeat in Shibuya, multiple casualties occurred: Naobito whooped Dagon before the disaster curse evolved, then Maki nearly died, and Mahito later finished Nanami; Nobara gained an advantage against Mahito, then died immediately after; Todo came to help Yuji, and then lost boogie woogie.

Gege has made overt parallels to Shibuya already. It began with Gojo's defeat after an isolated battle against multiple opponents, then characters began to fall one by one. Higuruma's death was a direct reference to Nanami's.

When all hope was lost, Gege brought back two of the verse's heaviest hitters to save the cast. The strongest without cursed energy, and the strongest sorcerer (did this suddenly become a Gojo return post? Place your bets I guess?)

Toji saving Maki's group has parallels to Shinjuku already:

I've spoken extensively about my theory that Maki will return to face Sukuna yet again. She's the last of the heavy hitters and suffered the least damage between her and Yuta. She obviously parallels Toji within the story, and this link between them further supports my connection between Shibuya and Shinjuku.

When Gege needed a character to take out Jogo, who would have surely swept the cast at the time, Sukuna was brought back.

Yuji foils Sukuna the most within the story. In essence, they're twin spirits, having lived in the same body and sharing an appearance; Sukuna's Heian era form still has Yuji's pink hair for example. Sukuna himself admits that Yuji's the only person who he knows can match his own unbreakable will. Their parallels support my argument that Yuji satisfies Sukuna's role within Shibuya; he will act as the second force that saves the remaining cast from the enemy who can and will kill everyone left.

I argue that Maki and Yuji will return to face Sukuna in the end, just as all hope seems to be lost. Kusakabe and Miguel will likely act as plot devices to buy time for Maki and Yuji to make a grand entrance of sorts. Likely, the soul striking duo will struggle through the battle, as they'll no doubt face Sukuna's full cursed technique, and it will be an extremely stressful fight for them and the readers.

The Chips in Sukuna's Armor

Although he still has yet to use his full CT, Sukuna has taken serious damage that has left him with an obvious weak spot now. He may have played around with Kusakabe and allowed himself to get hit for fun, but stopped Kusakabe immediately once his heart was targeted. Now, even Sukuna has limits to how much damage he can suffer.

Sukuna suddenly stopped healing against Maki, and notice how his major wounds remain despite the black flash boosting his output.

Yuta took out his arm, extra mouth, and left a scar along his face that can be seen in the panels above. Maki's attack still has not healed, and will likely stay for the remainder of the battle due to how long soul wounds take to heal; this wound also slows down Sukuna's ability to heal his brain, which inhibits his domain expansion as well.

Sukuna still has a missing arm and has a weak heart. He played with Kusakabe, but as soon as he aimed for his heart, he stopped him. All variations of cleave and dismantle have been overcome twice now. Sukuna's armor is chipping and Gege's introducing characters who can force Sukuna into straining situations by avoiding his usual CT via Maki, Kusakabe, and now Miguel (check notes). I have already argued how Sukuna uses cleave and dismantle to test his opponents' strength. He did the same to Kusakabe in 254 by saving World Dismantle as the overwhelming ace (just as he did with Higuruma who neutralized cleave and dismantle as well). Sukuna's black flash kept him from having to revert to fuga since slash attacks were not working. Maki and Kusakabe both exposed Sukuna's current weaknesses.

Same as the readers', Sukuna's patience is wearing thin. He allowed Ui Ui to save the cast for a while, but suddenly set a trap for him by leaving Kusakabe out in the open while he hid. The conflict's stakes continue to rise, slowly but surely. As Sukuna defeats more of the main cast, the less combative forces become more endangered of being wiped out. Even Sukuna's tired of this same song and dance.

Kusakabe has exposed the fact that Maki's attack created an incredibly vulnerable wound that can be exploited. I argue that Maki and Yuji will use this gathered information in their final battle. Maki can dodge all forms of cleave and dismantle, which will force Sukuna to use his full cursed technique.

The Kind One

Here, I will focus mainly on Kusakabe's role within the narrative, and how he satisfies a similar role as Gojo and Nanami in Shibuya.

Kusakabe and Nanami came to similar conclusions in their final moments. They both share narrative similarities in reference to their power, and Nanami even appeared in 254. Kusakabe can't do a whole lot, but he's willing to stop running and put his life on the line like the younger generation has.

Thematically, Kusakabe specifically represents the meeting point between the young and older generation. The flashbacks reflect how he's been the main one coaching the kids through the fight until now, cause his superiors are dead (or just chilling in Mei's Mei's case). Kusakabe has been left in charge of everyone else's students, and he's taken that role especially seriously in his last moments. His monologue suggests he felt guilty for failing to save not only his friends, but their students as well. Therefore, he's deemed the Kind One. In his last moments, he's not thinking of himself, but everyone he's lost or possibly let down.

Similar to how Nanami thought of Haibara in his final moments, Kusakabe refused to let down Yaga. Both thought about what Haibara and Yaga would think of them, and this informed Nanami and Kusakabe's motivations as they died.

Kusakabe's fate also resembles Yuji after he switched with Sukuna in Shibuya, but he's not giving up like Yuji did. Kusakabe instead gives himself the Todo speech. He already knows that as the seemingly remaining fighter, he must put everything on the line. He didn't need a Todo to come and tell him, because he himself has been the coach.

The motif that Nanami, Gojo, Higuruma, and Kusakabe occupy exists in other shonen titles as well. In Naruto, the five Kage and Might Guy had a similar motivation for putting their lives on the line against Madara; the youth are the first in line on the battlefield, and as adults, they must step up and protect them if they can.

The Shibuya Incident featured largely disproportionate power gaps between the heroes and the villains, similar to Shinjuku Showdown. Gege prefers a narrative where the heroes face a seemingly endless uphill battle against opponents who gain more powerups than them. Sukuna's advantages will ramp while Maki and Yuji face him in the final showdown. Yet, in the end, their teamwork will prevail, just as Yuji and Todo's did against Mahito.

Notes:

Both Toji and Sukuna were returned more or less after being absent. Maki and Yuji will also return after a more brief absence.

I acknowledge that Sukuna didn't mean to "save" the rest of the cast, except Megumi, but in the end, that's what happened.

The last two pages of 254 suggest that Miguel's faster than a point blank cleave/dismantle, which is wild. The scars on the ground suggest that Sukuna definitely cast his attack, but Miguel avoided it without a scratch.

I absolutely love when the older generation in shonen titles admit that the youth are often unfairly sacrificed in war. It never fails to move me when the adults say it's time to put their lives on the line for the youth in an effort to finally give back. Ohnoki's speech and Guy's final words before the eight gates activation have to be two of my favorite moments in Naruto. It's a great motif.

[middlenamesage]

Seeing how the astrology of my natal chart connects to the universal transits at any given time or how it connects to someone else’s astrological blueprint, was when this magical study of the above mirroring the below first became undoubtedly valid in my mind. I’m a skeptic by nature, so although just diving into my natal chart alone expanded my mind majorly, it wasn’t enough for me to say beyond a doubt that it’s all “real”. After all, when keeping just yourself in mind, it can be easy to distort the meanings slightly to make it fit. It can be easy to see what you want to see (or what you don’t want to see; i.e. your fears about yourself) when you come to your natal chart at the beginning and discover there are so many planets, signs, and houses fitting into the puzzle of you. I completely understand why skeptics of astrology think people into it just have confirmation bias. And also why when they then learn there’s a whole natal chart not just a sun sign, they might just think that all gives much more space for confirmation bias.

Frankly I agree that only studying your own astrology, or only natal charts in general, although it can still be useful, and is definitely the most logical way to first break into studying astrology in depth, does not ultimately provide the interplay of distinct forces which validates astrology’s connection in our lives in uncanny ways. Ways that I think would be quite hard for anyone to not take as proof of astrology’s validity, if they understood what they were looking at. Because there are statistics involved.

When you see where someone else puts a planet on one of your planets, that makes you feels so accepted in some distinct way you normally don’t by others, to the point that you could have guessed they had a loving planet interacting with that specific placement of yours at a specific place within the 360 degrees of the zodiac, before you even checked the synastry… When you date multiple people in a row who turn out to have the same major placement(s) at even around the same degrees, and it’s because you’re working through some issues of your own through them at that time… When you meet someone who highlights a certain placement of yours at the exact same time the universe is also highlighting that placement of yours… When you can connect the most major events in your life to major life transits… When I can even just feel the Moon switching signs or conjoining certain planets which I then confirm after having lost track of where it was….

These are all examples of things that make astrology way harder to invalidate. Yes, there was the space to see things how my mind just wanted to, when I was just looking at natal charts. But once I started to see how a cosmic blueprint actually interacts with blueprints outside itself or with the universal cosmic forces, that’s when I started seeing all the connections to things outside myself that astrology can illustrate with uncanny statistics… and that’s when I knew the dance of the planets does have connections to our lives down on planet Earth.

Happy learning! Keep your wonder and gratitude alive as you observe life’s stories recounted in the Universe’s language. 🪄🌠💖

[kurogane2512]

Just completed the new Sumeru event and felt like sharing my thoughts! SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION

I liked this event, surprisingly. I wasn't too hopeful at first tho the idea of finally giving Nahida a proper birthday was sweet, I was ready to brush it off. I loved the amount of role Candace had, such a breath of fresh air to see her fleshed out I felt like I forgot how she was 😭 All the other character appearances also felt quite natural, except Sethos but he had like 5 mins in the end so I'll forgive him. Once again they revealed important lore in a limited timed event but ig that's not really their fault, they should just keep some of these permanently available.

The reveal about the caravan attack was a bit anti-climatic but I liked seeing Sorush again, and also having her voiced felt weird but in a good way. The length of the story was just perfect and it was sufficiently interesting throughout, I think I was quite hooked for the most part (mainly cause I loved seeing Candace lol). The ending cutscene was beautiful as always, I need that Traveller outfit why would u make them wear a brand new one just for this event cutscene 🥲 Speaking of Traveller, here is one thing I couldn't help but notice.

As the reveal about the Wedjet Eye happened, Traveller was thinking to themselves that it was likely meant as a gift for Rukkhadevata. There were few other times they made this mention of something being for Rukkhadevata but nobody remembers her now. This made me sad and miss Rukkhadevata all over again and I still wish she was the playable Archon 😭 No hate to Nahida but I'd exchange her for Rukkhadevata in a flash with no arguments. Also I see Traveller tends to treat Nahida with more care and respect than other archons, ofc it's likely cause she's a child but I want to do all this for Rukkhadevata 🥺

The ending scene of Traveller becoming her Knight of Flowers and escorting her in the carriage was so cute and chivalrous and I genuinely couldn't help but imagine how it would be with Rukkhadevata. Sorry if this sounds weird but there are some interactions with Nahida that can be interpreted differently had they been said by an adult but pls know I do not mean anything romantic for Nahida from this, I only like her platonically as a character and nowhere in the sense of simping for other characters. I only feel this by the choice of words and I have seen such interactions being done with adult characters to establish some romantic connection with the mc.

Ngl I felt like rewriting this with Rukkhadevata in place of Nahida, ofc I'd change some things since Rukkhadevata won't want candy falling from the sky lmao but you all get the idea. It's majorly the last scene with Traveller that gives me this craving and I personally feel quite emotionally attached to her for some reason. I still get sad over the Sumeru aq conclusion about her so I really want to give her love and attention, she was so nice and pretty and literally perfect as an Archon + completely my type of woman 😭 We'll see if I ever get around to doing this cause I have so many other fics to write already lol but yeah that was it thanks for reading all this ♥️

[imperiuswrecked]

Sometimes I find it deeply and darkly hilarious about the moment magneto must have found that twins are his children. Like he must have thought -shit!!! They can't be mine, they won't likely accept me!!! Even he knows somewhere deep down, he majorly majorly screwed up and they won't accept him as their father. And I don't think he has majorly tried to repair relations from his side, he actually killed pietro!!?!! And when pietro was actually right and wanted to save wanda!

Like how can he expect their love when he was the one who abused his power to terrorize them in brotherhood Era. Even though he didn't know that wanda and pietro were his kids, he did, however deeply hurt them. I mean, the relationship between them was going to dysfunctional from start. Maybe that is why editorial is not showing magda as alive, and marya connected with twins- they both would have killed magneto several times over.

I can't believe people (and marvel editors) who want to see wanda as pure daddy's girl. Like atleast, show the growth how they patched up their relation, they could even start with the convo that how their children have been raised by other people-it can be a good introspective and bonding topic. And we need more pietro Lorna moments again, I feel she is at the moment more supportive than wanda. Poor Pietro is always the villain in Wanda's story. He also should be at x men related teams- I feel he gets more good character arc there.

Marvel doesn't do complex families well, I've said this before and will probably engrave it on my headstone. Marvel literally erases everything that makes people interested in the characters to have this generic take that's so bland and boring.

I don't think Erik ever really expected their acceptance or forgiveness, because the highlight of the issue where he reveals his connection to them isn't "I'm your father" it's "I'm Luna's grandfather"

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #4

Which again to me speaks volumes about how broken Erik's relationship between himself and his children are before he even knew them for who they were. And personally I feel that Erik tries harder to foster a relationship with his grandkids than his actual children because he's grandkids are still young enough for him to shape himself in their minds/lives but also they are a generation removed from him, there's space there for him to attempt an actual relationship without the constant reminder of his past, especially the loss of his first daughter.

This is why he viewed Luna as a fresh new step on his path towards redemption, at least in his grandkids eyes, and why marvel constantly cutting Luna out of the narrative only harms the family dynamic. Even Pietro thinks it's all a trick, that's his first thought when Erik reveals their connection, because of their tumultuous past with the Brotherhood. There could be so much interpersonal introspection and character dynamics if Marvel would JUST LET SOMEONE COMPETENT WRITE THEM.

Instead all we get is some half assed "Lorna and Wanda are his daddy's girls and pietro is the screw up" found family bullshit. Found family does not work with them. Their blood/biological connection was the only tie holding them together because of their past. There's no way the in character writing would any of them have anything to do with Erik if they weren't his bio kids.

We were actually discussing this in the Magnet Family discord the other week how close Pietro is with Lorna, and how good their dynamic is and how it differs from Wanda's. Also how the three of them never actually get good on panel time together. I definitely agree that Pietro is better off on the X-Men adjacent teams than on the Avengers.

[yazzberry]

new chapter of endgame (published here, ao3, and wattpad)!!

So….I'm back! I started college a while ago and it's been a lot, to say the least. I haven't had much time to write, but finishing this chapter brought me immense comfort in maintaining that connection with the things that sustained my happiness through childhood (me saying that as if I'm not still a kid lol).

That being said, I know it took me forever to get this out (and trust me, I've been dying to share this chapter with you all), but it's a really long one—so cozy up and grab a nice snack because you're gonna be here for a while.

Enjoy, mwah <3

Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama or any of the characters, only the plot of this story. Okay? Okay.

Chapter 1, Strangers in the Night

— ꕥ —

Bridgette, for all her giddiness and excitement in reuniting with her long-distance bestie, was simply too ecstatic to drive herself.

"No seriously!" she exclaimed, "I'll crash my poor car!"

So who other than Geoff, bless his head-over-heels-in-love soul, would drop their Sunday morning plans to drive her over to Courtney's new residence.

Bridgette sighed as she admired his side profile from the passenger's seat. "You're the best boyfriend ever, you know that?"

He scoffed (and blushed), "I bet you tell all your boyfriends that."

"No, just the ones I actually like." She laced her fingers with his free hand.

"Don't I feel special. Anyways, it's nothing—in Wawanakwa, nothing is more than a 10-minute drive." Geoff shrugged as he brought her hand up to his lips and planted a sweet kiss.

Bridgette had to completely hold back her swooning, because yes, even though they had been dating for 6 months going on 7, and even though she'd been crushing on him majorly for about a year before that, the feeling of butterflies in her stomach never left her whenever she was around Geoff.

She really was a hopeless romantic.

"No, but I know you're exhausted after yesterday's party, it took a long time to clean up once everyone left. And! I know you're not an early bird. in. the. slightest."

"Bridge, don't you get it by now?" He chuckled as he shook his head.

Then Geoff, being the responsible driver that he is, waited until they reached the red light to turn and face Bridgette. It was blue on hazel, an electric spark joining the two.

"There is nothing I wouldn't do for you."

Bridgette leans in for a meaningful kiss when suddenly the car behind them honks to no end—sadly, the light turned green.

"My bad, yo!" Geoff yells out the window before continuing on their drive, but Bridgette never removed her hand from his, nor did the feeling of the butterflies wear off at any point the whole ride over.

— ❥ —

It was the distinct honk of Geoff's loud, vintage convertible that signaled to Courtney of her friend's arrival.

Courtney tried to remain cordial about the whole thing—I mean, really, it hasn't been that long since we've last seen each other.

But her heart played an entirely different tune, threatening to burst in excitement at the sight of Bridgette's wavy blonde mane jumping ecstatically out the car and onto her front porch. Watching it all from her room's window, Courtney rushed out and down the stairs to meet her friend out front.

Just at the opening of the front door, Bridgette launched herself onto Courtney in one of her signature bear hugs.

"COURTNEY OH MY GODDD!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE HERE IT'S JUST NOT REAL!!!" Bridgette squealed as she hugged tighter and tighter, as if trying to hold onto the moment lest it all be a cruel dream.

"I can hardly believe it myself," the brunette sighed with resignation in attempting to bottle up her excitement. "I mean one minute I'm biking down Manhattan Beach and the next I'm somewhere in the middle of Canada? Talking to you? Tell me that doesn't sound like some fever dream??"

"AAAAHH, but isn't it great??!!!!" She squealed, jumping up and down.

"Of course it is, I'm so happy you're here," Courtney sighed with gratitude, giving her a heart-wrenching smile.

Suddenly a look of remembrance flashed on Bridgette's face, "Oh my god, and look who else is here!!"

She grabbed Courtney's hand and guided her out to the front porch, where Geoff was already hopping out of his car and making his way towards them.

"MOCHA'S BACKKKK!!!" He chanted as he jogged over with his arms outstretched in a victory pose.

"You and your stupid nicknames," She chuckled as she let herself be scooped up by Geoff's overbearing embrace. "It's great to see you, Geoff!"

"Aw come on, I know you love my nicknames! No one out there better at giving them," Geoff boasted with fake pride as he fixed the backwards baseball cap on his head (a fun alternative to the cowboy hat, which God knows needed a break).

"This makes me so happy—our summer squad is back together!!" Bridgette cheered as she hugged her two favorite people close together.

"Back and better than ever, baby!" Geoff hooted as he gave Bridgette a quick peck on the cheek.

"Honestly, having you guys around makes this all so much better, I don't know what I'd do if I was completely new, I mean, you guys know how bad I can be at socializing."

Geoff winced at the thought, and Bridgette offered her friend a pitiful, sheepish smile. "Well, it may not be your strongest suit," the blonde lamented.

"Calculus? I can do. Writing a thoughtful, well-structured essay on Victorian literature? I can do. But making friends? Sue me, I guess, everyone has their Achilles' heel," Courtney pouted, clutching her hands to her face in frustration.

Why she never got the hang of being a people person like Josie or Bridgette or Geoff was simply beyond Courtney—really, she blamed her parents. I love that I have another thing to blame them for.

"That's not totally true! We're your friends!" Geoff defended.

"Well no offense to you guys, but I'd have to actually be socially inept, or the biggest bitch in the world, for you guys not to befriend me," Courtney chuckled as she crossed her arms.

Bridgette just rolled her eyes and enveloped the brunette in a side hug, "Hey, we like you for who you are, and if we can see how great you are, so will everyone else."

Bridgette always had a special talent for quieting her anxious thoughts, and reassuring Courtney to keep her from spiraling. It wasn't that Courtney was too strung out by her inability to make friends (she really didn't mind the moments spent alone nor the quiet lifestyle), but she'd be lying if she said she didn't care at all about how people perceive her. 

Truly, who doesn't care in the slightest about what others think? The day she met someone like that….

But, sometimes Courtney got a little too self-conscious; not exactly insecure, just entirely aware of the fact that people were constantly building perceptions of her that she couldn't control. And that scared her.

"Bridge is totally right," Geoff pulled her out of her thoughts with a hug on her other side, "You'll have no problems making friends, I already know Gwen, Duncan, and Heather are gonna be stoked to meet you!"

Courtney offered a smile to both of them—it made so much sense to her that they were a couple. She could never imagine them getting into a fight, or having any sort of love troubles.

"Thanks guys, sorry about the mush. I didn't mean to make this into a pity party, your friends sound cool! It'll be nice to meet them," She offered a hopeful smile—a rare sight, since she wasn't usually the hope-filled type.

At that, Geoff grinned with a devious expression, "Y'know Mocha, it's funny you mention that..."

— ❥ —

"No, no, no, and oh, did I forget to mention...no!"

"Oh Courtney, come on, you don't even have to stay the whole time! It'll be so much fun!" Bridgette pleaded to her friend before turning to Josie for support, "Come on, back me up on this!"

Josie laughed as she sauntered over from the kitchen into the living room with a bag of plantain chips and flopped onto the couch (still wrapped in plastic, they hadn't finished furnishing the house) beside her little sister.

"She's right, Courtney. This is the kind of teenage shit you need to experience," she offered as she popped a chip in her mouth.

"Don't be a traitor. I'm just not really in the mood to meet so many people and socialize," Courtney cringed at the thought before stealing a chip from Josie, in a sore attempt to sweeten her mood. "And I'm exhausted! Did I mention we got here at 3:00 AM??"

Josie snorted, knowing her sister's evasive ways of making dumb excuses.

"Court, you said yourself you wanted to meet our friends. And besides, you'll just have to do all that socializing anyway on the first day of school. At least, at Geoff's darty, you can do it at the lake! Way more fun, don't you think!!?" Bridgette clasped her hands before the brunette, standing before her and speaking in an exaggerated manner to convince her much-too-stubborn friend.

"Geoff is the guy that just left, right? Also, what the fuck is a darty?" Josie asked.

"A darty is a day party! Geoff, yes the guy that just left, always throws an end-of-summer bonfire party at his lake house—it's always so much fun and I really think Courtney's missing out if she doesn't come."

Courtney sighed, biting her lip as she looked back and forth from Bridgette's eager and expectant expression to Josie, nonchalantly eating her chips. But then Josie tossed the chips on the coffee table (also still wrapped in plastic) and sat up to meet Courtney eye-to-eye.

"You said you wanted a fresh start here, maybe this is it. Go out, explore a new side of yourself! And I won't have to worry about you because you'll be in good company," Josie said as she passed a knowing smile to Bridgette, who still had her hands tightly interlaced with her chin resting on them.

So, Courtney was done. Really she was done the second both Bridgette and her sister decided to team up on her—the former too earnest and the latter too persuasive for Courtney's personal comfort. Between the two of them, they could probably get the brunette to do anything short of murder.

She threw her head back in acceptance, "Fine! I'll go."

"YESSSS!!! Court, you won't regret it!!! Oh my god! I have to help you find an outfit!!" Bridgette exclaimed, as she excitedly rushed up the stairs into Courtney's room, eager to tear her closet apart.

Josie simply chuckled as she reached for her chips again, "Well I'm probably going to sleep early tonight since I start my shift super early tomorrow...just don't stay out too late? And don't do anything stupid."

Courtney sighed as she sank into the couch, already regretting her choice in anticipation of a stressful night, "Please, like you have to tell me that."

— ❥ —

Of course, if Courtney was actually agreeing to such insanity, she needed to go out on a run and clear her mind the best way she knew how.

Exercise diffused her anxieties, and made her feel good about herself. Others pregamed with alcohol, she pregamed with productivity (though she'd probably still need a drink or two before heading out).

It'd have to be a short run, since Bridgette was coming to pick her up at 4:00 PM, and Courtney would still need to shower and get ready. Nevertheless, a short run was still a run.

It was perfect that their new house had private entry to a hiking trail that led into the sprawling forests and mountainous terrains of Wawanakwa Falls—one of the many perks of living in a small town, where the neighborhoods were integrated with nature.

It was one of the many selling points Josie brought to Courtney when she announced that she was moving to Nowheresville, Canada. It honestly didn't take much convincing on Josie's part, since Courtney's alternative option to moving with her was to go back to their parent's house in Connecticut.

Josie could be moving to Antarctica and Courtney would still opt for that over her parents.

What are you doing, Courtney? This is the opposite of clearing your head, she thought to herself as she mentally rolled her eyes.

Determined to maintain her zen (or whatever was left of it), she let her senses wander to the scenes of nature moving around her: the subtle cracks of crestfallen leaves (one of the many signs that autumn was coming) crunching with every step; the harmonic chirps and chimes of birds above; the crispness of the forest air, a palpable chill filling her lungs with every inhale; the raging sun and clear blue sky; the rich bark of the trees, its linings displaying the carvings of time and of...a skull?

Did she see that right?

The double take she did almost caused her to trip on a fallen branch. Courtney quickly saved herself by grabbing onto a nearby trunk for support, only to find that this tree also had the carvings of the same anonymous artist, except this one had writing on it: "Punk's Not Dead", and another skull symbol.

Courtney crossed her arms in disapproval, letting out a loud exhale of frustration as she shook her head. "What kind of idiot is out here vandalizing trees?" She muttered to herself as she studied it a little more.

Then, in her peripheral vision, she noticed the slight iconography of yet another skull on another tree, this one far more detailed than the last ones—she could tell its author spent quite some time on it. It would've intrigued her more, if it wasn't so destructive to the tree itself.

She follows this path of carved trees, each one either having the same carving of the skull or some insipid writing on it, "D-Man", or, "Life Sucks And Then You Die", and other such emo sayings.

Courtney considered just turning around and going back on the trail—after all, what was she really hoping to gain from humoring this guy's vandalism with an audience? It wasn't going to lead anywhere, anyways.

So that's what she should've done...but then the slightest glint of something silver caught her eye from afar. And if Courtney had any weaknesses, it was her stubborn determination to see something through.

She found the hollow of a tree, probably stolen from a poor squirrel trying to nest there for the fall, and within it a stash of all sorts of things: Altoid tins with old joints inside, packs of cigarettes (some empty), and the silver thing in question—a lighter.

It was a custom lighter, not the cheap kind you find at a convenience store; it weighed heavy in Courtney's hand, with a sort of emotional importance, and a small inscription etched in simple lettering on the side of the lighter reading, "Take a walk on the Wild(er) side."

"Hmph," she scoffed, "so he's a stoner. That checks out."

Courtney absentmindedly put the lighter in her pocket and took a pack of cigarettes while she was there (a true guilty pleasure of hers, if ever one exists). Serves him right for leaving stuff here, and for carving into trees, she justified to herself.

Feeling that her business was done, the brunette trotted back towards the direction of her path, trying to occupy her mind with something else to distract from the fact that she soon had to walk back down and get ready for Geoff's bonfire. Oh, the horror.

She started singing to herself a bit, an old habit of hers that never really died and always came back whenever she was by herself. Recently obsessed with Fiona Apple, the lyrics to Paper Bag start fighting their way out of her mind through her voice—the perfect melody to match her serene pace.

Hunger hurts,and I want him, so bad,oh it kills,

Before getting back to the trail, she finds a slightly worn path going towards a lookout spot.

'Cause I know I'm a messhe don't wanna clean up.

Deciding that she can spare an extra 10 minutes she decides to follow it.

I've got to fall 'causethese hands are too shaky to hold,

And suddenly she's met with this amazing view of the whole town and the forests expanding far beyond it—a scene as commanding of the eye as a compass is obeying of a magnet.

Hunger hurtsbut starving works,when it costs...too much to love.

And maybe it was the scenery before her that just physically took Courtney's breath away, or the overwhelming breeze that had picked up at such a high altitude, but upon realizing that she was, in fact, not alone up there, and that she was among the presence of another, Courtney nearly felt her chest seize.

"Pretty voice. Why'd you stop singing? Paper Bag is one of my favorites."

Courtney turns to face him. Wow, his eyes.

The crystal blue quality of his eyes were the first thing to strike her about him, and Courtney found herself staring into them for much longer than she'd like to admit.

The next feature of his aspect she noticed were his piercings—his ears, a stud on his nostril, one of his eyebrows, and a flash of silver peeking out from his tongue. He also wore other forms of jewelry, some rings and chains that stood out against his black hoodie. He had very strong features: a defined jawline, deep set eyes (upon further inspection, she noticed the cerulean iris contrast greatly with the tinge of redness across his eyes, he'd obviously been smoking), prominent brows—his side profile was so defined it almost cut the scenery behind it.

But, perhaps the most distinguishable thing about him was hair; it was full around his head, straight locks with a slight wave and messy ruffle to it. From the root through most of its length, it was jet black, very striking against his pale complexion; but the tips were a bright neon green that Courtney couldn't tell whether she found off-putting or attractive.

Attractive?! Please, Courtney, get a grip.

"So you must be the tree vandal?" Courtney forced herself to say, realizing that she'd been staring at him for too long (and he noticed, too, owing to his smug disposition).

"What, this?" He threw a lazy thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the tree behind him that he was apparently working on before Courtney interrupted him. "Aww, don't worry about it. The trees don't mind." 

"In fact," and he took a couple of steps towards her, nonchalantly putting his hands in the pocket of his hoodie, "I had a real heart-to-heart with this exact tree here and, it doesn't mind."

Courtney scoffed at his condescension, "You're mocking me?"

"What? I'm totally sincere. Can't you tell by my eyes?" And he closed the distance between their faces by an uncomfortable amount, gazing directly into Courtney, "They say eyes are the window to the soul."

And while she found it hard to break eye contact with him, Courtney took an unsteady step back, trying to regain her composure, "Don't be an asshole, you're harming their ecosystems."

She crossed her arms defensively, "And with tasteless graffiti, too."

"I take it you don't like my art?"

"That's a generous label. I'd hardly put your 'art' on the same order as Monet."

"The whole point of art is that it's subjective, no?"

"Frankly, there's being subjective, and then there's just having taste."

At that he clutched a hand over his chest, feigning injury, "You're breaking my heart, babe. What made you so cold?"

She just rolls her eyes, "Don't expect me to humor your theatrics with a response...and don't call me babe."

A moment of silence passes between them. For a good minute, it was just him eyeing and studying Courtney the way she had been doing to him—and it made her immensely uncomfortable. She was willing to blurt out anything to make the moment pass: "You know Fiona Apple?"

It takes him a second to snap out of his daze and form a response, "Don't sound so surprised, does it look like I don't have taste?"

She pauses for a moment, thinking before responding, "You do that a lot—answer my questions with more questions. Why is that?"

"Just an old habit of mine I guess. Those die hard, you know," he nonchalantly sighed, tilting his head to the side as he not-so-subtly studied Courtney. But it wasn't like she wasn't doing the exact same thing to him, taking in his appearance, words, and presence as a whole.

"Well, as for the taste thing, I'm afraid that's already been established," she grimaced.

"In that I have none?" he cocked a quizzical brow in smugness.

"Precisely."

He simply scoffed at her guarded disposition and looked around, searching for a response, before focusing those teal irises back on her, "You don't like me," and he paused for a second, considering what to add, "you don't know me, but you don't like me."

And now it was her turn to feign a cheery expression. "What? No, I think we get along just fine!"

"So, why are you still here then?"

The brunette rolled her eyes at his crudeness. "Whatever, I didn't mean to barge into your smoking spot anyways. I just came for the view, but I'll be leaving now—"

"No, you stay. I'm outta here. My buzz is killed."

"How chivalrous." She scoffs as she watches him walk away. He throws a lazy hand up in the air as a goodbye, not even bothering to look back.

"To a princess like you? I've got to be," he calls out before disappearing back into the woods.

Courtney breathes a sigh of relief, feels her shoulders slouch and her arms fall from their crossed position once she confirms that he's out of sight.

"Don't call me that," she mutters more to herself than anyone else before turning back towards the view, her original reason for coming there.

Having committed the naturalistic scene to memory, she turns on her heels to leave, when a splash of color briefly catches her eye. It was the tree that he was working on—one of his usual carvings, but this time, it was a rendition of the landscape she had just spent 5 minutes staring at. As much as it pained her to say, it was a good rendition, too.

He was actually using some paint for this one, and didn't even bother to clean up his station before leaving; small bottles of paint and brushes were littered on the ground. 

Courtney considered picking the mess up and throwing it away, but she figured he'd be back for them himself.

The brunette studies the carving a little more, and while she wouldn't admit it to anyone but herself, she recognized the faintest quality of talent in the etching before her. And, with a simple hum of thought, she turns to follow the path back towards her new home.

— ♔ —

The car is almost completely silent, save for the quiet sound of Heather's finger rhythmically tapping on the driver's wheel.

The ravenette checked her phone again for the time—4:11 PM. Duncan was supposed to come out at 4, what the hell is he doing??

"Can't count on men for shit," she sighed to herself as she clicked on the FaceTime app, ready to call him.

She's interrupted, though, by a sudden rap on the passenger seat window. Slightly startled, Heather looks up to see none other than Gwen, more affectionately known to her as 'weird goth girl', standing outside her car.

"When the hell did you get here?!" She exclaimed, rolling down her window. Gwen crouched down to meet her eye level, leaning on the window sill. "I literally live a couple of houses down," she said, pointing down the row of houses to where she lived.

"So you're as pale as a ghost and creep up like one, too." She shrugged, unlocking the car doors to let her in. But just as she's about to get into the backseat, Heather remarks, "Why are you getting in the back? Do I look like an Uber driver to you??"

Gwen, visibly restraining herself from saying something snarky and mustering all the patience in the world, moved to the passenger seat door and grudgingly got in. The goth seemed to mutter something to herself, but whether or not Heather cared, she didn't question it.

"Remind me to never ask you for a ride again. I'd rather walk," she huffed, blowing some of her bangs out of her eyes.

"You honestly should—God knows you need the tan."

"I'm not that pale."

"Keep telling yourself that, maybe it'll come true!"

Gwen palms her forehead in frustration, "What the fuck is taking Duncan so long?!"

Heather starts honking her car horn nonstop, hoping to get the aforementioned boy's attention and shorten the amount of time she had to spend alone with Gwen.

It wasn't that Heather totally disliked the girl or held some sort of hatred for her—it was just admittedly too easy to pick on her at times.

A part of her also resented the fact that everyone had taken to Gwen so quickly: Geoff, despite them being polar opposites, always made a point to include her in everything; Bridgette (okay maybe this one wasn't as surprising) in the way that she'd always hang out, study, joke around with her; and Duncan. Well, he was the most shocking one of all, because he wasn't exactly the type to make a conscious effort in befriending people.

Maybe it was because of their shared emo-ness ('edgy humor', they liked to call it), or their numerous overlaps in interests, whether it be music, movies, shows, etc., but the two quickly became as thick as thieves.

Obviously, Heather had to be blind to not notice the fact that Goth-y had a major crush on the guy. It wasn't that she didn't understand the appeal (obviously Duncan was hot, but too emo for her, and frankly? An absolute dick, he was a walking red flag in most respects), but the fact that Gwen thought she had a chance? Hilarious.

Sure, he seemed to maybe, slightly, care about Gwen as a friend, but in terms of romance (which Heather wasn't sure he was even capable of anymore), she was completely far from his type—at least, based on past precedent.

"Alright, alright!! You can stop honking now, he's finally coming out!" Gwen shouted over the loud horn, her hands covering her ears.

"Hmph," Heather pouted as she glared down Duncan, who was taking his sweet time walking towards the car.

"Aww, how sweet of you girls to wait up," he said smoothly as he made his way into the backseat, the strong smell of his cologne filling up her car.

"This is the last time I do you the favor of picking you up," Heather scoffed, turning around to squint her eyes at him.

Gwen chuckled, "What took you so long anyways? It's not like you had to do your makeup or anything."

"It takes time to look this good, I'll have you know," Duncan nonchalantly sighed as made himself comfortable—his head tilted back on the headrest, man-spreading to his content.

"So who are you trying to look good for anyway?" Heather smirked at him as she put her sunglasses on and started the engine to her precious car. The smooth purr of its engine was like music to her well-adorned ears—she greatly appreciated a car well taken care of.

"Dude, everyone at school is so ran-through. I can't hook up with anyone without immediately getting into some BS drama with someone else. I need is someone new," the punk loudly complained.

"The only thing I miss about my old school was that you could kinda do whatever you wanted and not have it spread to the rest of the school within minutes," Gwen sympathized, putting her head against the window sill to feel the cool afternoon breeze against her temples, "Here, it's like living under a microscope."

"So what I'm hearing is that you're going back to Dakota tonight?" Heather inquired.

Duncan rolled his eyes in annoyance just at the thought of her, "Fuck no. I've already hooked up with her three times, she's gonna start getting attached and shit."

"Three times?! Yikes, Duncan. I've never broken the cardinal rule of getting with a hookup more than two times—unless it's an established friends-with-benefits kind of situation."

"I know, Heather, I'm not stupid. I'm avoiding her like the fucking plague tonight. I've been talking to one of her friends, though, Taylor?"

"Taylor McAuley??" Heather could hardly keep her composure, "I thought Dakota was her best friend?!"

"Beats me. She's thick as fuck, though." Duncan now seemed to be scrolling through her Instagram on his phone, "but is it really stupid of me to get with her?"

"Uhhhh," Heather thought on it for a second, "normally I'd say yes but they're seniors so they'll be leaving soon anyways. Besides, if Dakota ever finds out, she'd get way more pissed at Taylor than you. Girl code, or whatever."

"Wow, you guys are both assholes." That was all Gwen could contribute to the conversation, deciding to focus her attention on the passing scenery around them on their way to the lake.

One thing Heather and Duncan had uncannily in common was their approach (or rather, aversion) to relationships: purely for the cheap thrills, no strings attached, no messy feelings. It was just easier that way.

And frankly, it was nice for Heather to have someone to talk to so casually about sex and hook-ups. Bridgette was Ms. Relationship, she wouldn't even kiss a guy if they didn't have any verbal commitment; Geoff wasn't too much of a slut before Bridgette, but Heather knows he'd gotten with at least two of her old friends before practically marrying Bridge (come to think of it, it was probably Geoff who ruined those friendships for her, not that she really cared); Gwen mentioned a boyfriend at her old school, but it didn't sound like she was too interested in hooking up with people anyways (or if she was, she never made an effort to).

So that left Heather and Duncan to swap war stories, ask each other for advice, and set each other up with friends and mutuals so that neither of them was left high and dry.

And while Duncan was definitely an established man-whore at school, Heather was way smarter at keeping her sexual life on the down-low; that sort of reputation was always worse for girls than guys. 

People slut-shamed her enough without knowing her body count; they'd all go to town if they knew the actual number.

It's easy to hate a pretty girl, Heather sighed to herself as she admired her reflection in the side view mirror.

"Don't worry, Pasty, it's all just dumb fun," he said as he yawned, stretching his arms back above his head, before resting his hands there. "The second you decide you wanna hook up with someone, just make sure they're not like me."

"Got it."

That dry response was enough for Heather to know exactly what was going through Gwen's head, and a part of her sympathized with that sense of unrequitedness.

"So Heather, what are your plots for the night? Justin again?" Duncan asked with a sly grin, completely oblivious to the moody goth in their presence.

"Hell no. He may be hot, but he's got no personality. Which normally I wouldn't mind, but kissing him is like kissing a wall."

"Harsh!" Duncan cackled his ass off.

"No, I'm a junior now. It's time I start to aim higher—I'm thinking Jose."

"Burromuerto?"

"The one and only. Hooking up with him will be easy, but if I can get him to like me enough to take me to Homecoming, then I've got Junior and Senior Prom Queen in the bag," she stated intently, tightening her grip on the wheel with determination.

"Yeah, except...you have to get him to like you," Duncan teased, even earning a chortle from Gwen, who was still facing away from them and towards the window.

"Oh, please," she turned to smirk at him, "for me, it'll be a piece of cake."

— ༄ —

Geoff had outdone himself this time.

Almost 70% of the school had already pulled up and were vastly enjoying themselves at the lake shore; drinks were going strong, people were playing cup pong, 'beach' volleyball, chicken fights in the water. Some people had even started to hook up already, and it was only 5:07 PM.

Despite the darty's avid success, the only people he cared to share it with weren't even there. But, as if in response to his thoughts, the blond's phone starts ringing to show an incoming call from Heather.

"Where the hell are you guys?" Geoff exclaims, holding the phone close to his ear since it was hard to hear anything over the music-blasting speakers.

"Take a pill, Geoff, we're here already. I just need you to open your garage door so I can park inside. Like hell I'm leaving my car out for some drunkies to try to break into and hook up in."

And he could just barely hear Gwen's retort in the background, "You're so fucking dramatic."

"Don't worry, brah, I'm coming over right now." And he hung up the phone before hearing anything else.

He rushed over to the garage and did as he was asked; currently, only his car was sitting in there, leaving space for Heather's car and Courtney's. But both of their spaces were empty at the moment.

Geoff checked his phone again to make sure he wasn't missing any notifications from Bridgette, before sighing at finding none and pressing the button to open the garage door.

Heather smoothly drove in and parked her car, they were all out and joining him on the lake within a matter of minutes.

"Now this is a party!" Duncan exclaims as he walks up to Geoff to dab him up.

"Fuck that, this is a darty!!" The blond exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm not saying that corny ass shit," Duncan chuckles as he looks around, taking in the whole scene before him.

"Geoff! Please tell me you have some weed leftover from last night—I never got to hit it before I left," Gwen pleaded, giving him her puppy eyes.

The blond simply laughed at her desperation, "Don't worry, brah, my plug's coming later to restock me."

Satisfied with his answer, she simply looks around to see if she can find any other familiar faces.

"Wow, Geoff, this is big—even by your standards," Heather commented, crossing her arms conservatively.

"I know, right?!" He responded incredulously, "I mean, I should just host all my parties out here—we can be as loud as we fucking want! WOOOO!" He shouted victoriously, as if to demonstrate his point.

"Wait, how is Bridge not here yet?? I thought she was helping you throw this," Heather kept scoping out the place, trying to spot her bubbly friend.

Geoff's mood was watered down at the reminder of his girlfriend's absence. It may sound cheesy as fuck, but stuff really was way better whenever Bridgette was around. And the fact that she hadn't texted him in so long was just a little off-putting for him.

"Uhh, I'm sure she's on the way. She said she was getting ready with Mocha, and the two of them together is a recipe for lateness," he faked nonchalance, a hand fixing the cowboy hat atop his head.

"Mocha? You mean Courtney, the girl Bridgette mentioned yesterday?" Gwen asked, arching a brow in curiosity, to which he responded with a simple nod.

"And Bridgette wanted me to tell you that she's off limits, Duncan," he said in a serious tone, well, as serious as he could muster.

"Damn, okay. Not like that was even on my mind or anything," his hands were up in innocence, but the devilish smirk on his face said it all, "Why? Is she hot?"

Geoff knew Duncan better than most, and he could tell Bridgette's warning almost registered like a challenge in his friend's mind. It probably would've been better that Geoff had said nothing, never even planted that seed of thought in his brain.

He just rolled his eyes at Duncan, "Just don't be a dick to her, and you're good. Actually, that goes for you, too, Heather."

"What, me??? I'm not a dick!!"

A moment of silence befell them.

"Okay, you assholes! Maybe I can be mean—but I'm just honest. Everyone's so damn sensitive," the ravenette crossed her arms defensively.

"Geoff, you do realize that other than you and Bridgette, everyone else in our friend group is really unapproachable. I'm not even that rude, and people still call me intimidating," Gwen pointed out.

"That's just because you're weird and unlikable," Heather shrugged. But at the following moments of awkward silence as everyone stared her down, she simply sighed, "Sorry, it's too easy sometimes. I can't help myself."

"I don't mean to worry you guys too much about it," Geoff tried moving forward with the conversation, "To be honest, Mocha's pretty unapproachable herself. But, just...be nice guys."

"Yikes, does that mean she's a weirdo?" Heather winced, "We all know Bridgette's not above taking in strays," and, of course, she gave Gwen a wicked side eye.

Geoff really didn't understand Heather, or girls like Heather, at all sometimes. Of course, he's gotten to know Heather enough since the start of high school to know she's not a complete mean girl, but there were times where she could've fooled him. Namely, right now.

And he could never really tell when she and Gwen were on good terms; sometimes they were indifferent and other times at each other's throats—it was hard to keep up. Girls, man. Thank God Bridgette's not so hot-n-cold.

"Well, Bridgette's a good person, and a good friend to people and animals alike—lucky for you, she's not disgusted by snakes," Gwen shot back, leaving Heather with a gaping expression.

And before she could even respond with one of her usual witty retorts, Bridgette, in her usual diffusive manner, saunters over to the group, completely oblivious to whatever verbal catfight had occurred moments before.

"Babe!" Geoff breathes out a huge sigh of relief, opening up his arms, ready to scoop her into a hug.

She's more than willing to jump into them, and Geoff held onto their embrace for longer than Bridgette probably expected.

"Awwww, did someone miss me??"

"So all this hype about Latte, or whatever, and she's not even here?" Duncan asked, crossing his arms expectantly.

"What are you talking about, she's walking over right now," Bridgette laughed as she turned back around and pointed a finger to single Courtney out—though she didn't have to.

The crowds of people were naturally parting a path for Courtney as she walked directly towards them, looking as beautiful and picturesque as ever.

Geoff and Bridgette chuckled to themselves, as if sharing a secret only they were in on. 

They were used to these kinds of reactions from people whenever they introduced Courtney to them; just the 10-second delay that goes on as their brains try to process that such beauty can exist in one person.

All their friends were just staring at her, mouths gaping in surprise.

Duncan, the only one with a verbal reaction: "No fucking way."

— ❥ —

Okay, so one could be the most secure and confident person in the world, and still be shitting bricks if they were in Courtney's shoes at the moment.

Almost everyone was pausing their conversations and craning their necks to see her as she walked down the shore to where Bridgette, Geoff, and the rest of their friends were standing.

I guess they don't get too many new kids here, she thought to herself.

The bonfire was everything Bridgette described it as, and more.

"COURTNEY!!! Court!! Get over here!" Bridgette shouted at her, eagerly beckoning the brunette to pick up the pace as she made her way over.

A loose smile spreads across her face as she gives her blonde friend a knowing look.

For a moment, it was just everyone else in the group eyeing Courtney, who was trying hard not to squirm under their scrutiny.

"I'm Courtney. It's nice to meet you," and she offers a friendly wave.

The brunette first meets eyes with one of the girls—very pale skin with contrasting features, dark, almost black, eyes and jet black hair with some chunks dyed a faded, space blue. It was messily styled, her bangs sitting sparsely above her ultra-thin brows and the rest of it hanging it just above her shoulders at a grown-out-bob length. Courtney could tell from the dark berry lip gloss, silver septum piercing, and black hoodie used as a cover up over her black boyshorts, that she was very edgy—gothic.

Meanwhile, the other girl was intensely scoping Courtney out, as Courtney was her.

She's got a sharp glare, I swear it could cut right through me, she thought to herself as she took in the rest of the ravenette's appearance.

In credit to her descriptor, she had pin straight, raven black hair that just barely reached her elbow. She had very dark hazel, almost washed-out gray, eyes that oozed judgment, hidden behind a full set of well-kept lash extensions. Whereas the other girl's figure was pretty slim, this one's was toned, with very lean muscle. If Courtney had to take a guess, she'd either say this girl either did track, cheer, or dance.

"Gwen," was all the first girl said in response, before adding, "I was new last year, so, I know what you're going through."

"It's a little overwhelming, isn't it?"

Gwen merely scoffed at her, "It's basically hell for the first, hm, 3 months or so? But it gets better, I guess."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Bridgette piped in, wrapping an arm around Courtney in her usual cheery manner.

"You're sweet, Bridge, but I'm sure it'll take me some time to warm up to people. Or, at least, for people to warm up to me."

And then a third, previously silent voice joined the conversation: "Well, not if you play your cards right."

The ravenette was facing Courtney directly and outstretched a hand to rest on her shoulder, "I'm Heather. Something tells me we're going to be good friends."

Courtney slightly squints her eyes at the girl, not quite knowing what to make of her; it was clear from her gaze that Heather was a very calculated person, with intention behind every word said and action done. But honestly? So was Courtney.

Game, as they say, recognizes game. And this kind of stuff? Mind games, social politics, strategy—that, she was good at.

"Heather? Good? Oh, that's rich," Gwen chuckled to herself, earning a sheepish look from Geoff and a reproaching one from Bridgette.

Courtney also let out a slight chuckle, "For both our sakes, Heather," and she paused, giving the girl a look up and down, as she had been looking at her before, "I hope you're right."

And just for a second, Courtney could see Heather's guard falter, only slightly.

"I'm so lucky to have all my favorite girls with me!" Bridgette cheered as she clutched Gwen and Courtney's hand to her, completely oblivious to whatever was happening between the latter and Heather.

So that only left one person not yet introduced….

And, obviously, she'd noticed him walking up. How couldn't she? You don't forget someone like that, at least, not within a day of meeting them.

When she first caught sight of his green hair, Courtney stopped dead in her tracks; luckily, Bridgette didn't seem to notice and just kept on walking over to her friends. But Courtney needed a moment to compose herself and decide what she was going to do.

Well, what could she do? A) Pretend she'd never met him and be as cordial as possible, or, B) be her usual snarky self and pick up their bickering match where it left off in the woods.

Honestly, she was willing to not say anything or make a fuss about it, considering that he turned out to be one of Bridgette's good friends. After all, she really didn't mean to get off on a bad start with him—especially if they'd potentially be running in the same social circles.

"Oh! And Mocha, meet my bro, Duncan!" Geoff exclaimed, patting said friend on the back as he introduced them.

Duncan had been staring at Courtney the whole time she was there, with an expression that was very hard, even for her, to read.

"No need for the introductions, Princess and I go way back," he confidently remarked, earning puzzled expressions from the rest of the group.

"You guys know each other?" Gwen asked, drawing a finger between the two of them.

"We really don't, I don't know why he said that," Courtney rolled her eyes as she looked to the side in a sheepish manner, "And now you know my name. So don't call me Princess."

"That hurts my feelings, Princess, I thought we had a real heart-to-heart today—y'know, back at our spot," and he even had the audacity to throw in a cheeky wink at the end of his sentence.

'Our spot'?! What the hell is this guy's game? Why is he being such an ass?

"I don't understand," Bridgette said, hesitantly looking from Duncan to Courtney in complete perplexity.

"There's nothing to understand. We don't have a 'spot', we don't 'go way back', we don't know each other—plain and simple," Courtney seethed as she gave Duncan the dirtiest glare she could muster.

And Duncan, whether he picked up on Courtney's discontentment or not, was completely unfazed, returning her hostility with a lax disposition and signature smirk.

An awkward silence fell upon the group, no one quite knowing how to pivot from such a point of contention, and no one daring to. With one, notable exception.

"While you guys decide whether or not you know each other, I'm going to go have fun. This is a party, for heaven's sake." Heather scoffed as she turned on her heels, strutting away to make better use of her precious time.

Geoff let out a visible sigh at the given opportunity to diffuse the tension, "Right on! Let's party forever!!" He hooted, wrapping an arm around Duncan and Courtney alike.

The brunette merely let out a passive sigh and muttered a weak, "Yay." 

Bridgette linked her arm with Courtney's, leaning in to whisper, "Everything okay?"

She sighed, turning to her hazel-eyed friend. As off-putting as Duncan was, Courtney wasn't going to let him ruin the night. She's disliked people before, big deal. What's one more name to the list?

"Everything's perfectly fine." And with a curt nod, Courtney decided it was her turn to be the more impulsive one. "Now, let's get a drink! I need a Coke."

She grabbed Bridgette by the hand and pulled her into a playful jog towards the drinks table, barely hearing Geoff's shouts of encouragement, "YEAH, MOCHA!!"

It was about time she took a page out of Geoff's notebook. And besides, it'd be easier to forget about annoying, green-haired punks with a drink in hand.

— ❈ —

"Courtney…is so hot."

Gwen scoffed at Duncan's remark. It's not like she could disagree with him, the girl was gorgeous. Since she walked off with Bridgette, Duncan had not stopped staring at her the entire time.

Even as their conversations drifted to other topics, or as they talked to other people, Gwen couldn't help but notice that his eye would always find its way back to a certain brunette. 

She was used to Duncan always ditching her at parties to get with other girls, especially later into the night. It never bothered Gwen too much, except now it caused them to lose their previously undefeated cup pong streak.

Clearly, this was different than those other times—Duncan was keeping his distance from Courtney, which was definitely not par for the course. He was probably the most forward person Gwen knew…and maybe she could stand to learn a thing or two from him.

Anyways, why Gwen's treacherous mind forced her to focus on these things was beyond her—it's not like she was obsessively following his line of vision 24/7. But she couldn't help what she noticed; in fact, she wished she hadn't noticed these kinds of things. It'd make her life way easier, and her mind quieter.

She brushed all those thoughts away and gave Duncan a sly grin, "You really think so? I couldn't tell." He just rolled his eyes, still not taking them off Courtney.

Gwen cleared her throat, "Well, what about Taylor?"

"Who?" He scoffed.

"Taylor? You were literally just telling me and Heather about how you wanted to—"

"Who?" And this time he turned to face Gwen, giving her a deadpan expression.

Oh.

"Wow, you're forward," the goth crossed her arms in slight disapproval.

"And she's hot."

"Who, Courtney?" Heather asked as she walked up to the two of them and then gave them a bitter smile and eye roll, "That seems to be the general consensus."

"Jealous, are you?" Duncan challenged, giving her a knowing smirk.

"As if. Anyways, can you guys get over yourselves and help me out?" she scoffed, tossing her inky black hair to the side.

"Gee, since you asked so nicely," Gwen lamely rolled her eyes at her.

Completely ignoring her, Heather turned towards Duncan, "I need to start talking to Jose, like, now if I want him to be interested in me by homecoming."

Duncan and Gwen shared a similar look of dispassion, the latter crossing her arms in unwillingness.

Duncan sighed, "And how the fuck do you want me to do that?"

Heather patted an index finger on her lip, feigning thought, "Oh, I don't know—like this!"

And before Gwen could even blink, Heather pushed Duncan into the sand, making him bump into Jose—who was conveniently chatting with his friend only a couple feet away.

Gwen rolled her eyes. Here I thought she walked up to us because she wanted to talk to us.

Heather was already putting on her best performance of worry and concern, "Oh my god!! Are you okay?!" And she put a strategic hand on Jose's shoulder, "You'll have to excuse my friend, he's such a klutz."

"What the hell, Heather?!" Duncan complained as he got up from the floor, brushing the sand off his swim trunks.

"Aww, do you have a concussion? Go find Geoff." Heather couldn't get rid of him fast enough, pushing him again but this time right into Gwen, and twirling back around to focus her attention on charming Jose.

Not that it'd take a lot on her behalf; as much as Gwen hated to admit, Heather had a certain suavity when it came to flirting that made the goth just a little envious. It's not that Gwen had any direct interest in being some sort of femme fatale, but she's never known what it's like to be able to have that sort of effect on others. She was far too unsociable and off-putting for it.

"Nice friend we have, huh?" She rolled her eyes at said girl, who was laughing way too hard at whatever Jose was saying, and the consequential layer of blush covering his face was a sign of her charm at work.

"That's Heather for you," Duncan rolled his eyes, "but she's usually good about returning the favor."

"And speaking of…" He brought his palms together pleadingly. Gwen feared that she already knew where this was going…

"I need a favor from you."

Gwen only looked up at him with a cocked brow and crossed arms. Whatever was going to come out of his mouth next would probably come at the price of her contentment.

"I need you to go challenge Courtney to a chicken fight."

"What?! Why??" She shouted at him.

"Because she'll obviously say no to me! And I just want a chance to talk to her," he shrugged, beating around the bush for why he'd put in so much effort to get close to a girl when he could probably get with anyone else.

Gwen scoffed, "She's not made of stone, if you want to go talk to her, then do it yourself!!"

"It's not that easy…she just…look, if I could do that you know I wouldn't be asking you for a favor!" 

"Hello? I'm a terrible wingman! That's why you have Heather," Gwen shrieked, frankly disturbed at the thought of scoring Duncan a hookup.

"She's clearly busy right now! Come on, Pasty…"

And he did that motion of the eyes thing to Gwen again, his eyes so clear a blue that she swore she could even see her own reflection. As a cherry on top, he slouched a casual arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to whisper in her ear: "Do me a solid?"

Gwen's first instinct was to turn her face away from him, simply to hide the fact that her nose and ears were smeared an embarrassing shade of pink. So what if his proximity to her made her nervous?? 

She'd never let him know it.

The goth bit her lip as she stood in thought. She already knew what her answer was—how could she say no? She had no good reason to. 

At least, no reason that didn't involve an embarrassing confession.

Finally, Gwen let out an obnoxious sigh, "Alright! Okay! Jesus….but you owe me!"

"I knew you'd come through, you're the best!" Duncan explained as he grabbed her hand and jogged her to where Courtney was talking to Trent and Justin, Gwen leaving behind a trail of groans.

What the fuck have I gotten myself into????

When they walked up to the trio, Courtney's eyes seemed to flash with both recognition and relief at the sight of them.

"Gwen!" she exclaimed, rushing to hug the girl.

As much as it took Gwen aback, she felt herself fall easily into the role of Courtney's friend, even hugging her back. But that was probably more a response of shock than genuine affection.

Right before the brunette pulled away, she quickly whispered in Gwen's ear, "Please save me, the tall one won't stop talking and I've no idea how to get him to stop."

Laughter bubbled threateningly in Gwen's throat—she assumed Courtney was talking about Justin. Hot as he was, all sense of dreaminess and fantasy went away the second he opened his mouth…and never closed it.

Gwen never knew how his friends could stand him, like Trent, for example. Other than the fact that he played guitar and was relatively quiet, Gwen knew nothing about him. But the fact that he could stand to tolerate Justin on a daily basis told her that he had the patience of a saint.

"Courtney," Gwen began, almost forgetting the reason they'd walked up to her until Duncan had not-so-subtly elbowed her in the side. "Uhmm, I was wondering….well, we were wondering-"

Another elbow, this time to the rib.

"Nope! Just me! I was wondering if you, uhm….uh..."

Gwen kept losing her train of thought as she looked from Courtney, to Justin, to Duncan, to Trent, all dealing her puzzled expressions.

"Chicken fight?" She finally just blurted out. 

"Duncan and I against you and…" her gaze shifted to Trent, who could not look more uninterested, and then to Justin, whose eagerness could be smelled from miles away.

"Me!" Justin exclaimed before she could even finish her thought, and Gwen swore she saw Courtney's eye twitch. 

Trent, on the other hand, simply laughed out loud as he casually walked away from the train wreck.

Courtney hesitated, "Oh, I don't know…"

Justin put an arm around her, "Come on, Court, let's do it!"

Duncan cackled, seemingly at his pet name for her as well as her obvious discomfort with it, "Yeah, Court. Don't be a stick in the mud!"

"Who even says that anymore?" Gwen rolled her eyes at him. Why had she agreed to this in the first place…did she really like him that much?

The two girls shared an empathetic look with one another at whatever sad situation they'd both seemingly been roped into.

Until, a realization dawned on Courtney. 

"You know what? You guys are right, let's play." The brunette extended a hand and smug disposition towards her, "Gwen?"

It took a moment for said girl to catch on, but not as long as it took Duncan and Justin, who apprehensively followed the two girls as they walked, hand-in-hand, towards the shore.

— ꕥ —

"Okay, this isn't exactly what I had in mind!" Duncan shouted, as he struggled to balance Justin's lanky build on his shoulders.

Meanwhile, Courtney had no problem holding up Gwen's small frame, and even reveled in making competitive jabs at Duncan to throw him off even more while their teammates battled it out above the water.

It was all too funny for Bridgette to witness from afar, as she took a couple of hilarious action shots with her digital camera.

"This is definitely making it to the junior year scrapbook," she giggled to herself as she scrolled through all the prize-winning shots. She put her eye to the camera to take another nice picture of the sunset's yellow, orange, and pink before the frame was suddenly filled with tan, blonde, and blue.

"Geoff!" 

"Babe!" He picked Bridgette up and swirled her around. "Didn't I just make your shot 10 times hotter??"

She simply laughed as he ran a flirty hand through his blond, tousled waves, "How are you enjoying your party? Epic turnout, right?!"

"I guess," he lightly rolled his eyes, "but the only person I really cared about showing up was you."

Geoff touched his nose to Bridgette's nose, arms wrapped around her frame while her hands were occupied by the camera she held under her chin.

Bridgette considered sealing the deal herself and going in for a kiss, but instead she nuzzled her head into his neck and leaned into his embrace, which was more than welcomed.

She thought to herself for a moment about responding to him, only to come up with nothing. What more could she say?

Bridgette felt luckier than words could even express to have someone like Geoff in her life—someone who genuinely cared about her and was constantly thinking about her.

There were times when Bridgette felt she didn't know what to do with all this love, experiencing it in surplus. This was the kind of emotional encounter she'd only ever read about in her romance books, or seen in those movies her mom would take her to as a little girl. Where the prince swept the princess off her feet and everything was good with the world and they lived happily ever after. Period. The end.

But this was her reality. Geoff wasn't just Bridgette's dream guy—he was as real as the air she breathed, and lately, had seemed to be as intoxicating as it to.

As much as she wore her heart on her sleeve, Bridgette wasn't the overly vulnerable or codependent type. Lately, however, Geoff had her considering otherwise…

She quickly pulled away from him, "Hey, I'm gonna go check on Courtney, make sure Duncan isn't bothering her too much."

"Woah, woah, you leaving me so soon?" He whined, grabbing onto the blonde's hand as she tried to scamper away, "I feel like I've barely seen you at all today!"

"That's not true! I've seen you plenty!" She gave him a lopsided smile.

"Come onnn, let's go down to the hot tub! I specifically closed it off so we could use it!" he called to her, blue eyes beaming with hope.

"But, Courtney–"

"Look at her, Bridge. Doesn't seem like Duncan's bothering her at all—actually! She seems to be having the time of her life! Having fun! At my party! So you should do the same."

Bridgette didn't know where her hesitation was coming from as she bit her lip in thought. She blushed as she thought about the last time they were in the hot tub together; clearly, she'd enjoyed it then. So, why not now?

There was an obvious answer to follow. So she ignored the slight pit in her throat and took Geoff's hand leading her back towards the lake house.

— ✪ —

So the chicken fight may have been a failure in most respects—Duncan had Gwen to thank for conspiring against him with Courtney—but, it wasn't a complete dud.

After all, there was something to be said for the fact that he was now alone with Courtney as they both waited for Gwen and Justin to bring some towels from inside the house. 

On the one hand, this was Courtney, the girl who simply couldn't stand him and dealt him judgemental looks every possible second; but on the other hand, this was Courtney, a hot chick with an insane build wearing a tiny bikini, who had legs for days.

The only bad part about all this was that Duncan couldn't speak a word without instantly annoying her, and there was no way any of his usual pickup lines would charm her.

See, a better man might've taken the hint by now and given up—but Duncan was, well, Duncan.

"So, good game?" he offered a cheeky smile. Maybe he couldn't outright flirt with her, but he could try his hand at small-talk.

"Maybe not for you."

Rejection.

"That was a pretty devastating loss," she scoffed, crossing her arms away from him.

"Are you kidding me? That was the upset of the century!"

"Funny, I never took you for a sore loser," she lightly tapped a finger on her chin in fake thought.

"How about next time you try holding up Justin while he flails around like fish out of water—it's not easy!" He pointed out, defensively.

Courtney simply smiled at his dismay, amused at how riled up he was. "True, I mean his muscles must make up, what, 90? 95 percent of his body mass?" And that only seemed to annoy him more.

"Probably to compensate for the fact that he's got no activity going on up here," Duncan scoffed, tapping a finger to his forehead. And then Courtney laughed, and something within Duncan felt…proud? For being its source. Now that was funny.

"And hey, it's not like your partner was any better!" He added on.

"At least she was good enough to win! She may not be the strongest…like, at all, but she still got him in the water," and Courtney couldn't even finish her sentence properly without them both bursting into laughter, reminded of a less than flattering memory of Justin screaming like a prepubescent boy as he went down into the water.

It took a minute before the laughter fully subsided, and even then the two couldn't keep a straight face—even the slightest chuckle threatened a whole slew of laughter.

"You know, I'm pretty sure there's an obvious answer to this whole situation," Duncan said between laughs. 

"What?"

And he tried to keep a straighter face as he said this: "I mean, come on. Isn't it obvious? We've gotta be a team next round."

"Next round?" Courtney chuckled.

"Admit it, we'd be unstoppable."

A bit of silence fell upon the two, Courtney not quite knowing what to say. But Duncan could see the cogs turning in her mind. In fact, she didn't even need to say anything for Duncan to know what her response was—the subtle smile on her face said enough.

She opens her mouth to respond, but is interrupted by a disheveled DJ jogging up to them.

"Yo!" He shouted as approached, "What's up, Courtney?"

Said girl smiled and waved at him before he turned his attention to Duncan, "D-Man, have you been checking the group chat?"

He cocked an eyebrow before reaching into his pocket for his phone, "Uhh no. Why?"

He saw that he had 20+ unread notifications from Messages.

"There's no more alcohol, we need more for later," DJ explained.

"So? Go get some." He shrugged.

"None of us have our fakes, and none of us are good to drive," he answered, hands laced atop his durag in distress.

"Bro, didn't you only have one can of beer?"

He rubbed his eyes as he spoke, "I also popped an eddy with Harold."

At that, Duncan couldn't hold back his laughter, "Pffft, Harold? Dude—"

"He's a solid guy!" DJ puts his hands up in defense, "and anyways, I'm not getting behind a wheel right now. Mama would kill me if she ever found out!"

Courtney only gave a sympathetic look, while Duncan sighed in annoyance, "DJJJ."

"Please man! Geoff would do it but he's not answering either, and I haven't seen Bridgette in a while so, you know…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Duncan said, shaking his head dismissively, "I didn't drive here, though."

DJ's expression instantly morphed from dejection to elation, "Okay, so all you need is a driver! Perfect!"

"Don't get so excited, almost everyone Ubered."

And suddenly, Courtney interrupted their conversation with an apologetic tone, "Right, well, this sounds like my cue to leave. I hope you guys find a driver–"

Just as suddenly, a thought occurred to Duncan, and he couldn't fight the smirk growing on his face. "Wait a second, didn't you drive here?"

Courtney was taken aback by his perception, "Stalk much?"

"Bridgette hasn't been driving lately, you guys came together, you haven't had any alcohol, ergo, you drove," he stated very matter-of-factly.

"Wow, so you do have a brain!" She said in fake-surprise.

He tilted his head at her, "Oh come on, Princess. Do us a solid?"

"I don't think I should—"

DJ cut into her sentence and pleaded with his hands laced together, "Please, Courtney! I promise I'll return the favor somehow!"

The brunette thought about it a little more, seemingly stuck between a rock and a hard place. But, in the end, one side prevailed.

She threw her hands in the air in acceptance, "Fine! Jesus Christ…but only because DJ asked me to!"

Duncan smirked at her, "Whatever makes you feel better—let's go!"

And just as he grabbed Courtney's hand and walked her towards the garage, Gwen and Justin were barely approaching a now solitary DJ.

"Wait, where are they going?" Gwen asked, holding an armful of towels.

"Getting some more drinks. We ran out." DJ shrugged.

Gwen said nothing, but observed them as they walked off together. She couldn't tell whether they were arguing or laughing together—or perhaps it was a bit of both.

Justin, who'd previously been concerned with getting the perfect ruffle through his dampened hair, came to the realization that Courtney had left.

"Wait, they left!? Damn it!" He exclaimed, slapping his arm against his leg. 

"I so wanted to ask Courtney for her number!"

— ♔ —

Heather had reached her final straw. She didn't know how much longer she could talk to a guy that had absolutely nothing going on in his brain, other than an obsession with himself.

The whole party had been nothing but her smiling and nodding as Jose talked about his accomplishments, his soccer stories, his camera roll, his unlaunched music career. It's not like she was ever expecting to talk philosophy with the guy, but this…this was worse than she'd expected.

So now, Heather found herself hiding out behind a tree, far removed from the festivities happening on the shoreline. Even just a few moments of silence, where she wasn't forced to hear him speak sentence after endless sentence, proved to be healing.

Lame as it sounded, Heather enjoyed having this moment to herself. She could hear her own thoughts, and forget all the social politics that she was so prone to obsessing over.

But somehow, becoming aware of the fact that she was alone, while everyone else wasn't, icked her out. 

"Ew, I'm like weird goth girl," she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she braced herself for making a reappearance at the party.

As she was walking back towards the shore, she inadvertently stepped into the middle of what seemed to be a group hangout—Noah, Cody, Izzy, and Owen were sitting in a semi-circle, some of them lounging on tree stumps while the rest sat on the floor. The pungent stench of weed also didn't escape Heather.

"Sorry, am I interrupting your orgy?" She scoffed down at them. 

"Aww, don't be bitter, Heather! You're more than welcome to join!" Izzy exclaimed, inching closer to her.

"Drop dead!" She scoffed, as she strutted away, hearing the roars of their laughter behind her.

Heather rolled her eyes—she really didn't understand people that chose to exclude themselves from social scenes. She simply didn't believe anyone that said they didn't care what others thought of them.

They were teenagers for crying out loud—they were supposed to care! She wasn't any crazier for obsessing about social status than they were for entirely dismissing it. People could judge her for it all they wanted, but at the end of the day, she'd graduate from high school leaving a legacy behind.

Queen Bee, Cheer Captain, and soon, only girl to bag the hottest guy in school. And! Only junior to get asked to Senior Prom.

Getting there proved to be harder than she expected—Heather internally cringed at the thought of having to talk to Jose again—but she had to do what she had to do. And she was going to succeed.

"Heather!" She's pulled out her thoughts by a voice calling to her, but her face drops any sign of interest once she sees that it's just Gwen.

"What?"

"Where the fuck is everyone?" Gwen exclaimed.

"What do you mean?"

"Geoff and Bridgette have been gone for well over an hour–"

Heather scoffed, "Does that really surprise you?"

"And Duncan and Courtney haven't come back yet."

At that, Heather's interest was piqued: "Where'd they go?"

Gwen looked sheepishly to the side, clutching her elbows, "To get more drinks, but the liquor store is like 5 minutes away and they've been gone for half an hour."

Heather thought to herself for a moment—she knew Duncan was interested in her, but Courtney didn't really strike her as the type to hook up with someone so fast. Then again, she didn't really know Courtney, like, at all.

"Okay…why does any of this concern me?"

"Excuse me for expecting you to be a real friend," Gwen rolled her eyes.

Heather crossed her arms, she didn't really know what to say or do. She didn't know how to be a friend to Gwen, even if she'd wanted to. It's not like they had tons in common.

The two seemed to be predetermined enemies based solely on their archetypes: Heather was the popular girl, Gwen was the weird goth girl. The fact that they both happened to be in the same friend group was an anomaly of sorts.

Just as Heather was about to speak in a lame attempt to start a conversation, she was saved by a lovey-dovey Geoff and Bridgette making their way over.

"Yooooo!!" Geoff hollered at them, and Heather noticed a look of relief wash upon Gwen's face.

"Finally! You guys were gone so long!" Gwen exclaimed as Bridgette dove in to hug her.

"Sorry!! We just, um, got caught up," the bubbly blonde sheepishly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, you can stop there," Heather said, crossing her arms.

"Where's Duncan?" Geoff asked, looking around.

Bridgette joined him in scanning the whole party, "And where's Courtney?"

Gwen and Heather shared a look, before Gwen finally sighed.

"Well…"

— ❥ —

Courtney sighed as she looked out the window of her car. "I don't know what the point of me coming was if I wasn't going to drive."

He took a moment at the red light to look over at her, shooting her a skeptical look, "You'd really let me drive your car by myself?"

"I mean, why couldn't you just ask anyone else for their car. Heather, maybe, or Geoff. You guys are all friends, no?"

He turned back to face the road, "Eh, don't read too much into it. This was the path of least resistance."

Courtney hummed as she refocused her thoughts on the scenery outside. Of course, this little beverage run had taken longer than she'd anticipated—nothing with Duncan was ever quick and easy, because once he recognized the cashier at the convenience store, he decided that now was the time to stop and share life stories—and now, the sun had long set and those same stars Courtney admired her first night in Wawanakwa made a reappearance.

If she was being honest with herself, Courtney didn't really mind this brief respite from the whole party scene too much, it let her social battery recharge. Even though she technically wasn't alone, Duncan wasn't too demanding of any effort when she talked to him.

Then, a thought occurred to her. She turned to face him, only to find that his eyes were intently set on the road, also deep in thought.

"Hey." 

He snapped out of it. "What?"

"Don't 'what' me."

"I'm thoroughly confused," he scoffed.

"Try amnesic," she rolled her eyes.

"If you have an issue with me, Princess, you've gotta learn to use your words."

"Well, you clearly don't remember me telling you not to call me Princess," she repositioned herself to face her body towards him, "I'm talking about earlier, when you told everyone that we knew each other."

"We did know each other," he said very matter-of-factly.

"No! We didn't! One conversation in the woods does not friends make," she huffed, at which he only laughed.

"Do you normally scramble your word order when you're mad? It's cute."

"You can be so insufferable—you'll do anything but listen to what I'm saying, won't you?"

"Don't you find it more fun that way?"

Duncan turned to look at her, and for a moment, nothing was said between them as they just held onto their eye contact.

He was the one to break it: "Though, I'm honestly not even sure you understand the concept."

Courtney scoffed, "Of what?"

"Fun."

"What?! Me…fun? Of course I do!"

He said nothing, but pressed his lips together in doubt.

"What?! I can take a joke! And I can make a joke, too!" Courtney sat up now, clearly disturbed by what he was insinuating about her.

"Calm down, Dr. Suess," he shrugged his shoulders, "I just mean. it's pretty obvious that things upset you easily."

She crossed her arms and turned away from him, "Well, it's pretty obvious that you don't know me."

Duncan sighed, sitting in silence for a second, before returning to the conversation, "Fair enough—tell me one fun thing about yourself."

"Try three: I like to read, I speak four languages, and…I dance ballet."

"Boring, boring, and….boring. No wonder you're so uptight."

Courtney turned back to Duncan and scoffed at him, "See, you fail to notice that the concept of fun is completely subjective. I mean, what can you tell me that you do for fun—vandalize trees? Poke holes in your face? Yeah, neither of those things sound fun to me."

"Quite the opposite, actually, those things are the product of boredom."

"I see, so you get bored, and you take it out on the trees?"

"It's not like there's anything else to do in this shit-hole," he shrugged, "Hell, I'm almost sorry that you got stuck in the most boring place in the world."

She shifted in her seat, not knowing how to receive his sympathies. Courtney thought of what to say to break the silence, but Duncan beat her to it.

"Tell me something, you're from California, right?"

"Right."

"So, you've been to the beach, then?"

"Of course I have."

Courtney can see him pause for second, internally debating whether or not he'll give this next question clearance through his mouth. In the end, he does.

"What," and he cleared his throat, "what's that like?"

Her response was immediate: "I don't think you need me to tell you that. Are you pulling my leg again? Another joke?"

"I've never been to a beach before."

"There's no way."

"What can I say? It's a terrible thing, to be landlocked."

She didn't know what to say, and for once, Duncan's expression seemed dead serious to her. This was unknown territory for her.

"Um, I don't know, it's nice. I wouldn't normally go during the day, it's much too crowded, and hot, and overstimulating…"

She paused to look at him again, only to find Duncan with a pensive disposition. He was waiting to hear what she had to say next, and when he realized her sentence came to a stop, he turned to look at her.

"I'd usually go by myself, at night."

"Yeah, and you call me emo."

A smile made its way to her face—this was the banter she was used to, and all feelings of discomfort simply dissipated. "Shut up! It's actually really nice at night, a good spot to think about things…or, to not think about things."

That seemed to be really intriguing to him, "To forget them?"

"Maybe."

Courtney considers stopping there, leaving her answer at that. But, maybe it was the inviting breeze of the night that drawled in through her cracked-open window, or the intrinsic beauty of the natural landscape surrounding them, or maybe it was him, Duncan….whatever it was, it made Courtney keep going.

"Whenever I'd go to the beach, I've always felt that, for a moment, all that there is, ever has been, or ever will be, is the blue right in front of me." 

"Hearing the waves crash against the sand and feeling the breeze moving through me, I guess it's nice to humor that maybe I'm just like…like a small grain of sand, tugged off-shore by a wave, or a wind."

She turns to face Duncan again, to see if he'd somehow gotten bored of her blabbing—but, much to her surprise, he still seemed utterly interested in every word coming out of her mouth. 

"The water, it makes you feel small, and all your problems small, by extension. Almost like none of it even matters in the end, because the waves will always just keep flowing and the world just keeps spinning." She chuckles sheepishly to herself, "I know that all sounds stupid and way too abstract, but it's comforting sometimes. To me, at least."

Duncan says nothing for a minute, for once, at a loss for words. Or maybe, it seemed to Courtney, thinking about how to parse through his thoughts and translate them into sentences.

"What? You're not gonna argue with me on this? Don't bother going soft on me now," she scoffed.

A smile crept onto his face, "You should be glad I'm ignoring the potential to make a dirty joke right now."

"And you've ruined the moment."

He laughs to himself, and so does she.

"No, no, I just…I always used to think that feeling small," and he laughed again (he really had the humor of a middle school boy), "I used to think that was like, a bad thing."

His expression sobered just slightly before he continued, "Small is…it's weak and powerless and shit. I mean, Wawanakwa, for example, is the size of a fucking thumbtack, and living here is like being stuck under a damn microscope."

Courtney sighed, "I guess it just depends on how you look at it. 'Nothing is always absolutely so'—so says Sturgeon, so says I."

"Uhhh. What."

She waved a dismissive hand, "It's nothing, just wise words from a dead man. He also said 90% of everything is crap."

"Sounds like my kind of guy."

Courtney laughs and considers whether or not she should let this particular slip out of her mind, but she goes through with it anyway, "You know, Duncan, you're not too bad when you're not being completely insufferable."

"Funny, I was going to say the same about you, Princess."

Duncan laughed as she rolled her eyes at that stupid nickname being used, yet again.

"I just meant that I didn't think you'd be a good conversationalist."

"To set the record straight, I'm not."

"Too cool for school, yeah?"

"Okay, see, I'm not really good at this…existential shit, and no one expects me to be anyways, so it all works out."

"I don't think anyone really is good at the 'existential shit'." 

Duncan looks at her in fake surprise, "Wow, did I just get you to curse??"

By now, Courtney's learned to ignore some of his antics, simply rolling her eyes before carrying on, "If there were right answers to these kinds of questions, we wouldn't be talking about them now."

"How thoughtful."

And another wave of comfortable silence falls upon them, but this time, Courtney is the one to break it: "Hey, thanks."

"You shouldn't be thanking me yet, I still have a whole school year to piss you off."

"And I'm sure you will….I just, I never realize the things I take for granted until I'm without them. I lose sight of things, and you just reminded me of them. Of the beach, for example."

"Hey, I'm just making conversation."

"How polite of you—cordial, some might even say."

"It's as I said before: to a princess like you, I've got to be."

She rolls her eyes for the umpteenth time that night, "I really hate that nickname."

"I know," Duncan says, without missing a beat.

And then they do that thing that Courtney partly likes and partly dislikes, where they're just looking at each other, analyzing each other, thinking about each other.

"I have a question for you," Duncan finally says.

She sets her sights on the road ahead and smugly crosses her arms, "Wow, you're just full of them tonight, aren't you?"

"It's the teacher-student thing…really turns me on."

"Don't be gross!" She lightly jabs at his arm, "You were saying?"

"I was saying…I thought they closed beaches at night. How'd you go, then?"

She paused to think about it for a moment, recalling the last time she went, "Um, I don't know, I guess I'd just sneak in."

"Sneak in? Doesn't that require", and cue the dramatic fake gasp, "breaking the rules??"

"Okay, stop. I know what you're doing," but Courtney couldn't fight the laughter bubbling in her throat.

"Woww, can't get so high and mighty on me now. What was it you were telling me about those trees?"

"Hey! There's a major difference between what I did and what you do!"

"Pot, meet kettle."

"God, you're so annoying!"

"I guess this means the princess has a dark side."

"Doesn't everyone?" She crossed her arms, "We're all a little fucked up."

Duncan thought about what she'd said for a moment, "You ever think it works the other way around?"

And there he was again, mischievous glint in his eye, turning the conversation inside out and back again, Courtney never quite sure which direction they were going next.

"What do you mean?"

"If everyone has some bad in them, then, do you think everyone has some good, too?"

"I don't really know. I guess, I like to think so. Do you?"

Duncan pauses again, eyes steady on the road. "Nah. We're all fucked up."

Courtney doesn't really know what to make of that, nor how to respond. Possibly because a part of her, the part that loathes a world in which people like her parents exist, knows that to an extent, Duncan was 100% right. And sometimes, it was so much easier to assume that dark side in people. 

But another part of her sat in quiet discomfort. She knew there was more to the human condition than could be categorized so simply into good and bad—there just had to be. 

After all, was she not looking at a perfect example of that, sitting right in front of her?

— ꕥ —

Bridgette checked her phone for the time, as she noticed the party starting to die down. 10:14 PM. For a darty, not bad at all.

She'd long noticed some friend groups dispersing and couples leaving to ride the rest of the evening out in the comfort of their homes. No one had gotten outrageously drunk, and clean-up wasn't going to be too bad. Overall, it was a good night!

She started scrolling through all the pictures she'd taken today: Lindsay and Katie tanning while Beth and Sadie drew designs on them out of sunscreen; Eva and DJ going head-to-head in an arm-wrestling competition; Izzy playing mermaids…well, by herself…while Owen was somehow drowning in the lake, only being 4 feet in; Courtney and Gwen cheering over their win while Justin and Duncan pouted like sore losers.

It brought Bridgette immense comfort to see all her friends, the people she cared about most, together and enjoying their fun. They wouldn't be teens forever, so she always took a secret moment to herself to relish in their youth and how relatively simple things were. 

"Alright, I'm out," Heather sighed as she walked up to Bridgette.

"Already?!"

"Is 5 hours not enough for you? I mean, then again, it is me, so I understand that I'll be very missed," she feigned concern.

"I was kind of thinking that you'd want to sleepover at my house tonight? We could make it a girls' night!" Bridgette dealt her the best puppy eyes she could possibly muster. And of course, contrary to popular belief, Heather wasn't made of stone, and the slightest hint of hesitation washed over her expression.

But instead of giving in, she sighed, "I couldn't even if I wanted to, Daniel starts school tomorrow and my parents are making me take him." 

Heather could only shrug, as Gwen and Courtney walked up to them.

"Wow, school actually starts on a Monday for him? Not a random Wednesday?" Gwen said incredulously, crossing her arms.

"Yep, it's crazy."

"Well please tell me that you guys can sleep over!" Bridgette pleaded, turning to her last two hopes of salvaging the night.

Gwen lets out an indifferent sigh, "Oh, what the hell. I'm game."

Now the blonde turned her attention to Courtney, who she knew would be the harder one to convince.

Under the scrutiny of three pairs of eyes on her, the brunette defensively clutched at her elbows: "I'd have to ask Josie."

"Josie?" Heather cocked a quizzical brow.

"Courtney's super cool older sister, who could not care less if you sleep over!" Bridgette clapped her hands together in hopes of swaying said girl, "Please, please, please, can you come!"

Heather squinted her eyes, "Hey, you didn't put this much effort in trying to get me to come."

"Pfft, that's because…" And Gwen trailed off before she could finish her snarky sentence, mainly due to Bridgette's deadpan look.

"Because! You have a valid excuse to miss out," Bridgette explained, putting a sympathetic hand on Heather's shoulder before she turned back to the brunette, "Come on, Court! We can even stop by your house if you wanna grab something."

There was another pause, as she mulled over her options. But Bridgette already knew she'd give in. Try as she may to make the rational choice, Courtney could never truly deny a fun opportunity when it presented itself. Especially if Bridgette had anything to say about it.

"Okay, okay, fine! I'm in!" She sighed, putting her hands up in defeat.

"YAY! Tonight is going to be so fun!" Bridgette squealed, swinging an arm around Gwen's shoulder, who only smiled in response.

Heather blew a strand of hair out of her face, "Nice to know how much I'm missing out."

Bridgette gave her a big hug goodbye, "Hey! It's an open invitation, if you ever decide to leave Daniel to fend for himself—not that I'm recommending that at all!"

"I'll consider it. Bye, Bridge." She said, hugging her back.

Then she turned to Gwen, and both girls just awkwardly waved, not quite knowing what to say other than the usual "Bye, Gwen" and "Bye, Heather".

"It was nice to meet you, Heather." Courtney nodded at her as she started making her way out.

"Yeah, same. We should talk more." Heather nodded at her as she reached for her car keys in her mini purse.

"Hey, wait a minute, aren't you driving Duncan home?!" Bridgette shouted at her as she started walking off.

Heather took a slight pause to her stride, before turning around and yelling in the general direction of the party, "DUNCAN! IF YOU'RE NOT IN MY CAR IN THE NEXT 5 MINUTES, I'M LEAVING YOU BEHIND!!"

Then, without another thought, she walked out the garage and went on her merry way out. Bridgette laughed and shook her head, Oh, Heather.

Duncan, summoned by her yelling, walked up to the three of them, pulling the hood of his sweater over his head. "Guess that means I'm heading out, too," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Bye, Duncan!!" And Bridgette went in for another one of her signature bear hugs—Bridgette was probably the only person Duncan let hug him like that.

"I'll see you guys soon, we gotta hang out before school," he said, giving Gwen a fist bump, a signature trademark of their farewells.

"Hey, don't think I forgot. You owe me," Gwen smirked, and he shook his head laughing. Bridgette and Courtney exchanged a glance of uncertainty, both having no clue as to what was happening between them.

Bridgette noticed an awkward moment of hesitation as Duncan stood before Courtney, neither of them quite knowing what to do, when just as Duncan raised his arms to pull her in for a hug, she extended her hand for a…handshake?

Gwen chortled at the sight, "Oh, there's no way." 

"I thought you were going in for a handshake!" Courtney defended, clearly frazzled by the miscommunication.

"Maybe if this was a job interview or some shit," Duncan chuckled, the corner of his eyes crinkling from his smiley expression, while Courtney was obviously pursing her lips to bite back a smile as she looked up at him.

They stood like that for a surprising amount of time, and Bridgette squinted her eyes at them, but when she turned to see if Gwen had picked up on anything, the girl could not seem less interested as she scrolled through something on her phone.

Hmm.

"Heather's gonna leave without you, you know?" Courtney broke the silence.

"Right, then," he put out an open hand for her to shake, and she couldn't keep herself from laughing at his earnestness, "Bye, Princess."

She sighed, shaking his hand, "Bye, Duncan."

He turned to salute at Bridgette and Gwen, "Malibu, Pasty."

As he walked off, it didn't escape Bridgette that Courtney's gaze stuck to his figure until it went out of sight.

But before Bridgette could comment on it, Gwen spoke out, stretching her arms in the air, "Alright, so should we head out, too?"

"Yes!" Bridgette exclaimed, "but first, I wanna help Geoff clean up a bit. You guys can wait in the car!"

"Are you sure? We can help clean, too," Courtney assured her.

"We can?" Gwen asked, yawning.

"No, don't sweat it! I'll be fast, and I mainly wanna say goodbye to him."

"Say less," Gwen was already turning to walk to Courtney's car, lifting a single hand to wave behind her, "Tell Geoff I said bye."

Courtney shortly followed, calling out to her, "Let us know if there's more to clean than you thought!"

"Thanks!" She shouted back, practically jumping as she did so, in hopes of projecting her voice louder, "Also, I call shotgun! AND AUX!!!"

Gwen nudged Courtney with her elbow, "Get ready to listen to endless Taylor Swift."

"Let me guess, Lover album?"

"With some Reputation and Fearless sprinkled in."

"And 1989!"

"I guess you could say we know her…All Too Well."

"Taylor's-Version-ten-minute-version-from-the-vault?"

Gwen chuckled as she linked her arms with Courtney, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

— ❈ —

They were now in their third—yes, third—hour of Just Dance, and the only reason they'd taken a pause was because Bridgette needed a bathroom break. Gwen swore that girl had the stamina of a strung-out bunny.

Gwen took a long chug of her water bottle before belly-flopping onto Bridgette's bed, where Courtney was already laying on her back, absentmindedly playing with something in her hand.

Upon closer inspection, Gwen realized that it was a lighter. She furrowed her brows at the brunette, "Wait a minute—you smoke?!"

She was then seemingly pulled out of her thoughts, and offered Gwen a polite smile, "Trying not to, actually. It's a stupid habit to have—those die hard, I guess."

And then Courtney sort of smiled to herself, though at what, Gwen had no clue. Instead of trying to figure it out, she merely shrugged: "Everyone's allowed one of those, though I never pegged you for the type."

"Trust me, I’m not. It just finds its way back to me whenever I’m stressed or anxious…which happens more often than I can confidently admit."

"Hey, no judgment from me. I smoke too, mainly weed." This brought back the memory of Gwen’s last time smoking weed with Duncan, and how they both went insane at the local grocery, overwhelmed by a fit of munchies.

She almost laughs out loud again at the thought of Duncan sitting in the grocery cart, demanding that Gwen speed him through each and every aisle like some 4-year-old on a sugar high.

But she’s pulled out of memory lane by Courtney’s hesitant voice: "Hey, do you think something that's bad for you can also do you a little good?"

Gwen’s gaze started to focus a little more on the lighter that Courtney kept turning and playing with in her hand. It was like she was constantly analyzing the object, looking for something new in each of its surfaces. "Um, I don’t know, I guess so? I mean, if you're talking about smoking, it definitely does you more harm in the long run than—"

Courtney flips onto her side now, to level her face with Gwen’s. "No, I just mean in general. Like, by and large, the things and people you're cautioned against and supposed to stay away from, don't you think there's still something to be learned from them? Some value in experiencing them?"

"It sounds to me like you've already answered your own question."

"Answers, it seems, are the only things I'm without these days."

"For your sake, I hope you find them here, in Wawanakwa. A soul can only be so tortured until they become insufferable to themselves—trust me, I know."

Courtney laughs, "That sounds like the plotline of a really pretentious, indie, coming-of-age film…but I hope so, too. Anyways, don't bother with my ramblings, it's just dumb stuff that keeps me up when I can't sleep. Call them champagne problems."

Gwen smirked at the subtle reference, "Hey, you're talking to the queen of insomnia, these eyebags aren't just for the aesthetic." Yet another biological marker that penned Gwen into the goth girl label. She never really stood a chance otherwise, did she?

"It's nice talking to you, I see why Bridgette likes you so much," Courtney takes a moment to look away from the lighter and now puts her full attention on Gwen. She finds it a little intimidating at first, but Gwen also found comfort in how easy it was to talk to her.

She sighed, "Yeah, I wanted to hate you when we first met, but that's gonna be very hard to do now that I’ve actually talked to you."

Courtney's eyes widened, "What?! Why did you want to hate me??"

"No, don’t take it personal. It's my general policy on people: everyone's an asshole until proven otherwise. Sounds cynical, but trust me, it saves you loads of time that would be otherwise spent on fake small talk. Maybe I'd be able to stand it more if I had some talent for it, but…." and she let her sentence trail off with a shrug.

"Wow…I guess that's..productive? How's that worked out for you so far?"

"Well, I have friends I actually like—which you'd be surprised to see how rare that is here in Wawanakwa. That small-town hospitality only goes so far."

"Okay Bridgette and Geoff, I obviously understand. Heather…?"

"Is more of a frenemy," Gwen pressed her lips together, finding difficulty in labeling her relationship with Heather. 

"Yikes."

"Eh, I'm used to it. It's pretty interesting to see her every day, not knowing whether she's going to be a decent human being or literal bitch to me; honestly, it adds a nice variety to my daily, otherwise mundane, routine."

Courtney chuckles at her cynicism, "Amen to that. I guess my read on her wasn't too far off." She takes a pause, almost unsure as to whether she wants to continue, "And then, Duncan?"

Gwen prays that her cheeks haven't blushed, "He's, um, he's cool." She briefly turns her head to check the doorway to see if Bridgette's back yet, but mainly to hide her flushed expression.

"Oh, I'm sure he thinks that of himself," the brunette scoffed.

"He can seem like kind of an egotistical dick at first, but he's not actually that bad."

"See, now that's a line straight out of some high school rom-com," she pointed out.

"No I promise it's true! You just gotta get to know him better," Gwen played with one of the low-hanging strands of hair in her face.

"I suppose," Courtney hummed in thought.

Gwen pauses for a moment, deciding whether or not to ask, "Do you?"

"Do I…?"

"Want to get to know him better, I mean."

"Um…" She flips onto her back again, holding the lighter in the air so that the overhead lighting shines favorably on an etching Gwen knew all too well.

What the fuck. Thoughts raced in Gwen's mind as she tried to piece together what was happening…somehow, Courtney had Duncan's lighter, arguably one of his most prized possessions. Not that he'd ever explained to Gwen why he was so attached to it—sure, it was a nice lighter, of solid material, with a beautiful custom etching: "Take a walk on the Wild(er) side."

Either Duncan gave it to her, or she stole it from him, neither of which made any sense to Gwen. They'd quite literally just met. What. The. Fuck.

Courtney, absolutely oblivious to the discourse in Gwen's mind, sighed as she thought of how to respond, "I'm not sure yet. I haven't quite made my mind up about him."

And then, she saw it. Gwen saw it—a moment so brief and fleeting that it might've totally passed over anyone else's head. But Gwen, being Gwen, saw in Courtney what she'd been seeing in herself the past year, since the very first day her mom moved her to Wawanakwa Falls and forced her to take her little brother to the park, where she met Duncan for the first time.

That subtle tinge of pink that filled Courtney's face at the sound of Gwen's question, and the way she coyly trailed her finger across the lighter's engraved writing, wrapping it safely in her palms—that was enough for Gwen to see what she'd been denying in herself all along.

Vulnerability, feelings, interest…with, for, and in, Duncan.

And Gwen had never in her life felt more stupid, when suddenly, Bridgette barged in from the hallway and assumed the posing and persona of a famous, guitar-playing rockstar.

"WHO'S. READY. TO. ROCK?!?!"

—୨୧—

Whew. Finally got through chapter one, and I'm so happy to get it done.

Are there any other Fiona Apple fans?? I hope you guys appreciate the Paper Bag reference because that's been my most listened to song on Spotify for the last 2 years.

As always, comment out your thoughts and opinions on all the characters so far because I'd love to hear them! My current favorite character to write is Gwen—she's very jaded, but really relatable at times, at least to me. She's just a girl lol.

My writing schedule is all over the place at the moment, like most everything else in my life. But! I do have a general storyline for how I want this story to go, that's partially why it took so long for me to write this. I wanted to nail all the introductory scenes so they align with the general story arc. All that to say, hopefully writing chapter 2 won't take me too long, (it definitely will) but I hope the chapter lengths somehow compensates for how slow I am at writing. I just really want to emphasize that, no matter HOW LONG it takes me, I WILL BE CONTINUING THIS FANFICTION! Okay? Okay.

Anyways, go listen to Paper Bag in the meantime if you haven't already, or even if you have, this is your excuse to listen again!

See you next time <3

a. yasmine

[moonmaidensblessing]

I love Mystra as a character 100% she is an interesting character and I adore a morally questionable woman with my whole heart in fiction but I’m trying to get why ppl get so up in arms about her. The concept of a god having a relationship with a mortal is nothing new; I wrote a paper last semester comparing Gale to Odysseus from the Odyssey for the very reason they both had relationships with goddesses. It’s an age old situation in storytelling and it’s not going anywhere.

I want to posit the idea that Gale’s specific dynamic with Mystra is meant to say more about his character than her, though, since he’s a major character. His relationship with her is meant to tell us how powerful he is as a magic-wielder and his connection with it is beyond what the average magic user could ever dream of (looking at you, Rolan). He is written in a way where his hubris could easily lead him down a bad path as it had done several times for him already. He is messing with things beyond his scope, though, as he learns more and gains more power. A line I always feel people ignore is the one where he admits Mystra gave him a boundary, appropriately seeing what it was (Netherese magic that had almost killed her before), and tend to majorly focus on the fact that she asks him to sacrifice himself with that same dangerous magic. I mean, i can see a perspective that she sees Gale as potentially dangerous since he disregards her request ultimately for his own purposes. Keep in mind that he not only has the parasite, but the orb would not be kept docile forever. He became dangerous not only to himself but to anyone unfortunate enough to be too close should something happen. He poses an immense threat after crossing Mystra’s boundary (his exact words in the game) to Faerûn, the Weave itself, etc.

Does this make Gale evil? No. He had the potential to be misguided, though, in the story, and I think that’s the writers’ point was how easy it can be to fall from might and grace with a few bad choices.

To be frank, the dynamic between Gale and Mystra is already at a power imbalance. It isn’t like the other characters’ relationships with their respective gods because they do not have a romantic/sexual relationship with them. That is a curious distinction, which would lend to it being an unusual practice in the pantheon of the gods. However, not in the world of literature, I reiterate. Odysseus has intimate encounters with several goddesses in his journey, but the power dynamic is written a lot differently than how Mystra and Gale are written.

If it is not common practice for the gods to have intimate interactions with mortals, then it stands to reason that it is a discouraged practice among them. We hear a line in the game where Gale says Ao would not permit Mystra to interfere with their quest directly, and it makes me believe there are rules for the gods when it comes to behavior and actions. For some reason, Mystra is permitted to have romantic relationships with her worshippers, and I have to wonder why that is. Apparently it isn’t common for her to pick someone, either, as she only chooses the most powerful magic users, her chosen ones. And that’s where we start to run into the power imbalances.

In a way, Gale seeks the missing magic for Mystra to feel equal to her, a dynamic that would never change no matter what he did. Who is really to blame? The one who wasn’t content in his role, or the god who appointed him to that role in the first place? Was Mystra trying to influence Gale to stop him reaching beyond mortal limitations, fearing (for him or perhaps herself even) that he would go too far one day just like Karsus before him? Did she have valid reasons to fear for herself and the world of magic, or was it a selfish act borne out of fear of losing control of her realm and devotees? I don’t think people are thinking this deeply about it.

I think why it bugs me in a way that kids keep giving her the “bitchy mean girl” treatment is because it sort of cheapens the intent of the characters and what its supposed to mean to the story. I mean It’s funny but I cannot look at a single piece of fan art online that features her without 15 ppl all unironically claiming acts of violence against a video game character. I guess its ultimately harmless, and it’s good they are able to recognize the harm that is present there, but it feels like a simple, immature take just all on its own.

Oh and I definitely hate the take that Mystra groomed him. That makes me pretty sick, and it isn’t a one to one comparison at all. I sincerely doubt that was the writers intention at all, and as someone who was it makes me pretty mad to see. But I understand since most of those saying it are most likely children who don’t have a full grasp of it. Grooming is intentionally selecting a person with little to no agency, usually a child, and trying to influence them into inappropriate situations. I feel like comparing that dynamic to grooming demeans and lessens the importance of it in real life. Gale was not a child, he has agency in his life, and it’s cheapening even to the character to imply he had no control over what was happening to him. Unless I’m missing some crucial piece of lore here, I don’t think Mystra picked Gale as her chosen and romantic partner to make him find Karsus’ tome and unleash the magic that nearly killed her and destroyed all magic.

I get it, though, why young people jump to that conclusion. Again, I’m glad that they see the surface level issue. I’m glad they can recognize danger and harm. That’s good. I’d never discourage someone, especially children, in being vigilant with those sorts of things.

And of course all this said not so much in defense of Mystra (though I love her as a character) but more in defense of the people who wrote it. This game is so well written and it’s one of the reasons why I love it so much. The fact that I CAN write an essay for class about it makes me over the moon and goes to show just how much depth and meaning is present.

[mysunshine-youremoonlight]

Thinking about maybe giving the persona games a try which one would you recommend as a start?

ooooh. i'd say start with either Persona 3 Reload or Persona 5 Royal :3 those two are the most modern of the games.

If you're a "purist" like me and like experiencing the like, OG experiences tho and going "in order", then play Persona 3 FES (or Portable, which includes the female MC but the daytime sections are like a visual novel rather than full 3D like FES) which you'd need to emulate, however Portable is available on like every console now iirc. FES was on the Ps2 :> and then move onto Persona 4 Golden (also available on like every console) and then onto Persona 5 Royal!

The games aren't really connected so you don't really have to do that but sdkghsd (i played the games 4 -> 3 -> 5 iirc) going backwards can be a bit tricky bc the games really do kinda show their age in places.

I'm a persona 3 lovebot so like i 100% say play that (fair warning persona 3 is probably one of the darkest modern-gen persona games, and covers a lot of themes of suicide/depression/death/etc which are all like, majorly featured in the main story so. stay safe <3) bc like Reload is just. SOOO good. also Persona 3 Reload has full voice acting for every social link, whereas the other games usually only have partial voice acting :>

but yeah. start with 5R or 3Re. (always get golden or royal for 4/5 respectively. they add more content including a third semester and new characters and personas and QoL stuff so there's no real reason to get the 'vanilla' games except to collect them (i have p4 and p3fes on ps2 in my room rn lmao).) 3 you can go play FES, Portable, or Reload. Reload is the newest game and my beloved and literally everything i wanted since i played p3fes as like a 13 year old so <3

[late-draft]

ONE MORE THING: how can you be critical of something you like and still like it? since agghhhh it’s so stupid but I can’t be critical of things I like bc then it kills the interest but that’s so stupid and I hate it!! And I thought maybe I’d ask you since you seem to be able to do that and I gotta figure it outttt sorry for all the asks HHRHSHSH

It's simple when using this mindset - it depends on the percentage of the content that I like, and also keeping in mind that within works, there are discrete pieces that can mostly function alone, and which are connected to other parts like glasswear with tubes in chemistry equipment. You can always find things you like and dislike in any piece of media. What also helps is identifying these parts, because as a creator you could always think about what you would do differently versus what you like just the way it is. It's about dissecting narratives and figuring out how they work, narrowing in precisely on parts rather than viewing all media as a singular whole with no structure inside.

I'll use some examples here: I'd characterize myself as someone who dislikes Arcane (shocking, I know!) How is that possible? Here's how: it altered the fundamental narrative structure of Zaun and Piltover, portrayed the class warfare very naively and completely gutted and reworked my favourite character. However, I really like the parts of the story with Vander, Silco, Vi and Jinx. This storyline I appreciate, and I can like it regardless of other parts because it's majorly independent.

Inversely, I really like ATLA but there are things in it that I don't appreciate. Some rushed parts such as Katara getting captured by Azula's team, the pacing of the entire S3, the naive/childish tone in many "filler" episodes, and the strange character regression of the main character in the second half of S3 - but that can also be viewed as intentional narrative, and I can also appreciate negative character development if that was intended. It would hurt especially if it happens to someone's favourite character, after they became their favourite character. This situation could be paralleled with what I listed in the Arcane section with what happened to my fav character. In that case, making a mental explanation of "I liked the character for these reasons up to the point X, after which I really dislike the way they were developed. Instead I would have done Y". As for the childish tone, I understand the background and situation of the show, it was made with the target audience being children. Skip what you don't like, and you can always theorize how things would have been done had those parts of the story been more mature. There is no character in ATLA that I actually dislike - I only disagree with how everything ended, because there were many very strong narrative currents before that ending that led to different conclusions. And I feel the story was rushed to completion. It had way more left to say!

[yellowhollyhock]

For any (or all that you know? 👀) version of Michelangelo:

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

ah yayayay!!

2003

4 other media

Put him in MLP:FIM, he can have a video games cutie mark. I see him being a pegasus. He can have use his nun chucks to redirect tornados. Plus, super speed. And plus plus, baking! Lots of ways for him to have lots of fun in a world like that.

7 something fandom does that I like

It is simply delightful to read about Mikey being an absolute menace. Maybe especially because when I'm writing him I have a hard time coming yo with ideas for what to make him do. It's so fun to see people's creativity! I also love when his sweetheart shows through, he really feels deep and cares lots. And if the same story shows his sweetheart side and makes him create situations I couldn't dream up if I was paid? excellent

12 headcanon

I am not original for this but, genderfluid Mikey!!

21 favorite thing to do when writing, something I don't like

My favorite thing about writing him is how much he's watching and noticing everyone else's emotions. This is such a younger sibling thing. It's different from Leo or Raph worrying about others' feelings; it's like he's watching tv. Not that he's not worried but like. It's like he's the omniscient narrator. I mean he might be wrong sometimes but he's always watching and speculating.

Something I dislike? His brain moves so fast. I have a very Donatello-style choose one thing to focus on and that's my personality now brain, so it's always challenging to write for someone like Mikey who notices so many little things and connects so many different thoughts. Which in the end I guess I also enjoy in that it's very satisfying when I'm done, but the process is difficult

1987

4 other media

oooh I kinda want to see him in like. A Louis L'amour book. Just hanging out being nice to everybody. All the characters comment on his accent. By the end of it they're all talking like him. He can use his grappling hook to confiscate guns and talk to the horses and cattle and dogs and make everyone pizza 😌

7 fandom thing I like

I like in crossovers how everyone always loves him. This is such a true thing. Canon crossovers are wrong there's not a turtle ever to turtle who wouldn't get along with Michelangelo.

12 headcanon

hmm... actually I don't know if I have any. I can see him sometimes being the oldest. I do mean sometimes though,, there are some turtles that have an Age Order and some who are Quadruplets and say what's convenient. But 1987 Michelangelo is the only Mikey I'd see ever being the oldest

21 fave and least fave about writing character

His dialogue is mondo fun to write! Like, majorly good time dude.

as for something I don't like--his dialogue is totally challenging at times amigo!

2012

4 other media

I mean 2012 already put him in so many genres canonically akdjdhaj.

Actually. 2012 Mikey in Snorks. Okay listen it's this cartoon from the 80s, they're undersea creatures the size of smurfs with little snorkels on their heads and flipper feet and they're multi-colored and other than that they're pretty much just humans. The main cast is a group of teenagers who go on various adventures often related to keeping the ocean clean, taking good care of wildlife, or being good citizens of their community, but also just a lot of high school drama and some really random stuff.

They're very silly and I feel like 2012 Mikey would vibe. The fun thing is they can (for some reason) breathe on land, so instead of moving Mikey to there just put the main cast in his room. Him and Tooter would bond instantly. I'm kind of obsessed with this idea now

7 fandom

I don't read a lot of 2012 fics, but pretty similar with 03, I enjoy reading about chaos.

I also love love love when 12 Mikey is shown being protective of his bros. idk if that counts as something 'fandom' does since it's canon, but I do so enjoy fics where that trait is shown.

12 headcanon

Asexual. Remember the ep where he was like 'well I'm never getting a crush it makes you guys act weird' and then fell head over heels for literally the next person he saw? To me (ace lesbian) that reads very much like picking someone to convince yourself you like that way so you don't feel left out. I see him as demiromantic asexual. Unlikely to even come up much in fics but there it is

21 writing

it is more rare for me to write 2012 but I do have some things in the works. I like writing Mikey with Raph. They have a very fun and sweet dynamic. for dislike.. hmm.. it is a challenge balancing his emotional intelligence with his goofy side, I'm not sure why more so with him than the other mikeys? I feel like I always lean too hard one way or the other with him specifically

rise

4 other media

Easy: The Great British Baking Show.

7 fandom

when they give him hand tremors from making that portal in the movie. yessssss

12 headcanon

idk if this is really a headcanon, I feel like it's highly textually supported. But I like to think he really looks up to Leo and tries to act like him

21 writing

it's very fun to write hie explosive he can be! I probably overuse Dr Delicate Touch XD

what I dislike writing... hmm. It can be difficult to write how competitive he is. Very different from how my brain works so it can be hard to tap into

90s movies

4 other media

I think this Mikey should be in Friends. I haven't seen a lot of Friends but from what I have I feel like he'd be a fun personality to throw into the mix. Him and Phoebe both thin they're the sane one of the two of them

7 fandom

Love to see incorrect quotes. I haven't seen much of the 90s turtles generally in fandom, but when they make an appearance it's usually either an incorrect quote or a screenshot, both of which are excellent opportunities for Mikey to shine.

12 headcanon

He loves Dinsey princess movies. I mean loves. You can't tell me a guy who randomly starts singing and dancing that often doesn't have a closet full of Disney movies. Musicals as well but he also likes animation. Also Lady and the Tramp and Jungle Book are honorary Disney princess movies to him, in spite of April and his brothers' solid arguments against this. His favorite is Cinderella

21 writing like/dislike

he's kind of low-key for a Mikey, which is both fun and challenging as a writer.

Next Mutation

4 other media

Gummi Bears. They also live underground and try to stay secret. Grammi Gummi cooks really weird combos just like Mikey likes. He and Gusto Gummi would cause very chaos together. Plus there's so much magic elements, which Mikey would find cool because of Venus (and it would also make him extremely homesick). Plus it's a kids' show so they'll have episodes where they learn basic lessons like 'tell the truth' or 'apologize when you're wrong' and Mikey could state the moral on his radio show

7 fandom

allll of the Next Mutation stuff I've read has been you, train, and I gotta say I thoroughly enjoy him and Leo being dorks together 🧡🩵

12 headcanon

He doesn't call Venus 'mutatious babe.' In fact he doesn't call anyone babe

21 writing like/dislike

I haven't written him yet... but it's coming 😈

2007

4 other media

I wanna put this Mikey somewhere nice. Oh I know! Danville, Phineas and Ferb's town. This would be a safe place for him to be out among humans if he wants. He could throw so many parties. And his family can live there too. April could be a den mother (is that what it's called) for Isabella's scout group. Phineas and Ferb and Donnie would borrow parts and blueprints from each other like other neighbors borrow eggs. Leo could shadow Perry! Raph could be a yourh mentor at Kandace's school! And Mikey could work at a pizza place and on the odd occasion when someone comes in like "but you're a turtle?" he'd be like "trust me bro, you're gonna see weirder things than me around here. Just look out the window in 5.. 4.. 3....." And Phineas and Ferb are riding by on hoverboards being chased by a bunch of monkeys.

guys guys guys

"Aren't you a little turtle to be making these pizzas?"

"Yes! Yes I am 😁"

Plus the turtles could also meet Milo Murphy at some point. Michelangelo would be such a good friend to Milo!

7 fandom

Making him and Donnie so close 🧡💜

12 headcanon

I feel like I bring this up all the time, but I'm gonna bring it up again: Mikey knew Raph was the Nightwatcher.

21 writing like/dislike

like: giving him justice. let him yell, let him cry, let him have so much ice cream and pick the movie and get so many hugs

dislike: it actually can be draining to write him because he has so much anger inside that he doesn't know where to put.

bayverse

4 other media

hmm. again, I want a place where he can comfortably go out whenever he wants. What's a place with a lot of random creaturrrres...

Oh! Monsters Inc! And it could be after the movie so they're collecting laughs! That's his job! aww yis this is perfect

7 fandom

haven't checked out the bayverse fandom much. I like the idea of him and Raph being close, since Raph stood up for him in the second movie (never really got the impression Raph much wanted to be human for his own sake)

12 headcanon

audhd, and also besides self-diagnosing is largely the one to notice his bro's symptoms (Raph depression, Leo and Don both anxiety, idk what else). Even though he doesn't have the language for it, he understands a lot about his and their needs just from observation (it will help them all a lot once they start putting words to it and doing research tho)

21 writing like/dislike

like: he funny 🧡

dislike: sometimes he kinda crude :/

Batman vs tmnt

4 other media

All of it. Let him press. Every button. Every. Button.

hehe the Jetsons

7 fandom

I am getting more and more into Michelangelos where I haven't seen enough art or stories to notice patterns 😅 Love people appreciating or elaborating on his friendship with Alfred

12 headcanon

this Mikey is very close with his Master Splinter 🧡♥️

21 writing

this Mikey is fun because I don't have to think up schemes, just make him touch everything. difficult because there's only one movie of characterization to draw from

IDW

okay I am not caught up on IDW by a long shot, and I can't answer most of the questions for him, but

4 other media

put him some place soft. Strawberry Shortcake.

Mirage

same thing again, but I have one answer

4 other media

Highway to Heaven. Ex-cop goes on the road with a traveling angel. Michelangelo would be a good buffer at times and very funny picking on them both at other times.

[doberbutts]

In regards to Doctor Who, I also stopped around the same time as you and recently picked it back up.

I like some of late Capaldi, but the early stuff was really uninteresting to me. His episodes suffered from a few writing issues, but the second half of his run was okay in my mind. Some episodes better than others.

I liked Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, but I wanted to scream at the writers the entire time. We'd get to a point of understanding where the mystery or theme of the episode finally got revealed, and I'd start to get interested. And THEN they would spoon feed it directly to the audience, like noooo, let me be lost in the horrors for a bit before you spell it out like the end of a children's TV program, PLEASE. I promise I'm capable of exploring the implications for 5 seconds before you read out the message like the back of a cereal box, I beg of you. Her specials were alright, though, they were kinda fun, if a little out there...

Haven't seen the new specials, but I really REALLY hope they do the new Doctor justice. A lot of fans kinda ate Jodie alive, but it wasn't her fault. I'm gonna be really upset if they set him up for failure! People are already making assumptions based on bias. I really want them to set him up for success!

I honestly just think Capaldi isn't the type of actor I want to watch play the Doctor. So when he was announced I just sort of went "mm. Meh." and then stopped. And I had a hard time connecting with Clara, so the combination of a Doctor who I was fairly meh about and a companion I also was fairly meh about more or less killed my interest in the show.

I've said before but not super recently I think but I actuallyyyyyyy am not very interested in alien or time travel stories because I think individually they are very boring and together they are a bit contrived. Unfortunately that is like 99% of the point of Doctor Who so 9, 10, 11, and their companions were able to keep me from going "wow I really don't like alien or time travel stories" because I was invested in their personal character arcs. But if I start off already not really liking the main character draws to the show, then I have to actually focus on the alien and time travel plots, which I don't want to do, because I don't like those genres.

[it's why torchwood worked for me but not star trek, I can focus on something other than aliens in torchwood because I'm mostly having fun watching Jack and Ianto shenanigans, but star trek is *about the aliens* so unfortunately Spock shenanigans were not enough to distract me from disliking the other 99% of the show]

However. Hot Black Doctor. But then I feel like I'd have to watch 12 and 13 to catch up to Hot Black Doctor. Also I am trying really hard to reserve judgement because maybe it makes sense plotwise but I am somewhat annoyed that we have Double Doctors with one of them being a white dude who has ALREADY PLAYED THE DOCTOR AND IS SUPER POPULAR AS POSSIBLY NEW WHO'S FAVORITE DOCTOR [albiet, a white dude whose Doctor I did really like] who is at extremely high risk of majorly overshadowing Hot Black Doctor. Can't even have a standalone black generation without white people making sure they're included.

[spookitordukeit]

Your COTL au sounds epic and I can’t wait to learn more about it!

Hdjdvdjsbkdbdkdbsjdbjdbdj omg thank you!!!^^ I haven’t played the game myself yet but I have (tragically) come down with a serious case of brainrot…😔 nothings set in stone yet, but I can definitely ramble about some ideas I have!!

Okay, so first off, I haven’t seen many Fem Lambs, and I absolutely adore writing fems, so my Lamb will be She/They. I think I’ll be sticking with ‘The Lamb’ as her name as well.

As for the cultists, I’ll be revamping characters from a (very, I’m talking 2012) old Original Work I have. I never posted anything, but I feel like now is finally the time to let them shine!

There’s Anya the harlequin rabbit person, Reiketsuna the snow leopard, and Daichi the bat. Those are the main ones I want to revamp, especially Anya, as she has always been my favorite.

Of course there’s also ‘The Wolf’ I mentioned in the other posts. Something something, a sweet lamb comes across an dangerous, injured wolf and nurses it back to health. Undying loyalty and all that, yknow? I’ll probably be basing him off of Hotaru, the wolf person. Might change a few things though as his personality and the Wolf I want to make are vastly different…

AOUGH. And i really want a ferret…. They’re so cute😔 WHAT ABOUT A SALAMANDER?????

I’m also playing with the idea of adding Hoshihiko and Koichiko, (the fox and weird half dragon half priest person … thing. Respectively.) but I’d need to majorly rehaul them, seeing as they were the main hero and villain of that story… idk though, maybe I can work them in? Augh.

I also want to put more focus on how the cultists are, indeed, animals. They act, think, eat, play, forge bonds, and live, in vastly different ways; And I think it would really fun to explore that. Foxes are mostly solitary unless rearing young, and then they form what’s called a ‘skulk’. Wolves always in packs and form deep family connections. Snow leopards are always solitary, roaming as ‘the ghosts of the mountains’. Sheep have large flocks and a leading sheep or shepherd.

Sheep can not be solitary or else they experience extreme distress. A sheep will follow their leader even when being led into danger and death, that is how deep the instinct to be follow is…

Jsbdjdbdjsvsj. Don’t mind me, I’m insane. Anyway! Here’s the finished Lamb design and the idea for the Wolf. (I have no idea how to draw furries… plebse forgibv…😔)

The creachures…. I’ll get to Narinder eventually I prommy

Anyway- always feel free to ask if you have questions :3 I do very much enjoy answering and spreading my little diseases lol

[tisorridalamor]

Kurayukaba and Kuramerukagari

Watched these movies over the weekend and didn’t see too much discussion on them in the tags so wanted to out my two cents out there!

TLDR: Both are fun, short 60 min films with underground tunnels, steampunk contraptions, cool action sequences, and really pleasing art that reminds me of slightly more anime Professor Layton style. They have implied overlap through settings, themes, and minor characters, but can be enjoyed independently and in any order! There is a manga version of Kuramerukagari ongoing and I saw rumors of novel spin offs. I’m hopeful for more from this setting/series in the future!

No major spoilers below :)

I discovered these movies on tumblr through hearing that Kurayukaba was a detective film dealing with mysterious disappearances and an underground society, which immediately intrigued me as someone who’s a big mystery fan. Kuramerukagari on the other hand is about a young mapmaker in a mining city who makes a living charting new roads, tunnels, sinkholes, and territorial disputes.

Of these two summaries, I was a little let down with Kurayukaba as specifically a detective movie - I still enjoyed it!! But it felt more like an action / adventure starring a detective rather than a true mystery, so I want to be upfront about that with any mystery fans who are likewise intrigued by the teaser I wrote above. However I found that what it lacks in meaty mystery it makes up for in world and visuals. Both of these movies have such fun settings, and maybe it’s cause I’m still on my Tears of the Kingdom kick but traversing through secret caves and tunnels is so fun. These aren’t new concepts but they’re given a lot of character that makes you want to go out hunting for passage ways to underground cities yourself.

To touch on a bit of criticism with Kurayukaba, I must say the movie had two flaws in that it’s hampered by its short length and I think that contributes to a rushed ending. Maybe it’s just cause I’ve been watching older, slower anime recently, but this movie felt like a mile a minute from the get go and yet didn’t have time to properly set up the conclusion. Now I don’t mind a fast paced story or lots of quick dialog, but more time would have allowed for some breathers and to conclude the ending clearly. from what I’ve read online I’m not the only one who didn’t quite get the movie’s ending reveals. But oddly, because the movie felt less like a true mystery to me, the ending being kinda confusing wasn’t that big of a disappointment - I still enjoyed it, enjoyed seeing the characters act and react, and may even rewatch the movie someday to figure out if it’s a little clearer the second go around. I did wish I had known ahead of time to not expect overlap between Kurayukaba and Kuramerukagari though, as I was hoping some more explanation or more explicit connections between the movies after Kurayukaba’s ending.

I watched Kurayukaba first, then Kuramerukagari immediately after. My assumption that the two movies were majorly connected was pretty quickly proven false, but I was able to let go of those expectations and fall into the new movie without dwelling on that. There’s actually a lot less tunnels and no underground city in this one, but the action and above ground city was every bit as good. I really can’t emphasize how much fun this was to watch! I LOVED the crazy library as well. The “Japanese city with mild steampunk elements” is a very fun aesthetic, and the art was once again such a treat :)

Now as for my criticisms with Kuramerukagari, the plot didn’t have any major confusing elements like Kurayukaba, but unlike Kurayukaba it did include scenes and characters that didn’t seem necessary to the overall story. While I liked the police chief lady and Candy Shop, neither of them provided much more than exposition we could’ve gotten elsewhere or we did get elsewhere. I fully expected Ms. Chief to recruit one of the mapmakers, but her story of gets sidelined by the neighborhood turf war. I believe Kurayukaba needed more time to properly flesh out its ideas, but Kuramerukagari had time it could have used to strengthen its story and unfortunately gave it away to two characters that don’t contribute much to the main plot. I really hope the manga continues after just adapting the movie and we see them more involved, otherwise I’d be pretty disappointed that they were included even though I really liked their designs, dynamic, and voice acting

From my understanding, these titles were both part of a crowd funding campaign. I don’t entirely know the details of it, but I wonder if rather than making two good, shorter movies with similar themes if the creators could have pooled their resources and instead made one great, longer film? In the end though, I’m still happy with what I watched. Both movies have some fun ideas and are easy to watch in one sitting, so they’re worth checking out if you want something fun and quick to watch. I think it’s a success if a story (or stories in this case) leaves you wanting more from the characters and setting, and I definitely got that here. I really do hope that the Kuramerukagari manga gets a translation someday, as I can’t find any official or unofficial English release yet, and what I’ve seen of the art looks stunning ✨