#jack: yeah it's like they're looking down on everyone *constantly*

[shallowseeker]

My entire kingdom for a civilian they're interviewing on a case complaining about her in-laws, and Dean jerking a thumb at Cas and blurting, "Ha! You should see his family."

[writingwithciara]

fancy friends for the summer -quinn hughes-

summary: quinn attends y/n’s cousins wedding with her, but as a friend

word count: 4.6k

pairing: quinn hughes x reader

notes: why do i keep doing this to myself 😩

"jack, i need a favor!" y/n called out as she walked into jack & luke's apartment.

"what's up?" jack emerged from the kitchen.

"my cousin is getting married in michigan and i told him i was bringing a date."

"okay. when is it?"

"next monday. which means we would need to be in michigan by sunday night. i'm sorry it's short notice but i completely forgot i checked the plus one box until he called me earlier."

"i would love to be your date, but i got a game that day."

"and if you have a game, that means luke would also be unavailable. damn it." y/n sighed and leaned against the counter.

quinn, who had been sitting on the couch, turned his head. "you do know that jack has another brother, right?"

"oh, right. sorry quinn." y/n walked over to him. "do you want to be my date?"

"yes." he said a little too eagerly. he coughed to cover it up. "should be fun."

"are you sure? there's gonna be a lot of questions."

"yeah i'm sure. i'm a hockey player who gets interviewed a lot. i can handle questions."

"okay perfect. i owe you a huge favor." y/n smiled and went back to the kitchen to talk to jack.

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when the day of the wedding rolled around, y/n and quinn were getting ready at the lake house since it was only a 10 minute drive from the wedding venue.

quinn had been waiting for y/n down in the living room for nearly 20 minutes before she came in wearing a light blue dress. this wasn't the first time quinn had seen her all dressed up, as she had attended multiple events for the NHL with him and his brothers. but there was something different about this time that he couldn't put his finger on.

"wow. you clean up nice, hughes."

"why do you sound so surprised? you've seen me dressed up before." quinn chuckled as y/n approached him and adjusted his tie a bit.

"i know. but no matter how many times i see it, i can never get used to you looking this good." y/n smiled and grabbed her phone. "alright let's go."

y/n walked out to quinn's car and got in carefully. quinn climbed in and began the short drive to the venue.

when they arrived, he handed his keys to the valet and looked at y/n, who was nervously smoothing out her dress.

"ready?" he held out his arm for her to take and she smiled, taking it gently before following quinn inside. they found their seats and waited for the ceremony to begin.

"so, are you really prepared for all the questions you're gonna get at the reception?"

"pretty much. but just in case, can you give me a rundown of what i might expect?"

"of course." she leaned closer and whispered. "there's gonna be a lot of 'relationship' questions and i know you keep your life private but this is my family. they know a lot about you already. but regardless, they're gonna ask a lot about us. is that alright?"

"nothing i can't handle." he smiled and squeezed her hand.

the ceremony started moments later and normally, everyone would be staring at the bride and groom but quinn's gaze constantly drifted over to y/n. he couldn't figure out why. he knew he wasn't attracted to her. maybe it was the setting of the day making him feel this way.

at the reception, it only got worse for quinn. he danced with y/n for the first couple of songs before he had to take a bathroom break. when we got back, y/n was dancing close with someone quinn didn't know. he knew for sure he wasn't a family member so he figured the guy was from the bride's family.

instead of interrupting what looked like a good time, quinn decided to sit back at their table.

y/n, who was dancing with the bride's brother, noticed quinn sitting alone and excused herself to go over to him. when she sat down, she smiled. "you having fun, quinn?"

"surprisingly, yes. usually i don't go to weddings but this one has been fun."

"if you don't usually do weddings, why'd you agree to come with me?" y/n smiled.

"the company was never this good, i guess." quinn smiled back at her as he sipped his own drink. he set his glass back on the table and looked at her. "so, who was that you were dancing with when i got back from the bathroom?"

"why? you jealous?"

"not even slightly." but he felt like that was a lie. "just don't want any of your family to get the wrong idea. that's all."

"don't worry. he's the bride's brother and he'd probably rather dance with you, if i'm being honest." she sent a playful wink quinn's way.

"oh." suddenly realization hit him. "oh. got it." he chuckled and looked down at his nearly empty glass. "wanna dance?"

"yes, i do." y/n smiled and took his outstretched hand, following him quickly to the dance floor just as a slow song began playing. "what a coincidence. i was just singing this song in my head."

"i believe it." quinn smiled as he started dancing with y/n. there was a moment shared between them was incredibly intimate and even though no words were exchanged, they both knew their connection was much stronger for it.

y/n giggled as quinn spun her around the dance floor slowly. and as he pressed her body closer to his, they both realized it was the closest they had ever been.

the song felt like it was never going to end, but neither of them cared much. they were enjoying the moment. so when the song did finally end, y/n pouted a little. she hoped quinn didn't notice her shift in mood, but he definitely did. it was hard not to when he was feeling the same way.

"if you want, we can head back to the lake house." he grinned as they took their seats at the table again. he sipped his drink slowly and was thankful he decided to go the non-alcoholic route. y/n didn't hesitate to nod.

they said their goodbyes and got in the car. before they were out of the parking lot, quinn had reached over the console and grabbed y/n's hand. when she didn't pull it away, he squeezed it gently.

when they got back to the lake house, y/n went to the guest room while quinn went across the hall to his own room.

"tonight was a lot of fun. thanks for being my date for the night."

"yeah. it was no problem. i had a great time." quinn smiled. "good night."

and they both went into their rooms as if there was never a moment shared between them.

just as y/n was getting settled into her bed, quinn knocked on her door. he didn't wait for her to respond before he came in.

"are we just going to pretend that there wasn't a moment between us at the wedding, and then again on the car ride home?"

"no. we're not going to pretend."

"okay good." quinn walked over to her slowly and kissed her softly. it wasn't his intention for things to escalate but when y/n pulled him down to join her on the bed, he couldn't help but follow her lead.

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after they left michigan, quinn went back to vancouver and y/n went to new jersey. she needed to tell jack what happened.

"jack, are you home?"

"yes. what's up?"

"i need to talk to someone."

"okay. what about?" jack set his bowl down on the coffee table and turned his attention from the tv to y/n as she sat next to him.

"the wedding."

"did something happen?"

"yeah. i slept with quinn."

"wait, what?"

"that's exactly how i reacted to when we woke up the next morning." she sighed. "i don't know why it happened. we're not even attracted to each other."

"are you sure about that?" luke entered the living room and sat on the chair. jack and y/n gave him a look. "i was listening in the hallway."

"okay, well i can't speak for him but i can honestly say that i am not attracted to your brother."

"i believe you." jack smiled. "i don't think quinn is attracted to you either, which is weird."

"if they're not attracted to each other, then why'd the sleep together? isn't that going to complicate things with olivia?"

"who's olivia?" y/n heard the name and felt her smile disappear. she knew the answer but she didn't really want to hear it.

"she's a girl quinn has been talking to for awhile but i don't know if they made the jump to make things official or not."

"i think they did. mom mentioned something about quinn inviting olivia to the lake house this summer." luke looked at y/n and noticed she was messing with her necklace. "you okay?"

"yeah. but if she's coming to the lake house, does that mean there won't be room for me?"

"of course not. there's always going to be room for you." jack smiled and threw his arm around y/n. "don't you ever doubt your place in this family."

"i won't." she smiled and leaned into jack's side.

"we leave on friday. you ready for that?"

"of course. always am." y/n smiled. "you mind if i stay here?"

"of course not. you're always welcome here." luke smiled and headed to his room.

"i'm gonna head to bed too. you good on the couch or do you want the bed?"

"couch should be fine. thanks jack." y/n smiled and curled up with the blanket.

the 3 of them fell asleep quickly.

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on friday afternoon, jack was unloading the car with help from luke while y/n was unlocking the house.

"we're the first ones here." she looked around the empty house. luke set bags down beside her and smiled.

"that's a good thing. you get to pick your room."

"oh yay." y/n took off up the stairs and just as she was about to turn the doorknob to the room she normally stayed in, she remembered what happened the night of the wedding. she turned around and kept walking to the room next to it.

"don't want your normal room?" jack asked from behind her/

"no. think it's time for a change. you don't mind if i share with you, do you?"

"no. not at all. luke will just have to room with trevor this year." he walked into the room and set their bags inside. jack pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. "oh. quinn's here with the food. should we go down and help?"

"why not?" y/n slid her own phone back in her pocket and followed jack downstairs. when she saw quinn, her heart felt like it skipped a beat when it shouldn't have.

"oh my god. food!" luke came in from the backyard and grabbed the bags from quinn. he rushed them to the kitchen, leaving jack, y/n and quinn in the front hall.

"i'm gonna go help luke. well, more like stop him before he eats everything right away." jack left the awkward situation.

y/n was about to follow him but quinn's voice stopped her. "hey. it's good to see you."

she turned around to face him. "it's good to see you too, quinn."

"we should talk about what happened."

"no. we should go help your brothers put the food away." y/n wasted no time heading into the kitchen to join her best friend. "thanks for that, jack."

"oh, you're welcome." jack chuckled and put the last bag of chips in the pantry, just as quinn walks into the kitchen. "hey bro. where's olivia?"

"she's coming up later tonight. she had some, uh, things she had to take care of before taking 2 weeks off."

"okay cool." luke is already halfway through a bowl of cereal before he says a word. "so, is she your girlfriend?"

"yeah. she is." quinn couldn't bring himself to look y/n in the eye. he couldn't make eye contact with his brothers either. he was lying to them but he needed to come up with a good excuse for when she doesn't show up later.

he thought he and olivia would be good together but after he went to the wedding and slept with y/n, he knew he couldn't lead her on. so as soon as he got home, he broke things off with her. all he could think about was y/n and it was killing him because he had convinced himself for years that he wasn't attracted to y/n at all.

but seeing her in that dress at the wedding made him realize he had only been lying to himself the entire time.

"we're gonna go out on the boat. you coming, quinn?" jack waved his hand in front of his brother.

"yeah sure. y/n and luke already gone?"

"meeting us out there. it's our job to bring the cooler and snacks, per luke's request."

"got it." quinn began to load the cooler with drinks while jack grabbed the snacks. "alright. i'm gonna go get ready. meet you down in 5 minutes?"

"yeah. sure." jack watched as his brother went back up the stairs. y/n walked in a minute later.

"jack, i gotta talk to you about something. something i never thought i would have to bring up with you ever."

"alright. what is it?"

"i think i'm attracted to quinn now."

"you've got to be kidding me." jack chuckled.

"i know. it's stupid and i didn't think i was but then i saw him when he got here and i don't know. it was like my heart started beating differently. i don't know what to do. especially since he's got a girlfriend, who he technically cheated on."

"they weren't together when you guys had sex. they were only talking. so he's in the clear for it. you don't have to feel guilty about it."

"i don't feel guilty. i just don't like that i'm attracted to him now out of all of the times i could've found him attractive." she sighed and noticed jack laughing. "this isn't funny, asshole."

"i'm sorry but it kind of is. i can't believe you like my brother." he shook his head and handed her the bag of snacks just as quinn was coming into the kitchen. "ready?"

"yeah." quinn watched y/n leave the room and grabbed the cooler with jack. when he saw that y/n was a decent distance away from them, he looked at jack. "i have a problem."

"we all do. what is it?"

"i think i like y/n now."

after a few hours on the boat, jack got a text from trevor saying he and cole had arrived so quinn drove the boat back to the dock. jack got off first and helped y/n climb off. she jumped on his back and he walked up to the grass. luke tied the boat to the dock just as trevor and cole made their way down.

"it's about time you guys got here. we've been waiting for 15 minutes." trevor chuckled while looking at everybody. he smiled when he saw y/n and jack's back. "and this happened? do you not tell me anything anymore, jack?"

"oh no. we're not-" y/n started but jack cut her off.

"sorry man. i've been meaning to tell you. just hadn't gotten around to doing so."

"that's okay. just glad to see you so happy." trevor smiled. "anyway, we ordered pizza before we got here so it should be here any minute."

"trevor, you are the best. i'm starving." luke smiled.

"luke, you had a bowl of cereal before we got on the boat and then you had a ton of snacks on the boat. how could you possibly still be hungry?" y/n smiled as jack set her on the ground.

"i'm a growing boy, y/n. i need the nutrients."

"okay. whatever you say, luke." she followed the 3 boys into the house. jack and quinn finished unloading everything from the boat.

"i didn't know you and y/n were a thing now." quinn grabbed the cooler and started walking back to the house.

"yeah. it's kinda new." jack tried his best to keep his brother from breaking through the lie. "you okay with it?"

"well as long as you make her happy, that's all that matters."

"i'll try my best." jack walked into the house and went to y/n. he pulled her out of the room, making sure to excuse them from the conversation. "sorry about that earlier. just figured that it would be easier for you to handle olivia if you were also in a 'relationship'. plus it'll be a lot easier to explain why we're sharing a room now."

"i get it. it makes sense & quite honestly, i'm surprised you thought of that so quickly."

"i do have my moments." jack smiled. "apparently, olivia is supposed to be here shortly. and if at any point in the night you want an escape, just give me a look and we'll disappear."

"i appreciate you so much, jack." y/n smiled and followed him back to the living room. she sat next to jack on the chair while the boys took the couch and the other chair.

through the next few hours, tons of topics were tossed into conversations around them but jack & y/n stayed in their own little world. quinn's gaze never left the pair but he was indeed listening to the conversations going on with the other boys.

"so, when should we be expecting olivia, quinn?" luke brought up quinn's girlfriend, causing everyone to turn towards him, even jack and y/n.

"unfortunately, she wont be making it here until tomorrow. picked up a last minute shift at work to make some extra money."

"okay. cool." trevor nodded in his direction and turned towards luke. "so when are you going to get a girlfriend?"

"what do you mean by that, trevor?"

"your brothers both have girlfriends. don't you think it's about time you had one as well?"

"i want to focus more on my career for a bit before i fall in love."

"okay. i guess that's smart." he nodded and resumed his conversation with quinn and cole. luke found a way to insert himself into the conversation, leaving y/n and jack in their own little world again. she wasn't worried about olivia, but that feeling lasted for 5 minutes.

"olivia says she's excited to see everyone tomorrow. she should be here around noon."

"oh cool." y/n looked at jack and started playing with her bracelet. he grabbed her hand and stood up.

"we're gonna head to bed now. see you boys in the morning." jack walked behind y/n as she climbed the stairs.

"thank you for that. the look on quinn's face when he brought up olivia was killing me. and the way he talked about her was torture." y/n threw herself onto the bed dramatically. "he clearly loves her and i can't compete with that."

"i don't know if he loves her. but if she's gonna be here then you can just stay with me the entire time, like we planned."

"sounds good." she yawned. "i'm actually going to sleep now. thank you for tonight."

"no problem. get some rest." jack kissed her head gently and sat at his desk. mere moments later, he heard her softly snoring. he wasn't tired so he went out of the room and headed down to the kitchen. on the way down, he bumped into quinn.

"hey, bro. that was an abrupt exit you guys made earlier. is everything okay with y/n today? she's acting weirder than normal."

"yeah she's fine. she was just tired." jack grabbed a bottle of water and looked at his brother. "can i ask you something?"

"sure."

"if you like y/n, why are you inviting olivia here?"

"olivia's not coming. i ended things with her." quinn admitted.

"what? why, and when, did you do that?"

"because of y/n. it happened when i got back from the wedding. i couldn't lead her on. it wouldn't be fair." he sighed. "and now i'm stuck because y/n's your girlfriend now. i should've known you guys were gonna get together eventually. happens a lot with best friends."

"i'm sorry, bro. i'm sure there will be someone for you soon. and it may not be y/n but she'll love you as long as you love her." jack looked at his brother. "i'm sure this thing with y/n is only temporary and you'll move on in no time."

"i'm not sure about that, jack. every time i see her, it's like i forget how to breath and my heart starts beating faster. i don't know what to do. and i'm sorry. i know she's your girlfriend and that i need to get over her, but it's starting to feel impossible."

"sorry." jack shook his head. "well, i'm heading back to bed. talk to you in the morning." jack grabbed an extra bottle for y/n and headed back upstairs. what quinn was describing wasn't just a crush. it was love. he was in love with y/n & it made jack feel bad. he didn't want to stand in the way of love.

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"are you serious, jack? you're really ending things now?" y/n and jack were in the living room having a fake breakup, hoping to catch everyone's attention.

"look, i'm sorry. but even you can't deny that we were better off as friends."

"i want to hate you for breaking my heart, but you're right. i will always love you but being in love with you just doesn't seem right."

"wait, what's going on? don't break up. you guys are soulmates." luke mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"sorry, luke. we have to." jack looked at y/n and smiled. "she's my soulmate, but platonically." he walked out of the room.

"we had a good run." y/n smiled and sat next to luke. "do you ever stop eating?"

"when i'm sleeping." he smiled widely and wiped his mouth. "so you and jack aren't dating anymore?"

"nope. but that's okay. i love him, but i don't think i was ever in love with him."

"is it because you and quinn are in love with each other?"

"what makes you think i'm in love with quinn?"

"well for one, i'm very attentive." luke chuckled. "plus i overheard you and jack talking about it. and i heard him and quinn talking last night. quinn ended things with olivia after he got back from the wedding because he realized that he would only be leading her on, which wouldn't be right. he told jack that whenever he sees you, it's like he forgets how to breath and his heart beats faster. sounds like love."

"that's a lot of information to consume so quickly." y/n looked at luke.

"hey guys. what's up?" quinn smiled as he entered the room.

"and that's my cue to leave. see you later." luke quickly walked out of the room, leaving y/n alone with quinn.

"well that was weird." he chuckled. "so, here we are again."

"looks like it." y/n couldn't even look at quinn.

"what are your plans for the day?"

"quinn, do you love me?" she quickly changed the subject.

"what? why do you ask?"

"luke told me a few interesting things a couple of minutes ago. said he overheard you and jack talking last night."

"well i don't know what he thinks he heard, but that wasn't it."

"quinn, just answer the question. do you love me?"

"even if i did, it would be wrong. you're dating jack."

"it was a lie." y/n looked at him. when he raised an eyebrow, she continued. "it was jack's idea to pretend to be dating. it was supposed to be an easy way to explain why we were sharing a room this year."

"i'm confused."

"it was also supposed to serve as a way to distract me from your relationship with olivia. he didn't want to see me upset about it."

"why would you be upset about me and olivia?"

"doesn't matter. heard she wasn't even coming up here anymore. what happened there?" y/n looked at quinn, already knowing the answer.

"we broke up." he sighed. "right after i got back from the wedding. but is it technically a break up if we weren't even dating?"

"why did you guys break up?"

"something tells me luke already told you."

"he did tell me something. but i want to hear your reasoning."

"well, at the wedding, i realized i had been lying to myself. i kept telling myself that i wasn't attracted to you in any way. but i realized that i actually was attracted to you. whenever i walk into a room and see you, it's like i forget how to breath and my heart beats faster."

"you seem to be having a good time breathing right now." y/n looked at him and smiled.

"i'm freaking out on the inside though. just don't want to show my emotions to everyone." he avoided her eye contact but felt her eyes burning a hole into the side of his head.

"quinn, why didn't you just tell me?"

"i was planning to. but then you and jack announced your relationship & it felt wrong." he finally looked at her. "but don't worry. i know it's fake but i can see how happy he makes you so you should be with him for real. i'm going to forget about this and move on."

"quinn, you can't just-"

"don't try to talk me out of it. my mind is already made up." quinn began to walk out of the room but y/n grabbed his arm.

"i love you. i didn't think i did but the wedding changed everything. and not just because we had sex. i thought that maybe it was all because of the romance of the night but i thought more about it. and when i saw you earlier, i couldn't stop my heart from going crazy. then you mentioned olivia and i realized that my heart felt like it was breaking. you smiled when you said her name and it was the kind of look that i hoped you'd give me one day." y/n let his arm go and sighed. "do you still want to forget about this thing between us?"

"i really, really don't." quinn held her face gently. "i love you too. so much. i know this is new for both of us but we can take it slow. we have all summer to make up for lost time. if you want to, that is."

"i definitely want that." y/n smiled and closed the gap between them. it wasn't their first kiss and it definitely wouldn't be their last.

jack had been watching from the hallway while their conversation went down. he was happy that two of his favorite people overcame their stubbornness to finally be together.

everything seemed to be fitting exactly where it needed to be.

[witchofthesouls]

I would love to see you write some more culture differences between the bots and humans. If you wouldn’t mind :0 I wish we saw some in TFP

Same here. I love seeing world-building and deep lore, especially with other fantasy/sci-fi civilizations.

TFP gave us so much and so little at the same time. It's like going to a restaurant, you have a drink and great appetizers, so you're constantly waiting for the entrée that isn't coming!

TFP is also really fascinating when looking at it with the lens of the caste system and its deep roots within and among the 'bots, even their reduced circumstances. I get the feeling that Optimus is way more casual in way with his team than what the decorum would demand, even with his barriers.

The Autobots would find human cityscapes as quaint. Even the dense sprawls of megacities with towering high rises are paltry reminder of what they're used to.

Cybertron was a planet where its wilds had been tamed. Either reshaped or completely stripped. The Wastelands is/was an apt name for the baren landscapes outside the established city-states.

It wasn't just a large difference in public transport and zoning and sheer scale. It was also the functional design and architecture.

City-states mimicked the layouts of Titans' ground alt-modes. They didn't sprawl outward. Those had set perimeters based on Titans' outer defenses. Instead, the cities expanded up or down.

It wasn't limited to just a parking structure or secretive bases. Whole levels housed entire communities of what castes resided there: occupations, hospitals, sewage, refineries, restaurants, entertainment, and so much. Some mecha go without ever seeing the sunlight or feel real wind, especially those at the lowest of the system. The lowest castes are set all the way at the bottom, among ancient tech and dilapidated buildings. Sorting and recycling what could be kept and what must be sent back to the upper levels.

The concept of "open to the public" would confuse the Autobots. The Golden Age operated its society under the strict overview of a caste system, which expanded to "where" and "what" individuals of a caste could access.

Monster truck rallies fall under bloodsport to them. Bulkhead once scavenged money to watch and do small bets at high-stakes drift racing and lower-tier gladiator matches below the ground. Mecha still had to pay entrance fees to it.

Parks were under the Artisanal caste. Blending murals of legends, careful tending to fauna that are functionally extinct that was tailored to the agreed aesthetic, live music from specific pupils of masters, playing on instruments that merged with the gardens, so it was difficult to tell what was a tool and a plant or animal. And entry to any of it was only allowed for certain castes.

Universities were thriving, self-contained communities, and major points of power. No one off the list would be allowed into its grounds. All visitors and short-term guests were deeply screened and monitored. There is no such thing as "dropping by." Everything is meticulously planned and prepared. Unless a faculty member personally vouches for a guest, they must heed the numerous rules or a risk permanent banning.

Academia had long since been territorial over its talents and quality of its programs and people. They refuse to allow anyone outside its jurisdiction to bully one of its own. No matter the rank or caste, it will close its inescapable jaws around an outsider.

The fact that someone could go to a private university and simply jog upon its grounds is mind-boggling to the 'bots.

As well as libraries and their courses and workshops. So anyone can go? Anyone?! Everyone has access to the knowledge!? Can anyone simply go join a seminar on local gardening? Anyone can just go to a playground and start swinging or playing basketball or flying a kite or dancing to music? Anyone?

Bulkhead had a lot of questions for Jack and Raf since they're locals compared to Miko.

"So anyone can go?"

"Yeah. I used to spend my recess looking up bird anatomy and Ancient Greece and Egypt."

"You had a thing for ancient civilizations?" Raf asked.

"Doesn't everyone?" Jack shrugged. "Pharoahs and gladiators and old gods? We ate that up with mystery books or Goosebumps."

"I read Sherlock Holmes and the Chronicles of Narnia."

"Those are classics. Hey, did you get into The Lo-"

"Hold up," Bulkhead cut in, crouched down and leaning more forward, as if sharing a secret and quietly ask, "So anyone?"

"Yes. Anyone." Jack repeated, rapidly firing off each point with a finger. "Their family. Their friends. Their classmates. Their coworkers. Their pe-"

"Even, let's say, a construction worker. He could just go inside and pick up, I don't know, quantum physics? Anatomy of any frames? Gardening?"

"Sure." Raf squinted and moved to wipe off his glasses with his sleeves. "Clubs and people like to donate more to expand the base. Some of the college professors even leave early editions of their textbooks." Raf readjusted his glasses and beamed. "It's for easier access people and for an industrial copier."

"Oh..." There was a wealth of meaning in that small noise.

"You..." Jack struggled on the concept. Perhaps giant metal aliens didn't need books and could download information from their own internet. "You don't have libraries or schools?"

"No. We did." Bulkhead sighed. "I just wasn't allowed into them."

Out of all of them, Miko would be the to come the closest to understanding them in some ways. 出る杭は打たれる. The nail that sticks out gets hammered in.

As a transfer student from Japan, Miko does have instances of culture clashes with her American classmates and host family.

She's loud. She knows that. But Americans are a different breed with no restraint. In some ways, admirable. In others, incredibly frustrating.

Miko is used to a far heavier workload with long hours after-school and a busy city life. Jasper qualifies between a small and large town that she can't walk around easily on her own with the blazing heat and bitter cold nights and the lack of a car or a bike.

Detention in the US is a joke to her. Stay in school after it's over? She's used to doing that back at home with clubs and cleaning it. On a Saturday? Same thing. Some clubs back home ran long hours over the weekend. Do homework? She already finished it during lunch or between classes because she wants all the other time to herself and the 'bots.

Because Bulkhead gets a realization just how free the kids' social mobility is, he tries to get on Miko over her scrapping at school and her assignments, especially after Ratchet's high jacking their science projects resulted in failure. And that was another strange blow since Ratchet is a medic and a scientist. She's smart and quick and can be rough around the edges and so everywhere, and, to him, Miko deserves everything she could want in her short life. (And wasn't that also a terrifying concept to grasp? To just live and die under a single vorn?)

At first, Miko was getting annoyed because it's similar to the well-meaning nagging her host family does, but she reads the worry he has, and they have to really sit down and speak and soothe over his misunderstandings.

It comes as a huge surprise to her that Bulkhead can just download a language into him. Context and colloquialisms would be missing, and he needs work because he's a mix between extreme formality and, much to her delight, yakuza. And it's all because of her own frustration that English is her second language.

[dorkus-mcdingus]

Played Like a Puppet

Tags: TWST Fem!OC x Platonic!Canon, Stage in Playful Land, Platonic!Rosalie x Gidel Honest/Gino Foulworth

AN: I mainly use the EN localization for some of the dialogue but I use Fellow and Gidel's JP names (I mainly see Ernesto Foulworth and Gino Foulworth being the names they've chosen once Playful Land sank so it's why I don't use it and why Rosalie and the other characters refer to them with their JP names). Also, Gidel admittedly was an interesting character to write since I've never written a mute character before so I really hope I did him justice. 😅

‘If only that talk worked!’ 

Was the resounding thought that rang through everyone's heads as they continued to sit like lifeless, stringless puppets in their cage. While the minutes ticked by, everything seemed hopeless as one by one, a fellow schoolmate got locked up behind the dimly lit stage with them to be sold off for a hefty profit. Or at least that's what their kidnappers were thinking.

‘The money we get from handing you over is gonna put food on our table. You better thank ‘em while you can, Gidel. Y’know, for filling our bellies!’ 

Those words for Rosalie rang an all too familiar tune, annoying enough to make someone's ears start bleeding. Despite the rage, the urge to grab Fellow's cane and beat them senseless with it, deep in the pit of her stomach along with his little exposé on why they're getting kidnapped, her grimace turned to a deep sigh and a frown. 

They were nothing short of desperate with their situation, and heaven only knew how long those two were suffering out on the road. It wasn't smart to have sympathy for a couple of con men, but with them having no home, Fellow's immense jealousy for those lucky enough to get a proper education, and them having to constantly worry about when their next meal will be, that they stopped so low to commit heinous deeds. It's a tale all too familiar with the girl. 

From Grim's frown, to her fluffy tutu, to the dingy wooden floorboards she and her schoolmates were forced to sit on behind the main stage, her eyes couldn't stop wandering around the room even as she tuned out the noise the others were making. 

Although, the sight of the tiny cat beastman caught her eye as he stood close to the cage as if he were guarding it with his life. With the giant mallet clenched tightly in his tiny fists, he would occasionally cast a glare at the prisoners, warning them to keep quiet.

As for the captured boys, some would kill their boredom by talking with each other but just to annoy Fellow while he was taking a long call, Lilia called,

“Marco!” 

They all looked at each other with confusion completely etched on their faces.

“Marco!” 

The call was met by a few minutes of silence until a voice called back,

“Polo!” 

“Ah, kufufu! If I can guess, is that Cater I hear?”

“Ah, you got me Lils!” 

“Hey wait a minute, don't you usually play this game when you're swimming?” Jack asked. 

Jade couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

“Is that so? What an odd game.” 

“Yeah, you usually play this when you go swimming.” Cater explained. “Although one thing I should mention, you play this with your eyes closed.”

Amidst the annoyed groans and the calls, Rosalie kept her mouth shut as she kept glancing at the little boy playing the role of a prison guard.

“Mrah? Why are ya lookin’ at Gidel, Ro?” Grim whispered. 

Rosalie shot the tubby direbeast a look as she whispered, 

“Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut, Grim.” 

“Hehe, you got a plan or somethin’? That's my henchman!”

“No. In fact I lost all faith that we’ll get out of this alive.” 

“EEEEEEH?! THEN WHY DID YOU TELL ME TO KEEP MY EYES OPEN AND MY MOUTH SHUT?! Geez, Crowley really slammed me with one downer of a henchman!” 

Without a second thought, Gidel was quick to hit the cage in order for him to quiet down.

“I wouldn't go swinging that around all willy nilly little kitty cat.” Leona remarked with his usual smug tone. “You don't wanna damage the goods and get in trouble, do you?” 

Alas for him, the arrogant lion had a point. It was bad enough that the property was getting damaged, but if he were to damage the goods?! Not only would that get Fellow in trouble, he knew he would be upset with him.

There was no doubt that the Night Raven students were unbearably annoying, but much to their dismay, they wereprecious cargo. They're the top of the line puppets complete with powerful magic. In both Rosalie and Grim’s case, she was supposed to be the beast tamer to the gluttonous direbeast and the set couldn't be broken or damaged whatsoever!

Seeing his down turned ears, she looked over to him quietly saying,

“Oi! Oi! Gidel?”

Turning to the girl, he shot her an icy stare and shook his head. He then pointed to the room where Fellow was, pointed to himself, and shook his head once more. 

“Fellow said to not talk to you? Is that what you're saying?”

He nodded. 

“Well why not? I'm just waiting out the time until I become mute and lifeless like a doll, so I thought speaking to you would take my mind off of this.” 

Gidel's ears stood up and his eyes went wide while cocked his head as he raised an eyebrow. Did this girl realize that he couldn't speak? Was she out of her mind?! Still, compared to Grim as well as the rest of these gremlins from Hell, and aside from her heckling his big brother, she was more mild mannered. 

As cautious as he was, he decided to listen to her and answer her questions as best as he could despite the barrier between them. Besides, they weren't going to be free anytime soon, so why not entertain her one last time? 

It started off simple with questions like

“Where are you from?”

“What's your favorite color?”

“How did you meet Fellow?” 

Little things to get to know him better, and in turn, she would answer the same questions about her. Only, she would detail how she met Grim for the first time, never forgetting the fact that he set Kalim's rear on fire along with the rest of the mirror chamber. 

As it turns out, Fellow had been looking after Gidel for as long as he could remember and was the only one that could understand him while others didn't bother trying. No matter what, even despite his difficulty with speaking, his big brother always made him feel included. Even with the kind of life he was dealt with, it was incredibly hard especially since he had trouble reading and writing. Not to mention, he's seen how much this had been affecting Fellow as he didn't have a great education himself so he had to teach him what he can. 

“I see.” Rosalie sighed. “Seems like you two only have each other in this cruel world. I feel a similar sentiment with myself and Grim, as he and I have witnessed all sorts of trouble. Still, much like yourself if anything happened to Fellow, I would be just as heartbroken if anything happened to Grim.” 

Gidel huffed as he stamped his foot hard. He paced the area near her side of the cage, grasping his short and shaggy hair with his sleeve-cloaked hands. He pretended he had a magic wand (or a magical pen) in his hand, waved it in the air and shot it as if he were casting a spell. 

“Wishing you had magic? I'm guessing you're thinking that if you had magic then you could help your brother suffer less.”

He nodded. 

Deep down something in him wished he was bigger and stronger so he could help him more. All he had for protection was the mallet he carried with him everywhere at any time.

“I get that.” Rosalie remarked with a sad smile. “Having power on par with my peers would be a great asset, but being magicless isn't all bad. Although, much like you, I don't know my parents either. Before my brothers left the foster home, we were as close as can be. It's been a long time since I've seen them so I’m a little jealous that you and Fellow have such a strong bond.”

In return, Gidel gave her a smile and a nod. 

“By the way Giddy, how much do you think Grim and I will be worth in your eyes?"

Once more, Gidel's ears perked up while his eyes went wide.

“I'm just curious because for the longest time I never thought I was worth anything. Hell, I just thought that I would be discarded like trash.”

The little boy closed his eyes, mimicking the same thoughtful pose Fellow would often do. He paced the floor before he raised his arms high above his head, then slowly lowered them back to his sides, nodding with a cheeky smirk.

“That much?” 

He smiled, giving another nod as he happily bounced on his toes. 

“You're quite the confident little con man, aren't you? Did you ever hear how much of the cut you two are going to get?”

Pausing for a minute, he took a step back. From what he could remember, their boss had plenty of Thaumarks to give and said it himself, but the way the girl phrased it made his stomach drop. 

‘What is she thinking? What does she know about him?!’

"How do you know your boss isn't lying to you? How do you know that he'll keep his word and make you rich?”

Seeing his eyebrows pinch together, he held his mallet tight, ready to hit the cage again.

How dare she say that! How dare she scare him like that! Last time they worked for him, they made so much money that they didn't have to worry about food for a long time! Why is she insinuating that they're getting screwed over! Fellow sacrificed everything for this! His pride, his blood, sweat, and tears, he would do anything if it meant that he and Gidel could be able to be comfortable and not worry about their next meal anymore! 

Still, the threat didn't deter the girl that was stuck in a ballerina's costume. Instead, she looked him in his bright green eyes, much like how Fellow would calm him down whenever he had a nightmare, and gently said to him,

"I ask because I worry for you both." 

‘What?!’ 

Was all he could think. The sheer amount of confusion was completely plastered on his face as he tried to process what she said. She knew they put her and her schoolmates through this so why was she more worried about them than herself?! Did her head get dropped as a baby or something?!

Unable to make sense of this, he shrugged his shoulders as if he were asking her,

“Why?”

“Because I've been around men like your boss, or more accurately, I've been adopted by people like him. Believe me, it's hell. Either I get called a demon child, I get neglected, or I’m just primped to make them look good when really, they don't care about me at all. In the end when they get bored of me, or they don't feel like taking care of a girl that they adopted as their daughter, I get thrown out like some old toy no one wants to play with anymore.”

The way her eyes didn't waver as she told him her cold and brutal truth, Gidel's eyes grew wide. While she could acknowledge that despite her rough upbringing, she was far more privileged than them. However, that mutual understanding of being a puppet for the wealthy men who don't even give a smidgen of a damn about them, made his ears turn downward. 

At least there was that little bit of common ground between them.

Upon realizing this, Rosalie let out a dry laugh in spite of herself.

"Sounds familiar I suppose. The truth is, I know what it's like to be a puppet for wealthy jackarses like him. They promise you so many wonderful things only for them to play the wolf in sheep's clothing and lie to your face. If your boss truly cared about you, he would do anything if it meant you two are safe and sound. From the sound of how pissed off your brother is, seems like he's the puppet boy in this sort of business transaction. A corporate slave made to dance for the men who look down on you two.” 

As much as he hated to admit it... she had a point. She clocked them just like that. 

The realization made the boy’s heart race and his breathing grow heavy. She and Grim were just like them. A pair of lost souls trying to survive while only having each other in this cruel world. Knowing that she's from another world with no relations in Twisted Wonderland, if not for the headmaster taking her in despite NRC only enrolling men, they would've ended up just like them. Broke, homeless, scraping by so they could afford something to eat, and to add insult to injury, she was a layperson just like him. 

In truth, the thought was more terrifying than any run-in with the police. Someone meeting the same fate as theirs.

With a frown on his face, he looked over his shoulder making sure Fellow was still distracted by the boss ripping him a new one over the phone. Once he was in the clear, he reached inside the cage bars and gently touched her cheek with his eyes slowly blinking at her. 

“Thank you. You're a sweet kid, you know that? Just a shame the world spat you out like you're a piece of rubbish. Oh well, on the bright side, at least I’d be able to help feed you both.” 

The moment they both heard the phone slam and Fellow groaning, completely irritated, Gidel immediately took his hand away from the cage as the fox beastman’s steps drew closer. 

The gaudily dressed park manager fished a cigar and a lighter from his pocket, while the room immediately became cloaked with the smell of smoke the moment he walked in. 

“Mind letting me have a hit from that? I had a rough night.” Rosalie groaned. 

“Heavens, no!” Fellow retorted as he exhaled another puff of smoke. “Also, aren't you a little young to start smoking?”

“I used to steal some of my sister's cigarettes when I was fourteen. They tasted like arse if I’m being honest with you. However tonight, I feel like relapsing into my old habits again if I’m going to be a puppet for the wealthy again just like you are right now.”

As kind as she was, she was harsh with her cutting remarks from her sharp tongue as well as her never-ending sarcasm. It was easy to write her off as a privileged little schoolgirl but who could tell how much hurt she took until she became so jaded.

As far as the NRC scholars were concerned, the fact that she somewhat understood them made the scars hurt so much worse.

After all, it takes a special kind of pain to make such twisted individuals like these nasty little brats.

[appalamutte]

I NEED TO HEAR ABOUT UR SAMWELL CONSERVATORY AU LIKE YESTERSAY GD WHY DOESNT TUMBLR LET ME SEE POSTS BRO!!!! IT SOUNDS AWESOME!!!! -dexsbruins

Here's the post that started this whole idea!!

Okay, so, the premise is that instead of playing hockey, they're all classical musicians and Samwell is a music conservatory that's not exactly Julliard levels, but it's up there in terms of prestige/excellence.

Bitty actually still started out figure skating, but then Coach got a job with Georgia Tech in Atlanta and they moved to the suburbs (yes this is similar to my Jack the Gardener AU) instead of back to Madison, and instead of joining the community's co-ed hockey team, he joined the school's orchestra.

When he gets to Samwell, his freshman year is spent partly in music history lectures, partly in the small-group he joined (all students have to perform in a small group throughout the year), and mostly in practice rooms crying into his music because who does he really think he is? This is Samwell. Bitty didn't pick up his violin until he was twelve, and everyone else seems to have been playing their instrument since birth.

He has rather strong performance anxiety because of this fear of not being good enough to those around him, and this leaves him out of making it into Founders, the honors string ensemble at Samwell.

It's sometime in November when Bitty's leaving a practice room and finds Jack Zimmermann standing right outside the door. Jack Zimmermann, the prodigal son of "Bad Bob" Zimmermann, the greatest violinist in modern day and the infamous concertmaster of Founders.

Jack overhears Bitty practicing and demands asks why he isn't in Founders. He then offers to help Bitty get over his performance anxiety, even going as far as to offer the open violin position in their small group ("Yeah, Johnson was--he left, and now we need a second violin.") which is where Bitty meets Shitty (the violist), Ransom (the cellist), and Holster (the bassist).

I haven't found a way to really finish the story yet and it's more outlined than written, but here's a snippet!!

Eric’s heard of Jack Zimmermann.

It’s hard not to. His name is always fluttering around the mess hall, the dormitories, hushed behind stands during rehearsals and taking meaning off the grapevine, ripe or not. People say he’s this legend, this risk, this fissure waiting to crack beyond redemption. One person praises the ground Jack walks on and the next person tuts indignantly in his wake. He’s the most divisive topic of conversation after pop music, and yet when Jack enters a room, there’s still this collective pause that’s just long enough to be noticeable. Eric didn’t know why that was until his roommate sent him a few articles about the prodigal child gone off the rails.

All throughout his first year, Eric heard his fair share of stories—that Jack botched his Juilliard auditions and his father sent him to Samwell as punishment, that he got a girl pregnant in London and his father sent him to Samwell as punishment, that he got caught with cocaine in some New York airport and his father sent him to Samwell as punishment. 

The more Eric heard, the more outlandish the stories got, but they all had the common ending: Samwell is Jack’s punishment. Samwell is this step down from what Jack deserves. 

Which, yeah, that rubs Eric the wrong way.

“It’s, like, this Samwell right of passage to hear about him,” one girl—Lala? Laura? Larissa?—said at the beginning of the term when a group of first-years behind them didn’t know how to whisper. Eric sits beside her in Music History: 1700 - 1850 and hadn’t spoken more than five words to her before that day. “Which fucking blows. I mean, he’s a student here like the rest of us, but they act like he’s a ticking time bomb or something. It’s ridiculous.”

Eric shuffled in his seat. To have the entire school constantly talk about you and never to you is definitely shitty, but—“I mean, maybe there’s some truth there?”

The look the girl gave him could positively kill. They haven’t spoken to each other since.

Eric felt guilty saying that, but he doesn’t think he was entirely wrong. Jack Zimmermann, as much as he’s talked about, never refutes anything or tries to clear the air, always just walking around campus with this brooding sort of energy. Always frowning and hard-looking and stoic in a way that raises the hair on the back of Eric’s neck.

“He’s almost scary,” Eric told his mama over the phone a few weeks after starting at Samwell last year. It was the first day Eric had seen Jack Zimmermann in the flesh, leaving Founders and running late for his Discover Samwell seminar. “I hate that all these people keep talking about him in such troublesome ways, but a part of me wonders if there isn’t some truth in it.”

“Well, you know what I always say, Dicky: if it ain’t coming from their own mouth, it ain’t worth your time.”

Eric sighed and waved to the car that let him cross the street. “I know, Mama. I just wonder.”

“Honey, we all wonder, whether we like to or not. Now why are you so twisted up over this boy anyway?”

Eric couldn’t answer that without telling his mama that Jack Zimmermann quite literally could be the hottest man he’s ever seen with his own two eyes, and the added mystery and broodiness worked for Jack just as much as it worked against him, so Eric didn’t answer at all. He moved on, let the occasional blips of concern pass, and focused on surviving his first year, his ensemble auditions, and his now upcoming sophomore recitals. He stopped letting the rumors and whispers and side-eye glances get to him, stopped eavesdropping on others’ conversations when Jack’s name was said. 

It was easy. For the first time in his life, Eric wasn’t the target.

[the-firebird69]

So we're going to follow through with some ideas his assholes are asking for stuff I'm going to make them pay. We do hear what he's saying what we're doing doesn't have enough bite and stings him a little all the time relentlessly so we're going to use stuff on him it works. One of them is sell the zero motorcycle and we are going to deliver it to dealerships. And we're going to sue you too and this is the old fashioned way and say you have a lawsuit any issue it you issue it and you make it known and the max are slowly picking up the pace that's what they mean so announce it and you tell people this is what we're doing. On purpose. And you have court dates and stuff like a lot of people do and it's covered for doing all sorts of stuff. Being in your areas going after people of yours taking your text down so you can't intercept. There's a lot of people suing these three. I'm going to sue them too then we assuming these three as well as everybody else is suing them. Go ahead and do in tons of research around here and people saw it this morning and started going after you. So Terry cheesman doesn't get it. The Ladies are helping to getting paid, but he does most of work. And it is why they get taken that's why Dan grabs her Trump grabs Chrissy too this is an allergy said he's trying to do that too. Leslie Nielsen goes after them in the movie taken in the series it's coming up and they all get killed over and over the ladies are helping with Tom Cruise too, he has his character Jack something same reason same people gets bigger and bigger all these people have been driven them off and ripping therm off. Trump's just start going back after them and get their asses kicked. Constantly. Today we're going to make it up to our father and release the information on them and a lot of others him and ripping these two assholes off oh I'm sorry three. Garth is too small but they've been doing it and they only ran on a few people. It's taking way too long. You need help right here. I'm putting it together now and I'm sending it out nobody says the things that you idiots saying to me no one you're out of your mind we're going to take care of your little problem you got really upset cuz it's hearing it on the street trumpsters came in this morning and we're looking around found everybody laughing at them. There's a lot of people that they hurt doing that thievery I'm not putting too much pressure on our son we're going to erase them. Right now there's five police cruisers heading towards Dan's location. Yeah that's the upper Midwest and the saints in Illinois and we do have Illinois no not yet. Certain things have to happen first and they're going ahead. Huge huge engines they're taken from the max several of them and they'd fit in the clone ship but the clones say those are not the ones for the ship everyone agrees no they took eight of them were like 200 miles across 500 miles long and our son said that's kind of large for Hudson Bay and it kind of is the bay itself is about a thousand miles across and they're probably two rows and that would take up too much space because you need a space between who's about half so you'd be 200 * 4 + 400 1200 miles is too big. When the shape the ship is 500x1000 and it wouldn't fit but some of them would and our son says they'd probably have one or two spares and it's going on now people figure it out

Thor Freya

We're taking our ships out while they're taking theirs out near a similar class they have gone out of a couple of big holes and we mentioned him earlier but we don't have like a way to tell you exactly where what he's saying is I can't remember where those big ones came out anyway and the Black Sea and we said no the ocean and people said no. The planetoids and the answer is yes and it was their plan and didn't work

Thor Freya

[irrealisms]

so like the thing is. in many ways the dsmp seems like it ought to be more similar to film acting than it is to theatre-- you've got a close-up camera on you! a lot of the differences are often boiled down to that: theatre is more exaggerated, more full-body, because you're performing to an audience that is far away. film has a camera close on you so it tends more realistic and subtle. BUT the dsmp is actually!! way more like theatre in a lot of ways!!! to the point of REINVENTING theatrical devices that have largely fallen by the wayside in film

the dsmp has soliloquies. it's got asides. you see the same actors playing different characters. you have the tacit understanding that what you see on stage is not always what is literally happening in the story's world, but a symbolic representation. it's aware of audience, it interacts with and talks to the live-reacting audience!!

which i am. obsessed with, tbh! when tommy mutes in conversation with sapnap to say to chat "we're not going to team with him, chat, obviously we're not" before unmuting and saying "yeah, okay, let's team"--when wilbur on the 16th looks at the camera and holds up his hand when they're asking who the traitor is--when technoblade types and deletes "INVIS POTS DONT LAST THAT LONG" in in-game chat while talking to dream--these are all giving information to the audience abt the characters' internal thoughts, in ways that are much more typical of stage theatre than film! it's unusual for a character in a movie or tv show to say things (or take actions) in a conversation that are inaudible to the other characters in that conversation and intended for the audience. film tends to convey information about the characters' thoughts in other ways! it's a very Stage sort of thing, and i doubt they were thinking of it that way, it just sort of naturally emerges from having a live audience that they're entertaining + the ability with livestream technology to communicate things to the audience while being actually imperceptible to the other characters

and ofc whenever they are alone they are not silent, nor do they rely on voiceover or framing devices such as a diary to communicate their inner thoughts--they narrate their thoughts aloud, to the audience. they walk around and sometimes they have conversations with their donos but just as often they soliloquize! i'd include examples here as well but it's so ubiquitous, tbh, tommy does this, sam does this, ranboo does this, techno does this, wilbur does this, jack manifold does this, niki does this, everyone does this constantly. and it makes sense given the medium but that's also so fascinating to me! because again i really doubt they were thinking of it that way, it's just the obvious thing to do, the obvious extension of streaming commentary!

point is. dsmp stage show. I'm Normal About It

[primus-why]

Oh my god, imagine if we had gotten Skyfire in TFP instead of Smokescreen?

No hate to Smokey fans, I'm just asking to picture an AU where if we had to add a new Team Prime member late in the game, it could have been Skyfire. (Please bear with me, I'm mostly just jotting down ideas so it's a bit all over the place)

Idk I just have this very specific dynamic in mind, like:

Skyfire: So I crashed here a gazillion years ago when I was exploring with my science partner.

Arcee: What happened to them?

Skyfire: I... don't know. You didn't find anyone else with me?

Bulkhead: 'Fraid not...

Skyfire: ... Oh.

Bumblebee: *beep boop bwee*!

Raf: Yeah! We'll go back and help you find them!

Skyfire: Really?? But... aren't you guys too busy to mount a search and rescue for a stranger? I don't want to be a burden...

Optimus: Even if you two are strangers to us, we will not abandon a fellow Cybertronian. Saving a life is always worth the effort.

Skyfire: Thank you, Prime.

《LATER》

Ratchet: The medbay is prepped to warm up your friend once they're brought in.

Skyfire: Thank you all again!

Arcee: So what's our perimeter? Did you see where they landed?

Skyfire: Well, no, I crashed before he did.

Bumblebee: *breep bworp*

Skyfire: I suppose it's possible he could have survived...

Miko: Couldn't you look him up in some sort of Cybertronian phonebook and just call?

Skyfire: I did try to reach him, but it seems he's changed his com line. Which makes sense, I suppose. So much has happened...

Bulkhead: Hm... oh! What about the N.A.I.L. census? I know it's super out of date, but...

Miko: Hold on, "Nail" census? Is there a census for sledgehammers too?

Fowler: N-A-I-L. It stands for Non-Aligned Indigenous Lifeforms. They're the Cybertronians who didn't pick a side.

Raf: So... they're neutral? Not Decepticon...

Jack: ... or Autobot.

Ratchet: A census was created and distributed among the N.A.I.L.s so they would be able to find eachother after the exodus. They planned to regroup and form their own colonies off-world.

Optimus: Hm. It would be a good idea to exhaust our options that avoid risk.

Skyfire: Agreed! Let's check out that census.

Arcee: I can pull it up. What's your friend's name again? You guys were from Vos, right?

Skyfire: Mhm. And his name is Starscream.

Team Prime: ...

Skyfire: ... Do you want me to spell that for you, or...?

Miko: I'm sorry, I think I misheard you, because I could have sworn you just said Starscream.

Skyfire: Uh yup. That's correct.

Arcee: *closes out of the census*

Skyfire: ... is there a problem?

Ratchet: Oh, there are several problems!

Cue Team Prime explaining all the things Starscream has done, and Skyfire has a hard time believing it, so he sets out on his own to see Starscream for himself.

Once they see each other and spend a bit more time with each other, Skyfire can see how much Starscream has changed. But he still cares for him. He thinks Starscream can be better than this, deserves better. He doesn't like the Decepticon culture, the way Starscream has become so paranoid and twitchy and violent, constantly looking over his shoulders and not trusting anyone. That's no way to live!

But as Starscream is about to go back to the Decepticons, he starts a spat with Skyfire. (In his own way, Starscream is just keeping Skyfire out of Megatron's servos, because he knows the shuttle will end up following him.) So Skyfire goes back to Team Prime and is like... "I don't want to take up your brand, but if you'll allow me to stay here I can use my skills to assist in the med bay and help look for energon to share. I don't have it in my spark to go into battle. Of course, I know some basic self-defense, but I just don't want to be involved in this war's violence. I'd much rather heal and help others, and... if at all possible, I want to try to rescue my old friend." and Optimus agrees.

Cue an energon mining mission where Team Prime + Skyfire fall under attack by some vehicons/insecticons or whatever, and Skyfire is able to show off his quick thinking skills and brute strength in front of everyone to save the day! This could be especially impressive to anyone in Team Prime that may have thought N.A.I.L.s were cowards or unable to fight.

Fast forwarding a bit, Skyfire has tried many ways to lure Starscream away from the Decepticons, but the seeker continues to rebuff him, yelling at him to stay away from him, saying cruel things, and renouncing him as a friend. But Skyfire doesn't give up. He explains to the kids when they ask him about his persistence later that he knows Starscream is hurting/is in danger, that he's always been duplicitous when it comes to his true feelings.

Going back to Starscream... imagine if Soundwave presented evidence to Megatron that there's a new face among Team Prime these days. "A new member?" Megatron ponders, but then looks a bit closer, "Hm... they wear no brand. So the Autobots are hosting a neutral? How interesting..." Then Soundwave reveals that Starscream has known about this new arrival, but hadn't reported any of his encounters. What's more, it appears they know each other. "... How very interesting indeed."

Team Prime stumble upon an energon deposit that's already being mined by Decepticons (including Starscream), so they hang back to decide if they should use the element of surprise to strike, or if they should try their luck elsewhere. While observing this mission from back at the base, Skyfire sees Megatron make a surprise visit and confront Starscream. Starscream tries to deny that he even knows him that well, and claims that Skyfire isn't very skilled so he won't be much use to the Autobot's cause. But Megatron doesn't buy it. He grabs Starscream, intent on beating the truth out of him, but Skyfire commandeers the groundbridge and bridges right to their location. We get to see more of that brute strength in action as he hits Megatron from behind, yelling at him to let Starscream go. It disorients Megatron long enough for him to grab Starscream and run off with him, telling him he won't let Megatron hurt him anymore. Skyfire and Starscream don't return to their bases that night.

And that's all I got for now! I figured they'd hide out on earth, possibly in that old ship Starscream had once visited in the show. Maybe they straight up disappear for the rest of the show up until that time where all the kids were captured and had to get exchanged for Omega Keys, or at the end where everyone has to defeat a Unicronified Megatron. Like I want them to show up as Science Bros Who Are Here To Kick Ass And Help... double bonus if things are dire and Wheeljack gets roped in for science stuff too. You'd really have a Moment of a former Decepticon, an Autobot Wrecker, and a Neutral working together and that would just be Neat.

[greyias]

Your Morning Bird App Update

Look, I know we all here don't really care. But I'm like. Invested in this drama at this point. And I don't want to give them the metrics to talk about it over there. And everyone on cohost is from Twitter so they're all "yeah, we know". So until I finally decide to make that tea and doggo pictures sideblog, I'm going to inflict my inane observations on the 600+ of you over here. Since our last episode of As the Twitter Burns Down, several noteworthy things have happened:

As predicted, the blue check trolls started using the service to try and invade the notifications/etc of the former "blue check elite" (aka verified users, when that was a thing).

Twitter power users who in the morning were loudly shouting to the heavens "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU CAN'T MAKE ME" were like "This is really sad to see this place die" by mid-afternoon.

Parts of the site are degrading behind the scenes, as apparently part of the job of a bunch of the people he fired a week ago was to constantly apply digital duct tape to features. So occasionally there's a glitch with retweets where they look like the manual retweets of ye olden days.

The impersonations got even funnier:

Elon Musk told all his remote workers they HAVE to work in the building or HIT THE ROAD JACK. (Woe be to the Twitter employee who doesn't live in San Fransisco anymore.) Had a mandatory, in-office all-hands meeting and when asked in corporatese how they're going to unfuck themselves, he had this gem:

When I glanced back this morning at 6am, the mystical gray "official" checkmarks were back. To combat "impersonation". But only for some accounts. "Verification Mark III" as I saw it called by one dry observer.

Before 8am this morning, the $8 verified Twitter Blue checkmarks were gone (LONG MAY MY DOUBLE TUMBLR CHECKMARKS REIGN until they explode into crabs)

This has been your 8am update.

[bridoesotherjunk]

why exactly are nfts so bad for tumblr? like they're annoying and frivolous and are for idiots who pay big money for digital monkey pics but surely they're just an inconvenience

Buckle up, this is a long one, kids.

Why NFTs suck dick- a summary::

They kill the environment and they fuck artists CONSTANTLY. No self respecting artists want to participate in these shitty jpegs that cost as much as a house, so either all NFTs are ugly as sin or they just straight up steal art from other people without permission. So so so many artists on twitter have made posts about how they don't support NFTs and if people see their work, it's been stolen.

I have seen AT LEAST FOUR instances of NFTs being made of work by artists who are dead. And when family of the deceased ask them politely not to use their work, the NFT bros always throw a hissy fit and basically say ""I can do what I want"" but then they turn around and scream if someone points out that they can right click and save their shitty monkey icons. Or if the family asks for money- HA!! Yeah, good luck with that. The NFT bros haven't given a single family A CENT. They don't give a fuck.

Also, let's remember the horrifically tasteless NFTs made to look like the late Chadwick Boseman's head but in gold that were given away as "goody bags" at an award ceremony. You know... a dead man's face. As a prize... AND!!! The model of his face was stolen!! The artist who made those NFTs literally stole someone's sculpt of Chadwick and just added a gold texture to it and said it was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars!!! They didn't even make the face!!!!!!!

NFTs are basically like bitcoin attached to a worthless picture. The servers used to run the whole operation take up so much space and generate SO MUCH heat that they're contributing to climate change at a frankly alarming rate. There's also people doing crypto like this fucking over poorer neighborhoods by setting up shop there and jacking up energy prices for everyone living there.

The NFTs make false scarcity their big selling point. YOU own this one single copy of this image except you actually don't, you own a line of code that SAYS you own that image but like 50 other people also own code that says the same thing. There's a post that explains it with the Mona Lisa that does it very well. You own a sticky note that says you own the Mona Lisa, but everyone else also owns sticky notes that say the same thing. But you don't get to take the painting home. You get the sticky note! Yay!! ((If the servers ever shut down, your bit of code points nowhere, too. It points to an empty void with nothing.))

People have also found that they are EXTREMELY EASY TO HACK. Each picture is a piece of code, basically, and anyone with a bit of coding knowledge can just use that to hack into someone's account and steal all their ""hard earned"" money. So now that people are using NFTs as their Twitter icons, people are hacking their accounts there and locking them out.

All these fucking pyramid scheme losers love them because they see it as easy money, but it's a fucking nightmare and normal people hate them.

[epicspheal]

Wait why would Leon break up with Raihan? D:

Hi there Anon! Before I answer this, let me just make this clear: this is just an AU, my canon timeline (known as cactusverse) does keep Raihan and Leon intact...mainly because I have created an adorable fan kid for the two of them that I'm loathed to give up. Also, this isn't one of those "betrayal" fics where Leon is this perfect little angel woobie and everyone else is just mean and spiteful. Because I can honestly say I dislike those types of stories with a passion.

The AU is an in-depth look at this theory that was floating around Tumblr around the time Opal was introduced in Pokespe. Her comment about how even those at the top face backlash and jealousy. The theory was that Leon didn't really have any true friends in the league because of his moniker as the unbeatable champion. That everyone really saw him more as an obstacle to surpass (Raihan and the rest of the leaders) or an insurmountable mountain of greatness they could never measure to (Sonia and Hop) The AU ends up being the summation of Leon feeling like people only care about "Leon the Champion" and not "Leon the boy from Postwick" which leads him to break things off with Raihan and just leave everyone for greener pastures Now it's not like Raihan, Sonia or Hop hate Leon in this AU but their own insecurities cause them to put Leon on a pedestal in a way he can't really be vulnerable around them like both parties want. So that lack of vulnerability breeds resentment from both sides. Raihan/Sonia/Hop/Others feel like Leon thinks he is above them (because Leon is constantly hiding his feelings and putting on the Unbeatable Champion facade around them even though they're in theory supposed to be his loved ones) and Leon thinks that if he tries to be vulnerable they won't care. And to be fair in times where he has tried to be vulnerable he was met with "oh but you're the champion" or other dismissive things that people at the top/child prodigies often get hit with that makes them less likely to want to open up Now, all of this is very much true in Cactusverse (my canon Pokeverse with my OCs like Calla and Jack) but the difference is...Calla...her being a child prodigy in her own right (as a chemistry degree holder at age 12) allows her to put into perspective Leon's feelings. Because she's experienced that too, people only view her as "Calla the whiz kid" and not "Calla from Postwick" and how isolating it can be to be at the top and feel like people only see you as a threat or some superhuman they can't feel comfortable around. And in Cactusverse, this all happens right when Leon gets possessed by Eternatus so it's that moment where they realize that if they don't save Leon he'll die, and then they'll never get the chance to sit down and have that honest heart to heart that they need. In the "Leon says fuck Galar AU" the EternaLeon event doesn't happen and Calla doesn't exist as she's replaced by Victor...so the lack of those key things allows the negative behaviors from all parties to persist longer until Leon just snaps and calls things off with Raihan. First, as a break as he goes to Johto for vacation...but eventually it just ends permanently as Leon ends up enjoying his time in Johto too much He actually ends up in the Charicific Valley. The relative anonymity he gets there allows him to be treated not like The Unbeatable Champion but this dorky Charizard Fanboy. He's finally allowed to be his flaws and all with no one using his status as a champion (former) against him and he realizes this is what he had been missing in Galar Now he does get reconciliation from Raihan and the others but again he decides that he'd rather not return to Galar. Yeah, he originally had a dream to make Galar's trainers the strongest but he realized he was putting others over himself yet again and that it was okay to be selfish he had more than earned it given his long service as champion. Raihan and the others realize their own insecurities and they work on themselves (just like Leon is working on himself over in Johto) so that they don't damage other relationships they have in the future.

[lemonstars8583]

Alright, got the energy to sit down and write another ask, let's go!

Rush got banned after the fire incident, even if the plan was a success and all the player died... the fire spread so much glitch had to step in to help so they don't burn the rest of the hotel.

Screech doesn't like bright lights and Seek already banned it's kid from coming. This may change when Screech grows up.... but that's a long while

Ambush thought it'll be cool but then realize that their gimmick of running back and forth is impossible with how everything is layed out. So they passed.

Also the halls where the show takes place is too long for it to keep a consistent speed. Too tiring!

Figure... yeah no. man's gonna trip over everything and be set ablaze. It's advanced hearing isn't gonna work with the fire crackles. Another pass. Seek opened the library door and it just went "nope." and closed the door on him djdjdj

Running jokes on Seek, short and is constantly blocked by the most simple of doors.

Halt is the same thing as Ambush. Eyes started crying and blinking rapidly when the smoke reach it's eyes then quickly faded away. Timothy's drawer was completely ignored after the chase. Seek absolutely refuse to work with Jack in anything much to Hide's confusion. Glitch sighed and touched a bookshelf, which proceeded to clip through the floor, then pointed at Seek. It quickly got the message.

So basically only Rush, Screech, and Jack were banned. Everyone else refused or immediately realized that their strategy wouldn't work.

--

GIANT SCREECH GIANT SCREECH GIANT SCREECH-

They'll still run if they're look at hard enought but it'll take the player a lot longer to look at them before they disappear. The trade off is that screech is massive and it's hard to take eye contact off when they fill a quarter of the screen..

Hide looks at their short sibling, then at pretty large Rush, then at massive Screech.

The calculations running through their head at what fuck all gene combination allowed their nephew to grow this big...

Truly, the Eyes-Screech combo was terrifying.. Now Screech-Halt combo is the new scariest thing to encounter, there's no way to see Halt teleport if Screech is on the screen.

---

there was this weird thing that happened with me in the game today. Basically I was taking forever to load, like 3 whole minutes of loading, then I finally loaded in by some miracle, I was immediately sent to door 19 without glitch popping up. Then got rushed like 5 doors later..

I'd like to imagine glitch was just hanging around, waiting to pick up lost players. Then noticed this player being slowly loaded in in the lobby, panicked and emergency teleport the player to the group and disappeared. Rush sensed that there's a completely new player and immediately headed off to see what's up.

--

I should probably give my pronoun thought process to the entities since I haven't explained them yet. Most everyone is a he/they/it but have their personal preferences.

Seek is the official he/they/it, no preferences and justs end up being called he most of the time. Still refer himself as Hide's sibling and Rush's ex-spouse/partner

Screech is a usually a they, mainly becuase they're called the kid/child in a gender nuetral kind of way. Like, "The child hid in the box." there is no gender implied. But Hide mainly refers to them as their nephew.

The way everyone referred to them is like,

Rush: How's Screech?

Seek: Again, Screech is doing alright. You can always visit Rush. The kid is currently in room 40 right now.

Hide is a he/they/it just like Seek! But they honestly don't care what they're referred in. They haven't interacted with the entities too often and are always referred as a they/them.

It's kinda like how in a discord server with over 20+ people, you end up referring everyone as a they/them since you haven't learned the pronoun preference and want to be polite.

Figure, Halt, Rush, and Ambush fall under the same umbrella of he/they/it but mostly called it.

Glitch is also a it but also goes by "the glitch" Brings a crytid vibe y'know? "The glitch wouldn't like that very much." They and he also works but haven't been used in so long that it's not sure how to react other than "are you talking to me?" The Eyes work in the same way.

Guiding Light is similar to Glitch as "Lights" or "Guide" is how Light' mostly called. All pronouns work as long as Lights know the message is referring to themselves.

Tbh I'm really bad at keeping remembering my own headcanons, much less pronoun headcanons, so I might accidentally mix them up sometimes.

--

I'd like to fit some stuff about Lights since I think they're an interesting entity, Figure/Halt needs some love as well. but drats it's time for bedtime as I type this. Tomorrow.. Tomorrow.

I'll give myself a nickname since I'm mostly a anon and leaves a little tag and it's feels odd when I don't have to.

-door not-anon (might change it later but itll do)

WOWZA LOTS TO UNPACK HERE!! i love all of this so much loll, poor timothy idk why that was the funniest scenario to me also EYES SCREECH COMBO I HAVE NEVER ENCOUNTERED THAT GOOD LORD... and then large screech and halt oughfjdgksfjkgh cursed scenarios.. i feel like halt would be like "get tf out of my room" but it would be a fun combination (not for the player im quaking)

also very cool pronoun-headcanons n all that! i tend to just refer to all of them as "it"s with the exception of eyes being a "they" because i kind of see it as a collective consciousness ig? sort of like a hivemind of eyes! yknow the kind of weird jumbled nonsense noise they make when theyre in a room? that's like all of their voices whispering and talking n stuff idk lol i think theyre neat

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

allow me to enlighten you with a dream i had uhhh 2 nights ago i think. it was weird because it started with me playing the game, but soon became first-person. i was still away i was in a game and would not Actually Die if i died in here, but it definitely made it scarier

so basically i had a dream doors floor 2 was out and i was playing it for the first time, and really the only thing i can describe it as is like. hell?? kinda?? or like deep in a volcano????? idk how my brain did this but there was lava everywhere and like the New Thing you had to hide in instead of wardrobes was. hiding behind stalagmites lmfao.

every entity was replaced. basically there were entities all performing the same mechanics as the ones in floor 1, but they weren't them. the only entity that was the same was screech?? except! it had a new mechanic and it was so pathetic lmfao. basically instead of staring at it to make it go away, you had to stare at it to stun it, then run behind it and grab it to immobilize it? the only part of it that hurt you was the jaws, and its not like it can just turn around bc it is an orb, so by grabbing it, screech just. was no longer a threat. you were supposed to throw it then run i think? but i just kind of didnt? i never let go of it and just was like "alr youre comin with me" and suddenly i had a very reluctant and whiny travelling companion. (also fun fact where i found screech was just straight up my basement?? idk why my house was in the game)

i remember that screech had no idea who any of the the new entities were so it was just as scared of them as i was lmfao so we had that in common. i remember a segment where we were being chased by something and there was a bridge but it broke so we had to jump off a cliff into a boat that was in this lava river???????? something like that. the whole time i was just holding it and it was very mad at me but could do nothing about it.

something else different about the game was that there were npcs now? basically atop some weird hill. still inside this lava cave. was just straight up a normal house and inside were some people who decided "welp we're never getting out of here might as well get cozy". it was a husband and wife, and their friend. they were very hospitable but i remember thinking they were secretly entities and being scared of them at first. screech at this point just accepted it was coming along for the ride and was sticking around without me needing to hold it. it was hiding for the most part in the house segment because we didnt want the people to freak out and attack us but it would pop out and get the scoop on what was going on every now and then. i remember this like rlly unsettling segment where we were in this weirdly long hallway in the upstairs of the house and we just saw this entity whizz by at the end of the hallway and i was like "WHAT WAS THAT WHAT DO I DO" and screech was like "I LITERALLY DONT KNOW ANYONE HERE" so that was fun. i dont remember anything else other than the fact the ppl living in the house gave me some new clothes and i think some food? i dont even remember if i ever got out of the house lol but anyway it was really fun lol

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes : RELOADED

More safe house shenanigans as the gang looks for leads.

Table of Contents

Previous Chapter : My Damsel in Distress

Delayed Flight 

John 'Soap' MacTavish

Task Force 141 - Disbanded

Safehouse 110197, Brazil

Soap haven't slept like this for quite a long time. He almost felt guilty that he's peacefully sleeping all while the world was in chaos. 

Slowly got up after noticing that Alex and Ghost were still asleep beside him, they looked like they just slept and he didn't bother waking them up for breakfast. Another scan of the room indicated that everyone else is downstairs. 

John quickly tiptoed across the room and swung the door open. On the other side of the door was France who looked focused while carrying two mugs of coffee.

"Oh! You're up!" she said in surprise as her coffee mugs wobbled. John's quick reflex immediately caught her hands and held them tight until it stabilized.

"I'm sorry I surprised you. Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, a smirk escaped his face as he noticed a faint blush from the female's cheek.

"Yeah. I brought you coffee since the hot water was almost out and you were still asleep." she stammered, not making eye contact to him. Soap looked curious, where was the woman that confidently rejected him yesterday? 

"Aww. So you are concerned!" he mused, holding her hands tight, drawing the steaming coffee mug close to him.

"Not really. I just thought that you're the last one to drink some so the kettle would finally be empty. Don't get your hopes too high, MacTavish." she gently shoved him the mug and carefully stormed off. There she was, back on her guard.

"Well, thanks for the concern." He greeted as he stepped down the stairs while sipping his coffee and met with everyone in the living room.

"Aren't we supposed to do recon for Samantha?" He asked, addressing the leaders who were casually reading a newspaper.

"Negative." Jack said, not looking at the Scottish soldier.

"We still have fuel from Nikolai's plane but we can't waste in on suspicion alone. We have to get solid intel." Price added.

"So we're like chilling here. Doing nothing." He said.

"Not exactly nothing. Ghost might have a lead anytime soon. For now, why don't you run some errands. Maxine needs some things for us here." Price replied, eyes still focused on the paper.

"John?" Maxine peeked from the kitchen and both Price and Soap turned to her.

"I meant Price." she dismissed, making Soap turn away from embarrassment.

"Can I come with them instead of making a list?" she asked, Soap could see Roach behind her eyeing on the interaction. 

"Sure. You've got three bodyguards with you. Just make sure you're always with at least one of them." he muttered. Beside him, Jack stood up and placed the paper on the table. 

"All-righty then, I'll lead you to the town just this once. Next time out, you'll be on your own. It's quite a long walk. And you lad, dress less suspicious." he pointed to Soap's camo pants. Soap actually felt scared at Alex's former CO. His very being still intimidated the Scot.

"I'll be back in a minute." he mumbled and dashed upstairs while France walked by Maxine to the door.

~

"I know Price told us to wear civilian clothing but for some reason you still have the ability to stand out and raise suspicion." France announced as the small team of four exited the safe house en route to the nearby town.

"Is it the hair?" Soap quickly placed one of Price's bucket hats and flashed a grin at the two ladies behind him. "Happy now?" he asked.

"Aside from the fact that you're wearing a t-shirt too small for your size? Yep. When did you last buy clothes for yourself?" France replied sarcastically and asked. Maxine giggled as she walked beside her sister, something she started to accept and try to recall.

"You're just finding an excuse to look at me." He muttered as he dashed to catch up with Jack, who was peacefully enjoying the walk.

"I'm amazed as to how you two act like you're not soldiers right now. How do you do it?" Jack chuckled as he rolled his eyes to Soap's direction, trying not to laugh at the Scot. If he was being honest, the hat did him a worse job. It made his head look small and unproportional to his bulky build. He turned back to France and Maxine who were silently signaling him to keep quiet.

The road was quite long and Soap finally found a small puddle of water to look at how he looked. No wonder they were giggling. He looked like a teddy bear who had a small head.

He then shyly took off his hat and glanced back at the puddle. Maybe it was time for him to buy larger clothes.

"Yeah. Guess someone has to help me pick some clothes as well." he muttered, while France paced beside him and gave him an assuring smile.

"I could always help, John." she said cheerfully and their eyes met. John slowly felt the sincerity on her smile, his heart sped and he found himself inching his face closer to her.

"The town's almost there!" Alex yelled from the distance as the two broke their gazes toward each other and quickly caught up with the two.

Awkward silence. They walked together behind Jack and Maxine who were now discussing what Jack's interests were back in the day. Not that it mattered to John, as all his mind was thinking was this pretty lady walking beside him. He wanted to graze his hand against hers, just to feel her smooth touch, he wondered if she'd let him hold her.

But he insisted, France was more of a slow but steady kind of person. She pointed it out to him multiple times and if he really wanted them to work, he had to do it the old-fashioned way. Sure the kiss was sudden, but what they had back at the Gulag was something worth waiting for and kissing her anytime now would never feel the same as the first.

Jack and Maxine quickly split off toward the market while the two of them remained by the center of the plaza. John scratched his head as he stuttered to ask her where to go.

"So… um… where to?" He asked.

"Looks like they got some cool jackets over there! You think you look good on those?" She asked excitedly.

"What do you think?" He asked shyly.

"Hmmmm.. Maybe… I'm not quite sure." She replied. John expected the classic you'd-look-better-without-any joke but she's not that kind of girl, and he's digging it.

When they say time flies by when you're having fun, John resonated with the quote. They spent most of the time laughing over clothes whose designs didn't make much sense and ended up buying most of them. Despite all the things going on around the world, John felt normal when he's with her, something he hasn't felt in quite a while. He'd even imagined that they're actually boyfriend and girlfriend whenever people around look at them. He was happy. He could get used to this.

~

It was about lunch time when they returned to the Safe house, and the scenery inside was the most unexpected thing ever.

Price was sleeping by the couch, his whole head was covered by a newspaper which had "End' times" written as the headline. Ghost and Roach were fighting over a piece of broccoli on the table while Alex sat by the stairs, wearing a shirt with a huge whale printed on it, playing with a lighter, flicking it open then closing it back as he stared at the flames.

"So that's where Smokey went." Soap muttered.

"Smokey?" France asked.

"My lighter." Soap replied confidently.

"Really?" 

"Yep." he said, popping the 'P' as he unloaded most of the supplies to the kitchen.

"What happened here?" Jack asked, taking off his jacket, completely regretting wearing it in a tropical country.

"Roach ate my broccoli!" Ghost complained.

"Ghost ate my pie!" Roach complained back as Jack sighed and placed a palm on his face.

"We had pie?" Soap asked, his eyes beamed at the table, only to be disappointed that there was none.

"Technically it's a tart and it's supposed to be for Maxine." Ghost smiled shyly eyeing at Maxine.

"Well, it didn't have her name on it so I assumed…" Ghost replied.

"You don't have to assume! You should've asked!" he yelled.

Soap was amazed at the spectrum of the team, which ranged from very righteous and courageous warriors to actual toddlers. It made him happy that he joined this little group he could call family.

~

Another day had passed and they still had no leads. But Ghost looked like he was onto something as Soap found him with Price as they discussed matters that sounded serious. He just hoped it was a lead. He's starting to worry about Alex who was constantly moping around. With nothing to work on, all he could focus on was Samantha.

"Guess you liked playing with that lighter so much." Soap leaned by the door, looking concerned at his comrade.

"Hey man. How was the market." Alex asked, his tone was nonchalant, almost lifeless.

"Well, it was busy. Jack led us there because you were asleep all morning…"

"Yeah. I couldn't go there. We shared so many memories in that town. I just can't handle it at the moment." He frowned and tossed him the lighter which Soap caught immediately.

"Thanks for this. And if you ever need someone to talk to… We're here for you, pal." Soap said awkwardly. The term pal was very American and he thought it'd be appropriate.

"Thanks, pal." Alex chuckled and stood up. 

"Let's go get dinner." Alex added, his eyes were fueled with determination. And Soap was happy that he's taking small steps to recover.

Next Chapter : Lurking in the Shadows

Notification Squad my Beloved

@beemybee @smokeywhalee @enderio @samatedeansbroccoli @ricinbach @whimsywispsblog

[not-from-dis-world]

What the Heart Can Feel (Eyeless Jack x Blind!Reader)

Any image(s) used in this story were found on Pinterest ٫ all rights to whomever made them. they're awesome !

Warning(s): none.

Please note, I don't know what kind of procedure blind people go through. I've never actually interacted with a blind person before, but I met a blind lady, and she was such an angel. I wanted to write a story where the reader is blind. And the person that came into my mind was EJ. So yeah, I hope you enjoy the first chapter. ^^

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

Chapter 1:

(Name) sighed as she finished her last procedure, waiting for her results. There was a long moment of silence. She knew she that was a bad sign. "Thank you Miss (Last name), you may step outside. I need to speak with your parents."

The (blonde, brunette, etc.) nodded, feeling around the desk before getting up. Her finger tips graced against the smooth wooden surface. It was the same desk Doctor Jen has had for almost ten years.

(Name) has been attending this hospital since she was eight. She made her way towards the door, just as she's done many times before. Softly shutting it close behind her. She knew what was next: the doctor will deliver the bad news.

She could hear her mother crying, and her father whispering words of comfort. It was the same thing every time, and it made (Name)'s heart ache. Feeling the wall, she got up and walked along the halls.

Her thoughts would usually bring her down, her mind constantly reminding her how much of a burden she is to everyone. To her family, the hospital staff, and even the few people she could call her friends.

A frown tugged at the corner of her lips, her head hanging low. Her fingertips felt around until she touched an unfamiliar sign. It read "elevator" and she tilted her head, confused as to why she had never noticed the building had an elevator.

"Well it is an old building, maybe they're remodeling it?" She thought. Nonetheless, she decided to explore the new territory. Since the only new thing that had been added to the hospital hall was a vending machine.

Which ate the coins most of the time. She went inside, the vibrations at her feet made her feel uneasy, but life is all about stepping out of your comfort zone right? Her fingers counted each buttons, there were 16 in total.

"Woah, I never realized this building had so many floors before. Let's see..." Her finger went down to the last circle button, number 16, because the rectangle button next to it was probably the emergency button.

With a soft 'click,' the doors were about to close when...

"Ahh, yes I still made it," a voice spoke. It was deep, most likely a male's voice. But it wasn't squeaky nor sounded old, so the male was probably still pretty young. His footsteps echoed inside the elevator. (Name) could hear the 'click' sound again.

"Oh, I didn't see you there.. Hello.." The boy said, finally noticing her inside the elevator too. But his voice sounded a bit hesitant. He took a few steps back. Feeling inside his hoodie pocket, looking for something, she could hear his hand rustling inside his hoodie pocket.

"Now, be good and stay still, don't scream or I'll rip off your kidneys." (Name) tilted her head to the side, unsure of what the boy meant. How she wished she could see him right now. Or at least know what was going on.

"What do you mean?" She took a step forward, until she felt metal object pressed against her throat. "You're a brave one, aren't you dear? To step up to a man carrying a mysterious bag, covered in blood," he pressed her against the wall.

Although she couldn't see him do so, as he pressed the scalpel harder against her throat. "Blood?" She thought, although she didn't panic, at least not yet. This might be some kind of prank, like the ones her friends would talk about at school.

Without hesitation, she reached out her hand. Her fingers came in contact with the person's shoulder and indeed, she could feel a liquid substance on his clothes. She went a bit further up, and felt something hard where his face should be.

A mask. And some weird gooey substance was dripping out of the eye holes of the mask. Her hand felt the boy's soft strands of fluffy hair, until she found what she was looking for. The straps of the mask. She was about to pull it off, when her hands were roughly pinned above her head.

"Ahh, I see now. You're blind aren't you? No wonder you didn't scream when you saw me. Well, then this will be a lot more interesting.."

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

((A/N)) sorry if it was really bad, I tried >.<

[legless-fish-on-rollerskates]

I posted 21,805 times in 2021

194 posts created (1%)

21611 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 111.4 posts.

I added 275 tags in 2021

#we hate john winchester in this household - 63 posts

#prev tags - 32 posts

#supernatural - 31 posts

#destiel - 30 posts

#ask box - 25 posts

#read later - 20 posts

#flappy and snowman - 19 posts

#dean winchester - 19 posts

#get speech bubbled :) - 18 posts

#castiel - 18 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#my dad pulled out an old picture of himself when he was my age‚ and we all sort of laughed about the fact that we have the exact same face

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

don't you just love it. when you're scrolling through tumblr. and you see a real neat picture. so you click on it for a better view. and then when you close out of it. the post is gone. you're back at the top of your dash. and you can't reblog the cool picture because no matter how far you scroll you will never. find. it. again. don't you just love that??

115 notes • Posted 2021-03-09 08:59:08 GMT

#4

It is now baby jack posting hours because i cannot fucking deal with this script shit anymore

Claire babysits when dean and cas go on couples hunts and sam isn't available. She complains about it to everyone around her, but secretly loves it. (Jody loves it too, because it means claire is hunting less). She and kaia take him to the park and someone assumes they're his moms. Claire is of course like, "he's my brother what the fuck how old do you think i am," but also she kind of abruptly realizes that she is actually old enough to conceivably have a three-year-old son and wow isn't that a scary thought.

(Later that night kaia quietly asks her if she thinks she might ever want kids. Claire's never considered it before but now she starts to wonder. Maybe. Maybe someday.)

Sam, dean, and cas are all jack's dads, of course. Charlie, eileen, amara, and meg are aunts, and so are jody and donna. Claire is his sister and alex is his cousin and it makes no sense but the important part is that they're family, it doesn't matter so much how.

He's god but only symbolically. Amara runs everything. The only thing jack has to do is represent the light and keep the balance. Personally, he thinks he's doing a very good job.

Charlie calls him her little comet and loves to come up with stories with him. They write the best ones down in a book. It has a place of honor in the bunker library.

Jack will fall asleep anywhere (he's still so very small), but his absolute favorite place to sleep is on dean. On his lap, on his shoulder, held in his arms, it doesn't matter. Jack is tired and dean is there? Dean is getting used as a pillow. That's just how it is. Cas thinks it's adorable. Sam will never admit to anyone that he's jealous, but he is. Dean has resigned himself to it.

He also will eat ANYTHING. You have coins? Keys, perhaps? Jewelry? Buttons? Legos? They're going in jack's mouth. Cas is constantly terrified of jack choking, and everyone goes ridiculously all-out to childproof the bunker in any and every way possible.

Sometimes when jack has tantrums things explode, but he's always very sorry afterwards. Sometimes when he sneezes he creates things, like socks or flowers or, one memorable time, an entire hive of bees. He likes to manifest his wings in the physical world and fly around the bunker. Dean has several videos on his phone of sam tripping over his own feet chasing after a chubby, winged three-year-old flying higher than even he can reach.

...yeah okay that's all i have for now, hope this gave some of y'all a much-needed break

131 notes • Posted 2021-04-07 06:48:01 GMT

#3

Babe wake up John Cena's an even bigger heller than Obama

150 notes • Posted 2021-05-07 16:35:41 GMT

#2

Cas, *annoyed*: I think I'd make a good boyfriend

Dean, *angry*: You'd make a GREAT boyfriend!

Cas, *angry*: Yeah? Well I think whoever ends up with you is going to be damn lucky.

Dean: Not as lucky as whoever ends up with you!

Jack: Wh... what am I looking at here?

Sam, *so done*: They're angry flirting again.

288 notes • Posted 2021-01-10 00:11:17 GMT

#1

oops, I made a uquiz

What supernatural ship are you?

1401 notes • Posted 2021-03-23 02:20:15 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[the-firebird69]

Watch "ALIEN 3 Official Trailer (1992) Sigourney Weaver, David Fincher Movie HD" on YouTube

Trump shows up here oddly enough and it is part of the program and yes to create the first harvester

Thor Freya

Actually in charge here and we're running the program but it's a great feeling because we're getting a lot of help and we now see it a little bit and things are moving pretty fast and this is going to happen the series and yes Trump will be out the whole time and it's going to be out there in space all the way up to Mars and it takes a lot to get there and back because everybody is fighting now there's supposed to be grabbing Intel but it doesn't look like it's doing that and it goes here from the first ship and a stuck down in the ground they go in there to rescuing it fails then there's a third movie this one and they all get stuck there and he had some moon it's not Titan

Hera lol Zues he's laughing because his number to go after but no it's kind of what happens to you idiots all the time cuz you're sitting there threatening my husband and we don't want you back here a very stupid and he says you're threatening for Intel and where I am and your threading for other stuff too and trying to use your situation to get other people's stuff still including the diamonds and so forth from the huge tunnels and foreigners and you say you're putting them somewhere else

We like to see that and it's just not refilling

We agree that's what he's doing and foreigners already know and Max and are right on them

Olympus

I'm working here and I have a blockade up and I'm going after Trump I'm going to take him down

Tommy f

Good we use it and take you down here just another idiot and I mean it you're stupid. And that's the story and he actually figured it out is Jack Nicholson in the hospital with Garth and he knows I mean it's been kind of working with him it made me feel stupid then it made me feel mad then I see them both die and go up on top of the mountain and coffee cans because BG is a cruel person and what he's saying is you're keeping us awake Max you know he's the one enemy of yours back it's pretty smart and weird and he's a weird guy

And he was caught trying to shoot at a friend here and stop doing it because everyone was shooting him people still get shot when they try to remember Lord gets shot all the time I'm going to pull him out shortly he goes on a serious and he gets us information and the other Mac on the mission is also someone who is constantly at me and it's very damned annoying it's not right for them to do it and I do understand the Indian move and one flow of the cuckoo's nest Trump you want to circle back when everybody knows now because it's in a movie cuz the blockade is up and it's the empire and it's probably tommy f

Mental note that most of the guys in there don't give a lobotomy I think it switches back to Brian

And mine to me it just takes time to recover

Mac

I do do that to circle back and yeah I'm blaming you so what it says I need you to and people see what you're doing and they're going to injure you and they're going to maim you and they're going to kill you until you shut up and don't come back you're a little child and you're incompetent and you're completely unprofessional you're a slob and I've taken most of the world away from your kind because of you you're going to get nothing by threatening me it's all gone 100% backwards and everyone's trying to tell you to slow down and just stop and you won't now he says this and I see it happening and I'm going to get them for it, so what that's what you said the whole time you're here and you always end up dead