#just something that came to mind while I info dumped my poor mom

[selenekallanwriter]

Person: What's your book about?

Writers:

I'm both somehow 🙃

[readyourimgaines]

Punchline Takes a Hit: PT2

Summary: Spencer debates the difference of love and transference. With some help from a couple of friends, he finally gets the courage to ask out his crush. 

JJ could tell from the second she laid eyes on Reid that something was off. She couldn’t tell if something bad happened, or if he was just thinking. Either way, the blonde figured that talking would do the young doctor some good. 

“Hey, Spence.” JJ approached the younger man. “Everything okay?” 

He looked up from his paperwork with a blank face but conflicted eyes. “Yeah. Why?” 

“You just seem a little quiet today. Are you sure everything’s going alright?” JJ cocked her head a little but made sure to keep her voice gentle. 

Oftentimes, one had to over express themselves for Reid to get their gestures. He had no problems reading potential unsubs or the families of victims, yet he couldn’t read his friends well. If something was wrong, he could tell immediately, he could tell they were happy because they were smiling and laughing. Just about anything else, though? Annoyance, anger, confusion, contentment, curiousness? He couldn’t tell. 

Reid started tugging firmly- not hard enough to hurt- on the hair at the nape of his neck. JJ noticed first as she was passing through the bullpen on her way to Hotch’s office with an armload of files. She quickly placed the files on Hotch’s desk and left before the man had a chance to say thank you. 

JJ placed her hands gently on Reid’s shoulder. “Spence? Let’s go talk, okay?” She helped the young doctor out of his seat and led him to her office. “You okay?” 

“Just...overthinking.” Spencer’s hand was still tugging at his hair and JJ found herself wondering if he even knew he was doing it. 

“Okay,” JJ nodded slowly. She handed Reid a pencil and a rubber band from her desk with one hand, easing Spencer’s hand from his hair with the other. “Is your mom okay?” she guessed.

“Fine.” Spencer took a deep breath and shakily released it. He started muttering under his breath and JJ frowned. 

“What?” 

“Transference happens when someone redirects their feelings or-or a desire for someone to an unrelated third party,” Reid recited. “Freud believed it happened more often when stemming from one’s childhood. But that doesn’t make- it can’t-” 

“Spence, Spence. Slow down. We can figure this out. Why do you think you’re transferring your feelings onto a third party?” JJ eased Reid to sit in her desk chair and he immediately started moving the swivel chair in semi-circles. 

“I have to be. He’s not even-” Spencer stopped and shook his head. 

“Who?” JJ tried to pry. 

“Morgan.”

“Morgan’s bi,” JJ offered. “Do you have feelings for Morgan?” 

“I can’t,” Spencer shook his head frantically. The sound that came out of his throat when the rubber band snapped against his hand was nearly a whimper.

“Why not?” JJ cocked her head and sat on the corner of her over-cluttered desk. “Spence, it’s okay to develop feelings for people- especially someone you work with and see everyday.”    

“Not Morgan. He wasn’t trying to be romantic. He was just being a friend. Friends hang out after work. You and I aren’t dating and we go to the movies all the time.”

“Right,” JJ nodded. “Have you tried talking to Morgan about this?” 

“No. I can’t. It would mess everything up,” Spencer stopped spinning the chair. “It’s just transference. I think I like him because he was kind and yesterday was close to what a date is supposed to be.” 

“Are you sure it wasn’t a date?” JJ proposed. 

“It wasn’t. He would have told me.” 

“How did he ask you?” JJ’s brows furrowed together. 

Spencer’s eyes gained a distant look. “Pretty Boy? Yeah? Wanna get some coffee that’s supposed to be sweet without rotting your teeth? My treat. Oh. Sure. The coffee they have here isn’t good enough? Do you see the ability to steam mil-” 

“Wait, wait,” JJ stopped Reid from continuing the rest of the conservation. “Morgan offering to pay was the indication of it being a date.” 

It was Reid’s turn to frown. “How is that an indication of a date? That’s such an everyday thing- he pays for my coffee all the time.” His eyes widened. “Have we been on dates before I didn’t know?” 

“No, no, Spence, he specified that this time was his treat. It wasn’t a convenience where we were on a case and you both needed coffee. This was going out of the way after work instead of going home.” 

“I didn’t know… This isn’t transference?” Spencer’s brown eyes finally met JJ’s. 

“No. You two like each other. There’s nothing being transferred.” JJ wore a small, encouraging smile.

*****

Elle was a little more than confused when she got a text from Reid that night. It was pretty rare for the young man to contact anyone outside of work seeing he had such a strong dislike towards technology. 

The text read: Are flowers too much for a first date?

Elle shook her head with a soft smile. Boys, she thought with a sigh. Regardless, she answered the poor boy’s text. You have to be careful with roses. They mean different things. Roses are too strong. 

Roses are too strong? Reid frowned and texted Hotch instead. He was married; he’d know about flower meanings, right? 

Hotch chuckled as he answered his phone. What’s so funny?” Haley asked. 

“Do you remember Dr. Spencer Reid?” Hotch looked at the blonde. 

“He’s the shy, Autistic boy, right?” She looked up from feeding Jack.

“Yeah. He just texted me, ‘do you know anything about flower symbolism? Elle says flowers have different messages’.” Hotch’s thumb danced across the flip-phone’s buttons. 

“What are you telling him?”

“That roses have the highest chance of getting him into his date’s bed. Pink camellias and carnations are signs of love and longing; ferns represent new beginnings.” Hotch typed the names of the flowers, placing an equals sign before the meaning. 

“Do you know who his date is?”

“SSA Hotchner does not.” 

So yes he did.

*****

Once Reid bought the flowers, he got into a cab and headed for Morgan’s. He knocked on the door, flowers in hand. His heart was hammering in his chest while he waited, jumping at the sudden barking of Clooney.  It had slipped his mind that Morgan had a dog.

Morgan opened the door, a little shocked to see Reid with a bouquet of flowers. “What’s up, Pretty Boy?” 

“I-I…” Reid’s heart was suddenly in his throat and he gulped. “I talked to JJ and I didn’t know yesterday was supposed to date.” the young doctor paused. “I didn’t- I haven’t been on a date before. I didn’t know that-”

“Spencer, Spencer. Slow down. It’s okay. Why don’t you come in?” Morgan opened the door a little wider led Reid in with a gentle hand on his forearm. Reid followed inside and Morgan closed the door behind them. 

Clooney was sitting on the couch, completely ignoring the men without a care in the world. 

“I wanted to ask you out on a real date- one that I know is a date. JJ said flowers were a nice gesture.” 

Morgan chuckled and took the flowers from Reid when the latter offered them. “You’re sure this is something you’re okay, Spencer?”

“You aren’t pressuring me; this isn’t transference. I genuinely have feelings for you,” Spencer nodded, not breaking eye contact. 

The solid, unwavering eye contact was the note that assured Morgan he was serious. Spencer hated eye contact. It made him squirm and stutter. Spencer only ever made eye contact for longer than a split second when he was sure of a detail in a profile or he was info-dumping and the person he was talking to was honestly engaging back. 

“Alright, Pretty Boy,” Morgan nodded with a smile. “We’ll go on a real date. We’ll think of something.” The man was already formulating ideas for the date. Somewhere that wasn’t too bright or loud, somewhere that didn’t serve spicy food. It narrowed things down some. 

“I-I know I’m not an easy person. I just...something’s good,” he tried to explain. “I don’t... “ he stopped and took a deep breath.

“You ain’t gotta know, man. Sometimes, ya just gotta go with it.” 

“Just gotta go with it,” Reid repeated with a smile.

**********

@mayonnaiseismycomfortfood​ @chaoticgremlinwholikescheese​

[lifeisbooksandcats]

Since posting on tumblr feels like just screaming into the void; where maybe someone might throw a glance your way to see if maybe you’re both screaming about the same thing, but at the end of the day, no one is really paying attention to you..and I feel like that’s what makes me feel like I can post this. Because it’s not something I can say out loud, not really, not yet. Except to my fiancée because it’s something we’ve talking about for a while. This is going to be long, I’m certain of it, and it’s going to be rambley because I’ve been trying to put my thoughts into words and those words into coherent...anythings...and it just isn’t going to be in any sort of order. I’m not expecting anyone to read it and I’m hoping the read more button actually works on mobile. If not, then I’m sorry, you’ll be scrolling for a while.

I don’t know how valid people feel self-diagnosis is, but I honestly feel like I fall somewhere on the autism spectrum. And that’s something I’ve thought about myself since my first year of college. Someone in a communications class I was taking did a presentation on autism, and throughout the entire thing all I could think was how much everything resonated with me. So that’s, since the fall semester of 2009, this has been something I’ve quietly thought about myself and wondered and honestly just been pretty sure of. That’s 12 years this fall, and I still can’t bring myself to say it?? And I think it’s a good bit because I’ve been asked so many times throughout my life if I’m autistic - by family members, by friends, by a college roommate, by people living on the same floor as me at college - and it’s ALWAYS been (or at least felt like to me) in some sort of negative way. And I don’t want to apologize for being myself, but fuck it’s just hard sometimes???

When I walk into a room, especially one I’m not familiar with, my first instinct is to look for the exits and figure out how I can get out of there if it gets too loud/too hectic/too EVERYTHING and I start to panic. And if I’m in a situation where I can’t leave, I have this little clear stone that I play with in my hand, just something to focus on to help keep me just a little bit calmer. When that doesn’t work, it’s like my mind just...goes. I don’t know how to explain it; physically I’m still there, but mentally...even if I wanted to pay attention to something, I literally could not. It happens the most when there’s too many sounds/voices/conversations happening at once, they all blend together, I can’t understand anything and after a second it feel like it’s all just muffled and I’m not there anymore, I feel so disconnected from my body, like there’s someone else controlling my brain and I’m just there watching. It happened at the zoo just recently, when we went into one of the restaurants for lunch. I was already panicked because of the number of people inside without masks on. From the second we walked in, everything from the number of people inside, to the volume, to the lights being too bright (but looking back, I feel like they were probably an appropriate brightness? It just felt too bright with everything else going on), to the lack of masks, everything was too much. My fiancée and I stood in line with one of our friends, waiting to order our food, and I stood there rocking slightly on my ankles and fidgeting with that little stone, just trying so desperately to calm my internal panic and to not “check out” mentally and to just appear “normal”. I stood there waiting for our food, rocking on my ankles, running my thumb along my fingertips, listening to the conversations all around me merging into one unintelligible mess and on the inside, full on panicking while hoping that from the outside, no one could tell. I got our food, set it on the table, and stepped into the bathroom to wash my hands, the quiet welcoming me like nothing else. I closed my eyes and just stood there, breathing, letting the warm water run over my hands like some kind of magic balm bringing me back down. I opened my eyes again, a woman with a toddler smiled at me like she knew - which made me worry again because it’s not something I want people to know because I don’t want to be different, I don’t want anyone to look at me differently. But at the same time, I do. I want to be able to stand up for myself and say “I literally physically cannot go into this loud, crowded restaurant because I’m autistic and it is so auditorily overwhelming in there.” And maybe that wasn’t even what her smile meant. Because I literally never know how people are feeling and I try to figure it out but honestly 90% of the time it’s just guesswork.

But it’s not just that. It’s not just the panic that sets in when it’s too crowded and the sounds are too much. It’s the fact that as a kid, I was never “just” a fan of something I liked. I either didn’t care, or it was an all-consuming obsession that basically became a personality trait. I was a fan of Aaron Carter, but god forbid anyone ask me a question about his music or anything — because whether or not you were interested (and unless you flat out told me you were uninterested, I literally could not tell), I was going to info-dump everything onto you. I could tell you what time he was born, how many minutes were between him and his twin sister, which concerts his sister Leslie sang at (because she also had a small music career), at what point in his career he actually started singing live instead of lip syncing most of the time...

And speaking of info-dumping. If I couldn’t info dump to someone, I would write it. As a child - second, third, fourth grade...- I wrote essays upon essays on things I was interested in just because I could. Just everything I knew on the topic, thrown out into words either handwritten as a younger kid or typed as I got older. When I was in about fifth or sixth grade, when Harry Potter was HUGE and all my friends were also into Harry Potter, I couldn’t tell everything I knew to my friends because they already knew a lot of it...and so as a kid, maybe a fifth grader, I wrote a six (maybe seven?) page essay - single spaced - with everything I knew about the series/the author/everything. Before the last book came out, I filled an entire spiral bound notebook with my theories for how the series would end and WHY I thought what I thought.

My first NOW That’s What I Call Music CD was Now 14. I was in 7th grade and I could tell you exactly what order the songs were in. That was something I did to calm myself down back then; listing the songs on that album over and over and over again, always in the right order.

From about 7th grade until high school graduation, I brought and ate the exact same thing for lunch every single day. I said it was because I liked it, but I really didn’t. I didn’t like the Oscar Mayer precooked bacon that I would put on my BLT. I didn’t like the texture, half the time I couldn’t bring myself to eat it and picked it off my sandwich. But the thought of changing it??? That wasn’t even something I would have considered because somehow in my mind, changing it was worse than eating it. Make that one make sense.

I love routines and schedules and things staying the same, and get annoyingly stressed out when things/my schedule changes. One little change or one little thing out of the ordinary and it’s like I forget how to function for the day. Everything seems off. And I hate it. Because I KNOW that it shouldn’t matter, but it does. Half days and two hour delays at school growing up?? Those stressed the FUCK out of me because the order of the day would be different. I loved school and loved learning, but those days I felt physically ill over the thought of going to school. Field trip days were okay though because I knew they were coming and I had plenty of time to mentally prepare myself. I remember as a child asking my teachers (on multiple occasions) for the itinerary for a field trip so I could memorize it and know exactly what to expect and when for the day.

There are times that my fiancée will turn on the tv for “background noise” while she watches videos on her phone, and I wish I could describe what I mean when I tell her that there’s “too many sounds”. Because between the tv, her phone, the hum of the refrigerator in the other room, the neighbors, cars driving by, the cats playing, the ceiling fan...I don’t know how else to describe it other than exactly that — too many sounds. And it gets to be too much. So I have to put headphones in and listen to music to drown it all out and refocus.

I’ve only just recently been able to put a word to what I now know is poor executive function. As much as I loved school, I could NOT do assignments until the day they were due. I could start on something days before it was due, but I couldn’t work on it. I couldn’t focus on it. I couldn’t get myself to work on it. But the morning it was due??? I could whip up a paper that I knew would earn an A just hours before needing to turn it in. I prided myself on that ability, but looking back it was most definitely poor executive function. If I couldn’t finish something that morning, which was a rare occurrence, I would lie - I’d look “everywhere” for my assignment and “panic” because I “couldn’t find it” and because I was a good student, I got away with it. Every. Single. Time. Even with the hard-ass teachers who no one could get away with things on. And magically by the end of the day, I would swing back by that teacher’s classroom to give them my assignment that I had finally “found”.

I remember sitting on the kitchen floor of our apartment as a kid and tracing my fingers along the lines on the floor where the tiles met. I remember the pattern was brown/white/brown/white, but there was one spot on the floor that made me so irrationally frustrated because two tiles were swapped; instead of the same pattern as the rest of the floor, this one spot was brown/white/white/brown/brown/white. I remember pointing it out and my mom asking me why I had even paid any attention to that. I didn’t know why, I just did. I remember her telling me that it was stupid to let it bother me and to just let it go, but I couldn’t. I stopped mentioning it, but right up until we moved out of that apartment, I couldn’t even look at that spot on the floor without getting frustrated by it. There’s more than that. But that was one of the first things I thought of.

I’ve been watching a lot of Yo Samdy Sam’s videos on YouTube, and especially her videos “Autism symptoms in GIRLS” and “Could YOU be autistic? (and not know)” and I just... I feel that. Everything she says, I feel that. I watch them just thinking “that’s me. That’s me.” the entire time. She mentions sucking on her hair as a kid, and I did that CONSTANTLY. My hair was forever in my mouth. And now that I’m an adult, I don’t suck on my hair, but my sweatshirt strings are always in my mouth. Obviously there’s more than that, but that was one that hit me hard because I didn’t realize that wasn’t just something everyone did as a kid. I didn’t realize not everyone couldn’t stand still and always had to be fidgeting or moving slightly, whether it was rocking on my ankles, running my thumb over my other fingers, crossing and uncrossing my toes inside my shoes. I didn’t realize not everyone had the same shitty executive functioning skills as me.

And it’s like... I’m so sure that’s me. I’m so sure that I am autistic. I know it. But it’s like...is getting a diagnosis at this point in my life going to change anything? I mean no, probably not, other than giving me that validation that I crave. I would feel valid when the world is too much/too big/too loud. I would have a reason for feeling the way I do and doing the things I do. So much of my life would make sense. But. I don’t know. I’m afraid I’ll try to get a diagnosis and have someone, some doctor or therapist or psychologist or someone tell me that I’m not. And then what? Then what is everything I’ve felt throughout my life? That’s what I’m afraid of, really. Because if I’m so sure of this and then some professional says “no that’s not it”, then what?

[tenaciousarcadeexpert]

Criminal Minds-The Good Ol Days

Chapter 9-It All Falls Apart

Tagging:

@marvelfanlife, @itsmeedee, @cynbx, @jaqren, @gabriellewritermua, @princesswagger15, @screaminginbi, @tleighstone12, @cosmicmelaninflower, @ssadavieboy

A collaboration fic with @princesswagger15

If you thought the last chapter was bad, things get even worse for the team in this chapter

 The following day after Stephen’s accident, it was like a dark energy was formed over every student in the campus. Everyone’s movements were hesitant and slow, almost zombie like. It was as if everyone shared the same burden with the team, without any real knowledge of the situation. Especially during breakfast, where even in the cafeteria, there was not a single peep, apart from a few whispers.

“Well, I ain’t heard a room this quiet since Thanksgiving two years ago at my momma’s house.” Marissa comments, trying to lighten the mood.

“Marissa, calm down. A student just got into an accident, I’m pretty sure now is not the time to make jokes.”

“Forgive me if i'm trying to make at least ONE PERSON SMILE!!!” Marissa shouts and a few glances our thrown her way for breaking the deafening silence.

“Babe, calm down okay? We appreciate your efforts, but now really isn't the best of times love.” Reid says.

She sighs. “Well I’m sorry for trying to lighten the mood.”

The gang all give some rather exasperated looks.

“This can’t get any worse, can it?” Elle groaned. 

“Elle I swear to god if you jinx us I’ll kill you myself.”

“Listen y-” “Can you both stop it?!” Emily snapped. “We were all a bit shaken up about last night. Gideon is was murdered, Kyle too and now Stephen is currently in a coma. So, it’s pretty reasonable that everyone is a bit paranoid today.” “I still can’t believe that of all people, it had to be him.” Kate moped as she plays with the bits of fruit on her bowl. JJ rubs her shoulder. “I know, it’s always the nice ones that get hurt the most.” “I hope that whoever did this, I hope they rot……..in HELL!” She lashed out, unknowingly stabbing her meal with a fork. 

“OH shit, someone needs a visit from Dr. Phil.”

“I’m NOT fucking around!” Kate slams her hands on the table, startling everyone in the cafeteria. “Uh Kate, yo-” “I-I think I need some fresh air.” She slowly got up from the table and walked out.

“Guys, until Rossi comes around shouldn’t we be coming up with theories, finding suspects, finding clues? Something?” Luke asked.

“Why? You got something?” Tara asked him.

“Well maybe we can go back to square one. Look at the CCTVs and see who was last to talk to or at least see Stephen. Or at the very least, see if someone was following him around campus.” 

“We do know that the page from Rossi’s journal was found in Stephen’s car. Which means that he must’ve had the journal with him.” “That’s still not enough, it’s possible that he did have the journal. We don’t know why he would steal it?”

“The car….” Emily pondered. “It’s possible and I hate to say this but…..this accident must’ve been staged.”

“You mean someone planned this on purpose?” Derek asked.

She glared at him. “Yeah I mean, it’s just an assumption-” She was interrupted by Kate, who had just returned after storming the place. “Sorry about that, I just had to clear my head. What did I miss?” “Emily thinks that someone planned Stephen’s accident.”

“And I mean there is one more thing we can consider guys. Maybe Stephen didn’t have the journal. Maybe whoever planned the accident planted the page from Rossi’s journal. I mean, consider this. If this wasn’t planned, then why would there be a page from Rossi’s journal perfectly layed on the front seat? And where would he even be going if he was part of this? The cabin is easily walking distance of the campus. And the car would leave tracks in the dirt, which could make the car identifiable.” Marissa points out.

“You know you talk too much, no offense.” Elle glares at her.

“None taken, but you may want to get an invisalign for them crooked ass teeth you got Elle. No offense.”

Elle gives a cold stare at Marissa as she sips her drink while everyone else consider the possibility of Marissa’s theory.

“As much as this little banter is annoying as it is, Marissa does have a point. It’s possible that whoever has Rossi’s journal is trying to evade arrest and what better way of doing that than to put the blame on someone else...Stephen.” Hotch responds.

“Does anyone here know Stephen a little? Or at least someone you know that knows him? Like maybe his best friend! If we can find his best friend, maybe we can see if he has any enemies.”

“Well, Haley knows……” Ashley responds. “I saw them do a play together.”

“Hotch, aren’t you and Haley dating?” Says Matt.

Hotch glares at him. “Y-yes….and?”

“Maybe there could be a way you could ask her somehow without letting her know about the situation.” Hotch grunts under his breath, while everyone snicker around themselves. “Fine…...but you are coming with me.” “Dammit, why?”

“Because you came up with this idea in the first place. So you’re coming with me and you’re gonna like it.”

Matt groans. “Fine.”

“Meanwhile,” Hotch addresses the team. “Can you hack into the CCTVs again Garcia? Without getting caught, of course?”

“I can..” Garcia gives him a thumbs up.

“Good the rest of you stay here and look for more clues through the cameras and talk to any people you can without raising suspicion. Garcia, I also give you the go ahead to look through texts and phone calls if you need to. Good luck everyone.”

Hotch and Matt leave to find Haley while everyone else try to find more evidence and clues.

“We still don’t know how this all connects to Rossi, like what’s the endgame here?” Ashley asked.

“Best conclusion right now is since Rossi used to be a fed, this could be someone he put away, or their loved ones.” Emily responds.

“I guess so.” 

“If only Rossi was here.” Luke thought. “I wonder where he is?”

“Safe? Hopefully?” Kate shrugged her shoulders.

“Hopefully.”

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

   A few hours later, the group decided to part ways while continuing to solve the mystery behind Stephen’s accident. 

“I can’t believe it.” Emily paused, still overwhelmed from what Garcia just found on her computer. “I-I” 

“Well, if what Garcia found is true, then is could change everything.” Tara rubs Emily’s shoulder. “We should tell Hotch and Matt about this.”

“I know…...but for now, I just wanna relax.” She grabs her hand and slowly swings it. “With you.”

Tara smiled. “Well, we could do that at the lounge.” The two walked together through the halls only to be stopped by an unexpected visitor. “Mom?” She gasped, pulling her hand out from Tara’s. “Emily.” Elizabeth gives a sincere smile. “And you must be?”

“Oh, I’m Tara, Tara Lewis.” “Nice to meet you.” The two shook hands.

“What are you doing here?” Emily asked.

“I uh…..” She looked at Tara before turning her focus back on her daughter. “I think it’s better if we’d discuss this privately.” “Oh.” She looked over to her girlfriend. “T-” “It’s okay Emily, I’ll see you at the lounge.” She nods before leaving the halls. “She seems like a nice girl. Are you two friends?” “Uh, yea, guess so. What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

“I’ll tell you, but first let’s head somewhere private.”

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

 Elsewhere JJ and Ashley had just returned from their respective classes and were walking outside the courtyard while pondering over the aftermath of Stephen’s accident.

“Any word from Hotch or Matt?” “Not yet, though Matt texted me that they would wait after dress rehearsal is over so that they could talk to her.” “That’s cool. You’ll think they’ll get something from her?”

“Hopefully. I just hope that they, Hotch especially are careful in getting info from her.” Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Why so?” “Cause if Haley finds out that her own boyfriend is interrogating her about her friend’s accident, the only info we’ll get is that he got dumped.” The two girls laughed at the thought of Hotch being dumped in a ridiculous manner, though as they continued to walk, they witnessed several students whispering amongst themselves, slightly louder than inside the cafeteria, but still mostly quiet. 

“Well this just got a bit weird.”

“You don’t think they’re talking about us, are they?” Ashley asked as she noticed some of the students giving them ugly glares at them.

“Not exactly.” They are joined by Elle who was sitting by a bench. “They’re a bit aghast that two girls happen to be laughing out loud the day after a student got into a coma.” “I see.”

“Although, I’ve managed to overhear a few whispers but…” She stood up, leaning over to say something to her friends. “I could’ve sworn that they mentioned Rossi a few times.” “What?” “Yeah, like I’ve heard at least seven students mention him, even from those that don’t even have him as a professor.” “What did they say?”   

 “T-” “That your poor poor professor is a big phony.” The girls were suddenly joined by Meadows and her posse of friends. 

“Well look who decided to show up?” JJ rolled her eyes. “Whatever it is, save it. Cause I’ll make sure Garcia knows what kind of person you really are.” “Aw.” Meadows pouts. “Why so defensive ‘Gigi’? You know it’s true.”

“Don’t call me Gigi, you goddamn bitch!”

“Yeah Meadows, what’s your fucking problem?” Elle adds.

“OH come on, old man Rossi deserves what’s coming to him. Why do you think he disappears everytime something bad happens here? It doesn’t matter how good of a teacher he is. He’s a disgrace.”

“How dare you say that about him!”

“Yeah Rossi is a good man.” “Really Ashley, you’re siding with them.” Meadows crossed her arms. “Guess I should’ve known you were all just Rossi’s little pets.” “Please, don’t do thi-” “Why? So you could protect your pathetic friends a-” She was suddenly grabbed from the wrist by JJ.

“Take that back, you bitch!”

She scowls at her. “Fuck you you stupid slut.”

JJ lifts her arm, only for Elle to pull it down.

“Leave her, she’s not worth it.” Meadows smiled at the little exchange. “That’s right, go listen to your little girlfriend.” She and her friends snicker and walk away, only for Elle to mutter something under her breath.

“Skank.” “What?” She turned around. “What did you just say?” “S K A N K!”

She and her lackeys march up to them. “Take that back.” Vanessa, one of Meadows friends snarled at Elle. “Okay, I will, if your friend here takes back all those things she said about our professor.” Meadows walks up to her and smiles. Elle raised her eyebrow as she opens her mouth, instead of words, she was stunned after getting hit with a splat of spit on her eye. The girls all gasped, where Meadows’ friends all laughed at her.

“Y-you” “What’s wrong? I did what you asked.” Ashley hands a tissue to Elle while JJ confronts Meadows. “Meadows what the he-” Before she could finish, she too was also hit from her spit, feeling the stickiness from her face.

“And those are for all those things I said about Garcia. Though no words could never be as ugly as she was-” Out of nowhere, JJ slapped Meadows right in the face, much to the utter shock from everyone outside. Meadows managed to pull herself up, rubbing her cheek while staring at JJ dead in the eye.

“You bitch.” “I-I-” Meadows lunged right at JJ, tugging her head while she screams. As she tries to resist, Meadows punches her in the face, causing her to fall down. After recovering, she lifted her arm up, grabbing Meadows by the collar and dragged her to the ground. The two wrestled it on the grass, taking turns slapping, kicking, scratching, even pulling each other’s hair. The other students looked on in anticipation as the two girls continue to attack each other, watching as JJ slams Meadows against the dirt. Amidst the chaos, both Elle and Ashley run out, trying to contact the others regarding the scene.

 At the same time, Garcia was not far from the scene in which she saw a group of students swarming one area of the quad. Curious, she goes to see what’s happening, only to witness the sight of JJ pinning Meadows to the ground.

“Woah woah woah!” She screamed, the students all stopped as the open a path to Garcia. She then rushed to the sight of her two friends, whom have both pulled out from fighting, shocked to see her presence.

“What the hell is going on? Why are the two of you fighting?! You know I hate seeing my two best friends fight!”

“Garcia, I could explain-” “Oh Garcia!” Meadows rushed to grab her hands. “Oh you don’t know how relieved I was. She did it!” She points at JJ. “She’s the one who started the fight!” “What?! Me?!” “It is true JJ?” She shook her head. “N-no Garcia, I didn’t-” “Liar, liar! Don’t believe her. All I did was try to talk to her about Stephen and then she called me a bitch and tackled me to the ground.”

“Is this true?” Garcia’s voice gotten stern.

JJ shook her head. “N-no, it’s not true-” “And oh!” Meadows looked as the large tear on her skirt. “She even ripped my dress, my favorite dress!” She hugs Garcia before pulling up, and lifting her arm up. “And look at this scratch she gave me.” JJ stood up and watched as Garcia gasped while Meadows sobs over the rather small cut on her arm. She was then nervous as Garcia turn to give her a harsh glare at her.

“Garcia, I-” “How could you do this JJ?! Mary is my friend and you did this, you you back-stabbing bitch!”

“Please please.” She stammered. “I didn’t mean t-” “Shut up JJ! Don’t ever talk or come to me or my friends ever again!”

“B-but!” She tries to grabs her hand, only get slapped in the face by her now former friend.

“Stay the hell away from me, J.” She spits on her before walking away. She then grabs Meadows hand. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

“Thanks.” While the two walk away, Meadows turns back to give JJ a smug smile, much to her frustration. Devastated, JJ collapsed on her knees breaking down into tears just when Elle returned from the scene.

“JJ what happened? Where’s Meadows?”

“S-she left, with Garcia.” “With Garcia?” She nods. “Mm hmph. Garcia saw it, the whole fight, and she’s mad. S-she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.” With that, she collapsed into tears. Regretting that she was not able to help JJ when Garcia arrived, Elle bent down and hugged JJ, comforting her. “I’m sorry, I should have stayed.” She lets her friend rest her head on her shoulder as she continues to cry. “She’ll reach out to you.” “No she won’t, not anymore.” “Yes she will, I promise.”

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

“No, absolutely not.”

“Sweetheart, this was only for your own good.” 

“Mom.” Emily complained. “You’ve asked the dean to file a leave of absence behind my own back. Without telling me. How is that good?”

“Well to be fair, you seemed to have a genuine dislike when you first set foot at this place.” “That was before, but now…...it’s different.” She raised an eyebrow. “What made you change your mind?”

She stammered. “I-uh-I, a lot of things.” “I see.” She paused as she looked down on her daughter. “Still, I think it’s best that you leave this place immediately.” “Why?” Her mom glared at her. “After what? Two murders and another student in a coma, you think I’m gonna let my own daughter stay here and risk endangerment? I don’t think so.” “I have friends here, I’m not leaving them.” “Well, you can always make new friends at Oxford.” “But it won’t be the same.” “So, it’s not l-”

“Listen, I’m staying here mom, whether you like it or not.” She crossed her arms. “And that is final.” “Oh.” She then hands her a piece of paper. “Well, here’s the form incase you changed your mind…...but don’t bother calling me for help should you ever find yourself in a sticky situation.”

Emily snatches the paper from her mother’s hand and watched as she slams the door behind her. She then unfolds the piece of paper, reading it and sighs. She was now worried on what to say to her friends, especially Tara.

       A few minutes later, Tara was at the lounge reading a magazine. She heard a couple of footsteps approaching her, placing the magazine down when she sees Emily sitting down across from her.

“Hey, nice to finally join.”

“Sorry about the delay.”

“It’s okay, I’m glad that you’re finally here.” “So am I.” Emily stared down at the table.

“So what happened?” “Huh?” “Why did your mom wanted to speak to you?” “She….” She tapped her fingers on the table. “She gave me an offer to switch to another school.” “Why?” “Well, after everything that has happened so far, she thought that this place was no longer safe for me to continue my studies here.” “I see.” Tara rest her back against the chair. “I can’t blame her for wanting to protect her own daughter.” “Yeah well…..I told her no.” “Why?”

She hesitated. “Because I didn’t want to leave my friends, especially you. You and all of my friends are the reason I care about this place…..and Rossi, he needs us. I can’t turn my back on him when he needs us, especially now.” “Well, what did your mom say?” “She said that she accepts my decision, and it’s cool.” “You sure? Cause going by that long face of yours, it seemed like you both part in ill terms.” “Well, she said that if something else happens and I get involved, she won’t try to help me out anymore.” “Ouch, I’m sorry.” “It’s whatever, not like she even tried to help me. All the times she did, it was only to help herself, make herself look good. Cause she’s an ambassador and one small mistake and oh no, scandal. Too bad she doesn’t even bother understanding how I feel, how hard she can be on me sometimes.” “Well…” She rubs her hand. “She’s a mom, just wanting what’s best.” “I guess.” “She might not understand you, but I do.” 

“Thanks.”

“But I do hope that you patch things up with her.” “Why so?” “Despite your differences, she’s still your mom, you’ll never know what life throws at the two of you. I know I didn’t when I lost my mom.” “Yeah…...maybe….just not right now.”

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

“Are you sure about this?” Kate asked. “I mean you haven’t told the gang about this yet.”

“Well, I mean there’s nothing wrong in trusting her. After all, she is a friend of Rossi.”  Marissa responds. She then pats Reid on the shoulder. “What do you think, Spence?”

He continued to stare at the door in front of them. Not bothering to turn to his friend and girlfriend, he walks up, knocking at the door.

“Why hello there.” The door opens, revealing Blake. “What can I do for the three of you.” “W-we have a few things to share, about Rossi, and Stephen.” “Okay.” She paused. “But can this wait a little later? I got some work I need to d-” “Also, we did some online research and....” Reid leans over to whisper to Blake. “Do you know anything about someone known as ‘The Replicator?’“ 

She hesitated at first, but the three students noticed that the name brought a chill down her spine, indicating that she knew who Reid was referring to. 

“Come on in.” She responds, allowing the three to enter before looking around outside and closing the door shut

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

    Somewhere at the campus center, Courtney was exiting the art studio, parting ways with her friends and classmates after finishing a painting for her Intro to Color class and was making her way back to the dorms when she sees JJ standing. She was too hyperfocused on seeing the blonde hastily pressing her phone, muttering Garcia’s name and getting all frustrated whenever she hears it go on voicemail. It was only when she felt a tug on her friend’s shoulder that she shifts her focus on her friends.

“Hey, is something up?” She shook her head. “No, I-I uh.” She glanced at JJ. “Sorry, I was just feeling a bit tired. I’ll uh catch up with you guys tomorrow, okay?” “Okay.” Her friends part ways as she walked over to JJ. “Uh, excuse me-”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She nearly jumped when seeing Courtney tap her shoulder. “Courtney.” “JJ, am I right?” “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Are you okay?” “Yeah.” She shrugged her hand. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” “I don’t know, you seemed a bit distressed, seeing how you were trying to get a hold of Garcia. Is something wrong?” “I-”

Courtney grabbed her hand. “It’s okay, you can tell me.”

JJ shook her head. “I don’t know.” “Please, if it’s about Garcia, trust me, I can help.” She hesitated at first, but seeing how sincere she was and knowing that she was Garcia’s roommate, she nods. “Okay, but let’s go somewhere private.” “Okay.”   A few minutes later, they head to a cafe, JJ rest her head against the table as Courtney hands her a croissant and a cup of coffee.

“So, what’s up with you and Garcia?” “We got into this huge fight.”

“You and Garcia got into a fight?” “N-no. Technically, it was me and Meadows. She said some rude things about Rossi and my friends and them humiliated me and my friend Elle.”

“How so?” “.......she spat on us.” Courtney scrunched her nose. “Ew. I’m guessing you retaliated.” JJ nods. “Yes, I did…….I slapped her.”

“Oh…” She gasped.

“And that’s when the fight happens….unfortunately, Garcia saw us and….Meadows. She blamed the whole thing on me….that I started the whole fight and that I hurt her when it was in fact the other way around.” Her eyes start to water as she continued. “I-I tried to reason with Garcia b-but, she wouldn’t listen to me anymore. She believed Meadows and lashed out on me, thinking that the whole thing was my fault.  And now, I’m no longer her friend.” She whimpered. “It’s sad because all this time, I was nice to her, cared about her and defended her from bullies and now, she won’t even talk to me.” She shed a few tears while Courtney hands her some tissues. “I’m sorry.” “Oh no, don’t be…..” “Thanks…” “You know I’d hate to see someone as sweet as you cry.” She grabbed JJ’s hand. “I know you got a heart J, if only Garcia knew that you truly care about her.” “Well, not anymore. She’d rather rely on a girl like Meadows than me.” “Well, you got a point. She may be a bit ditsy but she has a way of meeting people.” “I guess.” She frowns. “Hey, I know we were never really close, and I may not know much about your relationship with my roommate, but I believe you JJ. I really do.”

“I’m glad someone does.” “Well, give Garcia some time…..eventually, she’ll give you another chance. She’s rarely the one to hold grudges for so long.” JJ sighs. “I hope so too.”

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

Matt was exhausted, today had brought a lot of new questions that had no answers, whom was a lot to cope with. Gym was really one of the only places where he could really let loose, even if it was only for an hour and a half. It was his way to get away from reality for a bit. As he walks to his gym class, he has a bit of spring in his step. Just the thought of playing basketball with Luke and Derek and having fun was putting a smile on his face. He was practically glowing as he walked into the boys’ locker room as he walks towards Derek and Luke, greeting them with a smile.

“Sup.” “Oooooo.”

“What, what’s going on here?”

“I know that look…” The two guys rushed to their friend. “So what happened?”

“What? I don’t understand.”

Luke sighs. “Haley, did you and Hotch talked to her?”

“We did.” “And?”

“And what? Nothing much happened, we got a little info but nothing groundbreaking.”

“That’s it? That’s boring.” Derek groans. “Oh, I’m sorry that i wasn’t able to get some juicy deets on their relationship.”  

“Damn….and to think that I was hoping for a little something from them.” Both Luke and Matt had some bemused faces at Derek’s response.

“Well it’s not like I can say ‘Hey guys, make out right in front of me so I can go gossip to Luke and Derek about it!’ I’m pretty sure Hotch would punch the shit out of me.”

The two laughed. “Relax bro, we won’t tell him.” “Though it’d be pretty funny to see Hotch get all hot and bothered. To be honest, I’m surprised he hasn’t done the deed with her yet.”

“Will you guys quit it?” “Come on Matt, I’m just saying, to see Hotch flustered would be………………….. Legendary!!”

He scoffs. “Ugh, and to think, you two made it to college.” He muttered as he opens his locker.

“Okay Matt, don’t think we’re that stupid.”

“What do you mean Derek?”

“Come one man! The party! You left HOOOOUUUUURRRSSS earlier. You barely stayed for two and a half hours AND left with Kristy. We know you two did the deed already!”

“Oh.” He groaned while trying to get dressed. “So what if I left the party with her? We’re already dating.”

“Yet you’re crashing on us for commenting on Hotch’s relationship. HA! Matt you can’t defend yourself here hahaha!”

“It’s his choice to disclose his relationship, not mine. How would you feel if Luke decided to tell me, Hotch and Reid about you and Savannah that night after the party?”

“Whhhhaaaaaaatttttt?? What do you mean?”

“Wait, you and Savannah?” Luke raised an eyebrow at his roommate.

“I have no idea what you are talking about? I know no one by that name.”

“Really Derek? Really?” “Take it easy Luke, he’s trying to mess with us.” Matt continues to dress. “Besides, all that happened was that she and Stephen were friends and he stopped by to ask for advice on this girl he was asking out.”

“Kate!” They all shout, referring to the girl Stephen was gonna go out with.

“Yeah……” Matt tugs on his shirt. “Anyway, I’m starving, you guys wanna get a bite?”

“Sure.”

“Where to?”

“I’m thinking maybe a quick bite down at the diner?”

“Sure, that sounds nice.” Matt closed his locker door. “Be right back.” 

“Okay, hurry though man, we’re starving!” Both Derek and Luke complained while Matt leaves to finish cleaning up by the sink. As they wait, they noticed Matt left his bag on the ground. Curious, Derek decides to take a peek.

“Derek, what are yo-”

“What?” He glares at him. “What could possibly go wrong? I just want to see if there’s anything in here I can tease him for.” Derek laughed. He zipped open the bag, digging through some of his friend’s belongings. “Find anything?”

“Nope, noth- Oh my god.”

“What is it? Did you find something?”

Luke watched as Derek pulls out a small book.

“Is that a journal?” 

“It’s not just any journal man! This is Rossi’s journal!”

“Oh come, that can’t be.” “No, look at this. There’s a page ripped out right here. Along with a few more pages!”

“My god.” Luke muttered. “I wonder why Matt has that in his bag?” Just as Derek could answer, they suddenly heard Matt coming back.

“Hey guys have you seen my-” They look up to see Matt catching them snoop in his bag, and gasps when he sees them holding Rossi’s journal.

“Dude, what the HELL are you doing with this?!” Derek’s attitude shifted from being all jokingly to a more stern tone.

“What are you guys talking about- have you been looking through my bag?!!”

“That’s not the point here! You don’t get to ask the questions here!” Derek throws the journal down. “WHY THE HELL IS ROSSI’S JOURNAL IN YOUR GYM BAG!!”

“What?!” Matt gives him an exasperated look. “Don’t what us! Now we know who’s responsible for Stephen’s accident.” “What the fuck Derek, I did not start that accident.”

“Why so defensive Matt? Are we getting close?”

“NO! I-I, Okay, someone start from square one. HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIND THE DAMN JOURNAL?”

Luke crossed his arms. “I-I don’t know man, you tell us.” “Luke, not you too.” “I’m sorry Matt, it’s just that Rossi needed that journal and a page of his was found in Stephen’s car and now all of a sudden, the journal suddenly appears in your bag.” “Please.” Matt begged. “You have to believe me guys! I didn’t do anything!”

“Matt, we want to believe you b-b-”

“Bullshit. Shut up Luke! We all know you’re full of shit. You lied to all of us! So make this easy on yourself and all of us. Who are you working with and why?”

“N-no one okay!!! No one!!!” “Liar!” Derek slams Matt against the gym lockers again. “TELL US!!”

“I’m fucking serious, I don’t work for anyone.”

“Derek please…” Luke begged, brushing his shoulder. “Can we not make a scene here? Can’t we just settle this down the right way?” “I see.” Derek sighs, he turns to Matt, whom was still pleading for his innocence. “Luke..” “Yes?” “Take out your phone, the team will want to know about this.”

“But w-” “Just do it. Also, while you’re at it, call Rossi as well.” He turns to Matt. “I want them to know what this traitor has done.”

Although hesitant, Luke sighs, pulling out his phone and texting everyone to meet at the conference room on the other side of the campus. Now.”

“Not so tough are you, Matt.” Derek taunts him.

“Screw you Derek. You’ll see I have nothing to do with this.”

“We’ll see about that.” He grabs Matt’s arm, dragging him along to the other side of the campus to the meeting spot.

[khrow-shinku]

The Great War S2

D&D 5e Campaign The Great War Session 2   Ara follows Rin back to her room. Rin tells Ara to start by dropping her illusion and show her who she is really talking to. Ara obliges, takes a deep breath and then explains. “I’m not a demon. I’m a tiefling, I hid it because I was raised with the belief that a lot of people view tieflings as evil and as such tieflings get a lot of bigotry directed at them and hunted by paladins. So my mother when I was very young taught me how to use the illusion spell to hide my tail and horns. I can’t really use the spell to alter my appearance in any other way, however I’m able to hide just those bits. My mother spent every day training me until I could do it at will and hold it at all times. She was so scared of someone trying to kill me. She did the same thing with herself, hiding her features too and never really talked about our lineage, however she died when I was 7.” Rin’s eyes began to water as she thought about how hard that had to have been. She hugged Ara and said into her ear gently “Oh you poor thing, I had no idea that tieflings had it that rough. I am so so sorry.” Ara responded; “Yeah, I mean sure some tieflings are bad but my mom just owned a bakery and wanted to see people smile from her food. She was just trying to live a normal life.”Rin pulled back, stealed herself and continued to ask questions. Rin asked her; “Did you know anything about those demons and why did you feel  the need to kill that dragonborn so bad, and why did he seem to know you?” Ara took another deep breath, “I don’t know about the demons. No clue why they were here or why the dragonborn killed them and not us. As for why I was so intent on killing the dragonborn, you see my father was a dragonborn from an assassin clan, he left the clan in pursuit of a normal life. He did not like killing, he dreamed of being a world renowned blacksmith. However his clan didn’t accept that. He would be in the family business or die to prevent any leaks of info about them. After he had managed to keep himself hidden for years they finally caught up to him. And yes he was a gold dragonborn so he was good, his clan is good for the most part… and that is why I’ve got the natural affinity for fire magic and thanks to my mother it is amplified. But I digress, I believe he knew who I was because he was from that clan. I have no clue why he was testing us, or why he didn’t kill me. I figured as my father’s child I would have been marked for death if they knew about me. Maybe he was an uncle or cousin? I have no clue. I was going to ask him but he fled. Sorry I don’t have more answers for you than that but this is all I know. Now you also understand, please don’t smite me now.” Rin hugs Ara again and tells her “Don’t be scared. I won’t tell anyone however I believe you should tell them yourself when you're ready. Honesty will be important in helping our group bond as we move forward if we are going to stop this.” Ara for the first time since her mother died felt the most sincere warmth from another person. Sure her father loved her but it was awkward as any father daughter would be. Resnoa while a very nice woman Ara knew Resnoa’s kindness was as much for her own benefit as it was for Ara’s. Rin’s kindness felt different, it felt like Rin wanted nothing in return. For the first time Ara embraced Rin back.  After their long embrace Ara looked at Rin and said, “Well with that out of the way, we need to go and question the bartender and his niece. They bolted out of here fast, a bit too fast.” Rin stops Ara and responds, “Yes we do but not tonight. For tonight we need to sleep. We’ve been through a lot tonight so please sleep for now.” Ara nodded and went back to her room. Everyone else had left to go to bed too except for 2. 

By this time Tinkerman had finished replacing and improving the door downstairs and had a discussion with the knights while the rogue hung out in the corner being all creepy. The Knights thanked Tinkerman for replacing the door, it made things easier on him. He also explained that some mages would be by in the morning to clean up the dead bodies and told them all to get some sleep he would likely need statements from everyone the next day. Tinkerman came upstairs into Rin’s room to find her already in bed and climbed into his bag to do his thing for the night and the rogue went to his room as well. In the middle of the night a large gentleman rents a room and enters the establishment, the sound of his large stature creaking through the halls and vibrating the floor wakes Ara up with a mild orgasm, confused about what just happened, she goes back to sleep.

The next morning the party comes down and has breakfast. At which time they meet their new party member hired by the queen of this empire, not the one who hired them. He introduced himself as Grimgore Shrike, the loxodon cleric.(loxodons have the head and size of an elephant but the body of a man). He explains that he was hired to help them by his queen after she had learned they did not have a cleric in their party. The party quickly realizes that he has 2 volumes, loud and louder. A wandering mute mage, stops in just to eat. Upon hearing the loud boisterous loxodon she puts a dampening spell on him that only lowers the volume of his voice on her way out. After they eat Rin and Ara start asking the bartender questions and find out he was just doing as he was trained to do by the town guard. When trouble happened they were to go get a knight and let them handle it and that was all he knew about any of it. He then had questions of his own like what the hell happened after he went to get the knights. Rin and Ara explain what had happened and the barkeep said his thanks for them trying to defend his bar. The party now turned their attention to something that had been on everyone’s mind since last night, the bag of medallions.  Lolxsis tried to see if they were magical, and while yes they were, there was not a specific spell attached to them more like just a general magical essence attached to it. Ara, not wanting to wait around and take it slow after seeing the one in Lolxsis’s hand glow, just dumped the bag out, and each one almost magically tried to fall closer to one of the people in the room except for 3. They began investigating them. Ara and Tinkerman due to their backgrounds in metals and alloy work could tell that the metals used in the medallions were all naturally occurring in the world however the alloy made with them was unusual. They had never seen the materials combined in this way to make an alloy and this was essentially an unknown alloy. Once each person picked up the one closest to them and examined it, each attached itself to the appropriate person and hid itself in a way that would disguise it. The party not sure what this was about and no way to know anything more at the moment chose to follow up on the only thing they knew right now, the queen here was sick, and a wizard showed up to town around the same time and left shortly after she had fallen ill. 

Once at the queen’s castle, Grim, Tinkerman, and Rin  gather around the queen and do their miracle stuff and heal the queen and remove the poison that was plaguing her. After she woke she asked why all of these people were here and who were they. The party explained themselves and the queen was confused as she hired no cleric. It was at this time her handmaiden walked in and explained she had hired them in her stead as she saw the party had no cleric and thought it best she send them assistance per the agreement she had made with the queen of Urildyr.  The queen of Dustreodan nodded and said “Ok that makes sense well, I don’t mean to be rude but I’m not presentable at the moment to have guests so please leave and come back in an hour, I need time to make myself proper.”  The party leaves the castle and heads outside to kill some time. At this time news is brought to them that the orphanage caretaker requests an audience with them. So Tinkerman, Rin, and Grim head over there while the rest of the party waits outside the castle for news to come back in.

At the orphanage, the patron running it had some questions for them. She was curious what had happened to her, she felt as if she was 5 years younger and her illness was completely gone. She was baffled to say the least, the trio explained that their attempt to heal her worked a bit too well and they actually made her 5 years younger. While yes she was better now, if the illness was of natural causes it could and likely would come back eventually someday. She responded informing them that it was not of natural causes that this pesky wizard who came into town had done something to her so now that he was no longer in town she wouldn’t have to worry about getting it again and now she had 5 years added to her life. She was so overjoyed that she fainted, the trio laid her down in her bed and got her back awake so that the children would not be left unattended when they left to go back to the castle. She thanked them for everything and with that the trio rejoined with the rest of the party at the castle.

The entire party now back together at the castle, they go in and sit down at the royal meeting table to discuss things. However before they get the chance to, there are attackers raiding her castle and they manage to get by her guards but only just. The party quickly springs to their feet, JJJ checks the door and sees 2 men approaching it and steps back and readies his shield. Lolxsis fires a firebolt at the 1st one and kills it. The queen and her handmaiden get behind everyone in the corner. Rin looks back at them and tells them “Don’t be scared, the party will protect them” and runs to the door. Her arrow misses but her firebolt hits and kills the 2nd one. Grim charges through the door and looks down the hall to see 2 more and fires a guiding bolt killing the 3rd and tries to kill the 4th but he dodges out of the way of the cleric’s sacred flames. Ara, looking to get some brownie points with the queen hoping she can talk her way into her bed later, looks back at the queen and says. “Don’t worry beautiful, I’ve got this.” She runs out the door as well and fires a scorching ray so intense it vaporized every trace of the 4th one’s being from existence. She then pulls her finger up to her lips and blows the smoke coming from the tip and says loud enough for the queen and her handmaiden to hear, “No one lays a finger on my girls.” At that time a 5th guy runs through the door and Grim and Ara give their most intimidating looks and he turns around to flee and grim smacks him with a sleep spell as he runs away. The party then gathers at the table again with the queen and her handmaiden and as they do, Ara puts her hand on the queen’s leg and lightly strokes it while winking at her and saying, “Told you I’d take care if it, now let’s continue our discussion, beautiful.”

[canaryatlaw]

So, today for the first time in a few weeks, I would say was a good day, and that's something worth celebrating to me. It probably actually means the new antidepressant I'm on kicked in, but hey, I'm not gonna question it. It wasn't really good for any specific reason, I just felt better about everything. So often it's hard to actually tell you're in a depression when you're depressed. I would always just start questioning my life choices and if this is all really worth doing (which is truly a far cry from a suicidal thought, trust me, but it just somehow feels wrong). But then there are better days like today that just make you feel better about just about everything. So, today. Woke up at 6:40 to my early alarm in my attempt to get to work early, thought about it for approximately 2 seconds before going "nah" and resetting it for 7 (because nobody saw that coming). So I got to work at my normal time and started reading the latest interview form, which gave me most of the info I needed to change up my questions. Just as I finished that the attorney who gave me the hearing, who sits across from me, asked if I wanted to go over them, so we did so and I was like oh how much do you just want to get on the record about like services etc and she crossed out a few questions that didn't apply (I had already changed the parents section since they were no longer involved here) but then basically added stuff to promote the goal of the hearing, which was to get the judge to extend the wardship until her 21st birthday. It's an uncontested argument, and it's not like the judge is just gonna not do it to be a dick, but it's an argument you still have to make. So we talked about different services she's in or will need in the future, she has a 2 year old son who's currently with her mother under a short term guardianship (since her parents were never actually found to be abusive because they got a dependency finding at trial, something I'm not certain I agree with but it was a much different circumstance and it wouldn't make me doubt their ability to care for this child) but she could hopefully get back after she finished high school, which would require day care services, etc and she would need college services or employment services, so it's obviously worth staying in the system till 21. It's not perfect, but it really is SUCH a better option than dumping the kid out on the street once they turn 18. So around 9:30 we go down, and things kind of go haywire for a while in the courtroom because a bunch of people didn't show up on time so they were doing cases all out of order, and the lawyer I was with ended up getting stuck with an emergency motion (but more on that later). It was set for 10:30, the worker arrived a bit after 11 (she wasn't the latest one, by far) so we talked to her outside since she was a new one just about the case and such. I was talking to the state too since they typically take the lead on permanency hearings, but they were totally fine with letting me do it, and we had to figure out how to get a current service plan into evidence since apparently nobody had one, lol, so we ended up (or the ASA did) telling the court the worker would print it off at the end of the hearing. The hearing itself went fine, I just need to get used to being up at the bench and asking questions, and learning to adjust when things don't follow your perfect question pattern. The trial ad books tell you that generally beginners will use exact question lists but the more experienced attorneys will just have a list of points to cover, which allows them to explore each answer the proper amount and cover all the ground needed depending on what comes up. Well, I'm not experienced yet, lol, but I'm learning to adjust to when the answer doesn't come out as expected and not getting flustered when that's the case. And I'm sure that will just come with practice. And I mean, this is a perfect environment to do it in being that we never have a jury and there is still a lot of uncontested stuff. So I was overall happy with it. Afterwards I went back upstairs and worked on the TPR prep that I worked on for the rest of the day. The real fun of the day ("fun") came from the attorney I was with when she returned on her emergency motion that had been called by mom's atty at 9:30 but then mom didn't show up until like 11:30 or something ridiculous like that, then told this ridiculous story that she said her son told her about his father leaving him and his two year old brother home alone (kid is 12) and somehow weed got on his pizza and he ate it and he knew what weed looked like from watching a movie and ???? It was truly bizarre, but the weird thing is this case isn't actually screened into the system, meaning DCFS doesn't have custody of them, which severely limits what remedies they can implement. The kid is supposedly on an order of protection to live with his father, but apparently dad doesn't really live there and just comes and goes so he's actually really living with his (paternal) grandma. So mom wanted the order of protection vacated and the kid sent home to her of course, but it got continued until our office could interview the kid. So we send one of our interviewers out to his school who reports back with word that the real story was his little brother had apparently sprinkled loose tobacco on the pizza, not weed, and his dad was in the other room smoking, not leaving them alone. But more important than that was that he was now saying grandma had been beating him and he's scared to live with her, which necessitated us to call the hotline and obviously he can't return to the placement, so they're scrambling to figure something out, because they can't stick him in a foster home without screening him into the system and nobody wants to do that unnecessarily, but they didn't know if they could get a relative placement by 3:30 when someone needs to pick this kid up from school. So they basically decide he's gonna go back to mom until court on Wednesday when he can talk to the judge. The whole thing is this case came in because mom could never get the kids to school and they were like, all failing all their classes, and the kid now has 17 tardies on the one day a week mom was bringing him to school and flunking all his classes, so we really don't want him going back to mom when at trial the judge specifically made neglect findings based on those facts, but at this point it was mom or the shelter, and in that choice it's hard to not say mom. So that ends up being the pick, but then the issue is telling grandma she no longer had custody of the kid and was now the subject of a DCFS investigation. Mind you I'm watching this all play out over hours through phone calls with a ridiculous amount of people trying to figure it out and the atty ranting about it. At one point I managed to slip in something about if DCFS would be stepping up their investigations on already open cases in response to the recent child deaths, which I was hoping would lead to a conversation about the child death case I was working on that she was the previous atty for, which provided me with the opportunity to ask what her thoughts were when the kids were getting returned home, and I was really surprised by what she said. She said mom had done every service asked of her, had always visited the kids, and had fully cooperated with the agency the whole time. Like, what??? That's a far cry from what ended up happening. She said she was really surprised by the death, and spoke about meeting with Manny and how bright he was. She made some comment about how they had apparently killed a dog by neglect, and she felt like Manny had become the replacement dog because they moved him into the back room where the dog lived and basically treated him like one. Idk it was an interesting perspective to get. She seemed to blame the boyfriends influence, which I thought was interesting because of course he's trying to play that he was manipulated by this older woman. But back to the main story, suddenly the agency is trying to get her on a conference call with grandma and she is like uh NO I can't do that, there's this thing called atty client privilege and her client specifically said he didn't want grandma being told what he had said. But they just kept calling on repeat, which was funny because she had been fielding calls all day from all different people, and they end up calling the lead attorney on the calendar in an attempt to get to her lol. She talked to them later not with grandma on the line and was like yeah NO but then the issue was picking the kid up from school, because apparently the mom and grandma had called the police on each other a lot in this case, and she was afraid if mom picked up the kid without any documentation saying she had the right to do so grandma would call the cops who would see the legal custody order dad still does have and return the kids to her, but the agency was totally unhelpful and now nobody wanted to pick the kid up because they were worried they'd get in trouble so she had to convince the caseworker to go get him and it's like 3:40 at this point and this poor kid is probably so confused. She did end up picking him up though and he's at moms, until Wednesday anyway. The icing on the cake was the voicemail she got at the end of the day from grandma, which was fucking hilarious because she was clearly VERY offended she hadn't immediately told grandma about the allegations, like she's the client here, and she's been taking care of this kid for all these years (except she really hasn't) and YOU KNOW WHAT YOURE REALLY NOT THAT SPECIAL, YOURE REALLY NOT (I kid you not she said that and I was cracking up). So that was at least somewhat humorous. But I found the entire situation at least somewhat comical just because of how ridiculous it was, and it's the kind of thing you have to laugh at in this line of business. At 4:44 I checked the bus status to find that the 5:13 bus was currently listed as "delayed" to which I responded "shit" and basically packed up all my stuff in a rush and left to catch the 5:03, because I've learned when it says delayed there is no telling when it's actually coming (I think it did end up coming on schedule, but not the point). By the time I got to the bus stop I did have a few minutes, and the homeless guy that hangs out at the median right by there came over, idk if he remembered I gave him an energy bar last week or it was just random, but upon seeing him I said oh hey I have another bar and produced one from my purse, and he did seem surprised about that so maybe it was just random. But we sat and talked for a few, he asked about my day and I said it was good because I got to do a court hearing, he wanted to know what kind of court and when I said child protection he started talking about "seeing some things" in "the hood" that made him glad he wasn't the parent of those kids because he'd be in trouble if he was. I just said well if you ever do need it, the hotline is 1-800-25-ABUSE (that's for Illinois anyway, I have no idea if it would work outside this state) and he seemed to appreciate that before going back to his median. Got on the bus and went home, had time to make dinner quickly before watching the supergirl finale, which I won't elaborate on too much just because I've already written so damn much about my day and I can get into details about that easily. But I was pretty satisfied with finale being that my only real hope going into it was that Meh-El would die/get banished/be gone from the show in whatever method they came up with and that was achieved, so I was happy about that. I mean, at this point I was pretty confident that's was what was going to happen, the writers had to know the backlash they were facing off his character and their bending the season around his whims, and his whole plot really never felt sustainable to me for longer than a season anyway, so maybe he was never supposed to be more than that to begin with. I thought Kara's plan to duel it out with Reya with the fate of the entire planet on the line, like if I lose everything is over, was pretty goddamn stupid, and really just a distraction before knowing that the Daxomite banisher thingy (official name of course) would have to get turned on. I'm pretty sure I laughed out loud when Lena looked at Supergirl and was like "he's dating Kara Danvers, you know" talking about Meh-El and I was just like okay you cannot tell me that Lena has no romantic interest in Kara after the way she delivered that line, even if it was just the actress' spin on it, it was quite obvious and it cracked me up. I think I'll stop there, those are most of my thoughts, though I'll say a few words on the return of Superman since I am so fond of his character. He obviously took a backseat here because it is Supergirl's show and her fight, but I take issue with them making Zod his "mortal enemy" when anyone who's ever read or watched anything Superman knows Lex Luthor is his mortal enemy, but I bet you anything they didn't want to cast a Lex now in case they want to bring that out at a later point (I wasn't really a fan of carrying the Smallville universe into this one because they are fundamentally incompatible in so many ways, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to think of Lex Luthor as anyone other than Michael Rosenbaum and I would die if they had him do it). Okay, now I'm done. After that I started watching the new season of Unbreakable kimmy Schmidt which was as highly enjoyable. On my commute and through the evening I had started a new long fic I've been waiting to get a chance to start for a while now, and it started to go the calling CPS route with the Snarts and I kind of braced myself for the really cringeworthy narrative that calling them is the worst thing ever to do for an abused kid because I think the shows have, even if it was subtly, encouraged that line of thinking when it came to them and like, it pisses me off so fucking much because that stuff has real life effects about people not calling CPS when they see abuse and that's how kids die (if you see child abuse, please, please call CPS/DCFS. I'm begging you, you may be that child's last lifeline). But then it took a totally different turn and I wasn't subjected to that at all and I was actually really impressed with their handling of the system and what they wrote so that just made my day that much better (the author doesn't have a tumblr, I wasn't sure so I mentioned it in a comment and they said they didn't but they should get one). And yeah, I think that was all I wanted to say for the day and I'm gonna shut up now because this post is way too long already and I need to go to sleep. Goodnight friends. Stay lovely.

[angrypizzagal]

I was offered a $20 tip last night and turned it down.

This isn't really a normal angry post, but I felt should be shared. Last night I took a delivery at around 11PM to this house in a dead-end, back corner of a neighborhood, literally right next to the interstate. Not really expecting a big tip type of delivery, y know? And the only thing on the order is a cookie and brownie. The total came to $16.38. So I pull up to the house, and I notice the front door is already open and someone is standing there looking out, expecting me. I think, "Cool. This should be a quick delivery." Before I could even get out of my car, the kid (looks to be a teenager) is already waiting for me outside the front porch. So I walk up to him and it starts like any normal pizza transaction: "Hey, man, how's it going? Your total tonight is $16.38." He proceeds to hold out a $100 bill in front of me, and I tell him I don't have change for that. He gets disappointed, and around this time, an older lady comes out of the house (most likely his mom) and she is clearly not expecting me. She's not rude, but she starts berating the kid with questions: "Who is that? Why is she here? Who ordered pizza? Why? When did you order? How were you gonna pay for it?" And to that last question, he replies, "I was gonna ask you for money!" First red flag. So she tells him to go get her purse from inside the house, and while he's gone, Mom and I make small talk; she tells me she's been home sick with pneumonia and the flu, and I wished her to get better. Kid comes back with the purse, and Mom doesn't have enough change. I tell her I can call the store and she can pay with a card if need be. She goes back to the porch and dumps out her (small) purse's contents, trying to find money to pay for the kid's food. Mind you, it is almost midnight, the temperature had dropped down to about 30 degrees by then, and I legit stood there for about 20 minutes waiting for them to find change. Obviously, at this point, I'm getting a little peeved, especially since I have another delivery on me. But I stay silent and patient. So Mom is rummaging through purse contents and continuously asking kid, "Why did you order pizza? How were you going to pay for it?" To which the kid begins aggressively answering, "I was going to ask you for money!" No, you weren't, kid. And then the biggest red flag came up. Mom asked her son, "I had $100 in my purse. Where is it??" And the kid exclaims he doesn't know and that she can search him (because at this point, she's asked several times). So now I KNOW this kid is LYING THROUGH HIS GODDAMN TEETH to this poor woman. And I started to feel bad. And I'm PRAYING that the kid goes in the house first. I just needed TWO seconds with that woman. So finally, they scrounge up enough money to pay for the $16.38 order: ten $1 bills, and $6.40 in change. The kid actually hands me the change and says I "can count it right here if [I] want." Fuck you, dude, you've already wasted enough of my time. I just take the money and stuff it in my pockets and hand over his food. He scurries inside while his mom is still on the front porch, gathering all her things back in her purse. I walk up to her and quietly say, "Ma'am? I'm sorry to bother, but I overheard you saying earlier that you lost your $100 bill from your purse. I just wanted you to know that when I first got here, he tried to pay me with a $100 bill, and I told him I didn't have change for it. That's when he asked you for money." So I tell her that and start to walk back to my car, thinking I've done the right thing. The lady calls out and asks me to stay right there. Omg no lady it's freezing and I've already been standing here for almost half an hour. I don't want to be a part of anything. But she begs me to wait while she goes and pulls thd kid back out from the house, and asks me to tell him what I just told her. Goddammit. Alright: "Hey, dude, when I first got here and you met me outside, you tried to pay me with a $100 bill, and I told you I didn't have change for it." Mom asked me if I physically saw the money, and I confirmed. So she asks me for my name and tells me she might ask me to be a witness because she's going to call the cops if he doesn't return her money. Ok. Cool. I get back in my car and get the fuck out of there. That was some straight up white people shit. So I get back to the store and finally counted the money the kid gave me, and got pretty pissed at the $0.02 tip. Not that I was expecting anything more. Well, the store phone rings, and I just happen to answer it to take an order. The lady on the other line asks if she can put a tip for her driver on her card - just the tip. I pull up her info and see that it's THE SAME LADY THAT I JUST DELIVERED TO WITH THE $100 BILL!! So I'm like ok cool I can still get a tip from these people. I start pulling up a transaction menu, thinking I can ring up a $0.75 garlic cup or something and add the tip to that. I'm assuming she's just gonna give me a normal $2-$5 tip or something. And while I'm pulling up the transaction, I confirm who she is and tell her I was actually the driver that just delivered to her. She thanked me for my honesty, and tells me she wants to give me a $20 tip on her card. Now nornally, I would accept a $20 tip without hesitation. That's gas in my car for a week!! But she told me that and I paused. This woman had been at home sick, her son ordered food without her knowledge/permission and made her pay for it with what little money she had, stole from her and lied about it, and to top it off, I could hear him screaming in the background of the phone call and she just told me, "Please ignore him. He's just upset because he's getting arrested for stealing." I told the woman on the phone, "That is a very generous offer, ma'am, and I'm grateful. But I can't accept that. I was just trying to do the right thing because it seemed like you needed it. And I hope you have a better night." And we ended the phone call. Now, I'm 21 years old living on my own. A $20 tip definitely would've gone a long way for me. So yeah, I admit, part of me wishes I could go back to that phone call and just taken the lady's card over the phone and gotten that tip. But another part of me knows I can make that $20 elsewhere. It might take 4-5 more deliveries, but it's not like I'm homeless and starving. That lady really needed a break that night. And I hope my good deed spreads just a little more positivity in the world. Tl;dr: if you're a lying little shit and order pizza, I WILL out you!

[erenfox]

NAW THIS IS AS HARD AS ANSWERING WHEN SOMEONE ASKS U TO TELL 3 INTERESTING THINGS ABT URSELF 😭✋

Person: What's your book about?

Writers:

I'm both somehow 🙃