#multiple of whom i did not know were twins and assumed were the same person until the very end of year 11

[archerygun]

Throwback to that time at secondary school where a set of identical twins that both went to my primary school got split between schools, with one at my school and one at a selective school the other didn’t get into started dressing up as each other and trying the different schools out for shits and giggles.

All the kids were in on this of course but it was genuinely the funniest thing for ages watching these two game the system for no reason at all. Plus it did have the positive of the other twin being able to stay in touch with her primary school friends who went to my school because they weren’t smart enough for hers.

Apart from that one time where they messed up and both accidentally came into my school on the same day and one of them had to jump over the fence to avoid them getting caught. That was bad lol.

[takaraphoenix]

#28 Lonely And College for the Stiles prompts! Would love something with Stiles and Jackson (but always happy with Sterek or Steter)

(I am assuming you meant 14 and not 28, with the prompts!)

Tags: fluff, friendship, the Hale Pack moves to London

Main Relationship: Jackson & Stiles & Danny & Lydia

Teen Wolf Characters: Jackson Whittemore, Danny Mahealani, Mieczysław 'Stiles' Stilinski, Lydia Martin

@writersmonth Prompts: lonely + college

Summary: Jackson is missing his pack, not knowing that his favorite people are moving to London.

This Fic on FFNet | This Fic on AO3

Missing Pack

Stiles Summer Stories 2024

London was lonely, when he first arrived. He didn't know anyone, just his parents, who he hated during that time. They'd taken him away from the love of his life, from his chance of pack, from the town where his biological parents' graves were located. They thought a chance in scenery would help him. They were wrong. All he was was miserable and lonely.

Even when the London Pack reached out to him, after apparently having gotten a call from Peter Hale (Derek's dead uncle who had been resurrected but then Jackson was apparently the last one who got to judge that considering he'd been legally dead too for a bit and Jesus fucking Christ there had been so much trauma to unpack actually).

The London Pack helped, somewhat. Alpha Hayes was a good and fair man and he took Jackson under his wing and even recommended him an actual therapist (not a school counselor), who was a supernatural being herself and with whom he could work through everything. There were even a bunch of bearable people to hang out with in the pack.

But it still wasn't the same. He missed his girlfriend and his best friend above all else.

Jackson and Lydia broke up, agreed that the long distance wasn't working for them, they were both too physical for that. But they'd always love each other and deep down, Jackson knew one day they'd be together again and then they'd stay together.

Danny was tricky, at first. When Jackson thought his best friend had no idea about the supernatural. But he actually did. Danny knew. From thereon out, it became so much easier for them to talk and they talked for hours, multiple times a week. Danny kept him updated on Beacon Hills, together with Lydia. Often times, they'd talk together, all three of them. Those times, it felt like home.

And then something fucked up happened in Beacon Hills and the most unexpected person suddenly became one of Jackson's most important people. Fucking Stiles Stilinski, of all people.

Stiles got possessed by a chaos demon. It killed Allison. Lydia had been a wreck, unable to get a whole sentence out. Danny had taken the phone from her and, with a tight throat himself, explained to Jackson what had happened. The demon, having taken over Stiles for months, using him to kill people, killing Allison just before they were able to exorcise it.

It also killed Lydia's boyfriend, who was the twin-brother of Danny's boyfriend and that was a kind of rom com sub-plot that Jackson would have loved to witness. Danny's boyfriend left and found his way to London, because Danny sent him there because Danny knew a wolf and thus a pack in London, and somehow, for a while, Jackson was dating Danny's ex, which Danny found way too funny, thank you very much.

Stiles had been possessed by a demon and he had killed two pack-mates, on top of countless others. And it had severely fucked him up. Lydia spoke so often to Jackson about how worried she was about him, how he wasn't attending pack meetings and wasn't talking and not going to school and that nobody from the McCall Pack could really get through to him.

So Jackson asked her for his number, startling them both equally. The first time he called, both of of them didn't speak at all, beyond Jackson's 'hello', but at least Stiles didn't hang up on him. They remained on the phone for an hour. The second time, Jackson found the guts to say what he'd wanted to say. But even with therapy, talking about the kanima still hurt.

It was exactly what Stiles needed to hear though. That he wasn't alone. Wasn't the only one who'd been used to kill, who had been robbed of his bodily autonomy by another to kill. They bonded, over this trauma that nobody else could relate to, this jarring, awful thing that had been done to them, through them. It took some, for Stiles to start talking too, but Jackson got that.

Somehow, Stiles Stilinski became Jackson's best friend, beside Danny. They talked near daily. Once Stiles was actually doing better about the possession, they started talking about other things too. For the first time, Jackson was open to get to know Stiles. And he liked Stiles.

Gradually, over the following months, the Hale Pack reassembled in London. Two Alphas were a bit too much for Beacon Hills and Derek had conceded, had packed up and left with Peter, Cora, Isaac, Boyd and Erica. Came to London, because he… still considered Jackson his beta.

The Hayes Pack was nice, but the Hale Pack were where he belonged. And he was happy. Happier. But something was still missing. His people were still missing. He was making connections with Cora, Isaac, Boyd and Erica (honestly, him and Erica really clicked in a way that terrified Boyd and Derek), but his pack felt incomplete without his people.

Finally, graduation came. He couldn't bring himself to ask where everyone was going for college, too afraid that this time, it would tear them apart. Part of what made it so easy to keep contact with Danny, Stiles and Lydia was because they were all in the same town, they'd meet up in Stiles' bedroom and video call him together, they'd have movie nights in Danny's living room and have him on speaker phone while he watched the same movie at his place, they'd send him pictures of them at Lydia's pool during the hottest summer days. Once the three separated and went to different colleges, in different time-zones, it would become much harder to get them all together.

Knocking on the door disturbed his depressing thoughts and since nobody else in this damn house – lazy ass werewolves – could get the damn door, Jackson stalked over to it annoyed, cursing Boyd and Erica for being too busy making out. Until he opened the door.

Danny had an arm around Stiles' shoulders, Lydia standing on Stiles' other side, all three of them looking at him with matching grins. And at what point had Danny and Stiles become friends? Oh, right. When the painfully obvious truth of Stiles' bisexuality became public knowledge (a guy could only get away with so many tee-shirt and flannel/hoodie combinations and asking if he was attractive to gay guys before it became undeniable). Jackson stared at them, stunned.

"Did you forget all manners, Jackson?" Lydia looked at him sternly. "Ask us in, it is hot out here."

"That's just all the hot people out here," Stiles grinned, motioning at the three of them.

Danny snorted and rolled his eyes, but it was so clearly fond. It took another second before Jackson launched himself at them, wrapping his arms around all three of them so tightly, like he never wanted to let go again because he didn't. There was laughter, but there was also sobbing.

"Did you know London has a lot of great colleges?" Stiles asked.

"But…" Jackson blinked, staring at their large suitcases.

"We're here to stay," Danny smirked. "Though I am not taking a room anywhere close to you and/or Lydia because I do not need to listen to the epic reunion sex."

Lydia huffed and hit him on the arm. Jackson watched them enter the mansion like they owned the place. Jackson felt three pack-bonds snap into place as his pack was finally complete.

~*~ The End ~*~

[kit-herondale-carstairs]

TDA Characters on TikTok

Julian: doesn’t post very often because he is a father but when he does it is always him painting or drawing something with lofi music or him sharing a tidbit about one of the children or other family members (Kieran, Cristina, Diana, Emma and Aline included and always with their explicit permission). 

- He’s very popular without even trying and most assume he is a young single father (which isn’t wrong).

-  Mostly finds himself on cottagecore or parent side of tiktok. 

- doesn’t understand all the thirsty comments he gets because “I don’t even show my face, Emma, why would they think I’m attractive?” but always shares them with Emma because they make her laugh.

Emma: Does it for the girls and the gays, that’s it. Posts nearly every day and page is generally a mixture of self defense videos, vintage makeup/dress tutorials, and videos slamming the patriarchy but also always does the latest dancing videos and other trends.

- always tries to get others to join in on her trend videos, mostly joined by Mark and Cristina when she can rope her in.

- Nearly broke tiktok when she got Julian to do the “You could have been nicer to me” trend because NO ONE KNEW THEY WERE DATING  AND EVEN THOUGH THEY COULDN’T SEE HIS FACE EVERYONE RECOGNIZED HIS VOICE AND HE WAS SO SWEET WHEN HE OFFERED TO TAKE HER TO HER FAVORITE THRIFT STORE AND BUY HER SOME DRESSES AFTER HE PUT THE “BABY” DOWN FOR HIS NAP. 

- - everyone knows the “baby” is actually at least seven but no one ever said his name because he’s too young so everyone collectively knows him as “the baby”

- solidly on gay tiktok even though she’s straight. 

Mark: Daily blogs. Everyone thinks he’s shit posting because it’s all wild things like standing in a middle of a circle of flowers and talking about “this pixie named Aelia lives here and she’s a BITCH”. Often shows videos of him cooking or baking wild concoctions that range from “Okay, I’d try that” to “this is why God has abandoned us”. 

- Does dancing videos with Emma all the time and often acts as the “creeper” in her self defense videos. 

- Caused a meltdown on tiktok when he casually mentioned his “partners” and started creating videos to raise awareness for polyamory. 

- Revealed Julian was his brother when he posted a video of Julian yelling at him for a solid minute because “the baby is covered in honey, why is the baby covered in honey, Mark? We don’t let the baby bathe in honey even if he really wants to Mark -” 

- solidly on cooking and gay tiktok, often takes a sharp left into “crackhead” tiktok

Kieran: Posts videos of cats he finds and rates them. The lowest ever was a 9.5/10 because “she bit me fairly hard but I scared her and I deserved it for trying to pet her without permission”. 

- does not do any trends or reveal much personal information. 

- Was always considered wholesome until he (on a dare from Dru) posted a video joking about choking a bossy sub that rounded up on kinktok. 

-- everyone went through a brief freak out trying to figure out if he had a partner but it was never solved. 

--- No one noticed that Mark posted a video joking about how “one of his partners was absolutely in the doghouse” accompanied by someone sitting in a cardboard ‘doghouse’ around the exact same time. 

- solidly on animal tiktok but occasionally veers into kinktok with more (less explicit) dom/sub humor. 

Cristina: Does not have her own tiktok but often appears in videos with Emma and occasionally shows up in Mark’s. 

- Absolute sweetheart always, even when she is demonstrating a self defense move with Emma, and is always commended for trying Mark’s foods. 

-- especially commended when trying the foods while, offscreen, their other partner yells about “Hell food” 

- is flattered with all the comments begging her to start her own tiktok but doesn’t feel like she has the time to fully commit to one properly. 

Livvy: (She’s alive, don’t @ me) Does absolutely all the new trends and also does various acting POVs 

- her soulmate POVs are most popular but she also is known for dueting act-along POVS with other popular creators

- also occasionally posts videos rating the best male actors/superheroes and once got into a long drawn out back to back war with someone on whether or not Captain America really had “America’s ass” 

- had a very popular multiple-part series about being a girl in the MCU dating the various Avengers but ended it abruptly after Endgame because “Natasha Romanoff deserved better and it hurts too much”

-she used to post occasional videos where she laments on being the “only single person in the family” but she started getting some very creepy duets and comments from actual adults so she told Julian and they both agreed it would be better for her to stop them

-- Julian did take the time to duet the people being inappropriate and explained very clearly that their actions were wrong and directed towards a LITERAL CHILD and shamed multiple accounts into flat out deleting

Ty: Posts literally whatever interests him. Has two animal series - one where he shares facts about his favorite kinds of animals and one where he showcases various animals he’s found in the tidepools or around the house. 

- has done several video series of rescuing animals and has at least one where Julian could be heard lecturing him on trying to raise wild animals in his bedroom again 

-- tiktok freaked out because this happened right around the same time as Julian calling out all the creeps on Livvy’s tiktok and no one knew that the twins he talked about were them  

- also does videos about his favorite literary works - notably Sherlock Holmes - and true crime/mystery videos 

-- he always makes sure to carefully put in warnings for anything remotely violent or triggering and has never had a single video taken down for violating the rules even when he did a multiple part series on the Black Dahlia and how her crime was ‘absolutely solved but because the man who did it was rich and white, he got away with it and probably also killed at least two other women, one of whom was killed in the Philippines” 

-  sometimes does twin videos with Livvy because she likes them and it makes her happy. 

Dru: Queen of witch/horror/true crime tiktok. 

- got in trouble with Julian for showing actual runes in videos but everyone just thought they were for the aesthetic so it was fine

- most popular videos is a series where she rates horror movies on how they do on the bechdel test 

- sometimes duets Ty’s or Livvy’s videos just to drag them (with love) 

- Has a very popular series on “women who snapped” and is known for almost rarely during part 2s (and therefore having to speak very very fast) 

- also complains constantly because her videos will get taken down even if they aren’t that violent and includes clips from far worse videos from male creators to point out the double standard

- occasionally dives into tiktok drama just to dabble and then sits on the sidelines and watches it happen

-- 100% built a balloon arch to flex on That Balloon Girl 

- solidly on witchtok and horrortok

Kit: King of petty/messy tiktok who also posts random videos about crime and occasional blogs

- switches from either sharing no information to borderline oversharing childhood trauma

- shares videos on borderline illegal ways to get back at exfriends/expartners/exfamily members/general enemies 

-- putting fish in people’s vents, subscribing them to magazines under various similar names, sending them glitter in the mail, opening their oreos and taking out the middle of all of them, putting baby locks on their cabinets and in the outlets they can’t see (like under the bed so they can’t get plug in their cellphone charger at night), etc. 

- is always eating some sort of snack, no matter what he is doing

- also posts videos about personal safety like what locks will actually keep people out and what ones are easy to break into

--caused several minor freakouts when he casually mentioned his father taught him how to do it

- occasionally posts videos with an adorable toddler and a young couple who he refers to as “mom and dad” even though they look at MOST five years older than him and he often makes parental abandonment jokes/comments

- no idea where he lives because he speaks in an American accent and talks constantly about American/California life but everything around him looks very British 

- absolutely dives head first into every tiktok drama and will go for the throat for anyone who makes ableist/sexist/racist/homophobic comments without hesitation

-- his drags are legendarily savage and he has caused numerous problematic accounts to just straight up disappear

- duets videos from Livvy, Dru, Mark, Emma and Julian ( with lots of savage drags) but no one knows how he knows them because he is absolutely somewhere in the UK and all of them are based in California/US

-- he also notably NEVER duets Ty

--- the mystery is finally solved when Kit does a livestream and reveals that he met all of them because he was briefly living with them before getting placed with his family, the young couple who actually are his mom and dad 

---- he is very vague about the living situation but everyone assumes he was a foster child 

- he once caused a mass freakout on Tiktok (that actually spilled over to twitter and buzzfeed) when he announced he was going back to the US to visit friends and then posted a video with the caption “when you see your boyfriend in person for the first time in MONTHS but he’s too distracted by some wet 🐱” 

-- the video panned out from Kit’s unamused face to Ty gently rubbing a tiny wet kitten  with a soft cotton towel 

[secretpeachtea]

Onigiri Miya Tidbits Ch 6

Title: the eagle, the seagull, the crow, and the Brazilians

Genre: gen fic, reader insert

Word Count: 5.3k (whoops)

Summary: Onigiri Miya is now hiring and you just happen to be the right person for the job. The business has been gaining popularity since its grand opening, and many customers travel from different cities just to have a bite of Miya Osamu’s delicious recipes. You did expect some craziness from working in food services, but what you didn’t expect was to be bombarded with frequent tomfoolery from a bunch of attractive volleyball players during your shifts.

disclaimer: manga spoilers

A/N: this one’s a bit of a slow burn (more so than the usual hehe), but I promise it gets better near the 2nd half! There’s not much drama in this chapter, but I think y/n deserves a bit of a break ya feel? Enjoy, my dudes

Previous///Next

Tonight is a special night because it’s ‘Create Your Own Onigiri’ night! Your boss decided to hold this small event to try something new and allow his customers to have some fun in the process. There are laminated onigiri instruction sheets on each of the tables as well as a small customized menu created for this event specifically. You helped him post a couple announcements on social media about the event a week prior to inform the public, and so far, things have been going smoothly.

Osamu is mainly in the kitchen prepping any ingredients for the customers and you’ve been standing at the register as usual. You are pleasantly surprised at how much everyone was enjoying making their own onigiris, and it seems like people of all ages were having fun.

“Welcome to Onigiri Miya!” You greet automatically with a bright smile as the front entrance slides open. A group of very physically fit men walk into the shop with large sports duffel bags slung across their shoulders. Despite the slightly intimidating aura the group gave off, one of the males walked inside with a young child hugging his arm. You scan over all of them briefly and your eyes widen as you make eye contact with Ushijima whom you just met a little over a week ago when the Shiratorizawa alumni visited.

You gave the tall volleyball player a small smile. “Hey, Ushijima-san! What brings you back so soon?”

“You assured me that I should bring my team, and we all wanted to participate in the event today,” Ushijima responded back. “My teammate, Romero-san, is not from Japan, so we wanted to find a restaurant with traditional food.”

“R-right…” You didn’t expect him to actually bring his team any time soon, but you’re still amused at how seriously he took your words from before. You can assume that the only foreigner in the group is the ‘Romero-san’ that Ushijima spoke of. There are probably hundreds of other restaurants the group could’ve gone to for a more cultural experience, so you’re a little giddy that he chose to come here. “Well, it’s good to see you again! I’d be more than happy to help your team have a good time here.”

To Ushijima’s left, another tall figure stood with a resting scowl. His gaze made its way to the kitchen where Osamu was and immediately lit up in recognition. Although, there might’ve been some confusion. “Miya-san, I didn’t know you worked here. Don’t you have practice right now?”

Your boss lets out a short laugh as he looks over his shoulder to look directly at the boy who spoke to him. “Wrong twin, Kageyama-san.”

“Ah.”

Kageyama looks down and glares at the floor mildly distressed at his mistake. There’s a part of you that wants to laugh at his reaction, so you do so internally. Suddenly, you feel someone staring at you, so your eyes shift over in that direction to a male with white hair and round eyes. His stature and overall mannerisms reminded you of a certain orange haired ball of sunshine, so you couldn’t help but stare back a bit longer than you intended. There was a sudden shift in his demeanor and his eyes narrowed at you.

“Why you staring? Is it ‘cause you’ve never seen a volleyball player my height? You’re impressed by the Hoshiumi Korai, right?” The boyish male lifted up his hands as if trying to intimidate you, but in your eyes, he seemed completely harmless.

With a sweet smile, you calmly reply back to his accusations. “Sorry about that. You just remind me of a good friend of mine. He also plays volleyball, and you’re both around the same height. I haven’t seen you play before, but I’m sure you’ve worked hard to get to where you are now regardless of your height, Hoshiumi-san.”

You know you’ve startled him with your kind and composed response when he freezes in place for a couple seconds before dropping his arms back to his sides abruptly and looking away to hide a small grin.

The last two people in the group, whom you assume are father and son, seem to be in their own worlds as they converse quietly. Now seems like a good time to let everyone get settled in, so you step away from the register and gesture for them to follow you. “ My name is (Surname) (Name). You guys can follow me! There’s a table over there that can fit all five of you. Then, I can explain how things are gonna work for today.”

Once the guys all settle in, you stand at the end of the table and point at one of the instruction sheets as well as the menu. “You can pick 2-3 ingredients for your onigiri! One of the ingredients will include meat or seafood and anything else can be a vegetable, seasoning, or both. All of the prices are written down on the menu and there are written instructions on how to make your own onigiri with pictures as guides. Feel free to call me over if you need clarifications. Any questions?”

Multiple heads shake at the same time. You pull out a tiny notepad and pen from your pocket and prepare to take orders. “Great! Then, what can I get for you guys?”

Romero lifts one of his arms to get everyone’s attention and begins to speak somewhat broken Japanese, “Order whatever! I will pay!”

After that declaration, you jot down all of the ingredients that the group orders including some refreshments. “Alrighty! We’ll set up all your ingredients soon on the counter. Once everything’s ready, there’ll be trays for you to take back to your table.”

You bow your head and stroll back behind the counter to relay the order to Osamu. As you’re helping set up some ingredients that don’t require any cooking, you notice that your boss frequently steals glances at the volleyball team with starstruck eyes and curiosity pokes at your mind. “What’s got you looking excited like a kid on Christmas?”

Osamu quickly turns around to face you while holding a spatula in one hand and tongs in the other. Leaning down to keep the conversation between the two of you, he unconsciously lifts both kitchen utensils up in the air with enthusiasm and flashes a childlike grin. “That’s Nicolas Romero! He’s a really famous world class volleyball player from Brazil. My brother and I used to watch him on TV all the time when we were younger, so it’s kind of crazy to see him in person!”

There’s a slight leap in your heart as you watch Osamu’s eyes brighten in joy but choose to ignore that strange feeling for the time being. “Now that you mention it, I think I saw a couple posters and billboards with his face on them when I was in Brazil.”

“I was really surprised when ‘Tsumu told me he was coming to Japan to play for the Schweiden Adlers. I never thought he’d come to my restaurant though!” Your boss is quite awestruck at the idea that such an important figure from his childhood was about to eat food that he cooks himself and it’s enough to elicit a giggle from you.

It’s not long before all the ingredients are set up on four large trays along with a couple beverages. You face the group of males and raise a hand next to your mouth. “Order’s ready for Romero-san!”

Romero stands up from his seat and pats his son on the head to stay put before gesturing at Kageyama to follow him. “Tobio, help me bring the food?”

“Of course, Romero-san!” The setter shoots up from his spot with a zealous expression and immediately follows behind his teammate like a baby duckling. When the two arrive in front of the counter, they give you a short thanks and take their trays back to their table. Osamu subtly glimpses at his childhood idol but quickly looks back down with a flustered expression when he notices you sending him a smirk of your own.

With everyone pretty much settled in, you decide to walk around to the other tables to see if anyone needs any assistance or if they have any questions. You return back to the register after a couple of minutes ready to sit down and take a quick break, but you notice a couple drinks sitting on the counter. The volleyball team must have forgotten to take them when they took their food. Since you didn’t have much to do at the moment, you decide to take the drinks to their table yourself.

With arms full of beverages, you walk up to the Adlers. “Hello, sorry to interrupt, but you left your drinks on the counter. I just thought I’d bring them for you.”

Romero takes the drinks from you and then distributes all of them to each person after sporting a grateful smile. “Ah, thank you!”

You’re about to walk away, but the sight before is almost too ridiculous for you to look elsewhere. All of the men are in the process of creating their onigiris, but each creation looks quite...interesting.

Ushijima’s onigiri is one very large globular rice ball, which distinctively resembles a volleyball, with a few sesame seeds sprinkled at the top. Hoshiumi’s onigiri almost looks like it’s about to explode with how much meat was piled inside the rice and probably would’ve fallen apart if he didn’t have it enclosed around both of his hands. Kageyama’s onigiri is of a decent size, but he must’ve put too much pressure when shaping the rice because it just looks like mush with obvious handprints. Romero is the only person at the table who was able to make a normal onigiri, but everyone seems to be enjoying their time so you don’t think Osamu needs to come over and help.

You finally look at the young child sitting next to his father and tilt your head in confusion when you notice that he’s not participating or eating anything his father made for him. With slight concern, you turn towards Romero. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but is your son not fond of the food? I could offer some other ingredient options?”

“Oh, that’s okay. Everything is perfect!” Romero replies with a knowing look. “Rubens is just a little grumpy since he misses his mother. She met new friends at an onsen and they invited her out to go shopping today. Thank you for asking, though.”

After living in Brazil for a couple months, you were able to pick up on some Portuguese. You’re not in any way fluent yet, so when the older man briefly speaks to his son, you can only make out Romero asking Rubens if he wanted a different onigiri and that he needed to eat to be healthy. The boy’s pout deepens and just simply states that he was bored. Romero sends you an apologetic smile, and you just wave your hand to let him know that you understood.

A sudden idea pops into your head. “Romero-san, is your son allergic to anything? I have an idea to help Rubens enjoy himself more. Would you mind if I try to make your son something?”

“Go for it! My son does not have any allergies, but he does love pork!” Romero nods his head in approval.

You quickly make your way back behind the counter and peek over Osamu’s shoulder as he stands in front of the stove. “Hey boss, do you mind if I try to make something for Romero’s son?”

“Sure. I don’t think anyone needs any help or anything at the moment, so you’re free to do whatever you’d like,” Osamu replies nonchalantly and you tap his arm gratefully.

Situating yourself in front of the counter surrounded by ingredients, you momentarily think about what you want to do. You make the final decision to create two designs for the onigiris that you think Rubens might like. After washing your hands, you gather up all the ingredients you need and even snatch some extra pork from Osamu’s pan. After a couple minutes of putting together the onigiris, you place them on a plate and examine your creations.

The first onigiri resembles a simplified stegosaurus with meat substituting the spines of the dinosaur and some sesame seeds throughout the body for texture. The second onigiri is just a regular rice ball with pork and vegetables, but a couple irregularly shaped pieces of nori are scattered across the surface to resemble a dinosaur egg. Both onigiris lie on top of a small pile of bonito flakes to act as a nest.

You take the plate of food to where Rubens is sitting, a bit nervous since you aren’t sure how he’s going to react. Everyone else at the table just watches curiously as you place the onigiris in front of the young child and his eyes widen. He’s practically mesmerized by his dinosaur themed meal and even some of the other guys are impressed.

Rubens quickly turns towards his father and whispers into his ear. Romero chuckles and pats his son’s head lovingly before facing you. “My son wants to know how you did that. He absolutely loves it.”

A sigh of relief leaves your lips at your successful attempt at making the child happy. The only problem was that you were still in the middle of work, so you didn’t know if you could spend any more time here. Coincidentally, Osamu seemed to have overheard everything for the last couple minutes from his spot in the kitchen. “Hey, (Name)-san. If you wanna take a quick break and spend some time with the kid, I don’t think there would be any problem with it.”

You’re really grateful for Osamu’s leniency, but a part of you still feels bad as you turn to look at him. “Are you sure? I don’t want to skip out on my job so suddenly.”

“Don’t worry about it. The boss said it’s all good.” Osamu gives you a reassuring smile and you take it as your cue to grab an extra chair off to the side and sit beside Rubens. You’re about to grab some rice to begin teaching the boy, but a slight tug on your sleeve makes you freeze in place. As you look to your side, you see Kageyama’s hand near your shoulder and there’s an intense look in his eyes.

“K-Kageyama-san, would you like to learn too?” You ask a bit surprised. Your bewilderment is replaced with amusement when he nods at you furiously and you almost laugh out loud at his excitement.

“Oh! Me too! Me too!” Hoshiumi intervenes enthusiastically and even Ushijima seems to be interested. These guys sure were something else.

In the end, everyone in the group was watching as you demonstrated how to make different designs with the onigiri rice. Rubens finally succumbed to his hunger and began to eat his dinosaur meal, so you were left to attend to the grown up men who listened to you eagerly like school children, aside from Romero who needed to step outside to answer a call from his wife.

“Alright! Now that you have some of the basics down, why don’t you each try to make your own? Just to keep it simple, we’ll all choose a single design. Any ideas as to what you guys want to make?” There’s a brief silence as everyone tries to think of something doable. Suddenly, Ushijima lifts up his phone and an image of what you recognize to be Japan’s adorable volleyball mascot* is shown. You sweatdrop as Hoshiumi and Kageyama clap in agreement at the volleyball player’s obvious, yet adorable selection.

Other than having to give a few pointers to Hoshiumi and Ushijima, it seems like they were doing a pretty decent job at making the character. The one who was truly struggling was Kageyama. He was still putting too much pressure when molding the rice. As he continues to squeeze the rice excessively, you gently place your hands on top of his slender fingers.

“You’re putting too much force in your hands, Kageyama-san. Here, loosen your grip a bit and I can show you.” With that said, Kageyama lets go of his vice grip and allows you to guide his hands over the rice. The two of you stay like that for a couple more seconds until you successfully make a circular rice ball. As the male opens his palms upward with your hands still wrapped around his, his eyes sparkle in amazement.

Kageyama bows his head gratefully and when he looks back up at you, you’re taken aback by the amount of admiration flooding his expression. Your body stiffens when he quickly puts down the onigiri and clasps your hands between his. “Thank you, (Surname)-san!”

“N-No problem.” You feel a bit of heat creep up your cheeks with the way Kageyama was holding your hands so delicately.

The moment doesn’t last long, however, when you suddenly feel someone’s fingers graze the side of your face and a sticky feeling is left on your skin. When you look to see who the culprit is, your eyes fall on the youngest person at the table with one of the most terrified expressions you’ve ever witnessed. Almost immediately, Rubens starts apologizing in broken Japanese similar to the way his father has been speaking, “S-sorry! Sorry! Sorry!”

While you were busy working with Kageyama, Rubens had finished eating and wanted to make his own onigiri since he was still a bit hungry. He wanted to grab more rice from the bowl next to you but misjudged his movements and accidently touched your cheek with his sauce covered fingers. The child felt absolutely horrified and was afraid that you’d hate him for this.

Using a napkin, you wipe off as much as you can from your cheek and then proceed to lower yourself onto the ground to get to the child’s eye level. Mustering up your brightest smile, you try your best to reassure Rubens who looks like he’s about to cry. “Hey, hey! It’s okay, Rubens! I’m not mad.”

You spend the next couple minutes cooing at the sniffling young boy, and once you’re sure that Rubens is no longer going to cry, you sit back down on your chair. You lift up a ball of rice to gesture that you want to help him make an onigiri and he nods his head. You make a traditional triangular onigiri but place two rolled up bonito flakes for eyes and a piece of curved rice on top of the nori to make it look like a bearded face. There’s an almost immediate shift in the child’s mood when you point at the design and then to the empty chair next to him because you had made an onigiri that resembled his father.

Both of your laughs fill the air and the whole situation resembles a heartwarming scene from an anime. You were too distracted to notice the multiple pairs of eyes watching the scene in captivation. Once Rubens starts to eat again, you look up to see some lingering stares. “Is everything alright?”

Two stoic faces avoid your eyes by looking down, while Hoshiumi snaps out of his trance. The white haired male sits up a little straighter before addressing you. “Hey, you’re pretty good with kids, (Surname)-san!”

“I’ve had a couple babysitting jobs in the past. I’m not perfect with kids, but I did pick up a few things here and there,” you respond back shyly.

At this moment, Romero walks back into the shop while pocketing his phone. “Sorry to cut our time short, but I think my wife is coming back home soon. I should start heading out with Rubens. You guys can stay longer if you’d like.”

“That’s okay, Romero-san. I think we’re all ready to leave as well.” Kageyama lifted up his tray which spurred the rest of the other guys to do the same. As everyone helps out in cleaning up their area, you head back to the register to receive the payments for the meal from Romero.

The guys were now all ready to leave, but your boss quickly grabs their attention after taking a glance at a certain framed object on the shop’s wall. “Do you guys mind signing some autographs to put up in the shop?”

“Of course!” Romero exclaims. The rest of the team complies as well and they each sign a piece of paper that will most likely be displayed by tomorrow. Once that’s done, the team stands in front of the exit with their belongings. Rubens tugs at his father’s arms to get his attention and Romero bends down to listen to what the boy wants to say.

“What’s up?....Name?....Onigiri Miya…”

You can’t make out anything other than a few words, so you’re thrown completely off guard when Rubens suddenly jumps up from his spot and waves his arms wildly at you. “Bye-bye, Mrs. Miya!”

You don’t even hear any of the other males voice their goodbyes and leave the shop as blood rushes through your ears and your face flushes into deep crimson color. It seems like Osamu wasn’t spared either as his cheeks explode with heat at the implication. Both of you stand in awkward silence for a few seconds to calm your hearts until Osamu musters up the courage to glance at you first.

His expression shifts a little as he stares at your face. Osamu then points at your cheek. “Oh, (Name)-san. You still got a little something on your face.”

Momentarily forgetting about feeling flustered, you realize that you might not have gotten rid of all the sauce from when Ruben accidentally touched your cheek. “What? I thought I got it all off. Why didn’t anyone say anything?”

You attempt to wipe off the sauce remnants, but fail to do so each time because you don’t know where it is exactly. Osamu grabs a clean towel from the top shelf and slightly dampens it under the sink before standing in front of you again. “I got you.”

Osamu lifts up the towel and starts to wipe at your cheek softly. When your head starts moving too much, he brings up his other hand and places it gently on your neck to support it. There must have been a lot more sauce left than you expected because Osamu continues to hold you in place for a couple more seconds, his eyes never leaving your face. Unconsciously, your own eyes drift around his features and you can’t help but admit how handsome he looked at the moment.

“Oh, young love~”

Both you and Osamu flinch back when you hear one of the customers that are still in the room say their thoughts. When you glance at the table where the voice came from, you see an elderly couple smiling at you while holding hands with one another in a loving manner. The previous blush you had comes back in full force as you remember that the two of you were not alone and in a somewhat intimate position together.

“T-t-thanks, Osamu-san!” You stutter and almost trip over your own feet as you start walking towards the bathroom with hurried steps. “I’m j-just gonna...um...go to the bathroom really quick!”

As you rush away from Osamu, he just watches your back disappear behind the bathroom door. He stands in place quietly as he processes what had just happened and there’s a foreign feeling in his stomach that he can’t explain. He simply turns his back to the bathroom and rubs a hand to his cheek to hide the smile that threatens to creep onto his lips.

Leftovers

You’re currently laying on your couch comfortably surrounded by pillows and blankets while watching a movie on your laptop. Today was your day off from work, so you planned to stay in for the whole day and catch up on some alone time. As much as you want to focus on your movie, your mind starts to wander off.

About two days have passed since you met the Schweiden Adlers volleyball team at Onigiri Miya, but they were still on your mind. Based on the tidbits of information you’ve gathered from Osamu, Adlers and MSBY were rival teams. It almost makes you want to laugh at how different the two teams were in terms of their dynamics and personalities, so you hope to see them play against each other one day.

Suddenly, the ringing of your doorbell interrupts your thoughts and you pause your movie. You stand up and walk towards your door in confusion. You weren’t expecting anyone to visit, so you’re a bit weary as you look through the peephole.

As if the universe knew what you were thinking about before, you’re surprised to see Sakusa standing outside your door with his usual face mask. Swiftly unlocking the door, you pull it open and greet your curly haired acquaintance.

“Hey, Sakusa-san! What’s-” You stop speaking abruptly when you notice two large bags in the volleyball players arms and they look fairly heavy too. “Oh, wow. Are those...for me?”

Sakusa just nods his head and you quickly open your door wider to let him inside to place the bags down. You’re extremely curious as to what the contents were since both bags were covered by tissue paper, even more so because Sakusa was the one to bring them to you. He places both bags onto your coffee table and you’re about to ask what they were for, but he beats you to it.

“Congrats,” Sakusa states with his usual impassive expression but there’s a hint of softness to his tone.

At this time, you’re completely perplexed. “Congrats for what?”

“For graduating.” Sakusa’s reply causes your eyebrows to shoot up. “This is from the team.”

“Oh...” You’re left speechless for a moment as you try to understand the situation and once everything finally clicks, a warm feeling encompasses your heart. “Um...thank you.”

You gaze at the gifts bags for a bit longer with various emotions swirling through your eyes before talking again. “...did the team send you because we live in the same apartment building?”

“Yeah.” Sakusa let out a sigh which made you laugh a bit, but it didn’t sound like he was necessarily bothered by the task.

The male briefly checks his phone and gestures that he needs to leave soon. As Sakusa starts to make his way back to the front door, you follow with light steps to see him out. “Let everyone know that I really appreciate this when you see them again for practice!”

He nods in acknowledgement and the two of you exchange goodbyes before you finally lock the door as he walks away. Without a moment to lose, you rush over to the large bags sitting on your coffee table with anticipation. Just from the first glance, you can tell that there are multiple things piled up, so you’ll just have to take things out one by one.

After removing the tissue paper from the bag on the left first, you pull out something large and fluffy. In your hands is a huge teddy bear that’s wearing an MSBY jersey while holding a small note card that says “Congratulations on Graduation!”. You immediately know who it’s from because the bear’s multicolored fur resembles the colors of Bokuto’s hair. You give the bear a tight hug before placing it next to you on the couch.

The next thing you take out is a miniature set of hand lotions with a small bottle of pepper spray taped onto it. There’s a small note on the bottle that says “It’s dangerous walking home alone at night”. There’s no indication of who the gift giver is, but you know that Sakusa would be the only one to pick out these specific gifts. As you move the package to the side, another small piece of paper falls to the ground. It must have been stuck to the bottom of the hand lotion set. When you pick it up, there’s another note that says “Thanks for the soup”. Your smile widens. It seems like you had guessed correctly.

The last gift from the first bag is a beautiful mug with a sunrise design printed onto it. There’s a Brazilian flag sticking out of the mug, which makes it even more obvious that the gift was from your dear friend Hinata. When you push aside the flag, there’s a limited edition Bouncing Ball keychain inside the mug as well with a cute handwritten card that says “Congratulations, (Name)-san! We should hang out one day to play some beach volleyball like we did in Brazil!”. Your cheeks were starting to ache at how much you were smiling as you reread the note several more times.

You reach out to the remaining bag and pull away the tissue paper. Your nose is immediately assaulted by a pleasing floral fragrance and when you look inside, a large bouquet of flowers comes into your vision. Once the flowers are in your arms, you notice the note sticking out between the petals. Placing the flowers on your lap, you open the small folded piece of paper which says “Hey there, sweetheart. You should’ve let me know you were having such a big moment in your life! I would’ve done so much more, but for now, enjoy these flowers. The irises mean accomplishment and admiration. The peonies mean good luck. The daffodils mean new beginnings. Congrats on your win against school!” You’re quite touched by the amount of thought that went into this gift and based on the nickname, you can safely assume that this is Atsumu’s gift. You didn’t take him as a flower type of guy, but he’s always full of surprises. Nonetheless, you mentally note that you need to buy a nice vase to place these wonderful beauties in.

You thought that would be the last gift since you’ve already opened everything from the four MSBY players, but when you glance into the bag one more time, there are still two remaining boxes. They have the same wrapping, so you assume that they are from the same person. Taking both of them out carefully, you notice that the larger of the two boxes has a note that reads “I know you said you don’t normally eat sweets, so I tried my best not to add too much sugar”. Wondering what the card meant about sweets, you slowly open the lid and see two small cakes positioned next to each other with icing that spells out ‘Tiramisu’ and ‘Dark Chocolate’ on the respective cakes. Your mouth waters at the sight of the homemade desserts, but you restrain yourself because you were even more curious as to what might be in the other mystery box.

When you finally open the last remaining gift, there’s another note inside that says “It’s never too late to celebrate. Congrats, (Name)-san”. When you look underneath the note, your jaw drops as you let out a gasp. Inside was a gorgeous silver charm bracelet that was minimalistic enough for you to wear wherever you went. If the note wasn’t a big giveaway, the tiny onigiri charm attached to the bracelet convinced you that Osamu was the one who had given you these gifts.

The next couple of hours are spent finishing your movie with all of your gifts surrounding you. The inside of your room now smells like a mix of flowers and peachy lotion. The MSBY teddy bear is secured between your arms as you drink warm tea from your new mug while taking a bite out of each cake.

You’re not sure whether or not you want to jump up in happiness or simply cry from the overwhelming emotions, but either way, you’re glad to have met such amazing people the past couple months.

You couldn’t wait to get back to work.

Japan’s volleyball mascot: y’all know that volleyball mascot right? The one Ushijima loves to draw and the one that Hinata has shirt of

A/N: oof you made it! Can we all just give a moment of silence for Rubens for being the best boi? also another moment for the nice old lady at the end ;)

taglist: @kiyoo-omi​​

[twistedlymad]

So I been thinking of this lately. How about like Reader have a Dream that she Alice and It’s like Alice In Wonderland with the Heartslabyul Dorm .I have no one to share this XD

I’ve seen a few other stories that had the same concept, where you are the hero and the boys are the villain of their respective dormitories. But, it’s okay, I wanted to try writing this as well! 

Truth be told, when I watched Alice in Wonderland as a kid, I didn’t really understand the whole movie, now, after 10 years I finally picked it up again just for this story XD

But, anyways, this was lovely to write! Thank you so much for giving me an idea for this dear anon! I hope you enjoy this little story and I hope you have a lovely day!

Little note: I didn’t fully follow the movie, I added my own version and twists of how things would play out instead! I hope you don’t mind dear anon! Also, should I also write for the other dorms?

(Y/N) in Wonderland! (Ft. Riddle, Trey, Cater, Ace, Deuce, Che’nya and Grim)

Confusion, the only thing in your mind as you wandered the forest named Tulgey Wood. Little critters of all kind surrounded you as you continued your journey, hoping to find a way back home.

You then followed an arrow that pointed at a path that you thought would lead you back to your Ramshackle Dorm. You were so excited when you saw the arrow, you thought the path that the arrow pointed was the way back home! You couldn’t wait to see Grim and your friends again! Oh, how you missed them so dearly!

“I’m going to see Grim and everyone again!” You exclaimed as you ran along the path. You were literally bouncing and skipping with joy as you continued the path.

“Oh, I just can’t wait until I-“ You stopped yourself mid-sentence and let out a loud gasp. In front of you, was a critter with the body of a dog, but its head and tail were brooms! It was sweeping away a path from the other end. It was sweeping away the exact path that you were following.

You stared at the creature intensely as it got closer and closer to you. It stopped sweeping as it arrived in front of your feet, it didn’t want to bother you so the creature took a step sideways, walked a few steps forward so it was behind you and continued its job, sweeping up the path behind you. At last, you were left in a square of the path.

Honestly, you were tired, you had been through so much already, you were forced to shrink down so you could enter a talking-door through its keyhole, you met with a pair of round twins that would not stop telling you all sorts of stories, you were treated as a monster as you accidentally ate a cookie that enlarged you in a small little house, you were ridiculed by flowers when you couldn’t answer what type of flower you were, you met with a caterpillar who spoke in riddles and got mad at you when you asked him multiple questions, you even had tea with a very peculiar man and his hare as they celebrated an ‘un-birthday’.

And now, you were lost in a deep forest, with no directions whatsoever.

You sat down on a rock and let out a sigh.

“What’s the point?” You asked yourself. “I’m never going to go back to Grim and the others.” You continued, negative thoughts filling up your mind. You felt tears coming to your eyes as you thought that you were never going to see that furball you dearly loved ever again, you lowered your head into your hands as you let your tears fall out. The critters that inhabited the forest watched you as you wept, feeling the same feeling of sadness as they saw you cry. They silently wept alongside you, before slowly disappearing, one by one, leaving you all alone once again.

But, then you heard singing. You looked up from your hands to see…

“Che’nya?” You questioned.

“Che’nya? Is that really you?” You asked once again to the figure on top of a tree.

“Che’nya! It’s me! (Y/N)! From Night Raven College!” You said to him, thinking that you finally found someone you knew and you were going to get help. But, something felt off to you.

“Well, whom did you expect~nya?” Who you assumed to be Che’nya replied. You were slightly taken aback, this Che’nya… Didn’t really feel like the same Che’nya that you met at Heartslabyul. And this Che’nya didn’t know who you were? You two clearly had met before.

“Um, no one? I just… Want to go back to the others at Night Raven College.” You said, looking donwards. “But, I can’t find the way back.”

“Well, actually, that’s because you have no way.” Che’nya replied, lousing around on the tree before slowly descending from it to meet with you.

“All ways here are the queen’s way~nya.” Che’nya continued before walking behind you.

“But, I’ve never met any queen until now.” You said, turning to Che’nya. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and immediately turned back to face you with a shocked expression on his face.

“You haven’t?” He asked you, his face slowly lighting up with excitement, a smile slowly making its way onto his face. “Mew have-en’t?!” He repeated once more, his hands cupping his face.

“Ohhh! But you must!” Che’nya said to you with sparkles in his eyes. “He’ll be mad about mew! Twistedly mad!” Che’nya added. (I uh… Don’t mind me :) )

“’He’? But… Shouldn’t the queen be a ‘she’?” You asked the Royal Sword Academy student.

“Well, here, the queen is a ‘he’!” Che’nya laughed a little before starting to sing and disappear once more.

“W-Wait!” You called for him, asking him to stop. “H-How do I find the queen?” You asked.

“Meowl, some might go that way.” Che’nya pointed to his left.

“Some might go this way!” He continued, pointing to his right.

“But, for yours truly, I’d like to take the shortcut~nya.” The Royal Sword Academy student said and pulled on a nearby tree branch, making the trunk of the tree lower down like a drawbridge. Your eyes widen in wonder as in front of you looked like a whole other world compared to the forest you were in.

“Thank you Che’n-“ You said but stop mid-sentence as you looked up to see the figure had disappeared.

“Hmm, I wonder why is the queen a ‘he’?” You said to yourself in a low voice. “Oh, well, I guess I’ll find out.” You said once again as you journeyed into the garden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, if you were honest with yourself, you would’ve enjoyed the lovely greens and fresh flowers of this little garden.

IF IT WASN’T A FREAKING MAZE.

As you continued venturing into the garden, you began to realize how much this garden had reminded you of the rose garden of Heartslabyul. Every twist and turn seemed like they led you to a dead end, yet, at every dead end, there’s a pathway that leads you to more twists and turns.

It’s a never-ending cycle. And you were getting slightly frustrated and dizzy.

“Oh… This is worse than Heartslabyul…” You grumbled under your breath as you took a right that led you to a small little pathway again. As you continued down the pathway, you had heard singing coming out from behind a wall made out of bushes. Splats of red paint landed in front of you from over the wall as well.

You peered over the wall, trying to see who was singing and what was going on, but the wall was too high for you. So, you walked alongside the wall, hoping to find an opening to the other side. It didn’t take much walking to find one.

As you peeked into the opening, you were given quite the surprise to see three boys holding paint brushes and painting! But, something else had caught your eye, you see, they were wearing a very familiar set of clothing, yet you couldn’t quite put your finger on it.

You slowly inched closer to them, trying to see what they were doing. When you did, you were surprised! They were painting white roses red? It was the exact same thing Cater was doing when you first met him.

Then it hit you. The clothes the boys were wearing were the dorm uniform of Heartslabyul! You were back home!

Or so you thought.

You let a smile appear on your face, thinking that the maze you went through was actually the Rose Garden of Heartslabyul and that you were at the dormitory right now, which means you could find Ace and Deuce and ask them what was going on.

“Excuse me.” You said, catching the attention of the boys. “May I know where Ace and Deuce are?” You asked, hoping that they would lead you back to your friends. They thought about it for a moment and gave you a reply.

But, it wasn’t the reply you were hoping for.

“Which Ace? Which Deuce?” One of them questioned you back. You were shocked, you were pretty sure there was only one person named Ace and one person named Deuce at Night Raven College.

“Um, Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade?” You answered but it sounded like a question instead.

“Which Ace Trappola and which Deuce Spade?” Another boy replied, confusing you further. Were these guys playing tricks on you? What did they mean by ‘which’? Or do they genuinely didn’t know of Ace and Deuce. You decided to go with the latter and tried again with other names of Heartslabyul members.

“Okay, how about Trey Clover? Cater Diamond?” You asked once again and they shook their heads, going back to painting the roses. You lowered your head, trying to think.

“Riddle Rosehearts?” You asked and slowly looked up, only to see the three boys looking at you in horror.

“That’s the queen’s name! You musn’t simply use it!” One of them whispered-yelled to you.

“The queen?” You asked, another boy started to explain to you.

“The que-“ But, he was cut off with the sounds of blaring trumpets.

“The queen is here! Quick, to your places!” One of the boys yelled and the three immediately scattered around like chickens trying to hide from a predator. You looked around as well, trying to ‘get in place’, you didn’t want to get in trouble with Riddle after all. Luckily, there was a vacant spot between two boys, so, you quickly situated yourself there.

“His imperial highness! His grace! His excellency! His royal majesty! The Queen of Hearts!” Someone yelled as the trumpets ceased. ‘The Queen of Hearts?’ You thought to yourself and leaned out of your line a little, trying to get a glimpse of the queen, and to your surprise, it was actually Riddle! Trey, Cater, Ace and Deuce were walking along his side as well.

“Riddle-senpai? Trey-senpai and Cater-senpai too! There’s Ace and Deuce as well!” You whispered to yourself. “I have to ask them what’s going on, is this some sort of new Heartslabyul tradition? Why didn’t I hear anything about it from them?” You questioned yourself and started to walk towards Riddle.

“Ano, Riddle-senpai, what’s going on?” You asked out loud. Loud gasps can be heard from around you. Your three upperclassmen and two best friends turned to look at you.

“You dare to call the queen by his name?” Ace questioned you.

“But, that’s how I usually call him. Ace! Deuce! You guys call him that too!” You replied to Ace.

“Just who do you think you are?” Riddle asked you, menacingly. But before you could answer, Trey had beat you to it.

“Well, your majesty, she isn’t a Heart, nor a Club. She certainly isn’t a Spade nor a Diamond either.” Your upperclassman said.

“Are you from another kingdom?” Deuce asked you.

“Did you come here to spy on us?” Cater added on and everyone started to whisper to each other. You were confused and lowered your head to look at the ground because you felt everyone’s menacing glares and stares on you.

“What? I don’t underst-“ You were cut off by Riddle’s booming voice.

“Look up while you talk, stand straight, arch out your back, broaden your shoulders, turn out your toes!” You were taken aback, Riddle never really used his voice at you before, but in your surprised state, you immediately did as you were told.

“Very good, now, I’ll be asking the questions.” Riddle said. “And you will reply with ‘Yes, your majesty’ or ‘No, your majesty’. Do you understand?” The queen questioned.

“Yes, Ridd- I mean, your majesty.” You corrected yourself quickly, not wanting to face the wrath of an angry Riddle.

“Good, now, where did you come from, and, where are you headed?” The queen asked you.

“Um, I don’t know where I came from? And I’m trying to find my way-“

“Your way? All ways here are MY WAYS.” Riddle boomed at you.

“Um, okay, but your majesty, could you at least inform Headmaster Crowley that I am here?” You asked.

“I’ve never heard of such a person.” Riddle replied, leaving you dumbfounded. That didn’t make any sort of sense to you. Never heard of Crowley? It’s almost as if you were in another world. You began to ponder your brain once more, trying to think of solutions and reasons as to why your friends were acting this way. You were so deep in thought, you didn’t notice a familiar person appearing beside you.

“So, (Y/N), do mew like it here?” You heard a voice ask.

“No, how could I? It’s almost as if everyone has gone crazy here! I thought Riddle had given up his hot headed tyrant-like days. And now, everyone is just pampering him!” You muttered lowly as a reply to the voice, thinking that no one could hear your words.

“What was that?” Riddle immediately turned to question you and before you could reply, the voice had beaten you to it.

“She said you had gone crazily mad, and that you’re a hot headed tyrant and everybody needs to pamper mew!” You immediately looked at the source of the voice, and only did you knew that it was Che’nya, you looked at him in disbelief, was he trying to get you beheaded? But, oh, after hearing what Aruchēmi Aruchēmievichi Pinkā had said, the queen was surely angered, his face getting redder by each second. You immediately snapped back to look at the reddening queen.

What are you doing standing there and looking Reader-san?! RUN ALREADY!

“Your majesty, wai-“ Trey couldn’t even finish his sentence before he got cut off by Riddle.

“OFF. WITH. HER. HEAD!” A red-faced Riddle yelled out, pointing at you. Your eyes widen in horror as you saw everyone rushing over to you. Your legs finally got the danger signal sent from your brain after a second and you ran again, back into the garden maze, trying to get away from the rampaging queen and his subordinates.

“Wait, guys! This is all a mistake!” You frantically yelled, hoping that your words could reach your friends’ ears. Yet, you were ignored.

As you ran through the maze, Ace and Deuce could be blocking your path from time to time, forcing you to take another turn.

Cater with his clones can be found almost everywhere! Yet you still avoided them thanks to your quick and nimble self.

Trey and Riddle were always on your tail, so you couldn’t afford to slow down either.

So you continued to run, navigating your way in the garden maze, trying to shake off your supposed friends. It wasn’t long before you had turned into a long pathway, with a door at the end? No, wait, that door was the exact same door that you had talked to at the very beginning. That must be the exit! So, you immediately picked up your pace and ran to the door at full speed.

“Please! I have to get out before I get beheaded!” You panicked as you reached the door.

“What do you mean? You are outside!” The door replied to you, you stared at it in disbelief.

“What?” You questioned.

“See for yourself.” And the door let you peek through his keyhole. On the other side of the door, was you sleeping in your bed at Ramshackle Dorm!

“I’m asleep?” You questioned yourself as you peered through the keyhole.

“DON’T LET HER ESCAPE! OFF WITH HER HEAD!” Yelled Riddle as he, Trey, Cater, Ace, Deuce and alongside other Heartslabyul members ran towards you at full speed.

“(Y/N)! Wake up! (Y/N)! (Y/N)!” You frantically yelled to yourself as your vision slowly blurred itself, to the point where you could only see darkness. You were getting dizzy, however, shouts of your name can still be heard.

“(Y/N), (Y/N)!”

You opened your eyes to see Riddle, Trey, Cater, Ace, Deuce and Grim around your bed. Ace and Deuce each had a hand on one of your shoulders and they were shaking you ever so lightly.

“(Y/N), you’re awake!” Ace yelled out. You were still confused, your head was still spinning quick and you were in a daze.

It wasn’t until your eyes landed on Riddle again, making you remember all the events that happened in your dream. Your eyes immediately widen as you remembered.

“PLEASE DON’T CUT OFF MY HEAD!!!!” You yelled as you shot up from your bed, your hands immediately flailing to cover your head.

“I… Uh… Wasn’t going to?” Riddle questioned you, with a confused look on his face.

“(Y/N)-chan, why would Riddle cut off your head if you didn’t do anything wrong?” Cater asked you, laughing slightly.

“I…” You started, confused as you yourself didn’t really know what had happened. You remember all the events ever so clearly, yet, it was all only a dream? But, it felt so surreal.

“(Y/N), are you okay?” Deuce asked you, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Hmm? Oh, yes, I’m… Alright…” You replied your friend with a smile. “What are you all doing here though?” You questioned your Heartslabyul friends.

“We need to make tarts for the un-birthday party that’s happening in two weeks, remember? We figured we’d drop by to fetch you.” Ace said.

“The ghosts informed us that you weren’t awake yet, and we didn’t really want to wake you up, but then Dorm Leader Rosehearts, Clover-senpai and Diamond-senpai arrived as well.” Deuce continued.

“We were waiting in the common room, but then we saw Grim-chan running towards us.” Cater said.

“It wasn’t like you to wake up after Grim, so we asked him what’s going on.” Said Trey.

“Only then we found out that you were in a deep sleep and we tried to wake you up.” Riddle said, ending the story.

“Oh… Right… Well, give me a few moments and I’ll join you in the common room.” You said and everyone nodded as they left your room.

“Hmm…What a peculiar dream indeed…” You muttered to yourself as you prepared yourself for the day.

~Bonus!~

A little ‘ding’ sound can be heard in the common kitchen of Heartslabyul, signaling that the goods inside the oven were ready to be served. Trey pulled out all the goods that you and your friends had prepared.

Everything just looked so tasty and mouthwatering! You couldn’t help but drool slightly at the baked goods that laid in front of you.

“Well? Have a taste everyone!” Trey said as you, Ace, Deuce and Grim did a cheer and grabbed small pieces of desserts for yourselves. One bite of the dessert was enough to send you to cloud nine. You savored the flavor in your mouth before taking another bite.

“These taste great Trey-senpai!” You said to the vice dorm leader of Heartslabyul. In return, the latter smiled at you.

“Glad you like them (Y/N).” He said.

“Hehehe, (Y/N)’s right mew know? Trey’s sweets are always purr-fect!” A figure appeared beside you, chomping down on a dessert. You, Ace, Deuce, Grim and Cater let out a small yelp as you all were greeted with a floating head at first.

“C-Che’nya!” Riddle exclaimed, surprised that his childhood friend was there. Che’nya then slowly let his whole body fully appear.

“How did you manage to sneak your way in this time?” Trey asked his friend.

“I have my ways~nya!” Che’nya replied as he grabbed another tart to eat.

“Always unpredictable.” Trey said, shaking his head and going to chat with his dorm members.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked to the source of the crash, you.

Shards of broken china surrounded your feet, as you stood there, frozen like a statue.

“(Y/N)! Are you okay?” Ace frantically asked you.

“A-Ah… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“It’s okay, it’s just a plate, we’ll clean it up in no time.” Deuce said, cutting you off and giving you a small pat on your back.

“(Y/N), I think you should rest for now, you look pale and you don’t seem like yourself.” Riddle said, worried for you, you gave him a small smile as a response.

“Alright, I think I should go back to my dorm, once again, I’m sorry everyone.” You said, bowing your head and left the kitchen as quick as you can.

All of that wouldn’t have happened in the first place, you know?

And it was all because Che’nya had whispered a sentence to you.

“See (Y/N)? I told you the queen would be mad about you.”

[logsfm]

hey my loves   !   i’m mia  ,  21 from the east coast   !   i have not roleplayed in sheeeesh   ...   like five or six months   ?   but i am so excited to be here for opening with all of y’all   .   i spent like all morning trying to weed out this gal logan right here   ...   she’s a trip   ,   that’s the best overall description i have for ya   .   anywho   ,  lets get to the actual thing you’re here for her lil intro   .   also if you wanna mssg on discord here ya go   𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐬 𝖜𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖊#7040   .

logan samara-de jaager was spotted in the fashion district adorning  air force 1’s university blue  , with some airpod pros on . they’re most likely listening to  benz i know by kelvyn colt  . you may know them as  @delogan  or as that  bella hadid  lookalike . their  twenty fourth  birthday just passed . while living in  the upper east side  , they’ve gained a bit of a reputation . they’re known to be  querulous  but on the other hand  passionate  . wonder if they’ll be the next person to hit the headlines . ( cisfemale / she/her +  mia / twenty one / she/her ) + ( “ logan de jaager seen shoving ex in hotel footage during heated argument , not so sweet huh? ” / “ miss de jaager was spotted sneaking into ex beau’s apartment , what could she be up to? ” / “ sweet socialite or greedy trust fund baby ? milan de jaager publicly accuses daughter logan of stealing $1M … ” )

born into the true lap of luxury . the daughter of real estate magnate & high - profile attorney milan de jaager and his wife , british born socialite lana samara . the two of them held high favor within the 1% but were also able to find a perfect balance . they did a great job of separating personal life from the tabloids . it was rare to really know the happenings of their day to day . they had this particular kind of mystery to them , if you will .

it wasn’t long before lana began to instill the very same rhetoric she received as a child into her own   .   quality over quantity   ,   was the motto   .   just not in the way you’d assume   .   the quality at which a de jaager presented themselves to you was much more important than than quantity of time you spent with them   .   looks   ?   they’re everything   ,   in the de jaager household   .   time was simply a societal construct implemented to catch you on a bad day   ,   for that very line of thinking they embodied being late   .   rushing out of the house to finish your make up in the car   ?   a literal sin in the eyes of her mother   .

she was encouraged to take part in ballet and beauty pageants growing up   .   anything that could showcase how beautiful their daughter was lana and milan were on board for   .   personally logan hated ballet but she couldn’t deny she loved the applause the night of a showcase   .   she also couldn’t stand pageants but loved having all eyes on her as she went on stage   .

it became quite clear as the years went on that her parents were much more like close friends to their daughter than like rule - instilling guardians   .   she would text them to dismiss her from school   ,   get them to buy her   &   her friends alcohol for sleepovers  /  parties   ,   was very much so that kid who got high with her parents   .   really anything you could do with your friends   ?   was fair game with logan   &   her folks   .

at sixteen a friend of her moms who was going to be a designer for spring fashion week that year asked if logan would want to walk for him   .   she was quick to accept the offer and before she knew it she had multiple offers to walk in that years fall fashion weeks   ,   because of how easy it came to her   -    though   ,    she’s the first to admit she never really took modeling all that seriously   .

it was just a year later that her way of life changed drastically , logan and her twin brother had been caught by paparazzi on a friends boat in the hamptons snorting a white substance , anyone with eyes knew exactly what the group of teenagers were doing . upon returning home the two received the crackdown of the century . their once friendly parents turned to strict jail like guardians . often reminded that they put the families reputation at stake . the pressure to be perfect was something logan had never had to deal with until now & she almost cracked under the pressure at every turn .

it wasn’t until she left for college that she was finally given some room to breathe , attending the university of florida was the best choice for what logan truly wanted to do with her life - become a sports analyst . growing up she was infatuated with sports & and would have been involved in much more than just cheerleading had her mom allowed for her to get so much as a speck of dirt on her . during her time in florida the paparazzi seemed to find her more often than not , something her parents often denounced both over the phone & in public . the longer she spent away from the upper east side the more she became america’s sweetheart & simultaneously a thorn in her parents side . she graduated from university in 2018 , only returning back to new york for the sake of work . she’d been offered a reporting job with espn , on top of taking up modeling gigs here & there when ever she felt necessary .

personality …

one thing is very true about the de jaager’s & is very much so the same for logan ; she is not to be trusted . she can be extremely charming when she wants to be . she could sell a bag of rocks to a beach & get a princess to sell her sole to sex work . she knows exactly what people want to hear & when they want to hear it and has no qualms about lying straight to someone’s face if it means she gets something out of it . in fact sometimes , she might lie to your face just for the sheer fun of being able to call you gullible .

she’s very much so a spoiled brat although she hates when anyone call her one , she feels like she has more layers to her than that broad term . hand in hand with that is her drama queen like tendencies , any situation were there is a simple solution she will find a way to blow vastly out of portion .

due to her mother’s heavy influence growing up , she can be rather vein & materialistic . catch her like “ i can’t date a garbage person ” to someone simply because they’re not as rich or known enough for her liking .

it’s rare that you’ll ever see her jump out of character . she’s very calculated & aware of who she is ( or who she needs to seem like ) so if you ever see her emotions getting the better of her , you’ve really broken her .

she’s the type to dabble in a little bit of anything   ?   she’s a rich nyc party girl who’s been partying well before anyone should have allowed her to so she’s done it all   .    you’d be kidding yourself to think you could surprise  /  scare logan on a wild night out   .

she’s quick   &   creative with her sense of humor   .   she has both a crude / dry sense of humor   ,   as well   ,   and really just doesn’t find goofy things to be funny but more or less embarrassing   ( so if she ever tells you you’re goofy , remember it’s not a compliment ) .

her upbringing   &   parents sentiment on tabloids once reflected massively on logan   ,   but now she couldn’t quite care less about it all . after all she spends hours in front of cameras on a regular basis for work . although she does tend to shy away from people who she deems are hungry for fame or attention   .   she’s been used in the past for fame   &   will never let it happen again   , plus she’s the type to lap up attention so she likes to have as little fame whores around her as possible , more shine for her .

when she isn’t being a total nightmare though she’s actually really fun to be around ? she’s playful & loves to keep the party alive . often can be found claiming “ i’m high on life ” although everyone saw the pictures , logan , we know what you’re really high on , girl .

very chatty girl , too . victim of foot - in - mouth syndrome , big time . she doesn’t try to be disloyal & spill people’s secrets ( or does she ? ) but she can’t help herself . if she has piping hot tea she’s gonna spill it because she doesn’t wanna burn herself .

very observant girl , who loves to people watch but her observations can sometimes get muddled when she starts judging people a little too hardcore .

she’s also a undercover couch potato    &    by that i mean if you give her an option to go out   &   do something she’ll never outwardly choose to stay home to watch netflix and snuggle up under the blankets but secretly she’s hoping   &   praying she gets a chance to do so   .

plots   ...

END THIS ( L.O.V.E ) / her first love   .   these two brought the absolute worst out of one another   .    they messed her up so much that she has a weird perspective on what love between two s/o’s should even feel like now   .   maybe they had another s/o at the same time as her   &   kinda just strung her on   &   when it came out were able to lie so much to her that she believed them   .   idk   ,   in truth we could really plot something completely different as to what they did   &   inevitably what the breaking point was   .   maybe they broke up with her   &   had they not ended it maybe she would’ve still been okay with being in the relationship   .   idk i just feel like this one could be fun as hell   .     also they’d be the one whom she was caught arguing with in one of her headlines   .   ( 0 / 1 )

AFTER PARTY / this is a more reckless take of party buddies   .   im envisioning a group of people who when the parties over they all pull up to close by gulf course   ,   indulge even more in their choices of substance   ,   there is a naked gulf tournament going on   ,   there are drunks driving golf carts   ,   swerving and pouring bacardi all over the course   .   running from security when they pop up   .   it’s tradition at this point   &   if someone doesn’t come it’s almost disrespectful at this point   .   idk i just love the thought of this kinda vibe   .   ( 2 / ? )

SECRETS / okay so this one is messy   .   basically logan was very private for most of her life   (   thanks mom   &   dad   )   and during the early stages of highschool she lied to everyone saying she was a virgin   .   she told each one of these individuals that they were her first whether it be to make them fall for her   “   innocence   ”   ,   want to chase after her   ,   or whatever else we might be able to plot out   .   inevitably they compare notes at some point and find out that she’d been lying to them all   .   we can plot out how they confronted her i feel like we could make this real dramatic though   .   this would also be a backstory plot so   ,   we  can also plot out how things have transpired since for them   .   ( 0 / 3 or 4 )

BEST FRIEND / these two girls take best friends to the next level   .   they relate to one another on every level and are there for one another at all times   .   there is never a moment where they are competing with one another because they know that their #1 in there respective category   .   they are one another’s ultimate hype beasts   .   they truly embody chaotic goddess vibes   .   it’s like they were placed on this earth simply to be friends because they compliment one another that well   .   ( 0 / 1 )

LETS FALL IN LOVE FOR THE NIGHT / they are the one that’s there whenever she’s down   .   they have the ability to make her feel like they have some sort of old love whenever she’s around them   .   those feelings only last for the night though   .   they enjoy when she rambles on about sports or the novel she just recently read or really just anything she enjoys can put a smile on their face   .    they know better than to ever confuse what is going on between them though   ,   they know that she’ll never be theirs   .   whether they’re okay with this or not we can definitely plot out   .   ( 0 / 1 )

MOANA / they are not a fan of logan   .   they see her for what she is   :   an attention seeking   ,    spoiled brat and the fact that they don’t want anything to do with her makes her want them all the more   .    when they finally slept with her it was only to prove a point to her s/o at the time   ,   to prove that she’s not the sweet girlfriend she claimed to be   .   basically they’re the person who outed her for being a ho ho ho but despite knowing that they outed her for that she still tries to hook up with them because they were the best she ever had    .   they often turn her down but after a while not even they can deny that they’re attracted to her   .   they still don’t fuck with her though   .   also i think it’d be cool if their were two of them   &   maybe they worked together to out her to her s/o that didn’t believe she was a cheater   ( 0 / 2 )   also bring the s/o that they outed her to   ( 0 / 1 )

ELEVEN / the type of relationship that is stuck in the grey area   .   they’re more than friends but they don’t necessarily admit to having feelings for one another   .   honestly they probably don’t even think they have feelings for one another   .   it’s a weird dynamic   .   they spend the most of their time together late at night   .   there meeting time    ?   11pm   .    they go on wild joy rides to the beach   .   heads out of the sun roof as they let out a loud woo   .    the only thing accompanying them is a big bag of weed   .    sometimes they have deep talks   ,   honestly they probably know more about one another than anyone else   ?   because of these adventurous of theirs   .   when they aren’t having deep talks they’re running across the beach aimlessly   &   rolling around in the sand with one another   .   it’s really just a very pure plot that i need in my life   .  ( 0 / 1 )

TRUST NOBODY / this is someone who used logan for fame / attention   .   they either became close friends or even started dating   &   they used everything they learned about her or what went on between them to relay back to a tabloid / would call paparazzi to come and take pictures of them together whenever they’d go out   .   ( 0 / 1 )

some other plot ideas i’d love to see   :   x   ,   x   ,   x   ,   x   ,   x   ,   x   ,   x   ,   x   ,   x   ,   x   ,   x   .

[captainscanadian]

Hope | Bucky Barnes x Reader (Part 3)

My Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Summary: When an old friend stops by, you decide to revisit your past for the sake of writing inspiration. 

Word Count: 2100+

Pairing: (Eventual) Doctor!Bucky Barnes x Patient!Reader, 

Warnings: Heartbreak, Bullying, Alcohol, Death

A/N: This fic was my entry for @wkemeup​‘s 4K Writing Challenge. I DON’T DO TAGLISTS!

If anyone asked Rosie Bender what she valued the most in her life, she would always say that it was the people who had been a part of it. Regardless of whether she had just met the person or if she had known them her whole life, she had always believed in keeping people close. 

Being the social butterfly that she had always been, it was often a wonder why she hadn’t managed to leave this boring old town. But she had to blame her love for a certain Rebecca Barnes for keeping her in her hometown.

Becca had been the reason why Rosie and Bucky had gotten close. Although she had been in the same year as the man during high school, she had never really hung out with him. Truth be told, who would have hung out with him? Considering that he was the guy who had humiliated his best friend in front of the whole school, she had loathed him with a certain passion.

Back then, all he had cared about was hanging with the popular kids - and Rosie, as social as she was, she was considered one of the weirdos. But now, she had no choice but to accept that Bucky was an inevitable part of her life, being Becca’s brother and all. 

But that did not mean that this nurse could ever forgive her friend for the dickhead he used to be. While she hadn’t been close to you back in high school, she had certainly felt bad for you after the incident. A part of her had wanted to be the friend you would have needed at that time, though she had been unsure about approaching you when literally everyone had made you the joke of the school. How could she have gotten you to trust her when Bucky of all people had caused you so much pain?

Nevertheless, Rosie found herself walking up to your front door that morning. Whatever the issue that you had with Bucky, it was between him and you. She was not going to get involved in his business anymore. 

But she was not someone who could keep away from you, especially knowing that you’ve been back in town after a whole decade and that you were staying alone in your childhood home. She was certainly glad about your return to Shelbyville, that too in time for your ten year reunion. 

So, there she was, holding a basket of baked goods in her hand as you opened the door, her heart beating against her chest as she grew slightly nervous of how you would treat her, but giving you a smile nevertheless. “Hello, Y/N!”

“Rosie… what a surprise.” You raised your eyebrow. “What brings you here?” 

“I’m sorry to show up at your door unannounced. I’m sure you’re busy… with whatever you’re doing, painting the house- Nick told me that you were, not that I’ve been stalking you or anything.” She bit down on her bottom lip as she drew a sharp breath. “I just… I just wanted to stop by, because I didn’t get to speak to you the other day when I saw you at The Tavern, seeing that you pretty much stormed out of there… but I brought you some cookies?” 

You could not help but chuckle softly at how she was fumbling with her words. “Rosie, it’s okay… I really appreciate you coming by. I’ve been here a few days and it’s starting to feel lonely.” You admitted, accepting the basket of cookies from her and stepping away from the door to let her in. “Why don’t you come on in? I apologize for the mess. I still haven’t finished with the painting, you know, it’s just me.” 

Certainly relieved that you hadn’t shut the door in her face, the nurse stepped inside of your home and looked around. She hadn’t really been inside of it before, but from the way Bucky and Becca had described it, she understood that the pop of colour that she was now seeing was your doing. “I think it looks great.” She smiled, turning over to look at you. “It’s good to have you back here, Y/N.” 

You wouldn’t call Rosie Bender your close friend, but you had been acquaintances back when you were in high school. When your mother had been sick, she had been her nurse for some time and they seemed to have gotten quite close. “Thank you.” You smiled back at her as you led her towards the dining room, which had remained untouched by your attempt at home improvement and therefore lacking the pop of colour. “I don’t know if I can say that it’s good to be back, but it’s lovely to see a familiar face and not feel a certain sense of murderous rage.” 

Chuckling softly at your words, she nodded. “Oh I can imagine…” She could not help but agree, for she had been a witness to your worst nightmare on that dreadful day. “So, for how long will you be in town for?”

You shrugged your shoulders as you set down the basket of cookies. “I don’t know, really. I actually came out here to get some writing done for the last book of my series, but I saw the state the house was in and decided to fix it up.” You replied. “I’d say I should be here for a few months. I’m hoping to stay until I can meet my deadline.” 

She nodded, understandingly. “I have to say, I’m a huge fan of Hopeless. I’ve read all three of your books. It’s one of my favourite series.”

“Oh you’ve read them?” You asked, taken by surprise that she had actually read your books. Not that you wouldn’t have wanted anyone from your past to read your works, but you had assumed that the people you had left behind in Shelbyville wouldn’t have been willing to take a chance on your works. 

“Your mother used to have me read her the first book every night when she was first admitted.” She replied with a sigh. “She used to tell me that she wanted a part of her daughter to be there with her, and that if you couldn’t be there in person, your book would do. I only started reading them for her, but somewhere along the line, I fell in love with Hope Anderson and her own quest for love.” 

“And that reminds me…” You took a step towards her as you smiled, feeling your eyes glazing over for a moment. But you told yourself that you weren’t going to cry. “I never got to thank you in person, for taking care of my mother while I was gone. I know now that I’ve missed out on a lot of time that I could have had with her, but thank you for being there for her. I’m sure she really appreciated that.” 

“You don’t have to thank me, Y/N.” Rosie shook her head as she pulled you into a hug. “I was only doing my job, and I knew… I know what happened. I know why you left. I guess I kind of figured that you wouldn’t want to come back to what you left behind and I did my best to be there for your mother, because I knew you couldn’t.” 

You finally let the tears slip as you accepted her warm embrace. “I should have been there… but I couldn’t, I never wanted to come back here.” 

“I know…” She rubbed your back, gently. “But I’m sure your mother’s watching over you now. She’s probably glad to have you home again, Y/N. She wanted you to have the house. She told me that it’s why she never wanted to leave, no matter how many times you asked her to move out to LA. Now that you’re back here, and… you seem to be putting your personal touches to the house. I’m sure she’s happy, wherever she is.” 

Leave it to Rosie Bender for being so warm and comforting, just as she had been on that day ten years ago. Even though you weren’t friends, she had been someone who treated you like one. 

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know… I’m still a sobbing mess, aren’t I?” Pulling back from the hug, you were quick to wipe away your tears. “Can I make you some tea? I wasn’t expecting any visitors but I feel like it’s rude not to serve you anything.” 

“How about I make the tea and you help yourself to some cookies?” She chuckled softly as she walked towards the kitchen to put on the kettle. 

You nodded, grabbing yourself a snickerdoodle that still felt warm against your tongue as you took a bite. You immediately recognized them; they were Winnifred Barnes’ secret family recipe. “So, you and Becca, huh?” You asked, turning over to look at her. “How did that happen?” 

“Believe me, I didn’t see it coming either. I’ve known her since we were kids, but we never… we never realized that we had feelings for each other until we both finished college.” She replied, laughing softly. “You know what they say, sometimes the love of your life would be right before your eyes and you wouldn’t have any idea.” 

Now she may have said that on purpose, but she certainly played it off like an absentminded thought. 

“Yeah… you wouldn’t have any idea.” You agreed. 

Rosie poured two cups of tea before looking up at you. “Y/N, are you coming to the 10 year reunion next weekend?” She asked, curiously. 

She wondered if you even knew about the reunion, considering that she had left multiple voicemails to your LA office but you hadn’t returned any of her calls about whether you would be attending the reunion. 

“I wasn’t planning to.” You admitted, shrugging. “Do I really want to go there when I know that the people who made my teenage years miserable will all be there under one roof?” 

“You know, the Maximoff twins RSVP’d.” She informed you, cracking a smile at the thought of those two. “I don’t think those two would really qualify as people who made you feel miserable.”

“I see enough of Pietro and Wanda back in LA.” You clarified, laughing softly at the thought of the two people from high school whom you had still kept in touch with. “Wanda works for my Publisher and Pietro is a frequent guest at my book launch parties.” 

“Connie Chapman would be there.” 

You raised your eyebrow. “What?”

“She RSVP’d too, just thought I’d let you know, in case you needed a reason to be there.” She replied, setting down a mug in front of you before pulling herself a chair. “The invite still stands. I understand that you might not want to be there, considering what happened during senior year. But I would really appreciate it, if you could come… and show those people that you’re much more successful than all of them could ever be.” 

As you sipped your tea in silence, you pondered if you should really attend your ten year reunion. Surely, your senior year happened to be the worst years of your life - and you had wasted four years with a certain Ivan Petrov who couldn’t have bothered to put a ring on it. Not even your relationship with the ex-boyfriend who had inspired the plot of your second novel had been as bad enough as your senior year of high school. Was it really worth revisiting those memories for one night? 

Considering that the working plot of your fourth novel currently revolved around Hope Anderson revisiting her high school days and that your writer’s block had still gotten you to the point where you were killing the time by painting your house, you could certainly use the experience for a little more writing inspiration. The book was not going to write itself, and you couldn’t really figure out what to do with Hope and Jason’s story without having them attend their ten year reunion and face some harsh truths about their past. 

You were well aware that Bucky would be at the reunion. Having run into him at The Tavern, you had avoided having any kind of confrontation with him by drowning yourself in alcohol and dashing out of there before either of you could address the elephant in the room. But you knew that it was not best to avoid him for any longer. You needed to find closure for that chapter of your life, so you might as well find it at your ten year reunion. 

“Fine, I’ll be there.” You finally spoke up, making Rosie look up from her cup of tea with wide eyes. “I can’t promise that I’ll actually enjoy myself. But I don’t think I should be hiding away from those people for any longer.” 

What even was the point of hiding anymore?

[mcheang]

Blind and foolish

Remember how Mrs Rossi said she was going to mention the akumas at the next embassy?....what if she did? Sorry for incorrect information...I’m not sure how stuff works and the protocols for embassy so I’m just imagining it like a board meeting...

Mrs Rossi was considering asking the Italian government to send more aid to help take care of akumas. She proposes this at a meeting for Paris to approve of her suggestion but everyone else is like, what are you talking about? Every one has their own argument against Mrs Rossi.

“Why would we need help? Ladybug and Chat Noir take care of akumas in less than a day.”

Mrs Rossi: And yet there are still rampant akumas about. Don’t you find it even the slightest bit alarming that there are numerous rogue akumas outside, terrorizing the city even now?

“What rogue akumas? Who are they?”

“Given that Hawkmoth is still at large, of course there will be an akuma every now and then, but the plural usage for the term Mrs Rossi...frankly the only akuma that can be counted under that would be saptosis, the akuma twins..and given that their power was multiplication...” He left off the end of the sentence but everyone could see where it would lead.

And then Mrs Rossi realizes she had never learned who the akumas were. Her Daughter had run away to safety before she could be targeted, and so never had a chance to learn the akumas’ names.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, her cheeks reddening. “But my daughter’s school has been shut down for months because of the akumas.”

The board members look confused and skeptical. Mrs Rossi began sweating.

“What is the name of her school?”

“Collège Françoise Dupont.”

More deadpan stares. Mrs Rossi’s Italian colleagues begin to look embarrassed of her.

“We are well aware of Dupont high school, given that it has been the site of numerous akuma attacks; Rogercop, Horrificator, Lady Wifi, and so on. But the akumas were stopped within a day and the school has never been shut down, Mrs Rossi.”

Mrs Rossi paled. “Excuse me?”

The head leaned forward, placing his fingertips together as he studied the diplomat. He almost looked sympathetic at her humiliation.

“It seems, Mrs Rossi, that you are unaware of how things work here in Paris. Ladybug and Chat Noir are our heroes. They do their jobs efficiently and do not require any assistance. Our police force works to aid them if needed but they are usually not.”

Someone mutters, “does she not see the cure sweeping across the city how many times?”

Mrs Rossi flushed again. She had seen the cure at work but had assumed only part of Paris was fixed. She had never really bothered to look into the matter further.

The head continued to stare at her. “I suggest you do research before you offer your input. And perhaps you should check in on your daughter if she has indeed missed months of schooling.”

Embassy over.

Mrs Rossi was not going to confront Lila first. Her Daughter may just lie to her again.

After that horrible meeting, Mrs Rossi had hidden in her office, embarrassed and in shock. Her Daughter had lied to her, for months. And she had fell for it.

Mrs Rossi felt like a fool, and rightly so, but no more. She was going to check things thoroughly before she confronted her Daughter.

The first person she called was the Principal.

Rossi: Hello, is this the principal of Collège Françoise Dupont?

Owlman: Why yes. To whom am

I speaking to?

Rossi: I am Mrs Rossi. My Daughter Lila goes to your school.

Owlman: ah, yes, poor girl. Rest assured, Mrs Rossi, your Daughter is thriving in class. Her classmates are very helpful and accommodating to her needs.

Mrs Rossi paused. Poor girl?

Rossi: What needs?

Owlman (surprised): Well for starters, her classmates are helping her take notes and carry lunch because of sprained wrist. Mrs Bustier has also asked for leniency for Lila’s grades because she had spent so much time out of class helping you with your diplomatic missions.

Mrs Rossi wanted to scream. Lila had never helped her with her work and her wrist was fine!

Rossi: Mr Damocles. I think we need to have a talk. There’s something you need to know.

Rossi exposes Lila and learns what other lies had been told. She gets time off work easily after the meeting debacle so she can meet Damocles at the office.

She meets a familiar boy on her way in.

It was after lunch and he must be coming in late. But it was more than that. Wasn’t this Lila’s Boyfriend? Or had her Daughter lied about that too? Probably.

Rossi: excuse me, young man. Are you Adrien Agreste?

Adrien: Hi. And yes, I am. I’m sorry but I have to rush back to class. (He came back from a shoot)

Rossi (hurriedly): I understand, but please just answer my question. Are you my Daughter Lila’s Boyfriend.

Adrien scowled. Lila had hurt Kagami too much. He would not let her spread this rumor. “No. No I am not. That kiss was sprung on me and I was tutoring her.”

She nodded. “I understand. Thank you for clarifying the matter, Mr Agreste.”

Adrien nodded shortly and ran to class. He didn’t know what Lila’s Mother was doing at school but he hoped it meant Lila was finished.

Once Mrs Rossi met the principal, he informed her of the repercussions Lila faced. Mrs Rossi accepted them. Oh, and apparently Lila had been forging her mother’s signature and changed her parent contact information. Busted!

Lila is called to office. She pales when she realizes her Mother is there. Both she and the principle look very disappointed.

Lila can try to lie but it is futile now.

Mrs Rossi insists Lila confess to her class. She does. Alya is upset she posted false information on her blog. Adrien is satisfied. Marinette is relieved.

Lila is forced to repeat the school year and will take extensive counselling for her compulsive lying. As for her current punishment, she has detention for the rest of the year and her grades will suffer.

Mrs Rossi is upset and exhausted, but at least she can nip this problem in the bud. ....yeah...she’s wrong. She stopped her Daughter but it was too late. The damage had been done.

Imagine Mrs Rossi’s sad shock when Jagged Stone files a lawsuit against Lila for spreading word that he had been writing songs about a minor. Yeah...Marinette recently mentioned it in an offhand manner and let the adults go angry and take legal action. He also wanted to sue Alya but Marinette pleaded on her friend’s behalf. Jagged relents only if Alya makes a new post refuting Lila’s claims and apologised to all the celebrities mentioned, including Ladybug. Especially after the fireman reported her attempts to work with an akuma to get Ladybug hurt. Yeah..the Ladyblog is on rocky ground now.

Lila is now under investigation for threatening to hurt Paris’ beloved heroine. Mrs Rossi finds herself under critical scrutiny at work. Not only did she not do her research properly and presented herself as an ignoramous, she also failed to realize her Daughter had so much darkness inside her. Yeah...Mrs Rossi will be sporting gray hair sooner than she would like, and then some.

Chat apologizes to Ladybug for not listening to her.

Marinette gets a break after all the Lila drama. She gets a backstage pass to the music festival where she gets to listen to Jagged and Clara, and other celebrities. She takes Aurore with her to celebrate her improved grades. Alya is too busy repairing her blog’s reputation. Nino is helping Alya. Adrien is grounded for deceiving Nathalie regarding Lila’s tutoring.

With so much stress, anger and betrayal in the air, how is it that there are no akumas? Technically there was during Jagged’s lawsuit...Mrs Rossi’s stress was about the same as her daughter’s anger but she was taller and intercepted the akuma. Not to mention Lila couldn’t just grab the akuma while under scrutiny. Mrs Rossi became Peace Mother...the power to cause people to stop fighting and surrender. Yeah...she was defeated and Ladybug made an announcement to the surrounding people including Jagged, Penny and students that they should not lose themselves to negative emotions. Instead, control yourselves and focus on fixing the issues. Getting mad or upset is justifiable but it won’t solve the problem if it blinds you or gets you akumatized.

I realize Mrs Rossi seems unprepared but she also easily accepts her Daughter staying at home and actually missed the parade on her way to work? How does that make sense? I realise Adrien does not know about Lila threatening Marinette, but he does know that Lila sided against Ladybug. And he did nothing after that? Dude just shun her already!

[fiercebb]

On Jaime Lannister’s Complicated Ending

My thoughts on Jaime Lannister’s ending as I try to make sense of what happened and come to terms with it, for whoever is willing to listen anymore. It’s going to be a long one, sorry for that, but I need to get it all out.

It’s been a few hours since I watched the latest episode of Game of Thrones (plus Jaime’s scenes multiple times). I’m sleep deprived, I have a terrible headache, I’ve been working for 8 hours straight, and this is bound to feel like work as well, but I just have to write my thoughts down now to try to make some sense of what happened.

So, I want to start by saying Jaime Lannister is my second favorite Game of Thrones character (second only to Brienne), and it goes without saying I am a Braime shipper as well. But we’ll get to that later. I loved Jaime’s character because he had one of the most spectacular, relatable, hard-worked character developments in the entire show. He went from someone for whom the phrase “The things I do for love” meant doing the most terrible things to someone for whom it meant doing the most honorable ones. We saw him go from a person who would unscrupulously push a little boy out the window to someone who would save a person he’s just met from getting raped for no apparent reason, jump into a bear pit to save that same person, abandon his sister and long-time lover to join said person in the fight for the living, offer said person the one thing they wished for their entire life, protect her at all costs during the battle, and finally have the most wholesome, truthful, and endearing experience with her. And yes, it’s no coincidence that the deeds I’ve listed here all have to do with Brienne. Because you can’t separate Jaime (the Jaime he has become) from Brienne of Tarth. She is the catalyst for the change that turned Jaime into the man and knight he wanted to be. We’ve not only watched him grow, but we’ve also got to learn more about his past deeds and how things are not always what they seem.

Don’t get me wrong. Jaime Lannister was oftentimes a horrible person whose terrible deeds cannot and should not be forgotten. But he was, for the most part, struggling to become a better man. And since we can’t possibly judge Game of Thrones characters simply for committing despicable acts, what is there left for a man if not the possibility of self-betterment? Since about the moment when he first had to say goodbye to Brienne I got invested in his character and felt like he has the potential to change, to set himself free from the Lannister name and burden, and finally be the man he dreamt of being when he was a young boy. Season 8 gave me renewed hope for Jaime’s character. He finally seemed to have realized he has to break his toxic relationship with Cersei for good, he went North even if he knew he was going to meet his worst enemies because he wanted to fight for the living, he reunited with Brienne, he looked at her the way I’ve never seen him look at anyone before (you can fight me on that), he asked to fight under her command, he knighted her, he saved her during battle, he got jealous of Tormund, he made love to her, and he spent a few weeks of bliss (I assume) with her in Winterfell even if he hated the North. It’s impossible to witness this and not have hope that Jaime is finally on the right path. 

That said, I never actually thought he would make it alive out of season 8. I hoped he would, of course, but I was fully prepared for him to die. My problem is not that he died, my problem is with how he died. When he left Brienne I was shocked and heartbroken. I tried to make excuses for him, I was sure he was going to KL to end it all with Cersei. Not necessarily to kill her, but to maybe try to reason with her. I was sure he said all those cruel things to Brienne because he loved her and he didn’t want her following him to certain death.

I still believe some of those things, but not in the same way I used to. Let me say, first of all, that I do believe that Jaime Lannister loved Brienne of Tarth. Not in a platonic way, not in a friendship way, but in a romantic, pure, soulmate kind of way. Yes, I said soulmate, even if we just witnessed Jaime die in Cersei’s arms. I’m getting there, hold on. So, I do believe he loved her, I do believe he intended to stay with her, I do believe he tried with all his being to forge a new life with her away from Cersei and her pull. God knows Brienne was good for him. She brought the best in him and you could see it in his eyes when he saw the way she looked at him that he was shocked to see anyone could possibly look at him that way. And that’s because I think he never thought he deserved it. While part of what he said to Brienne might have been because he didn’t want her following him (maybe, idk), I do think he actually believed most of what he said. The ghosts of his past were too loud for him to ignore. As much as he tried (and I really think he did), he couldn’t shake the thought that he is not worthy of Brienne’s love. But that’s not the only reason why he left.

He also left because he loves Cersei. Hear me out, I know as a Braime shipper this is hard to shallow, but I promise I’ll explain in a minute. First, I want to talk a little bit about Brienne, what my thoughts are on that last scene between them, and what my hopes are for her - given that she’s my favorite character. It hurt a lot to see her cry, I’m not going to lie. But I’ve given this a lot of thought, and after watching the scene repeatedly and reading interviews with Gwen (who will always do the right thing by Brienne), I reached the conclusion that the reason she was crying is not because she thought Jaime doesn’t love her and she’s leaving her for another woman, but because her heart was breaking knowing she’ll never see him again. She knew how strong him and Cersei’s bond was, she knew he was fighting a lot of demons, and she knew he was extremely damaged (if anyone knew that, Brienne was that person). And I agree with Gwen, I don’t think she expected him to stay with her forever. I think on some level, she always expected him to leave at some point. Of course, she didn’t want him to go. Of course, she did love him as much as he loved her, of that I have no doubt. But if there’s anyone who can understand his reasons for leaving, she is, because she knows him better than anyone at this point, even better than Cersei. So, in that moment of heartbreak, I think Brienne cries not just for the love she knows she is losing but also for the man she wished could have managed to conquer his demons and for the fact that she knows she will never see him again (and I am crying as I’m writing this, because it hurts). And I also choose to believe that she doesn’t regret spending those few weeks with him as they did. I really don’t think she does. It was her choice as much as it was his, and she was aware from the very beginning things might not last. Yet it was a beautiful conclusion to a beautiful hate-turned-friendship-turned-romance connection that they will both cherish forever. The goodbye wasn’t easy for either of them and you can see that. Even if Jaime didn’t cry, you could see the distress on his face, you could see his heart was torn, that he didn’t want to make her suffer, but that he knew that’s what he had to do. All in all, I hope that my girl Brienne doesn’t regret any second that he spent loving and caring for Jaime Lannister, as I’m sure he doesn’t either. Even if we don’t get to hear anything about their relationship in the final episode (and I don’t think we will), I hope she won’t live the rest of her life regretting this and thinking Jaime didn’t love her because that would be too heartbreaking to bear, and completely not true.

To go back to Jaime’s love for Cersei, first of all, it was clear for me from the very beginning that the love will never not be there. It can’t not be there. They’re twins, they’ve been in each other’s lives since the day they were born, they were lovers, they were at times the only thing they had, they did great things together and they did horrible things together. That kind of connection, as toxic as it may be, doesn’t just end because you want it to (and I do think Jaime wanted and hoped that it would). Their relationship was toxic, it’s true, especially from Cersei’s side. I’m not saying he doesn’t share the blame, I’m just saying out of the two of them, you can tell Jaime is the one who loved more. He was always by her side and would have done anything for her, as he so aptly put it to Brienne. Until he didn’t. Until he decided to leave her and go North to join Brienne. The thing is, in my opinion, that was the moment when any semblance of a romantic relationship disappeared between the two of them. If I remember correctly, Nik also said that when Jaime says “I don’t believe you” to her when she wants to have him killed, he read it as “I don’t love you anymore,” and so did I. But not “I don’t love you” at all, just not in the romantic sense. He left in that moment and didn’t look back, and his actions and expressions make me think he didn’t look back while he was at Winterfell with Brienne either. He truly was happy with her and fell in love with her, finally free to accept his feelings and act on them. And that also brings me to the fact that they made love. Jaime Lannister would have never ever in a million years made love 1. with a woman he wasn’t in love with 2. with another woman if he was still in love with Cersei. So I fully believe he didn’t harbor any romantic feelings for Cersei anymore.

That said, he still loved her. And for that, I will never judge him. Of course, I wouldn’t have wanted him to go back to the person who caused him the most harm in this world, and of course, it is messed up and toxic, but this is something that often happens in toxic relationships and I can’t blame nor judge him. People do go back, people are so attached and addicted to that person that they feel like they have to go back. And it’s not just that. I agree that there is some sort of addiction happening here, but it’s also just love. He loves his sister. She is part of his family and always will be. And we know how important family is for Jaime Lannister. So it’s only natural that he wanted to be next to her. Again, I’m not sure he knew exactly what he was going to do once her got there, but he knew he needed to be there, at least to see her for one last time. And maybe yes, some part of him also wanted to die, to just end it all. If he knew she couldn’t escape death, he might have thought that if she is to die for all the sins she committed, he has to die with her as well for the part he played in her rise to power and for his own sins that he never forgave himself for. I remember Olenna telling him he will end up regretting the part he played in her rise to power and I think he did reach that point. I think he reached that point when he left her at the end of season 7 and I think he struggled all throughout season 8 with the knowledge that he helped put her there and he has to pay the price as well.

I want to also look a bit at their final moments together. As much as I didn’t want this to happen, I have to admit I didn’t have a problem with the scene itself. Hear me out. First of all, I think if confirms what I said earlier about their relationship no longer being a romantic one. Maybe I see what I want to see, but what I saw between them was two siblings who despite it all care about each other and know they’re about to die, trying to comfort each other in their last moments. I mean, mostly Jaime, because Cersei, even as she was dying, she was mostly thinking about herself (and the baby), but I don’t want to go into that because my focus here is Jaime. Jaime held her, he comforted her, and he died with her, but he didn’t say “I love you” nor did he kiss her. Now, you’d think if two people who love each other romantically know they’re about to die, they would at least say “I love you” or kiss for the last time. But he didn’t do that, and neither did she, and I think that’s because she knew. She also knew that that part of their relationship was long gone. In that moment they were just brother and sister, two people who still love each other but who caused each other too much harm to ever have a happy ending. Of course, I would have liked Cersei to know that Jaime has found love again in Brienne (maybe she did), if only to show her that even if she damaged him irreparably, another woman could love him and give him what he deserves. But of course we didn’t get that because of D&D (and I’ll get to that in a moment as well). Bottom line is I didn’t dislike their final scene. What I disliked, of course, is that Jaime couldn’t break free from his demons and Cersei’s influence and that he had to die with her. I would have wanted to see him start a happy life with Brienne, be the father he never managed to be (I know he would have been a great one), and learn how it feels to love purely and be loved in return. But as I said in the beginning, I didn’t have much hope for that to happen. I would have even been okay with this ending if it weren’t for the circumstances.

Yes, the circumstances. That being D&D’s laughable writing choices. Jaime’s story, the way it ended now, with the context we have now (just from the TV show) MAKES NO SENSE. I’m sorry but it doesn’t. All of his actions up until the very end of episode 4 pointed to him being on a path to recovery, on a path to becoming the man I know he could have been, on a path to loving again and being truly happy and free for once in his life. To go from that to total character annihilation is just plain stupid. There just wasn’t enough time to build up this sudden departure from his character. If we would have gotten more scenes, more indication that that was about to happen, more of an explanation of why, then I might have been more okay with his ending. Because as I said, in the end, I don’t have a problem with how it all ended, as much as it breaks my heart because I love him so much.

If we would have at least gotten an explanation inserted in his goodbye scene with Brienne, or a mention of Brienne to Tyrion, or some sort of insight into his mind and his motivations, it wouldn’t have been complete character annihilation. But as they’re trying to portray it now, that he just left Brienne because he realized he loves Cersei and he never even mentioned Brienne at all before dying, it doesn’t make any narrative sense, and I think anyone, not just Jaime fans and Braime shippers, can see that. 

But now I also kind of understand why Nik said he was happy with the ending. I think we all wanted to believe that meant he survived and staid with Brienne considering how much of a Braime fan Nik is. But thinking about it now, with everybody wondering how he could lie that way, I don’t think he was lying. Of course, he also kind of had to say he at least liked the ending a little bit, but I also genuinely think he liked some of it, because he says it made sense, and in some twisted way it does. He also said that there wasn’t enough time because they had to fit everything in just a couple of episodes and that this change in Jaime’s character threw him off as well and that he needed to take a second to accept that, and I completely agree and see his point. The problem was that everything was rushed and it didn’t make narrative sense. But if in a perfect world, we would’ve gotten more of an explanation and a cohesive narrative, I can see how he’d be okay with Jaime’s ending. Maybe he thinks, the same way Jaime does, that this was the best way in which he could redeem himself. Maybe he thinks Jaime could have never moved past his demons and live a happy life with Brienne, and it would have killed him to put her through that as well. Maybe he thinks Jaime would have never forgiven himself if he weren’t there when Cersei died, and that would have also affected his relationship with Brienne. All in all, I think both Jaime the character and Nikolaj the man didn’t think Jaime could be saved, I think they thought Brienne doesn’t deserve to be put through this, and I think they thought the world would be a better place without Jaime Lannister. I disagree. I think if there was any character in this show that deserved a second chance that was Jaime Lannister. I think that he was worthy of being saved, worthy of being loved, worthy of being shown there is more to life that what he experienced in the past, and I think Brienne was ready to give that to him. But in the end, it was his decision. It hurts that it had to end this way, but it was his decision.

And don’t get me wrong, I love a tragic love story. The more tragic it is the better. I love unrequited love, suffering, heartbreak. It’s usually what draws me to a story. And that’s why I would have been okay with it all if it weren’t for the poor choice of narrative that just doesn’t allow me to truly believe this is how the Jaime Lannister we’ve seen in season 8 deserved and wanted to end. Ultimately, of course, I have no say in this, but I’m working on accepting what happened.

I know some people still have hope that maybe Jaime isn’t really dead, and I don’t want to make people lose hope, because I know I’ve held onto mine for as long as I could, but I know Jaime’s story is over and I need to accept that now so I can heal.

I also don’t want people to hate on Jaime. I’ve seen so many posts hating on him and calling him a fuckboy and whatnot. I know most of us are not actually angry at Jaime but at the writers who turned him into a different Jaime than the one we all knew and loved, but for the people who really feel like they hate him now, I hope this post (if you’ve read it through) helps alleviate some of that hate. He doesn’t deserve hate. He was a flawed, at times despicable character, but he was also a good man, an honorable knight, a person haunted by his demons who fought them as much and for as long as he could until they overpowered him. He is the person who loved Brienne of Tarth the most (I know he is), who gave her everything she wanted and who shared a couple of weeks of happiness with her before it all ended. He is someone who has been abused, used, mistreated, and often threatened by a person he loved for most of his life, he is a person who did terrible, terrible things, but also a person who did good things for the right reasons. He is a complicated man and I have to think Nikolaj for being the best Jaime Lannister I could have ever imagined. He will never be perfect, far from it, but he will always be one of my favorite characters. I wished for his story to have a good ending until the last moment (crying again as I’m writing this) and I don’t regret it one bit. I don’t regret investing time and energy and tears into loving him and hoping he would become the man he might have managed to become if the circumstances were different.

I am not okay with Jaime Lannister dying. I don’t think I’m going to be okay with it for a long time, but I know some day I will make my peace with that. I’ve cried writing this but I feel much better now, much more at peace. This is so unbelievably long I doubt anyone will read it through, but if you’ve reached this point, feel free to leave me a comment or a PM if you are also mourning Jaime Lannister and need someone to talk to.

And before I go, I wanted to thank the Braime community once again for making all of it more bearable. I know a lot of you are in pain right now and you can’t believe it but it will get better. And for me, Jaime Lannister will always be one of the greatest.

[myheartbeatskids]

So Declan loved me and we talked about science and lab babies and clones and all that. So He told me he loved me because i was the first person to really really listen and understand as opposed to being the one to teach.

And so he had understood what he was taught then developed and built upon it correctly with help from his own brain and God. And del Muerte whom helped me understand as well cause that shit was mind blowing.

So he asked me to have his soul mate. To give birth to her.

And I was pretty much dragged out and Declan ran the show after that.

I agreed but it was more like a thing where i had to focus and talk instead of fainting.

So Matt actually helped to implant because I have an upturned uterious and so things like that are painful because of the rigidity and non flexible as i need materials used while Jeremiah comforted and helped me relax.

So then essentially i was kidnapped.

Declan is part clone and part Neanderthal.

Annabelle is part clone and part Neanderthal.

So some of us from Michael Jackson's boarding school --- although I wasn't i stayed there alot on my own. So i was part of it, unofficially as i am a civilian doing military shit now. --- have clones in a laboratory. But they are miniature human size as they are kept in barbie size containers.

Since Declan was a clone Jesse gave permission to make, they said i should use a clone.

It took 5 eggs until Declan approved the child that would be created in the embryo. Del Muerte communicated to us what God said.

Most males get their soul mates at age 7. Declan was only 2 years old. So God hadnt had enough experience to program or create his perfect soulmate.

So it just so happened it was 2 years of plus 5 embryos which makes the year 7 while added together.

So when Annabelle was born Declan came to get me and her but my now ex-husband got me all fucked up and i had amnesia and all that and i remember the power struggle type issues while signing the birth certificate which is why i get child support as my ex swore bla bla bla and signed papers to those statements but I was all "Dude while he's signing let's run!" Because he pissed me off during that time and i was all no hes wrong and all... But I guess I was scared of him or his aura csused me confusion or Idk. I remember feeling sick.

So craziness. We are 16 years late. And unfortunately yet fortunately a lot of research was done and i have a lot of government apology money coming my way. Which i don't have yet.... But soon.

This is Cambria AvaLynn named after Alexis Dejoria.

Because Matt's parents were into hiding, they named him after a mat. A common object so in case of ESP feom the people they hid from they would think "welcome mat" like welcome to travel with us son named Matt. Welcome to eat at the dining table, Matt. Well, come, Matt.

So came or come because i would always want to see Matt so I would say "You came!!!" When i saw him and hug him and he would say "welcome"

And Bria after me.

Turning the x into a v (for Victory) and Lynn as in the 80s most of my friends on the military base i lived on has Lynn as their middle names. So to remind me she is a friend.

She's my child that was ectopic due to the sponges Jamie & Doug Otis found and reminded us of. But we went to the hospital because i began to hemmoragge and they were able to save her and her twin.

Then my mom killed her and he died naturally as he was in ICU TO experiment on them being raised/healed as premies temporarily as one within an incubator and the other skin to skin contact. As woman need to be comforted more, we picked Ava to bring home.

They were the first experiment with soul mates being born as twins. Both clones of my and Jeremiah and his being Ava and my being the male Andrew.

Andrew after Jesse... "And he drew" cause he was always drawing beautifully.

And the other clones were of Jesse James and Alexis.

Alexis got kidnapped by her dad and so the story goes... I did too Eventually

Jeremiah's dad helped us as the grandparent in house.

This is Declan.

He told Jeremiah "I'm not the one sitting around waiting with a pouted lip waiting for someone to do it for me. Now i found the woman and go get my kid!!"

Dude WTF I'm not having someones kid... I'm only 21!!

"Now im the man around the house and what I say goes!!! And you are going to have my kid!!"

Dude whatever. So i did dream into the lab with them but... I thought we were just playing and so i agreed and so next thing i knew there was a frozen child ready to be implanted. Thus my ability to be kidnapped so easily...

Cause when a kid is all telling you about clones and labs and shit... And you're hearing voices... that shit is insane. Literally.

So i didn't take it seriously enough.

But Declan is only 19 Now. And my kid is 16.

So it's old enough to have a romantic relationship. To avoid issues i had as a child with social services.

The plan was to have them grow up as friends but also believed it may been too dangerous....

Yet I still don't agree that it was.

However for the last 10 year's I have been working daily for my amnesia to be solved and also saving the world (of NHRA especially) at the same time.

And have earned multiple Nobel Peace Prizes which i have yet to receive.

So working on law enforcement and the military and government, about to break into the public school system and tear that up ;) as a civilian has earned me billions of dollars i have yet to receive....

But i have given away as i can and have bought businesses that I want.

As proof that the government does care about all its people's hopes and dreams they have bought them on my behalf and am gsining bank! And i shop st my own businesses too... Ironically! I been shopping at Loves for nearly a year... went into Speedway a few times now i drive an extra 5 miles just to shop there because i like it more!!

Robert, the shift manager finally told me tonight as I bought all the GIANTS for my Giant 6'7" man. And i turned the ones in Valencia County to Speedway in honor of Aaron and Paul (twins) who wanted to show the dangers of meth and the meth community as they honored me with my idea of how to end Breaking Bad with the movie reel of El Camino (the mother road) of the manner of the psychological reality of life gone wrong.

I freak Robert out... He was worried when he saw me there that I was to audit like a monster, fire everyone and work the cash register and store myself.

So tonight he saw I bought milkshakes (not available at Love's) figured it out and gave me a pack of smokes for free and blurted out why.

So i took all the giants as i always do and fucked them all up and made them better.

So i own them till i make my money back on the businesses and then they get given to who I intended it for... As I do double check they will always be worthy... If not i keep them for me because I was being good snd honest and fair the whole time.

So 360° K i own.

So i only compete with Love's whom I always promised the King's Highway to... You know him... As an old time Western Thug bitch ass womanizer player. Motorcycle Guru. Hot Rod extraordinaire. Texas loving son of a gun. Jesse James Smith! Just kidding... Just regular old ole fogie mad scientist Jesse Gregory Smith. Of West Coast Choppers. Which i own and always have as i put up the money for his business intending to always be in his life and helping him. So my apology... The only one i can ever give as i can't predict the future without help is Love. And he loves everyone and won't let Google tell.

I bought every gas station in the country as we will be switching to electric and hydro electric and non fuel and solar and hybrid autos by 2030. So the previous owners have a nice retirement and no stress. As the storage oil facilities that were shot in Saudia Arabia were actually empty. I own them.

Fossil fuels are actually the blood of dinosaurs and other dead bodies that are converted and broken down and dehydrated by plant life...

I found that out by the eternal bushes burning.. I mean growing... here on the mountain. Tumble weeds otherwise known as thyme. And we found via satellite tons of skeletons by Earth xrays under the bushes and some not as they are closer to the Earth surface. I found a wooly mammoth knuckle bone.

We moved here in 2002 and there was a patch of earth that looked like concrete by the mail boxes and we just drove over them assuming that's what it was.

They were mummified wooly mammoths. Now broken up and scattered all over the desert road.

I would not like my blood which could potentially bring me back to life wasted on a car... For someone to get to a job they hate. So no more. Not from the USA anyways.

One night I was at dinner and i said Obama needs to handle thwt South Dakota pipeline. My dad was all what is he supposed to do? All simple solutions were crap and had an argument. I said "then lie! Tell the American people they are scum! Tell them we opened the pipeline up and the pipes broke and destroyed the precious land that needs to be protected." My dad laughed and i felt kinda stupid for being so angry.

But Uncle Donald heard my point and so thats exactly what he did. Fake news? Its real.

Because he saw the change I made in the NHRA with some lies that laid very close to the truth.

You don't need to believe in reincarnation for it to happen. I didn't until about 6 months ago. But my mom's mom and my great aunt my grandma's sister ... Granny Bessie Heltons 2 daughters did. My grandma explained it to me one night when I was 18 as i had asked my Great Aunt Nita i was closer to but she didn't explain she just said "because i do" And the dictionary explaination i already knew. But my grandma traveled with me like y'all know i do And showed me.

We started in Heaven with only having one human life and having the soul figure of a human that we select. Hers was a teenage body, absolutely beautiful. With her old ass mind and experience. I told her what I wanted was to be a child. A dirty raggedy haired barefoot blonde without a care in the world, feeling smarter than I feel now... Because that is when i was happiest. When i saw i could end pain and suffering with death, when i knew life could escape heart ache, even when evil exist.

And so now on her second cat life with me, as her first caused her kidnapping by the same drug induced psycho piece of shit that arrested and molested Jesse James dog, Coco and her untimely death as I did record in Tumblr. "Sister Kitty" was kidnapped by him, hes in a special jail. He just had his pinkie finger nail and big toe nail removed as he did kidnap Mogar and slice his face and slice Kizzys leg. So in order to understand what he did he agreed to similar punishment as he did to our precious cargo...

Cargo my bitches!

Jesse: No! I only ask!

Me: who do i have to convince?

Jesse: Idk Jeremiah?

Me: Ava who is your dad?

Ava: Idk I guess not Jeremiah?? IDK!! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL!? you all always told me they are both my dad's. Let me ask God. Oh! Jesse! ..... And Jeremiah

Me: your dad is your dad and dad he will always be no matter shine or high water, love will always be there for you and for me. Alexis, do you know that one?

She nods all teary..

Jesse: well did i get loves?!

Me: uhh yes ass hole! We always love you back. What do you want with a gas station with no gas? That's like having a family with out us, most especially me!

Jesse: well it got gas now!!!

Me: well gas up at your local, bring a truck. I got a lot of stuff.

Declan: you hear her? Most especially me! Me! Well, me too, you better pick me up.

Me: Jesse... You ready for Orlando?? I got a Chase bank account with the Princess Castle on the debit card... Just needs a little cash in the account.

Jesse: You Mean You Will Pay!!!

Me: i see that was not a question so that does not deserve a response. But yes. I am suppose to have a wire transfer per last night's discussions that will pay for it.

Jesse: WHOA SHIT!

Me: Jeremiah you down?

Jeremiah: to pay Miss Giant Owner?

Me: uhh I'm Miss Speedyway now. No.. Carry me through times square after some Disney World Fun!

Jeremiah: FUCK YES!! uhh yes thank you for inviting me. I will go

Matt Hagan: look look at this. Im the best friend i even got her kid named after me

Me: Matt Hagan... Looks like you're invited, The Best Friend. In or out of Disney World for the hotel.

Matt: IN!!

Me: youre definitely going you know how to do it right! Pops... You gonna stay home alone with your woman?

Pops: not if i don't have to

M3: you don't

Pops: shit! Oh yeah!

Chuck: what about Cookie!!

Me: you and bring Your comrades I need to talk to

Chuckie: oh Cookies going!

Me: I didn't know he could do the Conga.

Jesse: yes you did!

Me: no wonder it looked familiar.

[seven-oomen]

Okay, so first off, Happy Birthday to your cat!  I hope he got lots of his favorite treats.  Glad to hear that today went as well as can be hoped for you.  And overall today wasn’t too bad here.  We got several big truck deliveries, but when I deal with those I tend to deal less with customers, so it sort of balances itself out.  We’ve been told that we’ll be closing early all week because of the protests, so that’s been ramping the anxiety, but the internet has provided a number of pleasant distractions on my breaks.

Secondly, I would pick Noah for the one that has the second set of twins, for mainly two random reasons; 1) because last time it went Chris, then Noah, so it feels like it should do the same this time, and Chris already had Ben, 2) because it keeps the number of kids per family more balanced- 4 & 3 rather than 2 & 5.  Idk, my brain just gets weird about symmetry and balance in things and I’ve never figured out if it’s an ADD related thing or just a me thing.  Also, the idea of him trying to do his job while pregnant, with Chris and ESPECIALLY Peter trying to be super protective at the same time is just amusing to me.

And actually, thinking about that and the preview for the next chapter made me think of a couple things that didn’t make it into my reviews.  When/how/from whom did Chris learn about the fire? Did Gerard or Kate tell him in a gloating sort of way and kind of tip him off that something was hinky about it, or was it through other hunter contacts, so the thought of outside involvement came later?  

Was he still pregnant with Ben, or was it later on?  Did he contact anyone in Beacon Hills about it for further info at any point before he showed back up in town?  Because I was trying to think about some of the things that could turn up later for angst (why I was doing that to myself is anyone’s guess, but here we are…) and it occurred to me that if Noah was going to have any lingering upset over Chris leaving it would most likely (to me) be from the time right after the fire.  

He’s just lost Claudia, and went off the rails from it, but at least he had Peter, and Laura, and the other Hales.  Now Peter is in a coma, Laura’s left town, and the rest of his adopted/found family is dead.  He has no idea where Chris is, or if he’s safe from whoever did this (does he know about what happened between Chris and Peter before Chris left again?, and he’s dealing a set of even more heavily traumatized twins right now.  I feel like even the most understanding person is gonna have some stuff to work through there.  (Also, Jesus, poor Melissa [possibly for multiple reasons])

Uhhh…sorry to send things into a drama tailspin there for a moment.  Allow me to try and brighten things back up with the original impetus for me to make this a submission and not an ask; because you mentioned X-Men Halloween costumes and I have Thoughts.  *takes super deep breath*  Because omg, yes, so very many options.  

Side note - I would be so happy if someone dressed as Nightcrawler.  He is my precious fuzzy elfin bb, and I love him to bits and get so tired of him getting left out of things (looking at you Funko.)  I feel like Stiles or Peter have the best attitude match (maybe, MAYBE Jackson), but don’t know if anyone would want to deal with the amount of makeup involved.  But, anyway, just, the possibilities.  

Stiles telling Malia she can’t just take the easy way out by going as Wolfsbane, so she takes one of her old white A New Hope Leia dresses and cuts it down into an old school Mystique costume. 

 Peter pulling rank and telling Derek he’s the Alpha so he gets to be Wolverine (this even works better height-wise [I didn’t realize you didn’t know their approximate heights.  I’d looked them up before for…reasons.  Having seen them standing next to each other repeatedly, I’m pretty sure any actual height advantage Ian has comes strictly from his hair], although when Stiles points this out he earns himself a hell of a glare.)  

Naturally that means Chris has to be Cyclops, because, well, calm and serious.  Noah realizes this means they expect him to be Jean Grey.  (N: “Why can’t I ever be a character that wears normal pants?!” C: “Well I have to be the boring one all the time” P: “I mean, you are the closest to a telepath of the three of us.  Don’t you want us mock fighting over you?” N: “…if we do this I get my pick of the Phoenix costumes.”)  

Stiles and Noah trying to fight over getting to be Gambit so they can do exploding playing cards, but getting told they can’t be Gambit unless they can do the accent correctly (Gambit isn’t Gambit if he’s not Cajun, that’s just how it is, I don’t make the rules.)  While part of me thinks it’d be funny to see Jackson as Nightcrawler because of the tail thing, I think Stiles would be more entertaining.  

He’d make little smoke bomb things to fake the sulfur and brimstone effect of his teleporting.  All the family members with enhanced senses would HATE him because they STANK something fierce, and it LINGERED.  But anytime one of them tried to tackle him to get them away, he’d yell “BAMF!” throw on to the floor and run like hell.  

Jackson would be Iceman so he could make it a crossover costume with the character from Top Gun so he could wear aviators and a leather bomber with his outfit.  Allison could dress like Shadowcat from the early Excalibur run, and she could see if Ben would dress up as Lockheed with her (because that would be adorable).  

Derek would decide that if he can’t be Wolverine and glare angrily at people the whole time, he’ll be Colossus so he can just stare with silent disappointment the whole time.  Scott would decide he wants to be Cable (because “…he just looks so cool…”), so Melissa and Chris would dig through their old hunter gear to help him make his costume.  

Melissa could be Jubilee, and rig up little flash bangs to fake the plasma bursts (unlike Noah she has absolutely no qualms about proving that she can still rock a pair of short shorts.)  Lydia would either be Rogue to show off that SHE at least can manage a believable accent, or Emma Frost for the looks that costume would gain her from Allison.  

Alternatively; both sets of twins argue over who gets to be Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, so they decide that one pair will do the classic comic version, and one will do either the Evolution cartoon version or the MCU version (though they are allowed to switch out the Quicksilver for the other film version if they choose).  

Lydia claims Mystique instead (it’s tempting to make her Banshee, but that seems a bit TOO on the nose), or maybe one of the other Phoenix looks (when I say Phoenix looks I mean Jean’s Phoenix or Dark Phoenix suit from the comics, because I LOVE that outfit), and Ben dresses as Beast (because that would also be adorable).  *finally stops to take another breath*  …umm…so anyway, yeah, as a perennial X-men fan I think it’s safe to say I love this idea, and am so grateful for you putting it in my head…  …sorry about the wall of text, I may have got a little carried away…  …again…

I loved every single sentence of this wall of text, so never apologize. (Although I did break it up a little before posting because that makes it easier to read for other people.

I think all of my ideas for the middle of this fic where either based on questions you, or @artemisa97​ asked me in reviews. So honestly, keep them coming if you want to ask them. They help me determine where the problem areas are, what kind of kinks I need to work out, so honestly, even the sad ones are a great help.

And yeah, I hadn’t looked up their heights yet, I just assumed Peter and Chris were a bit bigger than Noah, but I was delightfully wrong!

I do have one more gem to share, a height comparison of some of the boys and to show you just how tiny Ben is compared to the others.

Blue - Noah (182 cm / 6 ft)

Purple - Chris (177 cm / 5′10)

Red - Peter (178 cm / 5′10)

Yellow - Derek (183 cm / 6 ft)

Green - Ben (111 cm / 3′8)

Turquoise - Jackson (170 cm / 5′7)

Ben’s height is about average for someone between the age of 5 & 6, Jackson’s height is a little on the short side, but I’d imagine that he’d still grow a little until he’s like 20 and end up being around 175/176 cm.

I’d imagine Stiles to be a little taller around 172 cm, Allison is a little shorter at 165 cm and Malia is around 168 cm. (They will all still grow a bit, averaging between 173 (Allison) and 178 (Stiles) )

And the one thing I will say about whether or not Noah gets the twins, without getting too spoilery, or maybe it is, I’m sorry if it is but I can’t help not share.

Is that eventually both Noah and Chris have the same amount of kids from Peter. And one of them has twins. I’m still debating on names, in the deleted scene I named them Mikhail and Adeline, I currently have different names picked out. 

And I think the balance thing is ADD related, because I had the same issue with planning the story XD. So yeah, Peter gets to have a lot of kids, and adopt a lot more into the pack, because Season 2 is kinda canon in this universe, in the sense that Isaac, Erica, and Boyd are still turned. Kira comes along, and of course Lydia. Considering what I have planned for Danny and Mack, I might add them to the pack as well.

And omg I LIVE for those X-men costume ideas <3 Omg. I love it. Considering Stiles’ abilities he would definitely be Nightcrawler and would probably use a quick spell or two to get the makeup in place. (A druid invented this fantastic spell to always get eyeliner on fucking point and shared it in their spellbook. Spoiler alert; said druid was Noah in his teenage punk years. Turns out, it works for other makeup too.)

And I’m in fucking love with all of these ideas actually, I can’t really say which I like more.

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 11

We open in her magical apartment, shining white walls, CG gears floating like some sort of modern-art chandelier, and images of old scrolls hovering around, old manuscripts or what looks like a tapestry with the word ‘Walpurgis-’ on it. Seems Homura’s working on her (latest) plan to defeat the super-Witch and protect Madoka. One thing that struck me between these episodes is that the last time was probably the closest she’s ever gotten to saving Madoka from Contracting, until the Incubator made a last-minute offer while Homura was distracted fighting Walpurgisnacht. But maybe, just maybe, this time it could work? I mean, Madoka hasn’t Contracted, she knows how much of a dick the Incubator is, and has seen all her other friends die as Magical Girls. Maybe this will be enough to keep her away?

...oh who am I kidding. Madoka’s a Protagonist. She may be meek and scared, especially compared to Alpha Madoka, but when it comes down to it she overrules her fears and does what needs to be done, like when she threw away the chemicals in the warehouse. If she thinks that there’s something that she can do, she’s going to try her best to do it. Ugh. Admirable, but doomed to failure. “Time-traveler, Homura Akemi…” Well, look who it is, barging into Homura’s home at the eleventh-hour. What, are you going to brag about how your ‘perfect logic’ is going to prevail, that you still have claim to be the right side? Come on, Incubator, just try to convince me. “Your existence has answered at least one great mystery: Why is Madoka Kaname’s potential as a magical girl so abnormally vast?” ...wut? “You see, a magical girl’s potential is based on the weight of the karmic destiny she bears.” Oh. Oh, fuck. Homura was the cause. Alpha Madoka was a strong Magical Girl, but still lost to Walpurgisnacht. But each of the other timelines we saw, she survived up until she Witchified, didn’t she? I just put it down to Homura’s help, but if she was growing stronger and stronger… If each time Homura rewound time, all for the sake of one single person, reality after reality based around the lone girl Madoka Kaname… Multiple timelines, converging on one point, one person. All the ‘karmic destiny’ of the prior Madokas, concentrated into the next. In trying to save Madoka, Homura turned her into The One. “Excellent work, Homura. You’ve made Madoka into the most powerful witch we’ve ever seen.” Intro sequence. Well. That’s a thing. For what it’s worth, I paused to really read the lyrics of the intro song this time, and goddamn is it obvious now that it’s really Homura’s song. All the references to time, being stuck on a bad path? The songwriter must have been giggling like crazy when they played this in the early episodes. (Oh hey, it ended with the updated RADIO TOWER OF LIES with all five of the girls hanging out on top.) Ep 11: The Only Thing I Have Left to Guide Me A rainy day in Mitakihara City. Oh. “Sayaka Miki Funeral Service.” I guess the cops finally found her body. The school’s turned out for the service, and Madoka’s there with shaded eyes. She knows the truth, but can’t tell anyone. “Up next, the weather forecast.” Geez, show a little tact radioman! Sayaka makes it home, puts away her umbrella as her mother… uh oh. “About Sayaka’s case… Are you sure you don’t know anything about it?” Madoka claims ignorance and walks away. And the camera makes damn sure that we know Mother ain't buying any of it. Gulp. And now Madoka’s just sprawled on her bed, a blank look on her face. Her best friend and Kyoko are dead (what, no mention of Mami?). All because of- YOU. “It wasn’t exactly an unexpected outcome.” For crying out loud Incubator, give her some space, she just came back from the funeral of her best friend! Although knowing the Incubator, it’s taking this opportunity of a damaged emotional state to try and fill its quota sooner rather than later. Wait. Wait wait wait. What did you just say, Incubator? What the FUCK did you just say? “Then, for example, do you feel responsible for the deaths of livestock? Do you ever think about the process by which they become foodstuffs for you?” … “Because they are slated to become food for humans, livestock are fed and provided for all their lives, and given equal chance to reproduce free from natural selection. Cows, pigs, and even chickens have an overwhelmingly higher rate of survival in captivity than in the wild. So isn’t it actually a rather ideal, mutually beneficial relationship for you both?” Alright. Ok. *deep breath* First I’ll try to address the “eating other lifeforms” thing, then I’ll address why this analogy does not even come close to this situation. I’m an omnivore. I eat both meat and plant matter. I eat meat for several reasons, nutritional and ethical. It's not a perfect system, but it works and I consider it good. If it wasn't for the core flaw, I might even admit that the Incubator has a point in them being similar. But all of that is based on one single, fundamental fact: these creatures are not sapient. You can’t talk to them. Incubator, I’m going to bring something up called the Hierarchy of Foreignness (a system created in the Orson Scott Card “Ender’s Game” series). A general description is that it classifies groups or species based on both their species and ability to communicate, ranging from Utlanning (same species, easy communication) to Djur (different species, non-sapient). Note the communication aspect, that’s crucial. Sapience is a divisive subject, but I think we can all agree that if communication was possible between us and another species, if we could talk to them and they could rationally answer in kind then there’s no way in hell they would be on the menu. And yet, even though the Incubators can clearly communicate with us, even though they know that we are capable of reasoning, of storing and transmitting ideas, of generalization and abstract ideas… they still treat us as a resource. “Are you saying it’s the same between you and us?” “On the contrary, our treatment of humankind is much more respectful than your treatment of livestock. Perhaps it isn’t perfect, but we do acknowledge your species as sentient and try to deal fairly with you.” And there we go! Sentient, not sapient. Awareness, not reasoning. We raise cattle as livestock because it is the best solution and they are not sapient beings. You assholes stumbled across a rock full of sapient, rationalizing beings that you could communicate with and turned them into batteries. But wait, there’s more! The Incubator proceeds to show a horrified Madoka images of humanity’s history, from caves to castles. “We have intervened in your civilization’s development since prehistoric times. Countless girls throughout time have made Contracts with Incubators, had their wishes granted, and then ultimately succumbed to despair (images of woman I assume to be Cleopatra, based on pyramids and snakebite). Beginning in hope and then ending in a curse; that is the cycle that countless magical girls have repeated to this day. There are some who have wrought revolutions that changed history (Joan of Arc?), or elevated human society to new stages of development.” And so that gives you the right to harvest a thinking species, then? You set these girls on the path to destruction, get your precious emergy, and think we should be grateful for the privilege? Madoka breaks down into tears, cries about how they all trusted the Incubators. Who just claims that it wasn’t the Incubators who betrayed them, but their own prayers. That is the equivalent of saying “I gave them a box of matches, it’s not my fault they ended up burning down the house.” It goes on to argue that all hopes are Wishes for something other than the current reality, and anything that doesn’t match reality is bound to cause change. And of course, Change is Bad, so… “If they considered such a natural outcome to be a ‘betrayal’, they were wrong to have made wishes at all.” Really? Really, Incubator? So you’re saying that since change inevitably results in at least some negative outcomes, it’s wrong to try and enact change? Say, trying to prevent the natural heat-death of the universe? “Not that I’m calling them foolish.” Oh no, you’re just calling them acceptable, unintentional sacrifices. “If you understand now, why are you still holding the fates of a few individuals to be so precious?” Because they are individuals. Because the ending of a rational life, one that is denied a future of experiences and progress and chances to help other lives… Civilizations that exist based on the suffering of others are not worthy of the term. And the Incubators passed that line long ago. Madoka numbly looks up to the Incubator and asks if after all the time they spent watching over those girls they really feel nothing for them at all. The Incubator blithely retorts that if they could “understand suffering”, they wouldn’t need humanity in the first place. A society that treats emotion as a mental disease, to whom the concept of empathy for one another is foreign. Incubator, as surprised as you are that a world of individuals could move beyond the basest of conflicts, I am just as surprised that a species of a single mind could… no, I can’t say that I am surprised that a single focused mind could progress so far. But it is not a society that I would want to be a part of. The Incubator claims that if they had never come to Earth, then humanity would still be living naked in caves. I think you underestimate us. But even if that were true, it would be preferable to your schemes. ...I’m sorry, I can’t take anymore tonight.

*once again, needed an angry sleep to calm down* *calls for one final show prediction*

Well, my guessing has been so spot on so far, why stop now? This is the scenario we have, the elements leading into this finale: -Madoka has not Contracted -Homura knows her time travel has resulted in Madoka’s Protagonist Potential -Walpurgisnacht is inbound, which means bad times for Muggles -All the other MGs besides Homura are dead -Madoka’s Mom suspects that she’s hiding something about Sayaka -Homura is going to try and fight Wally on her own like last timeline, hoping that Madoka won’t Contract From this, I can see three possibilities: (Good Ending) Homura attempts to fight Walpurgisnacht on her own (because that worked so well last time). Brave, heroic, foolish Madoka intervenes, Wishes Mami (or best-case scenario Sayaka and Kyoko as well) back to life, and all the girls work together to destroy Wally. Homura is upset that Madoka still became a MG, but Madoka says that it’s her choice. All the girls will have to be careful, but knowing the risks of despair on their Soul Gems (and the other two/four keeping an eye on Mami so she doesn’t go all Spark-Hunter on them) they work to protect their city and prevent other girls from Contracting. Eventually all the Witches are exterminated, so no need to use up their Soul Gems anymore, they are locked away. Show ends with all three/five girls walking to class, another chance at normal lives. (Was just about to post this when I got the unpleasant realization that this is impossible. "Lock away the Soul Gems"? Wouldn't work. Damn. Ok, so best-case scenario the girls actively avoid using magic, but they still have to carry around this reminder. Still leagues better than where they are now, but... damn, even when I try to come up with a Good ending Urobuchi blocks me. ) (Feels Ending) Homura attempts to fight Walpurgisnacht on her own. Madoka intervenes, makes a Wish that Homura doesn’t hear, and destroys Walpurgisnacht. With her last words before she turns into a Witch, she asks Homura to not give into despair, and keep trying. Homura travels to another timeline, but when she gets there her shield shatters and her Soul Gem disappears. And when she gets to school, Madoka is nowhere to be found. (Urobutcher Ending) Madoka is about to go and try to help Homura, when her mother stops her with several men in uniform. Madoka is taken away for questioning about Sayaka, while the police car is stuck in traffic Walpurgisnacht attacks and destroys the car in passing. Homura tries to fight Walpurgisnacht, but loses like last time. Knowing that if she goes back again Madoka will be further tied up with Protagonist Potential, Homura gives up and her Soul Gem turns black. ...yep. So, so much fun coming up with these predictions. And even though for the last one I tried thinking of what could make me punch my screen, I wouldn’t bet that Urobuchi will find some way to top it. Ugh.

Still raining, scene change to a bar?

“It really does hurt, losing one of my own students this way…”

Oh. Ouch. Looks like the girl’s teacher is trying to cope. And she still doesn’t know what really happened to Sayaka, and we know that she never will. Add in a missing third-year student…

All they’ve got to go on is the fact that Sayaka was ‘quarreling’ with a friend over a boy. Aw jeez, Hitomi’s got to be in a bad spot right now, huh? Probably thinks that she drove Sayaka off? Kinda true, but not the whole story. Ten-to-one that the Incubator plans on paying a brown-haired girl a visit later.

So the cops are calling it “an accidental death, exacerbated by mental stress after running away from home.” So in other words, they’ve got no clue how she actually died. I suppose one’s soul turning into a Witch wouldn’t leave any real signs.

Oh, so Teach is talking with Mrs. Kaname! Should have realized when this convo took place in a bar. Heh, remember back when it was just jokes about Madoka’s Mom having to drink with her brotastic colleagues, and planning a coup of her department? Those were good times.

Uh oh. Mrs. Kaname’s admitting that she thinks Madoka knows something. But she also doesn’t seem like she’s lying… I think Mrs. Kaname’s thinking over that late-night advice on making a mistake for a friend. Madoka did say that a friend was getting into trouble. So much guilt being felt by all these secondary characters: Hitomi thinks she drove Sayaka away over Kamijo, Teach is worried about students going missing from school, Mrs. Kaname knew ‘a friend’ of Madoka’s was in a bad spot. Can’t say the blame falls fully on any of them, but I bet they feel like it does.

Mrs. Kaname bemoaning that for the first time, she can’t tell what Madoka is thinking. With things seeming off lately, she can tell something’s weighing on her but Madoka hasn’t talked about it. Understandable given the subject matter, but from Mother’s perspective Madoka doesn’t trust her anymore. And all she can do is trust Madoka.

Back at Homura’s place, doorbell? Oh, Madoka’s going to talk to Homura! She asks if all the floating diagrams are about Wally, says that Kyoko told her about the super-witch. Been a while since we last saw Kyoko, I can’t remember if that was onscreen on this is just establishing how Madoka could know about it.

Ah, seems Madoka’s here because she was told Wally is such a strong witch one person can’t beat it on their own. Homura was planning to team up with Kyoko… but then stuff happened. Madoka asks if Homura’s been planning on fighting it all this time, which gets an odd look from the time-traveler. Madoka rallies and asks if the city will be in danger.

Homura’s explaining that Walpurgisnacht is so powerful it doesn’t need to hide in a Labyrinth. If it manifests, thousands die. Muggles can’t see it, so they just think it’s caused by some natural disaster.

Madoka asks, or rather says that it absolutely has to be defeated… yup, Protagonist. Sorry, Homura, but I look at Madoka now and see someone who knows that there is a problem, and a way that she can help against it. With all the other girls gone, Homura will need help, so Madoka suggests that-

Homura cuts her off, insisting that she can do it on her own, claims that she never even needed Kyoko’s help. Yyyyeah, even Madoka knows that you’re bluffing. Then… oh! “I don’t know why, but I really want to believe in you, Homura. I don’t want to think that you’d lie to me.” Aw now you’ve done it Homura, you made Madoka cry. Feel the guilt. Feeeel it!

Urg, so many feels right now. Madoka’s crying because Homura is lying to her, and Homura’s clenching her fists and teeth because-

“I’m not even living in the same time that you are, Madoka!”

OUCH. Homura has broken down, rushed over and grabbed Madoka in a hug, our Protagonist is standing there very much off-guard. Cold, distant Homura is finally telling Madoka her story, that she’s from the future. That she’s met Madoka over and over, and each time had to watch her die.

“What do I have to do to save you? What do I have to do to change your fate?” She’s been redoing this month trying to find an answer. Yeah, not blaming you for your confusion Madoka, this is a big change from the Homura that you knew.

“I’m sorry… I’m not making any sense, right? I must seem horribly creepy, right?” Madoka’s known this Mysterious Transfer Student for barely a month, while Homura’s known Madoka for who knows how long. And for all Madoka is a kind and compassionate Protagonist, she really doesn’t know what do with this weepy girl.

“But to me… To me, you are…”

...well.

“The more times I redo all this, the further in time we drift from one another. Our feelings drift further apart, and my words don’t even reach you anymore. The truth is, I think I’ve been lost for a very long time now.”

“I will save you. That was the feeling that I started all of this with. And now, it is the only thing I have left to guide me.” Title drop! “It’s ok if you don’t understand. It’s ok if my words don’t reach you. But, please… Please… just let me protect you.”

...yup. That was one heck of a gut punch. I can say I understand the MadoHomu shippers now, that “To me, you are…” is all but a confession to me. However, I will still stand by my friendship interpretation because damnit my Ship of Death has killed off half the cast already, and I wanna see this girls live.

Cut to a dark and stormy sky, thunder and lightning. Some dudes are remarking that the thunderclouds are spreading at unbelievable speeds, call for an evacuation of the city. All the residents are getting ordered to their nearest shelters, and now the streets are empty.

Except for one person. A dark-haired girl in a school uniform, overlooking the water.

“It’s here.”

(For the record, as soon as I typed that the internet decided that “Eh, that’s a good place to crash”. Thankfully fixed it, but for a while there I was yelling at Wally for breaking my computer.)

Now we’re at a fancy building with lots of glass (as per the norm in this city), apparently it’s a gym of sorts that’s serving as a shelter, lots of families on green mats around the court. Not sure how much of a ‘shelter’ the building is with all the giant windows, let alone how it’s probably not Witch-proof, but better than everyone being at home I guess. Madoka’s family are at their own mat. Daw, been ages since I last saw the little brother and the Dad, Brother’s cute asking if they’re camping tonight and Dad saying it’s a great big group campout. But Madoka’s turned away from the rest of the family, clutching her knees. Taking bets on how long she lasts until she runs off to try and help, I’m giving it five minutes.

Back at Homura, colors are going monochrome, and a fog is spreading across the river. Once it reaches Homura she gives one last MST hair-flip, and starts walking. Wait, hold up, wasn’t she just behind a railing, facing the river? Is the fog a sign of warped reality so that the railing isn’t there anymore, or what?

Ah. Some sort of crayon rabbit-thing (not an Incubator, just has ears like a rabbit) just ran by Homura. Reality warping it is. And it just got stomped on by an elephant? Ok, looks like while Wally doesn’t have/need a labyrinth it does project a cirusy-vibe.

A lace curtain rises, and the music kicks in. A countdown begins. 5. 4. Buildings rise behind Homura. 2. The pastel circus passes by her. 1. Shattered buildings rise up and Walpurgisnacht looms from the clouds, an upside-down mannequin in a flowy dress with giant gears above.

The Future has arrived. Walpurgisnacht is here.

Homura launches into a quick transformation sequence (is this the first time we’ve seen her transform?), clicks her shield… and whoa that’s a lot of rocket launchers. No seriously, I am seeing dozens of RPGs and bazookas set up around her, how long did it take her to gather all of these?

So yeah, Homura’s starting off by freezing time and blasting dozens of explosives at Wally. Who just laughs a creepy echoey laugh and floats off breathing technicolor flames as Homura now runs about triggering mortars. That likewise seem to do no damage. Dang, even Homura’s early pipe bombs could destroy a Witch quickly, what’s Walpurgisnacht made of? Alright, will collapsing some metal towers on the Witch work? Nope. Now… do I hear a truck?

Abridged!Dio: “Look what I’ve got!”

Ok, the explosions keep coming as Homura drives a freaking tanker up the bridge into Wally’s face. And then ok what the hell, is that a sub? Did Homura just launch a freaking missile into this Witch? Half a dozen missiles? And then two that ram Wally into the industrial area? Sorry Mami, but as impressive as it was to see you summon a company-worth of muskets, I think Homura has you beat in firepower here.

Argh, but even after getting hit by friggin missiles Walpurgisnacht is still inta- oh, that’s a bomb. Oh, that’s a lot of bombs. OH, that’s a shitton of bombs!

But the music’s not stopping. It sounds like it’s building up, even. Aw crap, are you telling me that THAT wasn’t enough? Homura just blasted this thing into a building practically made of bombs, what more do you want?!

Crap, yeah. Homura just got struck by some sort of starry-whip, and Walpurgisnacht appears no worse for wear. Homura, I really hope you’ve got some more firepower stashed away.

All these explosions are shaking the shelter, Madoka’s parents are looking up at the ceiling worriedly and not saying anything. Madoka’s still off to the side, clutching her- wait, she just stood up. And said that she’s going to the bathroom. *Checks time, just under 3 minutes* Damn, even faster than I guessed.

Madoka’s looking out the (probably not storm-proof) giant glass windows at the pouring rain, and for crying out loud the Incubator is perched on the railing. She asks it if Homura was telling the truth about being able to face Wally on her own, the Incubator asks if she’d believe it anyways if it told her no. “At this point, explanations are pointless. You should go and see for yourself. See how well Homura Akemi is faring against Walpurgisnacht.” Manipulative to the end, aren’t you you little jerk.

It then proceeds to frankly say that Homura hasn’t given up hope yet. If she loses, then she can still turn back time, restart this ‘meaningless’ chain of events over and over. Because it’s no longer possible for her to stop or give up.

“The moment she acknowledges that everything she has done is pointless, and your fate is impossible to change, Homura Akemi will fall into despair and turn into a Grief Seed.”

Aw hell. The Urobuchi’s setting up Ending #3, isn’t he? Come on Homura, don’t fall to despair! You can’t give up on Madoka, even if you fail again this time you could still save the Madoka in the next timeline!

“So you’re saying that as long as she continues to hope, she can’t be saved?”

...no. No no NO. Do NOT do this to me, Urobuchi! I am begging you, do NOT make Ending #2 happen either! It doesn’t matter if Madoka Wishing for Homura to not be trapped in her quest to save Madoka would end the problem, if we end with either both girls dying or Madoka Wishing Homura free from the time loops, I am going to scream. Damn it, cut these girls a break!

Damn it. Madoka has dried her tears and is walking away. Either to lichdom to save another or to her death, I do not know. But away she goes.

Holy crap, Mom out of nowhere! She just grabbed Madoka’s hand.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Aw shoot, she’s confronting Madoka. If I see people in uniform show up I am going to break something.

Madoka says that she has to go save a friend, but Mother cuts her off and says to leave it to the firefighters. You know, the guys with rescue training that a middle-school girl doesn’t have.

Our Protagonist insists that it has to be her- oh! Mother just slapped her. “You don’t live your life just for yourself, understand?!”

But Madoka understands. She knows how much her mother and father care, because she loves her family too. And in order to protect them and her friend, she has to go somewhere else now.

Damn, props to Mother. Even not knowing everything that’s going on, even with such a terrible ‘storm’ outside, she says that she’s going with Madoka if she’s leaving. But Madoka says no, that she needs to stay and makes sure Father and Tatsuya stay safe.

“Mom, you told me you had raised me well. I don’t tell lies (*beyond not explaining Magical Girls*). I don’t do bad things. Will you believe in me now? Will you trust that I’ll do what’s right?”

Mother raises a hand. And then lowers it. And then launches Madoka forward with a pat on the back. Got to admit, for a second I thought that Madoka was going to fall down the stairs. What a way to end the show, right? But no, it’s a heartwarming moment between mother and daughter.

Back to Terrible Things! Walpurgisnacht is heading deeper into the city, Homura chasing while being surrounded by laughing starry MG-silhouettes. And of course Wally is heading for the shelter, as if this wasn’t bad enough already. If you’ve got anything left Homura, now’s the time to use it!

Um. Ouch. A building to the face has got to smart.

Aw crud, Homura’s foot is trapped. Is she…? Yup, she’s grabbing her shield, preparing to reset again. But if she goes back again, Madoka will get more tied up in MG potential.

No. No no no nope uh-uh NO. You do not get to give up now, Homura. You are not going to go Ending #3 and make Madoka have to fight two friggin Witches. Do NOT give up! No no NO

Madoka’s here.

“That’s enough. You’ve done enough, Homura.”

The music from the Future Dream/secondary credits has just started. The Incubator walks up beside Madoka.

“Madoka… you didn’t…!”

“Homura… I’m sorry.”

And credits.

After-credits picture of all five magical girls.

“If someone says it’s wrong to have hope, then I’ll tell them they’re wrong, every single time. And I know I’ll always tell them so.”

Final Episode: My Very Best Friend

*phew* Ok, we got way too close to Ending #3 there for me. And it’s clear that Madoka is going to make a Contract and become a MG to fight Walpurgisnacht. The only question now is what she’s going to Wish for.

I have to re-evaluate #2 now, given the after-credits line about Madoka always saying it’s wrong to give up hope. I can’t see someone who says that ending Homura’s quest, even with good intentions. So it’s more likely that Madoka will make the Wish about this timeline and just give Homura the inspiring speech, that just because this timeline didn’t work out that doesn’t mean she should give up on the future. So maybe a Wish like “I Wish I had the power to save this city from Walpurgisnacht”, or best-case “I Wish for my friends back to help me fight Walpurgisnacht”, and when Madoka runs out Homura leaves for the next timeline. And so we end with another failure, but hope that someday Homura will succeed.

*Sigh* Well, whatever happens next, bittersweet or just bitter, it’s been a trip. Thank you all for joining me in this WMTW, I will hope beyond hope that Homura will find peace someday.

[thelastspeecher]

I can’t think up a title for this thing that I wrote today, but it takes place in the Angiewolf AU.  Specifically, it takes between this ficlet and this ficlet.  It’s the morning after Ford gets back, where he visits Stan and Angie’s house to help explain everything to Dipper and Mabel.  But before he even sees the Mystery Twins, he has to talk to his sister-in-law and his newfound niece.  Don’t worry, he’s excited to see them.  A lot more excited than he was to see Stan.

              Ford stuffed his hands in his pockets as he stood outside Stan and Angie’s house.  It hadn’t changed in appearance since he’d been gone.  It was still spacious and rustic, like a cabin built for a family of basketball players.  Daisies and bluebells in full bloom stood side by side lining the front of the cabin. The Stanleymobile was parked in the driveway, as red as the day Stan had gotten it.

              It was like he was back in time, on the day Stan and Angie had first moved in.  He could practically see Stan, Angie, Fiddleford, and Angie’s family, full of excitement as they brought in boxes and furniture.  Stan challenging Lute on who could carry the most boxes.  Angie waving off Fiddleford’s concerns that she was straining herself by carrying the largest, heaviest furniture.  The six-month-old triplets sitting in the grass, playing with pastel toys under the watchful eye of Angie’s parents.  Ford swallowed, painfully aware of how the happy memories didn’t line up with the last time he had been there.  He made his way to the front door and knocked.

              “Someone’s at the door!  Someone’s at the door!  Someone’s here!” a voice shouted.  Ford frowned, trying to place it.

              Daisy, perhaps?  A muffled voice said something in response.  The door opened.  Ford smiled at the person standing before him.

              “Emily, I presume?” he asked.  Emily beamed broadly at him, her grin stretching from ear to ear.  Last night, in wolf form, he’d mistaken her for Angie.  But in her human form, the characteristics she’d inherited from Stan were more obvious – the large ruddy nose, the square jaw, the stocky figure.

              “That’s me,” Emily chirped.  Ford’s smile became warmer.

              “It’s a pleasure to properly meet you.”

              “Right back at ya.”

              “Short stack, let yer uncle in,” a new voice said.  A voice that Ford recognized.  He looked over.  Angie was standing in the entryway to the nearby kitchen, drying her hands on a gingham towel.  She grinned at him.  It was the same smile spread across Emily’s face.  “Long time no see, Stanford Pines.”

              “Yes, it has been a while,” Ford said, adjusting his glasses.  He tried to banish the mental image of the last time he’d seen Angie.

              Angie pale and unconscious on the floor, burns from silver spread across her body.  The triplets, whom she had managed to lock in their room when his possessed body arrived, shouting at the top of their lungs.  Stan physically throwing him out of the house, looking as feral as Angie on a full moon.

              “…Stanford?” Angie asked.  Ford blinked, surfacing from the memory.  Angie’s blue eyes were full of concern.

              I don’t deserve concern from her. Not after what happened thirty years ago.  She could have died.

              “Yes, I am.  I’m just, um,” Ford stammered.  Angie let out a small chuckle.

              “A sci-fi makeover hasn’t changed ya a bit.  Come on into the kitchen and I’ll feed ya.  I’m assumin’ ya haven’t eaten breakfast yet?”

              “That would be an accurate assumption to make.”

              “Figured.”  Angie strolled back into the kitchen.  Emily raced after her.  “Hold yer horses, pup.  The sausage is cookin’.”  Ford followed his niece and sister-in-law.  He looked around the kitchen with interest.  Among the mass of magnets covering the fridge was a wolf-themed calendar.  Several events were scribbled in red ink.  Many of the generic pictures of food that had decorated the walls thirty years ago had been replaced by pictures of Stan and Angie’s vast family.  The kitchen table was covered with yarn, glitter, and chewed on pens.

              “Project of yours?” Ford asked, picking up a skein of bright yellow yarn. Angie looked over.

              “No, that’s Mabel’s.  So’s the glitter.”

              “You haven’t bothered to clean up?”

              “Mabel’s mess is an organized mess.  Everything’s in its spot,” Angie said.  “The last time I cleaned up her supplies, she turned the house upside down ‘cause cleanin’ disrupted her system.  Made even worse of a mess.”

              “Ah.”  Ford carefully nudged a few sparkly pieces of yarn aside and sat at the table.  He clasped his hands.  “So, Fiddleford tells me you and Stan added to your family since I last saw you.”

              “Yes.  In a rather major way.”  Angie nodded at Emily, who was rummaging through the fridge.  “Emily’s the oldest of quadruplets.”

              “Quadruplets?” Ford said, aghast.  He shook his head.  “You have seven total children.”

              “Yep.”

              “You and Stan raised seven children.”

              “Mm-hmm.”

              “You.  And Stan.”

              “If yer tryin’ to imply that they were all wild and difficult, yer correct. I mean, the combination of myself and Stan is a handful alone.  Add onto that the lycanthropy and the fact that they were multiple births…”  Angie let out a bark of laughter.  “I’m honestly surprised the house is still standin’.”  Ford chuckled.

              “…Do you have any pictures?” he asked.  Angie grinned.

              “What do ya take me for?”

----- 

              Ford laughed as he turned a page in the photo album Angie had grabbed for him.

              “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?” he asked.  Angie shook her head, hiding a smile.  

              “Look, when you’ve got seven kids, ya don’t have that many options fer fam’ly Halloween costumes.”

              “These are wonderful.”  Ford looked at Angie.  “Thank you.”

              “…Fer what?”

              “Not kicking me out of the house the second you smelled my arrival.”

              “I heard ya ‘fore I smelled ya,” Angie said.  She turned another page in the photo album.  “But if I’m bein’ honest, Stan was the one who talked me down.”

              “Stan?”

              “Yes.  The day that you…”  Angie cleared her throat.  “I was still sick and hurt, and if I recall correctly, my words were ‘good riddance’.”

              “…Oh.”

              “Stan, though, he reminded me that what happened wasn’t under yer own volition, and you’d never do anything to purposefully hurt people you care about.” Angie shrugged.  “And I do feel like, even if we aren’t related by blood, we do have a bit of a connection.  We’re both scientists, after all.”

              “Stan was the one who talked you down,” Ford said quietly.  He rubbed his face.  “Why did he do that?”

              “Yer his brother.  He cares about you.”

              “I don’t know if I believe that.”

              “Oh, Lord.”  Angie steepled her fingers.  “What happened last night between you two?”

              “What do you-”

              “Stan came home furious about somethin’.  He wouldn’t tell me what happened.”

              “We fought.”

              “You fought?  Why?”

              “Because of the immense risks he took to bring me back after he pushed me through the portal in the first place!” Ford shouted.  Angie pursed her lips.  “And I heard the boy – Dipper – say that he got bitten by a werewolf, too.  I don’t know how Stan is involved, but I know it’s his fault in some way.”

              “Stanford.”

              “That’s his MO, Angie, and you know it.  Bad things happen around him.”

              “Does this have to do with the science fair incident?”

              “No.  I’ve moved past that.”

              “I don’t think you have.”

              “Angie, please,” Ford said.  He took a breath.  “I don’t want to talk about Stan.  I want to talk about your kids and Shermie’s grandkids.”

              “But-”

              “I mean it.”

              “Fine.”  Angie held her hands up.  “I’ll drop it.  And when Stan gets up, the chips ‘ll fall where they may.”

              “Thank you.”  Ford turned his attention back to the photo album.  “What did you say Cadenza does?”

              “She’s a lawyer.”

              “A lawyer?  Wow.  I assume she inherited Stan’s silver tongue.”

              “Mm-hmm.”

              “I’d like to meet her.  I’d like to meet all of the quadruplets.  And I’d like to see the triplets again.”

              “Sorry, but most all of the pups didn’t stick around in Gravity Falls. The only ones here right now are Emily and Molly.”

              “Aka the best ones,” Emily piped up.  “Caleb’s not even a werewolf anymore.”

              “He’s not?”

              “Nope.”

              “Huh.  Given how proud you all are of being werewolves, I would not have expected any of you to use the lycanthropy cure.”

              “Caleb’s always been a bit ‘meh’ about the werewolf thing, and being allergic to silver was making it difficult for his job,” Emily said.  “So he gave it up.”

              “What’s his job?”

              “He’s a pastry chef,” Angie replied.  “He lives in Piedmont like Mabel and Dipper.”

              “A pastry chef.”

              “Mm-hmm.”

              “Where is everyone else?”

              “Most of ‘em aren’t close enough to visit easily,” Angie said.  “Danny’s in Washington, D.C.  She works fer the Pentagon.”

              “Really?  With Stan for a father, how did she pass the background check?” Ford mumbled.  Angie frowned.

              “If I can’t talk ‘bout Stan, you can’t talk ‘bout him, either.”

              “Very well,” Ford sighed.  “What about the rest of your pups?”

              “Daisy’s back in Gumption on the fam’ly farm, doin’ testin’ on the crops. She’s a geneticist, so she’s tryin’ to improve the yield.  Emmett’s in dance school in San Diego – he studies ballet.  And Cadenza runs her practice from Portland.”

              “What about Molly?”

              “She’s bounced around doin’ botanical research, but right now she’s back in Gravity Falls, like I said.  She’ll be stoppin’ by this mornin’.”

              “She doesn’t live with you?”

              “…She’s in her thirties.  She has her own place.”

              “Oh.  Right.” Ford swallowed.  “She’s in her thirties.”

              “It’s got to be strange fer you,” Angie said sympathetically.  “She wasn’t even in kindergarten when you…left.  Now she’s all grown.”

              “Yes.”  Ford sighed softly.  “I’ve missed quite a bit.  Fiddleford even has a grown son.”  Emily, who was looking for something in one of the cupboards, froze.  She closed the cupboard door and stared at Ford with wide eyes.

              “Oh my god,” she whispered.  Angie stood up from the table.  “Oh my god! Ma, that’s-”

              “Emily, come with me to wake up yer father,” Angie said in a tight voice.

              “But Ma, Tate’s-”

              “Shh!”  Angie shot Ford an awkward grin.  “Go ahead and help yourself to some breakfast.  If Dipper and Mabel come down, tell Dipper he’s not allowed to have any pancakes.”  Ford nodded.

              “Because he’s been bitten, he’ll need plenty of protein.”

              “Exactly.”  Angie ushered Emily out of the kitchen.  Ford looked over at the counter.  Bacon, eggs, sausage, and pancakes were piled high on platters.  He smiled.

              That’s another thing that hasn’t changed.  Angie’s insistence on feeding everyone.  His stomach growled.  It’s been thirty years since I’ve had her amazing cooking.  Before he could get up to make a plate, footsteps rushed from the second floor. The two children he had met last night, Mabel and Dipper, ran into the kitchen.  They made a beeline for the food.

              “Dipper, no pancakes,” Ford said quickly.  Mabel and Dipper froze.  They slowly turned to face him.  Mabel squished her face excitedly.

              “Great-Uncle Ford!  What are you doing here?” she asked.

              “I came over to help Stan and Angie explain everything.”

              “Everything?” Dipper gasped.  He grabbed a notepad and pencil from inside his vest.  “Like, everything?”

              “Um, everything regarding the werewolf situation,” Ford said hesitantly.  Dipper’s eyes widened.

              “Awesome!”

              “Why can’t Dipper have pancakes?” Mabel asked.

              “Pups need protein,” a voice grunted.  Ford let out a small sigh.  He looked at the person who had just entered.

              “Stanley,” he said shortly.  Stan glared at him.

              “Ford,” Stan ground out.  He looked back at Dipper.  “Dipper, you got turned yesterday.  Getting turned isn’t a joke.  You need a lot of protein when you’re changing species, and you’re gonna be a pup on top of it.  Werewolf pups have to eat a lot of protein ‘cause they’re still growing.”

              “I’ll only have one pancake then,” Dipper said.  Stan glowered.

              “No.  No pancakes. Only protein for breakfast.”

              “But-”

              “No buts, kid,” Stan rumbled.  Angie walked into the kitchen.  “Ang, keep an eye on Dipper.  Don’t let him have any pancakes.”

              “Of course, darlin’.”

              “Thanks.”  Stan looked at Ford.  “Sixer. We should talk.”

              “…Yes,” Ford said.  “We should.”

[bffhreprise]

Entry 270

 “Would sitting this one out be horrible?” asked Shaurya, looking nervous.

 The yacht had started taking us to Freeport before I was even up.  We were supposed to do this ATV tour today.  Luckily, I was awake in time for breakfast, because I doubted we’d have much time for food on the ATVs.

 James quickly said, “Of course not.”

 But at the same time, Marlin asserted “Yes.  Completely.”

 “I’ve ridden on ATVs before.  They’re simply not my thing.” insisted Shaurya, looking even more worried.

 “Have you ridden ATVs on a tour in the Bahamas before though?  Mila tells me we’re going to have some great stuff to see.” argued Jarod, with his enormous grin.  The man had proven even more impressive in person.  All of them had.

 “Well, no…” muttered Shaurya.

 “Ha!” exclaimed Marlin, pointing her fork at him.  “You know you’d rather be part of the story than the one simply hearing it.”

 “Yeah, man.  This is going to be great!” insisted Brandon around a mouthful of his food.

 Jesse placed a hand on Shaurya’s shoulder as she said,  “If you have a terrible time, I’ll pitch in toward that new armor you wanted.”

 Shaurya looked at her, seeming surprised.  His decision had been made.  With a sigh, he conceded “Fine, I’ll go.”

  “Yes!  This’ll be awesome.  The guild’s going to be so jealous when we tell them about this.” I stated encouragingly.

 “They’re already jealous.  Are you sure you’ll live through them getting even more jealous?” teased Brandon, every bit as goofy as I had imagined him.

 “Bring it!” I told him, smiling back and pointing at him.

 As we rushed to open our laptops, James said, “No time, guys.  We’re almost to the island, and the limo will be waiting for us.”

 “Come on… beating him will take under a minute.” I argued, knowing I was boasting.  As goofy as Brandon was, his skill on Elf Hottie was admirable.

 “Ha!  Elf Hottie would take Sinister and his buddies out in one swing.” retorted Brandon.

 He honestly could if we were idiots and charged him as a group.  Thankfully, we weren’t.  I had seen Brandon’s real life-skill at the paintball games.  He had martial arts training and a mentality which conveyed well into Ancient Tribes of Earth.  The best way to defeat him was to try making him frustrated enough to slip, but surviving long enough could be tricky.

 Interrupting us, Lake said, “I’ve been wondering… who was that model you got to play your character when you guys did that convention?”

 Brandon choked mid-swallow, coughing up his drink.

 “Why?  You interested?” asked Jarod, smiling suggestively at her.

 “Maybe.” she replied coyly.

 “I’m sure Mila has her contact information, but there’s probably a great number of legal restrictions against us releasing it, given that my company was technically being employed by Aaliyah’s at the time.” explained James, perfectly business-like.

 James was tougher than I expected to read, but he seemed like the embodiment of authority.  Despite being older than him, I often found myself moving around him before I realized it.  No one in our guild, save for the Generals, ever challenged him to a duel or openly argued with his decisions.  Seeing him in person helped me understand why.

 In paintball, James moved as if he followed a script of the enemy’s movements, always placing himself precisely where he needed to be for an easy kill.  As friendly as he was on the yacht, he also was a bit unapproachable, like someone too perfect to be real.  How was anyone supposed to react to that?

 “Laws take the fun out of everything.” complained Lake with a sigh.

 Aaliyah looked ready to cry as she said, “But... but… but…”

 Mila quickly told her “Don’t worry, mother.  I always read every line.”

 “Did you know Aaliyah’s an attorney?” questioned James, smiling at us.

 “No way!” exclaimed Jesse, looking shocked.

 “Really?” asked Marlin dubiously.

 Aaliyah nodded without losing her pout… until she suddenly jumped up, exclaiming “We’re here!!!”

 That tiny girl was as hard to read as James.  She had been equally lethal and probably more vicious in paintball, using her size to confuse her enemies as she popped out to shoot them.  She was also far more acrobatic than I would have expected from someone her size.  Everyone who knew of her knew she was a genius.  Her game by itself had been plenty of proof, but creating a fully aware, seemingly emotional A.I. was on an even grander level.  Then she had engineering prowess to keep up with Jarod, who was easily a genius himself.

 The strategies Jarod implemented in game were so far beyond most of the other Generals that we felt invincible with him as our leader.  He seemed to know our personalities and capabilities well enough to predict how we’d react in battles against opposing groups from nothing more than my reports on them.  I tried to be detailed, but I never got nearly as much out of what I saw as he did.

  “You have time to finish eating if you hurry.  I’ll take care of cleaning up while you’re out.” explained Mila.

 “You’re not coming with us?  I was looking forward to seeing what an android can do with an ATV.” I complained.

 Mila’s limitations were a complete mystery to me.  When we met, I had thought of her as an extremely capable maid, given her outfit and ability to stay on top of everything.  Finding out that she was synthetic had blown my mind.

 “Put you to shame.” teased Marlin.

 “Well, yeah!” I agreed.  Given who designed her body, I expected her to have superhuman capabilities.

 Excited banter continued as I crammed food in my mouth.  The food on this trip had been exceedingly delicious at every meal, so letting anything go to waste would be heartbreaking.  I barely finished before we set off for the limo.

 “David, I presume.” stated James as he shook the driver’s hand.

 “Yes, sir.  A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Somerset.” he replied.

 “How did you know his name?” questioned Jesse.

 “I read his mind.” replied James with a smile.

 For a second, I believed him.

 “Come on, come on.  Are you really surprised the man paying for everything would know the name of the driver he picked?” asked Jarod, breaking the spell.

 James laughed and winked before stepping inside.  He was such a tall, broad-shouldered guy that most things seemed too small in comparison.

 “Ooooh.” replied Jesse as she came to her senses.

 I couldn’t blame her.  I had started trusting James completely within minutes of meeting him in person, which was very strange for me, but not trusting James was like earnestly arguing that the sun wouldn’t rise.

 A short drive from the dock left us at the ATV place.  There was a bit of confusion when Aaliyah presented her strange, black ID, but she was treated like royalty afterward.  We all had to go through a basic training course to test our skills and help those who lacked them.  Fortunately for us, we all had some skills.  There was a modified ATV waiting for Aaliyah, which I assumed had been designed specifically for her.  The bigger question was how it got here without the people running the establishment knowing.

 “Excuse us, but you’re obviously in our way!” exclaimed twins in unison from behind Jarod.  They were very pretty and obviously at least part Asian.

 Acting completely unsurprised, Jarod turned around and said, “Heya, girls.  Aren’t you supposed to be off on a bachelorette party, instead of bugging your fiancé?”

 “We have a tour scheduled for this morning.” insisted one of them.

 The other leaned against him as she said, “You wouldn’t want to interrupt our fun, would you?”  She looked up at him with such an innocent appearance that arguing with her would be akin to kicking a puppy.

 “You must be Ai.” guessed Marlin, speaking to the one leaning against Jarod.  “I’m Marlin.  I don’t know whether to congratulate you on pinning Jarod down or warn you about what you’re getting into…  He seems like a handful in game.”

 “Pleasure to meet you.  He’s hopeless, but I’ll try to bring him around.” replied Ai.

 “You two really are identical, aren’t you.” commented Jesse as she approached them.

 “Not quite.” argued Mila, coming up from the side and causing Jesse to jump.

 “Whoa.  I thought you were back on the yacht!” I exclaimed, feeling almost as surprised.  “Couldn’t stay behind?”

 “I am on the yacht.  This is my second body.” she explained with a small smile.

 “Second body!?” exclaimed the twins.  “Jarod!”

 “How could you make a second one without telling us?” asked Ai.

 Poking Mila in the chest, Mai asked “How could you be at Jarod’s bachelor party without telling us?”

 “I helped too!” exclaimed Aaliyah, smiling adorably up at them.

 “This is so odd.” insisted Lake.  “But really incredible!”

 A beautiful girl with multi-colored hair hugged Lake from behind and said, “Isn’t she!?”

 Lake looked uncomfortable before turning to see who was hugging her.  Then she smiled.

 The girl released Lake and held out a hand, saying, “Oh.  Sorry.  I’m Emma.  You’d know me as Toxicodendron Radicans.”

 “Toxi!?  That’s you!?” exclaimed Lake, quickly grabbing Emma’s hand in both of her own.

 “Third Mila incoming?” I suggested, noticing one in different clothing walking our way.  The possibilities for an A.I. controlling multiple bodies were endless.

 “No.  That’s my girlfriend, Alma, whom you know as Eseld.” stated James with an amused tone.

 “Just look for the smile.” suggested Aaliyah.  “Mila has one.  Alma likes to look like this.”  Aaliyah’s face went completely expressionless in an instant.

 I wasn’t put off by finding out that this was the girlfriend.  There were two more beauties behind her.  One had skin and hair as white as snow, which seemed completely out of place in the Bahamas.  She was considerably taller than the other two, but that really wouldn’t take much.  The second one had the most voluminous blonde hair I had ever seen in person, partially hanging over one eye.  There were sporadic dyed strands visible as they got closer.  She seemed nervous, as if she wanted to duck farther into her yellow, cat-like hoodie, which I couldn’t understand wearing in this heat.  I took a moment to realize she was wearing contacts, making her eyes seem slightly red and the pupils look cat-like.

 “A pleasure to met you all in person.” stated Alma after she reached us.  Pointing to the ivory, she said, “This is Calamity, who we call Portentia in person.”  Then she motioned to the other cat-lover, saying, “This is Raine, who you likely know as Nekopawpaw, our guild’s most renowned crafter.”

 I should have guessed.  Anyone who would use the name “Nekopawpaw” had to love cats, not to mention that her game character was a cat-girl.  She had seemed shy in the game, but I had trouble picturing this girl working as a best friend for hire at James’ company.  Did she do something else there?

 “If everyone’s ready then, shall we depart?” asked Mario, our guide.

 “No training course for them?” asked Alec, looking surprised.

 “Oh, they went through the course earlier.  They’re good.” replied Mario with a reassuring nod.

 Without any argument, all of us hopped on our ATVs and set off, racing along the roads and trails.  The scenery was breathtaking, but so were the girls.  I had a new picture of James’ company, feeling they could all be extraordinarily talented models, which would help explain how such a strange company stayed afloat.   Ties with the Intergalactic House of Awesome Sauce and Global Princess Entertainment surely helped as well.

 The guide was great, cracking jokes as he told us about different areas of the island.  Emma had beef with the exclusion of plants in his speeches, pointing out rare specimens she had noticed, which only made my picture of the company seem even more accurate.  Jarod informed me that Emma has a degree in Botany, despite only being nineteen.  Everyone seemed to have fun throughout the trip, even Shaurya, who was taking tons of pictures throughout our journey.

 When the other group went their own way, I was a little disappointed.  I knew several of us had considered asking Raine about bumping us up on her list of commissions for Ancient Tribes of Earth, and getting to know the other Generals better in person would’ve been nice.  Still, I couldn’t complain.  Meeting them at all gave us bragging rights.

 After eating on the yacht and doing a bit of gaming, we set out for private tours of various forts.  Jarod’s enthusiasm for them surpassed the rest of us combined, but I always knew he was a nerd, though I never had considered this nerd could probably beat me up in real life.  Aaliyah only fueled his enthusiasm by claiming there were hidden rooms in certain spots.  Unfortunately, the tour guides wouldn’t let us verify any of them.

 We finished our day with a walking tour of restaurants and rum, which surprisingly included a chocolatier who made some chocolates with rum.  The entire group was careful to keep Aaliyah away from the alcoholic food, which was trickier than some might expect.  I wouldn’t have thought the little prodigy would’ve been interested in sampling anything, but she apparently was.  By the end, I was exhausted, but happy that my day had been so wonderful.

[migleefulmoments]

Closeting in Hollywood: What Have Ricky, Matt, Kevin, Wentworth, and Colton Said

The CC fandom has spun a convoluted and elaborate fantasy that claims that Darren Criss has been kept in the closet for 9 years because of a morality clause that was attached to THE Contract when he signed to play Blaine Anderson on Glee. 

A “morales clause” as used in the entrainment industry has come to reference any number of contractual terms that cite certain behavior of the contractual individual and serve as a basis for termination of the agreement. ...the clause allows advertisers to terminate a talent agreement when an actor’s conduct is detrimental to the employer’s interests or otherwise devalues the performance due” (X)

In other words, a morality clause allows the studio to fire an actor who breaks the clause. That’s it. It can’t force an actor to lie about his sexuality. It cannot force an actor to create an entire fake life in order to keep his sexuality hidden from the world at the instruction of a studio.  It can’t force someone to hide their true life or risk “breaching the contract”.  You can read an in-depth look at morality clauses in sports and entertainment, here. 

I have already shown that in CA, the longest an employment contract can be is 7 years- which means the had Glee not ended- which ended the contract- the contract would have ended in 2017. 

So let’s see what these men have said about their experience “in the closest” in Hollywood:

Wentworth Miller- 

Wentworth came out in August 2013.  He spoke publicly soon after about his experience being closeted.

Miller spoke of the pressure in Hollywood to keep his sexuality a secret, particularly when he became the star of the 20th Century Fox series Prison Break

"I did thousands of interviews. I had multiple opportunities to speak my truth, but I chose not to," he said. "I was out to family and friends, to people I trusted, but professionally, publicly I was not.

"I had to choose between out of integrity and out of the closet and I chose the former. I chose to lie. Because when I thought about the possibility of coming out, and how it would impact me and the career I had worked so hard for, I was filled with fear." (X)

Ricky Martin

Pop star Ricky Martin says he "wasted energy" hiding his sexuality at the start of his career.

The 46-year-old came out in 2010, and recently married Jwan Yosef, with whom he has two sons, fathered by surrogate.the star said he regretted the lengths he had gone to disguise his sexuality."I was a closeted gay man who was making my partners hide," he said. Some of his partners had gone "back into the closet" on his behalf, he added.Martin said he had taken extreme measures to avoid speculation, in case it harmed his career."I didn't open doors to new relationships, and I'm not talking about romantic relationships, I'm talking about any relationship, because I didn't want people to know me too much. "I wouldn't even sit down and have a cool relationship with amazing producers or great film directors because I was afraid that if they spent more than two hours sitting with me they would know my nature."I wasted so much energy trying to manipulate my sexuality."Martin has previously explained it took him years to come to terms with his sexuality - and he was still "struggling" with the issue at the height of his fame in 1999."Even though I had relationships with men after separating from my first love, I was still not ready to accept myself as gay," he wrote in his autobiography, Me.Martin has previously explained it took him years to come to terms with his sexuality - and he was still "struggling" with the issue at the height of his fame in 1999."Even though I had relationships with men after separating from my first love, I was still not ready to accept myself as gay," he wrote in his autobiography, Me. (X)

Before the addition of his twin sons Mateo and Valentino, Martin was struggling internally with his sexuality because of society’s pressure and the stigma of being a gay man. As he told CBS Sunday Morning, Martin feared rejection because he had been told for so long that his “feelings were evil” and that by feeling the way he felt about men then he wasn’t a good person. So, in 2010, Martin declared to he world, and his fans, that he is a “fortunate homosexual man.” (X)

Colton Haynes

Nowadays, Colton Haynes is out and proud and engaged to the love of his life, but it was only a few short years ago that he was struggling to cope with anxiety that stemmed from being forced into the closet by his management...his team routinely tried to set him up with women to distract rabid fans from learning the truth about his sexuality...“I was literally told from the day that I moved to Los Angeles that I could not be gay because I wouldn’t work," he said. "Then I was with my management team and a team of people that just literally told me I couldn’t be this way. They tried to set me up with girls. I was rumored to date Lauren Conrad for six months because they were kind of angling a story. And then I dated every other young person which of course I didn’t date.”  (X)

In the span of approximately two years, Colton Haynes ditched his MTV and CW roots, came out, fired his management and took some time off... Newly engaged and freed from the leash of career advisers who wanted to market him as straight, Haynes has processed the anxiety that accompanied his private life being laid bare...I literally quit acting for over a year and then I re-signed with a new agency, The coming-out thing was a year ago in May, so yeah, it was basically that whole process. When that happened, it was me figuring out, “OK, is this a good move?” I parted ways with my team, and it was a really tricky year for me. My anxiety was terrible, and eventually I was like, “I’m not going to literally waste the last 10 years of my life.” So I started back and it’s going well. No, I never thought — I’ve been told by so many people that you cannot be out and have a career. Literally people would set me up with girls for press.In what context were you set up with women?I would be at a party. There was this whole story that ran with Lauren Conrad, who I love — she’s the best. Basically my old manager at the time was like, “Oh, take a picture with her.” He just basically ran this story trying to say that I was dating Lauren Conrad. It was there for about six months. I was like, “Oh, great, I have to do this.” That’s how it is in Hollywood. But not anymore. You have all these amazing showrunners who actually embrace people’s personal lives and embrace people’s truth. I think that’s really pivotal. I’m surprised you were dealing with that even a few years ago. I figured we’d moved past that. Yeah, I did that for seven or eight years. I was told by my first manager, like 10 years ago, “You will never work in this town if people know [you’re gay].” I assume that’s what led to your management changes. Oh God, yeah. That was like, “Bye! You gotta get out.” God. I wish I could say more.You can! [Laughs] Yeah. It was a compete team change. (X)

Matt Dallas 

The 26-year-old Dallas had not publicly come out as gay until Sunday, but there had been speculation about his sexuality for years. In early 2009, he was linked to “Mean Girls” actor Jonathan Bennett, from whom he reportedly split that same year. In September 2009, Dallas and Hamilton were spotted together grabbing food in West Hollywood.

Dallas’ coming-out is in line with what appears to be a trend of celebrities addressing their sexuality in remarkably subtle ways — really, nothing more than “I’ve never been in.”“Gone are the days of the ‘Yep, I’m Gay’ magazine covers,” notes HuffPost Gay Voices Editor-at-Large and SiriusXM host Michelangelo Signorile, “with celebrities making a spectacle of coming out, and thus focusing on the fact that they were in the humiliating and painful gay closet... The closet isn’t going away any time soon. But one step toward dismantling it among public figures it to make it a difficult and embarrassing place to be. From the looks of the latest celebrity self-outings, that’s perhaps starting to take hold.” (X)

Matt Dallas revealed executives of hit show Kyle XY told him not to publicly come out as gay.

The 36-year-old played the title character in the American science fiction television series for three seasons from 2007.

‘I was told to stay in the closet,’ he revealed. ‘Not talk about my sexuality, to be on every red carpet with a girl on my arm – because you could not be successful if you were openly gay in the entertainment industry, at least in front of the camera.’

‘I wish I had not taken that advice,’ he added.Dallas then said: ‘Because of the advice that was given to me to stay in the closet, I became very disconnected from who I was.‘There’s a lot of residual stuff that to this day that I still deal with where I find myself [thinking] “I sound too gay” or “I’m acting too gay” because it was so drilled into my brain,’ he said (X)

Kevin McHale

McHale added that, although he hadn’t explicitly come out as gay before, though he did not hide it and has been very explicit in social media about his private life and sexuality. “The person I was with came from the most accepting family, but one of the family members, he was terrified of them finding out,” he said (X)

Let’s be real..closeting happens in the Hollywood but NOT the CC fantasy version. It doesn’t happen through morality clauses and contracts. Closeting happens exactly like this group of men have described- managers who are supposed to be looking out for the actor’s best interests advise them to stay in the  closet in order to have a career. It is studios telling an actors they shouldn’t come out and to have a woman on their arm at events. But all of these men have described being “advised” or “pressured” not being forced.  

The way that closeting works in Hollywood: 

society tells LGBTQ kids that they are not worth as much as straight people, that there is something wrong, they are abnormal, weird, freaks. 

By the time they get to Hollywood, the self loathing, anxiety, depression and confusion are well established. Add a manager or studio telling you if you want this career you have worked so hard for you had better stay in the closet and it is becomes overwhelming. Colton and Wentworth both have spoken at length about their severe anxiety and depression. 

The manager who pressures the actor to stay in the  closet may very well be giving solid advice. It is true that gay actors are passed over for leading man roles because casting agents don’t believe they are believable as straight. But telling someone to literally hide a major part of themselves from the world when the spotlight is shining directly on them is asking an impossible taste.  

casting agents often won’t even consider openly queer actors for straight roles because they believe that the audience won’t believe they are straight. 

Bringing attention to ways in which LGBTQ persons are discriminated against is  important.  But lying about HOW closeting works and promoting outrageous lies because they make fulfill your fantasy about a straight man, is pretty disgusting and isn’t helping queer actors. 

[dusterson]

But almost all blogs have everyone in their own verse unless discussed to be including multiple within one. I don't see why you have an issue with that?

In a nutshell: the old dog won't learn new tricks.

And I will preface this with I do not hold any ill feelings or judgement against those that prefer the way tumblrp is done now. Think of me right now as an old man who grew up in the boonies trying to send a fax through a chromebook and being sad no one will fax me back. (if you Can fax through chrome book idk idc I'm an old man on a farm)

So! In the past, what you say was not the case. At least not that I ever saw. What your muse did could actually cause a domino effect of events in rp that brought multiple writers together, collaborating on plots together without the fear of a community actually feeling like... a community. Muns who didn't even follow each other, miles of mutuals down the line, were in on the same plot. They were included. It was a real collaberation.

If muse A stabs muse B in a thread, why can't muse B go to muse C, whom knows both muse A and B, for help with their injury? A whole giant circle of mutuals who are mutuals with one another, and none of what's written between anyone of them will have any effect outside of the thread?

People used to just. Be in character. Hardly any starter calls, a SHITTON less memes, they would just Go. And then others, would join them. Your muse would meet another muse, they'd be like "oh shit you know that guy too?" and you didn't have to like... go into their DMs and ask "hey since all our muses interact can they......... interact?" No one ever asked that kinda thing. It was assumed to be fine-- that's what multiverse USED to mean, was that every rp universe was connected to one another.

Things happening in Marvel rp circles caused ripples in the HiNaBN rp circle. My Hannibal OC was friends with a werewolf from a webcomic (who was Never a werewolf in said comic). A kid version of one muse got possessed and my entire dashboard was an IC battlefield for weeks trying to save this poor little boy from killing everyone through paintings.

That's what confuses me. It feels like every thread is its own alienated universe, that will affect nothing and grow nowhere outside of itself. It feels like walls to me. How does a character develop if everything that happens to them, happens in different realities from one another?

WE WROTE TOGETHER. That's the issue I have. Personally, I'd call it a sadness rather than an issue. Now, maybe an issue is I... designed my Dustin to function in the old tumblrp way. Womp.

If I had made Dustin back in those days, another Dustin could follow me and they'd interact, and both would still be Dustin. None of that twin stuff or whatnot. We used to make nicknames for our muses' different versions. Technically, this is "fpw!Dustin", but as I've come to discover people are only willing nowadays to write with doubles OTHER than the one they write.

I was so excited to meet another Dustin, I have/had plans for when he first interacts/ed with another. I had back-up plans to ensure that it Would be plausible for my Dustin to IC be around another Dustin. I WANT Dustin to meet Dustin and go WtF. I WANT Dustin to be on a literal Eddie collecting spree because his Eddie is dead.

But if that's all in the past now, I'm not demanding others change. I'm explaining why I might leave. And I might not. I might change the blog up some, I might just downsize who I follow... it's up in the air you know? I'm mostly at a loss: do I adapt? How? Can I?

I hope this helps your understanding. And thank you for asking in such honesty. 💙