#my parents liked 1. me reading and 2. me getting the mail so they didn't have to

[cookinguptales]

So when I was a child, I got Ranger Rick every month. It's a magazine for children designed to teach them about animals and nature. I was a tiny little nerd living in a heavily wooded area back then, so I loved it!

I had this exact issue lmao.

The mascot of this magazine was the eponymous Ranger Rick, a cute raccoon forest ranger who taught kids about nature.

This is what he looked like when I was a kid getting the magazine in the mid-90s.

Look how friendly and soft and dashing he looked!!! Ultimate nature educator for kids!

He got a redesign when I was around ten, which was a little odd, but I was getting a little too old for RR at that point, so I guess I didn't mind that much. That was about when we left Ohio, so I wasn't getting as much time in nature anyway.

Sorry that he's grainy, there are not that many images of early 2000s Rick on the internet. I think they were trying to make him feel more relatable, like he was a child instead of a ranger teaching them. Or at least a more casual teacher...? Not sure how well that worked.

I remember thinking the redesign was kind of pointless as a child, but this was around when my mom lost her job and we didn't have the money for things like magazine subscriptions anymore. I stopped getting the magazine and the design became kind of a moot point, but I still had beloved memories of Ranger Rick.

So imagine my surprise when I see a recent image of Rick and... oh.

Oh no... Look how they've massacred my boy... Look at those soulless eyes... That skinny little body that does not look huggable at all... Like I guess I'm glad that he's gone back to being more obviously a ranger, but like... the Flash of it all...

But. But I guess I should be grateful for what we have. He might be kind of soulless now, but look what they tried to launch a few years ago:

Jesus fucking christ.

[bingbongsupremacy]

Closure Pt. 2

Pairing: Steve Harrington x plus size!reader

Warnings: swearing, anger, idk what else

Series Summary: You never knew Steve could be so shallow. When he leaves you to date Nancy Wheeler, you're left with a pain you thought he'd never leave with you. Maybe you should've stayed friends.

Part Summary: He wrote a letter. You don't need him. Right?

*Not Proof Read* Stranger Things Masterlist

Based off of Taylor Swift Song Closure. This was a request. I tried to make everything as general as possible. Pls let me know if missed something ty.

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3

*****

No one was supposed to know we were dating. Steve said he didn’t want his teammates to bug me. He didn’t want people to overreact when they found out about us and say mean shit. At the time, I agreed. I mean, Steve’s the king of Hawkins high. I wouldn’t be the first girl he’s dated who’s had rumors spread about them. 

Hiding us was harder than we thought. A month or so after we got together Tommy found out and told the whole team. Gradually the whole school found out. Gossip spreads like wildfire, especially in a town like Hawkins. 

During the weeks after we broke up, I started to think about our secret relationship.

He wasn’t trying to protect me. He was trying to protect his reputation. Steve might not show it but deep down he’s just like everyone else. He’s got insecurities too. He obsesses over anything negative that’s said about him, analyzing everything that others think is imperfect about him until he finds a way to change it.

That’s something I noticed sophomore year when we started to get a little closer.

He was kind to me, but he wasn’t perfect. I don’t know for sure but I think he still messed with underclassmen, bullying them for praise from Tommy and Carol. He wanted to be liked by everyone, especially those two assholes.

He was always going to pick them over me. 

“ Honey, this came in for you today. “ My mom breaks me out of my thoughts. 

I look up from my stack of paperwork. “ What? From who? “ My brows furrow in confusion. Who would send mail to my parents’ house? I haven’t lived here in years. 

“ It’s from Steve. “ My moms eyes scan over the stark white envelope. 

My heart sinks. 

What the fuck does he want? 

I haven’t seen or talked to him since graduation 7 years ago. What could he want with me? Last I heard he got a job at Family Video and Nancy broke up with him. 

He knows I’m here. He has to. Fucking Hawkins. When one person knows everyone knows. Mrs. Henderson must’ve told someone when I ran into her at the gas station. 

“ What ever happened to you and Steve? Do you both still talk? “ My mom asks curiously while handing over my mail. 

Oh right. I never told her. 

“ We fell out of touch. You know, life. " I shrug, hoping that's enough for her.

" Oh, that's so sad sweetie. I'm sorry. " She sends me a small sympathetic smile. " That's always hard when you lose touch with someone you love. " She gently pats my shoulder.

Love.

Steve didn't love me.

I send her a small smile, hoping to drop the topic. " It happens, ma. "

" Well, I'll you get to it. " She dismisses herself, leaving me to the letter in my hands.

I trace the sharp corners of the envelope. Should I open it? Do I want to?

I wonder what it says.

What could he have to say to me after all of these years? It couldn't be something worth my time. Not after the shit that happened in high school. Right?

But what if it is?

Fuck it. I'm curious.

I pull open the envelope and let the torn paper fall into my lap. A neatly folded letter greens me, the bright white stationary paper matching the envelope.

This is it. Here we go.

I pull open the letter. Dark blue pen lines starkly contrast the white paper. Steve's familiar handwriting fills a good portion of the page. At the bottom his squiggly signature lies, bold and exactly the same as I remember.

Y/N,

I hope this letter finds you. I heard you're back in town. I've been meaning to do this for a long time. I've debated writing to you for years. I didn't know if I had anything good enough to send to you.

I was an asshole to you. You didn't deserve how I broke up with you. I feel horrible about how I treated you. About how I let other people change my opinion and control my actions. I should've stood stronger with what I thought.

That's something I always loved about you. You didn't let other people sway your opinions. I'm sure you still don't. You thought for yourself.

You are so much braver than I am. You didn't compromise yourself for others.

I've thought about what happened for years. About how you must have felt.

I hope you're well. I hope you've been able to move on and you've continued to be yourself. I know I don't deserve to say that, I just wish you the best.

I wanted to explain to you why I did what I did. I owe it to you. I was selfish. I got caught up in the high school popularity shit. I know it's stupid. I wanted to be Hawkins High's main guy. I wanted the Prom King title. I wanted the attention.

I really did like you. You made me feel safe and understood. You were always patient and kind. You urged me to be me, even when I felt like caving under pressure. You liked me for me, not for who I was trying to be. You deserved better than me.

People started to talk. You know. You heard the rumors.

At first, I thought I could handle it. I thought it wouldn't bug me. I thought I could push past it all. I cracked. Tommy and Carol jumped on the wagon and it pushed me over the edge. I couldn't bare the thought of losing the respect I'd worked so hard to get. I couldn't handle the teasing I'd get from the guys after games or the looks Tommy'd send my way when he saw us together.

It was wrong. I didn't think about you. About how you must've felt and how you were handling everything that was going on. It was Senior Year. I should've held on. We would've been out of this shit hole in a few months anyway, I don't know why I didn't just ignore it all. That's one of my biggest regrets.

I've been in therapy for a few years now. I've worked past all that surface-level shallow shit. I really see just how much I hurt you, and for that I'm so sorry.

I don't expect you to forgive me. I just wanted you to know that you're the first girl I ever loved and I am so grateful for you. Our relationship sent me on a path to help myself, and for that I will always love you.

Thank you.

-Steve Harrington

P.S. The week before we broke up I was going to give this to you. I never did.

I glance down at the envelope in my lap and open it. At the bottom lays a shiny silver necklace. A small gem, my birthstone, lays in the center. It glimmers in the light. It's beautiful.

I turn the gem over and spot a small engraving on the back.

SH +Y/N

For a moment I'm torn.

Should I write him back? Should we talk?

Part of me does miss him. I miss his laugh. His playful teasing. The way he looked at me.

No.

He hurt me. A lot.

He can't just send a letter and make it better. Why didn't he talk to me in person if this really weighed on him as much as he says it did? Why didn't he call me?

I don't need him. I'm fine. I've been fine without him for years. I'm not going to let him back into my life because he feels bad about his actions and insecurities.

I left Hawkins for a reason. I needed to get away from Steve. I needed him out of my life.

I'm not going to let him back in for his sake.

I don't need him.

I stand up, taking the papers and necklace in my hand. I walk over to the trashcan near my dresser. Without a second thought, I drop everything into the can.

The necklace makes a small clunking sound as it hits the bottom of my empty can.

The rustling of papers quiets and so does my pounding heart.

I'm fine on my own.

(Do we like this ending? Or should I try to make another part? )

Taglist: @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @queen-apple24

[danieyells]

hi! any chance you'd be able to post some of kaito's voicelines? I would love to see them <33

Our wanna-be knight and pathetic little best friend! He's just such a good boy lol. . .once again, another one who just wants to go back to a normal life, poor thing. Kaito's very much your vanilla, sweet boyfriend character with no frills attached, aside from his cowardice and his gambling habit of course. And his terrible aim. . . .

Copying all of them over isn't hard now that I've done it twice. Let's do it again for Kaito!

Default:

"{PC}! Over here! Hiya!"

"God, please don't make me go on any more missions... It's not like me being there is any help to anyone anyway..."

"Oh yeah, have you been on WickHive yet? Someone leaked next month's cafeteria menu! Oh wait... I-I already told you that, didn't I?!"

"Damn it... I could've taken {PC} to lunch with that money! God, why am I such a moron?!"

"Ask me anything you want to know! I'm pretty savvy when it comes to Darkwick!"

honestly the fact that he's a second year who doesn't wanna be here and doesn't wanna be doing all of this but he still knows like everything about the school is also kinda sus to me. . .surely he'd divest himself from as much of darkwick as possible if he didn't care

"Urgh... Limited time only, you are not my friend... Huh? Oh, I'm on TikTok. I really want this, but I'm pretty broke this month..."

You've got mail:

"Hey, new message. Better check it out, yeah? Or are you the type who's got like a ton of of unread inbox messages?"

. . .shut up /absolutely that type (and a sincere apology to literally everyone i know for that my adhd doesn't let me read and respond to their messages--)

Affinity 1:

"Ahem... Testing, testing... Morning! Heh, nailed it... Ack! How long've you been there, {PC}?!"

Affinity 2:

"Phew, should be safe here... EEEEEEEEEEK! Oh thank god, it's just a cat... I thought he found me..."

romeo oh romeo didn't you get into enough shit for this romeo? just make sure it's not Romeo cat. Because I'm sure it'll tell him somehow--

Affinity 3:

"Shit, it's Luca... Judging by the outfit he must be going to train. I better bail before he tries to rope me in too..."

Affinity 4:

"Eeeek?! Oh, it's just you... Geez, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

i know romeo is constantly on his ass, and I relate to the feeling of being scared the people you owe money will appear out of nowhere and get you, but. . .he's so jumpy lol

Affinity 5:

"Ugh, Romeo's texting me... Not gonna open that..."

Affinity 6:

"So your father runs a company, huh? Who the hell leads with that?! This is why I hate talking to Frostheimers..."

so the wording here is wonky because he's quoting a Frostheimer, but there's no visual indication that he's quoting them. But lore drop! Kaito's father runs a company! But I thought he wasn't well off. . .? Maybe his parents are separated or his father doesn't spend any of their money on him. . .or the company isn't doing well. . . .

Affinity 7:

"Argh, I want junk food! And I want to try all the new snack flavors!!"

my boy is so relateable--

Affinity 8:

"All right, time to man up and bite the bullet... Nope, absolutely not, can't do it!"

Affinity 9:

"How is Jin's skin so perfect? Fucking rich kids and their stupidly expensive fancy-ass toner!!!"

kaito really looking at jin like OH NO HE'S HOT

Affinity 10:

"(yawn) Guess I'll go brush my teeth..."

Affinity 11:

"Hey {PC}, you seem different somehow today. Did you change something? Or am I just imagining things?!"

Affinity 12:

"Noooo why does Tohma want to see me...? No way it's about something good! Could you come with me, {PC}?!"

Affinity 13:

"Crap, I fell asleep in class so I don't know what our homework is... Help me, {PC}!"

Affinity 14:

"(yawn) Man, my bed's like a freaking marshmallow. I can never get any good sleep on that thing..."

lol the Frostheim beds are too comfortable lolol I NEED A FIRMER BED TOO KAITO I GET IT.

Affinity 15:

"Huh? Oh, my pendant! You're always wearing it? Does that mean you've actually been paying attention to me?!"

once again the wording here is wonk because it makes it sound like the pc is always wearing Kaito's pendant. I'm pretty sure he's quoting the pc, who's commented that "you're always wearing it". It would read better as smething like "You noticed I'm always wearing it?"

Affinity 16:

"Hey {PC}, how 'bout we grab a bite?! I've got tons to splurge in winn... er, earnings, so it's all on me! Get whatever you want!"

your gambling addiction is really and truly going to get you in trouble. disregard that i play a gacha game.

Affinity 17:

"...Huh?! Man, nearly fell sleep without putting my phone on the charger... 5%, that would've sucked tomorrow..."

Affinity 18:

"Ha ha ha! Have you seen this yet?! It's all over TikTok. Ah man, it's killing me..."

Affinity 19:

"Whoa, when did it get so late?! Sorry {PC}, I didn't mean to keep you up... What? You're still good?"

Affinity 20:

"Morning! Hey, guess what? Luca's busy after class, so how about we hit up the diner? It's been ages!"

do you. . .do you really wanna go there. . .i mean the drinks seem to be fine but according to sho they can't make good food at all. . . .

Affinity 21:

"Sorry, I gotta stay after class today... (sniffle) This sucks, I really wanted to walk home with you..."

aw buddy. . .they could wait for you or come pick you up after your remedial lesson. . .!

Affinity 22:

"Hey I'm really sorry but do you mind if we stop by the campus store after class? I'm almost out of granulated sugar."

Affinity 23:

"Hey, do you like stars? Oh, um, I was just wondering 'cause there's this place where you can see them really well, so I thought maybe you'd want to go some time..."

he's overcoming his fears and being honest with himself and how he speaks and just. . .asking honestly, no bravado, no act. do it scared, kaito. do it scared, do it awkward, do it sure you're going to fail. as long as you do it. proud of you!

Affinity 24:

"Sure is dark. Reminds me of the closet where we first met. Remember?"

Affinity 25(max):

"I know I'm weak, and a coward. But I really do want to become your knight in shining armor, {PC}."

I love how comfortable and honest he starts to get as his affinity goes up. Still shy here and there, still scared, but he's not as jumpy and he starts treating you like a real friend. laughs with you about stuff, talks a little about hobbies and struggles. doesn't try and look cool for you. and then the honesty--i'm a weak coward, but i wanna be better for you. i wanna spend time with you. just!!! he grows!!! he realizes you like him for who he is and how he is, even if that's a weak coward--and that that's exactly what he wants! and it's okay for him to be that way because you won't be put off by it, even if it's something he'd like to grow from so he can be better for you--but he wants to be better for you as himself and--idk. i have feelings about characterization lol.

Spring:

"(yawn) Man, I wanna sleep, but I can't fail, so I gotta show up for class... Oh! I have Professor Nicolas next! Naptime."

does that mean you're good in anomalous medicine class or. . . .

"Grr! All those girls in the hall were looking at Luca! I'm so pissed off now I'm not even sleepy anymore!"

"It's finally warm out again, so I really want to go do something fun... Wish I could get an R&R permit..."

well maybe if you stopped sleeping in class and did good in class or went on a mission or something. . . . . .

"Mheheh... {PC}... You've got a petal in your hair... Zzz..."

Summer:

"Ugh, it's too hot to go outside... But I can sense a coming-of-age event on the horizon... All right, here I come!"

obligatory beach event? 👀

"Can't believe Professor Hyde still wears that blindfold in summer. Pfft, I bet it's really sweaty under— Eeeek! S-Sir?!"

"Hey {PC}, are you free after this? I was thinking of inviting Luca to let off some fireworks! I want to show him how we do summer here in Japan."

"I can't believe I get to spend the whole summer hanging out with you {PC}... (sniffle) Homework? Uh y-yeah, I finished it already..."

Autumn:

"Is it just me, or is it really cold today?! Guess I better get my coat out soon..."

"Have you had the chestnut rice from the cafeteria yet? They made it way too fancy. It's supposed to be comfort food..."

"Tohma's always reading something. Maybe I should too... All right, let's go with this! 10 Ways To Become Popular Overnight!"

well. . .it's something to read. . .never a bad idea to read.

"Apparently the moon is the most beautiful in fall since the air gets clearer. Want to go take a look?"

Winter:

"It's freezing out there! It's freezing in here! Frostheim sucks!!"

this makes me wonder what the warmest dorm is on average. . .probably jabberwock as long as towa's in a good mood? (or maybe warm jabberwock winters mean towa's in a bad mood. . .?)

"The cold can go to hell, but I guess there's outfits you can only wear this time of year..."

"I really want to go to Starbucks for the new winter drink! But I really really don't want to go on any missions!! Guess I'll never get to try it."

"Gram... No... No more mandarins... ...Huh?! Oh, it was just a dream... I haven't had a mandarin for ages..."

'gram' in this case is 'grandma' in case you couldn't figure it out haha and the mandarin(mikan)'s used to represent health and longevity and a long prosperous bloodline or something like that for new years. So i assume his grandmother would feed him a lot of mandarins every winter lolol

His birthday:

"Why did Jin, Tohma, and Luca give me all this high-end stuff?! It's freaking me out!! Thank you!?!?"

EVEN JIN AND TOHMA GAVE HIM GIFTS. . .FROSTHEIM FAM IS REAL. . . .

Your birthday:

"Happy birthday, {PC}! We'll make this the best one— Hey, give those back! Those are the cue cards I made yesterday!!"

ksjfkhesbfjh he made himself cue cards to give you a birthday speech with as little stuttering as possible. . . .

New Years:

"Happy New Year! Let's make it a good one! S-So hey, if, er, if you'd like, c-could we, um... could we make our first shrine visit together?"

Valentine's Day:

"C'mon Kaito, deep breaths. Girls aren't into guys with no chill. So stay cool... Stay— Are those chocolates for me?! I'll take them to my grave!"

everyone loves an enthusiastic boy lol

White Day:

"Do you like the cookies I made? Come on, no way they're that good, heh heh... Heh heh heh... Here, take them all!!"

god i bet he makes really good sweets too. like i bet he puts so much love and good spirit into them lolol

April Fool's Day:

"I'd never lie to a girl. Ah! That's not a lie, I swear! {PC}? Are you listening?!"

BAD THING TO SAY ON APRIL FOOL'S ABORT MISSION

Halloween:

"Trick or treat! See those carved pumpkins? I was actually the one who made them. What do you think?"

given his DIY skills i bet he's actually really good at carving too. i bet they look really good!

Christmas:

"Hey, uh, {PC}, do you, uh... Do you have any plans for Christmas? I'm actually totally free!"

Idle:

"Huh? {PC}? Am I being annoying?! I'm sorry! You're probably busy, right?!"

"{PC} seems kind of busy... I know! I'll find a video that'll help take her mind off things!"

the secondary idle audios replace the first ones after you hit a certain affinity, so it's cute to see that he eventually decides 'i'm not being annoying, they're just busy. i wanna help them' after they get closer o you. . . .

Absent:

"Ah...! Oh my god, you're back!! I'm so happy to see you!!!!  (sob) Please don't leave me again..."

he's so clingy. . .poor guy really missed you, considering you're one of the kindest and most normal people in Darkwick that he associates with. . . . also man 'please don't leave me again' with the whole loop theory stuff. . . .

I THINK I'VE SAID MOST OF MY THOUGHTS THROUGHOUT THIS BUT. He really is a sweetie. He really could have ended up a very plain and 'safe' character, but he's managed to be very charming and entertaining with his struggles and exaggerated behavior, while still being a simple and safe type. Really looking forward to seeing how he plays into the rest of the story, since it seems like his pendant may be kind of important. . . .

[jienem]

His Human

Edited version

part 1 part 2 part 3

Stay tuned~

Y/N's time was limited. They got a letter from Epel saying that her grandmother is ill. She and her parents were starting to worry, so she was beginning to pack to leave. She went into the forest with a heavy heart and shared the news with them. Lilia, who looked at her with a sympathetic gaze, hugged her, to which she was surprised by the gesture and returned it with all her might.

"I wish for your grandmother's health to recover. Until then, see you again next time, Y/N."

"Thank you, Lilia-san." Y/N couldn't help but cry softly in his arms while Malleus patted her shoulder. His silent support encourages her so much.

"Y/N, we are always here for you. Don't forget that, Silver softly said, earning the bird on his shoulder to twit in unison.

"WE SHALL WAIT FOR YOUR RETURN NEXT SPRING." Y/N couldn't help but chuckle at his statement before mumbling.

"Next spring..."

~~~

"Grandmama, we're back. Are you alright? Are you in any discomfort?" Y/N asked the moment she sat down beside her. Her parents were outside talking to their doctor while she went in.

"Grandmama, don't worry, I won't leave. I will be here, okay?" she whispered as she watched her grandmother move her head slowly to look at her. The state of hers breaks her heart. She clasps her hand into hers as she hums, just like she did to her when she was young.

~~~

Y/N took over her parents business while they were away. She saw Epel, who was sitting outside the shop while he stared at the scenery in front of him. He was bored. She chuckled before joining him outside. He glanced at her for a moment before grumbling.

"Augh, it's so boring out here! Didn't you get tired doing all this stuff?"

"Haha... No, I don't even have a choice. Even if I did, what choices do I have?"

"Grrr, fair point."

Y/N stared at the sky with a troubled expression, watching birds fly and go before remembering she had to go into the mail station this afternoon. But alas, she was on duty. She looked at Epel, and nervousness was starting to creep in.

"Epel?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind sending this to the mail station?"

Y/N handed the letter to a curious epel, who stared at the letter.

"Is this the guy you met at what you called the valley something?"

"Nice try, it was actually Briar Valley."

"Ah yeah, that! So a letter for your boyfriend?"

"Absolutely Not!"

~~~

To an aspiring knight, Sebek

How are you faring? I'm sorry for the delay; I was kept busy for the most part. For a while, I took over my parents business and had to run some errands. I was constantly asked to look for my younger brother while worrying about my grandmother, who was still ill. It was a stressful week, to say the least.

But enough about that; how was your hand? You said it hurt for a while; have you applied the ointments that I gave you? Please let me know; I worry.

From Y/N

~~~

Sebek read the letter one more time with a soft smile written in his face before carefully tucking it into his breastplate without anyone noticing, but Silver noticed his gesture and smiled softly.

"Was it from Y/N?"

"WHA?! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, Sebek voiced, attracting Lilia and Malleus nearby. Lilia grinned before teasing Sebek, who was denying everything.

"Don't be so shy, Sebek; it was wonderful talking to a Y/N, don't you think so?" Lilia teases while Silver nods before adding.

"She also makes delicious food every time she comes here."

"Agreed, especially when she brings an ice cream with different flavors." Malleus joined while Sebek was flustered.

"I... I AGREE WITH YOU, WAKA-SAMA, THE FOOD SHE BRINGS IS NOT SO BAD!"

"So you admit that it was delicious?" Silver questioned.

"Of COURSE NOT!"

"Then why did you agree if it wasn't delicious?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Fufufu, Sebek, don't be so shy and admit it, but who was better at cooking? Was it me or Y/N?" the three men look at Lilia's direction with a troubled expression. They soon both look at Sebek, who was under pressure with Lilia's question.

"HUMAN'S COOKING COULDN'T EVEN COMPARE TO YOUR SPECIAL DISHES LILIA-SAMA! WHILE HER COOKING WAS DELICIOUS NOTHING COULD COMPARE YOUR UNIQUE INGREDIENTS! "

"..."

"..."

"..."

"He finally admit it."

~~~

Y/N was in trouble. Her dilemma last year was beginning to root again when, in a mere month, it was spring again. Her parents didn't seem keen on going; they started to fight a lot more than before while she cradled her brother in her room while they fought. After managing some business, checking up on her grandmother, and watching her younger brother, it really took a toll on her. She was really looking forward to going back to the Briar Valley, but that was on the brink of bleakness.

With a heavy heart, she wrote down the letter with care. She sent it the next day while the sky was cloudy.

~~~

Silver watches as Sebek reads the recent letter with furrowed eyebrows.

"What does it say?"

"She couldn't make it back next month."

"Ah..."

They were silent. "Will you make a response?"

"After our training! I can't afford to skip my time to serve Waka-sama!"

"Sebek! Won't you make a response?"

Silver stared at him. He watched how his expression changed with different emotions before sighing.

"I Don't know."

"Why?"

"I Don't know," he repeated. He crossed his arms and stared at the ground while Silver waited for his response. Sebek pursed his lips before replying.

"I suppose it was because I don't know how to respond." For once, Sebek's voice was quiet. Silver patted his shoulder, offering him comfort.

"She would be back next spring, would she not?"

"She would."

"Then let's wait for her again, just like last year. Won't you?"

"Hrrgh, I supposed."

~~~

Months have gone by again, and Y/N this time saved her money in case her parents didn't plan on going. She was fourteen and about to be fifteen in a few months. Her grandmother was doing fine after a year of treatment. She stood by her side, watching her progress, and relief washed over her when she was finally released.

She helped her grandmother the best she could while watching over her younger brother. Her grandmother had an unknowingly serious look on her face as she stared at her granddaughter.

"Child, shouldn't you be at the Briar Valley this week?" Y/N stopped in her tracks as she stared at her grandmother with a wide expression on her face.

"Ah, I was planning to... But I would come back very quickly after a few days," She assures, but her grandmother only raises her eyebrows at her answer.

"You don't have to worry about us here, go have fun being at your youth, I will handle everything, don't worry about this old lady here, I will look after my youngest grandchild. Please, Y/N, my beautiful granddaughter." Her grandmama took her hands as she spoke softly while laying her forehead against hers, Y/N couldn't help but pause as she struggled to gulp down her sadness.

"Go, they are waiting for you."

Her grandmother whispered with a smile she knew so well. It was her expression when she was at her happiest, content, and complete. Y/N nodded, closing her eyes.

"Thank you, Grandmama."

~~~

Y/N knocked on the door, but no one answered. She was confused as to why it was quiet around here. She should have known, on the way here, it was dead silence. The animals that were scattered were nowhere to be seen. Sebek and Silver, who were often around at this time, were not present. With a downcast expression, she was about to go back when she recognized the two birds flying in her direction. They flap at her with glee. Y/N brushed her fingers against their feathers, asking where the two were. The birds looked at each other before flapping their wings. She had a troubled look on her face as she didn't understand before she felt a nudging on the back of her head.

She craned her neck and saw a horse neighing behind her. The birds flew to the horse's head before tweeting loudly. Y/N took it as a sign to sit on the horse's back before making its way somewhere else. She was nervious, she didn't know which direction it was heading from, but she trusted it was where the two were. Her surroundings changed into an opening field, stopping only when a mansion came into view. She got off the horse and caressed the birds before walking into the mansion door. She paused, debating whether to knock or not. But she knew she couldn't come back for nothing, so with little determination, she knocked on the door.

She waited. But no one seems to answer. Sighing, she tried again with a little force before moments passed and it opened. Behind the door, she was greeted by a tall man who had the same characteristics as Sebek. This would be Sebek if he got older.

Y/N was speechless for a while before asking. "Ah... Is Sebek here?"

The man watches her with curiosity in his eyes. Y/N grew nervous at his intense eyes before they flashed with recognition.

"You must be Y/N am I right, young lady?" 

She nodded in confirmation. The man opened the door, letting her walk in before closing it behind her. Y/N took in her surroundings and stared at the large painting hanging on the wall. It was Sebek with his whole family. This must have been made when he was just a boy back then.

"Y/N?" a familiar voice called out.

"Silver?" Y/N couldn't help but feel relief as she caught sight of Silver, who had droopy eyes from all of his sleepiness. Y/N chuckled whilst thinking he had not change a bit.

"Welcome back, I'm sorry I didn't get your letter."

"Oh no, I didn't send it recently. It was supposed to be a surprise, but it got backfired." She sheepishly rubbed her neck while looking around before turning to the tall man and bowing. Mumbling her thank you before he nodded. He turned to Silver and expected him to see their guest, to which he expressed his gratitude. Y/N watches their interaction before the tall man leaves. Silver noticed her fascination in her surroundings but her eyes tells a different story. He shake his head his head knowingly as he waited for her question.

"Ah, is Sebek here?" she asked as she lifted her head slightly to look at him.

"Sebek is at the library for a moment; would you wish for me to accompany you there?" 

"No need, I could go there myself." she refused. Silver then pointed the hallway on his left causing Y/N eyes to follow.

"Straight up ahead before turning left, there is a big door, one that is very different from the smaller ones you would pass by, that is the library." he instructed, watching how different emotions showed in her eyes before she smiled.

"Thank you so much, Silver."

"No, thank you Y/N for coming, it was the least I could do."

~~~ 

She opened the door knob, making a creaking sound while she pushed it inside. She breathed in the warm, dusty, woody air from the inside and went in.

"Sebek?" She called, but no one answered. She closed the door behind her, slowly walking around as she took in the number of significant books on the shelves. Her hands moved to the book spine, sliding her eyes as she read the titles. At the end of the books, she noticed a figure lying in the window nook. There he was. Sebek had a soft expression on his face, it was very different when he was awake. The book was resting on his chest while he inhaled and exhaled softly as the light illuminated his figure. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her chest, and she couldn't take her eyes off him.

He changed. He was no longer the boy she met two years ago. His face also changed to a mature one, his physique was much more bulkier than before, and she could tell he was taller than her now. She slowly and carefully walked towards him, careful not to wake him up as she did. When she was at his side, she carefully pulled the book from his chest and was about to place it on the table near him when a hand shot up and held her wrist. Her eyes fluttered to Sebek quickly thinking he was awake, but he wasn't. He was the same as before, but his grip said otherwise. 'Is this one of his reflexes? She wondered. But she tried her luck and whispered his name, but his soft snore indicated he was still asleep. Y/N chuckled with a soft expression on her face. Before wiggling her wrist from his hold but to no avail.

She sigh and resigned into her fate while got comfortable at the chair near the window nook. His eyebrow furrowed as he mumbled incoherently. Y/N watches his form before humming a tune as she caressed his temple. She moved her head closer to his, her hair curtains the side of his face as she mumbles softly.

"Sleep tight my dear knight."

Hurrayy part 4 was finished, only one more to go! I had some major changes into the ending, often changes it before, sorry for the inconvenience!

But thank you all for enjoying this sebek x reader as much as I do I really, really, really, appreciate your support! I truly do!

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[thestagsheadsblog]

Seeing You Again (Chapter 5)

Pairing: Robert “Bob” Floyd x Reader, Childhood Friends

Word Count: 2.4K

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

Read on AO3

Note: Thanks for all the love on this fic and sorry for the looong delay on this chapter!

"A new letter from the USS Blue Balls came in the mail!"

Hearing your sister's voice from the entrance hallway you dashed out of your room to meet her in the kitchen, snatching the letter out of her hand.

"Read it to me," she requested.

"Absolutely not," you laughed as you inspected the postage. Direct from the Fleet Post Office in San Francisco, otherwise no evidence whatsoever as to where Bob may have been at the moment the letter was posted. 

Emily shrugged and poured herself some cereal. "It's actually really cute that he writes you letters like he's off fighting in the Civil War or some shit. 'My dear Miss Y/L/N'," she teased with an exaggerated good ol' boy Southern accent. "Most guys would just send a picture of their dick and leave it at that."

"Robbie is a bit more sentimental than that," you smiled, tempted to open the letter then and there.

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind a picture of whatever he is packing," she estimated, ignoring your eyeroll and refusal to respond. 

This was the third letter you had received from Bob since he had left. You occasionally got texts and emails from him, of course, but his internet access was sporadic at best and the letters became the most effective way to have a meaningful 'conversation' over the weeks he had been at sea. 

Before he left, you had met one last time in San Diego; his bags packed and dressed in the same khaki uniform he had worn the first night you saw him at The Hard Deck. 

"I didn't know aircraft carriers had mailing addresses," you said in wonderment as he handed you a slip of paper containing details of his carrier, squadron, rank and a San Francisco address in neat script.

"It's more of a forwarding service," he explained. "Anything sent there will get to me...eventually. Just be aware that they may, uh, read everything you send."

You smiled at the blush rising on Bob's cheeks as he talked about the prospect of their private correspondences being read by strangers at the post office. 

"So no snail mail sexting is what you're telling me?" you joked.

Bob laughed and grew impossibly redder. "I don't think they care so much about what my girlfriend has to say to me as they do about security threats but...yeah. They may still read it."

You swallowed and looked up at him with a quirked brow. "Your girlfriend?"

Bob looked back, eyes blown wide in panic. "Sorry...I just thought...you know, the way things were going," he raked his hand through his hair. "I probably should have asked you if that was the case-"

You pulled him down into a kiss to put him out of his misery. He sighed in relief against your lips. 

"Now I can finally tell all the mean girls in 4th period math that Robbie Floyd is actually my boyfriend without it being a lie," you said with a cheeky smile as he pressed his forehead against yours.

While you were elated to know that you and Bob had finally made your relationship official, your joy quickly subsided into an uneasy wistfulness. You hated to see him go. It brought back heartsick memories of crawling to the back window of your mom's minivan, waving at your best friend as he chased you down the street as fast as his legs could take him, until you disappeared around the bend following your dad's U-Haul. You wouldn't see each other again for 17 years. 

The day after Bob's carrier had departed from North Island your mood had matched the gloom of the marine layer that settled over San Diego. Your last message to him on your phone remained unseen. He was officially off-the-grid, your only comfort being a handwritten address to San Francisco. 

You had felt a bit silly sitting down to handwrite your first letter. You hadn't written a personal correspondence via snail mail since your parents made you send letters to Santa Claus at the North Pole. Mailing something to an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean seemed just as whimsical and preposterous. Would he ever read it or, like your letters to the North Pole, would you be sending this letter for your own sake? You had to believe he would, so you took to the task with just as much sincerity as your childhood wish lists.

Lieutenant Floyd, I should have sent this letter 17 years ago, but at least now you finally have proof to show your friends confirming that you have a girlfriend... 

Even though you were more than certain Bob held a deep affection for you, you were still hesitant at this early stage in your relationship; more so now that he was going to be gone for months. You didn't want to wax poetic about your feelings for him, nor did you want to go full pornographic by divulging everything you wished you had done with him before he left. Instead, you approached the letter as though he were just beside you, a form of pillow talk that he could enjoy during his rare moments of downtime, sitting in his officer's berth just below the flight deck.  

You told him how the weather had turned as soon as he left, how Emily had tried to talk you into going to The Hard Deck again (something you were in no way interested in doing without him being there). You told him about how your mom asks how he is fairing more often than she does her own daughters. You updated him on the shows he is missing that you will need to binge together; the latest shitty Hallmark movie with terrible acting you will force him to watch. You confessed that San Diego wasn't the same without him and that you hoped to get a letter from him soon. 

You had frowned as you came to the end of the letter, unsure how to sign off. Your pen hovered over the paper before quickly inscribing Love, and your name. You folded and sealed the letter in an envelope before you could overthink your words and the next day you had popped it into the nearest mailbox, next stop San Francisco.

Weeks went by before his first letter arrived, dingy and banged up as though it went through a war zone. Forwarded to Dr. Y/L/N and your home address. 

In classic Bob style, he was polite and eager in his letter, thanking you for writing to him, expressing how he had hoped to get something from you at every Mail Call, confessing how he was missing you too. He wrote in deliberately vague details about his work and in explicit minutiae on the sophomoric antics of his shipmates. He told you about how long it had taken him to get used to sleeping on a carrier again, to the sound of the catapult and Growlers landing just over his stateroom. He refused in advance to watch the Hallmark movie you suggested (a toothless claim if you ever read one). He explained how it was possible to still feel lonely when you were in close quarters with over six-thousand people. He couldn't wait to get back to San Diego. 

At the bottom of the page, he had signed off Love, Robbie. 

Each subsequent letter was more substantial than the last as though you were both working through your hesitancy - unsure of how much enthusiasm and candidness you could unload on the other without crossing into the territory of a Stage 5 Clinger. By the third letter, Bob had apparently thrown caution to the wind and you marveled at the thick weight of the envelope which you could only assume contained more than just notebook paper. 

Despite Emily's protestations, you set the most recent letter aside in your room to read when you got home from work. The letters deserved to be treated better than a common text for immediate consumption. Half the excitement was waiting until the end of the day, theorizing for hours on what he may have written about or what was included in the envelope that had come from a ship halfway around the world. Your workload at the office always suffered from your daydreams on the days you knew you had a letter waiting at home. 

That night you grabbed a quick dinner, poured yourself a glass of wine and kicked the door to your bedroom closed with a buzz of anticipation. How a long-distance relationship with such sporadic contact still managed to bring you so much happiness was something you might never fully understand, but you knew it had more than a little to do with the comfort of knowing Bob was out there somewhere and he was thinking of you...a lot apparently, if this latest letter was any indication.   

You set your glass on the nightstand and finally tore the envelope open, unfolding Bob's thick letter and releasing a small stack of photographs that fell onto your lap. 

Setting the letter aside for a moment you picked up the photos to inspect them. A smile spread across your face as you looked at the image of you and Bob at no more than eight years old, sitting on the swing set that his father had assembled in their backyard. You chuckled at your gap-toothed grins and the glasses that were too big for Bob's face even back then. The next photo was from Halloween a few years later, each of you in a silly costume and a pillowcase full of candy, with neat cursive on the back confirming Halloween 2000. 

Photo after photo displayed little snippets of your childhood, some you remembered being taken as clearly as if it had been yesterday and others unearthed long forgotten memories of your life on that quiet street. You laughed aloud at a photo of you and Bob smiling innocently with a bucket of water balloons while a soaked Emily sobbed just out of focus behind you. 

"Okay, I need to know what he wrote that's making you laugh so much," Emily's voice came from just outside your bedroom door.

"Come in," you said. "You need to see these."

Emily entered your room and flopped on the bed beside you. You handed her the photographs and turned your attention to Bob's letter. 

"No way," she said in wonderment. "Where did he find these?"

As soon as I told my mom I had run into you a few months ago and we were hanging out she went digging in our attic to find these pictures. She mailed to me on the carrier a few weeks ago. I thought you'd like to see them too. I got a good laugh out of some of them. 

"His mom found them and sent them on to him," you explained as you continued reading his letter.

"He had his mom dig out all these old photos of the two of you?"

"I don't think he made her, but she did."

"And he sent them to you..."

"That's what was in with this letter," you replied.

Emily propped herself up on her elbow and looked at you directly. "Girl," she exhaled. "This man is in love with you."

A blush bloomed on your face, and you found yourself at a loss. You didn't want to brush off her words or deny her theory, but you felt more than a bit overwhelmed. You were certain no one had ever been in love with you before, much less someone of the caliber of Bob. You weren't quite sure whether you were ready to admit that love may be a part of this equation. 

"Like, normally I'd have my doubts because he's on an aircraft carrier with thousands of dudes and of course that could make some men mushy and desperate-"

"There's women on carriers now," you pointed out.

"Yeah, like two," she rolled her eyes. "I doubt many guys on that ship are sending literal hand-written dissertations to their childhood sweethearts every few weeks. Much less ones they haven't even slept with yet." 

You sighed. You felt lucky and elated, but you also wanted Bob to come back. There was a staggering itch of unfinished business between the two of you that these letters were doing little to scratch. If anything, they made it more urgent. 

"If you don't fuck his brains out the instant-"

"Stop!" you laughed, smacking Emily with the nearest throw pillow. 

"I'm serious!" she laughed in turn, blocking the pillow assault with her forearm. "All these letters and being on a carrier for months, he'll probably propose immediately after he cu- Ow! And I'll have to look for a new roommate!"

Emily rolled away, still giggling from your attack. You tempered your own laugher as you picked up his letter again.

"Well, you have a few months to plan for that," you lamented. "He's not going to be back anytime soon."

"More time to build the sexual tension," she sniggered. "Not that you need any more of that..."

You kicked Emily out to read the remainder of Bob's letter in peace. Despite what your sister had claimed, there were no exuberant professions of love in his words, but you had to admit the sentiment was there, nonetheless. He was not writing to just an old friend. These were love letters even if the only time the actual word appeared was just prior to his name at the end of his last page.   

Your wine finished and Bob's letters re-read from front to back for the nth time, you sat down to begin penning your next correspondence. You felt emboldened by Emily's foresight (and the wine, most likely) and wanted to nail down the plans for Bob's return. You wanted to meet him pier-side on North Island. It was an intimate request, something usually reserved for family, but if what Emily suspected was true, it wouldn't be too outlandish. At least you hoped Bob would welcome the offer.

Like your first letter, you stuffed and sealed the envelope before you could second-guess yourself. Bob may very well be in love with you, but you couldn't be one-hundred percent certain, not until he had returned, and you could see where your relationship lead. The only acute certainty you had was that you were unflinchingly, positively stupidly, head over heels in love with Bob. 

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[thebuckblogimo]

For me, this is when "the '60s" started.

October 23, 2023

Since we roomed together as freshmen in college almost 60 years ago, my buddy Eric and I have shared numerous letters and e-mails. Over the last few years we have compared personal insights into our early years at MSU. Recently he caused me to reflect on the subject of "when everything changed" on campus. I thought you might enjoy my reply to him. Here is my communication, edited slightly for the blogosphere:

Eric, My Boy...

Two years ago you asked me what kind of thought process brought me to Abbot Hall as a freshman in 1965. Then, a couple weeks ago, you e-mailed a reference to what life was like on campus during that first year at MSU. It struck a chord, inspiring me to reminisce about the zeitgeist of those times. So buckle up as I unload. Some of this stuff you've heard before. Some of it you may not be aware of:

A month prior to the move from my East Dearborn neighborhood to East Lansing, some of my closest friends--Tony, Garry, Larry and Vince--had already begun their freshman years in late August at Western Michigan and U-M, schools that were on the trimester system. Other close friends--Joe, Butch, Keller, Bernie, the "Bear," etc.--probably hadn't thought seriously about what they would do after high school. Within a year they were all either drafted into the service, enlisted, or joined the reserves due to the escalation of the War in Vietnam.

MSU was on the quarter system back then. I would be moving into Abbott Hall at the end of September--on my own, without anyone from my considerable childhood "support group." For the first time since going to camp, I was beginning to feel--pick an adjective--apprehensive, anxious, lonely. 

For some strange reason, three images stand out for me from those last 30 days that I was home: 1) shopping with my Mom for "school clothes," including Italian "swirl" shoes and a brown corduroy-and-suede winter jacket at the downtown Hudson's store; 2) reading a story in the Detroit News--while sitting on a milk crate, in the doorway of my Dad's marble shop--about a 13-3 MSU football victory in the season opener against UCLA; and 3) sitting in my Dad's '63 Pontiac Bonneville, feeling melancholy as I listened to Johnathon King's "Everyone's Gone To The Moon" on the radio while he ran into Allo Bar at 35th and Horatio in Detroit for a "fast one" after work.

During the run-up to the start of school, I kept thinking about how I would soon be entering an unknown world. It was heady stuff for the first kid in the Bokuniewicz family to attend college.

Finally, on a Sunday afternoon, my parents drove me to East Lansing, helped me move my stuff into the dorm, and said goodbye. I didn't kiss my mother. I'm not sure I even hugged her, as my family just didn't do that sort of thing. My folks would never again set foot on the MSU campus.

I met my two roommates at 271 Abbot Hall that day--a couple of guys from "the thumb" of Michigan. One with a vaguely moppish head of hair, wearing jeans, penny loafers and "no socks" (that would be you); the other a pimply-faced son of a big-time sugar beet farmer who told me he was an "egg major." (Turns out he actually said "ag major." Who knew?)

Usually wearing tight pants and my Italian swirls during those first few weeks--and with a jar of Dixie Peach Pomade on my dresser, plainly visible to all who entered our room--it took only a few days for me to realize that in the eyes of the guys in the House of Abode, I had been judged as someone "different."

A couple guys, I would eventually learn, thought that I was possibly a member of a gang. I was being perceived by some as that "streetwise kid from Detroit."

I began thinking, What don't these people get about me? And what is it about them? When they dressed for Sunday dinner (as we were required to do in the dorm in those days), they wore herringbone sport coats, rep ties and wing tips. I wore a sharkskin suit and "thick-on-thin" socks. They liked tunes such as "Little Honda" by the Hondells, which I thought was kinda weird. As a matter of fact, I was amazed by the proliferation of Hondas (especially Honda Hawks) all over the MSU campus.

In my neighborhood, guys rode big-ass Triumph, BSA and Norton motorcycles. We listened to the Temptations, Four Tops and obscure groups on black radio stations. Where I came from, most popcorn-machine-riding, bubble-gum-music-listening types would be derided as "cake eaters."

So that's the backdrop to the period you succinctly described in a dozen words: "The times, they weren't a-changin' yet, but a change was gonna come."

And "Whoa, Nellie," did things ever change.

During that first quarter at MSU, I recall sitting in my seat at the Nat Sci building one morning, reading the State News before class started, about Mario Savio and the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley. It seemed that people all over campus were talking about it. Also, I was aware that something called the Gulf of Tonkin incident had occurred the previous year, but now I was beginning to hear about a troop build-up in South Vietnam.

The change that was gonna come--at least in East Lansing--seemed to begin with the Ramparts magazine article a few months later (April of '66) about MSU's clandestine involvement with the CIA and South Vietnamese government. I remember well the four-color illustration of a large-breasted, Vietnamese-looking MSU cheerleader--Michigan State pennant in hand--on the cover.

Next thing I knew, shit was hitting the fan. 

That story marked the beginning of things radical and revolutionary on campus. I soon found myself reading more than just the sports section every day and listening to political debates among students in the grill. Sophomore year I started attending speeches in protest of the war at Fairchild Theater; and about "black power" and the class struggle, as espoused by the Black Panther Party; and about revelations concerning ground bits of bone and mouse ears that could be found in hot dogs, according to consumer advocate Ralph Nader.

After the Ramparts story, it seemed as though students were railing everywhere against the Vietnam War--in the State News, at gatherings in kivas, and at sites on campus such as the old administration building and Beaumont Tower.

Initially, I was bewildered by it all. My Dad and uncles were World War II veterans. I had never heard them criticize the concept of war. How could our country not be right about what it was doing in Southeast Asia, I thought? 

I can't pinpoint the exact moment that I came to understand that the War in Vietnam was "all wrong," but by the time you and I moved into 276 Abbot Hall (or was it 275?) in the fall of '66, changes of all kinds were indeed on. Some examples:

Long Hair. The style on campus was transitioning from Brian Wilson-like to Mick Jagger-like. (By Thanksgiving I was parting my hair rather than combing it back ala Bobby Rydell.) Guys began wearing "fatigue jackets" and girls were getting into the "peasant look." (Thanks to your influence, I ditched my typical footwear for a pair of Bass Weejuns in the fall and a pair of Bates Floaters to plow through the snow winter term. These were the first mini steps in a change of personal identity for me.) Along with the changes in hair styles and clothing on campus we began hearing terms like "hippies, radicals and freaks."

The Music. By September of '66, the Beatles had released at least a half dozen albums. Same for the Rolling Stones. The next thing I knew, you went from being a Chad and Jeremy fan to a devotee of the Mothers of Invention, as well as Captain Beefhart. Big-time change. I hung in there as the maven of Motown in the House of Abode which, of course, underwent a name change to the House of Abortion.

The Sexual Revolution. I recall walking alone to the auditorium across from Bessie Hall to hear someone--I have no idea who--give a speech about the sexual revolution. I recall sitting in my seat when the speaker on stage exhorted everyone to turn and look into the eyes of the person next to us, and, on the count of three, to yell "pussy"--ostensibly to help us get over our inhibitions. I thought to myself, Lenny, we're not at St. Al's any more.

The Generation Gap. I think it was Jack Weinberg of the Free Speech Movement who said, "Don't trust anyone over 30." I recall you concluding, "When I turn 30 I won't be able to trust myself anymore." And every time I would go home and see my next door neighbor, Mr. Phillips, some of my uncles and, eventually, work associates from the Greatest Generation, we would engage in a lively debate about "the war." I think of that time as the beginning of the first "great divide."

Politics. Now I was really paying attention to the national dissent over Vietnam. In fact, practically every student on campus was paying attention. I started subscribing to Newsweek and would do so for the next 40 years, in order to stay apprised of the great issues of the day. I even took an elective class called Great Issues, as well as a political science class called The Isms (socialism, Marxism, Leninism, Communism, Fascism). By junior year I was watching the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite practically every night. I couldn't wait to hear the insightful commentary of Eric Sevareid at the conclusion of each show.

The Civil Rights Movement. As a child, I had been aware of "colored" kids being escorted into an all-white school in the South during the Eisenhauer administration. But it was Martin Luther King who epitomized "the movement" in the early-to-mid '60s with his non-violent approach to civil disobedience. Then came the Detroit riot during the "long, hot summer of 1967." "The times they were a-changin'."

Drugs. I'm not even sure that I had heard about pot or LSD in high school. But during that first term at MSU there was all kinds of coverage in the student newspaper, Playboy magazine and other media about Dr. Timothy Leary and his experiments with LSD. He was exhorting everyone to "Tune in, turn on, drop out." Or was it "Turn on, tune in, drop out"? Anyway, by the time we graduated, it was the rare college kid who had not at least tried smoking reefer. Beyond that I did dexedrine a few times to stay up all night to cram for final exams, but I never did a psychedelic trip on acid.

Many times I have said that society changed more from 1965 to 1970--socially, politically, racially, musically, culturally, sexually, etc.--than during any other five-year period in my lifetime. And, while it was happening, our football jones was being satisfied by Duffy Daugherty, Bubba, and his All-American buddies, leading up to the first "game of the century," the 10-10 tie with Notre Dame in the last game of the '66 season, and a share of consecutive national football championships our first two years in school.

Oh, how the world turned in the '60s. For my money, it was the best time in history to be a student at MSU

Ad finem.

[inthememetime]

H(a)unted Chapter 10

Read on AO3 (recommended for mobile)! Chapters 1-5 Tumblr, Chapters 6-9 Tumblr, Original Post

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From: Harriet Chin

To: CNN, Diedre Smith

Subject: Big Story

Message: Look at this, Diedre. If you can wait 2 weeks before screaming it, I'll get you the videos too.

4 Attachments

-----

"Ms. Fenton, thank you for getting back on the stand. We only listened to three calls, but all were very stressful. I can't imagine hearing call 2 or 3 was pleasant."

"No sir."

"Is it fair to say you were worried for your life?"

"Yes sir."

"When did you find out your brother was murdered?"

"Objection, this was an accident."

"Sustained. Until proof is found, this must be referred to as an incident."

"Yes, your honor. Jazmine, when did you find out your brother's incident had fatal consequences?"

"On January 2nd. I saw him transform."

"And you made no mention of this to your brother?"

She shook her head. "I didn't know what to say. And I didn't know if it was safe to say it."

Mayhew nodded. "You told Mr. Masters, though?"

"I figured out he was undead too. And with the way he acted around my parents, I figured they must have had something to do with his death."

"Would you say you were close to Mr. Masters beforehand?"

"No sir. I didn't meet him until I was 16. Probably just a few weeks before the first call."

"Why did you trust him with that information?"

"Everyone thinks my parents are harmless, or dumb. He hated them- or really disliked them- and didn't give off the impression of thinking they weren't dangerous."

"So this was not romantic or sexual in nature?"

"No sir. He seemed to know the threat and actually took it seriously."

He nodded. "I'll hand this over to counselor Troy. I think he has some questions for you."

Counselor Troy rose as Mr. Mayhew sat. "Ms. Fenton, there were multiple videos submitted to the court. Some were thrown out, but some seemed to document cloning facilities, secret labs, and even the torture of Danny Fenton."

"Yes sir."

"There's one specific video I think we should watch regarding it. Have you ever been in those facilities to your knowledge?"

"No sir."

"Have you had any sort of cosmetic or reconstructive surgery?"

"No sir."

"Where were you in July of 1993?"

She frowned. "I was born September of 94."

"So if there was a video depicting you from 93, that wasn't you?"

She shook her head. "No sir. Like I said, that was before I was born."

"Objection, ridiculous questioning."

"Sustained. Your point?"

"Your honor, approximately 6 weeks before this trial started, an e-mail was sent to Mr. Masters. It had 4 attachments, one of which was instructions and passwords to access a government database for the GIW. It also contained 2 videos."

"Section R was thrown out, your honor."

"Your honor, Section R was thrown out for the trial for Mr. Masters' murder. It is still legal evidence in the trial for custody and the trial against the Fentons and GIW for Human Rights violations."

The judge considered. "I'll allow it."

"Your honor-"

"Counselor Carlson, we are discussing the custody case, not the trial for the murder. This is applicable and allowed."

--

In his study, Vlad clicked on the first video link. The camera, held by shaking hands, panned across what looked to be a production floor, with rows of white and green cylinders. Inside, human embryos were being grown.

An alarm went off, and the camera moved. The person recording took seemingly random turns through the solid white hallways until reaching the air vents. The camera was tossed up, and caught a glimpse of bright red hair before focusing forwards.

The alarms were louder here, but they moved steadily. Several times, it focused on operating rooms, before stopping on an occupied one, where Jazmine Fenton was strapped to a bed. She struggled, and a doctor called out, "3's waking up! Get me something to put her down. And for God's sake, turn off that alarm!"

The camera moved as a scalpel cut into her head. "We need to keep her from squirming!" Was heard over a desperate, terrified scream.

Finally, the camera's owner seemed to find the correct room and dropped down. The camera was turned around, and focused on a red-headed teenager.

Jazz Fenton.

"That was 3. J3," she explained. Her left eye was completely missing, and a trail of gore ran down her face. "The logs said 3 didn't behave like she was programmed to. I'm Jazmine. And so is she. Was she by now, probably."

"I'm 4. I found things- where we're located, video and audio logs, paperwork. But they've found out. That's what the alarms are about." Jazmine- or J4- winced and swayed on her feet.

"This video and all the other ones I'm sending out. I can't do it immediately, or they'll look," she said. "But I don't have time. They shot me, and J5's one week from completion."

"I'm sending this out to the only one that got away. Maybe he can help. 5, if you're seeing this, I'm sorry I couldn't help you. I really am."

Banging echoed on the door. J4 hid the camera, then sat down and waited. Soon enough, the door was broken down. Shots echoed, and a trail of blood spread as she slumped in her chair.

"You idiots!" Snapped a man in a white suit. "Scour everything. If anything was sent out in the last week, recall it."

"That's weeks of research!" A familiar voice snapped. Jack didn't seem to mind stepping in Jazmine's blood.

"She sent something to someone, and we need to find it before it gets out."

"This is why we keep telling you we need to use the J's as controls. They're resistant to everything we throw at them, but every year they get an opportunity to look in our files and try to escape!"

The man snarled. "Fine! Keep 6 and 7, then."

The camera, already on low battery according to the symbol in the corner, cut out.

[davidmariottecomics]

Transformers, Till We Meet Again

Hello! Or should I say Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong! 

Earlier this week, Transformers: Shattered Glass II #5 came out from IDW Publishing. Written by Danny Lore, drawn by Guido Guidi, inked by Matt Froese, colored by John-Paul Bove, lettered by Jake M. Wood, edited by Riley Farmer, and supervised by me. It's a fun issue with Soundwave, Slicer, Ultra Magnus, and a Titan, where everything goes wrong and comes to a head. I highly recommend it. It is also IDW's last Transformers comic of 2022 and beyond as we part ways. As such, I wanted to take some time to talk about Transformers--my personal relationship with it, my many years on the franchise as an editor (and occasionally a writer), and some behind-the-scenes stuff that you probably don't know and that I won't get in trouble for talking about. I promise it won't be filled with too many TF jokes and that while it is meant to help memorialize a great achievement, it is neither sad nor regretful. You'll see Transformers again. 

My Time with TF (Pre-IDW)

I genuinely cannot remember a time in my life when I didn't know about Transformers. My first exposure was through Beast Wars. I was pretty little when it started airing, but as I started making choices about things I liked and wanted to watch, it became a pretty clear favorite early on (right up there with The Lion King). A driving force of that was, of course, also the toys. I liked the show and when I was getting old enough for the toys, I started getting some. I got one of the basic figures that came packed with a VHS with the first couple episodes of Season 2 on it. It was great and I watched it a lot, but also supremely frustrating because it only included "Coming of the Fuzors, Part 1" an episode that ends on a cliffhanger for the subsequent "Part 2"! 

As a brief and not too embarrassing story: My Depth Charge is still in really good shape and one of my all time favorite TF toys. I think part of why he's always been kept so nice, despite how much I played with him as a kid, is he was a reward. If you're a parent looking to toilet train your kid, apparently a bribe of a Transmetal is a pretty good way to go. 

And slowly but surely, my love for Transformers got reinforced. Our local Hollywood Video had a small selection of TF VHS--I checked them all out off-and-on, but none so often as Transformers: The Movie (and, TBH, the G.I. Joe Movie too). In many ways, that was my early intro to G1. The other big pillar, honestly, since we were in a gap between comics publishers, was Wizard and Toyfare, the big nerd magazines of the era. My dad worked in comics publishing and would regularly bring them home (or I'd read them at his office) and while I was too young to get a lot of the humor, I was old enough to know they thought they were funny and to start to glean insight on what pop culture stuff people liked. 

Beast Wars begat Beast Machines, which I stuck with. In 2001, the original Robots in Disguise cartoon came out--it wasn't so much a hit for me as a show, but I liked the toys. That's also the year Titan Books picked up the license to reissue some of the Marvel comics, which had been out of print for years, and that Dreamwave picked up the license to do new TF comics. Things start to get a little jumbled, but somewhere around there, I got a volume or two of the Titan stuff and a little bit inconsistently got some of the Dreamwave stuff too. I bought in big with Armada, fell out again around Energon (for toys, cartoons, and the comics). And in 2004, my dad left his job as Editor-in-Chief at IDW Publishing and we moved to Arizona, 2 hours away from our local comic shops. 

Being outside a small town in Arizona in the mid 2000s was a very different experience from being in the city growing up. Besides not having a comic shop nearby or a toy store, there was only one small video rental place that we didn't really go to much (especially as we ended up early adopters of Netflix sending you DVDs in the mail) and TV and Internet could both be spotty at times. I was going into middle school anyway, so things were bound to change, but my media consumption definitely pivoted and Transformers was kinda left behind, expect for picking up vintage Beast Wars figures when I found them, the occasional dip back in with the likes of the first live action movie and TF Animated, and IDW having picked up the TF license (and also given me a bunch of their earliest issues). I started with Infiltration #0 and read every issue of every series up through to All Hail Megatron. And I only stopped, really, because I wasn't getting to comic shops very often and AHM was such a radical shift from what came before that I genuinely thought I had missed some transition series/issues and didn't know what had happened and kinda gave up. For a long time, that was kinda status quo--I'd dip an occasional toe back in, pick up a few toys now and then, but for me, TF was primarily a nostalgia based thing--reading my old comics (and pouring over the Beast Wars Sourcebook in particular--where I met my all time favorite TF, Randy), collecting my old toys, and watching Beast Wars and Transformers the Movie. 

My Time with IDW (Pre-TF)

Skipping ahead another decade or so, fresh out of college, I got a job at IDW. It's a much longer story, but that's the short version. I was initially brought in as an assistant for Chris Ryall and Scott Dunbier, which brought me to my first Hasbro book, ROM. Chris was co-writing it with Christos Gage and as Chris's assistant, I got looped in. And, almost immediately, I also got roped in by David Hedgecock to help him out with the fledgling Hasbro universe--starting with some uncredited assistant work on Revolution, and joining the editorial team on Micronauts, M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, and Revolutionaries (a team-up book of characters from Transformers, G.I. Joe, Action Man, M.A.S.K., ROM, and Micronauts). I was working on Hasbro books and with Transformers, but only on the periphery. But the big thing that came of that was I started working with John Barber, who had recently left IDW editorial, but was co-writing Revolution, writing Revolutionaries, and writing Transformers/Optimus Prime. We became friendly and--in an effort to do my job well--I started reading through EVERYTHING so I could be almost as knowledgeable about all these threads he was pulling as he was. And some combination of deep diving into the IDW Hasbro catalog, my own pre-existing TF knowledge, and the lasting mind-addled facts I had absorbed from Wizard actually made me a pretty good fit for the job. 

By the time we're working on First Strike, Hasbro has become my wheelhouse at IDW. But despite being a part of planning a Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover (primarily), I'm still not actually working on TF or Joe proper books. That's all about to change though because IDW's about to go through some major changes in staffing. Ryall leaves (he later comes back), David Hedgecock is promoted to editor-in-chief and has additional responsibilities that limit the number of titles he can edit. Sarah Gaydos briefly becomes more involved with the Hasbro universe stuff before she goes to Oni. And Carlos Guzman, the current TF/Joe editor, announces he's leaving too. I start getting handed a lot more responsibility coming off the event, starting with Transformers vs. Visionaries (also worth noting--in the background of all this, Joe Hughes and I are getting Sonic the Hedgehog up and running). Controversial decision: we decide to kill Kup (again, kinda). And I write a eulogy where I mistakenly call Trailbreaker "Trailblazer" (I'M SORRY!). It's a book that was definitely affected by the behind-the-scenes changing of the guard as well as taking on heavier editorial direction because it's being posed as a bridge series between First Strike and Unicron. 

And this is where I'm quickly having to come in to my own. The Hasbro Universe is being shrunk to a few titles: Optimus Prime, Lost Light, a couple Annuals wrapping up Till All Are One and Nick Roche's Wreckers, the joint G.I. Joe/M.A.S.K. title: Scarlett's Strike Force, Rom and the Micronauts, and Transformers vs. Visionaries--all knowing that Unicron is coming and that that'll be our big--perhaps final--event. Carlos, John, Nick, Mairghread Scott, and James Roberts have all kinda planned their stuff to the end, so I get to start continuing Carlos's plans, but it's comics and things always change. 

Dawn of a Bold New Era Okay, I know at this point, we've mostly been talking about my personal relationship with TF and the landscape as I was really getting brought in--which is maybe a little dry. You're here for the juicy stuff--the secret stuff! So let's talk about when I actually came onto TF. 

Besides taking over the rest of the IDW1/Hasbro Universe titles, my other big project as I'm coming into things is all the build up to my personal favorite live-action Transformers movie: Bumblebee! It's supposed to be more kid-friendly, so a big initiative is some Bumblebee stuff for kids, which ended up being the Bumblebee-Win If You Dare OGN and the Bumblebee-Go For the Gold one-shot. Those books, by James Asmus, Marcelo Ferreira, Valentina Pinto, Maria Keane, Athilla Fabbio, Josh Perez, Tom Long, and Nicoletta Baldari on covers (psst--TFWiki people, if you're reading this, the Go for the Gold cover is misattributed to Marcelo, but it is Nicoletta. k thx) were a heck of a learning experience. Like all our TF books, I'm very proud of them, but suffice to say, I don't recommend doing a graphic novel, even a short one, on anything resembling a regular comic timeline. But it was really exciting because it was the first (and currently is the only) Transformers original graphic novel. It's also one of the few Transformers comics that was also run through Volkswagen as Bumblebee was officially a Beetle. 

Something that came up a few times while we were working on it was requests to actually make it more distinct from the movie. James wasn't given access to that script, but a few of the things he proposed along the way just so happened to be pretty close to what was in Bumblebee and so had to be tweaked. Which also led to the very interesting experience on the other side of things doing the Bumblebee Movie Prequel. If you've read it, you know it's a super fun, purposefully kinda campy spy adventure inspired by The Avengers (the Steed & Peel kind, not the superheroes) and like Moore Bond films. It is also working off an older draft of the movie that was more in line with the other movies. That was the last of our Movie books, which had started way back in 2007. I think it was really appropriate to both start and end with a prequel to the latest movie and, particularly with this being a John Barber/Andrew Griffith/Priscilla Tramontano joint, having it also be referential to some of our other previous movie comics. 

The other kinda funky thing about the Bumblebee Movie Prequel is as it's in progress, at IDW, I've gone from editing my boss, Chris Ryall, on ROM, to editing my new boss, John Barber! The week after John starts, I think, is when the Unicron #0 FCBD issue comes out. And with that, we publicly announced that we were coming in on the end of a universe--a big event that was Transformers focused but a hurrah for everything that IDW had been building since I was a kid reading comics and everything that had been building when I came in at the still pretty early start of the shared universe. Something I ended up having to do twice, but that you can pretty clearly see in the run up to Unicron is I tried to get as many long-time people involved as possible. From bringing folks in on covers to the wrap-up shorts for the universe we had in Unicron, and the creator interviews about the history of IDW1, I wanted to celebrate the "Transformers Legacy." 

I'm afraid it's been long-enough I don't have a lot of particularly funny or interesting stories from that era. Bless Kei Zama and Josh Burcham for getting Randy in Optimus Prime (even if he did immediately die). Big ups to all the creators, of course, who stepped up and helped out as we closed in on the end--some of whom came into tight deadlines or big shoes and always kicked ass. Nick Roche and I had two close-calls: 1. In Requiem of the Wreckers, there's a scene that was supposed to be Quickswitch, but we had just killed him over in Visionaries, so that was a pretty quick and dirty pivot to Sixknight. 2. There was a typo on his cover for the last issue of Lost Light and fortunately it did not go to print saying "We Achieived Something". I'm glad it was fixed, but it was pretty funny when James Roberts noticed it. 

I also got to be the kissing editor! The first on-page, romantic (non-KISS Players) kiss happened in OP #21 between Aileron and Arcee, and then there were a few more kisses between bots across OP, LL, and Unicron. And, later, I got to put a kiss in Wreckers, which was very exciting! 

And--one thing I pretty much never got right and which, again, I profusely apologize for--is we never properly credited Jenevieve Frank. She was supposed to get a special thanks for the last issue of Optimus Prime and I messed up getting that in print in the original run and in the TPB and my third shot where I would've gotten it right, the final IDW Collection--well, we didn't quite get to collecting it in that format. So, I'm sorry, Jen! This is one of only 3 regrets I have for the series, besides "Trailblazer" and the one I'll get to later. 

Because of how comics production timelines work, though, as we were nearing these ends and coordinating shipping the final issues of Unicron, Lost Light, and Optimus Prime to land in shops in the right order, we had also already begun the work of planning IDW2. That actually took it's first steps with Carlos before he left. Working with Hasbro, we looked at some pitches that were very fun and by great creators, but that didn't quite work and brought Tom Waltz in to help write some new directives for pitches. Tom's also the one who brought Brian Ruckley in. The only thing I think I can say about some of those earliest drafts is there was a time when the role that was ultimately filled in IDW2 by Rubble was originally going to be a human. I'm glad that wasn't the case because I think it gave IDW2 a really unique identity to not have any Earth stuff, but suffice to say, there were some very different versions of what it could've been with that simple a change. 

Angel Hernandez was one of those things that was so obvious it was in front of your face, literally. John, Tom, and I were looking for an artist for the series and coming up with all these names and I was walking to John's office to talk about something else when I passed a series of "from script to final page" posters we had hung up for display in the office. It was the sort of thing we liked to show kids and visitors who didn't know much about how comics get made. These pages, in particular, were from Star Trek/Green Lantern and drawn by Angel. I don't know what it was, but on that pass, it clicked: Angel was the guy for the book. We had spent all this time talking about it, but he was right there between my desk and John's office the whole time. 

And so, in 2019, we launched a bold new era, IDW2. A twice-monthly series through the first 12 issues and a Transformer story genuinely unlike any other. With the new series, we wanted to bring in new creators. I am immensely proud of everything that everyone brought into the fold but special shout-outs to Brian, Angel, Anna Malkova, and Beth McGuire-Smith, who did a lot to help define this new universe early and often. 

When we collected that first 12 issue as Transformers, Vol. 1: The World in Your Eyes, I was talking with Justin Eisinger in the books department about what we wanted Cryssy Cheung to do with the covers and fairly quickly settled on the idea of having each one feature 2 major players from that part of the series. In describing the first cover, Tom said that it should be Bumblebee and Rubble. I agreed. Justin and Cryssy have hit on the idea of featuring alt-modes on the back cover. So Justin asks for reference. My answer was to send a bunch for Bumblebee and to explain that for Rubble "he's a baby and then he's a corpse." Accurate (and if you haven't read it, sorry for spoilers), but something we'd joke about for a long time after. 

Transformers Galaxies was our first real attempt at expanding. We got some really cool folks to work on that. A lot of the "rules" of the series actually came out of working on the first arc, Constructicons Rising, with Tyler Bleszinski and Livio Ramondelli. In developing that, we realized that to truly embrace the idea of "Galaxies", all the stories would be expanding the universe, but outside of Cybertron. There was a lot of coordination between Sam Maggs and Brian and the editorial team to make sure the Gauge story spun out of Arcee/Greenlight: Run properly, and then fed back into the ongoing at the end of the series. There was a lot of coordination between everyone to make sure that characters weren't in two places at once and the rules of the universe all followed. For example, Brandon Easton pitched his arc to be in-universe, but also in line with the War for Cybertron: Siege cartoon that he had also written for. But by the time we were working on that arc, it had become pretty obvious that the IDW2 comic and animation didn't line-up too well, so there was a bit of tweaking to make it fit better. 

There were two stories that were pitched as part of Galaxies, but that ended up elsewhere. What ended up as the Transformers 2021 Annual, "Light/Star" started out as a pitch from Brian for a Galaxies arc, as did what became Transformers Wreckers: Tread & Circuits. 

Also around this time, we got Riley Farmer at IDW! You should know Riley! She was the assistant/associate editor on Transformers (and eventually the editor on TF: Shattered Glass & Shattered Glass II). She's my co-editor on Sonic. She's now editing My Little Pony and many other things. She's without a doubt one of the best editors currently working in comics and one of my best friends. So, shout-out to Riley! As much as I think TF can be a trail of my own editorial growth, the same is largely true of Riley. 

Writing Transformers

At one point, Wreckers: Tread & Circuits would've been issues #13-15 or 16 (pitched as three but already might've been expanded to four) of TF Galaxies. But then things changed and Galaxies came to an end at #12 and we launched Escape. Which means that Wreckers was pitched before my actual first TF series, co-written with John Barber, Transformers vs. the Terminator!

The origin of that series came from, as much as anything, early solicit text. We were still on the hunt for a creative team (at that point, I was going to edit it, which obviously changed) and I wrote some early solicit text just to have it done early and realized that was the pitch. The whole thing was written to be the classic Terminator set-up, but with a late twist of the robots controlling the future being the Decepticons and the freedom fighters being the Terminators. And like that, it came together. I pitched it to John and Tom. We set the story beats and then John and I wrote it. It was fantastic getting to work with long-time collaborators Alex Milne and David Garcia Cruz. And Tom and Riley were excellent editors. 

A couple pieces of extra trivia about that series: I think there's at least one kind of oblique reference in the script to the fact that when I lived in Tucson, AZ, one of the local news stations called their traffic camera system "Skynet". In issue #3, there's a jokey reference both to Terminator and a Prince song. That was added specifically because John Barber is the biggest Prince fan I know and I thought it'd be funny. It also ended up being kind of a running gag of referencing Judgement Day, the big catastrophe from Terminator. And this book was particularly special to me because way back when, TF artist Don Figueroa and my dad, Jeff Mariotte, did the Terminator Salvation movie-prequel for IDW and it was nice to write in a universe my dad did too. 

And the Autobots that are seen are all very carefully chosen. Something that we see to an extent in IDW2 and later Beast Wars and in this and Wreckers is a recurring idea that your average Autobot is not a warrior, but a civilian who stepped up to do the right thing. It's why Velocity, Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Wheeljack all play prominent roles in TF/Terminator and why Circuit and Minerva are part of the team in Wreckers. Maybe someday to be seen in some form, there are a few more pitches I put together at various times that play off of that idea. It's something I quite liked and obviously would return to again. 

Speaking of Wreckers, let's talk about that! So, it was pitched wayyyyy back when, before TF/Terminator, even though it came out afterwards, right? While it lines up really well with some eventual Hasbro plans--Leadfoot in the Wreckers line, the whole Velocitron Speedia 500 line, and Minerva and Skullgrin getting Legacy toys--that wasn't intentional! Some specific additions did get added right around scripting, when those things started to be in place, but a lot of them were just coincidental and it was cool that we got to have the characters in the books get some new physical representations/get the designs early so we could have them match in the series. 

In terms of the cast list, a lot of folks had very particular reasons for being there. Thunderclash I loved from his appearances in MTMTE/LL. Aileron and Circuit were directly influenced by RID/Transformers/OP. Hot Shot had been the main character of a pitch that didn't move forward. And Knockout and Breakdown were pulled in from Till All Are One. Minerva, like I said, was specifically chosen because I liked the idea of the Wreckers having a medic. A lot of other folks were chosen just because I liked them and they fit as racers. And spoiler for another story that may never happen--had we gotten another series, some of the would-be-Wreckers featured at the end of issue #4 would've made it to the team (Star Saber and Leadfoot for sure). 

What other secrets can I spill about Wreckers? Because it was originally pitched so early into the 2019 run, at one point Anna Malkova was suggested as the artist because she hadn't yet transitioned to being the main artist on the ongoing. I'm super happy I got to work with Jack Lawrence on it though. I love them both and I think they both worked on the proper book for them (though TBH, I'd also love to do something with Anna in the future!). When it was greenlit, one of the first things I did was send the pitch to Nick and Simon Furman for their blessing as the Wreckers guys. I'm very honored our series gets to stand alongside theirs in Wreckers history. 

Outside of my crossover book, it was also in this period around the end of IDW1 through, really, to pretty deep into IDW2 that we started doing a lot of crossovers and, from that, also started doing what I think of as the standalones. 

Star Trek, Ghostbusters, and My Little Ponies, Oh My! 

Here's kind of a strange thing to think about: When we did Star Trek vs. Transformers, Transformers/Ghostbusters, and My Little Pony/Transformers, none of those were actually the first time TF crossed over with those properties. Back in 2011, IDW did a very interesting crossover series called Infestation--a semi-crossover between Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, and IDW original properties Zombies vs. Robots and CVO. And MLPs showed up for a panel or so in Tom Scioli and John's excellent Transformers vs. G.I. Joe series! 

These were all great fun to work on and are one of those cool things where you get editors who maybe don't usually work together co-editing a book, or editors who used to work together reuniting, or maybe my favorite version--Megan Brown asking you to give one read at the script stage and one read of the final PDF and call out notes, but she really edited both MLP/TF series! 

Crossovers are always an interesting experience, but I think I only have two crossover things worth sharing that I'm able to share. One is when Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, and Luis Antonio Delgado were first tapped for TF/Ghostbusters, they did a promo piece with an early concept of Ectotron. I own that piece as a T-shirt I bought at Gamestop, despite the fact that it was not the final Ectotron design. Licensing is complicated--comics are complicated--and it's always fun when you find stuff like that which came from an earlier version but made it to production. The other one I can think of is Transformers/Back to the Future had a bit of weird timing to it. I co-edited the series with my pal Chase Marotz, but slightly before the last issue went into production, Chase changed departments at IDW. While it didn't really affect the book, it was interesting having an extra learning curve of figuring out the BTTF approvals system for the last issue, because Chase had been dealing with it the rest of the series. 

Besides the crossovers and IDW2, we were also looking for new ways to bring TF to people, which lead to so many amazing books. I finally got to work with Simon Furman, as well as the phenomenal Guido Guidi and John-Paul Bove, on Transformers '84 (a series that drew from both the original Marvel G1 and Marvel UK). I got to fulfill my childhood dream of launching a new Beast Wars series (with favs Erik Burnham & Josh Burcham) that eventually got picked up by editor Jazmine Joyner (who I spent this weekend hanging out with and who helped me double fulfill my dream by letting me write a story in the Beast Wars Annual). We did the amazing swords-and-sorcery story, King Grimlock, with Steve Orlando, Agustin Padilla, and Jeremy Colwell. Riley took over and did two Shattered Glass series with Danny Lore, Guido, Dan Khanna, and a bunch of other amazing contributors. And I got to team-up with my old buddy Nick Roche, the first IDW TF artist, E.J. Su, and colorists Rebecca Nalty and Brittany Peer (at the end) for Last Bot Standing, a series that acts as an excellent sign-off to everything we did. A last TF story, even though it wasn't our last and, frankly, it's TF. The stories never end. 

I was hoping to get some other stories in, but frankly, we're running long already. The only bits I'll mention in particular are 1. Jaz managed to do something I could not. Initially, we were only using American Beast Wars characters for the series, but Jaz, Sam Maggs, and Lanna Souvanny managed to do a story all about Skold and Powerhug! 2. Speaking of Beast Wars, I believe in the big battle spread in the final issue, Josh Burcham's got a Sonic the Hedgehog joke with Armordillo (another favorite character of mine). 3. Last Bot Standing developed while Nick Roche and I were working on Scarenthood, his excellent creator-owned series with Chris O'Halloran (and in which Becca and I have a brief cameo). 4. Signal Lancer has a very brief role in Wreckers: Tread & Circuits. He was also, at one point, slated for LBS, though he didn't make the final cut. 5. In the first draft of the lettering for the Veteran in LBS #3, none of the haikus were formatted. They were just lettered regularly. If you think they're obnoxious to read as haiku, they are actually harder to read without the proper formatting. And 6. Again, to add context for the TFWiki folks--Nick and I mutually agreed that a haiku of "Damn"s was more reasonable than a haiku of "Shit"s. 

What Could Have Been

Okay, so, I can only say so much about anything. If you checked out our awesome Transformers: Best of the Rarities (including some real treasures that haven't been seen before and may never be seen again), you might've noticed something about Transformers: Collision Course. A few finished covers for that series were included, and obviously, it was never published. What I can say is that much like when building up to Unicron, the goal was to bring in as many longtime contributors as possible, some in new ways. It would've featured elements from everything seen on the covers. It would've gotten kind of weird, in a very fun way. What it would've been actually was pretty different than originally conceptualized. And it would've said goodbye. Maybe some other time I can share more, but that's about all I can say now. 

I mentioned regrets earlier and this is my third one. Not that we didn't publish Collision Course (even if it might've bumped me above Carlos Guzman as the person to edit the most TF comics)--in some ways, I'm glad we didn't. I kinda don't mind not saying an official goodbye. My regret is there was always more to do. There were plans and things we'd like to do and I hope some of them find a home sometime. But the big loss is I wanted to work with so many more people. Writers, artists, colorists--folks who I'd have loved to work with for the first time and folks who I've worked with so many times but would've done TF with forever. None of that's going away--I'll still find ways to work with those folks--but had I had 100 more issues, I still wouldn't have had enough time to work with the many, many amazing folks on all sides who made TF magical (or who would've and the timing didn't work out). 

And so, finally, thank you! Thanks to Kelly Johnson, Michael Kelly, Ed Lane, Tayla Reo, Ben MacCrae, Matt Clarke, Mark Maher, and the team at Hasbro, Isabella Weiss, Beth Artale, Carlos Guzman, Sarah Gaydos, Chris Ryall, Denton Tipton, Chase Marotz, Tom Waltz, Megan Brown, Bobby Curnow, Jazmine Joyner, Andy Schmidt, Tom Long, Jake Wood, Johanna Nattalie, Shawn Lee, Neil Uyetake, Chris Mowry, Christa Miesner, Gilberto Lazcano, Nate Widick, Justin Eisinger, Alonzo Simon, Zac Boone, Lauren Lapera, and the whole IDW crew past and present, Simon Furman, John-Paul Bove, Andrew Griffith, Brian Ruckley, Casey Coller, James Roberts, Livio Ramondelli, Josh Burcham, Alex Milne, Nick Roche, Fico Ossio, Priscilla Tramontano, Sebastian Cheng, Candice Han, Sam Maggs, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Winston Chan, Angel Hernandez, Agustin Padilla, Eduardo Alpuente, E.J. Su, Heather Breckel, Aline Baumgartner, SidVenBlu, Luis Antonio Delgado, Dan Khanna, Dan Schoening, Erik Burnham, David Garcia Cruz, Ed Pirrie, Ben Pirrie, Matt Froese, Rik Mack, Gigi Dutriex, Danny Lore, Rebecca Nalty, Steve Orlando, Ochopante, Phil Murphy, Valentina Pinto, Umi Miyao, John Yurcaba, Kei Zama, Guido Guidi, Evan Gauntt, Jack Lawrence, Evan Stanley, Thomas Deer, Jeffrey Veregge, Tom Scioli, Marcelo Matere, Marcelo Ferreira, Anna Malkova, Beth McGuire-Smith, Stefano Simeone, Josh Perez, Kate Leth, Cohen Edenfield, Saren Stone, Brendan Cahil, Brenda Chi, Cachet Whitman, Ron Joseph, Nelson Daniel, Gabriel Rodriguez, Chris Panda, James Raiz, James Marsh, James Biggie, Jim Wilson, Jim Stafford,  James Asmus, George Caltsoudas, Mairghread Scott, Freddie E. Williams II, Andrew Wildman, Stephen Baskerville, Ian Flynn, Nicole Goux, Nicoletta Baldari, Nick Brokenshire, Sebastian Piriz, Jeremy Colwell, Max Dunbar, Francesco Francavilla, Corin Howell, Philip Johnson, Maria Keane, Brittany Peer, Red Powell, Juan Samu, Cavan Scott, Blacky Shepherd, Reggie Graham, L. Kershaw, Ashe Phillips, Zoner Siyu Hemu, Tyler Bleszinski, Brandon Easton, Billie Montfort, Peri Mercer, Shane McCarthy, Don Figueroa, Patrick Ehlers, Dan Watters, Nahuel Ruiz, Geoff Senior, Nick Marino, Andrea Bell, Lanna Souvanny, Ryan Miller, Chris McFeely, Jim Sorenson, Tony Fleecs, Adam Bryce Thomas, Mike Johnson, Ilias Kyriazis, Stephen Byrne, James Stokoe, Cary Nord, Mateus Santolouco, Marcelo Maiolo, Alex Horley, Paul Harding, Bryan Lee, Dave Wilkins, Cian Tormey, Gavin Spence, Gavin Fullerton, Philip Knott, John Allison, Mina Won, Rui Onishi, John Wycough, Martin Gee, David Rodriguez, Aubrey Sitterson, Sean Ryan, Cullen Bunn, Mags Visaggio, Lane Lloyd, Gavin Guidry, Leonardo Ito, Christina-Antoinette Neofotistou, Christos Gage, Matt Frank, Christian Ward, Luca Pizzari, Hal Laren, Diego Zuniga, Suna Margevich, Zerob, Lantana Gao, Jamel Jones, Ronda Pattinson, Colm Griffin, Camila Fortuna, John Jennings, Andy Duggan, Emilio Lopez, Anthony Pugh, Sebastien Stone, and the likely dozens of other creators who I never got to work with but who touched this big beautiful series! Extra special thanks to Riley Farmer and John Barber who absolutely deserve their own callout. And thanks to the people who facilitated my love of TF over the years so I could bring my passion to this series for so long, from my parents, to my partner Becca (and their TF who's in the last issue of Wreckers, Honk)! Finally--seriously, finally--thanks to you! Thanks for reading TF at any point in the IDW run or for, god help you, having read through this whole long post. 

With that, I'm calling it for the year! It's unlikely you'll get anything til January, but I guess not completely impossible if I want to share some wrap-up/resolutiony type stuff before the new year starts. If this is it for 2022, thanks for joining the first year of my blog and my website and the first few months of my newsletter and my Tumblr if you're reading there! Happy holidays and see you next year! 

Things I've been enjoying this week: Jaz Joyner came and visited yesterday and that was awesome! Honkai Impact (Video game). Chainsaw Man (Anime & Manga). Spy x Family (Anime). Star Saber (Toy). The Simpsons (TV show). Lego Masters (TV show). The promise of reading time that comes with an extended holiday break. And, of course, Transformers. 

New Releases this week (12/14/2022): Transformers: Shattered Glass II #5 (Supervising Editor--Our last TF book).

New releases next week (12/21/2022): Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island #3 (Editor)

Final Order Cutoff (12/19/2022): Godzilla Rivals: Round 1 Collection (I didn't have anything to do with this, but I feel obligated to plug Godzilla!) Godzilla Monsters & Protectors: All Hail the King #5 (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog Vol. 13: Battle for the Empire (Includes the milestone issue #50 - Editor)

Announcements:  Becca and I have started applying for cons in 2023! Hope to have some updates on those soon! 

In the meantime, you can pick up some of my work at the shop on my website and you can get Becca's stuff at their website. Pochita keychain pre-orders are only open for a couple more days, so get on it! Supporting us now can help us get to those cons! 

And with Twitter going sideways yet again, as a reminder, you can find me on other socials through my website or at my Linktree. 

Lastly, a plea for my peers with hiring power in the industry. There's literally a list above of some of the most kick-ass, dedicated, and amazing creators I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I want all of them to continue to thrive, so please, if you have stuff, hire them for it. Even if I am also trying to hire them. Make a better offer. Steal them from me. I'll be salty about it, but also, will sleep happily knowing that these folks are getting the recognition they so richly deserve. Also, hire Becca while you're at it. We're both hoping to be able to announce some new comics stuff in the new year, but take advantage of getting them before they blow up!

-David

[stalkedbyplanes]

Dead Letters, Missing Wife; Letters 4 & 5

[Letter #1][Letter #2][Letter #3]

History

You wish you had a better excuse for why it took you almost a week to open letter number four. But really it was just nerves. There was something about the ring and everything. It makes everything feel so much more real.

You can't really picture how Siobhan looks, at least not how she would look now, with the years and maturity changing her into someone else.

But you can picture her hands. Burned, cracked, dry and peeling, looking like someone spilled acid on her hands and she's still dealing with the wounds. You don't know why that image is so stuck in your mind, but it is.

As is the image of those same hurt hands sitting down to write you a bunch of letters that couldn't be sent, couldn't be read until you did the work to get them, to open them, to choose to read them.

You spent longer than you'd like to admit, in your bed, just staring at the pile of mail that isn't addressed to you (you're trying to not look at the mail that is addressed to you).

There's this massive weight that you feel coming down upon you. Something like an ocean overhead that is struggling to remain in the air, in defiance of the natural laws and the efforts of the earth to call it home. You feel the massive weight of the water will come down and crush and drown you at any moment.

You put off the next letter a bit longer by trying to sort through the mountain of other mail of Siobhan's. You figure if you can start on a different puzzle, a less personal one, you can make progress without having to deal with that overhead ocean.

But you only get so far. You start to sort the mail by the cities that Siobhan was supposedly in. You have to stop when there's an address in your city. Close by. Super close to where you've been living your entire life. All the evidence points to Siobhan moving back to your city, only a mile away, and the dates on the postmarks seem to suggest that she was back as recently as two years ago.

And she didn't come find you.

That thought haunts you, like a spike through your soul.

You find yourself running your hands along the seal on letter number four.

You open it and read, trying to ignore the rain from the ocean above.

"My sweet,

This journey that I have sent you on must feel deeply overwhelming and I can never apologize enough.

There is something profoundly terrifying for me in doing this. I crafted this mask out of myself. I made something pretty and nice and wore it for so long. I'm afraid of letting you see what is beneath it, because it might be too much. And there are only so many secret things that I can share without revealing the things that are best left buried.

I know that part of this journey that I have set you on, must include pieces of myself, show you how I have grown and changed and who I have wanted to become all these years.

It is hard for me. The being that I am supposed to be, the thing that my father crafted me to be, is a miserable pile of secrets. That is not who I want to be, but it is the nature that has fostered me so I am working against all my better instincts.

I am sorry.

I know you disliked my father, even as a child.

I can't say that I blame you. He is an exacting man. Precise and distant and cold.

I was supposed to be a perfect little one. I was supposed to be quiet and just as cold and distant.

There was a plan. Some great architecture that we can't see when we are small.

We weren't supposed to stay in this one spot for as long as we did. I wasn't supposed to make such a good friend. I don't even know if I was supposed to have friends.

Everything changed for me on that first day in kindergarten when I was first dropped off by my father. He told me to watch and learn.

You loudly declared, "I don't like him! He's weird!" Pointing right at my father.

The teacher scolded you and told you to not say such things about the other kids parents.

As soon as she was done telling you that, you walked over to me. I thought you were going to apologize. Instead, you cupped my face and told me, "I'm sorry your dad is weird. You seem nice."

Not exactly an apology, but it did make me laugh.

It still makes me laugh.

That's when I knew you were someone special. And that was the start of us staying in one specific place for far too long.

I regret nothing, because it meant that I was allowed to stay with you for as long as possible.

I just wish it could have been longer.

But father is an exacting man. And there is a plan. I must follow the plan. Even if I don't want to be that person anymore.

I wish to simply be yours,

Siobhan"

You close the letter and just sit with it in your hands. This whole thing is starting to get much much bigger. Much heavier.

You sit and you think.

Does Siobhan need to be rescued from her father? Is that what this is all about? Is she stuck in some weird abusive cult? Are these dead letters the only way for her to communicate with you?

With a sick feeling in your stomach rising, you reach for the next letter to grab it and open it.

If Siobhan needs to be saved from her father, from her situation, and the only way to find her is to read through the letters in sequence, then it's on you to hurry up and finish.

You break the seal of the next letter and it already feels different from the first words.

"I'm sorry my dear.

It was only after I finished writing that last letter and sent it, that the realization set on me.

I am not in any danger. My father, while he is what he is and I am what I am, is not threat to me. I am not in any danger from him any more than he is from me at this point.

I simply wanted to explain, and perhaps vent my frustrations a little bit at you. I wanted you to understand the situation I am in.

There is no abuse or mistreatment beyond the attempts to make me the perfect tool for the cyclopean plan that I am but a tiny part in and my family is but a moderately larger cog.

There is no abuse. No danger or imminent threat.

I promise.

I would have told you if there were.

It is simply like being in class. Something you have to do, even if there are benefits and positives to it, it seems hard to discern at the moment you are in it, and you are always wishing you could be somewhere else, with someone else, being happy and doing whatever your heart desires.

I'll be more careful with my words in the future,

Siobhan"

You close the letter and you find that your heartbeat has been raging out of control.

You feel at once, reassured that there's nothing to concern yourself over, and a deep sense of worry that whatever this is will be more than you can handle.

[foodieforthoughts]

Journey through time - Part 5

Summary: Your relationship with Syverson over the years.

Warnings: fluff and only fluff.

A/N1: Last part to this mini photo series. Thanks to @agniavateira who has provided me with so much inspiration. Also thank you to everyone who read and liked and commented. You guys make me so happy. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

A/N2: I'll be taking a small hiatus from posting fics for now. But I'll be back soon. ❤️

As much as Sy adored his daughter, secretly he had always wanted a son. Two years after Adeline was born, when he was back from his oversees tour for three weeks, Sy took it upon himself to get you round and plump with his kids again. He was overjoyed when you told him over a call that you were pregnant. Although it saddened you both that this time, Sy wasn't going to be around when you gave birth to your child. When you told him he was going to be a father to twin boys, Sy had hollered with glee, making a couple of his men come knocking at his door to see if he way okay. That was a very awkward call, where you were waving at his men while they congratulated you. You sent him a copy of your sonogram, along with a picture of you with Adeline in a care package. "Mini me's," He would say while looking at the picture, "And my princess with my queen." Your heart would flutter like the very first time he had kissed you; upsetting you at the distance and yet also filling you with love. Sy asked his parents to come live with you, help you with Adeline, as you got big and started experiencing difficulty in moving around. When you went into labour, his mother tried to get him on call, just like he had requested. But they were unable to connect to his phone, wondering if he was safe and sound or just away doing things that were expected of him to do as a captain. Your emotions were unbounded when you gave birth to your sons, worrying about Sy and going through the long process without him. The next day, Sy saw his sons for the first time over the video call, happy tears springing in his eyes as you cradled the two boys in your arms. "They have your eyes, Sy. Have you thought of names yet?" You had asked, having decided long time ago that since you had named your daughter, Sy would name his sons. "James and Noah." He had sniffed out, smiling at you lovingly.

Captain Syverson retired as Major Syverson after serving 20 years of active duty. Sy joined as a coach for Little League Baseball team, becoming a favorite amongst his players and their moms. Every morning you would kiss Sy goodbye as he walked out the front door, holding little Adeline's tiny hand in his to drive her to her school on his way to work. Your days were filled with less worrying about Sy's safety and more on providing a loving family for your kids. It helped that at the end of the day, your dining table was occupied with your children and your loving husband, sharing their day's events. Weekends were spent in parks with the whole Syverson clan out for picnics, you watching your husband running around with James and Noah, Adeline who was a spitting image of her father, perched on his strong shoulders. Somedays you couldn't believe your life turned out the way it did, mostly when you would walk inside the living room to find Sy sprawled on the sofa with Adeline curled on his side, James and Noah snoozing on his chest. You would wake him up, carefully peeling your daughter away from her father and take her to bed, while Sy got both boys in his arms with little to no effort and took them to their own room. At the end of the day, when parenthood and responsibilities left you both weary, you and Sy found solace in each other's arms while drifting off to a peaceful slumber.

It was the most devastating day in Sy's life when his teenage daughter told him she wanted to pursue modelling. Adeline was stubborn and opinionated, graced with Sy's beautiful features. He had stared at his daughter with wide eyes, cup of coffee stopping midway to his mouth. "You want me to be okay with grown men gawking at you?" He had gruffly replied, anger evident with his eyebrows knitting together and his lips forming a frown. You had learned over the years to not interfere with Sy's ways of parenting. James and Noah had awkwardly slid off their chairs, both of them avoiding what was to come next. The discussion had ended with father and daughter, arguing with each other, eventually Sy sending a crying Adeline away to her room. Neither of them had spoken to each other the rest of the day, Adeline refusing to eat dinner and Sy drinking too many glasses of whiskey. "I cannot believe she thinks modelling is a career choice." He had scowled later in the night, you both staring at the ceiling while lying in bed. "Didn't you once tell me you had hated your father for sending you off to military school? Do you want your daughter to hate you?" Sy had sighed, turning on his side to face you. "That's different. Adeline's our little girl, it's my duty to protect her." Understanding completely what Sy was feeling as a parent, you had too turned on your side and placed your hand on his scruffy cheek. "You taught her to be strong, independent. She will always be our little girl. Don't you trust her to take decisions for her life? And even if she fails to do what she desires, don't you want to be there for her when she would need her dad?"

The next day you had watched from your kitchen window as Sy and Adeline talked while sitting on the swings in the backyard, ending with long hugs and lots of tears.

While Adeline roamed around the country for fashion shows, Sy groomed his sons to join the army someday. It was not an acceptable behavior, but both of you had your favorites when it came to the twins. Noah, the stronger of the two was decidedly his father's favorite, adding to his delight when by the end of high school, he wanted to go to a military academy. James, the apple of your eye, on the other hand, wanted to become a doctor, much to Sy's dismay. But lessons were learned from the time with Adeline and for that reason only, Sy did not oppose. Noah was sent off to Virginia to a military academy, going on to join the air force as it was affiliated with his school; while James buried himself in studies, moving to Connecticut to attend medical school. Weekends that were spent with picnics in the park, now consisted of video conference calls with your three kids spread out over the country. "It's just going to be you and me in the end." Sy would say, shutting the computer off and looking at you pensively. Wounding your arms around the love of your life, you would rest your head on his shoulder and agree, "Till death do us part."

On your 30th wedding anniversary, Sy gave you an unexpected surprise. He had been missing from the house since morning, only to send a vague text with "Pack your bags and come out in ten minutes." When you walked outside on the front porch, you were left stunned to find Sy dressed in riding gear on a super bike. "I think we need to relive our days from the time we were dating. Come on, I've planned a road trip for us." And with that, Sy had driven all the way to San Antonio for the weekend. With a hotel room on the river, Sy pampered you with all his love and the best Tex-Mex food he could find for you. You spent the day shopping and exploring, while in the night he made love to you with unbridled passion. "My better half," he had called you, kissing your hands while cradling you to his chest. When you both came back home from your trip, you had another surprise waiting for you: Your three children all under the same roof again, holding up a sign board with "Happy anniversary, mom and dad."

Noah had successfully climbed the ranks in the airforce to become Lieutenant at an age younger than when Sy was one. But it was when James, inspired by his twin, decided to join the armed forces as a field doctor, you saw Sy's chest puff in pride. "Syverson men always join the military." He had told his friends over dinner one night, soaking up the praises for his children. Adeline joined a major modelling agency that speared her career forward. She roamed around the globe, sending her old folks trinkets from the new city she was in, and one day added a picture of her and her boyfriend in the mail. Sy turned into a protective father quickly, inviting her and her man to have dinner. "I like him." Your old man had chuckled, when he had scared Adeline's boyfriend, making him blabber incoherently with nervousness. You could only watch in a haze as one day Adeline's boyfriend showed up to your house unannounced, to ask Sy for his daughter's hand in marriage. "Listen boy, Adeline is precious and if you hurt her, you know there wouldn't be anything worse than us. You don't want to be on the bad side of the Syverson men, is that clear?" You had heard Sy warn, a shiver running down your spine listening to his commanding tone, even if the threat wasn't meant for you. A few weeks later, when Adeline was in Paris, she had called home only minutes after the proposal, screaming on the phone that she said "yes." The rest of the night, Sy had you looking at Adeline's baby pictures from old photo albums. "This little bundle would be getting married soon. Can you believe that?" He had laughed, wiping the tear at the corner of his eye and throwing his arm around your shoulders when you couldn't hold onto your own tears.

The day after Adeline, Sy's little girl, was married, he threw a brunch for the newly weds and their families. James and Noah, back from their deployment in time for their sister's wedding, had introduced their own girlfriends to both of you before the ceremony. You knew Sy would never admit it, macho behavior of his never fading, but you could see his eyes glisten watching his family grow. He had tried to keep a straight face throughout the ceremony too, but he had let go of his tears when Adeline had laid her head on his shoulder during their father-daughter dance. Halfway through brunch, Sy pulled you away from the crowd and took you towards the orchard outside the country club. He held your hand while taking you to stand under the shade of a massive tree. "It's like I'm living in a dream." You admitted, looking out at the sprawling orchard, thinking about how you were a mother-in-law to someone. Sy pulled you close to him by your waist, encircling his arms around you. Gray hair on his temples and his face beginning to be marked with wrinkles and yet for you, Sy looked like he had never aged. "I know I don't tell this to you very often, but darlin' running into you, falling in love with you, building a life with you, is the best thing that could have happened to me." He kissed the top of your head, taking your face in his hands before planting a soft kiss on your lips. "I love you and thank you for everything, Sy." You whispered as the birds chirped on the branches above, a whistling breeze blew by carrying the sweet fragrance of fruits in the orchard and you stared at the brilliant blue orbs of the man who had owned your heart and soul since many years ago.

The End.

[thewritepages]

The Diary of the Older Collegiate (#TheFreshman Series) (1)

Synopsis : Annabelle Green is somewhat in a situation no thirty year woman would want to find herself in : (Un) Happily divorced, childless and with a job worth peanuts and migraine. The downward spiral of her life doesn't seem to end anytime soon until her sister reminds her of her most cherished dream.

College.

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

MAY 3, 2019

3.30 A.M.

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

I hate myself.

No, really. I may have called it once or twice in the past due to mild anger or frustration, but this.

This is real.

I mean, I may be the only person who would:

A) Cry over a failed marriage during an interview

B) Scratch that, cry over a failed marriage in midst of the most IMPORTANT interview in my entire career!

C) Go straight to the pub later to drown my sorrows when I know perfectly well what would happen if I do get drunk.

D) Do what would be obvious to a broken-hearted, career destroyed, thirty year old drunk woman: Leave a string of carefully selected profanities on the voice mail of my beloved ex-husband.

E) Waking up several hours later on the side of god-knows-what street staring in horror at the drunken messages I've sent to everyone in my cell's contact list- which would also include my parents.

And to think of it, I managed it all in little less than 12 hours last night.

I think I'll just dig a burrow in my apartment and never come out of it. Wait a minute...

That's it! I'm never leaving my apartment again. It'll be perfect- I'll take up one of those work-at-home jobs they always advertise on the internet, eat ramen noodles for sustenance and stay protected from the world outside throughout my life.

In fact, I'll tip off my doorman to tell my family that I've left to pursue my inner self and I may never come back again. As many years pass by, my family would mourn over my presumed death while I get a plastic surgery done and change my name to something untraceable like Ronal Wallis.

Oh, jolly good! A brilliant idea. Why didn't I ever think of this before?

MAY 3, 2019.

13.30 P.M.

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

Err; maybe the whole change-my-identity-and-live-happily plan didn't exactly work.

Don't get me wrong, it didn't totally blow up or anything. My doorman, Steve did his job perfectly, informing my sister that I have indeed joined Deepak Chopra on a journey to find myself in a tiny village in the Himalayan Valleys. He narrated the story in such a sober tone that even I found myself believing him for a moment.

But Steve and I didn't realize that in order to leave the country, I would actually need my passport- The passport which is still in my ex-husband's apartment along with the rest of the stuff I was going to pick up this week.

Unfortunately, my sister was very much aware of this piece of information.

"Anna, it's been two months. You've got to get your shit together. You cannot stay dep-" I gave my sister a warning glance.

Not the D-word. Definitely not the D-word.

"I'm completely fine."I mumbled, looking down at the dregs of my empty coffee mug.

"No, you're not completely fine Annabelle Green. You've stopped calling, stop visiting all of us. Hell, nowadays you don't even get your ass out of the bed. Now, I know what Luc-"she stopped short, taking in my pained expression.

Another word I do not want to hear – Luc- Lucas.

Lucas .Lucas. Lucas.

"I'm sorry," Kat, my sister, bowed her head down low. "I shouldn't have brought him up."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have." My eyes closed from exhaustion. "Kat, why are you here?"

"Well, last night you-"

"I KNOW. It was a mistake. And I think I sent an explanatory text earlier this morning."

"That won't stop me from checking up on you, Anna. I'm bloody worried about you."

My eyes descend down to her enormous belly. She shouldn't worry about me right now- I'm not the one who is due for two bouncing baby boys in less than two months.

Did I just say bouncing? Oh, Lord.

"How're the boys kickin'?" I pat her belly gently, forcing myself to smile.

Her face instantly relaxes. "Oh, they're kickin', all right," she smiles at me, "Didn't give me a wink of sleep last week."

Well, that makes the two of us.

"I can't wait for little John and Paul to meet their ol' Aunt Anna." At least this was true. The arrival of my twin nephews is the only thing keeping me up for the past couple of months.

"Anna, we have talked about this. I'm not naming the kids after The Beatles."

"Why not? I recommend you have another set of twin boys so we'll have the entire boy band in our family."

"And have four crazy boys running around the household? No thanks. Phil and I would probably die of insanity."

Sigh. Phil and Kat. Their story is the closest you'd ever get to a fairytale- childhood sweethearts; they were two young teenagers wildly in love but were painfully separated to colleges at the opposite ends of the country. When it looked like it was truly over between them, they reconciled during the summer after college. It was literally The Notebook all over again, leaving out all the letter writing and the crazy house building. I don't think Phil is capable of fixing a broken lock, let alone build an entire house.

Suddenly, I felt someone holding my hand tightly. I look up to see Kat's eyes filled with tears. "Annie, come home. Mum and Dad miss you. I miss you. We want to stay with you in these difficult times. A few days away from Seattle will do you good. "She gets up. "Mum, Dad and Phil are waiting for us in the car downstairs. I'll help you pack up."

My heart softens, but I raise my eyebrows in sarcasm. "So, they sent you to emotionally blackmail me, right? Well, it's working, Mommy –in-waiting."

She tweaks my nose playfully. "It always does, baby sis."

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

A/N :

Hi there, thank you for taking the time to read my new diary styled new ChickLit series:

"The Diaries of an Older Collegiate"(#TheFreshman).

If this chapter ignited an interest for this series, please let me by reblogging or sending me a message. I'm very new to Tumblr writing so it'll really help me calm my nerves :")

Lastly, I'm tagging a few lovely authors here whose works I've been binge reading and they've really inspired me to put out my work out here. Authors, if you like this chapter, I'd be very grateful if you could share it among your network and let me know :)))))

@go1denjeon, @ladyartemesia,@noteguk,@junghelioseok

[yoursummerfrost]

I posted 6,425 times in 2021

261 posts created (4%)

6164 posts reblogged (96%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 23.6 posts.

I added 4,577 tags in 2021

#btvs - 3100 posts

#the witcher - 250 posts

#lucifer - 225 posts

#shirtless - 197 posts

#ats - 196 posts

#about me - 168 posts

#writing meta - 120 posts

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#lucifer spoilers - 118 posts

#yah - 84 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#buffy doesnt open up because she thinks they wont understand/will be angry and they get angry when they find out bc she didnt open up sooner

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

heaven, make me an offer

Part 3 of the wouldn't it be nice? series is here! Join Buffy and Spike as they continue to ask themselves important philosophical questions such as: what the hell is a soul good for, anyway? how do you kill one monster and love another? and under what circumstances is it morally acceptable to eat those weirdly folded up Doritos?

Rating: E Word Count: ~58k Pairing(s): Spuffy Summary: Buffy says, "The girl you loved didn't make it out of the ground."

Or: Buffy crawls out of her grave and remembers loving Spike. They just have to get back to where they were.

Read here on AO3!

65 notes • Posted 2021-08-07 18:32:03 GMT

#4

(love me) as much as your heart can stand

Please enjoy this spuffy You’ve Got Mail AU set during season 6 that I read, like, a bunch of poetry in order to write. It contains: a lot of sex that’s even hotter than it is ill-advised, a healthy dose of identity porn and/or secondhand embarrassment depending on how you feel about it, and liberal abuse of the :-) emoticon.

Rating: E Word Count: ~51k Pairing(s): Spuffy Summary: Buffy Summers's foolproof plan for being large with the life again: 1. Break up with Spike 2. Spend more time with Willow and Dawnie 3. No, seriously, break up with Spike 4. Poetry??

Or: Still aimless after being pulled from Heaven and caught up in a dark sexual affair with Spike, Buffy forms an unlikely online friendship with a sweet, lonely poet named William.

Read here on AO3!

66 notes • Posted 2021-05-08 03:36:30 GMT

#3

don’t look much like a lover (doesn’t mean I won’t try)

So, basically, this fic is my tender love letter to late-s5/early-s6 spuffy. It is, strictly speaking, “The Gift” + s6 fix-it, but kinda more so in affectionate conversation with the two seasons. Similar themes, different flavor of ouch? Also there’s pegging, so. Really I should’ve led with that.

Rating: E Word Count: ~86.5k Pairing(s): Spuffy (+ co-parenting Dawn) Summary: Buffy is ashamed of him, Spike knows. But when no one else is around, she touches him like she could love him.

(In which Spike makes a damn good cup of coffee, watches a sunrise or two, and plays confidant to a Slayer who thinks dying to save the world would've been easier than this.)

Read here on AO3!

72 notes • Posted 2021-02-26 02:58:21 GMT

#2

i will follow you into the dark

This fic is directly inspired by the Death Cab for Cutie song of the same name, and it's a bittersweet little tale about what it really means to love someone so much you'd follow them anywhere. It's also, secretly, a little bit about a turkey named Steven.

---

Rating: E Word Count: ~35k Pairing(s): Spuffy Summary: "Admit it, Slayer," Spike says, still grinning at her. "I liven up the place."

Buffy rolls her eyes and says, "You're even deader than I am."

Aka: Buffy sacrifices herself to save the world and winds up in a heavenly dimension capable of granting her every wish. And, oh, yeah—for some reason, Spike is here too.

Read here on AO3!

76 notes • Posted 2021-09-24 14:51:53 GMT

#1

nothing safe is worth the drive (follow you home)

The working title of this fic was Winnebago Party Time and it was directly inspired by me staring at a PDF of a vintage Winnebago brochure so I could write a different fic in which spuffy fuck in the RV. But this one features an actual road trip, multiple allusions to Faith Hill, and Giles’s slow descent into madness. 

Rating: E Word Count: ~61k Pairing(s): spuffy Summary:  Here's the deal: Buffy's got no idea how to beat Glory, or how they're gonna book it across the country in a moldy RV without anyone killing each other, especially now that someone broke one of the beds—and the thought of going home again kinda makes her wanna cry.

The one thing she knows is that Spike would follow her anywhere, even like this.

Read here on AO3!

96 notes • Posted 2021-04-16 02:21:13 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[alicejohnson]

Today we have a chick flick made into a book! And it`s LGBTQ+ (I'm figuring out my sexuality what can I do, all the books I've read the past week are queer 🏳️‍🌈). Also, that means it's a chick flick without chicks lol. But you get the point.

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐ / .5

The review in itself is pretty much spoiler-free, but thoughts and interactions with this post are not.

The author, Casey McQuiston, is non-binary (they are ok with any pronouns, but I'll stick to they/them/their)

What is it about: The love affair between the First Son of the United States of America and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. That's it.

Warnings?: Homophobia, internalized homophobia, homophobic slurs, mild graphic sexual content, a lot of swear words.

Writing: This is the best thing about the goddamn book. It's full of sassiness, creative e-mails, snarky remarks, witty dialogues, just lovely. I had a lot of fun reading it and actually laughed out loud multiple times. The only downside I saw is that it failed to be profound or "poetic", even when trying to. There were emotional parts that missed the tone and seemed very superficial. Also, some of the British characters had dialogues that came off as a little bit forced. (I'm not British, let's clarify that. It just didn't fit my idea of how British sounds based on other types of media I've consumed)

Plot: Quite heavy on American politics, culture, and history. If you are not familiar with it and the entire voting system, you'll get lost eventually. Emails, references, and conflicts might be very confusing as well. Most importantly, it has zero, ZERO conflict. I didn't feel the tension at all at any time. I did have some angst, but very minimal. The only moment of pure tension I felt was regarding the character's sexuality and how scary that can be (talking about it, figuring it out, coming out. All of it is terrifying). The rest of the "issues" seemed very childish. Maybe I'm not the target audience for this in my mid-twenties, but I was like "stop whining omg" half of the time.

Other than that is pretty much fluff, slice of life, parties, internal monologues, a campaign race, a little bit of found family, and coming of age - in terms of what the fuck do I do with my future- expensive flights and trips. Maybe Gossip Girl meets Scandal?

Side note: the ending is completely irrational, idealistic and that's never going to happen anytime soon but ok. It was cute.

Characters: Alex is a freaking blessing and an icon. I literally love him. He is the perfect "feisty" type of character that is not annoying or just plain out rude. He is perfect, compassionate, smart, witty, caring, so sweet, and ugh. I love him. On the other hand, Henry "The Prince", is also very smart but a lot less cool. He's more insecure, troubled, "dark" but not in a "bad boy" type. More in the "sometimes I'm depressed and need hugs". Both of them are precious.

The girl characters are AMAZING. Strong, with healthy relationships, also kind of queer without anything explicitly mentioned, and badass. They have an actual role and are not limited to being "cute" at all. Refreshing. Also, the brotherly love is strong in this one. We stan healthy family relationships.

I do recommend it, it is very nice, quite fun, easy to read (besides the politics) and very witty. Is it the groundbreaking story of the year as booktok labels it? No. Absolutely not.

Thoughts:

This book made me think about two things:

1. LGBTQ+: As someone who has struggled with discovering their sexuality all their life, this book made me cry. I had my own Liam who I treated horribly because of my internalized homophobia. After I came to terms with not being straight, seeing someone as powerful as the son of POTUS exclaim to the world "I'm bisexual" made my heart skip a beat and the only thing I could think was "can you imagine? wouldn't that be wonderful?" I always thought that my sexuality was a "me" thing. Both in terms of deciding what it was, and who to tell -not my parents for example- but after reading that, I understood how powerful coming out can be. Amazing.

2. Love: When Alex tells Henry's sister that he "loves him with purpose" I also understood a lot of things. Love is something you decide, and that decision is unilateral. Meaning, we should never attach "conditionals" to our love cause in the end it is our choice. Traditional love has made us believe that "falling in love" is just something that happens and I don't think that's the case. We talk so much about love but we regard it as something that happens without learning about it, being responsible, and understanding the choices we make.

Alex loved Henry unilaterally, with purpose, responsibly, aware that he had his demons. We should all do that, don't you think? :)

“I am the First Son of the United States, and I'm bisexual. History will remember us.”

[gharlboro]

A Collector’s Course

I wasn’t going to post this here until after I finished chapter 1 but I have no self control so here you go. I’m writing this originally from Wattpad so if you wanna read it there, it’s gharlboro.

Tenya Iida x Reader

Prologue

"Collectors were around long before quirks were common. Once more quirks appeared, they were able to use their powers to the full extent. Collectors start out with a small carving anywhere on their body, typically on the right hip. The person they wish to steal the quirk from must come into contact with the carving or an open wound. The carving enlarges with every quirk collected. The more powerful the quirk, the larger the carving becomes. However, each quirk must be practiced to fit the Collector's body, or else it will force their body into shock. Collectors have been said to be extinct but there is not enough information to support this.”-(Wiki 2001). So far I only have 2 others. The Siren's Call and Lioness. With the Siren's Call I can entrance anyone I choose to listen. This one is hard, I have to fit fighting styles to the lyrics I'm singing. Basically like writing a song, which I'm terrible at. To practice I must make sure I'm in complete solitude as to not hurt anyone and focus on what I wish to happen with every lyric. I can sing at decibels so low, others may not even hear me. I can control who I want to hear my voice. The Lioness is pretty simple, I can do anything a lion can without actually becoming one. Both of these I was born with from my mother and father. Neither of them were Collectors. I have yet to figure out how I became one.

“Honey, you have some mail from..uh..some Japanese High School." High School? "Don't you mean college, mom?" I asked her while walking into the kitchen. "Nope, it says High School." She corrected, handing over the letter. "It's probably some scam or what not."

"U.A. High School. Musutafu, Japan. Please do NOT discard!"

"Yeah, thanks mom." I hustled to my room ignoring the arched brow from her. What would U.A. want with me? I wonder if this was May's doing. I'm gonna kill he- A projection erupted from the envelope once I finally ripped it opened. "Hello, I am the principal of Japan's U.A. High School, Pro Hero Nezu. This is very unusual for us to ask but we wish for you to join our school. We have reviewed your records and your very heroic action this past school year, Ms. (L/N). Our school year has already started and we are willing to let you transfer on account of us. We shall pay all expenses for the move and provide a living quarters if needed. By the time you get this, one of our faculty members will be by to talk to your family. We really hope you take advantage of this opportunity, the world needs a hero like you, Ms. (L/N)."

And with that, it vanished.

U.A. wants me? But why? There's no way they know of my Collecting Quirk. Do they..? No, this has to be about the shooting...

A light knock on my bedroom door interrupted my thoughts. Quickly shoving the U.A. envelope into my notebook and closing it, I answered the door. "Sweetie, there's a man here to talk with us. About you..?" I couldn't read her face. It wasn't her usual cheery self. It was concern and..confusion? I bet it was the faculty member Principal Nezu mentioned. I followed down the short hallway to be met with my father speaking with, "Eraserhead?" This brought all the attention on me.

Oops, I didn't mean to say that outloud.

He straightened at the sound of his hero name, definitely not expecting to hear that, and stood up only to bow back down. "I see you know who I am. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. (L/N)." The suited Eraserhead replied. I copied his greeting, "Please, Mr. Aizawa sir, just call me (Y/N). You guys are very punctual, I just opened the letter." I smiled a bit. Cultural differences. Funny. "(Y/N). What's going on?" Mr. Aizawa returned his attention back to my father, "Mr. (L/N), we understand the incident that happened at your daughter's school may still be quite raw to all of you. However, her courage and outstanding strength showed great heroism and it caught the eye of U.A. High School's higher ups and all of the Pro Hero's. Even the Symbol of Peace himself says he wishes to meet you," he exhaled just a bit from his nose, "as it was said in the letter, this is very unusual for our school. We ask that you join our student body and train to become a hero that you so much deserve to be. You will be joining after classes have started so you do have to work a bit harder to get on track. On behalf of U.A. and all of the other Pro Heroes, will you join us, Ms. (Y/N)?" Mr. Aizawa looked at me and widened his eyes with slight hesitance. He's using his quirk on me?

My parents couldn't see it

but his hair stood up just a..hare.

"Mr. Aizawa, to be completely honest with you, I had no interest in becoming a hero," I crossed my arms. "Especially not a Pro," I shifted my weight from one leg to the other. "But in that moment of adrenaline, I realized what needed to be done. And saved the lives of not just mindless people who only got up because they had to," I wasn't looking at him anymore, I was looking through him. Replaying that eventful day in my words, "but of friends. The future of society. And if it is alright with my parents, I will stay with my sister in Japan and attend U.A." His hair fell.

For some reason, I felt a bit of tension.

"Oh honey! Of course you can go! We would never stand in the way of you!" My mother bombarded me with the straightjacket she calls a hug.

And just like that, I was known as the absurd transfer student from America.

I gotta call my sister.

[intervital]

#100BrightMoments On April 7th, I'm going to start #The100DayProject where you do something creative daily for 100 days. Mine will revolve around bright moments where each creation must benefit at least one individual, and they can be my(future)self. Maybe a kind letter, a favorable review, portrait, etc. Something that can brighten someone's day. It doesn't necessarily have to be finished in a single day, but much progress must be done. Me and my future self can't be the recipient more than ten times.

Here are some ideas, and I'd like to do at least 30/42. For fun, each icon is based on the previous task. I really enjoyed doodline hehe:

💡 Fan mail

💌 Zine review

(Stapler) origami

(Book corner origami on a page) mail art [small scale artwork sent via post]

(Stamp) message of hope [mail a positive art work to be hung in the store windows of The Imaginarium of L. Delaney in New Orleans]

(Hung up sign of a butterfly) bookmark

🔖 Ode

(Scribbled lines then by Eileen) junk journal [handbound notebooks composed of junk ephemera like security envelopes, flyers, receipts, greeting cards, stationery, packaging, etc]

✂️ Care package

📦 Legacy The Sketchbook Project [original & tiny sized sketchbook projects for my future children]

(Lil & big ones) Art-o-mat® - Don't Go 'Round Artless! prototype [a hand-crafted small art object sold in converted cigarette machines across the nation. Maybe tiny junk journals?]

(Wooden block with a 💜) video for future ei [message for 5 years from now, when I'm 40, after giving birth, first time I fall in love]

📽️ Prayer

🕯️Time capsule [doesn't have to be buried, but should be sealed and has a written to open date]

(Shovel) @abandonedb2dbc on instagram (my guerilla art project where I abandon (loosely) connected books, lit mags, inspired written works & small gifts. Not sure how it'll work during Covid-19, but maybe I can catch up with the blog & story I didn't do for the last one.]

(Park bench has a ribbon wrapped book with gifts and a 🌼 beside it) The World Needs More Love Letters [a global project where each month you send letters to struggling recipients who could use some light]

(A stack of 📃✉️) book review

(Five ⭐s surrounding a 📗) meal

🍽️ The Wander Society

(⭕ with a ⚡ inside) printable [I'm not a graphic design whiz but maybe I can write up some quotes in ornate boxes? Idk lol]

(Sheet with different shapes) stickers

[My 2 in 1 sprocket printing out a sticker photo] flower arrangement

💐 Journal w/ me [video of me creating journal spread]

💻 Creative prompt

(Try with scribbled lines) underrated TV show review

📺 Sci-fi short film screenplay [an outline or a few pages]

(Potted Venus flytrap) guerilla art [artwork in public, so chalk quotes, zines outside, surprise bouquets, seed bombs. can't go outside unless absolutely necessary so maybe craft some stuff for when I can]

(🗑️ Next to a 📮 with a 🌟 sticker) cairn [artful stack of rocks, usually found in parks or hikes]

(Rocks on top of each other) #messagestoc [100 different messages in a 100 places, think I'm only on 4 lol. I'll just make one and save it for later]

(📖 With a postcard inserted) portrait [can be a photo]

📸 Book dedication [pick a book I wanna gift and write something sweet on the inside front cover]

(Dear --- I love you. Eileen) Rowan Hisayao Buchanan's # tinyisolations [she gives a weekly flash fiction/small art prompt. Randomly selected winners get sent money and also choose another person or charity that could use the help]

(☁️S surrounding a hot air balloon) Spotify playlist

🎵 @thedigitalsala (Twitter & Instagram handle) contribution [virtual Filipinx lit+ festival. Maybe I can read a piece, write a recap, organize a panel, transcribe]

🛋️ Guest blog [no clue where lol but maybe it'll manifest]

{Profile pic beneath ....... Eileen Ramos is a bipolar) video of a reading [preferably of my own work. But it would be fun to read a favorite poem or passage of an underrated author]

▶️ Handlettering [my handwriting is shitty but I think it'd be fun to try to do a quote. I could use the practice lol]

(📝 With a ✒️) Kleroteria [was chosen to write an email to be sent to 10k inboxes awhile ago. I have an idea but need more info & add other stuff. At most 3k characters, no pictures, links are ok, no ads]

📬 verse.press poetry playlist [website where you can create a themed list of poems]

(V icon) column [working on a pitch for a lit website; need to streamline & narrow it down]

(Greek column) FOUND Magazine entry [found magazine collects contributions of found notes. I have something to submit but idk where I placed them. Hopefully I'll come across it]

(Found mag logo) learningtoloveyoumore.com task [70 assignments by Miranda July & Harrell Fletcher which can be take a picture of your parents kissing, write the phone call you when you could have, recreate a poster you had as a teenager, photograph a significant outfit, write down a recent argument]

[thirsty-pixie]

Richie x Reader. Part 5

Part 1, part 2, part 3, Part 4

Part 6

I got home and checked the mail seeing a bright blue envelope with my moms name on it, I grabbed it and sat on the couch while the boys raided my kitchen for snacks. I opened the letter not recognizing the name on the return address, it came from California where my mom said she lived as a little girl.

Dear Teresa,

I know it's been 20 years since we last spoke but your father is sick and would like to make amenities and we are willing to send you a plane ticket to fly to California. We miss you dearly and hope you can forgive us for everything. We hope you will consider coming home you can hall us at 530-838-2356 (idk if it's a real number I kinda made it up lol)

Love, mom and dad.

I stood up and looked at Richie who was drinking a soda and leaning against the kitchen entryway watching the guys. "I just got a letter from my moms parents" he turned and looked at me "I thought she told you they died...?" He looked at the letter then back at me. "She did.... should I call" I scrunched my eyes as I read the number again. He shrugged and looked at the phone, "it wouldn't hurt to try..." I nodded and walked to the phone hanging on the wall.

The phone rang twice before a womans voice answered, "um hi uh...." I didnt know what to say "Hi may I ask whose calling?" I swallowed the lump in my throat before answering in a shakey voice."Yeah you sent a letter for Teresa Brooks.." the woman gasped "Is this Teresa?" She asked excited, I cleared my throat and sigh "no I'm sorry you have to find out like this but she passed 2 years ago.. but I an her daughter Y/n" the woman was silent for a few moments before I heard a muffled cry. "I'm really sorry I wish you could have found out differently." I played with the cord waiting for her to respond.

After a few moments of silence the woman sniffled "you said you are her daughter.." i cleared my throat again and nodded "yes ma'am" she was quiet for a second "well Y/n do you want to fly to California to meet some of your moms family?" I smiled and said yes. I hung the phone back up and turned around, Richie was standing behind me "well?" He asked curious about how the call went. "I'm going to California to meet my moms family" I said excitedly smiling at him.

~~~Time Skip a week after graduation~~~

I was waiting at the bus stop looking for Richie, he was supposed to meet me here to say goodbye. My bus was supposed to be here in 10 minutes, the rest of the losers club had come to say goodbye which ended up making me cry. "You'll be back though right" Mike asked as he hugged me, "yeah in a year or so." I wiped my eyes looking around one last time for any sign of Richie. But he wasn't around, and here came my bus.

I grabbed my bag and handed it to the bus driver to put in the storage area under the bus, I gave the guys one last hug before I turned to get on the bus. "Y/N" I stopped hearing someone yell my name, I looked down the road seeing Richie running towards me. I smiled and looked back at the driver "just give me a minute please" he nodded and got on the bus. Richie ran up to me pulling me into a tight hug, I hugged him back and my eyes began to water.

"I'm gonna miss you Trash Mouth" I pulled back and he wiped my tears before kissing me. "I'm gonna miss you too but you're gonna be back in no time." I smiled and hugged him again. They all waved as the bus drove off leaving Derry and all of my friends behind.

~~~time skip 2 years later reader is 20 losers club is 18~~

I sat on the bus staring out the window as we drove passed the welcome to Derry sign. It had been 2 years since I had left to meet my family and I was more than happy to be back in my hometown. Richie and I would talk every day while I was gone for the first year but by the second year we would only send a few letters a month. I walked off the bus and grabbed my bag from the driver throwing it over my shoulder, while I was gone I rented out my house to an elderly couple who just move out last week. I had called a moving company to move all of my furniture from storage back into the house so it would be ready when I got home.

The walk to my house from the bis stop was about 20 minutes so I stopped at the drug store to get a soda. As I was leaving I seen Richie and Eddie walking down the road, "hey losers" I said as I walked up to them. It took them a few moments to realize who I was, Richie hugged me like he was trying to squeeze the life out of me. "Oh my god how long have you been back" I pushed him off and smiled "maybe 5 minutes" Eddie hugged me briefly before telling Richie and I he'll let us have some alone time.

Richie walked me home and we talked about everything that had happened since I left. When we got to the house I invited him in and we sat on the couch awkwardly, "so are we still uh....." I wasnt sure how to as if him and I were still dating. "Still a thing?" He said finishing my question I looked at him and nodded. "Do you want to be?" He added looking at me smiling "I do if you still want to" as soon as i finish my sentence he leaned forward kissing me. It felt like the first time all over again, within a few minutes we were giggling and making our way up to my room.

I stood infront of my bed as he shut my door and walked up to me, he shoved me back and I fell onto my bed with a sight bounce. He pulled his shirt off tossing it aside and climbed on top of me he began kissing my neck and down to my collarbone. He both groaned when we heard a loud banging on my front door followed by the sound of Ben, Eddie, Stan, Mike and Bill Singing Don't you by Simple Minds. I laughed and pushed Richie off and stood up handing him his shirt, "as much as I'd like to finish this they wont be leaving any time soon." He rolled his eyes and put his shirt on.

I opened the door and seen the group of boys I had come to think of as my brothers, "Y/n! " the all came into my house talking loudly. Richie stood at the top of the stairs watching us all hug and say our hellos, "you gonna stand up there all day?" I asked looking up at at him. He nodded walking down the stairs wrapping his arm around me, Eddie and Richie looked at each other's like they were nonverbally communicating.

"So how was California?" Stan asked leaning on the back of my couch, "it was good my moms parents are crazy rich it was weird. My mom had like 4 brothers and 6 sisters. They took me to Hawaii to visit my moms oldest brother who was in the Army" I looked at my shoes then back at Stan. Eddie came back into the room from the kitchen "Wow how was the beach?" I looked at him and shrugged "it was fine not really my scene" the guys started talking amongst each other loudly, I leaned against Richie and sighed.

"What's wrong" Richie asked resting his chin on the top of my head "nothing.... its just happy to be home." I smiled as Eddie and Stan started arguing while Mike and Bill tried to break it up. I turned wrapping my arms around Richies waist resting my head on his chest "I missed you so much" he hugged me back"i missed you too Y/n" I kissed him and turned to look at the guys. "Hey losers let go down to the quarry like old times" they all agreed and we left the house walking down the road to th drug store because I wanted to get some snacks.

Eddie went in with me to fill his inhaler, Gretta was at the pharmacy counter when we went in and she smiled at me. "Wow Y/n you finally go out of this shit town but you came back." I fake smiled and looked down the snack aisle. "Good thing you and Richie were on a break while you were gone right?" She popped her gum as she spoke and I walked up to the counter. Eddie stepped back from the counter and watched nervously as I slammed my hands on the counter. "What are you talking about... we were never on a break" if looks could kill Gretta would gone, "oh well according to him you were" she smirked and looked put the window at Richie.

"What are you trying to say Gretta" I said through clenched teeth. "Oh was it not obvious? I'm saying I fucked your boyfriend. Multiple times." I stormed put of the drugstore and shoved Richie. "What the fuck Richie" he looked at me confused, "what's wrong with you" he rubbed his chest where I shove him.

"You fucked Gretta?!" He looked down immediately when I said this "so its true... " he looked ath me and nodded "you were gone for two years Y/n what did you expect" his words were like a slap in the face. "That shouldn't have mattered! I didn't sleep with anyone I thought you loved me as much as I loved you but clearly I was wrong." I felt a burning in my eyes as tears made their way down my cheeks. "I don't know what you want me to say. You left." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked a rock that was sitting on the sidewalk.

"I just found out I had family and I wasnt alone anymore. I wanted to meet them and get to know them." Richie glared at me. "Not alone anymore? Really you were never alone! You had Bill, Mike, Stan,Ben and Eddie..... you had me. Were we not enough for you?!" I stepped towards him and he stepped back. "You expected me to wait for you like some stupid romance movie. Well news flash Y/n this is the real world! Nobody knew you were coming back I wasn't going to wait forever. I do love you and I want to be with you but honestly look at the bigger picture" wasn't sure if I was angry crying or sad crying but all I knew was I felt betrayed.

"Dont play that you didn't know if I was coming home shit because I told you I would he back" he rolled his eyes and turned his head away as I talked. "You're a real asshole Richie" I wiped the tears away and he just looked at me and shrugged. I wait for him to say something anything "that's it?" He nodded "like I said I dont know what you want me to say you were the one that left" he shrugged and raised his eyebrows "you're right and I shouldn't have come back either...." I turned and started to walk away but he grabbed my arm. "Stop Richie.....I'm done I don't want this anymore" I pulled my arm away and left Derry i sold my house and moved to California with my family. That was the last time seen or talked to any of the guys.

Part 1, part 2, part 3, Part 4

Part 6