#never mind the massive Alex vibes

[damsel-in-mistress]

Thinking about how MK already said on Adios Ta-ra Ta-ra:

[puckpocketed]

good morning puckpocketed it is @wehaveagathering from my main blog! I was wondering (and if you have already talked about this link me!) what your feelings are on the sharks upcoming offseason, who you're hoping for them to draft, who you're excited to see play either in their nhl or ahl roster, anything! :]

first of all. hello wehaveagathering dot tumblr my sour gummy candy my bespoke watchface my press-on nails....! thank you so much for dropping by <33 hearing from you is like oughh hello microcelebrity who decided i was cool... !!!! ok. deep inhale. I present to you:

puckpocketeds sharks offseason roundup

I am of two minds with Sharks hockey:

Nothing will ever go as I expect/predict because Mike Grier works in mysterious ways (Hertl trade was a wild day) and given I am following the San Jose Sharks ...we are here for a laff first and foremost. At least until we're competitive again. No point in thinking too hard because it ain't that serious and i have 0 control over what happens <3

On the other hand . kljsdalkjsdkl I am reading Elite Prospects' draft guide like the morning paper and absorbing massive amounts of data about my little guys and listening to podcasts and also following juniors games (you may have seen my very regular and hinged Memorial Cup Posting) and, yes, I even watched college hockey . I am unofficially the prospects slide maker for the Sharks Primer that I haven't opened in a week.

You may have asked the one person on tumblr who can give you an unskippable cutscene i hope ur ready for an unskippable cutscene !

General Off-season stuff/contracts

i am being fed off the scraps of Henry Thrun + Devin Cooley interviews in scf post-game shows and stalking all of our beat reporters. i have all of them with notifications ON and they keep doing really funny stuff like suggesting Draisaitl coming to the sharks. also . wekky and keebs are hanging out with Alex Holtz this summer and it is THEE best thing ever. matching slides for you in these trying times? feeling very deprived of sharks hockey but sustaining myself by having little breakdowns about it with friends :3

Couture is the biggest question of the off-season to me. The plan rn is that he will be ready to play by opening night, if all goes well during his rehab. He's our captain, the team looked visibly improved when he was on the ice for the gorgeous 6 game stretch that he played with us last season (Coochie era you will always be famous), and honestly I think his contribution to morale is more valuable than anything else he brings to the ice. There's no chance he gets moved right now given his contract and health, but there's a chance he never plays another NHL game... his health and readiness to play determines who the Sharks target for acquisitions and what our team looks like down the middle (where our two biggest prospects, who are both centers, will end up). so much hinges on whether or not Cooch is healthy!! but at this point I'm just rooting for his long-term health no matter what happens with the team !!

To preface any contract talk; the vibe about Mike Grier is he’s wary of giving out long term stuff in light of his predecessor leaving behind the husk of Marc-Edouard Vlasic (said with deep affection) and several other nearly immovable contracts. pundits don't really see him giving anyone term unless they’re Confirmed Core Players and i agree! other than that... i don't have serious takes or predictions about term/dollar amounts. HOPES and DREAMS and PSYCHEDELIC VISIONS, on the other hand...

We're gonna lose some of our guys to free agency because they're. um. untradeable and not very good </3 (Hoffman, Labanc, Barabanov <- this one is a special case, Barbie's deal fell through because the Hertl trade happened and we're using our last retention slot on him) and whilst I do love the ongoing Bit of uncle Mike and sweet cousin Kevin, this frees us up to go looking for some guys who can mentor our young core!! (I hope Labanc gets a second chance somewhere and shows everyone that the sharks monumentally fumbled the bag on yet another ex wife !!)

The doors are open for free agency acquisitions... Everyone's throwing around big names but I think they're forgetting the fact that we actually gotta convince them to come to San Jose LMAO. cost of living + basement team unlikely to be serious about a cup run for at least another 4-5 years = not the most appealing place to go. We have seen speculation about FAs ranging from Stamkos to Marner lmaoooooo and i'll be honest I don't want to add to all that. I just hope whatever old man we staple to our youth he's fun and NOT a criminal !

For our other UFAs:

I'd like to see us re-sign Justin Bailey because he worked really hard for us down the stretch. we poached him from the cuda early on because all of our forwards were exploding and never gave him back even when everyone started getting healthy again! Maybe he can go help our cuda not flop <333

Jacob MacDonald holds a very special place in my heart because we like making multi-class jokes (he was forced to play forward for a big chunk of his time w the sharks even though hes a d-man LMAO) . I find his work ethic charming <3 he's done everything they've asked of him, and he's honestly done it Not Terribly. I would LIKE for the sharks to offer him a place here due to sentiment and i sort of think he's a sleeper depth pick…. but it seems less and less likely given that we’re going to market for d-men and we’ll have more forwards healthy next season.

Ryan Carpenter is another cuda acquisition we never gave back and is our beautiful returned shark son <33 he was a steady 4th line center throughout the Horrors. however, we were trying out one of our younger guys in that position (hello jack studnicka!!) towards the end of the season and im really wondering if we'll see him up with the sharks again. He's a great AHL player and I see him helping the cuda become competitive if we bring him back!

Devin Cooley my beloved. our junior shark. our silly rabbit. some context: the sharks org is doing something very strange and deeply funny with their goalie situation. we have like 6 of them and i genuinely have no clue where this is going. Optimistically, Cooley gets a something thrown at him because he's shown the ability to grow under the limited tutelage of our Very Good Goalie Coach Thomas Speer + he's a great feel-good story !! less optimistically... he gets traded on the draft floor because we can't have shit in san jose (KNOCKING ON TEN MILLIOB WOOD)

Our RFA sitch is a mixed bag:

Luke Kunin absolutely comes back. barring offer-we-can't-refuse type deals... they love him here. Is he GOOD? well no <3 analytics-wise, he is our worst performing forward and actively makes his lineys worse. but (and i imagine this is whats going on in sharks front office discussions) must a goonwag do silly things like "play hockey"?? can't he just get all snarly when our guys are pushed around? can't he play leg weight to our beloved prized prospects? teach them how to drive a line despite being hamstrung by the sloppiest turnovers ever? cant he just be sophia's less accomplished trophy husband...........???? also in his defence, he should never have been our 2nd line center. but everyone else exploded so !!! anyway I think he would flourish with fewer minutes and easier match ups on the 3rd/4th line. i want to see him hanging out in a depth position next season and goonwagging it up <3

I watched Thomas Bordeleau really work to solidify his place in the lineup towards the end of the season. I love his absolute determination to finish every game fighting. I am SO proud to call him a shark and he's become one of my favourite little guys <3 I knowww everyone knows him from the Narratives but EYE got to know him through his hockey and I am WRETCHEDLY endeared by it. He will stare down a 0-4 scoreline and keep playing hard no matter what, he has sprinted down the ice with seconds on the clock to make a play and ough ough oughhhhhghgh he is SO special to me okay !!!! okay. And I truly think that gmmg has to see that. They're trying to build culture here... something about being hard to play against, having will and size and skill.... Bordy doesn’t fit the Big Boys vision that Grier is open about chasing, but he does bring the attitude and work ethic… I want him to stay forever <3 next year is his breakout year MARK MY WORDS!!!!!

Henry Thrun was a bit up and down but honestly who on this accursed roster wasn't?? Some nights he was unironically our most effective d-man (as much as one can be on the 23-24 sharks) other nights he was competing in a flop contest with Pickles <3 i would like to see him get more pp minutes next season and work on being consistent, which I absolutely believe he can achieve. our beautiful draft dodger + harvard double major <3

Ty Emberson is a complete mystery to me. I've seen him play like 3 games. he's been very injured this season. I liked what I saw when he was on? Making his slides was SO hard ill be honest, there's so little out there about him. but i have a soft spot a mile wide for reliable stay at home d-men, i hope he gets a fair shot. also hes mackblack's bestie and nobody knows that and i need everybody to know that he has a special bond with his goalie like his defensemen forefathers . thats our defensive defenseman and his goalie okay . okau.

Calen Addison is . listen okay I love our little guy. let him say fuck!!! but he hasn't done well this year and this was sort of supposed to be his fresh start. what I want is that he stays on the sharks and turns things around and goes on to blast all his haters. I'm not very sure any of that will happen.

I can't be objective about Filip Zadina. I will not lie. I want him to succeed very badly but also I love our failwife dearly regardless... high draft pick who was touted as a goal scorer... can't let go of that identity... every coach hes ever had psychoanalyses him and is a leeetle obsessed with nursing him back to health like a sickly baby bird <3. gmmg give him 8x8 ! his place on this roster is very uncertain given that this was his 'prove it' year and it didn't go super well. i dread losing him. every day that ticks by where we don't hear about him re-signing leaves me less and less hope

Jack Studnicka compels me so much. We call him Dave . dont ask. He's in the process of shaking off his previous identity as a playmaking center and his anxieties/insecurities about uhhh having to fill the gaping hole in the Bruins' forward core left behind by a bunch of their veterans leaving. He's learning how to drive a checking/energy line and I feel a tenderness for him I can't describe... he's almost almost made it to the show and he will do whatever it takes to stay.

regarding certain trade rumours

There is once again trade buzz around Mario Ferraro.

...i think the rest of the league is under the impression he’s a top 4 calibre d-man. this is very funny and also i’m terrified that gmmg will trade him because of this. You truly don’t get a feel for how little any given team’s media pays attention to other teams - how little the national media pays attention to the western conference good GOD — until you follow the cali polycule.

if any disappointed Leafs fans are reading this after it was suggested they aren't looking to acquire him anymore . my brother in christ. Mario only eats those minutes because he’s got seniority here by default !!!! we simply do not have anyone else because they’re injured or they suck!!! i would go to war for our youtuber ,hes the greatest gamer and d-man in the entire league in my heart BUT i do have eyes and as the kids would say . he has improper crosshair placement and can't mulligan to play on curve </3

And for nuance…. perhaps there IS something to the fact that Mario was like .the only one who survived the 2019-2023 San Jose Rookie Woodchipper/Meatgrinder/Hydraulic press. idk. i wasn't there. He’s had a career high year this year (not that 21 points is that high asdljkasklj but. again. 23-24 sharks) so maybe he’s just waiting for the right conditions to break out, a team where he isn’t solely responsible for gluing the shambles together, and all the chatter about him being a prime trade target is true and this summer will be when his trade value is at its highest. it still doesn’t change his value to this team as a locker room personality and leader. He’s made zero statements about wanting to leave. the current regime does do Personality Hires and Intangibles (see Luke Kunin and i suppose now the Goodrow acquisition??), we can’t have our upcoming d-core thrown into the deep end without some mentorship and it certainly isn’t gonna come from Pickles — not that he can’t, i just believe in Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s right to be a bitch in peace! no one is untouchable but im 90% sure Ferraro stays.

THE DRAFT AND OUR PROSPECT SITUATION

The Sharks currently hold picks 1, 14, and 33. 1OA is spoken for <3 so 14 and 33 are the ones we care about here. (we have a bunch of later picks to play with as well — 42, 85, 116, 138, 143, and 194 if anyone was curious <3) And okay okay so,, Mike Grier was hired 2 days before the draft in 2022, which means 2023 was his first real draft year and this year will be his second. realistically, we simply do not have a lot of data for his drafting tendencies, nor will we know his 'hit' rate until years from now. our current pool, while thin, is looking... good? tentatively? the class of 2023 did very well. more on them later. so accounting for lack of data... i truly have NO idea whats going on except maybe we're leaning towards deepening our defensive prospect pool + throw in a goalie, and a slight preference for physicality and size but like thats every headass GM on the planet right now??? (as i type this out, ozzy weisblatt has been traded away for a someone over 6ft tall!! the mike grier big boy plan strikes again….)

so. i won't speak to who i think the sharks will draft but you will get to hear a very rough essay fragment i don’t think i’ll ever finish:

something i’ve been thinking about lately between reading all of these prospect draft profiles (and to an extent, making prospect slides for the sharks) is how few guys make it to the big show. these 17-18 year olds have dense paragraphs written about their puck handling and skating and hockey IQ — i enjoy the stylish ones that say stuff like “he’s the most creative forward in this year’s draft, he’ll dangle your best over a cliff” the most — but how many of them will pan out in the end? here, i could pull up the numbers. i don’t need to. we all know there are only so many nhl contracts to hand out, and only so many stalls in a locker room.

i’ve grown attached to a few names though their draft profiles. there are little threads of narrative you can catch from reading their game reports in chronological order. some of them visibly gain confidence month to month as they solidify their identity within the system and team they play on, some of them master board battles, some of them find their scoring touch. i am charmed by the interview fragments i’ve seen, their stupid answers to "what animal would you be?", the silly facts livetweeted by scouts at the combine. many of them come highly touted — the 2nd-12th project as almost certain NHLers. i’ve seen them shine in their juniors and ncaa matches. I feel like they must be destined for greatness.

Yet, i go back into the histories — a year ago, two years ago, five years ago, thirty years and beyond — and the histories tell me that no matter what was being said the day they got drafted, anything could happen. 7th overall buried in the press box. 123rd overall breaks a scoring record in his d+1 year. 29th overall carves out a regular spot on the first line and goes on to score 40 goals. 1st overall never scores more than 62 goals in the NHL. it's probably not smart of me to become invested in so many when, statistically, a whole lot of them will fail to live up to their projections. in the back of my heart, right behind all the inadvisable sentiment, lives a scream of frustration. it isn't fair that for the majority of these kids, the draft is as close to the nhl as they'll ever get. i hate that not everyone will get to reach for the stars. my heart will be broken when one or more of my favourites inevitably burns out of the league. and the real horror is knowing all this hasn't stopped me from becoming endeared.

my current draft favourites, no thoughts head empty if i could have any of these guys on the sharks:

Berkly Catton absolutely will fall to 14th overall in my HEART!!! this stupid league and its stupid preoccupation with tallgirls. doesn't matter that some of the best players hockey has ever seen were under 6ft tall <3 doesn't matter that high impact nhl players RIGHT NOW are hanging out around the 5'10 mark. Berkly Catton is elite stock by so many metrics except for his size (5'11, ~163lbs) and THAT will ensure he falls in the draft. and the dream is if he falls to 14th we snap him up and he comes to hang out in cali <3 i love his fish-eyed blank stare. he said he'd be a dolphin because they're slippery <3 and here's the short version of what I've read per his draft profile: he played on a bad team, with heavy minutes, being targeted by every opposing team as the only threat, and still doubled his output during his draft year. all of this while he worked hard in his own zone, dedicating himself to the more 'boring' aspects of the game. like he will hustle for a backcheck god BLESS. i love when skilled guys are defensively responsible SO MUCH. what little i've seen myself of his raw skill is incredible. magical hands maintained with speed. i also like how much he scans. i love being freaked out about a highlight, wondering how he knew where his teammates were, scrubbing the video back and seeing him scan the ice regularly. its beautiful. just like playing league of legends jungle . ahaha <3

if not Catton, then Andrew Basha at 14th, and if not then 33rd. Despite how high some draft boards have him, the reviews are mixed as hell due to the Spectre of Gavin McKenna and Cayden Lindstrom that hangs over him. It did not stop him from having an incredibly strong season in the WHL. fast, skilled, works hard. puck mover. in learning about hockey, I have come to love transition forwards SO much. Troy Terry was my favourite Duck to watch when he wasn't exploding <3 Controlled zone entries are soooo gifable to me. i got no clue if Basha will be available at 33 - a few are predicting he falls to the second round - or if the sharks would want him even then, but I would love to see him on the Sharks! if his speed and skill on breakouts can translate to the NHL it would be bitchin!!!!!! also, I have this idea in my head that he's already used to playing with elite talent and so wont be swallowed up by the huge shadows celebrini and smith will cast. maybe he can manage egos, maybe he's just really good at working around prodigies, maybe he's a prodigy himself, who knows!! I am compelled though!!

for d-men... Zayne Parekh. There are serious concerns scouts have with this guy's game. he is described by some as thee boom-or-bust prospect of this year's draft. dynamic as hell offensive defenseman, does things no other prospect in this draft would even think to do and . um. sometimes that thing is turning over the puck <3!!! or, as a random red wings podcast i was listening to this afternoon said: With Parekh, you might get Erik Karlsson, or you might get Erik Karlsson. and listen if you made it this far down you gotta understand that im a deeply unserious person about these things and this DID convince me that we GOTTA get him somehow. tbqh i wanted the Ducks to draft him because he was tragically separated from his bestie Pavel Mintyukov and i think a reunion would bring about an unprecedented era of world peace. but also. if they were on RIVAL TEAMS in the BATTLE FOR CALIFORNIA!!!!!!! oh that would be delicious <3 There's absolutely no way Parekh falls to 14th but this list isn't about realism its about my silly little dreams <3

Cole Hutson at 33 or 42 purely because i'm a fan of Lane Hutson (so so so jazzed to watch him play next season on either laval or montreal!!!!!) and they are similarly shifty and small. there is NO way mike 'you must be this tall to ride' grier drafts another 5'10 puck mover (<- more on this guy in a min). a fella can dream though <3

prospects who are my special little guys

Luca Cagnoni

ok quick recap. mike grier drafted Luca Cagnoni at 123rd last year. he is 5'10 (generously <3) and he's so special to meeeee <3 He's always been an offensive ROCKET!! so smart. WILL break ankles. great puck mover. great distributor on the pp. he's been working on his defence this year.

NO ONE THINKS HE'LL MAKE IT IN THE NHL BECAUSE HE'S LITTLE BUT EYE DO!!!!!!! If you go and check the Luca Cagnoni tag its literally just me and 1 other person. that 1 other person is now my friend. sometimes, my other sharks compatriots join in. but such is the nature of adopting a special little guy !!!

I get all misty-eyed thinking about how far he's come, from being undrafted in the WHL, falling to the 4th round in the NHL entry draft, and going on to have the strongest season a d-man in the WHL has had in 30 years. and yes he WAS the 123rd overall pick i was referring to earlier. He signed his ELC and it was the event of the offseason (to ME). it was more meaningful to me than the will smith signing i will be so real right now . I am hoping and praying that Luca gets a chance on the Sharks and flourishes.

sorry. sorry. i will NOT shut up about Luca Cagnoni. mike grier took a huge swing at the fences for him, he is so out of the gmmg wheelhouse its hysterical and i am genuinely shocked we drafted him. i wasn't there for it obviously but what was the draft floor like that day?? were people asking him Are You Sure, Sir. I'd have asked. i'd have knocked on his bald ass head to check if it was hollow (i, a bald person, can say this <3)

despite this. Luca Cagnoni WILL make it. ON GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kasper Halttunen

ok you saw me mem cup posting. this one isn't as deep!

i think he's got that dawg in him. him and his nepobaby london knights team were fun to watch!!!

i liked that he was squeezing denver barkey like a chew toy (gifed it, even!!!)

i am genuinely obsessed with the comments he leaves on other prospects' instagram posts. i've only looked around at a couple but yeah he's sure got a sense of humour <3

i would LOVE to see him develop out his 2-way game a little more and refine his beautiful bomb of a shot even further. i am excited to see how he progresses!!

bring him to the AHL as soon as possible gmmg i need to watch him squeeze the life out of his fellow sharks prospects

Macklin Celebrini

Alright this one seems so obvious because he's 1OA and automatically special BUT you guyyyyys. you guyyyyysss.... he's soooo good. I watched a couple of his college matches. I went back and watched some of his worlds matches. i have devoured so much literature on him. remember when I said i love when skilled players are defensively responsible?? Macklin Celebrini is that guy !! he is just so Shaped. the shape is Round. he is well-rounded like the beautiful sphere . the sphere where we will be drafting him. <3 yay !!!

no joke he IS a bit of a goon. finished his checks with a surprising amount of brutality in all the games i watched !! and like he had to be, I imagine he was getting targeted to hell and back in the NCAA. being 17 and playing against grown men. i like that he's got a bit of bite!!

listen, when the scouts and journos and pundits and coaches say he's "got a motor", what they mean is HE IS RELENTLESS. HE WILL NOT GIVE UP ON A PLAY. HE WILL RUN YOU DOWN AND THEN TURN AROUND AND SCORE ON YOU. HIS TEAM FOLLOWS HIS LEAD.

I just... I get the feeling he raises the people around him up to his standards because they can't help but want to match his intensity. I get the feeling that he is, aside from a great player, a great fit for the kind of culture the Sharks are trying to build. the Never Say Die Team. the We Will Eat You Team. i am completely, utterly endeared by his work ethic.

I think his little :^| face is so funny. i have posted about this before but when he smiles it looks like he has a few too many teeth and its GREAT. our shark. OUR SHARK!!!!!!

Honourable mentions:

Danil Gushchin: undersized creative forward with soft hands heloooo i love uou. mwah. unseat one of our girlfailure depth players next season i want to see u in the nhl <33

Shakir Mukhamadullin: Shak my noodleshark . he will absolutely see NHL ice full time next season if we remain bare on defence, so im not sure he counts anymore as a prospect. i believe in him so bad!!!!!!!!!!!

Georgi Romanov: unironically I think hes our only realistic hope for a Goalie of the Future. please survive the sharkuda experience my love <3

Will Smith: ROBBED of the hobey baker by our very own macklin celebrini. doesn't matter because he scored a dicktrick at hockey east finals and that shit was funny as hell. i think of him in terms of his boybestfriends BC Line which is forever shattered by his decision to sign with the sharks which means hes the driver of tragedy which makes him ELITE in my eyes.

honourable mentions 2 (obscure non-sharks edition):

Isaiah George: i fear i will actually have to watch the NY Islanders soon enough when they play him . i was watching the London Knights for Kasper and, as I do sometimes, I was struck by lightning after seeing him do something really interesting. I think I can probably go find the exact tags from when he first caught my eye. anyway! i am invested in him now and there is 0 current coverage on him !! ough my smooth skating defensive defenseman <333

Aatu Jamsen: a high skill/flashy forward the la kings signed to his ELC not too long ago <3 excited to see him play for the Ontario Reign. his lore is incredible. not to shill my own blog but i did a small post about him here and i am BEGGING everyone to go find out about him he moonlights as a RAP MUSICIAN!!!!. lak do not to bury him in the AHL forever im on my KNEES

Xavier Simoneau: les habs and their prospects got me. little guy (5'6) who is a bit fight-y. can and WILL go to battle against huge opponents for a puck and WIN. i look at him and slap my knee and i think. god damn he might actually do it. he might actually make the NHL.

Okay I think I will stop here before i start goin off about all the little guys i have tucked away...!! thank you for your time. thank you for handing me a mic and an excuse to yell about my little fellas. wehaveagathering dot tumblr you are thee flyers source to me. our failteams will soon share a shade of oranmge. I am very excited to fall in love with them!! <3

[mecachrome]

Hi k! I love reading your ojp scholarship, as he has crept up on me and taken over my brain. Weird question but why do you think he picked Lando as his guy to be a bit weird about?

hi anon 🥺 first off thank u for indulging me & also that is not a weird question at all!!!

ok obviously this is just me saying Anything so i apologize in advance T__T but tbh i think a lot of it ultimately goes back to the idea of lando's ~Proximity~ and how a very specific mélange of career circumstance laid out a foundation for oscar's interest extremely early on... which. let me explain!!! more behind the cut:

not to go on too much of a tangent but if you look at the current drivers in f1 who are roughly within a few years of oscar's age and could have feasibly been someone he'd looked up to coming up the ranks, i'd say the cutoff is like, 2018? so the group is basically charles/george/alex/lando, of whom the first 3 were alr in intrepid together (albeit in diff categories) when oscar had barely started karting at all. also alex moved up to single-seaters very early and his career/road to f1 is obviously a lot more complex than the others, so in reality the only ones oscar would have properly "followed" are lando and george, and then having gone through rfm & british f4 himself it makes sense that he'd lean more toward lando.

...idk how to put this succinctly but basically it's Like: so you're a kid in australia who believes in yourself so much you're willing to move halfway across the globe and attend boarding school by yourself while all your friends and family and the World As You've Always Known It grows and changes without you, and the team you're determined to prove yourself at has semi-recently achieved victory with a guy named lando norris, who is now british f4 champion and runs three separate series the same year you move to europe and goes on to win them all, who is extremely accessible on social media and is kind of awkward but charming and uses dumb unfunny gifs that match your level of online humor exactly, and all the while you're learning to navigate a new country, learning what it really means to prioritize the endless grind of motorsport, and you wouldn't dare look too far ahead into the future but sometimes you see him and think if he can keep winning everything then why not you?

So. also i think what always krills meeee about young_814 lore is that you have to really envision what they looked like circa 2016 like they were undersized dweebs for a majority of their lives!!! anyway. but also nasdlfnagk every time oscar is like i thought you were 30 with your goatee going on haha xD it's like U knowww he's flashing back to that image of little baby lando in his mind..... ok i need to relax.

there are of course other people oscar could have been weird about but in the end it's kind of just a Skill Issue thing / matter of attrition. like from the rfm pack max and logan and guanyu never progressed the same way lando did, and you also have to remember that by the time lando was a mclaren junior he was genuinely their Golden BoyTM, and i know we often talk about lando's competency kink but oscar is also similar to that but in like a ........ he needs to respect you on some fundamental level to be obsessed with you. so the fact that he genuinely rates lando contributes (imo) massively to the fundamentals of their dynamic!!!

also tbh to me one of oscar's biggest mental strengths is specifically that he isn't a very sentimental person, as in if he left to another team i don't think he'd be torn up or anything about not having lando as a teammate lol. but i DO believe he's someone who adapts very well to unfamiliar environments and is always willing to match someone's energy/meet them where they're at (again - especially when he respects them), so he's basically the perfect person to vibe with lando's idiosyncrasies and engage in all the lighthearted push/pulling they have going on. because like he genuinely thinks lando is funny and is more than happy to follow along his meandering bantz and the weirder lando is the weirder oscar is in response and that's just how they Work ?__? so At the end of the day it's: oscar was once a teenage boy who followed (still does) at ladbible instagram and watched the same gaming streamers lando likes or whatever and has seen lando grow into the man he is today (way more confident and "visible" and successful, very much a menace, brutally honest as ever) from this Very Specific vantage point of basically the only other junior after lando to have followed the same path to f1 and been Equally as good / achieved the same stock.

*__* does any of that make sense. 

do u ever think about how lando (extensively nurtured by the team as their only junior) and oscar (basically crashlanded belatedly into his seat) are the only driver pairing in team history to have both debuted with mclaren........ do you ever think about how in a way lando's karting success indirectly influenced oscar's move to europe. do you ever think about how if alpine weren't an abject mess we would have never gotten 814 as teammates and lando would have just been Another Guy On The Grid to him........ 😮‍💨

[firespirited]

I'm not sure how to recommend DEVS, or if I should: it's as annoying as enthralling, it's as dark as it's beautiful.

Fantastic stuff, unusual pacing, great soundtrack, great acting, sometimes it'll really stretch your patience or feel unwarranted then it'll drag you right back in.

You won't like the end and then you'll think about it and like it again... then you'll change your mind! You'll want to rewatch immediately or maybe never again. You'll read every review and DEVS explained article even the ones with physics stuff you don't fully understand, you'll remember details that make you feel moody, you'll have a fondness for Jamie that puts a small smile on your face. The Jacob Geller video dissecting it will become a fave.

It's very much not what you'd expect: the vibes and through lines match folk horror (like The Wicker Man) far better than sci-fi by the time we're half way through. If you liked the thought experiments posed by The Matrix, this might be right up your alley.

I watched on a hunch, trusting that Nick Offerman could deliver a solid performance and hoping for existential fear like in Annihilation or Ex Machina.

Here's the pitch: Alex Garland the filmmaker was given a blank cheque to make a one shot series by FX and Hulu: they gave a 'sci fi guy' a massive budget to do whatever artsy boundary pushing story he wanted. Not a mad men clone, not something popular, just what tickled him. This is some obscure, off-putting, out there story that doesn't get seen, let alone make any money... and yet in 2019, some studio took a risk. The cast is diverse, the themes intelligent, the photography and design just stunning.

Garland generally does hard sci fi where something scientifically conceivable but slightly out of current reach forces people to rethink their world then examines the psychological fallout.

We have a talented cast, a thriller, atmospheric glitchy music, a pinch of absurdism and lots of stuff to ruminate on. There's a surface story of industrial espionage in silicon valley and the broader theme of cult-like beliefs among a group of select developpers working on a special project.

It examines faith even though most of the characters are probably atheists. It's about how we see ourselves as moral beings and in relation to other people, could your conscience change if you had information about how the world works?

The best I can say about DEVS is that it's like those unnerving stories that get passed from person to person in school and then stick with you long after. It's the job these actors cherish and want to talk about even though it's not their moneymaker. You know?

This is cult TV and well worth the effort of tracking it down and taking the time. If you have a mental slot free for something unusual and you enjoy heady sci-fi, take the leap.

[deaddee-anime-brownfanlady]

I've been watching Captain LasterHawk and so far into it as of episode 3 ( Still gotta catch up with the rest of the episodes). I'm really liking and enjoying this series a lot thus far. From the amazing animation to the high Chaotic energy and action scenes within it, which honestly gives me massive Studio Trigger vibes when it comes to this show in terms of the wildness of it I've seen, which just reminds me of a Studio Trigger anime or little bit of Fooly Cooley.

But anyhow, I'm also enjoying the characters within this show too. I'm not going to pretend like I know every single Ubisoft properties since I'm not a big video gamer person, the only game character I know from this show is Ray-Man and that Bullfrog is clearly a reference to Assassin creed. Really like Dolph character & seriously felt for him dealing with the entire being betrayed by your man & him fucking you over for the supposed Greater good of Edan thing with Alex. Also seriously RIP Jade & Pey'j really, especially Jade because she didn't deserve to go out like that...like I was hoping she would have been in the show far longer...including Pey'j. At least he went out trying to claim the situation down and helping people amongst the crossfire.

This is a bit of jumble of thoughts regarding the show. But so far into it I'm loving Captain LasterHawk and wouldn't mind seeing more of it, but given how Netflix is when it comes to the why they treat their animated series or their growing record of canceling shows...( Never forgiving them for what they did to Tuca & Bertie also to Dead End: Paranormal Park also Inside Job) makes me wary on whether or not LasterHawk will get more than one season.

Either way loving the wild Chaotic ride of this latest new entry of adult animated series.

[realmackross]

PARTIES: The Allgoods, @longislandcharm TIMING: July 29th (Evening/Night at Mack's Mojo Dojo Casa House) SUMMARY: The Allgoods and Winter come over for a Barbie themed sleepover at Mack's house. Good wholesome fun is had by all! :) WARNINGS: Unsanitary tw (what's new), mental health tw, alcohol abuse tw

Mackenzie was excited for the sleepover. She had made invitations. Made sure there was enough food for everyone. Had blankets and pillows at the ready. It was going to be a great night, and something she had needed for a long time. And with Winter having somewhat forgiven her, it was almost going to be like being back home. The invitation had said 6:30 pm, but at this point, as long as people showed up, it didn’t matter.

—

Alex was still surprised to receive a party invite that was extended specifically to her. She supposed she was actually doing the whole making friends thing now, which while scary, was kind of nice even if the car ride over had been a fairly quiet affair. Not that she minded all that much. Staring out the window while listening to Phoebe Bridgers was in fact a vibe. When they arrived at Mack's, she approached everyone who rode in Ariadne's car, keeping particularly close to Cass. When they walked up, she appreciated all the pink decor. A Barbie-themed sleepover was probably filling in the gap for some missed childhood experience. She waved to Mack as entered. "Hey," she greeted, "Thanks for throwing a sleepover... and inviting me. Hope you don't mind, I brought my guitar!"

—

Ever since Metzli's announcement that they were leaving, Cass had been... well, maybe down wasn't quite a strong enough word for it. She was devastated. Everything felt heavy and gloomy, the same way it always did when someone left. But this time, she had something she'd never had in the past to soften the blow: friends. The car ride with Nora, Aria, Wynne, and Alex had been quiet, but not uncomfortable. Cass already felt a little bit better just being with them. As they pulled up to Mack's house, she prepared to put on a happy face for the evening. The party wouldn't fix her... but it might distract her. She offered Mack a small, uncertain smile as they approached. "Hi," she mumbled, hoping the movie star wasn't still angry with her for the mime fiasco.

—

Ariadne hadn't entirely expected to play chauffeur to anyone except for Wynne, but Ariadne had been more than happy to drive Nora, Cass, and Alex. Especially since Nora and Cass (and Wynne) especially seemed miserable. She did her best to tap into who she was before everything, and had tried to cheer them up, with purple slushies and ham and avoiding overly peppy music. She pulled up to Mack's house and gave her a wave. "I - thanks for inviting me, even if we haven't talked a lot other than the whole dance thing I - this is nice of you." She wrapped her hand around Wynne's waist and pulled them close to her, pressing a kiss on their lips.

—

Nora didn't want to go. Didn't want anything. Wanted to sit in the pool of her own self-pity, writhing in anger and confusion. But Nora also needed something to grab onto, to believe. So when her friends asked her to go, more than one, she pulled herself out of the hell hole of her own creation and got into the car when Ariadne came to pick them up. Nora should have known this was a mistake when they pulled up to Mackenzie Ross's pink-decorated house. She shoved her hands in her pocket and forced herself not to think of it. "Sup." She mumbled, shoving past the front door and walking into the manor.

—

Milo hadn't been to a sleepover in... Well, it had been a while. And while he hadn't been feeling the best lately, he had somehow landed an invitation to a sleepover at Mackenzie Ross' house. There was no way he wasn't going to that, especially since Mack had been so nice to him so far. He was a bit nervous about who else would be there, but the last party hadn't gone terribly, and he could use some fun, honestly. He arrived at the massive manor home armed with some snacks and drinks, and an overnight bag. "Hey," Milo greeted the group. "Thanks for the invite, Mack. Your place looks amazing!"

—

When Mackenzie got the alert on her phone that people were pulling into the driveway, Mack couldn't help but let out a squeal of joy; reminiscent of her old self. All she had wanted was a nice evening where it didn't feel like life...death was complete shit. Already dressed in her pink pjs ready for the night, she went outside and started to greet everyone. It was like she was a completely different person, "Hey guys! So glad you could all make it! There's a few more people coming, I think, but go ahead and go inside and make yourself comfortable." She had been surprised to see Nora show up, but the past was the past, and she was trying to turn over a new leaf with the girl.

—

Alex smiled as Mack spoke despite the fact she felt a little nervous. A slumber party was unchartered territory and she wasn't sure what all this would entail. The decorations did fit the mood she assumed their host was going for. She was pretty sure she had just literally walked into Barbie World. "You really went full on Barbie Dreamhouse and it's giving," she told Mack. The effort was awesome and so was the fact they were all hanging out again. "Hey, Milo," she greeted as he approached with a wave. She still felt a little out of place, but she was surrounded by familiar faces who were becoming more familiar.

—

Winter hadn't been so sure about showing up at Mack's place for some party since she wasn't exactly over the girl disappearing on her but what else did she have to do? The ghost on her tail was also unenthused about this whole night which was clearly written on his face. Too bad that made Winter want to go even more. She loved to annoy him. Pulling up to her house, she rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath about this being typical Mack before making her way inside to find blobs of pink obscuring her vision. "Don't say shit about me being late. This is an assault to the eyes by the way." She gestured around them before moving further into the room towards the others she didn't know. "Winter...nice to meet you all."

—

"Winter." Nora repeated the name without much affect in her name. Most people here were familiar. Milio was here, Nora wondered if today was the day she should scare him. It could be fun, but the more she thought about it, the effort to scare someone seemed like a lot of work. Maybe she'd sit at this party and be normal, and do normal party things like stand around and eat chips from the chip bowl. "Where are the snacks?" Nora asked, disappearing into the first doorway she saw to try and find the kitchen.

—

The inside of the manor was even more impressive. Milo had only ever lived in apartments, this place was an actual dream house. He was relieved to see the familiar faces, especially those of Cass and Alex. Even if the latter had made him eat soap, he had become somewhat friendly with them. He smiled at them, offering a friendly wave to the newcomer. "Nice to meet you, too. I'm Milo."

—

Alex waved. "Hey, Winter!" Her tone almost matched the vibe of the decorations. She still felt worried after her meeting with Nora in the mines, but by all indications, she'd been truthful when she said that Alex had helped. There wasn't anything in her mannerisms that was especially cold toward her either. She'd gotten the same characteristic monotone from Nora that everyone else had gotten though the bugbear had quickly gone to find snacks. So she returned her focus to the group around her and gave Milo a playful grin. "Promise I won't make you eat soap this time, bestie."

—

"I'm Ariadne," she gave a nod to Winter. "This is Wynne. My partner." She didn't let her hand leave theirs. "I brought a lot of candy, if anybody wants? I'm not the biggest fan of salty snacks. I'm much more of a sweets girl." Said with perhaps more enthusiasm than was necessary, perhaps, but she'd gotten decent at faking that this past year. The house was exceptional. She'd never been in a place this big (at least invited on purpose). "Hey Milo," she offered him a small smile.

—

Milo laughed. "I'd appreciate that, thanks." He greeted Wynne and Ariadne. "I also have salty covered," he said, holding up the bags of snacks. "Also, rum, if anyone wants drinks."

—

Mackenzie followed everyone inside, "Thanks, Alex. I just wanted to match the vibes you know? Thought we could all use something fun." All things considered in this town...She heard Nora ask about the snacks, "You're headed down the right path, Nora. Just keep going." She had heard Winter's snarky ass comment and was honestly surprised that she had showed up after their meeting at the drive-in, "Fuck you too, Bestie." She moved into the living room and somewhat relaxed, "It's been a while since I've thrown a sleepover, so if there's any games or whatever...throw 'em out. This is a night of fun, even for you Winter, you crotchety old bitch."

—

"Nice to meet you, Winter!" It felt like a battle to glue that smile onto her face, but Cass liked to think it was a convincing one. It wouldn't fool Nora or Alex or Ariadne, but it might fool some of the people who didn't know Cass quite as well. "I'll take some snacks, definitely! And, um, games would be fun. I know we did truth or dare last time, so maybe never have I ever to keep things fresh?"

—

Miyeon wasn't surprised that she was fashionably late. For someone with meticulous organization and a well-penned planner, she still found herself running late for pretty much everything that wasn't her morning show. She was surprised she got an invite to this but she was pretty sure it had to do with Mack trying to keep Miyeon from digging too far into her. Like you don't tattle on your friends or whatever so that made sense enough. "Hey,' she said as she peeked through the door. "I brought nachos. And sangria. It's pink! Well, the sangria. Not that nachos"

—

Winter waved absentmindedly at everyone introducing themselves. She'd never remember all these names. The mention of all the snacks hadn't peaked her interest until she heard"rum" and then later "nachos" and "sangria." Her ears perked at that, the girl ignoring Mack's digs at her age as she smiled at the two who had brought the alcohol. "Anyone with liquor is immediately a friend. I'm always down for Never Have I Ever if it's the drinking game version."

—

"We can do the drinking game version," Cass agreed. Her experience with alcohol was fairly limited --- technically, she wasn't even old enough to have it in the States --- but she thought it would probably help with the vibes here.

—

Seeing everyone mingling made her happy, but there seemed to be a certain sadness hanging in the air. They needed something to pep up the night. Mackenzie wasn't sure what was going on with everyone, because most of the time she lived under a rock, but Cass and Winter's idea sounded fun, despite not being able to drink or taste anything. "Yeah, let's do it! I'll go get more alcohol." She wasn't against spicing things up as long as people could have some fun.

—

"I could drink," Nora called from down the hallway. Alcohol didn't seem to work for Emilio, maybe it would work for her.

—

"I - don't really drink, but..." Ariadne, "my cousin says I should live a bit more, so... sure. Or I'll just stick with Dr. Pepper, or something like that." The nerves were setting in, now, and even though she knew that she was here to support Wynne, she found herself incredibly grateful that they were here, too.

—

Miyeon followed Nora towards where the snacks seemed to be and set down the nachos and the jug of sangria. "Hey, Nora," she said with a wave. "If you want a drink, rose sangria is a good place to start." She winked and grabbed a solo cup and started to fill it up for herself. "Never have I ever could definitely be interesting with this group."

—

Nora gave a slight shrug, filling a solo cup up with sangria. She downed it in one and filled it up again. "Never have I ever kissed someone in public." She stated, knowing full well Ariadne and Wynne had just kissed in public.

—

Alex threw a smile in Miyeon's direction when she entered the manor. It was shaping up to be a good crew and all of the faces were familiar, which made relaxing easier. Rum would also do the trick in that department. "Drinking game never have I ever it is," she exclaimed. She turned to Cass and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Any drink preferences? I can grab one for you."

—

"Whatever you're having," Cass replied to Alex with a soft smile that was a touch more genuine than the one she'd been sporting so far. "I'm not really picky." And she didn't really know enough about alcohol to know her preferences.

—

Ariadne raised an eyebrow, once again thankful she couldn't blush. She grabbed a cup of something, hoping Chance would be proud of her, and downed half of it. "Never have I ever... snuck out of my house without my parents knowing."

—

"Never have I ever is always fun," Milo nodded in a agreement. There was something in the air, vibes slightly off. "You can definitely stick to soda if you're more comfortable," he said to Ariadne. "Can also just add a tiny bit." He shrugged, giving her a smile. "I don't usually drink much myself."

—

Miyeon laughed. "Alright, damn. Make sure you have some water, too," she said as she watched Nora inhale a cup of sangria. She did in fact have to take a drink at her first declaration. "Uh yeah, no shame in that one." And then again, Ariadne was making a statement that had Miyeon drinking again. "Come on, give me one second to breathe oh my god."

—

Nora stares at Ariadne. Did Ariadne know she was a runaway? Nora hadn't mentioned that, had she? She downed the drink again. Running away was sneaking out to an extreme, after all. A buzz pulsed over her skin. Maybe things weren't so bad.

—

Mackenzie left the room and went downstairs to get more alcohol in a spare fridge that didn't contain her food. She had hoped people were enjoying themselves, but she couldn't really tell anymore. Maybe it hadn't been the right time for a sleepover.

—

Alex grabbed two solo cups full of sangria for her and Cass, immediately taking a sip from her own for Nora's statement. It was a little convenient that Ariadne had just said hers too. No one would know which she was drinking for and who didn't love a little mystery. "Here you go," she said taking a seat next to Cass. She looked around the circle and tried to think of a good thing she'd never done. "Never have I ever eaten soap," she grinned, knowing that taking a sip from his drink early on in the night would be way better than eating soap.

—

Wynne took a drink because they did sneak out that one time :/.

—

Milo mixed some of the rum with soda, and quickly took two drinks, catching up.

—

Cass took a sip for Nora's statement, lowering the cup as Ariadne made hers. Hard to sneak out without your parents knowing when you'd never known your parents to begin with. Swallowing, she shifted. "Um, never have I ever left the movie theater before the credits finished playing. Gotta catch the extra scene. You know?"

—

Winter followed the nachos. They looked delicious as well as the pink sangria that was placed next to them and soon she had a solo cup in one hand as she ate with the other. She eyed the room, noticing that a lot of these people didn't seem so into the idea until she heard the first couple of Nevers uttered, prompting her to drink both times. "Sangria's good...props on that." The third Never uttered made her raise her eyebrows though, making a point to lower her cup.

—

"Never eaten soap, but Lush has the prettiest soap I think I've ever seen. Like, way prettier than most soaps," Ariadne looked over to Cass apologetically, "I have, but I won't ever again, okay?" She nestled herself against Wynne, running her fingers against their arm.

—

Nora took another drink. She'd left movies halfway through the movie because they were boring. Her eyes followed Winter as she came to stand near Miyeon and her. "Yeah, the sangria is good." Nora agreed. There was a light flush pressed against her cheeks. Maybe tonight wasn't so bad.

—

Miyeon noted who was taking a drink and who wasn't. "Looks like we have a lot of rebels in here. Good to know." She smiled. She also took a drink at Cass's statement. She was very sweet and maybe a little naive. Miyeon made a note to look out for her if the moment arose. Ariadne, too. Didn't have to drink for the soap one at least. "Never have I ever... gone viral online."

—

Milo: And quickly added a third, throwing a playful look at Alex. "I see how it is." He took another drink at Cass'. "Never have I ever gone skinny dipping."

—

Nora blankly stared at Miyeon. A new suspicion rising. She downed the drink again. As she went to refill her cup, she wondered if the world was spinning a little. Some sticky alcoholic liquid fell on her hand, she stared at it for a minute, trying to decide how she was going to deal with this new and quickly evolving problem.

—

Wynne leaned against Ariadne and drank despite it not applying to them. They just wanted another sip.

—

Cass took another sip of her drink at Miyeon's statement. Technically it was Magma who'd gone viral --- a short video clip that the internet later decided was definitely fake --- but Cass was pretty sure it still counted. Milo's statement actually drew a quiet giggle from her, and she finished the rest of her drinks. Nymphs didn't tend to see much importance in bathing suits.

—

Alex took a drink at Milo's statement. She was pretty sure rinsing off in rivers and lakes when they didn't have a place to stay counted as skinny dipping anyway. She noticed Cass drink at going viral and looked at her curiously. That was a story for another time, she was certain. "Never have I ever seen a movie in theaters."

—

Mackenzie came back upstairs with more bottles and sat them on the counter. Pouring herself a solo cup full of the strongest liquor at the party, she went and took a seat somewhere near the circle. She noticed Miyeon had arrived, but prayed nothing happened that would give the girl scoop for her next radio show, "Never have I ever won an Oscar."

—

Wynne asked, "What is skinny dipping?"

—

"Never have I ever been a f-" Nora managed to swallow the word as her slowed mind realized that this was maybe something she shouldn't say. Her mind stalled, blanking on what she was supposed to say. "Uh. Been a uh. Movie theater." She took a drink because she had been to a movie theater like Alex stated. Then Mack was stating never have I ever won an Oscar, cause once more everyone in the room needed to know she was a famous actress. Nora's blank gaze turned to Mack. Who was supposed to drink to that? Herself?

—

Three more drinks down and Winter had to wonder how young these people actually were. She was only two years older than Mack but suddenly she felt like the crypt keeper. Still, she wasn't throwing out any of her Nevers just yet as she got a feel for who she was dealing with. Her eyes drifted to her ghoul who looked so bored he could die for a second time and Winter snorted softly before looking around at the others.

—

Alex laughed. "Unless someone in this room is secretly William Bowery, I don't think anyone here has an Oscar. Maybe an uncle Oscar or something."

—

Cass refilled her drink only to take another sip at Alex's statement, flashing her a curious look. They'd have to change that, wouldn't they? "I don't think anyone here has won an Oscar," she agreed with a quiet laugh. Looking to Wynne, she added, "Skinny dipping is swimming without any clothes on."

—

Miyeon also noted who was taking a sip during her own statement. "A room full of internet superstars, too." She noticed that Nora was looking a little wobbly. "Hey, you might want to slow down a little there," she said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want to hold anyone's hair back tonight if I don't have to." Wait, was she about to say the word fox just then? Alright, Miyeon was already planning to find a hair tie, they were gonna need it.

—

Wynne nodded at Cass and took a long drink. Though they weren't sure what an Oscar was, they had never won one.

—

Ariadne pressed her lips against Wynne's ear. "I know a place we could do that sometime, if you ever wanted." Shaking her head, she refocused on the group. "No Oscar for me either, I don't think -- who's William Bowery?" She asked Alex.

—

Mackenzie caught sight of Nora glaring at her, "Does it look like I'm drinking, Nora." She looked over to Alex, "Sorry, it was the first thing that came to mind." She looked over to Winter, but also to the man sitting next to her. That was new.

—

Milo looked between Mack and Nora before taking a long drink. Yikes. He'd certainly been to the movies before but no Oscar or viral videos for him.

—

Alex answered, "It's a pseudonym... co wrote a few Taylor Swift songs. Sweet Nothing, exile, betty... and I think those are it." She looked to Nora who did in fact look like she was drinking faster than the rest of them. Her head tilted with concern, but she wasn't sure how to press as much. Getting a good read on people was how Alex usually navigated social situations and Nora was hard to read. Maybe that'd change with time. She found she hoped it did.

—

"Sweet." Ariadne grinned at Alex. "Still getting my Taylor knowledge to exist at all. I like exile, even if it's way sad." She looked over to Nora, offering her a look that wasn't sympathy (as she didn't think Nora would be receptive to that), but was comforting, she hoped.

—

Milo took a handful of chips before casually offering the bag to Nora.

—

Mackenzie looked back over to Nora, "Are you okay?"

—

Nora doesn't like that more people were giving her attention. Looking at her while she looked like this. Nora's blank expression, still well practiced, stared back at each of them in return. "Fine." Fine, she'd slow down if they all stopped looking. "I am okay. This is a fun party, Mack." She took the bag of chips and somehow fumbled a few into her mouth. "Good chips." She answered, swaying slightly in place.

—

"Thanks, I'm glad you're having fun." Mackenzie wasn't sure Nora was, but she was concerned for her well being. "Eat all the chips you want. There's a couple of different dips in the fridge too if you're into that sort of thing."

—

Miyeon would make sure to check that Nora wasn't curled up in the bathroom later that evening. For now, she downed her drink and poured another. She had to catch up after all. Also, things were getting too serious or whatever. Time to lighten the mood. "Never have I ever not done wolf girl jumps at a party." Her words were slurring a little but she was pretty sure that made sense.

—

"I prefer using the name William when talking about him, his real name doesn't deserve to be in conversation." Winter drank again but only because she needed to get drunk to deal with this much longer, something that also prompted the next Never out of her mouth so that she could gulp down the rest of her beverage while still being in the game. "Never have I ever had my Julie Andrews moment and mattress surfed down the stairs."

—

She could sense Wynne's quiet unease, even if they weren't entirely showing it, and stood up, giving their arm a small tug. "We'll - uh, we'll be back in a little while." Ariadne pulled them along, off to find a quiet, empty room where they could just be together. Once said room was acquired, she gave them a deeper kiss, pulling their body close to hers. "Figured we could use some time just the two of us."

—

Milo laughed, drinking at Miyeon's statement, only to grin at Winter. "Oh, man, what an iconic scene. I always thought that looked so fun, but we didn't have the stairs to try to do it at home." He took another drink, thinking back on watching Princess Diaries with his sisters.

—

“Sorry I’m late, but I brought Dippin’ Dots,” Chaisai called, juggling a handful of flavors of ice cream novelty cups as Chaisai breezed through the door.

—

Mackenzie heard the door open and saw Chai enter, "Hey! Welcome to the chaos that is Never Have I Ever. Kitchen's that way." She motioned with her head, "And while you're there grab a solo cup and come join the fun."

—

Alex looked to Cass, assuming she'd know what the heck Winter was talking about. "Julie Andrews moment," she asked in a whisper.

—

Miyeon was intrigued by this proposal by Winter. "Okay I've never done that but like, there's no time like the present, right?" She looked over to Mack to see if she was going to go for it.

—

"It's totally fun, you really should try to do it at one point." Looking at the new arrival, Winter contemplated following just for the ice cream of the future but then she spotted the stairs not far out of eyeline. "Actually, Mack has a nice set of stairs there."

—

"Oh! Can I grab a mattress?" The idea did sound like the sort of thing that would cheer her up. Maybe when Milo was done, Cass would take a turn of her own. She turned to Mack, flashing her a hopeful look. She didn't think the movie star was her biggest fan, but... Maybe she'd be okay with this. For the sake of the party and all.

—

Nora nodded, still swaying lightly on the spot. "Mack has a good set of stairs." Then Cass was getting excited about it, Nora thought. And Nora was happy because Cass was happy, and found something she wanted to do that looked fun. And Cass deserved to have fun at a party. Nora gave Cass a thumbs up.

—

"Uh, considering I haven't done anything crazy daring lately..." Except kill a huge spider... "Count me in!" Mack stood up and walked over to Cass, much like she had at the last party, "Let's go grab a mattress." She reached out her hand with a smile.

—

"Oh, fuck yes," Milo exclaimed. Mattress surfing and Dippin Dots? ...he might be feeling the drinks a little, but he was so in.

—

Ray entered for the first time

Ray left the chat

—

Mack was reaching for her hand, and Cass smiled, glad to see that things did seem to be mending a little between the two of them. "Save us some Dippin Dots," she ordered, taking Mack's hand and letting the movie star lead the way to the nearest mattress to be repurposed for stair surfing.

—

Alex was starting to put two and two together with the whole mattress surfing thing. Cass looked so excited that she couldn't help but catch some of that thrill herself even though she would decidedly not be surfing on a mattress that night. "Go do mattress beach, Barbies!"

—

Chai entered the kitchen and poured himself a drink and unceremoniously deposited the Dippin’ Dots on the counter before returning to the heart of the party. “Did I hear mattress surfing? Like that princess movie?”

—

Ray arrived a little late to the party after his shift at the restaurant. He'd had a few drinks on the way over to curb his anxiety in the crowds and was proceeding to try and keep up with the rest as they drank more and more. even drinking to ones he'd never done to fit in a little. "That sounds fun."

—

Mackenzie had let go of the frustration she had been harboring with the younger girl. It had been more of a concern than anything, but here they were about to mattress surf and make good memories! Mack led her upstairs towards one of the spare bedrooms, "We can grab this one. I think it's perfect for mattress surfing." She started taking off the comforter, pillows, and sheets.

—

"I've lived out my Princess Diary dreams, you guys have fun. I'm going for the dots." Maybe not eating the way she was supposed to this past month was starting to catch up with her because all of this food seemed to be calling her name. Being a little buzzed didn't help either. Winter made her way to the counter with the ice cream and grabbed a random flavor before she came back to watch the goings on. She playfully reached over with her spoon towards the ghost at her side just to annoy him before she took another bite. "Thank you for bringing these."

—

Milo got up to help the girls. "Hey, Ray!" he called over his shoulder.

—

Ray smiled at Milo and moved to put his bottle down to come to help as well "Hey dude, you going to surf too?"

—

Alex waved and said, "Hey, Soup!"

—

As the others mingled, Cass helped Mack grab the mattress. It was big. Bigger than she'd really expected it to be. She had an embarrassingly limited experience with something as simple as mattresses, had only ever really slept on cots and couches when she could find them, and the ground when she couldn't. It felt heavier than she'd expected, too, but she wouldn't let Mack see it. After the mime fiasco, she desperately wanted Mack to think she was cool and normal and nice. She'd do anything for that, especially now. "Okay," she grunted, nodding. "I got a grip. Come on!" Afraid she'd drop the mattress if she took too long with it, she rushed forward pushing both Mack and the mattress along.

—

That zombie strength would have come in handy right about now. Mackenzie could tell she was footing a lot of the weight, but it was okay. Once they got it to the edge of the steps, they'd be good to go. The night was definitely going so much better than she could have imagined. Everyone was having a good time, and Mack was able to let loose for once and not feel so paranoid. As she moved forward, she could tell Cass was using all her strength and it was causing Mackenzie to stumble, "Hey, Cass, slow down just a little will you?" Okay, maybe they should have just drug the thing instead. As she kept walking, she felt Cass push again, but this time Mackenzie couldn't control the additional weight, and before she knew it, she was pushed into the railing, before the mattress gave her the final push she needed to go over the railing. Everything suddenly flashed back to the day she died on the set of Dropped. And as much as she wanted to scream or try to better prepare herself to land safely, all the training in the world couldn't help her. Instead, she hit the hardwood floor head first cracking her neck and back for the second time with a hard thud. And once again, the world went dark.

—

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just trying to..." Cass trailed off, unable to focus on both supporting the weight of the mattress and carrying on a conversation. She grunted a little, shoving the mattress forward again. This was the problem with having a huge house, right? So much more ground to cover. She didn't mean to shove the mattress into Mack... but that was exactly what happened. And then, Mack was losing her footing, was stumbling over the edge, and was hitting the ground with a crack that Cass thought would live in her mind forever. Her breath caught in her throat, and she dropped the mattress to run to the edge of the railing, looking over with a nauseous feeling tugging at her gut. There was Mack, laying on the floor below with cracks rippling out from the tile around her. Not moving, not breathing. For a moment, Mack was Kuma, was Debbie. Cass thought she might be sick. "Oh my god," she said, panic gripping her. "Oh my god. I didn't --- I didn't mean to. Oh my god. Nonononono."

—

Miyeon's hands clasped to her mouth, gasping as she saw Mack tumble over the side of the balcony. The sound of her neck cracking, the thud to the hard floor echoed through the house. For a moment, Miyeon was frozen in place, stunned by shock. Had she just watched someone die? Had she just seen Mack Ross /die/? Her heart was pounding in her chest and she ran over to see if the host was alright. She reached down to her splayed out wrist, trying to feel for a pulse. There was nothing. She could feel panic grip her, her breaths growing shorter. She didn't know what to do and, for once, she had no idea what to say.

—

If he’d have blinked, he would’ve missed it. But he hadn’t. It happened almost I’m slow motion. One second Mack was tipping over the railing, and the next she was crumpled on the floor below. “Oh, shit!” Chaisai exclaimed. Mack didn’t look good, but he couldn’t bring himself to step towards her. He could not be the sober one here. Responsibility was not his strong suit. He downed the remainder of his glass before taking a single, deliberate step towards his friend. “Uh, hey, Barbie. Get up, please. Please?”

—

One minute Winter was eating the delicious ice cream and enjoying the buzz and then the next all she heard was the sickening crunch of Mack literally landing on her head after falling from the balcony above. Everything went into slow motion, the Dippin' Dots slipping from her hands and landing on the ground while she stared at her friend laying there. She watched as one of the others went forward and checked for a pulse, rooted to the spot, and when it was obvious that there wasn't anything to feel she let a whimper leave her lips.

—

Milo had been going up the stairs to assist Mack and Cass. He wasn't incredibly strong or anything, but he figured another pair of hands couldn't hurt. He was about halfway up when he saw Mack tumble over her railing. There wasn't enough time for him to even try to react before she had hit the ground with a horrifying, stomach turning crack. He stared wide eyed at her body at the ground, neck bent at an unnatural angle, frozen for a moment before he came to his senses. "Oh my god," he breathed. This wasn't happening. This could not be happening.

—

Ray was turning to greet Alex as well when he heard the creak of the bannister, head swivelling back around he caught the very moment that Mack hit the ground. A guttural yell escaped Ray as he registered the bones he'd heard crunching and the sight of Mack on the floor. Dead. She had to be dead. He was stock still and unmoving as he whispered to Ryan in his head "Is she gone? Can you tell?" Looking to Miyeon as she checked for a pulse.

—

Nora knew she was drunk. Nora knew that alcohol buzzed in her vein, clouding her thoughts much like her time in the mines. But as Mack's neck cracked against the wooden floor, she had trouble grasping it. This couldn't be real right? This was just a joke? Wasn't Mack proud of her acting skills? "Get up Mack, come on, it's not funny." Nora's words slurred as she spoke them. "Mack?" Nora tried to take a step forward, but the world was spinning around her. "Fuck." She said finally, sitting down on the floor, giving up on movement. "Not again."

—

Alex had been sipping her drink and watching Cass from afar as she helped Mack get the mattress over to the stairs. Everything happened so fast that she couldn't even get a word out before Mack was tumbling over the balcony and a crack was echoing in her ears. She automatically tuned in on Cass, who's heartbeat was moving more rapidly with every second and quickly leapt up to go over to her. It was an accident and Alex was a bit stunned that someone was dead but she had to make sure Cass was alright. "Hey," she said softly, "You didn't mean to, it was an accident. Just breathe slowly, ok?" She placed a hand on Cass's back and tried to rub soothing circles despite the fact she felt like she was going to be sick. There was a slight tremble in her fingertips that she hoped wasn't felt by the oread. The whimper that left Winter's lips told her everything she needed to know.

—

Alex was there in a heartbeat, standing in front of Cass and telling her to breathe. Breathe, like Mack wasn't. Because Cass had killed her. The panic was all-encompassing, to the point that she didn't hear Nora's muttered 'not again,' didn't register Miyeon checking Mack for a pulse, and didn't take note of Winter's whimper. All that existed was the body on the floor and the fact that Cass had put it there. She tried to look at Alex, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from the corpse. She couldn't focus on anything else. "I killed her. I killed Mack Ross. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

—

Miyeon had never seen anyone die. She couldn't comprehend it. It didn't make sense. One moment Mack was there and now she wasn't. She was gone. And all that was left was a dead body that Miyeon was crouching next to. Oh god, that was a dead body. She scooted away on the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling herself in on herself. "Wh--what do we do?" her voice cracked even at a whisper. "She-- she--she..." Miyeon gulped trying to find her next words. "She's dead." Miyeon couldn't tell if she wanted to scream or cry or simply curl into a ball and disappear. Maybe all of them at once.

—

"What do we do?" Winter was still rooted to the spot, her voice a horse whisper as if anything above that would break even more in the room. What did they do? When Mack disappeared from her life months before she had been pissed at the girl but still thought she would see her again and now...now she was definitely gone. She could feel tears welling up but she refused to let them fall. No, they had to figure this out. There was no time for crying.

—

Another crisis for Cass. Nora was grateful Alex was there helping her. Nora wanted to help too, but her legs had buckled under her. Why had she drunk so much? No one else had drunk as much as her? That was so dumb of her. "We dispose of the body." Nora answered. Cass wasn't going to jail for this. They weren't going to jail cause of a dumb accident. "And we never talk about it again." Which, in her drunk slur, sounded silly and not at all serious like the moment intended.

—

He didn't know what to do, wasn't sure he was breathing. Everything the others were saying sounded muffled under the sound of his blood rushing. This couldn't be happening. She had to be okay. There was no way they had all just watched Mack Ross die. He stumbled down the stairs, wanting to check her pulse- Miyeon had to be wrong- but once he was standing there, staring over at her, he couldn't get himself to move any closer. No. No, no, no, no, no. He wasn't sure if he had said it aloud. He couldn't- This couldn't be happening again. His head snapped up at Nora's suggestion, though. "What?! We can't just- This isn't- We have to tell someone! I'm not going-" Milo couldn't get the words out. He wasn't going along with this, this wasn't going to be another fucking death pit situation.

—

Of all the things that could have been suggested, that was not what Winter had expected. Immediately she snapped, her eyes finally leaving Mack as she turned her head towards Nora. "What the fuck? Maybe we call a fucking ambulance? We could be wrong, right?" Even if they weren't wrong, and there was no way they were, Mack still deserved more than a fucking body dump.

—

Alex had hardly had anything to drink, but the suggestion still made her feel sick to her stomach. Even if it was an accident, they'd been underaged and drinking and she couldn't see it shaking out well for Cass. It felt shitty. Mack was her friend. It was new, sure, but they were giving the whole friendship thing a try even if it was new to both of them. But it was Cass and she couldn't let her go to jail. All she could do was nod and move her hand to take Cass's in her own instead. The silent gesture said more than words could, it let her know that Alex was going to be there no matter what they had to do.

—

Ray finally got control of his feet but couldn't get them to do anything useful - especially when all his body really screamed for him to do was run away. But he always ran away. He had to stop. But what were they going to do? Were they actually going to dump a body? "Is that the only way?" he wondered quietly looking to Nora and finally tearing his eyes away from the corpse.

—

Everything was muffled. Words were jumbled. Nothing made sense. But there was a brightness. The lights above. Mackenzie could recognize light. She could recognize that there were other people around her, but everything felt off. She couldn't move. At least not at the moment. But she knew her body was doing something - healing itself. And with the healing came an insatiable need to feed. She was soooo hungry. Food was all that mattered and the room she was laying in currently held many options. Easy pickings. Who first? The little one on the floor? The two on the balcony. She could make out blurs of shapes as her eyesight started to come back. The ones on the floor would be the easiest, because right now her legs and neck were not working. Groaning slightly, she started to move her arms. Things were starting to work, but pitifully. Grunting, Mackenzie began crawling towards Nora. Fitting, since she had just suggested dumping her body, but Mack didn't hear that. All she knew was food. Nothing logical, since she was still in her infancy and dumb as a box of rocks.

—

"I don't want to go to jail. Oh god. Oh my god. They're gonna --- They'll put me in ---" She couldn't even form a thought. What would happen to her? This wasn't some random person Cass had killed. This was a movie star, someone famous, someone loved. There was no way they'd do anything less than throw the book at her. The public would hate her. She'd rot in prison. And then what? What even happened when someone not human was arrested? Were there protocols in place, rules? Would they lock her in a special cell, or would they just kill her? She didn't want to find out. "We can't! If we call for an ambulance, they'll --- We're going to get in trouble and I don't --- We should --- We should promise not to tell. We should..." The body groaned. Mack groaned. And moved. Crawling towards Nora, looking... hungry? "What the fuck is happening?"

—

Of course, Mack had been acting. What kind of fucking play was everyone working on? Nora watched as the body groaned and started crawling towards her. "Come on Mack. We get it. You're an actor, you're sooo good at playing dead. What is all of this?" Because Nora, despite accepting the supernatural, despite being trained by a slayer, wouldn't consider something as supernatural as the undead at a Barbie's Dream House Party.

—

“Dispose of the body?” Chai echoed, incredulous. “Cave girl, we cannot do that. We should probably—we should—I don’t know what we should do.” Should they call the police? It was an accident, no one should get in trouble for that. But the potential for underage drinking was there, he figured, looking around at the group. Would that be a problem? “We can’t throw her away,” he insisted. A feeling of dread snaked its way up his spine. images of his friend being struck by lightning flashed across his mind and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked back towards their friend— their dead friend—and suddenly the corpse moved. “Holy shit. Nope. Nope.” With that, he turned away, heading for the kitchen. He was definitely too sober for this.

—

Fuck. Milo plopped onto the ground. He was shaking and his chest was stuttering and he wasn't breathing properly, and already he could feel that familiar tingling underneath his skin. He needed to breathe. He couldn't lose control here. But then Mack's body started moving, scaring the ever loving shit out of him, and a lamp went flying across the room, shattering against the wall. "What the fuck?!"

—

Alex usually hated her sense of hearing, but in that moment, she was grateful that she was quick to realize Mack was moving. She had been dead and now she was moving with a hungry look in her eyes. She honed in on the sounds coming from Mack and notably a heartbeat was not one of them which could only mean one thing. Shit. Mack was undead and while she didn't know much, that meant she was probably as ravenous as Alex was on the full moon. Did she know she was undead? Alex hoped so, that would mean she had a stash of food for herself somewhere, but she had to be quick. "Cass, Nora," she directed, "You keep an eye on Mack. Do not let her get close to you or anyone else until I get back. Got it?" If anyone could handle a hungry undead, it would be the giant bear and the superhero, even if the former was more than a little intoxicated and the latter in a state of shock.

—

Again, a noise had her head snapping in another direction only to find Mack moving. How the holy… Winter couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening right now and even with Nora's words she felt her stomach drop. Even if Mack was an actor she knew better than to think she would pull something like this on everyone here. Winter might have but not her, right? The lamp flying across the room elicited a scream. With everything happening she was super jumpy. "What the actual fuck?!?"

—

Ray muffled a scream when the body started to move again. She'd been dead. She'd been confirmed dead. In a panic, wanting to get everyone away from whatever was happening he rushed for Nora and scooped her off the floor and moved them rapidly away from Mack. "What's going ON?"

—

A lot was going on. All of it was confusing. Fear was an intoxicating snack for Nora, and she reveled in the sweet snacks of her friends as they all freaked out. For what? Mack's acting wasn't even that good. She just fell and played dead. A sober Nora, one who could read a room and pay attention to many facts, may have picked up on the true seriousness of this situation, but Nora was really into making a fool of herself lately. Ray was picking her off the floor and pulling her away from the crawling Mack, but Ray was a runner. He would be scared of anything. Nora patted his arm gently, there, there. This wasn't even scary.

—

Alex figured if there was a stash of blood in the manor, it wouldn't be in the main fridge she had guests going into. If that had been the case, someone would have already called Mack out on it. There had to be another fridge somewhere. Maybe her bedroom, basement, or garage. The size of the house had seemed cool before, but now it seemed overwhelming. She was 5'1" and while she was quick, that was a lot of ground to cover. She wasn't sure she'd be able to pick up on the smell, but maybe she'd be able to hear the hum of another refrigerator. She normally tuned that out, but she ripped her ear plugs out and closed her eyes to get a sense of what direction to go in. She ran as fast as her feet could take her down the stairs, shuffling around rooms until she found the two refrigerators. In a rush, she ripped the doors open on both, breaking the door off the one that seemed to be for human food. Well, at least if she had this many fridges it wouldn't be an issue to replace later. She quickly gathered as many containers of brains and body parts as she could and flew back up the stairs. As she reached outside, one of the containers fell on the ground, but she couldn't be bothered to stop and instead raced toward Mack. She quickly knelt down and took the lid off one of the tupperware with brains. She handed it to Mack carefully. "Here," she said softly, "You'll feel better after you eat this. I can grab and send someone down to crab more, too. Cass or Nora won't be freaked out by it."

—

Mackenzie heard the voice yelling at her. She still couldn't make out the words. The only thing on her mind was eating. She needed her strength. She needed food. Nora looked like a mighty tasty blur. As she pulled herself forward with her arms dragging herself across the floor, Mackenzie groaned louder, before the word food escaped her mouth. She saw another human figure scoop up her prey. Growling in anger, Mackenzie felt her strength grow along with a healing crack of her back. Pushing herself up off of the floor to her knees and then to wobbly feet, the actress grabbed her head and cracked her neck back into place, "Hungry..." Looking around, her eyes hazy and glazed over, she spotted Winter and started to move towards her.

—

Miyeon thought she was shocked before but then the dead body moved. Mack Ross was dead on the ground one second and then standing up the next. She didn't move. Other than her jaw hanging open in shock, her eyes stuck to the girl who was definitely up and walking after she snapped her neck. She was frozen in place, trying to hold her legs tighter to keep from shaking. She was one second away from just turning into a fox. It might be the only way she could figure out how to move. "Someone t-tell me what is going on?" she whimpered. A lamp crashed and made her jump out of her shock. Yeah, fuck this, she didn't care who knew or who saw what. A burst of smoke surrendered Miyeon and in her place was a small fox, scurrying away to Nora, hiding behind her legs.

—

Keep an eye on her? Why? Cass wasn't thinking logically, but she trusted Alex. "I'll make sure she's okay," she said, moving towards Mack cautiously. She crouched down next to the movie star, reaching out to put a hand on her arm just as Alex rejoined the party with... tupperware? "I don't think she wants a snack, Alex," she said with uncertainty.

—

Winter was having a psychotic break, that was the only explanation. First a ghost was following her around, one who looked decidedly amused at this point, and now her friend was coming back from the dead and snapping her neck into place while things flew across the room on their own. She had to be in some room back home making this up in her head. Did she miss Mack that much? Now a person was a fox? Yea, she had lost it. That was all there was to it.

—

Alex realized how close Cass was to Mack and whispered urgently, "You need to back up, Cass. She needs the snack. It's not a human thing."

—

"Alex, I don't think this is a good time for flirting," Cass replied uncertainly. "She's hurt."

—

Chaisai pounded a glass and re-entered the crime scene in time to see Alex return with…leftovers. He turned to ask anyone else what the hell was happening when he saw something that caught him off guard. “Is that a fox?” he asked no one in particular. “What is even happening tonight?” All of this had to be some immense prank, and it wasn’t very funny. The fox seemed out of place, too.

—

Milo saw Alex returning with tupperware, and noticed the one that had fallen had opened to reveal what appeared to be a brain. Fuck this town. "What the fuck is wrong with this town?" Milo shuddered at the sound of Mack's neck snapping back into a normal position, pulling himself up and away from the zombie??? Only to see Miyeon disappear and a fox to appear in her place. What the fuck?!?!?

—

Alex shook her head. "I'm not flirting with you, Cass," she retorted in a hushed voice, "Mack is a zombie. If she doesn't eat what I just gave her she's probably gonna eat everyone at this party. And no, still not flirting. I mean literally, not in a fun way."

—

Ray felt Nora pet him on the arm but he was very busy watching Mack for what she was going to do next. He didn't let up his hold on the bugbear for a second, she was clearly too far gone and needed to stay away. This wasn't right, there was something going on here. The sickening crack of her neck going back into place made his stomach turn as the others started to put themselves between Mack and the Party.

—

Nora's head swam. Ray was panicked, Miyeon was a fox between her legs, Winter, that was her name right? Her ghost looked like he was having fun. That was nice. Ghosts deserve to have fun. Alex was giving instructions. Did Nora need to go get something? What did Nora need to go get? Maybe she would never drink again. Maybe having control of her conscious thoughts was a lot better then the fuzz that settled it now, even if it worked. In this confusion, she'd forgotten to think about her body and the mines.

—

A zombie? Mack Ross was a zombie? Had she always been a zombie? Cass's brow furrowed as she looked at the tupperware in Alex's hands a little closer. Brains. Okay, so the zombie thing wasn't a new development. Her eyes scanned the room --- Nora, drunk and confused with a fox that... probably had to be Miyeon hiding behind her. Winter, having a breakdown in a way that was totally not how Cass liked to meet new people. Chai and Milo, both looking more than a little lost. Ray, watching it all unfold. Was this what parties were always like? "Um, okay. Mack Ross is a zombie. Cool. Okay. Sure. What the fuck?"

—

Mackenzie had noticed Cass coming towards her. Food that was right in her path was so much easier than the person freaking out on the other side of the room. Reaching out, she moved in the direction of Cass before grabbing her and pulling her in closer with extreme strength. Leaning her newly healed neck to the side, she opened her mouth wide and laid into Cass's shoulder with a hard bite. However, whatever she bit into wasn't budging. Mack growled in frustration as she gnawed on what felt like a rock. Angry, she pushed Cass as hard as she could out of the way, before smelling the brains that Alex had brought up from downstairs. Turning her attention on the werewolf, she started moving towards Alex, "Brains..." She reached out trying to grab the food that wasn't quite in her reach yet.

—

Nora picked the fox up. The fox was soft. Nora buried her face in the soft fox coat. This was a fun party, she thought, enjoying more tasty fear snacks.

—

"Hey!" Cass screeched in a damn good impression of a banshee, jumping back as Mack Ross's zombie teeth tried to take a bite out of her shoulder. "You're gonna rip my shirt!" She hadn't broken the skin --- Cass's skin was pretty hard to break, after all --- but her shirt was all wet with zombie slobber now. Gross. At least the brains seemed to spark something. Cass grabbed the tupperware from Alex, much more content to put her hard-to-bite hand in the line of fire than risking Alex meeting the zombie's teeth, and thrust it towards her. "Here!"

—

Alex rushed towards Cass when she realized Mack was about to bite her only to let out a breath of relief when that didn't go according to plan. Even though Cass always had a certain radiance about her, it was easy to forget that she was stone and magma underneath it all. Before she could reach out to nudge the container towards Mack, Cass was already doing so. She was grateful the oread had caught on and she quickly looked to inspect her. "Are you ok?"

—

Miyeon was moving. Oh god, the world was moving and she was getting taller all a sudden. Then she realized there were hands grabbing her. Hands that smelled like Nora's. Oh, okay, she was petting her. That was fine. She snuggled into her friend. It definitely felt like the safest option. The wolf girl and rock girl could take care of the not dead girl.

—

"I'm okay," Cass assured Alex, turning to let her look at the shoulder in question. "See? No harm done." She directed the last part towards Mack, too, knowing that if their roles were reversed, she'd want to make sure she hadn't hurt anyone. Glancing over to where Nora had Miyeon, she was pleased to see the both of them safe, too. And the boys all looked alright, which mostly left... "Um... Hey, Winter? Are you, uh... How are you doing?"

—

Mackenzie yanked the brain out of the container and started to sloppily shove it in her mouth. Dropping to the floor, she consumed the brain without savoring it knowing it wasn't going to do much considering she had just died AGAIN. When she was finished, she could automatically feel things start to make sense again, but she still had a need to feed, "Alex...food. Want more food." She looked up at the person she knew to be Alex.

—

Ray was stunned as things started to seem to wind down again. It felt like a fever dream. "Uhm excuse me but ...what the actual fuck?"

—

The sight of Mack biting another human was the icing on the cake of this whole night, Winter leaning back against the wall and nodding at whoever was talking to her. "Oh, I'm so good right now." Even in times of crisis sarcasm tended to take over but there was less bite than usual in her tone. Her gaze kept flicking between Mack and the fox and then to the person Mack had bit. Cass...they were the one who had asked, right? "What is going on?"

—

Milo knew necromancy was a thing, but he wasn't sure what the fuck all of this was. This seemed proper Night of the Living Dead zombie shit. "Yeah, seconding that. What the fuck? Also, she just bit you, Cass???"

—

Now that she was a tall fox, Miyeon was able to see the ghost floating around Winter. Her little kitsune stomach started to grumble. And the nachos were not going to cut it. She tilted her little head and made a small little yip, asking to be let down. She wanted a snack, too. And she didn't want the gross-smelling whatever it was that Mack was eating. She was just going to eat a little bit of the ghost, it would be fine.

—

“She, um, she didn't bite me very hard! Didn't even break the skin!" Cass rubbed at her shoulder, pretending it hurt. "It'll just be a bruise, that's all." She looked to Mack with uncertainty. She thought she was probably up to speed now, but it wasn't really up to her to tell everyone else, was it? If Mack wanted a lie... well, she'd need someone other than Cass to tell it.

—

Alex was relieved that the only damage done was some slobber on Cass's shirt. "Okay, good," she said, reaching to give Cass's hand a squeeze before returning her attention to Mack. Cass was checking in on the others and Mack was devouring the brain from the container. Alex quickly grabbed another and shoved it towards the zombie. "Here," she said. She looked for Nora in the crowd and saw her holding a... fox? The fox girl thing suddenly made sense. Huh. And everyone else had a lot of questions that Alex had no idea how to answer, so she looked to Mack, hoping she'd have her fill enough soon to give whatever the PR reason for this would be.

—

Nora, face still pressed to the softest fox she'd ever held, was sad to let Miyeon go. But Nora had always lived by the motto, animals only stayed as long as they wanted. That went with her new friend too. Nora put the fox down. "It wasn't very cool of Mack to bite Cass like that. They should take away her Emmy. Crimes against Cass."

—

"Also, can we address the fact that Miyeon turned into a fox because." Fuck, she had said something about a fox girl at the last party. Milo had thought she was just a furry, he didn't think he meant she was a literal fucking fox!

—

Alex looked around and shrugged, "Uh.... We're all just really drunk?"

—

Milo gave Alex a look. "Bestie..."

—

Alex stifled a laugh under the pressure. "Okay, you got me there," she relented, "But I am very specifically not Mack Ross' PR so I will let her explain her stunts."

—

"I had one cup." She whispered the words, now spotting the fox nibbling on the ghost following her around but Winter wasn't very concerned about that even if he seemed to be. Wait, the fox was biting the ghost? Was that normal?

—

Ray made a face and leaned down to mumble to Nora "Are there other people here that are...like you and stuff too?"

—

Chaisai could feel the anxiety begin to ebb away. “This is a really weird prank.” Something deep in the pit of his stomach tugged at him, told him that something stranger than a prank was at hand here. “Wait, where did she go?” The fox could not be their friend. “I’m not drunk either,” Chai said, agreeing with Winter. “So are we all like, weird here, or is it just…” He let the question hang in the air, looking from Mack to the fox and back.

—

Fox Miyeon was running towards Winter, which seemed like a bad idea. Winter was already having some kind of a breakdown. Cass wanted to tell Miyeon that maybe she should take it easy, but... There was so much going on. It was a little hard to figure out what she should be focusing on. She looked to Mack, chewing her lip for a moment and offering her a small nod. However Mack wanted to play this, Cass would follow along. She owed her that much after tossing her off a balcony.

—

Mackenzie consumed the other brain enjoying all the meaty bits of it. Finally, something more satisfying was happening. She started to feel like her old self. Memories came flooding back. Names started to slowly come back. And when she realized where she was at and vaguely what was happening, she knew she had to go back downstairs. If she didn't eat enough, they were all going to be scrambling for their lives again, except Cass, who was surprisingly tough. Looking around, she could feel emotions again and that sucked harder than the fox sucking on the ghost. Without words, she stumbled downstairs and towards the room with the fridge. The door was gone, but that was okay. It didn't matter at this point. She just wanted the contents.

—

Miyeon trotted off towards the ghost, but it was a little too far away. She leaped onto a chair and then hopped onto the table and was about to take a little nibble of plasmic energy when she heard her name and her ears swiveled towards the source, turning to see that it was Milo. Oh. Right. Whoops. She did sort of shift in the middle of a party, didn't she? She hadn't even thought about it long enough to weigh the consequences. Between the not-dead dead body and the flying lamp and the buzz of the sangria, she sort of didn't have the time. Cool cool cool. She should probably shift back. But her clothes were in the middle of the room. Uh, the tablecloth was going to have to do. She nuzzled her nose under the edge of the fabric and shoved as much of herself as she could underneath it before poofing back into her human form, wrapping the tablecloth around her to try and cover up as much as she could. "Um, don't ask. Can you hand me my clothes, Milo? Please?" She saw the looks she was getting. Yup, okay, this was fine. "Literally don't worry about it. What's going on with Mack? Is she dead? Is she not? What is going on?"

—

"Fair enough, I guess." Though Alex did seem to be the one who knew what the fuck was going on. Seeing another poof of smoke followed by Miyeon poking her head out from under the table just confirmed his suspicions. She had definitely turned into a fox, then. And Mack had just wandered off??? "Seems like we're all weird here, yeah," Milo nodded, a bewildered look on his face as he gathered Miyeon's clothes. His hands were still shaking, but the events of the past few minutes were so fucking weird that he wasn't freaking out as much. That was a plus. As he neared the table, he averted his gaze, feeling incredibly awkward as he held out the bundle of clothes in his hand.

—

Chaisai covered his eyes out of respect, despite this bewildering turn of events.

—

Nora watched Mack consume a brain. Maybe this wasn't acting. Maybe this was. Nora didn't know, but Miyeon was naked now and it felt like a real television party suddenly. Nudity was always included in those.

—

Miyeon said "Thanks," and took her clothes back and ducked behind the counter to quickly throw them back on.

—

Mackenzie made her way through quite a bit of the food she had stored up, and when she was finished everything felt normal again. Well as normal as dying in front of your friends, coming back and trying to eat them, and then consuming brains in front of them could be. FUCK. They had just seen all of that. They knew what she was. Winter knew what she was. Walking back upstairs, she quietly stood at the doorway. With "Dance The Night" from the Barbie soundtrack blasting in the background, Mackenzie knew she had to follow the lyrics of the song and present herself with poise. She had done this before, right? This was part of life in the spotlight. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "Hey guys...so, uh, what'd I miss..." Her smile was uneasy; mouth covered in slime and other things; skin pale; and her eyes still somewhat white and glazed with the skin on her neck bruised from previously being broken.

—

"We're all weird here..." It was all starting to sink in and Winter glanced at her ghost in time to see the fox had turned back into a person. If she had a ghost and he had been told all of her life about mediums it would have been ignorant to think that other things didn't exist, right? It was a lot all at once so she let her body slide down the wall so she could take a seat and breathe a little. "What did you miss?"

—

Milo couldn't help but laugh. "Well, you died, and freaked everyone out so much that someone turned into a fox, so." He snorted. "I'm so sorry. This is just fucking nuts, and I've felt like I've been going insane lately. Came here to get away from that, but I should've known better in this town." He took a few breaths. "Sorry. I'm glad you're okay? I guess? Also, sorry about your lamp."

—

Ray finally let Nora go, taking a deep breath. It seemed Mack was back to...normal felt like too big of a stretch for the moment. Everyone had secrets it seemed. He wanted to go to bed. He didn't quite know what to say to Mack or anyone really. "There's bits of glass on the floor from the lamp watch out?" he offered instead of anything of substance. "Got a brush?"

—

Alex nodded as the group seemed to acknowledge they were all weird in some way. A few years ago, that would freaked her out and even though she struggled with how she saw herself, something about this band of weirdos made her feel a little more okay about it. "Guess we are," she said nonchalantly. She gave Mack a knowing look as she returned and simply nodded. They could discuss *that* later.

—

The fact that this had all been happening while the Barbie movie soundtrack had been playing was just the icing on the disaster cake. Milo rushed to help Ray as the other went to clean up the mess. "I can get it. My fault anyway."

—

Miyeon tilted her head as she looked back at Milo. "Wait, that was your fault?" she asked. She had kind of assumed it was the ghost. "Okay so like you missed a lot. Sort of maybe because you died. I don't know. But like there's a lot going on here. Clearly." She looked over at Milo, Winter, Nora, Cass, Alex, and her gaze landed on Mack last. "Um, but, I guess everyone's okay? Mostly? Are we good? Is it time to keep partying now?" She wasn't sure what she hoped the answer was going to be if she was honest.

—

Chaisai sighed. This night got weird quickly. “Alright. Never have I ever died. Anyone else? Never have I ever turned into an animal. Can we talk about what the fuck is happening? Where’s Ashton, ‘cause it feels like we’re being punk’d. Is this Celebrity Pranks?”

—

Ray dropped to a knee next to the shattered lamp and shook his head lightly "Don't worry dude it's-...your fault? What do you mean..." he trailed off for a second before mumbling to the other "I need something to do with my hands anyway, I'm still a bit spooked to be honest." he showed Milo the slight tremble in his fingers with an awkward smile. "I'm not made for excitement like this..."

—

Winter pointed to Chaisai. "That. All of that."

—

Oh, shit. Well. He hadn't really been thinking when he'd admitted to that. "Uhhh... Don't worry about it?" His voice was uncertain as he repeated Miyeon's earlier words. Milo nodded at Ray, raising one of his own shaking hands. "Me either, dude." Chai's words made him burst out into another fit of laughter, though. "Again, I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh."

—

Mackenzie was ashamed, embarrassed, but more than anything scared. Would they know that she was the one who killed Brody? If she had a heartbeat, it would be pounding so hard right now. She watched as Milo and Ray went to clean up the lamp, "It's fine...It's uh, don't worry about it." She glanced around the room seeing the mess and chaos that had ensued while she was out of it. Everyone was stressed and scared and laughing? Barbie Sleepover had gone to Barbie Nightmare in a heartbeat. Ironic choice of words of course, "Um...look I know...I know this is probably a shock to you all..." She noticed Nora looking unamused, "some...I just, I'm asking if you guys could not tell anybody...please. My life depends on this being kept quiet. I did some things that I hate myself for, and...it's the whole reason I'm here in Wicked's Rest. You don't have to talk to me...or acknowledge my existence anymore after this, if you never want to see me again, but...all I ask is if you...could just please, please not say anything..."

—

Alex was glad she didn't have her drink on her, though on technicality, she wasn't sure a werewolf counted as an animal. That was definitely more turning into a monster. She chuckled nervously and found her way back to Cass. They were all a little weird, but she wasn't sure she was necessarily ready to broadcast that she was a werewolf specifically.

—

Mack was upset. And Cass still felt a little responsible for it, given the fact that she was the one who'd knocked the movie star off the balcony. If she hadn't done that, no one would know anything at all about what Mack was. So Cass looked at her friends, and nodded. "Okay," she said decisively. "Everyone has to promise. Right here, right now. Look at me, and promise not to say anything about this to anyone not at this party."

—

Nora may have still been drunk, but she trusted Cass. So when Cass gave an instruction, Nora was the first to look at her and make the promise. Nora knew Cass was only asking this for a good reason.

—

Ray looked up with a handful of lamp shards "I promise."

—

Chaisai looked at Mack, confusion crossing his face. His brow furrowed. He didn’t quite understand what was happening here if he were being honest, but he nodded slowly. “Sure. Promise.”

—

Miyeon nodded. She knew that there was no way she was going to put any of this into any sort of journalistic anything. And not even just because they could all blackmail her with the turning into a fox thing. No, this was the sort of secret that you just kept. Supernatural stuff. Her parents may have kept most of it from her but they did tell her that much, that things were safer when the whole world didn't know about the strange things lurking just beneath the surface. And who was she to argue? "I promise."

—

Alex didn't need to be asked twice. She vaguely understood the binding thing, but even so, it didn't matter. Cass was asking her to make a promise and if Cass asked, then the answer was always yes. "I promise," she said without a shred of hesitation.

—

Milo narrowed his eyes, thinking back to the death pit. He didn't want to say anything, not that anyone would believe him if he told them that Mack Ross was a fucking zombie, but whatever magic Cass was using... Mack was clearly anxious and feeling miserable, though. He nodded. "Promise."

—

Winter was staring at Mack while she spoke. She wasn't planning on saying anything about this to anyone anyway but how could she when her friend was obviously very upset about all of this and needed some reassurance. She rolled her eyes at the other asking them to promise, still a little shaky about it all, but she nodded anyway. "Promise."

—

Tears barely came out of Mackenzie's pale eyes as she watched everyone around the room promise not to say anything, "I'm so sorry. I just...wanted this to be soft and fun, and I fucked it up." Stammering and looking down for a minute, she took a beat and made a decision, "You can all go. Just...yeah." Mackenzie was defeated. Looking back down, she left the room leaving everyone to decide if they wanted to leave or stay. She didn't care anymore.

—

"And I promise, too," Cass added, nodding to each of them in turn. She crafted the bind carefully, tying the metaphorical knot around each person who'd said the words. They'd be safe now, just like they had been when she'd used the same method to ensure no one would ever find out about Debbie. Mack would be safe. Turning back to her, Cass ached with the look on her face. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm really sorry." But Mack left the room, and everything felt a little emptier than it had been before. "I, um... I'll go get Aria and Wynne. Tell them the party's done. I think we should all go home."

[chrancecriber]

Chilltrax (June 28, 2023)

23:58 Flexible Fire - Marea Turquesa 23:54 Deep Sound Effect Feat. Svetlana Voice - Dreaming About You (Dj Aristocrat Remix) 23:54 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Cymbal Roll Bass 23:49 Blank & Jones - Alone In This Rhythm (Ben Macklin Remix) 23:46 Attom - Where Are We Going 23:42 Kelela - Enough For Love 23:38 Satin Jackets & Panama - Alive 23:33 Thievery Corporation - Liberation Front 23:33 C H I L L T R A X - I'd Like To Return To The Classics 23:30 Afterlife - All I Wanted 23:27 Henry Green - Realign 23:21 Volen Sentir & Makebo - Into The Stars 23:18 Liz Cass - Blue 23:13 Reel People & Muhsinah - Something New (Kraak & Smaak Remix) 23:13 C H I L L T R A X - Escape 2 Music 23:10 Ran The Man - Yucatan 23:05 Braxe Falcon - Step By Step (Amtrac Remix) 23:01 Eli & Fur Feat. Brothertiger - She's Just A Wanderer 22:56 Fakear - Crystal 22:52 Royksopp - Me&youphoria 22:49 Jones Meadow & Clara Mendes - Em Baixo 22:49 C H I L L T R A X - Ct Where The World Comes To Chill Out 22:44 Sao Miguel Feat. Sebastian Reynoso - Hope In Balance (Wisternoff-grant Remix) 22:41 Lp Giobbi Feat. Caroline Byrne - Another Life 22:37 Mansionair & Vandelux - Empty Promise 22:34 Morcheeba - The Moon (Kutiman Remix - Version B) 22:29 Alex V - Cristal Shore 22:24 Nando Rodriguez Feat. Lottie - Madness (Cafe Chill Out Mix) 22:24 C H I L L T R A X - Musique Nonstop 22:20 Morgin Madison & Ryan Lucian - From The Start (Mm Chill Remix) 22:17 Tep No & Noak Hellsing - I Won’t Need You 22:12 Arto - Para Mi 22:09 Boerd Feat. Stella Explorer - Before We Drown 22:09 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Moon Boots 22:06 Attlas & Jodie Knight - Used To The Silence 22:01 Shallou - Fading 21:58 Sum Wave - It Feels Like Summer 21:53 Steven Weston Feat. Lapsley - Like I Used To 21:48 Max Cooper - A Model Of Reality (Tor Remix) 21:48 C H I L L T R A X - Distinctively Different 21:44 Shingo Nakamura - Falling Off 21:40 Jan Blomqvist & Malou - Alone 21:36 Little Dragon - Water 21:31 Blank & Jones - Floatation 21:28 Blonde Maze - Daydream (Otherwise Fine Remix) 21:28 C H I L L T R A X - Worldschilloutchannnel Orbit 21:23 Monolink - Turning Away (Parra For Cuva Remix) 21:19 Teemid - L.a. 21:14 Emi Ca - Just Breathe 21:11 Fløa (Floa) - Pictures Of You 21:11 C H I L L T R A X - Slurry Toh 21:06 Farius - A Big Life (Sound Quelle Remix) 21:03 R Plus & Faithless Feat. Amelia Fox - Let's Just Have Some Fun 20:59 Tomb - Unbound 20:56 Elderbrook - All My Love 20:56 C H I L L T R A X - Cool Refreshed Smooth As Can Be 20:52 George Fitzgerald & Syml - Mother 20:49 Emmit Fenn - The Chase 20:45 Jean Vayat & Evelynka - My Soul 20:41 Flexible Fire - Amatista 20:36 Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy (Oakenfold Remix) 20:36 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Bassy Dr 20:32 Reel People & Paula - Vibe (Moods Remix) 20:29 Melosense - Can't Replace You 20:25 Floa & Ra5im - Give Me A Second 20:21 Alampa - Seesaw Season 20:17 Eli & Fur - Where I Find My Mind 20:17 C H I L L T R A X - Chill Out Chilltrax 20:13 Jones Meadow - Shackles 20:09 Lliam And Latroit Feat. Brea - Someday (Latroit Edition) 20:04 Maya Jane Coles Feat .chelou - Never Asked For Much 20:00 Sultan Shepard - Sirens 19:56 Alex Hook Feat. Rene - You Showed Me 19:56 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Freesound 19:53 Baynk Feat. Drama - 1 Chance 19:50 Dye O - Simply Be Here 19:46 Satin Jackets & Panama - The Future 19:41 Alex Lo Faro - Move With Me 19:37 Tycho - Receiver 19:37 C H I L L T R A X - See That The Humans Are Entertained 19:33 Kx5 & Sofi Tukker - Sacrifice (St Mix) 19:29 Blonde Maze - A Break In Continuity (Forty Cats Remix) 19:24 Arto - Now You're Gone 19:21 Leisure Feat. Muroki - Summer Season 19:16 Steven Weston Feat. Tae - Same Dream 19:16 C H I L L T R A X - The Interstellar Chillout Channel 19:11 Two Lanes - Reflections (Il Lo Remix) 19:07 Xixi & Hildur Ottilia - Don't Worry 19:03 Ross Couch - On Fire (Downtempo Mix) 18:58 Cahelo - Bananaquit (Mass Digital Extended Remix) 18:54 Flume Feat. Emma Louise - Hollow (Logic1000 Remix) 18:50 Elderbrook - Wasted On You 18:50 C H I L L T R A X - Escape The Noise 18:45 Adisyn - Digital Heart 18:41 Phoenix & Dj Falcon - Winter Solstice (Braxe Falcon Remix) 18:35 Nox Vahn & Marsh - Come Together 18:33 Emmit Fenn - What Falling In Love Is For 18:29 Dreem - Miles Away 18:25 Tosca - Swimswimswim 18:25 C H I L L T R A X - Listen To This! 18:21 Feiertag - Didn't Know Why (You Lost Your Soul) 18:17 Odesza Feat. Olafur Arnalds - Light Of Day (Parra For Cuva Remix) 18:13 Holen - Breathe 18:09 Avira & Nourey Feat. Tom Bailey - Favourite Game 18:09 C H I L L T R A X - Scratch Toh (Freesound) Chilltrax 18:05 Chicane & The Mannequin - Summer In E Major 18:01 Everything But The Girl - Run A Red Light 17:56 Pilots Of Peace - Fallin 17:52 Lar - Collide (Jody Wisternoff & James Grant Remix) 17:48 Pines - Dawn 17:48 C H I L L T R A X - Wonderful Tan! 17:45 Giants' Nest - Flower Burst 17:41 Cannons - Loving You 17:37 Fhin Feat. Sahara - Fallin' Fallin' 17:34 Aftruu - Falling Asleep 17:30 Helicopter Girl - Angel City 17:30 C H I L L T R A X - Comes To Chill Out 17:25 Alison Goldfrapp - The Beat Divine 17:20 Chris Malinchak, Kiesza, Malin - Tree 17:15 Valante - Eio 17:11 Nuage Feat. Gus - The Place We Know 17:11 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Rocket Empire 17:08 Nils Hoffmann Feat. Gordi - No One Else 17:04 Sons Of Maria - Lake Tahoe 17:00 Jones Meadow - Fences 16:55 Blonde Maze - Night Light (Hessian Remix) 16:55 C H I L L T R A X - Magnifyingglasssogood4u 16:51 Mozez & Tim Angrave - Head Full Of Dreams 16:46 Shingo Nakamura - Come Closer 16:41 Zhu & Yuna - Sky Is Crying 16:36 Zaven - Voliere Amplitude 16:31 Rhye - Feel Your Weight (Poolside Remix) 16:31 C H I L L T R A X - Industrial 16:28 Vandelux - Tulum 16:23 Eli & Fur - Better In The Dark 16:18 Marsh - Me & You (Joe Miller Remix) 16:15 Elderbrook & Tourist - Howl (Chill Mix) 16:11 Wassu & Mimi Page - Within Me 16:11 C H I L L T R A X - Worlds Chillout Channel (Chillout Channel) 16:07 Chill Cole - Liquid Life 16:03 Attom - Distant Memories 15:58 Braxe Falcon - Step By Step (Amtrac Remix) 15:54 Il:lo - Ink 15:50 Alampa - The One 15:50 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Cymbal Roll Bass 15:45 Kraak & Smaak Feat. Izo Fitzroy - Twilight 15:42 Sebastian Davidson - Nomads 15:38 Odesza Feat. Maro - Better Now 15:34 False Intentions - Good Liar 15:29 Zero 7 - Red Blue And Green (Dub Copy) 15:29 C H I L L T R A X - Well How Ya Like It? Terrific! 15:25 Satin Jackets Feat. Tailor - Somewhere In Paradise 15:22 Drama - Don't Hold Back 15:18 Pableno - Heights 15:14 Fkj Feat. Little Dragon - Can't Stop 15:11 Farius - Coming Up (Hold On) (Dokho Remix) 15:11 C H I L L T R A X - Twcc Chill Chill Chill Chilltrax 15:07 Vintage & Morelli - Once Upon A World 15:04 Attlas & Jodie Knight - Used To The Silence 15:01 Kaskade With Project 46 - Chains Chilled 14:57 Melosense - Nous 14:53 Blonde Maze - When You Move 14:48 Nicholas Gunn Feat. Chris Howard - Thought Of You 14:48 C H I L L T R A X - Ct The Backward Chillout Channel 14:44 Logic1000 - 21 14:41 Lp Giobbi Feat. Caroline Byrne - Another Life 14:37 Kayobe & Zoe Sky Jordan - No Sympathy 14:34 Armin Van Buuren & Matoma Feat Teddy Swims - Easy To Love 14:29 Two Lanes - Movement 14:26 Morcheeba - Otherwise 14:25 C H I L L T R A X - I'd Like To Return To The Classics 14:21 Monolink - Turning Away (Parra For Cuva Remix) 14:18 Tep No - Deep Sin 14:14 Rocket Empire - Lima 14:10 Darius Feat. Wayne Snow - Apology 14:10 C H I L L T R A X - Trans Europe Vocoder 14:06 R Plus & Faithless Feat. Amelia Fox - Let's Just Have Some Fun 14:03 Ferr By Ferry Corsten And Youth Novels - Hands 14:00 Attom - Where Are We Going 13:57 53 Thieves - Waves 13:52 Dj San & Sebastian Moore - In Your Eyes 13:52 C H I L L T R A X - Like Lobster Straight Out Of The Sink! 13:48 Jones Meadow - Alike 13:44 Morgin Madison & Ryan Lucian - From The Start (Mm Chill Remix) 13:40 Emmit Fenn & Shallou - Hollow 13:35 Il:lo - Cynnes 13:31 Jos & Eli & Eli & Fur - Riffs Of The Night 13:31 C H I L L T R A X - Escape 2 Music 13:27 George Fitzgerald & Syml - Mother 13:22 Tycho Feat. Saint Sinner - Japan (Chilltrax Mix) 13:18 Woven - Brushes 13:15 Alampa - Seesaw Season 13:15 C H I L L T R A X - Slurry Toh 13:10 Embliss & Lumynesynth - Phases Of The Moon 13:05 Maya Jane Coles Feat .chelou - Never Asked For Much 13:00 Above And Beyond - Sun In Your Eyes (William Orbit Remix) 12:57 Embrz Feat. Abroad - Rise 12:57 C H I L L T R A X - Come Along Children - Need To Chill Out 12:51 Trilucid - Cheyenne (Extended Sunset Mix) 12:48 Blonde Maze - Fade Into You 12:44 London Grammar - How Does It Feel 12:41 Dex 1200 - Ongea Nami 12:37 Camelphat X Cristoph Feat. Jem Cooke - Breathe (Camelphat Just Chill Mix) 12:37 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Bassy Dr 12:33 Everything But The Girl - Caution To The Wind 12:29 Fløa (Floa) - Pictures Of You 12:26 Ran The Man - Swimmingpool 12:21 Booka Shade & Satin Jackets - Fusion Royale 12:16 Arley & Sirolf - One Day 12:16 C H I L L T R A X - World Comes To Chilltrax.com 12:11 Alex V - Cristal Shore 12:06 Rüfüs Du Sol - See You Again 12:03 Xixi & Hildur Ottilia - Don't Worry 11:58 Ghenwa Nemnom - Story Of A Battle (Chris Zippel Remix) 11:52 Attlas Feat. Mango - Over The Water 11:52 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Freesound 11:48 Circle Sky - Love Hertz 11:45 Sum Wave - It Feels Like Summer 11:41 Lp Giobbi Feat. Dj Tennis & Joseph Ashworth - All In A Dream 11:37 Lamorn - Olsen After Midnight 11:32 Deep Forest - Sing With The Birds (Onuka Remix) 11:32 C H I L L T R A X - Retsyn 11:28 Heard Right & Oracle - There For You 11:23 Ry X & Olafur Arnalds - Oceans 11:19 Rocket Empire - Astoria 11:15 Nightcap - The Two Of Us (We Only Need) 11:11 Elderbrook - The End 11:11 C H I L L T R A X - Street Life Worlds Cc 11:06 Two Lanes - Ascend 11:01 Chicane & The Mannequin - Summer In E Major 10:56 Double Touch Feat. Reigan - Greatest Day 10:52 Duckmaw - Distant Worlds 10:48 Jimpster & Oliver Night - Ascension 10:44 Evelynka - Letting Go 10:44 C H I L L T R A X - Chilltrax - Chill Out Piano 10:40 Logic1000 Feat. Big Ever - Natural 10:36 Alex Lo Faro - Move With Me 10:32 Washed Out - Time To Walk Away 10:27 Nils Hoffmann Feat. Julia Church - 9 Days 10:23 Jones Meadow - Shackles 10:17 Jody Wisternoff Feat. Sian Evans - The Bridge 10:17 C H I L L T R A X - Musique Nonstop 10:14 Reel People & Paula - Vibe (Moods Remix) 10:10 Lapsley - Levitate 10:07 Giants' Nest - Heart Void 10:03 Lane 8 Feat. Channy Leaneagh - I'll Wait 10:03 C H I L L T R A X - Scratch Toh (Freesound) Chilltrax 09:59 Sons Of Maria - Lake Tahoe 09:56 Eli & Fur - Wild Skies 09:52 Holen - Healing 09:47 Dom Dolla & Mansionair - Strangers (Flight Facilities Remix) 09:44 Vandelux - All I've Ever Known 09:43 C H I L L T R A X - Something I Should Tell You 09:39 Maxxim - Waterfalls 09:35 Jan Blomqvist & Malou - Alone 09:32 Kelela - Contact 09:27 Fakear - Crystal 09:22 Mishegas - Temporary Love (Il:lo Remix) 09:22 C H I L L T R A X - Organ The Chillout Channel 09:18 Nuage Feat. Gus - The Place We Know 09:14 Kidnap Feat. Leo Stannard - Moments (Ben Bohmer Nils Hoffmann Remix) 09:11 Flexible Fire - Marea Turquesa 09:06 Mozez & Tim Angrave - Head Full Of Dreams 09:06 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Rocket Empire 09:03 Eloi El - Stick Together (Blonde Maze Remix) 08:57 Braxe Falcon - Step By Step (Amtrac Remix) 08:54 Sum Wave - Milkyway 08:51 Chris Malinchak - Cellophane 08:51 C H I L L T R A X - Parents Magazine Seal 08:47 Satin Jackets & Panama - Alive 08:43 Sg Lewis - Lifetime 08:39 Diplo & Black Coffee Feat. Elderbrook - Never Gonna Forget 08:34 Volen Sentir & Makebo - Into The Stars 08:29 Claptone - Under The Moon (Cassius Remix) 08:29 C H I L L T R A X - Industrial 08:25 Kx5 & Sofi Tukker - Sacrifice (St Mix) 08:21 Andre Aguado - Through The Night 08:18 Jones Meadow - Powerlines 08:13 Alison Goldfrapp - The Beat Divine 08:09 Everything But The Girl - Forever 08:09 C H I L L T R A X - Escape The Noise 08:05 Dye O - Simply Be Here 08:00 Nicolas Godin Feat. Cola Boyy - The Foundation 07:57 Attlas & Jodie Knight - Used To The Silence 07:54 Tomb - Unbound 07:50 Leisure - Take You Higher (Serebii & Arjuna Oakes Remix) 07:50 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Cymbal Roll Bass 07:45 Joachim Pastor Feat. Nathan Nicholson - Saint Louis 07:42 Dreem - Miles Away 07:38 Royksopp Feat. Astrid S - Just Wanted To Know 07:33 False Intentions - Good Liar 07:28 Be Svendsen - Andromeda 07:28 C H I L L T R A X - Be Svendsen World Comes 07:24 Feiertag - Didn't Know Why (You Lost Your Soul) 07:21 Eric Hilton Feat. Elin Melgarejo - La Nuit 07:16 Blank & Jones - Floatation 07:12 Emmit Fenn - --amman 07:08 Xixi Feat. Kwesi - Close To U 07:08 C H I L L T R A X - Backward Rvb Where World Comes 07:04 Duckmaw - Nox 07:01 R Plus & Faithless Feat. Amelia Fox - Let's Just Have Some Fun 06:57 Rezident - Wellenlainge 06:54 Flexible Fire - Amatista 06:49 Two Lanes - Never Enough 06:44 Steven Weston Feat. Tae - Same Dream 06:44 C H I L L T R A X - Worldschilloutchannnel Orbit 06:41 Aether - Jupiter & Saturn 06:37 Elderbrook & Tourist - Howl (Chill Mix) 06:33 Chris Malinchak - Saving My Love 06:29 Andrew Nagy & Joel Winterflood - Little To None 06:25 Sebastian Davidson - Nomads 06:19 Zero 7 - On My Own 06:19 C H I L L T R A X - Jimpster 1 06:16 Cannons - Loving You 06:13 Forester - Saint (Shallou Remix) 06:08 Emi Ca - Just Breathe 06:03 Ross Quinn - Away With Me 06:03 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Moon Boots 05:58 Maya Jane Coles Feat .chelou - Never Asked For Much 05:53 Roisin Murphy - Assimilation 05:49 Chill Cole - Liquid Life 05:46 Tep No Feat. Starzun - Hold Me 05:43 Jones Meadow & Clara Mendes - Em Baixo 05:43 C H I L L T R A X - No Sticky Fingers 05:39 Shingo Nakamura - Focus 05:35 Jan Blomqvist - Carry On (Earthlife Remix) 05:32 Avira & Nicholas Gunn - Sensing You 05:28 Passenger 10 - Voices In Her Head 05:23 Cahelo - Bananaquit (Mass Digital Extended Remix) 05:23 C H I L L T R A X - E-chilled-music 05:19 Alampa - Seesaw Season 05:16 Satin Jackets Feat. Tailor - Spell 05:13 Sultan Shepard - Sirens 05:09 Phoenix & Dj Falcon - Winter Solstice (Braxe Falcon Remix) 05:09 C H I L L T R A X - Slurry Toh 05:05 Lipless & Blue Noir - Alone 05:02 Xixi & Hildur Ottilia - Don't Worry 04:57 Leaving Laurel - The Family We Find 04:53 Session Victim - The Pain 04:53 C H I L L T R A X - Magnifyingglasssogood4u 04:50 George Fitzgerald & Syml - Mother 04:46 Two Lanes & Panama - Rolling Back 04:41 Ry X & Olafur Arnalds - Colorblind (Whomadewho Remix) 04:36 Zaven - Voliere Amplitude 04:31 Parra For Cuva - Paspatou 04:31 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Bassy Dr 04:27 Morgin Madison & Ryan Lucian - From The Start (Mm Chill Remix) 04:23 Gold Lounge - Higher 04:19 Chris Malinchak - Control 04:16 Lp Giobbi Feat. Caroline Byrne - Another Life 04:11 Max Cooper - A Model Of Reality (Tor Remix) 04:11 C H I L L T R A X - Dionigi/the Chillout Channel 04:08 Attom - Where Are We Going 04:05 Henry Green Feat. Andreya Triana - Tide 04:00 Chicane & The Mannequin - Summer In E Major 03:57 Lapsley - 32 Floors 03:54 Holen - Breathe 03:54 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Freesound 03:49 Lamorn - Olsen After Midnight 03:46 Feiertag Feat. Tessa Rose Jackson - Ambivalence 03:41 Alex V - Cristal Shore 03:36 John Monkman Feat. Liz Cass - Open Frontier 03:36 C H I L L T R A X - Trans Europe Vocoder 03:33 Fløa (Floa) - Pictures Of You 03:27 Sumsuch Feat. Matty Eeles - Find Home (Vincenzo-chilltrax Sumdub Mix) 03:22 Il:lo - Cynnes 03:17 Satin Jackets - Don't Worry (Lost Desert Remix) 03:12 Reel People & Muhsinah - Something New (Kraak & Smaak Remix) 03:12 C H I L L T R A X - Escape 2 Music 03:07 Forty Cats & Arentis - Zen 03:03 Sons Of Maria - Lake Tahoe 03:00 Sum Wave - It Feels Like Summer 02:55 Nicholas Gunn Feat. Chris Howard - Thought Of You 02:50 Dj San & Sebastian Moore - In Your Eyes 02:45 Massane - No Return 02:44 C H I L L T R A X - Distinctively Different 02:41 Afterlife - All I Wanted 02:36 Royksopp - Beautiful Day Without You 02:33 Dex 1200 - Ongea Nami 02:28 Darius Feat. Benny Sings - Rise (Darius Remix) 02:22 Claptone Feat. Jaw - No Eyes 02:22 C H I L L T R A X - World Comes To Chilltrax.com 02:18 Jones Meadow - Fences 02:14 Nuage Feat. Gus - The Place We Know 02:10 Boerd - 2far 02:05 Two Lanes - Movement 02:05 C H I L L T R A X - Scratch Toh (Freesound) Chilltrax 02:02 Mango & Cloudcage - More Than This 01:56 Braxe Falcon - Step By Step (Amtrac Remix) 01:53 Odsen - Retrospective 01:49 Drama - Hold On (Rezident Remix) 01:49 C H I L L T R A X - No Sticky Fingers 01:44 Alex Lo Faro - Move With Me 01:40 Sound Quelle & Tailor - Where We Should Be 01:37 Feiertag Feat. Tessa Rose Jackson - Riptide 01:33 Arto - Now You're Gone 01:28 Massive Attack - Paradise Circus 01:28 C H I L L T R A X - I'd Like To Return To The Classics 01:23 Eli & Fur - Better In The Dark 01:19 Above & Beyond & Marty Longstaff - Gratitude (Aname Pm Mix) 01:14 Bonsaye - Viaje 01:10 Mozez & Tim Angrave - Head Full Of Dreams 01:06 Elderbrook - Wasted On You 01:06 C H I L L T R A X - Worlds Chillout Channel (Chillout Channel) 01:02 Holen - Healing 00:59 Pines Feat. Water Park - Tell Me 00:55 Attlas & Jodie Knight - Used To The Silence 00:50 Ghenwa Nemnom - Story Of A Battle (Chris Zippel Remix) 00:45 Northern Form - Mend 00:45 C H I L L T R A X - Industrial 00:40 Mazoulew Feat. Bonnie Wylde - Circles 00:36 Dye O - Simply Be Here 00:31 Royksopp & Susanne Sundfor - Oh, Lover (Nto Remix) 00:27 Booka Shade & Satin Jackets - Fusion Royale 00:22 Leaving Laurel - Falling Apart 00:22 C H I L L T R A X - Like Lobster Straight Out Of The Sink! 00:18 Jan Blomqvist & Malou - Alone 00:13 Sons Of Maria - Close To Me 00:09 Aftruu - Falling Asleep 00:06 Boerd Feat. Stella Explorer - Another Life 00:01 Nicholas Gunn & Alina Renae - Angel Eyes 00:00 C H I L L T R A X - Chill Out Chilltrax

[thevelvetsmokingroom]

summarizing each character in two incredibly stupid sentences or less that I think sum up how I think a fandom would see them:

(these get much funnier when you have the context of these guys essentially being high ranking government agents running a fucked up political gambit with a 1940s-1960s America vibe)

Correspondent : factory-settings tumblr sexyman. the best, tastiest, most complicated sandwich you’ve ever had served on plain white bread

Tachyon : “probably” has wet dreams about statistics. collects fucked up nutcrackers for some reason and anyone who’s ever been to his house hates it immensely

Liasa : god I love women so much i’m gonna kill you about it

Cordigole : listen here. i don’t like you. i am now going to bark at you. <- but like if that energy was a lawyer who has that one suspicious “”bromance”” with a guy look written alllll over him

Highklow : like if Alex Krychek was at least 10x more pathetic and insufferable. ‘ohhh you wanna hate me so bad I’m so cool and such a good villain. you guys hate me sooo much and you never want to see me again. hey wait why did you stop paying attention to me come back!!’ and everyone else is just tired of his schtick but they keep him around anyways and he’s over the moon about it. implied stapler kink

O’Pendet : tortured poet, hopeless romantic, and MASSIVE cunt. but officer! I’m literally just a girl! kinda guy. canonically makes terrible jokes and drinks things he absolutely shouldn’t. the kind of guy to eat candy he finds on the ground just because he’s bored or something

Tariah : has a smash or pass list of historical figures and their “hear me outs” are downright HORRENDOUS. terrible at parties, excellent in movie theaters, makes a really good panini and grows her own vegetables that will be the best thing you’ve ever eaten. the office mom who always has Advil for you but is always disappointed in you when you need it because you forgot your own

BONUS: the two actual main characters and my candidates running for this alternate-history dystopian America’s presidency Baxter Kennedy: what if you typecast Edward Norton as JFK in a Wes Anderson film but also nothing like that at all and he’s just a dude trying his best and he’s so stressed out all the time. heart on his sleeve but smart enough and juuust shitty enough to be a politician. doesn’t quite get how fucked politics are yet but trust me! he’ll get there! (babygirl but the implications and allegory of his position and internal reflections are made to be genuinely touching societal commentary. My goal is to get people to cry with some of his scenes if possible. if I can write them that well, at least. he’s also stupid sometimes and literally just does not realize it.)

Joshua Nations (name change pending): he’s like what happens when you put the mind of Nixon into the body of some little Wall Street cunt you found in a ditch behind a Dennys but waaay smarter than that to everyone’s dismay. would probably get hard at the thought of cryptocurrency, not because he actually believes in it, but because he knows he can make sooo much money scamming people with it. so slimy he comes with an oil metaphor motif scattered throughout the book. (babygirl but he fills you with such seething rage you also kind of want to kill him with a brick)

[autisticandroids]

brunch with cas

so i have been rotating this post in my mind. like wondering how one might expand it. thinking about the concept of sending cas to brunch with the girlies. and who would actually be in attendance and who would actually be team dump him. so. i am setting this brunch... let's say sometime in season twelve.

thank you to @davidfosterwallaceandgromit @spriteofmushrooms @seragamble @themauvesoul and @restlesshush for brainstorming with me.

first i'll provide a justification for who isn't here: bela talbot, ruby, billie, and linda tran are not here because they could not possibly give two shits about cas. jody mills and donna hanscum are not here because they don't know cas that well and are dean's friends first. also while donna would give funny bad advice, it would be kind of redundant. anael isn't here because i don't care about her and also she's a later season addition. claire and alex and patience are not here because they're kids. anna and balthazar are not here because while we are officially following a policy of anyone can be unkilled for this, i can't figure out how to fit them into the later seasons without massive character changes. ellen and jo are not here because meg has to be here and she murdered them so that would be awkward. eileen isn't here because i think she would just be like i've never dated anyone or had a close friend. good luck w that. which is also redundant (see charlie).

team dump him:

rowena:

rowena would absolutely be team dump him. rowena has ideas about gender which would make your hair curl and absolutely sees cas as One Of The Girls for gbf reasons. rowena's construction of gender is slightly different than dean's, but the way she approaches it, as simultaneously her highest and most sacred duty, her most obsessive neurosis, and something that she is absolutely convinced that she is not fake performing, only truly doing, is the same as dean's. so she's like darling love is weakness. you can't let a man treat you like that you have to put them in their place. to succeed in this world As A Woman you have to crush men beneath your shoe, and never show vulnerability. romantic relationships are an adversarial battle and power struggle and if you're not winning, you're losing. and the quickest way to lose is to actually "care" about your partner. i, rowena, am so normal and regular and healthy and well-adjusted, thank you very much, and also i'm not "in" "love" with sam.

(cas is like. headtilting into oblivion while she says these things because he like one does not understand that he counts as one of the girls and two simply does not understand the wonderfully baroque gender system that rowena has constructed completely in her mind and 100% buys into. and also because he's like this is not how you treat sam?)

also rowena hates dean and thinks he's a bitch but 80% of that is like. who is that dog. where did it come from. but she's also team dump him for that reason.

hannah:

so hannah like. oh btw i am going to use she/her pronouns to refer to hannah but i am also mentally picturing hannah 2.0. i think angels should get to have a fun and flirty and fascinating gender. i think hannah could pull off she/her boyfriend, as a vibe. also i'm just like un-killing hannah because that didn't have to happen. it literally didn't. and you could undo it with zero effect on the plot or change in the characters. anyway hannah truly does worry for cas' well-being and think dean is bad news. this is both for reasonable reasons of like. she's seen the negative effects dean can have on cas and she hates seeing cas messed up like that. i also think that she's just seen some of the bad things dean's done, to angels and in general, and thinks he's bad news. and she also disapproves of cas and dean's relationship for less reasonable, more heavenly puritanism-ish reasons, like, why are you still hanging around/slutting it up with humans when you are welcome back among the hosts. also why do you treat this human like your god. you're supposed to treat god like your god. your relationship with this human that you like is incomprehensible to me (because i don't find him appealing the way that you do) and i cannot empathize with it so i am going to decide that it's a dangerous outside influence and that you've been duped. bamboozled. swindled. and i need to protect you from this dangerous brainwashing.

but also hannah is like well i could fuck you SO much better than dean could. it should be Me.

team it's complicated:

meg:

first of all i want you guys to know that To Me. meg is just there. during the carver/early dabb eras. hanging around in the bunker being part of tfw. doing girlbestfriendisms with cas. not really affecting the plot at all just like, hanging out and improving the banter and making everything less depressing. like she's one of the few characters who could probably be absorbed into team free will totally seamlessly, because she's used to being in an authoritarian paramilitary cult and she doesn't mind and she'll just stick by cas no matter what, even if he's following stupid orders from dean.

anyway. yes i know. meg is a vicious rottweiller of a bestie and would definitely be team dump him. but the thing about meg is that like meg wants cas to be happy. and unfortunately due to meg's own disorders and issues that she has, her definition of making cas happy is probably. well. a little too close to cas' definition. so cas would be like "but he touched my face [pleading emoji]" and meg would just sort of be like yeah if somebody touched my face i would let him call me a baby in a trenchcoat too. keep him.

like there are times when dean will pull some shit and cas will go all apology mode and meg will be like absolutely not. dump him. Dump Him. because she doesn't really go in for the degree of dean apologism that cas does. like she thinks it's normal for someone you love to be controlling, mercurial, and withholding, because like. she's a demon. she doesn't even remember not being a demon. her entire experience of relationships is within a horrifyingly abusive and culty context. that's ordinary to her. but she personally has no love for dean. he only matters to her insofar as cas cares about him. so she doesn't buy into all the stuff about him being intrinsically good and always right. so like, she thinks it's normal that he treats cas like shit, but doesn't buy the justifications cas gives for his behavior. so as soon as the suffering dean inflicts on cas is (by her judgement, which isn't necessarily all that good) no longer worth the rewards of affection from his god cas can reap, she's like. Dump Him Now.

also meg is one of the ones cas is most likely to listen to because they spend the most time together so they're closer plus she just has a more constant influence, and also because like. she agrees with him most of the time, and so when she disagrees it carries much more weight.

mary:

i thought a long time about whether mary should be at this brunch because i think she's afraid of women and would never go to brunch. but i think she could be dragged. for cas' sake, you know?

mary cannot be team dump him, for three reasons. the first is obviously that dean is her son. the second is like. well the thing about mary is that she's not quite sure what a "wife" is (or even really what a "woman" is) but she's pretty sure that it's really really important that you be one, and do it right. and she's pretty sure that that involves sticking by your man through thick and thin. regardless of how he treats you. she's pretty sure that's part of what you have to do to get a good grade in wife (along with wearing frilly white nightgowns and producing + caring for 2.5 children). so that uh. impacts her ability to assess the health of relationships of any kind. and then the third reason is that like, she's not proud of this, but she too has also on occasion taken advantage of the fact that cas is the household emotional garbage dump (as has sam). and she's kind of aware that anything she says might make a hypocrite of her, even though if she thought about it rationally she would get that she hasn't even vaguely behaved anything like dean. like just because cas intentionally makes himself available to all the winchesters as a punching bag and family pet (because that's how he's learned dean will treat him) and she has made use of the facilities once or twice doesn't make it her fault.

but she's also going to be a lot more critical of dean because like. as much as she believes that it is one's duty to stick by a man, she's also spent time in a bad relationship and knows how much it sucks. and she also feels responsible for how cas is treated, both because she is part of the household and has to be complicit just by virtue of being present, and also because, well, dean's her son. it's her fault he's like this, even if that's only because she wasn't there to raise him. so she feels responsible. also she knows how bad things are because she is there. she is present when things happen. (this last one is also true of meg but less so because meg isn't invited to family dinners).

mary is the other one cas is most likely to listen to because she is kind of the matriarch of clan winchester. like he is sort of a member of the family that she is sort of the head of, even if that's a role she doesn't want and isn't comfortable with, and even if he's never quite sure he's welcome. also she's his mother in law.

team stand by your man:

kelly*:

the thing about kelly is that she's a republican tradwife who had to get really cool with gay people really fast once she became besties with cas. she managed it because cas is simply sooooo nonthreatening and also they can talk about boys together <3. she thinks that joyously submitting to her (very masculine) husband is the greatest honor a woman can give to god and the best way to unlock divine feminine energies. this is definitely a sublimated fetish for her. like she absolutely kinks on having a hypertraditionalist concept of gender, she is getting off on it Right Now. and cas suffers the consequences (terrible, terrible advice). her and cas like. hang out on the couch together holding hands and knitting baby blankets and talking about how good they are at accepting their (ex, in her case) boyfriends' bad behavior.

charlie:

i'm unkilling charlie because like. obviously. anyway charlie is team stand by your man for three reasons. first, obviously, the reason stated in the original post. she is simply a terrible girlfriend, and has strung along many women in ways that aren't that different from how dean behaves with cas, even if she's not controlling or closety about it. second, the Bro Code: charlie is dean's friend first, even if she likes cas, and Bros Before Hoes. @spriteofmushrooms thinks she might actually be functioning as a spy for dean at this brunch, and while i do think she's better than that, i will admit that it's not by much. the third reason is that like. well. charlie voice that doesn't sound right but i don't have enough experience with intimate relationships to dispute it. she simply doesn't really know how dating works, because she isn't really close to anyone. in fact she has almost zero close relationships of any kind. she has like. no barometer whatsoever.

*so like. @davidfosterwallaceandgromit is much funnier than me. and they argued that kelly would be team dump him. and she would like. say? that it's because dean's bad for cas, and their relationship is unhealthy, and cas deserves better, and all of that shit, all the right buzzwords and maybe even some critical thinking to back it up. but really it's just because she's uncomfortable that they're gay.

[payaquo]

huge thanks to my literature teacher for reigniting my IZ obsession from the 2nd grade. Only this time I have access to the internet.

Also mini rant: is there anyone else who gets massive secondhand embarrassment from when any of the zadr shit interacts with the voice actors? Like I said, I’m only now discovering a bunch of invader zim stuff on the internet and I saw a video where someone asks Dib’s VA to say “I love you Zim” with a bunch of fangirls squealing in the background. Idk man, I don’t wanna hate ZADR bc I have to admit some of the fan content for it is cute, but I’ve also never gotten that vibe of shipping those two from the show, since the show itself is very “anti fandom” to me yk? It doesn’t really promote a bunch of shipping fuel and wholesome moments that’s why.

One instance that made me wanna bash my head against the wall was where the VA’s were reading the scripts for unfinished episodes in a panel, and all you could hear was “awwwww” in the crowd and YOU COULD SEE THE VOICE ACTORS KINDA CONFUSED BY IT but not really? It was just incessant squealing and awwing all the time I was lowkey weirded out. I don’t wanna judge but jesus christ. And apparently jhonen was disappointed by it too, but although it’s sad seeing jhonen what fandom and fame does to how a show’s perceived, its also kinda funny.

I think what makes me so uncomfortable and kinda embarrassed is how visibly disconnected and confused the creator and voice actors are. Other creators, like Rebecca sugar or Dana Terrace or Alex Hirsch, all are knowledgeable with fandom shenanigans and atrocities. The capability of fans and how fucked up some people are. So they seem at ease and fine. Meanwhile these much older (let’s admit) people who helped create this very unique show that should be received and appreciated for its art and gross sarcastic humor, is getting the same treatment as other more modern and similar in tone shows.

No hate to anybody, it’s just interesting. I would reallly like to hear what somebody like andy berman thinks of this. Is this weird or embarrassing? Do you understand what’s going on through these fangirls’ minds? Or do you think you’re involved in something so bizarre, you’ll never get the hype?

[prettytoxicrevolver]

Valentine’s Day | Quackity

Requested? Nope 

Warnings? None? 

Summary: You and Alex spend your first Valentines Day together

Word Count: 1,542

Valentine’s Day. 

You had spent every Valentine’s Day up until this year doing one of two things. Eating massive amounts of discount chocolate, watching movies, and rolling your eyes at cute couples when you left your house. Or, doing basically the same thing with your best friend right next to you. Yes, you knew it was the most cliche of all cliches but you had never really found love in this life yet. 

Every person you had dated was a fling and didn’t amount to much. It didn’t bother you, you were fine with the fact that not everything led to true love. You were okay waiting for the right guy to walk into your life. 

Well, that was until you started dating Alex about six months ago. 

Alex had stolen your heart in the most cliche of romantic comedy movie ways possible. The John Green falling slowly and all at once, the slow burn type love, the first love where everything was floating on air. 

For a while, you had never thought you would get here but the vibe between you and Alex was unmatchable. You carried the same energy through and through and were so grateful to have met him. 

So, for the first Valentine’s Day ever, you had someone to spend it with. You didn’t expect much, you and Alex were never much for grand gestures surprisingly.

The two of you favored quiet gestures, little things that certainly didn’t go unnoticed between the two of you. It was helping each other with chores, it was soft words of encouragement, it was random hugs and touches, every little thing that amounted to so much. 

The most you expected from your love was dinner and a movie, quality time with Alex that was all you wanted. It was perfect for you. 

However, what you didn’t expect was your job to schedule you on Valentine’s Day. 

You originally planned to sleep in, laying in bed with Alex until one of you was forced to get up. You would patter around the house, most likely ordering food and watching a tv show until your dinner reservation that night. You’d come home, curl up together and watch a movie until you pass out. A perfect day. 

However, you now had to go to work. 

You promised Alex the minute you got home, you wouldn’t leave his side for the rest of the night. Alex had giggled lightly at your exaggeration, telling you that it’s okay if you missed valentine’s day. 

“Oh look, someone else without valentine’s day plans,” your coworker greets when you walk in. 

“Fuck off,” you respond and they giggle. 

“Aww is someone missing Alex?” 

“I’m gonna kill Brittany for scheduling me today,” you tell your coworker as you fix your shirt and pull at the ponytail plopped on top of your head. 

You slide across the register to look at your coworker and she offers you a knowing smirk. Your manager was ruthless, scheduling you guys when she knew you hated that shift time or on holidays you wanted off desperately. It sucked. 

You were hoping against hope the shift would go by fast and by 7 o’clock you could be home, wrapped up in Alex’s arms but you swore every minute was dragging like it was an hour. You couldn’t stand how slowly time was moving. 

“What time is it?”

“Same time you asked me 5 seconds ago,” your coworker sarcastically offers and you return with an annoyed smile. 

“Sorry,” you apologize and she shrugs her shoulders. 

Just as you start to walk away from her, hoping to get some things done and take your mind off the time, your coworker calls your name again. You turn to face her, half a question out of your mouth as you do so, when you’re stopped dead in your tracks. 

Alex stands in front of you, a dozen of your favorite flowers in one hand and chocolate in the other. He wears that same shy grin, the one that made your heart stop when you first saw it. The one that makes you smile instantly when you see it. 

“What are you doing here?” you ask giggling as you walk over to him. 

“Surprise,” he responds now grinning widely at you. 

“Baby, you didn’t have to.” 

“I know but I also know you were excited for today and I wanted to give you some extra love while you’re at work.” 

You can’t help the pout that turns into a wide smile spreading across your lips. You head straight for your boyfriend, tackling him in a tight hug which Alex happily receives. When you pull away just barely, your lips attach to his and he kisses you back, sliding an arm around your waist. 

“I don’t deserve you,” you say when you pull apart.

“I know,” Alex jokes. 

“I’ll see you in an hour?” he asks and you nod and smile. 

After Alex leaves, work thankfully flies by, with the help of your coworker never shutting up about how sweet your boyfriend was. And she was right, you had gotten extremely lucky. 

You drove home, excited to finally be done with work, and headed to spend some time with Alex. You’re practically running up the stairs to your apartment and as soon as you pull open the door, you gasp loudly. 

God, it was cliche. Rose petals lined the edges of the hallway, candles lit around the room offering dim light to the tiny apartment. As you step in, your eyes wander to the living room, where the couches are pushed together to make a makeshift bed. Alex draped a bedsheet over the couches and plopped a million pillows making it look comfy. 

He placed chairs behind the couch, stacked up, and draped another bedsheet over them with fairy lights no doubt from our room lazily placed around the fort. Your hand comes up to your mouth, a giggle escaping your lips as you do so. There was no way this was real. 

You finally start to make your way into the apartment, throwing down your keys and jacket. Your water bottle falls down on the table by the entryway and you’re bursting as you walk into the kitchen. 

The kitchen was just as much a dream as the rest of the apartment. Alex stands at the stove, cooking something that smelled heavenly. You now notice the soft music wafting through the apartment, a playlist Alex had put together for the two of you. On the kitchen table, the flowers Alex brought you at work sit in a beautiful vase. 

When Alex turns to look at you, hearing you come into the room he halts his movements. His eyes light up at the sight of you, a rare but heart-stopping smile reserved for you placed on his lips. 

“Hi baby,” he greets crossing the room to meet you. 

His hands meet your shoulders, trailing down to your hands before lifting them up again to wrap them around his neck. His hands slide around your waist, pulling you into him and you twist your fingers together behind his head as his hands bunch into your shirt. 

“You did all this?” 

“Well, it is our first valentine’s day,” he says and you giggle happily. 

You lean forward, pressing your lips to Alex’s and you can feel his smile against your lips. He dips you backward as the kiss deepens and you wrap your arms around his shoulders. He pulls you up as you break apart and reluctantly he pulls away to walk back over to the food. 

“Wanna change and we can eat and you can pick the movie after?” he suggests from the stove. 

“Ugh you are truly the love of my life,” you half-joke and Alex laughs. 

“Go dumbass,” he tells you endearingly. 

You head to your shared room and immediately grab something to change into. You slip into one of Alex’s shirts, and a pair of shorts before heading back out into the kitchen. 

Alex greets you at the small dining table, food dished out and he looks up at you. 

“There’s my girl,” he greets. 

You sit down and together you eat dinner. You talk about your day, how was work and the customers, and what Alex did all day as you were gone. After dinner, you offer to clean up while Alex sets up the movie. 

Once everything is clean and put away, you join Alex in the makeshift fort. He instantly wraps an arm around your waist, turning his body towards yours. 

“Disney movie?” Alex asks pushing his face into your neck. 

“Please.” 

You grab the remote from Alex, flipping through Disney plus until you end up at your favorite Disney princess movie. You press play before tossing the remote into the abyss. 

You turn towards Alex, slipping your arms around his waist and shoving your face into his chest practically ready to pass out. It didn’t matter what you and Alex did together, as long as you were together that’s all that mattered. 

Be it running errands, cooking dinner, watching a movie, or just sitting together, you loved every minute. Because Alex was the love of your life and no one had ever made you feel this special.

[ofgentleresolve-a]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (these are dedicated to Professor Patrick Myungdae Grace, from a certain sourfaced detective who's been behaving like a MESS lately when he's around him, who gets massive dokis as soon as he sees him, who gets lowkey giddy when remembering their latest moments of affection, who's been also (quietly) pining for the past years IHWEUHWEDHUEDH, I know you'll be answering these privately but I still wanted to send 'em in EVEN IF?? I MEAN WE...WE KIND OF KNOW THIS ONE lmao, BUT HELLO LOVELY FERRE, HOPE YOU'VE BEEN DOING WELL AND THAT YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A FANTASTIC WEEKEND ;W; )

@jeoseungsaja hyurick can take my money...and my heart too 🥰🥰🥰

send 🔥 if your muse has a crush on mine

listen i know i said i’d be answering these in private BUT I CAN’T HIDE THIS ONE....BC LOOK AT THEM...THE PINING!! THE LONGING!! THE SLOWBURN!! THE LINGERING TOUCHES HOW THEY CAN’T KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF OF EACH OTHER AND REALLY KEEP ON THINKING ABOUT WANTING TO KISS EACH OTHER!! THE FACT THAT THEY LITERALLY HAVE BEEN PINING FOR EACH OTHER!! FOR YEARS!! and think that they can’t have this bc there’s no way the other could return those feelings BUT THEY TOTALLY CAN 🥲

but like also?? i absolutely adore their friendship even without the romance bc they literally always have each other’s best interest in mind, they’re completely selfless when it comes to the other person even if it means they themselves might not benefit but it’s okay ‘as long as he’s happy, he’s okay, i’ll be too’ 🥺🥺🥺 they really are best friends ( with a little something extra this lifetime ), ride-or-dies, and PLATONIC SOULMATES....i never expected patrick to meet someone who would vibe SO WELL with him....but also not them MIRRORING EACH OTHER IN ALMOST EVERY SITUATION TOGETHER and just being so perceptive of what the other person is thinking and doing...they really are the definition of life-long friends-turned-lovers and help someone take the mic away from me before i go into a whole monologue about why i will go down with this ship and why hyurick absolutely lives rent-free in my head JFKLSDJFLSDJF

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HYURICK ALEX!! it’s been an absolute JOY writing them out with you and plotting for them BUT ALSO THAT CAN BE SAID ABOUT ALL OF OUR DYNAMICS AND JUST!! INTERACTING WITH YOU IS JUST A WONDERFUL TIME FOR ME THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FRIENDO pls have a wonderful day and care you lots  🥰🥰🥰

[facelessfrey]

Roswell New Mexico - Season 3, Episode 5

This season continues to be significantly better than last season in many ways and I still find myself surprised by that every episode.

Most of the storylines feel very interconnected and that’s great. Characters are actually interacting this season in a way they rarely have before and that cannot be overstated. I actually believe these people are a friend group this season and that’s a massive improvement.

Maria is the best she’s ever been this season. They have finally made me like her as a character rather than just me wanting to like her. She feels integrated into the group. She’s at the center of the story, at the center of the character group. She’s not only relevant for dating Michael. It’s so nice.

I think the highlight of this episode for me was the Michael and Rosa scene at the end. It was a long overdue apology and it felt like real character growth for Michael. I also felt like it embodied a lot of the themes of this season and the show overall in terms of the more social/political side of things in a way that felt natural and meaningful because it was very much woven into the fabric of the overall story.

Because as much as I understand the desire to do this whole militia/acab/racism story that yes, does have its foundations in the overall fabric of the show, it does sometimes feel very heavy handed. Maybe it’s because it’s been such a prevalent subject during covid times and it’s too real or because I feel like every other show I’ve watched has also done this story, but I find myself kind of longing for the trashy alien side of things more because I sometimes feel like that side of the show gets lost under the want to be so socially minded. Don’t get me wrong, they are important subjects and I definitely enjoyed Maria and Rosa and reporter chick taking down Jordan and I thoroughly support Jones in his choice of victim but sometimes it’s a lot. I will say though that making it an overall story this season is better than some of the other times they’ve done little bits here and there that very much feel like box ticking on a checklist. So I will give them that. I just want the alien stuff too.

Which I suppose is what Deep Sky might get us if we ever see them again. I miss Alex and I really hope the episodes he does get to be in, he features heavily because this Deep Sky stuff seems to be isolating him a lot and I’m not a huge fan of that. Especially because if there is going to be a Malex reunion, I want it to feel earned and for that, I need them to interact or talk about the relationship with other people. I need to see the growth from Alex and the pining from both. And that can’t happen if Alex is never on screen. Also, I want to see them be actual friends too.

But anyway, yay Kyle’s alive…for now. I did enjoy everyone mansitting him and trying to keep him out of trouble. Also I would like for him to stay alive please and not keep putting his life in danger at the end of every episode.

Eek about Maria at the end. Yet another reason I hate that we’re not getting previews.

Glad Liz is back in Roswell and that she seems to have learned from her time away. Poor Heath though.

I’m super suspicious of Jones healing Max and I sort of feel like they body swapped or something because there were some looks and moves that felt more like Jones after he was healed.

I’m glad the reporter/singer was back. One day I will learn her name. I was glad she got to help with the takedown and I liked her and Isobel getting to share that scene in the end. I still need Isobel to date and on screen woman and they had a vibe, you know if she wants to go from Max to his sister. Just saying. I’d be here for it.

It might be Jones, but I did like that Liz and Max didn’t just magically get back together, that they know that there’s a lot more they have to work on/work through.

I was excited to see Arturo back. But can we stop hurting him?

Also happy to see Rosa interacting with the group a little more. But every time she says “Rosalinda” like that is at all an adequate cover I kind of facepalm.

Not that I want Wyatt to get screen time, but I did think it was a little odd that he wasn’t present for all of this Roswell regiment stuff.

Nice that Bert continues to appear though. He’s becoming a fun regular side character.

But can we get Kyle’s mother back to be the Sheriff or the mayor again because all of these people suck.

I wonder how long Michael’s “less tequila” promise will last.

Maria and Greg continue to be cute.

So yeah…overall, I think this season is going pretty well. I’m a whole lot less frustrated. I just need more Alex and more alien stuff.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 18: A Series of Ecological Disasters

Booting up ye old Yugioh, booting up a new aesthetic playlist to type to. (today’s playlist is webcore, which would feel like such a damn fake aesthetic, if it weren’t that every single one of these -core aesthetics are pretty damn fake and everyone knows it.)

Anyway, it’s been so long that, I’ll be honest, I thought I booted up the wrong episode:

I usually skip the anime intro, but I try to watch it once each arc, cuz the intros change, and this arc was like “screw it, here’s all the other villains, just pretend this arc isn’t happening.” They had Pegasus, they had Marik, they have Bakura (who is kind of in this shot as well, you can see him phasing in there.) And like...I guess they’re hiding the villain of this arc or something because that was it. Alexander the Great got just nixed from this villain list and that’s a shame.

Just a real weird choice, but since apparently this arc didn’t air in Japan they probably had to outsource this anime intro and whatever studio in charge of it just cobbled together stuff from every other season and then a couple of shots of capsule stuff.

Speaking of capsule stuff: get a load of how many freakin lines the animators have to deal with every time they draw Grandpa.

Bro saw this and was like “oh yeah, this is a Shonen Jump” and yeah. The hair does give those vibes. We got a good look at what Vegeta would look like if he really let himself go.

(read more under the cut)

Sorry, my playlist started playing a song where every single line of the song is “Adrien Brody” and it took me like a few minutes to realize I was listening to “Brodyquest” completely seriously.

Damn it, webcore, don’t betray me like this.

Anyway, this arc does something super surprising: Yugi actually hugs somebody and doesn’t look like he’s going to pass out standing up.

It is pretty fitting that the good Yugi hug would go to Grandpa.

And, as night falls, Joey Wheeler has gotten hungry, and there is nothing to eat but his new best friend and spirit animal, baby dragon. Unfortunately he shares life points with the dragon, and I think if you eat it that just instakills you.

And directly underneath him--since this world is like 100 feet wide and things just conveniently happen--Tea has told everyone that they needed to stop worrying about Joey. Which is a lot coming from Tea, because her worrying about Yugi/Yami getting hurt is most of what occupies her headspace in this series.

But even Tea was like, screw Joey, I guess.

Who kinda just falls directly into them upside down, and shows us what Joey’s hair looks like when it’s sticking straight up.

For reals, admire how long Joey Wheeler’s hair is. If Tea were upside down, she would have the same length of hair.

Also speaking of Vegeta, I am low key concerned that Joey has what appears to be a significant amount of male pattern balding going on for a teenager.

Apparently getting set on fire many, many times did have an effect on Joey, and this massive pompadour he wears is a combover. Poor baby.

Holy crap, if this is what card stress and getting killed multiple times did to Joey Wheeler, can you imagine what’s going on under Seto’s bangs? That’s probably why his bangs ride so low, Seto likely wears a freakin toupee.

Guys, Joey’s gonna lose his hair at 25 at this rate. Those locks just aren’t long for this world. Poor baby.

After Joey rejoins the party, he immediately eats all of their food. Not sure why they can’t just have Baby Dragon eat like...whatever Baby Dragon naturally eats...and then transform that into shared Joey Wheeler life points, but it’s not clear exactly how much of a life-connection they have with their Yugioh monsters. Not like it matters because Joey Wheeler is default starving all the time anyway.

Tristan has decided we should start laying blame, I guess because Duke Devlin isn’t here anymore to be the local kill joy. This doesn’t seem to be important at any point, and most of the characters are just ignoring Tristan because like...once you’re in the haunted game in a haunted tomb in a random part of India--it’s kind of moot to argue about who’s fault that is, youknow?

Joey reminds us that he found this quest item in a treasure chest under a secret waterfall. No one says “that was convenient that you landed there after getting chased through a ravine by man-eating birds after you got your dragon from when you got your crotch injury from getting spliced by that tree.”

Which is when Tea says “Wait! We haven’t had a plot thing happen in like 4 seconds! Wait!”

Hey what degree of “I don’t trust nature” do you have to be to assume that all the flowers are trying to eat you?

Like what level of anxiety is Tea where she not only is like “pretty sure the flowers are going to destroy us?” but also...she’s correct? Like she’s not wrong.

They set the dog flowers on fire, but unlike the Jungle Book this doesn’t solve any problems (which apparently got taken off the Disney+ kid’s menu so...yet again, I make a Disney reference in these recaps that future generations will not understand because so much of the Disney library has been banned from the vault. It’s almost like Disney should let go of that copyright they held on for like a hundred years, because what they’re holding on to is only going to get more racist with time. But nah. Gotta hold on with their greedy mickey mouse gloves.)

So instead of using fire, Tristan used his monster to electrocute the air (?) and blind the dogs. Wisely, the animators quickly jumped to this other scene so we wouldn’t have to analyze why it’s suddenly daytime or why that plan would even work.

Joey and Tristan do a lot of buddy buddy stuff this arc. Usually we see a lot of Joey and Yugi’s bottomless friendship, but we don’t get this much Tristan/Joey love. So shippers rejoice, these two seem to have several coordinated dances and songs...and I’d say that teens don’t typically do that, but I went to summer camp, there are situational places where teens will sing the entire vacation and make coordinated dances.

Weirdly, since Joey and Tristan share so much time together, this also means Tea and Yugi actually sit next to eachother for a lot of this arc, almost as if they were a couple. Mind you, they’re chaperoned closely by Grandpa, but youknow...that’s a different energy than I’m used to seeing.

That and like, they can’t have Tea dance with them because last time she did a dance, it was like a DDR fight and she elbowed some guy like it was a fisticuffs situation. Like there was some sort of dance war going on behind the scenes of Yugioh’s card war, and it came up once and I guess Tea resolved it and the dance fights haven’t come back since.

Overall, if they did a dance with Tea, they would get kneed in the face, so that’s probably why they insist on doing cancans as a duet and not a trio.

After Joey and Tristan freak out over having no food, Tea decides to just start eating in front of them.

and like...didn’t Joey eat that food yesterday? Like last night? The short term memory loss on all these fools.

Immediately after this we realize something weird in the water. That’s right, it’s a massive head.

Yugi seems to have forgotten they lit this turtle on fire and electrocuted the entire sky the night before. Not that it mattered.

There were like...nesting birds on those trees on that island. What the hell? They just killed so MANY of those man-eating dogs that are flowers.

Seriously are land turtles allowed to just...dive underwater for long periods of time? How does that ecosystem even work? It’s like...That’s wild to think about.

Inside the temple, they have to fight a genie or something.

In case you were wondering, the only reason Tea and Grandpa got iced is because they were the closest to the door. The two who were actually standing out of harms way were the closest to harm the whole time.

Bro tells me this is also what will happen to you if you are in the front or the back of the party while playing Cthulu D&D

Anyway, Pharaoh decides to disclose that his big problem of feeling guilty all the time and taking all the blame, which he did all of last season...is still a huge problem he will probably never tackle.

Straight up, don’t be fooled by my caps, everyone else has completely forgotten about Alex, who is still running around that temple up there. They haven’t even asked Grandpa “hey is this your protege? Is this your mentee you never told us about?” Nah. They already forgot. 

How wild is it that Pharaoh thinks this is all his fault when he was the only one who was like “YUGI IT’S A TRAP DON’T GO IN THE- well...OK I guess we’re doing this, fine.” Is he upset he didn’t take control from Yugi and walk back to the plane? Because that’s the only way he could even be partially responsible, He was the only guy who was like “I see the end from the beginning on this y’all, and it’s the massive pyramid in India.”

Speaking of forgetting, they came across this language Pharaoh has decided to have nothing to do with.

This was actually a riddle and it was like...it was a riddle, sure, I guess.

And so Joey Wheeler does not hallucinate his dead wife from a previous incarnation and get on the back of his Baby Dragon to sail away into the sunset. Instead they’re just gonna walk.

Too bad Tea’s orb covered in wings only seems to hover a bit. Every single wing on that weird orb is absolutely useless.

And then Pharaoh’s pokemon is just a fire--which is hard to sit on--and Celtic Guardian...who would allow it, sure, but probably doesn’t fly (I think. He might fly)

And then Tristan’s Pokemon kinda seems like if you sit on it, you will get electrocuted. It can probably fly though. It’s very round. Seems like an anime thing that the more round your mascot character is, the more likely it can at least bounce a good distance.

So, next time, I’m just going to assume that we are going to do even more camping. And youknow, if you told me exactly HOW MUCH CAMPING was in this card game show with super future tech, I would not have believed you. But like...a lot of this series is set in the woods right? Like a lot a lot? I have grown to appreciate the woods.

Anyway, as always, if you just got here, this is a link to read these in chrono order:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

See you next time!

[alloftheimaginess]

AD INTERVIEW

Other parts

Jared Padalecki

Misha Collins

Jensen Ackles

This part sucks ass but I low key like it. I’ll probably end up redoing it soon

"Hello welcome Ad" I say opening the front door for the camera crew and Alex comes up behind me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"I'm Yn Calvert" I say.

"And I'm Alexander Calvert, come right in" he says and I smile up at him.

"This house was built by my great great grandmother when she was in her 20's and then it was a gift to my great grandparents on their wedding night and then it was given to my grandparents and then my parents and then when Alex and I got married my mom handed us the keys" I say.

"We're currently in the middle of upgrading and rebuilding everything and we've been working on it for three years now" Alex says.

"This is our living room" I say as we walk in to it.

"This is honestly my favorite room in the house, when we're actually staying here the boys and I spend a lot of time in here, playing games, playing the piano and having quiet reading time" I say.

"I learned with kids a while ago that we can't have all the fancy things and I'm cool with with that because I enjoy the family vibes we created" I say going to the wall that holds all the photos.

"This is Misha on his first day of kindergarten" I say pointing to the photo.

"I cried harder than he did" I say laughing.

"This is a picture from our wedding night, I adore this picture so much because all of the couples can be seen dancing around us, I remember this moment because Flicker by Niall Horan was playing and at that point it was one of my favorite songs and right there you can see Jared and his wife being all cute" I say pointing it out.

"All the art you see in here is made by two of Yn's sisters who run an art shop" Alex says.

"They've been painting ever since we were young and the work they put out is amazing and every time we get a visitor they always ask where I got it from and I can easily promote my siblings" I say laughing.

"Over here is our kitchen" Alex says walking up the two step departing our kitchen from our living room.

"We tore down the wall because we wanted the open space, all the natural light and when I'm making dinner I can keep an eye out on the kids and they can eat their snacks at the table and watch tv or play the game while I'm doing whatever I need to do" I say.

"Let me show you my favorite part about the kitchen" Alex says leading them over to the sink.

"Yn cooks dinner pretty much every night which leaves me and the boys with the clean up and they like how big the sink is" he says showing off our farmhouse sink.

"Makes washing dishes so much easier and Aj use to take a lot of baths in here" he says patting the sink and I laugh.

"You sound like you're trying to convince everyone to get one" I say and he laughs with me.

"Maybe I am" he says taking them to the other room.

"Over here is where our dining room was but we don't use it so we made it into a branch off living room" Alex says.

"We celebrate the holidays here and it's perfect for Christmas when we have our families and friends here and the living room is taken, we have these two ceiling chairs and then some cushions and bean bags I like to think of it as a sort of cozy corner, this usually turns into the kids hang out spot when there's a group of them because we have the gaming tv here and they can just lounge and enjoy whatever game they are playing" I say.

"The backyard is what I'm probably proudest of" I say opening the folding sliding glass doors and we step outside.

"We have the pool over there completely gated off because Aj can't fully swim yet and he likes to play outside when I'm on the patio writing" I say.

"And on that side we have the boys playhouse from Charmed Playhouses, Yn seen a picture of one and she fell in love with them and decided that the boys needed to have a Harry Potter themed playhouse" he says.

"It's literally so cool in there, I should have just walked you to the playhouse and did a tour of that" I say laughing.

"We got Harry Potter because I've always been a massive fan and Misha when he was around three he fell in love with it and I knew I had to do it plus it's perfect for both boys and girls" I say.

"Now up the stairs on the right we have the office" I say sliding the glass sliding door open and stepping inside and Alex follows me in.

"There's not a lot here" I say.

"We're currently working on expanding this room because Alex has his desk and I want a space where I can put all of my art stuff so we're in the middle of that" I say.

"This is also where Yn keeps her awards because she's too embarrassed to show them off so she keeps them tucked away up here where she can glance at them to remind her that she can always be better" he says moving the picture frames they are behind.

"This is the hallway" I say and Alex laughs.

"Yn loves this hallway" he says.

"I do, I love it so much" I say giggling and I stop walking.

"This is why I love this hallway so much" I say pointing at the pictures.

"My family is very big and very all over the place. From my birth dad I have six siblings and on my moms side I have five and it's like crazy trying to get everyone together and when I found out I was pregnant with Mish everyone came and they showed up and I managed to get a few decent shots out of it" I say laughing.

"And next to that I have my all time favorite picture of me and my baby sister Zendaya at the oscars in 2015. It's a photo from the red carpet and I was telling her I was pregnant and this was her reaction" I say laughing.

"Moving on, the first room we have belongs to Misha, they are both down for a nap right now in Aj's room so I can show off Misha's room" I say opening the door and stepping inside.

"My mom actually designed this room for him and she put it together while we were in Canada while Alex was filming so we came back to it and it was a nice surprise, Misha loved it more than anything" I say laughing.

"She got him a moving bookshelf and every time we go to the store he asks for a book so he can add them to the book shelf so that way no one will know which books opens the bookshelf" he says tipping the book back and it slides open.

"This is his 'hey Misha clean your room bub guests are coming' hiding spot" I say.

"Gets the job done" Alex says and I laugh rolling my eyes.

"Until I have to come in behind him and clean it" I say.

"This is the game room" I say.

"It has all of the games your mind could ever imagine" Alex says opening the doors under where the tv sits and it is stuffed with games.

"Texas thunderstorms have taught us that we can never have enough games or candles to entertain us when we lose power or when it storms so much the boys are up all night" I say.

"Next is our bedroom" I say stopping at the closed double doors and I push them open.

"This is where the magic happens" he says and I laugh rolling my eyes and I step in.

"Our bedroom was one of the first things we did when we moved in, we tore it apart and with the help of my best friend slash Alex's fake father and his wife and we rebuilt this room in about two to three weeks and it was like the best time of my life" I say.

"In this little hole is where we keep Misha when guest come so we can pretend we did all the work around here" he says and I laugh.

"You're an idiot" I say and he laughs with me.

"This is a laundry chute, there's one in the main rooms such as ours, Misha's and Aj's and they can just send the clothes right to the basket which then I can just dump into the washer" he says and I nod.

"Plus there's never any clothes lying around, everyone should have one of these" I say.

"Through here is our bathroom and closet" he says opening the door and we go inside.

"It's just a bathroom it's nothing special to me but to Yn it is everything" he says and I press the button and the shelves come out the cabinet.

"It's my vanity but when I'm done I can put it away and not worry about anything getting messed up ever and I love it because everything is unorganized but you can't see the clutter" I say getting off of the pouf and I go into the closet.

"This is probably the most extreme room we have in our house because honestly I'm addicted to shopping and I need the space. I always wanted like the closet that Hannah Montana had and I didn't get it but honestly this one has hers beat so I'm not complaining" I say and Alex laughs.

"Like I said about the bathroom I don't get it" he says and I laugh.

"And the last room" I say opening the door showing off the nursery and I step inside them following me.

"You're the first ones that aren't apart of our inner circle to find out and we want to use this video as an announcement" Alex says and I nod.

"This nursery is for our princess who we are happy to announce will be born in four months" Alex says. "January 1st" I say smiling at the camera.

[snarkwrites]

ssw | sweetpea; wondering what his kiss feels like. | fluff.

NOTES:

Okay, so.. Apparently my brain likes to torment me. Because earlier, I was going to outline the next chapter for my Sweetpea x Andrews!OFC fic Gangsta and my brain threw out a casual, “But have you considered.. Using the Lodge!OFC you were planning to use with Reggie Mantle.. With Sweetpea?” and this kind of.. came.

So.. if enough people are interested, I may be considering actually writing them a fic or doing more of these little things based around them.. and trying to delve more into possibly pairing Alyssa with Reggie? Because when I wrote their oneshot I felt like there was potential there too... Also, this one shot is a direct result of me, watching dirty dancing reenactments on tik tok and my love for the movie + the fact that Riverdale does musicals every season...

Anyway, enjoy?

PROMPTS:

taken from either [ HERE ] or [ HERE ] give or take. It could be one or the other or a mix of both at my own choosing.

the way he says your name / his fingers sliding between your own / wondering what your kiss feels like - these are the inspo prompts used for this oneshot.

FANDOM / CHARACTER

Riverdale / Sweetpea x Lodge!OFC, Marlena

OTHER WORKS SWEET PEA X MARLENA ARE USED IN

None BUT.. That could change, idk..

WARNINGS

Intense sexual tension. Arguing back and forth as a love language until someone snaps. Mutual crushes that turn into something more.. This one is absolutely safe for the kiddos aside from a few swears and the like.. Oh and one barely elaborated on incident of thigh riding / dirty dancing.

TAGGING

There’s absolutely no one on my Riverdale taglist. If you want to be on it, please let me know. Or add yourself to the link below.

OTHER STUFF

[ faq | sfw masterlist - safe for the kiddos but read with caution | tag list ] 

“I swear to God, if she doesn’t give me more, I’m going to fall asleep. Is this really all we could find to participate in the musical for you guys?” My sister's question drew me out of a silent stare war with Sweetpea across the auditorium. He rolled his eyes and I stuck out my tongue at him before turning my attention back to my older sister, sighing as I glanced in the direction of the stage up front. “ She’s not that bad.. I mean at least she had the guts to try out for a part?” I mused quietly, shaking my head. Disappointed at myself because I hadn’t signed up.

Stage fright is one hell of a deterrent. And I knew that if I had tried out, no matter how well I knew the movie we were doing our musical adaptation of this year, when opening night came and those curtains opened and I saw all those people sitting out in the seats? I was going to freeze. I’d completely ruin the show. I didn’t want that.

The best I could do was at least offer to do costumes for Kevin. I told myself that behind the scenes was still helping and being supportive but deep down, ugh.. I wanted to do so much more.

If I were half as brave as my older sister Veronica is when it comes to this kind of stuff… Everyone has their fears though. Mine just happen to be public speaking in front of large audiences. My sister tells me constantly that it doesn’t make sense because I can go all over competing in dance stuff and there’s a crowd there, but.. When I’m dancing, I’m focused on footwork. On steps and the music and the way it makes me feel. I don’t have to speak.

This is also ironic when you take into consideration I am not a shy girl by any stretch of the imagination. I’m actually quite vocal. But when it involves speaking in public?

I freeze. I shut down and in turn, I wind up looking like an idiot.

I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn’t notice that Veronica had gotten up out of her seat and walked over, taking the seat right beside Kevin. They were whispering back and forth. I laughed softly because knowing my sister, she was probably telling Kevin that Leah needed to find a better attitude or Kevin needed to find a better person to play Baby Housemann.

Oh, if only I had one tenth of a clue.

My sister came back over, sinking down into the seat next to me. “Feel better now?” I asked her, barely hiding my amusement as I said it. She giggled and nodded. “Much better. I want you to remember how much you love me…” she muttered.

I raised a brow. “What’s that even mean?”

“Just wait.”

“What the hell did you do, Ronnie?”

“You’ll find out, Marlena. Just wait.” Veronica wouldn’t give me any more of an answer than that. Grumbling to myself, I settled back in my seat and tried to focus on the ongoing argument between Leah and Kevin from the stage.

Rolling my eyes at her audacity. Literally anyone could’ve done her part better and she had the nerve to demand Kevin to change everything to fit her? Refusing to work with him on anything? Putting down the script when it was the same one they used in the movie?

Just the thought of it had me shaking my head and muttering to myself about the entitlement and audacity. Veronica gave a soft laugh and leaned in, mocking the way she’d delivered her last line and the fact that she wanted pretty much all her dialogue changed and constantly needed reasons why her character did anything they did.

“Marlena! Hey, Marlena, where are you?” Kevin was calling my name. I looked up from the whispered conversation I’d been having with my older sister Veronica and raised my hand, waiting.

“C’mon. I want to try something. Leah’s just not cutting it for me as Baby.” Kevin called out to me as he gave Leah an irritated dirty look. Leah threw down her script and walked out of the auditorium in a huff. “This is a stupid idea for a musical anyway. Nothing’s gonna top what the seniors are doing. Good luck, jackass.”

Veronica gave me a nudge and with a soft laugh, she leaned in, smiling as she whispered into my ear, “You were born for this, Marlena. Dirty Dancing is your all time favorite movie.”

“Excuse me? I thought we both established it was Crybaby. Then Grease. Then Dirty Dancing.” I teased, standing in a hurry. My sister’s rebuttal to this was to point out with a soft laugh that I definitely had my own special vibe and type of guy. I poked out my tongue at her and turned away. Making my way towards the front of the auditorium where Kevin stood.

Once I was up there, Kevin pressed a copy of our class’s script into my hands. “Congratulations, you’ve been promoted from costumes.” he smirked at me. “I have a feeling about you and this part. As a director, I’m going to go with my gut.”

“But I didn’t sign up..” I shuffled my feet. 

“ Yeah, well, the ones who did from your class obviously don’t care enough to bother showing up to practice or don’t care enough to give their best when they actually bother to come and we’re rehearsing.” Kevin shrugged. Taking his seat.

Alex, the guy who’d been cast as Johnny Castle, walked over. Wrinkling his nose at me as soon as he stood in front of me. Arms folded over his chest as he asked Kevin in a snobbish tone, “So we’re seriously just letting stage crew have parts now, Keller? Is that what this is? I thought you were going to help us make our musical better, not make it a massive failure.”

“Asshole.” I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes as I stepped up to him, jabbing a finger into his chest. Giving him a piece of my mind because holy hell did his holier than thou attitude ever irritate me, “I’ll have you know, I probably know this movie line for line. I can probably do all the dances blindfolded, in a wheelchair. Who the hell do you think you are anyway? I saw you in Romeo and Juliet. I have never fallen asleep so fast in my entire life.” I smirked as I went quiet, rolling my eyes at him.

Alex chuckled and rolled his eyes right back at me, making the dismissive remark in response, “Did I ask you to speak? Did I address you directly? No. I didn’t. I was talking to the director. Don’t you have costumes to make or something? You’re holding up rehearsals.”

Out towards the back of the auditorium, I heard my sister cheering me on. Clapping and whistling. Telling me to give him hell and telling Alex he was awfully full of himself for someone who got a thumbs down by a New York theater critic over the summer.

I took a deep breath and glanced down at the script in my hands. Starting to read over it. Ignoring the argument between Kevin and Alex for the most part. Just trying to get myself in character while I waited. 

Alex grumbled and stormed back over, standing near me. His posturing tense and a supremely annoyed look in his eyes as he gave me half a second’s glance. Kevin gave the cue to start and Alex read his line first. 

“Look, spaghetti arms. This is my dance space. This is your dance space. I don't go into yours, you don't go into mine. You gotta hold the frame.”

Before I even got a chance to read off my line, Kevin was standing up. Making his way towards us. “You two are supposed to be dancing together. Marlena, you need to stand closer. Alex, you need to deliver the line in more of a teasing tone. Like you’re trying to taunt her. Playful. Not like you’re actually being an asshole. Like you’re flirting with her.”

“She’s not my type.” Alex rolled his eyes as he glanced at me. I glared up at him, a hand on my hip. Dangerously close to exploding all over again. I kept everything I’d been about to say to myself though, and with a deep breath, I listened as Kevin gave us both advice. Smirking to myself a little when he lit into Alex for being a drama queen.

After Kevin finished telling us what to fix, we prepared to try again. I stepped closer. Found myself glancing out in the crowd. My eyes settled on Sweetpea. 

I found him watching the whole thing play out with an amused smirk. His arms folded over his chest. Holding my gaze boldly. Daring me to look away first. I refused. If  I looked away first, that gave him the upper hand. I was not about to give him that.

,, That jackass. Look at him. All smug.. Ugh, I just wanna punch his stupid sexy face.” the thought surfaced and I quickly did my best at shoving it out again. I found myself thinking about a heated argument we’d had in the hallway earlier.

I found myself kind of drawing parallels between him and the character Alex was supposed to be playing but doing a terrible job at playing. I couldn’t work with the performance Alex was giving, he wasn’t giving me anything to work with. 

Somewhere in the midst of it all, I found myself replaying my earlier argument with Sweetpea. Stepping closer to Alex. Doing my best to play at a lack of experience in dance, despite my vast experience and love for it. Getting immersed in the role. Imagining myself as the character Baby.. And not Alex but Sweetpea as Johnny Castle.

Alex delivered his line a second time. His delivery wasn’t much better. Kevin grumbled to himself and made his way over yet again. This time, Kevin’s problem with the scene had absolutely nothing to do with me.

He addressed me first. “Please, please please.. You have to play Baby. You have to.” he gave me a pleading look. “I’m prepared to beg, okay?”

I pretended to mull it over. Smiling as I nodded. “Okay, alright.. I can still do costumes though, right? Because I already have a ton of ideas drawn up..” I shuffled my feet, giving Kevin a pleading look.

“Yeah! Definitely. You’re the only one I trust to do the costumes right, Marlena.” Kevin answered quickly.

He turned his attention to Alex and they got into a heated argument. Alex blamed his performance on me and the fact that I seemed standoffish and that I wasn’t up to his level and shouldn’t even be sharing a stage with him to begin with. Insisting that Kevin should at least give Josie McCoy a chance to play Baby in our play. She already had her hands full with the senior class musical and her performance during intermission and Kevin pointed that out.

“Josie can’t do both musicals and intermission twice, Alex. That’s asking way too much. Even from her, man. Marlena is Baby. You can adapt to that or you’re welcome to leave.” Kevin stood firm in his decision.

Alex eyed me and I stood taller. Smirking up at him. More than a little amused by the entire thing. He chuckled. Shrugging as he tossed down the script he’d been holding in his hands. “Fine. Try to find somebody else to do a better job at playing Johnny. See how that works out. I’m done. I refuse to participate in this mockery.”

He stormed out of the auditorium.

My sister Veronica and Josie McCoy shared a look and a nod. Veronica stood. Josie shot up out of her seat also and the two jogged over to Kevin. Getting him off to the corner of the auditorium. As the three of them whispered back and forth, I stood there, shuffling my feet. Reading ahead in the script.

Taking it all in.

Honestly enjoying the fact that I was going to be playing Baby Housemann in the junior class musical immensely more than I thought I would. ,, until opening night when you’re on stage in front of everyone and you either freeze, bolt out of the room or throw up everywhere.” my mind taunted.

I shoved out the intrusive thought.

Kevin chuckled out loud. Getting so excited that he didn’t keep his voice down when he spoke up. “Your minds, I swear. Yeah, we’re gonna try that. Right now, actually.” Kevin told my sister and Josie. They smirked at each other and as they walked past me, Veronica gave me a wink.

And almost as soon as she did, I braced myself. Because I have the sneaking suspicion that my sister was up to something. And if that something had to do with a certain Serpent reading against me as Johnny Castle?

I was literally going to die. I’d be totally doomed.

,, maybe not.” and even the surprise optimism had me laughing at myself because I knew better.

“Sweetpea, can you come up here, man?” Kevin called out.

I tensed just a little. Took a deep breath. Suddenly I knew exactly what my sister had been up to but my question now was why had Josie taken part in the whole idea? I thought she was dating him? They were hot and heavy at Cheryl’s party a few weeks ago and they went places together a lot …

I prayed for a portal to another dimension to open in the stage and take me out. If my sister has even slightly hinted that I may or may not have feelings for the giant jerk to anyone I swear to God.. I’ll die.

Sweetpea hopped over the chair in front of him and walked down the long aisle, stopping where Kevin sat in the front row. The two were whispering back and forth and more than one time, Sweetpea glanced back at me. Smirking. Chuckling as he listened to what Kevin was telling him and rubbing his chin as he pretended to think something over.

Sweetpea looked over at me and shrugged as he answered Kevin. “I can try. I’m not makin any promises though because I don’t dance and I’ve never seen this movie.”

“Just trust me. You’re as Johnny as Johnny gets, Pea.” Kevin encouraged. I wanted to kick him so badly at that moment. Did he seriously have to encourage Sweetpea? There had to be someone else… anyone else. Someone I didn’t have a massive crush on and yet also want to strangle.

I pretended to stick my finger down my throat and gag, as per usual when Sweetpea locked eyes with me again as he walked towards where I stood..

 ,, because God forbid you let him even get an ounce of suspicion that you have a crush on the guy.” my brain was at it again with the taunting. I pushed it all down deep and took a deep breath or two.

“You did this just to be an asshole.” I muttered.

“No, I did this because Kevin’s my friend. Not everything I do is about pissing you off, princess.” Sweetpea chuckled as he said it. Adding in a quieter tone, “Just because you’re Marlena Lodge… That doesn’t make everything about you.”

My jaw set and I glared up at him. Taking a deep breath or two. Reminding myself that despite Sweetpea now reading as Johnny Castle, I still loved this movie and I wanted our class’s play to be worth watching. That I couldn’t mess this up. I couldn’t let Sweetpea taunt and torment me into messing this up either.

I didn’t want to disappoint Kevin because he was one of my best friends. He was depending on me to at least try to do my best here.

Kevin gave the signal for us to start from the top of the scene.

I stepped closer. My body brushing against Sweetpea’s. Sweetpea mirrored this and grabbed hold of my arms, pulling them out in front of me just like Patrick Swayze did in the actual movie as he recited the line.

And the tone in his voice, oh my god.

“Look, spaghetti arms. This is my dance space. This is your dance space. I don't go into yours, you don't go into mine. You gotta hold the frame.”

I responded with my line. Stepping closer, even throwing in an accidental mis-step on the top of his foot on my own. 

Kevin continued to sit, watching us rehearse. By the time we got to the scene where Johnny is telling Baby that he got fired, I could feel more people’s eyes on us. And I swallowed hard, trying not to focus on being watched and how that felt, but instead, on the script. On what I had to say and how I felt like it needed to come across.

And maybe, in my own mind, I was imagining how I’d act if I were in Baby’s shoes. Having just argued with my father about the guy I was in love with only to turn and find out that despite my own optimism at convincing the guy to do the right thing, nothing worked out the way I wanted at all.

Sweetpea must have caught on to my anxiety because he muttered quietly, “You good, princess?” as he covertly brushed his hand against mine. Clearing his throat to get my attention and keep me from getting nervous and blanking out or bolting off the stage.

I gazed up at him a second or two, finally nodding. Managing to ground myself somehow and I tried my best to convince myself it was not because Sweetpea’s fingers laced through mine. Almost as if he’d caught hold of my hand to keep me from leaving.

,, He’s just doing that because it’s in the script. You’re supposed to be having a heated discussion and you’re about to walk away upset. That’s the only reason he grabbed your hand. It has nothing to do with the fact that you kind of freaked out a little and lost your focus.” I reminded myself grimly as I caught up to where we were on the page and took a deep breath, preparing for my turn to speak.

As I delivered my next line, “So I did it for nothing.I hurt my family, you lost your job anyway-- I did it for nothing!” I wanted to disappear into the stage floor when my sister stood up in her chair, clapping and whistling. But the way I said it sounded so wistful. Disappointed and bitter. Like I was truly hurting.

Sweet Pea said his line. “No, no, not for nothin', Baby! Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before.” and I paused. Staring up at him. Blown away because he sounded so sincere too. Like for a second or two, this was really taking place and it wasn’t just some silly rehearsal. Like he meant what he was saying.

But I knew he didn’t. We tolerate each other at best. At our worst, we’re at each other’s throats constantly. Finding any and all excuses to rip into each other or push the other’s buttons. Because it’s just what we do.

But his tone. The look in his eyes when he delivered the line. The way his eyes fixed on me, searching. Waiting.

“It’s your turn, princess.. Cat got your tongue?” he muttered under his breath to draw me out of my own inner turmoil.

I took a deep breath and scanned the page. Finding my next line. “You were right, Johnny. You can't win no matter what you do!” and I could feel him staring as I said it. Biting his lip when I lazily punched at his chest because it felt like the right thing to do in the heat of the moment to show how upset the character was. I shook my head and dropped my eyes. “You were right.” I muttered in a quieter tone.

Sweetpea reached out, rough fingertips gripping my jawline. Guiding my eyes back up to meet his as he replied with the next line, “You listen to me. I don't wanna hear that from you. You can!”

And again, it sounded so real. Emotional. Like we were really having this argument. I was really getting into this. Probably a little too much for my own good. I sighed and shook my head sadly. Biting my lip as I stepped away a little and continued to shake my head, arguing back, “I used to think so.” and after a second or two, adding in a quieter tone, “Now I don’t know anymore.” even though it wasn’t in the script.

Sweetpea was staring at me. Thoughtful. Intent. Almost as if he were actually seeing me and not all the stupid things he’d written me off as from the word go on the first time we met. He cleared his throat and that shit-eating smirk was back again. “Not too bad, huh?”

“Jackass.” I muttered, mostly to myself. Still a little dazed.

Kevin called for a break and made his way over.

“Okay, we’re going to take this all the way from the beginning tomorrow. I wish I’d done this sooner. We’re going to have to practice the lift next. Because the lift is iconic. We have to pull that off or I’m gonna want to punch myself in the throat.” Kevin was excited, rambling away a mile a minute.

Sweetpea spoke up. “What about my part in the senior musical?”

“You can do both. We’ll move the junior musical to a different night. You have to do this. C’mon…”

Sweetpea grumbled and finally muttered with a shrug, “Okay, alright. Fine. Shit. I’ll do it. But I’m not wearing tights, are we clear?”

“You really haven’t seen the movie at all… have you?” I scoffed as I gazed up at Sweetpea. He mimicked me and shrugged. “I’ve seen bits of it. But I know one thing and that’s dancers wear tights. I’m not wearing tights. Not happenin.”

“For your information, you big idiot, Patrick Swayze does not wear tights a single time in this movie. At least not that I remember and I’ve seen it a thousand times... Suit and tie, maybe.”

Sweetpea grumbled and raised a brow.

“Not for the whole movie, damn it.. Black jeans and a black shirt will suffice for most of it. You can even wear your leather jacket, you big man-baby. Johnny Castle wears one in the movie.” I answered. Stepping closer to him to sort of get a visual read on his measurements so that when the time came I at least kind of had an idea of what worked. Sweetpea chuckled, dragging his fingers through his hair as he gazed down at me. “See something you like, princess?”

“I’m trying to figure out what I’m gonna need for your costume, dingus.” I replied as calmly as possible.

“Ya know, you could always just measure me… Right? Or ask me my size?”

“Oh you’d enjoy that entirely too much. And I’d have to touch you. No, nope. No thanks, I’ll pass.”

“I’m gonna have to touch you anyway. That lift or whatever it was that had Kevin rambling just now.” Sweetpea barely hid his amusement as he stepped even closer. A hand at my hip. Lingering.

For a second or two, I was lost in his eyes and totally oblivious to anything going on around us and then Kevin shattered that by starting the last song of the musical and calling for everyone to take their places.

And from the crowd, Fangs spoke up.

“Hey babe.. What if we got all the extras from the clubhouse scene to come in through the crowd? Just like the movie?” Fangs was smirking at both Sweetpea and I as he spoke up. Enjoying this entire situation way too much.

“Fangs, you brilliant and beautiful man, this is exactly why I love you so much.” Kevin smirked as he rubbed his chin and called out. “Okay, if you were an extra in the clubhouse scene, go to the doors of the auditorium. When Fangs gives the signal, you’ll come in. Dancing.”

He turned to Sweetpea. “You go with them.”

Sweetpea managed to break the staredown we had going on and he nodded. Grumbling as he walked towards the front of the auditorium.

Everything went pretty well until we got to the part where I was supposed to run to Sweetpea and he was supposed to lift me over his head. I took off, running towards him.

I missed the mark. Wound up with my legs wrapped around his waist, clinging for dear life while he staggered back just a little. Both of us arguing about whose fault it was that we messed up.

Kevin cleared his throat.

“You guys need more practice. Maybe you could rehearse together?”

Sweetpea and I glanced at each other, mulling it over.

“Fine.” Sweetpea ground out through a jaw tightly clenched. A glance at Fangs revealed that the reason he agreed without a huge fight was probably something to do with the way Fangs was giving him a demanding look.

“Fine.” I answered. Swallowing hard.

Trying to pull myself together because frankly, I was still all sorts of stirred up from the way he’d actually caught me and the fact that no, I hadn’t wanted him to put me back on my feet at the end, either.

I spoke up again. “We can do it at the bunker.” I suggested. Trying to think of a neutral place that didn’t favor either of us heavily. A place we could hopefully be alone and focus. And probably scream and shove and storm away to cool off if things got too heated.

“8 work for you or does daddy let you out past your bedtime, princess?” Sweetpea taunted, smirking at me when I glared and rolled my eyes.

“ I do what I want.” I scoffed at his parting jab. 

From behind me, my sister spoke up. “Are you ready, Marlena?” as she looked back and forth between Sweetpea and I with an amused grin.

“Yeah. We need to get going.” I answered.

 As my sister and I walked out of the auditorium, my sister gave a soft laugh. “That wasn’t so bad, huh? I knew you could do it.”

“Oh shut up.” I grumbled, managing a weak smile. “We haven’t made it to the night of yet. Don’t jinx this. Remember what happened last time I had to get up in front of people and talk in any capacity?”

“Marlena, that was kindergarten. Maybe it’ll be different.”

“Veronica, I threw up everywhere. And not gracefully, either. It was a full on projectile vomit.”

“That was something. The chemistry between you and Sweetpea in there. I felt like I was actually watching the movie.”

“He’s an ass. And he hates me, remember?”

“Yeah, well.. It didn’t look that way to me, Marlena. If he hated you, he wouldn’t have been standing so close the entire time… or the way he grabbed your hand?” my sister questioned.

I shrugged it off. “Can we change the subject?”

“Why? Afraid I might be right?” my sister teased, as usual.

TIME SKIP

“Okay, if he’s not here in ten minutes, I’m leaving. This place gives me the creeps.” I muttered to myself almost the exact second that I managed to find a spiderweb with my face and shriek about it.

Low chuckling from behind me had me turning. Finding myself body to body with Sweetpea as he tried not to laugh.

“Do you talk to yourself a lot or do I make you that nervous, princess?” he taunted. I gave a light shove and stepped away, pouting up at him. Quick to argue that he didn’t make me nervous, not at all, not even a little.

Despite knowing that the truth of the matter was yes. Yes, he made me extremely nervous. Because he was so distinctly my type and I just longed for what I knew wouldn’t ever work out between us because we were entirely too different.

“In other words, yes. I make you that nervous.” Sweetpea’s jaw set in a line and I flinched a little. Not wanting to fight with him.

I quickly changed the subject, nodding to a little tv and dvd player I’d rigged up earlier and the brown paper bags with Pop’s logo on the front.

“We need to rehearse. Not whatever this is.” Sweetpea was still irritated.

“Yes, well.. You’re never going to realize just how huge a part of the story Johnny Castle is until you’ve seen the movie.”

Sweetpea rubbed his chin in thought. “How long is this fucking movie?”

“Maybe two hours? C’mon… Or do you have a hot date waiting?” -the hint of jealousy that crept into my tone was enough to make me tense up a little. Pray to God he hadn’t picked up on it. Lucky for me, he didn’t seem to, instead, he was already digging into the grease stained paper bags, grabbing himself a burger and fries.

Sprawling on the little twin sized bed.

I dug out my own food and sat down, close to the edge of the bed, careful not to sit too close to him because I didn’t want to crowd him or annoy him or give him the wrong impression.. Or in my case, the right impression though I’d die before admitting that to him. 

After hitting play on the DVD player, the opening title splashed across the screen and I smiled, settling into my chosen seat just a little more comfortably.

About thirty minutes into the movie, I could feel his eyes fixed on me. I turned to look back at him, a brow raised. “What?”

“You know every single line.”

I felt my cheeks burn a little, shrugging it off as I nodded. Answering through a mouth full, “When we were little.. Veronica and I used to watch this movie whenever it was raining or we were sick. We’d get cozy in one of our rooms with snacks and blankets and we’d just like… imagine life being that simple. Doesn’t help that Johnny Castle is - to quote my sister, “Totally your kind of man.” “ I gave a sheepish laugh and took a handful of my fries, raking them through my milkshake.

Sweetpea rose to sit. Leaning in a little. Extending his arm and wiping his thumb over the corner of his mouth as he cleared his throat. “You had some milkshake…” before falling silent all over again. Staring at me for seconds that seemed to stretch infinitely. It  felt like everything fell away. All that remained was that thick tension. The flickering of the candles I’d lit earlier against the wall. The tension got to me. It had everything I wanted to say but couldn’t find the nerve threatening to come out.

“I don’t bite, ya know.” he muttered quietly. Pulling away a little. That look in his eyes again. 

It hit me. He honestly thought I disliked him. Or thought that I was better than him. Nothing could be further from the truth and realizing how he must have felt and what probably fuelled most of the comments and the arguments between us was the fact that he thought I viewed him as a lesser person somehow… that really got to me.

“I, uh.. I didn’t want to crowd you.” I managed to get the words out after a few seconds. Not daring to look at him. Desperate for a rewind button so maybe I could go back in time to when I first met him and salvage everything.

Desperate to tell him how I really felt.

Especially when I remembered what Veronica mentioned earlier about the way Josie just shut him out.

“Oh.”

The movie caught our attention again. After a minute or two of sitting poised right at the edge of the bed like I’d been and longing to really get comfortable, I settled in the sliver of space next to him. Trying not to think about the fact that the bed being as small as it was gave us literally no space and we were forced to touch.

Thirty minutes passed. Sweetpea sat up.

“ I think I get it now.” he muttered.

“Yeah?” I was getting lost in his eyes all over again.

“Mhm.” he affirmed. 

I sat up and so did he. “It’s cheesy as hell, but… I get it. Kinda know how the guy feels.” Sweetpea’s gaze settled on his hands and he chuckled to himself, the sound almost bitter.

“I’m sorry. I heard about you and Josie breaking up.”

“We didn’t. You can’t break up with someone if they never wanted to be with you to begin with.” Sweetpea answered. He tensed up a little and I sighed. Wishing I hadn’t opened my mouth.

That tension between him and I doubled.

In an attempt to make things just a little lighter, I slipped off the bed. Held out my hand.

Sweetpea eyed it warily. 

I insisted, “Oh come on, please? Just one dance. You did say we had to practice. And I dance, so I can definitely tell you that if we don’t at least somewhat connect, we’re going to be awkward and it’s going to look bad.”

Did I really just do that?

The scene where Baby goes to Johnny’s cabin and spends the night was just beginning and I swallowed hard as soon as I glanced back up at Sweetpea and realized that he was staring at the television in a daze. I cleared my throat to get his attention.

“You want me to dance with you.. Like that. Okay.” Sweetpea towered over me. Closing the space between our bodies before I had a chance to back out of what I asked of him. His hands went straight to my hips. Holding my body in place against his as he chuckled, looking down at me. “You’re the one who wanted to dance, princess.”

“Yeah.” I managed to stammer. Breathless. Helpless thanks to the way his fingers dug into my hips and held me against him. But when they started to move up and down my sides, oh… I felt myself shiver at the touch. Melting against him on my own. I’d been trying my best not to give in and do that.

I trained my eyes on the front of his plaid shirt because I didn’t dare look up at him.

His leg slipped between mine and I bit my lip. Breath catching in my throat all over again as I rubbed myself against his thigh. My usual careful,guarded filter was gone.

All I cared about was doing whatever I could to show Sweetpea that what he thought I felt towards him wasn’t true.

His hands settled across my ass. Fingers digging in as he gasped quietly. A groan slipping out as he muttered in a daze, “You really are a good dancer, huh?”

“I, uh… I compete. My parents are huge on pushing my sister and I into competitive activities, whether we want it or not.” I babbled.

It must have bothered him that I wasn’t looking at him because he gripped my jaw, guiding my gaze up. “But you like dancing. I can tell.”

,, maybe it’s just dancing like this with you.” the thought came. I stopped just shy of actually letting it slip out. I sighed and smiled, nodding in agreement. Because that was so much easier than everything else I wanted to do or say. ,, besides,” my brain continued to taunt, “why on Earth is he going to want you when he could have literally anyone else?” and the thought had me pouting a little.

I didn’t think he was aware of it.

“What?” he asked. Tensing a little. Loosening his grip on my body just a little bit. Seeming as if he wanted to step away from me. Before I had the chance to talk myself out of it, I melted against him all over again. Raising my arms to slip them around his neck.

“Nothing.” I answered after a few seconds.

“You were pouting again. That’s kind of a thing you do when you’re upset, you’re not getting your way or you’re annoyed.”

The fact that he picked up on that had me raising a brow. Scoffing. About to argue that I didn’t pout all the time, but keeping quiet because I knew he was right.

But how -and when, had he noticed?

“Dreading the fact that I’m going to get up there on stage and see everyone watching and I will panic.” I muttered quietly because a half truth was better than the whole truth or a complete lie.

If I told him the real reason I’d been pouting, well.. That would’ve opened up a can of worms that I’m not sure about opening. God I want to. But if I just lay it all on the line…

I can’t.

Sweetpea raised a brow. He started to say something but he went quiet on me. Thinking.

“But you’re so loud.” he finally spoke up.

I pouted up at him, giving his chest a light smack. “I ought to step on your foot, sir.”

“Won’t hurt. Boots are steel toe.” Sweetpea smirked as he said it. Sticking his tongue out at me.

He dipped me and I hadn’t been expecting it. I gasped and he chuckled. “Not so bad at this dancing shit, hmm?” he questioned as he pulled me back up. His hands moved up and down my back before settling on my ass again. Squeezing when I rocked myself over his thigh just a little before I could stop myself because what he was doing was getting me worked up.

I sighed a little. Melting all over at the way he touched me and held me. Admitting with a quiet laugh, “You’re actually not. And I can teach you more..” trailing off and going quiet.

“You can, huh?”

His voice was this perfect mix of gravel and silk and I had to clench my thighs just a little. Found myself praying to whatever God might exist that I didn’t get too excited and leave a wet spot behind on his jeans. Because that would definitely seal the embarrassment and awkwardness factor. And I didn’t want that.

I was staring intently at his chest again when he tucked his fingers beneath my chin and tilted my head. “Careful what you say, princess. I might actually take you seriously.”

“I’m being serious. I don’t mind at all.” I babbled and instantly, I wanted to punch myself in the throat for it. This awkward version of myself wasn’t me but for whatever reason, Sweetpea seemed to bring it out. All my insecurities seemed to come rushing to the surface. Taunting me with the knowledge that there was no way he’d ever be interested in me beyond the convenience of a good screw. Knowing that even if he were, something would go wrong somehow.

He dipped me again. This time when he pulled me back up, our faces bumped against each other and when my mouth brushed against his, I couldn’t stop the quiet gasp that came. His fingers dug into my body just a little more and we were staring at each other.

Dazed.

“Pea?”

“What’s up, princess?” he muttered after a second or two. Blinking as if he were trying to focus.

“Nothing.” I muttered. Losing my nerve and my train of thought. Pushing down everything I’d been about to say all over again.

“ Why do you do that? Just say whatever it is you want to say.”

“Oh, I don’t think you want me to do that.” I muttered, mostly to myself. My gaze trained on anything and everything but his. He guided my face up and licked his lips, his eyes darting down. Settling on my mouth. “What if I do?” he muttered in response after a few seconds.

“Okay, fine. I was wondering what..” I trailed off. Frustrated. Laughing at myself and shaking my head. “Forget it. It’s stupid.”

“Tell me, woman. Damn.” his tone was firm and I swallowed hard as I looked up at him.

He was going to keep at it until I said something and right now, I was drawing a blank on any other convenient things I could say that were less controversial than what I’d stopped myself from saying.

,, maybe if you say it, he’ll know that you don’t hate him.” the thought came.

I took a deep breath. Shaky.

“I was wondering what your kiss feels like.” I muttered, my voice dropping so low that for a second, I didn’t think he heard me.

His jaw dropped. One hand left my ass and raised. Dragging through thick dark hair as he tugged. His mouth opening and closing.

“What? You kept asking… I.. You don’t have to. I didn’t want to make it weird.” I babbled nervously. When he started to chuckle, I looked up at him with a brow raised. “Gee, thanks.” I pouted.

Stepping away. Because if I didn’t put some distance between us right then, I was going to keep digging the hole deeper.

He reached out and grabbed me by the hips, pulling me against him all over again. Rocking himself into me clumsily. His face inching closer and closer to my own. Our mouths were on a collision course and neither of us bothered to stop it from happening. His lips settled against the corner of my mouth clumsily. His tongue traced the outline of my lips and I shivered and melted against him like I’d been before. Clinging. My arms around his neck again. Fingers toying with the hair at the nape of his neck before settling my hand across to rest and pull his mouth back against mine.

My lips parted, granting him access. His tongue slipped past my lips and he melted into me this time. Deepening the kiss. Using his grip on my ass to pull me up his body slightly. I sighed as the kiss broke, my tongue rolling over kiss swollen lips. Staring at him as I tried to wrap my head around what just happened.

How badly I wanted it to happen again.

“Well?”

I bit my lip. Trying to formulate words. Anything. My brain must have short-circuited because I came up with nothing, despite all the opening and closing of my mouth as I attempted to answer.

I’m not sure what possessed me to do it or why I thought it was a good idea, but I was grabbing hold of the back of his neck. Pulling his mouth back against mine greedily. Taking total control of the kiss this time around. Making him chuckle into the kiss. 

As we pulled apart to breathe, he repeated his question.

“Better than my wildest dreams.” I blurted out quietly.

“So you dream about kissing me?” he asked, tucking his fingers beneath my chin so that I couldn’t do what I tended to when a subject got to be too uncomfortable for me… I swallowed hard and admitted in a hushed tone, “Among other things.”

He growled out the word “Fuck.” and pulled me up his body completely. Deepening the kiss to a point where I almost forgot to breathe a time or two. I could feel myself getting light-headed. The kiss broke and we pulled apart, breathing heavily. I melted against him, dazed. Still trying to get my head around the turn the night had taken.

“It’s getting late, princess.”

“It is.”

“I should probably get you home.”

I pouted a little. Holding onto him just a little tighter. “Unfortunately.” I muttered.

He scooped me off the table and carried me out of the bunker. Sitting me on the back of his motorcycle. I wrapped my arms around him and leaned against his back, the Serpent patch scratching at my skin a little.

The drive back to the Pembrooke took almost no time and as soon as his motorcycle stopped at the curb, I pouted a little. Rolling my eyes at the literal ivory tower.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I asked as I slipped off the back of his motorcycle.

 He grabbed hold of my hips, pulling me against him. Leaning down and stealing another deep kiss. “Mhm. Definitely, princess.”

I practically floated up the stairs leading into the lobby of the building. And I leaned against the wall, waiting on the elevator. Trying to pull myself together. Smiling like an idiot.