#so she vid called me on lunch to show me how she does it

[nattousan]

when

whe you, when You were just trying to put i n some extra effort to try adn improve yoursel f and it got misinterpreted as malicious n u get yell ed at

[enduracarrotchips]

YouTuber AU

Hello welcome to Dating Scandal but with Twitter Involved (nightmare)

A little exposition here: 

Link, Zelda, Sidon, Revali, and Riju are the most popular group of youtubers on the internet and have a huge fanbase that likes to theorize, draw fanart, and write fanfiction about them. Disclaimer, I don’t actually interact with real-person fandoms myself lol there’s just too much potential for drama and misunderstandings & they’re always bound to end in a dumpster fire but that is sort of what this au is about so.

Impa, Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa are family friends that appear in a lot of their videos/streams. 

(This is an art blog I swear)

enter vidcon 20XX

Link: 

blows stuff up/sets stuff on fire with a side of cooking vids and gaming

most are filmed outside, he does those challenges where you try to cook stuff with limited ingredients/materials

has the largest fanbase of all of them, but not the most…intimidating.

does a lot of collab videos, mostly with Impa, Daruk, and Riju because they have similar interests/channels, but Zelda appears in his videos and is seen filming and the stans read too far into it

simps. i’m pointing at you.

Most popular videos are “shield surfing on rock!—how I broke my leg” “can Daruk eat Impa’s motorcycle?” and “how to inhale ranch dressing.”

Twitter handle is @ arsonistslullabye because he’s a hozier fan

45m subs

Zelda:

theories, analyses, conspiracies, and the occasional e x p e r i m e n t

she once got link to eat a frog for 50 bucks.

most people argue that she’s better than more popular YouTubers because she actually has quality content to give to the world and she has a lot of defensive supporters

She used to get a lot of hate before Urbosa spoke up about it and scared the bejeezus out of everyone

has an actual posting schedule

“Happy Sunday everyone, it’s Zelda Hyrule and today we will be talking about cryptozoology and why blupees exist, you cowards.”

Twitter handle is @ zeldaofhyrule and she is pan. just so you know. One of those calm extroverts that mystify me to this day.

18m subs

Sidon:

fashion/life hacks. Like gourmet troom troom but if they were real people.

Has the 2nd largest fanbase

most of them are girls

Sidon has a boyfriend though, which he told everyone at VidCon a few years ago

cue the drama and shipping and the entire fandom trying to figure out who the boyfriend is. A well known reddit thread emerged that presented the common guesses being Link, Sidon, and Zelda.

“But it can’t be Zelda, Sidon’s gay.”

“I’m not in the fandom but I thought Zelda was a boy??”

“Did you just say Sidon? Is that a typo? Are you saying that Sidon’s dating himself?”

Sidon x Sidon became a fandom joke.

Don’t look at me I’m just setting up all the worldbuilding. every fandom has their weird dark sides and Sidon x Sidon is the Linkcest of the Sidon YT fandom.

Mystery BF is actually Bazz, a pretty inconspicuous guy who appeared in a few of his videos. This was confirmed a year ago, but everyone still ships him with other YouTubers because they’re convinced he was lying to throw them off his scent. He really can’t catch a break and this is why you should not ship real people.

Twitter handle is @ officialprincesidon

says “beguiling” a lot

21m subs ᕙ( ͡❛ ▿ ͡❛)ᕗ

Mipha:

Sidon’s sister, hasn’t posted a single video but just has the channel for show because she appears in so many of Sidon’s videos as a model for his makeup tutorials and whatnot

has 328k for that. Everyone loves her, she’s great. @ mimipha

Revali:

Link’s sworn rival

Link thinks they’re friends

He kept popping up in link’s Twitter threads and making snarky comments until zelda called him out for not even following link (so why was he stalking his acc) which kept the Twitter drama to a minimum

Revali was the catalyst of a few popular memes and that’s where most of his subs come from.

drags link into a few challenges that always get a ton of views because of how competitive they get

“ITS JUST ASININE” is a running joke that everyone tries to get him to say. His @ is itsjustasinine as well

Urbosa is the only person who can win an argument with him

5m subs and growing rapidly. newer to youtube than everyone else.

Impa:

Doesn’t have a channel she’s just a mutual friend of Mipha, Zelda, and Link

Rides a motorcycle, so she is used in a few of Link’s videos.

@ ihaveamotorcycle because she thinks having a motorcycle is a personality trait. the most unruly on Twitter when it comes to replying to fan’s stuff, leaking upcoming videos and generally causing chaos.

Mipha’s girlfriend. That’s how she met Zelda and Link.

Urbosa:

Is actually a model, but she has a ton of YouTuber friends because she’s known Zelda since birth.

when she entered the youtube community she didn’t realize she would be adopting like 15 children

5m subs. her videos are professional & related to her modelling career. @ urbosasfury

I feel like she would do unboxing vids. I’m not sure what she’s unboxing.

Daruk

Just a friend of Link’s, fun guy. yells a lot. once ate a rock and had no reaction.

people are scared of him for that reason

Riju:

yoga & gymnastics & “ha look at how flexible I am its eAsY” videos

you know the type

she also does reactions and is sponsored by save the sand seals charities which she is very enthusiastic about. She’s also Urbosa’s niece and the only minor in the gang (15). I like to think that the champions YT community is actually not creepy so everyone respects her a ton

doesn’t post frequently, she mostly appears in Link’s videos to jump out of airplanes or whatever. And sometimes Zelda’s if she’s interested in the topic. 500k subs, but she’s always really popular when she appears in Link’s videos.

VidCon:

In the months leading up to VidCon, some fans on the internet made a few discoveries: first of all, that the inside of Link’s house is painted green. This is a big deal because all of his videos are filmed outside either in his backyard or on trips that he and the brosquad go on to do…whatever bros do. explosions. idk. The point is he had some announcement about VidCon and filmed it inside. Only the wall and a potted plant were shown.

However, the colour was similar to the the shade of Zelda’s living room. Fans dug through years and years of old videos and found a clip of Zelda walking through a hallway, where there was an open door and a glimpse of a houseplant.

There were 2 types of responses to the theory:

“They could just be roommates guys calm down”

“and they were ROOMMATES?”

others pointed out that Link could just not have a house and had to crash in Zelda’s

Some guy on reddit claimed he had a botany degree and declared that the houseplants in the clips were not of the same genus. Normal people pointed out that the plant would have grown 4 years between the clips and would look considerably different.

#Zelink trended on twitter for a while and people posted other old clips from both of their channels and the frog video blew up again

Impa retweeted a post tagged as #zelink with “rofl” and later publicly apologized for causing confusion.

Fans noticed that in the “can a motorcycle drive over my arm” (it was clickbait he’s fine) episode 2 years ago, Link was eating out of a paper lunch bag with his name written on it in handwriting that a few people claimed to look like Zelda’s, leading people to believe that she had packed him a lunch.

However, this theory was shot down with the counterargument that Zelda can’t cook. although. i mean how much skill do you need to make a sandwich.

No one knows what tumblr is doing at this time

Zelda wore a scarf in her “Save the Sand Seals” video that matched identically to the scarf Link wore when he travelled to Hebra to film a shield surfing video, but it’s been debated wether it’s actually the same scarf or not.

Neither Zelda nor Link has spoken up about the theories, and besides Impa’s one slip on twitter, neither has any of their friends. Zelda received a lot of backlash for the assumption that she was dating Link because he has a lot of delusional fans that didn’t want her to “steal their man” or whatever the hell that type of fan would get mad about

Oh yea and bolson & karson run a zelink fanpage on twitter sorry I forgot about that

after that whole mess, everyone was even more anticipant of VidCon in the hopes that some of their questions would be answered.

The whole batch went to VidCon this year: Link, Impa, Daruk, and Riju are a gang while Sidon and Mipha go together and Zelda & Revali each go separately. Urbosa is there for supervision moral support

Zelda has always been much better at dodging questions that she doesn’t want to answer than anyone else, so her Q&A went without a hitch. When asked to confirm the rumours she said “which one?” and then moved on to the next question (without actually confirming any rumours).

Link is generally a more awkward person but eventually said that he had filmed the video in Zelda’s house because it was nicer and didn’t realize it would cause such an uproar. Fans were disappointed, but Bolson claimed he saw Link and Zelda exiting the hotel elevator on the same floor after Link’s Q&A session. No one believed him.

Fans went back to theorizing over who Link, Zelda, and Sidon were all dating, because apparently they can’t just be dating unknown people and have to be with other YouTubers

Sidon and Bazz got engaged about a week after VidCon, making at least 4 preteen girls cry

actually try 4 million

Sidon x Sidon made a brief comeback but Sidon spoke up about his fandom for the first time ever on twitter and told everyone that no, he was not dating himself. eventually, everyone settled down and accepted that none of them were in a relationship save for a few loud fans.

Link and Zelda still got the occasional “when will you tell us who you’re dating?” comment but most of them were joking and the people who still hardcore shipped them were generally frowned upon. Zelda’s popularity went up after VidCon and she regained the 200k subscribers she’d lost after the first theory dropped.

Two months after VidCon, Link posted a video titled “Zelda and I’s House Tour!” and gave around 45 million people a heart attack

as revealed in the video, they had actually been dating since they were 16 and everyone’s just a fool.

the potted plant is named Hestu.

[honklore]

would you please consider doing maybe a soulmate au where anything you write appears on your soulmate with karl? i just love the idea of maybe doing little doodles all over your skin and it appearing on his and he likes talking about it on stream which is maybe what brought you two together? one of your friends who watches mcyt saw a clip of him talking about a specific flower they remember you drawing and this lead you to maybe writing out a small message for karl during a stream that made him super giddy? sorry if this was very confusing and i totally get it if you don’t wanna write it, thank you for your time! :)

sincerely yours | karl jacobs

(gn reader, soulmate au, chat is supportive, karl’s lil doodles like he shows on his priv but he draws them on his skin instead)

listen to: make you feel my love (cover) by jj heller

karl jacobs my beloved !!!!!

the sweetest romantic when it comes to the soulmate bond

counted down the days until his eighteenth bday when he could finally communicate with you

okay i’m going to switch your request to where karl is the one constantly doodling if that’s okay !!!!

with all my heart i believe karl would doodle every single day!!! never misses a day to the point where jimmy is like. bringing cleansing wipes to mr beast filming like,,,, dude i’m sorry but you can’t have squiggly marks up your neck while we’re filming we are ~professionals~

a total romantic,,,, like. downloads reddit and reads thru r/soulmatestories before he goes to bed,,, scrolls soulmatesuggestions blogs on tumblr

he’s just so in want of that close bond that he does everything he can to get into contact with you

tries to join late bloomer groups before they tell him that 22 years old isn’t late and he’s still extremely young

he’s just v impatient okay !!!!!

once he begins streaming regularly instead of a tattoo check chat asks to see whatever doodle he drew or received that day !!!!

worries a lot bc he hears a lot of rejection stories and he’s scared of being rejected

so sometimes when he’s rlly anxious or insecure he’ll scrub all of the writing off in the shower and wear long sleeves to avoid looking for your scrawl

YOU ARE ONE BUSY BEE

between school/job/life/family/friends and whatever else you do or don’t have going on, you often forget to draw notes for your soulmate

you’ve gathered a LOT of things about him tho

he writes his name w a lil smiley almost every week

(hey it’s me karl :))

writes u a Goodnight Drawing before bed

except for him goodnight is just right before whenever he goes to sleep and for you it’s like. 10pm.

so you’ll wake up to pee at 5am and find a drawing of a worm on your leg (goodnight!!)

writes lil notes about his tales ideas except you have no idea what they mean rip

(inbetween segment longer? talk to ranboo)

doodles his favorite cartoon characters (ayo!!!)

has colored markers for when he’s feeling especially creative

let’s say you have a retail job

and you can’t have drawings anywhere noticeable per company policy

so you spend most mornings scrubbing off any evidence of karl

which like,,,, makes karl extremely sad but he’s a streamer AND his friends are streamers so he forgets some people have like. jobs that require dress codes

even when jimmy makes him scrub off his drawings, it’s only if they’re extra distracting

one day you finally get tired of waking up thirty minutes early every morning (can u pls draw somewhere that’s not noticeable in a uniform? thanks.)

karl draws a lil kermit the frog on his tummy and it shows up on yours. the marks are all jagged bc he kept laughing whenever the pen tickled him

but it’s so endearing that he followed ur instructions

he keeps the drawings to stomach, thighs, and sometimes his feet which he thinks is literally the funniest thing ever to your dismay (nice to feet you !!!! haha !!!!)

you don’t have time to watch streams unfortunately, but your best friend does :))

your bsf is on quacktwt so she knows who karl is

in one of quackity’s jackbox streams they make fun of karl’s drawing skills

and your friend is like ಠ_ಠ that is the same worm that is always on my bestie’s shoulder

and you’ve never told anyone that you know your soulmate’s name

so your friend only has a stupid (endearing) worm drawing for reference

she screenshots it and sends it to you like, lol quackity’s friend karl draws worms that look just like ur soulmate’s drawings

and ur like,,,,,, karl? his name is karl?

and bless ur heart that’s how u find out ur soulmate is a minecraft twitch streamer (derogatory)

you do your best to watch his streams and try to figure him out ,,,, like who he is as a person

and he’s just the biggest sweetie pie :((

you drew a rose for him during your lunch break one day and that night he showed his chat and got so excited

“chat i think they’re romancing me 0.0”

you get so thrilled that you draw him another doodle, this one of a lil heart

and he literally squeals and shoves his wrist against the lens so quickly that it blurs and makes you audibly laugh

you continue to draw him stuff throughout the next few streams

until finally he’s doing a chill alt stream, watching some yt vids

you know when karl is wrapped up in his fuzzy blanket and yawning while he tries to focus on the video :(((((((( yeah ://///

and you get so overwhelmed with fondness that you uncap your marker

(i like you karl)

and he doesn’t see it until he takes his arm out of the blanket to grab his can of monster

chat sees it first so they’re spamming

and when he reads it he gets SO red and he literally has to call the stream bc he’s too flustered to think of anything else

like he’s finally getting somewhere with you and he’s so so excited

when the stream ends he writes on his arm this entire anxious essay basically asking if you guys can find somewhere to meet or if he can at least have your number

and you can fill in the rest, but ofc the two of you become quite literally the dynamic duo.

absolutely adorable

your bestie makes you promise you’ll help her meet quackity since she basically made the discovery but that’s another story for another time

thank you for requesting !!!

[laora-inn]

Supernatural - Some speculations about the last 7 episodes of 15th season

Well, after 2 trailers, episodes descriptions on IMDB and some unfinished plot-lines of SPN story I’d like to share my own speculations. Some of them are definitely wrong. 

Destiel positive, happy end positive, don’t like - don’t read. 

Season 15 | Episode 14. Last Holiday

A filler - that’s how we anime fans call episodes which have no deal with the main plotline, though can contain some interesting moments and nuances. In “Supernatural” these episodes usually have no Cas in them. Sometimes they are very good... but mostly not. They are “just for fun”, and fans enjoy them, because they can be really funny. No angst.

Like this one - no angst, no Cas, a wood nymph who looks like Mary Poppins to me (or Mrs. Marple whatever). Some British origin of the character. 

That’s the episode which shots with Dean in purple nightgown are from (trailer short version).

I suppose the shot with Dean, Sam and Jack flying in the air could also be here from. But maybe not.

I don’t know where Cas may be. His absence should be explained to us in some way. In episode 10th he was missing because of talking to the angels. What’s now? Some preparations for the next Jack's trial? 

In this episode Dean should come closer to Jack’s forgiving.

Season 15 | Episode 15. Gimme Shelter

I have NO IDEA what this episode is about. Maybe the next trial for Jack? Or not?

I think the shot from the last trailer with Cas protecting Jack on the truck bed is from this episode. Also, some tortured person on the bed with the “lust” written above could be from it. 

And what about Sam and Dean? Where are they? 

I think they may have their own journey here, separate from Cas and Jack. Possibly the epic shots with them entering some building are this episode from. Possibly not. 

Season 15 | Episode 16. Drag Me Away (From You)

I don’t like this episode title. It looks like Destiel mocking to me - maybe, I just don’t have enough faith. I want to trust SPN writers but can’t. Somebody help me to believe, we all need that now! :)

THE ONLY episode in ALL THE SHOW except this one that had brackets in the title was 12x12, Stuck in the Middle (With You). Yahoo. 

Obviously, 12x12 was a parody to the Reservoir Dogs, a movie by Quentin Tarantino. Parody in a good sense of this word, but still. The plotline, the scenes (oh, this lunch scene from different points of view!), the scenes’ order, the roles, though changed - all of them. In case you didn’t watch Reservoir Dogs, just go and watch it, and then re-watch 12x12. You will understand. 

"Stuck in the Middle with You" is Stealers Wheel song which was in the OST of this Tarantino’s movie. This allusion should deal with boys’ and Mary relationship - because it’s her who betrayed them involuntarily, and now they are stuck in the middle with her. 

But somehow this episode title also deals with Destiel relationship. Maybe ‘cause that’s Cas who is dying, not Mary. Maybe ‘cause even on his deathbed he doesn’t confess something important - not about his betrayal, there was no one, but about his feelings. He says "I love you”, but then adds “I love all of you”, and Dean is literally stuck in the middle with Cas here. 

Back to the brackets in the episodes titles. Because of them I suppose that 12x12 and 15x16 could be connected. But how exactly?! That’s the question. I want them badly to be connected in Destiel way, but know too little. 

Back then I supposed that Dean could be dying in this episode and it would be his turn to confess something to Cas. But now I don’t know if there will be Cas in this episode at all, I just don’t have enough information. 

I hope he will. 

Btw, the words “Drag Me Away (From You)” are in Toto’s song “Africa”. And in case you didn’t know, in 2018 this song was used for half-an-hour Destiel video made by fan here. It covers ALL the Destiel moments then far. Link for this video is in Supernatural wiki, in the Destiel article. Half an hour, 10 repeats of the song, author’s comment: 

Along the way it stopped being funny and started getting insulting because this has been a literal decade (as of 2018 the vid features seasons 4-13) and the show has explored ALL of the tropes and yet and yet and yet...

I mean the fangirl shipper part of me also loves it. And then I get mad because I love it. I have a very complicated relationship with Supernatural but that's okay.

Have you heard the good news about Tragic Widow Dean?

TLDR: Have a supercut of all the DeanCas stuff set to Toto's Africa.

We can speculate a bit about this fact, but the truth is we know only about young Sam and Dean, who certainly will be in this episode. 

I think shots with Billie talking to Dean from the last trailer also belong to this episode, as well as shots with young Dean with Samulet, who is a ghost now. But these assumptions could be totally wrong. 

What circumstances will take us to the young Sam and Dean? Time travelling? Flashbacks? The parallel world?

Personally I think it will be the third option. Because how the hell young Dean can be a ghost in “our” universe? Unless it’s not Dean, though I doubt it. But if it’s not Dean, it can be a flashback, you know, with the young boys. Yep? 

We’ll wait and see.

I don’t think that Sam’s appreciative words to Dean refer to this episode. 

Also I don’t think Sam is going to sacrifice himself AGAIN (I’ve heard such an opinion). But maybe it’s my hope that makes me think in a wrong way.

Season 15 | Episode 17. Unity

I think some of Chuck’s shots are from this episode. Maybe the red lights in the bunker too. Maybe not. 

There also should be Amara and some angels. I saw Uriel in the cast! Maybe there also be some light lit on the all situation in Heaven now, when Jack made new angels. 

Some interaction between all of them + Sam, Dean, Cas and Jack should take place. Here the shot with sigil could be taken from. 

What side the angels will take? How it happened that Uriel is alive? Was he resurrected by Chuck or Amara? What plans does Amara have, how is she planning to deal with Chuck?

And what’s for Naomi? Will she come back or not? I think she won’t, not in this episode for sure, and I’m already disappointed ‘cause you know, she should be alive. Dumah said she is. For me Naomi is an important figure considering Destiel, and I think she’d be the best Heaven runner. 

All in all, in this episode should happen something that will make Cas happy. I suppose by the end of 15x17 or in the beginning of 15x18 they all will be sure that they have won the game, and Dean will forgive Jack for Mary.

The episode title may refer to angels’, Winchesters’ and Amara unity. 

Season 15 | Episode 18. Despair

Well, in Supernatural wiki I also saw “The Truth” title for this episode. 

Most of us are convinced that in this episode Cas will tell Dean about his deal with the Empty and will be taken by it. I believe the same. 

I think shot with Billie knocking with her hand rotten belongs to this episode. 

I have some doubts, but also think a shot with Dean leaning on Cas is from here. 

I’m sure that “You fought for this whole world” and Dean’s crying scene belong to this episode. ‘Cause you know. Despair. And the truth - about Cas’s deal and possibly about their fake win. 

Billie’s with her scythe and bunker intrusion symbols could also be from here (or from one the previous episodes ends, especially for Billie - as a cliffhanger). And it should be the case for Sam and Jack, I suppose. Because there is no other way for Dean and Cas to face Cas’s deal with just two of them. 

Destiel confession will be here, in more explicit form that it could be in 15x16, because there will be A TALK, but I don’t think we’ll see something real explicit. 

Maybe, Dean’ll say he loves Cas. Maybe not. I’m sure only about the fact that we’ll cry by the end of this episode. And that will be AN UGLY CRYING, just as Jensen said.

Well, maybe there will be a hint that Cas can be brought back, but I think it won’t. So prepare yourselves, my friends. 

Season 15 | Episode 19. Inherit the Earth

Here I think Sam’s appreciative words to Dean are taken from. They are definitely comforting. ‘Cause you know, Cas is dead, Chuck is alive. Possibly Cas was in his way and Chuck erased him by making him believe in their win.

I also think Dean’s crying words “this whole mission, saving the world” belong to this episode and will be in conversation with Sam. 

They still need to fight Chuck, and Jack is still alive. Here Michael will appear and helps. And there is one moment Sergey mentioned in 15x07, about the key to the Death’s library. He even described what it looks like! Cas heard that as well as Eileen. Well, if Cas is taken, then Eileen should return to the Winchesters, maybe with Sam and Jack, or just tell them about this key. 

I don’t know what they are going to do after. Open this library? How? Find how to kill God? Or not? Will they try to save Cas?

I think they will not talk about Cas’s saving. And he will be dead in this episode for sure.

Also I think they’ll deal with God in this episode, one way or another.

Season 15 | Episode 20. Carry On

This is a land of unlimited speculation!

I hope Dean’ll have Cas back by the end of episode. I think Cas’ll save himself from the Empty, ‘cause, you know, he has a big goal there. The Empty tortures all the dead angels and demons, as far as we know. It should be fixed - Cas’s already made a promise to Ruby. And we know that Cas has no problem with ruining something and messing it up - he is basically THE GREAT TRICKSTER of this show. 

Rebelling against Heaven and ruining angels’ plans? Check. Stopping Apocalypse? Check. Opening Purgatory? Check. Becoming a new God? Check. Bringing the Leviathans? Check. Casting all the angels out of Heaven and burning their wings? Check. Becoming human? Check. Becoming an angel by devouring other angels’ grace? Check. Getting an army of angels? Check. Giving up this army for one human? Check. Kidnapping angels’ prisoner? Check. Letting Lucifer in? Check. Helping “an abomination”, Devil’s son, to be born? Check. Annoying Empty so much that it brought him back to life? Check. Making a deal with the Empty? Check. 

It’s very dangerous to mess with Cas, you just don’t know what he could do for the greater good, and yep, in some way Dean was right when he said that Cas is “something that’s always going wrong”. So I think the Empty is in trouble here, not vice versa.  

Also, there is one more thing that bothers me. When Nick in 14th season was praying to Lucifer, he woke him up in the Empty. Theoretically, Lucifer can be awake by now. It could be a dead end, but still. Lucifer’s “true face” is similar to the Empty’s, sooo... 

I don’t know what to think about it and the fact that Nick could reach Lucifer and return him from the Empty, so let’s move on.  

I hope for the happy end for Sam (maybe with Eileen) and for all the hunters we know. They are family. 

NO MCD here! If someone’ll die - they shouldn’t be Sam, Dean or Cas. I don’t want to see Eileen’s death either. I don’t know what about Jack. I don’t want him to die, but he is 100% supernatural being, and I am not sure what it means for him to die. 

Monsters should stay, hunters should hunt them. We’ll see that the “family business” thrives.    

There should be an order on the all levels - in Heaven, Hell and on Earth. There should be the new Death - of they should return Billie. Rowena running the Hell would be perfect. Wonder if Naomi could run Heaven. Maybe it will be Chuck? If he will be redeemed. Or Michael. 

I don’t know what’s for the Empty and Amara. 

I don’t know what the end for Jack will be. I’d like he will be alive, but I just don’t know. He can’t be a human. That will be right thing for Cas, but not for Jack. 

I hope for Destiel endgame, as well as for Sam/Eileen. Cas should become a human, maybe, with some supernatural skills left.   

I doubt that we have proper scenes of these ships together or Cas’ humanity. Just hints. But they can be very obvious - especially if we’ll see Dean’s reaction to Cas’s returning. 

So, I hope to see them. 

But, as I said, it's a land of unlimited speculation. We’ll wait and see. 

What else should be resolved:

- Kevin can’t stay a ghost! It’s my main point here. He also can’t go to Hell. What will happen with him and in which episode? I don’t know. I just hope they won’t forget about him. 

- There is the shot with Bobby from? 15x20? He should be somewhere. 

- Also, there should be Charlie in this season unless something’s changed. Where is she?

- What are they going to do with alternative!Winchesters from 15x13? They will rest? They will make another HunterCorp? They will be gone?! Come on, something needs to be done with them! Of course, they are not so important here, so the writers can forget about them, but still, I’m interested.

What am I going to do:

I'm going to watch all the last episodes of the season. AND THEN, if there will be no happy end for the Winchester boys and Cas won’t be with them, I'm going to rebel. :) In every possible way - petitions, letters, actions etc. We are grown-up people here. We can fight for our rights, and it's my crucial right - to be happy about my favorite show ending. :) 

__________________

Feel free to ask me anything or to comment. My ask is working!

[sharkfish]

Hurt/comfort prompts, #3 for dcj pretty please?

[from this prompt list - “I’d come for you. No matter what, when you need me, I will be there.” (please forgive me for not using these exact words)] [all my ficlets]

Getting passed over for a promotion is just the cherry on the shitpile of Dean’s day, and for a little bit of dessert, there’s an accident on the highway and it takes him almost two hours to get home. Two hours that he could’ve been drinking.

Instead, he’s chugging his first drink at eight o’clock while scrolling Grubhub. He thinks about calling Jimmy and Cas — thinks about how nice it would be to just curl up in bed with them and think about nothing — but he knows he’s just the third wheel to that Clone Club and there’s no point in ruining the perfectly good evening they’re probably having without him. 

Only a few gulps in, and Dean’s already starting to get a little maudlin. It doesn’t help that his lunch order was fucked so sideways he could barely eat any of it. Stupid mushroom allergy. Stupid burger place that swapped his bacon cheeseburger with a mushroom swiss. Stupid boss choosing nepotism over solid work. Stupid self for pretending what he has with Jimmy and Cas might be special like what they have together, as if Dean could hold a candle on the Relationship Material front in comparison to either of them. 

Right after he’s placed his food order — pizza, enough of it to drown his sorrows in grease — his phone buzzes. 

Jimmy: How’d it go today? We’re dying here 

There are a couple other messages from them earlier in the day that Dean ignored, choosing to wallow alone instead. 

Dean could say a lot, but he settles with, Didn’t pick me. 

Within moments, Dean’s phone rings. He almost ignores it but the idea of seeing Cas and Jimmy is too good to pass up, though he regrets it as soon as their faces show in the vid feed. They’re both frowning. 

“Seriously?” Jimmy says. “They went with Hannah?” 

“She does good work,” Dean says. 

“Not from what you’ve told us,” Cas says. 

“So they pick her, just because she shares Bosslady’s DNA? No,” Jimmy says, like his pronouncement can change reality. “Nope, nope. Fuck those guys.” 

“Can’t compete with clones,” Dean says, giving them a wry smile. 

“Hold up,” Jimmy says, but Cas cuts him off with, “Why didn’t you call us?” 

Dean shrugs. “Tonight’s your date night.” 

“Do you hear this?” Jimmy says, looking at Cas, then turns back to Dean. “We’re coming over.” 

“Guys —” 

“Dean,” Cas says, his eyes fierce even across the video. “No matter what, when you need us, we’ll be there.”

Jimmy says, “ETA ten minutes. See you soon.”  

[girlofmanyfandoms]

Forbidden Spicy Gatorade Chronicles Chapter One

A/n: Ok, so the cult is getting stronger by the minute so if you haven’t been introduced yet, don’t be offended! I’ll try to go through everyone and introduce you in the next chapter. Erica (@the-never-ending-void) has asked not to be included in this fic.

Key:

Tater - @a-lonely-tatertot 

Lynn - @lesbilynnette

Gray - @silver-snow

Lilah - @tribblemakingalicorn

Cadence - me

Ivy - @imaramennoodle

Molly - @molly-sencen

Farris - @everyonehasthoughts

Speens - @an-absolute-travesty

Holes - @holesinmyfalseconfidence

Connor - @linhammon-roll-bromance101

Panda - @worldwidepandamonium

Meg - @ultralazycreatorfan

Word count: 2,382

Warnings: If you’re reading this, you already know what’s about to pop off

Lilah poked Cadence’s shoulder who promptly rolled over. Lilah poked her several more times, a bit more aggressively. Grumbling Cadence sat up quickly and smacked her head on the top of the bunk bed. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. Her eyes slowly adjusted to her surroundings, taking in the strangely black, purple, and gold aesthetic room.

“Why’d you wake me up?”

“You got a notification,” Lilah said, eyes wide open, handing her the phone, slowly walking out of their shared room.

Cadence furrowed her brows, unlocking the phone before calling out to her roommate. “Wait, how long have you been up?”

“OREOS!” she called back. “Where are the keys?”

“On the kitchen counter,” Cadence replied, checking her emails. 1 unread message from Gray, the AI developer who she made small talk with during lunch breaks.

Dear Cadence,

Good evening! There’s a new play coming out on Mainstreet, called The Facade, and I was approached by the team to create a promotional piece. I was hoping you could help, and we would split the rewards 50/50. The play is about a murder crime, which is plotted out in a series of intricate riddles. The plot twist: the lead detective was the murderer, and had been delaying her trial while she was pretending to gather evidence, and stealing from a suspect to gain enough money to flee. And her second in command was funding the plots without knowing that her boss was the mastermind behind it all.

Ok, now that my boss has read above the cut we can talk freely. The offer is real, and I WOULD like to split it 50/50, I just can’t stand talking all formal, y’know? Anyway, since you said you do animations and stuff as a side gig, I thought maybe you could make the animations, and I’ll edit and do the social networking? Idk, I’m just spitballing here, let me know what you think.

Also, Lilah directed me towards this email, she’s really good at tracking people down.

Sorry if I made any spelling mistakes, I haven’t slept in weeks,

Gray

“Huh,” Cadence huffed, glancing at the clock. 3 AM. She had time. So, grabbing her IPad, she opened Procreate and got to work. The Facade. Sounds interesting enough. But what to draw? A lock perhaps? A silhouette of the main character? Before she could decide, her phone buzzed again, a voice recording this time, from Lilah.

“Hey, so I just ran into two of the actresses from The Facade and they said they want to talk to you about it so you can create a better promotional vid, meet me at the local library, k bye.”

Cadence wished on a shooting star that at least an hour had passed by so the buses would be running. But how wrong she was. It was 3 AM. It was raining. And the library was at least a mile away.

“This should be fun,” she mumbled, grabbing her set of keys, her IPad, and a raincoat before jogging the mile it took to get to the library.

_______

By the time Cadence arrived her hair was drenched and she was so out of breath and tired she thought she was going to pass out. She looked for any sign of her roommate, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, she saw three people sitting at a table chatting freely and crying laughing. The librarian wasn’t fazed in the slightest. On the contrary, they seemed to be enjoying it, leaning over the library’s registry system, talking with them. Quickly Googling “The Facade,” Cadence confirmed that the two ladies were the actresses from the play. The other one offered occasional comments, mostly just watching the occurrences that went on. Social anxiety kicked in and told her to run in the other direction, but she really needed the money. She forced herself to approach them.

“Hey, I’m Cadence,” I introduce myself nervously. “Lilah said you wanted to speak to me about promoting your play?”

“Cadence! Lilah mentioned your animations, and we thought it’d be a new, eye-catching way to get our work out there,” the first one chirped. “I’m Molly, by the way. I play the detective’s second in command.”

“And I’m Ivy,” the other one greeted. “I play the lead.”

Cadence expected the third person to introduce themself next, but the librarian took the initiative. “Hello, fellow human, you may address me as SPEENS, I accept liver sacrifices.”

“They do that all the time,” the third person assured her. “Tater, by the way. I’m not in the play, I’m just working on a novel with Molly. We met up here to talk to good ‘ol Speens when these bit-”

“Language,” Molly warned.

“When these lovely individuals,” Tater corrected, “decided to make this a research sesh for the book. As if we needed more work. I’m free to fly wherever the wind takes me.”

“Amen to that, sibling,” Speens responded solemnly, pulling five wine glasses and vodka out from under the desk like a bartender. Cadence looked confused, but not against it. “Say, where’s the rest of the crew? Lynn, Gray, Farris, and the lot of them?”

“Farris doesn’t work on the set,” Ivy reminded her. “They’re an archaeologist. Holes makes the sets for us.”

Speens wrinkled their nose, seemingly in disgust. “And the others?”

“Well, if you can take a break, we can meet up with them at the theatre. Even Farris, since I heard their last trip was a bust,” Molly offered.

Without a second thought, Speens put up a sign that read “The Librarian is Out.”

“Do they-”

“All the time,” Ivy nodded. “It’s kinda their thing.”

“But, yeah, Farris and Connor tend to hang around the set,” Molly explained. “They don’t bother anyone, no one bothers them. They’re a bit older, kinda like the authority figures of the group.”

“If authority figures would let you make a dumba-”

“Tater,” Ivy nudged.

Tater changed their wording. “-unwise move in order to see what would happen.”

“They’re responsible for us without being responsible for us, if that makes sense,” Ivy commented. “Let’s get going though, before someone blows something up.” She shot a sideways glance at Speens, who put a hand up in surrender.

________

Ivy swung open the doors to the theatre and immediately had to duck for cover. “What the HELL, Connor?”

They were holding onto some theatre seats, zooming back and forth the row on rollerblades, occasionally losing balance and having to sit down. After a particularly messy turn-around, they decided to crawl over to the red carpeted steps and laid there for a moment. Farris was perched in a seat a row down, calming watching as Connor seemed to be having an existential crisis. Upon seeing Tater and Cadence, Farris got up, carefully stepping around Connor. “New kids?”

“Farris, this is Tater, and that’s Cadence,” Ivy helped. “They’re helping us promote the play.”

“Congratulations, you’re adopted,” they vowed, though Tater looked confused. “What? I don’t make the rules. Oh, wait, I’m supposed to be the responsible one…. Ok, so I make the rules, but they can be bent if the alternative’s interesting enough. Right, Connor?”

“Uh huh,” he called from the floor tiredly. If he hadn’t spoken, he would have been deemed dead.

“Lynn and the rest of the gang are in the back,” Farris informed them, pulling a skateboard from under their seat and helping Connor stand. Connor’s rollerblades flailed a bit as he struggled to get up, but his arm was slung around Farris’s shoulder, supporting him.

“DO A KICKFLIP,” Connor prompted, his words slurred.

“Are you kidding, I haven’t skateboarded since I was six, I need an actual skate park to practice that,” Farris recounted. “And how drunk are you?”

“Yes,” he responded, giggling in a hiccupy way. “Does anyone have more vodka?”

“I got you fam,” Speens said, pulling out a suitcase of alcohol from thin air.

“Anyways,” Ivy interjected, trying to get the conversation back on track. “I’ll go get the others, wait here.”

Ivy returned with Gray, Lynn, Holes, Panda, and Meg, and introduced them accordingly. “Gray works on the special effects, Lynn designed everyone’s costumes, Holes makes the set, Panda is a theatre critic, and Meg is our concept artist.”

“So, other than animation, is there anything else you bring to the table?” Molly asked.

“Well, I do glass art,” Cadence supplied. “It’s probably not relevant, but when it’s still really hot and glowy, which is when you can shape it, it looks like it would make a good snack. Hell, it almost looks like Gatorade. I can show a picture if you’d like.”

Cadence took her phone out and everyone crowded around to see.

“More like Powerade, Gatorade doesn’t come in that kind of blue,” Speens added.

“F O R B I D D E N S P I C Y G A T O R A D E,” Connor yelled, startling Farris.

“NO,” Holes countered, clearly distressed. “Do NOT drink molten glass. You’d die!”

“You call it death, I call it adventure,” Molly smirked. “I’m here for it. C’mon Holes, live a little.”

“Sis, how have you made it to adulthood thinking like that?” Lynn questioned, looking a bit scared.

“And I know how to live, I’m living right now!” Holes countered.

“Sure you are, nerd.” Molly rolled her eyes. “And how many near death experiences have you had, huh?”

“Near death- okay, first of all, I am not a nerd-”

“You kinda are,” Tater mumbled. Holes gasped, putting a hand over her heart as if they were betrayed. “What? You are. You make a living off of reading books.”

“Used to, friend,” Holes clarified. “I’m a freelance artist now. I picked up this gig because of these fools. And good thing too, because now you’re about to poison yourselves! Second of all, um, none?! How many have you had?”

Molly clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Five. Blended corn, acorns, eating soap, eating paper, and an intense game of dodgeball. I haven’t even peaked with these experiences yet.”

“Immortal until proven mortal,” Connor finished for her.

Meg stood next to Molly and held her shoulders. “This girl, she’s going places.”

“Meg, not you, too, I swear to god-”

“sLuRp,” Ivy joined in, grinning from ear to ear.

Holes was getting hysterical. “What the actual hell is going on? Lynn, help me out here.”

“The Gatorade is Forbidden for a reason, kids,” Lynn tried to reason.

Gray stood up with a mischievous glint in their eyes. “Where can we get it?”

“From the crunchy forbidden chocolate powder, of course,” Connor chimed in. Panda gave him a high-five while Holes became paler and paler from the cult forming in front of their eyes.

“This one speaks the truth,” Panda shrugged.

“Ok, what even is crunchy forbidden chocolate powder?”

“Sand, duh,” Connor said matter of factly. “Add some vodka, a martini, and some olives, and you got one heck of a slushie.”

“So that means there must be Forbidden Chewy Lettuce and Flavoured Forbidden Chewy Lettuce,” Tater went on. “Grass and flower petals. Cursed, but not wrong.”

“Ooh, and crackle air can be limestones and sodium carbonate, pies are dirt, bread is wood, and hard candy is metal,” Panda proclaimed.

“Fidget spinners are Forbidden Bagels, too,” Connor helped. “I should know, I tried the other day and cut my lip.”

Farris ignored the last part of Connor’s rant. “The variety pack, I like the sound of that.”

“Farris you’re supposed to look after us and you’re condoning this?!” Holes shouted.

Farris mounted his skateboard. “I’m not condoning anything. I’m enabling and hyping them up without joining in. That’s some big brain stuff.”

“This is why they control the brain cell,” Ivy nodded. “WAIT, ARE MY CHICKEN NUGGETS BURNING?!”

“Ives, you literally set a timer on the microwave backstage, you’re fine,” Tater reassured Ivy, holding her from running to check on her meal.

“Oh, like you know anything about microwaves,” Ivy argued. “You microwave ice cream.”

“It takes too long to soften, and I’m impatient,” Tater defended, turning to address Holes. “And it is eaten with a spoon.”

“Do not start this debate again- you know what, Panda, get ice cream from the mini-fridge, we’re settling this here and now,” Holes demanded.

“I think the real question is why is ice cream so hard,” Speens mentioned as Panda brought a tub of Haagen Daz ice cream. Holes used a fork to attempt to chisel out part of the snack. It wasn’t very successful.

“I think that’s just how Haagen Daz works,” Cadence observed.

Holes saw this as an opportunity to gain some momentum in the argument. “Not just this brand! All ice cream works like that!!!”

“No,” Panda objected. “Not Breyer’s. That stuff is always just right when you need it. Hashtag not sponsored.”

“Did you just break the fourth wall?” Lynn asked. “You know what, I don’t wanna know, just for the love of all that is good in this world please don’t drink the Forbidden Spicy Gatorade.”

“Too late,” Cadence said. “It’s easily accessible. Also, I’m calling E so we can recruit her.”

“Holes, I know you’re hiding it from us,” Molly speculated.

“What are you talking-”

“You’re keeping the Forbidden Spicy Gatorade all to yourself because you know of its power and you want it all to yourself.”

“I don’t HAVE the Gatorade, and I’m explicitly telling you it’s going to kill you if you drink it!”

As the bickering went on, Lynn slipped off to the vacant staff lounge to pull out her phone. There had to be a supplier somewhere who would give them this. She searched for a few minutes, and, after a few dead ends, she finally found an investor. “Cha-ching. Forbidden Incorporated is in business,” Lynn smiled to herself.

“Forbidden Incorporated, eh?” Farris asked from the doorway. Lynn froze and cursed herself for forgetting to lock the door. Now Farris knew of her plans. “Tell you what, I’ll keep your secret under one condition: We split the money 50/50, and get equal control over the decisions. So, deal?”

Lynn hesitated. She wasn’t sure she could trust Farris, but seeing as this was the only way to stop Holes from knowing just yet, she had no other choice. “Deal.”

_______

A/n: So that was fun and took entirely too long to write. I hope you enjoyed it and if you’re in the cult and I didn’t include you, reblog this and I’ll make a list. The next chapter might focus on a smaller group bc there are like thirteen characters here and I’m tired. Peace out!

[mellowmoonballoon]

P2 of the Primer - Minho!

Fandom primer for fandom feels.

So, Minho, dance leader!

Minho (Lee Know, Lino...) is the Stray Kids’ Marilla Cuthbert. Very controlled with showing his feelings. Wants to feed everyone. Hard working and practical. Dresses like an old woman who is constantly freezing.

His lack of desire to embarrass himself on screen is very relatable to all anxious perfectionist introverts. He often gets confused for shy or cold because of this, when he will just not do silly things in front of the camera if he’s not sure of the result. His terrible art? He knows it’s terrible and that’s acceptable. His amazing dancing? He knows it’s amazing and that’s acceptable. Things he’s not sure about which include being vulnerable in front of strangers? NOT ACCEPTABLE. I respect that. So this “primer” will not perpetuate any “mean-ho” ideas thank you bye. (Felix calls him tsundere so if you see me use it, it’s not my fault.)

Anyway Minho is a dancer. That was his job before he joined SKZ (he toured with bts etc) and it was his primary role in SKZ for a while. When he first joined he wasn’t a good singer or rapper, but he would have been ok if he wasn’t constantly shaking because he was convinced he’d get kicked out. Which is valid because he did get kicked out.

oh also - I will treat his and Felix’s story as if the elimination wasn’t a setup just because whatever else was going on, they thought it was real.

His singing voice wasn’t great so he was asked to rap instead. He had never done it but said he’d be willing to try. They were given... what? No time? To prepare for that change and famously, Changbin rapped backup for him and Han held his hand and timed the beat with it.

so i cried, and then he did get eliminated because he messed up the lyrics next time so i cried more and then he sent a final message and i FUCKING BAWLED.

To Han: “The time I failed, was it because you weren’t holding my hand?”

Changbin helped him a lot during practice for the second song and they both felt so bad for different reasons. Minho kept saying he was sorry that someone younger than him had to be helping him and that he was failing despite it. “If I had slept one hour less, would I have been able to do it better?” and Changbin with “What did I do for him, that I couldn’t teach him better?” Anyway this show was torture but I’m gonna go back to the good stuff now.

Minho got to come back and they were a band happily ever after. Before the elimination tho he helped the other members with their dance routines. So, shit i learned about kpop peripherally: most bands are made by formula like “2 members rap, 2 members dance, 2 members sing” or something like that. Minho could dance and Changbin could rap and Seungmin could sing and the goal is rarely to get everyone to be great at everything. And Minho was like “nah.” And he made it his goal to make everyone as good a dancer as possible. So while others were helping him with singing and rapping, he was helping them with dancing.

For me a very important scene in the show was when Bang Chan kinda lost it at IN’s lack of ability to dance and he had everyone stand aside and kept telling IN to try again and Minho gave Bang Chan side-eye and went over to IN to teach him how to do it better.

baby bread’s defeated baby face :(

and Minho’s face just saying “you’re not helping” as he walked over in clear defiance of any hierarchy.

So Minho’s whole approach to the group was “I will help everyone be better at dancing”. According to Chan he picked Minho with the idea that Minho would be in charge of dancing. Which is a big fucking deal. For Bang Chan personally and band as a whole.

Changbin asking this question, who else. Chan was like “that phrasing doe?” But eventually:

(Changbin is listening but also not giving a shit, he’s just waiting for Chan to be done so he can ask what his role is and be told he’s the visual, Minho feeds him so fucking well.)

In group dances Minho tends to not stick out. In fact, Minho would really like it if no one stuck out. His goal is to have them all as synchronized as possible and he’s really good at it.

His solos fucking murder us every time tho :(

m... where was i.

Oh yeah. He’s very good at his job. He has also gotten SO MUCH better at singing. I don’t think he gets enough credit for how fucking hard he must have worked on that on top of everything else they do. I know the color of his voice doesn’t pop out like Seungmin or IN’s, but he can hold his own now. (His parts in Slump and Neverending story for example. Slump in particular because apparently Han wrote that whole ass song to fit HIS high notes and everyone just went “I guess” and then Han said “but I’ll only rap in it”.)

But enough about how much I respect him as an artist. Let’s talk about how if he is your favorite in the band, there’s a 99% chance your kink is being spit on followed by a good aftercare. Look I don’t make the rules. Just accept it like Hyunjin has.

Did he tickle him after that? Who knows. Not Hyunjin.

but he feeds him well so it’s all good.

In fact, other than making everyone dance well, Minho’s second mission in life is to make sure everyone is well fed. (He is definitely that grandmother who will tell you you’ve gained weight and then get upset when you don’t eat everything she made for you.)

Life is too short for a full compilation of Minho feeding people so here’s a little vid and a few pics.

How is this post still fucking going? How do I have so many thoughts on this one man wtf? Anyway just a quick note about his ex husband.

Back in the olden days Minho made lunch and wrote a lovely thank you letter to Seungmin and things were great. Now they jokingly call each other the divorced couple and even though they are roommates they both claim they can’t be roommates. I have a theory that could be way off but I will type it up here anyway. My theory hearkens back to the first paragraph which is that Minho doesn’t like doing things in front of the camera when he’s not sure how it’s gonna end up. And I think Seungmin for his own reasons isn’t very expressive either. And maybe sometimes on camera he didn’t react like Minho needed him to. And it ended in Minho adjusting his on camera attitude. Again, I could be way off, but the way I see it, there is safety in teasing. The same way he’ll show off his giraffe picture and be like “isn’t it beautiful” when he clearly has functional eyes, he can show his friendship with Seungmin and say “lol isn’t it horrible” and he gets the expected feedback and it’s fine. It’s better than being seen as overly needy or reaching out and not getting what you want. And tbh I think he and Seungmin pingpong this at each other and this is why every tsundere needs a Felix or Han to hug them despite the shit that’s coming out of their mouth.

But Seungmin can still recognize him by his tiddies so clearly they’re fine off camera.

As far as fan stuff goes, Minho has a regular live where he eats delicious food and talks to fans. Sometimes fans are really shitty and he plays it off but he is human and y’all need to get your shit together. But since all his fans are subs it all works out in the end. (Go on, tell me he’s your bias and you’re not a sub, I won’t believe you.)

I’m going to end this now and sneak edit when I remember other shit like I just did with BC.

Oh PS: I am not getting into Minho and Han now. Maybe ... MAYBE by the time I’m on Jisung’s profile I’ll be emotionally ready for that.

Wait did I do a whole fucking primer on Minho without mentioning his cats? Shit I’m gonna get arrested. He has 3 cats, adopted or found. He also does a shitload of charity stuff, a lot of it animal related. Ok ok ok there.

Bang Chan - Minho - Changbin - Hyunjin - Han - Felix and Felix2 - Seungmin - Jeongin

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Hanging around an old timey town

If I were to describe Tenney in one word, it would be cloudy. Idyllic would probably be more accurate, but I feel like that’s too vague. Cloudy’s a bit of an unusual description, I admit - especially when it's not used to describe the weather. 

What I mean by cloudy is that it’s a charming, almost dreamlike place. Like a mix of cottagecore aesthetics with the gardens and woodland creatures as well as colorful pictures of the sky in various shades of pastel. Imagine sitting outside, surrounded by flowers underneath a colorful sky, getting lost in a book while the breeze blows gently in your direction and the sun beams gently from above.

When you visit a place like Tenney, a day trip does not do it justice. No, in order to get the full idyllic, cloudy, and zen experience, you need to be there for at least two days. A short escape to turn to when you need a break. Spending the hours doing mundane stuff that’s rewarding really goes a long way.

I’m here with Jenny, Clarry, Lyndi, and Louie, who are in need of a vacation. The four came over from Chariott, where they were helping their uncle Ludwig move into a new house. 

Ludwig is what happens when you combine a mad scientist, a chaotic inventor, a mischievous magician, and a disaster bisexual into one lanky bespectacled guy. He’s either super brilliant or beyond baffling or somewhere in between. Either way his chaotic energy is contagious. Pretty much everyone in he’s ever spoken to told him “Ludwig no!”, in which he responds with “Ludwig yes!” and the results wildly vary depending on whether or not explosions were involved.

So the family has been spending the past week helping Ludwig bring various gadgets and gizmos from various labs scattered across the globe as well as some that are outside of that scope. After spending over a decade as a traveling adventurer/scientist, Ludwig decided that it was time to finally settle down. Chariott was his second choice, a remote island off the Diamond Coast, not too far from uncharted territory. His second choice was Rainbow Shores, another remote island, but it’s one of many places where he’s sorta banned from - meaning he can visit but not overstay his welcome.

Not surprisingly, Ludwig underestimated how many labs he set up so Jenny called up some reinforcements like Isabelle and us campers. Turns out he has a base not too far from Wizpire so we spent a day there packing all his stuff. While I find Ludwig’s stuff to be fascinating, going through everything and putting them in boxes felt like sticking my hand in  a sink full of dishes to find utensils and not knowing there’s a knife in there. A couple explosions aside, it went smoothly.

Louie and the triplets have been helping Ludwig for two and a half weeks straight. Finally, two days ago, they were done. The place is still a mess, but Ludwig has his own ways and insisted that his nieces and nephews take a break.

That’s why I planned this trip for them. Then after spending a couple days at Tenney, they’ll be staying at the campsite on the newly renovated second floor of the cabin for a week. Knowing Jenny, she’s made a mile long itinerary, and knowing her sisters and cousin, they won’t stick to it. I’m sure we’ll find a happy medium.

We left Chariott around 5 am with Jenny insisting on driving the whole way since the others were passed out in the back. I offered to take over but she declined, which I didn’t mind too much since she’s a morning person and I’m not. Though I feel kinda bad for having her drive since she’s supposed to be relaxing - then again, she does find driving relaxing, especially on a day like today when there’s no traffic and we’re taking the scenic route.

From Chariott to Tenney, the drive took about three hours. Once we got settled in the Bed and Breakfast, we were ready to take on the day! 

One of the things I love about Tenney is the outdoor workshop classes it offers. From cross breeding flowers to hand lettering to culinary arts to building carriages - there’s no limit to what kind of new skills you can pick up! 

We went to a morning workshop session, where Jenny and I made journals. As in we made our own paper, made the covers with linen we designed, hand stitched the pages - literally the whole thing is made from scratch! It’s a lot of work, but I enjoyed it a lot. Clarry made a bunch of cute stickers while Lyndi and Louie hung out at the beach, where we met up after we finished making our creations.

Around noon we set up a picnic at the beach, taking the time to enjoy the sights and sounds surrounding us. The food, like pretty much everything in this town, is made from scratch. Fragrant jasmine rice from the fields, fruits and veggies picked at the peak of ripeness, flour from the wheat fields to the mill - it’s amazing how much work is put into everything!

A while ago I started following Lia Yi, a vlogger from Tenney who makes videos about her everyday life. Watching her bake bread or work on her garden or using her handmade paints to decorate a canvas while classical music (pieces composed by her) plays in the background is super relaxing. We had the pleasure of meeting her while taking a stroll in the community garden, where she gave us a tour and showed us her latest projects.

After lunch we stopped by the library, which looks like a greenhouse except it’s full of books, and hung around the lounge for a couple hours. Lying on a branch surrounded by vibrant greens and pastel pinks while on my laptop listening to music and scrolling social media makes me feel like I’m one of those lo-fi girls. Speaking of which, I’ve been really into lo-fi lately and it’s been doing wonders with my creative output in terms of art journaling.

Then we headed to the orchard/bakery where we picked fruits and made pastries. It was super cool to see how much work goes into making lemon poppyseed muffins and cherry pies because, like I said, everything is made from scratch! We also learned how to make lingonberry jam, rose, and ice wine, which was super cool as well. 

The villagers are always more than happy to show us around and teach us how to make stuff, another reason why I enjoy visiting Tenney. Even making dough at the bakery (something I have a love/hate thing with) was more relaxing than usual. Something about going back to our roots and doing things the old fashioned way - I guess doing all this stuff by hand is kinda like a form of mindfulness. 

Before we knew it, night had come. Since we were at the bakery, we made dinner paired with rose and dessert. A quick trip to the B&B to drop off the jam and wine crates and a walk around town square followed, leading to a two hour karaoke session at the rec center. 

Clarry’s latest hit, Somewhere in Your Mind, was one of the selections on the machine, which she found flattering. When she came up to sing it to see what would happen, a couple villagers immediately recognized her and she gave her fans the VIP treatment. 

It took a couple cocktails but Clarry convinced me to step up to the stage and sing some tunes. I like watching people sing karaoke but ask me to go up there I’d be like no way. Unless I’m in a group and/or slightly buzzed, then maybe.

So we hung out at the rec center until it closed around 1. After karaoke, we went to the arcade, where Louie and I fought to the death in a sword fighting game, Jenny had to wrestle Lyndi away from a VR game when things got too intense, and Clarry beat the high score in a ukulele game. 

Then we got back to the B&B, where we hung out a bit at the lobby sharing drinks and stories for about an hour before heading off to bed. Jenny’s starting an internship at Viola Francois in August and she’s super hyped about that. Clarry has been busy with her newest songwriting partner on her upcoming album planned to be out next year. Lyndi started getting into tik toks and has been making a bunch of vids that have gone viral. And Louie’s taking it easy after surviving freshman year at Seashore Path as well as reconciling with his uncle, who he has a love/hate relationship with. 

Maybe it’s because I’m super tired, but this bed feels like I’m floating on a cloud. The mattress’s even kinda lumpy like one - and super soft too, I must say. 

[jeantralala]

This will sound really really petty especially set against the backdrop of the ongoing pandemic and death and DDS bullshit, but Ermat’s been a such supermom I couldn’t let this pass. Also this concerns my creation process so I thought it’d be cool to have this documented too I think?

Over a week ago Mama celebrated her 59th birthday! Ta-da!

So about two weeks ago (yes ECQ has been in place already then) I’ve been scrambling to look for cake delivery services online. I came across a profile of this driver who’d buy stocks from Conti’s, stash em airconditioned in his car and have them delivered to cake-deprived and/or party-ready customers such as Jill and I. I PM-ed the guy, inquired about the price, and told him I might place an order a week from that day. By this time his service fee was at P200.

Come April 10, I let kuya know that we’d just get 2 small yet very very pricey Mango Bravos please (the other was for cousin Annica whose house was 500-m radius within ours and was then also celebrating her birthday a day after mama’s). This was to maximize the tumataginting na delivery fee please. But Kuya told that he has increased his fee to Php400. And that sorry for the misunderstanding, Miss, but this is PER cake, regardless of the size. Php 2,400 po for two small cakes, miss.

Hmm.

Last I checked I didn’t see edible gold leaf on that shit. By this time I also wasn’t sure if I’d still be on payroll especially after realizing a recession-induced unemployment may move me to cut my dick off. Okay kuya, hold that thought (hold it forever), ang mahal po pala hehe (angry laugh) so I will check nalang po muna with my sister (no I won’t) and will get back to you later (I didn’t).

So anyway.

On the morning of Ermat’s birthday she made pasta and after a making a gazillion calls to Pizza Hut we also had pizza delivered. I gave up on the cake bit so I just had ice cream Grabbed to our house.

Jill seemed really upset about not seeing cake on such an important cake affair, and so did her best to order cake and lo and behold cake was delivered after lunch!!! To be fair I guess that’s how her love for people manifests—through gifts. Money does buy happiness. But whatever warms the heart, yo!

If u read this, make damn sure to watch the vid. I poured about 2 hours of my day editing that thing and actually had fun. Duterte if u gunna hire me do it now– your late night talk show is poorly edited & sux dik

(☞ﾟ∀ﾟ)☞

[docfuture]

Princess, part 4

     [This story is a prequel, set several years before The Fall of Doc Future, when Flicker is 16.  Links to some of my other work are here.  Planning to update this once a week until it’s done–next update is planned to be up by November 10th.]

Previous: Part 3

     Back at her section of Doc's HQ.  Flicker's personal shower was a customized array of converted waterjet cutters.  She set the cycle to 'potential biohazard decontamination' and turned the pressure and temperature all the way up.  The high pressure streams helped a little.  She used emotional and memory compartmentalization as a coping mechanism, but it was fraying around the edges.  She'd been able to achieve temporary detachment from the events at the Box, but other issues were creeping back.  Burnout wasn't helping, but it was better than unmanaged anger or frustration, so she'd take it.  Could be worse.       She dressed after a medibot scan and checked alerts.  Doc had listed his debriefing as 'optional' but she went anyway.  Might as well get it over with.       Doc was in the main control room.  A rows of vid screens nearly covered one wall, and Flicker noted that the upper left quadrant was still set to Doc's preferred 'remain even-tempered while on a voice call with someone obnoxious' mix--science news feeds and a set of difficult-to-decipher regional heatmaps.  She sat down in one of the observer chairs and Doc turned to face her.       "I should have slowed down after he stopped struggling," she said.  "Getting to the Box fast didn't matter."       "Hindsight," said Doc.  "And it's not clear going slower for a longer time would have been less painful for Hermes--he was getting dragged by the leg at hypersonic velocities regardless.  You did everything reasonably possible.  You stopped the rampage.  He's gone and unlikely to voluntarily return any time soon--his mystique is shattered.  Remember, it took us over a month to catch him the first time."       "However."  Doc tented his hands, his face concerned.  "You still aren't managing your pacing.  If you made a mistake today, it was to go on patrol at all--you were only marginally at yellow when the alert hit.  I had a discussion with the Database integrity AI.  Some of your telemetry on the return trip was very disturbing.  And the EMT at the Box reported that you showed signs of combat stress reaction--thousand-yard stare and complete lack of facial expression."       "Fine," said Flicker.  "I'll skip patrol tomorrow."       "I think you should take a longer break.  Your stress is--"       "Journeyman is more than two hours overdue for his scheduled check-in.  I'm not going on vacation when my partner is potentially in trouble."       "I'm not suggesting that," said Doc.  "You can stay on-call for his backup without handling response for anything else.  And he did request a 24-hour buffer before we take any action when he isn't on Earth."       "... Yeah, he did."       Now I have nothing pressing to do except worry about my partner.  Great.       Doc was still studying her.  "There were some patterns in the probability manipulation flux levels I measured that bother me.  Hermes' summoning may have been used as a mask for something.  I'm going to be gathering and analyzing more data.  If you wish, you could assist in some tests.  They should be stress-free."       "Okay.  I can try that."       *****       Flicker had her own place, but its suitability as a permanent home was still largely theoretical.  The location had been a rail maintenance shop in a long inactive part of the Iron Range, where she'd been able to secure several important concessions regarding allowable levels of noise and plasma in return for cleaning it up without allowing any contamination to get into the groundwater.       It had a full Database backup node, up and running smoothly--sub-microsecond latency was part of Flicker's minimum requirement for 'home'--but everything else was progressing more slowly.  It was more than a cot in a workshop next to a giant underground server room, as one of Doc's sysadmins had joked, but not a lot more.       It was, however, far enough from Doc's HQ to run some esoteric causal isolation tests for probability manipulation--and rule out certain forms of influence that were otherwise difficult to detect.  Flicker was quite willing.  Glancing at her Machiavelli study context after the weight of the day's events sank in had turned her stomach.  The tests were emotionally neutral--better than anything else available.  She sat at her high speed interface keyboard, watching several graphs and responding to a verification program controlled by a random number generator.       It let her go away for a while.       Update, sent the Database, after a long time.       Flicker sped up.  Yes?       Journeyman has checked in.  Message for you:  "Back.  Will call when home."       Something positive to focus on.  Finally.  Location.  Running updates.       Check in at Antarctic secure drop.  Current location undefined.       Flicker slowed down slightly to wait on the updates and felt her emotional reaction start to kick in.       Bangkok...  Undefined...  Tabriz...  Undefined...    Amsterdam...  Undefined...  Las Vegas...  Undefined...       He was skip-porting, staying just long enough to send a blip from his phone then porting again.  Was he worried about pursuit?       Rural Kansas.       She waited.  The location didn't change.  What is he doing in Kansas?       Buying groceries.       Okay.  Estimate probability he'll be there for at least ten more seconds.       98%+.  However, there is a 94%+ chance he will be at his home within five minutes.       Groceries implied at least a short stay.       Flicker got up from the keyboard and made sure her travel pack had a fresh change of clothes--it had been a while since she'd used it.  'Off-duty' was not a state of mind that came naturally anymore.

     Flicker was waiting on Journeyman's doorstep when he ported in.  He was in an outfit she'd seen before; a stylized armored vest over archaic-looking clothes.  His shapeshifting hat was wide-brimmed and black.  He looked like the handsome villain from a poster for a historical drama with skilled costumers but no concern for accuracy.       "Hey," she said, then held out her hand, fingers spread.  "Yellow."  Not great, but able to handle immediate priorities.       "Hey."  He touched his fingertips to hers in their personal substitute for a high five.  "I'm at yellow, too," he said.       "What's up?"       He waved his hand.  "Paranoia, probably.  But, you know..."  He took a breath.  "We can talk inside."       He scowled at the multiple locks on his front door.  Flicker knew there were invisible wards on it as well.       "Can you just port us both?" she asked.       "I got into this mess because I was overconfident at the wrong time," he said.  He put down the grocery bags, stuck out both arms, and moved them slowly upwards in a smooth arc.  Faint green fire trailed from his fingertips.  "Sorry for the wait, but I'm not going to get sloppy at the end."       After finishing with the wards, he pulled out a set of keys to unlock the physical locks.  "I'd like to close this properly after we're inside.  You willing to leave it unvaporized if something comes up?" he asked.       "Do you still have a replacement emergency exit window handy?"       "Yep."       "Then yeah," she said.  "I'll use that if I have to go in a hurry."       Journeyman heaved a sigh after they entered and he closed the door.  "Now we can--"  Something chirped, interrupting him.  "Great."       Flicker sped up and checked her sensors.  There was no sign of anyone or anything else living or recently mobile inside.  The chirp had sounded similar to a low battery alert from a smoke alarm, but had come from midair.  Whatever was amiss, it wasn't anything she recognized.  She turned to Journeyman and slowed down again.       "No obvious intruders," she said.  "What alarm is that?"       "Higher than expected magic level."  He waved a hand to silence the alarm, then pulled out his glasses from a vest pocket and put them on.  He used them for detail work and distinguishing subtle magic.  He looked around the room before turning to Flicker and doing a double take.       "False alarm," he said.  "But you certainly have a fine magical glow about you this evening."       "Should I worry?"       "Depends on how you got that way."  He paused to put the bags of groceries on the kitchen counter, then he took off his hat and tossed it onto the hat stand, where it transformed into a flat cap.       He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.  "Did you, like, beat up a demigod and take his lunch money or something?"       "Does Hermes count?"       Both eyebrows up.  "...for this purpose, yes.  Would that be why you're at yellow?"       "I was already at yellow from my shift when he showed.  But my day improved when you ported in alive."       A short laugh.  "Mine too.  You up for telling me what happened?  Is he, ah..."       "I didn't kill him.  And he got away, off Earth, because..."  Flicker shut her eyes to try to organize what she wanted to say.   "Can I show you the feed from my visor cam?  That's easier than just talking.  I'm pretty burned out.  Doc strongly suggested I take time off.  But are you expecting an attack?  I got really worried after you missed your check in."       "Not a direct one.  Not anymore.  Certainly not with you here."  He pulled off his vest and dropped it on a chair, revealing blotches of sweat on the shirt underneath.  "The magician part of the 'Byzantine interdimensional magician mess' should be over.  But I've been reliving an old style, an old set of habits, as cover, and I'm not all the way back yet, so--"       Flicker frowned at a cut in the outer fabric of the back of the vest.  "That looks like someone stabbed you in the back."       "Yep.  That was a while ago.  I left the cut to discourage anyone else from trying, then forgot about it."       "You forgot about being backstabbed?"       "Eh.  He was okay, he was just testing me.  I finessed it.  He laughed when his sword broke because I warp cut it, then I asked if he was done yet.  Wasn't even in the top ten most stressful things that happened that day.  Not incidentally, I could use some time off, too.  But you had a bad day involving magic, and I wasn't here to back you up, which I regret.  So tell me, or show me, whatever you want.  We can use the TV--it has one of Doc's data scramblers, and I warded it so no one can use the speaker as a mic."       "Okay."       Flicker set up a playback of highlights from her visor, edited by the Database, then joined Journeyman on the couch.  "I had already hit my patrol limit for the day and was reading something kind of depressing when the alert hit..."       Flicker described events tersely and spent the vid segments watching Journeyman's reaction.  He had red hair, a light complexion with freckles, and a very expressive face.  Unfortunately, Flicker wasn't very good at reading faces.  He looked intent and slightly alarmed--which was his default with anything important.       His eyes widened slightly at her exchange with Hermes in the Tyrrhenian, and he spent the replay of the transfer at the Box with his hands clasped in front of his mouth.       "...and after I decontaminated, Doc was really insistent I stay off duty for a while," Flicker concluded, after the replay segments finished.  "But you were overdue, so I killed time running some tests until you ported in."       Journeyman met her eyes.  "Whoof.  Lots of things I could say.  Most aren't urgent, since he lived and you didn't spill any blood.  Anything you wanted to ask me about first?"       "Well, Doc said Hermes' escape wasn't a big problem.  I'm not so sure.  What do you think?"       "Heh."  Journeyman shook his head.  "He didn't escape.  He got boomeranged when his summoner died--I'm actually more concerned about how that happened, because the whole thing sounds fishy.  I'll have to see if I can find out who the summoner was.  And I really don't think Hermes is going to be eager to come back to Earth again, which will make him rather more difficult to summon, even if someone wanted to."       "Why not?"       "Because you live here."  Journeyman waved a hand.  "You delivered one of the most thorough pseudo-mythological curb-stompings I've ever seen, followed by a disturbingly effective bit of operant conditioning.  And that 'fire is hot' bit where you changed your voice? That--"       "My voice changed?  I was just trying to speak clearly when I was tired and out of patience."       "Yeah, well, you didn't sound like a superhero.  You sounded like an angry goddess.  To me, and to Hermes.  You saw his eyes."       Flicker looked away.  "You know how I feel about being called a goddess."       "I do.  But if the shoe fits...  And I'll need to check on a few things.  You're likely to get a lot of weird or disturbing messages.  For sure when whatever vid the Box recorded leaks.  But that's not urgent."       Flicker sighed.  "I get plenty of weird emails already.  Enough for my Database bots to do robust statistics on small fraction subgroups.  I look at the results sometimes when I'm having trouble getting to sleep."       "Then rejoice, for your somnolence-aiding samples will surely grow."       Flicker snorted a laugh.  "Thanks.  There's another thing that bugging me a bit, though."       "Yes?"       "Hermes didn't seem to recognize me.  So how did he learn that claiming to know about my biological parents was a plausible trick to try?"       "Ah."  Journeyman looked down and said nothing for a moment.  "What did Doc have to say about it?"       "Nothing.  And I didn't bring it up because I didn't want to restart the old argument I've had with him since I was twelve.  He was more concerned about some probability manipulation detector anomalies.  He'll probably want to talk to you about them, eventually."       "Ah."  Journeyman put a hand to his mouth.  He looked worried, like he was trying to solve a hard problem in his head and failing.  He stood and shut off the TV, then walked over to the bookshelves.  After standing silently for a while he turned back around.       "You said you were reading something unpleasant when the alert hit.  What was it?"       "A heavily annotated translation of Machiavelli's The Prince.  I've started trying to learn about politics."       "Oh.  Yeah, that would... Damn it.  Okay.  You asked a question.  I have a theory about the answer.  I owe you an explanation, but it's going to lead somewhere pretty dark, and I'm not sure you're up for it right now.  And I have a nasty suspicious mind, and my paranoia dial has been turned to 11 for a while.  I could be wrong about any or all of this.  I don't know anything.  Like whether this is safe.  But I don't think it's safe to leave it for later, either."       Flicker sped up.  DASI?  Any idea what's going on?       Yes.       Care to enlighten me?       Not at this time.  It would not aid your memory integration and could create an incomplete information bias hazard.  Listen to Journeyman.       Flicker stared at her visor display for a long subjective time.  A hazard if she didn't listen...       She slowed back down.  "It isn't going to get any less dark if you wait, is it?"       "No."       "Then go ahead."       He came back and sat down on the couch beside her, clasped his hands in front of his face, then turned to look at her.  "So.  Let's start with why you're sensitive about your biological parentage.  You told me about your fight with Doc about your DNA tests.  I'm afraid I'm on his side.  DNA tests are easy to spoof with probability manipulation if you have any kind of divination or you know how they work.  Takes hardly any power.  I can do it, no sweat.  I could even put a ward on someone to make a DNA test on their blood match the DNA of the tech that did the draw, so they don't get outed as a non-human by a drug test.  Hypothetically."       "Uh..."       Journeyman waved a hand.  "That said, I think that if your biological body has two parents and if you were conceived by sexual reproduction, then you're right--Doc is probably your father.  It's still the simplest explanation."       Flicker looked down.  "Doc won't assume that.  He told me that wherever my body came from could be a lot weirder and still be less unusual than my speed powers."       "He has a point.  But let's go ahead and assume it for the moment.  He's not the problem, is he?  Your mother is, because she's definitely not human.  You're on pretty firm ground there because of your strength and healing ability.  And you aren't happy with what that implies."       "No.  I'm not."       "Sooo... Suppose a demon shows up at Doc's HQ tomorrow and says 'Hi Flicker, I'm your mother', and Doc says 'Could be her', and runs some tests--you know he would--then says 'Yup.'  How would you feel?"       "I would have many questions."       "I'm sure," said Journeyman.  "But how would feel?  Happy... or angry?"       Fury.  Flicker sped up.  DASI?  Is anger a reasonable response?       He did not ask for justification.  Is anger an accurate description of your projected emotional state?       Yeah...       She slowed back down.  "Angry.  Very angry."       "More angry than you were at Hermes today?"       Flicker took a deep breath.  "I... don't know.  Maybe.  Why did you say 'demon'?  You usually--"       "Say non-human person or something.  Yes.  Demon isn't a great word.  Emotionally loaded as hell.  But it's the one that gets used.  It's the one you think, right?  So maybe you can understand why she might not want to drop in for pizza and chitchat?"       "If she knew, but--"       "Now suppose she doesn't stop by, but someone tells you her name.  Would you want to go have a little talk with her?  Maybe while you're still angry, because of those many questions that haven't been answered yet?"       "... Yeah."       "So can you see how her name could be used as an attack, against you or her, even though you want to know it?  And the correct name might be worse than a lie or mistake?"       Another breath.  "Yes."       "So.  Back to your question.  I think Hermes was primed with a hint that you were sensitive about your biological parents, either by the summoner or by someone else before he was summoned."       Journeyman waggled his hand.  "I suspect that the whole thing might have been a premeditated attack aimed at you that didn't quite work, but I'm less sure about that and it's messy to explain.  If it was, the probability manipulation Doc picked up on was probably part of it.  And it might not be over."       "But if Hermes planned to attack me--"       "I don't think he did.  I don't even think he was the weapon--that would be the summoner.  I think Hermes was ammunition.  And the planner was someone who had really good intel.  A seer at a minimum.  You got hit at about the worst possible time, and I don't think that was an accident.  But we're getting into wild-eyed paranoia territory now.  Both you and Doc are swimming in a sea of probability manipulation, against and for you, because you're both so important to the survival of Earth.  So it's hard to sort things out.  Anyway.  Are you ready for the not safe part?"       "Okay..."       "You gave him more than one chance to talk.  And he didn't try 'I know who your parents are' right away.  Not until the last thing he said, right after you went angry goddess.  I think he recognized something."       "What?" said Flicker.  "He'd already seen me."       "Your voice changed.  I think he heard a resemblance to someone he'd met.  And guessed she was your mother."       "You really think he could tell just from a bit of voice?  Why?"       "Because that's what I thought, about someone I've met.  At the same spot in the recording."       "Do you think it's the same person?"       Journeyman looked down.  "Important question.  Any name occur to you?"       Flicker's mind whirled.  "No."       "Okay.  Not sure my guess is right.  But I'm a lot more sure that if it is right, she doesn't want you to know who she is.  At least not right now."       "Who do you think she is?"       "Aaand now we start with the dark part.  I'm not going to tell you.  You'll eventually learn, if I'm right and we all live that long."       Journeyman looked back up and met her eyes.  "But not from me.  I won't be the weapon."       Another breath.  And a lot of anger that wasn't a projected emotional state.  "What was the point of making this so... personal, if you won't tell me?"       "You asked the question, and it's a threat exactly because you take it so personally."  He looked to the side.  "I have another reason.  It's more personal for me, and the rest of the dark part.  I'll tell you, if you want to hear, but it will take a bit.  You up for it?"       "Yes."       "Okay.  But you're stressed and burned out and angry and probably a little buzzed from that hit of magic you picked up, and I'm tired and stressed and hungry, so I'd like to fix dinner first.  You want some?"       "We can get takeout, you don't have to--"       "I cook to de-stress sometimes.  That's why I got groceries.  And it will give you a bit of a break, too.  Are you hungry?"       "No... but I probably should be."       Journeyman smiled.  "Great.  Food coming up!"  He stood and headed for the kitchen.       Flicker felt a sense of emotional whiplash as she watched him.  But he hadn't brushed her off or ignored what she wanted...       My partner.  Helping me remember things I shouldn't forget.

Next: Part 5

[mosaiccreme]

OTP Meme

@squigglysquidd

Ares/Charles

1. Who is the most affectionate?

Charles is probably the ‘most’ affectionate, but Ares does surprise every now and again by initiating affection himself. Usually things like bumping his forehead against Charles’, or combing his fingers through Charles’ hair. Charles is far more hands-on. If Ares is within touching distance, Charles is probably touching him or holding on to the corner of his jacket.

2. Big spoon/Little spoon? 

Ares for sure. Even if their size difference wasn’t an issue, Charles knows that Ares wouldn’t appreciate feeling the slightest bit ‘pinned down’ while sleeping. Even when Charles starts the night out with his head laying on Ares’ keel, he usually rolls off the turian before sleep takes him.

3. Most common argument?

Miscommunication really is an issue between the two of them, but I’d say their most common argument up until very recently was over Ares’ refusal to take Charles out on jobs with him.

4. Favorite non-sexual activity?

Besides for killing people (but, let’s face it, killing people really sorta is a sexual activity for these two)? I’d say trying out new places to eat on the Citadel and hanging out with Cammus. Charles does enjoy it when he can get Ares to sit still and watch a vid or two, but that’s not super often.

 5. Who is most likely to carry the other? 

Charles isn’t strong enough to carry Ares, though he did take a lot of the turian’s weight onto himself to help them get out of a burning building. But then Ares picked Charles up and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, so ….

6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?

He has to pick? Even though Ares hates it, Charles loves Ares’s scars. He especially loves the scars created when Ares had Charles carve his name into Ares’ arm. Otherwise his favorite features of Ares’, physically speaking, are his voice, his teeth, his talons, and his cock XD Charles really loves the little things about Ares that Ares either denies, tries to hide, or balks at if mentioned, such as his generosity and protective nature. It means the world to him that Ares’ not only wanted to seek revenge on Charles’ behalf, but he also involved Charles in the matter.

I’d definitely agree that Charles’ scent is Ares’ favorite feature, but I also think he likes seeing his bite mark scars on Charles, and I think he likes the way Charles’ hair feels.

 7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

Charles felt a connection with Ares the first night they met, otherwise he never would’ve invited the assassin to spend the night. The scars, an outward sign of the pain Ares’ endured, somehow soothed the ache of his own, hidden scars. I’d say that he started realizing he had feelings for Ares after maybe the third time or so Ares showed up in his apartment. It was undeniable when Ares verbally made a connection between them as being something more than what he’s had with other people. It was well and truly cemented for him, though, when Ares told him that they were going to kill the people who’d hurt him so badly in his past.

I’d say the first thing that changed for Charles is he started to fuss over Ares a little more. Such as buying him more comfortable clothes, trying to get him to eat better food, trying to find ways to make his apartment more comfortable for Ares. The second, or perhaps concurrently, thing that changed is he started taking risks of showing physical affection without the intent of seduction.

Ares still hasn’t really admitted to having feelings for Charles other than telling Charles that he trusts him, which admittedly is huge for Ares. That being said, I’d say physical affection became something Ares was more willing to accept and to give. Ares started trying to take care of Charles in his own way, too, like buying Charles groceries when he was low on cash and shooting Charles’ vidscreen just so he could buy him an upgraded one (Squid will never be able to convince me it wasn’t intentional). And, last but not least, Ares started opening up to Charles more about his past and his family.

8. Nicknames? & if so, how did they originate? 

In addition to Ares calling Charles ‘idiot’, they are known to refer to one another as ‘mine’. The ‘mine’ originated with Charles stumbling over how to express the budding relationship between himself and Ares to an overly concerned citizen who wouldn’t leave Charles alone. The man saw Ares’ bite marks on Charles and became convinced Charles was being abused by Ares. Charles told the man that Ares’ “is mine” and told the guy to fuck off. Ares, who’d overheard some of it, stepped in and told the man to get away from “my human”. It evolved into something so much more, though.

 9. Who worries the most? 

Probably Charles, but Ares is the most paranoid.

 10. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant? 

Both. Not only are they both pretty predictable when it comes to food and drinks, but Charles is hyper-vigilant about ways he can take care of Ares and prove his love to Ares whereas Ares is well trained to be observant and to remember things. And … he probably wouldn’t say so, but I think he likes knowing what Charles likes, too.

11. Who tops? 

99% of the time it’s Ares. Charles is fairly flexible when it comes to top/bottom dynamics, and Ares is rather dominant, so Charles goes with whatever Ares wants. It also makes him feel … safe. Taken care of. Claimed.

12. Who initiates kisses? 

Their first kiss was initiated by Ares, and it surprised the hell out of Charles. After that initial kiss, I’d say it depends on the purpose of the kiss. Ares is likely to initiate kissing if he’s using it to lead to sex, whereas Charles is likely to initiate kissing as a sign of affection (or to lead to sex).

 13. Who reaches for the other’s hand first?

Charles, no question.

14. Who kisses the hardest? 

They both get rough when aroused, but it’s usually Ares who gets rough to start.

15. Who wakes up first?

Ares, the turian barely sleeps.

16. Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer? 

Charles, especially if by some stroke of luck Ares is still in the bed with him.

17. Who says I love you first?

Charles has said it, Ares still hasn’t.

18. Who leaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does it usually say?) 

Although I think Charles would be more likely to be the one to leave notes in Ares’ lunch (probably something sappy like ‘I love you. Have a good day’), neither of them exactly take lunch to work. I can see them both leaving notes of one sort or another around the apartment for the other, though. Charles’ would probably consist of something like, ‘Hey, I went to see Cammus. I’ll be back by dinner. Come find us if you get bored. Love you.’ Ares’ would probably be something along the lines of, ‘Get some more horosk after work.’ Or, ‘I got a job, heading out.’ Or, ‘The stupid dog chewed on the coffee table leg.’

19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?

Technically, Charles told his father about Ares as they were killing him. Otherwise, Charles has told his friends about Ares to a lesser degree. Ares indirectly told Jasmine about Charles, but it wasn’t planned on his part. Charles has no other family, and Ares is estranged from his family.

20. What do their family/friends think of their relationship?

Cammus likes Ares. He sees how happy Ares makes Charles, and how miserable Charles is when Ares is away. He considers Ares to be a friend as well. The others haven’t really been around him much. Jasmine thinks is good Ares has someone, and she thinks Charles seems alright all in all so far.

21. Who is more likely to start dancing with the other? 

The only way I see either of them dancing is if they’re both shitfaced drunk, in their apartment, and Charles harasses Ares until he gives in.

22. Who cooks more/who is better at cooking?

Neither of them cook often, but Charles probably does cook more. As for who is better … *shrugs*

23. Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines?

Lol, ah, actually they both 100% do. Ares had some of the cheesiest lines when they first started talking over the extranet and when he first showed up in Charles’ apartment. He’s also known to use cheesy and/or lewd lines to flirt with others. Charles is more likely to do the sappy kind of cheesy pick up lines.

24. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times?

Mostly Ares, no doubt, but Charles isn’t above such behaviors either!

25. Who needs more assurance?

Although I think Ares does need assurances, too, I think Charles needs more of it. He’s clingy, obsessive, and emotionally damaged. He lives in constant fear of Ares leaving him and never coming back.

26. What would be their theme song? 

I like Squid’s answer of ‘Closer’ by NIN. I’d like to add to this, though, and suggest ‘Bodies’ by Drowning Pool.

27. Who would sing to their child back to sleep? 

Uhhhh … no. I mean, if we want to be purely hypothetical, I can actually see Ares as being more likely to take on this task as he’d be more likely to hear the kid wake up in the middle of the night as well as less likely to be sleeping anyway. It’d be something he would only do when Charles wasn’t around and couldn’t hear him, though. Charles would if he thought to do it and was desperately trying to get the kid to shut up so he could sleep himself. Babies aren’t in their future, however.

28. What do they do when they’re away from each other? 

Ares does Ares like things which remain mysterious and concerning to Charles in his absence. Charles tries not to go crazy without Ares, focuses a lot of his energy on training, work, and Cammus. They both kill people when they’re away from each other …. Sometimes when they’re together, too.

 29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

They’re all technically headcanon for these two, but one that isn’t too spoiler filled would be is Ares’ inability to believe that Charles really, truly find him attractive and loves him.

30. one headcanon about this OTP that mends it 

Charles would do pretty much anything and everything for Ares, and Ares would rip apart anyone and anything that threatened Charles or stood between the two of them.

[i-write-shakespeare-not-disney]

Fragile Hearts Ch. 9- Trying to Put it Into Words

Click the OP if the READ MORE link does not show!

THANK YOU TO @bluejayb1rd FOR COMMISSIONING!!! I’ve missed this story and I really hope you all enjoy this one <3 

Click Here for Chapter 1

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AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11928798/chapters/33483498

The motel room was nicer than Pidge expected. The ones she’d seen on TV were usually ones with peeling wall paint, water stains, and roaches scurrying around rusted bathroom sinks and tubs. This one smelled like cotton air freshener and had little lamps and comfortable beds. It wasn’t as nice as the hotel room she’d gotten with Hunk back in New York, but that was to be expected.

As she finished brushing her teeth, she could feel Lance’s eyes on her. She ignored it, hoping to simply fall asleep for the night and keep the journey going in the morning.

Then he cleared his throat, and her stomach flipped. “So… are we gonna talk about Ohio?”

“No,” she said firmly.

“Pidge-”

“I really, really don’t want to, Lance. Please drop it.”

Lance sighed and raised his hands in defeat, going to the bathroom to take a shower with Leon at his heels. Pidge crawled into bed and let out a long breath.

After a few hours of driving from Pidge’s apartment, it had somehow come about that Pidge had never learned to drive. Lance had taken it as a personal offense and couldn’t understand how Pidge, the girl who flew a gigantic robot lion, didn’t know how to drive down the highway in a Honda Civic.

And despite Pidge insisting that she was fine without driving, Lance assured her that learning to drive would come in handy. And he added some spiel about being independent and whatnot and Pidge finally switched seats to shut him up.

Everything was fine at first. Lance taught her the basics and tried to keep her calm because she was stiff and anxious. It was so different piloting a war machine versus driving a mundane box of metal. There were no rules in space. She was supposed to wreck things. The lion was sentient! Sitting in the driver’s seat with her hands on the wheel meant she felt the rumble of the engine more prominently than when she sat in the passenger seat.

The rush of cars around her, their engines revving and their drivers honking, and even Leon’s barking all began to slowly morph like a tuning radio station. They warped in her mind until they weren’t just cars and annoyed drivers, but Galran spaceships shooting at her, sirens waking her in the middle of the night to get to her lion.

When she began to speed, caught up in her head, Lance started asking her to slow down, but she couldn’t fully register his voice. It was a warble among everything else and soon, it was just part of her memories too.

She had no idea how they ended up safely pulled over on the side of the road. But she knew there was a cop car behind her and she couldn’t stop hyperventilating even with Lance talking to her gently, bringing her back. Her hands had the steering wheel in a vice grip and it took a lot of concentration to pry them off.

Lance had given the officer some long-winded story about relatives and weddings and driving lessons, passing Pidge off for a 16-year-old. The officer had asked her if she was okay, and Pidge figured she looked a mess with the trauma making her shake and the tears she hadn’t realized were streaming down her face until she blinked to look at the woman in uniform. Pidge’s brain kicked back up to function enough for her to pass off her emotions as a broken-hearted teenage girl whose boyfriend had broken up with her.

They were let off with a warning, and Lance took the driver’s seat back. He’d stopped at a gas station to get her a water, and hugged her tightly, apologizing for making her drive and assuring her she was okay, that it was okay that she freaked out.

He hadn’t asked what happened or why until they got to the motel room. But she did not want to talk about it. She didn’t want to keep thinking about how the weakness caught up to her again. She just wanted to move on and forget; enjoy her time before the next break.

Before she could fall asleep, her phone buzzed.

No vid chat today honeysuckle?

Pidge smiled at the text and, for a moment, felt lighter and forgot about the incident in Ohio. She shut her eyes and feigned sleep, snapping a picture before typing: Long day. Very drained. Can I call in the morning? I miss you.

The response came quickly. Of course rest up and feel better honeybee. I miss you more. Goodnight.

She smiled and put her phone to charge before pulling the covers up over her. She felt calm enough to maybe actually fall asleep.

This time, her dreams were merciful and blank.

When she woke up the next morning, she woke up to Lance snoring in his bed, tightly hugging one of the pillows on the bed while Leon curled up beside him. Pidge chuckled and got up figuring she could walk to the McDonald’s down the street to get some breakfast before they hit the road again.

She sent Hunk a good morning text before pulling on her shoes and leaving a note in case Lance woke up, and she left the motel, greeted by crisp morning air. After spending so long in a car, she was happy to get a chance to actually use her legs for more than standing in a shower and walking to a bed.

When she was at McDonald’s, she ordered the food then called Hunk. He answered on the fourth ring.

“Hey honeybun. Feeling better?”

“Much,” she said with a smile. She hadn’t realized how badly she’d needed to hear his voice. It was warm and she was anxious to hear it in person again. “How’d you sleep?”

“I slept okay. With the break, there’s a lot of orders coming in and it’s been keeping everyone busy. Where are you, it sounds kind of crowded?”

Pidge looked around at the varying people around her, all people going to work or parents who woke up early enough to bring their kids to breakfast to reign in Spring break. “I’m at McDonald’s, getting breakfast.”

He hummed and said, “Sounds good. I might go there on my lunch break. It’s like across the street anyway.” Pidge laughed and scanned the counter for her order. “Hey, so what happened yesterday? You said you were drained; are you okay?”

Pidge bit her lip and frowned. “Yeah. I’m okay, it’s just I was really tired. I think I just needed a little personal day, you know?”

“Ah, okay. Well, I have to start getting ready for work. I’ll call you on my lunch break, yeah?”

“Okay, talk to you later. Have fun at work!”

They counted to three and hung up.

A few minutes later, Pidge got her food and started walking back to the motel. Surprisingly, Lance still wasn’t awake, but with a few nudges and the smell of pancakes in the air, Lance opened his eyes and sat up, stretching.

“How’d you go to McDonald’s?”

“It’s down the street. I walked.” He hummed, squinting at her, but Pidge ignored it. “How’d you sleep?”

“Like a baby,” he said with a smile as he gave Leon some food. He washed his hands and sat down to prepare his pancakes, casting Pidge a quick glance. Then after a beat, he asked, “What about you?”

“I can’t remember my dreams, so it was great.” Lance frowned, but he didn’t prod.

They spent their breakfast in comfortable silence, watching a crude cartoon comedy on Netflix using Pidge’s laptop. Once they’d eaten and freshened up for the day, they piled back into the car and the road trip began again.

Leon kept his head perched on Pidge’s shoulder and nuzzled her cheek with his nose every now and then.

“He’s an emotional support dog,” Lance said suddenly. “That’s why he’s all over you. He’s been trained to sense when I get anxious or stressed. And he comforts me through it.” He glanced over at her then looked back at the road. “He’s trying to help you too because he senses it with you.”

“Oh,” Pidge said awkwardly. “I’m okay, boy.” She pet his head, but Leon whined and licked her face, lifting his paw to rest on the shoulder of the seat, but it kept slipping.

Lance chuckled and shook his head. “You can lie to me, Pidge, but you can’t lie to a dog.” Pidge rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Did you do therapy when we got back?”

“Yes,” she snapped. “Yes, I went to therapy, I took the meds, I was fine. I learned to live my life and I was fine. I don’t need it anymore. School keeps me busy and focused, and I’m fine. Please, Lance can you drop it?”

Lance didn’t answer. Instead he started flipping through radio stations. “Well, I wasn’t expecting this drive to take so long,” Lance said nonchalantly. “It was an impulse decision, and I didn’t think to even look at how long we’d have to drive.”

Pidge laughed as she looked at the GPS. “Yeah… I feel like half of break is going to be us driving there and back. I guess Keith must’ve rubbed off on you if you’re making impulsive choices now.” She flinched when she heard herself and looked over at Lance who was frowning at the road. “I’m so sorry. I- I shouldn’t have brought him up, that was stupid-”

“No, it’s cool,” Lance said with a shrug. “I write about the guy, for Christ’s sake. I’m not angry with him. Or with how we ended things.”

Pidge hummed and bit her lip. “Do… do you miss him?” Lance raised an eyebrow and looked at her blankly. She scrunched her nose. “Don’t wanna talk about it. Makes sense.”

Lance laughed and shook his head, humming along to the music for a while. “After I ran into you and Hunk, I keep expecting I’ll see him somewhere. I haven’t heard from him in years, and for all I know….” He sighed. “I just hope he’s safe. And living the life he wanted.” He smiled and looked at the GPS. “But we are not driving back. I’d rather pay to transport my car while we get a flight back.”

There was still another two days of driving left, considering bathroom breaks, traffic, and rest stops so Lance wasn’t exhausting himself. Maybe a little more. Pidge tapped her finger on the arm rest and said, “Lance? Why don’t you just pay to transport your car back to New York, and we get the next flight to Vegas at the next airport? It’ll take like three or four hours if we stop at Chicago.”

Lance pulled over at a gas station and grabbed his phone, looking something up rapidly. “Shit, these are expensive,” he muttered. “Last minute Spring Break trip to Vegas? Just us, Pidge. Just. Us.” He dialed someone and Pidge frowned. “I’m trying to see if I can pull some strings. One sec.” He got out of the car and Pidge scrolled through her phone leisurely.

She could hear a muffled conversation and after a couple songs, Lance got back into the car. “Sweet. It worked. I got us two tickets to Vegas. Leon is good to stay with us since he’s registered as an ESA. My car will be transferred back to New York, and we have our standby tickets for the end of the week. I just have to do two book signings while I’m there.”

Pidge raised her eyebrows, evidently impressed. “Wow. You have connections.”

“World-wide YA series author pays off,” he said. “It’s not Brad Pitt fame, but things are pretty easy. Plus the Garrison is paying for the return tickets….”

“Garrison provided a pretty big scholarship for me to go to school, so yeah, I see that,” Pidge said with a laugh.

“Alright, Chicago, here we come,” Lance said, rerouting the GPS.

---

It was nice weather for spring. A lot of people were evidently tourists on their break. Meanwhile, Pidge and Lance were waiting on an Uber to get them to Hunk’s bakery.

“So how come you can handle being on a plane?” Lance asked. “And you can handle being in a car, but not driving?”

Pidge rolled her eyes and groaned, tired of the same topic. “I freak out a bit during take off and landing. All the shuddering and the engine sounds…. But I can handle it. The driving… it was the fact I was in charge of something. Now can we not talk about it for the rest of break?” Lance raised his hands in surrender. “Anyway, won’t they say something about Leon being in the bakery? It’s a food place.”

“Maybe, but it’ll get Hunk attention,” Lance said. “And I’ll leave if they ask me to. I just want to see Hunk and surprise him.” He stood up from the bench they were on. “Ride’s almost here.”

Sure enough, an SUV pulled up and the window came down. A driver asked to be sure they were the one’s looking for the ride and let them on. Leon quickly hopped onto the car, curling up at Lance’s feet. Pidge sat in the back, feeling butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Lance easily began conversing with the driver, laughing and asking questions with the ease he always had when it came to talking to people. Pidge watched the city blurring past and the longer they drove the more anxious she got.

This would be the first time she would see Hunk since they started dating. It was kind of surreal to think of, even if she had spent so many nights chatting with him.

The car came to a stop and Pidge gulped as she saw the bakery. Lance thanked the driver and got off with Leon’s leash in one hand and his duffel bag in the other. Pidge hefted her backpack and gripped her own luggage a little tighter.

“Whoa,” Lance breathed. “This is Hunk’s bakery?” Lance went up to the window, staring at the cakes in awe. “Look at these colors. The scenes- the details. Oh my God.” Pidge looked over at Lance who seemed to be choking up. She noticed the way his eyes glistened and the way Leon perked up, sniffing at him. “These are amazing,” he whispered.

“That’s how I felt when I first saw them. I didn’t even know he lived here. I just saw the cakes and… they felt so familiar.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed. “They have… Hunk written all over them.” Lance laughed and wiped at his eyes. “Well, what are we waiting for?” He went into the bakery with Leon trotting beside him and Pidge behind him.

Almost immediately, the girl at the register said, “Um, sir! You can’t have dogs in here if they’re not a service dog.”

“He’s an ESA.”

She shook her head. “Only service dogs, sir, I’m sorry.”

Lance nodded. “Okay, okay, but can we talk to the head chef please?” The girl looked a little uncomfortable, maybe a little annoyed. “We’ll leave right away, we just want to see the chef.”

“The chef doesn’t take personal-”

“Can you please just ask?” Lance asked kindly, smiling. Pidge looked at him and swore he was purposefully putting on the charm. Big blue eyes, side smirk, the whole shebang. She had to keep herself from rolling her eyes and scoffing.

A few other customers were staring, so Pidge walked around to see some of the new cake designs.

After a moment she heard a familiar voice say, “If that’s not a service d- oh my God! Lance! What the- what are you- oh my God!”

She turned and saw Hunk engulfing Lance in a hug. Leon wagged his tail excitedly, sniffing and jumping at Hunk. “Hunk! Dude! I’m so fucking proud of you, look at all this!” Lance exclaimed, ruffling his hair.

Hunk laughed, and Pidge felt like she was floating from the sound alone. “Thank you! God, I’d love to show you more, but I could get in huge trouble letting Leon stay. Hey buddy!” Hunk pet Leon affectionately. “Did you just come in? This is a great surprise!”

“Oh, that’s not all of it,” Lance said with a smile. “I’m gonna take Leon out, but uh….” Lance gestured over to where Pidge was.

Hunk turned and Pidge laughed as she watched his expression go from confusion to shock to joy. “Pidge!” He rushed over to her and wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her completely. Pidge laughed and buried her face in his chest. “Oh my God, what are you doing here?”

He pulled back and Pidge touched his cheek. Her face hurt from smiling, but she didn’t care. She’d been yearning for this moment for so long. “Surprise!” she said, trying to sound excited, but she didn’t trust her voice to go above a whisper. “Hi,” she giggled.

Hunk encased her face in his hands which smelled like sugar. “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to see you, Pidge,” he said. She blushed and bit her lip, loving the feeling of hearing him in person, of his touch against her face. “I missed you.” He chuckled as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

Pidge felt like all of the stress of school and road trips and homework had melted away. The nervous energy she’d been holding dissipated with the taste of his lips. All those doubts and worries she’d had half a world away were nonsensical and unnecessary. Because he was here with her, holding her, kissing her. His touch was so gentle, and the feeling of his lips was familiar even if they’d only had one day of dating together.

Hunk pulled back and kissed her nose, making Pidge laugh softly. He wiped away a tear she hadn’t realized had even run down her cheek. “Here, tell Lance to come around the back, I’ll let you guys into my office.”

She nodded and pulled away, suddenly very aware of the many strangers in the bakery staring and whispering and giggling. Many of them seemed to be swooning, like they’d witnessed a proposal. Others were trying to be polite and look away. Either way, Pidge felt her cheeks heat up and she nearly ran out of the bakery.

“I was watching through the window and that was so cheesy, but so perfect. I could write a romance book and make that a perfect scene,” Lance said as she went out to greet him.

She punched his arm and hefted her duffel bag. “Hunk said to go around the back. He’ll let us in.”

Together, they went around the bakery and found the door propped open. Pidge peeked in and the saw the bakers working on different sets of cake. Hunk noticed her and went to open the door for them, clearing a path for them to get to the office. It didn’t seem like anyone noticed Leon, much less Pidge and Lance making their way to Hunk’s office.

When they got in, Pidge dropped her bag and looked around. She noticed a few Polaroids taped to the wall, all taken in the winter. The first one Hunk took of her where she hadn’t even been looking at the camera, the one they took on a bench with Pidge laughing and Hunk looking at her so adoringly it made her blush, and the last one he took of her at the airport. She tugged at the ends of her hair and tried to hide her giddiness.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me you were coming in? I would’ve taken the day off!” Hunk exclaimed, sitting down. He noticed Pidge looking at the pictures and blushed as well.

“Well, I wanted to surprise you. Pidge didn’t know I was going to bring her, so it was a surprise for both of you,” Lance said proudly. “God, Hunk, I mean I- I heard about the cakes, and I saw pictures online, but…. Seeing them in person… it’s like I can’t believe you created all of this, but I know no one else but you could have.”

Hunk blushed more profusely and rubbed his neck as he thanked Lance. Pidge walked behind him and wrapped her around him, resting her chin on top of his head. Because she could do that now. She was his girlfriend. “Also, don’t worry about taking the day off. We need to stop at Matt’s anyway. Oh, and uh… Lance was definitely on the verge of tears when we got here.”

Hunk chuckled and one hand began to caress her hands. “Really?”

Lance scoffed. “Well- yeah! I’m really proud of you!  I’m not ashamed to admit I got emotional. Do you have a lot of work this week?”

“Mostly just simple cakes. All the big orders are done,” he said. “So it wouldn’t hurt if I closed a little earlier this week.” Pidge hummed above him and Hunk chuckled. “It really won’t! Besides you guys flew all the way out here. I want to spend time with you guys.”

“We’re gonna make Vegas our bitch this week,” Lance said, making Hunk and Pidge burst into laughter. “Alright, I wanna go leave this at Matt’s until you get off work. I’m assuming I can crash with you? Unless you two lovebirds wanna stay together, then I can ask Matt if I can stay with him-”

“Uh, I think it’s cool,” Hunk said, glancing up at Pidge. “Were you planning on staying with me?”

“Um… I mean, I thought I was staying with Matt but-”

“Oh, this is awkward,” Lance said through a pained chuckle. “I’m kind of loving it. Okay, so you guys figure it out. I’ll be on my phone finding an Uber.”

Pidge glared at him, then felt a tug on her arms. Hunk pulled her around to face him. “Did you want to stay with me?”

“I mean, we used to do it all the time,” she said with a shrug. Hunk hummed and looked at her expectantly, knowing her well enough that he knew she was holding something else back. “It’s different now, isn’t it? Spending the night together as a couple versus as friends?”

“If it’s not something you want to do, that’s okay,” Hunk assured. “I’m not offended.” Pidge grimaced, and he cupped her face to pull her down to a gentle kiss. “My little honeycomb, always overthinking.” Pidge felt herself melt a little at the way he said that. “Stay with your brother. And you’re more than welcome to stay with me whenever you want.”

“Okay,” she whispered. She looked over at Lance who was pointedly staring at his phone. “Did you get a ride for us?”

“Yep! You have the keys, right?” She nodded. “Alright, well, they’re on the way, so….”

“Let me walk you guys out,” Hunk said, standing up. He took Pidge by the hand which made Pidge feel a whole new wave of giddiness and butterflies and jitters. Hunk walked with them to the sidewalk and waited until the car came. “I’ll go over to Matt’s as soon as I’m off work, okay? And we can go out to a bar or a movie or something.”

“Sounds like a perfect plan,” Lance said. “Okay, I think this is our car.” He waved the driver over after checking the license plate and then loaded their luggage.

“I’ll see you guys soon, okay?” Hunk promised, pushing her hair back. “I’m so happy you’re here.”

Pidge bit her lip and smiled before she leaned up on her toes to kiss him. “Me too. I’ll see you at Matt’s.” She went to join Lance in the car and they waved as Hunk went back into the bakery.

Lance waited until they were at Matt’s apartment to say anything to Pidge. “So… you’re gonna stay here?” She looked at him as she came back to sit on the couch after leaving her stuff in her room. “You’re not staying with your boyfriend? What was with the ‘it’s different now’ thing?”

“Eavesdropper,” she accused. Lance just shrugged. “Well, I mean it is. Before, it didn’t mean anything, it was just a thing we did. Now we’re dating, and it… it means something, I think. I just don’t want to rush into anything.”

Lance smirked and shook his head.

“What?” Pidge demanded. “Lance, what? What is it?”

“Nothing! Just… it’s very you.” Pidge crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “I just mean that… you’re still being super cautious. Which is kind of weird to me because I never am when I’m in a relationship. But I don’t know if you’re being cautious because it’s what you do or because you think this is going to end in disaster.”

Pidge hesitated and mindlessly flipped through the channels. “I mean… what am I supposed to do if it does?” she whispered. “He’s my best friend. If there’s a disaster, I’m not just losing a boyfriend, I’m losing a best friend. Maybe two if you stay more his friend than mine.”

“Pidge-”

“I know, I know,” she said. “I’m not supposed to be so pessimistic, I have to live in the moment, blah, blah, blah,” she groaned. “They’re just worries I can’t help but have. And then with people always giving their two cents, it just… sucks.”

It was quiet for a moment. Then Lance asked, “Who’s giving what two cents?”

“It’s stupid,” Pidge muttered. “One of my roommates always… used to ask about how this was working. What I would do if Hunk found someone else because we’re on opposite sides of the country. It’s like she was just always judging, always… picking at it. Even though my other roommates were on my side, it still sucked because… it’s like her words were the loudest anyway.

“Actually being with Hunk, it feels different. I feel invincible, I feel like nothing can come between us, I feel like… we’re meant to be. But then I’m away from him, and reality just….” She pantomimed slapping someone, and Lance chuckled. “I don’t know how to live in the moment because I’ve always calculated everything, and now I’m just supposed to… roll with it.”

Lance nodded in understanding and nudged her gently. “Well, hey. It doesn’t matter what other people say about the relationship you two have. And I think you should talk to Hunk about those insecurities. I think it would help if you both just took tonight to talk and be together.” Pidge began to protest, but Lance waved the rebuttals away. “I’m tired from driving and the jetlag. Plus one of those signings is actually tomorrow… so, yeah. It’s cool. Besides, I’ll get to have all week to have sleepovers with Hunk.”

Pidge snorted and shook her head. Before she could respond, she heard the sound of keys jiggling in a lock and the door opened. Matt jumped and grabbed a hold of the coat hanger he had near the door before he realized who had intruded his home.

“What the fuck are you two doing here?” he yelped, once the shock wore away.

“Surprise?” Pidge said uncertainly. “We didn’t mean to scare you!”

Matt burst into laughter and rushed forward to hug her tightly. Then he turned to Lance and greeted him just as joyously. “Dude, I heard about the books! Congrats! And you look great, it’s so good to see you again.”

Lance smiled and Pidge finally saw that spark of friendship she’d always expected her brother and Lance to have. “Thanks, man. It’s been pretty great. Busy, but that’s a good thing, I think. But yeah, I abducted Pidge and then we ambushed Hunk and then apparently the next step was scaring the shit out of you. Sorry.”

Matt laughed that off and shrugged. “It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting to see this terror until May, so it’s a great surprise. Are you guys both staying here or at Hunk’s?”

“I’m staying here, Lance is staying at Hunk’s,” Pidge said before any snide comments could be made. But Matt just nodded and Lance was half-watching TV.

“Tonight’s date night for Hunk and Pidge though,” Lance said. “They have catching up to do.”

“Perfect,” Matt said, squaring his shoulders. “I get to perfect my Protective Big Brother act.” Pidge rolled her eyes and plopped down on the couch with Lance. “So catch me up! How’s life been for both of you? How was the trip here? What are the Spring Break plans?”

The three of them took turns talking about what they wanted to do over break and even plans for later- particularly when Pidge graduated. Lance was a little miffed about ending up as the only one on the east coast while his friends stayed on the west side of the country. Somewhere between a conversation about Lance next book signing, there was a knock on the door.

“Unless Matt was expecting company, that must be your guy,” Lance said. Pidge bit her lip and walked over to the door.

The guys kept talking while Pidge opened the door. Sure enough, there was Hunk having changed into his usual attire with a happy smile and bright eyes that brightened further when they met Pidge’s. “Hey, there,” he said softly.

Pidge smiled and wrapped her arms around him, looking up at him with a blushing face. He leaned down and kissed her lightly before she let him in.

“Hunk, buddy, how was work?” Matt asked, shouting from the living room.

“It was great. I got a great surprise today from these two. Oh, hey boy.” Hunk laughed as Leon jumped on him for attention. “So, what’s the plan? We going to eat or what?”

“I was thinking you guys could have a date night,” Lance said. “I have a book signing early tomorrow, and I’m not that hungry.”

Hunk furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you sure? We could order in and stay here. You’re staying with me right?”

“Yeah, for sure! I just figured you’d want a date night….”

Hunk looked over at Pidge, tugging on a strand of her hair. “Yeah, but I’d like to have a chance to plan that out. So, are we eating in?”

“I could go for pizza,” Matt chimed in.

“I’ll order,” Pidge offered. She went to get her laptop from her room to submit an online order. She plopped down on the couch between Hunk and Lance. “Alright, what are we getting?”

The guys took a while to figure out their order, but it was eventually placed and Pidge finally felt herself relax. She had Hunk’s reassuring warmth beside her, his arm draped behind her and playing idly with her hair. She had Lance telling funny stories and making them laugh. She had her brother across from her looking happier than he had in a long time, joking along with Lance. The TV played for no one and Leon hopped from the couch to under the arm chair Matt was in.

Eventually, they had pizza and soda in the mix which made it even better especially with Leon doing tricks in hopes of getting a treat for it.

It felt natural. It felt whole. Pidge had expected her break to consist of sitting at home and watching reruns of Friends by herself on her couch. Instead, she was here, with the people she trusted most and making new memories that made her feel light and… safe.

When it got late, Lance insisted he had to turn in, and Pidge insisted Hunk needed to get rest before his shift the next day. Matt had work too, so he had already been laughing at nothing and everything from tiredness.

Matt soon headed off to bed, too tired for proper goodbyes. While Lance grabbed his things to leave with Hunk, Pidge curled further into the arms of her boyfriend.

“So when I video chatted you while you were at McDonald’s, you were already on your way here, huh?” he murmured into her hair, stroking it gently. He used his other hand to pull her legs onto his lap. She nodded and smiled smugly. “I can’t believe I finally have you in person again,” he said. “I feel like I might never get used to these moments.”

Pidge sighed and hesitated slightly before sliding her hand into his. “I know. But hopefully soon, we can be around each other a lot more often and it can stop feeling like a delusion or something.” Hunk chuckled and pressed his lips to her temple, making Pidge shiver slightly.

She was so unused to this. These affections that screamed girlfriend. Cuddling with Hunk was something she was used to. Hugs, of course. But the handholding and the kissing were still so new. Their relationship so far had been solely through a screen, and now they had a chance to change that.

It made Pidge realize she had no idea whatsoever how to even be a girlfriend.

“Hey. You okay?” She looked at Hunk who was eyeing her worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she assured. “Want me to stop by the bakery when you’re on your lunch break tomorrow?”

Hunk smiled and bumped his nose with hers. “I’d love that.” Pidge smiled and kissed him, letting herself relax into the feeling of being with Hunk this way.

“Yo, lovebirds,” Lance called from the door. “I hate to interrupt, but I’m super tired and need a nap.”

“I’m going,” Hunk said. Pidge stood up with him and went to the front door. “I’ll text you tomorrow, okay?” Pidge nodded and Hunk stepped out into the hallway.

“Pidge, you’re taking me on a tour tomorrow after my signing,” Lance said with a playful wink. “Alrighty, come on, Leon!”

Pidge laughed as she stared after them walking out and then shut the door, still able to hear the two talking in the halls. She locked the door and went to her room to change into PJs.

The next day, Lance and Pidge went up and down the Strip until Hunk’s lunch hour came around. Then they all went to eat at a fast food joint. Lance told them about his book signing. At one point someone actually went up to him with their kid, having recognized him from his book picture and having heard he was in town with a book signing.

The more Pidge walked around with them, the more she felt like this place could be home. Whether she stayed with Matt or maybe one day moved in with Hunk or just got her own place… Vegas felt like it could be home.

She was glad that she wasn’t completely horrible at this girlfriend thing. She loved the feeling of her hand in Hunk’s. It felt like the most natural thing in the world the way their hands found each other’s. Lance was more than happy to play photographer for them, insisting that they needed couple photos. At those moments, Hunk would kiss her cheek or hold her close or smile at her in a way that made Pidge feel like the most important person in the world.

She found herself getting a little more used to the idea of her and Hunk as a unit as the day went on. It had always been the two of them, but each as their own. Now, as a couple, it was a little different. She knew she was still her own person, still able to stand on her own, but now she was also part of a relationship.

Originally, Pidge had been a little terrified about that. She was worried she’d be stripped of who she was until she was just Hunk’s girlfriend. She’d been worried people would expect her to constantly point out that she wasn’t just Pidge now, but Pidge-and-Hunk, and in turn afraid that would make her feel a little less her own person. But that wasn’t the case at all.

Lance teased, but not too much to get frustrating. Matt only smiled seeing her with Hunk. And actually being with Hunk…. She wasn’t afraid when she was with him. She liked being part of this Hunk-and-Pidge thing. It felt like a new layer of her rather than a reset.

Maybe it was a stupid thing to worry about, a stupid thing to think on so much, but Pidge was a person who overthought. Especially when it came to relationships with other people. That had been proven many a times before. And after so long having this relationship solely through phone and computer screens, it still felt new in some ways now that it got a chance to develop in person.

For example, the moments when she wasn’t expecting a touch and received one kept taking her by surprise. Moments when they’d be sitting on a bench or in a restaurant or, later that night, a bar, and she would feel Hunk’s arm around her suddenly. Or he’d tuck her hair back. Or he’d cup her face. Or he’d lean in just to kiss her shoulder.

Those moments kept making her freeze up and have reboot her system to start functioning again.

It was also kind of wonderful to think that Hunk had such natural tendencies towards her. That he felt the urge to just have some sort of contact with her at random moments. She was worried, though, that her lack of reciprocity would come off wrong. But otherwise it would seem forced.

Shit, relationships were hard.

By the time the night was over, they were hanging out at Hunk’s place. They’d all had a few drinks, but Lance was especially tired from waking up so early for the signing. He ended up falling asleep on the couch, and Pidge had to wake him up to tell him he could go to bed. He muttered and shuffled off to Hunk’s room with Leon trotting behind him.

Meanwhile Hunk grabbed some blankets from the linen closet and draped them on the couch where he was sleeping until he got a chance to get an air mattress. He sat down, draping the blankets around him and opening his arms in a silent invitation for Pidge.

She smiled and walked over, sitting between his legs as he browsed through Netflix. He started rocking side to side slowly. Pidge nuzzled closer and sighed happily.

He put on their favorite comedy, and then wrapped his arms around Pidge. They only talked for Pidge’s occasional question on the show or when they commented on something happening. It felt like the way they always interacted, just with more contact, less reserved. No more holding back.

After a couple episodes, Pidge felt Hunk’s thumb rubbing circles into her arm. “Hey.” She hummed, tilting her head to look at him. He looked a little serious. She shifted and looked at him more directly, furrowing her eyebrows. Before she could ask, Hunk said, “Lance told me about the thing that happened in Ohio.”

A muscle in Pidge’s jaw jumped as she clenched her teeth. A weight fell in her stomach, and suddenly she just wanted to go back to Matt’s.

“Hey, don’t do that,” Hunk said softly, his hand coming up to her cheek.

She scoffed and turned her face away. “I’m fine,” she insisted.

“If you were, you wouldn’t react like this, honey badger.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Honey badger?”

“You’re angry. It fits.” He smiled at her, but Pidge kept staring, unamused. He sighed and put a finger under her chin to tilt her head back to him. “Katie, you could’ve gotten hurt. You both could have. Talk to me, what happened? I know you have nightmares, but-”

“What else could it possibly be?” she snapped. “I spend all these years piloting a fucking lion and in the middle of a war and I’m supposed to just… be able to handle cars and planes and….” She sighed, knowing it sounded ridiculous. Cars and planes were nothing like the Green Lion. But they made her anxious. She couldn’t help the way her brain worked. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Maybe you need to.”

“What, another therapist? I was with one for a year when we got back. Bi-weekly meetings. I get nightmares and flashbacks, they can’t help with that. I just have to live with it.” Hunk looked at her with sad brown eyes that made her feel small. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Pidge, I….” Hunk sighed and put a hand on her cheek. “You’re one of the most important people in my life. It hurts me that you’re still in so much pain. I get it, there’s some stuff that just won’t go away, but…. You can’t just not acknowledge or face this. You had to be pried from the pedals. Lance had to use the emergency brake. You were on an access road, someone could’ve hit you, you could’ve hit someone else.”

“I know!” she yelled.

“Hey,” he said, trying to placate her. He got a hold of her waist before she could get up and storm off. He pulled her back gently, and she let him. “Easy. I’m just trying to explain why I’m worried.”

“Well, don’t worry. I’m strong, I can handle it.” She put her legs on either side of him, facing him fully, trying to meet his gaze in a way that would prove she was fine.

Hunk sighed and pressed his forehead to hers. His thumb ran across her cheekbone. “If it were me, would you worry?” Pidge shut her eyes and sighed. Then she nodded slowly. “Then don’t tell me not to.”

“I’ll be okay,” she insisted.

“So stubborn.” She chuckled lightly and opened her eyes. He stared at her for a moment before leaning in to kiss her softly. “Oute alofa ia te oe.”

Pidge smiled and tilted her head. “What’s that mean?”

“It means you’re the most magnificent person I know,” he answered. Pidge smiled smugly at that. “I didn’t want to upset you.”

“I know,” she said, her smile dropping. “I just… don’t want to hold on to those weak moments more than I need to.”

“Pidge, you’re not weak. That is the last word anyone would ever think to use to describe you. And I don’t want you to think that I worry or ask because it seems weak. I’m asking because I don’t want you to have to fight so much to be okay when you have me and Lance and your brother to help. You’re not alone anymore. You’re my best friend and my girlfriend. I want to know that you’ll let me help you when you need it.”

She sighed and looked at him. The vulnerability in his eyes made her heart break and come back together all at once. She reached a hand out, running her fingers through his hair. His eyes shut as she pushed it back. Then she put her hands on either side of his face.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” she whispered. His eyes opened. “But I’m glad I did it.”

“Pidge-”

She leaned forward to kiss him. To really kiss him. To kiss him with all of her heart, with all of the affection she’d stored up since the day she’d kissed him goodbye at the airport. To hopefully tell him that just because she didn’t want to tell him about her weaker moments, it didn’t mean she didn’t trust him, she just wanted him to know and have the best of her. To tell him she was willing to work through all of her fears if it meant having moments like this with him for the rest of her life.

His lips were gentle with hers. He held her tightly, one hand at her waist, the other at the back of her neck. Pidge let her hands drop to his shoulders. One arm draped around him as her other hand threaded through his hair.

Hunk let out a soft grunt that made a fire sear through Pidge’s body. The hand at her waist moved to wrap around her torso and pull her closer. Their breaths increased in speed, but their lips remained connected. Pidge shivered as she realized how new this was. Being with Hunk this way…. Feeling all these new things with Hunk, because of Hunk.

She’d never had a kiss like this. She’d never felt so wrapped up by the sensation. The heat was almost uncomfortable, but she reveled in it because it felt so wonderful to be there, with Hunk’s hands on her with his lips against hers, with the sound of his breaths.

They only stopped because Hunk tilted his head down after a while, catching his breath, humming softly. Pidge trembled slightly, pressing a kiss to his forehead which made Hunk chuckle softly.

“Are you staying tonight?” he asked. His voice sounded broken, but in a good way. In that way it must always be when you kiss someone for so long.

“Yeah,” Pidge said, deciding at that very moment. Hunk looked back up at her and smiled. “Now kiss me again.”

Hunk laughed and kissed her nose. “Your lips and chin are red,” he noted.

“Because of your beard,” she said. “But I don’t mind it.” She leaned against him, shifting to sit beside him with one of his arms around her. “You should sleep. You have work in the morning.”

Hunk groaned, but he shifted to lay down, wrapping Pidge in his arms. His breath tickled her a bit, but she kind of enjoyed it. It meant they were close. It meant they were together.

After a while, his breaths evened out. He’d fallen asleep. Pidge let the TV keep playing as she traced his tattoos with a finger. She wondered how long a person was supposed to wait before falling in love. Something told her it wasn’t a logistical thing either. That she’d have to welcome it as it came, and although that also terrified her… she was excited about it too.

They woke up to someone flicking water at their faces. Pidge grumbled and opened her eyes to see Lance behind the couch, a smirk on his face. “If you were staying over, I could’ve taken the couch.” He walked away to pick up a cup of coffee he’d left on the counter. “Hunk, I’m hungry,” he whined.

“I didn’t know I was gonna stay,” Pidge mumbled, shuffling onto her other side to hide her face in Hunk’s chest.

“I’m hungry too. Why don’t you make me breakfast for once,” Hunk yawned, cuddling Pidge closer. “Wake me when it’s ready.”

“The hospitality in Vegas sucks,” Lance said. Pidge laughed into Hunk’s chest.

After a few clatters of pots and pans- which Pidge was certain were on purpose- Hunk groaned and sat up. “Alright, I’m coming, stop touching stuff, you heathen.”

Pidge sat up so he could get off the couch and wrapped herself in the blanket as he went to the kitchen, shooing Lance away. The smell of food soon filled the apartment and if Pidge closed her eyes, she could imagine a morning waking up in Hunk’s bed to this same thing. She could imagine it being a routine. She could imagine joining him in the kitchen, learning his recipes and sitting to eat with him every day. She could imagine them dancing playfully along to the music he liked to hum as he cooked.

She was starting to get swept up in fantasies. It was a little reckless…. But she didn’t mind it all.

Click here for Ch. 10

[bran-writes]

Flashback: An Outlier Lunch

The Outliers have been together since before middle school, but these are the years they solidified as a group and stuck together for the rest of their lives.

May 12th 2025

“Yo, seriously. What do you guys think?”

Kwin McCall sat across from Zig-Zag at lunch but looked around at his friends to see who would answer first. Gabi sat to his right and was already halfway done with her food. She’d left her library class early to snag their favorite picnic table outside, while Harlo, Zig, Kwin and Jonah walked from the annex to get their food. 

“Zig with a vlog channel?” Harlo asked, opening his bag of chips and dumping them on his tray. 

“No, about starting a porn channel… Yes, the vlog.”

“Fuck it,” Kwin shrugged, twisting the cap from his water bottle. “You’re more interesting than half the people who have a lot of followers.”

Zig stared across at him down the rim of his glasses, gaging whether Kwin was being serious. When Zig realized he meant it, he nodded, “Thanks Kwin.”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Jonah chuckled. 

Kwin’s mother always packed him a water bottle for lunch, whether he had a meal to go with it or ate from the cafeteria. Three days a week he trained at Knox’s Dojo after school- the water bottles she loaded him up with every day were a measure to ensure he stayed hydrated. In the past few weeks, she’d started packing extra for Jonah. Kwin handed the boy to his left a water, which his friend accepted graciously. Harlo nudged Zig in his side and smiled with a mouth full of pizza. 

“You can get the new celebrity here to guest star, probably pump your views up.”

“In the porn or the vlogs?” Zig smirked.

“I don’t see why you can’t do both,” Jonah suggested. 

“Oh, look at that, Zig,” Kwin nodded to Harlo with a slight smile, “You don’t even need followers, you’ve got your own biggest fan right here.”

“Oh, we’re sorry, are you not used to being all big and famous yet?” Gabi feigned ignorance.

Last month, Kwin’s grandfather brought the boy out to a red carpet premiere and to do interviews with him in support of a new movie, The Package Boy- a  horror film Sam McCall wrote and produced. The main character of that movie, Joseph, was heavily inspired by Kwin himself, so Sam invited his grandson along for some publicity and a few minutes in the spotlight. Thinking back on it, he had the sneaking suspicion that Sam pulled him out of school that week for the press run as some kind of gesture. A “Hey, sorry I’m not around much and never really talk to you, how’d you like to be on TV?” sort of gesture. Kwin didn’t care for it in hindsight. Especially since his friends wouldn’t let him forget it. 

“Oh, come on, Kwin,” Harlo grinned. “You were a natural out there. You’ve got a future, I can see it!”

“Three Pines Middle School’s first celebrity alumni,” Zig-Zag bucked his eyebrows.

Gabi pulled out her phone. “I’ve been meaning to check back on that, by the way.”

“Check on what?” Jonah leaned forward and craned his neck to get a better look. Kwin rolled his eyes when he realized Jonah was goading him. 

“To see how much attention our Kwinjamin here is really getting.”

Kwin hated that nickname, but couldn’t get mad at Gabi. Being friends since primary school got her a lot of mileage. “You don’t have to check on that.”

“Sure I do. Let’s see, I don’t wanna check the official video’s comments. The only people commenting about you on that vid are middle aged housewives talking about how much more well-mannered you are than their kids. Oh and pushy movie nerds talking about how the horror genre is dead.”

“That’s not the kind of pumping up our boy needs,” Zig agreed, staring at Kwin with an appraising look. “Yeah, go where the teenagers hang out on the Internet, see what all the hype about our boy here is about.”

“Got it,” Gabi snapped her fingers. “Kenny Mischief covered the news.”

“Wow, he did?” Kwin leaned over to inspect the phone. Zig snorted. 

“Talk about worthless vloggers.”

“I’ll have you know, Zig-Zag, that Mister Mischief has quite the teen following,” Gabi tutted. 

“Don’t remind me.”

Gabi cleared her throat and loosened her shoulders before sitting up straight. “Lisa Lee says: ‘That dude’s grandkid looks like that? Social media stalking intensifies’. Charlotte Hermes commented: ‘I wish boys at my school were that cuuuute’. She added the weary emoji face too,” Gabi pointed down at the phone and stared up at Kwin with an appraising stare. 

“I really hope these comments are from, y’know, people our age. Cause this could get weird,” Zig chuckled. 

“You made your point, yeah?” Kwin laughed. Jonah glanced up at him, able to read his embarrassment in a heartbeat. 

“Mm, I have, but now I’m just having fun. Lucky Babe commented: Does he come with the tickets? Tracey Two-Step Smith says: ‘Oh he’s cute for a white boy… And a Ginger’. A heated race debate ensued in the replies over that one,” Gabi chuckled. She set the phone down on the table. “Okay, now I’m done.”

“Told you you’re a ginger,” Harlo laughed.

“I’m not… Douchebag,” Kwin threw a chip at Harlo, who caught against his chest and popped it into his mouth. “Gross.”

“When are you going to accept your people, Kwin?” Zig asked, eager to continue this long-running debate.

“My hair’s blonde.”

“Eh, reddish blonde,” Jonah shrugged.

“Hey, you’re drinking my water, you’re supposed to back me up.”

“Just accept it so you can move on, Kwin. We need to settle it,” Harlo shrugged. “Closure once and for all.”

“You want me to prove it?” They stared at him questioningly until he stood up and unhooked his belt with a daring smile. “I swear, I will. I’ll give you some closure you’ll never forget.”

“Oh, God, please don’t,” Gabi smacked Kwin’s leg.

“Please do! Wait, I need to get the camera out first,” Zig rooted in his bag for his new DSLR. “We can get this vlog started off right now.”

“Kwin, what are you doing?” Jonah laughed.

“Whaddaya say, Harlo? Should we settle it? Get three coffins ready,” Kwin dramatically shifted his gaze to Gabi and unzipped his fly for full effect. “My mistake. Four Coffins.” 

“Jonah, you said you were gonna stop letting him watch that movie,” Zig sighed. 

“I did. Harlo, back down please. You know he’ll do it.”

Kwin knew Harlo well enough to know he always buckled first in any game of chicken. Especially games like this. Some of the other middle schoolers in the courtyard glanced in their direction, but Kwin was undeterred. In fact, it sort of thrilled him. He locked eyes with Harlo.

“Okay, okay,” Harlo held his hands over his eyes.

“Say I’m not a ginger,” Kwin smirked. 

“You’re not a ginger, geez. You are crazy, though.”

“Crazy’s okay. I can handle crazy,” Kwin zipped and buckled back up, feeling triumphant. 

“You’re the worst,” Jonah shook his head yet was couldn’t hide his smile. Knowing how to best get to Jonah, Kwin wrapped an arm around him, laying his head on his friend’s shoulder with a contented sigh.

“Yeah, but I couldn’t be the worst without my best,” Kwin patted Jonah’s shoulder even as Zig-Zag snapped a photo. 

“You guys are just so cute,” Zig lilted. 

“So wait a second,” Harlo pointed a fork at Zig. “Your mom paid you to help her out at the camp, right? The all girls camp?”

“Cool your jets, I worked in the main office.”

“Right, and the first thing you buy with your money is a fancy camera? That wasn’t a red flag for her?”

“Ha, very funny, Harlo. She helped me pick it out. I told her vlogging was gonna be my new hobby. And Gabi helped me buy it, too.”

“Yeah, so be careful what you do with, or we’ll both go down for the crime.”

“What’d your mom say about your vlogging idea?” Kwin asked around a mouthful of chips. Zig shrugged.

“She said it’s better than getting to high school and selling weed. For some reason she thinks that was my fate.”

“Still a red flag,” Harlo smiled.

“Oh! Speaking of,” Gabi pointed an accusing finger at Zig-Zag, whose eyes grew wide.

“What’s with people pointing at me today?” 

“Outlier Court is in session,” Gabi narrowed her eyes.

“Yo, can she just call a trial in session by herself?”

“I thought she was the judge,” Kwin shrugged and took a bite of pizza.

Outlier Court held a very special purpose in their friend group: It was their way of calling each other out on transgressions. “Hit us,” Jonah said, dramatically pushing his food to the side and steeping his fingers. 

“We’re Outliers, right?” Everyone agreed. “So we’re all of the understanding that we don’t do basic shit.” Gabi dramatically enunciated her words, which meant this case was already closed. Kwin looked from Zig to Gabi in anticipation, his mouth full food. Gabi set her arms on the table, lips pressed in a thin line. 

“What’d I do?” Zig shrugged.

“Oh, I think I know what this is,” Harlo laughed around food, using a hand to cover his mouth. His eyes squinted with joy. “Sorry, bud. I was gonna ignore it.”

“But that’s not how we correct the behavior is it, Harlo?” Gabi continued. Kwin was confused. Jonah voiced that confusion.

“Somebody explain it for Kwin, he’s lost.”

“If we are, in fact, Outliers, and we’re already past basic, annoying phone etiquette… Explain to me, Zig-Zag Sutter, why I’ve been woken up the past two mornings with mirror selfies from you. In the group chat of all places,” Gabi admonished. 

“That’s right!” Kwin slapped the table. Some of the other kids in the courtyard glanced back their way. 

“I was wondering what that was about,” Jonah nodded. 

“Yo, everybody relax. There’s a perfectly good explanation for it.”

“The court would like to hear it,” Gabi crossed a leg over her knee and folded her hands, the picture of professionalism. 

“You guys know I’ve lost a lot of weight-,”

“All of it,” Harlo corrected. 

“And I like to show it off - shut up- but I can’t do it just anywhere cause I’ll get clowned. Nobody cares so I gotta vent where people do care,” Zig-Zag shrugged.

“Well we don’t care either,” Jonah shrugged. 

“Sure as hell not six in the damn morning.” Gabi added. 

“There’s also, like two more reasons. One, it’s everybody’s wake-up text.”

“I’d rather have a regular text, though,” Kwin smiled. 

“Also, I kinda like showing off how much better I look by the time I get to school compared to when I just wake up,” Zig flashed a rare grin.

“You look trash when you wake up,” Kwin chuckled. 

“Yo, will you relax?”

“You look trash now, too,” Jonah added. The group’s laughter unfortunately spread to Harlo, who was in the process of drinking milk. He instantly coughed it back up and sent the liquid spraying in all directions, thought most of it ended up on his face. The group roared louder as Harlo wiped his face with his shirt, still shaking with laughter. 

[thoughts4all]

Day 15: Plan for "Relaxing" Days

My general new years resolution: Better mind, body and soul.

"The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools" - Thucydides

How I interpret this: a strong and well society needs to have men that are both wise and strong. Personally, I should be both wise and strong. A weak, foolish and cowardly man is the worst. Personally, I am weak, wise (ish, at least on the way), and perhaps cowardly. The argument Thucydides is making is that if a scholar separates itself from the warrior lifestyle, he will then be cowardly.

Honestly I think I can predict that this is true for me at least. I am afraid of rejection and general disapproval. Perhaps there is a correlation between having the confidence that I could beat someone up and not acting cowardly. Physical combat is not the area in which I am acting cowardly. It is more so social and career related. However, having the confidence in physical combat might transfer into the areas in my life that lack substantial confidence.

To better my life I need to employ a schedule for my everyday. Not just a schedule to ensure my required school tasks are completed. A schedule to ensure I manage my time effectively since obviously going with the flow does not work for me. To do this schedule I need to make time for five main areas every day. These areas should be touched every day by at least one action. Some days should favour some areas. These are only for days I am alone. The five areas and some actions are as follows:

Fitness: gym workout, boxing vid, run

Work: 9-5 remote job

Self Growth Hobby: chess (srsly), learn coding, read, piano, etc.

Screen Relax Time: youtube, reels, a show, clash royal

Social: texting, calling

By employing this schedule I aim to have my life in more order and make more time socially deepening my connections. With the schedule I am going to having better control and confidence in my self and my life. This will allow me eliminate self doubts and but stresses about managing by alone time on the back burner and focus on enriching my life since I will know I am doing well and putting effort into life.

Luckily, I met this girl. She is genuinely nice and not a shallow person. These past 4 months proved that I cannot grow single, I need external factors to validate my self. This is for my current state of mind, I aim to grow out of this. I hope to grow with this girl. Grow myself, her, and our bond together.

Tomorrow I will attempt at a basic schedule and see how it goes. Wake up -> 20 pull ups, 60 push ups, 60 sit ups, 1 min plank -> shower, pray, get dressed, get breakfast at tims -> straight to campus to study for quiz the next day -> hang our with girl for max 2 hours -> work on final coding project (finish web) -> 30 min texting break while eating lunch -> write next entry in this blog -> study for same quiz -> walk home, cook pasta and watch youtube.

Bye. Will go to sleep without scrolling on my phone.

[annashipper]

Showsie - A reminder of where we're at

Hello lovely Anna! I've not submitted in a while, but I have been lurking and keeping up with the events of the past few weeks in Team BC and shamwow land. Well...it's been such a mess of mixed messages lately...where do I start?

Well...let's start at the beginning: The totes not premeditated pap op displaying the newest alleged Cumberspawn for the delectation of the masses. I guess, if you want pics showing how much of a devoted family man you are (incidentally a few weeks prior to beginning promo for your new project where you play a father to a missing child *coughs*), you should probably be a bit subtle and not make it look glaringly obvious that the pics were posed and paid for. That way, by making them look at least vaguely genuine, you can at least guarantee that they may be picked up by major news outlets to further promote the narrative you wish to get out there. (#fatheroftheyear, anyone?)

Speaking of random photos and videos...did anyone else enjoy that vid released of SH at LL, in London, in July? Strangely coinciding with the exact same time that she was supposedly having lunch with her husband and only one child in Atlanta (with bikerides...not tandem and no ice creams...sorry Ballsy). That's an unfortunate contradiction to such a lovely piece of nanfiction. My heart breaks for them. As to other things...I'm glad Ben has let us know that he reads the comments section of the Daily Fail. Such a busy man...I don't know where he finds the time and fortitude to wade through a whole heap comments from ignorant, right wing hatemongers. But it was nice of him to let them know that he cares what they think by answering their critiques regarding his stance on refugees in an interview with the Big Issue. I don't know whose idea that was...but it was a spectacularly ill-concieved one. Because it insured that the publicity generated prior to the airing of his most recent project with SM was drowned in a whole heap of shitposting that was irrelevant to the subject matter of the aforementioned production (ie TCIT). Nice one, guys! *gives two sarcastic thumbs up in encouragement* I do particularly like how SH did not turn up on the RC for this promo, but we were treated to vid of what looks like another classic stomp off, thoughtfully dropped in our laps by, what I am sure are, totally objective parties. As to the newest game presented for our delectation...I like to call it 'spot the famewhore'...of random pics and tweet sightings about the happy family...with just the one 'child' in attendance...does anyone else find it weird that apparently the eldest cumberspawn is not welcome at such events and is never reported as being present? Let's not forget previous reports of SH's surprising fecundity for a woman in her late 30's means there's supposed to be two kids...because unicorn sperm is truly magical that way . And that her breeding ability is totally not coincidentally timed for promo of big projects at all. Truly miraculous, that. Given all of the above...I am left scratching my head as to where the narrative for this private life that is lived ever so publicly is meant to lead to from here? One thing is certain, the past few weeks have been very untidy indeed from a PR perspective.

So tell me...What is Benedict supposed to be? A totes true family man? A man who sells pics of his family for publicity? A man who answers the rantings of people venting venom in comments sections because he cares so much what they think? You know one thing he doesn't look like? A serious actor who lets his work speak for him without resorting to stunts to generate clicks for publicity...that's what. I was hoping the adults were in charge of Team BC lately...I guess I'm going to have to reconsider that position after the mess left from the past few weeks. Hugs to ya, Anna.

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Hugs back Showsie, and thank you so much for the summary of where we’re at.  It’s hard to keep track these days; especially after we’ve been slouching for such a slow winter / spring / summer, almost perfectly uncontaminated by fetchlessness...

Funny how Weirdo remained invisible for close to a year, and she’s only been wheeled out very briefly, just when Ben needed to remind everyone he’s a father of two in light of The Child In Time promo, no?

It’s fascinating to me how all of the pap ops and random outings and blurry pics and pregnancies and unfortunate quotes always line up when Ben has something to promote.  Then again, I’m a fact driven cynic...

[flunkyofmalcador]

“Red Thirst” WIP

Horus returned to the Casa Retrata some hours later.  He walked in through the garage door, placed his keys in the wooden cubby marked with his name, and removed his shoes.

The house was uncharacteristically dark and quiet.  The main room was empty and the only light came from the lumen strip over the farmhouse sink. “Daddy?” Horus turned to see Juliana standing on the stairs leading up to their floors.  He walked over to her and gave her a hug. “Ferrus and Fulgrim are mad at you,” she told him.  “They told me and Felicity we couldn’t do our homework together.” “Let’s go upstairs.” They went to the parlour and sat down.  Horus poured a glass of wine and made a juice cocktail for Juliana.  She accepted it and asked, “Are we going to have to move?” All three Lupercals had armchairs.  Sanguinius’s was tall and low-backed.  Horus rested his hand on the padded back of it before settling into his own. “We aren’t going to move,” Horus assured her.  We’re going to have a rough time ahead of us though, and we are all going to have to be very brave.” He took a swallow of wine.  “Your baba is very sick.  It…makes him dangerous sometimes.  Your grandfather is trying to cure him.  Baba has decided to stay at the manor so Grandfather can work with him and no one will be in danger.” Juliana nodded solemnly, a gesture she had inherited from Horus.  “How dangerous is Baba?  What does he do?” Horus weighed his words carefully.  “He loses his grip on reality sometimes and attacks animals for blood.” “Only animals?” Juliana’s gaze was direct and compelling.  Horus was reminded that this child was a primarch. “Yes.  Ferrus is angry because, even though your baba has only attacked animals so far, we kept that a secret.” “Daddy, do you think he would attack me?  Or Feli?” “Baba wants to make sure that he can’t.” “What can I do?” “Same thing you have been, Juli.  Baba and I love you and are always very proud of you.  Go to school and do your chores, same as always.  If I need you to do anything else, I’ll let you know.”

Once he’d tucked Juliana into bed, Horus retired to his own room.  He changed into a loose black robe and settled onto the bed.  The vacuum servoskull was up on its shelf, and the sheets were free of the fluff and dust Sanguinius’s pinions generated nightly.  For some reason, that struck Horus harder than having dropped off his husband at the Manor hours ago. He turned on his reading light, turned off the overhead, and leaned back against the padded headboard with a book.  This reminded Horus that the padded headboard, wrapped halfway around the bed, had been designed just for Sanguinius to rest his wings on them. Horus remember that he and Sanguinius had not spent a night apart since Juliana’s birth, eleven years before.  How would Horus ever be able to get along without him? Reading was futile.  Horus turned on the vid until the next morning.

Juliana woke up on time, performed her ablutions, and dressed in her school uniform.  Her arms felt like cement.  She put her books in her schoolbag and plodded downstairs. Felicity was at the table and Fulgrim had made pancakes.  Ferrus was half-hidden behind the morning paper as usual. “Daddy’s not down yet?” she asked. “He left early to the Manor,” Fulgrim said, placing some cakes on her plate.  “I don’t think he slept all night.” “That makes two of us,” Juliana confessed, and then, to her own surprise and shame, began to cry. Fulgrim set the pan aside and gathered the weeping girl into his arms.  “Oh Juli, I know how scared you must be.  Don’t worry, you have your whole family behind you.” “Don’t be angry at my fathers,” she sobbed.  “My baba might die and I know you’re angry with Horus.”  She sniffled loudly and said, “I don’t want to have to live without you and Uncle Ferrus and Feli.” Ferrus folded up his paper, lay it aside, and joined Fulgrim.  “Juliana, we’re just angry because they hid this from us.  If we’d known Sanguinius was sick, perhaps we could have done something.” “Your home is with us, and nothing can change that,” Fulgrim soothed.  “How about this.  I’ll make that stew you like for dinner, the one with the little peas.” “Thank you.”  She didn’t sound enthusiastic. The finished breakfast.  The girls collected their lunches and schoolbags and left for the day.  Once they were gone, Fulgrim picked up his recaf and sat on Ferrus’s lap. “I’d wager the odds are high that the Blood Angels are about to be purged,” Fulgrim said. Ferrus took a sip from his own cup and nodded.  “If Sanguinius has psychotic breaks, his sons probably do too.” “Horus will find the worst, most destructive way to respond.” “I fear you’re correct.  We have to be ready to take responsibility for Juliana if that happens.” “Fortunately, that’s just a matter of taking down the wall between our apartments.  You can do that in a day with a sledgehammer.”  Fulgrim ran his fingers down one of Ferrus’s silver arms.  “For once, I wouldn’t enjoy watching.”

Perturabo came downstairs into the Emperor’s medical bay in the basement of the Manor.  He was immediately met with the sight of Sanguinius sitting dejectedly on an examination table, clad in a medical gown.  Horus sat on a metal and plastek chair beside him, wringing his hands. “You needed to see me, my lord Emperor?”  Perturabo had still not warmed enough to the Master of Mankind to call him “father”. “Yes.  We’re trying to work out a gene-seed problem. Perturabo’s eyes went from Sanguinius to Horus.  “What’s going on?” The Emperor explained.  Perturabo’s eyes grew wide.  Sanguinius looked away, clearly embarrassed. “Iron Warrior geneseed is the most stable geneseed there is,” Horus explained.  “Mine is good, and I’ve already given a sample for Father to analyze.”  He lowered the collar of his shirt to show the red speck where the biopsy needled had gone into his flesh. “Angron refused,” the Emperor grunted.   “With the way you asked, no one could blame him.”  The Empress emerged from the back of the laboratory with a cloth-covered tray.  She set it down.  “Doing a progenoid biopsy isn’t a small favour to ask.  We only presume to do it because Sanguinius’s health and legion may depend on it.” Perturabo smiled, something that just over a decade ago had been such a rare occurrence.  “Then I can hardly refuse.  Will you need a sample from Rogal as well?” “No,” the Emperor told him.  “Imperial Fist geneseed may be stable in its flaws but it’s flawed nonetheless.” Perturabo undid the buttons of his shirt, revealing his powerful, large-boned upper body.  “Another thing I have over Rogal.  At least he and I can laugh about such things now.” Once the procedure was complete, Perturabo rose, dressed again, and walked over to Sanguinius. “I’m sure everything will be fine,” he told the Angel. “I am not,” Sanguinius replied morosely.