#tentatively saying 2 parts? tbd

[loveinhawkins]

The first notes of Eddie’s guitar solo tear through The Upside Down; Steve watches in horrified fascination as the bats follow the noise, as they form a thick, black cloud, like a plague of locusts.

And it hits him then that he simply cannot set one foot inside the Creel House.

“Nance,” he says. His voice cracks.

She turns to look at him, and suddenly she isn’t a vengeful warrior with a sawn-off shotgun: she’s just a girl who lost her best friend, who has spent years haunted by ‘what if…?’

“Trust your gut,” she says firmly, and that’s all he needs.

He spends a fleeting second squeezing Robin’s hand, just to steady him, and then he’s running back to the trailer.

The one thing that reassures him is that Eddie and Dustin are perfectly on time, the song cutting off just as they planned. Now run, you two, Steve thinks, as his chest burns with the effort, get inside and be safe, be safe, be safe.

But then he reaches the trailer, and he knows that something’s wrong.

Because the bats are clustered in one spot on the roof, scrabbling over the top of one another, and it makes him think of flies descending on roadkill.

He gets past all the wire and defences, and none of them take any notice. He pushes the front door open with the force of his shoulder, slams it shut again, makes sure it sticks.

And then he hears screaming.

He whips around to find Eddie driving his spear through a bat with a guttural cry. He’s on the floor, his upper body shielding something.

And then Steve sees Dustin. Dustin on the ground. Dustin bleeding.

No.

He sprints across and covers Dustin, too, slotting next to Eddie to form a complete shelter.

“Steve,” Eddie whispers, and his face is ashen. “Fuck, it’s the vents, they’re in the fucking vents. I tried to—D-Dustin—I wasn’t quick enough, Christ, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—”

And he keeps repeating that, as if feverish, striking out again with the spear as another bat swoops for them. His aim is true, but that doesn’t matter now. It’s too late.

Steve looks down at the wound on Dustin’s thigh, at the blood spilling out relentlessly. And as Eddie cups Dustin cheek, pleads, “Stay awake, H-Henderson, you hear me? Dustin? Dustin, please,” Steve spots the bite on Eddie’s wrist. It’s barely anything, just a nick.

But it’s enough. Steve knows that it doesn’t matter how fast he is—the bats will just keep coming. They’re on the scent, to hunt. To devour. And his wounds are dried up. Old.

Fresh blood dripping from Eddie’s wrist. Dustin’s bloody leg.

Oh, you’re going to die, Steve thinks. Both of you.

Then he thinks Well, fuck that.

He flings off his jacket, wraps it tight around Dustin’s thigh. Dustin whimpers, eyelids fluttering.

“Shit, sorry, bud,” Steve whispers. “I know it hurts, I know, I know…”

Underneath the screech of more bats, he presses a brief, fierce kiss to Dustin’s forehead, pushes back his sweaty curls. I love you.

Eddie takes out another pair of bats in quick succession, slamming them with his shield—narrowly avoids their tails wrapping around his wrist. His luck won’t last forever, Steve knows that.

So he just has to be quicker.

He rips the end of his shirt with his teeth, pushes the torn fabric into Eddie’s hand.

“Eddie. Eddie, listen,” he says urgently. “It’s the blood, okay? They’re coming for the blood.”

Eddie wraps the fabric around his wrist as if on autopilot, eyes wide with fear.

“It’s the blood,” Steve repeats, as calmly as he can. “You’ve gotta stop the bleeding, okay? You can do that.”

Eddie nods jerkily, and some of his panic fades away, replaced with a white hot determination. He sets his jaw.

“Hey, Dustin?” Steve says. Tries to be gentle while raising his voice, praying it breaks through the pain-induced fog. “Eddie’s got you, okay?”

“Yeah,” Eddie chokes out. “I’ve got you, Henderson.”

His hand strokes through Dustin’s hair, too, and God, Steve trusts him. Trusts him so damn much.

Trusts him enough for this.

Steve jerks his head upwards to the gate. “Stop the bleeding. Get him home.”

Eddie nods again, but a wrecked laugh comes out. He ducks as another bat breaks in; Steve temporarily takes the spear, kills it without flinching.

“Jesus! How the fuck are we supposed to do that, Harrington? There’ll be hordes of those fuckers in a minute.”

“You’ll be fine,” Steve says. He discreetly pats at his pockets. Feels the handle of the switchblade. Touches Dustin one last time, a palm across his brow. “Look after him.”

“Hey, I—I don’t like your tone, man,” Eddie says. “We’re looking after him, together. Together, all right? Fucking promise me, Harrington.”

“You promised me first, remember? Stop the bleeding, get him home.”

“No, no, no, Steve, don’t you fucking dare—”

But Steve is already heading outside. He locks the door behind him, just in case, but he already knows Eddie can’t leave—won’t leave Dustin behind. There’s a thump at the door, a desperate jiggling of the handle. Steve shouldn’t look behind. He shouldn’t.

But, God. He can’t help it.

Through the glass, he can see Eddie standing there, breathing raggedly. Terrified.

Steve can’t hear him through the cacophony of the bats’ cries, the thunder and lightning. But he can read his lips.

Don’t. Please don’t.

Steve brings out the blade. Slashes it right across his palm.

Eddie screams.

I’m sorry, Eddie, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to do.

Steve runs. He grins savagely as he hears the bats following him, all of them, like he’s the fucking Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Yeah, that’s right, you sons of bitches. Steve laughs through a searing pain in his side. You’ve already had a taste. Come and get me.

[borrowedtimeandspace]

A Reader's Guide to the Multiverse

Hello! Welcome to my sandbox!

Artwork by the lovely @abookishweasel

Though I still write long-form stories collaboratively with @neonthewrite [ Ao3 | DA ] and @nightmares06 [ Ao3 | DA ], my own writing has become more short-form and sporadic. This can make things a bit confusing for the blog, since there isn't an easy way to organize everything. That's what I use Ao3 for (user The_Raconteur_24601). And even there, it can be a bit complicated.

Under the cut is a guide to the stories you'll find featured on this blog; my attempt at organizing them here, and links to their counterparts on Ao3. My asks are always open for any questions this post doesn't answer!

Borrowed Time (and Space)

A Doctor Who/The Borrowers Crossover

[Ao3 Series] | Meet the OCs

Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, The Borrowers belongs to Mary Norton, and Zepheera and other borrower OCs belong to me.

It's the name of the blog, the OG, the one that started it all. The primary premise for this series is: The Doctor (usually Ten) takes on a four and a half inch tall borrower named Zepheera as a companion. It's all a bit wibbly-wobbly, but let me set things straight.

Common tags for the stories (and various posts) are #doctor who gt or #doctor who g/t (which stands for giant/tiny and indicates the involvement of drastic size difference, for the uninitiated) and #BTaS AU

Episode 1 | Minisode | Episode 2 | Episode 3

Originally there were ambitions to try and make the series episodic, like your typical season of Doctor Who but with a borrower tossed in. As such, the first three stories in the series are titled as 'Episodes'. These were among the first long-form stories I'd ever written and posted, so they predate the blog. That, and my writing style and ideas for the canon of the series have changed drastically since then. See this post for more details on that, and this one if you're not worried about spoilers.

The tl;dr of it is: These Episodes are the basis for the AU, but I don't consider them canon enough to impact any other stories in a meaningful way unless I say so.

Zepheera's Origins - In which I started cracking down on my borrower companion's characterization and backstory, compiling a number of prompts set during the time before she met the Doctor.

Zepheera-Visions - These were a fun writing exercise for me during this blog's early years! I would come up with shorts based on Doctor Who gifs that feature some low or high angle shot, imagining Zepheera as the point of perspective in them. If I were at all good at making gifs myself, I might have kept it up. A lot of the AU that ultimately came about branched off from these gimmicks, and still feature them in their stories. Here, they can be viewed under the #Zepheera-Vision tag.

Tales from the Vortex - A compilation of various prompts and shorts that take places in the BTaS-Verse, but don't have any major stories attached to them. These span different Doctors other than Ten, and feature a few other companions in some of them. Sometimes, enough stories accumulate with a similar theme to expand into their own AU, which leads me to...

Borrowed Time and Space AU

The Donna Trilogy - This was originally called the Donna AU, and the original shorts were tagged with #DonnaAU or #Donna AU. Nowadays, I've started to give AU their own titles and tagging them on blog posts. And recent events in Doctor Who have inspired this to span more than one story, making this the first multipart BTaS AU!

Part 1 - A Patient, and Time. [tag] [Ao3]

Part 2 - If I Could Turn Back Time [tag] [Ao3]

Part 3 - TBD...

To The Nines - One of the first AU created in which Zepheera is companion to a Doctor other than Ten! Despite titling the story later on, I must have had the idea for it earlier because a lot of the early shorts are tagged #To the Nines AU. Other tags include #nine AU and #To the Nines.

Time After Time - This AU, while it is NOT a sequel to any existing story, assumes that Zepheera and the Tenth Doctor went on their adventures in the past, and got separated at some point. Then Zepheera manages to find the Twelfth Doctor while he's at St. Luke's and meets Bill Potts. This was one AU that developed slowly over time once I realized I could get a story arc out of it, so a good chunk of the shorts are in the tag #Time After Time.

Borrowed Magic - co-written with neonthewrite

The first and so far only BTaS crossover! The wonderful neon lent me her boi Bowman from her story "Bowman of Wellwood" ( Paperback EBook Amazon ) to join my little TARDIS crew.

Lost in Flight - The inaugural story to introduce a tiny winged guy raised in the woods to all of time and space. It's so far the only complete story we've written, but we're absolutely open to prompts and suggestions for shenanigans for the crew to get into!

Brothers Apart AU - co-written with nightmares06

A SuperLock/Borrowers Crossover

Brothers Apart Ao3 | Meet the OCs

Supernatural belongs to the CW, Sherlock to the BBC, Brothers Apart to nighmares06, and listed OCs to me.

Brothers Apart is a borrower AU of Supernatural written by the inimitable nightmares06. We have collaborated on a few of the various AU based on that story, in which I bring the BBC Sherlock angle.

I don't post nearly as much here about BAU (Brothers Apart AU) since most questions about it are fielded at the dedicated blog @brothersapart; most of what can be found here are miscellaneous prompts and character tidbits. Brothers Apart AU posts made here get filed under #BAU.

More AU exist than listed below, and will be added as they're posted.

Brothers Consulted - Cursed Winchesters end up in London and join forces with the Baker Street crew to solve mysteries, as they do. #Brothers Consulted

Brothers Chosen - Canon Winchesters find a borrower during a hunt and have to figure out what to do with him.

A Tale of Two Sizes - Part of an unannounced BAU, featuring Stan and his family in a universe where Stan is a size-shifter. Finally compiled these into one collection. #size shifter Stan

Misc. Tumblr Prompts - A less clever name for a similar compilation of prompts that don't (or don't yet) have their own story, that have nothing to do with BTaS and/or have to do with my cowritten works.

Miscellaneous

The Brave Little Baker - In which I toss Stan and Nate into a fantasy world of giants and giant slayers! Also based on a series of prompts, revised and compiled into their own story once I had enough of them.

GT July

These prompt challenges have done wonders to keep me writing and inspired!

2022 Masterpost | 2023 Masterpost

[zebee-nyx]

CalmWriMo Day 1!

[11/1/2023]

Update!

Waywards Progress:

So! Made some progress in a few areas. Still working out some bits of the outline, would like it to be more solid by the end of the week at the latest. I believe I have most of it tentatively set, except for the conclusion (O.o). Which is certainly an important part, so will be continuing that more tmr. Most of the time was spent on me going back and fleshing out the main characters to really understand what they want and fear and whatnot which should help out quite a bit later when writing them and hopefully make them more well rounded in general (^v^)b. Also spent a little bit of the time dashing out some worldbuilding stuff that I had logged in my brain but needed to be plopped in a document somewhere cause I'm prone to occasionally loosing my brain keys to the memory door (x.x).

2 hour writing goal: ✅

Blurb for the blurg: [see below]

Self Care:

Food: ✅ [had me some tofu and pasta (^v^)]

Hydration: ✅

Sleep: [tbd, but feeling good about it (‘^.^)]

Reading: ❌ [unfortunately missed this bit today (0+0)]

Worldbuilding blurb: Augs

What are augs?

Aug(s) is short for augmentation(s)! Broadly they are any alteration to one’s body that generally includes: cyberware, cosmetic surgeries, and altered genetics [more on this tmr (o.o)].

Cyberware is by far the most common type of aug in Neocago as just about everyone has at least a little bit of metal in them in one way or another. Everyone (with few exceptions) in the city has a Bio-ID chip that is installed in the palm of their hand (or relevant appendage). This aug is used fairly universally for things such as identification, banking, tracking, clocking into work, signing contracts, and recording medical information. This aug has been made such an essential part of life in the city that it is installed for free courtesy of the friendly neighborhood NEX Conglomerate! It is usually installed when someone comes of age an appropriate to join the workforce around the ripe old age of 10! Exciting!

Most people have some model of a cybercomputer. A cybercomputer is more or less what it says on the tin, which is to say it’s a computer attached to one’s brain. This aug is a necessity for life in the city. In function it acts as the “translator” between the human brain and the digital world. This allows the auged individual to operate other installed cyberware, jack into computers, access the dream-net as well as having net-dreams, and it even serves as a phone for communication around the city. While there are all sorts of fancy accessories for any niche, there are a couple that come standard with cybercomputers of every model. The first is a JC (jack cable), which is a retractable spool of cable in one’s head that can be used to connect the cybercomputer directly to any external port. The second is at least one “slot”. A slot is a port is intended to be used to directly insert datadrives which can be used to transfer information and programs. Some cybercomputers are designed with additional slots for more versatility, however this comes with the trade off of increased chances of cognitive overload if over used.

[Thanks for reading (^.^). Foodstuff below btw \/ Anyways and always hope you are having a lovely day, peace (^v^)b]

[allthecanadianpolitics]

1. Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival – June 1-21

Established in Ottawa in 1996, the Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival (SSIF) is a multi-disciplinary arts festival that brings together Indigenous artists, performers, educators, students, and community members to share knowledge and celebrate Canada’s diverse Indigenous cultures. The former 4-day live event takes place in June: coinciding with National Indigenous History Month and closing on National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21). This year’s virtual programming includes The SSIMAs a new national Indigenous music awards program as well as Education Days, streamed performances, interactive family activities, arts and crafts, culinary and cultural workshops including the popular Pow Wow now socially distanced.

Twitter https://twitter.com/ottawasolstice/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/solsticefestivals/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/solsticefestivals/

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYnmJlZdwcGa-6nB6L4mJqA

Website: https://summersolsticefestivals.ca/

2. Stop Insuring Trans Mountain: Week of Action – June 14 – 21

Online and in-person

Join us for a week of action from June 14 – 21 targeting the insurance companies enabling the continued operation and expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. 

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻? The Trans Mountain expansion project would transport an additional 590,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Alberta to British Columbia, and lead to a 700% increase in oil tankers in the Salish Sea. Many Indigenous communities have consistently and repeatedly rejected the Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project – but the Canadian government continues to plough ahead with construction.𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲? Current insurers of the pipeline are complicit in violating Indigenous rights and driving climate change through providing $500 million USD in coverage. Without insurance, the pipeline cannot keep operating, and its expansion can’t be constructed. That makes un-insuring Trans Mountain a critical way to stop the pipeline once and for all.Last year, Indigenous communities and activists pushed three insurance companies to cut ties with the pipeline: Zurich, Munich Re, and Talanx. We are not letting up the pressure.Trans Mountain is currently seeking insurers to back the project in the year to come, with a deadline of August 31. Right now we have a critical window in which to pressure insurers to rule out coverage for the pipeline and make Trans Mountain uninsurable.𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻:

Liberty Mutual

Chubb

AIG

W.R. Berkley

Lloyd’s

Starr

Stewart Specialty Risk Underwriting

Marsh

𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀! We will turn up the heat on these companies during the Week of Action through protests at office locations, digital actions, and more. Find your local or virtual event below.

Stop TMX Week of Action Supporter Toolkit:

http://bit.ly/TMXToolkit

Sign up to host an action in your community here:

https://forms.gle/LrrDdu8P62bir7eM7

𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 (𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲!): Berlin, Bristol, Charlotte, Denver, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Fremont, Kaneohe, Ottawa, Montreal, Portland, Seattle, Rochester, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria

3. COVID-19, Social Safety Nets, and Sex Work in the Capital Survey – June 5 – June 30

The “COVID-19, Social Safety Nets, and Sex Work in the Capital” survey is a joint research project between University of Ottawa researchers and Prostitutes of Ottawa-Gatineau Work Educate Resist (POWER). This survey of sex workers in the capital region seeks to better understand the economic impact of COVID-19 on sex workers and how they navigated social benefit programs created in its wake. The confidential and remunerated 10-12 minute online survey will remain open thru to June 30, 2021. 

For more information about the research or to take the survey, please visit https://www.powerottawa.ca/covid19

4. Protest at Ottawa CBC – Tuesday, June 22, 4:30PM

Rally Point: Sparks St. and O’Connor St.

OTTAWA! 

We are calling on you to join us Tuesday June 22 at 4:30 PM at CBC offices to protest CBC’s anti-Palestinian biases and dishonest reporting on Palestine.

CBC has refused to report on the 2021 Human Rights Watch report highlighting Israeli crimes of apartheid: https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution

They have reprimanded their journalists for signing an open letter to newsrooms asking for fairer coverage of Palestine.

And they have banned the use of the word “Palestine” in their broadcasts and digital media.

We demand change!!!

NOTE: Please abide by all COVID19 guidelines and social distancing measures. See you there!

Hosted by: CBC Palestine

5. OCAP Solidarity Speaker Series: Long-Term Care – Thursday, June 24, 11AM-12:30PM

Hosted by: Ontario Coalition Against Poverty

Join us again Thursday June 24th for our Solidarity Speaker Series event. This month’s spotlight is on Long-term Care and will feature speakers from Ontario Health Coalition, the EMPOWER network, and York University. Come learn about how the government has allowed this sector to be woefully neglected with deadly consequences and what we can do to improve legislation and shift away from the for-profit model of senior care.

Who you’ll be hearing from:

Pat Armstrong, Sociology Professor, York University

Cindy Huggins, PSW, EMPOWER network

Natalie Mehra, Ontario Health Coalition

The OCAP Solidarity Speaker Series is a recurring event, taking place on the last Thursday of the month, to spotlight rad organizations and individuals and highlight ongoing issues from an anti-capitalist perspective. We aim to educate, spark dialogue, and call folx to action in diverse and meaningful ways.

Hope to see you there!

More info and event link here.

6. Learning from the Movement OGs – Thursday, June 24, 4PM-6PM

Nothing happening in this historic era of protest has come from nowhere. This two hour panel will highlight the wisdom of movement OGs who have been doing the work—and are still doing the work—of Black liberation, Indigenous anti-colonial struggle, and migrant justice struggle, which has laid out the conditions of possibility for this political moment.

Panelists: Bridget Tolley, Lynn Jones, Beverly Bain, Harsha Walia

Facilitators: Robyn Maynard, Pascale Diverlus

Sign up here

Hosted by: Building The World We Want

7. Justice for Workers Outreach at Britannia Beach – Saturday, June 26, 12PM – 2PM

Join us for this community canvass at Britannia Beach where we will be speaking out about the need for paid sick days, fair wages and decent work for all.

This will be the first Ottawa outreach action for the Justice for Workers campaign and we would love it if you came by to help us collect signatures on our new petition!

Look out for our tent and volunteer team. Make sure to dress appropriately for the weather, and don’t forget to bring water and snacks. 

Sign up and check back for more details to be announced shortly. 

Materials and location info at this link. 

8. Stories from Insider Spaces: Exploring AGM Intervention as an Activist Tactic – Monday, June 28, 6:30PM – 8:00PM

Hosted by: Mining Injustice Solidarity Network

Registration information below!

Have you ever wished you could look the CEO of a harmful company in the face and say your piece? Want more information about a corporate project that’s impacting your community and wish you could get some answers? Come to this event and explore the strategic possibilities of Annual General Meetings (AGMs) with the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN)!

All publicly traded companies are legally required to hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs), where shareholders are able to attend, ask questions, and vote on important decisions.

This means that, once a year, companies with significant influence (including mining companies) are compelled to open up a space that is much more accessible to the public than many industry gatherings that happen behind closed doors. AGMs allow shareholders to hold company executives accountable. They can also be an important opportunity  for activists and impacted communities.

AGM interventions have been an important part of MISN’s strategic toolbox . We’ve attended AGMs to take notes for impacted communities, asked questions to unmask the misleading information shared by mining companies with their shareholders, hosted rallies outside of AGMs, led disruptions inside the meetings themselves, and more. Here are some examples: https://mininginjustice.org/archive/pastprojects/spring-into-action/

During this event, MISN members and allies will share their experiences attending AGMs, outline some of the different intervention tactics that we’ve used in the past, and provide some practical information on how you can research and buy a share in a company so that you can also attend its AGM.

The format of this event will include multiple speakers, video documentation of AGM interventions, and some opportunities to engage in small group discussion with other participants.

We hope you’ll attend if you are fighting a publicly traded company or are impacted by a company and want to add one more approach to how you organize against it.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!: http://bit.ly/StoriesFromInside  

9. Status For All March – Ottawa Rally – July 25, time tbd

In person, place tba

Join the rally in Ottawa on July 25th to welcome the arrival of the historic March for Status for All from Montreal! Across the country migrants have been organizing for full and permanent immigration status for all. Massive wins have been secured, but there is still a crucial final step to win. We will not stop until everyone has full and permanent immigration status, with no exceptions. We will leave no one behind.  

From July 18 and to July 25, migrants and their allies will march from Montreal to Ottawa, led by Solidarity Across Borders / Solidarité Sans Frontières, demanding that Justin Trudeau’s government grant full and permanent immigration status for all. 

Join us in Ottawa to welcome the march! Time and exact location will be confirmed closer to the date.

RSVP here: https://migrantrights.ca/marchtoottawa/

This rally will be in accordance with COVID safe guidelines: we ask all attendees to wear a mask and respect social distancing guidelines

[iamvegorott]

Operation Love Bus Part 2

Picture provided by @theprinceofflies

First Day 

“Say cheese~” Jackie sang as he snapped a picture of Wilford and JJ. “Man, this thing is so cool.” He chuckled as he took out the picture from the old-fashioned camera and watched the image slowly develop. “Wait, Wilford, you’re not that tall,” Jackie commented when he saw the picture.

“Why were you on a box?” JJ asked, managing to see the box before it was suddenly gone.

“Whatever do you mean?” Wilford popped his lips and took off for the RV. 

“I still can’t believe he’s convinced everyone to do this,” Jackie said as he handed JJ back his camera. “I wonder what he actually has planned.” 

“Whatever do you mean?” JJ awkwardly signed.

“JJ-”

“Bye!” JJ took off just like Wilford did and went to the front of the RV, getting a nice picture of it. 

“Egos of all shapes and sizes!” Wilford called from the open door of the RV, standing on the first step into it. “Everything has been packed except for you! Come aboard and let this adventure begin!” Wilford went the rest of the way into the RV, Robbie, and Blank excitedly following him in while most of the others weren’t looking the most...thrilled about this trip. 

“There are only nine beds, there’s eighteen of us.” Mad commented after looking around. 

“Right you are.” Wilford bounced over and gestured towards the beds. “We needed room for a proper bathroom and a little kitchen area so the buddies will be sharing beds-” Wilford paused while protests were either said or shouted. “-each bed has been labeled by your one and only JJ and remember. We have our buddy-system for safety.” Wilford continued and made his way to the front of the RV. 

“It’s for the kids,” Dark said to himself.

“These are pretty comfy,” Robbie said, climbing into his and Blank’s bunk. 

“Really?” Blank crawled in as well, the two feeling like there were in a wooden tent. 

“Looks like we’ll be sleeping together,” Phantom said with a chuckle to Jackie. 

“Y-Yeah.” Jackie scratched his cheek to hide the slight blush on his face. 

“Alright, sports, pop a squat while I get us going.” Wilford sat himself down in the driver’s spot, putting on his seatbelt. “Won’t take long to get us to a highway and then you’ll be good to move as needed.” 

“How long is it going to take to get to the first place?” Mare asked as he and everyone else sat down, JJ going to the front seat next to Wilford. 

“Won’t be till tomorrow,” Wilford answered, turning the RV on. 

“Wait, it’s going to take a literal day?” Anti groaned. “That’s so boring.” 

“There isn’t much where we live.” Bing shrugged as the RV took off. “All the really fun stuff takes time to get to.” 

“Why are we using an RV then? Most of us can teleport and we can take the ones that can’t.” Anti continued his pout. 

“That’s not as fun.” Yandere said.

“And neither is being in an RV for a whole day.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it fun.” Wilford chuckled. 

“I don’t know if I like the sound of that,” Edward said. 

“Just give me a few minutes.” Wilford waved a hand. 

Everyone found themselves soon just chatting amongst each other, getting comfortable in their spots, and having plenty of laughs shared between them all. Eventually, they were flying down the highway and the RV was fairly steady. JJ got up with his camera and headed back to the others, showing that it was all good to move around. 

“Now, let’s get the party really started.” Wilford reached up and turned on one of the many different kinds of media players above him. 

“Oh!” Anti and Phantom perked up from the song that played. The two shared a look and a grin before they jumped to their feet and started dancing together. 

“There are children here.” Chase scolded while covering Robbie’s eyes. 

“I’m sixteen, dad!” Robbie protested while Blank was also trying to get Mare’s hands off his own eyes.

“Still underage,” Mare added. 

“I’m not!” Marvin laughed and got up, joining Anti and Phantom in their dancing. Chase went still when Marvin started moving his hips. 

“You’re drooling.” Mare teased. 

“Shut up,” Chase said way too quickly.

“And so are you,” Mad said to Jackie, using a hand to close Jackie’s open mouth.

“No-I-I-uh-” Jackie cleared his throat but didn’t try to say anything.

“Come on, Bim.” Yandere pulled Bim to his feet and they spun in circles together. 

JJ giggled at the plan working out a lot more than expected but stopped when he noticed what Dark was doing. He wasn’t watching the show at all and was typing on his phone, probably answering emails he’s supposed to be ignoring. JJ started to get up to tell Dark no but Anti spoke first.

“JJ, take a picture!” Anti posed with Phantom and Marvin. 

“This is a family-friendly scrapbook.” JJ stuck his tongue out. 

“It won’t be family-friendly when I get that camera.” Anti glitched over but JJ knew what was going to happen and easily avoided him, rushing over to the front of the RV and sitting in the passenger seat. “Re-” Anti stopped when he ran into an invisible wall that was at a yellow line on the ground. 

“Can’t bother the driver, Anti.” Wilford chuckled. 

“I’ll get that camera later.” Anti stuck his own tongue out while JJ did the same again. 

The rest of the first day on the road consisted mostly of some dancing with a good handful of the Egos and even some sing-alongs. Eventually, they grew bored of the music and Wilford explained how to use large TV and everyone settled down to enjoy the movies and shows.

JJ used his camera to get a picture of the bunk beds and one of Wilford driving. JJ found himself studying that photo a lot longer than planned when it fully developed, it was strangely...poetic how Wilford’s face was when he was focused. His face was fully relaxed, a slight tilt to his head, and his eyes stared off at what he was looking at, in the present but not really. 

The final picture of the day was one of Robbie and Blank. Robbie had fallen asleep against Blank and when JJ came over with the camera, Blank gave a smile. JJ noticed how the smile immediately went away when the picture was taken. Blank swallowed thickly and was trying his best to keep his leg still, most likely not wanting his bouncing to wake up Robbie. He was anxious or nervous about something and he knew it wasn’t from Robbie being on him, they’ve slept like this since they were little kids. JJ slipped over towards Mare, made sure his back was to Blank so he couldn’t see his hands, and told him that Blank was struggling and might need to be checked on. Mare thanked him with a nod and went over to the teens. 

x~x~x

The sun had been down for hours and the moon was just a sliver in the sky. Wilford finally reached the stop that would allow him to go to sleep as well, the others have been silent for a long time, leaving him alone with just the road and his thoughts. Not his best place to be. 

Wilford yawned as he turned the RV off and got out of the seat, groaning as he stretched from driving for way too long in one go. He should have taken Dark’s offer to drive for a bit, but he wanted Dark to not worry about it at first. His plans made sure he’d had breaks from driving and knew which Egos would offer or agree to take over the driving. 

“Mare?” Wilford said when he saw that Mare was also awake, standing next to the bed where Jackie and Phantom were sleeping with something in his hand. “What are you doing?” 

“I…” Mare sighed, there was no use in lying to Wilford, it never worked out. “Don’t tell anyone else, but Phantom’s prone to nightmares when he sleeps away from his usual place. He’s like Blank and the change in environment throws him off but it really only hurts him when he’s sleeping since he can’t control anything.” Mare held up what he was holding and Wilford saw what looked like a large Lego with a string. “I’ve tied one of these to his wrist ever since I found out about this. Chewing on the…‘lego’ helps relax him.” 

“Does Phantom know?” 

“He does...but we never talk about it.” 

“Why not?” 

“It’s embarrassing.” Mare gently tied the string, using his finger to make sure it wasn’t too tight. 

“Embarrassing? You’re making sure your brother’s okay.” 

“I’m babying him. We’re both fully grown and he doesn’t need me to always take care of him but I just...I can’t help myself. I want him to be okay.” 

“You love him, there’s nothing wrong with loving someone,” Wilford added with a little gesture of his head towards where Mad was asleep. 

“Make sure you take your own advice, Wilford.” Mare popped his lips, ignoring Wilford’s movement, and went back to his bed. Wilford just made a face, not understanding what Mare meant. 

He then shrugged it off before going for his own bed, crawling in and seeing that JJ was curled up toward the wall, mouth parted as he softly breathed. Wilford smiled when he saw that JJ was cuddling one of the extra pillows, hugging it to his chest. Wilford tried his best to lay down on his back as slowly as possible, going still when JJ flipped over and was now facing Wilford. Wilford’s heart did a little flutter when JJ’s hands reached out and ended up holding to his arm, his unconscious mind just wanting more to hold. Wilford adjusted himself so that he was still on his back comfortably and JJ was able to fully hold his arm, pressing his forehead against his upper arm. 

“Night, JJ,” Wilford whispered, and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep. 

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

Original Drawing Post: Link

Part 3: TBD

Part 1: Link

Tag List (let me know if you want added or if your name has changed)

@rainymae523​ @thesinginggal​ @ashywasteland93​ @shadowkitten0321​ @m0th-goo​

[bellarkestitchdelena]

Prompts im filling

Sea Mechanic Burden Of Truth AU

Publication Date: May 10th-20th

Raven is a lawyer, a prodigy of Abby Griffin, the most prolific lawyer on the east coast. She's sent to a small town in south Carolina to represent an oil company who is being sued for operations runoff that is apparently getting kids sick. She thinks it'll be an open and shut case, but then she meets Luna, the lawyer representing the other side. Her opposing counsel is brilliant and beautiful and keeps Raven on her toes in a way noone else has, and the more time they spend together in and out of the courtroom, the more raven realizes she's on the wrong side of this fight. Will she have the courage to go against her boss and mentor, the only mother figure she ever had? More over, will she have the courage to tell Luna how she feels about her?

Roarke CIA Prompt

Publication Date: tbd

Clarke joins the CIA to escape her own life by becoming someone else. She made it through the farm with top marks and a promising career ahead of her. Except the cover shes been assigned is to infiltrate Azgeda industries as part of a joint mission with the KGB. And her new "husband" is the biggest (and hottest) asshole she's ever met in her life.

Brolarke Accidental Courting Au

Publication Date: tbd

Bellamy and Clarke messed up. How were they supposed to know that gifting roan a fur blanket and a book was considered a courting gift? And how were they supposed to know that Roan giving them gifts meant they were engaged and now expected to marry? Can they navigate their own tentative friendship that they were slowly fixing and their own engagement to Roan individually and together?

Octabriel Pirates au

Publication Date : tbd

Falling inlove with a crewmate can be messy, but it doesnt stop Captain Octavia from falling inlove with her first mate ships doctor Gabriel Santiago. But when news of treasure reaches them Octavia sets her site on it despite Octavias reluctance. Can the two lovers find common ground or is this the end of their story?

Bellarke and Murven Ashes and Fire Au

Publication Date: tbd

As if living through an apocalypse isn't enough, Clarke finds out that the radiation cloud that swept the planet- that she and only about 10% of the population managed to survive- has left her with the power to manipulate fire. Luckily for her shes not the only one. She doesn't know how they found her but shes never been more grateful.

Bellamy, Raven, Murphy and Octavia find Clarke hiding out in an old house that she accidentally set on fire. They take her in and teach her how to control her powers. They tell her of the new destruction that they've found and the new dangers out there. It seems that everyone that survived has a mutation that allows them to manipulate and element and not everyone is using them just to survive.

While Clarke gets along with Raven, Murphy and Octavia, She and Bellamy butt heads, until they don't.

Raven and Murphy have known eachother for their whole lives and its a will they wont they situation- until the apocalypse and then their was no time for love. Or is there?

Bellarke Taylor Swift Lover Prompt

Publication Date: tbd

A modern au based on the song that's fluffy

Bellarke Falling For teacher prompt

Publication Date: tbd

Bellamy doesn't dance. But when Octavia begs to dance with her at her wedding he doesn't have the heart to say no. So he asks maid of honor Clarke Griffin to teach him how to dance. But what is supposed to be simply ballroom lessons turns into something more

Bellarke Her Song Prompt

Publication Date: tbd

Bellamy has always heard this voice calling and singing to him from the ocean. He has always only had one idea in mind, to sail over the horizon and find her. Unfortunately, unable to afford a ship and crew, the only choice for him is to become a pirate. Ten years later and the voice has tuned down until he almost forgets why he started sailing in the first place. However, one day after a bad attack that leaves his ship in bad shape and sends him overboard in the middle of the storm, the voice calls to him once again to save him.

Bellarke Man or Monster Prompt

Publication Date: tbd

Clarke lost her best friend in a tragic accident a few days ago. With her odd skill as a doctor, she does the only thing she can do and bring him back Frankenstein style. She stitches him back together using electric shock and a few spells from her spell book. By a miracle or mostly not he comes back but is he still him "clarke why would you do this?" "I couldn't live without you."

Memori A Mystery To Solve prompt

Publication Date :tbd

Murphy and Emori are freshman at Sanctum University and they are partnered for their first lit project. They're in the back corners kf the library (Emori actually working and Murphy perusing the old forgotten books) But then he pulls out of the shelf and it opens a secret room. In it appears to be an abandoned workstation of someone who was trying to solve a mystery. As Murphy and Emori read through the old Journals of Clarke Griffin as she outlines her attempts to find a long lost family heirloom that belonged to her father.

Murphy ofcourse wants to. Finish what clarke started and find it to sell it so he can make a fortune. Emori gets caught up in the forbidden romance outlined in her journals. And as they get closer to unraveling the mystery, they also find themselves getting closer to eachother

Bellarke a place for them prompt

Publication Date: tbd

Clarke and Bellamy finds a map at the "art supply store" that has a random place circled. They decide to check it out because it could mean more supplies, but its about a weeks trek there and back. While they may start the trip as unwanted allies, by the second day they realize they work really well together. Its like a natural fall in sync when away from prying eyes and expectations of camp. They make to what was once obviously a small city, now abandoned. But there they find a place that could potentially be there own. And with no grounders around, they realize this could be the break they've been looking for

An Affair That Led Him To Her Ch. 2

Publication Date: tbd

We get a look into Clarkes Pregnancy and into her new marriage

You Were Right Ch.2

Publication Date: tbd

Clarkes side, her reunion with Madi, her forgiving Bellamy and we time jump to after Transcendence

Midnight At The Dropship Chapter 2

Publication Date:tbd

Clarkes dad comes to the office, and Clarke and murphy become a pretend couple and murphys ex pops by

[perfeggso]

till the sun’s seeing through my eyes (yumark)

ace me out 

Yuta and Mark are next-door neighbors who grew up together, joined at the hip until Yuta went off to college. Due to their four-year age gap, Mark's freshman year at the same school marks the halfway point of an unprecedented amount of time apart. Yuta is sure he can handle it, until Mark's arrival home for spring break makes him wonder if the fondness he has for his friend might be blooming quite literally into something stronger. It's up to him to handle the consequences.

Chapter 1  |  Chapter 2  |  Masterlist 

Characters: Yuta x Mark + NCT ensemble, other SM (and non-SM (?)) idols tbd

Genres: heavy angst, fluff, Hanahaki!AU, small town!AU, slight Witchcraft/Magic!AU, College!AU

Warnings: blood and gore, mentions of death, disease, vomiting, college-typical alcohol use, swearing  

Rating: T

Length: 5.8k 

“Sunny,” Yuta reckoned, was the word most often used to describe both him and Mark – if in profoundly different ways.  Yuta’s favorite season was summer, so it followed that he should be like the summer sun: bright, intense, and all-consuming.  Mark, on the other hand, favored fall, and sometimes reminded Yuta of early autumn sunshine: soft in its glow, yet surprisingly bold.

It wasn’t summer when Yuta started feeling shortness of breath for the first time; it wasn’t fall, either.  It was in early March, during the part of spring where no one can agree if the world still feels like winter or if it’s beginning to thaw.  The thaw was usually something Yuta savored; the slow sensation of sunshine gingerly gracing his skin for the first time in months.  Sure, the winter sun was a welcome reprieve from the town’s usual snow and rain-induced gloom, but even when it came out, Yuta had a hard time feeling it.  It was the difference between being touched by bare hands and being touched through gloves.  Early March was when that transition usually occurred, along with the first appearances of crocuses and daffodils in Yuta’s garden, and he had always relished it; relished the lead-up to his favorite season and how that seemed to elongate it.  Since last year though, Yuta wasn’t sure what he thought about spring anymore – if he could still trust it.  It was almost exactly a year ago after all – last March – that Yukhei had nearly let himself die of hanahaki.

No, the first time Yuta felt an unusual shortness of breath was after soccer practice on March 6th, the day Mark Lee came home for spring break.  The sun was peeking through the clouds and glittering off the distant coast as Yuta kicked the ball around with Kun, who’d met up with him in the park off Main Street once Yuta’d finished running the local junior high soccer team through some drills.  Yuta had played intramurally while studying anthropology at the college a half hour away, as well as participating in several dance troops, and since he was only a year out of school, he still considered himself a relatively fit person, even if he was known to gorge on the Seo family’s matcha and azuki bean muffins until he could barely walk.  That’s why he found it so odd when he ran for the ball, which Kun had kicked particularly hard and far, and felt like the air was being yanked from his lungs like a chair being pulled from under him.

He kicked it back, his body flailing wildly, and collected himself, hands on his knees and upper body heaving, bent over.  Maybe he was developing asthma, he thought.  He’d heard of that happening to people nearly at random and with no history of the ailment.  He would have to make himself something for that.

“You okay?” called Kun, stopping the ball quickly and jogging over to his friend.

“Yeah I’m good,” Yuta responded, peering up at Kun sideways and flashing him his most blinding grin.  “I just felt a little weird for a sec.”

Yuta gazed past Kun, noticing a figure moving on the edge of the field.  Was that –

“Mark?” he yelled, heaving one more time before allowing himself to return to standing.  Kun wheeled around, looking elated, and sure enough, the figure raised both arms in greeting, breaking into a run.

“I’m baaaaack!” said Mark.  Yuta thought he looked older, even, than he had over his winter break, wearing jeans and a brown herringbone bomber jacket, black hair parting down the middle to fall over a pair of round wire glasses.  He looked like a city boy for some reason, not a conservation major from the countryside.  Yuta practically tackled Mark in a hug, trying to absorb his friend’s smaller frame as Kun looked on in amusement.  A grey cloud floated overhead, obscuring the tentative sun and making Yuta shiver.  When he pulled away, he indulged in a look of performative hurt, unzipping his pocket and pulling his phone out just to confirm what he already suspected; sure enough, there were no notifications.

“How dare you, Mark Lee!” he accused, pointing his finger in Mark’s face and leaning forward so Mark felt the need to lean back in response.  “How could you not tell me you were coming home today?”

Mark broke into a body-racking fit of giggles.  “I’m not allowed to give you a nice surprise?”

Yuta huffed in lieu of an answer and pointed at Kun.  “Was he involved?”

“Mark texted me earlier and asked if I could find you and detain you for him,” Kun confirmed, and Yuta glared.

“Whatever.  Markie, you caught me so unprepared!  I hope you know I won’t forgive you.”  But that was a lie.  Yuta had already forgiven Mark the ambush, if it required forgiving at all, and Mark knew this because the moment he’d schooled his laughing (which was no small feat) he sighed through a tight-lipped smile, eyes so big under his glasses and full of familiar warmth.

“It’s good to see you too, man,” Mark said, adding, “and Kun also.  Thanks for being my co-conspirator.”

Now that he’d processed, Yuta realized how giddy he was.  His best friend was back for a few weeks and they could do whatever they wanted; make spring sweet like it used to be.  He shuffled a bit on his feet as his enthusiasm boiled over, pushing thoughts of asthma out.  He slung an arm over Mark’s neck and started walking towards the rest of town while Kun went to fetch the ball like the responsible person he’d always been.

“Ugh, why can’t you just graduate already?” Yuta whined to Mark.  “I mean we’ve already gone through this once when I was gone! It hasn’t even been a year yet and I’m already sick of you being away!”

Mark chuckled.  “Thanks?” he said.  “But you can always come visit me, dude, like you already have…”

Yuta shook his head, petulant.  There were moments he thanked his lucky stars that his friends put up with his shit, and this was one of them.  “Not the same,” he explained.  “Don’t like sharing.”

Mark spluttered.

“Anyway!” Yuta diverted when Kun rejoined them, “Do you want to come over to mine this evening so we can catch up?  Kun, you’re invited too of course along with the others, who I can shoot a text too although it might be a LITTLE LAST MINUTE, you know?  That could have been avoided, but alas.”  Yuta cleared his throat as his friends laughed indulgently.  “But yeah, I’m in the barn these days, so we can have a little shindig.  What do you say?”    

“That sounds awesome!” said Mark.  “Just gotta check with my parents, but I don’t think that’ll be an issue.”

Yuta rolled his eyes and scoffed in mock disdain.  “Underclassmen…”

They emerged from the park onto Main Street and Kun excused himself to check on the coffeeshop, promising to be at Yuta’s whenever they decided the gathering would be.  Yuta turned to Mark.

“I have a couple errands I have to run in town before I go home, and then I need to get ready, so while I’m doing that you can go and make sure you have permission to be out after dark.”

Mark laughed, flustered.  That was one of the plethora of reasons he tended to laugh; the others ranging from fear to disgust to joy.  “Alright, Yuta,” he agreed.  “I’ll see you tonight.  Can’t wait to be back with the gang; well – minus Johnny, I guess.  Anyway, can I get another hug?”

Yuta grabbed Mark before the request had been fully uttered, rocking him back and forth and groaning in a way he thought only appropriate considering the tightness of his squeezing.

“Whatever you want, Markie,” Yuta teased before letting his friend go.  “See you tonight.”  And with that Mark was backing away down the street and towards their neighborhood, giving Yuta a dorky little salute when he’d gone far enough to warrant turning around.  Yuta shuddered as he watched Mark leave, the cool tinge of early spring evening setting in against his exposed arms.  It was already 4:30 and the previous sunshine was diffusing into a blue tint over everything in sight.  The shade reminded Yuta of the hour in summer when fireflies usually made their first appearances.  If only it were warmer.

On his way down Main, Yuta stopped into the herbalist’s before the shop closed, finding Kunhang manning it, himself home for break.  A little bell jingled as the door opened and shut and Kunhang lifted his head from where it had been settled lazily against the metal counter.

“Yuutaaa,” he called, “what do you need?”

“Hey Kunhang,” he greeted, “do you guys have any black seed?  I’m all out.”

Kunhang reached under his desk and rummaged around, emerging with an empty jar about the size of a single serving of yogurt.  “Sure thing,” he said, turning around and tracing his eyes and pointer finger over labels upon labels until he found the one for the product he was looking for.  “Here we go.  What’s it for?”

Yuta shrugged, fishing for his wallet.  “Just a little chest tightness.  Think I exercised too much today.  I’m an old man, you know.”

Kunhang turned back around, jar of black granules in hand, and placed it on a small metal scale.  “You’re the furthest thing from an old man I can think of, but alright.” He said, then named the price.  Yuta laughed at Kunhang’s comment and exchanged a few bills for his purchase, which Kunhang had packed for him in a lavender-colored paper bag folded over at the top.

“You close at five?” Yuta asked, loitering a few feet from the door. Kunhang nodded.  “Perfect.  You know Mark’s back?”

“I heard,” said Kunhang, settling his elbows back on the counter’s copper top.  “But I haven’t had time to see him yet.  I don’t think he knows I work here now.”

“Well, I’m trying to have a get-together tonight at my place to celebrate.  I’ll send out details soon I think.”

Kunhang looked pleasantly surprised.  “Oh! That’s awesome!” he said. “I’ll definitely be there.  Is it, like – what kind of get-together?”

Yuta chuckled and Kunhang’s expression hinted at embarrassment.  College kids…      

“It’ll be chill, but I’m cool with BYOB if you have something in mind.  I have a few herbal liqueurs I’ve been wanting a reason to break out, anyway.”

“Sweet,” said Kunhang.  “See you tonight, I guess.”

Yuta let himself out with a chiming of the bell.  “I hope so!”

Next stop was Taeyong’s flower shop.  Yuta steadied himself before crossing the street, breath hitching again strangely at his trachea.  He cleared his throat, trying to fight the mild jolt of terror it gave him not knowing what was wrong.  It was as if when he drew air into his lungs, a small fraction of it transformed into something else that he couldn’t breathe.  It was…strange; there was no other way of describing it.  He pitched forward a bit and forced himself to take a full breath to calm his nerves.  He’d been conditioned by his soccer coaches his whole life not to catch his breath in this position, but now that he was actually struggling, he found it was the only effective strategy.  Once he felt a bit better, he crossed the street and walked into the Lee family flower shop.

“Evening, good sir,” he said jovially upon entry.  Taeyong seemed to be in the process of tallying up the day’s total from the till.

“Yuta!” he said, looking from under his bangs. “What a surprise.  You need something or just stopping in to say hi?”

“Both,” Yuta answered, calm normalcy settling back into his brain as if he’d crushed it up and taken it in a little pill.  “I’m getting some flowers in Mark’s honor.  Have you seen him yet?”

“Yeah,” Taeyong said, setting down a handful of bills and rocking against the counter in front of him, “he stopped by earlier today.  Didn’t get to talk long though. He warned me not to text you anything about it.”  Taeyong smirked.  

Who else’d seen Mark before Yuta had?   He pushed his petulant thoughts aside.  “I’m having a little impromptu party in the loft tonight if you could be bothered.  Just to celebrate being reunited as a mostly group, you know – now that all the young’uns are back from break.”

Taeyong nodded.  “Sounds perfect.  Just tell me the details and I’ll be there.”

“Great.  In the meantime,” Yuta continued, “I’d like to acquire a bouquet to decorate; make it homier, I guess.  Also, I want it to be something Mark would like.”

Taeyong pursed his lips in thought and hummed.  “What about bluebell?” he asked.  “They just came into season and Mark likes blue.”

“Sounds good,” Yuta agreed as Taeyong cut a square of paper, scissors gliding with a satisfying crisp sound, folded it into a cone, and began arranging the bauble-like periwinkle blossoms inside it.

“Anything else you want in there?” asked Taeyong.  Yuta hadn’t come with a plan, so he found himself pondering his options uselessly.  That is, until a golden bundle of baby sunflowers caught his eye.

“Oh!” he said, pointing in their direction.  “Maybe a few of those; since I like them and because Mark brought the sunnier weather with him today.”

Taeyong smiled softly, plucking three of the blooms and situated them amongst the bluebell in the least awkward arrangement possible considering their vast difference in size.

Yuta nodded his approval.  “Looks good,” he remarked.  “By the way, where did you get them? It’s not really the season...”

“The sunflowers?” Taeyong asked, and Yuta nodded again.  Taeyong leaned over the counter and put a flattened hand on one side of his mouth like he had a particularly juicy secret.  Yuta leaned in too.  “I don’t know if you’ve heard but they have this very exciting new technology called a greenhouse.  It’s still part of a classified experiment, but you know, I figured I could trust you…”  Taeyong giggled at Yuta’s expense and at his own jest.

“Alright, whatever,” Yuta grumbled, reaching again for his wallet.  “stupid question.”

“What are you doing?” Taeyong shot at him.

“Paying you?” Yuta responded.

“No, you’re not.  Friend discount; on the house.”

“ Discount isn’t supposed to mean free,” Yuta protested.  

Taeyong gave a proud look as he forced the flowers on Yuta.  “I am the house, therefore I get to decide what to put on it.  That’s the final word.”

Yuta tried to argue again but lost due to Taeyong’s hard-headed generosity.

Taeyong gestured to Yuta’s bag of seeds as he was preparing to leave.  “That for Mark too?” he asked.

“No, this is for me,” replied Yuta.  “Just out of some herbs.  Also, the flowers aren’t only for Mark.  You’ll all get to enjoy them!”

Taeyong’s eyes rolled up into his head for a moment, contrasting the sweetness of his face.  “Okay, okay, fair enough.  I’ll see you later tonight, then.  I can’t wait!”

When Yuta was out the door, he transferred his baggie so it was pinned between his elbow and side, giving him a hand to manipulate his phone.  There was a text bubble on the screen from Mark confirming he could come over any time after 6:30.  Yuta grinned, sending off a quick message in their friend group chat requesting the pleasure of everyone’s presence at his home at 7:45.    

Yuta’s family lived in a craftsman farmhouse with a compact cluster of woods in the backyard and a garden out front.  The Nakamotos were not farmers, though, so the rest of the land which had once come with the house they sold in part and gave up in part to be used as communal land for the town.  This meant that Yuta grew up with a slew of gardeners, hikers, picnickers, and campers hanging around his home, and his friends credited this with his sociability.

The house’s old barn had been converted into storage space and a study for Yuta’s father, but once he’d graduated from college and returned home, the upper loft area was turned over to Yuta so he could enjoy more privacy from his parents and younger sister.  It was really nice of them to let him move in there while he decided what to do with himself.  He remembered transferring his belongings to the barn like he was moving into his dorm freshman year all over again.

Yuta and Mark hadn’t met in school, since they were four grades apart.  Instead, they met because they lived next door to each other; their families’ properties separated only by a short hawthorn hedge.  Once when they were in elementary and preschool respectively, they became convinced there were dinosaur bones entombed in the plant’s roots and went to work hacking at them with plastic toy shovels until they had unearthed a series of interestingly-shaped rocks, or as they had put it to their horrified parents, “triceratops horns.”  

Yuta still had those rocks on a silver saucer he kept on his dresser to display random natural objects he’d collected over the years, and the memory flashed through him at the sight of them when he walked into his room that day.  He placed his bouquet in a flouted cut crystal vase which he set in the sitting area on the far end of his loft, then ran a hot shower, figuring the steam would do some good for both his chilled nerves and constricted lungs.

When he exited the shower, he rummaged through his herb cabinet, pulling out some honey, turmeric, ginger, and ginseng.  He placed the herbs into his quartz mortar along with a small spoonful of the black seed he’d bought from Kunhang, then crushed it all up with his pestle.  He dumped the resulting paste into a mug, added some honey so that it all resembled liquified amber, and doused the mixture in hot water from his portable kettle.  Before drinking it, he thought up a short prayer that the infusion might permanently sooth whatever inflammation was bothering his airways.  He figured the strange discomfort wasn’t anything serious, but you could never be too careful.

Yuta sipped the pungent concoction and scrolled through his phone.  To his delight, most people were responding positively.  Everyone besides Chenle and Taeil (who happened to be home visiting) was available, and when Yuta offered to reschedule, both of them said they could just have another gathering later and it would be for the better – Yuta’s loft was going to be a tough fit for all of them as it was.  In a way it made him feel better that Johnny couldn’t be there.  That was the trouble with large friend groups: finding a time when everyone was free and motivated was as difficult as finding a spell Yuta’s mother hadn’t practiced.

Yuta hooked his phone up to his speaker and played some music while he got dressed, swapping his black bathrobe for jeans, a white t-shirt, and the letterman cardigan that’d been purchased ironically with the rest of his contemporary dance troupe in college, but quickly turned into one of his favorite items of clothing.  Yuta peeked at his clock.  An hour and a half and he’d be dancing around his room with his friends, pleasantly buzzed and listening to all the hijinks Mark had undoubtedly gotten himself into his freshman spring.

***

Yuta might have been a diviner, he thought stupidly, he had been that accurate in predicting how the night would go.  Of course, it wasn’t hard to anticipate an outcome he’d had a hand in orchestrating, but he excused his jumbled thoughts as they could be easily chalked up to the multiple Campari drinks he’d made himself over the course of the night – or, at least, that he’d convinced Doyoung to make for him.  He was in the sitting area of his room, dancing with Mark and trying not to disrupt any of his furniture in the cramped space.

“Mark Lee,” he said, setting his glass on the coffee table so he could gesture more freely, “you mean to tell me you haven’t been up to anything of note since winter break?”

“I’m telling you man, I haven’t,” replied Mark, bouncing his way into the side of Yuta’s couch and pulling a startled face in response.  A fit of tipsy giggles poured from Yuta, causing Mark to practically heave laughter.

“Okay, anyway,” continued Mark before anything else could throw him off.  “It’s been midterms and stuff, so I’ve been really busy.  That’s about all I can handle if I’m still gonna try to keep the radio slot Johnny left to me and I promised him I would!  Some people sleep, you know.”

Yuta scoffed.  “I sleep,” he said, reaching towards the table to take a swig of the herbal red liquid in his glass.  “Anyway, point taken.”

“You really saw me at my wildest point, Yuta,” Mark said, sipping from his cider, “I’ve calmed down since senior spring.  I was nervous about college and I let that get to me whenever I came to visit you. Now I’m adjusted; I’m a new man.”

Yuta did a little spin and found that it made him lightheaded.  He chose to ignore that observation.  “What have you done with the Markie I knew?” he joked, pouting.  “It’s alright, I guess I just bring out the devil in you and you’ve gone soft now that I’m not around as much.”

Mark spluttered.  “Yeah, dude, definitely.  It’s all that dark magic and shit – total bad influence.”

Yuta rolled his eyes, nearly sending a knee into his table since he couldn’t see his legs for a moment.  “Oh, shut up, that ‘dark magic’ stopped you from needing crutches after you turned your ankle playing drunk badminton of all things!  Imagine explaining that to your parents.  You should be thanking me.”

Mark took a performative bow, extending a leg and outstretching his arms as if he were a 17th century gentleman.

“Thank you, your majesty,” he said.  “Although I seem to remember thanking you, like, a lot at the time.”

Yuta placed a hand over his chest.  “That’s of little importance, Markie.  Don’t you know a despot always needs his ego stroked?”

Mark looked at Yuta blankly.  “A what?”

Yuta stopped dancing to stare in dramatic disappointment.  “You’re kidding, right?”

Before Mark could answer (and Yuta knew, of course, that Mark had been dead serious), they were interrupted by the ringing of metal tapping against glass.  Yuta turned around to find Donghyuck teetering on his bed, surrounded by Yuta’s other guests.  He had a glass of something in one hand and a copper candle holder in the other, clearing his throat.

“Is this a toast?” yelled Yukhei.

“No,” Donghyuck replied, “this is a complaint.  Yuta Nakamoto: I have a personal issue with you that needs redress.”

Yuta scoffed as all his friends snickered in his direction.  “Alright, Hyuck, do tell.”

“I couldn't help noticing that Yukhei got back a week ago and you never threw him a party.  Same goes for Kunhang!" The supposedly offended parties just stood below Donghyuck, apparently surprised by their friend's little interruption. Jaemin and Jeno stood next to them, grinning with their arms tangled around each other by the edge of the bed.  Yuta could never see the two of them together without a near violent glee overcoming him at the thought that everything had worked out.  “And! And, you can't even be bothered to tune into a single one of my Twitch streams! What's up with that? You’re obviously playing favorites!”

“Hey,” Yuta began in his defense, “I’m your friend, not your teacher.  I’m allowed to have favorites.  Get your own best friend.”

“Oh, so he admits it!”

“He’s just jealous you’ve been hogging Mark all night, Yuta,” Doyoung interjected, and everyone laughed save Donghyuck, who wheeled around to glare at the source of the interruption.  He cleared his throat.

“Anyway,” Donghyuck continued, “In all seriousness, the reason everyone here agreed to attend this highly disrespectful event is because we love you, Mark, and we’re so happy you’re home.  If your being away has taught me anything, it’s that I actually do miss your dumb face and accidentally genius sense of humor, but it’s also made me appreciate those things even more when we’re together.  Don’t let Yuta keep you all to himself for the next two weeks because then I might have to challenge him to a duel, and we all know that wouldn’t end well for him.”  Everyone tittered at that except Yuta, who just crossed his arms and tried to look dispassionate.

“Well, I should be concluding, but I think if anyone else has some thoughts for Mark – or for any of the college kids for that matter since they didn't get their own parties – you should express them now.”

The group gave Donghyuck a round of applause and he took a bow, wobbling dangerously as he jumped back to the cedar wood floor.

Next it was Taeyong’s turn.  He stood where he was by Doyoung’s side rather than climb on the bed, clutching a cup in both hands and teasing Mark good-naturedly until he was a mortified mess against Yuta’s shoulder.

Kun went next, joking that he’d hired Jisung as his temporary delivery boy, so if Mark wanted to make any money over break, he’d need to scramble and get his shit together.  He concluded by telling him not to let Yukhei talk him into too many keg-stands when they’re visiting each other.  Mark shook his head like a madman, waving his hands wildly in front of him as if trying to dispossess his parents of a bad impression.

Jaehyun did get up on the bed, declaring that Mark is only in college once and should be allowed to make as many bad decisions as he wants, Kun .  Yuta found himself wondering unwelcomely exactly what kind of Bad Decisions Mark was making without him around.  As Jaehyun moved on to reminiscing about childhood days of cow-tipping, Yuta was suddenly seized by another bout of breathlessness.  It hit him like the slap of cold water in a polar plunge and made him feel as though every bit of tissue in his body was encased in plaster.  He tried to breath through it, but it only got more uncomfortable the harder he focused on the mechanics of his breathing.  Sicheng had draped himself on his side over the bed, preparing to speak no doubt, but Yuta realized guiltily he would need to miss it.  The coughing was starting in earnest.

Mark noticed.  He leaned in towards Yuta, eyes wide in genuine concern.

“You okay, man?”

Yuta nodded, covering his mouth with his fist and holding up one finger to indicate he’d return in a moment.  Then, he took off to the bathroom, the eyes of the group following him in discrete curiosity until Mark assured them all he thought Yuta was fine.

They probably just think I drank too much , he reasoned as he heaved over the sink.  He felt like he had something stuck in his chest that needed to be hacked up, but nothing arrived no matter how much he coughed.  After a few minutes of this, he stuck his head under the faucet and drank down as much water as he could manage, feeling whatever was stuck inside him being doused back down.  His breathing shallowed, but at least he didn’t have a violent need to cough anymore.  Suddenly, a terrifying thought hit him: if this was asthma, the potion he’d made earlier coupled with the prayer should have taken care of it.  What was it, then?  

He looked in the mirror as he heard Sicheng finishing up, the sound of his words filtering in through the bathroom door but not actually registering in Yuta’s brain as coherent ideas.  He thought he looked fine; his skin didn’t have a sickly pallor and his gold-dyed hair didn’t look greasy or sparse.  His eyes were a bit glassy, but Yuta attributed that to all the coughing and gagging he’d just put himself through.  He grabbed a lavender potion his mom had made him from his medicine cabinet and pressed it into the pressure points on his head and neck, trying to breath deeply as he did so.  He would ask her about it in the morning and surely, she’d know what to do.

When Yuta emerged, everyone was still milling around the bed, the quiet chatter that always signals the waning moments of a party setting in.  Mark abruptly cut off his conversation with Donghyuck and bounded over to meet Yuta on his way to the group.

“Do you feel alright?” he asked, hushed, “we were about to send someone to check on you. Need me to do anything to help?  You can direct me and I’ll make you a potion or something.  It might not be as good as one of yours but if you’re too tired –”                

Yuta forced a laugh, cutting off Mark’s cutely concerned ramble.  “No, I’m fine, thanks though.  I just felt a little nauseous for a minute there, but I’m good now.”

Mark nodded like a bobble head.  “Oh, uh, okay.  Cool.  That’s actually probably good, you know.  Now, you won’t get a hangover.”

“Yeah,” Yuta agreed, a pit forming in his stomach as he looked into Mark’s dark brown eyes.  “Probably good.”

***

Yuta awoke about two hours later in his maroon upholstered armchair, one foot extended on his coffee table right next to the bluebell and sunflower bouquet he’d picked up what seemed like days ago by now.  Most of the party had gone home, but Jaehyun and Kunhang were snoozing on the bed, Jeno and Jaemin shared whispers in the corner, and Mark lay across the sofa facing Yuta.  Yuta stood, ready to cattle-prod people out of his room if he had to.  He woke Jaehyun and Kunhang and extracted everyone from his room with as much decorum as he could muster, and once he’d made his way back to Mark, the boy had woken up from all the hushed thank-you’s and goodbyes.  His glasses were askew, and he looked around the room the way people do when they wake up somewhere they don’t remember having fallen asleep.

“Oh, hey,” he said, voice scratchy.  “Am I the last one?”

“Yeah,” Yuta confirmed, perching on the couch’s armrest, “but don’t worry about it.  I saved you for last since you’re easiest to get home.  Let me walk you?”

Mark giggled.  “You don’t have to, it’s not like I could get lost.”

“I insist,” Yuta said, smiling firmly.

They walked, exhausted, from Yuta’s lawn to Mark’s, Yuta’s flip-flop-clad feet dampened by early morning dew cold enough to make him shiver.

“Did you have fun?” he asked, as they came to pause by the hedge between their families’ properties.

“I really did,” said Mark.  “Thanks for getting everyone together on such short notice.  I’m lucky to have a guy like you for a friend.”  Mark smiled.  Sunny , Yuta thought, like real warmth was hitting him.

“Same for me about you,” Yuta reciprocated, cringing silently at his awkward phrasing. Mark didn’t seem to notice.

“By the way,” Mark added, “I forgot to say anything, but I really like the blond hair.”

“Why thank you,” Yuta said, fidgeting side to side. “This color makes me think of summer.  A lot of personal changes can happen in three months, you know.  I’m still convinced I’ll get something interesting out of you, yet.”  Mark guffawed as he took a step into his yard.  “I mean, come on, Markie,” Yuta pressed, “not even a significant other or anything?  You used to be a hot item.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, dude,” Mark said, “and if you insist on prying into that, you’re only gonna be disappointed at the lack of anything to report.”

Yuta felt the air flow freely into his lungs for the first time in hours.  He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed his best friend – or rather he hadn’t allowed himself to realize; probably because the realization hurt.  Yuta’s four years away had been a struggle, but eight was seeming like borderline cruelty.

“Fine,” Yuta offered, “I’ll not pry, then.  Let’s do something tomorrow, hm?  I have work but we can meet up after.”

“Sounds good.”

“Goodnight.”

“’Night.  Thanks again, Yuta.”  Mark started the rest of the way towards his house as Yuta waved him off.

“It was nothing.”

Yuta tidied up a bit and got ready for bed, checking his almost dead phone before turning the light off.  3:42 in the morning, oh dear .  Below the time was a short message from Mark.  “ Btw I liked the flowers in ur room.  Might get some tomorrow from ty .”

Yuta stifled a cough.

***

Yuta woke up the next morning gasping.  He was sure the only reason his body had jolted him to sitting was because he’d stopped breathing in his sleep and it was a last-ditch effort to save him.  Once he’d gathered himself and gotten mostly ready for the day, he sat at his table to do a quick tarot reading.  He shuffled his art deco set against the coffee table surface, then brought them back into a deck, settling for a one-card reading since his tired and confused mind begged him for simplicity.  He took the top card in the deck and flipped it over.  It was the ace of cups, reversed, the image showing an orange goblet ringed by water lilies around its base and crowned by rays of sunlight shining off the rim.  All of it, upside-down.

Self-love, intuition, repressed emotions … Yuta rattled off the card’s associations in a slow attempt not to be concerned by its imagery.  Self-love, intuition, repressed emotions… “repressed emotions” kept jumping out at him when he landed upon it.  Something about that made him uneasy.  Was he repressed? He took the deepest breath he could muster and slotted the cards back in their case, figuring this hunch would grow clearer the longer he lived with it.  He had to be at work soon, but wanted to ask his mom for advice about the breathing situation before he headed out, so he grabbed his soccer bag and rushed down the stairs.  The skylight above them revealed nothing but a grey sky.          

[mego42]

fake fic titles: 1. the company of wolves 2. there will come soft rains 3. all summer in a day 4. the robber bride (skip any that spark nothing, i just used titles from other stories that i liked and couldn't pick between 'em!!)

WHOOPS this one got long so putting it under the cut (maybe???) for the sake of your dashes

send me a fake title and i’ll tell you the fic i’d write for it and def not steal it for a title for real

the company of wolves - post s3 Rio POV 5+1 type deal. Five times Rio brought Beth into a den of wolves if you will and one time Beth came to him. It starts off with Rio bringing Beth to sketchy business meetings because he figures the best way to get her to stop making trouble is to show her how in over her head she is and he’s not all that concerned about the danger because she won’t stop trying to kill him so fuck her anyway (bc this is your title, I will commit to the Rio knows about the hitman theory).

But, because the universe exists to thwart him where Beth is concerned, she keeps proving herself in the situations and it transitions over the course of the five times to Beth becoming his secret weapon in the meetings and them softening towards each other (just a bit) as they go. Obvs, the more bad ass Beth is and the more responsibility Rio gives her and the more she wins, they start sparking again and the sixth time is Beth leveraging [something] to get herself back into a full partner position and then seducing him (on top of a desk).

there will come soft rains - okay so, indulge me in a brief detour here, there is this scene in btvs where spike comes over to buffy’s house all gung ho to kill her once and for all (this is pre-them being a thing though spike’s developing feelings at this point and mad as hell about it) and finds her out on the back porch utterly emotionally wrecked because she just found out her mom is dying and not only can he not bring himself to do it, but he ends up sitting next to her and awkwardly trying to comfort her by not saying anything, just tentatively patting her on the back and it’s this really soft, angsty, heavy scene that’s also got this undercurrent of stillness and peace to it that i’ve always really, really loved.

THE POINT IS, I would absolutely love to capture the vibe of that scene in a post s3 one shot where things are bad as ever between beth and rio (assume the hitman stuff has come to a head? beth has fucked him over? idk, scenario tbd but something blew up with the spa business too and there’s no longer an on paper reason for them to continue their arrangement and an entire novels worth of reasons why they shouldn’t BUT they’ve been working together long enough at this point that their jagged pieces aren’t so jagged anymore and there’s an extra undercurrent of exhausted betrayal to it that after all this time, this is still happening).

Rio comes over to put an end to it once and for all only to find beth out on the back patio absolutely wrecked because she and dean are splitting for good (he found out about the spa thing and rio and finally up and left for real) and he’s taken the kids again and is going to sue for custody and she is just so openly broken and miserable in a way he’s never seen before and it stops him up short. they end up sitting together and in this extremely rare, totally unexpected quiet moment find themselves able to be just the tiniest bit vulnerable with each other and admit that they’re both So Extremely Tired Of This and want to find a way to make it work. the one shot ends without anything actually resolved but maybe, just maybe, they could be in the future.

all summer in a day - pure domestic fluff, beth and rio try to take their kids to a water park or something (rio obvs lost a bet or beth is bribing him with one hell of a sexual favor because water parks are hell on earth). it’s a total disaster but the kids love it and at the end of the say, on the way back home with all of the kids sunburnt, damp, and passed tf out in the van (that reeks of chlorine now), they have a quiet moment together where they appreciate each other and their family unit and then rio starts listing the extremely numerous ways beth’s going to make this up to him because did he not explicitly say water parks are hell on earth.

the robber bride - tbh i can’t mentally escape the source material for this one and would loooove to do a three part multi-pov conversational character study type deal where beth, ruby and annie have encounters with amber, krystal and nancy respectively that they all walk away from with a new understanding and appreciation for each other.

[darley1101]

Wicked Games Part 2 Mixed Messages

A/N Thank you to everyone who supported the first part of this story! It is going to be one heck of a journey. I'm not certain on how many parts it will have just yet as I want to be able to tell the full tale without feeling the pressure of cramming everything into a pre-determined number of parts. If you are new to the story, you can read the first part HERE.

Warning for this chapter: Harassment (verbally, text, and cyber), encouragement to commit suicide.

Word count: 3675

tag for story: @starstruckpixelberryhistoryvoid @syltti78 @maxattack-powell @writtenbycandy @silviasutton1989 @alepowell @museofbooks @choices-addict @ihearyoucallmyname @greyeyedsmile

perma tag:  @josieschoices @boneandfur @speedyoperarascalparty @tmarie82 @blackcatkita @mfackenthal @hamulau @endlessly-searching-for-you @umccall71  @penguininapinktuxedo @debramcg1106 @flynnomalleys @damienazariostan @drakelover78 @endlessly-searching-for-you @eileendannie

Part Two: Mixed Messages

Ducking her head down against the frigid breeze that brought a whirl of fallen leaves with it, Aria huddled deeper into her navy blue wool jacket and picked up her pace, determined to reach the campus coffee shop without being waylaid by one of the Alphas; specifically Nathan, Kassidy, or Beau. It had been two days since she'd sent all three texts asking them not to contact her anymore. In that forty-eight house time frame they had sent her dozens of texts and left several voicemails. The texts had started out as confused; them wanting answers to why she was suddenly cutting them off, Nathan going so far as to say he was sorry for anything he might have done to upset her and would she please call him back so they could talk about whatever it was. When she didn't respond, the accusations started. She had used them. She had pretended to be their friend, all while trying to turn them against their dear friend Beau. Did Chris know she had spent the night in Nathan's bed? Did her other friends know what a fake she was? How could she live with herself, using people the way she did? It had been tempting to respond, to them that she wasn't the one pretending to be anyone's friend, that was their forte, that her real friends knew what sort of person she was, and that, yes, Chris knew all about her spending the night at the Alpha club house, where she just so happened to sleep in Nathan's room while he slept on the couch. Mostly,she just wanted to tell them to leave her alone. Chris thought she should block their numbers, change her phone number, and report them to the campus police for harassment; Aria wasn't certain such drastic measures needed to be taken. If she ignored them long enough, they would get bored and stop.

“You're late,” Kaitlyn teased when Aria walked into the warmth of the coffee shop. Her best friend engulfed her in a tight hug, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “I'm so glad you asked me to meet you. I've missed this. I feel like we're both so busy we never get to hang out anymore.” She hooked her arm through Aria's and guided her toward the line to order.

Kaitlyn had been busy; Aria had just been stupid, choosing to focus on the idea of exposing the Alphas involvement in the vandalism and pranks taking place across Hartfeld. Not that Kaitlyn, or any of her other friends, knew about that, only Chris had been privy to the real reasons Aria had been unavailable. It was time to come clean, to lay all out on the table and pray that Kaitlyn was understanding. “I've missed you too,” she said softly, her blue eyes scanning the chalk board menu for the daily specials. “I'll have a hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon and whipped cream,” she told the barista, shifting nervously as Kaitlyn ordered a nitro cold brew with sweet cream, as well as an order of cream cheese filled bagel bites.

“Everything's together,” Kaitlyn said before Aria could pull out her wallet. “Today is my treat.” Pulling out her bank card, Kaitlyn turned to smile brightly at Aria. “I really have missed you.”

“I've missed you too.” Collecting her drink, Aria followed Kaitlyn to a small table at the back of the coffee shop, away from the group of loud, obnoxious freshmen that had filed in. While Kaitlyn yanked out a chair and dropped unceremoniously into it, Aria studied her best friend. In their time apart, Kaitlyn had colored her hair a pretty lavender color and become fond of glittery pink lip gloss, elaborate winged eye liner, and metallic combat boots. “Love the new hair color,” she remarked as she sank into the chair opposite Kaitlyn's.

“Yeah, me too. It was Anissa's idea. She's really good with hair.” Her hand flew up to the shoulder length curls, a grin spreading across her lips. “We could do yours next.”

“No thanks,” Aria shook her head, laughing for the first time in almost three days. “I think I'll leave the unicorn hair to you and Anissa.”

“Rachel too. We talked her into a baby blue and cotton candy pink ombre,” Kaitlyn giggled. “The only member of TBD not embracing her inner unicorn is Kass.”  At the mention of Kassidy, Aria grimaced. “What?” Kaitlyn's brow wrinkled, concern shining in her dark eyes. “Is this about your disagreement with Kass,” she asked lowly.

“What?” Aria stared at Kaitlyn in disbelief, anxiety starting to course through her veins. There was no way Kaitlyn could have known why Aria wanted to meet her. Unless, Aria gulped, Kassidy had gotten to her first and put her own spin on things. “Why would you ask that?”

A sigh whooshed out of Kaitlyn's lips as she took a tentative sip of her coffee. “Kassidy text me this morning,” she admitted. “She says you're mad at her and she doesn't know why.” Her lashes lowered as she fidgeted with the cuff of her gray and pink chevron print sweater.

It was all Aria could do not to groan out loud. Of course Kassidy had gone straight to Kaitlyn and, of course, Kassidy was playing the victim. That was something Aria had picked up on during her investigation. Kassidy enjoyed being a victim. In fact, it was her go to method of operation. Poor, poor Kassidy, confused over why she couldn't keep friends. It was pretty obvious to Aria. Nobody wanted to be friends with someone who was selfish and not above sabotage to get her way. Not that Kaitlyn realized all of that, she was still in the 'Kassidy is alright' stage. Nor did Kaitlyn know about the sixty-five text messages Kassidy had bombarded Aria with, most of which could be considered harassment; especially the ones calling Aria a worthless bitch who should do the world a favor and end her miserable life already. She hadn't shown that one to Chris. She knew how he would react. He'd call the campus police and then head straight to the Alpha club house himself, consequences be damned. “That's kind of why I wanted to see you,” Aria admitted.

Unease flickered across Kaitlyn's pretty face. Folding her arms, she leaned against the table, her chocolate brown eyes troubled. She let out another sigh, her forehead wrinkling. “Look, Ari, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Kass. I don't know why the two of you aren't getting along but I don't want involved. You're my best friend, and I love you, but she's my band mate. I can't get in the middle of this.”

Closing her eyes, Aria took several calming breathes, reminding herself that if she were in Kaitlyn's shoes she would be saying the same thing. Kaitlyn didn't know about the arguments with Chris, the evidence she'd found against the Alphas that suggested at least Kassidy was involved in ruining Kaitlyn's album, or the harassing texts. What Kaitlyn knew was her best friend and her band mate were having some sort of disagreement. It made sense that she would not want to be involved. Unfortunately, there were things Kaitlyn needed to know that would put her smack dab in the middle. “I understand that but there are things that you need to know, things that-”

Kaitlyn shook her head, strands of her lavender hair sticking to her cheek. “That's just it Ari, I don't want to know. I meant what I said, I don't want in the middle of whatever disagreement you had with Kass.”

Shock widened Aria's mouth, she felt her jaw slacken. “I'm not trying to put you in the middle, Kait, I swear. I'm just trying to tell you that she-”

“No,” Kaitlyn shook her head again. “I'm serious. She's my band mate, Ari. We have to be able to trust one another.” Another sigh escaped her lips as she offered Aria a sympathetic look. “If it makes you feel better, I told her the same thing. I don't want in the middle.”

Swallowing the lump that was starting to form in her throat, Aria bit the inside of her cheek. It had never been like this with Kaitlyn. Except for a few disagreements their freshmen year, they had always talked about everything. Now, because of Kassidy, she was being shut out by her best friend. It hurt worse than any of the petty drama that had gone down their Freshmen year. “This isn't about choosing a side, Kait. There are things you need to know.”

“Oh my God, Ari, I just told you I don't want to know! Why can't you respect that!” Kaitlyn snapped. “Kassidy's respecting it.”

The little dig about Kassidy respecting Kaitlyn's choice while Aria wasn't hit home. Had their friendship really come to this? Kaitlyn putting her band member ahead of hearing the truth? It was like freshmen year all over again; where Natasha could do no wrong and everyone else was to blame for the things going sour. “Just like you didn't want to know about Natasha,” Aria snapped back. “And we know how well that worked out.”

“Really Aria?” Hurt filled Kaitlyn's eyes. “I can't believe you just said that.”

Curling her hands into fists, Aria's nails dug into the soft flesh of her palms. “And I can't believe you're ignoring three years of being best friends for someone you barely know!” This was not going the way she had thought it would. She hadn't counted on Kaitlyn feeling close enough to Kassidy that she wouldn't even listen to what Aria had to say. Despite her proclamation that she didn't want involved, that she wasn't going to choose a side, it was very clear that Kaitlyn had chosen Kassidy's side without knowing the full truth of what was going on.

“It's not like that,” Kaitlyn said defensively. “She's my band-mate. A band-mate you introduced me to.” She leaned back in her chair, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. “See, this is why I didn't want in the middle. I knew you would do this, that you would want me to take your side, no questions asked.”

“I'm not asking you to take any sides, Kaitlyn, I'm asking you to listen to what I have to say!” Aria resisted the urge to scream as she felt her phone vibrating the pocket of her jacket. Heart pounding, she forced herself to check it. It could be anyone, she told herself. Becca had text that morning wanting to go shopping later and Chris liked to randomly text to say he missed or loved her. The notification didn't have to be from one of the Alphas. Except...it was. Text after text from Nathan, Beau, and Kassidy. The latest was from Kassidy, with an image attached. Her fingers shook as she unlocked her screen, opening the text. Maybe if Kaitlyn seen what Kassidy had been saying to her, she would listen. The taste of bile filled her throat as she stared at a screenshot of a conversation between Kaitlyn and Kassidy. There, right in front of her, was picture proof of what she had suspected: Kaitlyn had sided with Kassidy. “Yeah, you're really staying out of it,” Aria choked out, turning her phone so Kaitlyn could see the screenshots. 'Aria said she didn't want to talk to me anymore. I'm so confused. I don't know what I did wrong.' 'Aria's noting but a drama queen. You just have to ignore her when she pulls this shit. You didn't do anything wrong, she's got issues and probably made something up in her head.'

“Ari-” Aria shook her head. There was no way Kaitlyn was explaining this one away. She couldn't take back the words she had sent to Kassidy. This hurt almost as much as Chris telling her that their relationship was in crisis. Her phone vibrated again as Kassidy sent another message. “Ha ha you stupid cunt, how does it feel to know even your best friend can't stand you? Not so fun having someone screw with your life is it,” Kaitlyn read aloud, her already pale face paling further as the blood drained from it. “Ari...you need to report this.”

“What do you care?” Tears burned the back of her eye lids, her vision blurring as she turned her phone so she could see the texts for herself.

“You're my best friend! Of course I care,” Kaitlyn cried. “And I didn't send that other message!” She stood part of the way up and pulled her phone out of her back pocket. “Here. Look at my text log.” Setting her phone down on the table, she slid it across to Aria. “Password is still the same.”

With fingers that violently shook, Aria typed in the familiar pass code. There was a text from Anissa that consisted of nothing but emojis, the ones from herself, a group text for the band, and finally Kassidy. It was mostly empty, with sporadic texts about the band. Only the last four had a personal feel to them. 'Aria's mad at me for some reason and she won't talk to me. Do you know why?' 'I don't know anything about that but she's my best friend and I don't want involved in whatever issues the two of you have.' 'I respect that, I was just hoping maybe she had said something to you and that maybe you knew what I could do to fix this.' 'I really don't want involved Kassidy. My only advice is take it up with Aria.'

Something didn't add up. The texts on Kaitlyn's phone sounded like Kaitlyn, but Kassidy had sent screenshots. How would she have gotten screenshots if the texts weren't real? “But...how? She has screenshots.”

“I would never say those things about you Ari. You're not just my best friend, you're the yin to my yang. The sister my parents refused to have for me.” A v formed between Kaitlyn's brows, her cheeks flushed with anger as she accepted her phone back from Aria. “I don't know where she got those screenshots, but those messages didn't come from me. And those messages she's sending you...you need to report them.”

Bowing her head, Aria pinched the bridge of her nose. Chris had said the same thing; that she needed to report the Alphas for harassing her. He'd backed off when she'd told him she would if things got out of hand, but she knew if he had seen the latest messages, especially the ones telling her to die, he would call the campus police with or without her permission. If Aria thought it would do any good, she would call them herself, but she'd been around the Alphas long enough to know it wouldn't do any good. Their parents would make a donation for a  new parking lot or upgrades to whatever buildings needed them and the charges would go away. Leaving Aria right back at square one. Or, worse, they would try to pin something on her and she would be the one in trouble. “If I ignore them, they'll stop,” she muttered, reaching for her drink. She kept her gaze lowered she shook the to go cup around, mixing the melting whipped cream with the liquid.

“Ari,” Kaitlyn said softly, reaching across the table to grab one of Aria's hands. “What did you mean when you said them?”

Lifting one shoulder, Aria let it fall. “It's not just Kassidy texting me. Nathan and Beau are too.” She blinked, the tears she'd been trying to hold back trickling down her cheeks. “I think they're responsible for the football field and your album.”

“I don't care about the football field or my album. I care about you.” Kaitlyn frowned, her eyes troubled. “I really think you need to report them. Like right now.”

“I told you, I'm just going to ignore them. They'll see that they're not bothering me and they'll stop.” The lie tasted bitter on her tongue. She hated to admit that they were bothering her, that she was letting their lies and hate get to her. Not that she would ever admit it. Admitting it would be like letting them win and there was no way in hell she was going to let that happen. “Can we talk about something else? Like how I'm pretty sure Kassidy is the one who sabotaged your album?”

“I see what you're doing, and the only reason I'm letting it slide is...what the fuck do you mean Kassidy sabotaged the album?”

“I don't have solid proof. Not yet.” Aria tucked her hair behind her ears before taking a long drink of her almost cold hot chocolate. “I noticed something when I was re-watching that security footage. The person who broke in had on a hoodie with a Foxcake logo.”

“Foxcake? As in Kassidy's former band?” Aria nodded. “Stupid question, but any chance it's one of the other members? Someone who doesn't want to see Kassidy successful?”

“I thought about that and the problem with that theory is all the other members have graduated and moved on. It's why the band broke apart.” The lead singer lived about an hour or so away but the little bit of digging Aria had done didn't give any indicator that Audrey Stanton was behind the destroyed drum set or the deleted album. The only plausible suspect was Kassidy. She had access and with Amara being given top billing as TBD's drummer on the album she also had motive. Kassidy was not a second fiddle kind of girl.

“Great. So not only is my drummer terrorizing my best friend and sending fake ass screenshots from some imaginary conversation that she never had with me, she's a dream crusher as well.” Lying her forehead against the table top, Kaitlyn let out a little shriek that attracted the attention of several students studying nearby. “I swear to God, Ari, I'm this close to hunting the bitch down,” Kaitlyn held her thumb and forefinger about a half an inch apart.

Aria parted her lips, ready to beg Kaitlyn not to say anything, only to have a squeak come out instead as a pair of cool hands covered her eyes. Reaching up, she wrapped her fingers around thin wrists and pulled. “Hey,” Becca yelped, yanking her arms free from Aria's grasp. “What was that for?”

“Sorry, I'm just a little jumpy today,” Aria mumbled, her cheeks flaming as she took in a group of sorority girls whispering one table over. Fantastic. Judging by the way the one was quickly texting, the little incident would be all over campus.

“It's fine.” Rubbing her wrist with one hand, Becca used her free hand to pull out an empty chair. “I've had the weirdest most awful day the way it is, so I should have expected something to go wrong.” She slumped down in her seat and set a piece of paper on the table.

“What's that?” Kaitlyn asked, momentarily lifting her head.

“A rejection letter from Northbridge University's law program.” Tears filled Becca's eyes but she quickly batted them away.

“Oh Bex,” Aria reached out, covering Becca's hand with her own. Their relationship hadn't always been the greatest, there was a time when they considered each other enemies, but they'd moved passed it all and formed a rather solid friendship. Seeing an otherwise strong woman on the verge of breaking was hard to watch. “Did they say why?”

“Given the nature of my submission essay, they feel like I wouldn't be a good fit.” Becca wiped at another tear, her face contorting in anger. “Which is total bull shit.”

Kaitlyn lift her head the rest of the way and offered Becca a sympathetic look. “I know you don't want to hear this, especially right now when its all so new, but fuck them. They're the ones who aren't a good fit. You'll get into a better law program, one that fully appreciates that kick ass essay you wrote.”

Becca's essay had been pretty kick ass. Aria, as well as Kaitlyn and James, had gone over it with a fine tooth comb several times. It had been the epitome of a perfect submission essay. “You don't understand,” Becca sniffed, cutting into Aria's thoughts, “I haven't sent in my application and essay yet. I'm waiting on one last letter of reference.” Shaking her head, Becca bit back a small sob. “I guess what they say about karma is true.”

Dread started fill Aria. She had a sneaking suspicion that karma went by the names Nathan, Kassidy, and Beau. There was no way to prove it though, not without breaking her promise to Chris. Taking a deep breath, she bowed her head and sent a text. 'We need to talk. Meet me in the quad in twenty minutes.'  Her rate accelerated when an immediate response came. 'I'll be there.' God, she hoped she was doing the right thing, that she wasn't somehow about to make things worse for the people she cared about the most. The Alphas needed to be brought to their knees, to be held accountable for the things they had done.

Who did Aria text? Take a guess and then stay tuned for Part 3 of Wicked Games to find out if you were right! 

[crisp-sweet-pink-lady]

Summer of Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Bitty Adventures Season Two, Episodes 1 - 3

Starting with season two, the series starts to focus on three-episode mini-arcs, making it easier to package as DVDs. This is confirmed by the scripts, which label these episodes as DVD One, Part 1 (2, 3) [Title TBD]. Despite this, the DVDs that actually came out still messed up the order a little bit, as the first season two DVD, Jammin' With Cherry Jam, has the first four episodes that focus on Cherry Jam, which are episodes 3 - 6. Ah well, at least the writers tried.

Like the beginning of SSC03 season three, this season begins with a scene of Strawberry passing by all her friends as a reminder of who they all are, and since it had been a year since the last new episode of season one aired, that's not too surprising.

Now, back in 2011, American Greetings announced the arrival of a new character for season two, Cherry Jam, a full six months before season two actually aired, and you better believe that I spent those six months scouring the internet for any tidbit about the upcoming season that I could, mostly just trying to find out when it was going to start, but along the way I did stumble on the music video for Anything is Possible a couple of months ahead of the season premiere. All that is to say that back then the first two episodes just felt like the lead up to Cherry Jam's appearance instead of their own episodes, and I still feel that way now. Both episodes are fine, and I definitely sympathized with Strawberry being unable to reject her friends suggestions for her new room, but on the whole I was just waiting for episode three and Cherry Jam's arrival. The episode itself did not disappoint, though I think I liked the fan outfits the girls wore more than anything about Cherry Jam herself.

A mystery I have never been able to figure out is why they had someone else do Cherry Jam's singing voice, when her voice actor was the singing voice for a character on a different show. Clearly she can sing, so what gives? The only explanation that makes any sense is that they'd already hired the singing voice before casting the speaking voice.

I find it interesting that SSC03 added a half dozen or so new characters every season, but BBA was very sparing about adding new characters, with Cherry Jam being the only new character this season, if you don't count the new berrykins (Berrykin Bill in the first two episodes, and Berrykin Bruce and his assistant whose name I've forgotten in upcoming episodes). And who could forget Mavis Maraschino? Of course, this allows the writers to make Cherry an actual part of the community, rather than just a one-off or recurring background character. And she does make a fun addition to Berry Bitty City, but I'll talk about that more after the next batch of episodes.

Notes from the script: As I mentioned, the scripts for these episodes mention being parts one, two, and three of the upcoming DVD, but they also mention the overall E/I lesson and social/emotional themes of the DVD. I only looked in-depth at episode three, but it appears that these scripts are not the recording drafts that I found for season one, as there are extra bits that got cut, lines that were changed (for instance, instead of Buttercup, Cherry Jam uses the fake name Pam when first meeting Strawberry, and Raspberry laments making the tent out of silk instead of gold lamé), and the songs haven't been finished yet, so only a vague description is mentioned. Oh, and apparently adding Cherry Jam's music video at the beginning was a later addition, as it isn't even alluded to in the script.

[icypantherwrites]

Fundraiser Fic List and Statistics

I would like to thank everyone once more for their support of my friend and special shoutouts and love to the individuals who purchased fanfiction commissions from me  through my fundraiser and helped me raise over $300 that went straight to my friend. Thank you!

I have officially finished all of the purchased fundraiser commissions so thought it’d be fun to do a little by the numbers post along with links to all of the fics. For the record I am now taking fic commissions due to the furthered interest (you guys ♥) and you can find details here if you want to commission your own.

The full fic list will be below the keep reading tab as it got a little long. ^^; All right. Here we go.

Total number of fics: 13

Total number of words written: 95,713

Start date of first published fic: March 11, 2018

Finish date of thirteenth published fic: April 10, 2018

Longest fic: So Much to Offer* (10,361 words)

Shortest fic: Poison (2,876 words)

Lance as main/second main character: 13/13 (yup ;p)

Hunk appearances as main/second main: 5/13

Pidge appearances as main/second main: 2/13

Shiro appearances as main/second main: 1/13**

Keith/Coran/Allura appearances as main/second main: 0/13**

*In the Name of Love is technically the longest but that is because I went and added a second chapter. Commissioned wise it is not the longest one. 

**I give Keith two third spots though for his roles in Smile and The Price of Peace, Coran one third spot for Smile and Shiro one third spot for Passing Grade. Allura sadly got passed over for all of these cept for a small role in The Price of Peace. So sorry, hun. I love you though ♥

Most Popular Fics -- Top Two

(deigned by a combination of hits, comments, kudos and bookmarks)

1. The runaway winner was The Cost of Winning with 2,601 hits, 37 comment threads, 356 kudos and 78 bookmarks. This one featured Lance and Pidge captured and forced to fight in the arena. Lots of platonic Plance and some BAMF moments for both. (it has a sequel too for the aftermath which would appreciate some love ♥!)

2. The runner-up was Sounds of Darkness with 1,841 hits, 32 comment threads, 282 kudos and 70 bookmarks.  More Langst abound featuring sensory deprivation but some soft and warm platonic Shance to make you not want to sob in a corner by the end all while making sure you can hear yourself crying. 

Fics that Need More Love -- Bottom Two

(deigned by a combination of hits, comments, kudos and bookmarks)

There is not enough Hunk love in this fandom. Please. Give my ray of sunshine more of it. He deserves all of the happiness... even if both of these involve him in pain. Whoops.

12. Please know that If the World Should Freeze was one of my favorites because it features the best relationship there is in VLD, platonic Hance ♥ The boys find themselves in an icy wasteland with a happy serving of Hunk!whump. Yesss. Rang in with 517 hits, 19 comment threads, 92 kudos and 14 bookmarks. 

13. The other Hunk!whump fic of Strength of Your Word rounds out the bottom here.This is another adventure between him and Lance involving some less than savory weasel aliens and a jewel that everyone wants to get their paws, er, hands on. Totaled in at 483 hits, 22 comment threads, 86 kudos and 13 bookmarks.

And that rounds out the stat lines! You can find all thirteen fics below to peruse at your leisure. Please do be sure to leave a comment on them if you read and enjoyed; I really appreciate them ♥ Thank you and enjoy!

Tumblr Poll!

Last thing before you head off. These stats were all compiled via AO3 (which has taken over as my main platform) but I’d love to hear from the Tumblr audience for an informal poll rather than data stats. Which fic of the thirteen was your favorite? Feel free to comment below or send it via an ask! If majority was my favorite fic of the set I’ll do a little something ♥

Fic List

Posted in order of publish date, oldest first.

Poison

Summary:  Lance is fine. Or, at least he keeps telling himself that. He’s most definitely not a victim of the unknown disease with no cure sweeping through the city. Nope. But now he’s coughing up blood? Maybe… maybe he isn’t so fine after all. / “H-Hunk,” he whispered. “I… I think I’m s-sick.” Hunk let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh. “Yeah, Lance. You are.“ Alternate universe, Langst

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

The Cost of Winning

This fic will have a sequel follow-up focusing on a recovery arc. Date TBD. Story is complete as is though.

Summary:  “The Blue and Green Paladins serve no purpose to the Empire,“ the Galran commander smirked at his bound captives. “And as such you have no use except as arena fodder.” He chuckled. “Give us a good show before you die.” / Lance is determined to protect Pidge and save her from the arena. She will not die here. Over his dead body. Hopefully it’s not quite that literal of a promise.

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

In the Name of Love

Summary: Lance just wanted to buy a flower. Instead he's now the newest victim of a serial killer who has no plans to release him until he has served his purpose. Lance may be a Paladin but he's got a higher calling in life now. And it starts with his death. / "Do not try and resist again," his captor warned, "You will not like the consequences." Lance's voice cracked. "Like being eaten?" 

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

Passing Grade

Summary:  If Lance stayed in the shower long enough maybe the water would wash everything away. Maybe it would make him forget unwanted hands and the scratchy couch. Maybe… A sob tore through his throat. No. There was no forgetting. But he did have to paste on a smile and try to because no one could find out. Otherwise it was all over. AU - College

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.Net

xxx

Faces of Home

Summary: There were murmured, familiar voices when Lance awoke that quieted almost immediately when he blinked open his eyes. “Easy, easy,” someone soothed as he tried to sit up. Someone familiar. Lance gasped. “Mamá?” Because somehow… somehow he was home. / Lance is injured in a fight against the Galra and wakes to find himself in the care of his family. But… how did he wind up back on Earth? Something wasn’t quite right…

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

Sounds of Darkness

Summary: Lance couldn’t see. Or hear. Or move. The silent darkness was all encompassing and it was pressing in; choking him, drowning him, blinding him. He screamed but it was swallowed whole into the void of nothingness. Lance trembled, pain shaking his limbs, and faintly wondered if he’d even made a sound at all.

Read it on: Ao3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

Smile

Summary:  Lance glanced at the mirror. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he was remembering. Like, the first glance had freaked him out but it really wasn’t that noticeable. He worried his lip in indecision before finally making his way over to the mirror. He had to know. Just… just a peek. Without further ado Lance gave a tentative smile. And despair crashed down once more.

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

Nothing to Be Afraid Of

Summary: Hunk will admit it. He’s afraid of many things and being captured by the Galra alongside Lance ranks at the top. But it’s the Galra who should be afraid. After all, they just unleashed a brilliant engineer and a quick-witted sharpshooter in their base. Better watch out. – “Uh, Hunk, what are you doing?” “Making bombs,” Hunk replied cheerfully. “Oh, okay- bombs?” Lance squeaked.

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

So Much to Offer

Summary:  “I suppose though I should see what we’re working with, hm?” the slaver mused. “A pretty face is only part of the package after all.” His dark eyes met Lance’s and he shivered at the absolute depravity that stared back at him. “Let’s see what you have to offer.” / While trying to save his dying team, Lance is captured and sold into the slave trade. Time is running out… for everyone.

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

If the World Should Freeze

Summary:   "Lance, st-stop," Hunk moaned, stumbling and splattering crimson upon the snow. "I c-can't…" The rest of his words trailed off as dark spots danced in his vision. "No!" Lance dug his hands into Hunk's vest as though that could keep him upright. "Don't you dare. Keep moving!" / Hunk and Lance are stranded in an icy wasteland but the cold is quickly becoming the least of their problems. Because the huge, hungry creature chasing them? Yeah. They're in trouble.

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

The Price of Peace

Summary:  (Sequel to The Cost of Winning) They may have escaped the arena but things back home are far from all right. Keith is struggling. Shiro is hiding. Lance is suffering violent flashbacks and she’s having nightmares too. It’s wrong. It’s all wrong. Pidge hates it. She wants her space family back. Not this broken version of them. It looks like she’s just going to have to fix it. And Lance is going to help.

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

Strength of Your Word

Summary: “Open his mouth,” Hunk heard the order and Lance’s chokes turned to a low moan. “Let’s make him smile nice and red,” came the hiss. And Hunk? He’s had enough. / Lance saves Hunk. Hunk saves Lance. Rinse and repeat. It’s what they do. So when a simple mission turns deadly these two are going to have each other’s backs. No matter the consequences.

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

xxx

Disjointed Soul

Summary: Lance falls victim to a Soul Leecher, a dark spirit that is drawn to disjointed souls to steal them for itself. The Paladins must go into Lance’s very soul to save him, uncovering truths about themselves and Lance in the process. Time is of the essence before Lance is lost forever. Good thing they have such helpful soul guides.

—

“Hi there baby Lance,” Hunk greeted.

“Ohwah,” Lance burbled back. “¡Ohwah!”

“Ohwah?” Pidge repeated.

“I think he’s saying ”hola,’“ Hunk grinned. "You know, "hello” in Spanish. Hola, baby Lance.“

”¡Ohwah! ¡Ohwah!“

Read it on: AO3 Fanfiction.net

[a-merman-not-a-guppy]

About Finn Flounder

Archetype — The Wise Old Man

Birthday — 2/24/2003

Zodiac Sign — Pisces

MBTI — ISFJ-T - the Defender (99% introverted, 53% observant, 97% feeling, 61% judging, 97% turbulent)

Enneagram — Type 6 - the Loyalist

Temperament — Melancholic

Hogwarts House — Hufflepuff Primary, Hufflepuff Secondary

Moral Alignment — Lawful Good

Primary Vice — Envy

Primary Virtue — Charity

Element — Water

Overview:

Mother — Biological: Kyung-hwa. Adoptive: Ha-eun (goes by Hannah) Flounder (nee Kim)

Father —  Biological: Myung-soo Adoptive: Charles Flounder

Mother’s Occupation — Biological: former Trader, Adoptive: Accountant

Father’s Occupation — Biological: former Trader, Adoptive: Business owner of a shoe company in the Next Town Over: ‘Flounder’s Shoes’

Family Finances — Middle Class

Birth Order — Only child

Brothers —  None

Sisters — None

Other Close Family — Aunt Kyung-ja (was his biological mother’s twin)

Best Friend — Ariel Triton

Other Friends — tbd

Enemies — Ashley A (The Ashleys probably in general)

Pets — None

Home Life During Childhood — A fairly close family, though his parents both want him to do well in school and put some pressure there (his father more than anyone)

Town or City Name(s) — Swynlake

What Did His or Her Bedroom Look Like — like an art exhibit of its own. Finn asked his parents to be allowed to paint it when he was 13, and he made it all sorts of different colors on the walls. Then he added his own personal art and photography as well. 

Any Sports or Clubs — Art and Photography Clubs after school. Chorus member as of this year because mom said so.

Favorite Toy or Game — Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon cards

Schooling — Current Secondary Student

Favorite Subject — Art? Otherwise English

Popular or Loner — Loner

Important Experiences or Events — His first time swimming as a merman, trying to stand up for someone in primary school and facing the wrath of an Ashley

Nationality — British

Culture — Korean/Ocean

Religion and beliefs — Atheist

Physical Appearance:

Face Claim —  Kim Taehyung

Complexion — Light 

Hair Colour — Brown (when he’s not dying it artistically)

Eye Colour — Brown

Height — 5′10″

Build — Thin

Tattoos — None yet

Piercings — A couple in his ears

Common Hairstyle — just sort of straight and short. Sometimes he parts it and styles it a little

Clothing Style — It all depends on his artistic mood. Sometimes it’s jean jackets and green pants and maybe a headband, other days it’s dark skinny jeans and a floral shirt and a necklace. His style really varies on the day to day because he thinks what he wears is also a way to be artistic.

Mannerisms — Hunches, avoids eye contact, stutters, rubbing the neck when embarrassed, sticking out his tongue when thinking or focusing, biting fingernails, doodling on himself and other things absently

Usual Expression — a tentative smile or a nervous sort of look

Health

Overall (do they get sick easily)? — No, Finn manages to stay pretty healthy all things considered.

Physical Ailments — None

Neurological Conditions — Anxiety 

Allergies —  Bees

Grooming Habits — He tends to mostly take pretty good care of himself. He’s clean and cleans up the area around him nicely. If anything, he does the intentionally disheveled look with his hair sometimes, but everything is still properly cared for.

Sleeping Habits — He goes to bed at 10 pm usually and just falls asleep curled into a ball. He doesn’t tend to do a lot of tossing and turning. Once he’s out he’s out.

Eating Habits — Finn is vegetarian so he avoids all things meat. He’s considered going vegan, but his dad complains a fair bit enough about cooking differently for him to avoid that route.

Exercise Habits —  He goes swimming every day so he stays in decent shape.

Emotional Stability — Somewhat stable. He does still get emotional, and it’s hard for him when he’s bullied.

Body Temperature — Normal

Sociability — A bit antisocial through his shyness

Addictions — None

Drug Use — Never

Alcohol Use - None

Your Character’s Character: 

Bad Habits — Biting nails, biting his lip, chewing the back of pencils or pens

Good Habits — always on time, 

Best Characteristic — Kind

Worst Characteristic — Shy af, Anxious

Worst Memory — The day he accidentally spilled something on Ashley A. and was ostracized by her and heavily bullied causing him to leave public school for a while.

Best Memory — Winning a prize for his art in a small contest. It helped validate some of his talent and it made him feel really good.

Proud of — his art and photography

Embarrassed by — himself all the time

Driving Style —  None, he doesn’t drive

Strong Points — Caring, Sweet, a good friend to have around.

Temperament — Melancholic

Attitude — Quiet cheerful, tries to be optimistic but struggles often

Weakness — Anxiety, Shyness

Fears — That he’ll be bullied again, that his dad will hate his choice for career

Phobias — Claustrophobia, Atychiphobia (fear of failure)

Secrets — He’s considered running away to try to find his Aunt and live with merpeople again, but didn’t because he didn’t want to give up his artistic dreams.

Regrets — Not being able to be the boy his adoptive father wants him to be.

Feels Vulnerable When — Honestly almost all the time. His stutter makes him vulnerable, his anxiety, everything makes him feel vulnerable.

Pet Peeves — Not being taken seriously when he’s upset

Conflicts — Bullies, talking to his dad about important life choices

Motivation — his creative drive

Short Term Goals and Hopes — to graduate with decent marks

Long Term Goals and Hopes — to go to Pride University for art 

Sexuality —  Unknown. He’s never really liked anyone before

Exercise Routine  — Not much of one. He likes to go swimming and go swim around with his tail every day.

Day or Night Person —  Day

Introvert or Extrovert —  Introvert

Optimist or Pessimist —  Realist

Likes and Styles:

Music — Country and beach music, pop

Books — Tuck Everlasting

Magazines — National Geographic

Foods — He tends to eat vegetarian food

Drinks — Chocolate Almond Milk

Animals — Birds of all kinds, seacreatures

Sports — Horseback riding (he likes making friends with animals)

Social Issues — Animal rights, Magick rights, mermaid rights

Favorite Saying — I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message. - Steve Irwin

Color — Blue and Yellow

Clothing — Whatever suits his artistic mood of the week or day.

Jewelry — Piercings (did it cause he thought it was aesthetically pleasing

Games — ABCD game, Yutnori, Uno

Websites — None really

TV Shows — The Good Place, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, B99

Movies — Hot Fuzz, Anchorman, Crazy Stupid Love, The Holiday

Greatest Want — to become a proper artist

Greatest Need — to figure out how to be a proper merman

Where and How Does Your Character Live Now:

Home — 18 Riandale Street, Tortuga Place with parents. A two story home

Household furnishings — What you picture middle class families to decorate their homes with

Favorite Possession — Sketchbook

Most Cherished Possession — Expensive Camera

Neighborhood — Tortuga Place

Town or City Name — Swynlake

Details of Town or City — You guys know. A magick friendly town by a lake.

Married Before — No

Significant Other Before — No

Children — He himself is a child, no

Relationship with Family — Strong with adoptive mom, rocky with his dad

Car — His parents have a ford focus

Career — None yet. He is a child

Dream Career — To become a known artist or photographer and not die tragically

Dream Life — to live confidently with his artistic talents and be able to live near the ocean one day and swim like he should.

Love Life — Nonexistent

Talents or Skills — Art, Photography, Poetry

Intelligence Level — Decently intelligent

Finances — Middle Class family, he gets a small allowance

Your Character’s Life Before Your Story:

Past Careers — None, he’s a teenager

Past Lovers — None, he’s still young

Biggest Mistakes — Pissing off Ashley A in primary school somehow.

Biggest Achievements — Being able to submit his photography and art to a contest and win a small prize.

[molecloth26-blog]

Wedding Assumptions Tag

OK! You've probably seen the assumptions tag going around on the internet where people assume something about a person. A follower suggested I do one for my wedding and I thought it would be a wonderful idea! It was so great to hear your assumptions, and I'm excited to share if they are true or not!

And before we get into it, I want to say two things:

1. Me sharing the "extra" details of my wedding does not mean those are the only things I care about and I'm doing this all for show. We're past the point of that. I've been engaged for close to ten months and have done a blog post every Wednesday since. 

You should all know by now how much I love and adore Andrew. He's my everything. But I don't want to shove that down everyone's throat. I've always kept our relationship off the blog (for the most part) and I plan on keeping it that way. The point of my posts about the wedding is to share details and fun notes about planning. I am able to do that without taking away from the fact that this day is about marrying the man I love. I wanted to clear the air for anyone thinking otherwise!

2. Some of theses answers are going to confuse you. That is not my intention. The plans for the wedding are perfect for Andrew and I and are exactly what we want. It's not going to be a traditional wedding, but it's going to be very us. I want to keep a good part of our plans private until the big day. 

I PROMISE I will share a full breakdown of the wedding after it's all said and done. There's a fine line with sharing on the blog. I want to loop you guys in and share what I can, but at the same time I want there to be surprises! I hope that makes sense.

And with that, let's get into the assumptions! 

I assume.... That you're wearing your dress two times: YES! Once for the ceremony and once for the reception.  That you've already picked out your wedding bands: YES! We actually hadn't at the time this was assumed, but we have since. I'm currently deciding between two styles but one of them will for sure be my band. That you will have a small, intimate wedding: YES! 17 people including my niece and nephew will be at the ceremony. That you wanted to keep it simple but it's turning out to be extravagant: NO! I wanted to keep it simple in terms of size, but it's always been in my mind to be a little extravagant. That your hair will be up and your nails will be red: YES! Not 100% yet but this is very me. It only makes sense that this will be the outcome.  That you're having two ceremonies: NO! Only one ceremony. That it will be all blue and white: YES! Those are our wedding colors so I assume there will be a lot of blue and white.  That your mom is giving you away: YES! She is walking me down the aisle and my stepfather is marrying us.  That you're getting married on the beach: NO! It's in the backyard of the house we're renting.  That it's multiple days of events that are all different: YES! I'll be there for a total of a week ;) That you're having a custom gown made: NO! I was thinking about it, but then I fell in love with a dress in Atlanta. That is will be coastal chic: YES? Idk what this truly means or looks like, but it will have some nautical vibes. That the tent will be gingham: NO! No tent. Wish us luck! That it will be decked out with monograms: NO! We'll have our monogram in some places but not a ton.  That you'll have lots of toile: YES! Our wedding print will be used for a few things.  That there will be lots of gingham and gingham accents: NO! Surprisingly no gingham planned for the wedding.Weird right?? That it will be low key but glam: YES! At least I hope lol.  That your guests are required to wear a combination of blue and white: NO! The guests we're inviting for the weekend are open to wear whatever they want.  That you'll have John Wall shots for the first toast: NO! But I do like the idea of having these at the reception. That would be fun! That it will have a southern/Kentucky Derby vibe: NO! But I would love to have a Derby themed birthday party one day. That the guest list will be like a sorority/fraternity reunion: NO! I think only one sorority sister is invited and Andrew wasn't greek! That you're not doing a first look: YES! The first time we're seeing each other will be when I down the aisle.  That you'll have a big wedding party: NO! Only one maid of honor and one best man.  That you're only using real flowers: NO! We're doing silk for almost everything.  That you'll wear your hair half up, half down: NO! Not for the big day at least. TBD for the other days.  That you picked out Andrew's look for the big day: NO! We are still TBD on what he will wear, but it will be a collaboration between both of us.  That you didn't have a set budget: NO! My parents gave me a set budget and we are sticking to it.  That your first dance will start out sweet but then turn into a choreographed routine: NO! I haven't really given much thought to it, but knowing Andrew we won't be doing anything choreographed lol. That your family is more supportive than normal and no one will be aggravated by the time or money spent: YES! They are all being great about it, as our are friends. But how can you not for your sister's, daughter's, or best friend's wedding?? That it's going to be extra but simplistic. Small circle, big vision: YES! The simple things in life are the most beautiful.  That the vibe is classic, high end but goofy so you're going to have some funny stuff: YES! We aren't taking ourselves too seriously and will for sure have touches of our weird side. That Dixie will be in a bridesmaid dress: NO! Sadly, she will be holding down the fort at the apartment.  That it will be extravagant but more affordable than we think: YES! It's easy to cut corners if you research. That there will be pearls everywhere: NO! Well, kind of? But not nearly as much as I want lol. That it will cost $300k: NO! No x100000. Nowhere close.  That your dress will be blue and white: NO! But that would be fun wouldn't it? That it won't be in a church: YES! It will be in the backyard.  That all your bridesmaids will have red mani/pedis: NO! They can have whatever color they want. That you're having an extravagant wedding but not inviting a lot of people: NO! There will be a total of 110 invited to the reception.  That gingham will be part of your something blue: NO! I think there will be a ton of blue so that won't be an issue.  That you're doing your own hair and makeup: YES! I think I can do it exactly as I like it and not have to worry about anything. That you'll be sad if it rains: NO! I'm half expecting it, but if it does I'm not worried. We will be flexible.  That you're not honeymooning right away: YES! We're waiting until the holidays to go on our honeymoon. That you're writing your own vows: YES! Really excited for this.  That your wedding band will have sapphires in it: NO! I don't want anything to take away from the beauty of my ring. That you're inspired by Mackenzie's wedding: YES! I mean, who wouldn't be? Her wedding was to die for! We have very similar style and they'll both be on Nantucket. But you'll see when the time comes that it's going to be a very different wedding.  That there is something related to baseball incorporated: NO! Outside of the image of it in our print, there will be no baseball involved.  That you're wearing Lilly during some point of the weekend: NO! At least not as of yet!  That Andrew's beer will be served at the wedding: NO! But it will probably be at the welcome party and LOTS at the shower. That you'll wear a statement red lip: YES! One of the nights I'm sure I will.  That your bridesmaids are going to pick out their own dresses: YES! I want them to feel comfortable and beautiful and have something that represents their own style. That you're keeping your last name: NO! I plan on taking Andrew's and moving Robertson to my middle name.  That there will be a Kentucky Wildcats cake: NO! Sadly. But there will be lots of ice cream! That there will be Disney songs played: YES! I'm sure as a joke to Andrew there will be at least one Disney song played lol. HE KNOWS WHAT SONG TOO.

Source: http://www.coveringbases.com/2019/05/wedding-assumptions-tag.html

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON'S CORNER: CONNECTICUT ICE TOURNEY UNVEILED

L-R Keith Allain, Yale head coach, Bill Riga, Associate head coach Quinnipiac University, Mike Cavanaugh, UCONN head coach, Steve Raab, President SNY, Thomas Gill, Director Economic Development City of Bridgeport, Tom Regan, CHC & USA Hockey, and CJ Marrotolo, Sacred Heart University head coach (PHOTO: Gerry Cantlon) BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings BRIDGEPORT, CT - A new, "Ice Age" is coming to Connecticut. This new "Ice Age" will cover Connecticut in ice, not the kind to cause downed stress, excessive traffic accidents, and inconvenience, but the exciting kind. The type of "Ice Age" that involves Connecticut college ice hockey. At a press conference Monday, an unveiling was made of the first-ever Connecticut Ice Tournament that will be played between January 24-26, 2020 at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The tournament will feature all four of Connecticut's Division I college hockey teams. The tournament is part of a planned Connecticut festival of the sport of hockey. It's kind of a combination of Boston's Beanpot and the Quebec City Winter Carnival. The regional cable network, SNY, which is already affiliated with UCONN basketball and football broadcasts, was the driving force in creating the concept in 2017. After two years of effort, they made it a reality. “This is a very exciting day,” remarked SNY President, Steve Raab. “This has been two years of hard work to design and many people made this day possible.” One of the key elements was to help the growth of hockey in the State of Connecticut. To do so, all four Division I college programs, UCONN, Yale, Sacred Heart, and Quinnipiac needed to be involved. They will all carve out the time from their respective schedules to make this happen. “The spirit this will create, and the entertainment, it will bring many memories. This will bring hockey fans from the state to Bridgeport.” For UCONN head coach Mike Cavanaugh, he is happy and surprised. “To be honest, I couldn’t believe there wasn’t one before, but with all four schools now Division I, it makes it easier and will be a major plus for hockey in Connecticut.” Cavanaugh is in a rare position. He recruited Connecticut hockey players when he was at Boston College, and now as UCONN’s head coach for the last six years, he has a unique point of view. “It's going to help all the schools in recruiting because kids in Connecticut will grow up watching this and will see the benefits right away. A solid eight, ten years of keeping this tournament going will produce results. The whole state will be excited about this tournament I believe.” Early on, Cavanaugh brought the Boston rivalry piece with him to the Nutmeg State. "That’s why I have scheduled games against all the state teams, and we can develop continuity here. This is a great first step. As you saw at the end of the (promotional) video, you want guys 10-20 years from now talking about how they played in this tournament. Guys can talk about when they won this year, or that year, or scored a goal people, remember. That’s what makes traditions. “ Cavanaugh mentioned what he sees as a, 'cause and effect' by his having been a part of the Beanpot, the 65 year Boston tradition that takes place every February among the four Boston universities BC, BU, Harvard, and Northeastern. “If Tommy Cross (Simsbury) or Cam Atkinson (Greenwich) had played in a tournament like this, they would have been inclined to stay in state. The four schools never really played each other until Quinnipiac went into the ECAC with Yale. Now, with this, it will help grow this tournament and the game in the state." For now, the tournament will be in Bridgeport, but the question comes about if it could be rotated among the venues in the state. “I’m a Hartford guy. That’s our home rink. I’m just glad we're playing here at Webster Bank next year and will see what happens down the road,” said Cavanaugh. A major component to this plan is to have a youth portion in which Bantam age (13-14-year-olds) teams all the way to beginning Mites (6-8-year-olds) will compete on the very same ice as the big boys they watch and cheer for. A Friday night doubleheader will feature, a public school, and prep school hockey matchup, again bringing a whole new generation of youth hockey under one umbrella. “We were approached in 2017 about whether we could get youth hockey involved as part of the overall event,” said the Past President of the CT Hockey Conference, and USA Hockey Director, Tom Regan. He played both his high school and collegiate hockey in Connecticut. "We had discussions the last two years over timing, the format, but getting the four colleges was key. It’s the first event, it takes time and effort to get four schools when they are all in league play to commit to this. That shows you how important they all want this. "To do it (the tournament) in January in the heart of hockey season rather than something earlier in the year, might not have had the same (punch), and it's at ALL the levels and that makes it very important." To get all levels involved was critical for the ability to grow hockey. Having a sport that requires some cash to play was not lost on Regan. “To get the kids on the ice to play and watch the college kids play, it will give real inspiration to those (young) players. The next Brian Leetch, the next Chris Drury will see this grow the game, increase the excitement around the game, and for the tournament." The event had some warm light-hearted moments after the audio didn’t match up with the video at the beginning. Cavanaugh in his remarks uttered the best line of the day, “I could read Chris Drury’s lips and he was saying, if he were playing, he would have gone to UCONN!” C.J. Marrotolo, the head coach of the Sacred Heart University Pioneers, relayed a childhood story. “When I was nine or ten, I begged my parents to go to Yale games." Keith Allain, the Yale head coach deadpanned in his opening remarks, “I was disappointed C.J didn’t mention he wanted to see me playing goal,” Allain, who played at Yale and still holds the record for career saves in addition to guiding the Bulldogs to winning their first NCAA title in 2012, said with a laugh. Quinnipiac's assistant coach, Bill Riga, stood in for head coach Rand Pecknold, who is in preparation for his team's NCAA regional on Friday in Allentown, PA. The game will be played at the PPL Center against NCAA Independent Division I's Arizona State Sun Devils, who will be making their first appearance in the tournament just four years after upgrading their program to NCAA DI status. The Bobcats have reached the NCAA tourney five of the last seven years. Festival Weekend Schedule (Tentative): Friday, January 24, 2020 1:00 – 4:00 pm – Mites Cross Ice Jamboree 4:30 – 6:00 pm – Girls U12 Championship 6:30 – 8:00 pm – Connecticut Prep School Championship 8:30 – 10:00 pm – Connecticut High School Championship Saturday, January 25, 2020 11:30am – 1:00 pm – Squirts Boys Championship 1:30 – 3:00 pm – USA Hockey On-Ice Clinic – U12-U14 (Skills, Checking, Goaltending) 4:00 – 6:30 pm – SNY COLLEGE TOURNAMENT GAME 1 7:30 – 10:00 pm – SNY COLLEGE TOURNAMENT GAME 2 Sunday, January 26, 2020 11:30 am – 1:00 pm – Peewee Boys Championship 1:30 – 2:30 pm – USA Hockey On-Ice Clinic – Girls 3:30 – 6:00 pm – COLLEGE TOURNAMENT CONSOLATION – TBD v. TBD 7:00 – 9:30 pm – COLLEGE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP – TBD v. TBD Tickets for the inaugural Connecticut Ice Festival are on sale now via: sny.tv/CTice Discounted ticket packages are available for all Connecticut Youth Hockey League families, as well as for students from the four participating colleges. Group ticket rates are also available for groups of 15 or more. Regular price two-day passes for Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25 are $35.00 for kids (18 & under) and $70.00 for adults. General admission tickets for Friday night’s high school rivalry games will be available at the Webster Bank Arena Box Office. For more information on Connecticut Ice please go to www.SNY.tv/CTice Read the full article

[meetmeinthesea]

6/9/17 To kick off this new blogging adventure, I had to do two things: 1) dust off this tiny iPad and keyboard that's served me so well on many other adventures across the globe (literally - NZ, Belize, and now the Great West), and 2) type out my very full, two week itinerary ahead. Sure, Courtney and I have been planning this trip for months on end, but up until this moment on the stuffy Spirit flight have I yet listed out our trip day by day, word for word. And man, I can confidently say it's going to be a good - no GREAT - one. So where are we headed? Let me fill you in. WEEK ONE Denver (Fri, 6.9 - Sun, 6.11) We'll touch down at roughly midnight and make our way to the magnificent *affordable* La Quinta Inn Central in Downtown Denver. Fast forward to one heaping serving of free continental breakfast, and we're out to explore the city - which mind you, I've yet to experience CO and all of it's glory. We'll explore the neighborhoods, drink plenty of hoppy beer and end up visiting with some old friends: Jeni, who I used to live with in Austin, and Joanna, who goes back to Courtney's high school days. Once Sunday morning arrives, we'll head out to pick up our sweet RAV4 and cruise on out to... Bighorn National Forest, WY (Sun, 6.11) Beginning the first leg of our road trip, we'll head directly north of Denver to the city of Ten Sleep, setting up camp at Leigh Creek State Park. We figured saving some time from zig-zagging around mountain roads would be better spent taking the more direct route to get to our most anticipated destination: Glacier. Glacier Nat'l Park, MT (Mon, 6.12 - Thur, 6.15) After getting a short and sweet taste of what nights under the western skies are like, we're on our way to Glacier National Park. This is a place that fills my outdoor daydreams, my adrenaline for adventure, and while I've yet to go, a feeling of 'home'. The night we arrive, we'll pitch our tent at Fish Creek Campground near Whitefish (thanks for the recommendation, Maria) and head out early in the morning to find a more remote Glacier experience. Heading NW up the "Road to the Sun," which I've heard is 10/10, we plan to pit-stop at a ranger station to fill in our backcountry camping forms, and then off we go on the trails for a couple of nights. More to details to come! WEEK TWO Missoula, MT (Thur, 6.15 - Sun, 6.18) After we make it out of the woods (pending any unexpected bear encounters) we'll head down to Missoula for the *big sha-bang* - Maria and Jesse's wedding! Our time in Missoula kicks off with a bachelorette canoe party, which I honestly can't wait for. Picture it: jumping into a cold, aluminum canoe. Glistening water so bright it makes your eyes squint. Tall grass surrounded by tall peaks. My cousin knows how to choose a bachelorette party! Another exciting note about this leg of our trip are the accommodations we'll be calling home for the 4 day's we're here. Courtney and I splurged on a one night stay at a "Glampsite" just west of Missoula at Sky Rock Resort. Our Glampsite is a canvas tent atop a wooden deck, complete with our own fire pit, porch and chairs, and a Instagram-worthy view of the forest and mountains. For the wedding portion of the trip, we're bunking up with my cousins (Tony, Alex, Bill and Andrea) for 2 nights in a converted train car at the Lubrecht Experimental Forest - where Maria and Jesse are getting married. Wedding Day! (Sat, 6.17) You know, the usual. Except not because this wedding is going to be so wonderfully quaint and serene in the Lubrecht Experimental Forest you won't even believe it. Glacier National Park (Round 2) (Sun, 6.18) We'll head up to Whitefish again to spend time with my Mom, Scott and the girls (Shannon and Bri). The fam's staying at a full-blown, mountain-side chalet. And Courtney and I have opted for the Whitefish Hostel just a couple miles away downtown. Really looking forward to going hiking with Shannon and Bri around the nearby trails and lakes. Big Sky, MT (Mon, 6.19) We'll head back to Missoula to meet up with Tony, Maria and Jesse - jumping on the road to Yellowstone. A heavily wooded and pine needle padded campsite is waiting for us at the Rainbow Point Campground just outside of Big Sky. Can't wait to take some warm mid-day hikes and cool evening dips in the lake. And also can't wait to spend some much needed time with the cousins. Yellowstone National Park, WY (Tues, 6.20 - Thur, 6.22) Another sure-to-be highlight of our trip is the time we'll spend in Yellowstone. This is the park we've researched the least, but know that no matter which way we head, we'll love it there. We hope to do a hike-in site, only about 5 or so miles, and set up camp for 2 nights sleeping in the park. I have to admit, the thought of bears and other real-life, non-Midwestern critters makes me a little uneasy. But don't worry - we've got bear spray, bear bags, long ropes and brains when it comes to these things (we'd still really appreciate your prayers here - and during the entire trip - haha). Fort Collins, CO (Thur, 6.22) I learned about Fort Collins from a good friend I met while living in Austin, TX. Kaylin grew up there, went to college there and still found her way back to this part of Colorado after adventuring around the world. I've gotta imagine for this reason, Fort Collins rocks. I've heard there's great beer (which I'm very excited about) and that the college town vibes are perfect. Tentative plans to stay with Kaylin, or perhaps camp one night. Still TBD. Boulder, CO (Fri, 6.23) I'm sure we'll be getting relatively sad that our trip is rounding out it's end, but we're going out with a BANG our last full night out West. A good friend, Andrew Sturtz, is a musician I met back at Michigan State. He's invited us to stay at his house (also full of musicians) and go to his concert at a local bar in Downtown Boulder. There's honestly no better way to end this trip than with some local beer, great friends and Colorado tunes. Fly home from Denver (Sat, 6.24) With tears in our eyes, memories in our minds and warmth in our hearts, we'll make our way to Denver to catch our flight home. It's with 100% confidence I will say at this point, this trip will have made my sincere of love of the outdoors only greater. Oh, and there's a chance I might not even board the plane, but instead, turn around and figure out where I'll be moving in. WOW. Well, that's it. One road trip, two weeks and three...million things to look forward to. Can't wait to capture as much of the adventure as I can! Cheers! Erica

[missmudpie]

So, just hear me out

I spent the weekend doing one of three things: 1) Attending the nearby Women’s Rally (awesome!); 2) Caring for my sick toddler, which mainly involved holding him as he leaked snot on my shoulder; and 3) watching the US Figure Skating Nationals.  And while doing 3 (and 2 and 3), my brain of course went to that seminal skating film, The Cutting Edge.  And then it went to Olicity.

And yes, I know @dettiot already did an absolutely fabulous Arrow/CuttingEdgeAU (Between Love and Skate).  But, like, this wouldn’t leave me alone.  So just hear me out.  (Also, this was heavily influenced by Deanna Stellato, a pairs skater who is 33 years old and returned to the ice this year, after having been retired for like 16 years.  She skates with Nathan Bartholomay and they got 4th overall - again, after less than a year together.  Their short program is here.)

It’s 2006, and Oliver Queen, at 21 years of age, is posed to have his big breakout year.  He’s got the jumps, sure, but where he really excels is his footwork and spins.  Those who tangentially watch skating know he’s something of a ‘bad boy,’ preferring to skate to contemporary rock rather than classical.  Skating insiders know that that persona extends far off the ice, as well (”Okay, in truth - Queen is kinda a douche.  But that’s waaaay off-record.”)  He’s podiumed at all his Grand Prix events, and but for a two-footed landing in his Short Program at Nationals , he would have won.  But he scores the silver, and that’s enough - Oliver Queen is going to the Olympics.

Until he’s not.

He takes a bad fall at practice a week later.  Or he crashes while skiing with some groupies.  Not sure yet how douche-tastic I want this Oliver to be, but suffice it to say - He blows out his knee.  2006 is out.  He tries a comeback later that year, but he can’t get his jumps back.  His knee just can’t support it.  And so Oliver retires.

Which, in truth, is probably for the best.  He goes to school, straightens out his life.  His little sister, Thea, has followed in his skates and become quite the skater herself.  

And now it’s late 2016.  Oliver comes home for the holidays, as like he does every so often, puts on his skates and takes a spin around the family’s private rink.  He’s still got the footwork, effortlessly moving from inside to outside edge.  He’s still got the spins. 

He still can’t jump.

Little does he know, this private skate has an audience.  Anatoli Knyazev - Oliver’s former coach, Thea’s current coach - tells him that Oliver is still a master skater.  He’s in great shape physically, and mentally even stronger now, at 31 than he was at 21.  “I have friend,” Anatoli tells him.  “He’s looking to do something different with a pair.  You should call him.”

Oliver looks at the card for a John Diggle.  “But I can’t jump.”

“This is no problem.”  When Oliver gives him a skeptical look, Anatoli just grins.  “Call him.  Keep your mind open.”

“You mean keep an open mind?”

So Oliver does, because why not?  He meets John Diggle, who’s looking to earn his way back into the skating community.  He’s got the goods, and he’s got the elusive choreographer Lyla Michaels in his back pocket.  (”Michaels, really?  How’d you score her?”  Digg smiles.  “I married her.”)  Diggle just needs a team.

“Look, man,” Oliver says.  “I really wish I could help.”

“Anatoli says you still skate as well as you used to.”

“Anatoli is being kind.  And besides, I still can’t jump.”

Diggle looks confused.  “I don’t see how that’s a problem.  Jumps aren’t allowed.”

Now Oliver is confused.  “I’m pretty sure jumps are a large part of pairs skating.”

And now Diggle laughs.  “Anatoli, you son of a bitch.  He didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“I’m not looking of a pairs team,” Diggle says.  “I’m looking for ice dancers.”

And at first, Oliver is like, Hard no.  Pass.  But then he makes the mistake of telling Thea about this strange meeting, and she’s all for it.  “You loved the ice.”

“I did.  I still do.  But I don’t love who I was on the ice.”

“Then do it right this time.”

And oh, look, we’re at the end of chapter one.

So Oliver calls Diggle and says, “I’m in,” and, BTW, who’s my partner?

“Felicity Smoak.  Great skater.”

Oliver’s never heard of her.  Thea, who should know her, has never heard of her.

“Fly out to Boston.  You can see her in action.”

Digg’s right - Felicity Smoak is a great skater.

It’s just - she’s a speed skater.  Short track, to be precise.

“Promise is a promise, Smoak,” Digg says.  “You said you’d give it a try if I found the right partner.  Well, here he is.”

So, to recap: We have a man who hasn’t skated professionally in a decade, with a bum knee who can’t jump; and woman who hasn’t figure skated since she was a little girl.  And yes, Felicity is fast and has great edgework and kind of remembers how to spin - but seriously.  This is the Island of Misfit Skaters, here.

But what the hell, right?

So they start practicing.

And I haven’t figured out all the details, but here’s what I got so far, in bullet points because this is already way too long:

- Turns out Felicity was a crackerjack figure skater when she was little, but the cost of the sport was just too much for her single mother, so she turned to speed skating.  “And roller derby.  You can make some good under-the-table cash at roller derby.”

- Neither one can dance.  Like, really.  They can’t dance.  Digg has to teach these idiots how to dance off the ice, so they can dance on the ice.  “Oliver, can you please hold her a little closer.  My God, you two are adults and you’re acting like this is a middle school dance.”

- So you know how the ISU picks the theme/type of dance for the short program?  Yeah, in this fic, it’s the tango.  So, basically, sex on skates.

- They’re first performance?  UTTER DISASTER.  Horrible short program.  But they pull it together for the long and somehow it goes viral and now everyone is talking about Smoak/Queen because they got like, a million youtube hits. 

- So we go through some competitions and off-ice shenanigans because the best way to get those twizzles in sync is clearly to spend lots and lots of time together off-ice.

- And now it’s Nationals, 2018.

- They’re main competition?  West and West.  As in Iris West and Wally West, a sibling team.

- Smoak and Queen come in second.  Do I want the extra drama of the US Olympic Committee not wanting to pick them for the team?  TBD  

- Other familiar faces?  The Canadian team of Danvers and Allen.  Oliver thinks their suspiciously nice.  (They aren’t.  They are genuinely puppy dogs).  (They’ve been skating together since they were four.  Their mothers have been planning their wedding since they were 13.  Little do they know, Kara is sleeping with James, their choreographer, and Barry has a mad crush on Iris West.)

- Tommy Merlyn and Laurel Lance were contemporaries of Oliver back in the day (they skated pairs), are now engaged, and serve as commentators for whatever fake channel is broadcasting the Olympics.

- Now, here’s where it gets muddy.

- Because in the movie, the woman has a fiancee, and the man sleeps with a rival skater.  And I don’t want to do that.

- So I think we need another source of conflict.

- You remember that episode of Friends where either Ross or Chandler is worried that his actress girlfriend is cheating on him with her co-star?  And Joey says if two people haven’t slept together, their sexual chemistry is through the roof, but once they have, it disappears?

- Oliver and Felicity are at peak sexual chemistry at Nationals.

- And - don’t shoot me - but I kinda want them to sleep with each other before the Olympics.  Or maybe at the Olympics.  In the Village.  The night before they’re scheduled to skate their short program for the Team competition.

- And it’s bad.

- Like - Oliver and Felicity should not have bad sex.  But they’re tired and on a college dorm twin bed and I don’t even know how they got themselves in this situation but the bottom line is they have sex and it’s bad.

- And the next morning is sooooo awkward.

- And they have to skate the tango.

- And like, with the tango, hate could have helped.  But they aren’t angry at each other, they’re just tentative.  And awkward.

- And their program is technically fine but has no fire, no passion.

- And they come off the ice and Digg just looks at them like, Fuck, you idiots screwed each other and now have screwed yourselves.

- Yeah I don’t know what happens next to fix it.

- But they do a great short program a few days later.

- Oh I forgot the part about doing a semi-legal lift or something I don’t know I’m making this up as I type it.

- So they’re in solid position for the long program and they get to skate last and Hey, this would be a great time to have an Airing of the Feelings NO KARA NO ONE NEEDS A COUGH DROP.

- And then they skate the Performance of Their Lives.

- But is it enough?  Do they Win the Gold?

- (They win the gold.)

- Why am I like this?

- Any one got music suggestions for the long program?  Because the short is clearly Assassin’s Tango.