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boop-le-snoot · 4 years ago

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previously on...

We meet Lucy, we meet Samantha and her twins & Mother Nature gets a little bit mad. But on the upside - she loves Tony :)

Kind reminder that this story will have horror/thriller elements & graphic descriptions of blood, gore and all the nasty stuff associated with superhero battles described in some detail. This chapter contains some of that.

Honestly, this story is getting- uhh- 8-12 notes on Tumblr. It's got a decent following on AO3 which brings me joy because I truly do enjoy the worldbuilding to a, perhaps, guilty amount. So if you like it too - please reblog :)

The fabric of my skirt was suddenly yanked and I jumped, dropping my phone and startling out of my daze. Two big, blue eyes stared up at me, curiousity mixed with impatience in them. I crouched down to pick up my device, coming face to face with a tiny blonde girl about nine or ten years of age.

"Lucy, hi!" I squeezed out a smile at the child. She looked pale, as if she'd never seen the slightest bit of sunlight, chubby cheeks contrasted by an overall spindliness of her body. Her dress was a puffy, long-sleeved, red and white polka dotted monstrosity with at least two petticoats that made her seem bigger than she actually was. "Sorry, didn't see you there. Long day at work," despite there being a worm of anxiety crawling deeply in my chest, I heeded the warnings on the list of rules and swallowed any unease I had.

Which was a hard feat. The stairs had gotten confused and I lost ten minutes of time going back, over and over, after encountering floors "5", "8" and "19" instead of my third floor, in a five story building. The building providing extra floors shouldn't have surprised me that much but the worst was fighting with the desire to explore them, my rational brain unhelpfully supplying that if this building was truly dangerous, nobody would be living in it.

The pull was almost unnatural in its strength yet my protection charms remained unaffected. Too tired from returning to work, I decided to distract myself with my phone - and nearly ran poor little Lucy off her feet.

"You are new," she signed to me slowly, carefully observing my reaction to her using ASL.

I had been truly unsettled by the rule list, perhaps more than I wanted to admit to myself, so I spent a night wide awake brushing up my meager sign language skills. "Yes, my name is Star," I replied, not quite sure if I wanted to shake her hand or simply make myself scarce as soon as possible.

Lucy gave me a closed-lipped grin, swooshing her puffy skirts in what I perceived to be a calculated amount of shyness. "Can I play with you, please?" Her hands moved a little more rapidly as she side-eyed my apartment door.

I briefly ran a mental checklist of the contents of my fridge. "Sure," I figured that two leftover steaks in it would be more than enough for the little girl. I'd splurged and gotten four prime pieces of meat to treat myself after a hectic moving process, cooking only half of them on the first day. "Come on it. You hungry?"

The door swung open as I led Lucy in, her bright dress and pale skin standing out in the twilight of my apartment. She nodded her head seriously, looking at me from head to toe as shivers ran up and down my spine. My bag was unceremoniously dumped on the couch, my socked feet shuffling into the kitchen and beelining for the fridge.

Lucy followed me quietly, taking a seat at the dinner table and folding her thin arms atop it, expectant blue eyes following my every move. As I plated the meat and reached for the roll of paper towels, I felt like I was being examined under a microscope. Somewhere in the distance, a quiet hissing noise was beginning to rise.

Lucy politely declined the fork and knife I attempted to give her so I just set down the plate in front of her, leaving the kitchen to change out of my dusty, sweaty clothes, too tired to really worry about the loud, sloppy and wet chewing noises and low growling coming from the dining area. I decided as long as she wasn't attempting to have me for dinner, I was going to be just fine.

I found Lucy on the carpet of my living room, flipping through a fashion magazine she'd found somewhere after I was done with scavenging some sweatpants from my mostly-unpacked closet. Her blonde curls bounced as she looked up at me with another tight smile, this time looking calmer, friendlier somehow. "I like those dresses," she signed, pointing at a few pictures with models wearing ballroom gowns in all kinds of colours. "And these..." She pointed out a tiara, probably not knowing how to sign the words.

"This is a tiara," I spoke slowly, signing the last word with my hands carefully as she observed. And then a few more times, until she repeated her last sentence perfectly. "Good job, Lucy," I praised her as she beamed at me. The river of quiet, scratchy giggles never stopped as she pointed out various things and I tried to sign them to the best of my ability, Lucy not showing any signs of upset whatsoever if I couldn't get the name for something right.

After some time, it was beginning to get very dark outside and a couple of pointed glances at the clock was all it took for her to stand up and carefully dust off her skirts. "Thank you for playing with me, Star," Lucy signed excitedly. "I like you. Do you want to know a secret?" She leaned in conspirationally, bursting into my space bubble with a lack of care only a child could posess.

I nodded, not trusting my mouth whatsoever. The closer she leaned in, the more overwhelming her smell became. Her pretty dress reeked of mildew and stale water, her breath - of dried blood and something earthen, like moist soil and cold cobblestone.

Lucy's eyes widened dramatically. "If you need answers, go on to the seventh floor. Bring some warm milk and cookies, they won't bother you too much, but be careful and don't stay for too long. You look tasty," I struggled to keep up with her rapid signing, my eyes firmly trained on her. Lucy's hand carefully patted my cheek and in my frozen state, I could only wave back as she skipped to the door and unlocked it, giving me one of her closed-lipped smiles before disappearing behind it without a noise.

The lock slid shut on it's own after the girl's departure. My heart briefly jumped up into my throat, trapping my jerky inhale in-between my throat and my esophagus. Coughing, I went on to double check the door lock before scrambling for the TV remote to add some background noise to the suddenly eerily quiet apartment.

The sit-com that popped up wasn't any of the ones I knew so I sat helplessly watching unfamiliar people get themselves into more and more absurd situations as the grating noise of pre-recorded audience laughter mocked the characters actions. A sudden shriek pierced the late night stillness, followed by a sound of breaking dishes and a woman's voice tiredly chastising the miscreants.

Samantha.

I'd seen her a few times as she smoked her strong cigarettes in front of the entrance, her twins running in circles around the large pothole in the middle of the driveway. She'd been friendly enough, the dark circles under her eyes and the unkempt state of her clothes telling me more than her words, "I love them, I really do. But I just want some sleep," she rasped as she sighed and attempted to gather her two kids.

I didn't examine them too closely but on first moment's notice their eyes and teeth appeared... Wrong. Samantha had taken them inside after that, clutching a coffee thermos of a size truly impressive, and I went on my merry way, trying not to think too much of the poor, single mother and her two mutant kids. I felt a little proud, even, as she didn't just abandon them like many other people did after discovering their children had an active X-gene.

It didn't take me long to cave in and offer my help with watching the twins, Anya and Arman; one noisy weekend bled into the next and I began to genuinely feel bad for the overtired woman. Inviting the two terrors into my apartment was a choice I had made mindfully: having asked Odette about advice on hyperactive children, she had proposed a puzzle or two.

The thrifted, wooden items weren't able to hold the twins' attention for long, and Anya was the first one to begin gnawing at the hard blocks, covering the area around her in splinters. Arman was a quiet boy compared to his sister: he'd stare at the TV or at the walls, avoiding eye contact and conversation at great lengths.

My couch was jumped on, my dishes were taken out and my houseplants rearranged chaotically; it was almost as if they purposefully tried to get a rise out of me without doing any actual damage. I spent the remaining few hours of my Sunday putting things back in their places - all that pent up frustration had done wonders for the state of my apartment; it sparkled, looking cleaner than the day I moved in.

The babysitting became a somewhat regular occurrence, more often than not with me popping in for a couple of hours so Samantha could run some errands and the odd weekend when the twins came over to me so Sam could get some much-needed sleep.

She was a kind, gentle if chronically overworked woman. We clicked pretty quickly over our shared desire for comfortable stability and some fucking peace; neither I nor she had it in sights for the foreseeable future. Sam's reaction to me being a witch was a shrug and a top up to her wine glass as she pointedly looked at her daughter who was busy chewing on a door handle, leaving small, jagged marks all over the dull metal.

I just had gotten sorted with a bunch of complicated orders when the radio interrupted Eric Clapton with an emergency message and instructions to steer clear of the next few blocks over. Something had hit NYC again and Avengers had been called but nobody knew exactly what it was or when it was going to be dealt with.

As soon as I shot a text to Sam, explaining the situation, I immediately retreated to the back rooms, setting up my healing station over the noise of Odette preparing her office for visitors. For some time, I waited with baited breath, jumping at every little noise coming from the outside. The people tickled in slowly, mostly one by one and all were covered in foul-smelling sludge that evaporated with a loud hiss when the concentrated light of the UV lamp in my office touched it.

"Some kind of aliens, I think," a man with a face somewhere between a human and a hedgehog told me, wincing as he retracted his spikes back into his skin. "There's a hole- a portal, right on a crossroads and there's these things coming out. They kinda look like dragons, or flying snakes maybe," the more light breached the surface of his skin, the more relaxed he became. "The Sorcerer and the Witch are trying to close the portal, unsuccessfully might I add, and the muscle is just," he paused, scratching his chin. "Just killin' 'em, I guess."

I nodded enthusiastically, prompting him to continue to rely the state of the affairs as I applied the thick, viscous ointment on a gash on his leg. "It's hammer and Frisbee time," I mumbled to myself sarcastically.

"Yep," the man popped the 'p'. "Most of us are trying to keep the creatures contained to that one block. I saw Iron Man blasting off some of the creatures off of some of my friends," the last sentence contained a great deal of puzzlement. "Though you won't be seeing much of us this time. These things... They're vicious. They've got claws the size of my foot. A lot of us are going to die where they gut us," the sentence was spoken so matter-of-factly, my hands paused on the man's leg, bringing my eyes to his unblinking dots of black.

"What do you mean?" I swallowed in an attempt to chase away the dry, rough feeling in my throat.

"Those beasts... They're smart. One of my friends - she's a... Telepath of sorts... Says they're an intelligent hivemind," the man's broad, warm palm closed over mine. "The beasts leave only the ones that won't get help in time. They can smell death from a mile away. That's how they hunt," his voice was gentle, soothing over the sudden ringing of my ears.

"I..." My mind stuttered, a sticky ball of anxiety, fear and sorrow gathering up in my chest. "I'm so sorry. I..."

"We know what we're doing, out there, we know the risks," his smile was tight and full of grief. "You're doing your part here, makin' sure our babies have parents. We're out there makin' sure our streets are safe. Such is life," the grin acceptance in his pitch-black, small eyes set fire to the tension in my chest.

I exploded, inside out. The sudden burst of decisive, clear-headed energy made the objects around me vibrate, metal resonated my sorrow and my determination, the wood heated up with the force of Mother Nature itself responding to an act of cruelty bestowed upon her creations.

As soon as the man's bandage was finished and he headed out, I grabbed my old, ratty backpack, hastily shoving things into it in a semi-organized fashion. Clean linen strips, bandages, some premade elixirs and draughts, a few jars of salves, carefully tucked in-between the cloth. As I knocked on the door of Odette's office to retrieve the last few items I would need for my reckless journey, the door handle turned on its own, letting me observe her tending a woman who's skin was peeled off most of her back.

"Can't you see I'm..." Odette exclaimed, throwing her free hand towards the door, which did not budge. She turned on her heel, eyes widening when she observed my wide, solid stance in the doorway, lips immediately curling into a small grin. "I understand. Take what you need. It's not wise to resist Her call," the words were spoken carefully, as if not to spook me, before Odette resumed her delicate work of putting the injured woman back together.

Without a word, I finished packing and left through the front door, not needing more than my scarf and my light sweater to keep me from the freezing gusts of wind. My very core was the centrefold of an active volcano, bursting with white-hot bursts of energy as I approached the injured people on my way towards the terrible screeching noise.

This far out, most of the injured were able to make it to Odette's or to the other healer, who's name I had found out only then, but they were thankful for the water I offered them. Not once did they question me: my star-patterned scarf, out of all things, had become somewhat of a symbol for me among the different folk. Mutants approached me fearlessly, giving generous updates on the direction of the battle and the hotspots I probably should have avoided.

The louder the screeching noises grew, the more people needed my help. The stops took longer, my painkillers were becoming a short supply, the main relief provided by a couple of mid-range, mid-strength energy manipulating mutants that began to tail me after I offered to patch them up in exchange for help with the injured.

It was as if I instinctually knew where I was most needed, my decisions were seldom my own. Me and the two mutants bid a haste goodbye after loading up their truck with the injured, although deep inside, I knew that the amount of corpses, bloody and messy, littering the streets had begun to get to them. In a normal state of mind, I would not have been able to look at them either: then, each mangled, broken body only added fuel to the fire within me.

As I stepped foot in an intersection where someone had piled up bent and broken cars, the shadow flying over my head shrieked, taking a fluid nose dive towards another, smaller flying figure. I dropped flat on the ground, the contents of my backpack clattering, watching the small figure in the sky blast the beast with an off-blue ray of concentrated energy. As soon as the creature began it's graceless drop, Tony turned around and flew off, looking none worse for wear.

At the very centre of my chest, a faint feeling of fondness and hope blossomed into tiny little flowers that soothed the aching sorrow for the dead. Each warcry of the beasts from another world fed the anger, the anguish Gaia seemed to exhibit at their intrusion; the revolt I felt upon laying my eyes on one of them made me sweat, hands clenching into fists until my skin crawled under my nails.

The last part of me that wanted to pretend I was in control was gone; my soft, untrained body a mere vessel for a force stronger than me, stronger than anything. Noise around me grew in pitch, some of the creatures circling around my hiding spot cluelessly, aimlessly, as if they could not find what they were looking for.

I moved spots in a daring series of runs, bringing me almost to the portal itself, and the hellish lizards dived into my previous sanctuary, shattering the concrete and the wood of the house under the amused black stares of glassless windows.

The realization set it - they could not see me. Or perceive me properly, I deduced, inspecting the creatures for any sort of orifice except for their mouths and finding them to lack eyes and ears.

My own stare fell onto Sorcerer Supreme, floating amongst a variety of moving golden circles; I was close enough to hear him talking in a language I did not know. Wanda was hovering nearby, holding up a wall of red energy, protecting the chanting sorcerer.

A united screech invoked a shiver from every living being within it's reach, the creatures circling the portal for the last time before flying off in haphazard directions as the portal slowly began to close. I was prepared to cheer, yet, something stopped me; not a second later, the circles surrounding Stephen dimmed as the man himself jumped up onto his feet in alarm, screaming something unintelligible at the Scarlet Witch.

The overturned food cart I was hiding behind slowly began to creep towards the portal. A couple of rats, a pigeon - the animals flew in front of my eyes, rapidly, as they struggled against the unseen force. My hands grasped the handlebars of the cart in vain, I struggled against the force, seeing a moment of confusion on Wanda's face as I floated- no, rocketed past her as Stephen's golden magic forcefully pushed her out of the portal's reach.

It's size no bigger than a doorway, the vile thing blew cold, dry air under my sweater, muffling Stephen's cursing as we briefly collided during our violent expulsion into another world.

And then, there was darkness.

Taglist! @couldntbedamned @mikariell95 @letsby @sleep-i-ness @toomanyrobins2 @mostly-marvel-musings @persephonehemingway @schemefrenzy @lillsxd @bluecrazedandbeautiful @slothspaghettiwrites @xoxabs88xox

#practical alchemy #bun writes #tony stark x reader #stephen strange x reader #tony stark x reader x stephen strange #stephen strange x reader x tony stark

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ezekielbhandarivalleros · 4 years ago

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Adventure of the Past (Chapter 2)

Characters: Oliver Cochrane, Ezekiel Tweneboah, Brit Tweneboah, Mother Tweneboah and Maggie (Mentioned)

Summary: When Ezekiel gets himself in trouble, Oliver comes and rescues him

Taglist: @schnitzelbutterfingers @daddyethanramsey @choicesficwriterscreations, If you want to be tagged tell me

The sweet aroma of the markets wafted to my nostrils and I inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent. Truffles, baguettes and various other sweets hung in the air. Living in Port Royal did have its' benefits, and I could easily treat myself to whatever I preferred. To be sure I did not have as much money as many other royal folk, but I was anything but poor. The day was young, and I was free from the hands of labor. Well, almost.

Mother had sent me out to the shops for dinner tonight. I groaned as I thought of the work in store for me and the rest of the women household; Mother, Maggie, and the servants besides myself. I was man of the household, as Mother had now become a single parent to both me and Brit after father left.

Laughing to myself in self pity, I observed another seller who was beckoning to others walking down the street. His hand outstretched and voice loud, he spoke of how his item of price was better than all the rest. Normally I would have ignored the man and moved on, but I moved towards his stand as if I was put under some type of spell.

"Ello Sir" He grinned widely as soon as I was within hearing distance. My pace slowed but still I came nearer to him. Something was hidden behind that smile-something bad. And even my instincts told me to turn around and run. But I was entranced as he showed me jewels and beautiful necklaces. Something I could only dream of affording even in the present.

I cocked my head slightly, staring at all the trinkets as the scene around me became a blur. It was as if I was walking into another dimension the sounds and voices muffled. The merchant beamed at me, eyeing my body as a wild animal does his prey. I felt trapped. I wanted to cry out for help as the strangers arms reached out to me, but there came no sound.

Then, someone grabbed me, pulling me into the shadows. I came out of the fog, only to see darkness around me.

A figure. He was standing close and held onto me with a tight grasp. I tried to see who it was; if I had possibly been tricked by the man and pulled into an abyss where he would take my whole being. No. My reflexes kicked in, and my body tensed. I struggled against him.

"Who?" I started to say, then knew instantly when I was pushed up against the wall of a building. His warm breathe blew against my face and then in one short second lips pressed against mine.

"Hello my Love." the voice whispered in my ear seductively once the kiss had ended.

"Oliver." A name of relief.

"Ezekiel, what were you doing? You need to be more careful. I can't always be here to protect you. If I hadn't noticed you when I did he would have raped you. And no one else would have helped. They would have walked by and ignored what was going on. People like that cannot be trusted in the least, do you understand me?" he held me to him protectively.

I stood there with a confused look. "What are you speaking of?" I asked cautiously. I heard a sigh of frustration as he took my hand in his and led me around a corner, away from the crowds and more into the light.

Flinching from the brightness, I leaned against the wall of a different building. Everything was a dizzying blur and I felt as if I was recovering from a long night of drinking. I started to fall, and he caught me, laughing lightly.

"Did you have too much fun without me? You know that's not aloud." He gently caressed my face and looked into my eyes for some time thoughtfully. I returned the gaze and steadied myself, searching his face for any clue of his thoughts.

That's when we both heard shouting. "Thieves! Bandits! " Our heads turned to the sounds as many footsteps came our way. My heart started to pound and I looked up at Oliver in question.

"Do you think they mean us?"

"Better not wait and find out." he replied "Let's go." He grabbed my hand and we took off at a dead run through the city. My senses were finally returning as the adrenaline kicked in. We were being chased, and for a crime I hadn't even committed. This angered me. How dare that man accuse me of stealing just because... Because why? Then I realized what Oliver had been talking about; that man at the market almost had his way with me, and for some reason my body had been frozen, not allowing me to do anything about it.

My mind raced, the anger rapidly growing inside of me. A part of me wished to turn around and confront that man, but as I turned my head I saw that there were not only a few villagers, but several armed men as well. So instead I fueled my anger into my legs, running as fast as I could.

Without warning, Oliver suddenly pulled me down another side road and into a busy street. This one was full of even more stands and customers, hardly giving us enough room to walk. Miraculously though, people were moving out of the way as they saw the incoming chaos, pushing themselves to the side as quickly as they could.

Stumbling over one of the stands, I let go of Oliver's hand, a plan forming in my mind. He immediately stopped when he felt my absence, and turned around to see what I was up to. I pushed all of my weight against the stand, and soon vegetables and other various foods crashed to the ground. I smiled triumphantly as I knew that it would give us enough time to escape from the on comers, but as I looked back towards Oliver, his face full of disbelief, I knew something was wrong. Hearing many angry shouts of protest, I turned back just as the other stands in turn knocked into each other, falling to the ground like dominoes. Oops. Knowing that that was probably a very dumb idea, but unable to take what I had just done back, I grabbed Oliver's hand again, pulling him along with me.

From there we quietly slipped away from everyone, weaving through many alleyways. No one was chasing us anymore, and I was sure that it would stay that way. From the mess I had just caused, it would take quite a while to clean everything up.

Oliver was now leading the way, and I followed him through the city. "Where are we going?" I finally asked, curiosity getting the better of me. Dresden was always finding new places to explore and dangerous things to do.

But there was no answer to my question. Instead, he turned to face me and looked straight into my eyes, smiling mischievously. I looked back questioningly. I would always put my full trust in him, he had never given me a reason not to, but it seemed as if we were always facing trouble and miraculously escaping from it just in the nick of time. Today had been no different.

Several minutes later, I found myself standing in the middle of a beautiful meadow. Trees surrounded the green grass which was covered in all sorts of colorful flowers. Nothing remotely familiar about the city was here, and all that could be heard was birds chirping and the running of a small stream. I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh air, enjoying how peaceful it all was.

Oliver's arms came around my waist from behind, pulling me to him. I smiled, enjoying his touch. "Do you like it here?" he asked softly. My eyes fluttered back open, and I took another look around. It was as if it had been untouched; a secret known only to him.

"It's wonderful." I breathed, and I meant it. No one could have taken me to a better place. This moment was perfect, and I wished we could just stay like this forever; in a land where nothing else mattered but love and all obstacles were out of mind..

Not too long after we met, a day came when we managed to get into more trouble than usual. Our hearts pounding and minds racing, we had shared our first kiss just moments after wriggling out of the clutches of danger.

How ironic it was, I thought, that even today we were lying here, looking at each other with much adoration, only minutes after creating so much turmoil within the city. Besides our age, things hadn't changed too much between us.

Oliver leaned down close to my face, and I instantly closed the distance between us. The kiss was slow, our mouths exploring each other as if it were the first time they'd ever met. I moaned softly as he gently bit my lower lip and pushed his body down against mine. I would never begin to understand just how easily my body reacted to him, or how he was able to pull such emotion and physical pleasure from me. Just one touch sent my body shivering and heart on a chase of its' own.

He pulled back, looking into my eyes with amusement. "What?" I had to ask. The corners of his mouth turned up into a smile and he started to laugh, ignoring my question.

"Just you." He answered, leaning in for another kiss. I returned it as he reached for my hands, enfolding them within his own. Wasn't it amazing how well my fingers fit in between his? The thought fascinated me; it was if I was the only one who would truly complete him.

"What about me?' I returned in question, gently rubbing the tip of my nose against his.

"I love you." He said quietly, and in that moment, it seemed as if the world just stopped. I love you. These words were rare to come out of his lips. They were not the first time to be spoken, but every time they were my heart skipped a beat and my spirit soared. How, I wondered, could this one man have so much power over me?

I managed to catch him off guard and flip us over so I was on top. Our hands were still entwined, and I used this to my advantage, pinning him down as best as I could. He looked up at me questioningly, another smile escaping his lips. Staring into his gaze, I gradually leaned down towards him. Expecting our lips to meet, he tried to bring his face closer to mine, but I moved mine to the side of his. I could tell he was slightly disappointed, and he made a small sound of disapproval.

Bit by bit, I moved my mouth down to his neck, enjoying the feel of his skin beneath my lips. Ever so tenderly, I opened my mouth, grazing my teeth against his skin. In response, his fingers tightened their hold on mine, and a light gasp escaped his breath. I smiled, continuing to slowly kiss and nibble, my tongue gently caressing as I moved my way up his neck. Once I was farther up, I stopped moving, pushing my weight down on his hands and nipping his ear gently. A hushed, small, sentence formed upon my lips...

"I love you too."

#oliver cochrane #oliver x mc #playchoices #Distant Shores #choices

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codylabs · 4 years ago

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Having the Time of My Life Overanalyzing Voltron Science, A Visual Novel

The team’s little mantra in the original show was “ Activate interlock! Dynotherms connected! Infracells up! Mega thrusters are go! Let’s go Voltron Force!” And they said this each and every single time their 5 lions formed together into the combined robot.

In today’s essay I will be deeply examining and wildly speculating about what exactly interlocks, dynatherms, infracells, and mega thrusters are, why it’s entirely crucial that these 4 items be part of the Voltron preflight checklist, and explaining why (or at least inferring that) you should take it all seriously.

Interlock

The Interlock is easy. It’s probably whatever system is used to attach the 5 lions together. So what are they? Magnets? Docking rings like on spacecraft? Just mechanical latches? Hard to say. But something as simple as a mechanical latch isn’t something you’d have to ‘activate’ or actively call out during pre-flight, so I would suspect ‘interlock’ is likely a catch-all term for not only the mechanical attachments, but also the control circuit used to synchronize the computers onboard all 5 lions. It would be a complex integrated system within the black lion, which also explains why they refer to it in the singular instead of plural.

Without the interlock, Voltron would just be the 5 lion with their individual brains tied together like duct-taped dogs. The interlock synchronizes them into a common intelligence, under the direction of the centralized black lion.

I don’t know what the mechanical structure of the interlocks would be. Conventional material science would suggest that a robot as large as Voltron wouldn’t be able to even stand, let alone run and jump and fight, so even if we assume nearly-indestructible exotic alien materials, I think you would still want something more than hooks and pins to connect the various pieces together. It would be best if the actual structural elements could somehow fuse at the molecular level. Welding is the most obvious method for that, but there’s also Vaan-Der-Waals forces, which could bond together flat surfaces that could then be slid apart. And maybe if you had superconducting cables running between the elements and then ran a ton of current through them, then you could use magnetic binding? I’m not sure if that would work, but it sounds futuristic enough to be true. IDK.

Dynatherms

I can’t tell if this is ‘dynatherms’ or ‘dinotherms’, but the first sounds less prehistoric, so I’ll go with that. So it sounds like pieces of the words ‘dynamic’ and ‘thermal’ mashed together, which don’t really mean anything except in the context of thermodynamics, so.... What is this? A reactor? A steam engine?

Of all the various components this one puzzled me longest, but I think I’ve got it.

The dynatherms are the cooling system, meant to radiate away the massive amounts of heat its engines and motors would generate. Most spacecraft, heck most vehicles in general, have a system analogous to this. Here’s the one the ISS uses:

Voltron doesn’t have any weird extendo-wings like this, but it’s conceivable that they could be built directly into the outer layer of its armor. The black lion’s little red wings are likely a part of the system too. If you ask me, the surface area of its armor isn’t nearly enough to dissipate enough heat to keep a thing like this cool, but I think I can ignore that.

So anyway. At first this explanation doesn’t seem to fit, since they say ‘dynatherms connected’, not ‘coolant pumps started’ or ‘refrigerant levels maximum’ or something. You don’t ‘connect’ the heat radiators, they’re always connected. You just pump water through them. Right?

Wrong! Here’s my sufficiently futuristic explanation: Voltron’s cooling system doesn’t use coolant and pumps or any type of conventional refrigeration at all! Instead, the ‘dynatherms’ are a network of thermally superconductive cables connecting all its motors and engines to radiative armor panels on the exterior. Thermal superconductivity is a concept I learned from Star Wars and later found out is a real-ish thing. Basically any vibrations in any part of a thermally-superconductive material can frictionlessly travel to any other part of the material. Since temperature is based on vibrations, this means that if a hot thing touches one part of the material, everything else touching the material can instantly feel that heat, and even dissipate that heat. You can think of it as Marvel vibranium or as warmth communism.

Since there’s no fluid flow, the only way to control this cooling system or increase or decrease its dissipation is to connect and disconnect individual cables. Hence why they would have to connect the dynatherms before forming Voltron; combat in combined robot mode is one of the most taxing conditions of the machine’s operation, so they need all the cooling they can get.

Infracells

Now HERE’S where it starts to get interesting. ‘Infra’ roughly means ‘below’. To take the most common example, take ‘infrared’ light, that is, light existing at frequencies lower red light, which is itself the lowest frequency in the visible spectrum. Infrared is invisible, so the only way to describe its color is ‘somewhere below red’.

So as far as I can tell, ‘infracells’ could mean one of three things. They could be some kind of infrared light sensors, like FLIR imagers used for night vision and targeting on modern military equipment (which I consider unlikely, since that’s not the type of thing you would specifically call out during the preflight, or something intrinsically useful to the Voltron assembly process.) Or it could be an armor layer consisting of some kind of cells literally ‘below’ the rest of the armor (which I also consider unlikely, because why would that be important to the Voltron assembly either? You wouldn’t need to even worry about it until you take damage to the outer armor layer, right?) Or, finally and most interestingly, it could have something to do with lower frequencies or lower speeds in general.

Here’s my theory:

The infracells cause time itself to run differently. You all saw the movie Interstellar, where time aboard the spacecraft passed slower for the crew whenever they were inside powerful gravity wells. If you had high buildups of negative energy within cells inside Voltron, it would produce the opposite effect, causing time to move faster inside the cells than outside. Anything inside would experience the rest of the universe in slower motion, meaning lower acceleration, lower forces, and lower stress.

Therefore, if such ‘infracells’ were installed around Voltron’s skeletal frame and motors, it may explain the machine’s great strength and indestructibility. And it would make sense that this would be the type of thing they would call out during the pre-flight, as even one down infracell could spell disaster once that section of the frame is attempting to support the entire weight of the robot; it would buckle and break. Every infracell needs to be up before forming Voltron.

Mega thrusters

Now, this just sounds silly. They’re likely the engines that Voltron uses to fly, but the show creators put ‘mega’ in front of the name to sound cool. Might as well call them ‘super rockets’ or ‘the ultra drive’, right? But mega is an interesting word, as it’s actually a scientific term in the metric system meaning to multiply by a million. Like a kilometer is a thousand meters and a kilogram is a thousand grams, a megameter is a million meters, and a megagram is a 1000 kilograms. You may have heard of ‘megaton’ when referring to nuclear explosives; a three-megaton bomb is a bomb with the explosive yield equivalent to three million tons of TNT. A lot.

So, uh,

Why would you call a thruster a ‘mega thruster’, then?

Well, I know approximately jack-diddly about the original show, but I know that in the newer show, most large spacecraft in the universe get their energy not from nuclear reactors or solar cells, but rather from Balmeran crystals. The crystals are able to produce apparently infinite energy so long as you don’t damage them or overtax them. I don’t know where the crystals get their infinite energy, but that’s not what I’m here to speculate about, so I’ll just treat that as one of the universe’s rules, like bending in Avatar.

So! How do you set that up to make an engine? Well, infinite power is good! Higher power to the engine means hotter, faster exhaust, and hotter, faster exhaust means higher fuel efficiency and higher thrust. So the question becomes, how do you get the most power in the safest and most efficient way possible?

For the sake of some rules, let’s say that you need to give the crystals a little bit of stimulating energy to make them produce energy. That seems fair, I think. Let’s say they produce 5 times the energy they absorb.

So you give a crystal 1 watt, you get 5. That’s great; that means if we need 50 billion watts to run the thruster, we just need to get a big crystal, and feed it 10 billion watts. However! Where do we get that initial 10 billion watts? Well we could just take a portion of the crystal’s own output and cycle it back around to the input, but that’s a dangerous game to play, since if the percentage you cycle around is even slightly more than 20%, you could create a “positive feedback loop” where more input means more output, which leads to greater input which leads to even greater output, and so on and so on until the crystal breaks or the ship blows up or something generally unfavorable happens. This is approximately the experience of the people at Chernobyl, and is not recommended.

So instead of having crystals feed themselves, you’d instead want them to be fed exclusively by an external source, like a battery or an entirely separate smaller crystal. So the initial crystal would feed larger ones, which would feed larger ones, and so on, each stage in the chain becoming more powerful, but always stable and dependent on some initial external input, so as to never go out of control.

And now, I’m thinking it would be nice from an engineering perspective to have all the crystals together in one shielded location. And from a tactical perspective, it would be nice not to have a bunch of bulky, vulnerable, high-energy cables running around the entire vehicle. So, you would want as many crystal stages as possible in the places where the power is needed most. Namely, the engines.

Therefore, a big part of the engines would be made of armored shells to contain dozens of stacks of crystal beds. They would accept a small amount of power at the top, and multiply it internally to get enormous output at the bottom. Hence, ‘mega’ thruster. It multiplies input by a million.

Boom.

Done.

Headcanon deployed.

So now the next time you’re watching some stupid show and think that something doesn’t make sense, pause to consider that maybe you’re just not using enough imagination, or else I will be with you in spirit to wrong-shame you.

(If you use your imagination and it still doesn’t make sense, then don’t worry. This means that the show is trash and you are right.)

Now go to bed.

#Boom #Voltron #voltron: legendary defender #lion #fan theory #engineering #some cool food for thought #I don't even watch this show what am I doing

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seyaryminamoto · 5 years ago

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Post canon, do you think Azula would regret her actions during the war? As Azula is someone who’s very single-minded when it comes to success, I don’t see her regretting anything. War is war for her. But how can she change? I don’t think she would regret her actions just because people didn’t accept her actions or think what she did was bad. She would need a logical explanation. What do you think?

Uh… that really depends on how a writer chooses to carry her character forward. While Azula didn’t commit any of her worst war crimes in my story, she started out being every bit as remorseless about the Fire Nation’s actions as you’d expect from canon Azula. It has been, of course, an insanely long process, but she has grown to understand the harm her nation did, enough that she even works to fix what little stuff she can nowadays.

As usual, this got long, soooo…

TL;DR: show her the flaws in the Fire Nation’s system, make her bond with new people (preferrably either Team Avatar or other people from other nations), and after a FAIRLY long time she’ll come to understand where the Fire Nation went wrong and regret some of her actions, to some extent.

Now, if you want a full breakdown of what I mean by all of that, feel free to keep reading:

First things first… I’d think Azula needs to see how the war damaged her own nation. The Painted Lady featured the floating town of Jang Hui in the most polluted river the entire franchise had given us so far. ATLA did deal with subjects relating to environmental damage before, but never quite to that extreme: common people were living in the worst conditions because a weapons factory that was operative since Azulon’s time had been dumping their waste in that river for over a decade, if I recall correctly.

Neither Zuko nor Azula ever saw this, only the Gaang did: how would they react if they did, though? How would they feel upon finding their people are facing such dire consequences for the warmongering of their forefathers? You may be inclined to think Azula might not care, these are means to an end, but I’d like to think an Azula who has been developed to some extent would think otherwise (I can outright tell ya’, I’m bringing this up because I literally wrote Azula confronting this specific reality in Gladiator’s 82nd chapter :’DDD).

This without going into the subject of the death toll: how many of their soldiers were sacrificed and how much people have had to die at a war that has lasted 100 years. Efficient, effective Azula would most likely be disturbed to realize how many resources have gone to waste, how much work has been invested into operations that went nowhere because, let’s be real, if the Fire Nation had been effective all the damn time, this war wouldn’t have dragged out as long as it did. Add to this that Azula is outright the most competent Fire Nation antagonist we ever saw on the show, and it’s obvious the Fire Nation armies would leave a lot to be desired for someone who’d expect nothing but the best from her own people.

Point and case being: show Azula the flaws in the Fire Nation systems, and she’ll start opening her eyes to the reality of the Fire Nation’s internal mess. If they’re striving for greatness, wouldn’t they be above such flaws? Shouldn’t they be better than this?

Now, how would she regret her own actions? That’s a taller order to fulfill yet. But, as tall as it may be, it’s not impossible.

For starters, one of the things I dislike deeply about the comics is that Azula doesn’t feel like herself to me because she’s dead-set on the throne as her endgame even though anyone can tell it’s never going to be hers. Why do I dislike it? Because this is the same girl who, upon being thwarted constantly by Team Avatar in Book 2, kept changing her strategies and even changing the battles she was fighting so she could obtain a “big win” and make her father happy. Can’t catch Iroh and Zuko with a Royal Barge and a full firebending procession? Switch to a smaller team with a train-tank. Can’t find Iroh and Zuko yet, but found the Avatar? Try to capture the Avatar. Failed to capture the Avatar? Off to capture Ba Sing Se instead. Failure to capture the city? Again, switching to tracking down the flying bison to find the Avatar: found the Kyoshi Warriors, found a method to infiltrate the city, captured Zuko and eventually Iroh, “killed” the Avatar, conquered the city: AZULA WINS!

But why did she win? Because she changed tactics. Because she was NEVER static, never hung up on a single goal. She needed to be victorious, and she was in the end, but not for a long time: she literally doesn’t win a single violent confrontation until she fights the Kyoshi Warriors. As epic as she may be, I ALWAYS bring this up because it’s part of her character as well as everything else. In the comics, though? She may change tactics on occasion, but the endgame of her plans never really changes: she wants the throne at all costs, like that’s the only thing in the world that she could ever want. And I find that difficult to understand in a character like her because she lost EVERYTHING in Sozin’s Comet, the last we saw of her she was crying desperately after knowing she had been defeated. This, paired with the mirror scene, showed that Azula was shattering inside. A character who went through trauma of that magnitude can react in countless ways… but the way that I would have thought suited her best would be having a severe belief crisis instead: why did her brother succeed when he had always been the failure while she was the perfect child? Why does he have friends who will fight beside him while hers abandoned her? Why, when everything came to a head, she was completely and utterly ALONE?

The interpretation of the comics is that she decided those questions all could be answered with “Hallucination-Ursa brainwashed them all!” and “I must take the throne and my entire life will be fixed again!”, something that still makes me shake my head to this day. When having the opportunity to explore complex subjects through Azula’s character, they picked the most simplistic route possible to deal with it and obsessed her with a throne she only showed outright interest in during… what, four episodes of the original show? :’D

Sooooooo, as far as comics are concerned, I honestly don’t think they’re taking a route to make Azula regret what she’s done. Other people have a different take on the subject, they’re free to disagree, but unless the new writer treats Azula more seriously than Yang did, it’s hard to imagine they’ll actually touch onto the more complex aspects of the character.

Therefore if we went through the route I expected her to take, meaning, Azula trying to figure out why she failed without dumping all the blame on a single hallucination, I can imagine her touching the surface of the fact that something about her methods, something about her actions, couldn’t have been right. The Ursa hallucination already suggests that Azula knows, on some level, where she went wrong: she feels forced to justify why she handled everyone through fear, claiming “fear is the only reliable way”. It’s not so reliable anymore, though, is it? All the people she thought she’d intimidated and frightened are thriving now, while she’s in an asylum, of all things. Something in her methods was wrong, plain and simple. A perfectionist like her wouldn’t like accepting this, but she’d have no choice other than doing it: otherwise she’d NEVER have ended up in the situation she’s in.

Just like with the previous item, begin to touch upon the failures, the flaws, the problems… and slowly, Azula’s concepts of the world would unravel, and she’d be forced to make sense of it all again, only, now she knows and understands it better than she did before.

Of course, changing her understanding of the world would be far more successful with the right help than by having her work out everything on her own. And by the right help I mean… Azula can’t be helped the same way Zuko was. It’s that simple. You can’t have her open up to Iroh, or learn better through him, because she thinks he’s a failure as well and she has as little respect as possble for him. Likewise, she’d most likely be too proud to learn any better from Zuko, who, let’s be real, has a long way to go still in terms of growing and ESPECIALLY developing enough patience to deal with Azula. While everyone wants him to do it, and hell, I agree that him helping her would be the right way to bring his character full circle, the way Ehasz described it, but I can also see it being a REALLY messed up journey, with more hardships than I think Zuko can endure as he is by the end of ATLA. He’d need a much stronger hold on his emotions than he ever displayed, and we know Azula is one very sore spot for him. Therefore, while it would be thematically great? It would take longer than a Gladiator-length story to do this properly, with both Azula and Zuko being IC enough as compared to where they left off at the end of ATLA.

On top of it all… my most honest take? I don’t really want anyone from Azula’s old social circles, be it friends or family, being part of the start of her healing process. Why’s that? For one thing, what I said above about Zuko and Iroh. For another, her relationship with her mother is radioactive trash even without factoring in The Search. Lastly, bouncing back from a betrayal like Mai and Ty Lee’s would take her AGES, and I don’t think she’d realistically ever fully trust them again after that, especially seeing how neither of them seem to want to be friends with her again anyhow in the show, not even touching upon how much they seem to hate her in the comics. Therefore? I’d like it better if Azula either started to have her own adventures with Team Avatar or found new friends of her own, as she did in Smoke and Shadow.

… Only, and this is why I’d favor Team Avatar, Azula needs influences who AREN’T Fire Nation. All her life that’s all she’s known. If you give her common ground with any of the other five members of the Gaang, you could actually create an interesting dynamic that involves Azula exchanging experiences (rather than trampling over) with someone with a completely different culture than her own.

For example, she can bond with Aang over being bending prodigies, something she doesn’t have in common with anyone from her old circles. She can bond with Katara over having older brothers who drive them crazy. She can bond with Toph over the same thing as with Aang + they’re bound to share some degree of their sense of humor and they’d likely have a competitive streak about who’s the better bender in their respective element, not to mention they’re both highborn who most likely can relate to each other’s family problems. She could bond with Suki over leadership, over warrior training since youth (of course, because of their bad blood I find this one the more difficult angle but it’s far from impossible). And if you really want me to get started with how much stuff she could bond over with Sokka I’ll be writing this ask until tomorrow, so have this link instead.

All this I bring up also under the logic that Team Avatar has forgiven people who wronged them before :’) no, it hasn’t been easy, and no, I wouldn’t expect her to become instant friends with anyone, but it’s hard for me to fathom that all of them would be 100% against being anywhere near Azula forever and ever. Set up grounds for them to have to work together for one purpose or another and you’ll get somewhere with developing Azula’s friendship with any/some of them before you know it.

The core point of having Azula bond and talk with them, though, is for her to undergo the same epiphany she does in Gladiator: shameless self-promoting time!

“What we used to have was separation, definitions, boxes with labels where you could throw each person depending on what they were. And you and me? We don’t share any of those boxes, do we? We’re opposites in practically every regard. Yet why is it that nobody else who shares my boxes has resounded with me in the way you do?”

“We’ve had our clashes, it’s true” he whispered “We really didn’t start off well. But… I guess that comes with balance too, doesn’t it? We were too different to understand each other right away, but in time…”

“We found a rhythm. A way to coexist without destroying each other” said Azula, smiling “Despite it all… fire and water might not need to snuff the other out of existence”

It only took me 107 chapters to get her to this point :’) realistically speaking, I have a hard time seeing a full-blown development of Azula taking a short time, especially if it means tackling even more problems than I needed to in Gladiator, seeing as it’s an AU where she didn’t really get to join the war.

Point being, once Azula finds common ground and solid friendships well outside the Fire Nation (be it Team Avatar or even other people from different nations), she’ll start to feel empathy for them, even if she doesn’t intend to at first. Their lives will matter to her, their struggles… she will find herself realizing what kind of hardships her new friends have undergone because of what the Fire Nation did. And as much as that means she’ll start caring only about one person at a time, that can be expanded into her opening her eyes fully to the horrors of the war she never cared about before.

I honestly doubt she’ll come to fully regret her successes, such as taking over Ba Sing Se or stopping the Invasion force. But she can regret having stood on the side of the conflict where she did, despite she really had nowhere else to stand during ATLA’s time. I’d think, if given proper time to grow, learn better and understand people who are, in essence, different from her despite sharing so much in common with her, Azula would eventually close the door on her past and begin to work towards a future where she won’t have to fear she’ll lose everything again, a future where she’ll have stronger bonds, where she won’t end up alone and abandoned by everyone she ever cared about.

#anon #azula analysis #man I thought my analysis days were over #can't lie this can be fun to do still #however long it gets

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araminia16 · 6 years ago

Text

Illness or Not (part 2-Second Trimester)-Not an Illness After All

XxOxX

Her symptoms waned and waxed with each day but after a time she began to take less in the way of naps, food sounded better and her appetite doubled. It was those events for which Callum felt grateful.

“You want me to make what, Prince Callum?” The head palace chef stared at him as if he had grown a second head. “I know it sounds gross but that’s what she wants.”

“Onions and moonberries in a pie? Are you quite sure?”

“One hundred percent. She practically started drooling when she told me to get one for her. I think she’s insane but at least she wants food.”

“It will take some time to create.”

“I have time. I’m not going to go back into that room without it. She’s hungry and grumpy and I want to keep all my parts attached.”

The head chef nodded and began to give orders to his staff to cut onions and gather up moonberries, and gather ingredients for the pastry crust. “I know there has been no such official announcement but is it true about her condition?”

Callum sighed. He didn’t blame the man for being curious but everyone who he talked to anymore wondered about Rayla’s condition. “Yes. She’s pregnant.”

“And it is yours?”

“Of course it’s mine! We’re married.” Callum half shouted incredulously at the man.

“So sorry, Prince Callum but no one has ever heard of a half human half elf baby.”

“Well with us being at war and whatnot I would be surprised if you had.” Callum grumbled, “How long should this take?”

“About an hour.”

“Well then I will be back in about an hour.” The chef and his staff bowed to Callum as he exited. He headed to the library to read more on what they should expect in the months ahead. It never hurt to be prepared for anything though the texts on elven pregnancy were few and far between and he had some more items on the way from Xadia.

He settled into his favorite chair with the book in hand when he felt a familiar presence nearby, “Hello Callum.”

^&^&^&

Rayla roamed about the room with new energy. The wee parasite grew in her womb seemed as if it settled in nicely. The drain on her very soul had lessened so naturally with her renewed energy she had rushed to the healer a few days past. It was a woman this time who reassured her there was nothing wrong. It was natural to have a burst of energy when the child settled in and the groundwork laid for its growth. All she had to do was feed her body and the child would continue to flourish. That was easy. Her appetite had been near insatiable recently and she chuckled when she thought of the look of horror on Callum’s face when she requested her newest food. It was a near rabid for her to crave such a strange combination but it was not her. It was the child. Her wee little bean though now it should be bigger than a bean. Rayla stopped in front of the mirror. The shirt she wore fitted tight around her bust now and she noticed Callum stared quite often anymore at them. Hands lifted up the bottom of her shirt and she examined her still flat and muscled belly with the slightest curve near the bottom as she always had. The pale purple flesh showed no sign of the stretch she knew would come.

Tired of the four walls of her shared room she opened the door and decided to search out her treat on her own.

#$#$#$#

“Claudia.” The word lacked the warmth it used to when he would address her. When he would stare after her as a lovesick boy who idolized her.

“Brrr.” She rubbed her arms as if she truly felt cold, “That was a little harsh don’t you think?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. Things had never quite been the same between them after what happened with their travel to Xadia and the events which happened after. Her father and what happened to him fractured their friendship beyond repair. “What did you need?”

Dark magic hadn't been banned. Not yet though the other rulers had conflicted views on the subject. Claudia didn’t use much magic anymore since she found out what could happen to those who dug to deeply into it. “That’s fair. I actually had a question for you about a rumor I heard the other day.”

He looked up from his book then at her as she stood across from him with a gentle, bright smile. Her hair once a dark black and purple now nearly white with her corruption, “Oh?”

“It’s about Rayla. You and Rayla.”

“Yes.”

“That wasn’t a question.” She stated in confusion. “No. It was answer. Yes.”

“You don’t know what I was going to ask.” Claudia put hands on hips then. “I could have asked if she was leaving you or something.”

“But you weren’t.” He pointed out. “I know you better than you think. We used to be best friends, remember?”

She remained quiet with a shadow to her gaze, “Of course.”

“So yes. Rayla and I are going to have a baby. We didn’t want to make a big deal about it yet. She’s been ill and we don’t want to ferry questions or accusations from anyone at the moment.”

“Congratulations.” The response resonated with warmth and he cocked his head at her.

“Really?”

“Were you expecting a different response, Archmage?”

He had to think on it a moment. “I don’t know.”

“We don’t have to avoid each other you know.”

“I’m not avoiding anyone. Our paths just don’t cross anymore.”

“Hello Claudia.” Rayla’s voice carried across the room.

“Rayla.” She nodded at the elf.

“She knows then?”

“Yep.” Callum decided to look down at his pages then and stay out of whatever was about to happen.

“What do you think then? Is it an abomination?”

“Of course not! I’m happy for you guys. I was just telling Callum that.”

“Really?” Sarcasm dripped from the single word suspended in disbelief.

“I know you think there’s some residual feelings between Callum and I but there’s not. I’m really happy for the two of you.”

“Why are you here? I thought you left the kingdom after--.” Rayla trailed off as Claudia winced.

“We did. Soren and I but I just got back. I missed my home. I had hoped to-- well nevermind. It’s not important now.”

“I’m sorry about your father.” The words hung suspended in the air between the two women as an act of kindness Rayla had rarely shown the human woman.

“Thank you.” Claudia whispered. “I’ll catch up later.” She fled then and Rayla squeezed her husband’s shoulder.

“I thought I told you I wanted food and yet I see you here reading and talking to her, husband.”

Callum winced at her grip. She only called him husband when she was upset. “It was going to take some time to make. They just don’t have that stuff laying around you know. It’s weird.”

Rayla would punish him later but for now she decided to collapse into his open lap and snuggle into him until she could eat.

%$%$%$

Weeks later along with her new favorite food she started to notice finally her pants were too tight. It started slowly and barely noticeable when the leather dug into her belly skin. There lay a firmness which was not there before. A little curvature only noticed by Rayla until she tried to fasten her pants one morning with no success. Callum walked in to her flat on her back in bed with her pants around her hips and a pout upon her face.

“What’s going on here?” He gestured to her predicament.

“They won’t fit.” She grumbled. He gave her a confused look. “My pants you dummy. They won’t fasten anymore.”

Callum let a slow smile spread across his lips and burn into his cheeks as he rounded the bed and knelt between her thighs at the end of the bed.

Rayla felt heat rush through her at the familiar position. He usually took it up when he was about to put his mouth onto her and though she felt frustrated at her clothes a new feeling emerged. “What do you think you are doing down there?” Her cheeks pinkened as she spoke.

Callum seemed to realize how it looked as well and he quickly stood up and leaned on the bed next to her. “Can I?” He gestured to her lower belly where her pants lay open.

“I’m still not sure what you mean.” She teased him now.

His cheeks darkened more and he cleared his throat and fidgeted, “The baby.” He muttered then and she reached up to ruffle his hair.

“Of course. Ye don’t even have ta ask me that. It’s yours too, you know.” She felt some of her earlier heat cool as he reached tentative fingers out and place the warm tips out onto the pale skin of her mostly flat belly. Rayla could see it more when she lay flat like this. The roundness, the small hill between her hips jutted out and his fingers started close to her belly button and trailed up the rounded hill then ended at the opening of her pants she couldn’t close. He splayed his hand, larger now than it used to be over it then and she felt the warmth in her chest pulse and multiply with affection for the wide eyed look of wonder. She softened with it while he drummed fingers along the skin. “It’s firm. Our baby.”

“Yes our wee little parasite is starting to take over my body.”

“You love it.” He accused gently while he stroked her skin and drew closer, “Hello there.”

“I don’t think it can hear you.” She carded her fingers through his hair and couldn’t stop the stupid smile on her face.

“I wasn’t sure if the healer was right about the baby.”

“I was.” She grumbled. “It’s been feeding off me ya know.”

“I think we need to find you better pants.”

“I like these pants.” She sighed. “It’s only going to get bigger.”

“Yep.” He nodded enthusiastically.

Rayla sighed in mock annoyance though she felt anything but while they lay on the bed and stared at the place their child rested.

%$%$%

It took some time to convince both Callum and Ezran, oddly protective as he is now, to not complain when she wanted to train. She didn’t do much as out of practice as she was now. She practiced form, stretches, and even maintained a jog for longer than she thought she would be able to now. Her leather pants had to be replaced by cloth ones she tied together. The rounded curve seemed to grow in size each day and now more people noticed her state than before. Rayla tried to ignore the way people looked at her, the whispered words, and even the ones who glanced her way with narrowed eyes. They were set to announce her pregnancy within the week and she couldn’t be more nervous though she really didn’t understand the formality. It wasn’t as if it had been kept secret. Gossip spread faster than a wildfire through a parched forest here. Though it was the same in Xadia and they were due to travel to her home in another month to stay until just before the birth. Oh and the idea of birth, how this little beast would appear was not something she wished to think about either.

She took a moment to rest on one of the benches after her exercises and leaned back to enjoy the cool breeze when she felt it. A strange flutter under her belly button almost as if she stood at a great height and looked down. Immediately her hand pressed to her small rounded belly and her heart quickened. She remained still as a statue for more time than she thought necessary and just when she had been about to dismiss the strange feeling it appeared again.

Oh. How wierd. Like a butterfly brushed wings inside her it happened a few times in succession and she couldn’t stop the dumb smile that spread across her face if she wanted to. Her desire to train forgotten she stood and trotted toward the castle in search of her husband.

She found Callum in his study. His enormous study at the top of one of the towers. He had giddily showed her his archmage laboratory though it was more a library than anything else.

Rayla didn’t wait to burst into the room as the door thudded loudly into the wall and in her hurried energy her husband flailed wildly in a chair tipped just too far back to fall forward and instead both he and the chair crashed to the floor.

“Ach. Are you okay?” She rushed over to the heap of clothes and books amidst the form of Callum who groaned.

“Geez, Rayla you scared the heck out of me.” He grumbled then his eyes widened and he scrambled up onto all fours in a rather comedic fashion and looked her over. “What is it? Why did you run in here? Are you okay?”

“Fine you clumsy man. More than fine. I finally felt it.” She chirped giddily and at his confused expression she sighed, “The baby. I think I felt it move.”

Callum’s expression broke into one of joy and he placed his hand on the roundness there. “Is it moving now?”

She paused, “No. I don’t think so. But it did before. Like a little butterfly inside me. You probably couldn’t feel it yet. It’s not big enough.” Rayla gave a surprise squeak as he pulled her closer and rested his cheek onto the firm bulge there.

“I love you.”

“I still don’t think it can hear you.”

“I wasn’t talking to it. And shouldn’t we stop calling the baby it?”

“Well I have a lot of other names for it like parasite, creature, wee beastie but I don’t think I should use those, do you?”

He chuckled and sighed. “Probably not.”

“Well it’s either a boy or a girl.”

“What do you want it to be?” Callum looked up at her.

“Preferably healthy. I don’t know anything about bairns so either is fine. I suppose you would want a boy then?”

“I haven’t really thought about it to be honest.”

“Well then ‘it’ it is.”

$#$#$#

The announcement went about as well as Rayla thought it would with harsh whispered words after and looks of revulsion her way. It made her place a protective hand over where her child grew inside her. More and more she thought about how the people would take to her half human child. Not well it looked like though the still young Queen Anya seemed to be thrilled with the news and came to her afterward to ask after her health and give her support.

Rayla noticed in the past few months how Ezran’s body language would change around Anya. How he would act like Callum used to in the early days of their courtship and how he would blush and stammer at times when she talked directly to him. They would be so adorable together.

Callum stationed himself right at her side as they roamed about the room while the nobility gave their congratulations both false and sincere and they were both grateful by the end of the night no one had made a scene.

It was later when they were alone together and Rayla lay upon their bed in a thin shift she watched Callum peel off each layer of his clothes and felt the stir again. It had been so long since they had last made love and though she wanted to now she didn’t know how to bring it up and so she merely smiled at him as he turned and climbed into bed with only shorts on to cover himself. He put his back to her after he placed a long, sweet kiss to her lips then one to her belly. Rayla took up her usual position at his back with her breasts and now a little of her belly pressed to the smooth muscle of his back. He would sometimes change up their arrangement to hold her close but she preferred to be the ‘big spoon’ as he called it. This way she could protect them better if they were attacked. Her body still buzzed with arousal even as she drifted off to sleep.

$%$%$%

Callum gasped and immediately he felt his cheeks burn at the wanton sound as Rayla pressed him into the stone of the deserted castle wall. Her lips and teeth pushed and tugged at his mouth with fervor as her hands roamed across his shoulders and down his chest.

She parted from him with little pants and her pupils nearly consumed the purple iris. A high blush spread across her cheeks and she dove back in and this time he responded with eager vigor.

They hadn’t done anything like this in weeks, months, and his body flared to life with zeal as she reached into his trousers and he had to stop her. “Rayla. What about the baby?”

She parted from him with a glare, “Safe and tucked away. Do you think your tool is so large it will touch the bairn? It’s a fine thing but not some monster. Now shut up and kiss me.”

Callum’s argument ended as she began again until they were sated against the stone of the castle in quiet sounds of euphoria.

#$#$#

She brought his hand to her belly suddenly and he pressed his palm to where she directed. He felt disappointment bubble up and just as he started to remove his hand it felt it. A little pop against his palm. Rayla smiled widely at his look of shock. “I felt it.” He whispered. “Do it again.” He whispered to her belly and uttered a sound of triumph when the little bump happened again. “It’s moving. Totally alive in there. You are amazing.” He looked up at Rayla then.

“You just now figuring that out? I haven’t been doing my job then.”

“There’s a baby in there.”

“Ya keep saying it like there hasn’t been one in there for the past 5 months. How long did you say humans carried these little things for?”

“Nine months.”

“Eight for us. You humans always have to make things harder don’t ya?” She muttered softly at him as he pressed on her belly gently in different places. “You playing games with it now?”

“No.” He drew the vowel out slowly. “Can you play with something the size of...what did they say it was the size of now?”

“A bit bigger than a large squash. And now i’m hungry.”

“Anything in particular?”

She gave him a hooded look and ran her tongue over her lip.

“I have to go to meet Ezran.” He reminded her gently though he couldn’t deny his interest.

“Fine. Something...sweet.”

“Jelly tart?”

“Too sweet. One of those rolls with the cinnamon and sticky cream. Two.”

“Anything else your majesty?”

“To stop having to run to pee every hour.” She grumbled and pushed him off of her to walk to the bathroom.

“It’s pretty glamorous isn’t it?”

“I will stab you with my swords.” She shot back from the door. “Food. Go.”

“I obey, my love.” He sang at her before he darted out the door and retrieved her request before he placed a kiss to her lips and went to his meeting.

He walked to his his step father’s old room and knocked. “Come in, Callum.”

Ezran had grown in the past six years from boy to young man and all the while his kingdom and peace grew with him.

“Are you still planning to go to Xadia next week?” His brother looked over papers on his desk with seal and quill in hands. He looked so much more like Harrow now with just little spots of their shared mother in his eyes or the curve of his mouth. His memories of her were fuzzy anymore though he tried to keep them tight to his breast and he wondered if she would have approved of his wife and for the thousandth time he concluded she would have loved Rayla.

“As ambassador it’s sort of our job isn’t it? Liaison and all that?”

“Well.Yes but with her condition I wasn’t sure if you would risk it?”

“Well it’s probably going to be better for her to be there for most of the pregnancy. They are elves after all and if she had the baby there at least she would have her people around her.”

“The trip wouldn’t be too hard?”

Callum snorted and Ezran raised an eyebrow at his brother, “Have you seen her? She’s a ball of energy anymore. Being still and being Rayla don’t mix. I’m sure we’ll be fine with a small contingent of guards like always.”

“Claudia wants to go.”

Callum took a few beats to process Ezran’s words, “What?”

“I told her I would ask you.”

“Why?”

“Because she didn’t want to ask you herself?”

“No I mean why does she want to go?”

“I dunno. Didn’t ask her.”

“Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“Could be. It sort of depends on if you think it’s a good idea. If you can trust her.”

Trust. A loaded word. “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay. Just let me know a day or two before you leave.”

“I felt the baby move.”

“Awesome. Do you think you are going to be a good dad?”

“I’m going to try.”

“Good.”

“Hey. What’s up with you and Anya?”

Ezran’s quill on the page splintered as he jolted and looked up to his brother’s mischievous grin, “Shut up.”

Callum laughed as he walked over and hugged his brother who now blushed red at his tease. “You know I do it cause I love you.”

“Go away.” Ezran laughed and pushed Callum away from him.

“Have a good time with those signatures.” He walked out of his brother’s study and thought about Claudia’s request and when he walked back to his rooms he asked Rayla.

“Do you want her to go?” She asked him then while she stretched her thighs on the floor.

“I don’t know. I’m worried that she’s going to go back to doing Dark Magic or kill some creatures that don’t deserve it.”

“Then tell her no.”

“But she’s trying to repent.”

“Then tell her yes.”

Callum sighed, “You aren’t helping.”

“I don’t care if she comes or not.”

“You don’t?”

“You’re my husband and there’s nothing to be jealous about anymore.”

“Why the sudden change?”

“We’ve been talking a little.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“Do you tell me everyone you talk to?” Rayla sighed.

Callum sighed and looked up at the ceiling while she continued to stretch. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

XxOxX

I have a bit of smut that I wanted to add in here but I decided to keep this story clean for the fluffy people out there. If you would like the second trimester fun times let me know. :)

#Rayllum #rayla #rayla x callum #callum #the dragon prince #illness prompt #fanfiction #rated T #fluff #pregnancy #Ezran #tdp #claudia #so much tooth rotting fluff #snarky elf #precious babies

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getuponthehydrasback · 6 years ago

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Fragmentary Memories: Fanfic Preview

This is still a work in progress but I promised yall a rewrite with all of my head canons and its HAPPENING. Gotta love me my Trans! Sora The fic, pairing is SoRikai, with moments of every combination! PS This fic also includes REAL TECHNIQUES FOR DEALING WITH PTSD and Panic attacks

Tap Tap Tap the distant sound of rock against glass persisted againstthe calm sound of rain outside of the small room. On the bed sat a petite feminine figure of a person, crouched in a corner, their back pressed against the walls of their room, and their gaze fixed upon a tan paper, ink etched into its surface. It had become a nightly routine for the ‘girl’ to jot down her thoughts; it helped with the nightmares. On pages she could map out her deepest fears, that which were inarticulable to even those she held dear. The emotions that still ruminated in her soul, and weren’t yet ready to make themselves known. It was a practice she found to be almost sacred in that aside from being the arms (or sometimes plopped down ontop of or in between) of her two dearest people, eased the ever growing fear that nestled in her heart. Though this practice was sacred, she found herself snapped out of the moment by in incessant tapping.

“What on earth is that sound” she exclaimed as she pushed the curtains aside only to see a water drenched boy standing a story below, looking up solemnly at her. “Sora! What the hell are you doing out in the rain, you’ll freeze to death!” She exclaimed as she quickly opened her window.

“I know…it’s stupid but please …” he didn’t have to finish his sentence, Kairi saw the desperation in Sora’s eyes a look she hadn’t seen since the night that changed all of their lives. Without hesitation Kairi held her hand out to him knowing he could make the jump up into her window without rousing the attention of her sleeping grandmother a few doors down.

Sora backed up and ran towards the side of the house, skillfully using the leverage to jump up and grasp Kairi’s hand. Within a few moments he stood, soaked in the middle of her bedroom. “Thank you” he whispered softly, his voice husk and devoid of its usual playfulness. Kairi could make out the puffiness and faint red tint in his eyes and faint salt streaks along his cheeks almost washed away by the rain. Without saying a word Kairi reached out, clasping her hand in his giving him a gentle affirming squeeze. She didn’t have to know what happened or what was wrong, she only knew that whatever it was, it had shaken him to his core.

“Of course, is there anything you need right now, you’re soaked let me get you something to change into”. Kairi offered as she turned to go to her dresser. The suggestion sent a wave of nausea to the boys stomach and itch under his skin in protest; however all he could externalize was a faint defiant tug at her hand.

Drawing her attention back towards him Kairi tilted her head in confusion. Sora’s expression had quickly changed. There was a quick flash of fear, and storminess in his eyes, sending a wave of concern throughout her. Though she began to become increasingly worried about what could have possibly caused such a reaction out of him, she knew that remaining calm would be the best way help her friend. “No worries” she said softly, giving his hand another gentle squeeze. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Sora’s grip on her hand seemed to tighten at that statement as he averted his gaze. His body was tense, his breathing beginning to become increasingly shallow, as echos and images flashed in his mind.

We’ve had enough of this. You disappear for god knows how long doing god-knows what and you expect us to be okay with it? You’re delusional. You don’t know what youre walking about all of that stress has gotten to your head!

The voices and images of his parent’s anger continued to resonate over and over. His precious belongings, gone, his clothes gone everything. He couldn’t stop the recent memories, they replayed on repeat until he felt a gentle squeeze on his hand again, tethering him to the reality before him. Bringing him back into his body. His gaze darted around the room, taking in their surroundings.

“You’re safe” Kairi whispered softly as to not startle him.

“Sorry” he managed to choke out, worriedly “Sorry…sorry sorry” his words seemed more like expressions to himself, or an invisible other rather than to his friend as he repeated the words.

“It’s okay, I’m not upset, you’re safe…I will stay here with you as long as you need” she responded quietly. “Is it okay to hug you?” she asked to which Sora’s eyes widened and he frantically shook his head.

“Sorry” he replied again, his breathing growing more erratic.

“It’s okay, do you want to try some grounding exercises?” she asked, knowing that Sora’s condition would most likely escalate if he wasn’t able to ground himself soon.

Sora thought for a moment, or rather attempted to gather his scattered fragments of thoughts before slowly shaking his head.

“Okay, what’s five things you can see?” Kairi asked quietly, as she gently ran her thumb along the back of Sora’s hand in a soothing pattern.

Sora couldn’t formulate words but merely pointed to a few items in the room, each item slowly drawing his focus back from the fear ridden fog it had been in. He looked around, noticing the dimly lit lights, he pointed to the note book perched upon Kairi’s pale pink cotton sheets, the Crayon drawings of their adventures hanging on Kairi’s wall, the way Kairi’s face though relaxed, still showed concern in the faint furrow of her brow, the pale pink color of her nails as they brushed against his hand. Sora could only point at the things as Kairi gently urged him on.

“Good, what’s four things you can hear?” she asked again.

Sora closed his eyes for a moment taking in the sound of the rain pounding against the window, the sound of his own slowly stabilizing breathing, his occasional coughs and sniffles, the buzz of the heater, and the calming sound of Kairi’s steady breath. For each thing he heard he managed to choke out a single word indication.

“That’s excellent” she gave his hand another gentle squeeze “What’s three things you can feel?”

Sora thought for a moment, he could feel the gentle caress of Kairi’s fingers stroking his hand, their consistent motion soothing his racing thoughts. He could feel the fuzziness of carpet beneath his feet, as he’d ran over barefoot, and he could feel the cling of his damp clothes against his skin, and the tight nylon fabric of a binder pressed against his chest.

“I-I think…I’m okay…” he managed to respond, as he gave Kairi’s hand a gentle squeeze.

They stood just like that for a few moments in silence, as Sora gathered his thoughts, his breathing had stabilized and his incoherent memories began to solidify. After a few minutes he finally uttered.

“They threw out everything…they hate me…they’re…they’re going to disown me.” His voice cracked at the statement as tears began to fill his eyes. “Everything! All of my clothes, all of my belongings anything they thought was too boyish my parents through out! They screamed at me!”

Kairi felt a wave of anger course through body at Sora’s distress, at the way his usual happy kind eyes seemed so defeated, and broken. She clutched her free hand in a fist, trying to swallow her anger to be fully present for Sora but she couldn’t.

“Listen to me, they’re wrong. They are so incredibly wrong, whatever they think whatever they say, they’re wrong for treating you like that you hear me Sora?” She placed her hands gently on Sora’s cheeks to direct his gaze to her.

He stared back at her, eyes wide with tears. “You’re one of the strongest, kindest, loveliest boys I know, and if they can’t see that, if they can’t see all the things their sonhas done then theyaren’t worthy of you. You’re the boy who saved the universe for crying out loud. And they’re mad because what? They got your gender wrong? I’ll fight both of them goddamit.” Kairi tried her best to manage her anger.

Kairi’s words broke the floodgate Sora had been suppressing in his whirlwind panic. Relief, fear, sadness, hatred, visceral pain all bubbled their way to the surface as Sora reached towards Kairi, burying his face into the crook of her neck in a half attempt to muffle his sobs. Taking Sora’s lead on physical contact, Kairi wrapped her arms around him, gently placing the flat of her hand on his back, and gently rubbed circles into the damp fabric. They stayed like that for a few moments, Kairi’s arms firm around him as he fell apart.

Kairi had always known Sora’s parents did not approve of who he really was even before their journey across worlds, but she never imagined they’d do something as drastic as disown him. During their time on the islands when they were younger, Sora always passed himself off as a tomboy much to his parent’s disapproval. But spending so many years away from them, meeting new people, new places, had allowed Sora the freedom to be himself. No one questioned, no one knew, except her and Riku. Sora had grown into the young man he was always meant to be, and yet, his parents could not see him for who he really was. The thought angered Kairi, the pain they caused him sent her into a rage, but more important than her rage was her ability to comfort her dear friend. She continued to simply breathe deeply and rub soothing circles into the boys back.

After nearly twenty minutes, Sora had cried himself dry. All that he could make out were faint whimpers and sniffles. He’d tired himself out emotionally, his head throbbed and his eyes were puffy and red, contrasting against the electric blue of his irises. “I’m sorry for causing so much trouble…I should probably head back” he managed to whimper out.

“Heck no” Kairi responded adamantly “you’re staying here tonight, or going over Riku’s but no way are you going back to that hell house. You’re no trouble at all I’m glad you came here, and that you’re safe. I will always be there for you Sora, you know that” she gently cupped his cheek with a soft smile.

Sora glanced up at her, his gaze meeting hers for a moment. Her tender smile sending an ache in his chest, the contrast of her kindness against a growing wound he carried, her warmth contrasted against his own. He hadn’t quite realized how warm she was. In their years a part, the quiet girl, had grown to become a kind warm protector. The tenderness of her touch and the gentleness of her smile enveloped him in a sense of safety. Content with her offer he simply nodded and snaked his arms around her in a grateful squeeze.

“I can even call Riku if you want, and make it a sleep over.” She suggested as she began to shift around looking for her phone. “Though god I don’t know what would stop him from not storming over to your house and fighting your parents on sight if he finds out.” She said with a slight chuckle to lighten the mood as she began to step away to grab her phone. However her actions were stopped by Sora tugging her back closer.

“In…in a moment…” he responded softly, not wanting to lose the warmth surrounding him. He felt far to tender and exposed to break the moment.

Kairi let out a surprised huff, before settling back into him, wrapping her arms around him again. Sora in response nuzzled into her and closed his eyes.

Pt 2

#Kingdom Hearts #Fanfiction #Sokai #Sorikai #trans sora #WIP #FM Fanfic

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hazbin-hotel-aesthetics-quotes · 6 years ago

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mama kat my friend has 100000% depression very lonely and failing at his school grades wat should he dooo

I’m really sorry for your friend’s situation. Depression is bitch, because it takes away the strength to do a lot of things or ask for help. Even getting out of bed may seem impossible.

It’s possible that his problems with school grades are related to a side effect of depression that is “Procrastinate everything because fuck it’s too hard”. Procrastination becomes a way, no matter how maladaptive, of coping with the emotions and physical symptoms that accompany depression.

For you:Stay close to your friend, be ready to listen him and just to be here. Let him know that you support him and that you care for him.Also give your friend a cute set with a planner, cute pen, stickers and small phrases of encouragement. One of my friends gave me one and I remember that she helped me a lot with my academic commitments.

Here are some tips for Stop Procrastinating:

Make a list of what needs to get done: This can be listed in no particular order and will give you a handle on just what you need to accomplish.

Prioritize and get yourself a calendar with room to write notes in: One way of doing this is by deadlines. Arrange them in order of when they are due. You may also choose to rank them by how important it is to get them done.

Bite Off Only What You Can Chew: Break large projects up into smaller tasks. It won’t seem nearly so burdensome if you take a small bit at a time.

Anxiety Busters: Performing a certain task may fill you will anxiety. Inhale deeply while counting five heartbeats (you may check this easily by feeling your pulse). Exhale as you count five heartbeats.You should notice after each breath that your heart rate is actually slowing and you are feeling less tense.

Keep filling your calendar until you have a time set aside to do each item while still meeting your deadlines: Be careful to not overbook yourself and allow plenty of time for delays. This will allow you to feel confident that you can accomplish all you need to in the time you have.

Here are some tips for dealing with depression not just for your friend but for every little demons:

Reach out and stay connected with people: It’s difficult, because depression pushes you to isolate yourself and not ask for help, but it’s important to stay connected with the people who make us feel safe and secure. Loneliness is difficult to deal with, but not impossible. (Here a video that can be useful).

Find ways to support others: Thing like volunteering or just helping other people get you an even bigger mood boost from providing support yourself. This actually helped me a lot, I volunteer in a cat shelter in the week-end and it’s amazing how it makes me feel good. Also joining a support group for depression is a good way.

Support your health: Aim for eight hours of sleep. Depression typically involves sleep problems; whether you’re sleeping too little or too much, your mood suffers. Keep stress in check with a list of things that you can do for a quick mood boost like spending some time in nature, reading a good book, taking a long, hot bath. Don’t skip meals and eat healthy. Going too long between meals can make you feel irritable and tired, so aim to eat something at least every three to four hours.

Challenge negative thinking: You can’t break out of this pessimistic mind frame by telling yourself to “just think positive.” Often, it’s part of a lifelong pattern of thinking that’s become so automatic you’re not even completely aware of it. Rather, the trick is to identify the type of negative thoughts that are fueling your depression, and replace them with a more balanced way of thinking.

Negative, unrealistic ways of thinking that fuel depression:

All-or-nothing thinking – Looking at things with no middle ground (“If I fall short of perfection, I’m a total failure.”)

Overgeneralization – Generalizing from a single negative experience, expecting it to hold true forever (“I can’t do anything right.”)

The mental filter – Ignoring positive events and focusing on the negative. Noticing the one thing that went wrong, rather than all the things that went right.

Diminishing the positive– Coming up with reasons why positive events don’t count (“She said she had a good time on our date, but I think she was just being nice.”)

Jumping to conclusions – Making negative interpretations without actual evidence. You act like a mind reader (“He must think I’m pathetic”) or a fortune teller (“I’ll be stuck in this dead-end job forever.”)

Emotional reasoning – Believing that the way you feel reflects reality (“I feel like such a loser. I really am no good!”)

Labeling– Classifying yourself based on mistakes and perceived shortcomings (“I’m a failure; an idiot; a loser.”)

Seek professional help: Needing additional help doesn’t mean you’re weak. Sometimes the negative thinking in depression can make you feel like you’re a lost cause, but depression can be treated and you can feel better!

I know it’s difficult to deal with depression, it’s not easy to defeat something that’s inside you and sometimes it seems to never go away. But it’s okay, you can do it and everything will be better.

Here are some blogs that I follow personally. It is always a good thing having their post in the dashboard. ( PositivetyOutlet , Notesforselflove, Randomreasonstolive) also a Youtube channel that can help you understand yourself better and your problems

#mama help #sorry if it took me a while to answer I wanted to write everything right

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konekoryuugamine · 5 years ago

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Riffing the Reef: “Greasy Buffoons”

This episode made me gag. No joke. Someone has a sick sense of humor at some studio. Spongebob is owned by Stephen Hillenburg and I am only going over the episodes I feel miss the point of the show. Please read and enjoy. As I stated in the first "Riffing the Reef", Mr. Krabs has become a character I despise with every moral fiber of my being. He's the itemization of Greed within this show, possibly within all cartoons, more so than Mr. Burns. Yeah, I went there. Krabs did have a good dimension of character in pre-movie episodes of Spongebob and was even shown he cared deeply for his crew and family in several episodes. He cared for Pearl in "Culture Shock", he defended Spongebob in "Born Again Krabs", and in "Squid on Strike" he admitted he needed Spongebob and Squidward to help him. His cheap nature was often kept as a joke, like in "Imitation Krabs", but it was kept subtle for his better parts to show. And yes, in some episodes like "Krabby Land" and "The Patty Caper", he got what was coming to him. THANKFULLY.

However, many an episode exists where he is not placed at fault with his immoral actions, and he is not portrayed as the dimensional character he ONCE was. I saw ONCE because the old Mr. Krabs is gone and dead. He has become villainous, a criminal, and a downright jack-ss to his employers, murderous, cheap and disgusting as I'll get out, and has resorted to often letting his family and friends take the brunt of his actions. Krabs has become flanderized to the point where he is the character I want to see set in boiling oil and served with a side of butter. And that DID happen in a modern Spongebob episode, albeit it was in about season 4 or 5, but I digress. Evidence of his flanderization and bastardization go from "Drive-Thru", "Summer Job", "Krabby Kronicle", "Penny Foolish" and that one episode where he used Gary to acquire stolen money to "One Coarse Meal", "Cracked Krabs", "Spongebob, You're Fired" and "The Krusty Sponge". I'll tackle those, especially a certain one, in the near future, but for now, I want to take a look at one that involves his greedy nature, Plankton and almost everything wrong with a modern Spongebob episode in one swoop. "Greasy Buffoons". This episode is disgusting, beyond annoying and shows Krabs as a jerk and Plankton as a somewhat good-guy here. I actually gagged when I watched it. And instantly realized why my mom suddenly banned my sisters and I from watching the show years ago.

Spongebob is actually in character for this episode as well, so that is also a problem in its own right, but the real problem stems from the plot itself. Spongebob, after slipping on a grease slick on the kitchen floor, and ADMITTING TO KRABS HE FELT HE BROKE SOMETHING, Krabs sees the grease trap is overflowing and says that they have to empty it, adding "for no extra pay". Note how Squidward actually vanishes at this point. I cannot blame him. Already the problem is that Krabs was ignorant of his own employees, even saying THEY had to clean out the grease trap. He specifically states that it was a job for two employees to do for no extra pay. Funny or not, it's just a bad thing to mention. He was also ignorant of Spongebob's overall health prognosis, even when he stated he felt hurt. You would think after so long, Spongebob would be an assent for Mr. Krabs, but oftentimes the Krab treats him as a slave, a dirt monkey, or worse. Several episodes like "Staycation" and "WhoBob WhatPants" show he cares little for paying him for his services and often will resort to belittling him in other episodes. However, he's not above trying to get his 'Golden Boy' back when he's not making money in the restaurant, also like in "WhoBob Whatpants". That episode is already on my list . . . Already I'm talking about this crab, but that's the least obstructive point in the episode. The REAL meat of the story begins when Krabs and Spongebob, (more or less from Krabs' directions), dump the excess grease behind the Chum Bucket. Spongebob, as they drive off, asks Mr. Krabs if that was legal. Krabs replies with " Le-gale?" . . . I've stated this before, and I'll state it again: I despise this character. He's been disciplined, he's been in the Navy, he's been a cook and a cleaner on several ships for the love of Neptune! He would be familiar with the concept of Johnny Law, even with basic commands like 'Attention' and 'Cleanliness'. This line ALONE shows that Krabs has become a purely evil character, as he dumped a highly toxic and/or strange chemical behind his rival's restaurant and did not know it was a bad thing. This is being blind to morality, or genuine idiocy enforced on the character due to the plot. THIS IS A BAD THING. Another thing is YES, it IS illegal to dump these kinds of chemicals on the ground like that. It can cause toxicity to the environment, the removal of any kind of soil, and can destroy whole ecosystems. He would also lose his vendor's license, but let's not GO THERE NOW! Plankton finds the goop the next morning and immediately notices it tastes amazing. He takes it and uses it to make his chum taste better, which it actually might, and brings in customers who don't seem to hate his food. Another problem or two I have with this episode is how Plankton is portrayed, and how the rivalry between Krabs and Plankton is seen as a fast-food competition with GREASE equaling FLAVOR. First off, Plankton tells Krabs, (after Krabs uses a terribly written pun and/or 4th wall-breaking joke), that he was visited by the "Flavor Fairy", and that he was legitimately using it. The point does remain that Plankton was using Krabby Patty grease to mix with his chum, and Krabs DID dump it illegally on his property. The debate over whether or not Plankton 'stole' the flavor is varied, but in my honest opinion, since Krabs got rid of it, Plankton could use it as he pleased. Krabs, being the jerk sod he is, doesn't want the trilobite to have a SINGLE customer, and given Plankton's past attempts at selling his chum, I cannot blame him here. The best example would be for "Spongicus" when he grotesquely described what was in his chum on a stick. I felt nauseated when I heard he put anchor rust in there. However, the greedy crustacean takes it too far as he uses the grease from his own patties to make them 'tastier', and gives them 'new and amazing' names to go with it. Krabs is being played as the good guy in this part, while Plankton is being placed as the villain still. The problem is Plankton did not do anything morally or legally wrong. Plankton is not at fault, nor was he ever at fault. All he is guilty of is using grease that was disposed of on the ground, which may or may not end up making his customers sick with bacteria.

Come to think of it, that would have been a far better angle to take on this episode. Krabs disposes of the grease, Plankton begins to use it, and Krabs knows even mixing the Krabby Batty grease with the chum would cause some disaster for Bikini Bottomites, so he recruits Spongebob to help eliminate the grease and right his wrong.

THEN AGAIN, this is Spongebob, so when has logic been applied before? Another note I have to address is it's been proven by numerous studies that an intake of too much grease can lead to obesity, increased heart problems, breathing problems, etc. Just because it makes something taste better does not mean is it going to be good for your body. These two should have known about health codes and regulations in the first place to earn their vendor's licenses, and to even open their restaurants. And they did, once upon a time. This episode carelessly uses the grease as a plot device to start the conflict between the two, and create a stir of activity between their food. The two each try to outdo the other, even to the point where Krabs is serving 'Yummy Soup', which in reality is grease on a paper plate. DISGUSTING DOES NOT EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE IT. A minor argument can also be made that the same customers who rush back and forth between the two restaurants are also at fault, mostly because they buy into the hypes the two monsters generate over their 'tasty' foods. Grease is sprayed between fish, they grow obese and become covered in the grotesque stuff, and one even SPITS IT OUT AS HE TALKED TO SPONGEBOB. There are lines to draw here. It is gross. This episode legitimately made me ill to watch. The customers here are also written to serve the plot and are portrayed as stupid and ignorant of their surroundings. A general consensus of Bikini Bottomites from previous episodes have often shown intelligence, even a collective conscience, but THIS is just stupidity for the sake of the plot. The entire time this goes on, Krabs is egging on the competition as much as Plankton is. He is raking in the money and cares nothing for his employees, NOR for his customers. All he cares about is money, money, money, money, MONEY. The old Krabs would actually abide by his customers, like in the episode "Bubble Buddy". He’d care about the customer and even go so far as to chew an elderly lady’s patty for her. Here, he’s shown to be completely ignorant of the customers' conditions and of Spongebob's thoughts towards how feeding people grease of this amount is a BAD thing. The krab has been cracked; no pun intended on any future riffing episode. The only saving grace of the episode is that Spongebob, close as he is to his original personality, calls the health inspector, and admits that the two have been feeding people grease for, as he says, two weeks. For SPONGEBOB of all people to do this, after seeing Patrick suffering, is the best thing in this episode. He recognized the immorality of Krabs and Plankton's actions while also admitting what he was doing as the cook was wrong. The inspector being here is also an unexpected part. If this were another episode, Krabs and Plankton would have been arrested and the restaurants would have been destroyed from grease fires. However, there was a gas and fire joke in "Just One Bite", and that was edited for safety's sake after 9/11, so who am I to say now about this? The episode's conclusion shows the restaurants being shut down until they become clean, which, if it had ended there, would have been a satisfying conclusion for a mediocre episode. Krabs would have been punished for his immoral actions, karma would have taken its course and we would end on a happy note for once. BUT NO. Spongebob soaks up the grease, tells Krabs that he will dispose of it properly, and Krabs is stuck in a dream-like state because he fell asleep outside and had one of those "it was all a dream" moments. Patrick then comes out of literal nowhere and starts licking Spongebob for the grease, and Krabs ends the episode with a questionable thinking expression. THIS is a bad ending and a bad idea. KRABS should have been the one to help clean up his own mess, NOT Spongebob. This is averting him from accepting what he did was wrong and for taking the blame for his actions. Spongebob cleaning up his mess is not a good way to end this kind of story, nor is it a good idea for Krabs to continuously have evil thoughts like this while Spongebob is being pursued by Patrick. I can only speculate what he was thinking, but I feel it was along the lines of him using Spongebob for more grease and Krabby patties again. This makes Krabs even more of a Karma Houdini. He was caught, but SPONGEBOB was the one who cleaned up his mess. And he still gets allowed the chance to make the same scam going again thanks to Spongebob’s golden boy attitude. No punishment, no permanent comeuppance, all for the sake of some cheap laugh. This just teaches the wrong lesson in morality as well as how people should not go about running restaurants. And this was in a MODERN kid's cartoon. Overall, this episode shows Krabs as a jerk and a terrible person. He's ignorant to the law, (which from previous episodes deviates from his character), unfaithful to his employees and uncaring to the customers he once showed small amounts of compassion for. Spongebob is the only person who is still in character and Plankton was shoe-horned in for the sake of the plot, like the grease itself. The citizens are devoid of intelligence and Patrick is only here because “laugh, monkey”. It demonstrated both immorality and careless writing on part of it being an 'entertaining' story.

#analysis #spongebob #spongebob squarepants #spongebobsquarepants #nick #wtfspongebob #gross #grease #greasy buffoons #greasybuffoons #disgusting #bad ideas all around #someonewannarewritethisepisode #writinganalysis #writing analysis #nickelodeon

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flightfoot · 6 years ago

Text

Convalescence Ch. 2

Thanks to @garecc for betaing!

Week 0, Day 6, Evening

Apollo’s POV

I woke up in a dark room. I didn’t know where I was, but for some reason, I wasn’t afraid. I felt safe and comfy and warm.

I flopped around a little, and hit someone’s nose. “Ow!”

The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

“Apollo?” the voice said. I made a small babbling noise in answer. “Guess you’re awake. Come on guys, get up! Apollo’s awake!” I heard rustling as people moved around. The boy who’d been talking picked me up as whoever was on the floor groaned and got up. Finally the boy who was holding me turned on a light, illuminating the room.

I was inside a cabin. Mattresses and blankets had been pulled from the beds onto the floor to form a cuddle-pile nest. In the nest blinking blearily up at me was a boy with sunshine-blond hair and blue eyes - Will - and a younger girl with ginger hair tinged with green. Her name came to mind quickly. “Kay’a!” I cried. But that means… I looked up. The boy who was holding me, the one who had woken up first, had black woven cornrows in his hair. “Au’tin!” I cried out, delighted.

I looked Austin and Kayla over, trying to find any injuries they might have had. But I couldn’t see any. Why had they been in the infirmary? I tried to ask. “Why in-for… in-for… Why in hurt place?”

“Hurt place… you mean the infirmary?” Will asked. I nodded. “They were helping the injured campers from the last battle.” Seeing the look of fear on my face, he hurried on, “Don’t worry, everyone survived and no one’s permanently injured, some people just need some extra rest. Like a certain son of Hades, who OVERUSED HIS POWERS AGAIN, and needs to stay and rest.” Will looked quite annoyed at this point. I was glad his ire wasn’t directed at me.

A long period of silence followed. I could feel that there was something they wanted to ask, but were holding back for some reason. I began fidgeting. What was it? What was wrong?

Kayla broke the awkward silence. “I’m gonna take Apollo to Chiron. I know Chiron would love to see him, and it might bring back some memories.”

Chiron?

A memory - more of an impression, really - flashed past. Riding on a centaur’s back. Tutoring an inquisitive student. A calm, reassuring smile.

“Chi-on!” I cried out. Maybe he’d give me centaur-back rides!

Kayla stood up and started to reach for me, then hesitated. “Apollo? Do you think you can walk?”

I thought for a moment, torn. On the one hand, I didn’t want my family to think I was so vulnerable that I couldn’t even walk correctly. On the other hand, being carried sounded really appealing right about now…

“Wa’k,” I said. Something was bothering Kayla - was bothering ALL of them. Maybe if I showed her that I was mature, she’d tell me what it was.

We walked out of the cabin. The sky was filled with a myriad of pinks and oranges and yellows, with a tinge of dark blue-black on the horizon. Nighttime would arrive soon.

We walked slowly, Kayla matching her pace to mine. A few times she opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. Fine. If she wasn’t gonna tell me, then I’d ask.

“Why sca’ed?”

Kayla stopped, looking confused. “I’m not scared.”

I knew “scared” was the wrong word, but I couldn’t think of the right one. I did the best I could with the words I had. “You quiet. Sca’ed. Want talk.”

“You noticed, huh?”

She bit her lip. “Will wanted to hold off on asking you. He didn’t want to overwhelm you. But I just… need to know. Dad, how much do you remember?”

I looked at her, lost. Dad? She seemed to be addressing me. But that made no sense. I couldn’t be her dad. I’m not good enough, not strong enough. She deserved a better father than me.

“N-never mind,” she said, looking disappointed and a little ashamed. “Let’s just go to Chiron. Then we can go to the campfire! Austin’s leading the song circle today, and I KNOW you’ll like that.”

Ooh, songs! Marshmallows! Wait, wait, can’t get off-track. Kayla needs me. Her question: what do I remember? Hmm. Not as much as I want to, but…

“You family,” I said resolutely. “Home. Family is home.” I teared up again. Home. It was true. Leto, Artemis, Meg, Kayla, Austin, Will… they all cared for me.

“Home… I’m home.” I collapsed against Kayla’s leg, smiling and crying. She sat down on the grass and pulled me into her lap. I cuddled up against her. Her smile was soft and a little sad.

“Yeah… you’re home.” she murmured. I felt something wet fall onto my head. I looked up. Kayla was crying too, just a little. I pretended not to notice.

After a few minutes of sitting there, enjoying each other’s company, Kayla finally got up. I was reluctant, but I guess we needed to move on eventually. Why did eventually have to be NOW?

“Come on, Chiron’s expecting us. We don’t want people to think that something bad happened.”

A flash of fire filled my vision, and terror seized my heart. I grabbed Kayla’s hand. She’s here, she’s alive, she’s safe, she’s not burning.

Kayla seemed to read my mind. “I’m not going anywhere, I won’t disappear again. Austin and I are safe, thanks to you.”

Safe. They were safe. My family was safe. I breathed deeply, collecting myself, and nodded. Together, we crossed the river and entered the Big House.

Chiron was waiting for us inside, reading a book. He looked up as the door opened, his facing erupting into a grin. “Apollo! Kayla!” he called as he trotted over to us. “Glad to see you up! I was worried after what happened on Olympus. How are you holding up?”

I didn’t quite remember what happened on Olympus - not very well at any rate. but I knew how to answer Chiron’s question. “O-kay” I said carefully.

“I’ll let you two chat privately,” Kayla said, and walked out the door.

Chiron swished his tail, waiting for me to speak. I didn’t. He carried on.

“Leto and Artemis are staying in Artemis’s cabin, though I’m not sure whether Leto will stay there once Artemis’s Hunters arrive at camp. Meg’s also staying with them for now. I tried to get her to go to the Demeter Cabin, but… well, she just said that she didn’t feel like it right then and walked off.”

I giggled. That sounded like Meg.

“Artemis said you came here for a reason though, beyond just wanting to see your children again. Something about Jason?”

“Remember,” I mumbled. “Gotta remember. Remember Jason. Need reminder.”

Chiron glanced at the pictures at his walls - of the greatest heroes he’d trained - and sighed. “Jason… he was a good kid. I’d hoped that after everything he’d been through, that he’d get to just… live out his life. But I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Heroes so rarely live long…”

It struck me then. Chiron was immortal. He trained young demigods, who so infrequently lived to adulthood. He saw them die again and again and again. Yet he didn’t shy away. He embraced the mortals, tutored them, cared for them, treated them like his own children. How? How could he stand it?

I started crying again and hugged Chiron’s leg. “Hurts,” I mumbled. “Hurts so much.”

Chiron stroked my hair. “Yes,” he said tenderly, “I know. It always does. If it didn’t, I’d be worried. But it’s worth it, knowing them, caring for them. Even if it hurts in the end. I won’t say the pain goes away. You already know that’s not true. But… the pain can be precious as well. It’s proof that they lived, and that you cared. Proof that they MEANT something.” Chiron gazed around the room for a moment. “These walls are filled with some of the greatest heroes I’ve taught, the ones whose stories have been passed down through the ages, who history remember. But these aren’t the only reminders I keep. Come on. I have something to show you.”

Seeing my hopeful look, Chiron sighed and put me on his back as he trotted through the Big House, into his private quarters.

He took me into a large room, filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of items, covering every surface. Small machines that I’m certain Hephaestus’s children made, arrowheads, jewelry, and most of all, books. Rows upon rows of books, covering entire bookshelves. He went to one of the shelves and took one out, splaying it on a nearby table. I leaned over his shoulder, trying to get a good look.

It was a photo album, filled with hundreds of photos of young campers. some group photos of cabins, some individual shots.

Chiron smiled sadly as he went through the album. “I collect reminders too. Tangible proof that these children existed. That they mattered.”

He flipped through the book, stopping on the photo of a teenage girl with black hair and blue eyes. “This is Silena Beauregard. She stayed with us for many summers, and was head counselor of the Aphrodite fountain. She was always kind and hated killing and inflicting pain, though she recognized it was sometimes necessary. Do you know she’s the reason Festus wasn’t destroyed? He was broken and a bit crazy after first being booted back up, and tried to kill her, Beckendorf, Percy, and Annabeth. But she insisted on disabling him temporarily instead of destroying him.”

He flipped to another page. My breath caught in my throat, and tears pricked at my eyes. Two teenage boys were standing together, quivers flung over their backs. Chiron noticed my gaze. “Michael Yew and Lee Fletcher. Your children. They were always keeping everyone’s spirits up, leading song circles and organizing games. Though they did tend to suggest archery be included in contests more often than it was warranted,” he chuckled.

I stared. I couldn’t remember them. They were my family, I knew that, but not a single memory floated into my mind. It’s because you hardly knew them, something whispered in my mind. You claimed them and sometimes helped them, but you barely knew them.

I wasn’t entirely sure what that voice meant, but I felt like I should. My gut twisted. I hadn’t done enough. I didn’t know what I hadn’t done enough of, but whatever it was, it wasn’t enough.

I held out a hand towards the picture. “Please,” I murmured in Chiron’s ear, almost choking on repressed sobs, “Please.”

Chiron removed the picture and handed it to me. I took it carefully, not wanting to damage this small, fragile reminder of the two lost souls. I studied it, staring at the faces of the boys as if by looking at them enough, I could bring them back to life and get to know them as I didn’t before.

“They will die,” Chiron said as he walked us back to the entranceway of the Big House. I still stared at the photo. “But at least we know they lived.”

Chiron dropped me off back at the Me Cabin. I still clutched the photo, though carefully. I would not damage this keepsake, this reminder. Kayla, Austin, and Will waited inside, cuddle nest still on the floor.

“So what did you guys talk about?” Austin asked. I showed him the photo. “Tell me,” I asked. “Who were they?”

And they did. I spent the rest of the evening listening to their stories about their brothers Michael and Lee, the times they messed up and the times they triumphed, the times they got angry, the times they were sad, and the times they glowed with joy. I smiled. They were not forgotten. And for a moment, it felt like they were still with us.

#trials of apollo #the trials of apollo #apollo #kayla knowles #austin lake #will solace #chiron #fanfiction #convalescence #toa

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bosstoaster · 6 years ago

Note

lewd anon here - can you imagine shiro's complete shock and wonder at hunk offhandedly mentioning that homemade marshmallows are better than store bought ("you can make marshmallows???")

Lewd Anon, my dear friend, I don’t know if you’re up to date on spoilers. This was the idea that came to mind. If you haven’t, come back after Aug 10th, sorry!

Shiro was stress eating.

He knew he was. He knew it wasn’t good for him, and he should calm down. It was doing nothing for the bubbling anxiety that churned in his stomach, What he should be doing was practicing what he was going to tell the Garrison, making plans for keeping the Galra away from Earth, figuring out how to get plans for a new Castle of Lions to the highest priority.

Thinking about what to say to Ada-

Maybe not that one.

Shiro shoved another couple of marshmallows in his mouth and chewed hard. The Garrison had been oddly accommodating to their strange demands for comfort items and foods. Likely, they knew it would be easy for the team to go over their heads and straight to country leaders, so if they wanted to be involved with the process, it meant playing nice.

Which meant they found it in the budget to bring an avalanche of snack food into the joint room set-up the team had been given.

Which meant Shiro now had a steady supply of the sugary foods he hadn’t so much as smelled in nearly three years.

Thus, holding a bag of store-bought, extra fluffy marshmallows between his folded legs and his chest.

The clock on the wall ticked away at a steady pace, reminding Shiro that it was just shy of 2 AM. Actual 2 AM too, not in the castle’s cycle, but Pacific Standard Time. By Shiro’s internal clock (never the most reliable indicator anymore), it should probably have been later, but they were ahead of Earth time by a solid couple of hours.

It could have been far worse than that. They’d been guessing the whole time, and going off a system that didn’t use the same standard time measurements.

Shiro swallowed hard and chomped on another couple of marshmallows. After so long without corn syrup or anything like it, he was probably going to make himself sick at this rate. Half the bag was already gone, after only ten minutes.

The knowledge didn’t slow down his chewing.

The sound of a door opening did.

Shiro jolted, then choked as the wad of marshmallow went down in a too-big lump. He turned his head to cough wetly, gasping instinctively for air, before he was finally able to look over.

Hunk stood there, his hand still on the doorknob, and his brows both raised up to his hairline. Without his headband, his bangs hung down farther, curling past his temples. Despite the fact that he was wearing his usual pajamas, the lack of his signature accessory made him seem naked.

“You okay there?” Hunk asked, voice raspy from sleep. He rubbed over one eye and visibly bit back a yawn. “Do I need to yell for a medic or something?”

Shiro cleared his throat. “No. M’fine.” His voice came out thick as he tried to suppress more coughs. “What are you doing up?”

“Woke up thirsty. I came out to get some water.” Hunk gently closed the door behind him, no doubt deeply aware that their little living room was connected to everyone’s bedroom. “You?”

Rather than answer directly, Shiro held up his bag.

Hunk’s lips quirked up fondly. “Midnight snack, huh?” He shuffled his way to the tiny, in-room kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. Then he sat down next to Shiro on the couch. “Can I have one?”

Offering the bag, Shiro nodded. “Sure, help yourself. I probably shouldn’t polish them all off myself, anyway.”

“Well, now you haven’t.” Hunk picked one out delicately and squished it between his fingers. Then he took a careful bite. “I didn’t take you for the sugary type.”

A smile curled over Shiro’s lips. “Depends. I get moods. I was craving hot chocolate, actually, but I didn’t feel like waiting for the water to boil. And the texture was appealing. Something I could really chew on.”

Hunk made an appreciative noise and nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. When you really want to just sink your teeth into something, right? Kinda animalistic.” He took another bite, no bigger than the original nibble. “Have you slept at all today?”

Immediately, Shiro shut down his expression and looked away. “I haven’t tried. I wanted to get my thoughts in order while we have the chance. We repelled one wave of Galra, but Sendak will be back with more forces soon enough. We have a very limited amount of time to speak with Garrison officials and make sure they fully understand what they’re up against and what they need to do. The new castle will be a significant resource drain, so we have to impress upon them how important it is.”

Hunk nodded along, chewing on his mouthful. “Mhmm. So you’re definitely out here thinking about that in a calm and rational way. Organizing your thoughts. Not fretting at all, right?”

Clenching his jaw, Shiro didn’t look over.

“Well, at least we’ll have a couple people in our corner,” Hunk continued, still sounding utterly amused. “Commander Holt certainly understands our perspective, and he’s already gotten the Garrison this far. And it seems like Captain Manuel will be on our side, and it seems like people listen to him.” The smile went utterly sly.

Despite himself, the mention of Adam made Shiro’s shoulders tense. “That would be nice, but not guaranteed.”

Hunk finally popped the rest of his marshmallow in his mouth. “You don’t think he’d back you up? I remember you two being close when our year started at the Garrison. Am I remembering wrong?”

Shiro finally took a deep breath and turned to stare Hunk down. “You’re fishing.”

“Can you blame me?” Hunk finally gave up acting clueless and flopped back against the arm of the couch. “That was the breakup of the year, Shiro. You know every single person in the pilot track practically worshiped you. It was all anyone wanted to talk about when it happened. Now you’re here, and he’s here, and you expect me not to want to know about it?”

“Yes.” Shiro shoved another marshmallow into his mouth. “It’s my private life. Which makes it none of your concern. It was years ago anyway. At this point it shouldn’t matter.”

Hunk hummed, eyeing him. “Because getting defensive definitely means it doesn’t matter.”

“Hunk!”

Both of them froze as Shiro’s voice rose. They waited in the quiet of the dark living room, listening for any sign of movement from the other rooms.

Nothing.

Shiro ducked his head, abashed. “I apologize for snapping. But it wasn’t a good time in my life. I don’t appreciate it being the subject of gossip.”

Slowly, Hunk deflated and nodded. “Alright. I understand.” He plucked out another marshmallow, but squished it rather than bite into it. “But, just for the record? I’m a great person to talk to about break-ups. You know how many crushes I’ve coached Lance through? I’m an expert at post-break-up talks. And you know I’m on your side, no questions asked.”

“We were going to get married,” Shiro said flatly, biting into another marshmallow. “Hardly the same thing as a crush.”

There was absolute silence as Hunk took in that new information.

Shiro’s stomach dropped down to his feet. But before he could take it back, Hunk’s hand landed on the small of his back and gently patted. “Oh, Shiro,” he murmured, pure sympathy in his voice. “That’s awful. And right before the Kerberos mission, too.”

Swallowing hard, Shiro looked over at Hunk, holding on tightly to his bag with his remaining arm.

Then he snorted. “You really are scary good at this.”

“See?” Hunk leaned in, eyes brightening. “You can tell me everything.”

A reluctant smile cracked over Shiro’s face. He used his remaining shoulder to gently shove Hunk back. “I think not, but thank you.”

“So instead you’re just going to sit here in the dark and chew on marshmallows?”

“Yes.”

Hunk sighed and pulled the treat apart. “You could at least be eating proper marshmallows instead, and not this store bought crap.”

Pausing, Shiro frowned. “Store bought? As opposed to what?”

Brows furrowed, Hunk stared back like the question was baffling. “As opposed to homemade? That’s usually what the opposite of store bought is.”

Shiro’s eyes slowly widened in sheer awe. “You can make marshmallows?”

There was a pause, then Hunk shook his head. “Yes? Of course you can. Where do you think marshmallows came from? Somebody makes them!”

“Well, yes.” Shiro’s cheeks went pink. “But someone also makes Cheetos or Skittles, but I’ve never heard of someone hand making those. I thought it was just the kind of thing you make in a factory.”

Hunk scrubbed over his face. “I- okay, I can see how you’d think that. But no. And the stuff I make is way better. This stuff tastes like artificial flavors and preservatives.”

Looking down at the marshmallow in his hand, Shiro frowned. “I like them. Especially in hot chocolate. I don’t know how you’d make them better.”

Head tilted, Hunk looked Shiro up and down. “Alright, how’s this. I’ll make you marshmallows. Proper ones, as soon as I get access to a stand mixer and the ingredients. But! Only if you tell me about Captain Manuel.”

Shiro’s expression clouded over. “Would you let that go, please?”

“Nope.” Hunk held up a hand before Shiro could snap again. “Not because of gossip. I mean, I want to know, but that’s not really why. You’re brooding in the dark with a pack of sugary snacks at 2 AM. You’re a pint of Ben and Jerry’s away from a break-up cliche, Shiro. You should probably talk about it. Have you ever told somebody the whole story?”

Shrugging, Shiro looked away. “Keith knows almost everything.”

Hunk let out his breath through his nose. “He knows the shape of it, or he knows the details?”

The silence was answer enough.

“It takes about fifteen minutes to actually make the marshmallows,” Hunk said, still rubbing Shiro’s back. “Well, they set overnight, but that’s the baking part. So, how about you talk for just that long. After that, I won’t bug you at all anymore if you don’t want to talk. And you get all the marshmallows you want. How’s that?”

Was fifteen minutes worth it for homemade marshmallows.

Honestly, no.

But Shiro probably did need to vent, at least a little. And he knew just how supportive Hunk could be to his people. It would be nice, to hear someone other than Sam Holt and Keith - two people very biased in favor of him flying - say he was right.

“Just fifteen minutes,” Shiro agreed. “No more. And you let me eat my store bought marshmallows without complaint.”

Hunk crinkled his nose, but the lure of quality gossip was too much. He bobbed his head eagerly. “Deal.” Then he glanced back up at the clock, which showed it was approaching 2:30. “You going to be up much longer?”

Considering, Shiro shook his head, and honestly meant it. Talking to someone instead of stewing in his head had at least centered him in reality, which was enough to remind his body how late it was. “No, I’ll head to bed soon. You should go back to sleep too. It’s a long day tomorrow.”

“Don’t remind me. When did it get easier to handle aliens than humans?” Hunk stood and stretched out. “Good night, Shiro. Sleep well.”

“You too.” Shiro smiled and waved as Hunk headed back for his room, sipping from his cup of water. When the door closed, he sighed and slumped back on the couch.

When did Earth become more difficult to deal with then space? When had it stopped being home?

Probably when he’d been back for less than 12 hours, and then ended up on the Castle of Lions instead.

Sighing, Shiro stood. He had too much to do tomorrow, which meant he needed to sleep. Especially if he really was going to have to work with Adam to get the brass on board.

Goody.

But, worse come to worse, Shiro had his team backing him. It wasn’t just the Holts and Keith anymore. This time, they held the cards, and they didn’t need to play nice to the Garrison’s games. If they had to, they’d fly to DC or the United Nations or anywhere they’d have a more direct voice.

So there.

With that in mind, Shiro headed for his room, prepared to grab at least a couple of hours sleep.

(He took the bag of marshmallows with him.)

#Voltron #Shiro #Hunk #Past Shadam #Voltron Season 7 #VLD Season 7 #VLD S7 #Voltron S7 #S7 #Voltron Spoilers #Anonymous

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collateralfiction · 6 years ago

Text

Bailey

Day One in Turks and Caicos; well, more so the first morning spent in this beautiful island. Last night, the crew and I didn’t do much since we were pretty much beat and didn’t have the energy to do something strenuous, so we stayed in the Villas we would be housing for a good week or so. However, today we decided to actually come up with some plans and do something with the time we do have. I was all for it and furthermore for the simple fact that my birthday was tomorrow. This would definitely be a different experience for me not having my family and friends around for my birthday. Even with my father not being around the past two years, I was still surrounded by family. This year around, it’s completely different. I’m around people who are genuinely nice and caring but the circumstance is way too unfortunate and it’s hard to look over that at times.

But I wasn’t going to allow for it to ruin my mood. I’m blessed to be turning twenty-two, alive and breathing. It could be way worse and possibly, my predicament is already the worst case scenario. Shaking my head of those thoughts, I finished getting ready for the day. I brushed my long hair back into a sleek ponytail, making sure that all of my baby hair was slicked down to a T. Justine and I were going to enjoy our morning at the local Spa that was provided in our care packet. The boys were going to stay back and monitor Austin with rotations since he couldn’t be left behind. But knowing how attentive and loving everyone is towards Austin, no one really complained about having to watch him. Besides Justine and I, the boys don’t even seem that interested in us being out of the country. It’s just another hot spot for them.

Placing my brush down, I was finally satisfied with my hair. I made sure I looked presentable before cutting off the light and evacuating out of the bathroom. Adrian laid on the bed diagonally, his phone in his possession, furiously typing away. He’s been on it since we took a shower this morning, throughout breakfast and even now. Deciding to mess with him, I climbed on top of his back and laid in the exact position he was in. “Can you get off your phone for a minute? What’s so important that got you tied up like this?” I questioned.

“Why you worried?” he retorted, locking the device and throwing it towards the top of the bed. “Get off my back. You’re heavy as fuck,” he grunted.

“Am not,” I mumbled. With not a lot of energy, he flipped us around and I was now the one lying underneath him while he laid in between my legs. “But you are,” I grumbled, running my fingers through his hair. It was usually kept neat in a nice shape up, but I guess he stopped caring because it was now growing into a small afro. It was cute though.

“Why you wearing this though? You know niggas thirsty out here,” I was simply wearing a neutral colored romper that just so happened to expose more legs than any other item in my suitcase.

I rolled my eyes playfully. “Last I checked, I was single,”

“So, you just dumped ol’ dude like that?” he smirked.

“Boss shit,” I giggled. “To be honest, I just think we were saving hope onto something that was dead a while ago,”

“So, if you were to see him right now, what would you do?” he inquired.

Tucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I honestly thought about what would be the first thing on my mind. I don’t even know where I stand with Ryan in this moment of time. There’s nothing worse than moving on and not having closure and although I rather not deal with him, it’s inevitable that I will run into him since I tend to hang around in Harlem because of him. “Kick his ass,” I said indifferently. “I mean, that’s the only legit response I have for him. Fuck him,”

“Keep that mentality,” he laughed lightly. “You gon’ need it,” I didn’t bother asking what he meant by that because I know sooner rather than later, I would find out.

“You and these riddling ass words,” I mumbled. He looked at me as if he had something to say but refused to open his mouth on the subject matter. Ryan was secretive as hell and it would be like pulling teeth just to get out the simplest of information out of him. It was crazy knowing that if I wanted information, Riley would be more willing to answer my inquiries than his own brother. “If something’s wrong, can you please tell me? I don’t think it’s fair to keep me in the dark and even if I might react not so calmly, I still feel like I should know,” I articulated, making sure he understood me fully. He raised his head off of my chest and looked me dead in the eyes again.

“Why do you think I don’t tell you certain shit? Honestly too,”

“You’re trying to protect me,” That was the excuse Ryan used every time so what could possibly be the difference in Adrian?

“I’ll protect you regardless if you know something or not, baby girl,” I couldn’t help the smile that came over my face at the pet name baby girl. I’d never hear him say that to Elsa or any other female he had encountered while in my presence and although I didn’t want to look too much into it, I couldn’t help how I felt at the same time. “For the most part, it’s because I know you’ll figure it out with time. The other part is some things are better left unsaid, undone. Say if I never took you, half the shit that has happened between then and now, wouldn’t have occurred. But they did so the what ifs are irrelevant. With time, you’ll know. Just don’t rush it ‘cause as soon as you do that, everything’ll start unraveling,”

“So that means you won’t tell me shit?” I chuckled.

“Stubborn little thing, I see. But no. With it being your birthday tomorrow and all, I won’t but if it comes down to it, fine,”

“Deal,” I murmured, sitting up on my elbows. His lips were so close to touching mine before a loud and obnoxious sound resonated at the door. Groaning deeply, Adrian dropped his head and yelled who is it.

“Your lovely sister!” Justine shouted before opening the door and inviting herself in. Adrian sucked his teeth and rolled off of me while I sat up in bed, checking to make sure my hair was still fine.

“What you want?”

“Not you. I’m here for Bailey actually. You ready or do you still need to finish you two’s moment that I so happened to mess up?” she smirked, giving me one of those knowing looks.

“You can back the fuck up and wait outside,” Adrian muttered. “She’ll be out there in a minute,”

“Okay, you Grinch,” she retorted. “Five minutes!” she warned me, backing up slowly out of the room. She closed the door softly before I heard the patter of her feet decline.

“I hate when she calls me that shit,” he complained. “I be wanting to deck her, yo,”

“What? A Grinch? Now that I think about it…”

“Shut up!” I continued to laugh, although I was just playing with him. But it was actually funny seeing him get worked up because of something small like that.

“It’s okay, Nicholas,” I teased, crawling towards him. He cut his eyes at me before resting his body against the mountains of soft pillows. “Well, I only have five more minutes with you according to Justine, soo…” I grinned, wrapping my arms around his neck as he did the same with my waist.

“I don’t do quickies,” he chuckled.

“I don’t either, but it works,” I retorted. His licked his pink lips slowly before bringing my face towards his and crashing his lips on mine. My arms tightened around his necks as Adrian dominated the kiss, swiftly sliding his tongue into my parted mouth. “Adrian,” I whispered, not wanting to break apart the kiss but if I didn’t, things would certainly get out of hand.

“Later?” he grunted, pulling away from me. I nodded rapidly while trying to regulate my breathing.

“Later,”

It took us a little longer than five minutes for me to actually walk out the room and when we both did, Justine gave us that all too knowing look, again. I simply ignored it while heading towards the door with her hot on my trail. The reservations were for a little after eleven and since it wasn’t too far, we decided to walk and bask in the good summertime weather. “You like my brother, don’t you?” she asked as we continued our journey towards our destination. She’s been bugging me about Adrian for so long now that I think she knows most of the answers before I do. I’m sure she asks Adrian all the time about me and where we stand when I’m not around. Anyhow, Adrian is unique in his own way. He’s rude, blunt and a bit dangerous but he’s also warm hearted; yes, he is, caring and actually lovable. There is always two sides to a person but it just takes time for someone else to see it that way.

“Even if I said no, you would think otherwise,” I chuckled. “I like him, I do,”

“But?” she said implicitly, as if there was a but to begin with. Maybe there is.

“We could never be together,” I said bluntly. It was obvious and more than anything if that was to happen, I know at least one person who would find a problem and immediately want to put an end to whatever situationship Adrian and I have. But even before any of that happens, I doubt Adrian is looking to be in a serious committed relationship. Just off of how he treated Elsa, I can’t see that being me. There’s no point in being in a relationship if that’s how it’s going to look like.

“You sure?” she asked.

“Positive,” I nodded. “No offense to your brother and all but, look at the circumstance, I don’t see it happening,”

“Is that because of your family and friends will judge or because you personally don’t see it? If I do say so myself and it’s not because I’m biased, Adrian is actually better off with somebody like you… cliché, right? But it’s true,”

“How?” I asked.

“Has he told you about his last girlfriend?” she questioned, fumbling with the gold chain around her neck. I shook my head no. “Well, I won’t either,” she chuckled. Now she has me curious as hell. “I think everyone needs something different and you two can do that for each other,” she said with a small smile.

“I guess,” I said indifferently, my mind already made up. “We’ll cross that bridge if it comes,” I stated, looking ahead at the Spa we would be at for the next three hours. This would be the perfect way to pamper myself before my birthday tomorrow. Justine took charge and talked to the receptionist of the establishment about our reservations before we were led in the back to change. It didn’t take more than ten minutes to do that since we both wore rompers. We had the option of having our massages outside by the water or indoors. We chose the former option, only because we didn’t want to be surrounded by other people.

A blissful sigh escaped my lips the moment I was laid down and every bit of stress in my body was slowly worked on. For the most part, Justine and I remained quiet, basking in our peaceful surrounding. With her being a mother and all, it’s rare that she gets a time like this to herself but lucky for her, she has a brother who’s willing to drop everything to make sure his nephew is straight. “Hot stones are real? What the fuck?” I exclaimed, leaning off of the cotton sheets and clutching the towel to my chest.

“Yes, sweetheart,” The masseuse smiled. Now see, I wasn’t up for that type of relaxation. “It’s not as bad as it seems. It’ll just be placed on your most tense body parts, okay?” I looked over at Justine who was trying badly not to laugh at me and seeing that she was getting the same thing done to her, I eventually gave in. With a sigh, I laid back down and bit into my bottom lip. Next thing I know, she’s going to have us walk on rocks that’re on fire. The first rock was placed on my left shoulder blade and I hissed at how hot it felt. When all six rocks were placed strategically along my back, I breathed in deeply and remained still. Supposedly, they were to stay on for at least twenty to thirty minutes. Goddamn it.

“They’re not that bad, are they?” she teased.

“They’re not… but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I feel like they’re sinking into my flesh,”

“Oh with the dramatics,” she chuckled. “Just bask in it. By the time we get back, you’d rather have that on you than to be around the boys,” she insisted.

“True,” I mumbled. “So, what’s been up with you? Though I should know already. Been talking to anybody… preferably males?” I inquired, turning my head to the side so I could see her facial expression. It was a topic I was discussing with Justine a while back but ended abruptly because of Adrian eavesdropping. I think Adrian has this mentality that absolutely nobody would be good enough for his sister because of Lonnie and albeit it might be true, there’s still a few good people around. I know that Ryan isn’t the best out of the male population but that doesn’t discourage me from finding someone better… or more so a better suit for me and actually will compliment my aura.

“I’m forever single!” she sighed. “You know it’s a problem when my mother dates more than me,” she frowned.

“But that’s the problem. You aren’t dating,” I chuckled. “Get active,”

“I don’t know right now. With me having Austin, I’m a little more cautious with dating and it’s harder to find someone,”

“It doesn’t seem that way,” I said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she said, raising up a bit.

“You and Caiden,” I said, returning the favor and teasing her back. Caiden was definitely a sight for sore eyes and I don’t blame Justine for the attraction. If I wasn’t intertwined in this lifestyle, I would probably be more so attracted to Caiden than Adrian. Caiden might have been apart of this lifestyle as well, but he was more rational than most; for example, Ryan and Adrian. I liked that, but it seemed like I attracted the opposites. “Don’t think I don’t catch you two having casual conversations,”

“Oh my God, they are casual,” she tried to defend.

“You sure ‘bout that? Caiden would tell me the opposite in a heartbeat,” I chuckled.

“Alright, alright, Caiden is amazing, and we’ve been talking on the low. It’s nothing serious right now,” she confessed, although I knew this already, I just wanted her to speak on it. Chuckling lowly, I nodded slowly with a cheesy grin. I’m not sure about everyone else but I did pick up on how close they were and how playful they were with one another. Maybe it’s nothing at the moment but that can all change.

“Remind me to make sure I have Austin one day out of the week,” I said. “You know, in case y’all wanna get a little freaky,” I chuckled.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she giggled slightly. “Thank you, just don’t tell Adrian,”

“Won’t need to worry ‘bout him,” I said. Another fifteen minutes ensued with us being quiet while examining our surroundings. The view overlooked a beautiful scenery of clear blue water. The air wasn’t polluted with the smell of cigarettes or anything resembling New York. The people were much warmer with their personality and it did make me feel comfortable and forget what’s left in New York for me to handle. The masseuses came back and removed the hot stones from off of my back one by one. I laid there for a while as I flexed my muscle blades and slowly sat up. The hot stones weren’t as nearly as bad as some make it out to be but that doesn’t mean I’ll be willing to try it again.

After our hour-long massage, we began to redress and paid for the services. Before going back to the Villa, we were going to grab something to munch on. Justine has been the only female friend I’ve had in the past three months and it was nice that I actually had someone to talk to other than the guys. There was only so much I could discuss with them before I got tired of their insensitivity or if it was the other way around. Even before Justine, I didn’t have a lot of female friends, well more so after High School. I think it was all apart of one of my phases. I wasn’t too concerned with holding onto friendships back then and I could be held accountable for it, but my lesson is definitely learned, which is why Chance and I are so close.

“I heard their quesadillas are good,” Justine mumbled, taking a sip from her fruity drink.

“I hope it actually is,” I retorted.

“It’ll be good,” she assured. “So, your birthday is tomorrow, is there anything you want to do in particular?”

“Honestly? I have no idea,” I chuckled. “My family would do that for me, you know? They did all the planning and all I had to do was show up. But that’s not the case this time around so it’s really up in the air. Being here is a good birthday gift if that counts as something. Whatever we do has to include Austin though,”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head. I have the perfect day planned for you tomorrow. Just make sure you get a lot of rest,” I raised my eyebrow up at her but said nothing as our plates of quesadillas were placed in front of us.

Adrian

“Yo, Austin. Stay on this side of the pool. Don’t go near the edge,” I said sternly, taking a seat near the sliding door that had a table and a few chairs around it. Austin declared this morning that he wanted to go swimming and of course I complied. We were on an island that was surrounded by water. How could you not go swimming? However, his intentions were to go swimming in the ocean since there was steps that led directly to itbut I wasn’t sure on him doing that so I offered the pool in the back as the one to go swim in. Now his head is gassed and he thinks he can swim too far near the edge. The pool is not that child suitable for him to be doing all of that. Now the lil nigga thinks he’s an Olympic swimmer.

“Alright,” he said, the least bit interested in my words. I opened my mouth to say something but quickly closed it, realizing that he was having fun and I didn’t want to interrupt. With my glass of Hennessy in my hand, I trailed towards my chair and sat back down. My niggas were all huddled around the table and there were a few things I wanted to discuss with them. Although this was a vacation, to the guys, it was nothing too fancy or time for leisure. That’ll only happen when things have died down officially after some sort of altercation.

The only reason we’re not in New York is because it’s hot out there. I heard too many things before I left and coming out here was the best thing to do.

“So, what’s the plan for when we get back to the city?” Justin asked, itching to get his hand in some sort of action.

“Well, I talked to G before I left n’ shit and B’s family got detectives all over the case. Besides that, I haven’t heard much about the shit from the last time,” I started off. As concerned as I should be about the predicament I just put myself into, I really wasn’t. This isn’t anything that I’m new to and this is the type of situations I’m forced into regardless. If push comes to shove and I do actually have to serve time, as long as my nephew and sister are straight, I’m good. “So, don’t be surprised if a few of them niggas come out of the woodworks. I doubt any of us would have to worry ‘bout Ryan. That nigga is slacking and ain’t doing shit but don’t sleep on him either. However, you should keep an eye on B’s cousin, Xavier,”

“Xavier?” Brian mumbled. “He not from around here,”

“Naw, California nigga,” I said, looking over towards where Austin was at. “She knows the deal but she don’t want me coming at this nigga head either,”

“So? You made some type of deal with her?” Caiden asked.

“Not really but if he’s coming at me, I’m going to defend myself and my team. Fuck outta here,” I stated. Yeah, this is B’s cousin or whatever but at the end of the day, niggas are willing to go to the extreme and get grimy for their loved ones. “So, stay alert on that. Lonnie we need to keep an eye on,” I said, lowering my voice so Austin wouldn’t hear. Although I preferred to be honest with Austin about his flaky ass father, Justine wouldn’t approve of that. For the simple fact that Austin is her kid and whatever she decides to do with Austin is up to her entirely, I won’t infringe on that, but I will speak my mind like I do all the time. “You see, you got Dumb and Dumber with Ryan and Lonnie. If they were as smart as they could potentially be, Lonnie would have an epiphany and realize Ryan’s chick is missing and Ryan would connect this Kennedy persona to Bailey and realize I’m behind this all. Seems logical, right?” I questioned, earning nods from around the table. I paused and took a sip of my drink. “I found some shit on the USB that caught my attention but it’s not adding up, you know?” I murmured.

I was getting somewhere.

“Like what?” Caiden asked. August was present at the table as well, but he was relatively quiet. He’s usually quiet to begin with so I’m not surprised. This isn’t the type of shit he’s cut out for and he’s starting to realize it. After this shit is done with, I don’t want him having any part in this and I need Caiden to deliver that message to his younger brother. If August was my younger brother, there would be no way in hell he would be involved in something like this.

“The police report was on there and Lonnie’s version is different from Justine’s,” I said, noting the first thing that really caught my attention.

“From the night Austin was kidnapped?” Brian asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Knowing that Lonnie won’t be of any use to us, I came up with a different plan that’ll save us from some shit,” I revealed. This is probably the most spontaneous I have ever been with plans and majority of the time, they’re well thought out with weeks of preparation and planning. Bailey being included in the mix was never the original plan and seeing as that it hasn’t been the best well thought out idea, what I came up with next in my opinion has no choice but to work. It’s just about how receptive Bailey will be about it. For the next twenty minutes, I went on to explain my idea and plan and of course I got many confused facial expressions and questions that led me to believe they were doubtful. “Look, it’s either y’all backing me up on this shit or not. Y’all my bros and shit but I don’t need y’all to validate anything I do. Support would be dope but if not, my mind is made up,” I grumbled.

I’ve been trying to dead this shit for the longest time and find some sort of closure within me about this very situation. I have a guilty conscious. Maybe if I was around more often and kept an eye on shit, what Austin endured wouldn’t happen and months later, I wouldn’t have to risk someone else’s life to get the job done. Pushing the chair back, I stood up and grabbed the towel for Austin to dry off with. “Aye, come inside, lil man. We finna order something to eat,” I said which automatically caught his attention.

“Fries and a burger?” he asked, grabbing the towel out my hand.

“Why not? You need a beer along with that too?” I chuckled, encouraging him to walk in front of me.

“For real?” he said excitedly.

“Not at all. I’m fucking with you,” I laughed. “Go change,”

He sucked his teeth lowly and ran back inside the Villa. Before I had the chance to follow suit, my name was being called causing me to come to an abrupt halt. “We had your back regardless, A. that wasn’t going to change,” Justin mumbled, standing tall and meeting me halfway. He held his hand out for a dap which I returned as a grin broke out on my face. One by one, they all got up to give me a dap and a brotherly hug.

“I knew all y’all niggas would have my back anyhow,” I chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah,” They dismissed.

“But aye, August. Let me talk to you real quick,” I said.

“Wassup?”

“Look, with the new change of plans, I need you to be blunt and confront B on what happened that night. I wasn’t there, I don’t know shit about it and I don’t care. But it’s up to you to be honest with her ‘cause she gon’ end up finding out rather quick,” I expressed, crossing my arms over my chest. The expression on his face was pretty calm but I knew better than that.

“I’ll tell her before we leave,” he mumbled, pulling his black shades up on his face.

“I’m holding you to it,” I stressed sternly, walking back inside the Villa.

“A’ight,” I don’t know how truthful August was being, but I was hoping he would fall in line and do what needs to be done. I trailed towards Austin’s room and sat at the edge of his bed, helping him tie his Air Jordan 5 shoelaces.

“Bailey’s birthday is tomorrow?” Austin spoke up.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Why?”

“Did you get her a birthday gift?” he questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Naw,” I shook my head. “Was I supposed to?” I questioned, placing his foot back down the floor.

He nodded his head quickly. “You bought mommy a birthday gift. You have to do the same for Bailey. I want to buy her something! I would draw but that’s a cheap gift,” he muttered causing me to laugh. I looked at the digital clock on the wall and took note of it being a little after three and the girls had yet to return. I wasn’t planning on buying anything for Bailey, but Austin seemed genuinely interested in doing so.

“Let’s eat first and then we’ll look around, okay?” I sighed.

“Deal,”

Bailey

When Justine and I came back home, the Villa was dead quiet. All lights were turned off which automatically gave away the fact that the boys had went out. I quietly made my way towards the back and into my room. After we ate, we decided to do a little more shopping. I was able to pick out an outfit for my birthday tomorrow, although Justine didn’t tell me what she had planned, I had a hunch a typical dinner would be involved in the mix somehow because I did overhear her talking on the phone, assuming she was talking to Adrian maybe. Placing the dress I bought for tomorrow on a hanger, I walked back out the room and began to unpack what was in some of the bags so I wouldn’t have to do it later. “Hey, Adrian just called. The boys should be back in thirty minutes or so,” Justine said, poking her head inside of the room. I nodded and dived into the big King size bed with a sigh.

“You okay?” she asked. “Something must be wrong,” Her face filled with concern. With the way Justine acts and how concerned she is about the littlest things, it’s evident and clear as to why she would want Lonnie around, but the only problem is her not realizing how much of a threat he actually is. I had to force myself not to speak up on what happened just a day ago with her ex, but Adrian advised me not to do that. If I do, she’d ask why I was with him in the first place and then I’d have to explain, and it’ll just end up being a mess I want to avoid until this trip is over.

“Why do you say that?” I asked, refusing to answer her inquiry.

“Your face. One minute you could be totally fine and the next, your whole mood drops,” she explained.

“Oh,” I mumbled. “My mind is in constant motion. Just thinking,” I shrugged.

“You wanna go home, don’t you?” she said. I bit my bottom lip and allowed a frustrated huff to pass my lips. I would be a liar if I said a part of me didn’t want to stay. But, I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said I didn’t want to go home either. I was conflicted and it didn’t help that no matter what I chose, I would be fucked some sort of way. Without a doubt, I know my dad is aware and he’s either fuming with anger or… well, there is no or. He’s mad.

“I would but I don’t want to deal with the aftermath,” I said truthfully. I knew that as soon as I was thrown back home, I would be engulfed in a whirlwind of questions and everyone will feel the need to baby me or make sure there is extra protection around me. However, the one person I’m not excited to seeing or hearing from, oddly enough, would be my father. My dad is the least bit passive and will let you know in a heartbeat if he isn’t feeling something. Just because I’m his daughter does not mean he will possibly go easy on me. No matter what age I am, that wouldn’t matter to him because he’ll still get on my case like I’m eight.

“I’m so sorry,” she frowned.

“It’s okay,” I murmured, wishing I hadn’t spoken at all. Now, I had tears streaming down my face and I hadn’t bothered to remove it at all.

“Oh my gosh,” Justine panicked, quickly rushing to get a tissue for me. Before I had a chance to react and grab the tissue from Justine’s hand, Adrian was barging through the door. He stopped abruptly and stared between us, mystified.

“What happened?” he frowned.

“Nothing,” I spoke up before Justine could. That only caused Adrian to look at me with more intensity as he saw right through my lie. I turned to look away and rushed off towards the bathroom. I don’t know why I was crying, and I don’t know why I was letting my tears get the best of me. I sat on the edge of the bathtub and continued to sob, despite my efforts to stop. I felt like I’d be doing a lot of crying in the upcoming days, to be honest. Letting out a frustrated groan, I stood up and went to look at myself in the mirror. My eyes were a bit puffy but weren’t as red as I thought they’d be. Adrian’s arms trickled around my waist, pulling me back towards him.

“You good?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I mumbled. “I’m just a little emotional,” I said, turning around in his grasp.

“I know. I see it in your face which is why I don’t want to tell you shit,” he grumbled.

“That doesn’t make me feel good,” I confessed, burying my face in his chest.

“I know what will,” he smirked mischievously.

(TPP)

Adrian and Bailey’s lips were locked together tightly as their hands roamed over one another’s body eagerly. They wasted no time attacking each other with their pent up frustration and it showed with how they were reacting towards one another. Bailey moaned into the kiss as his hands gripped her ass. They had moved from the bathroom with ease, over towards the bed. Bailey was straddling Adrian’s lap and grinded into his growing erection, all while managing to keep their swollen lips locked. “Take this shit off,” he groaned, referring to her romper.

“Take it off me,” Bailey said seductively, crawling off his lap and onto the bed.

“Don’t gotta tell me twice,” he said, hovering on top of her. His hand found the zipper on the size of her romper and zipped it down in a hurried fashion. Bailey slid out of the soft material with ease and now laid under him in a matching lace bra and panty set. Now that Bailey was halfway undressed, it was time for Adrian to be the same way. Bailey leaned up and tugged on the bottom of his grey shirt, wanting it off immediately. Once the shirt was dropped on the floor, Bailey gently grazed her acrylic nails against his chest before lowering them towards the hem of his shorts. His lips connected with the side of her neck, sucking roughly on her flesh while one of his hand trickled down her bare thigh towards her love. Bailey gasped, feeling him push the material of her panty to the side and pump one of his fingers inside of her moist center.

There was no way Adrian was going to allow for Bailey to get it easy right now. He was going to do things his way and she would have to take it. Bailey and Adrian’s eyes connected and an intense stare between the two ensued; Bailey finding herself unable to look away for just a split second, which was rare for her. As much she wanted to, she didn’t and she found herself becoming turned on by the intense eye contact while Adrian continued to pump his fingers in and out of her wetness. Removing his finger from her opening, he stared at the stickiness that now covered his finger and brought it towards Bailey’s mouth to lick off.

Her lips wrapped around his finger, slowly sucking off the juices. That action alone had Adrian mind wandering off into different directions and most importantly, different positions. Fuck, he thought. Bailey smirked, knowing that she got him there. In the blink of an eye, Adrian had torn her expensive lingerie off her body and left her completely exposed for only his eyes to see. Bailey tucked her bottom lip in her mouth, noticing the apparent boner in Adrian’s POLO boxers. Bailey took the initiative to tug down his boxers, revealing his harden dick. Bailey fell back on the bed, spreading her legs just a tad bit.

She was anticipating having him in the worst way. Adrian saw no point in foreplay since Bailey was wet already and Adrian’s dick was too hard to be patient. At the end of the day, she’ll get hers and he’ll get his. “Spread ‘em wide,” Adrian said huskily. It was then that he realized that his condoms were in his suitcase, but he didn’t feel the urge to stop and get them. I’ll just pull out, he thought to himself. The last thing he needed was a kid of his own and the one thing Bailey didn’t need to get caught up in was having a child with her ‘kidnapper’ as well. “You mind if I fuck you raw?” Adrian asked, wrapping B’s leg around him.

Bailey was conscious enough to know what was coming out of his mouth but too lost in ecstasy as Adrian rubbed the tip of his dick against her slit. At this point, she would agree to anything as long as Adrian fucked her good. Without much of a warning, Adrian pushed into her, causing her back to arch instantly and expletives to flee from her mouth one after the other. Adrian smirked, giving her long and hard strokes to her center. Bailey’s nails clawed at his skin as she tried to find his rhythm, so she could do the same thing back with just as much force. Eventually Bailey caught his pace and began to slowly grind her hips on him. “Fuck, Adrian,” she moaned, grasping a chunk of the sheets in her hand. Adrian decided to use his hands and push down on her lower stomach while he continued with the fast momentum of his strokes, making sure to hit all of her spots.

Bailey knew exactly what he was doing but she allowed for him to have her in the way he wanted. She was loving every bit of it and especially the fact that Adrian was just the right amount of rough. They weren’t making love, but they weren’t just fucking either. They shared a conscious connection with one another and although they didn’t speak on it much, they both understood it whether or not they wanted to admit it to one another. Adrian grabbed ahold of Bailey’s legs and pinned it against her chest, giving him more leverage to stroke her the way he desired.

“Shit,” Adrian grunted, feeling her walls contract around him. Bailey saw it all in his face and smirked.

Bailey pushed him back a bit and he caught the hint, still pumping in her but staring at her with a confused expression. A thin layer of sweat coated both of their skins’ and it would only get worse with the way these two were going at it. Getting just the right amount of energy, Bailey and Adrian changed positions and Bailey was now on top of him, slowly bucking her hips back and forth. Her hands rested on his chest as she used all her energy to turn him into her bitch. The look of pleasure was all over each of their faces and in a short while, they both would be pleased and satisfied as soon as they came.

Adrian grabbed Bailey’s neck, bringing her lips towards his. Their kisses were nothing short of aggressive and urgent as Bailey tugged on Adrian’s lip while managing to keep her pace up. She was on the brink of an orgasm and with the way she would grow progressively faster, showed just how much she wanted her orgasm to arrive. Adrian began to thrust upwards into her suddenly causing her to yelp out in loud moan. Her head titled backwards, and a slight O formed on her lips as she continued to move her body against Adrian’s powerful strokes. “Adriannnn!” Bailey moaned, loud enough for anyone in close proximity to hear.

Adrian slipped his hands between their two conjoined bodies and began to rub at her clit fast. That feeling in the pit of her stomach became more blatant and before Bailey could process anything, she had reached her climax; releasing all over Adrian. Now that Bailey got hers, Adrian was about to get his. “Goddamn,” Adrian groaned, bussing right after her. Both of them were breathing heavily, attempting to catch their breaths. Bailey felt weak as hell as she laid upon Adrian’s sweaty chest, letting what just happened between the two sink into her mind as well as Adrian’s. What the two of them didn’t realize in that moment was that Adrian didn’t pull out. Typical, huh?

Bailey knew something like this would happen but hoped that it wouldn’t but it did. Now, she would really have to take the pill. It took at least five minutes for them to regain their composure. Bailey sighed blissfully, placing a kiss on Adrian’s full lips after. Neither of the two had the energy to move and if they could, they would stay like this forever. “I need to take the pill,” Bailey said, exhausted to say that sentence alone.

Adrian’s eyebrows meshed together but he quickly found out why. “Alright,” he mumbled, tracing his hands down Bailey’s back towards her ass, cupping it roughly in his hands. “But before that, let’s take it to the shower for a minute,” he said, to which Bailey gladly obliged with. She had run out of energy but that didn’t mean she couldn’t go another round.

Bailey

For once, I was at peace.

No, it didn’t take sex for that to happen but it was a great release, literally.

After the amazing rounds of sex, I had got redressed into something more comfortable and made my way inside of Justine’s bedroom, asking her if she had any pills on her. Of course she embarrassed me about what she supposedly heard but I waved her off and limped back into the confines of Adrian and I’s bedroom, quickly swallowing the pill with the water Adrian got for me. Now we laid tangled up in the sheets, spilling the first thing that came to mind. Some of the things were random and other things actually held weight. Either way, we were content with talking about just about anything at this point. “I think I want another tattoo,” I confessed, staring straight ahead, towards the beautiful view of outside.

“Yeah? Like what and where?” Adrian asked, snaking his arms’ around my waist tighter. I smiled at the small gesture. He truly didn’t know much it meant to me. It definitely gave me that security that I lacked around Ryan and especially with my father being out of the picture for so long.

“I want angel wings… like what Caiden has but way smaller,” I said. “My mother and sister have them,” The only tattoo my mother would ever cosign for my younger sister. “And I want to do mine because I never got the chance to do so,” I knew Adrian already figured out why I wasn’t able to get mine but decided against speaking on it for both of our benefits. “And, I want it on my other wrist since this one already has something,” I said, holding out both of my wrist for him to see.

“We can make that happen, baby girl,” he said, closing his eyes a bit. My birthday was less than three hours away and with the way Adrian was talking, it seemed like he was willing to give me the moon and the stars. I ran my fingers along his neck gingerly, seeing that it put him at ease. “I got something I wanna tell you though,” he murmured into my exposed skin. I remained quiet, not saying anything and waiting for him to spill whatever was on his mind. “I want you to go back home,” His words’ made me tense as the movements of my fingers along his neck came to a sudden halt. Those were words I probably would have never heard him say but here we were, and those words indeed fell past his lips.

If this was two or three months ago, I would be jumping for joy to be able to finally leave. But my feelings towards Adrian, Justine, Austin and the boys have all changed. I no longer feel an ounce of resentment to them and I can sympathize with them. Going home would be me being thrown in the swing of things that I was currently unaware of. I missed out on a lot and I feel like I would only just stick out rather than being accepted with open arms. Of course, I want to see my family and friends but I don’t want to deal with the backlash that comes with it, if you know what I mean.

“What?” I mumbled. I heard correctly but I couldn’t believe it.

“I want you to go home after this trip is over,”

“Why?” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. Adrian sighed, refusing to look my way out of the numerous times we’ve had a conversation.

“I think it’s for the best,” he stated.

“And then what?!” I found myself growing frustrated within a few seconds.

“Aye, chill with all that shit, alright? Just listen to me,” he said. The way he was acting was way too nonchalant and carefree about this as if what he was about to do wouldn’t affect either of us.

“Look at me then,” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest.

His head popped up and he stared at me through thin slits before quickly uncrossing my arms and holding them down at my sides. “Stop acting so defensive,” he gritted. “Hear me out or you won’t get any dick from me,” he said, purposely making me laugh at the grin on his face.

“I’m not even laughing because it’s not funny right now!” I said.

“Calm the fuck down, baby,” he said huskily, tucking his head in the corner of my neck. I knew what he was doing, and I wanted to stop that because there was no way he was going to evade this type of information from me.

“I’m listening,” I insisted, pinching his neck. His skin around the area pinched immediately turned a light shade of red.

“What the fuck!?” he roared.

“You’re lucky I didn’t bite your neck,” I said. “Now, tell me why I’m leaving?” I said bitterly.

“Look, you might not understand after I explain why, you just might or you don’t want to. But, with everything that’s been happening recently, I know when to step back and I know when to put you back in the line of safety. I can handle things from here on out, trust. However, there is one tiny thing I have in mind and it’s totally up to you,” he said, waiting for me to acknowledge that I heard him but instead, it was returned with a blank face as I waited for him to elaborate before I spoke up. With a sigh, he said, “You know how Ryan is supposedly looking for you?” I gave off an indifferent shrug. Sure he was. “Well, let’s play him at his own game. Only difference, no one gets hurt in this scenario unless I have a change of heart,”

“What do you mean play him at his own game?” I inquired, my eyebrows furrowing together. If this was a revenge for revenge type of situation, I’m not too sure on this.

“He has this idea in his head that he’s closer to you than what he actually is. Let’s act like he is and essentially, make it easy on him. Give him what he wants and make it seem like his job is done but realistically, it’s just beginning. I’ll play the part and act like I’m surrendering, you feel? I’m still determined to find out what happened because it’s not sitting well with me and I have this sort of-“

“Guilty conscience?” I said, cutting him off. He cut his eyes at me again before slowly nodding. “Hm, that’s your superego speaking,”

“Is this ‘bout to turn into a paid session?” he asked sarcastically.

“Only if you want it to,” I said, kissing his lips.

“Naw, you do enough with picking my mind even when I don’t ask for it,” he grumbled. “But back to the focus, girl. So, is you down or what?”

“What exactly would I be doing now?” I questioned. “How would this work?”

“Take it like this, you’re free. You’re free to do as you please and leave the house to go back to your real life. Work with your ex Ryan and basically act like a con artist against him. Butter him up to get information that I need because at the end of the day, trust, he’ll say whatever the fuck you want him to tell you, especially knowing your predicament. This is the only plan where I can get immediate answers ‘cause Ryan not tryna talk to me and I’m going to leave Lonnie alone for a bit,”

“And then I tell you what he said?” He nodded. “I don’t know…” I trailed off. Although I would be happy to be home, the last person I’m willing to have any sort of acknowledgment with is Ryan. I don’t want to look at him, talk to him or even breathe the same air. I don’t hate him, but I don’t like him either and there has definitely been a distaste for him on my part. “Like what if he expects more than what I’m willing to give? How will my family respond if they know I’m helping you? Adriannnn!” I whined. “I don’t want to go,” His eyebrows rose at my true statement. I was conflicted; I don’t know what to do. “What happened to me staying if I chose to?”

“It’s still valid. Why would you want to stay though… out of all people with me?” he laughed lightly.

“I just… I’m not too sure right now,” I mumbled. I needed to think about this some more. Bottom line, Adrian wanted me to ‘work’ with Ryan to get immediate answers since Lonnie was out of the picture. If I was going to essentially play Ryan at his own game, I would actually have to play the part to fool Ryan. I don’t think Ryan’s dumb or maybe he is but running back into his arms’ all of a sudden seems like playing with fire. Not knowing if Ryan intentions are honest, I don’t know how safe I would be near him or if my mother would even allow that to happen.

“You trust me?” Adrian said, breaking me out of my thoughts. The last time I said I didn’t, he made me kill someone. But as far as knowing his intentions, it’s way better than what Ryan could possibly offer.

Willingly, I mumbled a low, “Yes,”

“What was that? I don’t think I heard correctly?” he said, hovering on top of me again, resting his weight on his knuckles.

“I do but you be putting me in risky ass situations,” I blurted.

“Not anymore, alright?” he promised.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” I huffed, locking my arms around his neck tightly. “That means I have to live with him?”

“Stay in my condo in Tribeca; I’ll be there if you want me to,”

I smiled lightly. “You’re cute,”

“Oh, now I’m cute? ‘Bout a month ago you were speaking a different language,”

“’Cause, you started to actually show me what you’re about,” I chuckled. He stared at me longingly, a genuine smile plastered on his face. It was without a doubt true that everyone had two sides and Adrian was no exception. His genuine side overweighs everything negative about him. That might be a bold statement but it’s exactly how I feel. Although I don’t like to compare Adrian to Ryan, there was obvious traits about the two that were different and what stood out exactly is how genuine Adrian is. Let’s be clear, Adrian doesn’t speak on his feelings but rather, he shows them which speaks way more than he ever will. Ryan on the other hand, spoke with his words but his words weren’t enough for me, I needed more, and he couldn’t give that to me. I’m not even officially with Adrian but yet, he’s done way more, at least in my opinion.

“I’m glad you see that,” he said. “I do care about you, oddly enough,” A grin broke out on my face. “But I don’t want to hurt you because I’m already doing that,” And it’s sad because I know that already.

Things were gearing up to change pretty quickly.

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tomeandflickcorner · 6 years ago

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The Halloweentown Tetralogy

To commemorate this Halloween, I’ve viewed all four of the Halloweentown movies, as requested by @knightrookjones. Special thanks to @xemmaloveskillianx @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine and @midouriya for helping me locate sources where I could watch them.

Halloweentown- The first movie in the Halloweentown Tetralogy where we’re introduced to the series’ main character, Marnie, and her family. In the first installment of the franchise, Marnie is 13-years-old, and she lives in an unnamed town with her apparently widowed mother, Gwen, and her two younger siblings, 12-year-old Dylan and 7-year-old Sophie. For some reason, Gwen is clearly adamant about preventing her children from participating in any of the usual activities associated with Halloween, from going trick-or-treating to attending costume parties. But when the family receives a surprise visit from Maternal Grandmother Aggie, played by the dearly departed Debbie Reynolds, Marnie ends up eavesdropping on a conversation between her mother and grandmother, which leads her to discover that their family are actually descended from a long line of powerful witches. But, because Gwen’s late husband was an ordinary human from the Mortal World, Gwen had decided to keep her children from ever learning of their magical heritage, in the hopes that they would grow up to be normal. This doesn’t sit well with Marnie, however, and, with her younger siblings tagging along, she ends up following Grandma Aggie back to Halloweentown, a pocket dimension where witches, goblins, monsters and every manner of spooky creature have been living in peace for centuries in order to avoid persecution from the people of the Mortal World. Shortly after they arrive, the children learn from Aggie of a mysterious being known as Shadowman, who is behind the disappearances of many of Halloweentown’s inhabitants. It eventually comes out that the Shadowman’s ultimate plan is to lead Halloweentown’s population in a revolt against the people of the Mortal World, in order to take back their rightful place instead of continuing to live in hiding. The only hope of defeating the movie’s antagonist is by activating Merlin’s Talisman, which Aggie just happens to have in her possession. But when Aggie and Gwen (who ends up journeying to Halloweentown herself upon discovering her children were not in their beds) fall prey to the Shadowman’s evil spell, it’s up to Marnie, Dylan and Sophie to help save the day.

As far as made-for-TV Disney movies go, this one is fun. I particularly like how creative they got in regards to creating the world of Halloweentown and the number of creatures that live there. We got a skeleton who drives a taxi, a werewolf hairdresser, and a literal cat woman who works as an aerobics instructor. They even had the town dentist be the actual tooth fairy. And actress Debbie Reynolds was by far one of the highlights of the movie, as she just took this role so seriously. Not just when she had to play the part of a bonafide witch, but also when she was interacting with her on-screen family. You really got the impression that she was utilizing her experience of being a real-life mother and a grandmother when she was portraying the role of Aggie Cromwell.

Of course, the movie is not exactly a masterpiece. There are a few moments when they resort to obvious green screen technology, and that can be a bit distracting. But that wasn’t my only issue with the movie. For instance, Marnie’s brother, Dylan, comes across as a bit of a pod person. I get the idea is that he’s supposed to be the serious-minded sibling, but come on. What 12-year-old kid talks like that? I’m also a bit confused on exactly why Gwen was so adamant about keeping her children from having anything to do with Halloween. The movie claims it was because of her mortal husband, but that seems like a rather weak explanation to me. It would be one thing if the movie gave any indication that Gwen had experienced some kind of ostracization because of her magical heritage when she first decided to stay in the Mortal World with her non-magic husband, but they never alluded to anything like that. Though, to the movie’s credit, Gwen eventually acknowledges that she was wrong to try and prevent her kids from learning of their family history. As far as the main character goes, Marnie was a pretty believable 13-year-old, right down to the fact that she was clearly at that stage where she felt she was, and I quote, ‘practically an adult.’ Even though everyone over the age of 20 would know that’s not the case. And admittedly, there were many times when she was a bit useless. Not that I’m saying that to mock her or anything, because she was able to figure things out on her own when it mattered the most. But at the end of the day, it actually was the little sister, Sophie, who contributed the most. They wouldn’t have managed to even activate Merlin’s Talisman in the first place if it wasn’t for this kid. Honestly, Sophie was probably the best out of the three siblings.

I also do have to applaud the movie for the reveal of the Shadowman’s true identity. I suppose you could say it was a pretty big Scooby Doo moment when it’s revealed the main antagonist was the town mayor, Calabar. They even have him do this whole bit when he explains that his true motivation was his bitterness over how Gwen ended up marrying a man from the Mortal World instead of him. That’s right, the movie’s antagonist is angry over how he was ‘friend zoned’ by his crush, and that made him decide to turn evil. I can see how this could potentially rub some people the wrong way. Of course, on the other side of the coin is Luke, who is initially Shadowman Calabar’s smart mouthed flunky. At first, he admittedly comes across as this punk kid who thinks he’s all high-and-mighty because of his position of being the main antagonist lackey. But once he figures out that Shadowman Calabar is even willing to harm Aggie and the rest of the Cromwell family in his quest to overthrow the Mortal World, he quickly recognizes the error of his ways and even helps Marnie save the day. On a final note, I think it could be argued that the way they ultimately defeat Calabar seems a bit too convenient, in the sense that it really comes across as a whole ‘defeated by the power of love/friendship/etc.’ sort of deal. Especially when Dylan is suddenly revealed to have magic powers as well, despite there not being anything to suggest he had inherited the magical gene before that point. But hey, it’s clear this was never meant to be this big epic movie, so I suppose I can cut them some slack. After all, for what this movie was, it was pretty good. Though the people who wrote the movie’s script really need to come up with better insults. (Seriously, did Marnie actually call Shadowman Calabar ‘chocolate bar?’ What kind of insult is that?)

Halloweentown 2: Kalabar’s Revenge- The first sequel to the Disney Channel original movie, this one was certainly the darkest film of the four. But it also brought about a slight issue with how to spell the name of the first movie’s antagonist. The title card for this movie stated it was spelled with a K, but the closed captions and opening & closing credits for the first installment had his name begin with a C. But that’s probably just a small nitpick. Regardless, I’m going to continue spelling it with a C for these reviews. Anyway, the movie opens on Halloween night, exactly two years after the events of the first movie. Right away, we see that Aggie has moved in with her daughter and grandchildren, and Gwen has eased up on her anti-Halloween stance enough to allow her family to throw a Halloween party at the house. Of course, that doesn’t mean things are completely harmonious for the Cromwell family, especially since Marnie is scheduled to spend an entire year in Halloweentown with Aggie in order to focus on her training, as she is first in line to become the next head of the Cromwell line. And if Marnie chooses to follow that path, she’d have to completely give up her life in the Mortal World. Which is something that would deeply affect Gwen. Of course, Marnie is still a bit of an idiot, and when a young boy her age named Cal shows up at the party, Marnie instantly develops a crush on him, like you do. And, in order to impress her new crush, she proceeds to show him around the house, including a stop at Aggie’s room. This, of course, proves to be a mistake, as Cal is actually Calabar’s long-lost son. No word on who the baby mama was, but it appears Cal has decided it’s up to him to continue his father’s work in conquering the Mortal World. Taking advantage of Marnie’s naive trust in him, he steals Aggie’s spell book and uses it to cast a spell on all of Halloweentown, turning the whole place into a warped version of the Mortal World, in which everything is dull and gray and the people of Halloweentown are transformed into caricatures of boring old humans. This, of course, turns out to be only the first step in Cal’s evil plan, as he only casts this spell in order to trick Marnie and Aggie into entering Halloweentown, thereby getting them out of the way while he gets to work on his real plan- turning the humans into the very creatures they dress up as for Halloween, as punishment for always mocking the people of Halloweentown. When Aggie is once again put out of commission because of Cal’s spell, Marnie has to team up with, Luke, the goblin she befriended in the last movie, to try to find a way to fix things while Sophie and Dylan work to assist them from the Mortal World. They even manage to utilize a time traveling spell in their attempts to stop Cal’s plan. While there are moments in the movie where it seems like they’re simply following the formula from the last film, there’s still enough fresh elements to make things seem new and interesting. Including the introduction of the crotchety Gort, who collects and hoards every single item that’s ever lost in both Halloweentown and the Mortal World. Basically, every time something ends up lost, from that last puzzle piece to the left sock, it magically ends up at Gort’s place.

In a lot of ways, this movie often seems to be better than the last one. Especially since the stakes seem a lot higher, as Cal’s plans will effectively destroy both worlds if he succeeds. We also get a legitimately creepy scene where the mother, Gwen, is transformed into a hag and even tries to attack Sophie. And, towards the end, it really seems that Cal actually wins, as the portal between Halloweentown and the Mortal World closes before Marnie, Aggie and Luke can succeed in stopping Cal, which means they’ll be stranded in Halloweentown and won’t be able to save Dylan, Sophie and Gwen, not to mention everybody else, for an entire year. But because of another Deux ex Machina moment, which involves Marnie deciding that they can take advantage of the strength of the Cromwell family’s magic and pretty much rewrite the laws of magic, they manage to reopen the portal despite Halloween being over.

One thing I particularly liked in this movie were the scenes with Sophie and Dylan. And not just because these two really sold the whole brother and sister dynamic. Sophie is more or less the same as she was in the last movie, but she’s become a bit more assertive than the sweet little 7-year-old she was when we last saw her. Dylan, on the other hand, really has improved in terms of his believably. In the original movie, the character of Dylan came across as if it had been written by someone who wanted him to act like a nerdy stick-in-the-mud kid, but had never actually been around a 12-year-old and therefore had no idea how they actually acted and spoke. This time around, Dylan’s characterization was much more believable. He’s still reluctant to embrace his magical heritage, but he actually does act like an average 14-year-old. Especially when he’s trying to find a date to a costume party at the school later that night. (Though that does seem a bit odd, that the Cromwells throw a Halloween party at their house when there’s another party being held later on that night. Exactly how long is this Halloween night supposed to be?)

Now, there’s this one part in the movie that, depending on your sensitivity level, might be offensive. There’s a character in the film named Alex, who poses as Cal’s father before Cal’s true identity as Calabar’s son is revealed. Thanks to Sophie’s intuition, Alex is eventually revealed to be a golem that Cal created out of frogs. Considering the golem is a figure of Jewish folklore, the inclusion of Alex in this movie could potentially offend some people and be taken as cultural appropriation, especially when the golem was created and controlled by a warlock. It’s possible that this was just an unfortunate oversight on Disney’s part (and let’s face it, they do have a history of overt racism in some of their movies, particularly the older ones,) but you could argue that makes it even more offensive. That particular issue aside, however, this was a good sequel to Halloweentown, as it brought back the whole cast and actually connected to the events of the first movie. But the problem is, the sequels that came after the movie never referenced anything about Cal again. That admittedly bothered me a lot, because the movie even had them acknowledging that Cal would probably come back. But if he did, we never saw it happen. Talk about a major loose end.

Halloweentown High- Once again, two years have passed, and Marnie has been commended by the Halloweentown Council (because there’s a high council now) for the part she played in ensuring the portal between Halloweentown and the Mortal World would remain open all year round, and not just on Halloween. But now, Marnie has developed an idea to fully heal the rift between humans and the people of Halloweentown by creating an exchange program of sorts, in which some teenagers from Halloweentown would actually attend a school in the Mortal Realm. Unfortunately, Marnie ends up accidentally wagering her entire family’s magic on the outcome of this, meaning that if this attempt to prove that humans have changed since the creation of Halloweentown and would no longer persecute the creatures that live there doesn’t work, then her entire family would lose their magical powers forever. When Marnie realizes what she’s just done, she is reasonably uneasy, but is still confident that she can make this work, as long as she’s there to help guide the Halloweentown students, which consist of Cassie the witch, Pete the Werewolf, Natalie the troll, Nancy the fairy, Chester the gremlin, Bobby the ogre, and Ethan the warlock, with the non-humanoid students donning human disguises while attending the school. The whole human disguise thing alone was pretty laughable by itself, as they’re basically just wearing human skinsuits like it’s a Men in Black movie. (Wasn’t there a spell that could make them appear human?) Aggie also ends up stepping in to assist Marnie’s efforts by getting a teaching job at the school. But of course, this movie decides it wasn’t enough to just have this be a simple high school themed movie, because we also have to contend with an apparent threat from Knights of the Iron Dagger, a fabled order that sought to destroy all things magical.

Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it. This movie was terrible! I can’t think of a single scene in this movie that I even remotely liked. In fact, while watching it, I kept checking the time to see how much longer I had to endure this crap. I think the worst part was that they were clearly trying to give the movie this whole underlining message about prejudice and whatnot, but the execution of it was just so horrible. In the climax of the movie, it’s revealed that the father of the warlock student, Ethan, who is actually on the Halloweentown Council, wants the portal between Halloweentown and the Mortal World to be closed permanently. So he conspired with the human school’s principal to expose Marnie as a witch in the worst possible way, by making it look as if she was openly attacking the school with her magic at the school’s annual Halloween Bash. Thereby getting the other students to resort to a mob mentality and try to chase her and the Halloweentown exchange students out of town. But all it takes for everyone to calm down is a whole ‘shame on you’ speech from Cody, Marnie’s new love interest, and then it’s all hunky dory. Even the school principal, who was in league with the movie’s main antagonist, ends up changing his tune because of his apparent crush on Aggie. Okay, obviously, it should go without saying that prejudice is bad. But it’s a very complex issue. It’s not something that can be instantly solved with the substance of an after school special. So seeing the way this movie resolved everything was quite eye rolling. They even have Aggie completely forgive the principal, even though he had been openly persecuting her and her granddaughter moments before. While forgiving someone is obviously admirable, it’s a bit bothersome that the movie is acting as if Aggie should just forget all about what the principal had just tried to do and enter into a relationship with him. Just saying, forgiving someone does not mean you have to let them back into your life. Especially if there was a serious breech in trust between you and the person you’re forgiving.

And even the way this movie portrays characters we’ve grown to love in the first two movies was really bad. Sophie, who was a prominent character in previous installments of the Halloweentown series, is now little more than a background character. And she seemed to disappear from the movie altogether after the mall scene. That alone was annoying, as Sophie was arguably a better and smarter witch than Marnie, and the only reason why Marnie was first in line to be the head of the Cromwell line was because she was the oldest. As for Aggie, she suddenly seems to be more of a senile old woman than a powerful and wise old witch, with the movie playing her up for laughs. I’m just saying, considering she’s supposed to have spent four years living in the Mortal World, you’d think she’d be a bit more careful in regards to her magic and wouldn’t accidently magically create a parrot in front of a roomful of students. Oh, and Gwen, who had made it clear beforehand that she wanted to simply live her life as an ordinary mortal like her late husband and only used her magic in special circumstances, is now using her magic in everyday situations. The only character who seems to have maintained his characterization from the last two movies is Dylan, even though he spends most of the movie sharing a possible romance subplot with Natalie the Troll.

Finally, there’s the fact that they’ve seemingly forgotten all about Cal, the antagonist of the last movie. Even after the last movie implied that he would be back, we never see him do so. They don’t even acknowledge his existence, even though they had the perfect opportunity to do so. At one point, Marnie and Aggie are having a mild argument about Marnie’s latest crush, Cody, with Aggie being suspicious of him as Cody has apparently just moved into the area. So, when they start seeing evidence that the Knights of the Iron Dagger were lurking around the school, Aggie speculates that Cody might have something to do with it. Of course, Marnie isn’t interested in hearing any accusations against her crush, but this was such a perfect opportunity for Aggie to say something like ‘remember what happened the last time you met a boy who had just moved here.’ But they don’t. It’s such a missed opportunity. And by the way, why are the movies so determined to give Marnie a love interest? I know, she’s supposed to be a teenage girl and all. But doesn’t she have enough on her plate, considering she’s training to be a witch while trying to help bridge the gap between Halloweentown and the Mortal World so they won’t have to remain separate anymore? Not to mention the fact that her entire family’s magic is on the line. Does she really have the time to worry about finding romance? I’m not saying that finding love is necessarily bad, but it is bad to imply that someone NEEDS to have a boyfriend to be fulfilled. Besides, what happened to Luke? I know there was never anything to suggest that they were ever more than friends, but Luke clearly had a crush on Marnie ever since they first met at 13. And the last movie had him saying something along the lines of how he believed anything was possible as long as Marnie was there. So I was admittedly a bit of a Marnie/Luke shipper. Thus, I was really upset that we didn’t see him appear in this movie. They could have easily made him be one of the Halloweentown exchange students. Even if they didn’t have him and Marnie end up together, they had a pretty good friendship going on. I would have been satisfied with them simply continuing on as good friends.

Return to Halloweentown- Okay, apparently, Halloweentown High was supposed to be the final installment of the Halloweentown series. But in 2006, someone over at Disney decided to try and squeeze out a bit more milk from the franchise, creating this fourth film. I’m not sure why they thought it was a good idea, as Halloweentown High wasn’t even good. And apparently, Kimberly J. Brown seemed to agree that this was a bad idea, as she didn’t return to reprise her role as Marnie, forcing them to hire Sara Paxton to take her place.

So, in this movie, Marnie has been accepted at Witch University, a college located in Halloweentown, with a full scholarship. This is a bit distressing to Gwen, who had hoped that Marnie would go to college in the Mortal World, but Marnie insists on going to college at Witch University because she didn’t want to hide her powers while attending a human college. Which does present a bit of a continuity issue, as Halloweentown High suggested that everyone now knew all about Halloweentown. And it’s not as if they try to pretend that movie never happened, especially since the character of Ethan Dalloway comes back as one of Marnie’s classmates at Witch University. Regardless, Gwen eventually allows Marnie to go off to Witch University, on the condition that Dylan goes with her. (It’s stated at one point that Dylan ended up skipping a grade). Of course, once Marnie arrives at Witch University, it slowly becomes apparent that she was only given her scholarship because this evil group of witches called The Dominion stumbled across some moldy old prophecy involving an ancient box that had once belonged to one of Marnie’s ancestors, Splendora Cromwell. This box is said to contain the Gift, an extremely powerful magic, and that only a Cromwell can open it. So this evil group of witches, which includes Witch University’s headmistress and the history professor, plan to trick Marnie into opening the box so they can steal the Gift for themselves and become all powerful. Yeah, the plot of this movie is just as painful as the one of Halloweentown High. And to make it even worse, we have to endure the inclusion of the Sinister Sisters, the typical Mean Girl™ troop, the leader of whom Dylan ends up getting a crush on simply because she can speak Latin. Which just really makes Dylan seem extremely pathetic as he doesn’t even care when Scarlet and her sisters treats him poorly. Not even Debbie Reynold’s portrayal of Aggie Cromwell could save this movie, considering she was barely in it, since Aggie was away focusing on Sophie’s witch training and only appeared briefly through magical hologram. Yeah, that’s right. Sophie wasn’t even in this movie, and Aggie only briefly appears twice. Instead, we got a Aggie lookalike in the form of Miss Periwinkle, one of the professors at Witch University.

Of course, one of the most painful aspects of the movie is one I have to go into spoiler territory for. Marnie, at one point through some more time travel shenanigans, ends up finding out that Splendora Cromwell was actually just a younger version of Aggie. And that the Gift was a magical amulet that could be used to grant the wearer the power to control anyone. Unfortunately, after she finds that out, the members of the Dominion try to blackmail Marnie into helping them enslave all the non-magical inhabitants of Halloweentown. Okay, since when was it even hinted at the fact that some witches and warlocks viewed the non-magical inhabitants of Halloweentown as inferior? Wasn’t the last movie’s attempts to send an anti-prejudice message bad enough? Now we got a moral about segregation? Even though these are good points to get across, the Halloweentown films are not exactly the best place to try and convey those messages. Besides, how did we go from angry warlocks who wanted to punish humans for persecuting them to angry witches and warlocks viewing their non-magical neighbors as inferior beings?

It’s just really upsetting that the Halloweentown franchise went so downhill like this. The first two installments were really good. Not great, but really good. They were fun and imaginative and unique. But then they had to go and butcher it by turning the last two movies into generic, formulaic drivel, complete with one-note antagonists who are either lack a relatable motivation or are simply being mean for the sake of being mean. And of course, they’re also trying way too hard to give the movies a relevant moral to teach kids some life lesson or whatever, completely forgetting what made the first two Halloweentown films special in the first place. We watched the Halloweentown movies because we wanted to see something fun with interesting creatures. I don’t think anyone was interested in seeing the franchise turned into bland ‘high school movies.’ Because that’s what Halloweentown High and Return to Halloweentown were. They were just another set of ‘high school movies’ that just happened to feature the characters of Halloweentown.

I don’t know what else to say. By all means, check out the first two Halloweentown movies sometime. Especially if you want to see something fun and lighthearted. As for the other two, just skip them. Because you won’t be missing much.

#halloweentown #halloweentown franchise #halloweentown tetralogy

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