#unstoppable little freak. I’ll make her stronger.

[glacierbash]

ok i'll bite. who is gecko kenshi, why is she so cool, and why does she sit Like That?

The worms are flying OUT of this can. Gecko Kenshi time.

I started this Kenshi run ~6 months ago, where it was originally just Truth the bug guy. Gecko was the very first person I recruited. I went into a little outpost, talked to her, and she threatened to pull her pants down. I knew I needed her in my party now, so I ran around for 30 minutes to get enough money to recruit her.

Gecko is not martially skilled. She’s not a very good fighter. She can defend herself with a weapon, but that’s about it. What Gecko is, however, is STRONG. Specifically, Gecko is strong enough to carry a person without suffering a major speed loss. Situation 1 in which rhis was helpful: one hour after opening up the save again for the first time in months, I fuck up an assassination attempt and suddenly we’re being fought by two guys much stronger than us at fighting. Even though I have a party of 3, it’s bad. We win, but barely, and we just barely escape the city. Gecko collapses into the dying state, and Truth goes into a coma. It’s Spade (the third Kenshi freak) who saves both of them from bleeding out, but Spade no longer has a working right leg!! So she can no longer stand!!! After about 5 IRL minutes of terrified waiting, Gecko rises and I know what must be done.

I have Gecko pick up Truth and hide him, then I have her carry Spade and run until we find a place selling prosthetic limbs. Gecko carries Spade through a jungle raining acid, avoiding wildlife that can and would kill and eat them, all while Gecko is malnourished and starting to starve. She is still running at 20 MPH consistently. That is not a sprint. That is her jog. She carries Gecko into a town, buys her a leg, but—you can’t amputate in this game! You can’t just cut off limbs! So, the next best thing: have Gecko carry Spade over to a river of acid, so Spade can swim in it until her leg falls off, and then replace it with the prosthetic. It works!! And now Spade’s alive and well!

Second situation in which Gecko being strong and fast saves the day. My team needs a backpack, bad. Specifically to train their strength, but they need it. On my way to a shop that should sell some, however, I see a battle happening in the distance. It resolves before I reach it, but out charges the “Hungry Bandits,” the weakest faction in game. They will do nothing but rob you of your food. But, I’m carrying thousands of the in-game currently, cats, in food! And I know we’ll lose! Rather than run, however, I have EVERYBODY throw all their food into Gecko’s inventory, who takes off running and doesn’t look back. She far outpaces the bandit that follows after her, leading him to his tragic end at the point of a town guard’s blade.

Gecko returns to find the party bloody and knocked out, but alive. She heals them up, but just as the party goes to continue onwards, MORE bandits of a stronger faction spill out and attack the starving bandits, an all out bandit war where both of them agree they want to kill, or at least incapacitate, us. Gecko is the hero, but not by her fighting prowess or her bravery. Gecko runs, and fast. Once again, she grabs the town guard, who sprint out to put an end to this fighting. Gecko hides in the distance, staring at the carnage until it dies down, noticing that all three of her companions are in a recovery coma.

So, knowing that there’s sure to be more bandits in this little crossroad, Gecko goes and picks up one of the party members (a new recruit named Ruka), and carries her in town, and into a bed, which speeds up recovery by 8x. She goes and grabs Spade, healing her from the dying state before putting her, too, into a bed. All that leaves is Truth, but Gecko sees something terrible as she approaches: Slavers, approaching him. If they grabbed Truth, thered be almost no way to get him back, save for getting strong enough to raid the camp. The slavers could knock her out easily, but she wasn’t about to abandon her captain.

She charges in, picking up Truth, and just as the slavers point her out, she’s sprinting away. 20 MPH. She outruns even their fastest footsoldier, and they give up chase just as Gecko makes it into the third and final bed, putting Truth in before she stumbles downstairs to the bar, and orders herself a drink.

You see, Gecko sits like that because her back hurts from carrying the party. Truth may be the first character I made for this save, but Gecko is becoming my favorite. She’s a hero when she doesn’t wanna be. She’s survived being chased by an entire horde of bandits, getting shot in the head, and survived. She’s TWICE gotten people prosthetic limbs because Truth ALSO lost his leg, and she carried him. She’s the hero. She’s MY hero.

[marvelandponder]

Oh golly gosh, I'm very excited :D! Question, if you could rewrite of the EQG movies, which one, why, and how?- Human Sunset Anon

Hey again, friend! Your questions are so fun! ::whistles:: Now that’s a fun writing exercise.  Alright, I’ll play by the rules: Only the 4 EQG movies, not the specials? And, let’s say I can’t add a song without taking one away. Sound fair? In that case, I choose Equestria Girls, the first one. Out of the four movies, I personally think the first one is the weakest all around. Simple as that.  As for the songs, I’m taking out This Strange World and Time to Come Together.  Let’s have some fun! Got way, way too long, so it’s under the cut. 

We pick up at the tail end of Princess Twilight’s coronation. Twilight’s just become a princess and let’s say she’s worried now about what kind of leader she’ll be. She resolves to live up to Princess Celestia’s example.

Cashing in a song right away: new opening number. Let’s call it All Hail, where Twilight sings lead vocals with an ensemble of her royal subjects. The ensemble sings about how great Princess Twilight is, putting pressure on her, while Twilight sings about how amazing Princess Celestia is and how much she wants to be like her.  Princess Celestia invites Princess Twi to Canterlot to introduce her to her role as a princess, and as she follows Celestia around like a puppy dog, we see her doing some cute stuff like trying to copy Princess Celestia’s mannerisms. Note that the castle’s filled to bursting with reminders of Celestia’s greatness, like stain-glass windows of her legendary battles, loyal royal subjects, etc.  As they get to bed in Twilight’s old student quarters, Spike tries to convince Twilight that taking her tea the same way as Celestia isn’t really necessary to be a great leader. Twilight admits she knows, but she has to live up to Princess Celestia’s example. Growing up, she only ever wanted to be like her teacher. 

But she’s not a student anymore, Spike. She has to live up to the crown she was given. 

But as we know, a mysterious hooded figure had other plans.

The crown’s stolen. Let’s throw in a little more action since we have royal guards, and a new recruit named Flash Sentry (sent from the Crystal Empire to guard Twilight now that she’s a princess) rushes in to save the crown, but no luck. He’s a bit bumbling and Twilight can’t quite catch her. Like, in canon, Sunset Shimmer escapes through the mirror with the crown.

This is a matter of national security. Twilight caused an international incident on her second day. Fantastic. Couldn’t be going better!

Let’s be good little writers and setup that the magic in Twilight’s Element of Harmony is extremely dangerous in the wrong hooves. Let’s just say the Element of Magic reacts... poorly to being misused. And to unworthy hosts (which, even though she’s used it before, makes Twilight nervous because what if she’s not worthy to be a proper princess?).

When Twilight tells Celestia about the thief, Princess Celestia’s a lot more startled and upset than we saw her in canon. She composes herself, but it’s clear that this Sunset Shimmer is a touchy subject for her, and when she reveals Sunset’s her failed protégé, Twilight’s shocked and more than a little nervous by the word failed. If Sunset could fail the princess, why couldn’t Twilight?

Portal scene is pretty much the same, except it’s set in Princess Celestia’s private chambers where she’s kept the mirror all this time. 

Twilight goes through, Spike follows, cue freak-out over bodily changes and lack of magic. 

But thank god, there’s a school! Twilight’s incredibly comforted by the academia of it all (and can admit she’s already missed being a student). And, hey, new friend! The human Flash Sentry here. The dude’s a bit bumbling but he can show her around, protect her from, well... threats. Or try to, anyway.

In lieu of This Strange World, let’s have a villain song to reintroduce Sunset Shimmer. A mirrored reprise of All Hail where Sunset changes the lyrics and gets real pissed when the ensemble of students (led by Flash) sings the praises of their beloved Principal Celestia. She sings stuff along the lines of you wouldn’t think she’s so great if you knew her like I do.  And towards the end of the song, we see Sunset gaining the ensemble under control, so they’re singing the lyrics she is. And what’s worse, the Rainbooms are backing Sunset up. They’re her lackeys. 

Instead of turning the Rainbooms against each other, Sunset’s enlisted them as her own personal entourage. Sunset’s manipulating all of them to stay by her side out of fear. I won’t get into the specifics, but there you go: the Rainbooms are sided against Princess Twilight and she has to get close to each of them to figure out what’s going on. And, what’s at stake at the Fall Formal. 

And when Twilight enters to be the Fall Formal princess, Sunset takes her aside in that Dark Shadowy Intimidation corner. Princess Twilight has to know: what’s her past with Princess Celestia? Why did she run away to another dimension? (How did she fail to be what the Princess wanted?)

We get the same explanation that Princess Celestia gave, but mirrored. Sunset tells her her precious Princess isn’t all she’s made out to be. Sunset’s still egotistical and power-hungry, and that caused her fall, but she was just trying to live up to what she thought Princess Celestia needed her to be as a princess. And after all that, Celestia cast her out, from her perspective at least. Twilight and Sunset compare notes a bit on their different upbringings. Sunset concludes Twilight’s never going to beat her because she’s running a fool’s errand: You’re never going to be like Princess Celestia.  And, of course, that devastates Twilight.  But she’s still driven to help the Rainbooms because they’re so much like her friends. Through getting close to each of the Rainbooms in cute little bonding scenes where Twilight recognizes what’s unique about each of them (with Rainbow, her competitive drive out on the soccer field; with Pinkie, her passion for putting on school dances that bring everyone together again, etc.) that then leads to Princess Twilight inspiring them over to her side by recognizing their strengths and individuality. Cafeteria song happens. 

And we jump right ahead to the night of the Fall Formal. The girls get ready together, kind of fearing what Sunset’ll do but knowing they’re stronger together. Flash promises to be on the look out for them, since he’s got a bone to pick with his recent ex. You should also know by now he’s not the love interest in this movie, just a helpful good friend who’s Done with Sunset’s shit, maybe more than anyone. He can tell them why he broke up with Sunset, how they had good times but that she was getting so reckless and he wasn’t about to stand around while she hurt other people. The Rainbooms can now relate.

So then at the dance, we get to the crowning ceremony hosted by, of course, Principal Celestia. She seems to favour Twilight, which we see for a brief visual moment, hurts and angers Sunset. It’s tense, but after a moment of suspense, Twilight wins. 

But, of course, Sunset’s was never one for democracy. She steals the Element of Harmony crown from Principal Celestia and we’ve got our demon.

I’ll cheat and say the score is playing a darker orchestral version of her villain song. She mind-controls the student body with some kind of fear magic, including Principal Celestia (and Vice Principal Luna). When they go through the portal, they’ll be alicorns. Her army will be pretty much unstoppable.

So, now it’s up to Twilight. Who really deserves the crown? 

Maybe she failed her friends. Maybe she can’t keep everyone safe, and can’t live up to Princess Celestia. 

But when she sees Sunset forcing a mind-controlled Principal Celestia to bow to her, it clicks. It should never be about being better than or just like Celestia. They’re their own rulers. And Twilight’s only going to win her way.

She empowers her friends to work together with their unique strengths, and even if they’re just scared high school teens facing off with a demon, they’ve got each other. And they believe in her because she believes in them. Let’s say the magic inside the crown starts to react when Twilight starts leading the Rainbooms that way. When they’re working together, even just to distract Demon Sunset, Sunset’s fighting to keep the crown on her head, but think, like, Thor’s hammer Mjölnir flying through the air when summoned. 

The thing flies forward and it looks like Demon Sunset’s going to intercept it but Flash Sentry catches it in time and is able to its rightful owner.

With the crown back, Princess Twilight uses the power of friendship to un-zombify the students and staff while Sunset slowly de-transforms, bowing in front of Princess Twilight.

Disgusted that she turned into a monster, a teary-eyed Sunset fully expects Twilight to do her worst on her, cast her out, but Twilight offers down her hand. She says she knows Princess Celestia and Sunset hurt each other. Maybe... Celestia isn’t so perfect after all. But the reason Sunset failed the Princess was the way she went about it, trying to rule by fear and ego. But she should know it wasn’t because Celestia didn’t love and believe in her---Celestia still has the mirror in her private chambers. She’s still waiting for you to return, Sunset. 

Sunset refuses the offer to return. She wants to, but she has a lot of work to do here... 

In the little falling action scene, we see Princess Twilight back in Equestria, receiving her first friendship letter from Sunset Shimmer. We see that things have been hard for Sunset post-Fall Formal, a lot of people still can’t trust her. But she’s slowly paying her dues, earning back the Rainbooms’ trust, and learning to accept love day by day. She’s been inspired. 

Princess Celestia asks if Sunset’s okay, and Twilight says she is. Princess Celestia says Twilight’s succeeded where she failed, and that she suspects Equestria is in great hooves. Twilight will be an even better princess than Celestia herself. 

TL;DR: We’re leaning way into the character stuff that I wanted to know more about in Equestria Girls. I wanted Sunset and Twilight to talk more about their different perceptions of Princess Celestia, and their time with her. I wanted to see the contrast between their leadership styles, and who they’ve become as people, and play that up even more. And for Twilight, I wanted her to take away something. In canon, she only really seems to learn that she can handle her new wings. It would be nice to see her struggle with something relevant to her life in Equestria, you know? She’s always put Celestia on such a pedestal, so Sunset’s the perfect antagonist to challenge those beliefs in Twilight, and force her to realize she has to be her own princess.

Could probably still use work if it was a serious story I was putting together, but hey, it’s just a fun ultra long brainstormy kind of thing! So I hope that was fun for you!

[jaygrl22]

OCtober day 12: Drip

So i went with a more symbolic idea today. To me, a drip is a warning of something small that can quickly turn into a big problem if it goes unchecked. You either stop the drip or it turns into a downpour.

Intentionally or not, Elia chose the downpour.

@oc-growth-and-development 

---

It happened in pieces. Tiny, little pieces so scattered and disjointed Elia hardly even noticed what was happening until it was too late. 

“A human name would be better,” Anders told her. “It’d be more likely to be published.”

Elia stared at the book she and Hush had worked so hard on, knowing it was true. 

Hush glared at the table.

“C’mon, you guys,” Lav said rhythmically patting his shoulders in the way he hated. “You want this thing out there, right? We all know human mages get approved twice as much as elves.”

“Do they?” Kàde asked in disbelief. “Are you sure?” 

“Wrong question~,” Anders, the only other human present, sang-song as the three elves sent Kàde a mixture of annoyed and dirty looks.

He put his hands up. “Hey, I didn’t know!”

“Lethallan,” Hush sighed, turning to Elia again. “I see you as much an elf as me or Fauna. I won’t force you to use a shem name if it would make you uncomfortable.”

She put a hand on his shoulder, smiling. “It’s okay. We’ve worked hard on this. If it helps get us published, I don’t mind pretending to be totally human for a bit.” 

“Alright,” Kàde declared. “Ideas for Elia’s human surname. Extra points for irony! Go!”

After far too much joking around, the fire runt chose the most ironic but workable of the last names: Winters. She started signing all her work with the name, finding it funny to pretend she was more human than everyone in the Tower knew her to be.

“Introduce yourself as a Desrochers,” Kàde told her. “It’ll give you some semblance of importance. If we’re lucky, it will dissuade them from doing anything too… unsavory to you.”

“But I signed the letter as Elia Winters…”

“So? Maybe you have a hyphenated name. Maybe you didn’t want anyone to know about your noble heritage. Maybe you didn’t know about your noble heritage. A little scandal could give you a stronger hand,” he explained.

“But I’m not even human… Your family wouldn’t be able to claim me even if they wanted to. It would just make a bigger mess...”

“You’re half human,” he insisted. “You could pass as long as you keep your ears covered. Besides, I've already written to my father. Just play along, Flames. It’ll be fine.”

“But why would your father help me?” 

“Because I asked him to. Just trust me, won’t you?”

She did trust him. She played along, keeping the tips of her ears hidden in her hair and introducing herself to the Divine as Elia Winters-Desrochers. 

“Oh, yes,” Kàde’s father, Kàde Toussaint Desrochers II, told the Seeker simply. “My sister Minnette’s child. Minnette was quite sickly, you know. Never could leave her room much, poor girl.” 

He uncrossed his legs then crossed them the other way. 

“Fell in love with the first man she laid her eyes on. Winters was his name. Ferelden,” he sneered. “You can imagine the scandal such a thing might have caused had word gotten out. A Comte’s only daughter with a lowly Ferelden soldier? Father wasn’t pleased. Had she had her health, he would’ve married her off to someone far more worthy years before.”

“So your father knew of their involvement?”

“Naturally. He may not have liked it, but the man made Minnette happy. He worked quite hard to keep the affair and the child hidden. The only other person who knew about it all was Minnette’s closest attendant, Shira, but she died some years ago.” He sighed. Behind his mask, he rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and muttered, “The things a father will do for their child…”

The Seeker frowned. “I see. So there’s no one else to corroborate your story.”

“Well, my eldest son knows, of course. He lives with her in the Ferelden Circle.” The former chevalier paused, casting his gaze to the floor. “I miss him dearly. But he’s always had his cousin and the rest of their merry little band to keep him company. That’s eased my heart some.”

“So your son can confirm all you’ve told me?”

He shook his head. “I only told him how they were related. I didn’t dare tell him more for fear of rumors. I suppose it's a bit late for that now, isn’t it?”

Elia Winters-Desrochers was a noble’s daughter. 

As Kàde had promised, the illegitimacy of her “birth” and the surrounding scandal gave her more attention. She received letters from nobles she’d never heard of talking about her “mother” and how they’d supposedly met her in secrecy when she was just a babe. Her jailers moved her from the dungeons to a small, guarded room near the Sisters’ quarters when people kept asking for her. A Revered Mother visiting the Divine even came to speak with her, her eyes twinkling.

“Here, child,” she offered Elia a thick slip of paper days after their first talk. “This will allow you to return to Ferelden, as you’ve been hoping for. It’s a decree signed by the Divine Herself. You are working on her behalf now.”

Elia glanced behind the Revered Mother to Divine Beatrix nodding off on her throne. She’d known this was coming but she still found it hard to believe that the elderly woman had come up with such a thing.

“You are to return to Ferelden,” the Revered Mother insisted, forcing the paper into Elia’s hands. “You are to use your gifts to stop the coming Blight. Or, if you prefer, you may return to your cell—”

“No, no! I’ll do it I just—” she stared at the piece of paper then at the Revered Mother. “I just don’t understand why you’re doing this,” she said softly.

The older woman’s eyes twinkled. “I hope to work with you in the future, Elia,” she admitted. “That requires the world remain intact. I believe you have the power to do that so long as you continue to play your part well.”

Elia Winters-Desrochers, illegitimate child of a noble, a mage, was an agent of the Divine. The decree called her an expert in divination — naming her a prophet would do no one any good. 

During the Fifth Blight she gained repute among the common folk of Ferelden. They called her the Divine’s Soothsayer; the Chantry eventually refined the title to Soothsayer to the Divine, and claimed she’d been such for far longer than the truth. 

She and Leliana returned to the Grand Cathedral once all was finished. Elia tried for years to keep her ears hidden, her tongue only speaking the common language, but she sometimes slipped. 

Eventually, someone noticed.

Divine Justinia frowned. She turned to Leliana.

“And the templar who did this to her?”

“Dead, Your Perfection.”

Justinia nodded. She stepped closer to the shivering white-haired mage, gently tilting her head from side to side to look at the bloody remains of Elia’s butchered ears. She’d aged since Her time as Revered Mother but Her eyes still held that same twinkle when She saw an opportunity.

“I know you are in pain, my child, but this is all part of the Maker’s plan. We will not let your loss go to waste.”

The slow drip quickly became an unstoppable flood. One lie covered up the holes in another. They added flair or watered her down as necessary. The truth was swept away by the tide.  

Elia told herself she didn’t mind. It kept her safe, so it was fine. It didn’t matter if it kept her alive.

Elia Winters-Desrochers wasn’t a half-elf. Elven wasn’t her first language. She had never worshiped the elven gods or had pointed ears. She was never friends with mischief makers, didn’t see visions in her dreams, had never been given up by her teachers, was never nearly made Tranquil, never called a runt or a mutt. Not Elia Winters-Desrochers, no.

Elia Winters-Desrochers was an agent of the Divine, a noble’s bastard daughter, a practitioner of divination, a life long Andrastian, an ideal mage. It was a choice to use only fire in battle; she was honoring Andraste. She wasn’t a freak. She’d never struggled with her magic or been cast aside by her peers. You must have her confused with someone else.

It had started small. One piece of her altered. Then another. And another. And another. 

Until one day, Elia blinked. And everything about her life was a lie.

[feferipeixes]

Grapefruit Juice

For @skia-oura. You know what you did.

(on AO3)

It was a quiet morning when Bentley awoke, nestled in between Dipper and Torako. Dipper was curled up in the fetal position, forehead resting on Bentley’s shoulder, a clawed hand caressing his other shoulder, little Z’s floating above the demon’s head. Torako, on the other hand, was practically lying on top of him, spread-eagled and snoring loudly. A small smile spread across Bentley’s sleepy face. It felt so nice, in a weird way he didn’t know how to express. He loved waking up next to those two dorks. It felt safe to be with them.

Also, the fact that they were sleeping meant they weren’t wreaking havoc, which was always a plus.

A glance at the alarm clock -- it was early. Too early to really start the day, but too late to get back to sleep. He carefully extracted himself from the bed, making sure not to wake either of his roommates up. Tiptoeing out of the room like a cartoon character, he eased the door shut and then proceeded to the kitchen.

He opened the cupboard to look for something to eat for breakfast. The box of Moffios immediately stuck out to him -- he noticed that the sigil preventing it from being touched was almost worn away. Either Torako had been scratching it out or she’d made some sort of deal with Dipper. He quickly re-inscribed the symbol, and the box took on a glittery sheen indicating that it’d sting any fingers who tried to take it. That should keep her away from it for a few more days.

He grabbed his favorite almond-based caffeinated cereal and closed the cupboard. Setting the box of Nutty Tweaks down on the table, he fetched a bowl and looked through the fridge for something to drink. His usual box of orange juice was nowhere to be found. Bentley rolled his eyes -- no doubt his doofus brother finished it off and forgot to put it on the shopping list. Looked like he was eating dry tweaks that morning.

Except...

In the back of the fridge, he glimpsed a bottle of pink juice. He pulled it out and looked it over for a label. Nothing. It was probably the weird old-timey juice that Dipper would import from Australia, which was apparently the only remaining place where it was made. With a glint in his eye, Bentley poured himself a glass. If Dipper was going to drink all of his juice, he’d just have to return the favor.

His revenge at hand, Bentley sat at the table and started spooning crunchy almonds into his mouth. He considered the box’s promise to get anyone who eats the cereal “absolutely shredded” with “ham wild muscles” and “disgustingly feral abs”. He wondered if people really fell for that kind of marketing. At any rate, it didn’t affect him. He just liked almonds. And caffeine.

...although if he Did happen to get stronger from eating cereal, he wouldn’t complain. He’d be able to draw longer-lasting sigils if he could cut deeper into a surface.

Cereal consumed, Bentley raised the glass of juice to his lips. He briefly wondered whether it really was such a good idea to drink a demon’s juice -- for all he knew, it wasn’t actually juice but rather distilled insanity with blood mixed in (for taste). The promise of vengeance was too much to pass up, though, and he took a small sip.

And then downed the entire glass.

Whatever that stuff was, it was delicious. Weirdly tart with a sweet aftertaste. He’d never tasted anything like it -- no wonder Dipper went to such great lengths to obtain it. Before he knew it, Bentley had drunk the entire bottle. Surveying the casualties of his breakfast, he felt a small seed of guilt sprout within him, but he quickly brushed it away. It’s only what Dipper deserved for drinking all the orange juice.

Out of nowhere, the bedroom door slammed open with enough force to shake the room. Salt and pepper shakers spilled onto the counter. A clock fell off the wall and shattered on the floor. Bentley felt the chair he was sitting on jump a foot off the ground, and his arms shot out instinctively to grab the table so he wouldn’t fall over. Disoriented, it took him a moment to parse what was happening. Then he saw Torako standing in the doorway with a crazed look on her face, and immediately knew his peaceful morning was over.

“Bentley!” she yelled, gesticulating wildly. “You’re eating breakfast? Without meeeee?”

“You were asleep!” he countered. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

He shrank into his chair as she stomped over to him, hands on hips, hair matted and messy. She picked up the cereal box and broke into a mischievous grin. “Bentley’s Getting Buff, I see.” She cackled and tossed the box aside, sprinkling almonds across the kitchen.

“Stop! I just cleaned the apartment yesterday!”

Ignoring him, she picked up the empty juice bottle on the table and examined it while Bentley eyed her suspiciously. It was very likely she’d pick Dipper’s side if a revenge battle broke out because the two of them combined were an unstoppable chaos machine. He had to get her off the topic of breakfast, quick.

“Hey, Tora,” he said carefully. “I was thinking about re-dyeing my hair. Did you wanna...”

Torako cut him off by screaming at the top of her lungs. Bentley winced and clapped his hands to his ears. “What the hell are you doing?” he hissed. “You’re going to wake up the entire building!”

“Did you drink Dipper’s grapefruit juice????” she screeched.

Bentley shrank into his chair again. “Maybe. But he deserved it.” He glanced at the open bedroom door, curious about the fact that Dipper hadn’t come out yet to see what was going on. Maybe he’d been summoned.

“Oh NO Ben, this is BAD,” Torako continued to yell. “Holy shit holy shit HOLY SHIT!”

Bentley started edging away from her. “Is something happening right now? Am I missing something?”

She tore her gaze away from the bottle and stared him directly in the eyes, radiating such delirium that it was almost nauseating to look at. She hurled the bottle into the ground as hard as she could, and it broke through the floor into the next apartment down. Before he could object to this, she grabbed him by the shirt collar and shrieked, “BENTLEY you’re gonna DIE, that was GRAPEFRUIT JUICE, don’t you KNOW, it’s gonna make your ANTIDEPRESSANTS EXPLODE IN YOUR BRAIN!”

He gaped at her. “What are you talking abouuuu- !” He yelped as Torako effortlessly lifted him up and wrapped him over her shoulders. He tried in vain to wriggle free of her grip, but she was much stronger than him. “Let go of me!”

“Hello? Hospital?” Bentley stopped flailing to see Torako talking into a phone wedged between her head and her shoulder that couldn’t possibly have been there more than a second ago. “Yes, hospital! Please come quick! We have a serious case of genius boy brain burst! Oh stars, I can’t do this!” She dropped the phone and started sobbing, prompting Bentley’s anxiety to shoot through the roof.

“Tora? Are you okay? I’m really worried.” Not about himself, because he was pretty sure his brain was not about to explode from drinking juice, but even in her most trickster of moments Torako had never acted like this before and it was freaking him out. “Is this part of a prank or are you... really having some kind of breakdown right now? If this is real then I need to know so I can help.”

“You’re the one who needs help, you poor thing.” She laid him down on a stretcher and patted him on the head. “It’s gonna be okay! The hospital people will save you! They’ll take you to the juicer from Willy Wonka and everything will be okay!”

“What’s Willy Wonka?” Bentley yelled as he was pulled away on the stretcher. He watched Torako get smaller and smaller before finally fading away into the distance. Exhausted, he put his head down and stared up at the inky black ceiling of the ambulance. “This is so annoying. I don’t need to go to the hospital. I need to bust out of here.”

“Please don’t,” Philip said. Bentley’s eyes boggled at the sight of his father steering the ambulance. He gave his son a wink before turning back to face the road. “I’d have to chase you down or I’ll get fired, and I can’t do that. You’re so much faster than me now.”

“Dad?” Bentley breathed. “Why are you driving an ambulance? When did you -- you’re not supposed to -- isn’t it late?”

There was a sigh from the front seat. “Sorry, Bentley, I didn’t mean for you to find out this way, when you’re about to die from grapefruit overdose, but it’s true. I wasn’t making enough money doodling little hearts on pictures of your very handsome roommate. I had to pick up some odd jobs to make ends meet.”

“You what now?”

“It’s shameful, I know.” Philip’s head smacked down onto the steering wheel, and the ambulance started swerving wildly around on the road. “In a perfect world, we’d all be able to sit around and talk about demons all day without worrying about rent or food, but we don’t live in a perfect world and it’s my job as a father to break that to you. I’m so sorry.”

Bentley opened his mouth to respond, but faltered when he heard a hiccup. He flipped over onto his stomach to see his father weeping softly onto the steering wheel. Alarm bells rang in his head. “Dad, please don’t cry. It’s alright.” He attempted to undo the straps holding him on the stretcher, but they only seemed to get tighter. “We can talk about this. Please don’t cry.”

He reached out to him, his fingers gently brushing up against the driver’s seat, hoping that his father would sense his presence and take his hand. But it never came. There was a jerking sensation from beneath him as the conveyor belt activated, and the stretcher started moving away from the ambulance.

“Dad?” Bentley called, his voice heavy with reverberation. “Dad, don’t leave!”

No response. The sound of weeping faded away, and Bentley felt a pit settle in his stomach. He looked around and saw that he was rolling slowly on a track that ran through a landscape of stars. A row of doctors stared at him with blurry faces from behind a glass partition. Half of them gasped as he went by. The other half just looked disappointed, shaking their heads or crossing their arms.

“It’s… the Grapefruit Juice Boy,” one of them choked out.

“That doesn’t make any sense!” he yelled, scowling. “This -- okay, I’m getting suspicious now! Am I dreaming? Is this what a dream that isn’t a nightmare is like? It sucks!”

The conveyor stuttered to a halt and the doctors all vanished. Bentley blinked, and realized he was in a dentist’s office. A pair of hands pulled a paper bib around his neck, and his scowl deepened. “Now what’s going on? I thought this dream was about medication interactions! Why am I at the dentist now?”

“Grapefruit juice is really sugary,” came a voice from behind him. “Your teeth are gonna fall out.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Bentley raged. “My roommates constantly pour sugar into every orifice on their faces, but I have a stress dream about the dentist because I drank a bottle of juice. I’d like to see Torako and Dip- hey wait a minute!” He cut off as the familiarity of the dentist’s voice hit him. The hands appeared again, putting a second bib on him, and Bentley noticed the fingers were tipped with claws. He struggled to tilt his head back, and caught a glint of light off the razor sharp teeth in the dentist’s grin.

“Hi Bentley,” Dipper said.

“Dipper? Why are you the dentist?” He collapsed back into the dentist’s chair and let his limbs fall limp over the sides. “Why are dreams like this? Is there some deep meaning behind all of this? I’d almost prefer the nightmares to Dipper cleaning my teeth.”

“Hey now,” Dipper pouted, putting a third bib around Bentley’s neck. “Maybe I’m really good at dental work. You know how hard flossing is with teeth like this?”

Bentley scratched his head. “Um, I guess not. But then why would I dream- hey wait a minute. Are you a dream Dipper or the real one?”

Dipper dropped the fourth bib he was holding and stepped back, bumping into a table of dental equipment. “Uhhhhh. Dream Dipper, definitely. Your brain just loves thinking about me. That’s it.”

The scowl returned to Bentley’s face in full-force. Sitting up, he tore the bibs off his neck and stared his roommate right in his dumb evil eyes. “It is the real you! What are you doing in my dream? This is all your fault, isn’t it?”

The demon smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. “Haha, well, uh, yeah sort of. Technically it’s Torako’s fault. This was all her idea, but I’m the one with the dream magic, so it just made sense, like oh who’s gonna keep Bentley in a weird dream so that he sleeps in today, Dipper obviously, and -”

Swinging his legs off the table, Bentley stood up for the first time in what felt like ages, and marched over shakily as Dipper backed away. “You trapped me in a crazy dream world??”

“No! Not really!” Dipper raised his arms, looking panicked. “I mean, okay, I made parts of it, but mostly all I did was stop you from waking up earlier! Sometimes people just have weird dreams, Ben! It’s a natural part of life for your species!”

“I’m putting wards all over the bedroom when I wake up. Why did you do this??”

Dipper shrank down to his 12-year old form and tried his best to look innocent. “No reason at all! You just looked like you needed some sleep! It definitely wasn’t that Torako needed time to break the sigil you made to prevent her from touching the box of Moffios!”

“Oh my stars Torako. This is ridiculous.” Bentley stared at his hands, picturing them each grasping one of his roommates’ hands, thinking about how that was definitely not going to be happening again for two weeks at minimum. “Does this at least mean you didn’t actually finish off my orange juice?”

Dipper giggled nervously. “Yeah, about that...”

Bentley facepalmed. “Wake me up. Right now.”

“Well, uh, you see,” Dipper replied, squirming, “it’s like, there’s a time limit on the deal I made with Torako, and yknow how it is...”

“If you don’t wake me up this instant, you’re gonna have a lot more to worry about than whether or not you’re getting cuddles ever again. I’ll have my dad over for dinner every single night and he’ll ask you every uncomfortable question under the sun! Do you hear me?”

Dipper blanched. “Yes sir, right away sir!” he babbled, standing up straight and saluting. He snapped his fingers, and the world fell away.

Bentley shot upright in bed, the sounds of squealing floating in from the kitchen. He jumped out from the covers, sprinting past the ashamed-looking demon at the door, to see Torako kneeling on the kitchen counter, jabbing at the box of Moffios with a dinner knife.

“Torako! No!” he hollered, racing after her. “I’m never buying Moffios again!”

Her eyes grew big as dinner plates and she took off with the box, running around the table to get away from him. “Bentley! You’re awake! Uh… this isn’t what it looks like!”

“It looks like I’m changing the locks is what it looks like!”

“Dipper!” she cried as she passed the demon, who was watching the scene looking half-concerned and half-amused. “You said you’d keep him busy! We had a deal!”

“He figured it out!” Dipper cried back. “I knew he’d be too smart to fall for this!”

“I’m coming for you next, jerkface!” Bentley roared.

The sounds of screaming and furniture toppling over filled the apartment. The people in the apartment immediately below them hesitated before calling the landlord to complain about the noise. It was, after all, not much worse than Saturdays usually were in the Pines-Lam-Farkas household.

----

A bright ray of sunlight beamed through a crack in the curtains and directly onto Torako’s face, waking her up. She shifted, trying to find a comfortable position amidst the lumpy couch cushions, but eventually resigned to her fate and opened her eyes. She was in the living room, of course, because Bentley hadn’t let her sleep in his room for a week now, which was just a little bit of an excessive punishment if you asked her! All of this and she didn’t even get any Moffios. The sheer injustice of it all.

Sitting up, she yawned and surveyed the room. She scratched her head as she looked for Dipper. He’d been sleeping on the floor next to her since they’d both been exiled from Bentley’s room, but the demon was presently nowhere to be seen, which was strange. He must’ve had an early morning summons. Oh well.

She headed over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. If she wasn’t allowed to have Moffios, she’d at least have something sweet to drink for breakfast. She grabbed the box of orange juice, flipped off the lid, and started chugging it directly from the carton. When it was all done, she collapsed into a chair with a large grin. Just what she needed to start the day.

“TORAKO!” Dipper yelled out of nowhere, blipping into reality directly beside her. “Did you drink my grapefruit juice?”

She yelped and fell out of her chair. “What? No, this is Bentley’s oran-” She lifted her hand, still holding the empty box of juice, but trailed off when she realized she was actually holding a clear bottle with a small amount of pink liquid left inside. She stared at it in shock, then at Dipper who looked equally as horrified. “What? But, I -”

“Torako, you’re gonna DIE!” Dipper screamed, suddenly wearing a nurse’s outfit and pushing her down the hall on a hospital bed. “Your MEDS are gonna EXPLODE in your BRAIN!”

“Noooooo!” she shrieked, flailing around as her parents jogged up beside the bed and waved at her while sobbing. “Bentley was right! This is awful!”

In the real world, Bentley was in the kitchen, applying the finishing touches on a new Moffios-protecting sigil that would last eight times as long. He heard Torako yelling in her sleep from across the room and smiled. “Yeah, it is,” he muttered, walking over. “Next time you’ll think twice before you try something like that on me.”

“Um… do you think she’s had enough?” Dipper asked from his position on the floor. He had his hand on Torako’s head, and when he looked up Bentley could see Torako’s dream reflected in the demon’s eyes. She’d somehow managed to wriggle free of the straps on the bed and was running down a highway in only a hospital gown, being pursued by a fleet of ambulances. “She admitted defeat.”

Bentley sat on the edge of the couch and seemed to consider it. “Yeah,” he said finally. “You can wake her up.”

Dipper nodded, and removed his hand from Torako’s head. She gasped and her eyes flew open, looking in all directions before making eye contact with Bentley. She leapt off the sofa and backed against the wall.

“Sorry, Ben! I’ll never Dip into your dreams ever again!”

Bentley sniffed. “Sounds about right. And you?” He turned to Dipper, who looked similarly panicked under Bentley’s purview.

“And I promise I’ll only side with Torako sometimes instead of all the time!” he offered, backing up beside Torako. “Also not to go into your dreams ever unless I really need to, which I totally won’t take advantage of ever!”

“Good. I’m glad we had this talk.” Bentley stood up. “Do either of you want breakfast?”

“NO!” Dipper and Torako both screamed, scampering away at full speed. They ran into the bedroom, dove under the covers, and clutched each other tight. “Never again!”

“Suit yourself,” Bentley said, trying out the shoulder up-and-down thing that Dipper always did to express indifference. He pulled the bedroom door shut and just stood there for a bit, reflecting on the day’s events. Then he walked over to the kitchen, poured himself a bowl of Nutty Tweaks, and took a seat by the window so he could watch the snow fall as he ate.

It really was a very peaceful morning.

(AO3 link)

[parkeraul]

want it back | s.m

a/n: today’s q&a gave me the whole vibe for this dad!shawn blurb. enjoy i guess. warnings: dad!shawn and (i tried to) fluff.

“Dada!” Shawn hears that pitchy voice screaming and coming closer to where he is, sat down on the couch plucking the strings of his guitar. He widens his eyes and turns his head to the side, immediately capturing the sight of those tiny feet tumbling around after coming downstairs.  “What did I tell you about running on the st—”  “Look!” He can’t finish the sentence because she’s climbing his legs to sit on his lap. Struggling, she grabs the fabric of his white shirt to get impulse after he places the guitar aside, holding back a laughter because the cuteness of the view is too much: her chocolate hair is falling in front of her face and, although she’s having a hard time escalating his long legs, she doesn’t give up. Shawn holds her middle with both hands and rearranges his frame on the sofa, helping her to sit on top of him. She shows him a wide and forced smile, her lips all purple from the grape juice she was drinking and Shawn moves his head to all the sides, trying to find what’s wrong.  “Look what, hun?” He asks, grabbing her little chin in between his fingers and tilting her face up. Her nose is scrunched and her eyes are squinting, due to the strength she’s putting to spread her smile even bigger.  “My tooth!”  “I see all of your teeth, darlin’.”  “Noooo, dada,” She uses the tip of her forefinger to put on top of her front tooth. “This one!”  “What’s the matter with it?”  “It’s swaying back and forth,” Poking her tongue to move the little tooth repeatedly, she nearly shoves her own face onto his so he can finally identify the problem. In her imagination, the tooth is in a playground playing with the swing chairs — pretty much why she hadn’t freaked out yet.

“Swaying back and forth?” Shawn asks, slightly surprised. “You mean loose?”  “Loose?” Her heart sinks a little and she sits back on his legs, looking at him kind of shocked. She doesn’t understand why he’s smiling so sweetly towards her when serious things are happening right now. “Yes, baby,” He tucks her hair behind her ears, unsuccessfully trying to clean the purple stains from the corner of her lips. “See, when we’re little it’s normal to—”  “But I don’t wanna lose it, dada,” Her tone fails and she puts her finger back on her tooth, as if she’s got the control over it to make it stay in its place for as long as she wants it to. Shawn feels like melting, watching her hazel eyes watering like she’s about to lose a very important thing. It’s important for her, of course, so he doesn’t wash her over with an entire rational or scientific explanation. Instead, he pulls her closer and gives her hair a gentle rub, trying to comfort her heaving little chest. “Am I going to lose it?”  “No, you’re not,” He freezes, noticing the biggest lie he just told his little girl without even thinking twice. Oh, she would be so mad at him. “I mean... Like... Well, what dada wants to say is...” Shawn is gesturing his hands crazily, looking up at the ceiling so he doesn’t need to feel her worried look slicing him in two. He tries to ramble and ends up defeated by his own thoughts. He had to be honest and sincere with her, that’s something he promised himself and promised to her as well. He chuckles under his breath, realising how serious he’s taking all of this. Maybe it’s the burning love that he feels for the little version of himself, sitting in front of him with her two thumbs and two forefingers pinching the loosened tooth unstoppably, bringing him to live intensely one of the most terrifying situations for a little child. “Yes, you’re going to lose it. Sorry I lied to you before. But don’t worry, sweets, it won’t hurt and dada is here to help you out, eh?” He stares at her, still looking at him with big puppy eyes — moistened by thin lines of tears as they brighten up due to that — with both hands up on her mouth. “This tooth, this one that’s swaying back and forth, has to leave because a stronger and prettier one is coming to replace it, okay?” He says, poking her hand lightly to refer at her tooth behind it.  “But I want this one, dada.”  “And you can keep it, darling,” Shawn says, a curl of his flopping down and a curl of hers does the same thing. “We’ll find another place for it.”  “I don’t wanna be untoothed!”  “You don’t wanna be what?” He laughs, feeling a little guilt tap his shoulder and tell him not to, because she’s probably very close to start crying.  “Untoothed,” Her bottom lip juts out and she pouts, chin contorting and trembling as she fights back her own cry. The words are still muffled by her fingers — getting completely soaked from the long time they’ve been in her mouth — and somehow it’s even funnier for Shawn. Not fun because she’s in pain, of course not. It’s fun because she’s helplessly cute even this desperate, innocently trying to understand why the hell her beloved tooth has to leave. He feels the extreme urge to keep her in his pocket and carry her wherever he goes.  “You won’t be, babe,” He cups her small face in his enormous palm. “Didn’t you listen to daddy? Another one will come out, you’re not gonna be untoothed.”  “Promise?”  He exhales deeply, closing his eyes for a moment and trying hard not to squeeze her petit body and tickle her endlessly.  “I promise, bub,” Shawn pinches her cheek weakly, winking and smiling at her. “And don’t worry, ‘kay? When dada first lost a tooth, it felt the same way. I was scared, I feared that I’d be... untoothed, and turns out it’s totally alright. It doesn’t hurt at all and, although it takes some time for the new tooth to show up, it’s gonna happen. It really is—”  “How long?” Her voice is no longer muffled by her hands, and he hears her tongue clicking against the roof of her mouth repetitively.  “Not sure, love,” Shawn confesses. “Probably until Christmas it’ll be there, eh? I don’t know exactly, it really depends— DID YOU JUST PULL YOUR TOOTH OUT?”  When he looks at her more attentively, his gaze drops down to her hands holding the little tooth while she maps the inside of her mouth with her tongue, trying to adapt herself to the new sensation of being... Untoothed. There’s a little bit of blood on top of the tooth, and a little bit on the hole that used to keep the tooth before and she can taste it, the reason why she’s been snapping her tongue relentlessly. She doesn’t quite realise until he says it out loud, and the panic takes over her slowly when she also looks at the tooth in between her wet fingers.  “I did?” She asks more to herself than to her father, who’s now watching her half proud of her subconscious braveness and half concerned about her reactions that are yet to come. “I did! Dada, I did!”  “There you go—”  “I want it back!” She offers him the tooth and he takes it on his palm. Before he can analyse the little piece with more patience, she’s inching closer and opening her mouth to him. “Put it back, dada!” The squeaky tone of her shaky voice breaks his heart, wishing he could’ve recorded it all to show her when she’s older and to keep it to himself, just like he’s been doing with every single memorable moment of hers (and the not-so-memorable as well, if he’s honest).  “We can’t put it back, baby,” Shawn uses the most calming tone he can, more than gentle to assure her that things are going to be just fine. “See?” He puts the tooth back in place and instantly opens his hand under it, seeing the tooth fall back onto his palm. “It won’t stay. But it’s okay, love. It’s alright. Look at me.”  And so she does.  “Just imagine that the Tooth Fairy will come over tonight, after dinner, and glue the new tooth so well that it’s never gonna fall off again, hm? Remember when we talked about her?” She nods along, eyes just like his scanning the living room like she’s searching for something. “But you’ll need to go to bed early and brush your teeth, so she can give you a new one. Alright?”  “Promise?”  He smiles, always softening up to the phase when she learned to make everyone promise her the things they say. He could promise to give her the entire world, because one day he probably will.  “I promise, princess. Now c’mere,” She shifts next to him and he holds her close to his body, kissing the top of her head and caressing her back. “Dada loves you.” 

Later that day, his little girl was still on her bedroom after their conversation. She bailed and told him she had some very important things to do — paraphrasing her own father, using the words he uses when he needs to work on new music instead of playing with her — and since then, she never left upstairs again. 

“Where’s she?” Y/N asks, coming behind Shawn to embrace his middle.  “She’s in her room, doing important stuff.” Grinning to himself, he says as he finishes setting up the dinner table.  “I’ll go check on her, she’s been silent for a while.” 

And just when he’s done, putting his phone out of his pocket to scroll through random social medias, a voice calls him out. 

“What happened?”  Y/N says nothing, just points to the room. The floor is painted with ribbons of white and the little table that his daughter uses to draw is dripping with ribbons of white as well, leading the way to the mirror on the wall where that tiny little frame is in front of. Sitting down with her mouth, hands and clothes stained with white glue, she switches looks between her mom and her dad. The little tooth is right there on her dirty hands, nearly lost in a pool of glue after her many failed attempts to get the damn tooth back in place.  “She said she couldn’t wait until the fairy comes, neither the Christmas.”  And he remembers about the terrible analogy he used before. Well, damn.  “I think I can explain it.”

[tzalmavet]

I am IN LOVE with your moomin oc's! They're so full of character and adorably quirky! If you would, could you please talk more about the psychology of Grokemama...? Why did she adopt her babies? Does she understand/recognize how different they are from other snorks/mumriks/whompers? How does she feel about them? And most of all... what are some of the happy memories they all share??! I'm so curious!

Ohhh gladly!

Grokemama, to put it in simple terms, is a walking disaster.  She’s a massive, hollow shell of the groke she could have been if she’d ever had even one taste of companionship while growing up; the fragments of a personality that fell apart from lack of care before it could even take on a proper shape.  Before she adopted her children, isolation, rejection, and silence were all she knew.

But to put it in less simple terms… I’ll describe under the cut.

Grokemama has always been alone.

If she’d ever had any company in her remote youth, it was torn away too early to leave any meaningful mark of health on her mind; and certainly left her too early for her to remember anyone ever caring about her.  As far as she knows, and that everyone else could tell, she had no family to speak of.

As an infant/small child, she generally had two modes: SCREAM and WRITHE, and would often be in both at once.  Unable to walk, they were really all that she could do.“WRITHE” was not only her sole mode of locomotion, but a coping mechanism that arose from lack of physical contact.  Understimulated, she sank into stereotypy– rocking herself, flailing her arms, and making strange movements with her hands, all habits which she’d never grow out of.“SCREAM” was many things.  She’d cry for help, wordlessly, hoping that someone would come and try to console her.  But eventually she grew so unused to contact that she’d scream more when touched, overwhelmed by the attention and warmth she wanted.  Stress made her cries turn shrill and raspy, and she soon became a strange and terrible thing to hear.Gradually, she learned that her voice and movements repelled the very people she was trying to seek comfort from, and shushed herself.  She’d sometimes break down into her noisy, convulsive hysterics again, but these instances became less and less frequent as the years went on.

In every way, she could have just died.  Her children were in a position not unlike hers once, and without her help they would have definitely perished.  But grokes are a resilient folk, and Grokemama had an intense will to just exist when she was little (“living” is a strong word for the state she was in).  She stole everything she needed in order to physically grow, either scaring off, ignoring, or beating up anyone who tried to stop her.  Her mind is stunted and scarred from the isolation, but her body is still functioning.

Like many grokes, Grokemama was cold.  Anyone can become frozen like a groke if they’re lonely enough, but grokes are especially prone to it.  Every cold groke has a different temperature, and Grokemama managed to halt her freezing at about the temperature of an inanimate object.She prevented herself from becoming deathly cold like some grokes do by escaping into her mind and numbing herself to her feelings.  Her heart couldn’t freeze if she couldn’t feel the emotional pain, but in a way it made her a different kind of cold.  Her touch can be survived, which is how she was able to eventually pick up her children before they could make her warm, but she still screwed herself up pretty bad.

Grokemama spends most of her time in an at least partially dissociated state; numb, she’s safe from the cold, from her sorrow, from breaking down.  She oscillates in and out of lucidity, filling the gaps where she might be overwhelmed by falling back on her stereotypy.… But once she found her children, that coping mechanism suddenly wasn’t very good for them.  She’s frequently out of reach, unresponsive, in her own little world.  She’s always got one foot inside the secure, foggy hole she’s carved for herself in her mind, and she’s loath to step out of it completely, lest she might fall into another hysterical fit.

Without a family, and with everyone else repelled by her, Grokemama had to figure out how to do everything by herself.  Everything she knows is from trial, error, and instinct.  For years and years, she was unable to walk upright, and moved primarily by dragging herself and flopping around, then crawling, then creeping, then leaning on things, until she could eventually stand up straight and walk around without tipping over (she’s actually much faster on all fours, still unable to run properly on two legs, but feels like she’s earned her upright stance).Grokemama understands talking about as well as any average person who’s struggling to learn a second language does, except without a first language to draw reference from.  Since she was generally avoided as a small child, hardly ever spoken to, her sense of language is permanently impaired.  She knows “good” and “bad”, “no” and “yes”, and some other words and phrases, but her grammar is primitive at best.  Whenever she says a “proper” sentence, it’s almost always because she’s parroting it verbatim from someone else, sometimes even mimicking the tone and accent of whoever she heard it from.  She tends to mumble on the rare occasions she speaks, filling in gaps where she thinks a word would go with word-like sounds or silent mouthings to keep the cadence of speech, making her even more difficult to communicate with.

Shortly after learning to walk, she hit puberty, her height shot up like a rocket, and she quickly became a Menace to Society (an adolescent groke with no socialization and no parental guidance is a threat to everyone they cross).  Her feelings were stoked up again, she was beset by growing pains, and rapidly getting physically stronger, she became an unstoppable thief that beat senseless or killed anyone she perceived as an immediate threat.

As a full-grown adult, she’s a lot more “calm”.  Her fits are rare, she’s got all her coping mechanisms down, and she prefers not to get into fights.  She’s a very passive being.  Things happen to and around her, and she doesn’t often react strongly, if at all.  Even physical pain is something she can ignore without flinching.  Her face is blank, most movements on it are purely practical or are twitches when it feels too stiff; her actual expressions outside of her hysterics are faint from lack of use.She can’t put her feelings into very many words, but she feels that she’s a repulsive being, that she sounds horrible, and that other creatures will shun her no matter how she acts.  She’s apathetic about society, and has an intense disregard for other peoples’ lives (after all, what have they ever done for her?).  She might be hateful or frustrated with people if she were more emotional, but she’s wound up just not caring enough to trouble herself for that.

Grokemama has difficulty confronting any feeling, negative or positive, without it completely overwhelming her and sending her into a fit.  Sometimes her children have tried to pry into her past, but she can barely say five words about it before the topic sends her into a conniption or dissociative episode.  Even though she trusts her children and isn’t really afraid to try and communicate with them, she still tries not to get too upset around them since it’s had such a strong effect on other people in the past.  She doesn’t like being seen while emotional, and even if she can’t explain it, they can tell it’s something very painful for her.

She doesn’t know how to fully work through any intense feeling without freaking out.  She doesn’t know how to be comforted when she’s upset. As far as Grokemama is concerned, her mental state is like a really nasty wound that one can’t bring themselves to look at or attempt to treat for fear of just making it worse.

+++

It’s hard to say all the exact reasons she adopted the Mumbler and Iris… I doubt she fully understands it herself, too.  But at least in part, seeing them lying on the ground as infants, outside, alone and crying with no one coming to comfort them… that scratched at a part of her subconscious, reminding her of how she was at that age.She was like them, but nobody ever picked her up and raised her.  Adopting them was a rare moment of empathy and compassion on her part.  She gave them the type of life she’d always wanted.

+++

She doesn’t know how different her children are from other members of their kind because she’s too unfamiliar with other species’ customs.  She can tell that they bear a resemblance to some of the beings she sees in the world, and she knows that they’re both different species from each other, but that’s about it.  Snork, Mumrik, Whomper… all those are words she doesn’t quite know.  She only knows that she herself is even a groke at all because so many people see her and go “oh shit it’s the Groke!” that she was able to catch on to it.  No one tells her these things, and she doesn’t go around trying to figure them out.

She knows that Iris and the Mumbler are her children, and that no one else, no matter how similar they look and sound, are anything remotely close to family.

Most living beings to Grokemama are categorized something like somewhere between “obstacle” and “food”– the only exceptions are Iris and the Mumbler, who are “baby”.  She doesn’t care about anyone but herself and her children.  There’s no room in her heart for anyone else.  She loves them as best she can, in her own way; but like everything else she does, love is something she had to teach herself.She likes how they make her warm, but she’s still not quite healed enough to stay warm if she’s away from them long enough.  If their love was a medicine, it would be one she doesn’t really know how to take properly.  They mean a whole lot to her, but she doesn’t always know how to express or process how that feels.

But unfortunately, to put it bluntly, she’s a negligent parent.  There’s no way around that fact, it’s just how she was.  However, she can’t understand this.  To her, she’s given her children the whole world.  They were fed, held, cleaned, they even learned how to speak and are now self-sufficient adults.  She never insulted them or struck at them.  And unlike her, they have a parental figure they can return to if they’re ever feeling scared and alone.

As troubled as her kids turned out, she would have done anything (anything) to grow up like they did.  She lacks the capacity to comprehend why she’d be considered a less-than-ideal parent by them when she gave them infinitely more than she’d ever dreamed of having for herself as a child.

And now for the happy memories so this post doesn’t end so sadly!

Any time one of them managed to steal something especially tasty to share, like a box of treats or someone’s holiday dinner.  They can all enjoy raw food just fine, but prefer prepared meals when they can get them.

Any time the Mumbler makes something out of flowers is pleasant.  He enjoys decorating his mama and brother, and they like the attention from him.  Weaving flowers around their wrists and tails, putting together flower crowns, or even just peacefully making endless flower chains.  Sometimes they can even make Grokemama do a pleased little spin while she admires his work.

Grokemama was very pleased when she discovered that her children didn’t hate her voice.  On the contrary, they were drawn to her sounds, and would even try to imitate them.  This encouraged her to engage with them vocally, using what few words she knew, cooing and babbling to them, and they all became better at communicating together.

The time Iris taught Grokemama what the word “precious” meant, and the first thing she did once she’d grasped it was point at him and call him precious.

They enjoyed playing together.  Iris and the Mumbler did most of it, playing games they’d learn from other children they met, or ones inspired by the creatures they’d see in the wild.  Grokemama doesn’t fully understand playing since she never tried it while growing up, but when Mumbler was tiny she’d let him chase and play with her long tail like a cat with a string.

The Mumbler really liked cuddling up to Grokemama growing up, and especially thinks fondly of the times he’d hide in her dress during the freezing winters.  She’d be warm enough that snowflakes could fall right on his nose and he wouldn’t feel chilly at all while touching her.

Everyone likes being cozy with Iris, since he has the softest fur.  Mumbler would cuddle up to him when Grokemama wasn’t around, and Grokemama would enjoy idly petting him when she felt compelled to stim and he happened to be in her arms.

Grokemama made all of her childrens’ dresses until they moved away (despite her lack of education, I think that dressmaking comes naturally to grokes. Like every moomintroll needs a moominhouse, every groke needs a floor-length dress that everyone else will mistake for a part of their body).  She’d make the Mumbler’s dress match his hair color, and tried to do the same for Iris, too.  But Iris, being a snork, frequently changed colors, and so she’d make him a new dress every time she noticed he was a new color.She did this less often after a while since he kept outgrowing them so fast, but still gives him a new one every so often.  Iris has come to respect this skill of hers as an adult, especially since she manages to make them fit so well without the use of measuring tape or being able to use scissors.

HOO that’s probably enough for now… sorry if this is a little much lol.  2k+ words here and not even all of it!  Thanks a lot for the ask!  I love talking about this stuff!

[dresupi]

I Feel It In My (Magnetic) Core

Darcyland Crack Challenge 2019 |  Day 4: Must Include Magnets | 

Ship:  Darcy Lewis/Leo Fitz |  Word Count: 1946 |  Rating: E |  Other Tags: Mutual Pining, Crushes, Magnets, Inappropriate Erections, Making out, Frottage,  |  Prompt: Day 4: Must include magnets |  Word Count: 1946

Summary:

"God, I'm sorry! I'll try not to move it! So sorry. God…" Darcy concentrated on not moving her hand.

"Somehow that's worse," Fitz groaned, rubbing his hand over his face. "And I'm the one who's sorry, you didn't ask for this."

Pretty sure no one asks for this.

That's what Darcy's thinking as her ring remains attached to the button on Fitz's pants.

But it's really not as dire as either of them think. Their attraction is stronger than any magnet, anyway.

Darcy didn't usually pick up coffee for just anyone. Sure, she started out as the resident gopher, but she only grabbed caffeinated goodness for a select few people. Jane was one. Fitz was another. She also got Bruce his tea, but she was pretty sure he hadn't noticed that she'd been promoted and it had been too long now to correct him. Plus, he was super nice about it. How do you say no to the most polite-person, ever, right? Super plus, his tea was non-caffeinated, so she technically only got the good stuff for a few people.

Anyway, she stopped off in the engineering lab-slash-workshop with Fitz's fave. A double-shot plain latte with soy.

"I come bearing espresso…" she called as she let herself into the lab.

"You know, I was just going to head down to get some, but I was sidetracked…" Fitz responded, bending at the waist over the counter to hold an orange disk out at arm's length away. There were five or six pennies stationed at the opposite end of the surface. When he tapped his phone screen with the opposite hand, the pennies shot straight to the orange disk and he grinned widely, glancing up at her before tapping his screen again. That switched off whatever was in the orange disk because the pennies fell to the countertop with a clatter again.

"Some kind of something that attracts… zinc?" she guessed, handing him his coffee.

"Well. Yes, but it's more."

"How much more? Lemme have it, Fitz." She didn't really have to know, but she was curious. Plus, Fitz always got this big goofy grin on his face when he explained something scientific, and Darcy might have had the teeniest, tiniest, mostly professional crush on the young doctor and that goofy grin of his.

"The disk is controllable via an app, but it basically alters its molecular makeup to make it magnetic to whatever metal you can imagine. I have settings for anything and everything."

"Not all metals are magnetic, though. Like zinc," she gestured to the pennies. "Sooo…"

"Ha, the known metals on earth," he countered. "This disk is made of something not of this earth and it can be magnetically attracted to every known metallic atom."

"How?"

Fitz pursed his lips briefly. "Well, that I don't know. But it's really cool, right? It's going to be used for defense or lock picking or some such nonsense, but I'd like to make one of my own. To hold all my bits and bobs and…" he stopped talking and took a sip from his coffee. "You're not interested in that, I'd wager."

"No. I have a healthy interest in your bits and bobs…" Darcy said, grinning a little as she tugged a stool over to sit down. He either didn't catch the flirty tone of her voice, or he was too deep in the science of it all to register anything flirtatious.

"In addition, I can use the disk to briefly alter a metal to make it magnetic to everything of its own type. Like a piece of iron could attract all other pieces of iron. A piece of steel could attract all others with its molecular makeup. It'll be useful for cleanup. Crashes. Salvage. That sort of thing…"

"Whoa. Cool. Demo?"

"Sure, here… " He reached for her hand, touching the orange disk to the ring on her right ring finger for a moment. "Give me just a moment for the disk to scan you and--"

Her hand shot out, dinging slightly when it hit its target. Fitz grunted and glanced down at Darcy's hand, which was now stuck fast to the front of his pants.

He exhaled slowly. "Darcy?"

"I didn't do it!" she exclaimed. "I promise. I'd never grope your crotch without asking."

His face shot up briefly. "What? Wha… wh--- so you'd do it with permission, that what you're saying?" His voice got all high pitched and panicky and if Darcy wasn't just a few ticks past freaking out herself, she'd stop and admire him for being so utterly adorable and Scottish.

"That's totally not what I meant, I just meant I wouldn't. I'd never…" She yanked her hand, which only succeeded in yanking him with it.  Hips first, of course. "Turn it off, Fitz."

"I'm trying! It's-still-in-development-technically-so-things-like-this-still-happen." He was speaking just as rapidly as before, so she had to squint to decipher everything he said. It was difficult when it was all strung together like it was.

"Deep breath, Fitz," she said. "You gotta slow down, or I won't be able to understand you."

He took a long, deep breath and released it.

She continued. "You said the metal's only magnetic briefly, how brief is the usual stint?"

"Ten minutes or so, usually how long it would take for someone salvaging the metal to scoop up the mass, and then it wears off and everything unsticks."

"Okay, so we just have to wait ten minutes, right?"

"Well, normally we would.  But since I was testing this, I rose the time limit."

"To what?"

He covered his face with his hands. "Aroundtwohours..." The words came out jumbled and muffled by his hands, but she could still make it out.

She exhaled, glancing down at her ring, her right palm splayed right over the zipper on his corduroys. "Deep breaths, you're speaking in cursive again."

He sucked a breath in and released it again, a little quicker than before, but it still helped. "What I don't understand is why your ring attracted the button on my trousers… I just… my trouser buttons aren't made from anything you'd make jewelry from."

"My ring's made of a zinc alloy. Janey had it made for me out of a scrap of our first mobile lab. Apparently, your trouser button is made of the same material… which is interesting, to say the least," she said, bordering on a full-on nervous ramble.

Fitz crossed his arms, his lips all but disappeared as he pressed them in a thin line. "Is it, Darcy? Is it interesting? Really?"

"Why don't you sit down? I'll go with you to grab a stool or something. Or just take your pants off. I won't look, I promise. I can even get an intern to go grab some of Bruce's extras for you to borrow until yours fall off my ring."

"That… that…" he shook his head. He was looking increasingly flustered and Darcy, for the life of her couldn't figure out why. Sure, this was an embarrassing predicament, but it wasn't as if it were becoming more embarrassing or anything. He was wearing underwear, most likely, and she wasn't going to look. Her little crush notwithstanding. She wasn't into ogling someone's underwear without their explicit permission.

He shifted again and suddenly it dawned on her.

Or pressed against her hand, rather. It was pressing rather stiffly against her thumb and forefinger, effectively tenting his trousers and becoming more and more impossible to ignore by the second.

He had to realize she'd notice, which explained his increasing frustration levels. Frustration on all fronts.

"Oh!" She tried to yank her hand back out of instinct, but again, it was stuck. Fitz jolted forward with her hand, closing his eyes and sighing heavily.

She scrambled for something to say. Something to make it better. "Oh geez. I'm sorry. Fitz. Really, it's not a big deal. I mean… I don't mean to say it's not big, but--"

If nothing else worked, maybe her rambling would. It was enough of a bucket of cold water to usually cool off anyone unfortunate enough to be paired with her on Tinder, so.

"Darcy… it's not your fault."

"God, really!" she continued, unstoppable in her awkwardness. " I'm sorry! I'll try not to move it! So sorry. God…" Darcy concentrated on not moving her hand. On not feeling the rapidly, almost impossibly, hardening… shaft-- God why am I like this?--beneath her fingers.

"Somehow that's worse," Fitz groaned, rubbing his hand over his face. "And I'm the one who's sorry, you didn't ask for this. Please stop apologizing."

"Maybe we could try not talking about it?" she offered. Seriously. This was a case of friction, right? Any dude would have this same problem. They just needed to diffuse the situation. Get him thinking about something else. Then, the problem would… shrink, and he could slip off his pants and then it'd be so much less awkward.

Fitz just shook his head, leaning back against the counter and taking Darcy with him.

"Seriously. Dude. It's just me. Just me. It's--"

"That's the problem, Darcy. It's you."

She blinked rapidly, trying to ascertain the meaning of his words. It was her. Why was that the problem? Did he… did he find her repulsive?

Her train of thought must have shown on her face because he quickly tried to explain further. "No, Darcy… you're the reason it's… in the state it's in." He looked down to where her hand was resting. He took his bottom lip between his teeth for a short moment. He looked up into her eyes. "I'm very fond of you. Feels like an understatement, considering…"

Darcy's mouth felt dry, so she snapped it closed, musing over his words. "So you… you fancy me?" Borrowing one of his words felt apropos, given their predicament.

He huffed out a laugh, smiling and blushing an even darker red. "Yes. You sound surprised, and I thought I was being obvious."

Darcy moved slightly closer, close enough to feel the heat radiating off his body. To feel the waves of his nervousness. "I thought I was being obvious. Bringing you coffee, hanging on your every word. I mean, it's not difficult to hang on your every word, you're really interesting, but still…"

He made some kind of nervous sound, leaning to brace his hands on the counter behind him.

She moved to close the distance between them. She pressed her lips to his and he jolted. His arms stiffened as he leaned more into the kiss, even after Darcy broke it off, he chased after her, eyes dark. He smiled. "That's not helping matters in the slightest, I hope you know."

"I do," she said, smiling devilishly and moving her hand. Just slightly. Increasing the pressure until she had it wrapped loosely around him in his trousers.

He swallowed thickly, his throat bobbing as she leaned closer still, pressing her lips against his throat while she tightened her hold. "This okay?"

He gripped the counter and nodded. "Fuck yes, that's fine…"

She kissed her way up the column of his throat, lingering at his jaw until he cupped her chin with one hand so he could hold her still and kiss her deeply. His other arm snaked around her waist, pulling her flush against his body and trapping her hand between them.

A moan caught in his throat as he stopped abruptly, hurriedly breaking off the kiss. "Just one moment," he murmured, reaching for his phone and tapping against the screen a few times. Her hand suddenly dropped from his trousers, the weight of it tugging her wrist.

"My apologies. I promise I was paying attention. Just had a sudden thought…"

Darcy leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him again. "FRIDAY, can you lock down Dr. Fitz's lab, please?"

"Of course Ms. Lewis," the A.I agreed smoothly.

"Is it okay if I put my hand back where it was?" Darcy whispered, inhaling sharply when Fitz nuzzled her nose with his, her lips scant centimeters from his.

"As long as I can do something with mine…" His lips brushed against hers when he spoke.

"I was hoping you'd say that…"

[poppibranchlover]

The Queen and the Butterfly II: The Witch’s Curse - Part 16

This story is a sequel to “The Queen and the Butterfly”.

The story: Poppy offers Branch some cupcakes with butterflies in it which turns out to be mysterious. When the two Trolls eat them, they got transformed into butterflies themselves and realize that the cupcakes were actually cursed by an evil witch! Now they must try to find the witch who made those cupcakes and get a cure to get themselves back to normal, while encountering obstacles in the process along the way.

You already seen what had happened in Part 15. Now get ready for Part 16!:

The giant bird kept soaring into the sky, carrying Poppy and Branch in the jar in its talons. It screeched as it violently flapped its giant wings up and down. Its talons’ sharp ends glint like knives.

How Poppy and Branch wished they have drowned in rainwater last night! It would have been quicker and cleaner!

Poppy and Branch helplessly watched the entire world moving faster below them. They were shaking and freaking out. They flew around from one corner of the jar to the other. The bird hissed.

Poppy began to panic. “What’s happening, Branch?!” she yelled.

“I don’t even know what’s going on!” he yelled back. “All I know is that we’re gonna end up in that bird’s giant belly and nobody would ever know what happened to us!”

Poppy gulped at this statement. Butterflies are just so tiny for this world to be easily caught by big strong predators. Once that bird took them to its nest to feed its babies, it might be the end of the line for their entire fate!

Branch knew he had to do something to prevent this. He boldly gazed up at the bird’s face above him and shouted “Hey, you featherface! Remember me? You’re my worst enemy!”

The bird turned to look down at Branch. But has it recognized him ever since it first encountered him?

Branch was the only Troll to ever encounter this bird before in his life. As a child, he was flying his kite when this bird arrived, tore it to shreds, lifted him up to the sky while dragging it and dropped him down in front of the other Trolls, wearing only his underpants, leading to the Trolls humiliating him after this. One day, when he cared for three young birds in the present day, he had once fought with the same bird from his childhood when it tried to devour them.

And now, the same bird has its grip on the jar and would surely be able to hurt Poppy and Branch! It flashed a really menacing sneer at them, its teeth clenched with anger.

Branch continued to speak with the bird. “Yeah, of course, you did remember who I am! I tried protecting my babies from you the other week and now they’ve flown off to a better place to be safe from you! Now just please let go of the jar and leave us alone!”

“Be careful, Branch!” Poppy warned suddenly, realizing that this might eventually put them at great risk. “She doesn’t know what she is thinking!”

“Come on, Poppy. What’s worse than-”

But it was already too late! The bird screeched loudly and did what Branch had told! Its talons released the grip on the jar and it fell!

SCREEEEEEE!!!

Poppy and Branch screamed as the jar they were inside started falling away from the bird. They watched as it flew away from them into the distance, screeching like mad.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Poppy and Branch continued screaming as the jar continued falling from the sky. It fell into a lush green forest below, where it bounced around on a tree and landed on its branch!

Once it landed, Poppy and Branch knew they would be safe for now but...

CREEEEEEEEAAAAAAK!!!

Before they knew what is happening now, the branch began to bend and tilt from the jar’s weight! It creaked as it bends into a crooked shape before restoring to its normal shape, flinging the jar away from it!

SPRIONG!!!

Poppy and Branch screamed again as the jar was sent flying to the left! 

It spun around and around and it was now heading straight for a nearby tree!

SHING!!! CRRRISSSH!!!

The jar smacked straight into the tree and shattered to smithereens! The blue lid was knocked away from the impact and it landed further away from the glass!

Poppy and Branch spilled out of the shattering glass and onto the ground, where they landed in a thud!

“Ooooooof!!!”

They laid there, groaning from the rough landing they make all the way. They were surrounded by glass shards as they shook off the pain and dizziness from all that falling.

Branch groaned in pain, sat up and flapped his wings to shake away the rough fall. He turned to Poppy and asked “Are you okay?”

Poppy groaned and shook her head. Her antennae drooped from landing on the ground. “Ugh, I’m alright, Branch. I’m fine. Glad we did make it alive!”

But they didn’t make it out just yet! At the next moment, they heard loud shrill buzzing above them!

“Bzzzzzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzzzzz! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZZZ!!”

That is when Poppy and Branch looked up to see who is making those sounds. They gasped in horror!

It’s Big B’s bee soldiers! They have been looking for Poppy and Branch for days since their escape and now they have came to take them back to Big B’s hive to be tied up in a spit once again! They buzzed angrily at them.

“Bzzzzzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzzzzz! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZZZ!!”

One of the soldiers barked “Don’t move! You’re coming with us!”

“RUN!!!” Poppy shrieked. She and Branch began to turn to a corner and took off. The bees flew after them from behind, buzzing menacingly.

They chased them towards the furthest part of the woods, flapping their transparent wings and buzzing noisily. Their yellow claws try to lunge at them but they were flying so fast that they didn’t even try to catch them.

Poppy and Branch flew as fast as they can, flapping their little wings with all their strength. They gasped for breath as they kept going, feeling like they wanted to stop but with the bees hot on their trail, it’s getting useless for them because they were still coming for them. Panicking, the two of them kept on flying despite having the urge to stop. They were butterflies and they must do what they can do to survive.

One of the bees lunge for Branch but he fluttered further away. His claw missed his head by inches.

Poppy and Branch fluttered past some tree branches, trying to avoid being caught in one of the spiky ends of the brambles.

But as Branch flew through a large gap between the brambles, Poppy, who has been a little exhausted since she must keep up with him the whole time, flew inches below the gap and...

TWICK!!!

“Oooof!”

Her hair got caught between two narrow ends of the branch! She looked up at it and gasped. From the right, Branch had went through the gap and flew past her, leaving her there.

Poppy helplessly watched him go. Then she wondered what to do, still having her hair stuck on the branch.

She struggled to break free out of it, grunting and groaning. But it didn’t work. Instead, she yelled for Branch for help “Help me!! I’m stuck!”

That made Branch act quickly! He fluttered back to the branch, where Poppy is stuck in, and saw her. “Oh no! Poppy!” he gasped. “Hang on! I’ll save you!”

But before he can reach out for her hair, one of the bees came towards her, sneering mirthlessly “There you are!”

“Leave her alone!” Branch screamed as the other bees start lunging for him and Poppy, buzzing angrily.

“Branch, help!” Poppy shrieked, struggling to get herself free.

“Get him!” the troop chief barked at his men. Branch watched as some flew towards him, spreading out their claws.

Oh, if only Branch has the strength to fight back with those bees if he once had fists and two legs to fend them off easily! But he wasn’t a Troll anymore. He was a butterfly. And he didn’t know if a butterfly can fight them off like he would usually do.

It was worth a try.

As the bees got closer to him, Branch’s eyes turned from fear to sense of determination. Wrinkles formed in between his eyes as he angrily looked upon the disaster happening here.

Then he took a big breath and flapped his wings hard. He flew around in a loop like what Poppy had done before and whirled his long hair around, whipping it at one of the soldiers!

“HIII-YAAAH!!” SNAP!

The bee who had just got knocked over by Branch’s hair fell to the ground from this impact. A few more bees came over to grab hold of him but Branch was now stronger than he would ever feared in his life! With the best of his strength, he attacked every last soldier one by one, all with using the power of Troll hair. He leapt in the air, attacking the other astonished soldiers. 

Whirling, snarling, biting, dodging and fluttering everywhere here and there, Branch was like a tiny powerful army, relentless and unstoppable! He yelled “Get back! Hyah!” as he knocked the other bee away from him with his butterfly wing and grabbed one of them with his hair! 

WHAM!!!

Next, Branch tightly held the bee strapped to his hair and the panicking yellow and black insect, scared of how tough this little butterfly has become, pleaded to him “Let me go! Please don't hurt me! I'll do anything! Anything!”

But Branch was able to release this weakened bug away once and for all. Besides, he has experience with playing his favorite video game back in his bunker that he is able to hold the bees off long enough like he’d ever dreamed of.

With a hard pull, Branch whirled in a circle and flung the bee away from his grip!

“Raaaaaaaah-YAAAAAAH!!!”

The weak insect spun around and around in circles as it flew away to the distance, screaming “Please remember my A, Bee, Cs!”

Branch enjoyed his victory for a moment, panting breathlessly. But then he heard shrieking from behind him! He turned around and saw the guard troop chief grabbing hold of Poppy by her hair! It seems like he must have got her out by himself while Branch is busy with fighting all of his soldiers!

“Help me, Branch! Help!” Poppy screamed.

“Poppy! No!” Branch cried. He glared at the chief and yelled defiantly “Let go of her!”

“No, you’re also coming with me!” the chief told him. “Can’t you see we’ve been trying to catch you two for days since you’ve escaped!! Big B is trying so hard to look for you two!”

“No, he’s not!” Branch said angrily at him. “All he just did to us was tying us up into a spit and having us eaten! Can you just leave us alone?!”

“No! He’s not going to have it your way!” the bee snarled, losing his patience at Branch’s tough outlook. He dangled Poppy in midair and pointed his sharp sting at the bottom towards her, ready to inject her to unconsciousness.

Branch couldn’t bear to watch this. Furious, he whipped his hair at the chief and knocked him over, releasing Poppy from his grip! His sting poked at her head and she is sent falling.

Once the chief was out of the way, Branch would be glad this were over when he heard Poppy screaming as she fell!

“Poppy!” he cried. Then he fluttered after her as fast as he can. He tried grabbing her with his hair but missed his grip on her just a few inches apart! He saw that she is getting closer to the ground so he must think of a way to catch her safely.

“Hang on, Poppy!” Branch yelled. Then he twisted himself to the left and fluttered towards her, fast like any other zipping insect of Troll Town. He flapped his wings faster and faster.

Just before Poppy is about to break a skull into the ground in the nick of time, Branch flew closer to her and grabbed her by her hair with his mouth!

He carefully lifted her up away from the ground. Poppy’s eyes were closed and she was groaning in pain. It looked as if the guard troop chief bee had actually stung her when Branch knocked him away and it was hurting her so bad.

She looked so dazed right now. By rescuing her from the bees, Branch had saved her life!

Poppy moaned.

“Poppy, it’s okay,” Branch told her gently with his mouth full of pink hair. “Calm down. I got you.”

Branch wanted to go somewhere safe for him and Poppy to hide. But suddenly, he heard loud angry buzzing behind him! The guard troop chief bee has recovered and is still coming after Branch and Poppy!

He snarled at them “Come on now. You’re coming to the hive now!”

Branch gasped. Then, still holding Poppy in his mouth, he took off as fast as he could. The chief went after him, buzzing all the way and yelling “HEY! COME BACK HERE, LITTLE BUTTERFLIES!!!”

As he flew, Branch managed to keep a tight grip on Poppy’s hair just as the bee tried flying closer to him. The only question was, could the two of them make it to Chrystelle’s cottage in time before this bee would capture them again?

                                                  To Be Continued...

                                              Stay tuned for Part 17!

Note: It’s such a long chapter but here you go, lads. :D

[imagines-ahs]

Affection - Twenty-Four: Cameron.

TW: Mentions of Depression.

Mine and @mistyyygoode‘s story!

Shelby sat up slightly, and brought Audrey onto her lap, knowing that it was something that never failed to calm her down. Her arms wrapped around the woman's waist as she pulled her closer, holding her as close as possible as she started to gently rock her. "You won't," she said softly. "You won't ever lose me, okay? If... if you don't want a kid then we won't have one... be-because I-I don't want to lose y-you either."

Audrey let her tears fall freely, not wanting to hide her fear anymore; She instantly got onto Shelby's lap, hugging her closely, burying her face into her lover's neck. "N-no... we can't." She whimpered. "I could n-never do t-that... I can't, being a m-mother is n-not something I can d-deny to you and me... I don't even k-know what I want f-for sure yet".

"Okay," Shelby nodded softly, feeling her heart break over her lover's words. "I need you to take a deep breath, and try and calm down, baby. Please. Can you do that for me?" she asked softly, trying to remain calm herself. She held Audrey close with one hand while she brought the other one up to her lover's face to wipe her tears.

Audrey shook her head as her tears came stronger; She hadn't seen it coming, the fear coming so strongly, the tears coming so harsh, and the unstoppable hurt on her chest for thinking about losing her lover. The actress felt herself starting to shake, burying her face even more into her lover's neck, hiccups starting to come, breath hard to catch.

Shelby started to become overwhelmed with worry as she continued to rock her lover gently in her arms. One of her hands settled on her back, rubbing soothing circles over her skin. "Please, Audrey... you need to breath." She said softly, hoping somehow it would work.

Audrey started crying even stronger, loud sobs coming from her, body shaking strongly; The actress started having trouble to breath, loud sounds coming as she tried to catch her breath more and more.

Shelby felt her worry turning to fear. She felt her own tears starting to form again. She didn't know what to say at this point. "Babydoll, c-can you look at me?" she asked softly.

Audrey started to get scared of her reaction; She didn't know what was happening, but she couldn't breathe anymore. Shakily, she let her head pull away from her lover's shoulder, staring with wide brown eyes at blue ones. "I-I-I... I... b-breathe... c-can't..."

Shelby saw the look behind Audrey's eyes, and she had an idea of what was happening, she was having a panic attack. "Look into my eyes. And follow my breathing." She said before taking a deep breath.

Audrey felt her tears coming stronger as her body began to shake more and more; She tried following her lover's moves, but another big, loud sound came, and the actress could barely catch some air, hands being placed against her hurting chest now.

Shelby let out a shaky breath as she tried to keep herself calm. She took Audrey's hands in her own, lacing their fingers together. "Look at me." She said again. "Audrey, I need you to look at me."

With the touch, Audrey locked her eyes with ocean ones; She tried catching another deep breath, succeeding more in this one, being able to let out a considerably longer breath.

Shelby nodded with a small smile. "Good girl. A few more breaths, okay?" she asked before taking a deep breath, trying to get Audrey to follow her breathing pattern.

Audrey felt the corners of her lips raising up a little with Shelby's words; She followed her lover's breathing patterns, feeling the pain in her chest beginning to go away a little.

Shelby smiled as her lover's breath followed her own. She gently caressed Audrey's hands with her own as she started to breathe normally. "Okay, babydoll. Are you okay?" she asked softly.

Audrey took a few more deep breaths before managing to nod, the pain in her chest completely gone now. "I am... I'm so sorry about that." She said softly, embarrassedly, eyes falling down.

Shelby brought a hand up to Audrey's cheek, gently caressing her face. "You have nothing to apologize for, okay, gorgeous?"

Audrey took a deep breath, staring up once again, eyes red and puffy from crying so much. "Okay..." she said softly, sighing right after.

"I love y-you so much," Shelby said in a shaky tone as she started to feel her own panic coming back. She swallowed back her emotions and wiped her tears before they could fall.

Audrey felt her brows furrowing; She let her hands cup the woman's cheeks, caressing them softly. "Baby, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Shelby nodded as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Y-yeah... just g-give me a minute." She took another deep breath, trying to steady her emotions before they could get the better of her.

Audrey felt her heart skipping a beat; She instantly took her hands away from Shelby's cheeks, getting out of her lap. "D-do you want m-me to leave y-you alone for a l-little?" she asked, not really getting the feeling that was hitting her.

"No," Shelby's eyes quickly opened. "I-I didn't mean l-leave..." she took another breath. "I just meant give me a minute to calm down." She grabbed Audrey's hands, lacing their fingers together. "I'm sorry."

Audrey let out a shaky breath; Her mind was already clouding with thoughts of her lover being mad or something in those lines. "D-don't apologize." She said quickly, softly, snuggling closer to her lover, caressing her fingers. "It's okay, I'm sorry, it's okay... try to calm down, my love."

Shelby pulled Audrey back to her, resting her head on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry..." she spoke softly. "I just... freaked out because I'm so worried... have you ever had a panic attack before?"

Audrey got back onto her lover's lap, starting to stroke blonde hair. "Please, don't apologize, my love... I just got it wrong." She said softly, placing a tender kiss on the woman's head; As she heard Shelby's final words, brows furrowed again. "A panic attack? Was it... was it that?"

"I think so. I've had them before... did you have this feeling like you couldn't breathe and your chest was going to collapse on itself? Or just an immense amount of fear sitting in your chest?" Shelby asked. She knew that if it was a panic attack or anything remotely close to it, the topic of a child was something that scared Audrey more than anything else she had ever seen her scared of.

Audrey softly pulled apart from Shelby, wanting to stare into blue eyes; Her brows furrowed even more as she nodded. "Y-yes... I was scared of l-losing you." She confessed.

Shelby sighed softly. "You won't ever lose me. I promise you that. Okay? Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing will change my mind about you."

Audrey nodded as her eyes got teary again; She bit her lip, caressing the woman's hands. "I'm so sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry for always being so afraid... I know it sucks."

"You don't have to apologize, baby. I understand completely. If you feel like that's going to happen again, please let me know before it gets that bad, okay? I'm here for you."

Audrey nodded, sight falling down as she quickly wiped her tears away. "Okay..."

"I love you so much," Shelby said softly as she brought her hand back to Audrey's cheek, caressing her there.

"I love you too," Audrey said softly, leaning into the touch; She was so embarrassed about it all, she couldn't even look at blue eyes yet.

Shelby frowned when she realized her lover wasn't looking at her. "Please look at me."

Audrey hesitantly, and slowly glanced up, eyes clouded with shame as she did so.

"You have nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. I used to have panic attacks a lot. I don't get them very often anymore. It's nothing to be ashamed of." Shelby spoke softly, trying to reassure her fiancé.

"So, you're n-not... mad?" She asked hesitantly, shakily. "Why did you have t-them?"

"Why would I be mad, baby?" Shelby asked first, wanting to know the answer before answering Audrey's second question.

"You know..." Audrey sniffled. "For me being such an idiot... always bringing it back, making things sad."

"Hey, you are not an idiot," Shelby said quickly. "Please don't call yourself that. You don't make things sad. I'm glad you brought it up because I didn't realize how upset this made you... I don't want you to feel this way about anything."

Audrey bit her lip, staring down again; She tangled her fingers with Shelby's, caressing them. "You just mean so much to me... and your brother—" she took a deep breath. "Your brother was talking about not having time to one another and I just... you are my world."

Shelby thought back to the dinner, remember what her brother had said. "I know... that's one reason why I don't want a kid..." she spoke softly.

Audrey felt her brows furrowing as she stared back at blue eyes. "So, you're not sure yet?" She asked softly.

"I-I don't know." Shelby sighed softly. She so desperately wanted to say that she was sure she didn't want a kid after Audrey's panic attack, but she didn't want to lie.

"I'm not sure either..." Audrey confessed. "I guess we just need some time... to figure things out, and no matter what happens... I-I'm not leaving."

"I agree," Shelby said softly, smiling a little. "I'm not leaving either, okay? I'm never ever, ever leaving you. I'll tell you that every day if that's what it takes."

Audrey smiled softly, feeling her emotions ease a little; She pulled herself closer to the other woman, resting her head on Shelby's shoulder. "You are one of a kind, Miss Tindall." She said softly.

"As are you, Miss Tindall." Shelby smiled as she wrapped her arms around Audrey's waist. She laid back down, bringing her lover on top of her. She kissed the top of her head gently before running her fingertips up and down her back. "I love you so much."

Audrey let out a small giggle, resting her head on the woman's chest, snuggling closer to her. "I love you more." She said sweetly, fingertips going up and down the younger blonde's skin.

"You know, you make me the happiest woman alive, and whatever happens in the future I am always yours," Shelby said.

Audrey felt herself smiling brightly at her lover's words; She tangled their legs together, wanting to be as close as possible to Shelby. "Forever and ever, babygirl." She whispered sweetly. "You and me."

Shelby smiled and kissed her lover's forehead. "You and me, babydoll." She whispered before yawning softly.

Audrey snuggled even closer to her lover, letting out a yawn right after her, giggling softly. "You are contagious." She teased.

Shelby laughed softly. "Maybe you're just as tired as I am. Why don't we go to sleep, baby? We've had a long day."

Audrey let out a soft chuckle, hugging Shelby just a little tighter; As she started to shut her eyes, a question popped up in her mind. "You didn't answer me why you used to have panic attacks..." she said softly.

Shelby had completely forgotten about the question. "It started when I lived at the Roanoke house, and when we moved, they didn't stop for the longest time. I used to be on prescription drugs for them. They eventually went away with some therapy and the pills. I stopped taking the pills a few months ago. I still have one every once in a while, but they're not as bad as they used to be." She explained.

"I'm so sorry, my love." She said softly, hands still caressing her lover's skin. "If you feel like you're going to have one, please let me know... I want to be able to help you."

"I will," Shelby said. She smiled because of how caring Audrey always was with her. "You do help because I haven't had one the whole time we've been together."

Audrey smiled brightly, placing a soft kiss to her lover's neck. "Seems like love really is the best medicine." She teased, not being able to hold a laugh back. "Sorry, that was awful."

Shelby's smiled grew wider as a small laugh fell from her lips. "It is though. You've helped me with that, with nightmares, with the drinking... you've made me feel better about life in general." She said.

Audrey smiled sweetly, staring up at beloved blue eyes. "I can say the same, my love... I used to cry every day..." she confessed.

"Why?" Shelby asked, feeling concerned again. She brought her hand up to gently hold Audrey's cheek, caressing her skin.

"Just... I felt hopeless, unlovable." Audrey confessed, leaning into the touch. "Rory was being very hard on me and after we broke up, I just had no more reasons to pretend I was okay."

Shelby leaned down slightly, kissing Audrey gently and lovingly on the lips. "You are always loved when you're with me. If you ever feel like you aren't, or you start to feel hopeless again, please come to me. I love you too much to let you feel that way."

Audrey kissed her lover back just as sweetly, tenderly. "You mean so much to me, Shelby." She said softly. "I've never felt that way again, ever since we started dating... I do think that's why I'm so jealous and insecure." She chuckled lightly.

Shelby gave a soft smile. "I know the feeling. I've never been this... protective over someone before. But you have no reason to feel insecure. I love you no matter what."

"It's the same to you, my lovely." She said sweetly. "I guess it's just a part of my depression... I'm working on it, working on getting better with those thoughts."

"How come you've never told me about this?" Shelby asked softly, not wanting her lover to think she was upset. "Are you taking medication for it?"

Audrey furrowed her brows at the question; She didn't remember telling her lover that, in fact, she didn't even remember she had it since they started dating. "I think I forgot... my therapist and psychiatrist told me I was getting better, almost 'recovered', so they wanted to see how I'd go with a softer medication for a while." She explained softly. "I'm sorry, I should have told you."

"Hey, it's okay," Shelby said with a small smile. "I'm glad that you're doing better enough that you don't need strong medication anymore. That's really good, baby. You don't have to apologize. You're telling me now, that's what matters."

Audrey smiled back softly, scooting up on the bed so their foreheads were touching. "Thank you so much, babygirl." she smiled, a hand creeping up to stroke blonde locks. "But I really didn't mean to hide it, nor anything like that... I really forgot, I really didn't even remember it, or made that connection until right now, today, talking about how insecure I was and still am sometimes."

"I know you wouldn't do it on purpose, so don't be sorry or anything. And like I always tell you, I'm going to help you with the insecurities. I love you so much, babydoll." Shelby said softly, smiling.

Audrey smiled sweetly, placing a soft kiss on her lips, rubbing their noses right after, letting out a small giggle. "I love you too... I'll always help you with anything."

Shelby smiled even harder as their noses rubbed together. "Thank you, gorgeous. I know I can always count on you."

The actress nodded with a silly smile on her face, tangling their legs even more. "Oh well, how did I get so lucky?" she asked happily.

"I ask myself the same question every day," Shelby said. A small yawn escaped her lips as she rested her head back on the pillows. "I'm sleepy. Are you sleepy?"

Audrey nodded as she rubbed her eyes, smiling to her lover. "A little bit." She yawned too.

Shelby brought her hand back to her lover's back, gently scratching up and down her skin with her nails, knowing it would bring her closer to sleep. "Go to sleep, baby. We have a lot of fun ahead of us tomorrow."

Audrey pulled herself closer to Shelby, hand still caressing her lover's blonde locks. "What will we do tomorrow?" she murmured, eyes closing at the relaxing touch on her back.

Shelby closed her eyes as a smile settled on her lips. "I'm going to show you more of the town, and we'll see Lizzy. We can hang out with her like we promised." She explained.

"Okay," Audrey answered softly, taking a deep, relaxing breath. "When are we going to your dad's?"

"We could go tomorrow if that's okay with you... if not we can go in a few days. Either way, I want to enjoy our time together, no matter what happens."

"Tomorrow is perfectly fine for me." Audrey smiled softly, letting out another yawn. "What about the dinner with your mother?"

"We'll do that in a few days. I want to take you out to dinner tomorrow." Shelby said with a smile as she already had things planned in her head.

"Just you and me?" Audrey asked softly, another smile creeping onto her lips as she buried her face into Shelby's neck.

Shelby smiled sleepily when her lover hid in her neck. "Just you and me, babydoll. How's that sound?" she asked.

"Perfect." Audrey murmured happily. "That's very sweet."

"Then the next night we can watch Lizzy for Chris and Isabella. Are you okay with watching her after...?" Shelby was afraid that part of the panic attack was from being around Lizzy.

"Baby, no," Audrey said softly, pulling away slowly to stare into blue eyes. "What happened has nothing to do with Lizzy, I promise you, my love."

"Okay," Shelby sighed in relief. "I'm just checking. I don't want to put you in a situation that would make you have another panic attack."

Audrey smiled softly, placing a delicate kiss to her lover's lips before laying down on her neck again. "Thank you for always being so caring." She whispered softly. "It'll be great to give Isabella and your brother some time to... enjoy themselves."

Shelby let out a small laugh. "I agree, and you don't have to thank me, babe. I know you'd do the same thing for me... and I know Elizabeth will really enjoy hanging out with her amazing aunties." She said with a smile.

Audrey let out a giggle, squeezing Shelby in her arms a little. "I would, and you are right... I think she likes me." She smiled sweetly. "We could take her out for ice cream, and then at the park... oh! Let's get her to the toy store so I can get her something, maybe another doll?" she spoke happily, more excited than she meant to.

Shelby's smile grew wider as she listened to her lover. The way Audrey talked about doing things with Lizzy made her think that with a deep discussion on the topic, a child could be possible for them one day. "I think that sounds perfect. She loves ice cream, and she'll gladly take a new doll. She'll never want us to leave."

Audrey let out a soft giggle, nodding as she did so. "I just hope Isabella and Chris won't mind... neither your parents." She sighed softly. "I don't want them to think I'm trying to buy them."

"They don't think that, so don't worry," Shelby said. "The last time I was here I bought her a doll, a car for her dolls, and accessories for them. She thought I was Santa one time." She said with a small laugh.

Audrey let out a sleepy chuckle. "She's so cute." She commented, smiling to herself.

"She really is. Sometimes I want to visit more often just to see her." Shelby yawned again.

"We can do that." Audrey murmured, starting to lose her train of thought. "Maybe we can gather our families together for Christmas." She mumbled, barely understandable.

Shelby knew her lover was practically asleep at this point. "I'd love that baby. Goodnight." She kissed the top of Audrey's head before closing her eyes.

Audrey smiled softly, whimpering a little as she scooted closer to Shelby. "'Night... I love you." She mumbled once again.

"I love you too, gorgeous," Shelby whispered before letting herself slip into sleep.

As the light started peeking inside the room, the actress felt herself starting to wake up. Eyes opened slowly, she felt arms securely wrapped around her, and a small smile made its way to her lips; Still, she didn't want to move just yet, too comfortable in Shelby's arms to want to be anywhere else.

Downstairs, Isabella walked inside with Lizzy in her arms. "Where Shel and Audrey?"

"They're still asleep upstairs."

"Can I wake 'em up?" She asked softly.

Chris walked into the hallway with a plate of freshly made waffles for Elizabeth. "How about you come eat breakfast with me while Mommy goes to wake them, okay?"

"Okay," Lizzy sighed as she was set on the floor.

Isabella made her way upstairs and knocked on the door of Shelby and Audrey's room.

Audrey felt her eyes opening wide as she heard the knock on the door; Quickly, she took a blanket that was set on the edge of the bed, pulling it up all the way to their chin. "Baby..." Audrey whispered softly, caressing the woman's cheek.

"Hmm?" Shelby hummed sleepily without opening her eyes.

Isabella knocked one more time. "Hey, guys... breakfast is ready, and Lizzy is home. She wants to see you guys."

Shelby's eyes opened wide. "W-we'll be there in a second!" She yelled.

Audrey bit her lip as she hid under the covers, letting out a giggle.

"Okay," Isabella said before making her way back downstairs.

Shelby sat up slightly as she rubbed her eyes. "I'm so glad she knocked..."

Audrey giggled once again, scooting lower underneath the blanket. "I didn't want her seeing you naked." She murmured.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Shelby said in a sleepy tone. "I didn't know she was home last time I was here and after taking a shower, I walked to my room from the bathroom without a towel... and you can guess what happened." She explained.

Audrey felt her eyes rolling, letting out a fake laugh. "Yeah." She murmured.

Shelby looked at her lover with furrowed brows until she realized what she had said. "I'm sorry..." she said before pulling Audrey into her lap like last night. "I was so embarrassed I ran to my room, and later on I apologized, and she said, 'Don't worry, we all have the same equipment.' Babe, she's the straightest woman you'll ever meet."

Audrey let Shelby pull her to her lap, taking the blanket away from her face. "I just got jealous." She murmured, looking down. "You got jealous of her, too."

"I know," Shelby sighed. "That's why I know it was stupid of me to get jealous. So, let's make a deal. Neither of us should be jealous by Isabella, okay?"

Audrey felt a smile making its way onto her lips, brown eyes slowly meeting blue ones. "It's impossible to control it but at least we can promise to talk to each other?" she offered, knowing both of them had a problem with jealousy; The actress let her fingers tangle with Shelby's, caressing them.

"That works for me." Shelby smiled. "Let's get up before the two-year-old barges into our room." She placed a small kiss on her lover's lips.

Audrey pouted playfully, resting her head on Shelby's shoulder. "I love you." She said softly. "I want to cuddle more." She whined playfully.

Shelby smiled widely. "I love you too, babydoll. I would love to cuddle more, but we can do that on the couch with clothes while we watch Lizzy."

Audrey let out a chuckle, nodding as she pulled apart. "Can I at least have a kiss?" she asked softly, pouting still.

Shelby thought her lover's pout was absolutely adorable. "You don't have to ask." She said before leaning in, and placing a soft, loving kiss on Audrey's lips.

Audrey let out a giggle before kissing her lover back, hesitantly pulling away, pecking her a million times before completely doing so; As she was about to say something, an unfamiliar voice was heard as well with the front door. Brows furrowed as she looked at Shelby, hoping she'd know who the person was.

Shelby looked at Audrey with the same confused look. She got off the bed, and over to the dresser to grab a pair of panties, a sports bra, a pair of leggings and a sweater. She quickly got dressed before putting her hair up in a messy bun. "I'm going to go brush my teeth real quick."

Audrey watched as her lover did everything so quick, starting to move as well. "Wait for me, baby." She said, starting to take a pair of underwear from the closet. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Shelby didn't even realize she was being quicker than usual. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't realize I was in a rush. I'm just curious about who is here, and I'm really, really hungry."

"It's okay" Audrey smiled. "You can go, I'll be down in a minute..."

"Okay, baby." Shelby placed a kiss on her lover's lips before going across the hallway to the bathroom. Once she was done, she went downstairs, and into the kitchen where she saw a tall, thin, blonde woman standing next to Isabella. She was dressed in a tight, long-sleeved, thin shirt, and high waisted skinny jeans.

"Shelby!" Lizzy beamed from her seat at the table.

Shelby smiled as she walked over to her niece. "Hey there, Lizzy. Did you have fun at Gramma's?"

"Yes." She nodded.

Audrey smiled as she kissed her lover back; Soon, she had put a pair of high-waisted jeans, a sweater, and her usual boots, combing her hair and brushing her teeth right after. Walking downstairs, the actress smiled as she saw Elizabeth and her lover, walking towards them.

"Daddy made waffles!" Lizzy said. When she saw Audrey, she smiled widely. "Audrey!"

"Hey, babe." Shelby smiled as she saw her lover and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Guys, this is a friend of ours. Her name is Cameron." Isabella said.

The woman smiled at the couple. Her eyes moved more toward Audrey. "Hi," she said.

Audrey pulled Shelby closer by the waist as she reached her, smiling at her lover and then at Lizzy. "Hey, babygirl, and hey, Lizzy!" The actress smiled sweetly at the girl; Before she could do anything else, she turned around to Isabella and the other woman. Audrey could notice how the woman stared at her, and she didn't like it even one bit. "Hey. She answered simply, but still politely.

"Hey," Shelby said with a small smile. She noticed the slight off-tone response from her lover and glanced at Cameron, seeing the way she looked at Audrey.

"Do either of you want some waffles?" Chris asked.

"Yes, please," Shelby said.

Audrey smiled as she turned to Chris, holding Shelby closely by the waist. "Me too, please." She said softly, sweetly. "I think Lizzy wants some too, right Lizzy?" She asked playfully.

"Mhm," the girl nodded.

"Lizzy you already ate three," Isabella said.

"One more, please." She said with a smile.

Shelby let out a small laugh as she walked over to the counter where her brother stood and grabbed two plates. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, and no more, Liz."

Shelby brought the plates over to the table and sat across from Lizzy.

Audrey bit her lip as she heard Isabella's words, mouthing a small 'sorry' to her; As her lover came back, she sat beside her, pecking her softly at the cheek. "Thank you, my love." She said sweetly before grabbing her plate, watching as Cameron made her way to sit near them.

"You're welcome, gorgeous," Shelby said with a smile.

"So, you guys are from out of town?" Cameron asked.

"Mhm," Shelby nodded as she took her first bite of waffle.

"Where are you from?"

Audrey started eating as well, spreading jam on her waffle before actually taking the first bite. "Los Angeles." The actress answered, politely but not as warm as usual.

"That's awesome," The woman smiled.

Shelby grabbed her lover's hand, lacing their fingers together on top of the table. She gently caressed her lover's hand.

"Can you play today?" Lizzy asked as she looked at Shelby and Audrey.

Audrey was glad her lover laced their fingers, feeling like she had some sort of protection over the other woman's predatorial look, that was now fixed on her. "It really is." She answered back, smiling as she heard Elizabeth, turning to her. "Yes, we can, sweetheart." She answered softly.

"Yay!" Lizzy smiled as she bounced in her chair.

"Bell was telling me that you're an actress, Audrey," Cameron said with a grin. "What's that like?"

Audrey took another bite, somehow feeling herself getting embarrassed with the conversation. "It's very nice, I really love my job." She answered sincerely, trying to calm herself down a little.

Shelby lightly squeezed her lover's hand.

"That's awesome," Cameron said with a smile. "I heard you two are taking care of Elizabeth today. Do you two have any kids of your own?"

With the question, Audrey felt her stomach twirling; She looked down at her plate, cutting another bite for herself, hands getting sweaty.

"No, we don't," Shelby answered.

"Oh, okay." the woman nodded.

"When can we play?" Lizzy asked softly.

With Lizzy's question, the actress felt herself smiling a little; She looked at the girl with a sweet smile, eyes gazing on Shelby's plate and seeing she was already done with her food. "Aunt Shelby can go and start playing with you right now if she doesn't mind, while I do the dishes." She said softly, looking at her lover right after, caressing her hand, smiling tenderly.

"Okay," Shelby smiled. She stood up after placing a kiss on Audrey's lips. She went to the other side of the table to pick Lizzy up. "What do you want to play?"

"Dollies."

"Okay," Shelby said as she walked them out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Cameron's gaze moved to Audrey after Shelby left. "So, gorgeous. Are you having fun here?" she asked.

Audrey caressed her lover's hand as they kissed, letting it go so Shelby could get up; She watched Shelby and Lizzy go with a loving smile, getting up right after and starting to take the plates. At Cameron's words, Audrey felt her brows furrowing. "Audrey, it's Audrey." She said firmly, starting to walk to the kitchen. "And yes, I am, a lot, thank you."

Cameron got up right after Audrey did, following after her into the kitchen. "Why not gorgeous? I think that fits you perfectly. I mean, you are incredibly gorgeous."

Audrey started washing the dishes, not bothering to look back to the other woman; She furrowed her brows once again, starting to think that maybe she could be overreacting due to all of her insecurities; Deciding to give it a try, Audrey decided to be a little gentler. "Well, thank you so much, but it's weird hearing it from another person... Shelby calls me that." She explained.

"Shelby's pretty lucky to have you," Cameron said as she walked to Audrey, standing next to her and leaning against the counter. "I would be so lucky if I could have you as my girlfriend."

With Cameron's last words, Audrey knew she was definitely not understanding it wrong; Discretely scooting away from the other woman, the blonde kept focused on the dishes in front of her. "Shelby is not my girlfriend." She said bluntly.

"She's not?" the woman furrowed her brows in surprise. "So, I've got a chance with you, sexy?"

Shelby had been playing with Lizzy for a while until the girl asked her to grab a juice box. As she walked to the kitchen, she could hear Cameron and her brows went up as she felt her blood boiling.

"She's my fiancé, and no, you do not," Audrey answered firmly, finishing the dishes and walking to the counter, taking a towel to dry her hands.

Shelby felt herself calm down slightly when she heard Audrey's remark. She kept walking, but stopped just before the entrance of the kitchen, peaking into the room.

Cameron got closer to Audrey, gently brushing her hand up and down the other blonde's arm. "How sad... I'd love to have a chance with you."

Audrey couldn't hold back her disgusted face; Scooting back, she placed the towel on the cabinet door again, skin raising with uncomfortable goosebumps everywhere Cameron had touched her. "But you don't." The actress said firmly once again, not wanting to talk to the other woman.

That's when Shelby stepped into the kitchen. She had enough of Cameron, and she knew Audrey had too. "Leave my fiancé alone." She said as she grabbed the actress's hand, lacing their fingers together as she pulled her close.

"Nothing was going on," Cameron commented.

"Bull-fucking-shit." Shelby shot back. "I saw you touch her arm and I heard what you had to say to her. She's taken, and obviously not interested."

Audrey felt her eyes opening wide as she saw - and heard - Shelby storming inside of the kitchen; Gladly, she laced their fingers together, stepping closer to her fiancé. "You heard her, I am not interested in you, and I'm for sure taken." She said firmly.

Cameron rolled her eyes before walking off to find Isabella and Chris.

Shelby turned to her lover. "Are you okay, baby?" she asked softly.

Audrey watched as Cameron left, turning to her lover as soon as she was gone. "I am, babygirl, are you?" she asked just as softly, her free hand going up and caressing the younger woman's cheek.

Shelby sighed heavily as she watched the woman leave. "I'm fine... I want to punch the bitch in the face, but I'm fine. All that matters is that you're okay." She said in a calm tone. "Did she say anything to you that made you uncomfortable?"

Audrey let out a sad, tenderly smiling at her lover, caressing her hands. "She called me sexy, which was... gross coming from her, and she also called me gorgeous." The actress thought for a moment, a bitter taste invading her mouth. "You are the only one who can call me gorgeous."

"Fucking bitch," Shelby muttered under her breath. "I'm sorry, babe. Just stay with me until she leaves, okay?" she asked.

Meanwhile, Cameron found Isabella and Chris in the extra downstairs room that they turned into an office. She had her arms crossed and let out an exaggerated sigh as she sat down on one of the chairs.

"What's wrong?" Isabella asked.

"I was just having a normal conversation with Audrey, and Shelby came into the kitchen saying to leave her fiancé alone. When I said nothing was going on, she said, 'bull-fucking-shit'." She explained.

Chris sighed, "I'm sorry about that... she's a jealous person and can be overprotective of Audrey."

Audrey nodded as she let her hands go up to her lover's waist, pulling her closer. "Try to relax, okay?" she said softly, lovingly. "Don't let her get into you, let's enjoy our day with Lizzy and then our amazing dinner for two later." A hand went up to Shelby's cheeks, caressing it lovingly. "I love you, babygirl."

Shelby felt herself ease up as she nodded. "I love you too." she smiled before kissing her lover softly on the lips. "I need to get a juice box for Lizzy. Why don't you head in there and see what she's up to? I'll be right behind you." She said before going to the fridge to grab an apple juice box.

Audrey smiled softly, kissing her lover before nodding. "Okay, babe." She said sweetly, heading to the living room right after, finding Elizabeth still on the floor, playing with some dolls. "Hey there, sweetheart." She smiled softly.

"Hi!" Lizzy smiled up at Audrey. She held up a doll to the actress, "We play?" she asked.

Shelby soon rejoined them in the living room and sat on the floor next to Liz. She handed the juice box over.

"'Hank ya."

Audrey took the doll, smiling sweetly as she sat down with Lizzy. "We do." She smiled, gaze turning to her lover as she saw her coming, caressing her knee as she joined them on the floor. "Tea party again?"

"Yes!" Lizzy smiled. She handed out the teacups and set up their small table where they would be sitting.

"Lola, will you please pass the tea?" Shelby asked as she extended her doll's hand out.

"Here ya go," Lizzy handed the small teapot over.

Audrey smiled brightly, loving how sweet it all seemed; Taking her doll, she made her sit on one of the small chairs, handing a teacup and extending it to her lover's doll. "Do you mind pouring some for me, please?"

"Of course." Shelby smiled as she poured the fake tea into her doll's cup and then Audrey's.

"What we doin' today?" Lizzy asked softly as she placed fake pieces of cake on everyone's plate.

Audrey smiled as she made her doll pretend to be taking the tea; Before she could answer, steps were heard, and she turned back only to see Cameron again.

Shelby glared at the woman before returning back to their game. "We're going to go to the park later if that's okay with your parents."

Elizabeth gasped with a big smile. "Yes! Swings!"

"You guys are going to the park?" Cameron asked as she walked closer to them. "That sounds like a lot of fun, huh, Elizabeth?"

"Mhm," The girl nodded softly.

Audrey smiled back at their game, trying to ignore the fact Cameron was there, walking closer to them. "Are swings your favorite?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes, I love swings," Lizzy said, smiling up at the actress.

Chris walked into the room soon after Cameron did. "Shelby, can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Uh... yeah," Shelby said before standing up. "I'll be right back."

Cameron sat down in Shelby's spot after she started to walk away. "Mind if I join you guys?"

"I guess..." Lizzy said in a small tone.

Audrey bit her lip as she stared up at her lover, caressing her knee before Shelby got up; As the actress felt Cameron sitting down beside her, she subconsciously rolled her eyes. "Lola, this cake is delicious." She said sweetly, trying to focus on the cute little girl in front of her.

"Why thank ya." Lizzy smiled. "Would ya like anoder?" she asked.

"Can I have some cake?" Cameron asked.

"I guess," Lizzy said again.

Around the corner in the kitchen, Chris stood with his sister. "You need to calm down. I get you're protective of Audrey, but Cameron is just trying to be friends with you guys. She watches Lizzy for us sometimes, and she wanted to hang out today."

"Calm down?" Shelby asked as she raised her brows. "She was hitting on my fiancé and touched her."

"She wasn't. She's just trying to be friendly."

"Friendly my fucking ass." Shelby rolled her eyes before turning around. "We can watch Lizzy all on our own." She added before going back into the living room. When she saw Cameron has taken her spot, she let out a small huff.

Audrey kept focusing on Lizzy, ignoring the fact that now there was a creeping hand slowly approaching her leg; As long as Cameron didn't touch her, she could keep her cool. Nodding, the actress politely accepted another slice of cake, realizing Elizabeth's eyes were glued on Cameron's creeping hand.

Cameron's hand gently rested on Audrey's knee, her thumb caressing the woman's skin. Lizzy's eyes went from the hand to the woman's eyes, seeing she was looking at Audrey. She looked at Audrey as well, seeing the uncomfortable look on the woman's face. "Hey!" She yelled. "Don't do that!"

Shelby stepped closer, seeing Cameron's hand on her lover's knee. When she heard Lizzy yell, she couldn't help but feel happy that the girl knew it wasn't right.

As Audrey felt a hand resting on her knee, her mouth instantly filled with the bitter taste all over again, and before she could do anything about it, Elizabeth was already yelling; As the girl finished, the actress stood up, hastily taking Cameron's hand away, not even realizing Shelby was behind them. "Lizzy, what do you think about going to the park now? We can have some ice cream before lunch, huh?" She managed to ask sweetly.

Lizzy stood up as she nodded. "Yes, please."

Shelby walked to her lover, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together. She went to Lizzy and picked her up. "Do you need any—" before she could finish Chris walked into the living room.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Lizzy started yelling for no reason," Cameron said as she stood up as well.

"No, you had your hands on my fiancé again."

Audrey gladly laced their fingers together, smiling at the girl's reaction; She found it absolutely sweet that even so young, Elizabeth could sense when someone had evil intentions towards her or someone she loved. As Chris entered the room, the actress bit her lip, staring at him with wide brown eyes, praying that Lizzy would say something - She knew her voice was not going to come, due to how nervous she was.

"Daddy, Shel is right! Cam was being mean and nasty." Lizzy said in a confident tone. "She had her hand on Audrey's knee."

"Audrey, is this true?" Chris asked.

At the little girl's words, Audrey felt herself getting calmer; She nodded at the man, squeezing her lover's hand a little. "Yes, it is." She spoke firmly. "Since back there at the kitchen, when I was washing the dishes... thank God Shelby entered the room because she was already touching my arm."

"Cameron, what the Hell?" Chris asked.

Cameron stood up and walked to Chris. "They're lying."

"Why don't you guys take Liz to the park. When you get back, she'll be gone." Chris said.

"Okay." Audrey nodded. "Is it alright with Isabella?" She asked, wanting to make sure.

"It is. She said to have fun and do whatever you want within reason with her." Chris said calmly.

"Do you need anything before we leave?" Shelby asked the girl.

"Nope."

Audrey smiled at Chris, starting to guide them to the front door; As they were about to leave, she remembered to get a purse. "Babe, I'll take my purse and be right back" She smiled sweetly before going upstairs, hearing footsteps behind her, Chris already gone from it.

"Okay, babe," Shelby said before walking outside.

Before Chris could realize, Cameron had followed Audrey up the stairs. "Why'd you have to tell them I was touching you? I was just being friendly."

[doux-ciel]

Personal Trainer CH.3

A/N: Ok so this is going to be pretty short but don’t worry because I’m doing a two for one deal so you will get the next chapter immediately after I post this one, if you don’t remember what happened previously or you are new then click below to get my masterlist. Enjoy my angels✨👼🏻

Masterlist: 🥊🥊🥊

Tagged: @alinakerrin @erinisawriter @fannistwrites @pocaluzwrites @riftversus @jess---writes @lefttowritee @requiemdelune @pazwrites @sauwrites @delphwrites @thewritertiffany @theouterdark @xanderswriteblr @youngdumbxlit @jadeswritinggarden @bonewrites @between--alleys @niva-writes @natalierosewrites @velvet-moss @thesearentdreams @blackandwhitesunsets @godxblooded @ghost-possum @seraphilth

“So you're Azalea” Fiona says as I walk through her office door, I sit down at the chair she has in front of her silver metal desk. “Yes”

She smiles and slides me over a pamphlet. She points out the important parts with a pen. “My private coaching starts at $1000 per 3 hour session for a minimum of 4 sessions a week.”

I look it over the information again and in my head I'm freaking out because I already know I don't have the money for I but I have to do this. I look up at her and give her a nod. “Yeah that's fine”

She changes positions by placing her elbows on the desk, bringing her hand out in front of her locking her fingers together. Concern was written all over her face. “Look you're talking about a local tournament why is this so important to you?”

I think back remembering last year when I was winning left and right, I was unstoppable back then. I cross my legs. “Well, I used to be the #1 ranking in this city...but then I was having some personal problems which stopped me from getting in the ring. It's been 2 months and I haven't won a single fight. I just want to prove to everyone that Azalea “the assassin” is back and she’s stronger than before.”

Her look of concern disappears after I give her my little background, a small smile appears on her lips. “I’ll give you a deal, if you can last 2 minutes with me in the ring I'll give you a discount…. $500 per 3 hour session”

My face is beaming right now, and it's cheaper. I stand up ready to put on my gloves and go into the ring. “Lets go”

She calls out my name before I walk out the door, I stand by the door. She motions for me to come back to the chair chuckling, “I will break you down Physically in ways you never knew you could be...it will be tough, are you sure you're ready for it?”

“I was born ready”

¤ ¤ ¤

After talking a little bit more with Fiona, she invited me out to lunch. We went to this local diner Brownstone, we were seated in a booth just waiting for our food.

Fiona hands me a piece of paper, I take a look at it but before I can read it she explains. “It's just a standard liability contract, I make all of my clients fill one out. It's just stating that if you drop a weight on your toe, I'm not held responsible...just sign right there at the bottom” She hands me a pen.

Once I take some time to read it over I see something at the bottom of the page. “What’s this?... 3 time winner”

Fiona laughs lightly, the waitress came with our food setting it down at the table. “Oh that's nothing, it's just a goal that I set for my clients sort of a guarantee they will become a better boxer during the program”

“3 wins just seems a lot”

“I do have 100% success rate” Fiona takes a sip of her tea, watching me intently. I don't say anything after that, I was looking around not wanting to sign it right away. She continues. “When you're really motivated you would be surprised how fast it comes off...Just sign right there”

“Fuck it” I take the pen quickly sign the paper.

¤ ¤ ¤

After lunch with my new personal trainer I got through the front door to my apartment that I share with my boyfriend. I set my keys for down on the kitchen counter. Griffin was just sitting on the couch.

“Babe guess what?”

He turns his head over to me, his curls falling down over his face. “What”

I jump up and down, like a child. “I got a new personal trainer!’

A huge grin is plastered on his face, he takes his hand to move the hair from out of his face. “That's great...what kind of time commitment are we looking at?”

I plop down next to him. “A couple times a week”

“So what just 2?” He says as he looks at me, taking a hold of my hand playing with my fingers.

I glance over at the t.v. quickly, he's always playing 2k. “Probably 4 and weekends”

“4 or 5 times a week?” He questions, I could already tell by the tone in his voice, he wasn't feeling this conversation at all.

“This is a world class trainer...baby this is a once in a lifetime opportunity”

“Are you sure you're ready?” He asks again, taking his free arm and wrapping it around me.

I shrug my shoulders, not really sure. But I knew in the back of my mind this was the thing I needed. “I don't know but every part of me is telling to just push through it”

[bibliophileiz]

Overdue thoughts on “Jack in the Box”

Notes and stuff

The first scene is weird. Some of the shots are bizarre, I don’t understand what John’s journal is doing on the table and Bobby splitting the random dude’s head with a hatchet doesn’t jive with the tone at all. (Especially since we don’t find out the random dude’s actually a wraith until after the title card.)

-“Mom, you weren’t here long enough.” Amen. (#stillbitteraboutmary) 

- I am glad Bobby’s checking in on Sam, considering they had those issues at the beginning of the season.

- Also, random thought, but I’m so glad Ketch isn’t in this episode. (On the other hand, maybe if he’d shown up at Mary’s memorial, Dean would have killed him, which could have been fun.)

- Bobby doesn’t give Cas a beer. Rude. 

- “An unstoppable monster who don’t know right from wrong needs to be put down, or the closest there is to it. And anyone who doesn’t know that needs to go back to school.” To be fair, that’s how they’ve operated in every other season of this show.

- Bucklemming’s suckage at writing dialogue is always temporarily suspended whenever they need to write a scene where Jack is sitting sadly on a box outside in a back alley. This is also the only scene in this episode where Jack is actually in character.

-  And to absolutely no one’s surprise, the best scene in the episode is the one where Dean is sitting by himself crying in the woods. I’m sure this has nothing to do with the fact that it’s the only scene with no dialogue.

Actually the first part of this episode isn’t bad. I’m feeling less bitter about Bobby on the second watch, can kind of see what the point of having him in this episode is. 

Dumah stuff: On the one hand, I’m wondering if they just couldn’t get Amanda Tapping for this episode. On the other hand, I don’t know that Naomi would have done any of the shitty stuff Dumah does in this ep. (which is fine because I’d rather have Naomi alive for season 15 and not stabbed by Cas) The good plot answer to these musings is that Dumah arranged for Naomi to go in a cell so she could gain control of Heaven and enact her evil plans (see manipulating Jack into making new angels). The bad plot answer would be that neither bucklemming nor any of the angels thought through the ramifications of imprisoning their leader when there are only like 8 angels left, Heaven is falling apart and the Empty has demonstrated a willingness to invade whenever the fuck it feels like it. It also brings up an issue Cas and Jack discussed earlier this season where Cas assured Jack that Naomi takes care of the souls in her charge. Obviously that’s not the case with Dumah (see her threats against John and Mary).

- Possible bad dialogue alert: It’s not exactly clear what Cas is asking Dumah to do in the scene where he first shows up in Heaven and fills her in on what’s going on, and I don’t know if that’s intentional or not?

On the one hand I kind of like Dumah as an evil leader/antagonist of Naomi, but on the other hand her grooming of Jack feels a little reactive. Maybe she just didn’t want to risk trying to get him on her team while he was so close with the Winchesters.

Dumah and Jack stuff:

Dumah’s “Think how happy that would make Sam and Dean” if he saved the world and Heaven is obviously there to demonstrate that Jack just wants to please the Winchesters, but here’s the thing. Losing your soul might make you sociopathic and unsympathetic, but never in this show has it made someone stupid. So why would Jack, who has spent his entire life around Dean “God writes paperback books in his underwear and other blasphemies I say” Winchester, think Sam, Dean and Cas would be happy if he went around turning atheists into salt? They are literally “Team Free Will.” It makes no sense for Jack to think this is what they would want.

- Cas said he was “promised every effort” from Heaven in helping find Jack, but that DEFINITELY wasn’t in the scene. Didn’t Dumah say, “I’ll see what I can do”??? I don’t think Cas is supposed to be lying to the Winchesters here, I think bucklemming are just shitty writers without any editors.

- “Sam and Dean will like that?” “Words can’t begin to express how Sam and Dean will feel.” I’m starting to like Dumah.

To be fair, making more angels is exactly what Dumah’s been wanting since she was first introduced. Her trying to get Jack to make more of them makes a LOT more sense than Jack intentionally killing “bad” people, at least one of whom the Winchesters wouldn’t consider particularly bad.

Church scene:

Oh God. This scene is even weirder than the opening scene with Mary’s memorial. It’s anti-climactic and badly acted and doesn’t have any of the tension and suspense that the really good angel scenes tend to have in this show. The people in the congregation should be freaking out -- they should jump out of their seats, a couple of them should run for the back of the church doors and be locked in so Jack can demonstrate his powers. There should be lightbulbs bursting and doors rattling on their hinges. Surely that would have been cheaper than the stupid pillar of salt scene? Even without all that, the congregation should still actually be reacting to Jack’s glowing eyes or his wings. Instead they’re all sitting there going, “Ooh!” One of them has her hand over her mouth, which is like the epitome of good acting this scene. I’ve seen characters on this show have stronger reactions to Dean’s car. It feels like the director just got a bunch of extras in a room and told them to look surprised and then just went with the first take because he wanted to go eat lunch or something. It feels lazy.

- Does this woman praying remind anyone of, like, a really nervous but happy Chihuahua?

- Her acting is exceptionally bad, all blank-faced, “Who are you?”

- Preacher man is the only person in this episode with any common sense: “It’s not that I don’t believe, I just don’t believe you.” That’s actually how I, as a Christian, approach many people claiming to know God’s will.

I guess the people in the congregation are supposed to be blank-faced once Jack actually starts using his powers on them, but that still doesn’t excuse the beginning of this scene. There’s simply not enough difference in their manners for the audience to realize they’re being affected by angel magic.

Some other notes on this part of the episdoe: 

- Jensen Ackles’ facial expressions and acting in the hospital are really good, because you can tell he’s trying not to show how freaked out he is. I feel like Cas should be more freaked out though.

- Aw, why did you have to show me another worm??

- The scene between Sam and Dean is really drawn-out and badly written, but J2 are doing their best, God love them.

- “If I do it after what happened to Mom, I could lose it. I will lose it.” So would I, probably. (#stillbitterabout ... well, you get the picture.)

- Aramael has a deliciously pleasant voice, and I hope this actor comes back so I can listen to him more.

- “I am going to Heaven.” “That’s what everyone thinks.” L.O.L.

- Dumah cracks me up this scene. *high-pitched voice* “Castiel! Look, I found Jack!” She’s obviously not so secure in either her power over Heaven or her hold over Jack that she’s not still scared of Cas.

- This is the scene where you can see what Cas should have done, and what he doesn’t do, and what the consequences are going to be. Because instead of saying, “Jack, come with me,” which would have resulted in Jack immediately going to him, he asks to talk to Dumah, leaving Jack alone.

- Even with the long take, you can kind of see Cas sag a little after killing Dumah. Poor baby, keeps having to kill his murderous, evil siblings.

That scene (you know the one I’m talking about):

On second watch, it’s not bad, but I feel like it would be a lot better if it were written by Meredith Glynn. I feel like the dialogue is really trying to create tension, but since the dialogue hasn’t, up to this point in the episode, done anything to sell us on any of the emotion that would make this episode tense, it’s really lacking and comes across as overly drawn-out and soap opera-y. I mean, this is the moment where Dean lets his lesser demons control his judgment and lies to the boy he spent episodes trying to save earlier this season. This is the scene where Sam is basically giving up on the kid he loved as a son and who he was determined to raise to use his powers for good.  And they both think they’re doing the right thing here, plus the more Jack talks about his killing Mary as “the accident” and the more it comes across that he can’t understand how badly her death has hurt them, the angrier they get. But I feel like the dialogue doesn’t get this across as well as it could.

- “I make angels.” If that was all you did, this episode would be a lot better.

-  “Jack, we got this.” That line almost works to make this scene as tragic as it needs to be.

Again, the dialogue and the blocking and just the directing of the scene is not really working for me, but damned if Jared and Jensen aren’t giving it everything they can.

The part that sets up the season finale

- So how long is Jack supposed to have been in there? It can’t be that long because when he asks if they’re still there, they’re bolting the door.

- This would be a nightmare long-term though. Can you imagine them walking past that bolted door for days, weeks, hearing Jack call their names, ask if they’re there, if they’ll let him out please, getting more desperate and panicky the longer he’s there?

- Actually, that episode would have been way better than this one.

- “He agreed to it, because deep down, he knows it’s best.” Ooh, Dean, buddy, it’s not that don’t see your side -- heck, I’m kind of on your side -- but you know Jack didn’t get the truth from you and you’re changing the story to alleviate some of your guilt over it.

- I’m actually really upset Jack broke out of the ma’lak box. Way to make yet another of Billie’s predictions not come true, show.

Final thoughts

Overall there was way to much time given over to things that weren’t quite as important and didn’t work as well, which took away from the emotional tension that this episode SHOULD have had.     For example, it doesn’t make much sense for Jack to believe that Sam and Dean would want him to kill people who rebel against Heaven. I mean -- they rebelled against Heaven. And it’s not like Jack doesn’t know their relationship with Heaven and all that it stands for is complicated because one, these people raised him, and two, they’ve said all kinds of things over the episodes to him that demonstrate that relationship, from Dean being resentful toward God about leaving “guys like us to clean up his messes, like Lucifer” to Cas saying, “In Heaven, good is a relative term.” And Jack obviously knows that they wouldn’t want him killing people because they’ve had talks before about when is the right time to kill humans. (Remember Jack saying, “Anyone who would do this is a monster” when they were musing that Noah may have been a regular guy.)      It’s not that I think Jack should have realized it was wrong to kill the first two people he killed -- he’s lost his soul and his ability to empathize -- but he should have realized it was something the Winchesters wouldn’t have wanted, because losing your soul shouldn’t make you stupid. In all the other cases of soulless characters, they’ve been manipulative and pragmatic -- something Jack has ALWAYS been. So why would that change the minute he loses his soul?     It makes a lot more sense for him to take humans and make them angels, though. It’s less like Godstiel from Season 7 (or 6? I can’t remember. The Gamble era is not my thing.) and more like Buddy Boyle in Season 9. It’s still wrong because people are dying, and even though they’re consenting to being turned into angels, like the people Buddy Boyle recruited consented to being possessed by angels, they still don’t really understand what they’re consenting to. But it’s also something soulless Jack can justify because he KNOWS Heaven’s in trouble, so what’s a few human lives for the greater good of protecting Heaven and all the souls in it?     The episode still works if Jack is scooping up churchgoers and taking them to Heaven, killing them. He’s still dangerous in that case. Plus if you have that instead of the pillar of salt, you’ve got more time to really focus on the emotion behind what Cas and the Winchesters are going through.      Also, I don’t think this episode was very well directed? There were some weird shots, the blocking felt awkward and everything seemed to move really slowly. There were some good nuggets of dialogue, but generally everything but the acting from our mains (including Dumah, who I adore!) came across as lazy and uninspired.     I have further thoughts on Jack’s villain arc as a whole that I’ll work out and post tomorrow, plus some thoughts about what Mary’s death means for the end of the show. There’s still a small small chance she could come back tonight, though, so I’ll hold off on that one.