#very nearly made popcorn for that fight

[tortoise-teapot]

the neighbors i share a wall with have... a relationship. i've only ever heard them fucking (hopefully the gal's just quiet because i have literally never heard her make a sex noise ever. lots of the dude tho) and fighting (mostly the dude yelling and lady crying)

but i just heard the guy singing 'happy birthday' to jesus. the whole song. and clear as day, definitely 'jesus' (ik the gal's name and it's nothing close to jesus). it is a few minutes past 6am.

their alarm goes off at 5:30am on weekdays so i guess this guy woke up and sung his gf happy birthday to jesus, first thing in th

oh my god now they're fucking?

[orikiys]

✿ ✿ 〞wish you back

✰ pairings: ex!han x fem!reader

✰ genre: romance + angst with comfort ending

✰ warning: mentions of insecurities, deep talks, indirect mentions of miscommunications and getting back together

✰ request: If you’re taking requests or would like some ideas for your future writings then could I suggest/request an angsty fight but with a comfort ending with prompts 1, 10 and 12 with skz Han or it could even be an ot8 whichever is comfortable for you :)

✰ note: hi hi love! i hope you like it >< i made it exes to lovers and it hope it suits to what you requested for! thanks to @planetkiimchi for beta reading this and helping me with it 🤍

✰ word count: 2k + words

meeting him was like listening to a song for the first time and knowing it would be your favourite. meeting him was like rewatching every movie you ever loved with your favourite flavour of popcorn. meeting him was truly beautiful.

then, suddenly, you didn’t like that song anymore. you hated those movies as well. and you didn’t even bother touching that last packet of popcorn kept in the cabinet of your kitchen. it had been a month precisely since you and jisung parted ways.

a month of half-heartedly listening to your best friend’s ‘not-getting-back-to-your-ex’ rules. you don’t even remember the last time you saw him. but all you could do was think of him. was he eating well? was his hair as long as before? or has he trimmed them? it was foolish, you knew that very well. but the way your heart belonged to him, you couldn’t help it.

your mind keeps replaying the evening of your breakup. that very evening, when the two of you would be completing two whole years as a couple. all of it—now shattered. it doesn’t matter what you do, or what he does, the deed is done. there’s no going back now. or is there?

you know you shouldn’t be doing this and instead sending someone else. despite this, you find yourself driving to his home. after his last text, which told you to go pick up your stuff. you nearly felt your heart burst out of your chest the moment you saw his name pop in your notifications, but all of it faded when you saw his text. you know it meant nothing, but you felt yourself tear apart when the thought that he's trying to erase you crosses your mind. that’s what the voices in your head said. he’s trying to remove you from his life. and you know it shouldn’t hurt that much– but it does.

you hated whenever he overworked himself. you hated the way he would always come home exhausted but would still manage to muster up a smile you knew was fake. and when the limit runs, it’s the two of you against each other– screaming at each other’s throats. the eyes that used to be filled with love and warmth, were replaced with tiredness and anger.

maybe it was just in the heat of the moment, but the words can’t be unsaid. the apartment that used to be filled with memories in each corner, just rests there in dust and dirt.

you lift your hand to knock on the door and not even a second later, the door opens wide allowing you to see the apartment once again, and jisung as well.

he looks almost the same, except for his hair that he has curled slightly. if it would’ve been a stranger, they wouldn’t have been able to pick on any difference. but knowing him for years, you know everything from the beat of his heart to the dip in his voice when he’s about to break down– you have lived it all as well.

“hi,” he manages to croak out when you enter the apartment. you let out a silent nod, but prevent yourself from getting into a long conversation with him. your friend advised you not to if you didn’t want to end up getting hurt.

“how have you been?” he asks, his voice no louder than a mutter.

“how do you expect me to be?” you chuckle dryly, rubbing salt onto his wounds without even sparing him a glance. you look around, eyes stopping on the fridge that has various fridge magnets which you stuck on. maybe it was just a you thing, but it marked as the evidence of your happy relationship. there’s a small magnet with a polaroid of you two sitting on a couch with a cake in your hand.

it almost makes you laugh, how quickly the memory rushes into your head. it was your birthday and jisung surprised you with homemade meals and handmade gifts. it was a simple meal with just the two of you, yet his sincerity never failed to amaze you.

“i’m trying to talk to you nicely,” he hisses back, frustration creeping its way into his tone. it makes you gulp. you pause to stare at him, for the second time of the day before sighing.

“where’s my stuff?” you whisper, not breaking eye contact, which makes him stare back at you just as fiercely.

there’s something in his expression that makes you want to run straight into his arms and embrace him, kiss him and tell him you love him. but you can’t. he was the main character in the movie called “you”, but now he seemed to play more of a side role. it seems discarded yet you will remember it forever.

he takes a long minute to reply and points to the bedroom, “it’s under the bed, in a box.”

you nod and make your way in the bedroom. the sight of the room itself makes your heart heavy. you look around, and where there used to be a brown heart couch, it’s now empty. the room takes you back to the days when the two of you first moved in. the two of you were so excited to bring in the new furniture and rearrange it according to your preference. it almost felt surreal at first. you still remember spending three weeks just to arrange the furniture. it was tiring, but you didn’t know that it was even more tiring to look at this now-almost-empty bedroom.

you crouch down and pull out a wooden box. it’s a bit dusty, so you carry it and keep it on the mattress. you blow away the dust as much as possible and open the box. it’s filled with photos, letters, gifts varying from sizes to colours and occasions. it’s a wonder how he kept all your stuff neatly arranged. even if there’s a few things missing, you don’t mention it when you return back to the living room.

he shoots up from his seat upon seeing you, and there’s a determined look on his face which you don’t quite like.

“can i know one thing before you go?” there’s fresh pain in his eyes which he no longer attempts to hide from you. when you take a look at him, you see the eyebags, the tiredness seeps through his eyes and it’s painful to see him that way.

when you don’t reply, he takes that as his cue to step towards you and hold both of your hands in his, the familiar warmth immediately soothing you and making you breathe in relief.

“do you still love me?” it’s just a question, you tell yourself. it’s just a normal question, just say no and you’ll be fine. instead, you stare down at your intertwined hands and slowly rub your thumb against his.

“what if i say yes? how would it change anything? remember, you left me first,” you look back at him with tears brimming your eyes. there’s a softness in his expression that almost makes you cry but you manage to hold it in.

“because you told me to! you told me how annoying i was and how i wasn’t giving you time. and i thought about it, i really did and i realised it was better for us this way.”

“you’ll decide that on your own? you could’ve talked to me once ji! i would have stopped you and told you just how much you mean to me!” you say while jabbing a finger at his chest in fury.

“how does that change it? you had that thought across your head. how could you even think of us separating? we were happy, weren’t we? and then suddenly you weren’t there when i returned. i didn’t call you because i thought… i thought that maybe you didn’t want me anymore,” he chuckles bitterly and runs a hand through his unruly hair, impatiently waiting for a response.

“i… you’re the only one i want, ji. there’s not been a single day where i didn’t think of you. if you would’ve called me even in the middle of the night, i’d run back to you without hesitation,” there’s raw pain reflecting in his eyes that flick to your continuously.

“then… why?” you squeeze your eyes shut at his question. was it the way he was too blunt with it? or was it the way you knew that the truth would hurt?

“it’s easy for you to ask that because you’re not the one constantly thinking about whether you’re being controlling or not. you’re not the one who has to constantly keep yourself in check, wondering whether or not you’re overthinking! do you know how hard it was for me to not ask you anything every hour just because it will make you look pushy? i didn’t want to be that kind of girlfriend that bugs you, or the one that has to call you a hundred times a day to remind you that i’ll be waiting! it’s a mess, jisung. i-i’m a mess.”

“do you trust me?” he asks, his eyes shining with determination with this new shift in him.

“no– don’t do this to me,” you shake your head and try to slip your hand out of his grasp, but he stays still.

“please don’t try to ignore me, my love. please don’t go… why do you keep shaking my whole world and then leaving like nothing ever happened? why? why are you so desperately trying to run away from me? did you forget that we promised to help each other with our problems? or do those promises mean nothing?”

“we broke up, jisung! we are not together anymore. there’s no us, it’s just you and i,” you look away to avoid his burning gaze.

“look at me, babe,” he whispers, his words are careful to not try and trigger you any more.

and when you do, he looks down at you with a soft gaze, “i want you to know one thing. there’s nothing in this world that will make me love you less. it’s okay to worry. you worry for the one you love and it’s normal. there is no such thing as worrying too much, okay? don’t you ever think that you are less or that you are more. you are just the perfect amount, like the sugar i need in my coffee,” he jokes a bit and it does indeed manage to make you chuckle through tears.

“there was a day where i almost knocked at your front door, but then i saw how happy you looked. and i feel like i was trying to snatch away your happiness, but then you told me how you felt and honestly, it just feels like we’re two dumb people who are scared to communicate. a talk was all we needed.”

“i’m sorry for hurting you that night, and for not even bothering to tell you that i’m was leaving.” after every word, he smiles wider, and it’s as if you’re seconds away from mending his broken heart along with yours. “is it too late to stop the shifting of the furniture?” he laughs, before shaking his head, and pulling you to his chest. his arms wrap around you and he embraces you tightly, cherishing every bit of you for as long as he can.

“don’t ever scare me like that again,” he mumbles and presses a kiss to the side of your head.

“i suppose i should call the guy before it gets too late,” he huffs in annoyance and you smile at his words.

“you should! it’s your fault you’re trying to give away our stuff,” you mock, with a playful smile dancing on your lips.

“putting the blame on me now?” he pouts before stealing a kiss from you and his fingers are already vigorously typing digits on his phone.

there’s something about this house that will never change; you and him. perhaps those magnets too.

PERM TAGLIST: @taeriffic 🥽 @hello-2-u-from-me 🥽 @ilychee08 🥽 @sleepyleeji 🥽 @spacegirlstuff

[ev3rgreenxtrees]

Violent Love

-M.S

Synopsis: Matt and you have been friends since kindergarten, but when his youtube career flew off, so did he. He moved to LA with his brothers, and when he came back to Boston for a visit, it doesn’t end in the most pleasant way.

Warnings: Foul language, Stalking, Murder, Phsyco!Matt

This story is NOT for the faint of heart. Its also really fucking long. like REALLY long.

“Teddy bear, you were my teddy bear

You were comforting and quiet

How did love become so violent?

Oh, teddy bear, you were my teddy bear

Everything was so sweet until you tried to kill me”

As you laid down alone in bed, you heard a faint knock on your door. You automatically assumed it was Matt, your childhood best friend.

Best friend. He was like a very overprotective big brother to you. When you had issues with people, Matt had no issue starting a physical fight. Unlike how most people would just say, ‘talk it out’ or even have a talk with them, Matt would immediately start a fight. He’d beat the shit out of them, until they were sobbing and rapidly apologizing.

You hated that Matt did this, but it also gave you a sense of security. Protection.

He always held you close to him as you two cuddled in his bed, watching whatever movie you wanted, while scarfing down popcorn. Matt was everything you needed.

He was there for you, and he always had been. Until he wasn’t.

He had a youtube career, with his brothers, Chris and Nick. You loved them, too, but not nearly as much as Matt. You were more than overjoyed when the boys’ youtube career took off, but the three decided it would be best to move to L.A. Simply because there were ‘more influencers’ there, making ‘easier content’.

Matt tried to get you to come with, even offering you a room in their house, but you declined. You were of course sad to see him leave, but you always felt you were holding him back. You would miss him, but you felt it was best. Besides, he said he’d take trips back to Boston often to visit you.

The longer you two stayed apart, the more you slightly drifted apart. You still talked, but you didn’t feel as close as you used to. So, when Matt told you he’d be coming back to Boston, you immediately invited him over.

And now he was here.

You threw yourself out of bed, quickly making your way to the door of your empty home, opening it quickly to see Matt standing there alone, a bouquet of roses in hand.

“Matt! I missed you so much! I haven’t seen you in forever!” You gasped, throwing yourself into his arms as you wrapped your legs around his waist, forcing him to catch you and hold you.

“I missed you too, Y/N,” He shook his head and chuckled, before slowly setting you down. “Here.. I got you these,” He says slowly, handing you the roses that were held tightly in his hand.

“Awe, Matt, you didn’t have to,” You gushed.

“I know, I just missed you so much.” He shook his head, and you backed up, allowing him a clear entrance to your house. You nodded, and he let himself inside.

“Nice house,” He smiled, as you followed him inside.

“Yeah.. It’s okay. Kinda out in the middle of nowhere though.” You shrugged, and he nodded. “Come to my room! We can watch a movie and talk. Like old times!” You suggested, and he nodded.

He followed you closely as you zoomed down the halls, eventually making it to your room.

“Sorry its messy,” You apologized, and Matt scoffed.

“Y/N, we literally made messes in each others rooms when we were younger what are you on?” He gently shoved you out of the way, throwing himself on your bed.

“C’mere,” He waved you over, holding his arms open for you, and you quickly threw yourself into him.

Just like old times.

You wrapped tightly around him, as his arms snaked around your waist.

“If you squeeze any tighter my eyes might pop out of my head,” Matt laughed, and you loosened your grip.

“Sorry, I just missed you soooo much!” You giggled, and Matt placed a kiss on your forehead, causing you to shoot up.

“I totally forgot to tell you, but I got a boyfriend!” You smiled brightly.

You got a boyfriend about two months after Matt left. Your boyfriend cared for you, of course, but not as much as Matt did.

Matt’s eyebrows furrowed, and he slowly sat up, and you tilted your head.

“I.. Um… I gotta go- I told my mom i’d be home for dinner,” He abruptly stood up, and you felt slightly hurt. Why was he being so… rude?

Yeah, sure, Matt was usually like this, but not to you or your family. Ever. He loves all of his family very dearly, and wouldn’t do anything they don’t want. Or deserve. Or need.

“Oh.. Okay. Text me later tonight, so we can make plans. Okay?” You asked, and Matt just nodded, before slipping into the hallway.

Later comes, and yet no text from Matt. You decided it was best to call him, and he quickly answered, but before you could speak, he did.

“What’s your boyfriends name?” He asked through the phone speaker.

“Um.. Kyle..? Kyle Spencer, why?” You reply, and you hear him sigh.

“I know him, Y/N. He was on my highschool hockey team. He’s bad news,” Matt was disappointed. You could tell.

“Matt.. You don’t know him like I do.. Trust me on this one. Please?” You pleaded, but Matt just hung up.

He never hangs up on you? Nevertheless when you were in the midst of a conversation. You stared at the phone with his contact showing, confused as you read the big bold letters saying ‘Call Ended.’

You debated on calling him again, and decided too. He was acting weird. You laid silently, awaiting to hear his sweet voice, but to no avail, you hear a loud beep, and his voicemail.

You let out a frustrated groan, before sitting up and calling one of his brothers. Due to alphabetical order, Chris’ contact was the first one you saw. The phone rang, but unlike his brother, Chris answered.

“Hey, Y/N! What’s up?” Chris chimes through the phone, his voice loud and cheerful.

“Hey, Chris! Is Matt around you?” You asked curiously, but the boy hummed.

“Umm, no.. He just left, actually. Sorry. Did you have plans with him?” Chris replied, and you let out an annoyed sigh. Who was Matt so adamant about meeting up with?

“No, not really. I’m just bored, I was gonna ask him to come over but he wont answer his damn phone.” You growl, causing Chris to chuckle.

“Me and Nick can come over if ya want, we don’t have any plans,” Chris offered, and you smiled at the thought of seeing them again.

“Yeah! I’d love that. I’ll send you my address.” You beamed with joy, and Chris hummed again.

“Cya soon!” He spoke before hanging up.

At least you wouldn’t have to be alone tonight.

Around twenty minutes later, you hear a knock on your door, and since it must be Nick and Chris, you practically throw yourself out of bed.

You rush down the hall, and throw the front door of the house open, and saw two of the same faced people standing aimlessly at your door.

“Y/N!” They both exclaimed, as you quickly pulled both of them into a hug. The three of you greeted each other, before you pulled them into your house, leading them to your living room.

They both plopped down on your couch, and you tossed the remote in-between them.

“Put on something to watch, I’m gonna go make some popcorn,” You told them and they both nodded. You heard them quietly speaking to each other as you rummaged through your cabinets, searching for some popcorn.

You finally found a bag, and tossed it in the microwave. As you waited for the popcorn to be done, you pulled your phone out of your pocket, and saw many messages and missed calls from Matt.

Odd. He just hung up on you a while ago, and left your house on a excuse, but now he wants to talk? You decided to open the messages anyways, if he wanted to be a dick you could just simply leave him on read, and thats exactly what you were going to do.

The messages read, ‘sorry i was really busy with something my dad needed help after dinner, can i come over?’ five minutes after that one, he sent another one. ‘hey? y/n im sorry i didnt mean to leave like that.’ Another five minutes passed. ‘Y/n. i know youre getting my messages please at least reply with a no or smt.’ You sighed, and slid your phone back into your pocket, not bothering to reply.

You carefully grabbed the hot bag of popcorn out of the microwave, and headed back to Nick and Chris. The two had turned on Edward Scissorhands, your favorite movie to watch together. You gasped, as you rushed over to the boys sitting comfortably on your couch.

You threw yourself against Chris, as you had done to Matt earlier, and Chris had quickly pulled you into him and adjusted himself, just as Matt had done hours before.

You couldn’t deny, you terribly missed Matt and did want him to come back, but you didn’t want any trouble. He was already acting off today, maybe he just needed rest. If you ignored him, maybe he’d give up and sleep.

You cuddled into Chris, as all three of you shoved popcorn down your throats and payed close attention to the movie. You missed doing this when you were younger.

You missed Matt.

You pulled your phone out of your pocket again, and saw more messages from Matt.

‘Y/n. Is he over? is that why youre ignoring me? i told you hes an asshole. he doesnt deserve you. hes just a whore that wants in your pants. youre better than that.’ You scoffed as you read the message. Who does Matt think he is? Sure, he may be your best friend, but he’s in no place to call your boyfriend a whore? ‘im sorry i took it too far. can i come over please. ill make it up to you, ill cuddle with you and rub your back, we can go sit on the roof and watch the stars like we used to. please.’

That one hit hard. You missed stargazing with Matt so bad. Neither of you knew anything about stars, but thats what made it ten times better. Using your imagination as you laid your head on his warm chest. One of his arms draped around your waist, his other arm holding your hand. You missed it so much.

‘Im busy’ you typed out, and quickly sent, pushing your phone back into your pocket, not wanting to be tempted by his reply.

You felt bad for being so petty to your best friend, but you didn’t want to ‘interrupt’ him. You felt your phone buzz a few times in your pocket, and you felt Chris’ eyes on you.

“Y/N, just answer your phone.” He chuckled, and you sighed. If only it was that easy.

“Has Matt been acting odd, recently?” You questioned, as you slipped your phone out of your pocket.

“Hm.. No. Why?” Chris replied, and you sighed.

“After I told him I.. have a boyfriend, today, he just got up and left. I called him later, he asked for his name and then he just hung up. He didn’t answer any of my other calls, but now he’s spamming me and apologizing.” You grumbled, as you read the messages.

‘Y/N, ill come over regardless i have ur address’ Now this was just getting weird. He was always sweet and caring, not forceful. ‘Y/N, cmon. im sorry. please let me come over. ill make it up to you.’ You contemplated on how to reply, before you just held your phone up to Chris.

“See? How am I supposed to reply to this?” You ask annoyed, and Chris just snatched the phone from your hands.

You didn’t reach to take it back, you trusted him. He lifted the phone at an odd angle, before snapping a picture.

His fingers tapped gently on the screen, before he handed the phone back to you, giving his full attention to the movie.

As you examine the screen, you saw the picture he took, with you wrapped around Chris, had a caption, ‘She said shes busy.’ Chris could be petty too, sometimes. Not that you minded, of course.

Matt quickly began typing, before his message popped up on the screen, below ‘yours’. ‘What the fuck, chris?? fuck this, fuck you guys.’ You read. You didn’t mind. You felt bad, but he just needed time to debrief, you thought. This will all blow over tomorrow, and you guys can hangout and stargaze, like Matt had offered earlier.

You slid your phone back in your pocket, pulling your attention to the movie, that was now almost over. Nick and Chris now started brainstorming the second movie to watch tonight, and you giggled at the two’s bickering.

You felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, before you pulled it out. You saw your boyfriends contact flash across the screen, and your eyebrows furrowed. You didn’t mind that he was calling you, but he said he wouldn’t bother you much, knowing you’ll have people over. He usually sticks to this.

You slowly stood up, and held up your index finger at the two boys as you accepted the call, indicating you’d be back in a moment. You walked off down the hall, as you pulled your phone up to your ear.

“Hey, baby!” You spoke loudly; making sure he could hear.

No reply. Nothing at all. No background noise, no voices, no reply. Maybe something had gone wrong with one of their phones?

“Baby?” You called again, and this time you heard something. Something unusual. As you turned your volume up, and held the phone speaker closer to your ear, you heard a ragged breathing.

Nothing you’d say was.. bad, more like someone just took a mile run and was trying to catch their breath. But no words.

“Um.. Hello?” You paused, but the breathing didn’t stop. “Kyle? Are you there?” No reply. You now began to worry. Kyle hadn’t done anything like this before. He was a very respectful guy. He knew something like this would scare you and push your boundaries.

You crept back into the living room, with Nick and Chris. You put the phone on speaker, and grabbed your remote, muting the T.V. Both boys understood, as they intently listened to the phone. The breathing only continued for about fifteen more seconds, before you heard the loud sound of the dial tone, making you slightly jump.

“Did you guys hear that?” You ask, and they both nod.

“Yeah, the weird ass fuckin’ breathing? Yeah I heard it. Whoever the fuck breathing that loud might need an inhaler,” Nick joked, but your facial expression stayed the same. Worried. Scared, even.

“Nick, this isn’t funny..” You sigh worriedly, before tossing your phone onto the couch.

“Sorry, sorry.. What even was that about?” Nick asked, and you shook your head.

“I.. I don’t even know. It was Kyle, my boyfriend. He told me he wouldn’t call, since he knew I had friends over, unless it was urgent. He called, I answered, but he didn’t say anything.. All I could hear was that breathing..” You groan as you sit back down on the couch, next to Chris. “He’s probably fine.. I’m just overreacting. Did you guys pick a movie?” You asked, trying to advert your mind from the topic.

“Yeah, if Spongebob is okay,” Chris giggled, and you nodded. As Nick looked for the movie, you so badly wanted to pull out your phone, make sure your boyfriend was okay, and tell Matt to come over, but you knew you should refrain.

You didn’t want to be too pushy. You had already been told by people that you worry too much, and you figured they were right. Plus, it’s not like Matt would do anything.

The further you got into the movie, you felt more and more unease, which is the complete opposite of what you wanted to happen. The compete opposite of what was supposed to happen.

You began to feel paranoid, feeling like someone was watching you. You kept pushing it off as Chris or Nick, but maybe you shouldn’t have. Maybe you should’ve paid more attention to who was watching you.

You finally finished the movie, your mind still racing with nerve-racking thoughts. What if your boyfriend was hurt? What if Matt was hurt? What if Matt wasn’t going to forgive you? What if.. No. Enough with the what if’s.

“I think i’m gonna go to sleep, now. You guys should stay. I don’t want you going home this late.. You recently got your license and its pitch black outside. You’d probably hit a deer.” You joked, but both boys agreed. Nick called the couch, and Chris called the spare bedroom, knowing Nick would end up sleeping in the spare room anyways.

You headed to your room, and started feeling slightly better. Slightly less like someone was watching your every move. Maybe it was just Nick or Chris, and since they weren’t around now, the feeling wasn’t either.

You quickly changed into your pajamas, just a black cropped top, and red and black plaid pj pants. You threw your hair into a messy bun, before flopping down on your comfortable bed.

You picked up your phone, and saw there were no missed calls or texts. Maybe everything was fine. Maybe you were just overreacting. Or possibly, you weren’t.

You pulled up your texts with Matt, and typed out a smaller message to send him.

‘hey. im sorry if i was being petty earlier, you were just kinda making me upset, yk? id love to hangout sometime tmrw if your not busy? i do miss you matt.’ You meant it all, so you sent it. You’d hope he’d forgive you and move on, even if there wasn’t much to forgive.

You laid in your bed, complete silence filling the air around you, allowing you to fall deep into thought. Perhaps too deep.

You awoke to a loud ringing from your phone, which was laying next to your head. You yawned, before reaching over to grab it and read it, only to find out it was Kyle, who was once again calling you.

It was three in the morning. Kyle had a very strict sleep schedule, he was asleep by now. You quickly answered, no doubt in your mind now that something was wrong.

The same thing that happened the first time happened. Just the same heavy breathing, but no speaking. No speaking at all.

You hung up this time, and you remembered you have Kyle’s location on your phone. You didn’t have it because you ‘didn’t trust him’, it was just a fun Life 360 group of him, you, and some of your other friends.

When the screen finally loaded, you squinted at the sight. Why was he here? At your house? At three in the fucking morning.

Your heart began to beat faster, and you wanted to cry. What was going on? Matt acting weird, Kyle.. heavy breathing, harsh paranoia, and now your boyfriend in your house, and three fucking A.M, with no explanation?

You wanted to go look for him, or at least warn Chris and Nick. Well, not warn. Warn was a stretch, there was nothing to be afraid of. So, why were you so scared? As much as you wanted to get up, your body wouldn’t let yourself.

You felt trapped to your bed, as if it was a pit of quicksand. You realized that you have your phone on you. You could call 911, but whats the use? They’re going to show up, check the house, find nothing, and everyone thinks you’re crazy.

You could at least text Chris and Nick, though, and just prey they have their phones on silent. Why were you so scared of your own boyfriend? He’s never done anything to frighten you or harm you, so you weren’t sure why you were this on edge.

You reached for your phone, before you heard a small shuffle by your door, and your heart dropped. Someone was inside. Someone was inside your home.

You froze, you couldn’t move. You began to shake slightly, your throat going dry immediately. Another decision hit you.

Do you stay quiet, or do you call out? Regardless; whoever it was had Kyle’s phone, and they were in your house. This was targeted, and they knew you were there. This was all planned out.

“Kyle?” You called out, your voice just slightly above a mere whisper. Your doorknob turned; and your heartbeat went from extremely slow, to one-hundred miles per hour. You felt your throat tighten, and your eyes begin to fill with water. Fuck, you can’t break down now. Not now, out of all times.

“My love, there’s no need to be scared. I’m here. I’ll protect you.” Matt.

You could tell from his fucking voice. It was Matthew.

“Matt, oh my fucking god. That wasn’t funny. I almost fucking cried..” You began to trail off at the end of your sentence, as Matt came into view. His blood stained shirt and bloody hands, the rips in his shirt and pants.

Your thoughts immediately went to Kyle. Where the fuck was Kyle, and what the fuck happened with Matt.

“M-Matt, this isn’t funny. This isn’t fucking funny.. Jokes over. Matt, stop. You’re scaring me,” You stutter, as the boy began to inch closer to you, now leaning over you.

“Mh.. Well, I love you. You know that. But you loved him.. There was no other way I could win you, was there? No.. I don’t think so, either. I did the only option. Get rid of all of my opponents. And now look at me. Look at us. Alone, together. No more Kyle, just us. Yeah?” He asked sultry; pulling a bloody knife out of his waistband, dragging it softly against your neck.

Your breath was lodged in your throat, and you couldn’t breathe. What do you do in a moment like this? You can’t run, hide, call the cops, you can’t do anything. You’re helpless, and Matt knows this.

“M-Matt- please, please don’t- don’t hurt me,” You plea, tears begin streaming down your face, as you fight back your sobs.

“Well, You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I would’ve liked the same fucking respect I gave you, goddamnit. I gave you all my fucking love. All my time, care, everything. I gave you fucking everything. And all I get in return? Nothing. Fucking nothing. You had so much to offer.. Such a shame it has to go to waste like this, isn’t it?” He pressed harder, the knife threatening to cut through skin.

Just the smallest movement, and you’d be gone.

“Tell me how the stars are up there.” Matt speaks, a single tear rolls down his cheek, as he quickly rips his arm sideways, slicing the knife.

And just like that, love can turn to violence.

“I threw you out, I didn't outgrow you

I just didn't know you

But now you're back

And it's so terrifying how you paralyze me

Now you're showing up inside my home

Breathing deep into the phone

I'm so unprepared, I'm fucking scared.”

@bernardenjoyer @lovely-calypso

[andre-and-cal]

me when I want some.........pup headcanons....STOPP it can BE SO SHORT or actual request what would caldre do on a date heh.......

Finally getting to overdue requests !! ^_^

Also uh my headcanons r too long so I’ll try to make them shorter from now on so they’re easier to read HELP SORRY I be #yapping too much

Andre and Cal on a date,,

Most of the time, they don’t really call it a date— they don’t even acknowledge their relationship as dating. They say they love each other, call each other affectionate names in private, but they never made it official that they are a thing, even though they behave how couples do. They kiss, cuddle, fuck, do stuff together, argue, fight…

When they do say “date”, it’s mainly Cal who brings up if Andre wants to “go on a date” with him. However, they tend to prefer directly asking each other to go somewhere private. Especially Andre.

Admittedly, toward the beginning of their romantic companionship, they both felt too insecure about bringing up going on “dates” with each other. So eventually, Cal was the first one to ask Andre straight-up, having to fight back against his social apprehension. To which, Andre accepted. He generally is always up to going on tender outings with Cal unless his parents or cousin need him for something at that time.

Now, Andre no longer feels as awkward as he did before. A lot of the times he just expects Cal to bring up going out together. He’s a pretty laid back guy when it comes to that, not minding whenever Cal requests it, as long as it isn’t on one of their mission days. As a result, Cal is usually the one to initiate plans for outings together. In a way, it’s kind of like a routine.

Andre and Cal nearly always go to quiet places. They prefer less chaotic, more undisturbed atmospheres, mostly because they both get annoyed when too many people are around them or crowding them, so they don’t attend concerts too often. They aren’t very fond of parties either, but will go under difference circumstances. Not that they’d be invited to their classmates’ parties anyway.

Generally, Andre and Cal like to go out to the movies together. But they don’t kiss during the movie. Instead, they laugh at different scenes together, especially if it’s some campy, low-budget horror movie. Cal occasionally tries to sneak edibles into the movie theater, but Andre always makes him put it away, quietly scolding him about his carelessness toward getting high in public. During the movie, Andre tends to pat Cal’s thigh or knee, and Cal likes to place his hand over Andre’s hand or knee— even lean his head on his shoulder. You best believe they’re sharing a big bag of popcorn or candy, too.

Sometimes they’ll hang around at empty parking lots as well. Despite the blatantly unsettling vibes present with the dim streetlights being the only sources of light in the parking lot, with both boys being aware that the setting is like “something straight out of a horror movie”, the melancholic solitude of the late-night vacant buildings still draws the two in. However, Andre and Cal refuse to get out of Andre’s car, since he carries pocket knives in his car’s front compartment just in case LMAO. They’ll sit and get comfortable, maybe talk for a while, with their hands tightly locked together.

They’ll even just drive around town in Andre’s car aimlessly, listening to music on the radio and getting some snacks and slushies at the gas station, so their tongues will be purple by the end of the night. ;3

And they also like to head to the CD store to both seriously purchase music, and individually— yet jokingly— get pornographic movies. It was Cal’s idea initially, and now it became kind of like a stupid “game” where they both gauge each other’s reactions when they put it on.

Andre and Cal do enjoy spending time together when they can. I think it’s also worth mentioning that they leave their camcorder behind, so that they can stay in the moment, essentially. Their outings can serve as simple— yet temporary— distractions from their Zero Day plans.

[fazedlight]

Do-Over (supercorp ficlet, 100th episode angst, no plot impact after)

Rao, I can’t believe we did it.

She had nearly given up, after the last timeline - she could still feel the sting of kryptonite in her veins, the harrowing image in her mind of the green stone in Lena’s chest, as she refused to fight her. “Then you will die screaming.”

But the odds of another world like that - where Lena used 5th dimensional magic, blocking Mxy out - was low. So after Kara caught her breath and shook off her nerves, they decided to give it another few goes.

They hit it in the very next shot. Kara had decided to jump forward again, meeting Lena just after an uncomfortable incident in the elevator to Sam’s apartment - “I can never trust her again” - and giving her the truth. And Lena had been pissed, at first. But over the course of the timeline, she thawed. Kara and Mxy found themselves watching a movie night, Kara’s head in Lena’s lap as Lena gently scritched the blonde’s hair, Kara dozing off in the middle of the second Pirates of the Caribbean. 

“This is it,” Kara said, delighted as she turned back to Mxy. “She doesn’t hate me! No one died! This is it-”

But Kara cut off suddenly, watching the screen with widening eyes, as a sheepish and fond confession fell from Lena’s lips. And she found herself a voyeur to her own dreams, watching herself as this other Kara sat up, cheeks turning a bright pink with her own confession, before the two women’s lips gently met.

“Turn it off,” Kara said, jumping off the couch and turning away from the television. “Turn it off, Mxy.” “But this-” Mxy stuttered, confused. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

Yes, Kara thought to herself, overwhelming anguish ripping through her body. Because it was everything. Everything that could’ve and should’ve happened.

Had she not been such a fool.

It was a misguided endeavor, she realized now. She could’ve ignored her misgivings, for a time anyway. Embrace a reality where she and Lena were friends again, where she had never hurt her, or at least not driven her so far.

But the pit of nausea in Kara’s stomach grew. Because the idea of being in Lena’s arms, being in her bed, feeling her wanting body, without Lena ever knowing what Kara had done, suddenly felt anathema. It wouldn’t be real. It would simply be Kara taking advantage of her again, far worse than before.

“I’m keeping the real timeline,” Kara said brokenly. “I can’t… I can’t run from this. I- I don’t know how I’m going to fix this. But I can’t undo my mistakes like this.”

Mxy’s eyes gentled at the turned-away kryptonian, holding back a sigh of relief as he snapped his fingers, the projector and reels of film and popcorn dissipating back to his dimension. It was ironic, really, that all of his fake timelines had only made the kryptonian dig in her heels, eager to find something that actually worked. But the one real timeline he had them glimpse - back on Earth-413, before the Crisis - was the one that led to her finally accepting that she couldn’t change time.

Which was great, because neither could he.

Kara took a deep, steadying breath, turning back to Mxy. “I know it didn’t turn out the way we expected,” Kara said, handing back Mxy’s recorder with his backwards-recorded name. “But you still helped me, Mxy. Now I know the only way out is through.”

The kryptonian stood - sad, but hopeful again - and Mxy gave a small smile. As with so much of the mystery of the universe, he couldn’t say how or when Kara and Lena would find their way. He only knew that they would.

“It’s true what you said, Kara,” Mxy said, thinking of the words the woman in front of him had said, not all that long ago. That’s all this endeavor was, really, returning that favor. “Magic can’t be forced. It has to be found.” And it will.

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 13: Cheers

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Including a short blurb, also written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

The day went on pretty quickly after that...

April and Casey helped make plans with Leo and Raph up until around 4PM, when Mikey came running down the halls and pounced on Leonardo from behind, knocking him flat on his face. Donnie came stumbling through a few minutes later, his mask askew and eyes still conveying a need for some more sleep, but generally rested for the most part.

They'd made sure to entertain Mikey as best they could, playing a few games and letting Mikey wrestle with them. And by "them", it was mostly just Raph.

Raphael'd never had trouble when it came to sparring with Mikey before. Sure, the kid was strong and fast, but Raph was always the one to beat him no matter what. Now he actually had to work to hold his own against him. Mikey's play-fighting was chaotic and swift, his movements were a blur and Raph could tell he wasn't holding back on his strength anymore. Or maybe, he'd forgotten how...? In any case, he'd knocked him on his tail more than once and looked up to see him sitting perched on his chest with a great big grin. At least he was having fun.

After dinner -- which had a lot of proteins in it for Mikey of course -- they'd all settled down for a Lou Jitsu movie.

That was very interesting to witness.

They'd nearly forgotten about the issue with his eyesight, and had to find a way to watch the movie with the lights on. They came up with an odd compromise -- by shining a lamp over only Mikey, while the rest of the room was darkened. It worked well enough.

Mikey was confused at first, unsure what the movie was. For a moment, he seemed to think that it was almost like a window, and the people were real. He tried to attack it once. It was then that they realized that Mikey had a fierce disliking of humans now. He'd not gotten around to mentioning that beforehand, which would have been helpful to know before April came over...

Mikey watched the rest of the film with intensity. Slowly but surely, he became invested, and at one scene he heard the very familiar catchphrase.

"Ahh!! AH! AH!!! MMMMNNNGHH, Mmmmmaah! AAGH!" He shrieked, pointing and jumping and screeching with excitement.

"Yes, Mikey!" Leo laughed, his joy overflowing at knowing he remembered something. "Hot soup!"

Mikey bounced ecstatically. Even more so at seeing the enormous smile that his brother bore now. Donnie smirked. Raph's hands stimmed with glee. April chuckled at Mikey's enthusiasm. Splinter laughed happily and pet his head sweetly.

By the time the movie was finished, April had to leave to get back to her studies. But she promised to return when she could after class the next day.

"See ya later, bro-bro," she said with a smile as she knelt down next to Mikey and pat his head.

Mikey chirped in response, smiling at her happily.

The rest of the night was a mix of different things. Donnie peeled off to work on the anti-mutagen, Leo went to talk with Casey about... "things"... and Raph helped Splinter clear the living room of dishes and leftover popcorn.

Mikey took the opportunity to explore the lair some more. He went into every room, stayed for about five minutes to investigate, then went to the next interesting place.

He popped into Dee's lab first. The lab was dark again, but after the movie had ended, Mikey had gotten used to the darkness and his infrared vision had returned. He saw a blorb of heat sitting in a chair, typing away on a desk. The computer screens gave off some heat, but not as much as the consoles and hard drives beneath the desk. There wasn't much else to see. He'd gone up to Donnie and chirped at him, though Donnie hadn't responded beyond head rubs.

He got bored quickly and left the room to go look around. He found Raph and Splinter talking as they washed dishes. The kitchen was brightly lit, and Mikey's vision switched over again. He wandered in circles around the table, listening to their conversation without processing a single word. He just liked hearing their voices. But eventually he got bored of that too, and wandered out, looking around the halls and skate room and training room...

He'd come across Leon and Casey next. The two were talking in private, though Mikey hadn't picked up on that. They were standing just beyond the traincar bedrooms, and Mikey wondered what they were doing so far away. His infrared had come back, causing a minor headache but he muscled through it as he went towards the others. He noticed that the closer he got to them, the further away they went from the lair. Why? Why were they getting farther...

"...all I'm saying is that I get it, I really do," Casey muttered softly.

"You get it? You get looking at your family and not knowing who they are anymore?" Leo argued.

"Yes. That's every day of my life, now..." Casey responded.

"...I hadn't... I didn't realize... I'm sorry, dude, I just... You're right. And I don't mean to be a stranger to you, I'm really trying to be who you want me to be, but I--"

"I don't WANT THAT, Leo! You shouldn't have to change who you are now to fit who you were once to me. You'll never be him..."

There was a pause of painful silence.

"...And you don't have to be."

"But... I need to be, don't I? Not just for you, but for them -- for Raph, and Donnie, and --"

Leo suddenly turned towards Mikey and snapped.

"Mikey! What are you doing here? We're having a private conversation, do you mind --!"

Mikey jerked back nervously, looking between them. He didn't know... he couldn't tell they weren't facing him. He thought they saw him... He didn't mean to...

Leo sighed and walked over to him.

"I'm sorry for yelling. You startled me, that's all. C'mon, let's go hang in your room for a bit, okay?"

Leo turned to Casey.

"We can continue this conversation later."

"I don't think we need to," Casey responded, folding his arms. Mikey could see his expression, but his voice sounded a little bit agitated.

Leo sighed as he took Mikey back into his room to hang out.

"Oh, by the way, I found these," Leo said, once Mikey's eyes had readjusted to the light.

He handed him a pair of nunchucks.

"Snagged em while searching for you at the labs," he explained. "Figured you'd want them back."

Mikey looked down at the wood and chains. Were they a gift? Important? He didn't recognize them at all. He snorted at the weapons, then grabbed them in his mouth, and tossed them away.

Apparently they weren't interesting. Leo made the oddest expression when Mikey discarded his signature chucks, but he masked it pretty quickly, offering to try and entertain the kid until it was time for bed.

The two tried everything, from Mikey experimenting with some of his paints, to Leo reading a few of his comics to him like bedtime stories. Mikey and Leo conversed about a few things, such as who April was, and why she'd come.

Mikey signed to Leo to ask what to call him if "Blue" wasn't his actual name. Leo was extremely patient with him and helped him to memorize the sign for his and his brothers' names. Leo made sure to say the names as he signed them, helping reiterate them in his little brother's mind.

After several minutes, Mikey finally started yawning and pressed himself against Leon's chest. Leo lifted the baby brother up and carried him to his hammock to sleep in. Mikey chirped out a 'goodnight' before succumbing to sweet, sweet sleep.

Leo hummed as he tucked Mikey in, folding the blanket edges under his arms. Leo had to admit, Mikey was one heck of a trooper. He was scared, scarred, and lost in his own mind, but hopeful and cheery as ever, and 100% willing to work on himself to get better. He was already starting to remember things, and he'd come to trusting April pretty quickly despite the animosity he had for humans now... Maybe this wouldn't be so hard. It wouldn't be so bad...

.

.

.

“Mikey, it’s not that bad-!”

"No- no! You don't understand! It was my fault! It's me! It's always been me!" Mikey shouts, grabbing the front of his orange jacket, tears rolling down his cheeks as he pouts.

“I know you burned it twice now but you’re being super dramatic.” Leo rolls his eyes as he dumps a plate into the trash.

Mikey looks up at him and pouts a lot more.

Leo sighs and walks closer, patting Mikey’s head.

“You’ll get it, eventually! Took me a while to stop burning stuff.”

Leo only started making his own food maybe a year or two ago. Maybe closer to a year since Raph panicked about them burning themselves.

He is way more paranoid about Mikey so this practicing is supposed to be secret, but it won’t be if he keeps crying.

Mikey wipes his eyes but still hiccups.

“I-I keep messing up. Making it too hot and leaving it too long….I….I just want to be as good as you….”

Leo pulls him in close.

“You will be! Just gotta practice. Maybe you’ll be a big chef and you can make me all the food I want!”

Mikey sniffles.

“I-I can be?”

“You’re already good at soooo much stuff, why not? My super cool, talented little brother!”

Mikey smiles and giggles, rubbing his face into Leo’s shirt.

Leo smiles too, hugging him closer.

It wasn’t a lie.

He believes it 100%.

Mikey can do anything.

He’ll always be there to cheer him on.

.

.

.

Leo comes back to reality, the memory still vivid in his mind.

He cups Mikey's speckled cheek with a smile.

"I'm still gonna cheer you on, king," he whispers. "No matter what. You've got this..."

Mikey murmurs something in his sleep, and Leo can almost swear it sounds like an actual sentence or phrase. It might have been wishful thinking, the sound was too soft to actually hear. But Leo will go to his grave convinced that he'd heard Mikey mumble in his sleep...

Love you.

Leo smiles and gets ready to take the first sleepover shift.

Prev || Next

[starry-blue-echoes]

AU where after Father Pucci obtains jotaro's stand disk, he, being the perfectionist, "no loose ends" kind of person he is, meticulously studies every single one of jotaro's adventures on his quest to defeat dio and...... kinda ends up invested ? Like... he actually gets invested in the Stardust Crusader's misfit adventures. He goes through the entire events ofpart 3 in jotaro's perspective, he watches every single fight that he's been in. He feels sad when he thinks joseph dies, is devastated when he eventually learns that kakyoin, avdol, and iggy are dead-

he has the popcorn and foam hand with "JOJO" printed on it out, he's cheering when jotaro saves koichi and beats kira to a pulp in that one scene-

this all leaves him feeling very conflicted, of course- PFFF

👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 ooooooo that’s a fun idea

What if Pucci ends up starting out of just general curiosity. After all, what was the life of the great Jotaro Kujo like? Perhaps he even tries using it to get some insight on Jolyne....... only to not find very much

This naturally sparks his interest. It's my headcanon that not only do the discs contain memories, but the emotions and thoughts attached to said memories. And as far as Pucci could tell in the few memories Jotaro did have with his daughter and wife, one of the most prevalent emotions was a feeling of endless love and devotion undercut by an almost suffocating anxiousness and a fear of danger

And the idea is almost laughable at first. After all, what could the great Jotaro Kujo, easily one of the most well known Stand Users in the whole community and arguably one of the strongest, possibly be so terrified of?

So he decides to go back to the beginning. To when Star first awoke and Jotaro first made contact with this world of Stands

The first two days were relatively expected but still a bit surprising. Jotaro naturally had no idea what was going on and reacted with fear, confusion and anger, eventually locking himself in a jail cell. Pucci couldn't exactly blame him for that, a Stand of Star's caliber would naturally be frightening to someone who wouldn't even know what a Stand was

But then Jotaro tries to shoot himself and this IMMEDIATELY draws Pucci's attention back with newfound interest

So he watches some more. He watches Joseph explain their family's history, Kakyoin attacking him only to save the boy from his apparent mind control, his mother getting sick and becoming his motive to kill Dio (and oh that last one strikes a chord in Pucci)

And after the first couple days and fights he grows to respect Jotaro, and even feels a tad sympathetic. He's still upset, but now he understands where Jotaro was coming from

.......but then it goes on and beneath all the power, he sees how much they all cared for each other. Every spike of terror and anger Jotaro felt when his friends were put in harms way Pucci feels like his own, he learns their jokes and laughs and voices, feels how the cold exterior Jotaro puts up fell away a bit with every day that went on.

And above all else, he sees how much Jotaro sacrifices for them. Pucci had known Jotaro was the self sacrificial type, it was the whole basis of his plan to lure him to Green Dolphin, but seeing it from this perspective? It hits differently. It hits differently seeing Jotaro throw himself off a ship to save a child he just met, hits differently seeing Jotaro taking blow after blow and not retaliating because it would hurt his grandfather, hits differently seeing him go off into the desert in search of the enemy alone to buy his friends time to escape

It hits differently when in the end, he faces Dio alone and stops his heart with his own hands

And Pucci feels something upon the deaths of Avdol and Iggy and Kakyoin and nearly Joseph. It's so strange, he thinks, to mourn people who died nearly three decades ago, but he does because now he knows them. They're no longer simply names Dio had mentioned in passing, they are living, breathing, feeling people

And as he continues he gets to see just how little Jotaro has had time to care for himself. How every action he took would have ripples, that his mere presence could bring danger to those he cared about, and how this led him to isolate and distance himself at the cost of his relationships and how in the end it STILL WASN'T ENOUGH

And Pucci is left conflicted. The perfect image he held of Dio was now thoroughly shattered, and Jotaro isn't the man he thought he was.

It's so hard to hate someone, to want to hurt someone, when you realize they're just as human as you. And Pucci is now forced to make a decision. Whether to continue on what he was doing....... or not

[silverkittenx9]

The Powerpuff Girls: Twas' Fight Before Christmas (MY THOUGHTS)

The Powerpuff Girls: Twas' The Fight Before Christmas (Season 5, Episode 4)

Original Airdate: December 12th 2003 (released on home video in October 2003)

Written By: Lauren Faust, Craig Lewis

Personal Rating: 9/10 👍

The Powerpuff Girls is one of my all-time favorite cartoons.... and for a good reason too. The premise of three kindergarten girls beating the shit out of bad guys is an awesome premise for a cartoon. You don't see innocent children going ham often.... but here 👆

Anyway, I'm going to talk about the Christmas special since it's that time of year again 🎄🎅 It's a very nice episode! A lot of people even say that it's one of the few good post-movie episodes.... and no, seasons 5-6 aren't nearly as bad as people make them out to be. They have their occasional stinkers (*cough* Sun Scream), but overall.... there's just as many good episodes as the earlier seasons. I like all the seasons, actually.... but the first two ones are my favorite. Hands down.

We start off in The City Of Townsville as usual, where the children of Pokey Oaks Kindergarten are enjoying their last day of school before holiday break. Kids are shown stringing popcorn and making Christmas crafts. They all give apples to Ms. Keane since she's just the best teacher 😉 Bubbles made several pictures of Santa and his reindeer, taping them onto the classroom bulletin board. Buttercup becomes annoyed by her ear-piecing singing and starts a brief argument with her.... which is interrupted by Princess Morbucks, who somehow was allowed back into Pokey Oaks 🤷‍♀️ She belittles the girls and as usual, behaves like a condescending jerk towards them. The girls rightfully call her out for all the bad things she's done over the series (including the time she manipulated new kid Robin into being her friend). Being the entitled rotten brat she is, she thinks she's gonna get everything for Christmas. In fact, she goes as far as to travel all the way to the North Pole, sneak into Santa's workshop, and put every single person in the planet on the naughty list but herself. Little do the Utonium family know she's coming up with a nasty scheme that's going to affect not just Santa, but the entire world. Yes, even Antarctica.

The girls (well, Bubbles) wake up the next morning to find coal in their stockings. As expected for a young child who is looking forward to opening presents, she starts to sob in disappointment over the fact she got coal for Christmas. She's not the only one whose stockings are full of coal (an expected result from Morbucks' plan). Blossom and Buttercup later wake up and are surprised by this. They eventually find out Princess Morbucks was the one behind this all along. Typical PPG shenanigans occur, lingering into Santa's workshop. The workshop is destroyed by a bunch of superpowered children fighting each other in a tornado.... to which a distraught Santa intervenes. He is very disappointed that seemingly every kid in the world is on the naughty list. But what he doesn't know is that Morbucks sabotaged the nice list. When he eventually finds out, he immediately puts Morbucks on the permanent naughty list (BUM-BUM-BUM). Realizing the workshop is a mess with elves and reindeer running around, he asks the girls to deliver all the presents. They manage to deliver all of them before sunrise. Okay, we should hire The Powerpuff Girls to deliver presents for now on.... they're obviously faster than Sonic The Hedgehog 🤣🤣 When the girls are finally able to go back to sleep, The Professor barges into their room, behaving like an overgrown 5-year old himself. He shows actual disappointment when the girls tell him to go back to bed. Who knew The Professor could be a "big kid" at times 😂

And that concludes the special. I'm going to say it again, but I really love this episode! The plot is a rather unique twist on most Christmas specials we often see.... rather than the main characters trying to get themselves off the naughty list, they try to put the villain onto the naughty list, especially since she's such a spoiled brat. Even their depiction of Santa is somewhat unique; he's portrayed as a bit of a hippie, complete with lingo. Funny moments are scattered throughout.... like these:

What else can I say? It's the good old Powerpuff Girls! Nothing can go wrong with those three 🥰 Kinda a shame they never had a Halloween or Easter special 😞

[burningfeathersx]

He couldn't feel the Lake-Ice anymore. A dull comfort to feel warm. It meant he'd been pulled out wholesale for this fucking weasel.

When he'd woke, the magician had carefully read off printer paper a series of rules. What he could and, specifically, could not do while under the yoke of that ring on his finger. Anyone else and any time else and he might've been impressed. It only left him infuriated.

He'd dragged his heels as much as possible. Even managed to let go of a feather to a summons as an SOS. But it didn't matter. Not right then. He dragged the wings around behind him. Limp and numb. One of the Rules had taken his flight and use of them except in very specific circumstances. Like being told to.

Flightless.

Locked him into this diminutive form, too. Stripped of his glamours, he was somewhat unsightly. Gnarled and damaged and encased in his equally battered armor of mail and leathers--very few plates. He'd taken his fucking dagger made of Stan's tooth and his fucking hammer, too.

Sometimes the Wrath bubbled up so hot he was sure he was going to stroke out only to have Mittelman snap at him to stop shaking--and he would. Sharp and without his fucking input. He wanted to scream. The power of the Ring choked him hard. Do not make noise unless asked a question.

Soundless.

When Jerimiah got tired of the glares around the three hour mark, he was told to keep his eyes down unless otherwise told.

He hated the shade of marbled gray linoleum that had occupied his vision since. Even God had given him more freedom than this when he'd been in service to Him. His blood kept boiling. Mind kept worrying and picking and tearing at every word the man had ever spoken--all of them orders and restraints and instructions. All of them simple and tightly crafted. When not, covered by the initial read off.

His mind turned to scenarios of violence. Filled his vision red. He knew what a head looked like when smashed like a watermelon. Knew the smell and the taste and he hadn't wanted to revisit those sensations in such a long time that it startled him that the memory was so fresh. The taste of human livers. Intestines. Bone marrow. Squishy, melty, eyes.

He lost track of time. Only returned to his circumstances when Jerimiah's modular voice, tinged with a Bostonian accent, issued a new order;

"Walk forward, mm, eight steps then turn right. Look upon the table there, then lay upon it. Faceup."

Lucifer tried to fight it. This only turned into a standstill where he neither moved nor did anything fucking else he wanted to do. It earned him an annoyed sigh from his Keeper. The sort someone gives to a stubborn child.

Fuck. You.

Still, there was a breaking point between his Will and the Ring's. The Ring always won. He marched forward. Lock step and with a matching military turn.

The table was a slab. Something metal and more like something he'd seen out of a morgue. This was not good. Still, he pulled himself up onto it and laid back with a thud. View now a ceiling with that popcorn texture that never made much sense to him in midcentury homes.

"Close your eyes."

He did.

"Good. Now, do not move until told."

Eat shit and die.

He did not move. Clips and ties and straps and belts were undone on his torso. Metal and leathers removed. Exposing his chest from clavicle to navel.

Still did not move. Not even when the middle of his chest lit up on fire. He didn't move. He didn't scream. He didn't cry. He wanted to scream. It hurt. Hurt as the shape of the cut was enhanced into a Y. He wasn't dead! He wasn't a corpse! Stop! Couldn't even curl his hands into fists.

There were easier ways to get inside there! To take out whatever the fuck Jerimiah wanted from his insides! Easier ways! He could take them out and it wouldn't hurt nearly as much! Wouldn't drag him back to the early days on the ice. When Satan was still curious. A feminine face and goatish red eyes burst out of his recollections like a phantom firework. He'd nearly forgotten her.

The air was too cold for what exposed once ribs were cracked and opened up with an unforgiving metal mechanism he was not familiar with. All he knew was the metal dug into four points and broke him open. And he couldn't scream.

There was a big of aimless rummaging. Not every day one got to take a look at the manifest organics of a Fallen angel, he supposed. He would have laughed if he could have screamed first. Bitterly, both.

He knew it was all rudimentary in there. No real digestive tract that wasn't a drop into a stomach-like sac. Some misshapenly lungs. Something vaguely reproductive in the pelvic cavity. Everything else bone and flesh and meaty muscle to fill the gaps.

And his heart. That was what was investigated last. He could feel the latex covered hand close around it. In his chest it had a beat and was soft as the organ should be. It hardened with a firm squishiness once removed. The beating slowed and weakened. Cobalt blue and having the faceted edges of a precious cut gem--marred distinctly by a missing chunk at the bottom that spider-ed a series of cracks through out the rest.

Lucifer was left behind as Jerimiah took it across the room to a receptacle. A sort of glass, round, vase filled with a clear liquid. There were tubes attached and wire emerged from those tubes into the inside of the vat. Jerimiah moved slow and careful to wrapped the gem in the vat with the coppery wires until satisfied.

Lucifer could feel the wires and the hands and the fucking cold of the liquid.

He heard a loud clank a moment before a fresh agony was introduced. A feeling he'd never endured before. Uncharted territory of...words were difficult to find for it even if he'd had the mind to search for them.

The scream inside was too loud.

Something was passing through and when it left it took from him. Took and took.

It was all he could conceptualize--the pain and the taking.

[leahgrxy]

@wyatt-rhys thread: feel the heat location: the curtain; movie theater

Movies were never her thing. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the complex art of storytelling through visual medium as such, but truthfully… she’d heard them all and trying to sit still for a minimum of an hour and a half felt like pulling splinters from beneath her nails. And yet - as the ever-doting best friend, she’d once again agreed to rally everyone up for their bi-monthyly cinema date. It was all part of the act, weeks out from graduating and trying to pull together as much time as possible with the people who’d managed to get her through another four years of pretending like adolescence was all new to her. There were certainly a great many places she would rather be. Sarah, however, would have never shut up about it - and sometimes the wrath of the redhead that sat next to her now ranked right up there with some of the worst she’d experienced before. 

Not nearly as mindlessly as she might have hoped, Leah tried to slow the bounce in her knee. Impatience, digging in beneath her ribcage as they awaited the doors somewhere beyond the smoky haze of The Curtain’s lobby to open and allow them through to take their seats. Her other leg tucked up beneath her as she sat upon the old cracked leather of the “seating” just outside, grew numb. An ironic parallel to the ringing in her ears as she sat in wait, trying her best to zone out the conversation that hung somewhere in the dim lighting, clinging to the haze that she’d never quite figured out the origin of after all these years. 

The popcorn feels stale, but it’s hot and she’s had worse. It’s not much of a loss when Hunter grabs a fistfull, scooping it out as if he had shovels for hands and more than a few pieces scatter across the floor in-front of her, “We did tell him the right time, right?” Sarah asks, looking rather pointedly at Leah, “You did tell him the right time, right?” Because it’d been her responsibility to text Wyatt - even if it was her best friend who was hoping he’d show. In truth, Leah wanted to put as much space between her and the greenie as she possibly could. For no other reason than, she just couldn’t be bothered with the work it’d take to keep a new wolf in check; but she knew that look. The one that made it impossible to say no to - she only wondered if she’d ever been as hopeful as the girl who’d latched onto her four years prior. “He’s coming okay, he said something about picking up Kelsey and Jer. Not sure a movie was a great choice if you were hoping to talk to him,” Which, she was - Sarah was. A repetitive reminder she told herself as Sarah tried to manipulate the order of everyone’s seats as the three wayward friends approached a few minutes later. “Leah, switch with me.” A whisper spoken far too quickly for her to comprehend before lithe fingers plucked her ticket stub from her own. “What?..-- Yeah, right.. Okay.” What the fuck was happening? “God, he’s so cute.” A throw-away comment, or at least she hopes so - what exactly is she meant to say? The best she can offer is a curt nod and a smile that’s barely there as Wyatt and the others join them. Two wolves from separate packs being in such close proximity was never a good thing, it’d been pure luck that kept them both alive and allowed them to be standing there as the doors opened. Sarah squeezed her hand, and try as she might, the look on her face as they were soon shrouded in darkness didn’t share the same breath of excitement as her best friends. 

It’s all she can do to count down the time until the lights come on, Sarah had somehow found her way to the seat beside Wyatt and left her squashed between Justin and Liam fighting for the very air she needed to breathe while they sucked all of it right up as they spoke over her. The bucket of popcorn sits on her lap, the dust of butter and salt flung about as the pair dig into it as if it might be the last thing they ever eat and though she’s always been one of the boys, this is just one more reason that her patience feels as though it’s worn thin. “Twenty bucks,” Justin whisper-shouts over her to Jackson, “Fuck off, you cheapskate.” The lid of Jackson’s soda pops off as he throws a half assed fist across her shoulders and into Justin as he chuckles, the chill of iced soda spills across the denim of her knee and immediately she hates the feel of it. Somewhere between meaning to cuss him out, and trying to ignore the fact that they were putting down a bet on whether Jackson could fuck Sarah before Wyatt did, the flicker of something in the reflection of a singular ice cube strikes her down cold. A trick of the light, that’s her immediate thought. Even as it flickers again, and her throat closes over. It’s the amber glow that drowns out the haze of the once dark room that encroaches upon the last of her patience. Only, it’s not anger that breaks through. The crackling sound bearing down from the mounted speakers, and even though she’s crowded into the tiny, uncomfortable seat by people on all sides, she’s thousands of miles away, alone. Watching flames engulf a house entirely different to the one on the screen. Her leg has stopped bouncing, and, try as she might to look anywhere but the flicker of flames that illuminate the screen, it’s impossible to do so without someone noticing that Leah Grey exists in that moment only because her heart hammers against her ribcage like a tribal drum. The shatter of glass erupts, and she feels the way she flinches all the way to her bones, and with each new crack in the glass, she loses her breath. The voice over the speakers cries out, but it’s not the voice she hears in her head. She smells burning flesh and the bucket of popcorn hits the floor as she jumps to her feet, involuntarily. “Sorry.. sorry..-’ And though nobody has a hold of her, the space between the row in-front and the guys beside her feels miniscule at best. “What the fuck, Leah?” Justin growls out, brushing the mess of popcorn from his lap as if she’s personally offended him, “Just move,” his legs block her way and it takes her three takes to push beyond him, the whole while trying to keep her voice as low as possible, when all she feels growing is the cry caught up in her throat. The arm of the chair snaps, as she shoves her way through, all but climbing over the few others she had to, to make the isle in minimal steps. The last thing she hears, beyond the unrivaled crackle of fire and destruction, is the word psycho die out on Jackson’s tongue. Heat, rage - and screaming. One voice, the most familiar. She calls out, over and over, for someone - anyone. She's always too late. The cool air makes no difference. Even beyond the haze and smoke that may or may not even be there, she fights to fill her lungs and no amount of oxygen seems to flush the memory from her lungs. “I’m fine,” she snaps, unsure exactly of who she expected to see as the doors beside her swing open, the shadow of another taking up space at the toe of her boots. Inhale. She tries - fails, and coughs out some attempt to cover it up. “Just, being a little psycho.” It’s muttered, because she doesn’t actually expect anyone else to have heard that, bar Justin and Jackson, but it stung enough to matter.

[blink-the-shapeshifter]

Alright, so here’s the ref sheets for Blink! ✨

So, while their original story is still heavily under works, here’s their story in WIR:

Blink comes from a space themed fighting game called Comet Punchers. It’s inspired by Virtua Fighter 2 and has low-poly early 3D graphics. Comet Punchers was made and introduced to the arcade in 1998. Each character had a very unique gimmick, which were also extremely clunky and unbalanced. Blink’s character was a shapeshifting alien that worshipped the stars. While the concept was interesting, the game was nearly unplayable due to the poorly refined controls, which led to it getting unplugged after less than a year.

Since they didn’t like their outfit from Comet Punchers, Blink would always shift into a more casual outfit during closed hours. When she became gameless, she pretty much never wore the Comet Punchers costume ever again. Now with all of the spare time they had, Blink snuck into other games often. He could very easily blend in with the NPCs due to his shapeshifting ability.

During the events of the movie, Blink took the form of one of the cybugs, since he was quite bored and thought watching Sugar Rush get destroyed would be fun. They spied on King Candy while he was fighting Ralph on the top of the volcano. Blink found KC’s behaviour and personality to be quite intriguing. When Ralph triggered the volcanic eruption, Blink pulled KC away from it, saving him.

Now, King Candy is plotting his return, and Blink is just there. Sitting on his shoulder with a bucket of popcorn ready to watch it happen.

I'll probably adjust the story over time but that's how it is currently.

[fluffypandabun]

You’re gonna rattle the stars you are.

AN: Hello Hello my second fic!!! This ones kind of all over the place but hopefully you guys enjoy it! Its a little angsty in the begining but dw that doesnt last long! I hope you enjoy!

Words: 3335

Summary: While watching a Movie with Mikey, Casey is reminded of some more bittersweet times. Thankfully Mikey, and Raph, are there to help him

When Casey had mentioned he had no idea what ‘Treasure planet’ was, Mikey had all but lunged across the table with a loud very over dramatic gasp. Casey barely found the restraint to not lash out at him, though he did flinch back slightly.

The youngest turtle wasn’t deterred by this though, grabbing onto the elder teens shoulder with a firm serious grip, verging on shaking him back and forth.

“Oh me gosh! You’ve seen Treasure planet!? The token greatest movie of all time!?”

Eyes wide, Casey shook his head. So that's what this treasure planet thing was, one of those movie things the rest of the hamatos  have been determined in showing him. He’d enjoyed all of them so far, aside from that one horror movie Cassandra had decided was a good thing to watch. He had spent most of it with his face covered with his hands and Mikey clinging to his arm.

The box shelled turtle's eyes got even bigger, mouth agape as if this was the most tragic news he’d heard ever in his life. Finally he moved his hands from Casey's shoulders and onto his wrists. Grabbing them and dragging him out of the chair.

“Alright! I know what we're doing today then! Clear your schedule Cass cause this is of dire importance!”

“I- what…Mikey-!” The teen huffed, stumbling as he was pulled along by the shorter turtle, wow was he surprisingly strong.

“There's no time to waste Cass, I won't have a fellow brother of mine not know of the masterpiece that is Treasure planet.”

Casey would have gotten a lot more emotional over Mikey referring to him as his brother, if it weren’t for the fact he nearly tripped over his own feet as he was yanked along by the determined teen.

“But-“

“No buts!” Mikey interrupted him before Casey could speak, shooting him a look that said that Casey would be watching this movie and that he didn’t really have a choice.

Admitting defeat Casey allowed himself to be dragged over to the largest couch that made up most of the layers living.

“Right, you sit here and get comfy, I go make us some popcorn, you like the buttered kind right?”

At Casey's nod the turtle grinned. “Great! I’ll be right back!”

Casey was quick to try and stand. “Oh I can help-“

Mikey turned a fixed him with a look, one usually reserved for when his brothers were being extra difficult, like when Donnie wouldn’t leave his lab to eat, or when Leo had started avoiding his family when his mental health had began to get worse

(It also reminded him of another time, with a much older Mikey and an even more stubborn version of his older brother..

Some things really never do change)

Almost on instinct, Casey found himself plopping back down onto the couch and grinning sheepishly.

“Uh, Nevermind.”

Mikeys face immediately shifted back into a wide smile, eyes shining. He gave Casey a pat on the head before he disappeared into the kitchen and out of Casey's sight.

And that was how the teen had found himself settled on the couch, a bowl of buttery smelling popcorn at his side as Mikey fiddled with the projector in front of him as he excitedly flapped his hands.

“I promise you're gonna love it Cass, it's got like space pirates and this super cool cat-lady captain, who was April's first childhood crush by the way, don’t tell her I told you that tho.”

Casey didn’t understand about half the words Mikey was saying (Crush? April could certainly be violent during fights but crushing somebody seemed a bit much for even her) but he still nodded along, his own hands tapping in his lap. Mikey's excitement was certainly contagious.

There was a triumphant “Got it” as mikey stood up, the projector came alive, showing the castle logo that Casey had seen a few times before in previous movies he’d been shown, he didn’t remember what it was called though.

Satisfied, Mikey walked over to the couch and all but draped himself across Casey's lap, shifting about until he made himself comfortable. With his head resting in the elders lap facing the screen, and his arms wrapped around his middle, seeming content.

Casey froze for just a moment, the sudden affection still a bit foreign to him, but he soon relaxed. If Casey couldn’t leave before he definitely couldn’t leave now, he’d rather sit here glued to the couch for days rather than move and risk disturbing the turtle on his lap.

Casey simply smiled and rested a hand on the Turtle's shell, leaning his head back and turning his attention to the movie.

Pretty soon however he found himself leant forward, as far as he could while still having a lapful of turtle, totally invested in the movie before him.

He found himself amazed by the stars and the flying ships, he wasn’t sure how the latter would work, he’d have to ask Donnie about it later.

But mostly he found himself getting very attached to the two main characters, the cyborg especially. The fatherly attitude and the robotic arm, reminded him of someone. And it made his heart ache just slightly whenever he was on screen.

He found himself at the edge of his seat whenever the crew had found themselves in the middle of a black hole, eyes wide as Mr Arrow was thrown off the ship, though he felt an ounce of relief when he was caught by his lifeline.

The relief was short lived however as the weird scary bug dude, he didn’t remember his name and he was too stressed to care, approached the dangling Rock man.

“No!” Casey cried, as the line was severed and Mr Arrow was sent falling to his presumed death.

Still curled up in his lap Mikey gave a grim nod, giving Casey a few pats on the arm in sympathy.

“I know Cass, I know.”

Scowling at the screen, Casey leant back against the couch, grumbling about the ‘stupid traitorous red thing.’.

His ire faded soon after as he watched Jim feel guilt over what happened to Mr Arrow, Casey wanted to yell about how it wasn’t his fault but he knew his words would go unheard.

He watched with increasingly misty eyes as Silver went on a tangent, comforting the boy about how it wasn’t his fault, that he shouldn’t let himself shoulder all of the guilt.

Casey felt his throat tightening, everything about this scene was so achingly familiar. How many times in his past had he felt guilt over small mistakes? Over deaths that in hindsight were unpreventable, how many times had he felt responsible over something that was totally out of his control?

And every-time had his sensei been there to put a firm hand on his shoulder and force him to look him in the eye, not letting go until Casey knew for sure himself that it wasn’t his fault, and then he’s be pulled into a broad chest and held as he cried over his own helplessness in the war.

If only he had known just how little time they would have togther, maybe he would have spent much less of it wallowing in guilt.

“You're gonna rattle the stars you are.”

“Casey?”

Casey was startled out of his own thoughts by a quiet voice, glancing down he met Mikey's eyes which were full of concern, the turtle reached out to cup Casey's cheek with a three fingers hand. 

“You're crying…” 

Casey blinked, and sure enough he could feel the telltale feeling of warm tears slipping from his eyes and down his cheeks, he swallowed thickly. 

“O-Oh….” He choked, reaching up to wipe at his face with the sleeves of his hoodie. He gave Mikey a shaky grin. 

“S-Sorry, it's uh…the movie, you know. Its….sad.” 

Even to his own ears he didn't sound very convincing, especially with the way his voice shook. But he couldn't let Mikey know about the real reason he was getting so worked up, he didnt want for the young turtle to feel guilty about reminding him of his past (Future? Whatever.) and he certainly didn't want to go dumping his issues onto him either. He could handle them fine on his own…probably. 

(A voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like his Uncle Donatello told him he was just as bad as Leo) 

The box turtle frowned, shifting around until he was moving himself out of Casey's lap. Casey nearly reached out to pull him back, missing the contact and the comfort that came with it, but he held himself back as the turtle settled beside him. Sitting cross legged and facing him, Casey barely registered the sound of the movie being paused and the room going quiet. 

“It's something other than the movie, isn't it?” 

Internally, Casey cursed, looking away and not meeting the turtle's gaze. Despite being the youngest, Mikey had always been the best at telling when someone was lying, especially when it came to how they were feeling. This had carried over even in Caseys time. 

In the end he chose to say nothing, clenching his jaw. He held back a flinch as Mikey eventually  sighed, sounding less angry and more….sad. A three fingered hand came and grabbed onto his hand, holding it gently as he rubbed a thumb over the boy's scarred knuckles. 

“I'm not gonna force you to talk about it Casey, but….whenever you do, you know me and the others are here right?” 

And if that didn't just make Casey's want to start crying all over again, he clenched his eyes tightly shut. 

‘Don't look up, don't look up, don't look up-’

He looked up. 

And he was met with a gaze so full of understanding and concern and just…love, that it nearly took his breath away. It was like Casey was six again with a badly skinned knee, bawling his eyes out as his Uncle Michelangelo held his hand and made silly faces to make him laugh again.  

“I….” Casey began, words getting caught up in his throat. “It…just reminded me of someone…”

Mikey took his other hand into his own, giving them both a gentle squeeze. “Who?” 

“My….Sensei…” He managed to choke out, he saw the realization and the understanding in Mikeys eyes, but the turtle remained silent and let Casey keep speaking. 

“He…he used to do the same thing. Give me these long speeches whenever I’d feel bad about something, he carried so much guilt too you know? But he never let me or anyone else carry any of our own….” Casey let out a slight huff of laughter. 

“He said that to me once, the whole ‘You're gonna rattle the stars’ bit. I should have known he stole that quote from somewhere else.”

Mikey rolled his eyes, though he was smiling. “Yeah, that sounds like Leo.” 

Casey chuckled, before his expression fell again and he sniffled softly. 

“....I miss him.”

Mikey's expression softened. “I know.” 

Casey swallowed thickly, allowing the last few tears welled up in his eyes to trickle down his cheeks, he glanced at Mikey and then quickly averted his gaze back down to his lap. Cheeks dusted a light pink. 

“Can…Can I have a hug pl-”

The teen was caught off by Mikey all but throwing himself into Casey's arms, the human was thrown back into laying on his back on the couch with Mikey a top him, arms wrapped around his midsection and face buried in his chest. 

“I thought you’d never ask.” The turtle sighed, face muffled by the fabric of Casey's hoodie. He let out a wet laugh, wrapping his own arms around the younger teen. 

“Thanks Mikey.” He sighed, face shifting as guilt at interrupting their movie gnawed at him. 

“..Sorry about ruining the movie, I know you were super excited to show it to me.” 

Mikey lifted his head from Casey's chest to give the teen a stern glare. “You didn't ruin anything Cass, none of that talk you hear me? Mikey's orders.”

“I know but.”

“Mikey's.Orders.”

Casey pressed his mouth shut, expression still reminiscent of a particularly sad puppy though he didn't protest any further. Mikey gave him a look before he sighed dramatically. 

“Well fine, if that's how you're going to be.” 

Casey blinked, his guilty expression shifting to one of confusion. “Mikey? Wha-”

The teen never got to finish his own sentence however, as the turtle suddenly buried his face into Casey's stomach and blew a big fat raspberry. 

Casey all but screamed, the thin fabric of his hoodie did barely anything against the ticklish vibrating that shot throughout his whole midsection. Cackling his body gave a violently jerk to the side which, forgetting he was laying on a couch, sent him rolling off of it and in a heap on the floor. A giggling turtle landed on top of him.

Gaining his bearing and whipping around he gave the younger a glare that lacked any real heat behind it. 

“Mikey! What was that for!?”

The turtle simply gave him a totally innocent ‘i don't know what you could possibly mean’ look, he shrugged. 

“What? It's not my fault you were just sitting there looking like some sad little angsty boy.” 

“I am not a-you know what? Come here!” 

Mikey's expression immediately switched to alarm when Casey lunged for him, he squealed and dodged out of the way, his ninja skills being the only thing keeping him out of Casey's grasp. He looked over his shoulder and saw Casey getting ready to pounce again and he shrieked, scrambling to his feet he took off running.  

“Hey! Get back here!” Casey yelled after him, laughter in his voice and he took after the younger turtle. Mikey looked over his shoulder to see Casey still chasing him and he squealed, bursting into nervous giggling. 

This was the first time Casey had actively engaged in this sort of play chase, normally he would sit off to the side and watch the others playfight and chase each other around, Mikey was glad Casey was begging to open up more to them. 

But wow was he actually very fast and maybe Mikey needed some back up. 

“RAPH! SAVE ME!” Mikey yelled, bursting into his eldest brother's room, startling the poor snaggle tooth and causing him to nearly throw the scarf he had been crocheting. He reached for his sais, eyes wide as he scanned the room for danger as Mikey hid behind him. 

“What!? What is it!? What's wrong!?” He turned to look back at his baby bro, and he realized when he realized that he was giggling and did not appear to actually be in any danger at all. Figuring it was just his brothers messing around with the youngest he waited for one of them to come running in after him, to his surprise however, it was a disheveled looking Casey who came barreling into the room. 

Grinning wildly and playfully in a way Raph had never seen on his face before, he didn't seem to notice Raphs presence in the room as he pointed a finger at Mikey's direction. 

“You.”

Mikey squealed and ducked back behind his older brother, Ralph's gaze softened fondly before it became playfully stern. He turned back to the human and crossed his arms across his chest. 

“You messin with my lil brother huh?” 

He watched Casey falter slightly, seeming to be worried that Raph was genuinely upset with him. Before the teen could open his mouth to apologize, Raph spoke up. 

“Raph thinks you need a little taste of your own little brother treatment.” He said, cracking his knuckles. Caseys eyes went wide but before he could even move a muscle Raph was grabbing him around the middle and throwing him over his shoulder, the teen found himself dangling upside down with his back to the spiky turtle's chest.  One large hand came up to hold onto his legs so he wouldn't fall while the other dug gently into his stomach in the shape of a claw, before shaking back and forth.

Casey shrieked, bursting into laughter as he jerked back and forth, hands coming up to weakly bat at the much larger three fingered hand. It was a futile effort however, and the hand didn't even budge in the slightest. 

Still on the ground beside Raph, Mikey cheered. “Yeah! Get him Raphie!”

“Oh don't think I forgot about you either Mikey.” 

“Wait what.” 

The youngest turtle suddenly squeaked as he was picked up around the middle with Raphs spare hand, keeping the laughing and squirming Casey in place with ease with one hand, he tucked the small box turtle to his side and began digging into the exposed area between carapace and shell. Which had Mikey squealing even louder than Casey, kicking his legs out and trying to push against Raphs side. 

“This is what you get for burstin in and scaring the daylights outta me! You should know better!”! Raph scolded, though it held no seriousness behind it if the giant grin spread across his face didn't already give it away. 

M-Mikey started it!” Casey managed to gasp through his laughter, earning an offended squawk from said turtle. 

“Casey was being sad!” The turtle barely managed to get out a rebuttle before falling into another bout of giggles. 

“Well now the both of you got what you wanted!” Raph chirped, spinning around to draw more laughter from the already giggly teens. 

“T-This is torture!” Casey cackled, face flushing even redder as he snorted. Raph’s grin simply widened at the sound. 

“Ohoho you think this is torture little man? Just be glad Raph ain't goin full tickle monster on ya.”

Raph chuckled at the two streams of frantic protests he received, he didn't want to overwhelm them however so after a moment his attack slowed to a stop. Though he didn't put down the two giggly teens, who were now both totally limp in his hold. Still shaking from breathy giggles. 

Raph cooed at them softly. “Aw, Raph didn't tire you guys out did he?” 

It earned him a smack on the head from an annoyed Mikey and a groan from Casey. The snaggle tooth simply laughed to himself as he adjusted him in his hold so they were both more comfortable, able to hold them with ease. Though he was pretty sure Casey was supposed to be a bit heavier then he felt to Raph, but that was something they could deal with later. 

“You want me to lay you guys in my bed?” 

Mikey shook his head. “Nah, we still have a movie to watch.” He shifted in Raphs hold to point dramtically out of the door. “ To the living room!”

Raph rolled his eyes playfully as he carried the two over to the living room, heading towards the big couch in the middle. He could have put them down of course, but he also didn't want to. And if the way the two of them snuggled against him suggested they didn't either. 

He arrived at their destination, noticing the movie that was paused on screen. 

“Oh! You guys are watching treasure planet!? Why did you tell me!” 

“It was an urgent matter brother it couldn't not wait, this is Casey's first time watching it. “ Mikey hummed, shifting to make himself more comfortable against Raphs chest. 

“Ooooh! Can Raph join?” The snaggle tooth turned hopeful eyes towards the human much to his surprise, after a moment Casey smiled and he also moved around to get comfy against Raphs side. 

“Of course Raph.” 

The smile the elder sent him was blinding as he also made himself comfortable in between the two, eagerly unpausing the movie and he settled down. 

“Oooo you guys are almost at the really good part!” 

Casey barely registered Mikey's response as he felt himself start to drift off, Ralph's large hand coming down to rub his back certainly didn't help in his fight to stay awake. 

He wasn't worried about falling asleep and missing the movie though, they could always watch it again. 

They had all the time in the world after all. 

[little-de-vil]

A continued response to This Post: Snowfall Upon Sophroniscus ficlet (Harlow's Games edition)

@tumblingghosts, sit back, relax and maybe grab some popcorn, this is gonna be all kinds of fun! I'll be using the same format & your titles to keep to from misunderstanding the topic.

i. sophro children

I am very intentional with the names of my characters denoting their loyalties, or the façade of loyalty. Hence Slip v Home Names for the trio shifting more and more towards the Capitol with each generation.

For Wren, I first picked his name out 11 years ago because it sounded pretty, only to realize that it's a common little bird, thus symbolically craving flight and freedom. His Home Name, Madon, is just a silly misspelling of MaSon, but it's a unique enough Home Name since it's able to differentiate itself from the common mason while still ultimately having heavy ties to the original trade. It works out as he is the one who’s the most dedicated to not just his districts traditions, but to the masonry trade itself! (He does some commission work in 7 after [REDACTED] alongside working with [REDACTED].)

With Cassia, I wanted someone to have a very Capitol sounding name, one that exudes elegance and regality usually associated with someone of her status; a Snow. This is partially how I will be shifting my writing of her (if I get to it) for Pre and Post-Games, in the weeks leading up to it. There's a big difference to how I'd write her before the reaping, to the Games, to Post-Game. Pre-Games (as in, post-Reaping, leading to and during the Games), I wanted her to be advertised as a direct extension and even copy of her fathers image. His image in relation the memory of Victory and the promotion of it, not showcasing the reality of how it was perceived then, very rose-tinted glasses. Vance won his Games by crushing his district partner, not very bloody, not very entertaining, but far more emotional as a direct betrayal. The way that that's played over the next nearly 30 years (hitting 30 by the 74th) was by focusing on the visual with the scar on his face, running from his left temple down to his chin, given to him by the tribute from 1 in the final three. The Capitol have used that image to continue the stereotype of the brutality that's usually associated with District 2, to play it off as if he wouldn't go down without a fight; when in reality he only got to the final two because his partner killed the boy from 1 before he could kill Ashlar Vance. SORRY I GOT SIDETRACKED, BACK TO CASS! Throughout her Games she is likened to her father and advertised as a girl from 2. She really emphasizes this by showcasing many old and important cultural pieces of 2 in the arena (you'll read below), which is not the 2 image they were looking for of the brutal killing machine. That is until her grand finale when she kills the boy from District 1 in retaliation for killing Dani with the stone portrait she made of him, bludgeoning him over and over until he's just a body with no head, unrecognizable, crying out "he's my friend." She felt such relief after that, the catharsis of revenge but she also knew that in that final moment she had become exactly what the audience had wanted: a brutal girl who kills marvelously. She broke down after that, blacking out and waking up in the Training Center President's Mansion. Her father was furious with that act, not at her because he knows it's not really her who did it, but by giving into that fury she had given the people the satisfaction of the image of 2. He had worked with her team to play up the other kills she made, with spears that stabbed through tributes 50 yards away, focusing on her precision and coolness rather than the more popular, bloody ending. They really leaned into it so much that she ended up getting her spear tattooed up her spine with a 73 at the socket. But it's once she's out of the Games and crowned Victor that her promotion and image shifts drastically from a carbon copy of her father, to the universally admired, adored, elegant, regal, prim and proper image of her mother, of a Snow. She is seen as older, as more refined, marveling at how a beautiful and well mannered young woman was able to claim the greatest prize and return to their beloved city, as if she wasn't a district girl at all. Her Home Name, Harlow, is one that means "rock hill," incredibly appropriate for someone who not only climbs as much as she does but has a deep love and desire for her space. She's grateful her arena was a desert and not a mountainous land.

Marina was born in 4 because I decided that when Celeste was about 6-ish months pregnant with her, her mother (Livia) dies. She becomes very depressed and is told by many in both the Capitol and the districts that she should go to the sea as it's usually seen as a healing property (likening back to the same practice being done in the 16 and 1700's). I decided on that because I wanted her to be othered in some way, so first by birth location, then name, then culture (see: assimilation). She was given a 4-like name to pay respects to the citizens of 4 that kept her alive, to honor them. She doesn't go to 4 too often and doesn't practice their traditions, she has no cultural ties to the place except by her name which she didn't even choose. As for her Home Name, Topaz, I did want it to be very Capitol-esque since she's always been the most Capitol of them all, and it was only right for her to be named after her birthstone, which is a common enough practice in Home Naming ceremonies. In the Capitol, mostly in school and among friends, she goes by Livia due to that resentment. Vance chides her about it saying that it's a dishonor to the people of 4 who brought into this world, and she retorts with "It's better they call me that than Topaz, right? Much more dishonorable to be going by my Home Name no matter how Capitol it sounds!"

I also wanted to inject Snow's ego in their names, which is mostly shown with their middle names: Crassus, Imperia, and Livia, respectively. Crassus for his great-grandfather, Imperia being a name that literally means “supreme power,” “the right to command” (all in reference to ancient Rome, of course) and Livia to once again honor the dead, her maternal grandmother. The trio are usually called by their middle names when they're in major trouble, mostly hearing it from their grandfather (although Snow does slip once and calls Wren "Sejanus").

As for their family name, I go a bit in depth here as to how and why I chose Sophro.

Oh the kids go to the districts on the tour every year! They usually would join at the tail end in 2 if 2 didn't win, but would go on the whole tour if the Victor was from 2. It started off as a family affair, of course, with the whole Snow-Sophro clan. But as the years went on, it just became The Trio. Madon would usually be picked up in 7 in the later years, whereas Harlow and Topaz would join in at 2. After the Games, the three of them would stay in 2 for a few months before returning back to the Capitol, but would always come back a few weeks before the Tour.

ii. dani

Yes, Ajax does have a Home Name! I don't know why I wanted him to have one, I think to have some familiar Northern connection, but I don't know if he's from there or not. I'd assume he's from the North, maybe his family immigrated to the South just after Home Names were established, so maybe shortly after the 10th, or a bit into the 20's Games. But he's not my character, well he's technically my character, but @thegreatmelodrama "owns the IP" to the Bollards, so I'm gonna have to discuss that with her.

As for Dani, I wanted to keep with the tradition of D2 male tributes having warrior-like names, and also foreshadowing not only his fathers future as a Peacekeeper once they move to the North, but also where his loyalties lean (not lie). Dani also had an older brother who died in a mining accident (the parallels between 2 and 12 are always so fun to me, from original trade to topography), who I would like to think had more of a Cutter name.

With Maika, it’s a play on the stone "Mica" like how Lyme comes from "limestone," she's from the South where there are not Home Names as that's a Northern practice. It’s typical for people to be named after nearby mines in both minerals and location. It took ages for us to figure out her name, but once we landed on that, there was no way we could change it! Oh and the face claims for them are:

Maika Bollard: Carla Gugino Ajax “Basalt” Bollard: Chris Messina Dardanius Bollard: Ted Sutherland

iii. final stone lore

No, Vance created that tradition. I'd also like for ya'll to picture those stones as small, detailed things. It's not necessary for it to be giant and out there, that's rude. It also works well by keeping with the traditions as small and tangible.

iv. chisel & hammer

A hammer and chisel are family heirlooms among the masons and quarry-folk (whereas mountain miners have a quizzer [a small magnifying glass used for getting a better look at rock and crystals, ranging from very plain to almost opulent], and blacksmiths have a hammer and anvil) handed down from generation to generation, given to the eldest child after the death of the parent, after the family have taken turns writing their name on that family's rock-face on a mountain, a Northern funerary rite. It's simply called The Rock and there's loads of sayings up North where if one wants the other to swear that they don't go back on their word, they'd ask them to "Swear on your family's face." As for the South, the common funerary rite are Cairns, which used to be the go-to throughout the district along with the bread, but now it's more common in the South. Madon isn’t a huge fan of cairns because he sees it as a disruption to the ecosystem and will knock one over if he sees it in the wild up North, but lets it be in the South because he’s well aware of the vitriol people have when you mess with their traditions, especially their dead. There's an old moniker for those after the war who have seen death first hand, and later transferring that name to Victors as "Cairn Heads," where all they see is death (their name for PTSD like "shell shocked" once was).

Madon Sophro, my baby boy, I love you forever. It was a very difficult decision for him to make in sending that gift for a number of reasons. One because it may be construed as a breach of the agreements between him being a political figure and his involvement in the Games. They aren't to send gifts or take bets or anything because of their contractual obligation. Another reason is far more personal with the cultural implications of Wren Madon sending them to Harlow invites accusation of mis-practicing the tradition, thinking that the tools could be used as weapons, they are to be used for masonry, not weaponry! It's considered a dishonor to both the tools and the community if they are used as such. He was able to get through that first part by playing the "I'm not a legal citizen of the Capitol" card as a member of his district sending a gift to his tribute. The other part was not as well received by the populace because they'd assume she'd use them as a weapon, but she never did. She only used them to make that rough portrait stone for Dani and (and this wasn't publicized because Mommy Dearest is a Gamemaker with far more power and credibility than Seneca Crane) when she would write down the names of every single fallen tribute in the arena on a giant Gamemaker-made rectangular "boulder" beside the Cornucopia. When Dani saw her do and asked why, she simply said: “There’s not enough bread.” Celeste was able to keep that footage to herself (like Gaul with the 10th, and she did that every single year for the past 29 years) and showed it to the Victor mentors as it was happening live and Haymitch burst out laughing, saying "Damn V, and I thought your boy was a rebel!" After her Games, the Victors all called her "Lady Death" and she didn't mind that name at all. After all, she had gotten the names of those tributes and herself tattooed on her lower left calf, the names going in order from first to last, spinning around and around her leg until it ends with "Harlow," that she keeps well hidden under a beautifully styled boot or long, thick knee-high socks.

So she actually takes all those birthstones in the arena to have a physical connection to her family! As birthstones are seen as That Person, it's a way to her to still feel as if she's with her family, to talk to them, to hold them. The stones are tangible parts of her family that she can have forever and she does. After her victory, she tattoos a bracelet of all her family's birthstones on her right wrist.

v. dani & madon

Okay so for their mentors, I have been going back and forth for MONTHS since I decided to make Cass a Victor. I have two ideas and they go this way and that on any given day, but I know I wanted there to be a Cutter and a Keeper mentor respectively. So on one day, it's Lyme and Brutus, on the other it's Enobaria and Whrancliffe (her eldest cousin, a hewer and blacksmith's son, they call him "The Work Singer" [haven't found his FC yet but his parents are Sandra Oh's Gabion, and Colman Domingo's Anneal Hardy I FUCKING ATE WITH THAT CASTING, YA'LL CAN'T TELL ME OTHERWISE!]). I tend to lean more towards Lyme and Brutus each time because I feel like Lyme needs to be there to protect Harlow. Vance is barred from mentoring (specifically this game, but he forfeited his mentor privileges once he married and moved to the Capitol), so he hasn't done that since the last Quell. He knew that he could trust Lyme to not only care for Harlow as any Cutter would, but it's almost like she's paying off a debt. Vance kept her alive in her Games, making her the next Cutter Victor, she now must do the same for his daughter. Brutus seems like the next best choice too because of the dichotomy between them. Lyme focuses on strength coming from internal, pseudo-spiritual forces, belief in community; whereas Brutus is driven by strength of glory and pride, very individualistic.

Vance understands Lyme's position to keeping Harlow alive because he too doesn't want her to die horrifically, but he also doesn't want her to join him. "I'd much rather have my daughter die than go on living knowing that I put her there." He'd say. Even if there wasn't that stipulation for him to no longer mentor, he wouldn't want or even could do it. Too much of a conflict of interest from both a personal (familial) and public (the Capitol audience) viewpoint. The same can't be said for his wife, but that's a different conversation.

No, Dani was going to volunteer no matter what! It was his last year and he did it for upper-class mobility. He already lost his native Southern home, the least he could do is give his family a nice Northern one in the Victors Village.

vi. saying your stones

Oh you aren't missing much from the passage, but if you have any questions about this section let me know!

I don't have much to add to the explanation of the tradition outside of me wanting to maintain the theme of tangible traditions in District 2. I go more in depth about that in this video here, but that's strict canon-interpretation, not Snowfall.

As for the Madon section of that part, sit tight, lots of lore!

For Madon being Sejanus-Coded, I wanted each child to have some sort of connection to Sejanus as a person (that's a different post for another day) and for Madon, I wanted him to have his homesickness, his disgust but compliancy to the Capitol, and him never truly feeling like he belongs in the Capitol. He can't stand the city and to quote the man himself in the Capitol Couture article I wrote on him (my magnum fucking opus), "But I can’t see myself making a life in a city that I feel can’t protect me." Not too original, but that's that (and then some).

As for the District 7 comment, he moved there just after his last reaping as a Peacekeeper due to a deal he made with his grandfather. He wanted to be in 7 so badly so he can be with his boyfriend, Lathe Sheraton (Drew Ray Tanner), a woodcarver shop's son who he met when he was a boy on some political tour of the districts his parents had to attend. They became instant friends and would see each other every year for those same political tours or the Victory tour itself. As a teenager, he would sometimes take a hovercraft to 7 for the weekend and they'd spend the days picking pinecones, horribly swinging axes and kissing in the treetops. But Madon knew that once he was out of the reaping, he could have the chance for a bit more freedom. It was never allowed though, no matter how much his parents pushed for his independence, his grandfather would not allow him to go roaming around the districts with a shopkeepers boy! Thus the Peacekeeping deal in 7 was made under which Madon, actually Wren, would be stationed there and have a couple of liberties as a Snow, but overall not much different to everyone else, and would only be able to end his stint as a Peacekeeper once District 7 had their next Victor. Three years later, Johanna Mason is crowned as the Victor of the 71st Hunger Games. And with that Victory he moved into the Village, but was financially cut off by his parents, and worked in Lathe’s shop, along with some stonework commissions he did for certain district or Capitol figures.

To answer your question a bit more generally: the Sophro children have loads of freedom to move around the country! They usually stay in 2, but after Cassia won, she would sometimes go to 10 to visit her beau, another Victor, Angus "The Butcher" StillGottaFigureOutALastNamePeroEsLatino (Tommy Martinez). Marina sometimes goes to 4, but not always. She prefers to stay in the Capitol as she's the most assimilated.

vii. breadcrumbs

also the fact that everyone in d2 uses that tradition regardless of loyalty- given the divide between the cutters and keepers, that feels so significant

YOU ARE GOING TO BE SO DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE THERE REALLY ISN'T MUCH! I mean, to me.

I wanted that to be a universal tradition because A) there needed to be one and B) it's one that has a historical connection to Pre-Dark Days and having something persist through that needed to be done. Bread is universal, so the tradition will not change throughout the decades no matter if you're an age-old Pitman or a Born-And-Bread Peacekeeper.

viii. the bollards

This really just reminds me that I need to put some energy on the Bollards, now more than ever. I shot myself in the foot by having Cass' Games be the first thing I show because it makes it that much more important for me to do the Bollards justice. And they deserve that.

[koopalingsmagicmischief]

Welcome to Koopalings: Magic Mischief!

This AU has a magical girl inspired aesthetic and features, as the name implies, magic and mischief!

Quick disclaimer: You can have your AU Koopalings and OCs send messages in the ask box, but please don't actually roleplay with me. I only actually rp with trusted friends. Quick interactions in asks (like pats/boops/etc or other characters sending asks) is 100% okay, but reblogging, commenting, or using the ask box with the sole intent of a long-form rp isn't, as I WILL decline it. Using this blog, which I made with the intention of having fun with my AU, to roleplay isn't something I'm comfortable with at all and I hope you can understand that.

CHARACTERS FOR ASKS, IN ORDER FROM YOUNGEST TO OLDEST

Rose Koopa (my OC) — 12

Larry Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Bowser Jr — 13

Wendy O. Koopa — 15

Morton Koopa Jr, Roy Koopa — 17

Ludwig von Koopa — 19

Personality overviews

- Rose looks like she's quiet and timid, but don't be fooled; she's actually pretty sassy, occasionally even sarcastic. She doesn't care about her appearance at all and is often seen play fighting with the triplets.

- Larry is a bit sarcastic (definitely not as much as Iggy though) and has no filter, and even though he may not look like it, he's a ball of anxiety. He tends to pretend that he's tougher than he actually is to try to look like he's not about to punch something... or someone.

- Iggy is loud, hyper, batshit crazy, way more sarcastic than Larry, and also completely lacks a filter. He shows affection through odd means, often through making "k y s"/"die" jokes, to hide the fact he has a softer side.

- Lemmy is also a ball of anxiety with no filter, though is way less sarcastic than the other two of the triplets. He has been known to blurt out whatever's on his mind — it doesn't matter if it's rude, nonsensical, or whatever else — whenever it pops into his head; he doesn't mean to be rude he's just Like That.

- Bowser Jr just wants to be seen as cool despite really being a softie at heart. He's a bit more childish than the triplets despite them all being 13.

- Wendy is very much a diva, and she's very easily annoyed by what she perceives as "childish behavior" (which is mainly just the way that Larry, Lemmy, Iggy, and Rose joke around with each other). Underneath her snobby diva exterior is a sweet young lady with a love of all things cute.

- Roy is very much the "one sitting back and eating popcorn while watching shit go down" type when it comes to the shenanigans his siblings get into. He tends to find humor in the smallest things; this started as a way to help manage his anger issues and slowly the simplest things became a genuine source of amusement.

- Morton is very much a "beware the quiet ones" type of person; he's usually very quiet, especially when watching the youngster-typical chaos the youngest five get into, but if anyone lays a finger on any of them with malicious intent he instantly goes protective big bro mode. He also doesn't understand many social cues and tends to either say nothing or say too much.

- Ludwig is just as crazy as Iggy, just far more reserved and not nearly as sarcastic. He tends to put up a "prim and proper" exterior to hide the fact that he, too, is just as much of a chaos magnet as the youngest five.

[berenwrites]

Whole New Us Ch20 - Stranger Things - Steddie

Whole New Us: Trauma Bonded and Beyond

Also on AO3 | Or here CH1 | CH2 | CH3 | CH4 | CH5 | CH6 | CH7 | CH8 | CH9 | CH10 | CH11 | CH12 | CH13 | CH14 | CH15 | CH16 | CH17 | CH18 | CH19 | CH20 | CH21 | CH22 | CH23 | CH24 | CH25 (Mature) | CH25 (Fade to black) COMPLETE

Summary: Steve has been ignoring his own problems, he’s been busy. They’ve all been busy, preoccupied with fixing everything that was broken. Vecna has been defeated, but the Upside Down is still there, and the gates are not completely closed even though Hawkins has almost returned to normal. It’s been a couple of months and the aftereffects of Steve’s encounter with the demobats is about to come back to bite him. However, it also brings some unexpected hope.

Pairing: steddie (Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson)

Rating: Teen (with mature content in later chapters)

Chapter 20.    Unexpected Truth

Steve sighed as Mike threw popcorn at Dustin, but he was so content that he didn’t have the heart to yell at him. He was going to have to take out all the couch cushions to clean, again, but they looked so happy. It had been a week and a half since graduation and Dustin had begged for a movie night as summer boredom set in. It was him, Robin, Eddie and all the kids except Erica, who was having a sleepover with Tina because she did not trust anyone else’s taste in movies.

Eddie was almost sitting on top of Steve, but Eddie was a touchy-feely kind of guy, so no one had even blinked, and Robin was on his other side using him as a sentient space heater even though it was late June. She always complained the AC was on too high.

The movie was just about over and, for once, Steve had made it all the way through. He still wasn’t quite back to one hundred percent and had an unfortunate habit of falling asleep when there wasn’t anything actively taking his attention. Robin was constantly ribbing him for it, especially at work, although, suspiciously, she always left him to it if they didn’t have any customers to deal with.

There was a big fight scene going on when he suddenly had the strangest feeling. His hackles went up and he was instantly alert, then the front door slammed. Nearly everyone in the room was ready to leap out of their seat at that, but Steve was the only one who stood as shock made him move.

“Mom, Dad,” he said, staring at his parents, “you didn’t tell me you were coming home.”

“Clearly,” his mom said, looking at all the kids in their movie night PJs.

“Well, this is inconvenient,” was what his dad chose to say, annoyance dripping from his tone.

Steve had no idea how to respond.

“No, nope, definitely not, just no,” it was Eddie’s voice that cut through the uncomfortable atmosphere as he stepped past Steve, putting himself right in the firing line. “You do not have the right to call the family Steve found because you couldn’t be bothered to be here, inconvenient.”

“How dare you,” Steve’s mother said.

“Who the hell are you?” his father said at the same time.

“Probably your worst nightmare,” Eddie replied.

Steve reached out to put his fingers on Eddie’s shoulder, but Eddie gave him a look. It said so many things.

“Wait, I’ve seen you before,” his father said.

Eddie put a hand up to his face, covering the scars on his cheek.

“Better?” he asked, his tone scathing. “I didn’t have the pretty additions when they took my picture.”

Steve saw his father’s eyes open in shock.

“You’re the man who killed the Cunningham girl,” his father accused, because of course he did.

“No, he didn’t,” Steve said very loudly and very firmly.

Eddie momentarily shrank a little at the accusation, the guilt at not being able to save Chrissy clearly obvious, and Steve was not having that.

“Eddie was a victim, just as much as Chrissy,” he said, refusing to back down from his father’s angry stare. “He was completely exonerated, and he nearly died saving Dustin, so don’t accuse him of what you don’t understand.”

“Which you would have known if you had been here,” Eddie added, totally not helping.

“That’s enough,” his father shouted, “I want everyone who does not live here out of my house now.”

Steve’s heart thudded in his chest as the thought of being alone crashed into him.

“No.”

Eddie’s voice cut like a knife. Steve’s father opened his mouth to say something scathing back.

“No,” Eddie said again, “you don’t get to say that. This might be your house, but it’s Steve’s home. If you had told him you were coming back, I have no doubt he would have made sure your big empty house was perfect for you, but you didn’t even give him that courtesy, so, no, you don’t get to say that. He needs this more than you need your spotless house.”

“Steven, do something about your friends,” his father demanded, but Steve didn’t know what to say. “You’re a disgrace, lounging around in bedclothes with children.”

“Stop right there,” Eddie said in a tone that added or-I’ll-make-you without it being said. “Your son is the farthest thing from a disgrace you can get. He is one of the bravest men I have ever met, and he’ll look after anyone who needs it. At the moment I can’t for the life of me figure out where he picked up either of those traits.”

“How dare…” was as far as his father got.

“How dare I, I’ll tell you how I dare,” Eddie went on, and all Steve could do was stare. “While you weren’t looking, your son helped save the world five times…”

“Eddie,” Robin hissed.

“No,” Eddie said turning to give her a look, “they need to know, or they will never get it. And I mean that absolutely literally, by the way,” Eddie went on staring down Steve’s parents, “there has been shit going down here you would not believe. I’m late to the party, I was only in on one of those, but Steve, and those kids over there, they’ve done it all five fucking times. And let’s not forget the fact that your darling boy has been kidnapped and tortured by the Russians twice, and you don’t have the remotest clue it happened even once.”

His mom was staring at him flicking between horror and disbelief.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” his father started to say.

Steve just couldn’t take the tirade that he knew was about to come, so he did the only thing he could think of, he pulled his t-shirt off. The scars that littered his skin were clear for all to see. His mother gasped, dropping her clutch purse and immediately coming towards him.

“Oh my god,” she said, almost, but not quite reaching out to touch him, “my poor baby. Why didn’t you tell us?”

The cruel words that jumped into his head were ‘you wouldn’t have listened anyway’, but what he said was, “I wasn’t allowed to.”

“What do you mean weren’t allowed,” his father demanded, “we’re you parents? Tell me everything right now!”

It was exactly the wrong tone at exactly the wrong moment. Steve’s mind filled with memories. There was Starcourt and there was the brute with the cattle prod, overlayed on each other as the present vanished in pain and fear.

“Fuck,” he heard, but it sounded so distant.

He wanted to run, to struggle, but he was frozen, unable to do anything.

“Steve, Steve, sweetheart look at me.”

The voice called to him, but he couldn’t remember who it belonged to.

Someone grabbed his chin, yanking his head around and he couldn’t fight back. He felt Eddie, but he couldn’t see him. Did they have Eddie too? He couldn’t bear it if they had caught Eddie.

“Steve, it’s Eddie, I need you to come back,” the voice said, out of his captor’s distorted face. “You’re safe, Stevie, no one is going to hurt you.”

“Eddie,” he muttered, but Eddie hadn’t been at Starcourt.

Then it was like a revelation: but Eddie had come for him this time. Eddie had been there.

“Yes, Steve,” Eddie’s voice told him out of the chimera face his mind was conjuring, “that’s right, Eddie. You’re safe, everyone’s safe, it’s all good.”

“Safe?” he asked, even more confused.

“Safe,” Eddie confirmed.

Ever so slowly the hard grip on his chin morphed until he could feel a hand on each of his cheeks, a gentle touch unlike the one his mind had conjured. And like the sun coming out from behind clouds, the twisted face in front of him melted away to leave Eddie’s worried visage. He blinked a couple of times just to make sure.

“Are you back, Stevie?” Eddie asked in an incredibly gentle tone.

He still felt a bit spacy, but Steve nodded. He wasn’t sure he could manage words right at that moment. When he realised his dad’s voice had sent him into a full-blown flashback he began to shake.

“Okay, Dingus,” Robin’s warm voice told him as she gently placed her hands on his shoulders, “we’ve got you. Time to sit down before you fall down.”

As Eddie and Robin guided him to the kid’s couch, he didn’t have any will to object. He found himself pushed down onto the soft cushions as the others made room for him before he was wrapped in a blanket and surrounded on all sides by careful teenagers.

“Look after him,” Eddie told Dustin, “we’ll deal with this.”

When Eddie looked over at Steve’s parents he tried to reach out, to protest or something, he wasn’t quite sure, but his arms were pinned in the blanket, and he had zero coordination to get out.

“Eddie,” he said, but any other words failed him.

“Steve,” Eddie said, no playfulness in his features at all, “let Robin and me handle this, you’re in no state. Let the kids keep you grounded, and Rob and I will be back soon.”

He really, really didn’t want Eddie to go anywhere, but after a moment he nodded.

Eddie shared a look with Robin which Steve couldn’t follow because his brain was too fuzzy before they stood back from the pile of people and walked where he couldn’t see. He almost panicked again, but El patted his shoulder and curled closer to his side and distracted him. Flashbacks were hard and his brain felt all out of sync, but he accepted the comfort as well as he could.

His eyes flicked to the TV screen where the credits of the movie were playing on mute.

“Don’t forget to rewind,” was possibly the stupidest thing he could say, but it was the only thing in his brain that made sense.

End of Chapter 20

Chapter 21

[fastenwick]

Wick's IZ characters meet the OCs that inspired them: Part Two

Agent Zim meets Agent 6,031

(@resisty-zim created in August 2022, 6,031 created in March 2022

Ft mentions of @tallest-red-stitched and @agnt-of-chaos)

Two characters are put in a nearly empty room. No doors, windows, or decor. Just two chairs, a table with food, and a note. The note reads "Enjoy your time together." The food products are donuts, a type of sweet bread called che, chocolate bars, popcorn, and sodas.

Agent Zim arrived first, stumbling slightly from the sudden shift from playing with his kids to an empty and quiet room. "The fuck." He tilted his antennae to listen and smell.Nothing smelled or sounded wrong, yet. He huffed and crossed his arms. This was annoying. Did he knock himself out? Did Red snatch him somehow?

Before any of those questions could be answered, a yellow alien about six inches shorter than Zim popped into existence. She had two yellow antennae with reddish tufts at the end of them, and the slightest amount of yellow fluff on the top of her head. She had three claws on her two visible arms.

She had eyes similar to an irken's, but blue and the two pupils were… shaped strangely, like a puddle that constantly changed shape. At first glance, it looked like she had too reddish claws hooked to her gold shoulder pads, but upon a closer look, the claws were actually connected to extra arms without thumbs that were tucked away against her back. She wore a red patterned shirt and tights and plain red armbands, no shoes so her two toed feet were visible. And she wore a gold piece around her waist, like a belt or a skirt of some kind. And she had type of nose made up of two nostrils that looked eerily familiar to some pop culture thing Zim had seen before…

Zim snorted as he realized what the nose looked like. "Voldemort."

The new alien gave Zim a flat look. "Wow, I bet you think you're real funny."

"I do." Zim nodded.

"Congrats, asshole." She stuck out her tongue at Zim. It was blue like her eyes, it looked more like a snake tongue than an irken tongue.

Zim stuck his tongue out back.

"Did you kidnap me?"

"No, I thought you kidnapped me," Zim replied.

"Well I didn't, I don't even know who you are. I've never seen a creature like you," the alien huffed and tilted her antennae to smell Zim and the room.

"I haven't seen one like you either." Zim tilted his antennae to smell the alien too.

"You're copying me."

"I am not."

The alien rolled her eyes and looked around. She spotted the table. "Ooooh, che bread!" She snatched a piece and munched it.

Zim snorted. "Okay then, enjoy your snacks. I'm gonna find a way out of here." He looked for a door.

The alien found the note. "Enjoy our time together? What is this supposed to be, a date?"

"Ha! Sorry lady, I'm taken!" Zim laughed.

"Uh huh, I am so sorry for your spouse," the alien finished her bread.

"He's actually very happy."

"No one asked."

"Then suffer with the knowledge."

The alien snorted. "You call this suffering? You're funny."

"I am." Zim grinned.

"Get back to looking for an exit, flirt." The alien stuck her tongue out at Zim again.

"Zim is not flirting with you, as I said, I am taken. I know, I know, your poor broken heart." Zim sighed dramatically.

"Ew." The alien grabbed a soda can and threw it at Zim.

Zim stabbed it with a PAK leg, smirking. "Attacking now, are we?"

"Eh, I could go for a fight." The alien chuckled. "What was it, Zim?"

"That's right."

"I'll kick your non-existent ass, Zim." The alien grinned.

"You wish. Look at you, short and stumpy…" Zim approached the alien, shaking his head.

The alien gave Zim a flat look.

Zim patronizingly patted her head. "There there, you'll grow up someday."

The alien snatched Zim's wrist and threw him over her shoulder.

Zim caught himself on his PAK legs, chuckling. "I was trained as an Invader, you'll have to work harder."

The alien had some sort of gun out. "No clue what that is, but I'm a trained Kiraq Agent." She fired at Zim.

Zim expected a lazer and tried to dodge. However, the room was very small and it was not a lazer. It was a wave of sticky green goop that stuck Zim soundly to the wall.

"What the hell?" Zim looked around in confusion.

"Got ya!" The alien grinned and winked.

"Mmh, nicely done." Zim nodded. "What's your name?"

"My ID is six thousand thirty one."

"... I am not calling you that."

The alien rolled her eyes. "The human calls me 6-K."

"Well, 6-K. You forgot about my PAK legs." Zim used his PAK legs to pry himself off the wall and darted at 6-K.

6-K dodged and ran around the room. But with such an empty and small room, Zim easily pinned her to the ground with a PAK leg.

"Got ya." Zim winked back.

"Fine, now we're even," 6-K huffed.

Zim nodded and took the PAK leg off her, offering her a hand to get up. 6-K ignored the hand and stood up alone.

"Any idea where we are?" 6-K asked, dusting herself off.

"Nope. One second I was on my ship with Dib, the next here," Zim said.

"I was chasing Sal through the woods before I was here…" 6-K said.

"Sal is your Dib?"

"What?"

"Eh, your human that tries to expose you and is your rival?" Zim clarified.

6-K snorted. "Sal? Expose me? Nah, he just wants me to leave him alone. He actually is the one that came up with my human disguise."

"Weird, but whatever." Zim shrugged. "You're obviously not any Zim."

"Obviously." 6-K crossed her arms. "I'm not that ugly."

"Pffff, nah, you're uglier," Zim chuckled.

"You've clearly got your perspective mixed up."

"Nope, just not afraid to be honest," Zim said.

"Okay, can we get back on track? Unless you can honest us out of this place. Do you have any enemies capable of instant travel?" 6-K asked.

"No, Red can't teleport people and he'd have no reason to go after a random alien from… I'm going to assume you're from a different universe from us if you don't know what an irken Invader is. Because either you're not from our universe or you're just living under a rock," Zim said.

6-K rolled her eyes. "I'm not living under a rock, I've explored nearly the entire galaxy from Earth to Zicato."

"Then yeah, different universes. The only enemy I have that would kidnap me would have no reason to kidnap you too," Zim explained. "You?"

"Minex, maybe. But the same thing as yours, he'd have no reason to kidnap you," 6-K said. "And Minex works alone, so I doubt that he coordinated with your Primary Color enemy."

"Ha, Primary Color, that's a good one."

"Thanks." 6-K grabbed the note to look over it again. "This is so weird. Why would someone just lock us up here and tell us to enjoy our time?"

"Beats me. Maybe it's some multiversal weirdo that likes to trap strangers in a room just to see what happens." Zim took a donut and used his tablet to quickly test it for poison.

"Like that would ever happen," 6-K huffed. "You sound crazy."

"Takes one to know one."

"That doesn't even make any sense."

"Sure it does. The snacks aren't poisoned, by the way."

"I know, poison doesn't work on a Kiraq anyway." 6-K waved her hand in dismissal.

"I should hope so, you went to town on this weird bread." Zim picked up a slice.

"It's called che, you uncultured gyrsho."

"I do not know what this is," Zim said.

"It's a slimy green slug that's very pathetic, annoying, and also bounces around like a lunatic," 6-K said. "So you."

"Mmh, whatever you say, Voldemort." Zim nodded along.

6-K growled under her breath.

"You're the one handing out insults." Zim shrugged and took a can of soda, opening it and sipping it.

"Look, I'm just trying to get home. I have to get back to Z or he's going to freak," 6-K said.

"Who's Z?"

"My AI assistant."

"Oh, I have one of those. Used to have two. One of them became an asshole and he died. Gir is still around, just terribly unhelpful," Zim said.

"I. Literally didn't ask," 6-K said.

"I'm trying to make conversation. We're stuck together for who knows how long, might as well make the best of it."

6-K sighed. "Fine, I'll try to be a good talking partner. What's your human like?"

"Dib? Very gay. And annoying as fuck, but I love him," Zim said casually.

6-K raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we're married and shit." Zim sipped his soda.

"Cool I guess."

"What's your human like?" Zim asked.

"Well, that's complicated. He just graduated high-school and is kind of just drifting. He's a living test subject, so he can't exactly live a normal life. I'm trying to get the Booster off him so I can go home and so he can live a normal life. The only problem is he tries to stop me from doing do, so I'm making very lite progress," 6-K explained.

"So you're not on Earth for world domination? That's a new one," Zim mused.

"No, I haven't conquered a planet in awhile. Besides, Minex is more the power hungry one," 6-K explained, studying the walls.

"Who's Minex?" Zim tilted his antennae to listen for any wind.

"A sile that also wants the Booster. He's trying to get it off Sal first, but I have a head start," 6-K sighed. She leaned against a wall, frustrated by the lack of exits.

"Interesting. My Dib doesn't have anything like that, he and I are both wanted by my former empire so that I can be turned into a baby making machine though." Zim straightened and kicked a wall.

"That's disgusting." 6-K made a face.

"Yeah, I know." Zim aimed a PAK leg at the wall. "Take cover, I'm blowing us out of here."

6-K raised an eyebrow.

Zim fired a PAK lazer at the wall. It crumbled easily and fell apart, but there was nothing outside of the wall. Literally nothing. Emptiness. "The fuck?"

6-K's antennae perked and she approached the hole. "What the hell?"

Zim finished off the can of soda and held it over the abyss. He dropped it and watched the empty can disappear into the black. He and 6-K both listened closely to hear the can hit something.

No sound.

"Let's not fall in that…" 6-K suggested.

"Yup. There's no sound at all, no wind, no life, just us. This is eerie…" Zim sighed.

"Yeah." 6-K went to a chair and sat down. "How do we get out of here?"

"I'll see if I have a signal to message anyone, I know people who could teleport us out of here. Getting you home is another story, since we don't know where you come from," Zim said.

"I know where I come from," 6-K said.

"Universe."

"Ah," 6-K nodded.

Zim leaned on the wall. "I've got a signal, the messages are sending."

"How can you tell?" 6-K asked.

"Oh, see this thing?" Zim pointed to his PAK. "To put it simply, this is my brain, and it's hooked up to my socials and tablets, so I can send messages with thought."

"Huh, that must be handy," 6-K said.

"It is," Zim confirmed. "Dib is responding, but the time is all screwed up here, it's going to take a bit to get anything figured out."

6-K shrugged. "As long as we get out of here."

"We will." Zim nodded.

There was silence for a few moments.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" Zim asked.

6-K shrugged. "Uhhhh. You can tell me about your human?"

"Sure," Zim said. "Well he and I used to be enemies and rivals. I was supposed to take over Earth, and he fought to defend Earth. But my mission was a fake, to get me out of my leaders' way."

6-K's face fell.

Zim noticed quickly. "Something wrong?"

"No, continue."

Zim sighed. "When I found out, I rejected them. But I had to go through a whole crisis, and Dib didn't believe that I really gave up taking over the world. It wasn't until the past year that we actually got on good terms while fighting my old leaders. We never really knew what we were, not enemies, still sort of rivals, not friends, something more than allies. But before we could get it figured out, we became… mates and then engaged."

6-K seemed absolutely baffled by the line of events.

"Yeah, that's the appropriate reaction," Zim chuckled.

"You're weiiiird." 6-K shook her head.

Zim shrugged. "Just you wait, you're gonna fall in love with your human too. It's a tale as old as time."

6-K made a disgusted face. "Sal? Hell no."

"That's what they all say…"

"Gross, stop pushing your species intermarriage onto me. You do you, but don't include me into it," 6-K huffed.

"You'll be singing a different tune eventually."

"Stop."

"You're no fun," Zim chuckled.

"Damn right, I'm six thousand thirty one."

"Laaaame!" Zim rolled his eyes.

6-K stuck out her tongue at Zim, who returned the favor.

"I'll offer you a bet," Zim said with a grin.

"A bet?" 6-K's antennae perked.

"Yep. How long have you been on Earth?" Zim asked.

"Almost two years," 6-K said.

"Mmh… In six years, if you haven't fallen in love with Sal, then you win the bet. And if you do fall in love, then I win," Zim said.

"What does the winner get?" 6-K asked.

"Bragging rights."

"Not good enough." 6-K looked at the snacks. "A six year supply of donuts."

"Deal." Zim held out his hand to shake 6-K's.

6-K stood and shook Zim's hand. "Deal."

"I'm sure we'll find a way to stay in contact." Zim grinned.

"Yeah, here." 6-K took a little device out of a fold on the gold waist band and tossed it to Zim. "You can reach me on that."

Zim caught it. It looked like headphones built for antennae. "This might not reach across universes though. Here." He handed 6-K a spare communicator. "This will reach, it works like a human phone."

"Cool." 6-K tucked the device away.

A dart whizzed through the room, a note on it, and it struck the wall.

Zim aimed a PAK leg at the dart, alert. 6-K aimed her goop gun at it.

They both paused when they saw the note. Zim picked it up.

The note read "Say your goodbyes, you'll be going home soon."

"Huh." Zim stared at the note, confused.

"I guess we bored whoever sent us here," 6-K said.

"Serves them right for kidnapping us." Zim crumpled the note and tossed it into the void outside of the hole in the wall. "Well, just in case they really are sending us home, goodbye."

"Bye."

And with that, they were suddenly both returned to their own worlds and lives.