#well we'll find out in 60 years

[aph-fan-shitposting-renaissance]

we all need to try to make it to friday so we can surf the internet at the weekend and once again be those weird kids who like gay anime countries that some student created 10 years ago

[study-coffee-chicago]

Glasses (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister Imagine)

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and for sticking around with my sporadic posting! Please don't forget to vote and comment! 

I start my second year of my doctoral program next week and have been working 60 hrs/wk these past few weeks to save up for when I have less time during the school year. I don't know when I will post next, but I have an idea that I want to write and I've also been trying to write 300 words/day, which is very helpful in getting writing done. 

Anyway, sorry for the long author's note! Enjoy!

"You gonna go see my teacher now?" you asked after you and Jay walked into your elementary school one spring evening.

"Yup," Jay answered while he led you over to the small table set up right outside the room. It was stocked with coloring pages, markers, crayons, and a couple of books. "And you're going to sit right here while I talk to her, okay? I'll be right inside."

"And then we get ice cream after?"

"What was our deal?"

You sighed. "If I get a good re- re--" you scrunched up your eyebrows as you tried to remember the grown-up word that Jay had used earlier. "What's that word?"

"Report."

"Oh, yeah! If I get a good report, then I get ice cream."

"That's right."

"Mr. Halstead?" your teacher said as she stepped out of your classroom.

"Hi, Miss H!" You waved. "Please tell Jay I was good because I get ice cream then!"

Jay chuckled. "You'll just have to wait and see, kiddo. Now, be good while I talk to Miss H, okay?"

"Okay!" Then, you started flipping through the coloring pages to try and find one that you wanted to color.

***

"So, tell me the truth, is she a troublemaker?" Jay asked as he sat down across from your teacher. "I know for a fact me and my brother were, so it wouldn't surprise me."

You teacher smiled. "Y/N is anything but that. She does her work as assigned, gets her planner signed at night, and stays on task very well. She struggles with math, but that's understandable. Some take longer to learn math than others. But, she excels at reading. She said that you read with her and do flashcards with her every night."

Jay nodded. "We're working through The Chronicles of Narnia right now. Me, my wife, Hailey, or my brother, Will, will read that to her before she goes to bed, depending on who's with her due to our schedules. Then, the next night, we'll have her try and read to us. She's working on Junie B. Jones."

"Well, it's working. And, she's making more progress in her mad minutes for math than she was a month ago. Do you work on flashcards every day?"

"We try to," Jay answered. "Those we try to do right after school and give her a snack with it. Some would call it bribery, but it works."

"Keep doing what you're doing. It's been working really well." She paused. "There is one thing that has been concerning me about, Y/N." Jay furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to listen. "When we move seats for groups during partner reading and other times during the day, I noticed that she struggles to read what's on the board. Sometimes she'll squint really hard and sometimes she'll walk up to the board to write in her planner at the end of the day. I've moved her to the front row for class, but when we move for groups and she's further away from the board, it seems that it's hard for her to see. Do you have the time and money to get her eyes checked? If not, we have vision testing coming to school in a month, which is free and required for all students," your teacher finished.

"My brother's a doctor, and we'll make sure to see her pediatrician about this. It's getting close to her yearly physical anyway. Thank you for telling me. Is there any other times that you notice this?"

"During library days, she always makes sure to sit in the front so she can she the pictures better. I'm sorry. I wish I had more information to give you."

"No, thank you for telling me this. I know you have a lot of other kids to look out for. Is there anything else I should know? Behavior wise, she's good, right?"

"Very well behaved. The only thing I was concerned about is her vision."

"Great. Thank you again for telling me."

"You're welcome. Is there anything else you needed to discuss regarding Y/N?"

"No," Jay answered. "I'll get out of your hair now then. You've probably got more parents to see."

"I do. Have a good night."

"You, too," Jay replied and then made his way to the door and out into the hallway.

Your head shot up the second you heard the door open. "I was good, right?" you asked.

"You weren't good-"

You dropped your head. No ice cream. "But-"

"You were great, kiddo!" Jay exclaimed.

"Ice cream!" you cheered.

Jay squatted down to your height and looked at the picture you were coloring. "That's really pretty and you're almost done. So, how about instead of going out for ice cream, I call Will and have him pick up ice cream sundae stuff and we can make them at home. That way, you can finish your picture at home."

"Can we watch a movie, too?"

Jay looked at his watch. 5:33. You'd have time to watch a Disney movie before bedtime. "If you start it right when we get home, then yes, you can watch a movie."

"Yay!"

"Now, stay here for a couple more minutes while I go call Will, okay? And, what's my rule?"

"If I have to go somewhere and can't tell you, tell a good adult." Jay had taught it to you as trusted adult, but you couldn't remember that word, so you always said good adult.

"That's right. I'll be right back."

Then, he made his way all the way down the hallway and turned the corner and continued walking until he was sure that you weren't within earshot to call Will.

He picked up on the first ring.

"If you need help disciplining her based on a bad report, that's all you, Jay. You're the disciplinarian and I'm the fun brother."

Jay rolled his eyes. "It's not that. She did great, but her teacher said that she might need glasses. She said she struggles to see the board. Think you could check her out tonight?"

"Jay, she needs to go to an optometrist for that."

"I know, but can't you just do some preliminary stuff? Also, she wants you to come over for ice cream sundaes and a movie, so you'd be there anyway."

"Who says I don't have plans?"

"C'mon, man. I know you."

"Fine, I'll be there in 30 minutes. You need me to pick anything up? Maybe a pizza? Can't just give the kid ice cream for dinner, but you know that."

"If you bring pizza, at least bring a salad with it," Jay bargained.

"Deal. See you in 30. And, I'll put in a call to her pediatrician on the way to your place."

"Perfect. Thanks, man. See you later."

Then, Jay hung up the phone and walked back over to you. "Ready to go?"

"Yes! Ice cream!"

"Ice cream is right. Let's go, kiddo."

Then, you two made your way to his truck and went to the store to buy everything you, Jay, Will, and Hailey would need for ice cream sundaes. And, Jay kept an eye on you to see if you were squinting. But, it was a bit difficult because he was making a mental checklist and checking everything off while you two were in the store. He figured he'd investigate more when you got home.

***

When you got back, you quickly put on your Tangled pajamas and told Jay that was the movie you wanted to watch.

Then, you grabbed your stool from under the sink while Jay was in the living room getting the movie pulled up. Your hand was on the handle to the freezer and you were just about to open it when Jay walked back in.

"And what do you think you're doing, missy?" You turned around to face him and it was like you were a deer in the headlights. "Were you trying to get ice cream before dinner?"

"Maybe..." you answered slowly.

"That's what I thought. Now, how about you get down and start your movie so that you can finish it before bedtime? Will will be here soon and then I'll bring your food to you."

"I get to eat in the living room?" Jay almost never let you eat in the living room! You always had to eat at the table!

"If you eat over your plate, you can eat in the living room. But, if you start being messy, it's right back to the table."

"Okay!" You jumped down from your stool, put it away, and then made your way to the couch in the living room. You grabbed your favorite fuzzy blanket from the back of the couch and then hit play on the remote.

Jay chuckled and reached into the cabinet where he hid the stickers for your sticker chart. Then, he placed one on the line next to the chore that said Clean up when asked - No arguing.

Even though he didn't ask you to put your step stool away, you still did it. And, maybe he was giving you this because he felt guilty about not noticing that you were struggling to see. Either way, you were one step closer to getting a prize.

Five minutes later, Will walked in with the pizza.

"Will!" you exclaimed and jumped up off the couch and ran up to him. "My teacher said I was really good!"

"I heard that! Now let me put this down and then I can give you a big hug. And I even got you your own pizza!"

"You did?"

"Yes, I did, silly!"

"Jay, did you hear that? Will got me my own pizza! That way I don't have to pick the gross onions and black olives off yours."

"I did! Now, let's let Will put down the pizza, hmm?" Jay said and grabbed your hand to gently pull you out of the way.

You moved out of the way, allowing Will to set the pizza boxes on the table. Then, he crouched down and gave you a bone-crushing hug.

"Stop! Too tight!" you laughed, making Will just squeeze you harder while Jay tried his best to contain his laughter at the two of you.

"Alright, you two, Let's eat before the pizza gets cold. Y/N, go wash your--"

Jay was cut off by the door opening and you squealing.

"Hailey!"

You wriggled out of Will's hold and ran up to her. "Guess what?! Guess what?! Guess what?!"

"Guess we know who her favorite is," Will muttered.

"What?" Hailey asked with a giant smile on her face. She was also holding a pink box that you noticed sort of smelled like cookies.

"I did really good at school so I get pizza and ice cream sundaes!"

"I know! Jay told me! So, I thought we could have brownie sundaes!"

She moved toward the table and set down the pink box. Then, she opened the box, revealing fresh, warm brownies from the bakery a block from the district.

You reached for one, but Jay quickly swatted your hand away. "Nuh-uh. Dinner first, missy."

Jay then put your personal pizza on a plate along with a breadstick, baby carrots, and some ranch for you to dip the carrots in. He handed you the plate along with some napkins.

"Go ahead and watch Tangled while you eat, okay? We'll be in there soon."

"Okay!"

The minute Jay heard the movie playing again, he was all business. "So, how are we doing this, Will?"

Jay didn't need to explain to Hailey what he was referring to here because he texted her that you had gotten a good report, but that your teacher also said that you needed glasses after he called Will when you were at school.

"I called her pediatrician and she can see her on Friday. She said that if she does need glasses, the optometrist should be able to get her on Monday."

"Perfect, great. Me and Hailey both work Monday, so you can take her, right?"

"I can take her," Will confirmed.

"Okay, good."

"So, in the meantime, what do we do?" Hailey asked.

"I'm just gonna watch to see if she squints at all during the movie. Maybe if you guys take her to the park tomorrow ask her to see things that are far away, like, Hey! Look at that cool bird! or something and see if she squints or not. Can't really do much until she goes to the optometrist," Will answered.

"You guys are missing Flynn get hit with a frying pan!" you yelled.

"I blame you for her love of violence, Jay," Will joked.

"Coming!" Jay yelled. "Just a sec, kiddo!"

Then, the adults filled their plates and made their way to the living room.

***

Monday afternoon

Will was going to kill his brother. When you got in the car, he asked if you were ready to go. To where, you had no idea. So, you had asked if you were going home.

"No, to the doctor, silly. To get your eyes looked at," Will answered.

"But I already did that! No more, please! Wanna go home!"

Will sighed but continued driving. "Why don't you want to go to the doctor, kiddo?"

"Because I don't want shots! I didn't get shots last time, so I gotta get shots now! Don't want 'em!" you cried.

"Oh, no, no, no," Will quickly soothed. "No shots. They're just going to look at your eyes. Then, you have to tell them which picture is easier to see and what letter you're looking at."

"Really? No shots?"

"No shots," Will confirmed.

"And I get French fries after?"

Will took a deep breath. Did he want to have an argument with you while driving and then end up either in an accident or late to your appointment because he had to pull over? No. Neither of those sounded particularly appealing. So, he went with the safest option.

"Yes, we can get French fries after."

***

"Y/N Halstead," the optometrist called after you had been sitting at the office for ten minutes.

You stood up and so did Will and you quickly grabbed his hand, letting him know that he would be coming into that room with you no matter what.

"I'm not going anywhere, kiddo."

"I just making sure," you told him, causing him to chuckle lightly.

You walked into an office with a weird thing hanging from the ceiling. There were lots of different circles and it was really big. There was a chair in front of it, too.

While the doctor started talking to you, he lowered the chair. "So, Y/N, I hear you're having a little trouble seeing the board at school, hmm?"

You shrugged. "A little. But only when I'm far away."

"And that's okay. What I'm going to do is help you see better. I'm going to lower down this machine--I know it looks big, but it's not scary, I promise--. Then, I'm going to have you read some letters to me."

"Like I did the other day at the doctor's?" you asked as you looked up at Will.

"Exactly like you did the other day," he confirmed. "Now you just look into special stuff so we know exactly what glasses you need." Then, he quickly turned to the optometrist. "Sorry. I'm Dr. Will Halstead, an ED doc at Chicago Med. Also her older brother."

"He said I gotta go to someone else for my eyes, but he's a doctor," you said to the optometrist.

The optometrist laughed and then shook your brother's hand. "Well, he's right." Then, he got down to your level and said in a stage whisper, "and between you and me, I probably know more about eyes than him."

"Really? I didn't think anyone was smarter than Will!"

"Really. Now let's take a look at those eyes." He moved over to his chair and then had you look into the glass circles. "Now, read me the smallest letter you can see."

***

"How'd it go?" Jay asked when you and Will walked into his apartment. Then, he spotted the McDonald's bag. "Seriously?"

"Only way she was gonna go. You sure she doesn't listen to your interrogations at the district? She had to have learned blackmail from somewhere."

"Haha, very funny. Did it go well, kiddo?"

"Yeah, I had to look at these pictures and tell the not Will doctor what one looked better," you answered.

Jay held back a laugh at your description of the doctor. "Did you pick out any glasses?"

"Yeah, I got purple. Can I eat my food now?"

"Go wash your hands and then you can."

You ran off to go wash your hands so that you could eat your chicken nuggets and fries and then Jay turned to Will.

"She been like this all day?" Jay asked.

"Doesn't help when she has no idea what's going and I have to tell her thirty minutes before the appointment, Jay," Will quipped.

"Fries and nuggies!" you yelled as you ran out of the bathroom after washing your hands, which effectively cut your brothers' conversation about your lack of excitement to see clearly short.

***

3 days later, Thursday.

"You ready to pick up your glasses, kiddo?" Jay asked as you got in his truck in the pickup line at school.

You simply shrugged. "Yeah," was all you answered.

Today at school, during soccer at recess, a boy's glasses fell off and then someone accidentally stepped on them and broke them when you were playing! What if that happened with your glasses? What if you couldn't play soccer anymore because you wore glasses?

You loved soccer ever since you had started playing it last year. And, you and Jay always practiced on Sunday mornings at the park. And, when it was nice out, you two would always have a picnic. It was always a Jay and Y/N date (sometimes Hailey would come along, but only if you agreed to it). That time was sacred for you and Jay because of his demanding job, but what if you didn't get to do that anymore all because you needed stupid glasses to see the stupid board at stupid school?

"How was school?" Jay asked. He knew by your demeanor that your mood was more sour than it had been this morning, and he'd prefer to discuss it now than have you blow up at home. One would be shocked at how much anger you could hole up and spew out from your little body.

"It was good. Same old, same old."

Jay rolled his eyes. You had definitely picked up that saying from Will. "Do anything fun?" he probed. "Was recess good?"

"I played soccer during first and second recess, but I didn't score at all. Stupid boys. They're always faster than me."

If you hadn't added the last part, then Jay would probably have told you that boys have cooties anyway and to stay away from them until you're thirty. But, you did say that last part, so he knew he had to be comforting.

"Well, you gotta remember, you like playing defense, so what do I always tell you?"

"I gotta outsmart 'em...and slide tackle."

Last Jay checked that was illegal in kids' soccer. "I don't think me or Will ever taught you about slide tackling. Where'd you learn about that, kiddo?"

"Adam taught me when he took me to the park when you had to talk to some bad guys yesterday."

"Of course he did," Jay muttered. "Just remember, you can only do that to me, Will, or Adam. Don't try and do that to other people, okay?"

He knew that he should probably tell you to never do that, but eh, he figured he'd let you have a little fun. And, it wasn't like he never got kicked out of games for doing a slide tackle...okay, maybe multiple slide tackles in a game with one leading to the other team's captain getting a concussion.

"Okay," you answered. "I'm not good at 'em anyway."

Jay chuckled. "And let's keep it that way."

***

Jay was both happy and frustrated when he watched you put on your glasses and see the world clearly for the first time in who knows how long. He was frustrated because how could he have not noticed this? Hell, how could Will not have noticed this? And, he was happy as he watched your mouth fall slightly agape and mutter whoa to yourself.

After you made sure that your glasses fit and the optometrist did all the necessary checks, you made your way back to Jay's truck.

"I gotta stop at the district to pick up some paperwork," Jay said as he began driving. "You ready to show off your glasses to everyone?"

"Yes!" you exclaimed. You loved the color of your glasses and everything was so pretty! Nothing was blurry anymore!

When you walked into the district, you were first met with Trudy, who didn't see you at first.

"Looking for this, Chuckles? You left it here earlier and you and me both know that Voight will have your—" And then she noticed you and quickly shut her mouth before she swore in front of you.

"Good catch, sarge," Jay said and took the manilla folder from her.

"Y/N, I didn't know you had glasses! They look so pretty! So much better than my old lady ones," Trudy complimented.

Then, you heard someone coming down the stairs.

"So if I call you old—"

"Shut it, Ruzek," she snapped as Adam strode over to you.

"And, she's back. Thanks, man," Jay complained.

"I was just telling Y/N here how pretty her glasses were before you ever so impolitely interrupted," Trudy said to Adam.

Then, Adam crouched down to your height. "My, my. They sure are pretty." Then, he held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Adam!" you laughed. "That's not how they work."

"But I thought that's how glasses worked. How about you tell me how they do work?"

"I just can't see far away. You gotta back up and do that."

He did so and then reached into his pocket.

"So, can you read this?"

"Oreos! I can read the words now!"

That stopped Jay in his tracks. "What do you mean by that, kiddo?"

"I can read the words from far away now and not just close by me. It's because I have my glasses now, duh."

Adam almost burst out laughing at your sass, but held back his laughter when he saw Jay's death stare directed right at him.

"Right, of course, silly me," Jay answered quickly. "Go get your Oreos from Adam and then we can go upstairs and show everyone else your glasses, how's that sound?"

"Okay!" you excitedly ran up to Adam and he handed you the Oreos. "Thank you!"

"You're very welcome!"

You started towards the stairs and Jay quickly whispered to Adam, "Boards flipped?"

"Did it before I walked down here since I heard her voice."

"Great, thanks."

"Jay! You gotta put your hand here to open it because I'm not special enough to put my hand here!" you exclaimed.

"Okay, okay, hold on a sec," he said and then gently pushed you to the side to put his hand on the palm scanner. The door beeped and then he pulled the door open. "Ladies first."

You walked in and immediately everyone's heads turned towards you.

"Y/N!" Hailey exclaimed "You got your glasses!"

"Yeah! Everything looks so much better and so pretty!" You took a moment to look around the bullpen. Despite being in this room with Jay and Hailey for two years now off and on since your dad died, you could finally see it clearly. You thought everything was always a little blurry around the edges.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Voight asked from the back of the bullpen near his office.

"Three!" you yelled confidently.

"That's right! Wow, she counts faster than you, Ruzek."

Jay held back a laugh while Adam exclaimed, "Why you gotta be like that, Boss?"

"Because it's true. You got the paperwork, Halstead?"

"Right here. I'll get out of your hair now because it's my RDO and I do not want to be here on my day off. C'mon, Y/N, let's go home."

"But I didn't see Kevin or Kim yet!" you whined.

"They're out doing police work, kiddo. You can see them later, okay?"

"But I want to show them my glasses!"

Hailey quickly saw the temper tantrum that was about to erupt and stood up. "How about I take a picture of you with your glasses and send it to them? Then you can see what they say when I get home tonight. How does that sound, Y/N?"

You nodded and walked closer to her. "Yes!"

While Hailey was taking your picture, Jay mouthed thank you to his wife for avoiding a meltdown in the bullpen.

***

3 days later, Sunday

You did not sleep good at all. You tossed and turned all night thinking about your Jay and Y/N date in the morning. You loved them and you loved soccer! But you couldn't go now because what if your glasses fell off when you and Jay were passing the ball and practicing? And, if you took off your glasses before playing, what if he got mad at you? Jay and Will had told you that you had to wear them all the time! And you didn't want Jay Jay to be mad at you!

So, when you went into the kitchen in the morning (wearing your glasses of course) and saw Jay and Hailey sipping their cups of coffee, one could only imagine your relief when you looked out the window and saw the sky was covered with dark gray clouds.

"Morning, kiddo," Jay greeted. "Doesn't look like we can play soccer today." Then, Jay furrowed his eyebrows as he got a better look at you. You had dark circles under your eyes that looked like they should be for a college student cramming for finals instead of a first-grader on a Sunday morning. "You feeling okay?" Then, he walked up to you and placed the back of his hand on your forehead. "Hmm, you don't feel warm."

"Didn't sleep good," you mumbled.

"I didn't sleep good either," Hailey sympathized. "Must be the weather." She knew it was her insomnia acting up, but you had no idea what that was--and she hoped you never would have to know what that was like--, but she didn't feel like explaining it to a first grader this early in the morning while she was running on fumes herself.

"How about we have a lazy day," Jay suggested. "Movies and coloring sound good, Y/N?"

"Yeah. Can Will come, too? He always does the best coloring."

It was true. Because of how steady Will's hands were due to being a surgeon, he could color in all the small areas in the pictures, even in adult coloring books that Hailey had, that you, Jay, and Hailey would typically make a mess out of and at least color outside the lines a bit.

"I'll give him a call. I don't see why he wouldn't want a lazy day," Jay said.

"And, I think we have some chocolate chip cookie dough in the freezer to bake cookies," Hailey suggested.

Jay glared at his wife and then rolled his eyes. You've already gotten spoiled with treats and takeout more than enough this past week and a half. But, he knew as well Hailey knew herself that she had a sweet tooth and it only got worse when her insomnia was acting up.

"Before we do all that," Jay began, "let's get you some breakfast first. What sounds good, kiddo?"

"Can I have an omelet? With lots of cheese please?"

You were recently introduced to these a few months ago when you and Hailey were enjoying chocolate chip waffles at a diner and Jay had an omelet. You wanted some of his hash browns, but he said you had to try a bit of his omelet. You didn't really want to try this, but your want hash browns overpowered this. And, lo and behold, you liked it! So, now on Sundays when Jay wasn't working, you'd ask for an omelette. It has to be Jay who made them though because he made the best ones between him, Will, and Hailey.

"Omelet it is," Jay replied and then picked up a spatula. "How about you go get dressed while I make this, okay?"

"Okay!"

Then, you ran off to your room to put on some comfy clothes to spend the day in.

***

"Where's Y/N?" Will joked when he walked inside around 10:30 that morning.

"I'm right here!" you yelled while you sat at the table coloring. You had no idea how he couldn't see you when you were right there!

"Oh, I didn't recognize you with such pretty glasses."

You dropped your head. "You- You don't?"

Luckily Jay was behind you so that you didn't see him wipe his hand down his face. 

His brother, Jay thought. Thank god he didn't go into pediatrics.

"I was only kidding, silly! Of course, I recognize you! The only thing different about you is that you have glasses now. But, do you recognize me?"

"Yes! But your hair's really messy! Do you want to use my brush?"

Jay choked on his second cup of coffee at your comment and Hailey quickly hit him on the back.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry, went down the wrong pipe," he said and then coughed a couple more times.

Will smoothed down his hair. "Wind's pretty strong out there. Guess it messed it up a bit." Then, he walked over to the table and set a tray of drinks down. "Coffee for all three of us and hot chocolate for you." He handed you your drink. "Careful though. It might still be super hot. Now, what are we coloring?"

***

"She is totally out," Jay commented later that afternoon.

The four of you had started watching a movie and you had curled up next to Hailey under your favorite fuzzy blanket. Needless to say, after you struggled to sleep this past night, within thirty minutes of the movie, you were totally out with your head leaning against Hailey's chest.

Hailey smiled down at you. "She's so cute when she's sleeping."

"When she's awake she's a menace now apparently," Will joked.

"Just because she made one comment about your precious hair," Jay muttered. "Let the hair comment go, man. Let it go."

Will rolled his eyes. "So, how's she doing? She mention any headaches at all with her glasses?"

"Hasn't said anything to me," Jay answered. "She say anything to you, Hails?"

"Nothing," Hailey replied. "She also didn't say that kids were mean to her, so that's good, too."

"Yeah, I remember when Jay got his glasses. All the kids teased him about it," Will said.

"It wasn't all the kids. It was you! Just you! And, now they have more education for bullying and stuff, so maybe kids are nicer than when we were kids." Then, Jay changed the subject. "I'm just shocked she didn't throw a fit when I said we couldn't play soccer today because it was storming."

"But, she said she didn't sleep good last night," Hailey reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. But still, she loves Sundays. And, at the beginning of winter a few months ago, she threw a fit the first time there was too much snow on the ground to go."

"I would say consider it a good thing that she didn't fight with you this morning," Will began, "but you said she didn't sleep good. She say anything else to you? Her tummy or head hurt? I didn't notice anything off when I was here, but maybe she said something earlier."

Jay shook his head. "She seemed fine, other than her being tired."

"Okay, good. If she tells you anything else--especially if she's having headaches--let me know."

***

3 days later, Tuesday

You were usually so excited for Tuesday nights and soccer practice, but now, you were nervous. What if your glasses fell off and somebody broke them? You didn't want Jay or Will or Hailey to be mad at you!

So, when you were running at practice, you went exceptionally slow, which made Jay wonder if you were hurt. He watched you shake your head at your coach, so he must've asked you the same thing.

When you got in the car after practice, needless to say, Jay was slightly worried.

"You okay, kiddo? You didn't look like you were having fun out there."

"I was having fun," you answered, but that was only a half-truth. You only had fun when you were defending and didn't have to worry about running as much, and thus, your glasses falling off.

"Okay. You just didn't feel like it today then?" You shrugged. "That's okay. Everyone has days like that."

What he wasn't going to do was be like your dad and make it seem like you needed to be at 100% every single day. As long as you tried your best with what you had left in the tank, that was all that mattered.

You nodded and just looked out the window while Jay kept driving.

And once you got home, since you put your cleats away nicely without being asked, Jay added a sticker to your sticker chart. But, his detective senses were tingling.

Something was definitely off with you.

***

One week later

It had been a long week for both Hailey and Jay. They'd had their hands full at work trying to catch a serial rapist who ended up killing his last three victims.

During this time, you had spent most of your time with Will, except on Jay's RDO, and then Hailey's RDO when they each spent time with you instead. Even though each of them knew that the team would be a man down on each of their RDOs, they knew it would be difficult for Will to be the sole caretaker of you with his demanding job as well. So, even though they probably should've worked during their RDOs this week, they didn't.

But, they had been so mentally drained on their days off that neither of them remembered to check your backpack for important paperwork. And, both Jay and Hailey knew that Will always conveniently "forgot" to check this. (But, it was probably because he didn't feel like disciplining you if you got a bad report.)

Now, it was 8pm on Tuesday night, they had caught the guy, and both Jay and Hailey had quickly finished their paperwork so that they were home in time for bedtime.

Once Jay and Hailey had finished reading you a chapter of The Chronicles of Narnia, Jay did what he always did when he hadn't been able to see you on a couple of school days straight: he went through your backpack to see if he missed anything such as permission slips, notes from your teacher, and to ensure that Will had been making you do your homework.

When he went through your math folder, stuck between last week's homework assignments and this week's was a note written in cursive. Because it was written that way, he could only assume it was addressed to him or another adult.

Mr. Halstead, I'm writing you this to make sure that Y/N hasn't lost her glasses. I haven't seen her wearing them the past couple of days and wanted to make sure accommodations didn't need to be made. If she has lost them, please let me know and I will be sure to move her desk up to the front to help her see the board for the time being. If you have any questions, please call me at my office number or email me. I previously left a voicemail for you and emailed you, but I don't know if they went through. -Stephanie Harding.

Jay sighed, pulled out a chair at the kitchen table, and began scrolling through his phone. There, from Friday afternoon, was an email from your teacher as well as a phone call from yesterday morning. How could he have missed these?

"You okay?" Hailey asked as she walked into the kitchen, freshly showered. She grabbed two beers from the fridge, popped the cap off both, made her way to the table, and handed one to Jay. "We should be celebrating, not sulking."

"I know, and I'm glad that case is over and the guy's in prison because, you know, he's a monster, but look what I found in Y/N's backpack."

He slid her the note and she began reading.

When she finished, she looked up. "Don't talk to her tonight, Jay. You might dysregulate her so bad that she might go back to sleep because her routine got thrown off."

"I know, but when am I supposed to talk to her? I don't want her throwing a fit in the morning before school, and who knows what's going to come across our desks in terms of cases tomorrow."

Hailey grabbed one of Jay's hands. "Jay, we'll figure it out. And, if we need to wait for your RDO or the weekend when we both hopefully have off, then we'll do that, okay?"

"Okay." He gave his wife's hand a squeeze and then took a sip of his beer.

Thank god for Hailey Upton, he thought.

***

The next day, Wednesday

Once you and Jay got home after he picked you up from school, he made you a snack and you pulled out a chapter book to read to him to practice your reading skills like it was just any other day. He set the addition and subtraction flashcards next to him. You'd do those after you read to him.

But, when you took your first bite of your ants on a log (celery with peanut butter, topped with a few chocolate chips), he reached over and slid the book over to himself. Then, he set it down on the chair next to him so as not to distract you from the upcoming conversation.

"We're not reading?" you asked, furrowing your eyebrows at him.

"Listen, kiddo, we need to talk about why you are not wearing your glasses at school."

"I am!" you protested.

But, Jay saw how your eyes widened slightly when he first said it. He knew you were lying; now he just needed you to admit to it.

"Y/N, your teacher called me and told me that you aren't wearing them. You're not in trouble--"

"No!" you shouted and jumped off your chair. Then, you ran to your room and slammed your door.

Tears pricked your eyes as you threw yourself on your bed.

You couldn't play soccer when you were in high school if you had glasses! At all the games you went to, none of them had glasses! You couldn't give up soccer just to wear these stupid glasses! What did your brothers and your teacher know, anyway? None of them even wore glasses!

You were waiting for Jay to come yell at you for slamming your door, but he never came. And you were so tired from school and from the short conversation that you had with Jay, that you eventually just cried yourself to sleep.

As for Jay, the second he heard your door slam, he sighed and laid his head on the table. What the hell was he supposed to do?

***

You woke up to someone gently shaking your shoulder.

"Y/N, c'mon it's time for dinner, honey."

Hailey.

"No," you mumbled.

You didn't want to face Jay after everything!

"You need to eat, Y/N. You didn't even finish your snack earlier. Just c'mon out and eat dinner with me and Jay."

"Jay gonna be mad at me," you said quietly and rolled over so that you were facing the wall.

"He won't be mad; we just want you to eat something. He made your favorite, fettuccine alfredo, remember?"

That's right! You got to pick dinner once a week and told Jay last week that you wanted fettuccine! And today was Wednesday! It was your dinner day!

"Oh yeah! I forgetted!"

Then, you jumped out of bed and ran downstairs.

Hailey shook her head as she walked behind you. Kids and their moods.

When you got to the kitchen, your plate was set right where it usually was with fettuccine, broccoli, and garlic bread.

You eyed Jay suspiciously when you sat down.

Then, Jay noticed you weren't wearing your glasses. Hailey noticed the very slight tilt of his head, so she quickly jumped in.

"They're on her bedside table," she said. "She was sound asleep when I went up there."

"Mhm," you agreed and then took a bite of your pasta.

Jay figured it was better to let you eat almost all of your food before he started in on the glasses conversation again. He needed you to eat something because, at this point, you hadn't eaten anything except your one ant on a log since 11am at school, which was seven hours ago. He didn't know how you hadn't woken up and been hungry but hey, he knew as well as you did that tantrums made you utterly exhausted.

Once you only had half of your garlic bread left, Jay decided it was time to have another go at this.

"Y/N, me and Hailey were talking, and we thought that if you came home from school wearing glasses, you can get an extra sticker on your chore chart," Jay said. "How's that sound?"

You shrugged. "Okay." You had already been doing that. You'd put them on right when you got in the car. You didn't need them for up close stuff like talking with your friends anyway and you could see Jay, Hailey, and Will just fine without your glasses; they were just a little blurry around the edges.

"That means we need to see you wearing them when we pick you up," Jay continued. "You can't just put them on when you get inside the car." Your brother was nothing if not perceptive.

You could do that. You'd just put them on when you walked out of school for pickup. You couldn't wear them all the time because then what if someone said something about you not wearing them while playing soccer at recess? Then you'd have to wear them at recess and you couldn't play soccer with them on!

"Okay," you said.

"Okay, good," Jay replied.

But, he shot a glance at Hailey. That was way too quick for you to agree to this without a fight even with the added incentive of getting a sticker on your sticker chart.

Something was off and both he and Hailey knew it.

***

Two days later, Friday

Jay walked out of an interrogation, relayed the info to his team, and then sat down at his desk to do some digging into this guy's financials. But, his phone lit up, notifying him that he had a voicemail.

He saw it was from your teacher and his brow furrowed.

"Hi, Mr. Halstead. This is Stephanie Harding calling. I received your email a couple of days ago explaining how you talked with Y/N about wearing her glasses and she said that she'd wear them and that they are not lost. I just wanted to inform you that she hasn't worn her glasses at all throughout the school day, but will put them on for pickup.

I just wanted to inform you of this and please let me know if there's anything that I can do to help."

Jay clenched his jaw and sighed frustratedly after he finished listening. He thought he'd be dealing with this level of sneakiness when you were a teenager, not now!

"Nothing in the financials?" Hailey asked from across from him.

"Still working on that," Jay answered. "Y/N's teacher called. Said she still hasn't been wearing her glasses."

"What? She was wearing them yesterday when I picked her up."

"Her teacher said that she'll put them on at pickup but won't wear them at all during the rest of the day."

Hailey shook her head and rolled her eyes. "We are getting played by a first-grader, Halstead."

"Don't I know it. I'm gonna give Will a call and see if she wore her glasses at pickup. Maybe he can get to the bottom of it while she's at his house tonight."

***

"Alright, kiddo. Game plan today is homework, snack, and reading. Then we'll grab a quick dinner somewhere and go to the girls' soccer game. Sound good?" Will asked when you got inside and set your backpack down.

"Don't wanna do my math homework," you complained. "It's stupid."

"What are you working on?" Will probed. "Maybe I can help you."

"Subtraction. My friends say it's like adding, but the opposite, but it's not!"

"Okay, okay, calm down. I'll make you a snack and then we'll work through it together. How's an apple with peanut butter sound?"

"Do you still have the green apples?"

"I do. Green apple with peanut butter coming right up."

***

Will wasn't stupid. He knew why Jay probably couldn't get the answer from you about not wearing your glasses. And that was because he was asking at the wrong time and because he was the one who disciplined you. Will never had to do that except for taking away ice cream as a bedtime snack a couple of times when you mouthed off to him. You didn't have to worry about having to go to bed early or not being able to watch more tv because you had gotten in trouble with Will. And, you and Jay were very much alike; both of you bottled up your emotions and were stubborn to no end...which is probably why you argued more with Jay than you did Will and Hailey and why Jay couldn't get you to talk about your glasses.

So, Will didn't bring up the glasses at dinner. He didn't even bring them up when you were at the soccer game.

But now was the time for him to bring this up.

You were currently sitting down next to him on the pull-out couch with your teddy bear and your favorite blanket, all ready for a chapter of Narnia and then for bed. You were comfortable and there was nothing to overstimulate you. You had food in your system and the excitement from the day was over.

You were calm.

"Before we start reading, kiddo, I need to ask you a question," Will started.

"Okay, what is it? Is it about what happened in Narnia when me Jay and Hailey readed it last week? Because I can tell you so you're not con...con—" You scrunched up your eyebrows as you tried to remember the word. "So that you know what's happenin'," you said instead.

"It's not about Narnia, but you can tell me before we start reading if you want. But first, I want to know why you aren't wearing your glasses. Do they make your head hurt? Did someone laugh at you?" You shook your head. "Okay, then what is? What's going on, Y/N?"

"Soccer," you mumbled, but it was so quiet that Will couldn't even hear you.

"What was that?" Will asked softly. "It's okay. You can tell me. I won't be mad at you."

You looked up at Will's face. He didn't look mad. Maybe you could tell him. Maybe he wouldn't tell Jay either and then everything would be fine.

"I can't play soccer no more be-because I have glasses!"

At this, you started to cry. All of the nerves you had felt about lying to your brothers and Hailey and the sadness about not being able to play soccer anymore all came tumbling out of you. And, it didn't help that no one on the high school girls' soccer team that you just went and watched earlier wore glasses. That just proved your point!

Will sighed and held back a laugh. Leave it to a little kid to catastrophize from A to Z.

"Who told you that?" Will asked, now realizing that he needed to get to the root of the problem.

"No one did! But none of the big girls wear glasses when they play soccer! And one boy's fell off at school and they got smashed and I'm the only one on my team that has glasses and---"

"Hey, hey, slow down. Take a deep breath, okay?" He allowed you to take a few breaths before he placed a hand on your shoulder. "You can still play soccer."

You looked up at him and your eyebrows furrowed before your mouth fell slightly agape. "I can?

"Yes, silly! We just need to get a strap for the back of your glasses because then they'll stay on when you're running."

"And I can play soccer with Jay Jay on Sunday?!"

"And you can play soccer with Jay on Sunday, yes," Will confirmed.

"Yay!"

"Now what do you say you fill me in on Narnia before I start reading to you, hmm?"

***

"Tell me you got something out of her," was the first thing that Jay said when he answered Will's call later that night.

"Jay, this is our sister we're talking about, not a criminal investigation."

"I know that, smartass. Still...anything?"

"She thought she couldn't play soccer with her glasses."

"What? Where'd she get that idea?"

"Well, kids are very observant, Jay. Maybe more observant than you seeing as you didn't even catch this--"

"Neither did you!"

"Last I checked, my job doesn't involve me doing a stakeout or working undercover."

And then Will launched into a recap of the conversation he had with you.

"Come to think of it," Will began when he was done and had answered all of Jay's questions, "I'm shocked you didn't think to get one for her right away because you didn't get contacts until high school and wore your glasses with a strap when you played soccer all the way from elementary school to middle school. You know what? I think I still have some pictures of that from the family photo album I took from Dad's--"

"Don't you dare!" Jay threatened.

"Who's gonna stop me?"

"Name your price...within reason."

"Breakfast tomorrow, 9am before me and Y/N go pick out her glasses strap. And you're paying."

"Deal!"

And years later, once you got to high school, you never did get contacts because one, you thought you looked better with glasses than without, and two, you wanted all of the little kids that came and watched your games to know that they could play whatever sport they wanted regardless of whether or not they wore glasses.

A/N: Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote and comment! Also, fun fact, I didn't get my glasses until I was 21. I went to renew my driver's license and barely passed the eye exam, so now I wear glasses.

[serahlink]

‼️EMERGENCY COMMS OPEN! || HELP A HOMELESS ARTIST ‼️

Reblogs are greatly appreciated!! :")

Making another commissions post since things have been getting worse as the month goes on. For those who are just coming across this, my name is Link and I'm a 22 y/o homeless artist. My family and I (father and younger sibling) have been in this situation for about three years now since November 2021 and I've been doing commissions to support us until something changes. We don't have anywhere to go or anyone to really turn to financially or housing wise, so we've been on our own since then. My father has managed to get his ID but with no transportation and jobs being too far out, it's made job hunting more difficult and we've yet to find anything.

This month has been one of the toughest with us owing 100$+ due to not being able to pay the daily rent. We do get extensions here but they're hard to keep up with when they double so quickly and work is becoming more hard to come by, and bumping posts on my other socials hasn't done much for us. Sadly, tonight isn't any different. We owe 190$ for tonight and for the last three days, we've been unable to get anything for it. If we can't pay tonight then we will be forced to leave, and I'm not sure what we'll do if we can't cover it.

My commissions are open for anyone interested in supporting us that way, but reblogs/shares also help us a ton since it helps spread the word to possibly get us the help we need :") I'm a fantasy oriented artist, mainly surrounding fandoms like DND, Baldurs Gate 3, Skyrim and Dragon Age, but I've done non fantasy related things as well like furries, feral creatures, comic or modern characters, I'm welcome to pretty much any fandom or request! My only donts are anything excessively violent or sexual (nonsexual nudity is okay), proship/all around that sorta content, and anything hateful (homophobia/transphobia/racism/etc.) if you have any questions about what I will do/wont do that isnt listed here, feel free to ask!

My turn around time can ranged from four weeks or shorter to a month or two given the complexity and how my situation is going at the time. I only take payments upfront with no refunds since we use the money immediately for the room or food and are unable to give proper refunds. My prices will be below and my messages will be open for anyone interested in supporting us that way, thank you so so much if you do help or reblog, I can't tell you how much we appreciate it. Especially with how things are going now.

~Prices~

Sketch (price depending on type of sketch) - base price of 15$

Sketch page - 15$ per sketch

Headshot - 25$ (+10$ if shaded)

Bust - 35$ (+10$ if shaded)

Expression Sheet (minimum of 3 heads per sheet, 10$+ per extra head) - 45$ (10$+ if shaded)

Half body - 50$ (+10$ if shaded)

Full body - 70$ (+15$ if shaded)

Couples Commission (a commission that includes two people) - 90$ (+15$ if shaded)

Group commissions (commission that includes more than two people, price dependant on the details) - 60 base price(one character, unshaded; each extra character is +75% to the original price) (40$+ if shaded) 

Paintings

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

here's a wild one for y'all. cw for parental death. names have been changed, it is a kinda specific situation but I think only 1 of my family members is on Tumblr so whatever. sorry it got so long, it's a complicated situation and still VERY fresh so my brain is kinda fried lol.

tldr my dad passed away without a will and we want to give his long-distance "side" gf the house he helped her buy. I'm worried she won't be able to afford the mortgage, but don't really want to give her any of the monetary payouts. WIBTA if my brothers and I kept all of the cash?

so late last week (it's Dec 19 as of submitting) my father (60s M) passed away in a sudden car accident on his way to work. I'm (late 20s ftM) his oldest child, I also have a younger brother (mid 20s M) who we'll call Phineas and an even younger half-brother (almost tween, M) who we'll call Aaron.

so I'd describe my dad as a kind and loving but stubborn and stupid man. I would also guess, based on what I know of his love life, that he was polyamorous but didn't realize it due to his conservative Christian upbringing and didn't know it was an option so instead ended up being...well, kinda an adulterer tbh. this isn't to excuse his actual actions bc they were obviously wrong, but is the way the situation reads to me, a polyamorous person.

Dad had a long distance girlfriend (50s??? maybe??? F) on the West Coast (we live near the East Coast), we'll call her Melody. I met her a few years back when he flew Phineas and I with him to visit her. she's a sweet woman from what I know of her. when I got the news of his passing, I was the one who called her to let her know what happened. (which sucked.)

well, what I Didn't know until I was trying to scrape together travel arrangements (I live 5 hours away from Phineas and my dad) was that he also had a Wife (60sF), who we'll call Patricia. (it wasn't a legal marriage, it was "in the eyes of the Lord" as they said, due to legal complications to do with her social security benefits or something. which is why the arrangements for his death fell onto Phineas and I as his adult children. but if he called her his wife then as far as I'm concerned that's what she is.) he didn't really tell me or Phineas about the full nature of their relationship. Phineas found out bc our dad was spending so much time with her that he'd practically moved in w her, put two and two together and asked her to confirm. I never even knew she existed till all this happened. he had told his parents and siblings about her, and they approved of her. we can only speculate why he kept it so quiet to us, she thinks bc of his history with Real Duds that we'd be upset somehow. idk.

so anyway Patricia knew about Melody. my dad was already seeing Melody when he started seeing Patricia. I don't know what he was thinking when he got with Patricia tbh, can't ask him now anyway, but she knew about Melody the whole time. wasn't thrilled about it, constantly told him he needed to tell her the truth and end things, but doesn't truly hold that against Melody herself bc she didn't know.

Melody, however, did not know about Patricia. he was planning to tell her at some point. kept meaning to. still loved her, didn't wanna hurt her, but was also trying to be monogamously committed to Patricia too. he never got around to actually ending things with Melody before he passed, and as far as she knew he was still planning to move out there and get married to her. he even took out a loan to help her pay for her late mother's house, both their names are on the mortgage and deed.

which brings me to my question. my dad didn't seem to have a will (not that we can find anyway), so Phineas and I are the ones in charge of distributing his various belongings and payouts and such. we both agree that we don't have any use for some house across the country, and Melody is already living in it anyway. imo she should just Have It. however, she is also Pretty Poor. I don't know the specifics of her situation (or, really, much about the complications of home ownership?) but I do worry about her ability to continue to pay the mortgage, assuming that's a thing. we're still waiting to hear about all the details and numbers and have somebody who actually knows about that stuff translate it into layman's terms for us non-homeowners (or in Phineas's case, Brand New Homeowner) so we can get a full picture of how all that is going to work legally speaking.

Dad also had life insurance thru his employer. we are still working thru the red tape at his company to figure out who the beneficiary is, the most likely candidate being me as the eldest child. Phineas and I are agreed that we'll at least be splitting most, if not all, the money evenly between us and Aaron. Patricia is INSISTENT that she doesn't want any of it, she wants us kids to keep it bc unlike some of his exes she never cared about his money (he made GOOD money, but still ended up kinda poor due to both being generous to, and having been taken advantage of by, multiple women since my bio mom died. including having to shell out an insane amount of child support for Aaron despite already having a very active role in his life. like he paid more child support than either I or my fiancee even make at our jobs, while also frequently just straight up directly providing for him where he could). because of his income it's looking like a pretty hefty payout.

however, my brother and I are both pretty poor as well. while we don't know the exact amount we're getting, some are speculating a number that, even split 3 ways, would be Life-Changing for us. we're talking 5 figure amounts, more than I or my fiancee make in a year. like we'll still need to work for a living but, for example, it could be a down-payment on a house or a massive safety net for when I'm out of work (I have a steady job but with seasonal unpaid breaks). it could help Phineas afford expensive repairs for the trailer he now owns, which my dad was supposed to help pay for. in the right account with a decent interest rate, it could be tuition for when Aaron goes to college.

I feel like I Should probably toss some of that money Melody's way, esp since I feel so bad that she's getting the one-two punch of finding out her bf died AND also he had a wife she wasn't aware of. but my brothers and I could really use that money as well. I don't know that Phineas wants to send her any, we're saving that conversation for when we know more of the exact numbers. I don't even know how much Dad was paying towards it, or if he even was anymore. plus--and this is kinda a minor detail--but there's kind of a general vibe I'm getting from the Family (ALL 4 of my dad's siblings AND both his parents are somehow still alive) that Melody is kinda...unliked. they love Patricia and were CONSTANTLY frustrated that he was still visiting Melody and frequently sending her money; I get the feeling they viewed her the same as some of his other gold-digging exes so i think maybe sending her Even More Money would look a little weird? like she's already getting full ownership of a house out of the deal. most of them are in agreement that Phineas and I are the ones who get the final say on the bulk of these decisions but they're...a little pushy anyway.

like I said, we don't know what any of the actual numbers look like AT ALL yet, so it might actually be fine. but WIBTA if we just left her the sole homeowner when she couldn't really afford it, and not send her any money? the consensus will probably show up too late to affect our decision but hey, figured the situation would make for a wild ride anyway (or maybe I just feel like that bc it has been for me LOL).

What are these acronyms?

[maple-bee]

Left Over Sale + Shipping Update!

Good news!! We are finally putting up our leftover stock of the Lin Kuei plushies NEXT FRIDAY Dec. 13th at 3pm CT! We'll have a few bundles available and the rest will be individual sales.

Some not great news - WE WILL NO LONGER SHIP TO THE EU - Due to the new EU regulations being set, we won't be able to ship to any of the countries part of the EU. We're terribly sorry and upset we can't continue to open our sales for EU fans 💔

For anyone affected by this, we recommend looking into proxy! Feel free to use this post to find someone outside the EU that can help out! Again, we're so sorry with this sudden change - we're hoping one day these regulations get lifted.（；´д｀）

Thank you all again for all the wonderful support this year! 💜 I'll be working hard over break in getting new MK, as well as other fandoms, designs out! ( •̀ .̫ •́ )✧

Follow our Instagram MobKento for reminders as we get closer to reopening!

Read more for Plush & Preorder details:

Prices: Does not include taxes + shipping

Individual Plushie - $60

Lin Kuei (all 3) Bundle - $170

Each 20cm plush includes an 8-piece outfit - with the exception of Bi-Han who includes an extra arm badge*

[thefluffyrailway-official]

𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐲 (𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲)

That was a beautiful morning on the island of Sodor. Even among that sad cloudy sky, some small rays of light slipped through the clouds. And, since there was no rain forecast for that day, the steamies need not fear for their fur.

At that moment, a pale yellow furred engine with gold and gray eyes, was at the Knapford Shunting Yard, chatting with one of her workmates.

-It's funny to see that Aaron is coming with you Edward- She said. -Wasn't James his mentor?-

The old blue-eyed male nodded.

-Let's say the red boy took the day off. You know, his pups were born recently, and he couldn't visit Rosie before- He explained.

-And that allows me to be with dad during the entire work day!- The young engine laughed.

-You seem excited about that little one- the blonde-furred one smiled.

-I hope you're aware that not because I am your father I'm going to be soft on you boy- Edward stroked his son's head while an amused purr came out of his smoke box.

-I know dad, Thomas warned me about that already- Aaron answered rolling his eyes with a smile.

She smiled. Aaron had recently started his training and could barely see his father. So seeing them together was really adorable.

-And what about your little ones Molly? Neville told me that they'll join Aaron in a couple of months- Edward said.

Molly had four pups, old enough to begin their training to work on the railway. So it was obvious that, sooner or later, someone would ask her about them. They keep telling everyone about it.

-Oh! Well, in fact, STH is already thinking about which engine will be their mentor. The only bad thing is... Well...- The golden-eyed looked down, she seemed worried. -I just hope that Ashley can be named an apprentice alongside her siblings...- She sighed.

Edward placed his front paw on the female's shoulder. -Hey, don't worry, I'm sure she'll recover in time.- He meowed, comforting her.

She smiled slightly. -Thank you Edward. Is there anything else to do here? I have to go see this little smoke ball at the Steamworks.-

-Don't worry about that. Aaron and I will take care of it.- The blue-eyed engine said with a shake of his head, indicating that she should go see her daughter.

Molly said goodbye to both of them and headed towards the Steamworks.

They had been rebuilt a few years ago due to the biological changes of the locomotives after the "Bloody Disaster", a pandemic that wiped out 60% of the world's vehicles.

It had been such a radical change that, even if humans were immune, the vehicle companies that made parts for them were doomed to adapt or disappear.

From that moment on, the so-called "Machine Age" began.

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

In one of the nests placed in a corner, at the back of the Steamworks, was a small locomotive with gray fur and blue eyes.

Next to her, a young tabby crane, with black and yellow scales, was trying to console her about something that seemed to torment her innocent mind.

-Don't worry Ash. I'm sure we'll find a way for you to recover before the ceremony- He said as he brushed the bangs away from the grey engine's teary eyes.

Molly entered the place and her gaze automatically fell on her pup. Seeing her in that state, she ran towards her with an expression of clear concern on her face.

-Oh dear Lady! What happened Kevin?! Has she had another attack?! - The blonde female asked hysterically as she approached her daughter.

Ash suffered from ash syndrome, his boiler was too small and did not work properly.

So if she made any effort it was very likely that she would end up almost unable to breathe. This was quite common. So the pup stayed in the Steamworkd for almost her entire life. Her mother visited her every day, her father whenever he could, but her siblings... They didn't seem to understand Ash's problem, so they almost never visited her or simply made fun of her because of their jealousy.

Even if she tried not to show it, it was evident that Molly showed much more concern for Ashley than for her other pups.

-Not at the moment. Calm down Molly- Kevin said with a calm tone. -But her siblings told her about their training. And not in the best way in fact...-

Molly sighed.

-What am I going to do with them... I'm so sorry, sweetheart, I don't know how to make them understand you... - the blonde female snuggled up next to her daughter and dried her tears.

-I'll leave you alone, okay?- The young crane said as he stepped back.

-Don't worry mom. I know they love me. But they think you don't.- The blue-eyed girl sobbed. -I wouldn't mind if you didn't come here for a few days. Kevin takes great care of me. And my brothers want to be with you too. Not only with dad.-

Molly remained silent for a few moments.

-Well... But we will continue coming to see you.- She said while giving her a loving lick on the cheek.

The young grayish engine rested her head against her mother's chest.

-Mom... Will I ever be normal?-

-What do you mean honey? You're as normal as your brothers- Molly purred.

-I'm not mom. We are the same age and they already run almost all over the island, they accompany you and dad at work and they are with other engines! While I... The only thing I've done since I was born was lay here... -Ash responded with pain in her voice.

An awkward silence formed between the two female engines for a few minutes.

-Don't worry Ash. Victor said you're improving a lot lately.- Molly tried to calm her daughter down a bit. Although it wasn't very effective.

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

And so the days passed...

The weeks...

The months...

Ashley was finally much better. But that didn't seem to matter... The day of the ceremony was close and Molly had no news from STH about her.

Until one day...

Molly was with Ash again at the Steamworks. Although she wasn't alone this time. Melody, their oldest daughter, was with them too.

-Don't worry sis. I can wait for you if you want.- She smiled.

Ash shook her head.

-Don't worry about me Mel. I appreciate you to worry. But i will be fine-

Suddenly, Victor's deep voice interrupted the conversation.

-Sorry to interrupt girls. But I think you have a visitor. A very important one in fact- He said with a smile.

The engines looked toward the entrance to the Steamworks.

STH was there! Accompanied by a robust and experienced machine with long greenish fur and eyes of the same color.

-Henry? Sir? What brings you here?- Molly asked curiously.

-Victor has informed me of little Ashley's progress these last few months- he said. -I came to ask your permission to assign Henry as her mentor tomorrow.-

The three females gaped. They looked at each other for a few seconds in total surprise. But Melody was the first to speak.

-SAY YES MOM! I WANT ASH TO HAVE HER FIRST LESSON WITH US!! - she said excitedly.

-I don't know, honey. Do you really think she's ready, Victor?- Molly asked.

The garnet male nodded.

-Her health has improved a lot. She's been accompanying Kevin to pick up medicine lately, remember? And at no time in these 4 months she had another attack.-

The blonde female looked at her daughter.

-Do you feel ready Ashley?-

The little girl was still stunned by the news. She barely listened to her mother. She was too busy admiring her possible future mentor. Who gave her a kind smile upon noticing her cute excited gaze.

-Ashley- Her mother gave her a little touch to make her react.

-YES! YES I WANT!!- The blue-eyed engine screeched.

-It's not about whether you want. You must feel prepared. Are you?- Molly repeated in a serious tone.

The pup's answer was the same. Her tail shook frantically with excitement as she hopped around the large green-eyed male. -Hey calm down little one. You don't wanna get worse right before you start- Henry said as he stopped her jumping by gently placing his paw on the young engine's head.

-Then. You have my permission sir.- Molly smiled proudly.

-I'm glad to hear that. Don't worry Molly. I have discussed it with Henry and Victor and she will take a gentler pace than her brothers until she fully recovers. It would be better if you continue spending the night here at the Steamworks at first Ashley- He explained.

Ash looked down with some disappointment.

-Don't worry, you will do the same as them, but not at the same pace. That doesn't make you less useful than your brothers- STH said comforting the young gray-furred engine.

-Alright sir, i will do my best. I promise i won't let you down!- She giggled.

...

(AU inspo creds @steam-beasts <3)

[thankskenpenders]

Sonic Superstars!

Superstars is out! And guess what? It's good! It's a worthy new entry in the series, and I mostly like it. Mostly. Except for the handful of parts I don't. As usual, allow me to share my thoughts.

(For the record, I got the PS5 version of Superstars. I can't speak for how it plays on older hardware like the Switch, or how the weird Steam version that seems to make you log in with Epic runs. But I encountered zero performance issues, personally.)

General thoughts

The thing is, aside from two notable flaws I'll discuss in greater detail below, I can sum up my feelings on most of Superstars quickly. You see, it's... a Sonic game. This will either be a blessing or a curse depending on who you ask. It's not a bold new take on the series that'll blow you away, but they also didn't fuck it up. There's no catch this time! There's something refreshing about that straightforwardness, given how rare it is to get a regular-ass New Sonic Game from Sega. It's just a new classic-style game where you can play as Amy, set on a new island with all new zones, and Fang is in it! This might be damning with faint praise, but that's what it says on the tin, and they did a good job overall.

(It also has co-op. That's nice. I didn't play it in co-op.)

It plays exactly how it should. At no point did anything feel Wrong. The graphics might not have the absolute highest fidelity, but I think the character models look really nice, and the levels look appropriately good with vibrant color palettes. A couple zones like Sky Temple gave me Klonoa vibes, which I like. One zone is an absolutely incredible homage that I won't spoil. The story here is minimal (as expected), but there are a few good moments of telling the story through the gameplay, particularly one very cute sequence with Trip. I did find a couple stage gimmicks moderately annoying (Speed Jungle 2 and Press Factory 2, looking at you), but like... I could say the same thing about Mania, and also damn near every other Sonic game ever made. There's always That One Level. Superstars may not raise the series to new heights, but it generally executes well on the standard beats of the series. It's an easy recommendation for all fans of 2D Sonic.

Really, aside from the two big flaws (we'll get to them), this game's greatest crimes are simply not being quite as good as Mania, and also coming out the same week as the more creative and polished Super Mario Bros. Wonder. If we hadn't gotten Mania, I would easily be calling this my favorite 2D Sonic game since... what, the Advance trilogy 20 years ago? I like the Rush games, but if you asked me to replay one or the other, I might have a better time with Superstars. And, yes, it beats the hell out of Sonic 4. It's not even close. Anyone who says this game is exactly like Sonic 4 is just being a hater.

...I guess I would say that $60 is a bit steep for this, but you know it'll be on sale for a more appropriate $30-$40 in a few months. This isn't a Nintendo game we're talking about here.

Nice little tweaks

Superstars also features a number of welcome quality-of-life updates over Mania, bringing it more in line with the design ethos of modern platformers.

You have infinite lives! No more getting a game over on the final boss and having to redo the whole final zone - or, god forbid, the entire game

Time overs are gone! It'll warn you before you go over ten minutes, but I have no idea why because it doesn't kill you anymore

The game features a hub from which you can easily replay previous levels, rather than needing to beat the game or put in a cheat code to unlock the level select

This means you can easily go back and hunt for any special stage rings you missed. However, as a tradeoff, it seems like you can only get one Emerald per zone now, rather than being able to get Super Sonic by the end of the first or second zone

You can swap characters between levels! No more having to start a whole 'nother save file to play as Tails

And those characters even have optional little movement tutorial rooms available from the hub, which is great for new players who may not know about things like the Drop Dash

And, finally, checkpoints now feature arrows pointing in the direction you were supposed to be going, in case you forget upon respawning

Of course, while you might not be getting game overs, Superstars certainly compensated with some bosses that kicked my ass.

Bosses

Here's what I would consider notable flaw #1.

I have mixed feelings on the bosses in Superstars. I don't think many of them are poorly designed - in fact, a lot of them are good, and offer fun moments of spectacle. But for a 2D Sonic game, they're REALLY long and drawn out, and by the late game this was starting to get draining.

Bosses tend to be the type where you have to dodge their attack patterns for a while until you get the chance to hit them exactly once, MAYBE twice. A few bosses seem to have quicker options if you abuse your post-hit invulnerability or play as a character with a double jump, but many will either be completely invincible or run away to the background for long periods of time, making it impossible to damage them outside of the allotted windows. And even if it seems like you'll be able to get in a second hit, many bosses turn invincible and skip ahead to the next attack pattern as soon as they take the first hit. Again, most of these fights aren't BAD, but because of this behavior they sometimes take almost as long to beat as the entire levels preceding them. This didn't bother me much early in the game, but against the more challenging bosses towards the end that kept killing me several minutes into a long fight, it got tiring. The final boss of Story Mode probably took me like an hour.

While this certainly isn't an uncommon style of boss design, part of me suspects they did this for the sake of co-op players. For one, playing in co-op means that you don't necessarily have to start the entire fight over if one person dies, so I assume the length is less of an issue. But in particular, true classic-style Sonic bosses that you can just hit repeatedly with good timing would go down in a few seconds against a team of four players. Likewise, the swarm of clones from the "Avatar" Emerald power would probably obliterate every Genesis era boss with one button press. So I get why every boss needs all these invulnerability periods, but still. I at least wish they'd made some of those attack patterns shorter and given you more frequent opportunities to deal damage.

Emeralds and their powers

Speaking of the new Chaos Emerald powers: they're neat, I guess? They're fine. I didn't use them much. Actually, I kept forgetting I even had them - although the game will play a noise and show an icon in the corner of the screen to remind you any time you reach a spot where a specific power is useful. Avatar, the first power you get, is at least good for getting a couple free hits in on the trickier bosses. Yellow's ability to slow time is obviously good, but, again, I always forgot I even had it and made it through just fine without it. I was also pleased to realize that the swimming power is useful for the water levels and not just for climbing up waterfalls.

Oh, and the new grappling-based special stages kind of suck, but they're not the worst, and I'll at least give them credit for trying something new. (Motion Sickness Zone from Sonic 1 does return as a bonus minigame, but I only did it once lmao.)

Battle Mode

I haven't played Battle Mode. Couldn't tell you if it's good or not. It did, however, give us official designs for Metal Tails and Metal Amy after all these years, and also it let me make this:

...Okay, enough beating around the bush. Let's talk about the thing that REALLY drags down the experience.

The soundtrack...

(This lengthy section on the music will feature some light spoilers for things like zone names and themes.)

Now, don't get me wrong. There are some bangers in here that I've been listening to on loop. But this is one of the most inconsistent soundtracks I've ever heard, and I'm not sure I've ever played another game where the music has such a sharp dip in quality in the back half.

As anyone following this blog knows, prior to release I was a little obsessed with trying to gauge what the soundtrack would be like. "Jun Senoue" and "new Classic Sonic game" naturally evokes the memory of Sonic 4, but from the start we knew Tee Lopes was involved as well, and almost all of the music previewed before released leans more towards the sound of Sonic Mania than anything else. I was hopeful! I was excited! Jun deserved another chance at doing another classic Sonic OST, and Tee is one of my favorite game composers of all time between his Sonic material and other works like the TMNT: Shredder's Revenge OST. I frequently thought back to this Sonic 4 remix medley by Jun and Tee as a reminder that these two could really be the dream team, bringing out the best in each other's work.

Sure enough, the front half of the game is largely dominated by the Mania sound, whether it's a track by Tee himself or one by an in-house Sega artist that's compatible with his style. Pinball Carnival Act 1 by Rintaro Soma (an up-and-coming composer who wrote a bunch of the Cyber Space themes in Frontiers) takes obvious inspiration from Mania's Studiopolis Act 1, to the point that I was shocked when Sega posted the track and revealed it wasn't written by Tee. Act 2, however, forges more of its own sound by leaning into the act's spooky haunted carnival theme. And despite being the music lead, the only level theme that I know for sure was written by Senoue in the front half of the game (Bridge Island Act 1) was actually arranged by Tee Lopes to give it more of that Mania sound. Hell, the level clear jingle is literally just the one from Mania. A few level themes by other composers don't quite match that style, but they fit in well enough.

But there are early signs that this sound won't be consistent throughout the game. Our first warning of things to come is the boss music:

When early copies started floating around and the soundtrack leaked, many, many people hoped that this was merely a placeholder, like the literal Sonic 4 Episode II music used in the earliest previews of Speed Jungle, and that it'd get replaced with a day one patch. Oh, those poor, innocent fools...

Even if you don't mind the poor production with the returning Sonic 4 faux-Genesis sound, this is a very simplistic thirteen second snippet of music that then plays a second time in a higher key before it loops. This wouldn't be the end of the world if the bosses were as short as the ones in the Genesis games, of course, but they're not! This theme is used for a ton of lengthy fights throughout the game, including an EXTREMELY long and tedious autoscroller boss at the end of Golden Capital Act 2. Maybe I would've enjoyed the bosses in this game more if they were paired with some earworms that'd get me hyped up and sell how cool and exciting the fights are supposed to be, but grating songs like this just made the minutes spent fighting those bosses feel like an eternity.

Still, boss music (and menu music) aside, all of the level themes in the front half of the game ranged from decent to great, with the peak easily being the phenomenal Lagoon City Act 2 by Tee Lopes. And then... I got to the back half of the game. And the Mania style completely disappeared, replaced largely with the dreaded Sonic 4 sound. That isn't the style for EVERY song in the back half, but even the ones that try something different tend to be weaker than the material from the first six zones, with less engaging melodies and less intricate arrangement. Many sound straight up unfinished, leaning on extremely basic synth patches with no personality. And there isn't a single track from Tee in the back half. He just disappears from the project altogether.

What this means is that we go from this absolute banger by Tee Lopes in zone 6, which elevates what's otherwise a bog standard desert level to a thrilling adventure:

To... this, in zone 7:

It's EXTREMELY jarring!

The thing is, this is actually one of the better tracks in this style. I have to assume this is by Senoue, because you can totally hear a good Adventure or Heroes era Senoue track in there once you get past the crude synth replication of the Genesis era Sonic sound. Senoue is still a great composer, as you can hear clear as day with Bridge Island, but he's working with a restrictive sound palette that doesn't play to his strengths at all. If only he'd bust out that damn guitar, or at least pick some better synths.

(And no matter what people will tell you, no, this is not an accurate recreation of what the Genesis's YM2612 chip really sounded like, nor is it representative of what it CAN sound like at its best. Go back to the Streets of Rage 2 or Ristar soundtracks if you need a reminder.)

While I can at least see what the Press Factory tracks were aiming for, some other faux-FM synth tracks are just really bland. They don't have anything interesting going on, and they also don't seem particularly tailor made for the levels they accompany. They're just attempts to mimic what Sonic 1-3 sounded like on a very literal level. Take, for instance, the Golden Capital Act 1 theme, AKA "we've got Sky Sanctuary at home." While the better level themes in this game enhance the mood or even completely carry the vibes of a level, the weaker tracks can really suck all the air out of the room and make a level feel like more of a slog.

What kills me is that there are, in fact, a couple examples of how to do throwbacks to classic Sega FM synth music well on this very soundtrack! They're just not the Sonic 4 type tracks. I love the Frozen Base Act 2 theme, presumably composed by legendary Sega composer Hiroshi "HIRO" Kawaguchi, who's responsible for all-time classic arcade soundtracks like Fantasy Zone, Out Run, Hang-On, After Burner, and more, as well as the hacking and pinball themes from Frontiers. Maybe to an untrained ear this doesn't sound all that different, but it has a catchier tune, better instruments, and stronger production overall. I'm also a fan of the track for Sky Temple, which isn't perfect, but it blends a few Genesis-esque instruments like the Sonic 1+2 snare with other instruments for a richer sound. If the whole soundtrack sounded more like these examples, I'd definitely be complaining less.

I really just have to wonder... how did this happen? How did this end up being so inconsistent? Many fans on social media are jumping to the conclusion that Senoue is just extremely stubborn and refuses to ditch the style from Sonic 4. I can't deny this possibility, but some things just don't add up. The almost complete lack of "retro" style music in the promotional material. The fact that the style just suddenly shifts halfway through the game, then disappears for the final zone, as if that's not the note they want to end on. The complete lack of any tracks by Tee Lopes in the back half. The focus on the Mania-style tracks in the bonus "mini soundtrack." And most perplexing of all, the fact that three of the first tracks you hear in the game were Senoue compositions that were given extra attention with arrangements from Tee Lopes.

This is pure speculation on my part, but it almost seems like they straight up ran out of time.

Perhaps Jun wanted more of his tracks to get full arrangements from Tee, or for Tee to contribute more songs, but things were down to the wire and they chose to leave in some of the raw Sonic 4 style demos. The soundtrack being crunched out in a matter of months at the end of development would certainly explain why Speed Jungle had to be demoed without its music a mere four months ago. It'd also explain why a game that's only a few hours long needs NINETEEN composers listed in the credits. And also the fact that multiple zones just have completely different, unrelated music by different artists across their acts. Did they need multiple artists working on different acts simultaneously, completely independent from each other with no time to cross reference each others' work, due to extreme time constraints? I'd buy it.

Ah well. It's not the end of the world. I've heard worse Sonic music. But I'll always think of what could have been...

At least the final battle with Eggman at the end of Story Mode has a pretty kickass boss theme, which ALMOST makes up for how bad most of the preceding boss music is (and the fact that that very difficult fight doesn't have a checkpoint between phases and took me like an hour to beat lmao). It even seems like it might be written by longtime Phantasy Star Online composer and recurring Sonic contributor Hideaki Kobayashi. That's the guy who wrote NONAGRESSION!!!!!!!

The postgame

Speaking of beating Eggman! It turns out Superstars has a good deal of postgame content, as merely beating the last zone with all the Chaos Emeralds doesn't take you to the true final boss. In order to do that, you'll need to do something else.

Before we hit the big spoiler warning, I'm going to give any future players who are still reading a warning. If you value your sanity... don't force yourself to do all the postgame stuff. Don't make the mistakes I did. It's not worth it, and it may very well knock your personal score for the game down a couple points.

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

SPOILERS FOR THE STORY, UNLOCKABLES, AND THE POSTGAME BELOW THIS POINT

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

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

The bonus scenario

Sonic Superstars has a big surprise in store for anyone who beats the main story. For the first time since... what, Silver? In 2006? We finally have a brand new playable character in a new Sonic platformer! (I wouldn't count the player avatar in Forces as a full-fledged New Character.) Yes, after the credits roll, you unlock Trip as the super-secret fifth playable character. I was really excited to see this. Trip is cute, even if her masked appearance from early in the game is perhaps a more unique design than a Sonic-ified lizard girl who can only vaguely look like a real sungazer lizard. She IS the first new Sonic character Ohshima has designed since the '90s, though, so she gets points for that - and she gets even more points for literally turning into a dragon when she goes Super. We love a girl who can turn into a dragon, don't we folks? And her playstyle is fun, too, with a double jump and the ability to roll along walls and ceilings.

But Trip isn't just playable. Like Knuckles before her, she gets an entire alternate story mode of her own, which somewhat remixes the level layouts, generally makes things more challenging, and swaps out Eggman for Egg Robo. I was so excited to see this! It really felt like the game had so much more in store for me than I'd anticipated.

...Then I spent probably around three hours attempting to beat the new final battle with Fang at the end of Trip's Story. And it made me regret doing Trip's Story at all.

Once you learn the patterns, a lot of them are actually piss easy. But the difficulty comes down to a few misguided factors:

The fight is LOOOONG. On a successful attempt the whole thing will probably take the average player about, like... seven or eight minutes? Maybe longer? This is where I really started to get pissed at the game for making me wait through these stupid attack patterns before I could attempt to hit the boss once.

The fight is divided between two phases, one with Fang in a vehicle and another with him in a giant robot, with no checkpoint between them. Dying to one of Fang's bullshit attacks on the second phase means having to redo the ~5 minute first phase all over again. And, worst of all...

Fang has multiple projectile attacks that are guaranteed instant kills, even if you have rings.

Also there's a stupid desperation headbutt attack that can really easily catch you off guard and kill you, but I only got that far in the fight once.

It's the instant kills that got me. If those fucking immobilizing net attacks just made you drop your rings, or you could at least wiggle out of them by mashing buttons (EDIT: apparently you CAN do this but you literally have to button mash so rapidly that it's a crapshoot whether or not you'll physically be able to do it), it would have been totally doable! Kinda fun, even! Slow, but pretty cool in terms of spectacle. But nope! Three hours! Three hours on this! This is, without a doubt, the hardest boss I have ever faced in any Sonic game, period, and one of the hardest bosses I've ever seen in ANY game. All because of one attack pattern where making a tiny mistake means starting over.

The glitches didn't help, either. Something about the way the circular boss arena was set up in both stories' final battles seems to make the floor intangible sometimes for non-player objects. Occasionally my dropped rings, enemies I was supposed to knock towards Fang, or one of Fang's insta-kill projectiles would just fall through the floor randomly. This definitely wasn't my main problem, but it helped drive home the idea that this fight just wasn't worth my time.

After three hours of attempts, I gave up. I just went and looked up the ending of Trip's story, as well as the contents of the Final Story, on YouTube. Turns out I made the right call, because boy, that true final boss looks like dogshit. It's just a very dull fight against a big generic cartoon dragon. Apparently this is the thing Eggman was looking for. It appears and is defeated with little fanfare. I think I liked it better when I assumed the scary dragon being foreshadowed was just Super Trip.

...Also, hey, what's up with The End being very conspicuously visible in the background of the last zone?? I know it's just a cheeky cameo, but, like... isn't it supposed to be sealed away in Cyber Space right now? Should I be taking this literally? Does this have lore implications? This is one hell of a way to remind people that the timeline's been reunified, I guess

Closing thoughts

I really hate to part ways with Superstars on a sour note like this, because like I said up top, I mostly enjoyed my time with it! It's really just a small handful of particularly frustrating bosses and the inconsistent soundtrack that drag it down. Other than that, it's solid as a rock. Maybe wait for sales if you're not dying to play it, but it's definitely worth playing for any Sonic fan. Just... skip the true ending. I would have stepped away MUCH happier with this game if I'd done that.

I wanna try to end this on a more positive note but I'm tired, so, uhhhh... look, you can unlock a Metal Nights skin for your Battle Mode bot!!

Anyway back to jamming to about half the soundtrack on loop while pretending the other half doesn't exist, and looking forward to the continued Fang Renaissance with his upcoming IDW miniseries

[phoenix7artist]

"You're the Best, Casey Jones. Thank You..."

Hello to my first official post on here!

I have been trying to figure out how to post on here for the longest time since I joined and never could till now lol

But this is honesty great! Since the 2nd year to Rise of TMNT Movie passed, I will share what I made that will probably or not make you cry.

...

Enjoy this sad/happy post!

"Good evening, New Yorkers!

We're looking at another beautiful day here in the city. It's been 3 months since the invasion and today is officially end of construction! We had some clouds stat the morning off and temperatures are in the 40s.

Tomorrow's forecast will be up in the 60s.

This is Alison Cooper of Channel 06. Reporting to you Live at 7:30pm at the new Channel 06 office."

Running along the building rooftops, the red-eared slider and the time traveler checked out the new scenery as many radios played "We'll Meet Again" as many citizens cheered and chatted with one another happily. Casey couldn't help but stop, looking down at the scene with a small smile.

What a relief-

"C'mon, Case! We gotta meet the guys at the bridge!", Leo called for the raven hair time traveler.

Casey snapped out of his reminiscing thoughts, seeing the red-eared slider carry 25 boxes of pizza's on both of his shoulders while he carried 10 boxes.

"Couldn't you just make a portal?", Casey asked, a brow raised as they both jumped over to another roof.

Leo shrugged with a grin, "I could buuuut I wanted to check on all my peeps."

Casey couldn't help but chuckle in response to the turtles sentence. Leo was so much like his sensei and him checking in on the people showed it. He truly loved this city with all his heart and the actions he & his family showed- well, it showed. After the battle was done and over, the city began to rebuilt itself from the ground up for 3 month, the small group of heroes wanted to celebrate their victory against the Krang.

But it wasn't just that but they celebrated the city's quick recorvery.

Things were not easy for either side. The entire city was traumatized by the invasion. Some were missing or were dead while loved ones were left behind. It truly was a deadly horror for the city and it people, and the Hamato family certainly didn't recover as quickly as they should. When they returned underground, Casey and April helped anyway they could to with the four turtle brothers from their injuries, especially with Splinter.

But let's start with the brothers:

▪︎ Raphael had injured eye, left arm burned up to his neck, and a broken rib which resulted a crack on his plastron.

▪︎ Donatello's right arm was burned just like Raph's and his shell has many deep scratches due to him attaching to the ship. So, whenever cold and slime or just anything touches his shell, his sensory goes off intensely and s3nds him in a panic fight or flight mode.

▪︎ Michelangelo had burns going up both his arms all the way up to his face (cheeks), and luckily only had a bump on his head.

▪︎ Leonardo had not only a crack in the side of his plastron on the left side, he had a large crack going down his shell, and his right leg was messed because now he has a limp whenever he walks.

▪︎ Lastly, Splinter had not only a broken back but he had dislocated his right foot and the whole family found out that he had Cancer. No one truly knew how long it had been growing but it was severe.

Surprisingly, he and April didn't have any but scratches but still, Casey was grateful for it all.

If he hadn't come back to warn them of the Krang- if he wasn't here to help fight them off, then none of this would still be here.

Leo turned to Casey, observing the small relief look upon the teens face before he placed his tall stick of pizza boxes on Casey's, "Just for a second. Making a portal!"

And with that, Leo made a portal, taking the boxes back before he and Casey walked through to find the group setting up their spot.

"You made it!", Mikey cheered, rushing over to the boys.

Casey nervously grinned, "Yeah, we kinda took a detour. Leo wanted to show me-"

"A new skate board trick!", Leo interrupted Casey, sending him look.

The three brother looked amongst one another before shrugging going back into setting things up for the small party.

"You guys can set the boxes next to the wall.", Donnie told the duo who walked over to the wall.

This was a great view.

"Hey, so I gotta ask. You said you only ate leaves and rats, right?", Leo asked, setting his boxes down.

"Uhh, yeah. Why?"

"Have you ever had Pizza in the apocalypse?", Leo asked once more, awaiting for the teen to answer.

"No, I don't even what that is but Master Leonardo told me that when I got done saving the world, I should grab a slice?? Whatever that means-"

"DUDE!!", Leo shook the boy, who was growing dizzy by the rapid movement. The slider looked over at his brothers, his dad, and April who seem to overheard the conversation, "Guys, we got to give this man a taste of flavor!!"

"Raph's on it!" Raph said, grabbing the first box from the stack.

While Leo sat the boy down on the ground, Mikey, Donnie, April, and Slinter made way for Raph brought the box over. Opening it, Raph held the box out for the raven hair boy, whole looked at it with doubt before looking at the smiling group.

Hesitate, Casey grabbed a piece of pizza, "So, this grabbing a slice? I don't get it?"

"Wait for it!"

Casey brought the pice up to his face, skeptical before he took a bite out of the cheesy substance and the next thing he knew was that his mouth was in heaven. The teen moaned with delight, his eyes sparkling, "So much better than rats~!"

The teens nod in agreement while Slpinter looked quite offended by this lol

"Hey, the rest of the world we saved is pretty great too!", Leo said, handing an arm over Casey's shoulder.

"ALRIGHTY EVERYONE! LOOK UP HERE!!", April snag a picture of the group before showing it off to Casey.

In that moment, Casey let out a soft gasp to see that it was almost exact to the photo he was given only now it had him in it. It made him wish that his family was somehow watching over him. Looking up at the group, watching them smile and laugh at whatever Leo was doing before a message came through the phone. "Hey April, you just got a message from someone name Cassandra?"

"Whoa! Looks like our friend Cassandra was busy-"

"THAT'S MY MOM?!", Casey exclaimed in shock, making the other come to a complete stop, "There goes a space time continuum."

The group basically ambushed the poor teen with teasing and questions while Raph hung with his slider brother from the side. Everyone on the other side of this screen knows what happens in this scene and how it ends but not all know what happened from the other side of the spirit world side.

For once, Casey's wish had come true. His family was always by his side...

In that moment, standing behind the group and watching their interaction with th young time travelet, the glowing ghosts of the future's past smiled at the scene. "Man, who would have thought time travel would be the answer~", the older ornate box turtle teased, nudging his elbow into the older spiny soft-shell.

"Ugh, please not now Michael!", Donatello groaned, rolling his eyes.

Michelangelo chuckled softly before they both looked where Casey and the rest of the group were at, taking it all in. He sometimes couldn't believe it. Those small teens saved the world and now the future was no longer in danger.

"I still can't believe they did it." Raphael grinned.

"Same here. Even though their us, they seem a little different, don't you think so, Leo?" April asked the slider but all the sibling quickly notice his sad and worriedsome look. "Leo? Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I just...", the slider paused, looking over his shoulder but let out a sigh, "Do you think he'll be okay...", looking at the scene in front of him.

Raphael glanced over at Leonardo before looking back at Casey, who was laughing and smiling at whatever Donnie had said while Mikey was pouting. Raph placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, "I think he'll be just fine, Leo... if anything, this Leo will be able to help him and handle anything that come their way. Just like you did, little brother."

Leonardo could only keep his eyes on his student- his surrogate son in front him with a smile, taking in his brother's words to heart. He was right. Casey will be alright and it's all because of these small teens that he can have a new chapter to his life. But he was scared to leave him. He wasn't ready. What if something happens thatvwas more dangerous than the Krang? There wasn't a lot of dangers but even the yokai and mutants they fought were crazy powerful but then he head his other self talking to his brother: "This wasn't about me. This was about all of us doing what needed to be done because we're heroes."

"Hah, you said heroes~", Raph chuckled, holding his pizza out for his brother.

Leo chuckled silently before pumping his pizza with his brother before they all took a bite of pizza.

That's when they all were mesmerized by the beautiful scenery of New York basked in the sunset colors. "There is it, gentleman. Our home. What a town."

"Beautiful...", Mikey said in awe.

"And if it need defending, we'll always rise up to the challenge."

Man, was he always like this? The ghostly slider grinned as he watched the young snapping turtle get a playful smirk, "You what challenge I'm rising to? BEATING THAT RECORD!!"

...

"Yeah... I think I'm ready now.", Leonardo told his siblings who only smiled and they all continued to watch the scene, watching Raph place all the pizza boxes on top of his head while the group cheered him on. Casey grinned and laughed as Raph began to make his way down the bridge but before when could follow behind the other, he felt a shift in the air. Nothing bad but this energy felt familiar and he looked around him, he saw no one but that didn't mean he shoved off the thought. He always saw Master Michelangelo meditating and talking to his ancestors that passed on but many believed he was crazy. But not Casey. He believed it was them.

The young raven hair boy smiled as he looked at the sky, the ghostly freezing in their spot as see him stare at them.

"I'll be okay. Thanks to you, I got a second chance with our family.", Casey said, his eyes becoming glossy but his smile never faded, "See you later, dad."

With that, he turned around and began to walk down the rail while Leonardo and the rest of the Hamato ghost siblings looked at Casey's retreating form. The slider couldn't believe his hears what he just heard. Dad. Casey called him dad and his felt like it wanted to burst even though he was dead. He had so many emotion building up inside him: pride, happiness, and hope for the young boy that tears began to build up in his eyes. His chest heaved up and down heavily as he tried controlling his breathe, their weight in his heart growing as tears finally streaming down his face like an endless waterfall, and with one last action, the world to seem to move in slow motion. The slider had wrapped his arms around the teens small figure, "You're the best, Casey Jones. Thank you...", Leo whispered in the teen ear.

His voice had reached the teen and as the teen turned around he saw no one behind nor did he sense the presence.

He smiled for he knew and continued down the metal rails to meet with the other.

...

The End...

...

That was it! Hope it was okay and I know this definitely wasn't the best typing I've done lol but still, I hope you all had a blast or not with this small drawing + reading post.

Have a blessed rest of your day or night.

[killergirlfuria]

So I may or may not be working on a tiny little very self-indulgent crossover thingy. Will this go anywhere past this pic? We'll see.

The gist of this AU; year is 2029. Prototype and AC1-3 took place in 2012, Resident Evil Village in 2015. Alex and Desmond have been together for 17 years. Through legally sound and morally questionable means, Alex and Desmond ended up as legal caregivers of Elijah, Pariah/Michael, and Rosemary Winters.

From left to right; Desmond, Alex, Elijah, Pariah/Michael, Rosemary, Dana.

Stuff about it under the cut.

While they are messing with Abstergo and Brotherhood in Europe, they befriend one Ethan Winters and, after his death, Mia entrusts them with Rose as she can't take care of her in her deteriorating mental state. And, realistically, they're probably best equipped to giving Rose as normal life as someone as her could get. She grows up happy, aware and accepting of her powers. Hard not to, when out of her two dads one is effectively a demigod and the other is eldritch sentient plague. Being a sentient mold isn't so weird in this setting.

Later when raiding Abstergo bases they find Elijah held there. Desmond, now aware that he has a kid obviously refuses to leave him. They kill Juno as a father-son bonding activity, visit Elijah's mother grave. Cry a bit, argue a bit (he is a traumatized tween) but figure it out. It forces Alex and Desmond to slow down a bit; they do want to give their kids a stable childhood, after all. They thought they had more time, since Rose was barely a toddler, but with Elijah on board they reevaluate. Somehow, Alex ends up being his favorite dad. Desmond is only a little jealous, but he gets it. He likes Alex a whole lot, too.

They have a little break, a little wedding, they wrap up the Templar mess as well as they can for the time being. Desmond takes the Mercer surname and so does Elijah, because Bill does not deserve his name to be carried on.

Desmond becomes a Mentor somewhere in the middle. He's determined to drag the Brotherhood back into functionality whether it likes that or not; no more Bill sending people to die for nothing but his ego. Bill doesn't take it well, of course, but who'd care about him at this point? Desmond has three lifetimes worth of Mentor memories and the scariest dog on the block for a husband.

Alex does science, because he likes it. He's the kind of person to find writing dissertations fun. He may become an university professor; college students tend to be the most agreeable and most entertaining breed of a student. He does photography too. It's a memory-making thing.

They tackle Blacklight properly; find Pariah. Pariah, as it turns out, is actually somewhat unstable, hibernating most of the time, and stuck physically and mentally at 8 years old. Alex offers Blacklight to stabilize him; Pariah accepts. Purges his DNA of irregularities, replaces what's missing with Alex' DNA and the Blacklight. It's a little weird, to retroactively make him Alex' child when he was born before Alex, but that's what they're dealing with now. Pariah is still 8 in every way that matters. Greene named him Michael, which he gladly accepts (he never had a name before), and then he's a Mercer too.

It's 2020 by then, so plague jokes abound.

Dana in the meantime does what any girlboss does, gets her journalist career going, writes a book or two. Is instrumental in orchestrating the public downfall of Abstergo and Blackwatch. Adopts two cats. Struggles to find a girlfriend because things are never boring with the Mercers, but their kind of excitement oft comes with threat of bodily harm, cults, and shady corporations being hunted for sport. She's also kinda sorta infected with a dormant strain of Blacklight because it was either that or dying to whatever Greene infected her with.

In 2029 Desmond is 42 years old, Alex is 46, Elijah is 24, Michael/Pariah is 17 (chronologically 60), Rosemary is 15, and Dana is 38.

[possiblylando]

Some of my HTP theories

(Mostly about future plotpoints) 1. Big D looking so young is a plot point and not just a reference to TTS. You probably get what I'm going to say so let's just do some math. We know Markus is at least 30. We'll lowball and say he's 32 since birthday remarks make it sound like it wasn't recent. We know Door is older than Markus. Boy is 11 (as of current) and if we Lowball door's age again (35, 3 year age gap which I doubt is correct) he could've had boy when he was around 24. Then if we assume D had Door in this early 20s, We'll say 20 exactly as another lowball. That would place D at bare minimum 55 years old. My actual estimate is somewhere between 60-70. Yet he has no notable greying hair (ignoring lighting highlights) and is built like a brick shithouse who's able to manhandle brock of all people. As such it makes logical sense to assume there's some fuckery going on with how D ages (or doesn't). I doubt D is a vampire- or was a vampire I saw that theory awhile ago on reddit. What I think is more likely is that he gained immortality through mage fuckery. There's a character in Dorohedoro who's an old man but he got hit by age reduction magic so he's stuck being physically like 14. I think D has something similar going on. 2. Door is going to leave the family. I was thinking of saying "Door will betray the family" but that doesn't really fit. D's biggest flaw is that he's too secretive. There's currently no evidence that he's even told the rest of the family about Kevin being alive. Markus has some inkling of it because of the cop but I doubt he's put anything together. We all of course know Kevin is genuinely on D's side now, but Kevin can't be kept a secret forever. Eventually his existence is going to come out and when it does, I can not foresee a future where Door is happy about it. Door was willing to forgive D's secrets because they were to protect the family. But if he finds out D has been keeping a vampire alive and as an ALLY no less I can see that trust crumble down. Door has of course made his opinions on vampires VERY clear. As such if he finds out about Kevin not from D but from another incident he's going to have to make a choice. -Either stick to his morals and leave the family to hunt vampires on his own (maybe taking boy with him). -Or accept that his entire worldview on vampires is flawed and some of them can be saved. 3. Grimal is the ghoul, But she won't die. This kind of ties into the previous one as well. I went over a good chunk of the evidence surrounding Grimal being the ghoul in another post. I'll quickly summarize it here; -Grimal is known to crawl through the vents -She was in the security room when Occam was attack and the only way to get into the vault is through the door or air vents. -If she has vampire magic it could explain why brock's knives all broke when he tried to use them. -She has attachments to the people at the arcanum so wouldn't want to kill them. Which is why Occam didn't die. There's of course more evidence but this is all just summary. Now my actual theory is that Grimal is going to be found out and either D, Markus, or Kitten will go up to bat for her and this is when D will reveal he has a way to deal with ghouls. We know from Kevin that being a ghoul is similar to the blood pact where you're basically completely fucked and under control of your superior. Which is why I could see them trying to help her. Now think back to Guy Chapman, he hasn't actually served much purpose in the story being a ghoul. His existence is world building. It shows that ghouls can be anyone and anywhere. He also shows that ghouls can switch masters like he switched to Kevin. The idea is that Guy is set up so that when Grimal eventually undergoes the same thing it won't be an asspull/reveal it'll be an extension of pre-established mechanics. Door will of course NOT be happy about this.

[risetherivermoon]

the oak-swallows-garcia's at the time of the epilogue!! this is also me working on revamping some designs..stay tuned, im planning on doing this with all of the families! tho idk if ill get to it...we'll see

i feel like hero looks a lot like the twins where norm looks a lot like rebecca, especially as she got older, i need to revamp my design for her or at least make a proper one lol, as well as one for s2 hero

started with these guys because i have not stopped thinking abt them since the finale, like oh my god...this family man.

(HUGE descs of post-canon/epilogue hcs below cut, as well as closeups!)

first off: Hero! (i posted a wip/close up of her a bit ago but that was before i realized i got the ages wrong,) she's 40, working for NASA after going to college, she's currently single, living with her two best friends she met in college and their cat, Momo. She's living her best life, still in therapy, and is finding it to be very helpful. She hasn't spoken to the Twins and Rebecca in about six or seven years, but keeps in contact with Normal regularly, after everything that happened while she was a child and years of therapy she decided it was best to go no contact with them, they respect her decision. Her and Normal call every few weeks just to catch up.

Normal! not too different from what was already described in canon, he's 38, living alone outside of California, he attempted to go to college after graduation and ended up dropping out in his Sophomore year, after a mental health crisis got him way off track. Now he's working a retail job in Boston, while attempting to go back to school and graduate. He hasn't exactly put in the effort to keep in contact with the rest of the teens, though Scary and Linc call or text him every now and then. Normal was at there wedding, and attends every one of Gerry's birthday parties. He's in contact with his parents, though mostly only Rebecca. He's in therapy, but he's still struggling. He is also still talking to Henry, and he visits Oakvale every now and then, just to say hi to him and his Aunt Birdie. (screw yall shes real to ME)

Rebecca! At 60, She and the twins are still living in San Dimas, she's only just now retired officially, though living comfortably with the money from Swallow's ice cream. Her marriage with Sparrow has always been rocky, but they're at a point where it's easier to live together and stay married. Though they more so are living as friends other than a married couple. Her relationship with Lark has always been weird, though she'd consider them good friends as well. She texts with Normal practically daily, because she worries about him a lot. After she died for a brief amount of time, she started to rethink a lot of things in her life, one of those things being the amount of time she spends focusing on her kids and making sure they're alright. If Normal was anyone else he'd probably say she was being too clingy. Shed attempted to revive her dying relationship with her daughter as well, but inevitably respected her decision once Hero decided to go no-contact. She still asks Norm about her though.

Sparrow!! this one is interesting! At 31 (pre-s2), he hits a specific point as a druid where he gains the Timeless Body ability, where his aging slows as he gets older, Sparrow wasn't aware thats what was happening until he realized around his mid forties that he wasn't looking any different. After a long conversation with Henry, he figures out that's what's happening. He doesn't tell anyone besides Lark for a while until it's too noticeable to hide. at 59, he's living at home with Rebecca and Lark still, and is spending most of his time gardening and painting, or attempting to keep his mind off of...everything. Sparrow isn't living happy or comfortably, though it seems that way from an outside point of view. He finds himself trying to ignore everything going on around him, the fact his life is in shambles, and the inevitable of his loved ones dying before him. He throws himself into his art, to the point where Rebecca has to drag him out of their art studio (their garage) to eat and sleep. He barely leaves the house, because people around town had already started to notice how young he looks.

Lark!! agghgh if you thought my sparrow description was a bummer get buckled. Lark never really recovered from the aftermath of The Doodler and Code Purple, he had really been solely living off of his dedication to fixing everything. So once everything was fixed, he crashed. Badly. For about seven months no one knew where he was, he ran off to the other side of the country and basically went on a self destructive spree, driving around aimlessly. Once he came back home, Sparrow and him had their first heated argument. Sparrow wouldn't let Lark out of his sight, and pushed him to do something other than wallow in self hatred. So Lark started working at a mechanic shop down the road, and without his usual purpose, he threw himself into the work.He worked there for 12 years before an accident involving his right knee happened, leaving him immobilized (hence the mobility aid/cane). Sparrow forced him to leave the job behind after that, at 59, Lark's basically been in a weird stasis, waiting to die.

[disease-danger-darkness-silence]

Thanksgiving Clean-up Fund! Info under cut.

Raven and I are going up to my daughter's house (almost 100 miles round-trip) for 2 or 3 days to help her deep-clean in preparation for Thanksgiving.

(Discourse Disclaimer: My daughter is Native. She chooses to celebrate the holiday and I honor that wish. I adopted her - legally! - which is why she's more Native than I am and is closer to her roots. As a white person who HAS Native ancestry, thanks to the rape on the Trail of Tears, I feel it's my responsibility to let her lead on this holiday. End disclaimer.)

She, her daughter, and her fiance exist on a very skin-tight budget. She can feed us, but being diabetic, I have special dietary needs that can get expensive.

I also am not gojng to be able to DoorDash like I usually do. Thurs-Sun is our work schedule and we MAY be able to do Sunday but the other three days are lost. Today, I've been packing and doing laundry - it's been a pain in the ass, actually, because I think out dryer is crapping out again.

Usually I'd have DoorDashed today, and made about $60 (before gas) in Carson, or $100 in Reno, depending on our tolerance for... All of that. Fridays in Carson are pretty good, I usually clear $80, but they're garbage in Reno. Saturdays are similar to Thursdays. I usually bring in about $300 prior to gas. Gas is pretty pricy, but I still make a small profit.

Adrienne also needs some specific cleaning paraphernalia that's pretty cheap! But I don't have the money for it and neither does she. I happen to have a Harbor Freight membership so I get things a little cheaper there, and all of the things she needs are under $5. I wanna say it's like... $10 to $30.

I was able to get a $10 advance from Empower and Adrienne was able to send $10, so I can get up there just fine. But getting back, feeding ourselves, gas for running errands (her car isn't registered or insured, so we'll almost definitely be using my car), beverages, etc. - well, you all know how it's more expensive when you're away from home.

Luckily I have access to her kitchen, so I can prepare low-carb options. But I need to GET those low-carb options. I also just got put on new medication, and it'll be ready.... Tomorrow. So I'm gonna have to come back to my pharmacy and pick it up, if possible, which is another $20 in gas.

All this is to day that yes, I can manage without fundage, but it's going to be uncomfortable without it.

I can write, beta, line-edit, and proofread. I've done it professionally and unprofessionally before.

I can do tarot readings, I can do some crafty stuff, I can do 3D design, and I can, when we get home, 3D print stuff. I got enough Amazon gift cards from JustPlay that today I got a 1kg bottle of resin for the printer! So if prefer to, if possible, earn some money online instead of just asking for money.

So email me at therealnovaprime (that's at gmail) if you want to commission something.

If you'd like to keep us from draining my kiddo's bank account due to food needs, but don't want anything, I... Will take donations.

_________________________

I have a Ko-Fi and a PayPal.me. They're both NovasPrime.

My PayPal, Cashapp, and ChimeTag are all $NovasPrime. I have a theme going.

I also have an Amex bluebird account, if you use that.

_________________________

I would rather earn money. I've been trying to find a job for....almost a year. No one can hire me, or wants to hire me, or... Something. Idk. DoorDash is all I've got rn.

But as you all know, I am not so proud that I won't take a few dollars if you have it to spare.

Thanks for reading. Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate. To those who don't, I hope the 4th Thursday in November is particularly awesome for you this year.

[therantsofawriterrr]

The Umbrella Academy Final Season: My Version

Part Three: Old Faces With New Personalities

Overview: While Lila and Diego keep hiding secrets from each other, Luther encounters familiar faces, that don't seem familiar in some aspects.

TW: Mature language, implied sex (idk maybe), hurt with comfort, the cafe scene except its different, tell me if i missed anything! Pairings in the chapter: Diego×Lila (Fluff alert hehe) A/N: So, I saw someone say that Five attended the Keeper meetings because he was still looking for a way to get his fam and himself back to their original timeline, which ig, makes sense, but i have established smn so yk im going with that but dw, we'll get to see that. Also, again, the Diego×Lila dynamic that we deserved to see. And a little surprise too (⁠◠⁠‿⁠◕⁠).

Masterlist

After the Keepers meeting ended, Lila and Five sat in a cafe in the next block, discussing the contents that were discussed.

"Look, if these artifacts are from different timelines and now they're showing up-" Lila started saying.

"It's possible the old man's reset didn't take," Five finished.

"What does that even mean?" Lila asked, hoping Five would have an answer.

"I have no idea," Five said in a tired voice. He looked like he hadn't slept in a while, which worried Lila a bit.

Over the last six years, she had grown closer to everyone in the Hargreeves family. She'd grown to be a caring aunt to Grace, a fun-loving sister-in-law to Klaus, a caring, supportive one to Luther, and a snarky, sarcastic one to Five.

"Look, whatever this is, don't say anything to the family just yet," Five requested. "Not even Diego."

"Absolutely not," Lila agreed. "He thinks I'm at book club."

He gave her a dirty look, not at all happy with the sentence.

"It's just easier that way," Lila said, her eyes shining with guilt.

"Easier? It's Diego we're talking about, Lila. You know how he can get."

"Yeah. But... you know how he'll get if he gets in on this. He'll jump to conclusions, and make rash decisions and everything. Don't you remember him during the 60s?"

They both shuddered involuntarily as Five nodded. "Alright. well, it's a good thing I never got married. Too much deception involved."

He took a bite of his scone, which got some cream on his mustache. Lila smiled with a sigh as she took a tissue in her hand and wiped it away. "Didn't dear old Reggie teach any of you Hargreeves men how to eat?"

He scoffed with irritation as he said, "Don't coddle me, I'm not a child."

"Yeah, well you surely eat like one," she retorted, balling up the tissue and leaning back.

Suddenly a woman slammed her hands down on the table, making them both jump as she glared at Five.

"Next time I call," she gritted through her teeth. "I expect you to pick up your phone, accept it and put the damn thing to your ear."

Five's eyebrows furrowed as he stared at her with confusion. "How'd you find out my location?"

The woman just stood up and stared at him, pulling up a chair to sit. Lila noticed she was pretty in an unconventional way, with a sugarplum balayage on her dark brown hair and stony grey eyes. Wearing brown bellbottom trousers with a tucked-in maroon shirt, sleeves reaching till just below her elbows, a beautiful vintage watch on her left wrist, and maroon kitten heels on her feet, she looked like a boss lady.

"Did you put a fucking tracker in my outfit?" Five asked indignantly.

"Do you think I had a choice?" she deadpanned, drumming her fingers on the table. "You don't accept my calls, half the time you don't even wanna talk to me."

"Because you're annoying, Clementine," Five declared heatedly.

She only sighed with a roll of her eyes, ignoring the comment. "Anyway, look, we need to talk."

Five took an angry bite of his scone, prompting Lila to throw a tissue at him with a disgusted look.

"Alone, Five," Clementine asserted.

"If it's about the Keepers, then I could help, y'know," Lila interjected. "I've been investigating them as well."

Clementine's eyes lit up as she turned towards her, crossing her arms on the table. "Really? What have you found out about them yet?"

"Oh, well, that it started in New Mexico and everyone's just flocking towards it like lemmings. Oh, also, the Cleanse," she said, mimicking Jean when she said the last word.

"The Cleanse? What's that?" she asked.

"No idea. But, Gene, one of the leaders, said that it's either the end, or a great restoration."

Clementine whipped out a small notepad, turning to a page and starting to scribble in as Five took in a breath, almost looking scandalized.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Don't tell me you're going to be reporting that to the deputy director."

"I have to give him something, Five," she said, focused on writing in her notebook before lifting her head to look at him. "Why? Are you ashamed that she, a civilian might know more than you, a goddamn CIA agent?"

"Oh, burn!" Lila exclaimed, laughing loudly. "Oh, I like you so much."

"Thanks! You're fun, too!" She exclaimed with bright cheerful grey eyes.

Lila stared at them with a kind of a knowing smile as they continued bickering. Her phone vibrated in her bag, and she took it out to see a text from Diego.

Hey, did book club end? You need a ride? I miss you🥺

She stared at the text with a tender smile before it faded, her eyes turning thoughtful and guilty. She got up, taking her small handbag with her, slinging it onto her shoulder.

"Well, you kids stay safe now," she said playfully, even though they didn't really hear her during their conversation.

Upon reaching home, she found Diego snoring on the couch in front of the TV, making her smile as she went to push some of his hair away from his forehead. She started going to her room to change when a hand caught onto her wrist, pulling her back.

She fell onto Diego's lap with a surprised gasp, her arm automatically going around his shoulders as her legs dangled off his thighs. He smiled sleepily as he gave her a peck on the nose, making her giggle as she gave him one on his lips.

"You should've gone to bed," she said softly, nuzzling her nose against his.

He hummed, his arms hugging her waist tighter, blinking the sleep away. "I can't sleep without you beside me, Lila. You know that."

She chuckled with a shake of her head, her other arm going to rest on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

"It's alright. I know you lose track of time during book club. How was it, by the way?"

She nodded with a shrug and said, "Not very informative. But it was fun."

Diego did feel a sting in his heart at the fact that she still wouldn't come clean to him about what she was doing, but he didn't budge on his trust. She'd earned it and so he was giving her the chance to tell him about her investigation when she wanted to.

He gave out a sudden yawn, making her chuckle again. "You can barely keep your eyes open, love. Go to bed. I'll join you after a shower."

"Hmm, can I join?" he asked with a playful smile, making her slap on his shoulder.

"Yes," she said and sauntered over to their room, making him jump up after her as he took off his shirt excitedly.

Simultaneously, a few blocks away, Luther stood in front of his apartment door with a blank look on his face, wanting to bang his head on it. In the time he knew Sloane, he'd memorized the places she went to. Even if Reginald reset the timeline, that wouldn't change.

He worked part-time in a cafe that Sloane usually visited to note down places that she'd visit if she got a chance to get out. All neat and noted. He still had it and usually carried it around with him.

Every evening after work, he worked in that place. Every fucking evening, he hoped that she'd come in, get in line and ask for a latte. But, it always just ended up killing all the hope inside him.

Suddenly, the door next to his apartment burst open, making him jump with a surprised grunt, as he looked to the side.

A guy exited, immediately looking at him with concern. "Oh, hey, sorry man, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Luther said, batting a dismissive hand. "It's alright, I'm alright."

The guy heaved a relieved sigh before giving him a smile. "I'm Christopher by the way, though, I mostly go by Chris."

Luther's eyebrows furrowed a little bit as the cube from Sparrow Academy, who had the same name, flashed in his mind, but he just ignored it and smiled back, not quite reaching his eyes.

"Who're you yapping with out there?" A very familiar voice said, making Luther perk up a bit.

And out the door, walked none other than Alphonso, Sparrow Number Four. Luther's eyes widened as he gave out a tiny gasp.

"Oh, hey. New neighbour?" Alphonso asked, looking at him.

"I... Uh. No. Not really," he said, composing himself. "I just don't get out much out of work, I guess."

"Well, ya should, man! Tell you what, we're going to a bar this weekend with some friends. Not too crowded either, if you don't like that kinda thing. You wanna come with?"

"Yeah," he said with a bright, hopeful smile. "I'd love to."

"Alright. Lookin' forward to it, man," Alphonso said with a friendly grin, before they both walked away, talking amongst themselves.

When Luther entered his apartment that night, he didn't sink to the floor with a blank despair. He sunk down with hopeful tears, and the sobs that wracked his body were happy ones.

And when he went to sleep that night, he knew it wasn't because he'd see dreams of living in a house with Sloane. He'd see dreams of meeting her in a bar. Of talking to her. Of getting to know what she's like in this timeline.

For the first time in six years, Luther Hargreeves went to bed with joy in his heart.

Another A/N: Ok, ik i'm speedrunning this shit, but I just need to write it all down cause the brellie in me is not letting me write anything else. So, here u go, two parts in one day lol. I'm prolly gonna start writing the next part too, so stay tuned!!

Likes, reblogs and comments are highly appreciated. Tysm for reading!!

[the-wip-project]

Write a short story in 60 days, Day One

Hello writerly friends!

A short story is around 6000 words long. If you're a one-project-at-a-time person, you would only have to write 100 words each day to reach your goal. Theoretically. 

In reality, you probably won't be able to write every single, and even a 6k short story will need a round of editing before it is publishable. You'll also need time to write down notes, to try out ideas, cover a few false starts. You probably also have other projects going on besides this short story, like "Write your novel in a year" as part of the SloMoWriNo project Maree runs here (the tag is #slomowrino) and on her substack. I'm a big fan of working on several things at once and this short story is meant as a side project.

To keep with the SloMoWriNo vibe, don't put too much on your plate. Don't get hung up on daily wordcounts if you can't write every day. Be flexible with your schedule. Maybe you can only work on your short story on two days per week? If you write 300 words in one session, you'll only need 20 days to write 6000 words. 

You can make this your only project to work on this spring, but it also works well as a side project, for the days when you want something fresh to work on. 

Your homework for the coming week has two points:

Make a plan for your writing time. Try it out for the week and we'll reflect on it on Sunday and rejiggle it for the next week. Plans are made to be rejiggled when needed.

Write down three things you want to put into your short story. This can be the theme, or a message you want to convey, that one glimpse of a scene that made you think of the story, the setting, the characters. Use the coming week to try out a few things to find what makes you interested in the story.

I would love to see what you're planning to do. Do you have plan for your writing time? Do you already have an idea for your story? What other projects are you working on?

Let us know how you will participate, mention this blog in a post. The tag is #⁠60daysshortstory. Or join the discord to write about it.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for making my sister lie about her gender for BOTH our financial gain?

Tw for mentions of transphobia, abuse, and suicide

I (26F she/her) and my sister (21X she/they) are both transgender. We're extremely low contact with our father, and moved out together at the first opportunity. Our parents are conservatives and emotionally abused us basically the entirety of our childhood, and after my mother died and after covid it only got worse (think alt-right, flat earther, qanon)

Basically, as much as I would love to go completely no-contact with our father I'm sticking it out in the lowest contact relationship I can manage. My father is severely transphobic, but we live on a "don't ask don't tell" kind of rule where even though we are both obviously queer and transgender (on HRT nonetheless) he just keeps pretending that nothing has changed.

Recently out of nowhere my sister has gotten extremely hellbent on the idea of telling him off in one last "fuck you" before cutting him off. I have been very vocally against this, even if I also would love to because:

1) if we blow this entire relationship up we'll be taken off the will and removed from life insurance, which equals over a fat MILLION as well as a full paid off property. You can imagine as two broke 20 y/os in this economy this is a literal dream. This is our one shot at getting a house and being financially stable.

2) she does not have to interact with him. I'm the one who has to do all the talking over text when he reaches out every few months. She does not see the texts where he misgenders/deadnames her. She herself hasn't had to interact with him beyond a short birthday wish for the past 5 years, so I don't think she has the right to blow this for the both of us just to get the final word

3) not to be crass but he might do it soon, and there's nobody left in his life who's going to talk him down off that ledge. Chances of success are pretty high. Family history of depression, no friends, he's dead to us already, he also made me suicidal from abuse so I have no empathy for him etc etc. Payout is less, but still 5% is life changing for us. Point is I'm not asking my sister to lie until she's 60 here.

Now I think the reason my sister is so focused on getting the final word *might* be related to that last point, wanting to get it in before he kicks the bucket. But I don't think it's a worthy tradeoff for everything else. I've told her that if she does something stupid and blows this for us, she'll have to find another roommate (I would not be kicking her out, I would move out, she just doesn't like the idea of living with anyone else but me).

So, AITA for making my sister lie about her gender to our father, just for a little while longer?

[layce2015]

Supernatural (Dean Winchester x Female!Reader)

Cyrus Dorian

Masterlist

*3rd Person POV*

Dean lies on his back as this growing guilt keeps bugging him while Cassie curls up to his chest. "We should fight more often." Cassie said, dreamily. "Absolutely." Dean said, slightly distracted. "Actually we were always pretty good at fighting." Cassie said then she indicates their position. "This we were good at. It's all the other stuff...not so much." She said. "Hey I tried. I told you who I really was. That was a big first for me." Dean said.

"Why'd you tell me?" Cassie asked him. "I don't know. I guess I couldn't lie to you." Dean said, shrugging. "Dean. You told me that story...it scared the hell outta me. I thought you were nuts. Dangerous even. Actually, maybe I was looking for a reason to walk away." She said.

"In my work....uh...I see some horrible things. Things that can't be explained. I deal with them. But working things out with you?" Dean said and Cassie chuckles. "I'm a scary one all right.....well, usually things get worked out. When you really want them to." She said.

"You know, I'm still really involved. With my dad's work." He said and Cassie leans up on one elbow to look down at Dean. "No more excuses ok? From you or me." She said.

"Ok." Dean said and she smiles and leans in and starts to kiss him but he doesn't kiss back as the guilt was growing in his chest. "Dean, what's wrong?" She asked him. "What?" He asked her, acting dumb. 

But before she could say anything, Dean's phone rings and he, quickly, reaches for it. "Yeah." He answers. He listens into the phone before he looks startled. "You're kidding!" He exclaims.

*(y/n)'s POV*

"He's with us." Sam said to the cops as Dean comes up to us. The cops leave and I turn to Dean. "Where were you last night? You didn't make it back to the hotel." I said, alittle angry.

"Well..." Dean said before he drifts off.

"I'm guessing you guys worked things out?" Sam asked and I know he was meaning Cassie. "We'll be working things out when we're ninety. So what happened?" Dean said and I scoff and turn as we go back to the body.

"Every bone crushed. Internal organ's turned to pudding. The cops are all stumped, it's like something ran him over." I said. "Something like a truck?" Dean asked.

"Yep." Sam and I replied.

"Tracks?" He asked.

"Nope." We said.

"What was the Mayor doing here anyway?" Dean asked as he points at Todd's dead body. "He owned the property. Bought it a few weeks ago." Sam said. "But he's white, he doesn't fit the pattern." Dean said. "Killings didn't happen up on the road. That doesn't fit either." I said.

*3rd Person POV*

At the Newspaper office, Cassie makes two mugs of tea and takes them over to where Dean sits at a computer. "Here." She said. "Thanks. So I'm trying to find some link between those killings back in the '60s and what's going on now. There wasn't a lot about it in the paper." Dean said as he looks over the computer.

"Not surprising. Probably minimal policework too. Back then equal justice under the law wasn't too literal around here." Cassie said just as Dean's phone goes off. "Yeah." Dean answers. "Ok, the courthouse records show that Mr and Mrs Mayor bought an abandoned property. The previous owner was the Dorian family for, like, 150 years." (Y/n)'s voice replied.

"Dorian?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." She said then Dean turns to Cassie.

"Didn't you say the Dorian family used to own this paper?" He asked and she nods. "Along with everything else around here. Real pillars of the town." She said. "Right, right." He said and he clicks a few links on the computer. "That's interesting." He mutters.

"What?" (Y/n) asked. "This Cyrus Dorian. He vanished in April of '63.The case was investigated but never solved. It was right around the time the string of murders was going on back then." Dean replied.

"Well Sam and I pulled a bunch of papers up on the Dorian place, it must've been in bad shape when the Mayor bought it." (Y/n) said.

"Why's that?" asked Dean. "The first thing he did was bulldoze the place." (Y/n) replied and Dean turns to Cassie again.

"Mayor Todd knocked down the Dorian place?" He asked. "It was a big deal. One of the oldest houses left. He made the front page." She said then Dean turns back to his phone.

"You got a date?" He asked. "Ahhh. The 3rd of last month." (Y/n) said and Dean clicks away on the computer then reads an article. "Mayor Todd bulldozed the Dorian family home on the 3rd. The first killing was the very next day." Dean reads.

Dean left and went back to the hotel and started to help with more research when he got a phone call from Cassie. She called, screaming in fear, as the truck was driving by her house. The trio make their way to her house to see her shaking and trembling, so (y/n) goes to make some tea for her

(Y/n) hands her a cup of tea, once she was done, while Dean sits beside her. "Maybe you could throw a couple of shots in that." Cassie said as she takes the cup and rattles it against the saucer, her hand shaking. "You didn't see who was driving the truck." Sam said, questioning.

"It seemed to be no one. Everything was moving so fast. And then it was just gone. Why didn't it kill us?" Cassie asked. "Whoever was controlling the truck wants you afraid first." Dean said as (y/n) turns to Cassie's mother, who was in a chair across from Cassie.

"Mrs Robinson, Cassie said that your husband saw the truck before he died." (Y/n) said as Mrs Robinson shakes in her chair. "Mom?" Cassie asked and her mother looks up at her.

"Oh. Martin was under a lot of stress. You can't be sure about what he was seeing." She replied. "Well after tonight I think we can be reasonably sure he was seeing a truck. What happened tonight, you and Cassie are marked. Ok? Your daughter could die. So if you know something now would be a really good time to tell us about it." Dean said to her, firmly and roughly.

"Dean..." Cassie said, worriedly.

"Yes. Yes, he said he saw a truck." said Mrs Robinson. "Did he know who it belonged to?" (Y/n) asked her. "He thought he did." She replied.

"Who was that?" Dean asked and Mrs Robinson becomes upset. "Cyrus. A man named Cyrus." She replied.

Sam, Dean and (y/n) look at each other, until Dean reaches for his bag and shows Mrs Robinson the newspaper article about Dorian's death. "Is this Cyrus?" He asked. "Cyrus Dorian died more than 40 years ago." She replied.

"How do you know he died, Mrs Robinson? The paper's said he went missing. How do you know he died?" Dean asked her, softly.

"We were all very young. I dated Cyrus a while, I was also seeing Martin...in secret of course. Inter-racial couples didn't go over too well back then. When I broke it off with Cyrus and when he found out about Martin, I don't know, he, changed. His hatred. His hatred was frightening." She replied. "The murders." Sam said and Mrs Robinson becomes upset again.

"There were rumors. People of color disappearing into some kind of a truck. Nothing was ever done. Martin and a... Martin and I, we were gonna be, uh, married in that little church near here, but last minute we decided to elope as we didn't want the attention." She replied.

"And Cyrus?" Dean asked then Mrs Robinson breaks down. "The day we set for the wedding, was the day someone set fire to the church. There was a children's choir practising in there. They all died." She cries.

"Did the attacks stop after that?" (Y/n) asked, softly. "No! There was one more. One night that truck came for Martin. Cyrus beat him something terrible. But Martin, you see, Martin got loose. And he started hitting Cyrus and he just kept hitting him and hitting him." Mrs Robinson sobs.

"Why didn't you call the cops?" Dean asked her. "This was forty years ago. He called on his friends, Clayton Soames and Jimmy Anderson, and they put Cyrus' body into the truck and they rolled it into the swamp at the end of his land and all three of them kept that secret all of these years." She said.

"And now all three are gone." Sam said. "And so is Mayor Todd. Now he said that you of all people would know he is not a racist. Why would he say that?" (Y/n) asked Mrs Robinson. "He was a good man. He was a young deputy back then investigating Cyrus' disappearence. Once he figured out what Martin and the others had done he...he did nothing, because he also knew what Cyrus had done." She replied and Cassie stares at her mother in shock.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked her mother. "I thought I was protecting them. And now there's no one left to protect." She replied. "Yes there is." Dean said and he looks over at Cassie. So does Mrs Robinson, who looks shaken. 

*(y/n)'s POV*

Sam and I lean against the Impala while Dean walks up and down. "Ah, my life was so simple. Just school, exams, papers on polycentric cultural norms." Sam said, sarcastically, and I chuckle a bit. "So I guess I saved you from a boring existence." Dean said. "Yeah, occasionally I miss boring." Sam said and we chuckled a bit.

"So this killer truck." I said and Sam sighs. "I miss conversations that didn't start with this killer truck. Ahhh." Sam sighed and Dean and I laugh a bit at this. "Well this Cyrus guy. Evil on a level that infected even his truck. When he died, the swamp became his tomb, and his spirit was dormant for 40 years." I said.

"So what woke it up?" Sam asked. "The construction on his house. Or the destruction." Dean said. "Right. Demolition or remodelling can awaken spirits, make them restless." Sam said and Dean and I nod.

"Like that theatre in Illinois, ya know?" Sam asked. "And the guy that tore down the family homestead, Harold Todd, is the same guy that kept Cyrus' murder quiet and unsolved." Dean said to him.

"So now his spirit is awakened and out for blood." I said. "Yeah I guess. Who knows what ghosts are thinking anyway." Dean said. "You guys know we're going to have to dredge that body up from the swamp right." Sam said and Dean turns to us and smiles.

"Man." Sam said, exasperated, and I patted his shoulder.

"You said it." I said to him.

"Yeah." Sam mutters as Cassie approaches us from the house. Dean stands in front of her.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey. She's asleep. Now what?" She asked him.

"Well you should stay put and look after her... and we'll be back. Don't leave the house." Dean tells her and she smiles at him. "Don't go getting all authoritative on me. I hate it." She said. Dean then looks over at me and Sam, who looks down. I just shrug a bit but then I noticed Cassie was staring me down as if to say I dare you to do something. I look back at Dean and I give him a small smile before he gives me a smile back then turns back to Cassie.

0Suddenly, Cassie grabs Dean's shirt collar, pulls him towards her and begins kissing him. Dean seemed a bit surprise by this and his shoulder was kinda tensed up. I give a confused look towards him, while still feeling this burning feeling in my chest, when Cassie's eyes open and she glares at me as she continues to kissing Dean.

I raised an eyebrow at her when she finally stopped kissing him and Dean looks at her then turns to us. "C'mon, let's go." He said as he walks over to us and we get into the Impala.

"All right. Let's get her up." I said, after we arrived at the Dorian property. Dean Was at the wheel of a tractor and he begins to back it up, pulling the truck from the water. "All right. A little more. Little more." Sam yells as Dean continues to pull. "All right, stop." I said and Dean turns off the engine and jumps down.

"Nice." Sam said as Dean moves to the trunk of the Impala. "Hell yeah." Dean said and he rummages in the trunk and hands a weapon to Sam and Sam takes it and starts to walk off.

"You still love her?" I asked Dean. He looks over at me, his eyes widen a bit at this like he was stunned I'd asked that.

"What are you talking about?" He asked me and I rolled my eyes. "You know, exactly what I'm talking about, Dean." I said, firmly. He looks down then turns his head away from me as he looks back at the trunk and pulls out another weapon.

"Can we focus please." He said to me. "Dean, it's a simple yes or no question." I said and he sighs. "I don't know, (y/n). There you happy?" He said, slightly annoyed. I scoff at this and just shake my head at this. "Whatever, Dean." I grumbled as I grab some weapons and walked away.

We move toward the door of the truck and glance at each other. Dean then opens the door when a decayed body falls out. "All right let's get to it." Dean said and we salt and burn the body and stand watching it.

"Think that'll do it?" Sam asked when, suddenly, the ghost truck appears, headlights on and engine reving.

"I guess not." I said. "So burning the body had no effect on that thing?" Sam asked, confused. "Sure it did. Now it's really pissed." Dean said. "But Cyrus' ghost is gone, right Dean?" Sam said and Dean starts to walk away. "Apparently not the part that's fused with the truck." He said.

"Where you going?" Sam asked Dean. "Goin' for a little ride." Dean replied. "What!" Sam and I exclaimed. "Gonna lead that thing away. That busted piece of crap, you two gotta burn it." Dean said.

"How the hell are we supposed to burn a truck Dean?" I asked, annoyed. "I don't know. Figure something out." Dean said as he throws a bag at us. Sam catches as he stammers. Then Dean reverses the Impala and takes off. The ghost truck roars after him while Sam and I hide until it has passed. 

"Alright, let's go!" I said to Sam and we start to run when Sam's phone rings. "Hey, you gotta give us a minute." Sam said into the phone, which I figured it was Dean. "Ahh. Let me get back to you." Sam said and he hangs up then dials a number.

"Hey Cassie? Hey, it's Sam, I need some information and it has to be exactly right." He said and he and Cassie talk for awhile.

"All right, Dean?" I said, calling him on the phone, after a few minutes of Sam and Cassie talking. "This better be good." Dean said. "Where are you?" I asked. "In the middle of no where with a killer truck on my ass! It's like it knows I put the torch to Cyrus." Dean shouts. "Listen to me, this is important. We have to know exactly where you are." I said to him, firmly.

"Decatur road, about two miles off the highway." He replied after a few moments of silence. "Ok. Headed East?" I asked. "Yes!" Dean exclaims then I heard something in the background.

"You son of a bitch!" Dean shouts and I shake my head. "Ok, turn right! Up ahead, turn right." I said and I hear the tires of the Impala screeching as Dean turns.

"You make the turn?" I asked him. "Yeah I made the turn! You need to move this thing along a little faster." Dean said, annoyed.

"All right, you see a road up ahead?" I asked. "No!" He shouts then pauses. "Wait. No, yes, I see it." He exclaims. "Ok, Turn left." I said. "Wha...?" He said then I hear more screeching tires and the engine revving.

"All right, now what?" He asked me. "You need to go seven tenths of a mile and then stop." I said. "Stop?" Dean asked. "Exactly seven tenths, Dean." I said.

*3rd Person POV*

"Seven tenths, seven tenths." Dean mutters as he looks at his speedometer. At the right moment Dean spins the car around and moves it back to sit exactly where (y/n) advised, facing back the way he had come.

He's between two posts on each side of the road and the last remains of a wall, almost totally broken down. The ghost truck appears back down the road he came down, revving it's engine. "Dean, You still there?" (Y/n) asked him, concerned. "Yeah." Dean replied.

"What's happening?" She asked. "It's just staring at me, what do I do?" He asked her. "Just what you are doing, bringing it to you." She replied. "Wha..." he said when the truck spins it's tires and comes barreling toward him and the Impala.

Dean watches it come, hanging tightly to the Impala's steering wheel. "Come on, Come on." He mutters. As it reaches him, he closes his eyes and hangs on tight. The truck roars through him, disintegrating into nothing as it does so.

Dean opens his eyes and stares at the now empty road in front of him. All that can be heard is the purring of the Impala's engine, the truck's revving having completely disappeared. He twists quickly to look behind and sees nothing.

"Dean. You still there?" (Y/n) asked but he doesn't reply as he looks around, shocked. "Dean?" Her voice asked. "Where'd it go?" Dean asked her. "Dean, you're where the church was." (Y/n) replied.

"What church!?" Dean asked, confused. "The place Cyrus burned down. Murdered all those kids." She replied and Dean looks at the posts left on the side of the road. 

"There's not a whole lot left." He said. "Church ground is hallowed ground, whether the church is still there or not. Evil spirits cross over hallowed ground, sometimes they're destroyed, so Sam and I figured, maybe, that would get rid of it." (Y/n) said. "Maybe? Maybe!! What if you guys were wrong?" Dean asked. "Huh. Honestly that thought hadn't occurred to us." (Y/n) said, thoughtfully. 

Dean stares at his phone, then hangs up. "Well it honestly didn't occur to me." He mimics her then he slaps the steering wheel. "I'm gonna kill them." He growls.

The next day, Dean and Cassie walk toward the Impala, Sam is already in the driver's seat and (y/n) was in the backseat. "My mother says to tell you thanks again." Cassie said to Dean. "This is a better goodbye than last time." She said. "Yeah well maybe this time it will be a little less permanent." He said and Cassie gives him a look.

"You know what? I'm a realist. I don't see much hope for us, Dean." She said. "Well I've seen stranger things happen. A hell of a lot stranger." Dean said to her as they walk in front of the Impala and stop.

"Plus, you seem to have your heart set on someone else." Cassie said and Dean raises his eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?" He asked and she rolls her eyes with a smile.

"Dean, the other night, felt different than the last time we slept together. It felt like...more passion was put into it than the last time we had a night like that." She said.

Dean then immediately knew the exactly why and was about to explain but Cassie holds up a hand at him. "It’s okay, Dean. Besides, I've caught you looking at her and I've seen the way you look at her. I'm not mad at you, but it would be best if we just stayed friends." She said and Dean frowns a bit then looks down for a moment before he looks back at her.

"Cassie, I'm sorry." He said and she gives a small smile to him. "Good bye, Dean." She said and he nods and gets into his car. Sam, (y/n) and Cassie wave at as the Impala takes off.

Later, (y/n) fell asleep in the backseat and Dean stares over his shoulder at her while Sam drives. "You know...you're gonna have to tell her sooner or later." Sam said. Dean looks over at him and giving him a what are you talking about? look. Sam glances at his brother then rolls his eyes and sighs.

"Dean, I've seen the way you look at her. I mean, back when she had that accident with the taser and it damaged her heart, you were heartbroken at that moment. I saw the fear and the worry on your face when you found her unconscious." Sam said to him.

Dean glances down at the floor then reaches for his sunglasses and slips them on. "Why don't you wake me up when it's my turn to drive?" Dean asked as he slouches down in the seat with a sigh. Sam scoffs and shakes his head as he looks back at the long straight road.