#SLASH POS IT MADE ME GIGGLE

[starheirxero]

hi!!! apologies sorry that I'm stuffing asks in your already full ask box, just popped in to say hi cause you appeared in my notifs and I got excited :)

THIS IS FROM A BIT AGO BUT I AM WAVING AT U !!!! I need u to know that the other day u and another friend of mine both went thru my blog at the same time and I opened tumblr to 99+ notifs HEJAGQKDJD

[richincolor]

Group Discussion: The Quince Project

With summer finally here we thought a fun beach read would be a good idea for our summer discussion and The Quince Project, a sophomore novel by Jessica Parra, seemed like the perfect fit. 

Publisher’s Summary: Castillo Torres, Student Body Association event chair and serial planner, could use a fairy godmother. After a disastrous mishap at her sister’s quinceañera, all of Cas’s plans are crumbling. So when a local lifestyle-guru-slash-party-planner opens up applications for the internship of her dreams, Cas sees it as the perfect opportunity to learn every trick in the book so that things never go wrong again.

The only catch is that she needs more party planning experience before she can apply. When she books a quinceañera for a teen Disneyland vlogger, Cas thinks her plan is taking off…until she finds that real life is more complicated than a fairy tale. Cas soon discovers that the party is just a publicity stunt, and she catches feelings for the chambelán. It’s clear that her agenda is about to go way off-script.

But maybe Happily Ever Afters aren’t just for the movies. Can Cas go from planner to participant in her own life? Or will this would-be princess turn into a pumpkin at the end of the ball?

Warning! Spoilers Ahead!

Let’s start off with some fun questions. Since this book is based in the OC (Orange County) the home of Disneyland, there are numerous Disney references all throughout the story. If you’re a Disney “head,” did it work for you, or if you’re not, did some of the references get lost with you?

K. Imani: I’m a total Disney head (fun fact…I actually went to the park one day while reading the novel and got a “I’m Celebrating” pin) so I enjoyed it and was able to catch all the references. I will say that at some point in the story I did feel all the Disney and Star Wars references were a bit overwhelming, but I really did love the way Cas used Star Wars as inspiration for Paulina’s ���unquince”. 

Crystal: The Disney aspect was really fun for me. That’s super cool that you got to visit Disney while reading. Most of my elementary school years were spent in Orange County, so it’s a place of nostalgia for me. The last time I went to Disney was quite a while ago so the Star Wars references were actually sort of unexpected. I appreciated them though since I am also a Star Wars fan. I enjoy seeing characters or folks in real life being inspired by the things they love. It made me want to go for a visit. 

Audrey: I’ve never been to Disneyland and have no particular desire to go. The Disney and Star Wars references that I understood were fun, cute, or thematically relevant, though I will fully admit I know I missed out on references to the more recent movies. It was fine—context provided enough information that I didn’t get totally lost. Both Disney and Star Wars have significant presences in the book, so if you actively dislike those companies/franchises, this might not be the book for you.

Jessica: I’ve only been to Disneyland once and I’m not a huge Disney person – the only Disney movie I watched as a kid was Mulan – so I did miss a few references, but overall, I thought it was a fun touch! Now that we’re talking about it, I do really want to go to an amusement park now…  

Cas’s sister Po has a ton of malapropsisms with her sayings. Which one was your favorite?

K. Imani: I giggled so much at Po’s malapropisms, but my absolute favorite that I think I’d love to include in my life and share with my students is “Believing is Seeing.” Her saying became Cas’s mantra but I think it’s a good saying to use to help bolster self-esteem and to become what we imagine ourselves to be. It’s very freeing in a way. 

Crystal: I too appreciated the reworking of sayings. One that on the surface looks negative is, “If it’s broke, don’t fix it.” Sometimes we are so caught up in fixing that we don’t see the opportunities of other things around us. 

Audrey: Hurricane Po was a delight, and it’s hard to pick just one! I think what I enjoyed most was the times Po got her various quotes right—Cas was quick to pick up on the timing of correct quotes versus when Po didn’t quote perfectly.

Jessica: I’m going to have to choose “believing is seeing” as well. It’s manifesting! I love it. So much fun. Honestly, there were so many great lines. 

We must talk about the romance! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the main love interest is so forward. How did the romance come across to you?

K. Imani: I actually found the way the romance was written to be very refreshing. Usually the “will they/won’t they” creates good tension between the characters and builds the romance, but this time, with Javi being so intentional about his interest, that it took some “pressure”, if you will, off Cas. She wasn’t focusing on him at all because she was so focused on being the perfect party planner. He was a nice boost to her ego when she really needed it and I found their relationship truly realistic because of that. 

Crystal: I too enjoyed that the main focus wasn’t on if they were going to get together. He is that open book for her and I loved that for them. Their story is sweet. His openness was definitely a contrast to her secret keeping so the tension was more a matter of worrying about when everything would all fall to pieces and whether or not they had built something strong enough to withstand the impact. 

Audrey: Agreed, Javi’s honesty was refreshingly straightforward, and I liked that he wasn’t pushy about it. He made his interest in Cas known, and Cas was interested right back, so it didn’t take long for them to start dating. Same thing with Po and Paulina! And as Crystal pointed out, the romantic tension didn’t need to be “will they/won’t they” for this book’s structure—the higher stakes would be to have Cas’s lies revealed while they were already dating. It made complete sense to have them, and Po and Paulina, start their relationships before everything exploded.  Jessica: I thought it was a really interesting twist on the usual YA conventions, and I enjoyed it! It made space for a different aspect of Cas’s journey. I think writing what comes after “will they/won’t they” can often be incredibly challenging, so I was duly impressed by the departure from convention.

The major theme of this book is grief and the different ways we handle trauma. Cas handled her mother’s death differently from her sister and from her father, with each of them not talking to each other. How did you feel about the various depictions of grief?

Crystal: Having grief within both families was something that helped Javi and Cas bond, but it also showed that families and individuals most certainly have different ways of coping with or living with grief. Both families had times when they didn’t talk about the loved one. Javi and his mom would just veg with dramas or telenovelas which is one of my preferred methods, but they also had times when they would talk. Cas’s dad was doing the avoidance 24/7 and Cas was too in her own way. 

Audrey: Grief is messy, complicated, and nonlinear, and the nuanced way the author handled various people’s coping mechanisms in regards to their losses was something I appreciated. The anger Cas had at times toward her sister, and most notably her father, was especially impactful. I totally understood Cas’s warring desires not to upset her father but also being desperate for him to be a father and support his grieving daughters better than he had been.  

Jessica: I agree – I really appreciated the different approaches that the author took to depict how people handle grief. And the contrast between Cas and her father, versus Javi and his mother, as you pointed out Crystal, really highlighted that. Just depicting that was so powerful. 

K. Imani: I agree with all of you. In fact, it made the story more real to me as there is no “right” way of expressing grief. I found it heartbreaking how Cas’s father expressed his grief and how he didn’t realize he was hurting his children more by it.  And when Cas finally told him, it woke him up and I loved that it started both of them towards healing because Cas snapping at her father also made her realize that her actions were a part of her grief as well. 

The “Parental Past Tense”, the term Cas created in her discussion with Javi, really hit me, but I do think it was an interesting way of expressing grief. What do you think of Cas creating the term “Parental Past Tense”? 

Crystal: That phrase definitely sums up that awkward and painful moment of having to basically reveal that your parent is no longer alive. It’s a situation that often happens out of the blue and there’s always a moment when you can decide to omit using the past tense or just breeze past it. There are layers there because it’s about how the words impact the listeners as well as the person sharing their loss. Again there was contrast with Javi as he has gotten more comfortable with this past tense over time and Cas is just beginning the journey.

Audrey: The “Parental Past Tense” was a hard-hitting turn of phrase. It captures so much in just three words, and I really appreciated it from a language-learning standpoint. It’s something new, something that requires practice, and something that will take time to master.

Jessica: It really was a hard-hitting turn of phrase. Cas coming up with “Parental Past Tense” really says it all about how Cas and Javi approach grief, and Cas’s own struggles. 

K. Imani: The phrase hit my heart as well. It made me think of my students who have lost a parent and how they deal with their grief. I feel like the phrase really encompasses what it means to lose a parent and how you move forward. 

Lastly, what books are on your summer reading list?

K. Imani: I’m catching up on a lot of reading I was unable to do during the school year for reasons, but I am really looking forward to reading Children of Anguish and Anarchy, the conclusion of the Children of Blood and Bone series. I’ve been looking forward to this book for so long. 

Crystal: I have London on My Mind by Clara Alves on hold and am waiting for Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer. I’m also excited to get to The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. As a teacher, summer is prime reading time so I hope to get to those and many more. And though it doesn’t come out until the first week in August, I am really anxious to read Hayley Dennings’ debut This Ravenous Fate.

Audrey: I have a road trip this summer, so I’m hoping to cross off a lot of books on my list. I’m especially looking forward to Asking for a Friend by Kara H.L. Chen. There are also several horror anthologies out this summer that have caught my attention, including We Mostly Come Out At Night edited by Rob Costello, The White Guy Dies First edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker, and The House Where Death Lives edited by Alex Brown, and I’m hoping to get my hands on some (or all) of them.  Jessica: I have Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao and Bunt! by Ngozi Ukazu at the very top of a huge stack of books on my desk and they are staring me in the face right now! I’m also interested in reading Asking for a Friend by Kara H.L. Chen and The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. And thank you for the reminder about the next Children of Blood and Bone book! I need to go put that on hold. So much to read!!

[get-fossilized-idiot]

dave you made me giggle so hard that i snorted. stop being funny!! slash j pos. :p - 💨

sorry its just my natural state yk boys and girls are just falling left and right because im so fucking hilarious and just an absolute attraction magnet yk like its insane

[makotokagutsuwuchi]

Okay so I'm writing this on my notes app as I read so I don't forget my thoughts.

1- DotC hates adoption

So, this is only the first topic of the post and I'm already getting pissed off holy shit. And it gets WORSE??? 😭😭😭 oh my god I hate this narrative that one must love their biological parents no matter what So Much this is genuinely making me mad. Hits close to home ngl. And the shitting on adoption too... I swear to fuck, who the hell decided that this was a good moral message to add to the story. What the hell. So, we are not off to a great start here.

(Also this made me giggle)

2- Cat colonialism

Okay so, compared to the previous topic, this one doesn't seem that bad? I mean, from what you're telling me, it seems the colonialist cats are being portrayed as Bad, right? Unless I'm misunderstanding.

Nevermind, just got to the One Eye and Slash part. What the actual fuck. No comment

3- Bumble

What the fuck. What the fuck. Why is everyone such an asshole to her tf did she even DO. What the fuck. I'm in shock. What. How are we supposed to sympathize with these cats when they treat a woman running away from abuse like this. What. I hope these guys explode.

Kind of shocked at gray wings behavior especially, I thought he'd be nicer considering he took care of so many kids but apparently not. Very disappointed. "Gray wing kill yourself challenge" made me giggle but honestly yeah mood

I legit feel bad what the hell. Bumble sweetie they can never make me hate you. What is wrong with the writers. She was just trying to survive.

Also gray wing defending clear sky as Bumble literally bleeds out bc of him?? Gray wing kys part 2

And the worst friend ever award goes to turtle tail. I swear I want these characters exploded.

Oh boohoo do they really expect us to feel bad for clear sky 😭😭😭 maybe he should have tried not killing an innocent in cold blood 💀 gray wing I am sorry but I cannot be on your side here this is ridiculous your brother needs to be put down.

(Also I'm laughing so hard at this you're so unserious /pos)

Ngl I never thought a book series about cats could be this toxic and misogynistic 💀 disappointed And surprised

4- Clear sky

The list of clear sky crimes against cat kind is giving that one wiki of yours where it said you committed every crime ever 😭 except this time it's for real

Ohh no way they expect us to be feel bad and sympathize with this guy that would be downright stupid 💀 agreeing with you here, he sounds like an okay villain Why exactly are they trying to treat him as a misunderstood poor little meow meow.

Gray wing please this is getting ridiculous what is your issue why do you keep treating him like a poor little baby😭you and your brother can go die in a hole together I swear

Lmao what the fuck do you mean he was just scared. Ah yes I'm so scared so I'll starve and abuse everyone and it's ok because I was scared and i feel a little bad about it now🥺

My honest reaction to all of this. I'm getting mad again. What the hell. This is so absurd it's almost comical.

LMAOOO WHAT???? WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE TRIED DOING THE RIGHT THING STOP LYING THIS IS LITERALLY LYING 😭😭😭 I CANT DO THIS😭😭😭 oh my god losing my mind here

Erm not the fatphobia again 🫠 why.

And the Magic Genes again too. So Much bullshit. Thunder Please I thought you were better than this go tell your dad to kill himself or something like the rest of us

They cannot Possibly be trying to redeem clear sky with all of this going on, right? Right???? They can't possibly be This bad at writing???? Shakes you by the shoulders as I lose the rest of my faith in humanity. He didn't even fucking Change he just went oh my bad I was scared :( and now suddenly everything's fine??? HELLO???

And star flowers situation somehow makes it even Worse I did not know that was possible. Oh my god. It's decided let's kill him :3 grabs my gun cutely <3

5- misogyny summary

Once again, still surprised a children's book series about cats can be so misogynistic. It somehow keeps getting worse you really weren't kidding when you said this was bad.

Laughed out loud at this. Which reminds me, now I get why you said clear sky X gray wing is a radioactive toxic waste ship. They kinda deserve each other tbh they should stay together and spare the rest of cat kind of their bs.

Lmao why was she hit by a Ford Model T that's so specific😭😭😭

Erm. What is the authors' issue. Seriously

I don't even have anything to say about the rest of the Misoginy Crimes I'm just. Wow. This was way worse than I expected.

TL;DR: yeah it sucks

Loosely related but do you know any websites or sth where I could read the books for free? :3

@makotokagutsuwuchi So I could have just made a quick list of vague Weird Stuff that DotC is comprised of but that wouldn't be nearly enough for what this blight upon the universe this arc is. You could take a shot every time something outrageous happens on page and by book 2 you could be granted either mercy; to die before you could get any further or get so wasted you forget everything you just read forever. I need to make this post a whole Thing or else I would never be free but mostly I just wanted to write it

Actual DotC post below the cut, before that some content warnings I didn't forget: colonialism, abuse including domestic & child abuse + death as result of it, descriptions of gore, torture, very violent misogyny, fatphobia, ableism, sexual assault, incestuous grooming implications, lots of cats getting maimed and killed but this one's more of a given within the series though in this case it's very influenced by previously listed things so it's kinda Worse.

I. DotC HATES adoption + Bio Family Matters Most (no matter what, no exceptions)

I think this is like, the least terrible thing about DotC only because it's overshadowed by much worse which I'll get to later.

Point is, DotC really hates adoption. It's seen as illegitimate next to Magic Genes, and that no matter whether your biological parent willingly abandoned or abused you, or perhaps beat your mother bloody several times, while your adoptive parent was the one that actually raised you or that you even knew for your entire life while your sperm donor was a complete stranger; the latter bond will always be inferior to the Special Connection you have with your ~true~ parent.

It's mainly in the arcs of Thunder, Sun Shadow (to a lesser extent), and the litter Sparrow Fur/Pebble Heart/Owl Eyes. When Thunder was like, probably a few weeks old at most, his mother died (after leaving his father because of him being violent and controlling and also getting cats mauled and killed) (her name is Storm) and they were there found by Gray Wing, Thunder's uncle, who took him to his father, Clear Sky -- however Clear Sky did not want him, so Gray Wing decided to adopt Thunder instead and raise him as his own.

Gray Wing also wasn't his sole guardian (since he doesn't have any milk) and his other parents were Hawk Swoop who has recently given birth and her mate Jackdaw's Cry. Hawk Swoop according to Thunder is nice and all but she just doesn't feel "right" because she's not his real mom, and Jackdaw's Cry never liked Thunder, he was against him even being accepted into their group as a baby and was pretty open about how he thought he was "stealing" milk from his bio kids. Thunder gets a magic dream from his dead bio mom who "feels Right and Loving" unlike his fake mom Hawk Swoop or something, in which she assures him that he will save Clear Sky, "his father" from himself one day. Which 1.) he does not know that man also he literally abandoned him and 2.) Clear Sky doesn't need "fixing" from his teenage son lmaooo but ok it's ok.

His relationship with Gray Wing is eventually strained because he can never be his Real Dad, is also pushed by Gray Wing to reconnect with him, and he eventually leaves to go join Clear Sky's camp and get to know him. Or, it's more like Clear Sky begins manipulating him by telling him that he's so strong now and how he only abandoned him as a "test" that he passed and he's worthy of his love now, that he would do so much better living in the forest with him and that he should hurry up with the goodbye and go with him already. And he makes Thunder feel good so of course he agrees and leaves with him after which he gets emotionally abused by him every single day and watches him murder people, before ending up leaving after Clear Sky shoves his face into a reeking, festering wound and dares him to lick it in front of a crowd as another part of his abuse game after he dared to question him

But like it's fineeeee. Afterwards Gray Wing is never described as his father again (the title now belongs to Clear Sky fully. Because of Magic Genes), and gets screeched at and belittled for not wanting to interact with his father (to go fetch him for something) after he's cut ties with him already, told to stop "sulking" and acting like a baby and reconcile with him already then lectured about how anger is bad and to have some pity for how hard it must be for Clear Sky right now. Fucking help me

Sun Shadow's story wouldn't be bad per se if it didn't exist in this arc (in fact it would be somewhat interesting in a different one), where every single adoptive family is portrayed as negative and biological ties as the only thing that actually matters. These aren't written in a vacuum the entire three times (we'll get to the third one momentarily) that happened someone purposefully included these to make a point cause that's how stories work. But anyway Sun Shadow's father left his mom when she was pregnant and his step-dad abused him because of course he did. He's exploring cause he got exploring blood from his Magic Genes once again and ends up running away to find the other guys his father went with (he died but Sun doesn't know) cause he felt like only he could truly understand him. Whatever moving on

Third one is. I think the actual most egregious. Sure, Thunder is constantly treated badly for not connecting and making up with Clear Sky, but like, at least they never really get close with each other afterwards if I did not forget something. Enter Sparrow Fur, Pebble Heart, and Owl Eyes, the kits of Turtle Tail and Tom; though Tom was their bio dad, they never knew him, and instead Gray Wing (again) was considered their father and raised them with Turtle Tail. They were born and brought up as Gray Wing's kits, and Tom didn't even know they existed because they hid it from him.

Some context for who Tom is and why no one (well. mostly) let that guy near Turtle Tail or the kits; he was a textbook wifebeater as other people put it, being a cat adopted into Bumble's (Turtle Tail's friend) house while Turtle Tail was staying over with her; when Gray Wing asked her what she thought of him she is noted to "hesistate" before saying that "they got along fine" while "giving her pelt a shake". Tom eventually got her pregnant and upon finding out, she said he "changed" though quickly assured Gray Wing that he didn't hurt her or anything (though we know that he did actually beat her and Bumble then). He intimidated Bumble into not telling Turtle Tail that humans typically give the kits away once they reach a certain age, and when Turtle got Bumble to eventually tell her, Turtle left them. Afterwards, Tom started taking it out on Bumble, frequently beating her bloody until she couldn't take it anymore and ran away from him, starved in the woods just so she wouldn't have to see him anymore, was denied any help by every cat she met (including Turtle) before she eventually was brutally murdered by Clear Sky. More on her later I got an entire section just on the treatment of Bumble by these books alone

Ok so. I think we can agree that he should be left out of their life right? Well NUH UH, that's wrong, because you see we have to account for the fact that he and the kids share the Magic Genes. He's their Real Daddy and they Need his special presence or else they will never be happy

Tom ends up finding the kits (after Gray Wing accidentially reveals their location to him like an idiot) and after telling them that he's their actual dad proceeds to kidnap them. Though they do come with him "willingly" because as soon as they learned this weirdass stranger is their sperm donor it's like a switch flipped and activated their sleeper agent or whatever the hell and they already care immensely for him just from knowing that. He's their Real Daddy now and Gray Wing was just Playing Pretend because he could never substitute for their Real Biological Daddy. Gray Wing is never mentioned as their father again at least in that book since Tom entered the picture because Tom is their Real Daddy Now. And actual adult cats in the group don't wanna actually take them back from him because uhh, "Now that they know he's their Real Dad™ we can't snatch them back" like it's some fucking spell??? What. And that they "have to leave them". Oh actually one of them did straight up allow one of the kits to run off into the woods to go find Tom because . He's their Real Dad. Yes let's. Let's let Tom get a hold of these three children he's famously got these very gentle and fatherly vibes also have I mentioned that he's their Real Dad actually I feel like I didn't say that enough,

Anyway I also forgot to mention that he was responsible for Turtle Tail fucking dying before he took her kits away, and that the kits must "see him as their only option (after Turtle died)" which is actually on page and it's ok it's ok. Like he got their mom killed (not directly directly but does it even matter) just like he was responsible for Bumble's death. Anyway Gray Wing and the other rescuers idk decide they can't just snatch the kits back and instead emotionally manipulate them that living as house cats is gonna just suck sooo much. Specifically they had to do that because apparently them sharing Tom's Magic Genes made them unable to ever utter a bad word about him near them and they're just so powerless to bring them home or something. But like it's ok. It's ok.

Ok anyway Tom eventually later joins Clear Sky's camp (who knew that he kidnapped kids though denied it later or perhaps got his mind wiped or something) and the kits also find out about it. And guess what nobody fucking tells them what Tom actually did, cause apparently they don't want to ruin their "Special Blood Connection" with their biodad by informing them that he BEAT THEIR MOM AND GOT HER KILLED. Thunder specifically notes that they shouldn't feel surprised if the kits "feel curiosity towards their father and even loyalty" what theftuck are you saying please can I go home. Sparrow Fur (one of the kits) eventually says that she will go looking for Tom again.

Can you go grab a snack or something now cause we;re fucking. Getting to the best part. Do you wanna know what they eventually do with Tom, you know, The Tom, Tom the Wifebeater, who has only two personality traits ever which are "cruel" and "extremely violent" with zero good traits or depth aside from that?

He gets redeemed by the narrative.

Yes he gets to have a heroic Redemption By Death while saving his daughter.

Sparrow Fur vows to Avenge Him as that's what he Deserves. He was her Real Daddy and he Truly Loved her enough to Die For Her which is what All True Bio Parents Just Do no matter what. Tom is more respected than either of the women he battered that are currently cold in their graves all because of him that he does not feel bad for At All, that he laughs about and taunts everyone on how he got away with it. You should still love your bio dad actually even if he's abusive because he's your Bio Dad who matters the most in the whole wide world . It's ok

And like, Gray Wing was never the true father of any of the kits he literally raised, be it Thunder, or Pebble Heart, Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes, because he's not their real, biological father. The books say loudly that he does not currently have any real children to be a father to, so, they conjure up a fertile woman out of thin air to be his love interest and birth kits for him that he can experience True parenthood by raising, he deserves it, it's his reward. And then he doesn't even raise those reward babies because he dies at the end, and yet they get to be considered Gray Wing's "real kids."

So yeah uhh. I would say that's the pretty much state of adoption in DotC and well you can see that- Hold on, I just got a phone call. Oh my. Oh it appears I had made a huge oversight and forgotten the fourth example of adoption in DotC! They are Birch and Alder, adopted by Petal, one of Clear Sky's most fanatical supporters, after Clear murders their mother to steal her land and considers killing the newborns too as "mercy", before Petal and Thunder prevent him from that and so they just decide to take them. Here they never find out about their bio mother and are treated as Petal's kits, and she is praised so much by being such a great person by taking them in, while Clear Sky also steps in to help raise them, his favourite activities to do with the children who he orphaned and stole being: getting so distracted by beating one of them in front of the other that the latter is threatened by a dog while also othering both of them for not being fully camp/clanborn. But they're one of the good examples of non-campborn cats. It's so cool they got adopted it was so kind and merciful of Clear Sky to not fucking kill them as newborns after he was done with their mother, shouldn't they be just so grateful to him for taking them in. I hereby cancel all of my previous statements. This is the best positive adoption representation in any media ever it was so foolish of me to doubt their vision I fucking love DotC (you can faintly hear me brutally strangling a subordinate with my whip in a fit of blind rage)

II. Cat colonialism

This will be more brief not because I think it's not severe, but because like, what do I even say?? Makoto we got cat colonialism here. Not surprising considering their uhh, track record, but it's definitely THE most glaring in the arc of DotC specifically. It's not even subtext it's pretty explicit, actually.

A group of cats from the mountain group leave the mountains in order to live in the forest instead, which is already inhabited by other cats. They could move freely along the territories and hunt everywhere before the mountain cats came. The mountain cats frequently treated the forest and moor cats there as if they're inconveniencing them by.... I don't know, being there first. Being really aggressive and insulting towards them for not immediately moving out to accomodate for their group(s), with the emphasis on how "dirty" and "lawless" as well as uniquely brutal they all were with no culture of their own before the mountain cats came along.

Clear Sky's camp immediately establishes borders around the forest, driving out any cat in their way and continuously expanding their territory, while threatening or straight up tackling any "trespasser" the find inside or near it to the ground, if not just outright mauling or killing them. Any cat that previously lived there is forced to either assimilate into one of the mountain cats' groups or to get out; that's assuming if Clear Sky doesn't kill them for their territory before that either.

I already said that Clear Sky killed Misty, random native to steal her land and then wanted to kill her kids too to "spare them their suffering" before changing his mind and instead just taking them. Bumble is also murdered by Clear Sky because he wanted to expand his territory and she happened to just be near, it wasn't even his territory then officially he was just making it so. Wind and Gorse are cats that have been living on the moor before the mountain cats came along, but once their group (not Clear Sky's, Tall Shadow's, this one is where Gray Wing lives) decides that they want to live here, they are forced to assimilate into the group and change their names to fit there so they won't get chased out of their home for "stealing" from the mountain cats. There is a character Milkweed who is upset that Clear Sky killed her friend (the first cat listed, the one with kits), and she is told that they can "make up for the pain and suffering" by telling her to join Clear Sky's camp too. Clear Sky's. The group of a cat who killed her friend and stole her kits. And she ends up doing just that and gets treated Bad.

Two villains are conjured up into thin air to contrast Clear Sky and how he wasn't actually that bad next to them: One Eye and Slash. They are portrayed as "true, born evil", described as unwashed and stinky, with their groups having zero morals, that the mountain cats have to valiantly defend themselves from lest they plunder the land and kidnap their women and harm their children and whatever else.

To emphasize how brutish and fucked up the natives were, Slash is portrayed as perverted, domineering and child-abusing savage, who proceeds to kidnap a young pregnant woman and sensually lick her face in front of her mountain cat partner on page, which sure was one of the things I've ever read (Not the only woman he harasses/assaults on page)

Hmm I think I'm forgetting something... I keep calling them "mountain cats" though that does seem a bit clunky and I don't think it's quite right... Oh I just remembered, I guess I should mention that the "mountain cats" are unironically, deadass, in source, referred to as "The Settlers". Yes they called them The Settlers Officially. I'm not making this shit up. I just thought I should mention that right at the end

Normal series

III. Bumble

I did mention her a lot earlier. She deserves her own section. I don't even know how to start this one out. She's got to be the victim of the most SEVERE misogynistic and fatphobic writing I straight up ever saw in any media I ever engaged with. To describe her fate as "torture porn" would be horribly inaccurate as that would imply any sort of enjoyment for whatever the fuck is going on here. Child me actually stopped reading on this part I was Flabbergasted

Bumble is a sweetheart, kind to everybody she ever meets, no matter how rude they are to her. She's straight up so cheerful every time we see her, in contrast to the rest of the cast, who are significantly more serious and downright cynical slash mean-spirited. She's a house cat, and canonically described as fat and clumsy. She becomes friends with Turtle Tail, which angers Gray Wing (he is very controlling of Turtle Tail, and straight up hates Bumble for that plus is disgusted at how fat she is every time he sees her. Even sneers at her suffering), and eventually, Turtle Tail moves in with her. Tom comes along. He beats them both, and once Turtle Tail gets pregnant, he gets Bumble to stay silent (under threat of violence) about what humans plan to do with the kits once they're born -- which she does tell Turtle Tail, resulting in her leaving, which angered Tom.

He started taking everything out on Bumble every day for at least an entire month, beating up until she bled and had scratches all over her body -- she says that "he's clever enough to do it where the (humans) won't notice unless they really look hard". She ends up running away from Tom one day, finds Turtle Tail and Gray Wing (in Tall Shadow's group. mentioning her once again) and asks them if she can live with them now because she doesn't want to go back. They internally wince because they do not want her here, not caring that she's in literal danger.

Turtle Tail tells her that she would want to help her, but, Bumble would just be better off going back because she would be useless in the wild, because she's just so fat and lazy. Gray Wing internally agrees, noting how fat Bumble is, and how she would be nothing but a burden, especially now that she has been so traumatized by all the abuse ("And she has lost all her former confidence, hardly able to meet their eyes, her voice shaking as she spoke."). These are the good guys Gray Wing is the protagonist this is what the Erins wrote into their childrens' book series assuming something did not fucking possess them

So Bumble begs them to let her see their leader, Tall Shadow, so she can then go beg her to give her a place to stay. Turtle Tail and Gray Wing wince internally once again because they do not fucking want her. Gray Wing is still angry at Bumble for "stealing" Turtle Tail from him earlier, btw.

"Gray Wing felt a pang of resentment against Bumble, for interrupting his time with Turtle Tail and the kits" felt a pang of resentment for......... being interrupted on a walk by a bloody, battered woman seeking asylum.................. remind me again how we are supposed to sympathize with any of these people and yes you are supposed to sympathize with Gray Wing

Turtle Tail then whispers to Gray Wing that she wants Bumble to talk to Tall Shadow, because she's setting her up to fail and knows that Tall Shadow would never agree, and then Bumble would understand she has no place here and would go back to Tom (WHO TURTLE TAIL HERSELF RAN AWAY FROM SHE KNOWS HOW ABUSIVE TOM IS). Gray Wing says that Turtle Tail was so kind to her. Turtle Tail says tee-hee you know I can't hold a grudge. We need to euthanize these two

^Bumble literally did NOTHING to you, she was always kind to you and was your friend and was there for you when you were both living with Tom. She never did anything to anybody. She has done nothing to deserve anything that is happening, and about to happen to her, and somehow, we are supposed to agree that she would be "useless" and a "burden" in the wild, not even worth keeping safe without a chance to get something out of her in return

Tall Shadow's group (calling it TSG now) immediately regards Bumble with hostility and contempt for being a house cat. Gray Wing thinks "ohh she thinks she can just stroll in >:(((" after she tries to act tough to the TSG cats so that she would be convincing enough for them not to get sent back to a place where she knows she will be abused. Jagged Peak asks who is she, and insults her for being fat.

^I just remembered screenshots exist. Anyway Gray Wing kill yourself challenge + "a few moments ago she couldn't even look Turtle Tail in the face!" a few moments ago she wasn't arguing for her damn life what is your problem. This is treated as a WISE thing, Gray Wing's defining character trait. Being "wise."

Tall Shadow proceeds to blame Bumble for her abuse. She asks her if there is really no way she could stop Tom from beating her and Bumble says no. Tall Shadow then says: "Well then... Why not make yourself extra nice to your twolegs, purr at them, or whatever kittypets do." No one in the TSG clearly gives a single fuck about Bumble but she still tries. Immediately afterwards, a cat (Wind) jumps out from the crowd and says Bumble could never live with them, calls her soft and lazy to her face, and says there is no place for a weak cat like her in the wild, before turning to Tall Shadow and asking her if she agrees. It should be noted that Bumble isn't even the focus of that moment; the real important thing here is the Wind and Tall Shadow politics. Bumble is just secondary, she's just Here Too ig, who cares about her.

They turn Bumble down; not only that, but she is then being PHYSICALLY DRAGGED BACK TO HER ABUSER. Bumble screams at Turtle Tail for letting (and watching) this happen to her, and we're supposed to be mad at Bumble here too for daring to be mean to her. This is treated as an unreasonable thing for Bumble to be mad at. Gray Wing is annoyed at the sight, and thinks that "he'll never understand kittypets".

And the scene wants you to agree. It's supposed to be about how Tall Shadow's indecisiveness led to Wind taking control of the situation and how much better she's at leading than her, and how much Bumble deserved it for being useless and fat -- but most of all this is not a story about how Bumble was failed by the only people who could have helped her, it's one where you are meant to agree she would have never fit in and that it was a right choice in the end. It also gets worse. Somehow.

They don't see Bumble for a while afterwards, but she spends weeks starving in the woods, alone, after running away from Tom a second time; but then their group (comprising of both Gray Wing and Turtle Tail too) comes across Bumble again. She is slowly bleeding out on the ground, horrifically injured and currently dying from a literal death of a thousand cuts, with slits all over her belly and sides. Clear Sky did this to her, because he wanted to expand his territory, and Bumble just happened to be in the area too. The first thing that Gray Wing even does, still next to her, is to defend Clear Sky and buy into his shitty lie that "well a fox did it. Not Me".

^he even starts outright swooning. While Bumble is dying a few centimeters away. Who wrote this.

He starts vehemently defending Clear Sky even if the rest of his group doesn't, thinks that if they attack his precious brother then they would be "just as bad as him". Clear Sky. The. Clear Sky. And CAN WE ADRESS THE BUMBLE LITERALLY BLEEDING OUT ON THE GROUND NEXT TO THEM

Clear Sky literally confessed that he beat the shit out of her and she was so weak from starvation that she fainted, but that it was an :((( Accident :(((( He just Wanted to Give Her A Warning :(((( Oh and also I didn;t kill it was the Fox that actually came here after I left. Gray Wing says "yes king so true" and you are meant to take this seriously

Bumble, slowly dying from blood loss on her fucking death bed, apologizes to Turtle Tail for possibly ever hurting her. And you know how Turtle Tail responds. By telling her that she wishes she could have found happiness somehow... but she could never possibly live with them with the wild. She's literally about to die and Turtle Tail still finds a way to somehow rub it in ever further how much of a shitty friend she is. Her living in Tall Shadow's camp, where she felt was her only choice to go to because that's where her friend, Turtle Tail was, and she thought she would actually help her or something. That was her only shot she ever had and she's literally about to die now because she was turned away, "you could have never lived with us in the wild unfortunately" said to her while she's literally dying as a result of her not being allowed to live with them at least temporarily is actually crazy.

But it does not matter, why should anyone care about a severely abused woman dead on the ground as result of everyone's actions? It was inevitable anyway. What really matters in this scene is Clear Sky, and how hard it must be for him to get blamed for killing her. Which he did, by the way. Won't anyone please think of Clear Sky's feelings??

"this isn't just the death of a kittypet." It isn't just about Bumble getting brutally murdered for no reason. It's actually about misunderstood precious baby Clear Sky, who we will get to shortly because hahahaha I'm going to become violent you will understand my thirst for extreme violence towards Clear Sky once we get to what the authors decided to do with him afterwards it's worse than fucking Tom Redemption Death.

Truly, fuck Bumble right. Her audacity to ask Turtle Tail for asylum while she inconvenienced her and her boyfriend's morning jog and got their sandals dirty with her blood. Isn't she just so stupid that she thought The Settlers would want her anywhere near them while being so weak and fat and lazy and fat have I mentioned how disgustingly fat she is enough. How dare she ruin Clear Sky's reputation by making him slip on a banana while he was holding a kitchen knife and fall directly on her 28 times what was she thinking. She should have went back to Tom and just thought up a way to make him stop beating her it can't be that hard she's just lazy and dumb

Far from the only female character that gets butchered in this arc, they kill off so many major female characters for the development of the male characters or even simple shock value (Fluttering Bird, Bright Stream, Storm, Petal, Turtle Tail, Bumble, Rainswept Flower) that they have to make up a bunch of brand new ones at the end to marry and birth babies for the guys in the cast.

Later that book Gray Wing comforts Turtle Tail that there is nothing that neither of them could have possibly done anyway. Both Tom and Clear Sky get exonerated by the narrative for this and go to cat heaven while Bumble is barely mentioned ever again (aside from a scene where Tom found and disrespected her fucking grave), killed for the crime of being fat and asking for help or something. Normal series. Normal series

IV. CLEAR SKY

Okay, so I'm going to quickly list a tally of every abuse, crime against humanity, atrocity and bad thing that Clear Sky ever did (but ONLY up to the book 3 finale, there are 6 books in this total), just to quickly paint a clearer picture. We need that for context

Screamed at his younger brother, Jagged Peak (who was still a kit) thorought the journey and consistently put him down

Upon moving into the forest, he immediately enforced borders for no reason, getting several people injured and killed (got more into it at the colonialism section), continued to expand them despite having enough food, overhunts to the point where there are several piles of meat in his camp about to spoil

Controlling of his pregnant mate Storm (also got into a public fight with her), who has to leave the camp because of him making it unsafe

Threw Jagged Peak out of his camp because of becoming disabled, and therefore not useful anymore regardless of whether he's his brother, continues to humiliate him by calling him useless

Watches Fox (one of his cats) maim Gray Wing, and does nothing

Abandoned his son as a baby

Later on wanted Thunder back, telling him that abandoning him was a "test" and that he's worthy now and then emotionally manipulates him into leaving with him immediately, and once he agrees to go with him, proceeds to subject him to abuse in his camp

Guilt trips Thunder and brings him over to a personal propaganda session over him not believing that they are close to starving or something (they aren't), later lovebombs him over the corpse of Misty (after killing her in front of him) and makes him feel as if he's threatening him.

Brings Thunder into a bunch of random unsafe charred trees for "jumping practice", making Thunder scared of breaking his leg there just like Jagged Peak, and then screamed at him whenever he's not jumping fast enough or jumping too fast, blaming him whenever he fell like how some weird mind game.

Slaughters a random native (Misty) to steal her land. Upon finding out she has newborn kits, he considers killing them to to "spare them their suffering" but Petal instead says she will adopt them.

Brutally murdered Bumble by slitting her belly and sides until she slowly bled out. Because he wanted to expand his borders where she happened to just be standing there

When one of his notoriously loyal cats, Frost, becomes disabled and gets an infection in his leg that went untreated for weeks in his camp, he also plans to immediately discard him and let him die

^Thunder is like, 6-months-ish, the warrior cats equivalent of a 13 year old, when he dares to question Clear Sky by saying "dad can we kill less natives maybe" after Bumble's death, which angers him so much that he summons Frost whose wound still hasn't healed and commands him to flash it in front of all the cats in the clearing, before saying that he's useless now and must be exiled -- telling Thunder to go escort Frost out and "leave him where the maggots will find him", and when he refused, he shoves his son's face in that infected wound commanding him to "lick it clean if he cares so much".

A fox (animal. not the guy) attacks the camp, and Clear Sky blames Thunder for attracting it there somehow, before pushing Thunder at it

Thunder decides to leave (and also bring Frost to an actual doctor), and when Clear Sky overhears Falling Feather saying goodbye to him and calling Clear greedy, he slashes her face and publically humiliates her (also noted to look 'pleased' at seeing the guilt in her face) then declares to his whole camp "Any cat may give Falling Feather orders. Any cat may take her prey if they wish. She is lower than a snake until she has earned our trust again."

Brings Alder and Birch (the kits that he wanted to kill but Petal took in. Alder is a girl and Birch's a guy, this is important because of how the majority of all cats he throttles are female characters) to the woods where he forces them to run as fast as him and shaming them for not keeping up despite them being like 6, forces Alder to do a surprise ambush on Birch and when she's uncomfortable he smacks her, then leaves Birch alone in the woods where he's attacked by a dog.

Takes a hostage and starves him for 3 days after lying that he would keep him fed

Does not allow cats to choose their own food, he flings carcasses at them so that they only eat when he allows it.

Forces cats to train with their claws out so that everyone there is constantly covered in scratches and bruises

Before "the first battle" in book 3, it was supposed to be a peaceful negotiation between Clear Sky and Tall Shadow's group, Jackdaw's Cry catches a bat (after being starved for 3 days by Clear Sky despite rotting piles of food in his camp) which offends Clear Sky so greatly (he decided it's his territory too now) that he himself started the battle (he was also the reason for the negotiation too)

Tells Thunder "But don't forget, you mean nothing to any cat, no matter how much you try to prove yourself. No cat trusts you anymore! You might as well not exist." before commanding his cats to attack him

"That's right, stay up there and watch your friends die."

Rainswept Flower does not attack him but simply calls him out on being greedy, which throws him into such a rage he murders her. Then proceeds to boast that if he hadn't killed her then some other cat would. Later on, he makes up a lie that he apparently "blacked out" and "didn't remember it"

Total cats that ended up dying in the battle he started: Fircone, Frost, Rainswept Flower, Jackdaw's Cry, Falling Feather and Hawk Swoop (6)

Manipulates, controls and is violent towards literally everybody in his life

Alright so you might ask. Why am I listing this. This seems like normal villain stuff, he's purposefully written to be evil right. We are supposed to hate him for this and think that he's A Baddie for this right

[feebly grabs you by the shoulders]

We Aren't

He's supposed to be misunderstood. At every turn, the narrative begs you to sympathize and understand his every choice, explaining all of his actions by saying that He Was Just Scared :( and that He Just Cared Too Much :(( which makes no fucking sense if you read all that. All of that was because he was just so scared of starving you guys, nevermind the rotting piles of food all over his camp. He thought that he was doing the right thing, and so..... that makes it okay I guess?? "he was just so Protective" was he exercising protectiveness when he showed his son's face in a festering wound. Like who gaf about Clear Sky why are we powdering his ass so much I legitimately don't understand. He would be FINE as a villain!!! What are you doing!!!!!!

Let's. Detail the whole Clear Sky Exoneration Arc and also why he literally never changes. Aside from "killing less people" I guess, but the bar is so fucking low.

Clear Sky stops the first battle, because he was just about to kill his brother, Gray Wing, and this was too far for him. Apparently. Disregard everything else he did, Gray Wing being hurt is where he draws the line, because I guess he sees him as a person or something I don't know I can't. This is here to show that he still has some goodness deep inside of him. After the battle he suddenly feels Really Bad :((( and so Gray Wing jumps to comfort him and have a friendly chat.

Gray Wing thinks to himself "We let it get too far" WHO THE FUCK IS WE?? This is literally 100% Clear Sky's fault. He then continues to defend him. But do not worry, Gray Wing is not the only cat to think he was just misguided. StarClan cats come down from the heavens, and his dead girlfriend #2, Storm, briefly criticizes him for killing people ig, but then after he sniffles a bit and says he didn't meannnnnn itttt :(( she agrees that he was Just Scared. Suddenly, "her gaze softens", and she said that "Fear is what drove you. Fear is a powerful instinct that only the strongest cat can resist. But now you see there's no need to be afraid. We have shown that death is nothing for you to fear. It's not the end." Guys abuse is okay if you're scared. You know what will fix Clear Sky? Assurance of religion with an eternal afterlife. Piety will fix him guys. He keeps all of his power and influence and gets off scot-free, since it's apparently decided that the most suitable consequence for literal tyranny is just guilt.

And they also find some way to SOMEHOW blame the nearest woman, Tall Shadow, for this too. Which the battle was not her fucking fault, it was literally solely Clear Sky but that would make him look bad so we need to both sides this shit. Angels come down from the heavens and shun Tall Shadow for somehow causing this, and for killing Fircone, one of Clear Sky's cats, in the battle. In self defense, because Fircone attacked her first. Clear Sky's cats were instructed to kill these people, she was defending herself from getting killed by him. But she's just as bad as Clear Sky guys!!! Next time don't be a woman in DotC!!!!!!!

God FORBID they imply that Clear Sky was ever responsible for anything ever. StarClan tells them that "ALL of you need to make amends" because it was actually all of them. Not Clear Sky. All of them. Despite the fact that Clear Sky caused literally everything that led up to this and Tall Shadow's camp did fucking NOTHING. This is like if a bully stabs you twenty times, waterboards you in your own blood then kills your dog, so you punch them back, and you both get equally punished because retaliation is Just As Bad. I can't do this. And this is only the beginning. THUNDER also expresses sympathy for him.

^ ???????? WHAT.

^ WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!!!! THE HELL DO YOU MEAN???????????

Your honor he was just. A little cinnamon roll he did nothing wrong. He's just a poor little meow meow won't we please think about Clear Sky's hurt feelings :((

Quoting tumblr user Bonefall for this, since it's correct and relevant, before getting into the second half of DotC:

"Because of this, of all this set-up for the "redemption" arc they're trying to tell in the last three books, DOTC is Clear Sky's story. Everything primarily exists to benefit and serve his arc. Thunder and Gray Wing might have POVs, but HE is the character who truly drives the plot. So in order to HAVE conflict for that back half, two evil foreign cats, Slash and One Eye, are summoned to act as contrast.

Their narrative purpose is to display "true evil" to make Clear Sky look less bad in comparison. Unfortunately, Clear Sky is the most malignant, deadly character who has ever blighted Warrior Cats.

The "pure evil" examples they summon aren't effective contrasts because they're flat. Clear Sky is what real abusers look like.

His rhetoric is what it sounds like when a cult leader is trying to keep control over a group. He lies when it benefits him, justifies his actions with his tragic backstory to assuage his guilt and manipulate others, and violently lashes out when his feelings are hurt before blaming his victim for making him angry.

He only made "some mistakes" in that SOME of his actions were accidents-- the vast majority of them were malicious, self-absorbed, intentional choices to punish, hurt, and kill others."

Getting into "The Blazing Star", fourth book in DotC, in which One Eye and Star Flower are introduced and everyone is besties with Clear Sky now. He takes in Tom into his group, who he had no way to NOT know was also the one to kidnap Turtle Tail's kits before, because he promised he could "show him how to fight dirty". Clear Sky also implies that Tom is not even a "real cat", because he's fat and a former house cat. Makes a lot of comments about his weight but I think it's more of the authors speaking through him and not a conscious writing choice for Clear specifically. Along with Tom comes along One Eye, the most cartoonishly evil guy you could possibly ever imagine but he stroked Clear Sky's ego a few times so he doesn't care now.

(Oh and also I was wrong about Thunder earlier when I said that "but hey at least he and Clear Sky never make up or anything". He did actually end up forgiving Clear Sky for everything and is now back full force into chasing his approval. Because of the Magic Genes. This is painted as a good thing btw. Disregard Clear Sky telling Thunder that he shouldn't exist earlier this day or a few days ago where he shoved his face in an infected wound that doesn't matter anymore everyone's minds are successfully wiped in The Blazing Star)

One Eye spawns in here (From where? Who knows. Probably a similiar Evil Foreigner spawner that Slash came out of) just to contrast Clear Sky, and show how he wasn't That Bad. Clear Sky was simply misguided, while One Eye is pure evil and LOVES murder . Slash is there, albeit way later, for the same exact reason, except it's even worse with him. Suddenly, Clear Sky's biggest "mistake" wasn't everything he did in books 1-through-3, it was letting One Eye into his camp and letting him overthrow him. There is a character, Snake, who was part of Clear Sky's camp and loyal to him for the entire time, up until One Eye takes over (because of Clear Sky) and permanently branded him with a mark on his paw while in there. Snake, of course, is furious at Clear Sky and refuses to forgive him -- which is treated as Snake being bad and unreasonable and treasonous somehow for DARING to be mean to innocent baby Clear Sky, and then later joins Slash in being another villain of the latter arc, which by the way makes zero sense.

And it's not really like Clear Sky even changes all that much after The First Battle. He does not actively try to kill people. But he's still controlling, abusive, and violent, especially towards female characters as he always is, like that one time he smacks around Quick Water to relieve stress in Forest Divided and that one time he gouged Willow Tail's eyes out as punishment in a super edition which makes him look Very redeemed. All of the people he killed directly were women, and even if we count the numerous time he did so indirectly/accidentially, they're still the majority. He gets pissy and screams whenever someone dares tell him that he Did Something Wrong Maybe. Still the narrative cannot shut up about how great and hard-working he is and how everyone loves him and that if someone doesn't love him, then they're probably evil because who wouldn't love that guy.

Thunder actually once calls him out on that he was a murderous dictator a few months ago, but then he immediately feels bad about it and has to apologize to Clear Sky -- during this scene Clear also invokes his dead sister for sympathy points, which is definitely not manipulative just like all the other times he interacted with Thunder at all. He even continues to mistreat Thunder anyway, but it doesn't matter apparently cause his redemption arc is done and so he does not have to do anything anymore.

Let's get into Star Flower just to end this one because I Can't. Of course, Clear Sky's exoneration arc cannot conclude without a reward wife that can birth him more babies that he will be able to actually raise, as a reward, as previously mentioned -- two of his girlfriends, Bright Stream and Storm, already died for his man pain, one while pregnant and another shortly after giving birth. He needs a third one, to give him "a second third chance at being a daddy", and so enter Star Flower. She is One Eye's daughter, roughly the age of Thunder, and her story is just so depressing.

Originally, Star Flower and Thunder (Clear Sky's son) were kind of a thing, in that they flirted with each other but Starf was pretty much using him on One Eye's orders, and ended up "betraying" the Settlers by warning her father about an ambush they were planning to do on him -- and Star Flower considers herself a terrible, irredeemable person for this who deserves punishment. After a bit of convincing from Thunder, Clear Sky takes her in to his camp, where she starts to offer herself to him. She starts pulling more than her own weight "without complaint", putting on additional jobs like babysitting Milkweed's kits (in spite of Milkweed's discomfort) and willingly putting herself in unpleasant conditions like taking a wet sleeping spot.

Thunder himself feels sick that Clear Sky is romantically interested in her; pointing out that Star Flower is all this time trying to revictimize herself by seeking another abusive tyrant to replace her father. She stays with Clear Sky because she thinks it's what she "deserves" and that she "understands" him because her self-hatred really runs that deep.

Okay, but why does Clear Sky like her? Oh well. In his own words:

she's young.

she will never betray him.

she had "complete faith in him" and "would follow him without question"

she would obey him.

(He thinks to himself, on page, "finally. he had a mate worthy of him". Fucking normal. Let's kill him)

All of these things -- Clear Sky tried to instill onto Thunder:

Regarding age: happily exploited that by denying him having any opinion.

Regarding betrayal: he considers "disobeying" as betrayal, and "questioning" as disobeying. For Thunder's betrayal, he tried to murder him and his friends.

Regarding following him without question: constructed humiliating games in retaliation for that.

Regarding obedience: causes explosive reactions even after his "redemption arc" and Thunder becoming an adult, good example of that is the beloved Festering Wound Face Shoving scene

Essentially what I'm trying to convey is that he was grooming the traits he considers attractive in a young woman onto his child. But according to DotC that's incredibly romantic and awesome and not worth thinking about for very long.

She's essentially an abused 18 year old who thinks she's so awful she deserves a serial killer, while his mouth starts watering that his reward has finally come. So anyway she gets kidnapped during her pregnancy where Clear watches her get sexually assaulted in front of him for drama reasons and then has a graphic birthing scene where they describe pain and viscera in a near obsessive manner and then has 1000 babies with him forever normal series

V. Misogyny summary

I won't even list all of the other baffling terrible writing choices that ruined any semblance of a story still left in DotC. Like oh yeah Gray Wing tries to proselytyze to Wind Runner over the corpse of her stillborn baby (that he said was a good thing he died because it was weak) and Clear Sky's reverse leper colony suggestion what else is new. But one of it's most egregious elements is how the female cast is treated and it's actually insane even for Warriors standards like Look At This

8 women in total have died to serve male characters' arcs: Fluttering Bird, Bright Stream, Storm, Misty, Bumble, Rainswept Flower, Petal and Turtle Tail. Only a couple of them ever get to be their own people aside from that, and that's being generous.

Bright Stream, Clear Sky's first dead girlfriend, got eaten by eagles when she was pregnant because Gray Wing was too busy staring at his brother's muscles to notice her being in danger. Now she's a forever mommy for her dead fetus angel babies in heaven (no she did not even give birth yet these are fucking fetuses)

Storm, Clear Sky's second dead girlfriend and also Gray Wing's crush for some reason, gets pregnant then leaves his camp after being subjected to his controlling behavior for so long, then has a building collapse on top of her and her dying words is her apologizing to Clear Sky, because she should have never left her abusive husband apparently.

Gray Wing treats Turtle Tail like shit and also tries to control everything she does, hates the fact she has friends outside of him that he doesn't approve of (Bumble) and insults them on every occassion. This is very cute and awesome and he gets to date both her AND his new wife Slate in heaven. Oh yeah and she does get ran over by a car in book 3 (specifically a Ford Model T) (I don't know either) for the usual man pain reasons and they can't even bury her body

The entirety of Bumble

^and how TOM is treated with more respect than her. TOM. EVERYTHING about his "redemption arc". The authors even defend him outside of the books, getting heated over a fan not understanding it.

Clear Sky kills Rainswept Flower when she wasn't harming him in any way (other than telling him that he is greedy and sucks) which is then retconned to make him look better, into: him actually blacking out and not remembering it, it being predestined actually and just an accident, that he had no control over(???) while Rainswept Flower herself I don't think is ever even mentioned afterwards.

They find a way to somehow blame the nearest woman, Tall Shadow, for The First Battle. Her and Clear Sky are equals apparently, because well you see, he might be a bloodthirsty, abusive tyrant but you know what Tall Shadow is? a Woman

Storm only ever shows up as a fucking ghost so she could suck Clear Sky's toes and reassure him forever while being his perfect dead wife #2. These are all her appearances after she died

Clear Sky can abuse, smack around and kill any woman he ever wants without consequences; but the line is drawn where he starts harming male characters too. That's where he's going too far.

Clear Sky's fucking innocent old dying mother is blamed for how he turned out. Because she was mean to her son after finding out about everything he did, the characters "realized" that his cruelty must come from her. Guys it was all his bitch mom's fault we swear

Women can't be allowed to be mothers and ambitious at the same time in DotC. Wind Runner nearly completely loses her personality after she gives birth, and Gray Wing thinks to himself that he's so glad that she's "more focused on her husband and kids now instead of trying to tell other cats what to do"

Kind of related to above, but Wind Runner and Tall Shadow, who are presented as the like "strong female leaders" of the arc (as literal founders of WindClan and ShadowClan), are continuously treated lesser than their male leader counterparts: their groups lack confidence in their actions, Gray Wing is considered more of an authority than them, are given more family-related obligations than their male counterparts, etc etc.

For even more man pain for Clear Sky, Slash kidnaps pregnant Star Flower, and in front of him, pins her down and licks her face, while threatening her fetuses and cutting her cheek open.

Clear Sky is so distraught by this he has to smack (or, more accurately, rake the face of) the nearest woman, Quick Water, to blow some steam off. But it's okay, he was Just Stressed.

Even with Star Flower, they gotta tease that Clear Sky might loose another wife with how they wrote her birthing scene. Gray Wing is witnessing her bleeding out, and thinks to himself that he's been thinking about Star Flower too much while this was happening. Even while she's actively bleeding out while giving birth (if I gotta write any variation of "giving birth" here one more time I swear to god-), because what abOUT CLEAR SKYYY??????

Violet Dawn's entire existence is to solely be a girlfriend to Thunder; who fall in love with each other in the span of two chapters. Even more bleak by the fact that Violet was being harassed by Slash into agreeing to be his mate for so long, and then this stranger comes along and also is immediately obsessed with her.

Slate and Violet Dawn (reward wives of Gray Wing and Thunder, respectively) have to be conjured out of nowhere because they killed every potential woman for someone's man pain.

Female characters are treated so poorly in this arc, they're practically "objects" to be "won" and "deserved". All of the main and major male characters' arcs are concluded by them getting a wife at some point -- Gray Wing with Slate, Clear Sky with Star Flower, Thunder with Violet Dawn, Jagged Peak with Holly. All of the main and major female characters either get fucked over for another guy's man pain (usually by dying), get pregnant which ends up defining their whole character by the end, or are Tall Shadow who doesn't do any of these things and is continuously demonized for breathing the wrong way

So yeah TLDR; chickem nunget

[scenefox2003]

A Day In The Life Of The Royal Babysitter

Aka Marcy is horrible at makeovers, but Andrias peer pressures Olivia into going out like that anyway

Olivia didn’t have a lot of complaints about her life. At least, she wasn’t supposed to. She lived in a lavish castle with a beautiful girlfriend, an adorable surrogate daughter, and all the spending money she could ever dream of. It was pretty much everything a person could want.

But the one thing she’d change…

“Yo Olivia, check this out!” A deep voice bellowed from the hall outside her office, followed by thundering footsteps that shook the entire building.

God damn it, she had TOLD him not to run in the castle!

Olivia groaned and picked up her jostled belongings, and anticipated what ridiculous bullshit she would have to deal with from her boss today. Soon enough King Andrias himself busted down her door, breaking it clean off its hinges. She rubbed her temples, trying to keep her composure.

“Sire, that door was just replaced yesterday,” she said in an even tone, her eye twitching. “Could you please refrain from punching it down?”

Suddenly, a second set of footsteps came pattering down the hall, much quieter but equally as chaotic. Soon Marcy came skidding to a halt in the doorway, eventually toppling over and colliding into Andrias’s massive boot. She shook it off fast though, and started digging in her bag.

“Don’t worry, I gotchu!” She said, pulling out all the necessary supplies to patch the drywall and reinstall the door. She finished the job in about 30 seconds. “There, all fixed up!”

“Thank you Master Marcy,” Olivia said, still not looking up from her work. “Now, do you two have something important to tell me? I’m very busy.”

“What do you think of my new look?” Andrias asked, and Olivia begrudgingly turned around to look. She was going to make an insignificant comment and move on, but upon seeing the king her jaw dropped.

The massive newt was absolutely caked in every sort of glitter, charm, and hair accessory that existed. His beard was braided, dyed with hair chalk, and full of barrettes, his hair was tied back in two pigtails, and he had a massive bow on his head. He was wearing a multitude of bracelets and necklaces, but they looked hilariously skinny since the beads weren’t made for someone his size. His armor was covered in stickers, and to top it all off he had what appeared to be a tutu decorating the tip of his tail.

“Wha… what in the WORLD-“ Olivia stammered, dropping her pen.

“Marcy gave me a makeover! She says this is called “decora” fashion. I think I’m rocking it. Thoughts?”

“I… you look ridiculous, sire.”

“In a /pos or /neg way?”

“What… what does that even mean?”

“Is it good or bad? I think I did pretty good,” Marcy chirped, waiting eagerly for Olivia’s approval.

Truth be told, Andrias looked like a hot mess. If it was just him, Olivia would say so and tell him to go shower. But Marcy looked so excited and eager for her approval… she couldn’t say no to that face.

“It’s… slash… paws? That’s the good one, right?”

“YES!” Marcy and Andrias both cheered.

“I knew you’d love it!” Marcy said. “We went to the mall and bought out ALL of Frog Claire’s! They were having a sale!”

“Frog Claire’s is always having a sale, it’s sort of their business strategy.” Olivia sighed. “Really Andrias, you’re going to the mall while I do all your work for you?”

“I’m too pretty to work,” Andrias said in a high pitched voice, doing the gay hand motion. Both him and Marcy giggled. Suddenly, Marcy’s face lit up with an idea.

“Lady Olivia, we should make YOU too pretty to work too! You seem so tired all the time.”

“You don’t say,” Olivia grumbled, sipping her “juice”.

“You know…” Andrias said, in a teasing tone that let Olivia know she was going to be in for some shit. “If you want a human style makeover, I can take over the constitutional revisions for now.”

Olivia shot him a look that said I know what you’re doing, and I’m not here for it, but Andrias just kept that shit eating grin on his face while Marcy gasped.

“Ohmygosh, that’s a GREAT idea! Lady Olivia’s hair is so beautiful, I wanna style it! Pretty please?”

Marcy gave Olivia her best puppy dog eyes, and she tried her best to resist while Andrias smirked.

“Come on, Olivia. She said pretty please.”

Olivia wished she was big enough to wring his neck.

But Marcy seemed so excited, and the idea of getting Andrias to do work was tempting.

“Oh all right,” she finally said, not able to keep a smile off her face. “It couldn’t hurt.”

Olivia was wrong.

It definitely hurt.

Marcy seemed to forget that hair was attached to a living person’s head, and therefore, when you pulled it, they felt pain. What was meant to be a semi-relaxing break was actually excruciating.

“Could you be a bit more gentle with that?” She asked, trying not to let too much of the pain seep into her voice. Luckily, Marcy immediately let go.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” She apologized, then moved on to makeup. Unfortunately, despite being a child prodigy, Marcy had the short term memory of a goldfish. She was back to pulling way too hard about five minutes later.

After an hour or so of hell, Marcy held a mirror up to Olivia.

“Soooo, what do you think?”

Olivia didn’t know what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t… that. Her fake was so caked in glitter that she could probably reflect the sun and start a campfire off it if she wanted to. She was wearing so many bracelets she could barely bend her arms, and so many necklaces she felt like she was wearing a neck brace. And her hair… oh, her hair. Marcy seemed to know every braid in existence, and each one showed up at least once in the tendril forest that was her scalp. And every braid had either beads or hair clips in it, so her head made a plastic-y clacking sound if she moved the slightest inch. It was… a disaster. She looked like a clown. But Marcy was smiling brightly, eager to hear what she thought.

“It’s um… it’s certainly something special!”

Marcy grinned.

“I know right?! You guys look AMAZING! I can’t wait for General Yunan to get home tonight so I can give HER a makeover!”

Olivia felt like she had just been hit by a bus.

“Wait. Yunan’s coming home… TONIGHT?!”

“Yeah, it’s May 10th! That was her deadline for hunting that rogue toad, remember?”

“I might have, uh… pulled an all nighter or two…”

Marcy gasped.

“Lady Olivia! You haven’t slept in three days?!”

“I had a lot of work to do, and it’s not like anyone else is gonna help me!”

“I would’ve…”

Olivia smiled.

“That’s very sweet of you, Master Marcy. I’ll have to take you up on that offer sometime. But Yunan and I have a date tonight, so-“

“Well it’s a good thing you’re hair and makeup is already done then! You’re gonna knock her socks off!”

It took everything in Olivia not to cringe.

“I’m sure I will,” she said, and it wasn’t a lie. Yunan was sure to be absolutely floored when she saw her. “Now, um, I need to go speak with Andrias before Yunan arrives, I’ll see you later.”

Luckily, Marcy didn’t try to follow her or ask questions.

“Okeydoke! Bye Lady Olivia! Have fun on your date!”

Olivia waved goodbye then hurried down the corridor to Andrias’s room.

Andrias was lounging on his bed (still wearing the outfit, for some reason) reading some self-help book when Olivia barged in, frantic.

“Woah, what’s got you in such a rush?” He asked, and Olivia shut the door quickly.

“I have a date tonight and need to wash this shit off, and your private bathroom is the only one I know for sure Marcy won’t catch me in!”

Andrias simply laughed.

“What are you talking about? We look great.”

“No offense, sire, but a thirteen year old girl used your beard as a styling head. It doesn’t look good.”

“Speak for yourself!”

“Fine, I will! If I go out like this Yunan will tease me for the rest of our lives, but I don’t want to crush Marcy’s heart by letting her know her makeover skills are atrocious. There, you happy?”

“Aww, you think you and Yunan are going to be together forever? How adorably naive.” Andrias primly closed his book, ready to give a lecture. “You see, over my thousand years of experience I’ve come to learn that love is fake-“

Olivia grumbled and opened the bathroom door.

“Good lord, just get over yourself and let me fix this in peace- oh.”

She immediately felt like the dumbest bitch alive. This was Andrias’s bathroom. Every single appliance was way too big for her.

“Having any luck in there?” Andrias teased, and Olivia facepalmed.

“God fucking damn it.”

“You know, maybe this is a sign.”

“It is definitely not a sign.”

“Why don’t you just-“

“I’m not going out like this. There is nothing you can say to convince me.” Andrias smirked. “I’m telling you, Andrias, there is absolutely NOTHING-“

“What if I did all your work for a whole week?”

Olivia paused.

“…would you?”

Andrias shrugged.

“Yeah, why not?”

“Well technically, my work is all your work that you don’t want me to do. You’re really telling me that you’d finally get off your ass and be a good king just to see me humiliate myself in front of my girlfriend?”Andrias smiled that shit eating grin of his. Olivia facepalmed. “…Of course. You’re a sick bastard, Andrias.”

“I know! Now go run along to your little date. Don’t want to keep Yunan waiting!”

Olivia, having completely abandoned all proper etiquette by now, flipped him off.

Yunan was late, as she often was. Despite being a very punctual person herself, Olivia didn’t usually mind. But sitting alone for twenty minutes in a fancy restaurant looking like that was rather embarrassing. Unfortunately the garish makeup did nothing to disguise her, and she could hear plenty of whispering from other patrons, asking why on earth Lady Olivia would go out looking so bizarre.

Just as she was about to leave and look for Yunan herself, the door was ceremoniously slapped open as Yunan was known to do. But she didn’t obnoxiously introduce herself as she normally did, or march proudly down the center of the room like it was a red carpet. She looked like she had just been drowned in a swamp, covered in leaves and debris and sopping wet. She dragged herself over to Olivia’s table and plopped herself down in a chair with a wet squelch.

“Hey Liv,” she mumbled, sounding like she hadn’t slept in years.

“Greetings, General,” Olivia said, sounding just as tired. “How did the mission go?”

“Normal.” Yunan looked Olivia up and down for a second, but had no reaction. “How are things at the castle?”

“Normal.”

The two newts sat in silence for a solid minute.

“We look ridiculous, don’t we?” Yunan eventually sighed. Olivia nodded lethargically. Another long stretch of silence went by before she added, “fuck it, wanna go rot in the hot tub for eight hours straight?”

“Oh god please.”

[elytrafemme]

ok. ao3 is eating my comments. again. askbox time ^.^ just caught up on CS i literally can’t bear to contain my thoughts lmao, i’m just gonna like. copy paste what i was gonna say here, genuine apologies for the great wall of text friend </3

fgvdhbjvhdcbskm chapter 20. CHAPTER 20 MY BELOVED……. succh a good chapter, the marriage phone call had me giggling so much it was so very sweet, and ohhh my gosh his reflection on marriage and romance after the fact…….. sooo good i always say you are so amazing at in-character narration and writing thought processes and stuff AND the scene where he’s contemplating his gender, it just feels so grounded and natural i feel like i could read entire chapters of just one of your characters thinking with nothing else happening, no stimuli, and i would literally lose my mind go bonkers crazy for it, it’s something i’m so consistently impressed with in ur writing

i wish i could give more constructive commentary on the spiral panic attack after fundy shows up but i honestly thought it was perfect, it drew me in so much i forgot i existed and ended up letting my tea get cold </3 that is such a niche and specific feeling, one that i personally could sort of tangentially relate to (it felt kind of like seeing a family member you haven’t seen in years but the situation is so fucked it’s just Very Feeling), and you portrayed that anxiety and that familiarity sooo well just oughghg……. also fundy immediately switching to the right name was a really nice touch :]

amazing chapter i’m so excited abt being introduced to fundy and to see what your plan is with him….. ‘most tragic relationship in CS’ top ten most hype author's notes i've ever read

onto chapter 21 — tommy is low key my favorite character in CS, the way you write him is so charming and emotionally intelligent and just!!!!!! i appreciate not having his pov sometimes (even though i desperately want to see how you would write his internal monologue) because i love being left to guess a little with him. i really like him being completely ambiguous half the time from ranboos perspective and then seeing him through tubbo, the person who probably knows him best. it’s just. idk where this came from other than like, the fact that he’s in this chapter LMAO, but i think he deserves some appreciation. really love that dude and the way you write him, honestly haven’t seen many better depictions of ctommy, like, ever

okokokok i can never get enough of how personal and sometimes uncomfortably close you get with your characterization, like tubbo noticing his name is written in a different sharpie and him casually contemplating which of his friends he would choose if he had to, it just feels incredibly real and i’m soo glad u don’t shy away from it! also ‘eligible to be homophobic’ made me laugh so hard thank you, the beeduo content this chapter was delectable ,,, tubbo thinking about ranboo’s coping mechanism of helping other people, and then comparing it to big q and schlatt was So Good like okay well what if i cried. what if i screamed and rolled around on the ground like an anguished worm. i have Been There for realsies and i felt the way you wrote that bit was very accurate

the final scene of tubbo and tommy talking was difficult to read (SLASH POS) but relieving in a way bc it’s such a difficult situation, one that i can relate to so i’m just hugely invested in it atm i just want allium duo to be friends again soon :( you’ve done such an amazing job building suspense with dream, having his presence in the narrative hold SO much consequence despite us knowing absolutely nothing about him and having like, two scenes with him. terrified and excited to learn more

thank u for writing and sharing as always, you have made my day more times than you know!! gonna catch up with lungs as well so if ao3 comments don’t pull through, just letting you know to expect another rambly ask today LMAO hope ur doing awesome atm :]

0 WORRIES I HATE WHEN AO3 EATS COMMENTS...

that's so fucking sweet of you genuinely thank you so much, i actually struggle a LOT with writing character thoughts? i guess it doesn't necessarily read that way but that's what i've always seen as one of my weak points, but i learned some tips from a temporary mentor of mine at a writing program i attended as to how to write those kinds of scenes and i think that helped a lot.

the sigh of RELIEF i let out when i noticed that people generally seemed to like the fundy reveal scene could have been heard in the fucking stratosphere, that scene was a pain in the ass to write but so fucking worth it. also yes :] initially i had written fundy struggling still with the name but i kind of thought about it and figured that while this whole situation is very shocking to him i do think that he's perceptive enough to make that change in the moment even if he can't reconcile the rest of ranboo yet.

MHM MHM... they make me tear up a little. very excited for you all to see.

ough i am SO glad people love cs!tommy because he's genuinely just my little guy. i love him to death, i actually do have some plans for a post-cough syrup set of oneshots and one of those has at least part of it written in his POV which will be fun, but i do like writing from external perspectives! i think it's interesting to see how unreliable people can be with their narration of him in all facets and how much he vocalizes-- were he a character that didn't vocalize his emotions nearly as much i think writing him from unreliable perspectives would have been kind of hard to manage, but, yeah! i try really hard to make sure his dialogue is perfect though because i do want his fuck ups to be clear even when it's not showing his intent, y'know? also your last comment there... <3 <3 <3 that means the world friend thank you

really really happy you like my characterization (plus im SO glad you noticed the sharpie thing i was unreasonably proud of that!) and also like. i think one of the most fascinating things about experiencing and writing generational trauma if i were to emotionally disconnect myself from the experience is the fact that it's very easy to slip into comparisons. for example, i am my father's son and the granddaughter of the iraqi painter i never met. and there's a lot held in those relations. i try to bring that back with tubbo because yes he's himself, but he's also the child of the parents he never knew beyond their greatest mistakes, and he's the descendent of alcoholics, etc. like it's very complicated and i think it's easy for him with that context to try and affiliate ranboo into all that, too-- whereas ranboo has so little family connection that he doesn't have much to compare to.

so happy you liked that scene as well <33

YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY A MILLION TIMES OVER I HOPE YOU REALIZE LIKE!!! you make me so happy to see your comments your art your asks your posts your presence your everything, thank you so much <333 much much much appreciation thank you

[epicsmol101]

Slendytubbies A Story Rewritten Official Story Chapter 1!! (Part 4) The Longest part so far eeeeeee

Warning!! Please DO NOT copy, claim, or use anything used in this without permission please!! BY THE WAY THIS CHAPTER IS DARK AND IS KINDA SPOOF SO BE CAREFUL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Waking up to your friend in the middle of the night was not something Dipsy expected. Though the urgentness of her shaking him and her voice slightly worried grabbed his attention. He could just tell something was off "Dipsy! Someone broke the custard machine and both Tinky AND Po aren't here, we need to go find him!" After some small grumbling and rubbing his eyes he nodded and stumbled out of bed "Of course they are our friends, how long have they been gone?" He stood up and looked at his yellow friend, she sighed softly and looked down "I don't know" Dipsy patted her shoulder "Don't worry we will find them, grab your camera. I'll get the flashlights." LaaLaa nodded and went to her bed while Dipsy headed to where the closet is, he opened the door and stepped inside. He looked around the cold room muttering "flashlights.. Flashlights.. Aha!" He grabbed two common flashlights and left the closet, as he stepped and shut the door he started to speak "Hey LaaLaa I can't believe these dinky lil things work still the entire room is gathering dust." LaaLaa giggled as she heard his footsteps approaching "well NooNoo did say this place is old and he found all of the stuff." Dipsy nodded as LaaLaa stood up putting the strap of her camera around her neck, she suddenly froze and stared "What, it looks like you've seen a monster LaaLaa." He waved her hand in front of her and she threw him to the side causing her to get hit with Tinkys fists, she fell over and Tinky growled as he picked her up by her neck. She whimpered and squirmed "T-Tinky..." Dipsy got up and grabbed a flashlight he muttered "I'm so sorry.." He used his full force to hit Tinky in the back of the head, it made him stagger and let go of LaaLaa but he turned his head in almost an impossible angle with a smile, custard and blood dripped out of his mouth through his teeth. Dipsy backed up and Tinkys body soon turned after to go in for another attack but that didn't happen thanks to LaaLaa throwing a fire extinguisher at him so they have long enough to run, she grabbed Dipsys arm and ran out of the house with while holding her camera, Dipsy held the flashlight and the two were panting "We got to find Po!" "Hey look!! It's NooNoo!!" The two stopped running and looked at him "Oh hey you two." Dipsy looked at him worriedly "NooNoo Tinky has gone nuts! We got to find Po and get out of here!" NooNoo looked at the two "oh that wont be necessary." NooNoo said and the figure appeared behind NooNoo, Dipsy held the flashlight "Why? Where is Po?" "Don't you understand, its safe here-" Dipsy interrupted him "No its not! Where is Po-" there was a loud gunshot and Dipsy cried out in pain and fell to the ground. LaaLaa knelt down and helped him sit up "What the Heck!?!?!" LaaLaa shouted and held Dipsy close to her "its just how it is. Its safe here and you should have listened." The two got up and LaaLaa looked behind them, she looked at NooNoo and pulled Dipsy and herself out of the way, Tinky ran at them and pinned the figure down and proceeded to attack them. This gave LaaLaa and Dipsy a chance to run.

They ran

And ran

Until they got to the cave "LaaLaa please slow down we have to go back!" She looked at him "We cant, we have to get out of here." Dipsy pushed her "We can't not without Po!" LaaLaa sighed and nodded "Alright lets go." The two began there search across the main land frantically. That is. Until they found her.  As LaaLaa was holding Dipsys arm and the two walked together they came across a large tree, it was tall and looked to be grey and almost dead. There was the sound of rope or at least what would be a rope being pulled or moving, that’s when there was a loud scream, LaaLaa fell to her knees as tears welled up in her eyes until her warm tears were pouring constantly down off of her cheeks. Dipsy stared unsure how to react that is until there was soft coughing.  “H-Help Someone.” The voice was soft and weak just barely cracking through, this made Dipsy spring into action and climb the tree to untie Po. LaaLaa got up to try and help before she saw Tinky appear, he was ready to climb the tree and was holding a knife in hand, LaaLaa couldn’t just let this stand so she ran and tackled Tinky as best as she could trying to grab the knife “I-I wont let you hurt them Tinky! This isn’t you!” Still crying her vision was partially blurred, using this to his advantage Tinky with just his strength alone pulled the knife from her grasp and he tried to stab her eye, luckily he kind of missed, sort of, he slashed her eye and a bit above and below it. This made her recoil and whimper in pain but Tinky didn’t care as he got up and pulled her to her feet by her neck and slammed her against the tree making a soft crack sound. “Dipsy! Hurry up!” LaaLaa cried out hastily before she noticed Tinky raising the knife to her, she grabbed his hand and struggled against him to make sure she didn't get stabbed.  “Got it!” Dipsy exclaimed and there was a soft thud, after that Tinky ran off for no reason and LaaLaa held her eye and staggered over to Po as Dipsy climbed down off the tree and ran over. “Po!” The two sat over Po and LaaLaa was trying to shake her awake “Po?.” she worriedly muttered and there was a point when LaaLaa and Dipsy stared at each other.  after some time Po started weakly coughing and LaaLaa lifted Po’s head up, the small red tubby managed to open her eyes. “LaaLaa... Dipsy?” she smiled softly “Yeah we are here Po!” Dipsy exclaimed and Po teared up and didnt stop smiling. At least until that smile turned sour and she could only mutter “D-Dipsy.. Behind-�� but it was too late. Dipsy was pulled up by his antenna and had his back stepped on by Tinky. LaaLaa without any time to react saw something even she never expected to see, with the pressure on Dipsy’s back against the ground and Tinky pulling his head by his antenna there was a loud blood gurgling scream with a group of loud snaps before Tinky pulled Dipsys head off with a bit of his spine too. LaaLaa knew she had to leave, she kissed Po’s head and Po hadn’t stopped smiling. “Everything will be okay Po, ill see you later okay!! We can go scooter riding down the paths again.” Po nodded and peacefully closed her eyes, LaaLaa immediately got up and ran as fast as she could to the cave. Though just before she could see it she was tackled and it started. Tinky was mercilessly attacking LaaLaa and she was trying her best to take it or defend herself. Meanwhile with Guardian and Lee  Lee and Guardian were walking out of a training gym room and Lee giggled “Man it’s always more fun training with you than it is with Connor and Dutch or even Miles!” Guardian ruffled her hair as they strolled back to the security room “Well unlike Miles I am not grumpy and I keep my training fair.” the two happily chatted before walking into the security room. Lee got in first and sat down in Guardians chair and spun a bit until she saw the cameras. “Guardian....” she said worriedly “Yes?” he replied casually “we got a problem.” he walked over and put his arm on the back of the chair and leaned forward a bit to see the camera “oh my..” Lee looked up at him “what do we do?” he took a second to think. “You stay here, I am going to go up there and see whats up,” he left the room frantically to the storage vault. He grabbed his night vision camera, a backpack with a custard bowl holster,and his trusty weapon, a machete. ‘Silent and Deadly’ is his reasoning as to why.  He stepped into the security room “You stay in here, do NOT let anyone in except me and don’t leave.” Lee knowing following orders is safest nodded “good.” Guardian added and ran down the halls to the ladder, he was climbing up the ladder slowly and he slowly opened the hatch.  Guardian poked his head up and looked around “Well night time fantastic.” he muttered and pulled himself up, once he was up he closed the hatch before starting his run through main land. Eventually he made it to where he last saw Tinky and LaaLaa and there was nothing there but blood and a custard put off to the side. Guardian picked it up and put it in the holster “Custard? Why is there custard? Oh well. I might as well collect these before anyone eats these.” he stated and saw another custard. This distracted Guardian and he spent the next half an hour collecting all of the custards. Once he was done he remembered what he was doing and ran towards the nearest exit of the main land “I'm sure she would try and leave!” he said to himself and once he slowed his walking his path split into two.  Chapter End, To be continued in Chapter 2 

[paprikadevil45]

Happily ever after..? (DD AU - chapter 1)

The sun shined bright down on beach city & little homeworld as four beings laid relaxed under it’s comforting heat, first was Garnet a permafusion of two completely different gems who together made a strong leader and good friend, than there was Amethyst a quartz soldier who unlike the others wasn’t as big or strong but still made up in her own way, after that was Pearl a strong independent gem who fought to be her own person instead of some fancy servant, and finally there was Steven Universe, a half gem half human hybrid who now after saving the galaxy is ready for some relaxation. “I want things to stay exactly like this and never change” Steven said “agreed” Pearl nodded “here here” Amethyst continued “how’s the future look Garnet? Do we all stay just like this forever?” The fusion shifted her visor in response, shortly after her smile quickly faltered and was replaced by a look of concern “No!” puzzled Steven asked why but before he could utter a word a gust of wind blew wildly causing a bit of surprise for him, he got up looking towards the object that was casting the large shadow over the hill looking up he saw a strange injector looking object looming over most of beach city and pointed straight at the hill. Suddenly a silhouette jumped up into his point of view “HEY!” the stranger demanded “are you by any chance Steven Universe?” Steven continued to stand there confused before finally responding “um....yes?” He answered “Excellent” the strange gem said as her fingers twisted among one another appearing to form some kind of horn which she proceeded to blow into loudly, suddenly a pointed drill and legs formed from the bottom of the ship “Move!” Garnet cried ushering the gems to get out of the way of the strange injector, the legs of the ship gripped the sides of the hill before thrusting down upon it the ground rumbling violently as it dug into the ground “Hey! Nice parking job, dingus!” Amethyst yelled out. The gem on top who had been watching the whole time came down landing on the bottom of the strange ship, it was here that Steven was able to get a good look at the stranger, the gem wore a strange dark maroon top which was accompanied by a pointy bow and pointy shoulder pad it was here he noticed that she wasn’t just a gem but a fusion too, she had two pairs of arms, the ones on top had folded up gloves while the ones on the bottom had much more longer gloves on, below that was a pair of poofy shorts and sharp pointed shoes on her back was a cape of sorts and her hair was shaped almost like that of a crescent, the two gems that had apparently made this fusion were a glossy oval shaped one which was located on her naval and the other was inverted heart shaped gem that had multiple facets, he knew the one on below was definitely a pearl but he wasn’t sure what the heart shaped one was. The gem looked up making eye contact with the four gems, her left eye was obscured by hair but the other had a look of utter hatred below it was a wide smile wicked in form so much so it sent a bit of a shiver down Steven’s spine, “well well well well well!” The gem snapped between sadistic giggling “lemme get a lot at this little menagerie, we have here!” Stretching one of her hands and eye into a creepy telescope “obviously your Amethyst” the stranger said looking at the purple gem “which I’m guessing would make you Garnet” saying the same for the fusion “and OOHH!! Would you just look at this” the gem said excitingly as it’s telescope of an eye circled around Pearl “you must be that pearl i’ve heard sooo much about” she said getting a close look at her before the fusion stretched her eye and hand back, “well it’s always good to know that it doesn’t take much to replace me“ the stranger snarled between her teeth “uh..um..d-do...do i know you....?” Pearl stutter out nervously “hmph! Of course she never told you about me” the gem angrily responded “all you need to know is that my name is Cuprite and I plan on an putting end to you, your friends, and this waste of a colony planet ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!!” Cuprite yelled “Woah! woah! woah!” Steven stammered running up “there’s no need to do something this extreme” Steven went on “you said that your name was Cuprite right? Well Cuprite in case you haven’t heard I’ve established peace across the-“ “yeah yeah yeah i’ve heard” Cuprite stated loudly interrupting Steven “I saw your little message and i made sure to listen to every. little. DETAIL!!!” Cuprite shouted kicking Steven so hard in the face he fell backwards. The gems summoned their weapons. Amethyst’s pulled out her whip, Pearl her trident, and Garnet’s gauntlets as they braced themselves for battle “and i just love that part near the end” Cuprite said “where Pink diamond just leaves homeworld to spend the rest of her PATHETIC life on this nowhere hunk rock, with a bunch of NOBODIES” Cuprite shouted before hitting ground in semi graceful manner using her stretchy abilities she started singing a something electroswing-like song, but accurately and half-smoothely nonetheless, and just as she deftly followed the melody, she perfectly dodged from every attack from Crystal Gems, Pearl and Amethyst tried to double team her but the fusion dodged both of them as she pulled out a weapon from the gem on her naval it appear to have been a electrical whip of sorts which glowed a threatening pink color as she tangled up both Amethyst and Pearl in her weapon and proceeding to swing them around without fail, it was here that Garnet tried to sneak attack Cuprite but as soon as she got close WHAM! something clocked Garnet right in the jaw it was so sudden not even her future vision could see it in time after hitting the ground in a crumpled heap she looked up to see what hit her the twisted fusion holding another weapon, a large hammer that just like her whip was colored in that threatening pink. After a while of Amethyst and Pearl getting dizzy she released them from her whip in the same direction Garnet went as they landed onto her with full force, Steven tried to help his friends anyway he could but was thrown one curve ball after another, he didn’t understand what was happening “what was she singing about?” “why was she so angry?” “Who is that heart shaped gem and what is she doing with some pearl?” Steven was so confused in his thoughts he wasn’t paying attention to the situation “she’s running circles around us!” Garnet grumbled catching Steven’s attention “i’m rusty give me a break” Amethyst groaned, annoyed because of the situation they we’re in “They seem so familiar, yet I don’t remember where i’ve seen them” Pearl said shakily “You've known each other?” Steven asked “Can you at least tell us who she is?" Unfortunately, their strange guest had good some pretty good hearing because as soon as she herd what Steven said a furious look appeared on her face. Cuprite started screaming from the lighthouse’s roof, surprised by his total ignorance like if it hurt her badly, her voice cracking here and there as she continued to rant, like she was on edge of hysterics. After she was done ranting her mood changed back to her usual twisted personality, she pulled out both her whip and hammer from her two gems she twirled them around for bit until she finally slammed the two weapons together combining into something entirely different, the end result was a long scythe like weapon once her true weapon was out the gem began extending her body all around the Injector ship and the lighthouse stretching her body to a tremendous degree, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl charged towards her as the pink Gem begin unwinding her body. All Steven could do at that moment was watch in horror as his friends were swiftly cut in half by the weapon their forms dissipating as their gems hit the ground with a clinking noise. “That enough!” Steven getting out his shield “aw what’s the matter Steven?” The fusion cooed “miss your toys already, well don’t worry. YOUR RIGHT BEHIND EM!!!” she screamed jumping up and striking down on Steven with her weapon, the attack went right through his shield and slashing him as the pink glowing circuitry spread around his body briefly, until he successfully shaked it off. He looks at his body, seeing that nothing is happening to him, “hahahaha that was nothing” Steven said confidentially. “Hehehe, than i guess you won’t mind if i do it AGAIN!!!!” The fusion cried slashing Steven again, and again, and again, and again, and again with the scythe all the while laughing wickedly, finally Steven was able to catch the weapon stopping her in her tracks “CUT IT OUT!!!” Steven shouted now tussling with the deranged gem “you don't poof very often, do you? Hmm, figured as much JUST WAIT!” Cuprite threatened as her pupils jiggled like googly eyes in her sockets “your human half won't stand a chance against my Injector, not after what I just did to your gem~!” she concluded. Steven was getting confused by this “What are you talking about!?” Steven demanded “You weren't always a powerful hero, were you?” Cuprite answered before letting out one last maniacal laugh, as Steven wrestles control of the weapon and swings it at Cuprite slicing her form in half and poofing her instantly, tired Steven collapses on his knees and shakes off the pink circuitry going through his body, before setting down the weapon and reaching for one of the gems that were left “better bubble you before anything else happens” Steven said bubbling the heart shaped gem, suddenly the bubble popped leaving Steven confused “what?” Steven questioned, he tried to poof the pearl instead but was sadly meet with the same results “where’s my bubble?” Steven stated concern growing in his voice, Steven grabbed the heart shaped gem in his hands so he could better concentrate “come on” a bubble slowly began forming around the gem before popping, as Steven collapses panting heavily feeling more exhausted than anything, confused he lifted up his shirt to see if there was anything wrong with his gem, upon looking he saw a concerning light flickering like a lightbulb in his gem which was rather worrying “what’s going on?”

To be continued....

[deannesen]

Storm Before The Calm

This love between us gives me power. Po-wer, po-wer, po-wer!

The muted song played on a tiny screen hidden under a desk. Sakura's fingers hit the buttons on her Versa handheld in a rapid fire. Her instincts matched every button to every beat. She could her the chime of each synchronized note in her head. Meanwhile, her ears pricked up on the words Ms Limon spouted out.

"That's the end of this chapter, The Fourth Spirit Burst. That will be all today. Remember to take care as you head home."

Sakura hit the last note, relieved another school day was over. Her body was wrecked with boredom and fatigue. She watched her classmates flow out of the classroom as she stuffed her Versa between the books in her schoolbag. Their chatter was white noise to her ears. She paid no attention to it. She only heard her own thoughts running down a list of what to do once she got home. New episodes of game shows, another comic update, and a whole new area to explore in her favourite RPG. Her best friend Angie stretched beside her.

"All the notes I had to take for you," she whined. "You owe me, Sakura."

"No way, it's totally fair."

Her fingers dog-eared a page out of the manga resting on her lap before slipping it back into her bag. She zipped it closed and sat back with Angie. "You were gone last week and I had to take your notes. It was awful."

"I was sick that time!"

Angie's cheeks flamed. Her exaggerated pout and furrowed eyebrows made her laugh. It reminded her of a furious chipmunk.

"I remember. I'm sure your flu made it hard to play Dancing Rave 6000."

The tiny girl opened her mouth to defend, but it closed back in defeat. Sakura knew her too well. She held back a snort and Angie hit her shoulder.

"Biiiiitch."

"Dumbass."

They laughed in unison. Sakura then helped her pack up so they could go back together. Cramming books into Angie's tiny pink satchel was a two person task. Angie arranged her books and papers neatly against each other. She waved a stack of notes in front of her face before slipping it into the bag.

"Look, Ms Limon went on and on about this unit. You'd think it happened to her yesterday with all things she said."

Sakura thought about it, resting her head on her arm. Her gaze lingered on the view outside the window. Dark clouds clumped in the sky. A rumble threatened her ears. It hadn't rained for weeks, and now it seemed a storm would come. The spirits were undoubtedly in tune with them. Her skin prickled with cold.

"You know what they say, spirit bursts are like rainy days. We might as well prepare for when it will happen again," she mused. "Still...it could be days or centuries for the next one. We just have to wait and see."

Angie blew a raspberry. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. Her eyes stared at the ceiling. "I know that. I won't lie, I think it would be kind of cool to have something shake things up. I'm tired of the same old, day in, day out," she chuckled bitterly. "With our luck, it'll happen once we're old and wrinkly."

"Yeah, I get it," she mused quietly. "Still, we probably shouldn't wish for things we don't really know about."

"Are you kidding? With all the studying we've done, I think we can qualify as spirits."

They shared a giggle at that. Then came the unmistakable sound of hard objects hitting the roof above them. First it was one clunk after another, but it soon devolved into a flurry. A commotion erupted outside.  Angie shot her a frazzled look. Sakura snapped her gaze back to the window. It was raining white.

They grabbed their bags and rushed outside. A stream of students flowed to see what was going on. Sakura saw Yukika's white bob of hair right at the edge of a pillar. She was still, with her hand out to inspect the falling specks. They elbowed their way around and made it to her.

"What the frick-a-dick is happening?" asked Angie. Yukika held her hand out to them. Small icy orbs nestled in her palm.

"Hail."

"Damn," said Sakura. She leaned forward to take a closer look. They were big for such an unexpected onslaught. She poked one of them and her skin hissed at the near-frostbite. She swept them off Yukika’s hand to let them fall to the ground. "Who would have thought. How are we gonna get home?"

Yukika took out an umbrella that was in her bag's pocket. She opened it up and it fluttered open to barely cover one head. She held the umbrella out to check. The hail bounced off upon contact. They looked at her blankly.

"I'll call my dad," said Angie. "Hopefully he pick us up soon."

"Good idea."

They went down the stairs. The sea of students made it hard to keep their balance while moving around. Angie and Sakura managed to squeeze through tiny spaces, however Yukika had a harder time slipping through. The good thing was that she could shove people away very easily. Sakura heard speculations and whispers of why a hailstorm was happening in the middle of April. The anxiety was making it harder to keep steady. She nearly slipped a few times on melted hail that people dropped.

She didn't have the faintest idea. Angie would have said it was a perfectly scientific reason, but the energy in the air told her otherwise. It might have been unstable winter spirits lurking in springtime. Or perhaps cloud spirits holding onto the cold. Why, she couldn't guess.

They managed to make it to the back gate with only dirty stares in return. Sakura leaned against the wall. Her heartbeat thrummed along with the hail. It sounded as if it had slowed after the initial flurry. The hail falling was now smaller than what Yukika showed them. Hopefully it meant that the journey home wouldn't be as much of a spectacle.

Angie tapped away at her phone. She held it up to her ear.

"Hey dad. Can you pick us up? Yeah, it just started raining hail - I know right? Wait, Mr Oman said what? That's so typical of him-"

Sakura tuned Angie out as she started to gossip with her dad. The anxiety in the air made her heart clench. She closed her eyes, leaning against the wall. Thump, thump thump, thump. Yukika put her hand on her shoulder. It was cool to the touch.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah," replied Sakura.  A breeze blew past her ear. She caught a whisper of fear. Her forehead warmed up. A malicious smile glinted in her mind. She steeled herself and opened her eyes. Yukika looked troubled. Angie walked towards them, slipping her phone in her pocket.

"He should be here soon. Sound good?"

She nodded. They sat down at a bench to wait, watching the hail slowly cease falling. Sakura did her mathematics homework in the meantime, letting numbers blur her thoughts. Graphite clashed on the thin sheets. She never liked the defined numbers and answers laid out for her. It was so stiffening, so rigid. Her brain was boxed in with the formulas circling inside. The numbers dancing on the paper nearly lulled to her sleep with the cold gale.

What's the total surface area of the dome? Perimeter x height x slant height... wait, no.. dome... circular.... sphere... dome.. not pyramid... dome.... dome...

In a sleepy haze, the equations floated around her consciousness. Her pencil lined down the page again and again, barely keeping her awake. She was only on question number three. She couldn't sleep yet.

Hmm, dome, dome...

Don't.

Dome.....

Don't. Don't.

DON'T GIVE IN. THEY'RE COMING.

"Sakura."

A hand clamped down onto her shoulder. She jolted back awake. Yukika was looking at her. She was standing up with her schoolbag hanging off her elbow. There was an ambiguous look in her eyes. Her foggy mind could hardly register her.

"Come on, let's go home."

She stood up, rubbing her eyes. A yawn stretched her mouth. She rubbed her eyes again. How long had it been? Angie was nowhere to be seen. She looked up at the grey sky. There was no more hail falling, but the cold air was biting her skin.

"I'll take your bag, you're still tired," Yukika decided. She shook her head, but Yukika was already walking ahead of her to the gate. She sighed and followed.

The door of the car awaiting them was wide open. A blast of warm air greeted her as she saddled up next to Angie, who was already preoccupied with texting her virtual boyfriend. Yukika closed the car door and the car lurched off. Her dad smiled at them in the rear view mirror. He passed a lot of his traits onto his daughter, skinny with an oval face and slant eyes.

"Thanks for picking us up, Dad," said Angie without looking up from her phone.

"No problem kiddos," he said. "Scary that a hailstorm happened out of nowhere, are you all alright?"

They all nodded. She leaned back in her seat. It was weird being in the middle, strapping on the seat belt. Yukika looked outside the window. Angie leaned on her shoulder. She looked down at her feet. Her ears picked up on interesting words bouncing off the radio.

Reports say that an increase of spirit disturbances have occurred nationwide. Citizens are advised to check the spirit forecasts and leave weekly offerings to their local shrines. The Spiritual Union of the Nation -

Angie's dad changed the station a few times and settled on one playing a mindless pop song. The words slurred together after she figured it wasn't one she liked. She took out her Versa. She tapped at a notification that popped up.

DEFCON ZERO

The page was a black screen with her sign-in details in pale green text. A slashed white eye stood as a logo above it. She tapped to sign in.

User : TinyThunder / Server : 03 - Creation

When your body is at your weakest, your spirit burns brightest.

Enter combat?

Stage 125. Recommended level : 70. Your level : 55. Proceed?

She looked at her setup of low leveled units. The map was a rough terrain with a gigantic boss. She could make it. Determination pulsed through her fingertips.

Yes.

Hlíf, the unit on the first defense line nearly died at the opening boss strike. She stood her ground, knowing the opening move was greater than its following attacks. The damage gave her enough power to unleash her ultimate move early on.

Unstoppable Shield!

She charged forward, knocking enemies down with her infallible shield. Her remaining strength was focused into running as far as she could. She coughed up blood onto her armor. In her final sprint, she crashed into the boss giant and fired her gun five times. An ally plane picked up her body before she fell.

The second defense line rose to tank the next hits. Blood Moon stood by as a medic, streaming enchanted blood to heal each wound. A mage team descended, breaking down the enemy defenses bit by bit.

Defenders blocked the line. Nimble melee soldiers dodged blows, swinging their weapons despite gashes where their defenses failed. The enemies fired heavy ammunition and cut with mighty swords. In their bloody fight, the defenses were close to falling. Seeing the opportunity, Rasputin rose his hands to the sky and unleashed his powers. Seeing the signal, a firework of skills illuminated the battlefield.

Death Dance.

Rasputin levitated above the ground. Icicles fired from his hands and planted themselves into the heart of the giant. It roared in pain. Every mage in his range felt their powers heighten. They directed their magic towards melting the remaining advancers. One by one, fighters fell, but not without taking several enemies with them. Rasputin encased the enemy in ice and delivered a final blow. It exploded, and he fell to the ground, surrounded by the dead army. The mages ended their assault, breathing heavily.

VICTORY.

She sighed in relief. Her muscles relaxed from being tightened with anxiety. The car was slowing down.

"Hell yeah."

"Nice work," said Angie. She gave her a teasing grin and punched her shoulder. "Wish I had Rasputin. You're lucky."

"Wasn't easy with you staring over my shoulder," she shrugged. The car stopped. She looked out and saw her familiar driveway with her mother's car gone. "Great timing."

Yukika opened the door and got out. The evening air was warm and inviting. Sakura breathed it all in.  She stepped out of the car and waved to Angie's dad. Angie shut the door and waved as well.

"Thanks for the ride, Mr. Allende."

"You're welcome. Take care."

They drove off. Sakura watched the car disappear from the lane, the silver polish glinting in the waning sun. It was nice to have a different ride back home. She turned and saw Yukika staring at her phone. There was a frown on her face.

"Akira messaged me to come home."

She cocked her head to the side curiously.

"Will you be staying the night?"

Yukika tucked her phone into her pocket. She smiled to her. It was unnatural to see Yukika smile with that grimace still in her eyes.

"There's nothing she can do to stop me," she said, steel in her voice.

She believed Yukika's words. She didn't want to ask any more about it. There was always bitterness in her when her mother was involved. She held out her hand to take her schoolbag. Yukika gave it to her, but didn't give her own bag. She walked away, her back straight.

Sakura opened and closed the gate behind her. She arranged her shoes on the shoe rack before jiggling the doorknob and finding it unlocked. The door was opened.

She looked up and sighed as she saw their old babysitter, Cleeve, standing as tall as ever. She smiled down at her. Her warm green eyes were comforting to see. She ushered her in. Everything in the house was spick and span. Even her comfy cushions were angled against the couch. A delicious aroma of cauliflower rice wafted from the kitchen. Her stomach rumbled.

"Sounds like you're hungry. Want an early dinner?" Cleeve offered.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Sakura said, rushing into the kitchen. Her socks almost made her slip on the tile floor. Cleeve caught her in her muscly arms and she chuckled sheepishly. Cleeve had bulked up since the last time they saw each other. "Oh, um, also, what are you doing here?"

Cleeve set the table. She placed down the nicest plates in the house and the shiniest forks and spoons. Sakura pulled out a chair. By the time she sat down, Cleeve had already spooned a hefty serving onto her plate.

"Your mother heard about what happened, so she called me to make sure you guys were okay."

She put down a cold glass of lemonade before sitting down opposite her. She had a small plate of rice and a glass of water. Sakura dug into the food, chewing quickly to speak again. Spices and tastes in her mouth danced as well as she remembered. Cleeve shook her head in amusement.

"She worries too much. News travels fast, huh?"

"That's a mother's job. But where's Yuki?"

"Her dearest mummykins called." Her spoon pointed next door. She forked another bite into her mouth. The rice was rapidly disappearing from her plate.  Cleeve nodded in understanding. She wolfed down the rest of the plate while and washed it down with the lemonade. Cleeve nibbled down at her serving, seemingly thinking of something. "Great as always, Cleeve."

She slid back her chair. Her dishes were loaded into the dishwasher. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.  She flicked the channels. There was a new show to catch, Replica. She heard the critics were raving about the young actress Reese Choi. She huffed. Talent was never equally distributed, it seems. She pressed 'record' so she wouldn't miss it.

Sakura rushed up to her bedroom. She shut her door with a satisfying thump. She took off her vest, tie and socks. Her bag was flung to the side. The light  from her window was quickly fading away. She jumped onto her bed. The fluffy mattress embraced her tired body. A bout of sleepiness overcame her. It had been a tiring day. She could afford a nap.

[yellowsugarwords]

Walking Dead Game FanFiction - “Like Siblings”

Title: Like Siblings Characters: Louis, Violet, Clementine, AJ, Tenn, Marlon Summary: Louis and Violet go through the average day of annoying the daylights out of one another. But, as the day goes on, prove that they have a bond with one another. That they, together, are family. Author's Note: I love the brotp stuff between these two my HEART Requested By: Anonymous support me with ko-fi ♡ ---------♥️♥️♥️----------

“Fight me.”

“You think I won’t?”

Louis scoffed. “I know you won’t. You’d never lay a precious finger on me.”

Violet snorted. “Do you even know me?”

“Some days it’s debatable if he knows anyone around here,” Clementine claimed, riffling through the book she’d snagged from the library. Finding where she’d last stopped reading and cracking open the spine, she leaned back and sighed through her nose. “The other day he told Mitch to ‘take it outside’ if he wasn’t happy with a decision he made.”

“Ah,” Violet hummed, crossing her arms, turning back to her temporary foe. “So you have a death wish. That’s why you’re messing with me.”

Louis smirked, and the smugness from their argument — the one he thought he was winning — continued to seep through. The two often taunted one another in such ways, even if they both knew that often — ie: every day — they fought each other. “No, I just like teasing the people who I know won’t touch me.” He shrugged. “You care about me too much. You’d never fight me.”

Violet smirked. Louis, eyes closed in the midst of gleaming about his strength, didn’t notice.

In a matter of seconds, Violet had him pinned to the floor — a position Louis wailed in as he tried to wriggle his way out.

The front doors of Ericson creaked, but neither of the two squabbling noticed. They were too preoccupied trying to pin the other onto the ground, forcing them to yell ‘uncle.’ Marlon raised a brow, making his way to Clem’s side and setting himself down beside her. “What’s that all about?”

Violet accidentally busted open Louis’ lip due to their wrestling match on the lawn. The one Tenn and AJ had scurried to come see, and the one Clementine had urgently waved them away from. The last thing she wanted was them mimicking the two most energetic and boundary-less teens on the lot.

At dinner that night, Louis groaned and pushed away his plate.

Spotting a few morsels abandoned in his bowl, relatively untouched, Violet smirked and slithered in from across the table. “Can I steal that?”

“No, I’m giving it to Marlon.” Louis said, brushing his fingers over his busted lip.

Violet’s jaw dropped. The pop sound from the separation of her lips caught Louis’ attention. “Why can’t I get it?”

Louis scrunched his nose. “Because Marlon always sacrifices things for us and I wanna give something back?”

Violet raised a brow.

“He’s helping my out with my chore schedule and I owe him one.”

Violet scoffed, the air escaping from her nose as she leaned further back. She sat there, contemplating what to say, and her lips fell. “I see how it is.” She hesitated, letting the both of them well in the silence. “You’re closer with Marlon.”

“What?”

Violet shoved herself up from the table, shooting an intense, deep-seated glare Louis’ way. She hesitated before speaking, rolling her tongue over her dry lips, trying to find the words to toss his way. “Whatever, Louis. If you wanna be all buddy-buddy with Marlon instead of me, fine.”

Louis blinked, watching as she dragged herself around the table, her gaze not leaving his. The rigidness of her body never changed. “Vi, what are you talking about?”

“Save it, Louis.”

He scoffed. “Are you actually mad?” He hesitated, not hearing a response. “You can’t be serious.”

Violet approached him, setting her hands on her hips. Her stare squinted and her glare deepening. They both knew that this time around, the silence was heavier. “You’re right.”

Louis blinked then squinted, trying to read her like a book. Before he could respond or react, Violet snatched the bowl from the table and bolted for the other end of Ericson’s lot, cackling the entire way. Louis blinked, his mind trying to catch up, before he scoffed and shuffled to his feet. “Wait! Vi!”

“Ha!” She scoffed at his call, hearing his voice stumble as he darted after her. “Better catch me if you want your precious Marlon to get it.”

“Ugh, Vi! Come on!”

Clementine learned when the two eventually stumbled back that Violet had not eaten Marlon’s meal. As per usual, she was teasing Louis for the fun of it. “We’ll laugh about it when we get older.” She’d always say. Louis would always roll his eyes, but they both knew she was right.

A few hours later, Louis was messing around in the music room, fiddling with his piano. It was routine these days. When everything was said and done, Louis would tinker around on the piano, maybe spend some time goofing off with Clem and AJ, and then would head to bed.

So, Violet knew exactly where to find him.

In the midst of him playing, Violet peeked in. As suspected, his eyes were closed, letting the music carry him and guide his fingers opposed to his mind directing them. Under that cover, Violet crept in.

Before he had a chance to open his eyes and spot her, Violet slithered forward, smacked the keys on the left half of the instrument, and made a break for the exit.

Louis jumped, the sound slashing him from his creative zone. His frazzled mind catching up with reality, he turned to spot the blonde in the door frame. “Vi!”

“Pretty song,” she said, a smirk forming the giggle that bubbled through.

Louis didn’t wait a moment before he bolted forward after her. In only a minute, he had body-tackled her to Ericson’s hallway floor.

Louis was never worried about roughing around when it came to Violet. He body tackled her, and she punched him more times in a day than either of them could count. They never cared, despite the fact they were constantly littered in bruises.

With his arms locked around her stomach, feeling it bubble with laughter beneath him, Louis knew that Violet was fine.

And he laughed too.

Later that night, when Violet was getting ready to head up for her watchtower shift, Louis stood behind her and cleared his throat.

She turned, raising an eyebrow while staring him down. He was acting weird. Different. Normally if he had something to say to her he would just say it. Why was he staring at her? Why was he silent? “What?” She finally let escape, letting go of the ladder and dismounting her foot.

Louis shrugged, kicking a foot into the dirt. “It’s my watchtower shift too.”

Violet paused, waiting to spot any trace of sarcasm. There was none. “Marlon doesn’t schedule two people at the same time.”

“This time he did.”

Violet blinked, staring him down. Louis didn’t flinch. Over time, Violet came to learn that that was the thing she hated most about Louis — his keen ability to lie without getting caught. He was way too good at it. Scary good. “Louis, what are you--”

“Vi, just go up the ladder. Trust me, alright?” Violet stared at him, as if asking him to question what he was asking of her. He sighed, his shoulders flopping. “Just go.”

She went. Really, she did trust him — more than anyone at Ericson next to Clementine — she just liked teasing him. It was fun to see it work, and their back-and-forth when it didn’t always made her laugh.

Pausing at the top, arms crossed, Violet waited for Louis to flop himself onto their observation deck. Once he did, her shoulders jostled with a scoff. “So? Why did you want to come up here?”

Louis pulled himself to his feet, brushing the dirt off his shirt and jacket before speaking. “What, I can’t just hang out with you? It is my shift too.”

Violet blinked but didn’t flinch.

Louis shrugged, holding his shoulders in their upright position for a beat longer than normal. The move was subtle, but it showed Violet that he was being genuine. “That's it.” He said, loosening them.

“Why?” Violet said. Her arms flopped to her side as she made her way deeper into the platform. She leaned against the back railing — the squeaky flap of wood — and let her arms return to their folded state. “Are you sure you’re not here to apologize for tackling me earlier?”

Louis snorted. “Positive. You deserved it.”

Violet smirked. She totally did, but she’d never confess it. Definitely never to Louis.

“I just wanted to hang out,” he said, plopping himself on the slab of railing beside her. Not close enough to invade her personal space, but close enough.

Violet exhaled through her nose. “You never wanna do that.”

“That’s why I want to start,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “We’re always joking around and hanging out with the rest of the group. Never one-on-one.”

Violet’s smirk, the playful exterior Louis always gave her, fell. The mask dissipated, and instead he was left to see her — the serious her. The real her. “Do we need to?” She asked.

“No,” Louis said, his smile also long gone. His stare wasn’t facing her. His gaze was outcast over the forest, doing what the two of them were actually supposed to be doing. “But you mean a lot to me. And I like hanging out one-on-one with people that mean a lot to me.”

“But why?” She asked, pushing herself off the railing, staring at Louis directly and fully.

His gaze snapped and attached to hers. It didn't hold serious for long. Laying his eyes on her, Louis could help but smile. “Because then I can tell you that you mean a lot to me. I can’t do that in front of the others.”

She blinked, the phrase taking her aback. Her lips parted, but gently this time. It was wildly unlike how they snapped open at dinner. It made Louis fall deeper into his smile. He realized just how many ways he could surprise her. He Realized how many emotions he could invoke by saying the simplest things, and how much power he had over something as fragile as her emotions.

It only reminded him of how badly he never wanted anyone else to have that power over her. People were cruel, and in their world more than ever. Violet had been through too much pain to have someone willingly inflict more on her. If he could have power over her emotions, he wanted to treat them kindly. Like glass.

She knew she had the same power over him. They were equals, and they had always seen each other as such. Maybe that was why their chemistry matched so well — because their sibling comradery never felt unbalanced. They were always transparent and level.

Louis chuckled, Violet’s look of awe fading as her brain snapped her back to reality. “Wanna sit?” Louis questioned, gesturing to the dusty, wooden floor.

Violet glanced at the ground and then at Louis, still reeling in what he had said. “So, you’re really staying for my entire shift?”

Louis smirked and shrugged. “Well, yeah. It’s our shift now.”

Violet leaned her back against the railing again. “So, what are we gonna do?” She asked, sliding herself to the floor.

Louis plopped himself down, more aggressive than how Violet had eased herself. “Just talk. Hang out.”

“Without physically assaulting each other?”

“If possible.”

Violet snorted. “We’ll see about that.”

Louis wanted to know her deeper. More than just as a friend with a sibling rivalry — the one where they wrestled on the lawn and smacked each other upside the head when they said something stupid. That rivalry where they spoke silently through eyebrows across the dinner table.

He wanted them to have something more. Something elaborative. Something that was actively acknowledging just how much joy they brought to the other’s life.

“This is why you gave Marlon you food at dinner, right?” Violet asked, the words sent off into the forest.

She could hear Louis chuckle, finishing it off with a whimsical sigh. “Yeah, you got me.”

All she could do was smile. Louis had a habit for making her do that. ---------♥️♥️♥️----------

[calciseptinefic]

stay (it doesn’t have to hurt)

Gravity Falls || Stanford Pines/Stanley Pines || Part One notes: Written for Summer of Stancest. All my love to Blue, who organized this event, gave me encouragement, and was over-all an amazing human being. ♥ ¶ also available on AO3 warnings: mentions of blood and poverty as a theme

.

The motel television has nine channels and, as he has every day since he arrived in New Mexico, Stan spends his day mindlessly switching back and forth between them. Images shift. Noise fluctuates. It helps him ignore the gnaw of hunger in his belly and the squeeze of anxiety around his lungs. There is no remote. Any time a program becomes unbearable, Stan has to get up and manually change the station.

It does little to ease the restlessness in his stagnant bones.

Eventually—when the heat of the day dissipates into evening, and the setting sun illuminates Stan's room in red—Stan gives up the distraction. He switches the television off and plops back down on the sagging edge of his mattress.

Stares at the matted shag carpet.

Runs a hand over his uncombed, sweat-damp hair.

Sighs softly and—

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Stan's head jerks up. His heart begins to race.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Stan can only think of two people who would visit him at this hour. The first is the owner of the motel, a skeletal man with beady eyes and a bald head. The second is Rico, a man from whom Stan unwisely borrowed money.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

In the sinking pit of his stomach, Stan knows it must be Rico. The motel owner already came by that morning, asking after overdue rent and threatening to get the police involved. All Stan had was a wrinkled five dollar bill, which he handed over; the other man sneered at the last of Stan's money and spat tobacco on the concrete near Stan's feet.

"Ain't worth the phone call," he said before he stalked off.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

"Just give me a few more days, Rico!" Stan shouts as he grabs the baseball bat lying next to his bed. He immediately chokes up on the wooden handle, his knuckles white and bloodless. "I'll pay your goons back, I swear!"

Stan has said the same thing for the past three months. He was lucky, last time, to be sent home with nothing more than a pair of black eyes and a five thousand dollar deadline. He knows he won't be shown the same generosity this time around, but if Rico and his lackeys are expecting him to go down without a fight, they are in for a very rude awakening.

A second passes.

Two.

Yet instead of the telltale sound of the door being kicked in, there is the simple, metallic whisper of the mail slot. A single piece of cardstock falls to the floor. It seems innocuous, but Stan has been on the wrong side of business long enough to know that a bullet may follow.

A minute passes.

Two.

With the bat clutched in one hand, Stan gets up and creeps towards the door. He tries to keep his footsteps silent and his breathing even, but his movements seem thunderously loud in the still quiet of the room. Slowly… slowly… slowly he bends, pinches the postcard between his fingers, and—

swiftly and without finesse—

Stan sprints back to the safety of his unmade bed.

When nothing continues to happen, Stan inhales deeply and lets go of the tension in his shoulders. Then he looks at the postcard. The front is a generic picture of a forest, coniferous and verdant, complete with a perfect blue sky and a waterfall. The center of the card is dominated by a bold font that entreats:

VISIT SCENIC GRAVITY FALLS OREGON

Stan raises an eyebrow. He's been to all forty-eight contiguous states, seven Canadian provinces, and every country between Mexico and Columbia, but he's never heard of a place called Gravity Falls. It's probably some small, backwater podunk, he deduces before he flips it over. Who the hell—

PLEASE COME!!!, the postcard reads

- FORD, the postcard is signed.

A storm of emotions travels through Stan at the sight of those three words, hastily written and underscored thrice. Rage is the easiest to recognize because of course Ford contacts him when he's in trouble. It was just like Ford to turn to Stan and expose his vulnerability when the going got tough; Stan could never say no to Ford's big blue eyes—or, in this case, his tremulous scrawl—and Ford knew it. He knew that Stan wouldn't be able to ignore a such a summons. Unconsciously or not, Ford was using the fact of Stan's loyalty to his advantage.

"Fuckin' typical," Stan spits. The postcard strains in his hands and, for a moment, Stan contemplates ripping the damn paper in half.

He doesn't.

Instead, Stan's anger dims, his grip on the postcard loosens, and worry edges in. For such a smart guy, Ford could sometimes be an unbelievable idiot, frequently letting his curiosity overrule his common sense. He was never incompetent nor was he liable to do something he didn't want to, either, so ff he needs help, and is willing to ask Stan after ten years of silence, then he's probably way in over his head.

Goddamn, Stan thinks as he reads the plea again. Ten fuckin' years.

This is sorrow. It is a heavy thing, bone-deep and pervasive, and unlike his other feelings, Stan always carries it with him. Part of it is due to the unexpected turn his life took—Stan never planned on being estranged and homeless—but a majority of it comes from losing the one thing he always thought he'd have.

The other half of him.

His brother.

Ford.

Stan exhales shakily. Rubs the damp off his skin with his callused fingertips. Looks down at the card in his hand for the thousandth time since he picked it up and traces the lines with his eyes.

P-L-E-A-S-E-C-O-M-E-!-!-! -F-O-R-D

The last thing Stan feels that night is resignation.

.

In the morning twilight, when the desert sky is a wash of pale rose and gray, Stan leaves Dead End Flats with a single suitcase full of clothes and a wooden baseball bat. Dust kicks up behind the wheels of the El Diablo, billowing up behind him like clouds. He grits his teeth at the obviousness.

An hour passes.

Stan drives with his heart in his throat. He constantly checks his rearview mirror to see if he's being followed. He is less concerned about skipping his dues on the motel owner and more concerned about Rico and his network of sour-faced lackeys.

Another hours passes.

The sun rises high enough over the horizon to turn everything yellow and brown.

Three hours later, suburbs begin to bloom in the red sand. Houses spread inward, becoming denser and denser until they rise into the city of Albuquerque. Gaudy skyscrapers made of steel and glass glitter like diamonds amid the tired landscape. Stan would be impressed if he hadn't learned to hate cities after spending a long winter dodging cops in Columbus, Ohio.

Albuquerque fades quickly.

The desert looms.

San Ysidro. La Jara. Counselor. Nageezi. Farmington.

As he nears the border between New Mexico and Arizona, Stan keeps an eye out for a medium-sized town with a gas station slash diner. He finds one right out of Shiprock, pulls in, and fills his tank among a slew of vacationing families and grizzled truckers. He brings his enormous, dog-eared road map into the diner with him, and grins when he's seated at a booth instead of the counter.

"A pot of coffee," he tells his waitress, a woman several years his senior. Her dark hair is pulled into a fraying bun and there is a huge ketchup stain along her sleeve. She keeps glancing at the toddler two booths down, a small monster who is smearing mac-n-cheese across the table. "And the number seven, and a cherry pie milkshake."

When Stan gets his double bacon burger, fries, and shake, he devours it. He hasn't eaten in nearly three days and the uncomfortable bloat of fullness is a welcome change to the scratch of emptiness.

"Check?" the waitress asks when she comes to collect his plate.

"More coffee, please," Stan replies, gesturing to the road map opened in front of him. "Need to decide where to go next."

Her returning nod is harried and her eyes remain on the toddler. The unruly child has recently graduated from wiping his food on the table to throwing handfuls on the floor and giggling.

It doesn't take Stan long to map out the next leg of his journey. The quickest route to Oregon is to take U.S. Route 191 through Utah, but in order reach said route, Stan needs to either continue west into Arizona or head north into Colorado. The problem arises from the fact that Stan has outstanding arrest warrants in both states. The Arizona detour is shorter, but the charges—

Two booths down, the waitress tries to tell the toddler's parents to control their son's behavior. The father does not take this well and begins to shout.

That's my cue, Stan thinks.

And as the rest of the diner turns to watch the waitress and the father get into a screaming match about appropriate child care, Stan drains the last of his coffee, rolls up his travel atlas, and walks out the front door without spending a dime.

.

Stan heads west into Arizona and spends fifty uncomfortable minutes on Route 64. He passes Teec Nos Pos then turns north at Red Mesa. By the time he crosses the Utah border, he has seen a grand total of seven other cars.

Bluff. Monticello. Moab. Price.

Utah is made of the same red-brown dirt and pale green scrub that is present in New Mexico, and after twelve hours on the road, Stan isn't paying as much attention to the road as he should be. This is why he panics when a mule deer appears suddenly in front of him; he inhales sharply, slams on the breaks, and knocks his nose hard against the leather steering wheel.

"Shit!" Stan curses loudly, clutching his face. Unhurt, the deer prances off. "Shit—fuck—ow, ow, ow!"

Blood leaks warm onto Stan's hand as he pulls over onto the gravel shoulder and parks. He reaches blindly into the back seat, grabs the first thing that feels like a t-shirt, and waits for the bleeding to stop. It takes several minutes. The numbing flush of adrenaline wears off before Stan pulls the worn cotton away.

"Goddamnit," Stan curses when he sees that he managed to grab his last good button down. Blood blooms vivid across a stretch of pale blue, like the desert sun setting west on the winter horizon, and not all of it was captured. Stan's hand is smeared pink and huge drops fell on his t-shirt, where his belly swells fat beneath the fabric. "God fuckin' damn it."

Stan's only stroke of luck is that his nose is not broken. It's tender, so much so that he hisses as he gingerly taps the bridge, but he knows this from vast experience that the bone is intact.

Once Stan cleans as much of his blood up as he can, he gets out of the car and pulls his shirt over his head. It is colder than he expects. The chill hits him hard and his teeth immediately begin to chatter. It's pathetic for a man who was New Jersey born and bred, but Stan has spent the last four years in the deep south and beyond; even in the middle of winter, it was an easy fifty degrees in New Mexico.

Utah is much colder.

Stan quickly stashes his bloodied shirts in the trunk, then grabs his suitcase out of the backseat. There is nothing warm inside. Stan curses as he grabs his least stained article of clothing, a once white shirt that's gray with age and yellow under the pits. It smells like aged leather and stale sweat. Unpleasant. He pulls it over his head. Ignores the stench. Gets back in the El Diablo and cranks up the heat. Stan shivers. It is only going to get colder the further north he goes and he doesn't have a coat, or gloves, or a hat.

Or money.

He looks up at the picture of Ford he keeps above him. Ford smiles so hard it is nearly a grimace and Stan beams. Stan remembers how Ford felt tucked against his side, warm and pliant, both when the picture was taken and later that night when Ford crept into the bottom bunk.

Stan sighs.

"The things I do for you, Sixer," he mutters, and gets back on the road.

.

Colton. Soldier Summit. Tucker.

Mapleton. Springville.

Provo. Orem. Pleasant Grove.

Salt Lake City.

Stan stops as at every gas station he sees. His tank is running towards low, but he never fuels up. Instead, he scrounges for fallen change: for pennies turned black, for scratched nickels, for thin dimes worn flat, for rare and defaced quarters. He hates the pitying looks he gets when he scavenges and ignores them the best he can, hunched against the deepening cold.

Woods Cross. Bountiful. Centerville.

Another Farmington.

Kaysville. Layton. Clearfield. Roy.

Stan's pockets are full and the El Diablo is empty when he pulls into the parking lot of a darkened thrift store. It's midnight. His eyes itch. He's hungry. He's thirsty. He's cold. He grabs the remaining clothes out of his suitcase and piles them atop his body in an attempt to shield himself from the night. He thinks, This ain't got nothin' on Ohio, and pushes his seat back as far as it will go.

Closes his eyes.

And sleeps fitfully till the morning sun breaks white and weak over the pavement.

.

Stan has been to hundreds of thrift shops in the past ten years and he has never understood how they can all smell the same. Like a pair of old shoes and an abandoned house and musty clothes, faint and all at once, familiarity edged with disquiet.

He hates it.

Walking through the racks, Stan searches for the heaviest coat he can find. The best options are long gone, however, picked out before winter could reach its brutal peak, and Stan ends up with three hangers. The first is a heavy leather bomber with no visible tears and a soft collar; the second is a wool peacoat that falls to his knees; and the third is a red parka lined with synthetic fur.

Stan tries the peacoat on first. It's a size too small, unable to stretch over his shoulders and the thickness of his waist, and the fabric smells like spoiled milk. Stan wrinkles his nose as he takes it off and puts it back on the hanger. The peacoat is a definite no.

Next, Stan tries on the leather jacket. It fits well. Really well. So well that Stan takes a peek at himself in the dingy mirror at the end of the makeshift aisle. He looks big, yes, but in a good way: brawny instead of fat, rugged instead of homeless, nineteen instead of thirty-one. Unfortunately, Stan's vanity cannot give the leather jacket another layer of needed insulation, nor can it lower the price tag that reflects its good condition. So he sighs, takes it off, and ignores the sting of want.

The last coat is Stan's best option. It's heavy, it has a hood, and there aren't any rips or thin patches of fabric. The zipper pulls up smoothly. Indeed, the only detriments are the motor oil stains on the shoulder, sleeve, and hem, but the faint scent of detergent Stan smells means that the parka was obviously washed before being donated.

Stan hasn't done laundry in months.

Decided, Stan then searches the store for some gloves. He can't find any. Instead, he finds a hat and a matching pair of mittens; all three pieces are dark and smell like damp, but Stan needs them. The El Diablo's heat can be intermittent in the extreme cold—often not working at all—and it hurts Stan's hands to hold a frozen leather steering for long periods of time.

"Better than nothin'," Stan tells himself before he scoops up the hat and mittens and heads up to the front of the store. He goes to the only cashier working, a reedy teenage boy with a thin face, a thin mouth, and a thin mustache. Skinny doesn't greet him, merely begins to punch in the prices after Stan sets his stuff down.

"Seven fifty," he intones when he's finished bundling everything into a plastic shopper.

Stan digs in his pockets. Dumps all his dirty change on the counter. Skinny exhales through his nose in irritation at the small pile, but says nothing as he sorts the coins and adds them to his till: quarters first, then dimes, then nickels, then pennies.

"You owe forty-three cents," Skinny says.

Stan is too tired to argue. Too tired to be sarcastic. He just shrugs and says, "S'all I got, kiddo."

For the first time since Stan walked up, the teenager lifts his gaze from the counter and looks at Stan. Stan has no illusions about what the kid sees. He's a fat, middle-aged man with an uncombed mullet, bags under his eyes, and a gross t-shirt. Skinny probably sees someone like Stan every time he works. Sees the symptoms of poverty—the weary slump, the flat eyes, the resignation—

Skinny closes the drawer and hands Stan his purchases.

"Have a good day," Skinny says.

"Yeah," Stan gruffs. "You too."

.

Stan dons his new coat in the parking lot. Tosses the hat and mittens onto the passenger seat. Starts the El Diablo and freezes when it takes a moment for the engine to respond. Thanks a god he never believed in when a familiar rumble fills his ears.

"Halfway there," Stan tells the dashboard. "Just one more day."

The fuel gauge sits dangerously low until Stan can find a small, slow gas station at the edge of town. The attendant manning the till inside looks up and waves. Stan returns the gesture with a smile before he fills his tank.

Stan looks up. The attendant waves again. Stan smiles again even as unease begins to prickle beneath his skin. He needs the attendant to be distracted so he can drive away without the police being called or his license plate number being taken down. Thankfully, most people are easily bored, and Stan only needs to spend a few minutes cleaning out his car for the attendant's attention to turn elsewhere.

Ha! Stan crows silently as he slips into his car. Gotcha!

And a minute later, when the attendant looks up from her big book of crosswords, the only thing left outside will be a bin full of garbage.

.

Willard. Brigham City. Tremonton.

The earth turns tan. Naked aspens and thin pines sprout out of the ground between knee-high shrubs. Little towns with names like Blue Creek and Snowville pop up and disappear faster than Stan can blink.

Less than two hours after Stan has left Ogden, he crosses the border into Idaho.

Juniper. Sublett. Cotterel. Burley.

By the time Stan hits Twin Falls, the temperate drops below freezing.

King Hill. Chalk Cut.

Mountain Home.

Mayfield.

By the time Stan hits Boise, he sees snow for the first time in years. The heat of the desert has softened his remembrance of it, made him forget how deceiving it was, how pervasive. White flakes falls from an unchanging gray sky and build on the black pavement of western-winding interstate. He skids twice on unseen ice and nearly ends up in a ditch before he remembers to mind his lead foot.

Nampa. Caldwell.

Then a green sign says in white: Welcome to Oregon.

.

Vale.

The towns begin to shrink—the towns begin to s t r e t c h—

Harper.

The towns begin to hide behind the boughs of dense conifers—to peek through the skeletal branches of sleeping deciduous trees—

Juntura.

The towns begin to whisper secrets in the stillness—

.

WELCOME TO GRAVITY FALLS

.

part two

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[dubredofanfics]

Six Years

Part 4 - First Dance

This is the fourth time Leni rejected Digong's invitation for a dinner. She did have valid reasons and excuses but it was just inevitable for Digong to feel a bit down about her. He courted several girls way back before and when they get to reject him for over two times, he just give up as he sees it as an indirect way of the girls to say I don't like you.

"Digong, anong balita?" Bong asked as he was eager to know if he was able to ask Leni to come with him on Dureza's birthday. "Kay Leni?" He followed.

"Ah? Ah." Digong replied. "Di ko pa natanong, malamang naman di yun pwede." He sounded so cynical. "Di niyo pa nga natatanong, hihindi agad? Tanong niyo muna." He cheered him up. "Sus, busy yon. Alam mo naman, minsan nga di ko masabi kung okay lang ba talaga sakanya yung agreement. Parang umiiwas nga siya, mas okay pa yata yung noon." Digong confided.

"Eh... try mo lang Digong. Baka naninibago lang." Bong countered and handed his phone. Digong sighed.

Leni was slouching at her chair in her office taking a break from her stressful work. She suddenly thought about Digong whom she rejected for so many times due to Bolet's cautions.

Sana man lang makabawi ako. Ilang beses ko na siya tinuturn down.

She spoke to herself as she gazed into the Ecuadorian rose that he gave her. She swiped her phone, she didn't have definite reason why, she just felt like she's expecting something she can't determine what.

Her phone rang startling her for a moment.

Digong calling...

It was probably what she was expecting for. She took a deep breath before she answered his call.

It was the third ring already, Digong felt like she won't be picking it up but surprisingly, she did on the fourth ring.

"Hello?" She answered. "Hello? Hello ma'am?" Digong replied. "Napatawag po kayo?" "Ah, sorry, may ginagawa ka ba?" He replied. "Ay, wala po. Wala naman. Okay lang po. Ano po ba yon?" She answered.

"Oh, tanong ko lang sana mam kung pwede ka bukas ng gabi. I hope I could bring you with me sa birthday ni Dureza." He courageously invited but he already set himself for another rejection from her. "Parang date ba, mam. Kung okay lang naman." He followed, it took her a while before she replied.

Bong looked at him hopeful to witness him being accepted by Leni.

Digong's heart broke as she didn't express her response right away, "Okay lang mam kung may gagawin ka naman. I was just hoping—"

"Sige, sir." She interjects startling him largely. "Uy!" Bong exclaimed as he heard her over the loud speaker.

"Seryoso mam?" Digong replied. "Yes sir. Bukas diba? Pwede naman ako." She finally found a way to make it up to him. Bong felt even more anticipated.

"Yes mam. Bukas ng gabi mga 7PM. Sunduin kita sa office mo mam?" He asked. "Sige, sir. Hihintayin ko nalang kayo bukas." She replied. "Okay mam. Sige mam. See you." He bid before their conversation ended.

Digong looked at Bong with so much surprise in his face. "Oh diba! Pumayag si babe mo, Digong!" Bong couldn't feel more excited for them.

"Di ko inakala. Kala ko irereject ako ulit." He stated. "Sunduin ko siya bukas sa office niya bukas mga 6 siguro." He followed. "Sige, Digong. Nakakaexcite 'to." Bong replied.

Leni picked a nice dress in the morning, a dresss suitable for the day and for Dureza's birthday before she headed to her office. It may appear unusual to her but a part of her felt excited to go to an event as Digong's date, hence, another part of her felt anxious as Bolet still haven't expressed his complete approval about it. She informed him about, her, going to the party as Digong's date so that he won't have to hear it from the other people.

The time passed by, Leni fixed herself, Digong arrived at her office around six to fetch her.

"Digong," she uttered upon seeing him. A sudden bliss in her heart sprouted as she saw him. "Hi mam—"

She kissed his cheek as a greeting; it startled him in a snap. "Ah... okay ka na mam? Pwede na?" He stammered. "Sige po. Okay na po." She nodded and walked by his side to his van.

He assisted her as she entered the car.

My God, I'm holding her hand.

He's holding my hand.

It was bizarrely a big deal to them but they kept it to themselves.

"Mam, salamat pala sa pagpayag." Digong stated as their mobile began to run. She smiled at him.

She kept checking her phone waiting for Bolet's response as she wanted to have a peace of mind and enjoy the evening with Digong too but Bolet didn't reply at all.

"Mam?" Digong extended his hand to her as they arrived at the event. It was very gentleman of him. As Leni went down the car, she was somehow blinded by the media surrounding outside the vestibule. Digong made sure he instructed the PSGs well to keep them off them as they enter the place.

The door closed shut next to them separating them from the cameras. He looked at her and saw the anxiety on her face. "Okay ka lang mam?" He asked. "Ha? Oo naman." She forced a smile but deep inside, she worried that the media might have took photos of them together and Bolet might see it on the public TV.

They walked further and began to greet their friends and colleagues — greeted Dureza a happy birthday.

They began to eat their dinner through a buffet, Digong assisted Leni and made sure she gets to eat what she wants. "May green tea cupcakes doon, kakalagay lang." He informed her as he went back to the table from the buffet. "Talaga? Saan?" She sounded so hyped. "Gusto mo mam?" He asked. "Oo, saan ba?" She replied.

"Kuha nalang kita," he stood up and took a few for her so she won't have to walk back and forth in heels. "Thank you, sir. Nakakahiya naman." She uttered. "Sus, Leni. Di naman big deal yan. You're my date, I should be serving you." He retorted making her blush.

"Asus, ang sweet naman." Martin pointed out before he greeted them. "Hi!" They replied upon seeing him. "Hello!"

"Buti nakarating kayo?" He asked. "Eh..." Digong sustained, "Buti nadala mo si Leni?" He followed, she chuckled. "Ano na ba?" Martin teased.

"Martin, ikaw ha?" She interrupts. "Nililigawan ka na ba ni Digong?" He asked her. "Uy!" She exclaimed feeling a bit shy to Digong, he chuckled. "Tagal na, siya lang naman may ayaw." Digong joins. "Sobra naman!" Leni defends playfully. "Ano lang... taking things slowly. Grabe kayo saakin." She added.

After a while, Dureza and his wife occupied the dance floor for a happy dance followed by a slow one. Leni watched the couple dance sweetly, she couldn't help but smile — it was very sweet of them, they look so in love. As she watched them dance, Digong watched her smile. It was a view that he always loved to see, a view he wouldn't get tired to stare at.

After the song for Dureza and his wife ended, the host began inviting the guests to join the two on stage for some sweet dance. They all brought their partners on stage, Leni felt a bit conscious, Digong had a second thought about asking Leni for a dance as he didn't want to oblige her or make her feel uncomfortable at anyway possible.

Dureza laid an eye on Digong and Leni left behind sitting alone on a banquet table. "Bakit hindi sumayaw yung dalawa?" He asked Yasay. "Di ko nga alam diyan kay Digong, ayaw pa yayain." He replied. Dureza knew he has to make them dance but he also considered how Digong loses guts when it comes to Leni.

He whispered and instructed his host.

"Okay! May we call on our president..." The host took their attention amidst the dancing. Leni felt a bit bothered as she is about to be left behind on the table.

"... and his stunning date slash vice slash girl, Ms. Leni Robredo." The host continued slightly surprising the two. "Ha? Ako?" Leni whispered and looked at Digong but they were both clueless of why they were called.

"Our birthday celebrant wants you on the dance floor with them." The host stated.

Digong looked at Leni, "Mam?" He asked for her permission, she smiled. "Okay lang ba isayaw ka?" He asked. "Opo naman," she replied lightly. She strangled her hand on his arm as they walked to the dancefloor to join the couples.

They stood face to face, Digong took her hands and placed it on his shoulders. "Okay lang mam?" He asked for her permission before he held her waists, she nodded. The beginning appeared so awkward but it was inevitable for them not to find it so sweet and romantic.

Smile won't leave their lips as they danced with the symphony of the orchestra playing Love Me Like You Do.

"Mam, kung di ka comportable sabihin mo lang, we can sit." He stated. "Okay lang, sir. Okay lang." She made sure he won't feel like she's not enjoying the moment. He pursed his lips and gazed at her.

"You're very beautiful," He complimented making her blush. "Thank you, sir. Nakakahiya." She gushed slightly. "Sus, totoo naman." He chuckled and continued gazing at her, he looked back at him and smiled.

"Kunwari pang mga ayaw magsayaw!" Dureza interrupts the intimate moment as they moved closer to them. "Napakaganda ni Leni oh," His wife pointed out. "Kaya naman pala ang lakas ng tama nitong si Digong." She added, Leni giggled in flattery.

Leni couldn't explain what she was feeling as her hands draped on his shoulders and his hands cupped her waist so gently. Butterflies swarmed her stomach, her feet felt so light and her surroundings slowed down. It was so romantic. Little did she know that Digong felt the same way that very moment, he wished that it won't end.

She felt so intoxicated, she took a deep breath and crossed her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder bringing their bodies closer to each other.

"Salamat, sir." She uttered. "For bringing me here." She followed. "Basta ikaw mam." He replied next to her ears.

After a while, Leni moved her head causing them to exchange a sentimental stare that they barely noticed how their lips were just about an inch away from each other for quite a moment. Leni swallowed a lump on her throat as she looked at him in the eye. Their bodies froze like it was less than zero degrees, nothing seemed to matter than their presence.

But the music suddenly stopped causing a interruption to this intimate moment that they shared. They both looked at the sound system area.

The song just ended.

They looked at each other again awkwardly. "Uhm..." Leni uttered and smiled awkward at him. "Upo na tayo, sir?" She invited, "Ah, okay sige." He replied and walked by her side back to their seats.

Their friends smirked at them after seeing that moment. Leni pursed her lips to suppress her blushing smile.

Throughout the evening, Digong and Leni stole glances at each other, yet, they avoided talking about that sweet moment they just shared earlier to not make things awkward between them.

This evening together, this first date and this first dance they had appeared to be a turning point for them. Ever since this evening, they began to feel more comfortable with each other, they feared less to initiate an interaction and the beginning of affection sprouted.