#[ cyrus: accidental cult member ]

[leggerefiore]

Headcanons for (Pokémon) Cyrus, Grimsley, Grusha, and Larry with shy s/o?

anon did u figure out my interest in pretty men and know I like grusha lmao

also first time writing for him so it might suck😔

characters: Cyrus, Grimsley, Larry, Grusha

---

🌌Cyrus🛰

☄️ Honestly bad at handling it. He already struggles with emotions as is, and is not sure how to deal with your obvious discomfort in a lot of social situations. Cyrus would probably accidentally make your shyness worse. He can talk about things with his odd charisma that somehow got him an entire bowl-cut cult, but he isn't sure how to handle your more reserved behaviour. The leader unexpectedly gets scolded by Mars and Jupiter about needing to be more aware.

☄️ He doesn't like to go out to places with many people, excluding the Galactic HQ. Places like Sinnoh's ancient ruin sights aren't exactly attracting a large crowds. So, in a way, he tries with that. Of course, in situations where you get taken to places with many people, he may forget your discomfort and meekness. You will have to ask for your own ketchup in restaurants. He will apologise if it obviously upset you, but this is aiding in his belief that emotions are useless by seeing you like this.

☄️ If your shyness leads to initiating of affections in your relationship with him, he will never initiate. Well, there are a few exceptions when he does (a long tiring day at “work”, when he feels vulnerable, when an odd loneliness eats at him), but he does not see the point in it unless you start it. His usual scowl certainly does not help with bravely getting a hug from him. Don't be afraid, however, at worst he will just stand there with strong indifference. (He does enjoy it.)

☄️ Overall, probably not the best with a shy partner, but he does try. Somewhat. Numerous discussions are probably required, but he does understand the urge to be more reserved around people. He just isn't a very emotional, comforting type who is aware of how to handle people. He does care; he is just bad at showing it.

♠️Grimsley❤️

♤ He actually might laugh at your more reserved nature. The elite four member is known to be a bit of a tease and somewhat cruel. He does, however, try to help you with it. People are hard at times, he gets it. While has the amazing ability to really understand body language due to his love of gambling, not everyone does. He can read your tense shoulders and obvious curling into yourself with ease. This is when the teasing comes alongside his aide.

♡ His favourite places to go are bustling and social heavy, so he wonders how to take you out to places you can both enjoy. He does not want to keep forcing you into uncomfortable situations in which you may not enjoy yourself, after all. Grimsley settles on things like cat cafés and city walks as a good in-between. There are other people around for him to observe and degrees of separation involved to keep you from having to force yourself out in the open too much. Unlike Cyrus, he may or may not order for you, too, if you are struggling too much. It's a coin-flip. Literally.

◇ If you are more reserved in your relationship, he views you like a shy Purrloin. He quite literally says as much. Even if you struggle to initiate affection, he can easily slither his arms around you for a hug and tease you about how obvious it was that you wanted to cuddle. Much like a cat, he gets you to a point where you can easily come to him for affection. He's smug about how he helped get you over it, though. Be warned.

♧ Grimsley is a bit mean, but he does mean to help you. He wants you to come out of your shell more but respects how difficult that can be for you. If ever does anything that is genuinely too much and upsets you, he instantly shifts from his smug persona into a softer, more apologetic one. He cares a lot, actually. You may find your shyness eased quite a bit by the gambler.

💼Larry🏢

🍙 He is uncertain. His overworked brain ponders how to handle your more reserved nature. His job(s) requires him to deal with countless people. Even extremely difficult people. He shudders at the thought of his boss. The ordinary everyman understands why one would want to be more reserved completely. Larry decides to mostly help you in whichever way seems best for the situation you are in.

🍙 While his favourite date locations are the restaurants are Medali, he can forfeit it easily for evenings in. He has seen your obvious reservation in social situations and doesn't want you to be forced out into a lot and run out your social battery. Though, should you both end out at a restaurant together, he does help a lot. Larry can talk for you if needed, or just be silent support. He gets it. If you want to come out of your shell more, he encourages you in a subtle way.

🍙 If you are reserved in your relationship, he finds himself at an impasse. He struggles to be overly affectionate himself. It will be an extremely awkward thing if you both want to cuddle, but neither wants to initiate it. Larry will force himself to get over it and start it, eventually. Tired man does really hope you can get to a point where you initiate it on your own, though. If you do, you get a rare Larry smile and contented sigh from the man.

🍙 He is the best at giving subtle comfort and picking up on things easily, but not so much at helping your shyness. He understands being reserved, too. You can be an awkward pair. Together. A perfect match.

🏔Grusha🏂

❄️ He might take it the wrong way, honestly. Grusha is always in a bit of a mood. When he realises you are actually struggling, he has a moment of feeling like a dick and being annoyed. Your meeker nature is something he can't wrap his head around. Well, he gets it. Grusha likes you, though, so he bravely swallows back his feelings and tries to figure out how to best work with you on this. He recalls how people treated him after his accident. Yeah, he gets it a bit. (He is going back and forth on his feelings, like many things.)

❄️ Lucky for you, he doesn't really like overly busy places for dates. He mostly prefers walks alone with you on the mountains. Grusha likes it just being you two, since it gives him time to get away from his position as gym leader. If you both do end up at a place with people, he does turn full “they asked for no pickles” for you. Grusha will handle conversations if you don't want to. His icy demeanour does hold a certain softer side under it. He doesn't like seeing you uncomfortable, especially at the hands of another. He does try to encourage you to better stand up for yourself, though.

❄️ If you are shy about affections in your relationship, he debates how to go about this. See, he thinks initiating cuddling is a bit uncool. He finds roundabout ways to get you to initiate, but if that fails, he does eventually give in and starts off affection. In a way, he does help you get over your shyness about cuddling and kissing, since he manages to get over his obvious struggles about starting it himself. Not to mention, he's a great cuddler.

❄️ Overall, he struggles with your shyness but does try to help you since he doesn't like you being upset and uncomfortable. Grusha does try to help you better come out of your shell, though. He just isn't the best with words or helping. The snowboarder cares about you a lot, but he just is terribly awkward in his own way.

[dispatches-from-the-lorecord]

Time to meet the rest of the Gauntlet kids!

[February 3, 2023, third part of this conversation]

{Krizste:}

quick rapid fire me the other crazy kids

{Haji:}

N / Nia I'd feel awkward doing a rapid fire for because I only really know my lore for them 😂

But a few things of note:

- She's sometimes called "The Wurm Queen" because early on we had like three notable Wurmple before settling on one that became a Dustox and made it to the Hall of Fame

- Her relationship with Norman is usually portrayed as pretty friendly. This incarnation of him is awkward and doesn't know how to dad, but that's okay because she's such a nature girl she doesn't come home often either. They care but... They're just friends.

- In BB2 because of the mod, all of the Hoenn leaders showed up like you guys saw in Volt White 2. There were jokes that as leader of the region, she probably brought them all with her to help with whatever is going on in BB2.

Some lore has her as literally N since it's her name so she's able to talk to Pokemon and is seriously a Disney princess but much like N, that doesn't mean she won't kick ass if she sees Pokemon being abused.

Her Aggron was named ATM and is sometimes portrayed as a literal machine 😂

Also like with N we seemed to change our team after every town but around Slateport is when we started to stabilize. Possibly because Team Aqua made it clear she needed a set team to take on these guys as her usual "whatever is in the area works" tactic wasn't good for dealing with serious criminals

This sometimes causes her to butt heads with Izzy.

Isabelle Bow aka Ice has a few interpretations for her

All of them have her being a studious and relatively serious young lady though. She's very no nonsense to a point where the main joke with her is her post game team had Giratina, Dialga and Arceus and she totally doesn't believe in gods (despite accidentally creating one in the form of God Fish)

So different lore branches

- The bow aspect made her a contest star and she'll be happy to show that frilly girly girls can still beat your ass.

- A big part of her skepticism is because she works as a paranormal investigator and is out to prove none of this hocus pocus actually exists

- A member of the Interpol on Galactic's trail. Undercover name is Ice while her rival Diamond is more of a friendly fellow agent keeping each other up to speed and up to snuff because these space men are no joke.

- .... Possibly all of the above are true with her being a paranormal investigator who does contests between projects and was recently enlisted by the Interpol to help due to her expertise on disbanding cults if she can just prove Cyrus and this whole 'new world order" is a fraud

The blonde hair in her design came up because the last Animal Crossing game had just been released and people made the connection to the adorable dog secretary Isabel. Combine that with the meme of Isabel and the Doom Guy are friends and she occasionally goes into the Doom world to hunt and stress relief and welp :tppWowee:

Didn't help that we had a Torterra named BFG

Which could be Big Friendly Giant, but also had some portrayals that the tree on its back is a BIG FREAKIN GUN 😂

{Mitzi:}

yes, yes, i should be in bed. quick personal gauntlet kid characterisations:

red: obsessive antisocial glitchmancer/hacker who discovered his original timeline self started an apocalypse cult at age 10 and has never been quite the same since. is exactly as Like That as red and abe, but don’t tell him that

dipper: just wanted to look at plants and it all got a bit out of hand. token sane guy, probably the closest they have to a leader, poor kid

n: n. smiles serenely, befriends eldritch abominations, obeys no law of god or man, possibly immortal. extremely good at wrecking everything while remaining kind and enthusiastic throughout

izzy: discovered she lived in a lovecraft short story and immediately started investing in legendaries. won’t back down, won’t take no for an answer, won’t admit she might not actually be able to do something

reese: flamboyant dresses, acting stardom, and also maybe some plot if she absolutely has to. fought iris purely to steal her dress

esther: look she’s 9. likes hats and (association) football, is friends with an eldritch horror but that’s basically the most unusual thing about her. gonna grow up into an absolutely terrifying adult though, no question

BONUS:

team release the fossil gods: n, esther (kinda)

team do not release the impossibly ancient lovecraftian deities, they will literally destroy the world: red, izzy (when she doesn’t have more pressing things to worry about)

team please stop fighting: dipper

team you literally could not pay me to care about this: reese

{Krizste:}

{Haji:}

But yeah, so the longer version with Reese is Red0 is trying to be edgy and chaotic and darkness and stuff, Reese is literally a natural. Not even trying. S/he ignores the plot in favor of whatever has caught their interest at the time, which ended up being the first (?) Unova host to 100% the PokeStar Studios.

- Also the game did something weird where we got Darkrai to appear before the post game and it became our ace for that run.

- Reese loved fashion and bright lights, I think they'd get along with Yuu in the worst ways possible. Reese doesn't do explosions though, but would probably enjoy the flair if running the catwalk with pyrotechnics.

- There were questions about the relationship with Darkrai, whether Reese was being puppeted for dark purposes or if Reese was the bad influence and now Darkrai is a big name director making some of the worst movies but we love them anyway. Either way, we think the other hosts may have shown up in the post game because Reese was perceived as a threat whether they actually are or not.

{Krizste:}

{Mitzi:}

HOW BAD EACH GAUNTLET KID WOULD BE TO FIGHT, FROM MOST SURVIVABLE TO LEAST:

reese: a lot more collected than her gender presentation would imply, and if you did actually manage to piss her off her immediate recourse would be mean girls bullshit. if you do get into a pokemon battle with her, beware: her signature strategy is cheese

esther: her being friends with a fossil god comes up less often than you might think, she prefers to fight her own battles. if you do manage to hurt her badly enough though, there is that small omnipresent all-but-omnipotent sentient-piece-of-the-universe wrinkle to worry about

izzy: big jump here. izzy’s hobby is strat-o-matic-ing battles with universe-devouring lovecraftian monsters, cross her and you’re basically doomed. best you can hope for is register as an insignificant enough threat she’ll forget you exist after dealing with you

red: look the thing about glitchmancers is that they’re only moderately in control of their crazy powers at the best of times, and sometimes red will even admit that. he’ll either ignore you or make you wish you’d never been born, and you’ll probably not know which is which until all your insides have been swapped with chewing gum

n: oh god. n is even harder to piss off than reese but makes up for that by being (1) an ambiguously human unaging immortal of unclear origin and powers with friends in some very high places and (2) completely unpredictable in every possible way. n follows n rules, n does whatever they want, and n’s been known to bring regions to their knees. i’m honestly not sure what they’re capable of, but i’m sure it’s Bad

dipper: is he hiding some sort of secret rage mode superpower or angsty superpowered dark side? nah. dipper is exactly as kind-hearted and harmless as he appears, a true sunshine boy. you’d have to be a real tool to even think about hurting him

you know who agrees with me about this assessment?

the other gauntlet kids

{Haji:}

The question seems to imply you've already pissed them off, so for me it goes Esther, N, Red0, Dippy, Reese, Izzy. But as you said, the problem with some of these is they aren't so quick to attack. Esther is more likely to get in a fight than Reese, but the image of Dippy being the worst one to upset is because the others will all jump you is amazing 😂

I still find it hilarious with Dippy too because I'm sure most Trainers would look at the squad and go "Go for the tree hugger! He's the weak link!" And then Dippy has a fucking bear and steel giant and other things they probably weren't expecting a simple botanist to have :OMEGALUL:

YOU COME FOR THE TREES, YOU DEAL WITH THE FOREST

Oh and I will note in the branching lore for Reese to save on future confusion, some will say girl, some will say guy so decide your own pronouns. Reese may actually not have any

Or all

That's just a very Reese thing to do

{Krizste:}

reese pronown officially Thon

:^>

{Haji:}

I think I actually remember us joking at one point about Reese trying to physically hold all the pronouns. 😂

{Krizste:}

reese going to abooth with pronown stickers/badges and taking them all and decroating a hat wit hit like roark

{Tranzi:}

i was just thinking of reese as a drag queen but this interpretation is funny so i accept this :Keepo:

{Haji:}

I have him as a drag queen in my head :tppPika:

{Tranzi:}

when reese discovered the beautiful world of nounpronouns it was the time when darkrai actually tried to use dark void on its own owner to prevent world from a catastrophe

:Keepo:

{Mitzi:}

… i generally think of reese as a she/her gay man, but thinking about it yeah, she probably doesn’t give much of a shit

her gender is ✨gorgeous✨

{Tranzi:}

her gender sparkles so much that lil'd is crying in his french corner

:tppWait:

{Haji:}

Oh! Actual last thing I'll say about Reese

The run kinda soured towards the end because in order to beat the game, we had to be the Gauntlet PWT where the devs brought the previous four kids back. ... In a gauntlet... With boosted levels and items... And some "interesting" abilities for the Red and Crystal mons since they didn't have them. And no healing in between. This went on for days(? Certainly felt like it) until we had run out of other stuff to do to cool off from the frustration of losing and most were ready for this to be over with. We even traded in for a Landurus grinded to 100 and still couldn't win. Finally chat got mad enough to go into democracy mode to use healing items and I think we stayed in demo to fight too. Because we knew it could be done but it was so precise that it seemed like one wrong input could cost the whole thing which couldn't be done with the crowd we had for this. And then when we FINALLY win, the devs had put in the original gauntlet with the S1 kids for us to fight as well. I like to think Reese was so pissed by this point they just steamrolled it.

Hilariously, I actually hc that after this experience at the PWT, Reese was so mad at the others after the GKids found out Reese wasn't the world ending threat they thought, (HE was trying to stop THEM), they weren't on speaking terms for years. Reese has been living in Kalos under the name Diantha for some time by the time Esther came around

D has been well acquainted with this sparkle bun for some time now

{Mitzi:}

oh did we mention that reese is diantha? (in gauntlet y, anyway)

reese is diantha

{Haji:}

That was coming up when we got to Esther stories XD

I mean, that's just my hc, but going back to earlier when I said Wikstrom had Red0's team, Diantha had Reese's. Drasna had Izzy, Seibold had Dippy's, and Malva had N's

Some say just go with the game explanation where the E4 got to borrow them, some say the GKids came in during the post game, but like I said, me and a few others like to think the Diantha we see throughout the game was Reese all along

I missed a lot of X so I'll let others explain. A few key points though

- Esther being into sports came up from the Amie mini games iirc. This was the first time we had enough control to legitimately play them.

- Had Sail, which even if some other others had fossils, this was a first for TPP so there's some depictions that Esther may be an Acolyte (like Red is to Helix). Sail is an interesting god because it's usually said to be in charge of relationships; friends, family, lovers, meetings and partings, it's no surprise given how many friends Esther has either. Between the in-game group you travel with and the GKids asking her to join, she's pretty popular.

- notably we have a Ducklet named Fucklet and some tease that Esther doesn't know what that means, others say she totally swears up a storm surprising people given her age.

[imagining-in-the-margins]

CM Forbidden Love Fic Challenge ❤️

The following are prompts including Forbidden Love! Reader or OC fics AND Character/Character ships are allowed!

This event is over (Masterlist of Fics here), but you are welcome to use any of these prompts. If you would like to be added to the existing Masterlist of entries, please check out the Rules below!

Open Prompts

Characters are really starting to hate Rossi for causing the creation of the no-fraternization policy.

Character A, a law enforcement agent, falls in love with Character B, a criminal.

Character was confident when they accepted the undercover mission. They were never expecting to fall in love.

Character A is in love with Character B, who is Character C’s ex.

Character accidentally had a one night stand with a reporter… pillow talk causes some problems.

Character is excited to introduce their new partner to the team/their parents. They have concerns.

Character A definitely didn’t do whatever they’re suspected of (maybe), but they also don’t want to keep talking to the hot FBI agent.

Character A is in love with Character B… who is engaged to someone else.

Character A is the marshal assigned to Character B in witsec.

Character A is a relative of Linda Barnes, but that doesn’t stop Character B from falling for them.

Character starts getting worried about just how connected they feel to their work-ordered psychiatrist.

Character A is a lawyer assigned to the BAU. When they tag along in a case, Character A and Character B butt heads about legal theory and real life.

Character A is in the BAU's rival team/department, and they and Character B try to keep their relationship a secret.

Character A is sent to go undercover and take down the BAU from the inside, but things get complicated when they fall in love with Character B.

Character A promised Character B, a sex worker, that they wouldn’t fall in love. They lied.

Anything else you can think of! If you’d like me to add a prompt, feel free to send it to me here.

Ship and Character Specific, plus AU Prompts below!

Character Specific Prompts

[Spencer] He wasn’t in prison for very long, yet he still managed to fall in love with another prisoner there.

[Spencer] He falls for the live-in nurse who's taking care of his mother.

[Spencer] The professor has to stymy advances from a very different enthusiastic student.

[Spencer] His lawyer in prison was not allowed to be with him. But now he's out of prison, and he could really use a hug.

[Spencer or Emily] They end up developing more of a connection than they expected with a member of Benjamin Cyrus’ cult.

[JJ or Emily] Their girlfriend has to meet their mom. It doesn’t go well.

[Hotch] Someone likes Hotch, which is a shame because their kid is dating/best friends with Jack.

[Hotch] He falls for Jack's nanny (who Jack really doesn't want to leave).

[Hotch or Derek] Their old confidential informant from when they were a beat cop/prosecutor is in trouble (and no longer works for them).

Ship Specific Prompts

[Hotchgan] Derek, a defense attorney, is starting to think the prosecutor has it out for him in particular.

[Helle] Elle knows Hotch is married, Hotch knows it would be unfair to take advantage of his position. Mutual or unrequited pining ensues.

[Hotchniss] What if Emily had gone through with spying on the BAU?

[Reidams] Instead of kidnapping Max’s family, Cat decides to write Spencer a letter.

[Reidams] Spencer reflects on his relationship with Cat at her execution.

AU Prompts

Victorian!AU. Character falls for a person of lower status.

Royalty!AU. Character A is royalty who is to be married in a few weeks. Before that happens, though, they meet Character B, the newest member of their staff.

Royalty!AU. Character A and B are royalty from opposing kingdoms, struck with the option of unionizing their kingdoms or staying enemies.

Soulmate!AU. Character A was matched with Character B. They are perfect for each other… so why are they so drawn to Character C?

Fantasy!AU. Character A, a vampire, has fallen in love with a human.

Angel!AU. Character A is the angel assigned to help guide Character B through trials and tribulations. There is a strict rule against interfering with fate, and until the two of them, it’d never been a problem — Angels weren’t supposed to be able to fall in love.

Rules

The fic can be a Reader insert, or a character/character ship. It can feature any Criminal Minds character.

Tag me in the fic, or send it to me in a Direct Message. It can be already written, or you can write it just for the challenge - I’m collecting both! You can also tag it “#mentioningmargins” which is a tag I track.

The fic can be any genre, but ONLY send me smut if your bio states you are 18+. I DO NOT WANT smut written by minors. Ever. At all. I will check. Platonic ships and pure, fluffy fics are 100% allowed.

Please include Content Warnings and a one-sentence Summary of the fic in your post.

Have fun!

[honeyedxlemons]

-- A normal day for Jaden and Cyrus Harkness during late June entailed a lot of eating and a lot of lazing around in Central Park. It was relaxing to lay out on the rocks and just do nothing. Cyrus would read, Jaden would sunbathe, at some point they’d go and get bubble tea and find a new spot to laze about in. It was a good time for the siblings. Now that Jaden had recently graduated high school, she would be going to college. Cyrus wanted to spend ever last minute he could with his sister, not in a weird way, but he would miss her. He was still three years from going to college himself, while being incredibly smart, he still had ADHD and dyslexia which made him extremely unmotivated when it came to academia. And sometimes even got him kicked out of school before their mom could force them to change schools.

-- Four o’clock rolled around and Cyrus nudged Jaden, it was time for them to head home. They each had their own things to do later that night and they needed time to get ready after all. “C’mon, Jay,” he said, a small smile tugged at his lips as he started to pack up his bag, excited for the night to come with his almost, kind of, sort of boyfriend and the rest of their friends. They had rented out a movie theatre fucking rich kids and they had plans to sit and watch Spiderman: Homecoming, as well as any other movie the theatre was willing to show early for them, giving they paid the right price. Once Jaden was ready, they were making their way through the park towards their home on Fifth Avenue. 

-- They walked in silence, which was normal for them. Silence was easy for the Harkness siblings, and it wasn’t because they didn’t want to talk, they loved talking to each other. It was just easy. Everything was easy, they had an ideal brother/sister relationship. It was going to be hard without Jaden around, he knew that, but Cyrus was a teenager, he didn’t always need his sister around, and he knew that she needed a life of her own. He was excited for her honestly. It was a relatively easy walk back, no one bothering them, no one harassing Jaden for the way she was dressed not that it’d bother her anyway. But suddenly, they were stopped by a very, very, very tall man. He was tall and muscly and he had a military style buzzcut, his sunglasses covered his eyes, but Cyrus swore that he saw fire in them. He dressed like a biker and at his side hung a large knife, that no one cared about. Was open carry even legal in New York? Cyrus would have to check later. 

-- Everything about this guy, from the way he dressed to the way he carried himself, made Cyrus angry. He wanted to punch him, and then maybe punch a random jogger in the park, and he had no clue why. “Hey, kiddos,” he said, a grin forming on his ugly, anger inducing face. Cyrus just glared harder. He couldn’t find his words, which was rare for him, he usually had a ton to say, especially at people who made him angry even if he didn’t know why he was angry. He turned to Jaden, just to see how she was reacting, but for once he couldn’t gauge how his sister was feeling. “Who are you?” Cyrus asked as he turned back to the large man. “We don’t have any cash, so you can just leave us alone.”

-- Bellowing laughter came from the man and Cyrus felt like he had the life punched out of him, “gods, you’re a puny, rage filled asshole, aren’t you? I don’t need your money.” He grinned, ruffling Cyrus’ hair playfully. That just made him grimace and want to punch the man even more, he was all but ready to start a fight. “That’s no way to talk to the god of war, I’d have to say, for a smart kid, you’re pretty dumb. I’m here to talk to her though.” Cyrus turned to Jaden once more, shock painting his face. What could this guy who claimed to be a god want with his sister?

@x-astcriia-x

[gaamagirl565]

Matters of the heart S3 ep1

Matters of the heart Season 3 Episode 1 Outrun the shadow {OPENING CREDITS}

Narration: As winter draws near and the green of summer fades the world enters a time of sacrifice. The leaves release their grasp on branches and flutter to the ground to feed the soil of the earth. In return, the earth produces plants to feed the animals. Everything in our world sacrifices every day. And although Humans may be at the top of nature’s chain, We are not exempt from sacrifice. {Fade down to Isaiah looking conflicted as he watches men working in Old Corona’s graveyard with Gaia next to him} Lily: Isaiah? Isaiah: Oh! Hey guys… Akina: You okay? Isaiah:  what? yeah, I'm fine why? Nathaniel:  not going to lie... You look like you just watched a group full of Orphans get hit by a carriage. Isaiah:  that's a lovely image... but no really I'm fine it's just... a little weird to be watching people remove a tombstone from the graveyard with my name on it. Nathaniel:  at least we're prepared for the real deal now!  we have the stone and everything! {Akina kicks him} Nathaniel: Ow! Lily:  what we’re trying to say is we're glad to have you back. Isaiah:  I'm glad to have you guys back too… Akina: Awww! {lily blushes and Nathaniel gags; cut to Varian’s house where Zapada is attempting to feed her son with Verbena next to her} Zapada: Sterling, please do not fuss! Verbena: hehe! Fussy baby! Eugene: At least you know he’s truly Varian’s kid...Stubborn to the end! Varian: har har...can we get back to business? Rapunzel: Sorry Varian but he’s sooo cute! Lance: he really is! Adira can we have another baby? {Pan to Adira having her earring pulled by her 1-year-old son} Adira:....no. Varian: ….okay yes my son is incredibly cute but we have a serious issue here. Eugene: alright fine...you were saying? {Varian lays out a map on the dining room table} Varian: We know that the cult’s hideout was near the mountains in an abandoned mine.  the entrance to the mine collapsed when we were leaving but I doubt that'll hold them. they could be on their way here right now we need to make a battle plan. Rapunzel:  I'm not normally one to be negative but what are we going to do?  I don't have my hair anymore and you told me that they basically made a corrupt version of the Moonstone using only a Shard from its remains.  do we even know the full extent of their power now? Varian:  that's the tricky part... we don't. my family and I hightailed it out of there before they could do anything. Lancel: What does this mean for Cassandra? {Varian bites his lip and looks at Eugene who nods} Varian:  Cassandra... her mind has completely been taken over by the power she possesses...Her original conscience is gone. {Rapunzel gasps and tears up} Eugene: oh no...Sunshine c’mere… {he holds her close} Varian: i’m sorry Rapunzel… {Isaiah rushes in with the others and accidentally hits Ruddiger with the door} Isaiah: Dad! Do you Smell that!? {Varian sniffs the air and his eyes widen} Varian: sulfur... Eugene: cannons...something’s coming... {Zapada instinctively clutches Benny and Sterling; Varian and Eugene run out to the road; at the entrance, Larkspur stands with a cold staring purple-eyed Cassandra and an army of cult members behind her} Larkspur: Hi! Hope you don’t mind but I thought I’d just drop in...and take what’s mine. {Rapunzel stands in front of them} Rapunzel: You aren’t taking anything from us! Larkspur: AWWW! That’s so cute! Like you have a choice. Oh, sweet Vessel! Show them we mean business. {Cassandra steps forward} Rapunzel: Cass! Wait! It’s me! fi-AHH! {Rapunzel is pulled out of the way as Cass Forces a contorted discolored rock from the ground} Eugene: oh no… Isaiah: Dad w-what is that? {Varian’s eyes dilate in horror} Larkspur: Like I said...We’re not taking no for an answer… {She turns to her army} Larkspur: Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Corona! Some of you have been here before but- {She gasps as an arrow zips past her and hits a cult member killing him; She turns around and sees Adira with her bow at the ready} Larkspur:...ya know what? Screw the speech! ATTACK! DESTROY ANYONE YOU SEE! {The army cheers and charges; People begin running screaming} Isaiah: Dad!? Nathaniel: MOM! {Everyone runs to gather their families; The cult starts throwing small orbs; once they hit the ground a gas flows out choking various people; Isaiah watches his father fight with the king and queen and out of the corner of his he sees an orb head for Nathaniel’s family} Isaiah: NATHANIEL! {He is hit directly and begins coughing and sputtering; Isaiah covers his nose and mouth and runs out to help him to his house; in the confusion they here people grunting and shouting in pain; The cult have begun targeting civilians with their swords} Rapunzel: We have to get everyone out of here! {Varian, Eugene, and Rapunzel help various villagers to run into Varian’s house and barricade the door} Varaian: Zapada Grab the kids!  Lets get everyone to the escape route! Zapada: come on children! {Varian leads them to a hole in his office} Eugene: seriously? Varian: It leads to the underground tunnels of old Corona!  we can escape to the forest through here! Isaiah: but we'll be leaving everything! Rapunzel: We have to… Varian: Women & Children First! {Isaiah helps Lily and the royal siblings into the hole and then helps Nathaniel} Varian:  you next buddy! {Isaiah climbs down into the dark dirt tunnels; he slowly helps people into them; Once everyone is inside Varian himself climbs into the hole taking one last look at his home before the main door starts cracking open; he grabs the lid to the hole and covers it as he descends into the tunnel.} Akina: it’s really dark down here Benny:  clearly you've never been to the dark Kingdom. Villagers:  what do we do now?  how do we get back to the surface? our home is gone!  what about everybody else in the Kingdom!? Rapunzel:  everyone calm down!  I'm sure our Royal engineer has a plan! Right? Varian:  of course I do I didn't just build this thing for kicks.  the tunnel itself is about 5 miles long and at least out into the forest.  the exit is in a campsite that I have spent time creating in case the should ever happen.  when we get there we can set up camp as for the rest of the people in Corona... we can only pray for their safety. Perhaps at a future date we can save them. {the small crowd murmurs to each other; Varian takes out small glowing orbs and passes them around} Eugene:  everyone Stay Together!  Varian will lead the way. {They begin walking in the direction they’re being lead} Benny: ‘Saiah?  are we going to be okay? Isaiah:.... yeah totally!  there's one thing I know about my dad is he has a plan for everything. even the worst-case scenario. Akina: Mama I’m frightened… Adira: we’re alright small one Lance: yeah... the important thing is we're all here together. {As they walk small rumbles shake the tunnels but Rapunzel encourages them to keep moving; Varian looks over a map with his glowing orb before pointing down a corridor; Everyone follows; Cut to Lily’s brother Cyrus running a hand along the dirt wall} Cyrus: I'm simply amazed Mr.Varian... how did you manage to carve these? Varian:  there were already tunnels here from when I was younger I just simply expanded them so that they would run into the forest. I figured it was a good idea to have an Escape Route.  especially one that they wouldn't be able to find. Cyrus:  still this must have taken years! Varian:  I began Construction once I returned to Corona shortly before Isaiah was born.   I figured if I was going to stay in Old Corona they would end up coming for me at some point.  I wanted a safe way for my villagers to escape. {A thud and is heard followed by a shattering of glass and a scream; Eugene whips around to see a woman on the ground; he runs over} Eugene:  what's going on!? Child: My mother! S-she fell! She isn’t saying anything! {Varian runs over and kneels next to her} Varian: ... flip her over! {They do so and reveal reddish-purple dots on her skin} Varian:...was your mother sick before!?  did anything happen during The Invasion I could have injured her in any way? Child: no! She was fine! She wasn’t even injured in The Invasion!  we only got hit by one of those weird ball thingies! Isaiah:... those gas bombs! If she was near one when it blew then, you don't think that maybe… Varian:  those bombs must have been filled with some sort of biological compound... it's making anybody who came into contact with the gas sick. Rapunzel:  a lot of people here were exposed to those. Eugene:  everyone check yourselves for reddish-purple spots! {The people look at themselves and several shout in fear as they look at their spotted skin; Nathaniel looks at his wrist in fear and dots cover his arm} Rapunzel: okay calm down!  if you were sick we will find a way to get you treated we just have to find out what exactly this is! Varian:  Rapunzel that's easier said than done without a lab.  in the time being we have to make it to the campsite we use whatever medicine we have to try and get you better until then we'll have to observe your symptoms. Villager 1:  how much longer to this campsite? my wife is very sick! Varian:  we just passed the north corridor  so I'm guessing we should be there within the next 10 minutes. in the meantime everybody please try and stay calm. {everyone moves on} Lily:  Nathaniel are you okay? {he holds up his wrist; Akina gasps} Isaiah:  don't be scared, Akina... I don't think it's contagious otherwise we'd all have it by now. Lily:  what about you you ran to the gas cloud that he was in! Isaiah: Nathaniel and everybody else experiencing symptoms had a direct hit or breathed in a lot of the gas. I had my mouth and nose covered when I went to go grab him. Nathaniel: Stop!  let's do what they told us and stay calm.  I don't know what this stuff is going to do to me but we shouldn't focus on that. we have bigger fish to fry. come on… {He walks ahead of them} Benny: Isaiah? Can I have a ride? Isaiah: you tired? Okay… {He bends down and lets her climb on his back; they keep walking to they see a light peering through the top of the tunnel} Varian: Angry? Cat? {a rope is dropped down} Varian:  again Women & Children First! { everyone begins climbing up the Rope one by one;  finally Varian pulls himself up} Keira: welcome to the upper world! Varian: you've been waiting for years to say that haven't you? Cat:  she really has you have no idea… Keira:  we did exactly as you said we saw the commotion from our treehouse and opened up the tunnel. Lance: thats my girls! Eugene:  is everything secure? Cat: yeah Varian: and how is...he doing? { Cat looks distressed for a moment and kiera puts an arm around her} Kiera:  he's not doing good to say the least… Cat:  we have him in the camp right now resting but his wound recently got infected.  The Physician helped some with the internal damage... but he said ultimately there's not much you can do. we just have to hope he makes it through this. Kiera:  nevermind! we have some visitors in the camp… Varian: Visitors!? WHO!? {Cut to the camp with Varian walking in; pan to hector sitting with his daughter Juniper and son Bjørn} Varian: Uncle? Adira: Hector!? Hector: hello sister… Adira: what are you doing here? Juniper:  it was so weird!  dad said he had to come here! Hector:  something happened... and judging from what I'm seeing something big.  I felt a familiar feeling... but this time..it was evil. Adira:  they took The Shard of the Moonstone and they corrupted it into a new stone. trust me I felt it too. Bjørn: What happened to all these people? Varian: we don't exactly know yet. Eugene:  okay attention everyone!  all those who are sick please rest until we can find a designated area for you everybody else start helping set up camp Villager 1:  but what about us!? are you sure they won't find us here!? Varian: as of right now all the cult knows is that we disappeared inside my house. They have no knowledge of the underground tunnels nor do they have any knowledge of this campsite.  soon strict rules are going to be enforced in order to assure everyone safety.  I know the situation isn't ideal and I prayed that it would never happen. Villager 2:  isn't this basically your fault!?  you should have been protecting us from these people! {The crowd shouts in anger; Isaiah puts Benny down and runs over} Isaiah:  knock it off! Varian: Isaiah? Isaiah:  there was no way my Dad could have stopped the cult from doing this!  with or without the Moonstone Shard they would have attacked eventually just as they have before.  instead of blaming other people for what happened, we should focus on Surviving! Rapunzel:  Isaiah is right. getting angry will solve nothing.   please everyone just started helping set up camp once we get a new sense of normal it won't seem so bad I promise. {The crowd disperses} Isaiah: phew… Varian: Thats my boy! Zapada: Copilul meu, that was so brave! Isaiah:  I couldn't just stand there and let them bad-mouths my family. the cult members are insane plain and simple once they have something in their head it can't be stopped. Zapada:  I'm going to go help the other women set up. Isaiah, would you mind taking your brother for a bit? {she hands Sterling to Isaiah} Isaiah:  what do you say little guy? you ready to spend some time with your awesome big bro? Sterling: ppthh! Lily: Ha! Isaiah:  I'm choosing to take that as a compliment… {Isaiah walks around camp watching the sick be tended to and tents being set up} Isaiah:  and I got so used to sleeping in a bed again as well… Benny:  speak for yourself! this is my element! {They look over and see Cat walk into a ten that was already set up} Isaiah: what is she doing? Benny: ooohh spy time! Lets go.. {They sneak up to the tent and look in; Noremoth lies on a makeshift bed with bandages wrapped around his torso; Cat dips a cloth in water and puts it on his head} Noremoth: ghh...h-hey.. Cat: hi..just rest okay? Noremoth:..you got it..boss. {She chuckles} Cat: just sleep okay? {Start the song “twisting trees} {Catalina} Deep in the forest, the flowers bloom Don’t fear the dark The moon will rise soon Let the breeze caress your face And fall into the branches embrace Twisting trees keep me safe Twisting trees I fear not this place As they cast their shadows below The moon it rises ever so slow It’s face of Ivory glowing above It bathes the land its pure white love fall into the branches embrace Twisting trees keep me safe And fear not this place. Oh, fear not this place. {end song; Isaiah walks away with Benny and Sterling} Isaiah: He's not looking good… Benny:  well that wasn't fun that was just straight-up depressing... {Isaiah sits up against a tree with Sterling} Akina: you okay? Isaiah: Oh...hi Akina... yeah I'm fine just... rough way to start a day. Akina: yeah... never thought I'd see Uncle Hector here. What do you think they meant by saying they sensed something? Isaiah: promote my grandpa told me your mom and…” uncle” Hector used to be part of a group called the Brotherhood. from what he told me they were loyal to the moonstone given that this new corruption is made from A Shard of the Moonstone I'm guessing they felt a disturbance or something when it was corrupted. it's the only thing I can think of. Akina: We're going to take back Corona right? I like it there! Isaiah:  don't you worry we're not just going to sit back and let this happen.  we're going to take back our Kingdom… Lily:  good luck with that we’ll need a small army. Akina:  I heard the grown-up saying that too!  something about we're going to have to go around asking other kingdoms to join the fight! Isaiah:  well yeah... you think they're just going to stop at our kingdom? we're going to need to ask for help from a lot of peo-... wait...I GOT IT! { everyone in the camp jumps out of surprise} Isaiah:... oops!  sorry!... anyway I need a piece of paper and a quill. Lily:  one second I saw some by the supplies! {She runs over and grabs the items before handing them to Isaiah;  Isaiah leans against the tree and begins writing his letter} Isaiah: S.O.S...Corona compromised.  please help.  your former Cabin Boy Isaiah... okay it's written!  but how do we send it? Lily: I... I have an idea… {Cut to Hamuel hanging  upside down from a tree branch} Isaiah: you can't be serious… Lily:  hey my grandfather and Dad have been exchanging letters for ages using this bird. Isaiah:  this bird has to be at least 15 years old! maybe more! on top of that look at him! {Hamuel falls to the ground with a pained caw} Isaiah: HMM!? *points at him* Lily:  I know it's not ideal but he's gotten the messages there every single time. Benny:  I'm surprised he hasn't taken the messages to the north pole rather than the dark Kingdom. {Lily attaches the letter to Hamuel’s leg} Isaiah:... I can't believe I'm doing this I'm talking to a bird...Hamuel  listen very closely to me I need you to find a ship called the SS. Salvador. Take this note to the captain.  and if you fail...uh...Draki will eat you. {Draki hisses and wiggles his tail} Lily: Isaiah no! Isaiah: Isaiah yes! { He lets Hamuel go; cut to Corona Castle; Larkspur walks into the throne room} Larkspur:  I can't believe I'm finally here… Vergus:  yes mistress you finally made it.  Corona is destroyed and at our feet.  and soon we will find The Alchemist and where he is hiding. Larkspur:  look at this place... such power wasted. {She goes up and sits on the throne} Larkspur: hehe!!  I've waited for years to sit on this chair!  I was kind of hoping that the king and queens heads would be under my feet as well but you take what you can get. Vergus: shall we start moving on to the other kingdoms as well mistress? now that we've taken down Corona we can move on to others and spread our message! Larkspur:  everything is finally coming together… Vergus: Mistress? {begin song “i don’t care”} {Larkspur} You know some time ago I was just a little girl I was hopeless, aimless, nameless But then a dream had struck my mind It was brighter than any kind And now that dream is mine Just look now where I walk A hall of Kings and Queens And all it took was some blood and a bit of screams! Well, I don’t care, If it isn’t fair! This land is mine Let’s not waste our time! Let’s make them bleed! Oh let’s make them bleed! Ohhh...he chose his path and ran away Even when welcome to stay… He chose...to Betray~! But I don’t care! I’ve let down my hair! This land is mine! Oh, finally mine! Now to make them bleed Oh let’s make them (x3) Let’s make them bleed! {End song} {END CREDITS}

[runningonmarvel]

be my valentine ch. 1

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! @you-get-to-exhale-now-cyrus For your valentine’s day gift I have written two chapters of a multi-chapter Valentine’s Day-centric fic (and I will of course be finishing and posting the rest of the chapters in due time, but, these two chapters are pretty long so I figured it works). Anyways, I hope you like it and happy Valentine’s day!!

A/N: takes place the two weeks before Valentine’s Day in their junior year. wonah. bandi. tyrus. a few curses. unedited but enjoy!!

Chapter 1: Put Your Hand in Mine

You know that I want to be with you all the time.

Jonah snaps the headphones over his ears and half closes his eyes, back against the bench. It’s a romantic song, too peppy for his current mood, but he can’t stop listening to it. He taps one foot against on the tiled floor while Grant students shove by each other.

Oh darling, darling, baby you're so very fine

You know that I won't stop until I make you mine

He’s so sick of love songs. Andi loves them: Taylor Swift and Meghan Trainor and Beyonce. So maybe there’s a reason behind his newfound annoyance with sappiness on the radio. But this one keeps sticking in his head. Jonah imagines reaching out his hand and taking someone else’s. And for the first time in a very, very long time, the person holding his hand in his imagination isn’t Andi. And it’s not Amber, or Natalie, or anyone else.

As half of Grant high school shoves by him, Jonah pushes the headphones down around his neck. He can hear his heart pounding way-too-loudly in his chest, and there’s a continuous beat and song inside his head.

Until I make you mine

And all he can think is: just in time for Valentine’s Day. 

————

“Driscoll, catch!” Andi ducks out of the way just in time for Buffy to catch the miscellaneous basketball team member’s thrown shoe. She stares at it in confusion, but Buffy just shoves it into her backpack, gives a quick wave of thanks to the girl sprawled out on the bench, and turns back to Andi.

“Eleanor took my shoe on accident,” she explains, but Buffy’s eyes have already moved on from this conversation. They drift upwards to the large pink banner strung across Grant’s entrance, which is currently being pinned up and decorated with paper heart chains. Andi doesn’t stop to consider how an extra shoe can be taken accidentally and instead gapes up at the poster.

“Since when do we have a Valetine’s Day Dance?” Andi asks.

As if summoned by the deity of high school cheesiness, Student Council president Kip Warren steps into their path. “Since you juniors started sucking at raising money for our prom.  We’re having a fundraiser dance—you buy candygrams and roses for people for three times the prices we bought them for. And we’re using that money to pay for a real prom, not one which you idiots scheduled in someone’s garage.” Kip storms away, and a lone senior—one of Amber’s friends—starts applauding. 

“He’s way too salty. I heard that our student council planned a good prom but he’s just picky and annoying. Ugh,” Buffy says, glaring after him.

“And they’re probably spending more money on this dance then they’ll make from a few candygrams, honestly.” Andi bends over to grab a cardboard heart, which she reattaches to the wall.

“Cyrus is going to have a field day, though,” Buffy says. She looks curiously over at Andi. “Do you think you’ll go?”

Andi feels something rush through her: undeserved indignation, maybe, accompanied by an annoying blush she wishes would go away. “I mean… are you?”

“I would suggest the Good Hair Crew go, but you already know Cyrus is dedicating this night to his boy.” Buffy shrugs. “We could go together? Single and unattached?”

If Andi were eating cereal right now, she would choke. She hasn’t been to any date-requiring function since her year-long disaster of a breakup with Jonah. And now Buffy Driscoll had the audacity to stand in front of hear with her cheeks blushed dark and her eyelashes clipping her cheeks and ask her to the dance. 

“I mean—sure! Maybe Amber could go with us too?”

“You don’t think Amber is going to ask Iris? I think she’ll finally get the nerve to do it. I should probably make a bet on it,” Buffy considers, digging for her wallet and frowning slightly.

“Maybe we should ask boys?” Andi counters, suddenly. Buffy glances up at her, and the look in her eyes could kill. 

“Maybe I’ll ask Natalie. She’s cute.”

Andi can’t even respond to that. So she does what she learned best from her mother; she changes the subject.

“So, Buffy. What’d you think of the movie you and Cyrus saw?” Andi tilts her head, meeting Buffy’s eyes again. She thinks of the cheesy block letters glued to the Valentine’s Day Banner: Will you be our Valentine? February 14th at 7. Two weeks away.

Buffy knows this game, but Andi watches her play along. “Best Summer of My Life 2? It was alright. Not as good as the first one. The love story kind of sucked—classic girl meets bad boy trope.”

“Wish I could have seen it,” Andi says, adjusting the straps on her backpack. 

“Yeah, well. How was Iris’s?”

Andi has a momentary flashback to Amber and Iris chucking Skyzone dodgeballs at her while shrieking filled the general vicinity. Somehow, Iris had been convinced to have a birthday at a trampoline place, and somehow, Amber had been coerced into going along with it. 

“Horrifying.” 

Buffy laughs uncomfortably, and Andi can hear the nonexistent joke fall flat. How long has it been like this? How long has the Good Hair Crew been out of sync, and the tension between Buffy and Andi unbreakable? 

Almost a year. Too long.

“Well, I’ve got Lit. See you later?” Buffy doesn’t bother waiting around for an answer to the question. She strides away, and it’s all Andi can do to avoid staring directly at the back of her head as she leaves.

“Ask Natalie,” Andi scoffs to herself, kicking at a spot on the ground. Cyrus would call her pettiness levels off the chart, but Andi doesn’t have any other way to react to Buffy. It’s not just the ever-rotating list of new girls; it’s Buffy’s obvious annoyance with Amber, it’s Buffy’s piercing eyes and sharp, true smile she hasn’t worn in so long. It’s Buffy’s acceptance of whatever is between them, while Andi flounders, trying to pretend she’s still in the waters of freshman year, when Jonah was her only problem.

When did the thoughts in her head get so complicated? Don’t answer that, she tells herself, because she already knows the answer. Andi lifts her phone from her pocket and starts absentmindedly scrolling through her old photos. There’s Cyrus and TJ sharing a milkshake with Buffy’s arms around them. There’s Amber trying on a faded leather jacket and Andi wearing a worn suit at the Thrift Store. Andi and her mom attempting gardening while Bowie laughed in their general direction. Buffy, Cyrus, and Andi holding on for dear life while ice skating two winters ago. Further back, there’s Jonah kissing Andi on the cheek, and Marty with his arm around Buffy and Andi with her arm around Jonah on some ridiculous double date. There’s a couple miscellaneous photos of Cyrus in his costume from the musical. And then, from about a year ago—

Andi’s cheeks color red. Red, like the sauce on Bex’s homemade pizza she recently learned to cook. Red, like the color of the Space Otters’ failed sophomore year uniforms. And she shuts her phone.

This is why it’s so hard to talk to Buffy. More than the color of her eyes or the defiance in her words, it’s the specific memory every time Buffy smiles at her. It’s the memory that’s controlling her.

Andi glances back at the Valentine’s Day banner, and sticks her tongue out just for good measure. She won’t let a stupid dance run by stupid Kip Warren control her too.

Then, from behind, a hand grabs her by the shoulder and starts dragging her backwards. Andi yelps, already running through the list of eight things she learned in self-defense class with Bex this summer. Quote: if you’re not a strong athlete your best hope is to hit where it hurts. Anywhere.” Andi is about ready to swing when the arm drags her into a closet and reveals the body attached to it.

“Cyrus?”

“Sorry,” he pants, as if the physical effort to kidnap her from the hallway was exhausting. “Top secret… information.”

“Oh?” Andi says, suddenly interesting. “Another cult?”

“Heck no,” Cyrus says. “I’ve got a plan for Valentine’s Day, for TJ. But I wanted to run it by you and Buffy first. And probably Jonah too.”

Andi starts to smile, leaning back against the shelves on the wall. “Spill.”

“Well… since his big game is on Valentine’s Day…” Cyrus leads in, unable to contain his grin.

“Go on.”

“I was thinking… we could all go… and hold up signs—“

“Signs for TJ! Valentine’s Day signs?!” Andi puts a hand over her mouth. “Cyrus, that’s adorable. No, it’s perfect!”

“Yeah, and I’d ask him to the dance, and we’d go afterwards, and hopefully he won his big game, and then the dance would be super romantic, and he could take the signs home and hang them up on the walls of his room, and we’d take polaroids before the dance in our suits, and you guys would be there—“ “Thought about it much?” Andi cuts in, but her lips curl upwards with excitement. The mention of the dance is the only sour bit—Andi doesn’t need that subtle reminder that she’ll never know how to not be awkward with Buffy about it. She’ll never know how to articulate what she wants, so she’ll be stuck watching TJ and Cyrus and maybe Buffy and Natalie or some other random girl get their perfect Valentine’s Days.

“Well, maybe a little. Anyways, do you like?”

Andi breaks out of her thoughts. “I don’t like, I love. When do we make the signs?”

“This weekend maybe? To be ready by that Friday?”

“You got it, Cyrus. Text Buffy, she’ll be thrilled.”

Cyrus narrows his eyes. “She will not. I’m betting she doesn’t want to help with the signs, so it might just be you and me.”

“Aw, Buffy’ll help if you ask her.” TJ and Buffy don’t fight anymore, but it suffices to say that they’re not exactly best friends. 

“I’m already asking her to hold up one of the signs. And especially if she ends up with a crucial word—for example, Valentine—I can’t risk losing her support. I’ll just ask her about that and see how it goes.”

Andi smiles. “You and TJ have been dating for a year now, Cyrus.” Strange. A lot happened a year ago. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to hold up a sign. She just might not cheer for him.”

Cyrus nods, laughing a little. He types out a text on his phone to Buffy, sends it, then looks back up at Andi, looking a little panicked. “Should I tell Jonah? I need him to hold up the sign that says TJ. I don’t think he’s busy that weekend, the Otters don’t have a game—“ “Text him,” Andi reassures  Cyrus. He nods and types out the text while still looking up at her. 

“I need Buffy, Jonah, you, and Amber. I’ll text Amber and Jonah tonight.”

“You’re asking TJ’s sister to help with his Valentine’s Day ask?” Cyrus and Amber have been friends since middle school, and it’s still hard for Andi to wrap her head around sometimes that Cyrus is dating the brother of one of Andi’s closest friends and is additionally friends with her. It’s the type of friendship that thrives off drama, and Andi has a feeling that even if Cyrus and TJ break up (which it seems like they never will), Amber and Cyrus will be close until the ends of the earth.

“Of course. Who else was I supposed to ask? Walker?” Cyrus asks, giving Andi a look. It’s a group-acknowledged truth that Andi drove Walker from the group, even if Buffy was the last one who dated him. Walker hasn’t hung out with them for a year and a half now, except maybe a few times with Jonah. Andi misses him and his lovely creativity, but she doesn’t miss the drama he brought; Buffy was happier with Marty than with him, but then she was happier by herself than with Marty. Andi blinks slowly, realizing how this topic has made its way back to her again.

“Amber will be fine,” Andi assures, her mind not really on Cyrus or TJ. “You think she’ll finally get the guts to ask out Iris?”

Cyrus shrugs. “I hope so. Who are you going with, anyways? Not Jonah—“

“No.”

A pause.

“Jonah is my friend, yes. But I’m done being romantic with him.” Andi stops, because the words sound harsh, even if they are true. “Buffy and I are just gonna go together, like old times.”

Cyrus smiles a half smile, because old times would include him too. And all three of them know that they’ve moved on from old times. Maybe Andi the most. And yet.

“I’m gonna go find TJ now. Keep the plan under wraps, ‘kay? Friday afternoon we can pick out supplies?” “Glitter glue!” Andi says, and she can’t stop it from coming out like a squeal. “Count me in.”

Cyrus steps out, the brightness of his phone lighting up the dim closet, and leaves Andi alone, still against the wall.

Alone.

In the closet.

Andi nearly throws her phone across the room.

————

There are three parks in downtown Shadyside: the tiny one off the elementary school, the Valley Park where legend says a swamp monster lives, and Agley Park. Agley is where coffee shop people go to be in nature; it’s also, incidentally, Walker’s favorite place in town. The Saturday morning is crisp, with light winter fog in the air, and Agley looks like the rolling fields and forests of some picturesque Scottish village. The only piece of color barring the serenity is the hunk of metal in the middle of one of the squares; that hunk of metal, though, is what has drawn Walker downtown this early on a Saturday.

“It’s kind of… underwhelming?”

Walker ignores the voice to his right and keeps reading the printed plaque beneath the statue. Installed four weeks ago, reads the monotone font, the Rest of Infinity display serves as a reminder to all viewers of the eternity of space and its never-ending mystery. The 20-foot tall sculpture contains seventeen rotating pieces and thousands of tiny gears. The reflective paints were mixed by the artist herself, and the glass portions were blown by her as well. Walker is aching to reach for a sketchbook and draw it, but he promised himself that this time he would just look. So he does.

After a while, the same voice cuts in. “So maybe I’m starting to see why Cyrus can be such a science nerd sometimes…”

Walker looks over his shoulder at Amber Kippen, who is wearing a faux leather skirt and carrying a latte. They were in the same studio class—much to Walker’s chagrin at first, who had found Amber’s eclectic, relaxed approach to art to be flighty. But when Amber’s realism came out looking like a photographic negative, and when her paints were soft pastels that fit perfectly into her nature theme, then Walker decided to give up on judging before he knew things.

And now, lo and behold, Walker and Amber were visiting an art exhibition outside of school. Together. For fun.

“I really like the colors on the back few layers,” Walker says finally, and his voice sounds gravelly from lack of use. “And the way the black pieces spiral to infinity first, with the smaller pieces following behind.”

Amber nods, and Walker notes that she’s not really listening. “Do yo know who would love this?”

“Yeah?” Walker does know, because there’s only ever one right answer. But he holds off.

“Iris.”

Amber’s eyes get dreamy when she’s talking about Iris, her crush of many a year. Walker recognizes the look because it’s the look he used to see on Andi’s face when talking about Jonah. Buffy’s face when talking about Marty. The faces of people in love with someone else, not him.

“I’m sure she would, Her photography project is so cool, maybe she could take pictures of the statue—“

“I think I need to ask her to the dance,” Amber says suddenly. “It’s now or never, right? Senior year will be too late. It’s got to be now.” “What dance?”

Amber looks shocked, offended, horrified, embarrassed—everything on the list—that Walker is unaware of said dance. “Uh, Grant’s Valentine’s Day Dance. On account of the fact that Kip Warren and the dance team girls want prom to not be in someone’s basement this year. But Iris!”

Walker considers this, as they start to walk away from the statue and back toward Amber’s car. He listens to Amber’s list of reasons: “We texted all last night, and she ended with a heart, not me. We’ve held hands twice and been to four movies alone together. Her eyes are the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen, and her bangs are so nice and her smile…”

In his head, Walker wants to make a comparison to something he’s feeling for another person. But he won’t let himself. Pretty eyes…hanging out alone together. His breath is catching, and Amber’s voice fades a little in the background. And that dance…

“Walker? Walker!” Startled out of a daydream, Walker feels Amber’s arm in front of his chest and suddenly sees the curb drop away in front of him. “Absent-minded much?”

“Call it an artist’s trait,” Walker says dizzily. He can’t stop thinking about the crush—shit, a crush—and it’s like the world is falling to pieces. It can’t be real, not over one movie and an air hockey game and a couple walks home from school. Maybe if he doesn’t think it, then it won’t be real. 

“Walker.” Amber’s statement pulls him completely back to the surface, where he faces Amber’s scrutinizing gaze. “Are you going to ask anyone to the dance?”

Oh no. Walker opens his mouth to say something, and then doesn’t. They keep walking, but Amber’s eyes are staring him down with all the intensity she used to have as Grant’s resident mean girl. It’s the look she gets when she sees something she wants—or wants to know—and will do anything to get it.

“Um.”

“Um? Don’t give me that, Walker Brodsky. I spill my guts to you about Iris regularly. Now it’s your turn: who’s your crush?”

Walker blushes, reaching above his head to tug on a tree branch. “Amber, I—“

There’s a small voice in Walker’s head, and it’s trying to overcome the wave of anxiety he has about this situation. The voice is saying: Amber will understand.

Amber, who came out as lesbian when she was a freshman in high school. Amber, who goes to the LGBT alliance and activism meetings on a regular basis and cites it as her most important extracurricular, even more than dance or studio. Amber, who cries while listening to Heaven by Troye Sivan. Amber, who is staring at him right now with her Annabeth Chase-esque gray eyes and inquisitorial eyebrow raise. Amber, who has dated—

“Jonah.”

Amber doesn’t miss a beat, but Walker is already dizzy from the weight of the word. 

“Jonah! Of all the people at school, you chose Mr. Heartbreak himself?”

“Um.”

Jonah is Mr. Heartbreak, isn’t he? Walker thinks of Andi, and the disaster that was the final six months of her and Jonah’s relationship. Jonah, who Andi always like more than him. Jonah Beck, who Walker first met at the art gallery, and then at the color factory, and then at canoeing. A couple months ago Walker ran into Jonah outside the skate shop, and they ended up making plans to see a movie in town they both wanted to see. Then, Walker started seeing Jonah more at school, and they were partners on a Bio assignment. The events keep spilling over themselves in his mind, and Walker feels two things: one, feelings. A crush. Like he had on Andi. The second thing is what has been washing over him for months and what kept him from telling Amber in the first place: he’s scared. 

“Yeah,” Walker says, just to affirm it. “I like Jonah.” And there it is, again, the feeling in his chest of relief and anxiety all at once.

Amber nods as the rolling park ends and she clicks her key fob in the general direction of her station wagon. “Okay. Well, considering I’ve dated him, I’m probably authorized to give some advice—“

“No, Amber. He’s not even into guys; there’s no use thinking about it.” Walker slides into the passenger seat and takes out his phone from the glove box to start typing out notes about the statue.

“Walker, you never know. I mean, he’s never said that he does like boys, but he’s never said that he doesn’t—“

“That’s useless,” Walker says, keeping his eyes trained on his phone. “He’s straight, whatever. Let’s go home.” “Don’t play this card. You’re not the first person to fall for someone who you think is straight, and you won’t be the last, not by a long shot. Guess what? Jonah hasn’t said that he’s straight. So you have a chance. Don’t waste it.” Amber’s voice gets quiet at the end, as the grips the wheel of the still-parked car. Walker thinks of Iris, and he sees the pain of pining in Amber’s eyes. 

“Hey,” he says softly. “You can’t give up either.”

She shakes her head. “Yeah, whatever.” She sounds just like Walker did moments ago, but Walker doesn’t push.

“So…do you still want to give me some advice on Jonah Beck?”

Amber starts to laugh, and she reaches across to give him a shove. “Of course, Walker Brodsky. Of course.”

————

“Heads up!”

Buffy runs in anyway and snags the rebound away from TJ. She brings the ball back to the top of the key, eyebrows poised in challenge, and checks the ball to him. Then she pounds it into the floor, slipping beside TJ to get in an easy layup.

“That’s 18 to 17,” Buffy pants as TJ sets it back up.

“Careful, Driscoll, don’t get too confident,” TJ warns, crossing the ball to take a shot from just inside the three-point line. The ball circles the rim, achingly close to the net, but rolls back out and sinks to the court.

“Missed me, missed me, now you got to—“ TJ interrupts Buffy’s taunt with a shove, and Buffy laughs as she grabs the ball and shoves it back into his hands. 

“I will not,” TJ says, “allow you to complete that sentence.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Buffy laughs. “Don’t worry, I have no interest.”

“Good,” TJ asserts, and his next shot is nothing but net.

Three points later and Buffy has won the game, but they don’t keep score, shockingly. One-on-one has become a daily occurrence after their respective practices, because TJ has to wait for rehearsal to end to drive Cyrus home anyways. Cyrus tried to convince him that he could just go home on the late bus, but TJ has insisted.

“Ready for next Friday?” Buffy asks, once they’re done playing and are just dribbling around. 

“I hope,” TJ says, chucking the ball up with zero regard. Buffy catches it and looks over at him.

“You better be ready for Valentine’s Day. I know Cyrus is excited.”

TJ does a double take, and Buffy laughs like she’s caught him unaware. “Well, yeah I’m ready for Valentine’s Day. Or I will be. But the game—“ “Screw the game,” Buffy says, and drives the basketball into the ground. “I mean—sorry. Screw my game, not yours.”

“What’s up? How’s the team doing?” TJ holds his hands out, and she throws it at him. He’s always tried to be somewhat lenient towards Buffy in her captaining, because he knows it must be hard carrying the girls basketball program on her shoulders. When they came to Grant, Buffy had to leave behind her newly-founded middle school team for a program that’s only improvement on Jefferson’s was the fact that it was school-mandated. The past few years Buffy has been constantly trying to mend a rivalry with Kira while simultaneously attempting to take the team to the next level.

“We’re doing alright. But we’ll be playing teams in the region tournament that have AAU girls and are state-ranked. I don’t want to get eliminated in the first round, but that looks like what we’ll be getting. And I’m trying to deal with Kira, but I really can’t—“ Buffy stops.

TJ shakes his head. “You can’t be so hard on yourself, Buffy. Regionals is a hard tournament, and it’s okay if you guys—“

“No! It’s not,” Buffy shouts, and her eyes flash. TJ steps back, because this is starting to feel too much like middle school. “I have to do well, and you don’t get to talk to me like that. Why don’t you talk to me like you would a teammate—“ Buffy stops.

TJ knows some people think Buffy can be harsh, but she’s harder on herself than she is on anyone else. The thing about being friends with her is never knowing exactly how to handle it. If Cyrus were here, he would know, but Cyrus is onstage pretending to be Lysander from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“If you were my teammate, I would tell you to stop worrying and play the game. It goes how it goes. And I’d tell you to get along with Kira. You have to,” TJ says.

“Yeah,” Buffy breathes. “Sorry. Now pass me the ball.”

TJ obliges, and she dribbles in for a layup. He doesn’t know if he handled it right; but, he did something. Which is better than nothing. Now back to the matter at hand.

“So, Driscoll,” he calls. “What else has Cyrus said about Valentine’s Day?”

“That’s not for me to tell,” Buffy shrugs, starting to smile. “But I hope you’re taking him to the dance.”

“Uh, what kind of boyfriend do you think I am? Of course we’re going.”

“Alright, good,” Buffy says, taking a jump shot. 

“And,” TJ says, excitedly, “It’ll actually be fun. We’ve got the games, which everyone is coming to, and then the dance in the gym. Cyrus is coming over after, and we’re going to bake cookies and watch a movie—“ “Okayyy, I do not need to hear about your big date,” Buffy cuts in. TJ bites the insides of his cheeks so she won’t blush, because he had been planning a sort of date with Cyrus. But Buffy doesn’t need to know that. “But you’re right, it’ll be sweet. If your idea of romance is dancing in a sweaty gym in the dark.” TJ, who had been jogging back from the ball rack where he put away the basketball, stops to put his hands on his hips. “While you may be a cynical human being, Cyrus is a romantic—“

“So are you, TJ Kippen, don’t even try.”

“I refuse to acknowledge that statement. Buffy, you must come to the dance. It’s a part of the high school experience: the big game and then the sweaty prom.”

“Sweaty prom.”

“Sweaty prom!” TJ yells and does a spin around the gym. It’s exhilarating, he thinks, to have caring friends and a team he love to be on and a boyfriend who likes him back and has for over a year. And speaking of said boyfriend—

Cyrus enters the gym, and they both hear his hard-soled theater shoes from across the room. 

“Cyrus!” Buffy shouts, and runs over to him. TJ follows. “Save me from TJ, he’s trying to force me to go to… wait for it… the dance!”

Cyrus snorts, and swings his drawstring bag over his shoulder. “TJ, are these accusations trustworthy?”

“Very,” TJ says, pulling in Cyrus under his arm.

“In that case, I support them. Buffy, we need you to go the dance! Who else will ridicule their music choices and teach Gus how to do the cha cha slide?” “First of all, the instructions are in the song. Second of all—“ Buffy’s phone dings from inside her pocket, and she stops immediately to check it. TJ raises his eyebrows at her as she frowns at the tiny screen, then stops frowning and smiles a tiny bit. TJ runs through in his mind who it could’ve been—not Marty, who Buffy parted with freshman year. He shrugs it off—a mystery for another time.

“Got to go,” Buffy says, and rushes off to the locker room. 

“Buffy,” Cyrus calls, then shakes his head. “She’s been weird lately. I’m not sure what’s up.”

TJ nods absentmindedly, then turns to Cyrus. “How was rehearsal?”

Cyrus’s eyes go wide. “Some freshman dropped a set piece on Amber and she broke her pinky!”

“WHAT.” TJ feels his voice get quiet.

“Yeah, it’s okay though, it’ll be healed in two weeks. Show isn’t for another month. She said it feels fine.” “Fucking—sorry, fricking—freshman. Idiots, all of them,” TJ says, pulling Cyrus by the hand over to the bleachers so he can grab his bag.

“Can’t argue with that,” Cyrus shrugs, and they start to head to TJ’s car.  “Oh, and Amber told me to tell you she’s staying out late tonight, so don’t wait up for her.”

“She’s going out with a broken pinky?”

“She’s got a tiny cast; she’ll be alright.” TJ squints, unconvinced. “Anyways, how was your practice?”

TJ pulls Cyrus against his side. “The usual, you know. You’re bringing the whole gang out to the games on the 14th, right?”

He nods and wraps his arm around TJ’s waist. “I can’t wait.” Then he does that Cyrus-smile: with his lips upturned to his cheeks, and his eyes intense. “It’s Valentine’s Day too, you know,” he says sweetly.

“Oh, trust me,” TJ says. He puts both his arms on Cyrus’s shoulders and pulls him into a kiss. “I know.” Cyrus blushes when he pulls away, and TJ spins him towards the car.

“Movie tonight?” Cyrus asks. TJ bites his lip, then shakes his head.

“I wish. I’ve got precalc homework which is going to take me approximately four hours,” TJ says, slipping into the drivers’ seat. “Ms. Walters is evil, I swear.”

“I’ll be sending good luck in your direction,” Cyrus says as he buckles his seatbelt. TJ drives to Cyrus’s house, and on the way they listen to Billie Eilish and discuss the day’s events, their feelings towards pineapples, and Degrassi, their show. By the time TJ pulls into Cyrus’s driveway, it’s gotten dark and Cyrus’s eyelids are slipping closed. TJ smiles over at him and bops his nose with his index finger. Cyrus blinks awake, focuses on the house, and smiles a sleepy smile. Struck, as he is daily, by how cute Cyrus is, TJ leans across the seat and kisses him. Cyrus takes TJ’s hand, squeezes it, and tumbles out the door with his bags.

“See you tomorrow, underdog!” Cyrus turns to wave back at him, and TJ can still see the soft smile on his face.

As he drives away, TJ stops at the intersection that breaks off back to the Kippen house, and he takes a left instead of a right. He thinks about Cyrus’s excitement over Valentine’s Day and the dance as he pulls into the Target parking lot. Cyrus Goodman, he thinks, his own smile filling his features, you deserve the world.

[ocprompts-andsuch]

LONG POST

So we ended up getting a lot of asks! Which honestly was fun as hell. However, I don’t want to spam our followers with 30+ posts, so, instead I’m making this.

mixolydian98 said:My OC is a misomaniac college professor who was transformed into a grotesque monster by an evil sorceress.

My OC Bor was cursed to live as a beast by a bunch of angry forest spirits -Ven My OC Ursa was cursed to be a werebear-Chris/p>

Anonymous said:My OC is an edgy, beatnik unicorn in a turtleneck sweater.

The closest thing I have is Priscilla, Sunan, and Hala are also very edgy -Ven My OC Cadence wears a sweater his husband made and tells edgy poetry -Chris

djdashieticktock said:My OC (Yesman) is a smelly rotting boi who needs to take a bath and chill on preforming necromancy

1. that’s a mood and 2. Priscilla is the result of necromancy -Ven My OC Beckett is a necromancer who wants to become a lich -Chris

Anonymous said:My OC is a mutated bunny who is a great mother.

My OC Dryn isn’t mutated but he is a great father! -Ven My OC Adrien is a great father and husband!

Anonymous said:I made my OC super trope-y because cringe culture is shit. She’s a witch with dark skin, bright blue eyes, and pink/magenta hair. She’s a bubbly baby who trains dragons for a living and I love her. Fight me Cus I’m having fun with her!

She sounds fun as hell! My OC Nelsis is a beast tamer who loves space and has a dragon (along with a plethora of other beasts that seem very intimidating but actually just act like dogs) -Ven Cringe culture is shit she sounds really cool! My OC Nimbus has naturally pink hair and she designed her hella mechanical wheelchair after a dragin she saw once -Chris

cyrokinetic-iceman said:One of my OCs is named Rory and he’s an Irish maid for Sean Cassidy from the xmen. he had long, frizzy red curls and is more freckles than man. He’s tall and bony with very pale skin. He’s a hemophiliac but also has mutant powers that allow him to take the energy (and in fatal enough cases life force) from organic life forms and he later discovers he can also enhance their energy and life force. He’s very shy but friendly and likes to bake and cook

Priscilla can take people’s life force (well really the demon that’s with her can but whatever) -Ven My OC Orion has a lot of freckles and red hair but he is trash at cooking -Chris

Anonymous said:My gay OC Steven had his arms ripped off by a demon, after breaking up with said demon.

Wow.. hmm.. My OC Tarryn only has two limbs because of an explosion -Ven My OC Nimbus lost use of her legs after being shoved out of a very tall tree by a schoolmate -Chris

PHANTASYMIST SAYS:my oc practices forbidden magic because of hunger for knowledge

my OC EcC0 is a hellish combination of magic and failed technology and he accidentally made himself and his friends immortal through a series of experimental magic and glitches -Chris

ANONYMOUS SAYS:My Oc is possessed by the spirit of a Samurai and is immortal because of this. She also owns her own City Apartment building and lives in one of her apartments, she even rooms with one of her tenants

My OC Shelby lives in the top room(home??) of the Penthouse her family owns and accidentally became a Naiad’s sugar momma -Chris

ANONYMOUS SAYS:My oc Icarus is the child of Aphrodite but gave up on finding love for themself.

My OC Darcy is a demi-god who always forgets that he passed down his powers to his 6 year old until she starts telepathically throwing his circus group around when having a tantrum -Chris

ANONYMOUS SAYS:My Oc Alex attracts portals to a different world and goes through them in order to close them. She knows a bunch of survival skills because of how often she goes and stays there, especially cause there aren’t any civilizations in the other world.

My OC Ken is a dimention hopper who accidentally got stuck in time jail with three alternate universe versions of his friend Angel -Chris

Uuh… my OC Bor knows a bunch of survival skills cause for a while he was a human living in the forest -Ven

ANONYMOUS SAYS:My OC Regalius is an 2000ish year old immortal who manages to screw up every relationship he has.

My OC Felix used to be dating an ex war goddess until she tried to leave him for dead (the other gods called her out on her bullshit) -Chris

I have an immortal OC Bor, he never gets into any relationships he just kind of sits in the forest and makes stew and helps lost travelers and protects the forest -Ven

THAT-AWKWARD-FANGIRL-270 SAYS:One of my OC’s is Ethan, he’s about half French and a gay trans boy and I love him so much and he’s also an adorable book nerd and has like a hundred thousand siblings (jk but there’s Lots and everyone is good at braiding like trust me sleepovers there are The Bomb) I love him

My OC Wesley is a french american who’s half succubus and owns a giant library, he’s also a necromancer -Chris

Uuh… I have a gay Hawaiian war vet named Jeremiah with like 9 siblings -Ven

ANONYMOUS SAYS:My OC Locke is the headmaster of a guild and he’s also dating another guy also named Locke who tried to steal his money once

My OC Cyrus met his first boyfriend while doing a stickup -Chris

Well… my OC Xaro first met Cinder when Cinder tries to steal his stuff? They’re not dating or anything tho Xaro literally ends up adopting him -Ven

BUNNIKKILA SAYS:My OC is a member of the HEMA Alliance! Her dream is to open her own fencing school, as most of the schools in her immediate area focus on Olympic fencing.

My OC Telly fences in his spare time and is teaching his boyfriends daughter how to -Chris

My OC Cinder loves fencing and is very good at it, but didn’t actually get to start until he was 15! -Ven

ANONYMOUS SAYS:My OC took Tae Kwon Do as a tween. She was one belt away from getting the black belt (highest rank), but financial issues made her have to quit.

My OC Poppy knows Capoeria -Chris

I have an OC who gets to the 7th dan of Judo by age 14 -Ven

ANONYMOUS SAYS:I have an OC based off the planet Neptune….her name is Neptune.(I know, real original name :/ )

I named my OC Castor after Pollux and Castor since I wanted a constellation name and I’m a Gemini -Chris

I have an OC named Snow White -Ven

REMEMBER-THERAIN SAYS:my OC Stevie is a 14-year-old aromantic/pansexual bounty hunter who travels the galaxy with her robot Lux :))

Oh cool!! My OC Dryn is also pan and sometimes does bounty hunting, he also travels a lot -Ven

my OC Castor ran away from home at 15 and is now one of the most renowned Space travelers of his species -Chris

DRAGONIANGIRL SAYS:My OC Nimladrie is a cleric of a drunk god that accidentally swore a blood oath but she can’t remember for what or to whom.

My OC Beckett accidently became a cult leader because he thought it was a Bards club -Chris

((Amazing)) Well uh… the closest thing I have is my oc Priscilla has blood contracts with like a shitton demons/daemons/etc

ANONYMOUS SAYS:My oc Yilim is… well. To plainly state it he one ugly ass mofo.

My OC Scrib is just,,,,, literally a poorly drawn doodle, i usually draw him left handed -Chris

My main OC Tarryn is also considered ‘ugly’, another OC I have is unarguably ugly because his face is literally a deer skull -Ven

ATQEVALE SAYS:My OC Matisse wears a really freaking ugly salmon colored hoodie to school every day and my other OC Sparrow has a crush on her in spite of this

My OC The Boy has no fucking clue what fashion is and neither does his mom Ursa (he’d get it from his dad to if he wasn’t a giant Stag) -Chris

Uhhh… my OC Mike is colorblind and until he memorizes his wardrobe he has to ask people he lives with what color the stuff he’s wearing is?? It led to an Outfit Disaster a couple of times -Ven

WEARETHERUSSIANTWINS SAYS:My oc Hayley Williams (aka Sailor Aries) has schizophrenia and ADHD

My OC Finch has ADHD to! -Chris

My OC Mike has ADHD(a few others do as well but I haven’t hashed that out yet) -Ven

ANONYMOUS SAYS:My OC Janice comes from a planet with pink water, and secretly prefers it over earth water.

My OC Scravenlay comes from a world that is mostly covered in turquoise freshwater that is extremely buoyant -Chris

ANONYMOUS SAYS:My oc Vlansen forgot all about his past and is in love with a hallucination!

My OC Cadence woke up in the middle of a battlefield with no memory of what side they were on and they later married the soldier who found them! -Chris

ANONYMOUS SAYS:i have so many OCs. But my mains are a Schizophrenic ex-hitman who runs a daycare and a half alien-human hybrid that has the ability to control plants and crystals ;v;b

My OC Brin is a (retired later in the story) Rebel Leader with a softspot for kids and animals and my oc Scravenlay was supposed to be the king of his species/people but decided he preferred to be an adventurer after an assassination attempt -Chris

Well… the closest I have is an assassin who also has a soft spot for kids? -Ven

THE-TINY-KRAVIST SAYS:My OC, Binary, is an android who is terrified of water!

My OC Rhys is a self made android (makes more sense in context of the story) who runs a roller rink -Chris

My OC Mike is terrified of water. He’s not an android he just can’t swim -Ven

ANONYMOUS SAYS:my oc has a brand on her left side right below her heart from where she forced to fight in an arena

One of my OCs used to have something like that, now the closest I have is Tarryn has a lot of scars from fights! -Ven

My OC Beckett has a lot of scars after the gang who owned him tried to kill him for trying to escape - Chris

ECHOING-NIGHT SAYS:My OC iasi is claustrophobic.

My OC Beckett tries to fit into small spaces when he gets nervous or scared -Chris

My OC Xaro is also claustrophobic! -Ven

ANONYMOUS SAYS:Uh my OC is a detective in the 1940’s

My OC Lost was a private investigator until he got possessed (this is close enough right?) -Chris

[ramajmedia]

10 Facts And Trivia You Never Noticed From The Warriors

The phrase "cult classic" could have been coined to describe Walter Hill's The Warriors. Indeed, Hill's iconic tale of gangland violence and territorial toughness has only grown in popularity since its release in 1979. When it came out, the film failed to recoup its budget, earning roughly $3.5 million against a $4 million budget.

However, with the advent of home video and revival screenings, the film has gone on to gross more than $22 million in the U.S. alone. But even the biggest fans must have missed certain details. As the film celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, here are 10 Things You Never Noticed From The Warriors!

RELATED: 10 Forgotten TV Spinoffs That Were Actually Good

10 Alternate TV Opening

Did you ever notice that a different version of The Warriors aired on TV back in the day? To extend the run time and make way for advertising, an alternate opening scene of the film was added, which drastically changed the tone of the film. Instead of taking place at night like the theatrical cut, the alternate opening takes place on Coney Island in the daytime as The Warriors gang is introduced.

A much longer introduction to gang-leader Cleon is given before heading to the Bronx to battle.

9 Marilyn Manson Lookalike

During the iconic parkland battle between The Warriors and The Baseball Furies, a gang member resembling Marilyn Manson appears. Walter Hill reportedly created this gang out of his love for the rock band KISS and his lifelong love of baseball, but who could have known the character would, in turn, inspire one of the most famous Gothic rockers of all time?

The actor who played the Manson lookalike Fury, Jery Hewitt, made his screen debut in The Warriors before becoming a full-time stuntman. Interestingly, Hewitt also starred in the other major 1979 gang film, The Wanderers.

8 Broken Ribs

Speaking of the battle between The Warriors and The Furies, actor Michael Beck struck a stuntman so hard during their fight that he accidentally broke three of the man's ribs. If you look closely, you can see the Fury's authentic reaction when he's hit in the midriff.

RELATED: 10 TV Shows We had No Idea Andy Cohen Had His Hands In

The scene occurs right after the Marilyn Manson lookalike appears, as Swan (Beck) engages with a red-faced Fury. A tussle ensues before Swan slams a baseball bat plum in the Fury's gut, resulting in a serious onscreen injury. The kicker? Beck didn't hear about the injury until 37 years later during a reunion event.

7 Locations

 Part of the allure of The Warriors is the use of gritty, real location on the streets of New York City. But if you look closely, there are two locations in the film that stand out for being fake. When Cyrus gives his rousing speech at the beginning of the film, the location supposedly resides in the North Bronx.

However, native New Yorkers can tell you that the scene was shot in Riverside Park on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Additionally, if you pay close attention to the fight scene inside the subway-station bathroom, you may notice it's an artificial set rather than a real location.

6 Inspiration

If you've never seen Walter Hill's Director's Cut of The Warriors, you may have never noticed the film is based in part on the ancient Greek tome Anabasis by Xenophon. The character of Cyrus in the film is named after the Greek general Cyrus the Younger, who enlisted mercenaries to usurp the throne of Persia around 401 BC. In the film, the Warriors get trapped behind enemy lines just like the Greeks did during the Battle of Cunaxa.

This inspirational story-line is explained on the short animated prologue featured in the Director's Cut.

5 Cleon's Fate

Great debate has continued over what happens to the character of Cleon in The Warriors, one of the de-facto ring-leaders of the titular gang. While many fans either insist or want to believe he survived a ruthless beating at the hands of the Gramercy Riffs in the beginning of the film, it has been confirmed by Hill and others that Cleon does indeed die during this sequence.

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Cleon's demise is easy to miss, as he is beaten to death off-screen during a chaotic melee that pulls your eyes in every direction, but the sad truth remains. RIP Cleon!

4 Real Gang Members

To be as authentic as possible, Walter Hill wanted to use real-life gang members in The Warriors. The character of Cyrus was originally cast with a gang-member but he suddenly vanished the night before filming commenced.

However, during the infamous fight that takes place at the Van Cortlandt Park conclave, real NYC gang-members were used as a kind gesture for filming on their territory. As a precaution, the NYPD planted the background extras with undercover cops to make sure the real gang members remained in check.

3 Mercy's Hidden Injuries

Filming The Warriors was so physically demanding that actress Deborah Van Valkenburgh, who played Mercy, sustained two major injuries that were captured onscreen. In one shot, actor Michael Beck accidentally hit Deborah in the face with a baseball bat, necessitating immediate stitches at the hospital.

During the subway evasion scene, Deborah was accidentally dropped to the floor by a stuntman, resulting in a broken wrist. If you look closely, Mercy wears a black jacket for the rest of the film to hide the cast on her arm.

2 Two Different Actors Played Fox

Have you ever caught wind of the fact two different actors portray the character of Fox? Reportedly, the actor who played Fox for most of the film, Thomas G. Waites, became too difficult to work with when it was discovered he repeatedly left the set to get high.

Hill and stunt coordinator Craig Baxley decided to fire Waites but opted to film the death of Fox anyway. A passable lookalike was plucked from the crew and strapped to the subway tracks from behind so to make it look as if Waites (as Fox) was fatally run over.

1 Walter Hill's Cameo

Are you one of the infinitesimal few who happened to spot director Walter Hill's cameo in The Warriors? Thought not! First, you'd have to know what Hill looked like in 1979. Secondly, you'd have to know where to look.

But for all you Warriors trivia buffs, Hill can be spotted during a sequence in the middle of the movie where the Warriors are being chased through the subway terminal by the police. Hill is wearing a light blue sweater and flat-cap with a bushy beard.

NEXT: All Walter Hill Movies, Ranked Worst To Best

source https://screenrant.com/facts-trivia-never-noticed-warriors/

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