#'if we've talked' covers like. 7 people maybe but if i have to pick i will agonize all night sorry

[pancake-breakfast]

Time for more TriMax! I'm told we'll be reunited with the girls again soon....

Archive

Trigun Volume 1: Covers + 1-3, 3 Detailed Thoughts, 4, 4 DT, 5-6, 5-6 + DT, 6 DT, 7-8, 9-10

Trigun Volume 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 1 Supplemental Research, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8

TriMax Volume 1: 1-2

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 1, Chapters 3-4 below. (More detailed thoughts will be their own posts.)

Chapter 3: Bravo, Girls!

Ah, there are the girls already!

He did warn them that it might be like July....

Awww, that cupcake is HUGE!

Meryl's face. I don't think she likes being reminded that she's been through so much at her age. Or maybe she just doesn't like people talking about her age. Or maybe... she doesn't like all the rumors around the story versus the actual facts.

Vash using people as tools? Dude. It's like they don't even know the guy. They don't.

Woooow, way to dictate what makes women happy.

I sincerely hope New Miami is better than current Miami.

Oh, man. They straight-up note the hair color change here.

Oh, no! Her reports! Not only are they all over the floor, but they're also being insulted! Terrible.

Hahahahaha, Meryl's making faces behind her boss's back. TBF he deserves it.

So... the insurance agency decided that, rather than send two young girls out to guard this "most dangerous criminal," they'd send a former military man. This theoretically seems wise of them, but Vash is Vash.

Also, what military?? Best I can tell, there aren't other nations on this planet. The closest thing to a military you've got is gangs and maybe a few organized militia.

Dramatic Vash is dramatic. This time, in silhouette!

I can hear the *ching* of this guy's spurs as he steps off the bus. The fact that he's not wearing spurs is irrelevant.

Vash doesn't even try to pull one over on the insurance agency and pretend he's a Mr. Smith or whatever.

LOL, shotgun-launching suitcase.

Assassination attempt: failed.

What's up with the bottle on the string? Was... that how Vash opened the door?

Vash sees right through this guy. What's his name? Bardeaux Keele. As in, "Hai, I'm an assassin and I'm gonna Keele you!"

Somehow, I don't think this was part of his job description from the insurance agency....

LOL, now you done it, Keele. You gone and pissed off Wolfwood, and he has considerably fewer qualms about taking you out than Vash does.

Oh, honey. You're only in volume 1 of TriMax. There's no way in hell your next shot's gonna "finish it."

LOL, Meryl's entrance onto the scene here is amazing. I wonder how long she was watching before she decided to speak up.

Ohhhhh, she's gonna get this guy on a different type of insurance fraud. TBF, it's kinda on Bernardelli for not realizing it was a bad idea to hire someone named Keele.

I love how absolutely unphased Meryl is despite having THREE guns aimed at her and her life most definitely threatened.

Oof, instead she's thinking about all the life-threatening situations she's been in, and of Vash's goofy smile. I have thoughts on all this.

Ah, he done threatened Meryl and now Milly's gonna make him pay for it.

Vacation!? This is a hell of a vacation.

That face is not very convincing, Wolfwood. Just whaaaat are you planning?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Tabasco.

Meryl looks so happy about being carried away by the storm that is Vash.

Despite poo-pooing her reports, Meryl is still their second pick for Vash Babysitting Duty.

Chapter 4: Hero Returns

CW: Rape mention

This title page, though. He looks like he's in prayer.

Even though we've had a face reveal for Knives, he's still cast in shadows here.

There it is. A summary of Knives as he COMPLETELY misreads the situation and tries to paint himself as the hero.

Heh, I love how in this moment, the best insult Vash can come up with is to tell Knives he's not human. Which, of course, hardly works as an insult for Knives.

Geez. Vash thinks, "Forgetting brings too much sorrow. Remembering leads to everlasting pain." And then he chooses to remember.

Awww, he's so cute in his groggy wake-up phase.

That's a lot of coffins....

I wish I could do one-handed handstand push-ups like that. But I don't want to train for three hours every morning before breakfast. That sounds like self-murder.

LOL, Vash has been working up too much of a sweat even for Wolfwood.

Vash, when he hears another of his sisters is alive somehow.

Wolfwood explaining what Plants are to Vash is hilarious.

That's right; rape isn't about sex. It's about power. So if you're trying to drive other people out or show dominance over them, it does often fall into the mix right alongside murder.

It's played off, but Vash is well within his rights to cry here, I think. He cares a lot for humanity. Seeing them rip each other apart like this is bound to hit a note for him.

I love how much Nightow says about both characters and their relationship in just these two panels.

Dude. Vash's happy face mug.

Nightow is very dedicated to not drawing mouths on characters who have moustaches.

Brad?? THE Brad???

Yep, it's THE Brad.

Which face? Um. How many masks does Vash wear?!

In spite of all the time that's past, Vash recognizes Brad.

He snuck away from you, WW!

Time to get some new fancy gear! Huzzah!

"Lost technology for lost technology." Hahahahaha, these guys know what's up.

He genuinely is sorry, guys. He just didn't want to cause trouble.

Oh, Vash.... He looks so... empty at Brad's comments.

This is just going to dissolve into me posting a bunch of Vash panels because I want to slap some sense into Brad and give Vash hugs. But his face is so... resigned and sad and kind of hard here after Brad points out how much of a threat he could be to humanity. Like... he gets it, Brad. I guarantee you, he gets it. And he doesn't hold it against Brad for speaking the truth.

Vash is pleading with Brad. I love the close-up on his clenched fist. This isn't what he wants. But it's the way things are. And he's gonna do his best because he has to. For their sake. Regardless of whether they want him to.

Oh, Vash, my babygirl....

Hahahahaha, Brad is just jealous. Don't worry, Brad. Vash isn't gonna go that route.

Dude, what's up with that surgery tool??

What the heck? Who's crashing into stand steamer?? Rude.

LOL, WW crawling around with his bowl of... ramen? curry? soup? Whatever it is, it wasn't designed to be carried while crawling.

I feel like WW's chaos sense went off and he immediately followed it, knowing Vash would be there.

Misspelling of the word "custody" here....

Wolfwood doesn't get it. But Vash is trying to be patient.

Wolfy noticed Vash's new get-up. He knows he's looking at Serious Vash now.

Current favorite serious Vash expression:

Hahahahaha, Vash is dying after being called a disaster-prone freak. WW is also dying, but of laughter. Because it's true.

Oh, no. Vash has an idea. He looks way too mischievous for it to be a safe one.

Dramatic gun twirl!

VAAAAASHU ZA STAMMMMPIIIIIIDOOOOOOOO!!!

Hahahahaha, that's right. Lean into your violent reputation as a way to quell the pending violence and lead to a non-violent outcome. This is how Vash wiggles out of trolley problems.

"These are the tactics of a the man whom our fate rests upon." "All I'm seeing is a total nutjob!" Beautiful.

[torybrennan]

trace evidence covers ranked

okay last one

us/aus & nz. love the blue colour scheme love downtown charleston yes and yes 9/10 for the first one. 2/10 for the second because there was literally no mention of wolves yet. this is the prequel guys. tory hasn't even been to loggerhead. coop wasn't even born. this is maybe the one book where you can't just slap a wolf on the cover and say it works. it doesn't.

us/aus & nz. i'm going to give these both a 5/10 because this is really dull.

us/aus & nz. NOW we're talking. the robot arm is great. the other one is just the same fucking cover as the last one but in blue. 8/10 and 4/10 because i'm actively subtracting points for repeating the same cover twice

us because apparently no one else cared enough to give spike its own cover. it's fine! it's representative. the cake got spiked. i don't like the colour but i'm not taking points off for it. 7/10

us/uk. i like the us cover, although purple is kind of an odd choice, but whatever. 7.5/10

i…have so many things to say about the uk cover and none of them are positive. who the FUCK are those two supposed to be??? stop picking random white boys to portray ben. tory would not be wearing eyeliner. where are her freckles. why is her eyebrow meticulously shaped. neither of those people are virals characters. 1/10 fuck this shit for real and that font is ugly

czech (all of trace evidence). this is so funny. i don't even know why. the blurry ass pixels with the perfectly focused eyes. still eyeliner and no freckles but that girl is infinitely more toryish than the last one and this is just from looking at her eyes. i'm giving it a 7/10 on vibes alone. every cover should be this goofy.

i think what we've concluded from this experience is that if you're going to design a cover with people on it maybe you should fucking check what they look like!

[sauvechouris]

Got tagged by @autheane, thank you! Some of these were hard choices x)

slow burn or love at first sight // fake dating or secret dating // enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers // oh no there’s only one bed or long-distance correspondence // hurt-comfort or amnesia // fantasy au or modern au // mutual pining or domestic bliss // smut or fluff // canon-compliant or fix-it // reincarnation or character death // one-shot or multi-chapter // kid fic or road trip fic // arranged marriage or accidental marriage // high school romance or middle aged romance // time travel or isolated together // neighbors or roommates // sci-fi au or magic au // body swap or gender bend // angst or crack // apocalyptic or mundane // hanahaki disease or soulmate au // police au or office au

(With all due respect to only one bed and moderns AUs, pillars of fandom ^^” for smut or fluff I have a hard time picking because it’s like “yes, smut, but like this specifically, and fluff but like this specifically”, and I’m not sure which “genre” wins in a vacuum?)

Tagging... tagging is hard too, especially since that meme has been around a while so if you see this you’ve probably done it at some point, but if we’ve ever talked and you feel like (re)doing it, take this as an invitation? also @potahun , you’ve probably done it before too but i’m curious :p

[xpao-bearx]

Part 1 HERE

NOTE: OMG I really wasn't expecting for the previous first part of Heavenly Sins to blow up as it did, but I just wanted to give a huuuge THANK YOU to all of you amazing folks!! 🥰🥰🥰 Your support truly means so fooken much to trashy ol' meh and y'all are the reason I am writing this story series in the first place :')

I do have my ideas, but I still don't know much yet of what to do or even how long (or short) this story will get. So, if you would continue to give me your mindblowing support, it would seriously mean the W O R L D.

I do, however, very much enjoy writing Negan in particular so far. He's one of my absolute fave characters ever and JEFFREY DEAN FUCKIN' MORGAN NEED I SAY MOAR?!? 🥵💕💕

But this second part will be focusing a bit more on our beloved sheriff Ricky boi! Of course, Daryl will also get some much deserved love and attention tho I think he will appear in the story a lil later on.

Also, if you ever feel compelled, you are more than welcome to take some inspo from this story and make your own imagines and such! I'd love to see 'em, so please tag me 😁

P.S. There won't always be long ass notes like this, only if I wanna say something or bring up whatever is important. Also, if you wanna be tagged on any new/future story parts, then just tell moi and I will dedicate the latest one to the people who wanted to be tagged!

DEDICATED TO: The wonderful @buttercandy16 💖

"Heavenly Sins"

Part 2

After your little spiel, you haven't spoken to Negan since then. But on the way home after church, you passed by his house and found him tinkering away on his motorcycle (which you previously learned he interestingly named Lucille) in the garage. Not being able to help yourself, you paused in your tracks and just curiously watched him for a while.

His leather jacket was off, revealing a plain white t-shirt. The shirt was quite tight, and you noted how it perfectly hugged the taut muscles of his chest. Your eyes then slowly trailed to his toned arms, adorned by tattoos you wished you had a better look at. He stopped briefly, placing his tools down before grabbing the hem of his shirt and wiping the sweat on his forehead.

You didn't even think twice as your eyes dropped, hyperfocused on his abs. He wasn't the buffest guy out there, but he was lean and fit and--to put it bluntly--hot. A part of you screamed bloody murder to get a grip on yourself, to just turn your stiff body around and proceed on home. But another part completely squashed down those protests without even a fight; as if your pathetic excuse of a resolve wasn't even meant in the first place.

"Take a goddamn picture, darlin'. It'll last longer."

Your head snapped up, meeting the tantalizing hazel stare of Negan. His lips were curled in a smug smirk, and nevermore in your entire life have you wanted to both slap and kiss someone so badly.

But you only clicked your tongue, shooting him a sharp glare before (at last!) turning and walking away as you hid your blush. In the distance, his amused chuckle begrudgingly sounded like the sweetest fucking music to your ears.

♡♡♡

You woke up at 7:05 a.m. like you typically did the next morning, Monday. It was the dawn of a new week, and while most people dreaded it you actually didn't mind it so much. You had your job to thank for that.

Sure, it wasn't always easy, but it was worth it in the end. You loved teaching and spending time with the children, and you were even more ecstatic since you knew Judith was going to be at the daycare.

As you finished eating breakfast and preparing for the day, you grabbed your bag then went out the door. You opted to walk again today, the weather far too beautiful to miss plus the daycare really wasn't that far away.

Eventually arriving at your destination, you approached the daycare building's doors with a little spring in your step. Once inside, a young woman with her blonde hair high in a ponytail smiled and waved.

"Hi, Y/N! Goodmorning!" Beth Greene greeted energetically.

"Morning, Beth." You chuckled, the girl's radiant smile infectious. You've known Beth for some time now, especially since the Greenes were one of the oldest families in Alexandria and they were well respected. But you got along best with Beth, you thought she was the friendliest and she was also the latest hire of the daycare.

Stashing your bag away in your personal locker, you fixed yourself up a bit before getting your nametag and sticking it on your top. Looking up at the wall clock, you read that it was 7:50 a.m. Perfect, just in time for the kids' drop-offs.

You waited outside with Beth and the rest of the daycare workers, until finally the parents started rolling in. It was the usual; some of the children were wailing, snot snivelling down their nose as their embarrassed parents tried to tug them away from clinging onto their legs. You could only offer a sympathetic smile as you tried to help, while other children were much more relaxed and didn't even spare a second glance at their parents as they were dropped off.

"Well, that's about all of them." Beth piped up.

"Wait, we're still waiting for Judith." You said, searching for the toddler. "Rick said she'd be here."

Beth checked her watch, her brows creasing a little in worry. "That's odd. Sheriff Grimes is never late when he's dropping Judith off."

Just as she said that, there was a honk that disrupted the peace. You and Beth both spotted a crying Judith being held by Lori, the woman appearing utterly exhausted before her eyes locked with yours and didn't waste another second dashing towards you.

"Please don't run when you're holding Judith. Also, no honking is allowed on the premises." It was hard for you to keep the malice out of your voice, but you mentally gave yourself a pat on the back since you miraculously managed to not make it sound the worst it could get.

Lori raised a brow at you, but only handed Judith over to you. Judith immediately quieted down when she saw it was you, you cooing gently at her as she giggled and snuggled up comfortably against your chest.

"Rick will be picking her up later." Was all Lori said, pressing a quick peck on Judith's curly little head before parting ways. As Lori rushed back to the car, you saw Shane in the driver's seat shamelessly attack her neck with fervent kisses and you couldn't restrain an eyeroll.

"Fucking bitch..." You grumbled.

"Uh-oh. Bad!" Judith giggled again, clapping her hands gleefully.

"Right, right. Bad. Don't copy me, okay?" You laughed, completely forgetting about your aggravation as you rubbed your nose with Judith's and went inside.

♡♡♡

The rest of the day rolled along splendidly. No one threw a tantrum and for the most part, all the kids properly shared the wide assortment of toys and even did their activities orderly and on time. So, you decided to indulge them with a small yet much sought after reward.

Painting.

When it comes down to children, painting can be utter chaos. But you figured since they were being so good, you'd allow it. At the daycare you worked in, painting was quite a rare occurrence and that only solidified how much the kids adored it.

Once the materials were set out, it was a dizzying flurry of excited hands grabbing anything it could latch on to. As the kids went about doing their creative business, you found Judith all alone sitting in the corner playing around with some blocks.

"Whatcha doin' there, Judi?" You asked, sweetly calling out her nickname. "You don't wanna paint?"

"I wanna, but not with papers." She replied, shaking her head.

"Oh? Then where do you wanna paint?"

"I wanna paint on faces, but no one wants me to!"

"If that's the case, then I'd be more than happy to let you paint my face." You smiled.

"Really?!" Judith's whole face lit up, jumping up and wrapping her tiny arms around you as tightly as she could. "Thank youuu!"

You chuckled, ruffling her hair and watching as she happily gathered some paint and brushes.

♡♡♡

It was finally the end of a long day, and your face felt a bit itchy from the paint Judith put on you. But it didn't matter; as long as the little girl was happy, it was the best damn day ever.

You were holding Judith's hand as you waited outside for Rick to pick her up, and once he came up with his car Judith beamed.

"Daddy!"

"Hello, sweetheart. Did you have a nice day?" His face looked tired, his greying beard making him appear slightly older than he really was, but his smile was genuine as he carried Judith in his strong arms.

"The bestest! Y/N lemme paint her face!"

"She did, huh? What did you pai--oh my god."

You bursted into laughter at his reaction, flashing him a toothy grin. "In the words of Judi: You're a pretty tiger! Grr!"

"Now that you mention it, I can see it." Rick joined in your laughter, nodding his head. "Looks like we've got a talented lil artist in our hands!"

"Daddy, I wanna paint your face next! You can be daddy tiger and Y/N can be mommy!" Judith proclaimed.

You and Rick flushed pink at the same exact time, but Rick was quick to clear his throat and change the topic. "A-Anyways, Y/N, how 'bout me and the kids give you a ride? Thank you for today, by the way."

"No problem, and sure! Thanks so much."

As you settled in the passenger's seat, two hands covered your eyes from behind. "Guess who~?"

"Hmm..." You hummed, making a show of thinking. "Are you an elf?"

"No!" The hands were removed, Carl popping his head out from the backseat to look at you as he laughed. "It's me!"

"Oh, sorry! You're just so short, I thought you were an elf." You teased good naturedly.

Carl huffed, sticking his tongue out at you. "Y'know, in a few years, I'll be way taller than you!"

Once Rick was done buckling Judith into her carseat, he took his place in the driver's seat and drove out of the premises. You just talked about anything that came to mind: work, the weather, Alexandria's local shops, etc. To anyone else, maybe it seemed like regular boring conversation. But speaking with Rick was truly one of the highlights of any of your days. He was extremely easy to talk to, and he never failed to cheer you up. And it was obvious Rick was the same. He was allowed to simply be himself around you; to loosen up, momentarily forget about the stress and sometimes even the woes that came along with being the town's upstanding sheriff.

As you were nearing your home, Carl decided to cut in.

"Y/N, can we stay at your house? It's been a while since we had a sleepover." Carl asked, his baby blue eyes identical to Rick's alight with hope.

It wouldn't be the first time Rick and the kids would be staying over. You were very close to the Grimes family, sometimes even almost considering them as your own. You didn't mind it. Since you lived alone, it can get pretty lonely. And having people around surely brightened up the house and made you keep your sanity.

"I don't mind, but you gotta ask your dad." You chuckled.

Carl turned to Rick, pouting and giving his best puppy dog eyes. Rick rolled his eyes, but couldn't suppress an inkling of a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. But let me drop you and Judith off with Y/N first. I'll be back, I just need to get some extra clothes and essentials."

"YAY!" Carl cheered, Judith following suit as they both raised their arms and hollered.

"You're so whipped for them." You laughed, shaking your head as you looked at Rick.

"I ain't denying that." He sighed dramatically, grinning.

[topweeklyupdate]

TØP Weekly Update #142: A Formidable Album (5/21/21)

So... how 'bout that album release week?

There's so much to cover; the release of nine new songs, the hype that's building for the World's Best Band to return to the stage, and (if we're able to come up for air) the massive speculation of what the future brings for our band.

I'm gonna get right into it, laying out my thoughts regarding this bold new album and covering all the most notable news from the week. I'll be sharing my (mostly) positive opinions about Scaled and Icy under the Read More line; I hope they're the start of a fun conversation with all of y'all who have stuck around through this last year.

Scaled and Icy Review

First, my general thoughts on the album: It's good! Really good. Do I think it's a no-skip like Vessel or a cohesive piece of art like Trench? Absolutely not! But it's also not the potential misfire that I worried that we might be getting when I first heard "Saturday" (more on that later); I think all of the songs are at least good, and some of them are downright great tracks that hold up with anything else that our band has ever released. It is also indisputably very different, but I think that generally works pretty well. Many of the songs evoke '60s rock or Britpop sounds and structures that you can tell Tyler is still trying to navigate, but I think he does a very solid job at adapting them to suit his strengths- namely his lyricism and knack for melody- rather than change to suit them. Unfortunately, this does result in a bit of square-peg-in-round-hole syndrome at times; most of the rap verses on the album feel like they're here just to fulfill an obligation to fans who would be mad if they weren't here, and most of the songs that use them are the weakest ones in the project.

"Good Day" plays a major role in getting the rest of the album to work as well as it does. Its gradual ramp-up, introducing the sound that will be used throughout the rest of the album. Its playfulness belies its message about how one can project a somewhat false optimism for oneself in the midst of tragedy: the type of dark stuff in a bright package that Tyler is so so good at. It's perhaps not an instant classic, but I am excited to see how it comes across when it's eventually used as a show-opener. 9/10

I've of course already discussed "Shy Away"; an anthemic, inimitably catchy track that I just wish had a bit more going on under the hood. Still going to be so good to hear thousands of voices scream "An 'I LOVE YOU' that isn't words!" someday. 9.5/10

"Choker" definitely took a little bit to grow on me. I think part of that was a bit of disappointment from over-inflated expectations and the environment I was in when I first heard it. With further listens, I fall more and more in love with the melody of the song... well, most of it. Like the rest of this album, the biggest weakness in the song is when Tyler tries to tick the box of having a rap verse; it just feels really out of place, unfinished, and almost amateurish, and it doesn't end the song on the note that it really should. Without it, it'd be one of my favorites on the album; with it, "Choker" is a solid 8.5/10.

Speaking of unfinished-sounding songs really hurt by their rap verse: "The Outside". There's a definite something to the vibe of the song, but that seemingly nonsensical verse is one of the two weakest parts of the entire project for me. The way the song meanders only adds to the feeling that there wasn't as much energy and attention paid to it compared to other parts of the project. It's pretty easily my least favorite track on Scaled and Icy, and the only one I might regularly skip. I've also seen plenty of people saying it's the best song on the album, so please tell me why I'm wrong! 6.5/10

"Saturday", as mentioned above, had me really nervous about this album. Like "Choker", it's grown on me a bit since I first heard it, in part because it fits better with the context of the rest of the album. However, this one really does feel undercooked lyrically and overreliant on the novelty of using a disco-inspired sound that seems to chase trends more than almost any other TØP track. The inclusion of that very sweet audio clip from Jenna boosts the song in some ways, but also adds to the disappointment in others; there are many other songs on this project that would be more worth surrendering time watching Friends. Thankfully, those come next. 7/10

"Never Take It" is fascinating. I never thought I'd hear a Rolling Stones-style song from Tyler Joseph featuring a gd guitar solo of all things, and it actually sounds pretty great. However, I also predict that this song will see some of the greatest critical scrutiny out of all the songs on the album. The lyrics seem to be Tyler's criticism of the media for playing up division in our society, but he's extremely vague when discussing which entities are spreading said division and ultimately recommends that people "educate yourself, but never too much". I'll be honest: maybe it's the fact that it sounds like something my dad would listen to, but it feels like this would get tons of play on Fox News. Since it makes specific reference to the events of last summer, it's hard not to feel like song is at least partially inspired by Tyler's brush with cancellation last year. Maybe I'm reading too deeply into it, but those reservations come from the song's lack of specificity, which is an issue of songwriting more than politics. They hold me back from truly loving a song that still manages to be one of the most exciting the band has ever put out. 8.5/10

"Mulberry Street" seems like the perfect realization of the entire album's intended tone. It is so pleasant, so lush while also simply produced, full of great lyrics, metaphors, and imagery. It really brings the whole project together, even if it's missing That One Line to really move this up to the top tier of the canon. 9.5/10

"Formidable" is the best song on the album and one of two songs I would truly rank in the top tier of the band's canon. Extremely pleasant and brimming with well-crafted lines to make your heart swoon. Jenna (and Rosie) is (are) a lucky gal(s). Or is it about Josh? Who's to say? 10/10

"Bounce Man" is just plain wild. I think Tyler's smuggling someone to Mexico to escape the feds? The playfulness of it all really covers up any frustration I might have with the clarity; it makes it clear that there's not really stakes here, just vibes. 8.5/10

"No Chances" sees the album take a turn that I'm sure the Reddit Clique is going to have an absolute field day with; it and "Redecorate" both sound quite different from the rest of the album and evoke enough elements of Trench to make me think that's it's actually possible that all this 'SAI is Propaganda' stuff might actually have something to it... until I actually pick apart the lyrics, then I'm even more confused. The song has some of the best rapping on the album, though that's not saying much (the feng shui line is a groaner right out the gate) and the gentle pre-chorus is really pleasant. I still haven't made up my mind on whether the chorus is effective or just plain goofy. This one might get worse or better on repeat listens, impossible to say for now. 7.5/10

"Redecorate" rounds out the album by opening with a Clancy quote (Tyler, you bastard), firmly setting this as a coda to Trench more than the album we just listened to. The rest of the song is really storytelling, with Tyler describing a bunch of people who are struggling deeply. The idea of "redecorating" here stands for how they are faced with the option to clean and resort their own spaces and lives or leave that to their loved ones to do after they're gone. By the time it gets to the album's name drop, you begin to wonder how much of this is potential autobiographical of the last year. It's moving stuff, a callback to some of the great strengths of the band's discography. 10/10

If I average those scores all up, this project ranks below almost every album among the Pilots discography on my rating scale, very narrowly edging out Self-Titled. That's still a very solid 8.6. Scaled and Icy is a very good album on first listen. We'll see how I feel about it after having a little more time to sit with it, but I've rambled enough: let's move through the rest of the week's news.

Other News

Of course, there was a lot else going on this week! To accompany the release of "Saturday", Zane Lowe over at Apple Music dropped an interview with Tyler. As usual, Zane did a pretty solid job of getting to the heart of the craft and the creation process. However, Tyler also wound up skirting a lot of the questions to just talk more about how much he loves being a dad, which makes me happy; if the cost of getting a little less attention and mental energy devoted to the music is that little girl getting all of his attention, that's honestly preferable for me.

The album rollout is not even close to over. Later today, the concert will be streamed live. It's our first real performance that we've gotten from the band since 2019, but the previews that we've seen have completely exceeded any of my expectations, and really anything that we've seen from the band. It appears that they've transformed the entire arena (which I think is the ol' Schott at Ohio State) into a whole TØP world, with different sets laden with Easter eggs and a cast of backup dancers. If the website can hold up to the traffic (and I acknowledge that might be a big ask), this could really live up to Tyler's promise of this being the best livestreamed concert ever.

Oh, and this guy dyed his hair pink.

What a time to be a fan. Catch you all tomorrow.

Power to the local dreamer.

|-/

[chanlixformysoul]

Sounds easy, right? [ Chanlix ]

rating: mature

word count: 2217

chapter: 1

next chapter: 2

summary:

➥ Felix was sent to kill Chan but he got hurt and now Chan is nursing Felix back to health, they might also fall in love on the way.

song recommendation:

estimated reading time: 17.1 minutes

ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎❝᷀ົཽ≀ˍ̮ ❝᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚˚

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Felix would sneak his way in, kill Chan and get his goddamn money.

But oh boy he was in for a ride. The 'Big Boss' as people would call him wasn't that big nor great at all, he was just the co-CEO of the company, one position away from being the big CEO. His brother, Chan's dad, died besides his mother 7 years ago in a car accident , leaving Chan as CEO of the company. The Big Boss used Felix whenever he wanted to, but he never put Felix in a position like this before, to kill a person. He knew that if he disobeyed the Big Boss he would get beaten up and tortured, plus he would never get the money promised back and the fact that he was a cat hybrid didn't help either. The Big Boss told Felix to kill Chan, he would sneak in his house and get rid of him because he needed to not because he wanted to.

Sounds easy, right?

Well it actually isn't, not when Felix tripped because the welcome mat at the entrance was crooked sending his head into the door with a loud thump sound. As he tried to get away fast he lost his balance and was sent once again flying down the big and grand staircase. The door immediately opened, revealing a distressed looking man, shirt halfway undone and one shoe off. Felix knew Chan rushed outside because of the noise that he made but he couldn't help but admire his figure.

'Hey buddy, care to explain?' Chan said as he crossed his arms one over another raising his eyebrows.

'I umm... actually.... sorry, I gotta go.' But little did he know that falling down a huge staircase can do this much. Pain started to shoot from his ankles to his ribs and back. The big impact with the door sure left it's mark as he felt blood dripping from his blonde locks to his eyebrows. He pulled himself from the ground, trying to not make a fool out of himself more than he actually did earlier, wincing and shooting silent cuss words at himself for being so goddamn stupid.

Before he could walk down the street, he wanted to run but he weighed his options and he knew that if he started running it was only a matter of two steps before he came crashing to the ground once again.

He was about to do his second step but suddenly a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

'What the heck happened to you?'

'Oh... as I said I have to go, sorry.'

'You're not going anywhere, not with that head of yours.'

Felix couldn't believe what just happened, he screwed up the mission. He could say goodbye to this month's rent, goodbye to any decent meal he would allow himself to buy with the money check. Maybe if Big Boss would have some mercy he could leave him and not kill him, maybe he would understand, but deep down Felix knew he was gonna be tortured again by the thoughts of affording to even live when he opens his eyes every morning.

He couldn't stop trembling and his legs started shaking with fear of being killed by Big Boss because of his failed mission. Before he knew it he started crying, like full on sobbing and at last collapsed to the ground leaving a distressed Chan picking him up and urgently calling his doctor to come see the boy.

Chan was confused, really confused. This boy, he wanted to do something, right? But at the same time he couldn't help but feel a little weird because of the younger one. He had such a pretty face, rosy cheeks accompanied by constellations of freckles, lips that looked like petals of the rarest and finest flower you could find on earth. Chan found himself admiring the boy after the doctor left. As the doctor said it there weren't such serious issues but it wasn't something little either. The paper entitled prescription was long and let's say not even close to Felix's budget.

Chan kept a washing cloth by his side all the time, slowly stroking the youngest arms and forehead. He placed Felix on his bed justifying his actions in his head saying 'the couch is too small'. As he was making his way to the kitchen,Chan saw a little head that popped up in his bed. He made sure to bring the glass of water and the pills that the doctor prescribed. Felix woke up, and by that he knew he had officially fucked up real hard.

He tried to escape the blanket, kicking it off of him but the pain started once again as well. His ribs, back, legs, head and ankles hurt like hell. As he cleared his vision he saw Chan... he was done for sure.

'Hi there, I see that you woke up. Don't worry just stay in bed and take these. Oh and the bill for the medication, I took care of it.' He simply said smiling while placing the pills and water down on the nightstand.

Felix immediately came to his senses when Chan sat besides him on the bed. He tried to get off the bed but he was once again stopped but this time not only by the immense pain, but by strong arms.

'Where are you going?'

'To my house? I didn't ask for your kindness you know? You could've just let me be on the ground. It would've been better that way for the both of us trust me.' Felix said with no emotion in his voice.

'Hey, you can go to your home once you will recover, I'm not letting you out like this especially at this hour.' That made Felix turn his head for the nearest thing that indicated time only to read it as 11:34 pm. Fucking great isn't it. He knew the busses wouldn't be out that late and he knew that from this wealthy neighbourhood to his small apartment was an immense distance that he couldn't travel by foot.

'At least tell me your name, mines Chan.'

'Felix...'

'That's a cute name, Felix.' Chan said while trying to get the younger one to look at him in the eyes. He was getting closer and closer until he saw that Felix was crying once again.

'Hey what's wrong? Did I make you uncomfortable?'

'I failed, I'm gonna be left in the streets again, I'm so sorry. Please let me go, please. I'm a bad person, you don't want me here.' Felix continued sobbing, putting his hands to cover up his face and turning his head so Chan couldn't look at him.

'No you're not a bad person, Felix. If you want you can stay here with me, I'm always lonely, I rarely go out because of my work. I'm either at work or at home. You can stay with me for as long as you want to, I won't force you, just come here...' Chan says looking at Felix with gentleness in his eyes before climbing over the mattress to hug the youngest little frame.

'It's okay, Lix, I'm here you don't need to worry'

'Why are you being nice to me? I was supposed to do a bad thing to you.' He says sniffing and letting more tears fall down.

'Felix, I like you, that's why I'm being nice to you, I want you to stay with me, please tell me what's wrong' Chan said, voice trembling, not knowing what to do.

'Please don't hit me or do something, your uncle s-send me to kill you, I didn't want to but he would torture me if I didn't and I wouldn't get the money, I need the money so I can live, I'm sorry ' Felix sobbed harder than before as he looked at Chan. Chan shifted, Felix immediately twitched expecting a slap and then to be beaten up and thrown away just like Big Boss's men do with him all the time, Felix was shaking so much he fell out the bed into the hard and expensive wood flooring. His back started hurting more but that didn't matter he started to run to the door. Chan was quick and caught him pulling him to his chest.

'Did uncle really say that?'

Felix couldn't even look in Chan's eyes as he nodded. Tears trailed down his cheeks again.

'I'm sorry, I'm going to leave you. I don't have the money for the medication but I will give it to you, I promise just please don't hurt me. I swear I will disappear and you don't have to see me again, I promise...' Felix cried into his hands, his knees starting to give in so he dropped to the floor. He winced in pain as he made contact with the floor. He felt exhausted but he would go to his apartment, he had to.

Chan quickly went down to Felix picking him up while whispering that he's not mad at him and that he is just a little shocked. Felix was still saying that he didn't need to be carried, he just wanted to go home but Chan insisted that he will have to stay here till his pain is gone. Felix being exhausted physically and emotionally he agreed. Chan carried Felix to his bed placing him gently on it.

'Let's sleep for now, we will talk tomorrow,ok?'

'It's ok' said Felix going down on the floor again, this time intentionally. Chan just watched the younger not understanding what he was doing.

'Good night.' Said Felix as he laid on the cold flooring, feeling his back and ribs ache.

'Felix I-' Chan was cut off by Felix.

'Oh sorry, I will go in the living room'

'No, don't do that. I was just wondering what you were doing on the floor?'

'Trying to sleep?' He said looking confused as well.

'Felix, come here' Chan said as he patted the space next to him.

'I know we've just met a few hours ago but please stay with me, I beg you'

'I don't know, Chan, I have nothing to offer you, I have no family, no friends, no money, I'm also a cat hybrid. I'm practically useless, better off dead.' He said as he slowly got on the bed, staying on the edge so he could occupy less space than he needed to.

'Don't say that, come closer, I want to hug you if that's ok'

Felix didn't say anything he just got closer to the older. Raising his head to look at Chan, he found the older's eyes comforting, this time Felix hugged Chan burying his face in Chan's chest and collarbone. Chan let out a chuckle, Felix feeling the vibration through his chest.

'So what's your answer?'

'If I'm not a bother, I want to stay.'

'That's perfect then, can we sleep like this? I want to cuddle you while sleeping.' Felix turned red feeling his ears burning.

'O-ok then' Chan only nodded in agreement, setting them down. Felix didn't know what to do so he just stayed still not even daring to look at Chan.

'Do you not want to cuddle?' Asked Chan as he propped his head up a little.

'I never did it before, I don't know what to do...' he looked down in embarrassment.

'Really? That's okay. Do you want to face me or not?'

'I want to see your face'

'Okay then, sweetheart, come closer'

Felix could only smile at the sudden nickname clinging to the older, as he snuggled into him.

'I'm sorry for everything'

'You didn't do anything, bub, it's all ok now, we are together and that's what matters in the end.'

'Aren't you mad at me? I got you in so much trouble...I feel bad, i didn't want to accept the task, but I didn't have another choice, they would torture me and beat me and then throw me out like a dog... I didn't want that to happen again, I'm sorry Chan, I really am...' Felix said looking up at Chan, putting a hand gently on Chan's cheek.

Chan put his hand above Felix's hand noticing how tiny it was.

'Don't worry, it's none of your fault, you were the victim and as soon as you get better we will go and confront uncle.'

'No, please don't do that, please. You will get in trouble for me and he will come for you. I don't want to lose you' Felix started tearing up again but now Chan was here for him. Chan held him closer whispering that everything is okay.

'Don't worry Felix, uncle will be punished for everything he has done to you. I can't believe he will actually do that to someone, how cruel can one be?'

'Thank you, Chan, for helping me and letting me stay with you.'

'Felix, no need to worry, okay? You're here with me from now on. Let's sleep, it's gotten late.'

'Thank you, Channie.....' Felix mumbled cutely as he drifted into the land of dreams but this time his dreams weren't nightmares this time, his dreams were full of Chan's face, laugh, touch.....he was feeling happy. Was he allowed to feel that way?

᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎❝᷀ົཽ≀ˍ̮ ❝᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚˚

my ao3: Mrs_SnowPitch

my wattpad: ChanlixForMySoul

my masterlist: iza’s masterlist

[bleepblopbloop56]

The Murder in the Dressing Room

Chapter 7: liar liar

Warnings: blood, death, emotional and physical abuse, implied past domestic abuse

Also on ao3

Special thanks to @pathos-logical who still, despite everything shes done, wont be listed as a co-writer 🦀 (the writing was done months ago, and shes been doing EVERYTHING since)

The sound of Logan's phone ringing shook him out of the daze he'd been in for hours, sitting on Remy's couch, staring at the yellow walls, and trying to think about anything that wasn't Virgil. He considered ignoring it, letting it ring until the caller gave up and left him to sulk alone, but he decided to at least look at the contact. Maybe if they were important enough he'd think about calling them back later.

But when he saw Roman's contact, his earlier numbness was replaced with urgency like a lightning strike. He picked up before he could think twice. 

"Hello?" he rushed out, but even that was immediately cut off. At first all Logan could make out was near-hysterical rambling- but then the words sank in, and so did the horror.

"He did it- Logan, Dee killed them, it was him!" Roman was shaking so badly it was a challenge to keep the phone in his hands. "Dee, he- he sent me a picture of- of the two of us together, he didn't want me to leave him- Logan… I don't know what to do," he hiccupped, voice cracking on Logan's name. Logan's previous grief-induced apathy had fled as soon as he had heard the call, but now heart was pounding, a lump caught in his chest like he was going to either puke or scream. 

"Roman, where. Are. You." Logan had always been a serious type, but never like this. Despite how often his line of work put him in danger, the life-or-death part of it had never hit quite this close to home. If his entire world was flooding, Roman was the only one with a lifeboat. 

"God, I don't even know…" Roman muttered to himself, pausing to glance around him and even his breathing. "Some shitty Holiday Inn? I'm not too far from the police station."

Logan had jumped into action the second he heard Roman’s voice, frantically pulling on his shoes and throwing on one of Remy's jackets that was hanging by the door as he stormed out of the house. "Roman, I need you to meet me at the station." He heard Roman sniffle and whisper a soft agreement, followed by the sound of movement. "And Ro?" The shuffling stopped.

"I love you… and we're going to get through this, okay?" It was easier to lie to Roman than it was to lie to himself. And it was easier to tell Roman the truth about loving him than it was to pretend that he was over him. Things were just easier with Roman… Everything was easier with Roman. 

"I love you too," Roman whispered, but it came out choked and broken, like it was all he could do not to cry. "I never stopped loving you, I'm sorry I ever left, if I just stayed with you then none of this would've happened- god, this is all my fault- "

Logan hushed him, starting his car and pulling out of the driveway without looking. "Everything's going to be alright, okay?” Keeping his voice steady was a challenge, but he needed to be strong, if only for Roman.  “I'll see you soon." 

--------

Roman wouldn't make it to the station. Hell, he barely made it out of his hotel room before a hand pushed him in again. 

And even if he did, he wouldn't have wanted to. 

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

Logan went straight to his office when he reached the station, not bothering to greet the few people mulling around. Remy had been promoted to head detective on the case after Logan had dropped out, and Logan knew he’d been working late nights since. He must’ve been in Logan's office for hours now.

"Remy, I have the answer!" Logan began, swinging open the door with the kind of energy more typically associated with his partner than him. Remy didn't react, facing the board Logan had set up for the case. In the back of Logan's mind, it registered as odd that his head was lolling forward instead of leaned back to look up at it.

But that wasn't what made Logan stop dead in his tracks. No, that would be the blood that was absolutely everywhere- splattered across the walls, pooling at Remy’s feet-

Remy. 

Logan rushed over to look at him, only sparing the briefest glance at the sunglasses on the floor. But suddenly he'd never missed their absence more keenly on Remy's face than the moment when he saw Remy slumped in Logan's chair, quintessential glasses replaced by an all-too familiar mask frowning up at him. 

Through blurring vision and rising nausea, Logan took in the rest of the scene. The board, now covered in red from more than just yarn. The cold air coming in through the open window. Remy's torn baseball tee, so drenched in dark blood that not a speck of the original white and black fabric remained visible. The coffee cup, contents long gone cold, that somehow lay untouched on his desk. The missing picture of him and Patton on the desk, creased down the middle and scribbled on. 

In red marker were two crudely drawn masks covering Logan's and Patton's faces.

Logan felt his whole world come crashing down. He had been holding on to Remy's stability through all of this, and now that was gone. Remy was gone…

Remy Murphy was dead. 

Remy Murphy was dead

Remy Murphy was dead. 

And Logan screamed.

------

"Hello, Roman~" Ethan sing-songed. "Where do you think you're going?" He smiled, sweet as poisoned honey, walking forward and forcing Roman to back up until his legs hit the bed. Roman scrambled away from his touch until he was against the headrest, but Dee simply leaned over him. "How are you, baby? It's been far too long since we've chatted." 

"Dee," Roman choked out. "Please don't do this." He let out a violent sob when Dee grabbed his chin and pulled it forward, forcing their eyes to meet.

"Someone's been a little tattletale huh?" Dee smiled. It wasn't anything like his old smile. He'd used to smile like he owned the world. This smile said he was about to destroy it. 

"Gone off telling your little boyfriend about me, huh?" Roman shook his head, gasping and swallowing his sobs in an attempt to keep quiet. 

"LIAR!" Dee shouted, shoving Roman's head into the wall. Ignoring Roman's cry of pain, he continued, "Why is everyone such a dirty fucking liar?! Do you think I'm an idiot?" Roman was openly sobbing now. Dee's face softened, and he pulled Roman into a hug he was too afraid to pull away from.

"I'm sorry, baby, you know I didn't mean it" he cooed, petting Roman's hair right where his head had hit the wall. "Do you forgive me?" On instinct Roman nodded, hands balled into fists in the sheets.

Dee pulled back and kissed Roman's forehead, putting on a fake pout when Roman flinched away. "We're gonna go home now, alright? And we're not gonna run, or yell, or get upset, okay baby?" 

"Or what?" Roman dared to ask, but the question came out too breathless to have any real bite to it. "Or you'll kill me? Do it. End all of this, Dee. I give up. Kill me if you want, just stop this," he begged. "Kill me. And let them find me with that fucking mask on just like everyone else, but never fucking touch another one of my friends or family again." 

Dee stared at him for a moment, and Roman couldn't tell if he was confused or if he was contemplating if it would be worth it.

"Oh no no no, baby." Ethan ran his hands over Roman’s cheeks, gently wiping away his tears. "I love you, that's why I'm doing all this! I just want you to be with me." 

"Then what'll you do?" He clenched his fists tighter. He wanted to pretend it was to put on a show of bravery, but in reality he was trying to keep from shaking too hard, afraid Dee might notice and get angry. 

"Then I'll kill your little love bird! You're such a cheating whore sometimes, baby," Dee crooned, cradling Roman's tear-streaked face, "but you've had your fun now! And now we're going home!"

Roman tried to think back to the first time he met Dee, to remember if there were any signs to any of this when he had let himself get swept away by those initial promises and gifts. Nothing in his memory held any clues to how he would end up here, with three people dead and his soulmate's life on the cutting board. 

"Did you bring anything with you, sweetheart?" Dee’s soft hands petting over Roman’s face contradicted his eyes, alight with something more than poison behind them. Roman shook his head no- all he had on him was his wallet and phone. "Good boy. Now let's go. One hand on me at all times, alright baby?" 

Roman nodded, and held out his hand, trying to ignore the way Dee gripped down too hard, the opposite of Logan's gentle hands leading him to the car after the restaurant only a few days ago.

"One more thing." Dee stopped him as he was getting in the car. "Give me your phone. You don't deserve it anymore."

Roman’s breath seized. Dee had always let him have his phone. No matter the scolding and yelling about who he was talking to, the constant searches through Roman’s steadily dwindling messages, the deletion of social media and surrender of passwords, he was still allowed to have it. Part of him wanted to protest, to cling to his one link to the outside world- to Logan- but he was in no place to make demands.

With shaking fingers reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone, a cheap sparkling case barely protecting the shattered screen, the result of being chucked against the wall one too many times in one of Dee's fits of rage. Dee snatched it out of his hands and stuffed it in his pocket before starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

There were a million thoughts whirling through Roman's head as Dee drove them to wherever he had been hiding, but for some reason his mind kept circling back to his phone. So small, in the grand scheme of things, but he couldn't help but feel he'd given up more than just that when he'd handed it over.

The murder in the dressing room taglist:

@cataclysm-al @theteenagetrickster @intrurality-fusion @katie-the-noble-fangirl @whizzie72 @grayson-22 @i-have-n0-idea-what-im-d0ing @winterwonderland7669 @missieluvsmurder @sign-from-god-complex @dragonindigo245 @angryfanboyscreaming @ninja-wizard101 @sombraookami @crystalistrappedintheinternet @imtooaromanticforthis @why-should-i-tell-youu2 @dragon-hair @satanblessi @spookilyfingergunsoutofexistence @skruffy901 @selectivereality @nonbeenary-enbee @imbasicallyshakespear @cats-vetal-miking-vomit @incoherentfangirl @oofmood @nonbianary-pineapple @royalnerd829 @unicornlogansanders @magma-llama

[caranfindel]

Recap/review 14.13: “Lebanon”

THEN: They hit me right in the face with gorgeous young 1.01 Dean saying "Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days" and beautiful baby 1.01 Sam saying "we've got work to do" and we end with 14.12 and Sam furiously punching his brother and then furiously hugging him and Dean saying "let's go home" and does anything else matter? No.

NOW: We see the reflection of Sam and Dean walking up to a pawn shop, with a nice selection of guitars and sunglasses and that weird monkey that was in Rocky's Bar. The proprietor seems friendly enough. Dean flashes him a wad of hundred dollar bills because they're looking for "the really good stuff." This gains them admittance into a secret back room full of things hunters would be interested in, including a hockey mask (?) and a perfume atomizer full of dragon's breath. They tell the guy they're looking for the skull of a specific woman who was executed during the Salem witch trials, and the fact that he has it basically proves that he killed the friend of theirs who previously owned it. (Also Sam picks up a teddy bear and starts to pull the string to make it speak and the guys warns him not to and this is Dean's role, isn't it, messing with things he shouldn't be messing with? But I don't care because chastized Sam and eye-rolly Dean are precious to me.)

Sam goes through a ledger of the guy's inventory and says he's got a lot of occult objects that they should take with them. (Dean plays with the dragon's breath. Sam ducks and flinches and does the really, Dean? thing with his hands and face. I laugh again.) Dean agrees they should take the stuff home.

Title card!

The Impala zooms past a sign welcoming us to Lebanon, Geographical Center of the USA. Then we find ourselves in front of a movie theater showing Beetlejuice and Hell Hazers (All Saints' Day is coming soon, and I imagine Route 666 can't be far behind), where a group of teenagers is talking about... somebody. "People say they're brothers," a kid in a knit cap says, "but all I know is, I was standing right here, and I heard this bam from the trunk of their car. And then, this like, shallow breathing." I'm pretty sure this is a fake-out, and it will turn out he's talking about someone else, but the Impala pulls up in front of the theater and Knit Cap Kid says "that's them!"

As the Winchesters get out of the car and enter a liquor store (decorated with that Family Business neon sign from Rocky's), Sam is still reading the ledger, which lists things like a hangman's rope, fairy dust, and John Wayne Gacy's cigar box. Well, that's oddly specific! The guy working there greets the "Campbell brothers" and knows their usual order. Oh, wow. I love that they're actually known in Lebanon, and that they're going by Campbell. And we know that actual Lebanon, Kansas is too small to have a movie theater or this much business downtown, but I'm happy to handwave that.

What do you mean, "happy to handwave that?" You're always complaining about the inaccuracies regarding tiny Lebanon having traffic cams and whatnot.

Well, maybe this episode just MAKES ME HAPPY, okay?

Anyway. Sam thinks cataloguing the confiscated items would be a good way to take Dean's mind off "things," but Dean's pretty convinced nothing will ever take his mind off that.

Outside, the teens are asking where the guys even come from, and what about their weird trenchcoat-wearing sidekick, and "that kid with the dumb Bambi look on his face all the time" (!) One girl says that, whatever the deal is with these guys, they do have an awesome car, and no one can argue with that. And the other girl, Max, who seems to smitten with the first girl, gets an idea.

Inside, Sam has discovered something significant in the ledger - the "beyzoo" (no, I know that's not how you spell it), which is one of eight ancient Chinese treasures. A pearl that gives you "what your heart desires." Oooh, getting rid of Michael, maybe? But as the guys are discussing this, Dean sees the Impala drive by the window. Guess Max figured out how to impress that other girl! (BTW, there are couple of COOL old trucks on the street.)

The guys see Knit Cap Kid standing on the sidewalk looking confused, and while Sam tells him the car is dangerous to whoever stole it, Dean looks like he wants to murder someone. And yet the Winchesters are confused when the kid says he doesn't want to die. (Or get locked in the trunk!) He says Max is new and he doesn't know where she lives. Dean raises a fist, but Sam pulls him away.

MURDER. I'D MURDER THEM.

Post office. There's a poster of stamps featuring old cars behind the customer service counter. I'm really getting my old truck fix tonight. Sam comes in with his sweet anxious smile and asks for help finding the girl who washed his car, since he forgot to tip her. Post Office Lady is not amused or helpful, or the least bit swayed by his sweet anxious smile. Then Dean comes in and calls her by name and asks about her grandson and she MELTS and he gets sincere and puts his hand on hers and she does exactly what I would do, which is offer up ANYTHING YOU WANT, ANYTHING AT ALL, WOULD YOU LIKE MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER WHILE I'M AT IT? Unfortunately, all she knows is where Max's mother works.

SAM’S FACE.

(Sidebar: Have I mentioned that Sam is wearing that nice blue jacket from the episode where he killed the alpha vampire? I like it. Toss that stupid orange jacket, Sam, and wear this more often. And Dean's wearing the black jacket that I always love.)

At the restaurant where Max's mom works, we learn that she has no idea where her daughter is, because she was supposed to be in school. But the guy working in the kitchen knows February 7 is Skip Day (is it always February 7? what about when that falls on a weekend?) and that she'll probably be at a party at this old house on Route 36. (Yes, I did confirm that Route 36 is just outside of Lebanon. Yes, I did use Mapquest. I'm old school up in here, y'all.)

Party house. The little batch of delinquents has taken all the boxes of occult objects out of the Impala for some reason. Including the evil teddy bear. Luckily, someone announces "pizza's here" before a girl pulls the teddy bear's string. At some point I've got to find out what would happen if you pulled it. Fic it for me, friends! (Also, I just noticed the teddy bear's mouth is SEWN SHUT and that's not creepy AT ALL.) The camera slowly pans to a wooden box, and we watch the lid open to reveal a smoky/dusty ghost hand. With a ruffled sleeve. Uh oh.

Knit Cap Kid runs in to warn the partiers that "those guys" are looking for Max, and he's told to chill. Another teen goes into the bathroom, where the mirror frosts over and then the CREEPIEST CLOWN EVER comes out of it. Seriously, creepier than the clown in Plush, which you wouldn't think was possible.

The Winchesters pull up in yet another antique truck, where Dean greets his car with "Baby, Baby, please tell me you're not hurt." Sam's more concerned about the boxes of dangerous occult objects missing from the back seat. Ghost Kid comes running outside and the girl following him tells the brothers that he saw a clown ghost that tried to kill him. Maybe it's my imagination, or maybe Sam has a flash of crap, a killer clown ghost expression before they run into the house.

Dean announces they're FBI and everyone needs to get out, now. Once the room is cleared, he asks if "anything screams clown to you?" Sam immediately notices John Wayne Gacy's cigar box and guys, I'm ashamed to say I didn't put the two together until now. The killer clown ghost is John Wayne Gacy. And Sam is freaked the fuck out about it. "We should burn that right now," Dean says, in a lovely holding-in-the-freakout way, and Sam rushes to throw it into the fireplace. Then Dean says "I mean, this is like a best worst thing that's ever happened, because you love serial killers, but you hate clowns" and I'm DEAD. (I'm also loving TWO gifts from the Continuity Fairy in once sentence.) The lights start flashing before Sam can get his lighter lit, and then the killer clown ghost shows up and tosses Dean around. Knit Cap Kid and the girls run back inside just in time to watch John Wayne Gacy's ghost go up in flames. So the kids get the "monsters are real" speech and are told to keep it secret.

Back at the bunker, Sam's going through the occult goodies and thinks he found the magic pearl. Dean's ready to use it right now, and dismisses Sam's suggestion that they call Mary or Cas. If it doesn't work, he doesn't want to have gotten their hopes up. Sam looks distressed at the idea it won't work, but agrees. The pearl doesn't come with any instructions, so Sam suggests Dean hold it and concentrate on what his heart desires. "Michael out of my head," Dean says, and I'd have been more specific. I'd have concentrated on Michael out of my head and destroyed, and me perfectly fine, but, well, what do I know?

(Also, I KNOW all you Wincest and Destiel fans are gonna have your own ideas about what - or who - appears in front of Dean when he’s granted what his heart desires. This setup is better than sex pollen. Have fun, my kinky little friends.)

Dean clutches the pearl and concentrates, and the lights flash and then go out, and in the red emergency light we see someone in the bunker. Someone fighty, who knocks both brothers down and then pulls out a shotgun and says "don't you move," but it's a familiar voice and then the lights come on and what do you know? Winchester Surprise!

So, was anybody truly surprised? I covered the guest stars on first viewing, as I always try to do, but I noticed on rewatch that they didn't even credit JDM at the beginning of the episode. Which they sometimes do, to avoid spoilers. And yet. Has there been a single episode of this series that was more spoiled? I don't think so.

(Sidebar: What do you think would have happened if Sam had taken the pearl and made a wish? I think Michael would be gone. Because I don't think there's anything Sam wants more than saving his brother.)

Back to our story. Everyone is shocked. John thinks Sam should be in Palo Alto, apparently in his 14th year of post graduate work. He thinks he's still in 2003, and he doesn't notice his boys are older. And they apparently don't notice that his hair is very short and a lot greyer than it was when we last saw him. (I mean, really, they slapped a wig on Samantha Smith to make her look like The Last Version Of Mary, so why couldn't they do the same thing with JDM? It's distracting.) Sam figures they must have accidentally summoned John from the past. So they do what one does in this situation - sit down and drink.

John's astonished. Dean's proud. Sam's visibly anxious. We don't get to see exactly how much of the backstory they tell him, but they do tell him about the apocalypse and Lucifer and living with "an angel and Lucifer's kid." And now John thinks he died "taking out Yellow Eyes," which... not really? But okay. And they don't tell him Mary's back, until he mentions her and Sam's, all, yeah, about Mom, and then she comes in and John hears her voice and tears up and dammit. This reunion is everything I didn't think I ever wanted. I mean, I've made no secret of the fact that I'm not a fan of John Winchester. He's a fascinating character and JDM does a great job with him, but he's such an awful father (don't bother arguing with me, you will not change my mind) that I can't really like him. And I'm not too impressed with resurrected Mary, either. But when these two come together... damn. It's good. It's very good. Well done, you two.

I love that the boys give them some privacy, because it's been over a decade since John saw them, but it's been even longer since he saw his dead wife, and this should really be a John and Mary reunion.

Out in the hall, Dean's gleeful and Sam's all, how the hell did this happen? Dean explains that he's wanted this since he was four years old (oh, my heart) but Sam warns that messing with time will not end well. I don't actually remember Sam being that concerned about the unintended consequences of time travel, but I'm sure there's a good reason he's bringing it up now. Dean doesn't care. Dean just wants one family dinner together (oh, my heart again, remembering his one last dinner with Mary).

Sam, sans Dean, runs into John in the library, because Mary's off making a shopping list and he decided he'd rather examine the bunker than be involved in that I guess? Okay. But then this happens.

I screwed up with you a lot, didn't I?

No, that's okay.

No, it's not. Sammy, tell me the truth.

I don't want to talk about that.

You didn't have a problem talking about it before you left.

Dad. For me, that fight, that was a lifetime ago. I don't even remember what I said. I mean, yeah, you know, you did some messed-up things. But I don't... I mean, when I think about you... and I think about you a lot... I don't think about our fights. I think about you... I think about you on the floor of that hospital, and I think about how I never got to say goodbye.

Sam. Son. I am so sorry.

I'm sorry too. But you did your best, Dad. You fought for us, and you loved us. And that's enough.

OH MY GOD. This is everything I ever wanted.

1. John admitting he was a crap parent to Sam.

2. Sam trying to sidestep that - because he's Sam Winchester and that's what he does - and John not letting him.

3. Sam finally calling him out instead of just saying nah, it's fine.

4. John calling him Sammy.

5. Sam pointing out that he didn't get a goodbye from John. (Did he ever find out that Dean got praise and an apology?)

6. John apologizing.

7. Sam forgiving him.

8. "And I think about you a lot."

9. The way Sam keeps having to stop talking and look away and make that little "hmmm" noise.

10. And the tears.

10b. The way Sam tears up even before The Talk, when he remembers them as kids trying to make Winchester Surprise.

11. The shaky voice.

12. And Sam's shirt.

13. And the way Sam's expression looks so much like his expression in Sacrifice, when he tells Dean that his confession was about how he let his brother down.

This, right here, is two minutes and 24 seconds of the best television I've ever seen. I don't care what else this episode does, this 2:24 is worth it. And yes, this is three weeks in a row that Jared Padalecki has ripped my heart out of my chest and STOMPED ON IT.

And I love it.

Meanwhile, Dean gets the shopping list from Mary. Sam finds him and tells him he's right, because Sam also just got everything he ever wanted, and then offers to go shopping with him. (Saaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmm!!!!!!!)

When they get to town, the guys split up - Sam to the grocery store, Dean to the liquor store. Dean's surprised to see the liquor store guy, the one who remembered his "usual" earlier in the day, has no idea who he is. If Dean had ever seen "It's a Wonderful Life," he might say this is just like when George Bailey goes into Martini's Bar and isn't recognized. But apparently Dean Winchester, pop culture aficionado, has never seen that movie (no, I haven't gotten over that, and I never will) so he doesn't recognize a classic uh oh, we changed the course of history moment when he experiences it.

Meanwhile, Sam steps out of the grocery store and finds that neither Max nor the postal clerk recognize him. And then he sees a wanted poster in the post office window. Dean Winchester, wanted for assault, murder, and credit card fraud. Whoops! He trots to the car, where Dean is waiting, and tells him they have a problem. "Yeah, we do," says Dean. "Check this out."

He shows Sam his phone and it's a video of SAM IN GLASSES AND A BLACK TURTLENECK AND SLICKED BACK HAIR GIVING A TED TALK. HE RUNS A LAW FIRM AND LOVES KALE. IT IS THE SECOND MOST AMAZING THING I'VE SEEN TONIGHT.

HE'S STEVE JOBS.

So, those of you who were spoiled... did you know about this? Or did they actually keep THIS AMAZING THING under wraps?

Sam Jobs tells his audience that being your best leaves no time for hobbies or a family, and Sam has seen enough. He tells Dean about the wanted poster, and Dean says yes, of course he googled himself too ("a lot of beheadings," hee!!!) and wonders if there are alternate versions of them running around. Sam thinks it's a "temporal paradox," and time is self-correcting, changing to the new one. If they don't fix things, they'll become those alternate versions of themselves. "Well, I'm cool," Dean says, "but you're, ugh." Sam's less worried about them, and more worried about what else might have changed.

(Sidebar: You know, I could quibble about why bringing John forward in time has such a significant butterfly effect, but bringing Mary back, and their other time travel, and Henry's time travel, changed nothing. I absolutely could. But I choose not to, because SAM JOBS, Y'ALL. But okay, let's think about it. 2003 John would have disappeared while Sam was at Stanford. Dean wouldn't have gone to get Sam. Or Sam would have refused to go. Maybe the hurt on both sides was still too fresh. Maybe that's why Dean's hunting alone, and Sam's an internet-famous lawyer.)

What else has changed, you might ask? How about ZACHARIAH? That's right, my favorite angel is back. And with him is ORIGINAL FLAVOR CAS WITH HIS FLUFFY HAIR AND THINGS JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER AND BETTER. Zachariah calls him "Constantine" and Castiel says "I don't understand that reference" and THANK YOU BABY JESUS, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DID TO DESERVE THIS, BUT THANK YOU. They enter Max's mom's restaurant and ask who's been messing with time. (Because she would know?) And if they don't start talking, he'll have Cas murder all of them. "My name is Castiel," he intones solemnly. "I'm an angel of the Lord." YES YOU ARE. He reveals himself like he did to Dean (no, not like that, jeez) with the shadow wings. Outside, the Winchesters see the bright light of an angelic reveal coming through the restaurant windows, and they know something's up.

They herd everyone out of the restaurant, and are shocked to see Cas and Zachariah. Zachariah is equally surprised to see them. He says they had big plans for the Winchesters, but then their father disappeared and... and he doesn't finish, so we'll never know why yoinking John out of 2003 changed any of that vessel stuff. (Handwave!) Cas, of course, doesn't know them, and when Zachariah orders him to kill them, he complies.

Dean pulls out an angel blade but is, of course, unwilling to actually kill Cas, so he starts hitting him with other things. And Cas, for whatever reason, doesn't just put a finger on his forehead and kill him dead. (Handwave!) Zachariah chokes Sam and asks him what they did, even though he can't talk because he's choking (handwave!) and Sam acts like he's trying to speak so Zachariah gets closer to hear him, and Sam stabs him with an angel blade. Cas continues fistfighting with both of them, and slams Sam head-first into a table a couple of times, leaving him spitting blood on the floor. Which Sam uses to paint an angel-banishing sigil while Cas is choking Dean. Smart Sam for the win!

Bunker. Pretty bruised Dean has explained the temporal paradox, and John accepts that he has to go back, or else Mary will probably disappear. "Okay," he says. "I mean, me versus your mom, that's not even a choice." DAMMIT JOHN WINCHESTER DO NOT MAKE ME CARE ABOUT YOU. Elsewhere, pretty bruised Sam explains it to Mary, and tells her John won't remember anything.

John tells Dean he never meant Dean to have this kind of life. He's proud of him, but he hoped he'd be able to have a normal life, with a family. "I have a family," Dean says. They sit down and have one final family meal together, and everyone's quiet and sad until John points out that they can either think about what's going to happen, or appreciate what they have right now. They cheer up and listen to Bob Seger (well, we listen to Bob Seger) and talk and laugh and have the family dinner Dean has always wanted.

Later, while doing the dishes, Sam says how unfair it is that they all had this and then have to throw it away, and John has to go back to being Dad. He thinks it would be nice for John to go back knowing what he knows now. "I used to think that too," Dean says, and admits that he's blamed both John and Mary for their crappy lives. And if they could send him back to 2003, or even earlier, maybe none of the crap would happen. "But here's the problem. Who does that make us? Would we be better off? Maybe. But I gotta be honest, I don't know who that Dean Winchester is. And I'm good with who I am. I'm good with who you are."

Later. Mary and John are holding hands, and I guess they're doing the thing now. I'd hoped they'd at least let these two have one last roll in the hay (especially since I'm pretty sure Mobby is permanently done after this), but no. They have a very sweet goodbye and their sons are brokenhearted and I am too. John tells his boys to take care of each other and Sam says "we always do." That's a nice change from telling Dean to take care of Sam, isn't it? He tells them both (BOTH) that he's proud of them and loves them, and they have a three-way hug and Sam wipes his eyes and Dean says "love you too" and I REALLY CAN'T, BOYS, YOU HAVE TO STOP. Then John takes Mary's hand again and Sam crushes the pearl (why does Sam have to be the one to do it?) and John glows and then fades away.

We get a quick glimpse of downtown Lebanon returning to normal, and the three teens talking about how cool it is that "those guys hunt monsters," and then we're back to the bunker. Cas walks in the door and sees the remaining Winchesters, obviously distressed, and asks what happened. "Well, there's a story," says Dean.

And finally, we see the Impala WITH HER ORIGINAL KANSAS PLATE. John's asleep in the driver's seat when he gets a phone call from Dean. "No, I'm okay, I just had one hell of a dream. No, it was a good one."

GUYS. GUYS.

When I heard there was going to be a musical episode for the 200th, I was sure it would suck. When I heard about the Scooby Doo crossover, I cringed, because I knew it would be awful. WHY AM I ALWAYS SO WRONG.

Eh, who cares why. Let's just appreciate what we were given. Happy 300, my friends. Here's to 300 more.

(Please help me stay unspoiled for future episodes, thanks!)

[c-mon-babayyy]

Space Streamer

2024, streaming is still really popular, but being in space is a new trade. Once humanity has built many space stations in earth orbit, in 2022 they discovered gravity wells, and the start of a new type of space race begun. With people not needing to worry about 0g's, new space stations had been planned, and in 2024 the first internationally launched one had been announced as stable for projects.

But that didn't concern Erin, entertaining himself and his half a mill followers was more fun. At least, the space race use to not concern him...

...

Synter was Erin's preferred name, it was what his streaming friends and online friends called him, and it was his twitch and youtube name for all the videos he made. He was a variety streamer that based his content on his personality based on what he does, but variety streaming didn't prepare him for this.

He awoke to something pushing and moving him, his body always woke up before his head did, and this proved true as his eyes opened to being forcibly walked by something far taller than him. Erin was just barely 21, but he had the same height as 12 year old him, a good 5 feet and 2 inches. He was taller than the smallest of girls, but he was still made fun of in school. But taking a good look around this obviously wasn't school, it was a purposely dark hallway with the occasional other person. And by person, I mean a stranger being walked by an alien, and alien they were. They were tall, way taller than any human by at least 4 feet at least.

Describing them was hard, for the other captives they could express in horror as the barely clothed aliens were tri legged with rough leathery looking skin of a yellow color with green spots, their endoskeletons poking out of their skin to protect their soft and large organs. Their heads held mandibles and large round eyes, with other sensory organs on the base of their neck and the collarbone with skinny arms with only three fingered hands, two fingers and a thumb. But to Synter the aliens looked like really large stick bugs. Stick bugs that covered the very top of their chest in a special made crop top that refused to cover their sensory organs. With shorts that held hooks for ropes of fanny pack type pouches galore, and arms with gloves that obviously had some sort of electric function as they glowed a low blue. And an obviously awkward looking bubble of some sort of glass over their head and sensory organs.

Taking a more paniced and thorough look around, now awake to be afraid of the strange aliens, he noticed the occasional glass tube with other persons in it, only human persons. Over speakers that Synter took only a few seconds to spot there was a strange clicking noise mixed with snarling sounds. Strange thing was that it was patterned enough that Synter could guess that it was an language, no aliens could take a race like humanity without being organized enough to have language and writing.

Synter was still in his three layers of hoodie, filled with the weird tools that have been hidden in his many hidden pockets since he lived with his builder father. He was more of a computer guy, and added both hardware and software tools into his many pockets. He moved to alaska just so he could get a new experience, having lived in arizona and Connecticut before. What he got instead was a sudden crash course on how to survive a frozen desert, and a wave of japanese fans for some strange reason.

He remembered that he was out of his house and in town, on his once a blue moon run of supplies. He had run back to his large truck from the store to pick up his glasses and sunglasses that he somehow left, when suddenly things around him went dark. It took a full minute to realize that it was summer, not winter when the sun sometimes didn't show for months, and a look up showed the underbelly of something he couldn't recognize. He vaguely attempted to run to his truck, just as it and him had started floating, then he went out.

He hoped his truck was alright, and a stir of fear settled in his stomach as he wondered what or rather why these aliens wanted them, wanted us. He didn't need to struggle to see from example that their hands were cuffed in a dull metal type. The people getting walked that were making noise was getting masks or gags put on them, but not for the ones staying quiet. The people in the containers also seemed awake, watching in anticipation. And then, over the speakers of the strange alien voice a human one came on.

It was just yelling at first, but he and the others getting walked could tell that it was obviously human. In a strange act, the tall aliens abandoned their humans, throwing them on the ground on the side of the hallways, before sprinting quickly to the end of the hallway. Just as the doors started to close, Synter started to get up, and with his physical rising despite his hands behind his back, the human voice started speaking constantly.

"Attention Human Citizens!

This is space traveling captain Richard Fuck-My-Life reporting on the group mission "Man-Fucked-Up", As in 'Man thus is Fucked Up' or 'Man These Guys are Fucked.

Now, you may be experiencing this displeasure of a moment called being captured. Well, seeing as some of you were forced through orientation when you were asleep, i could tell, some of you snore-, these bitch asses are a researcher alien race! They were told we were valuable some type of way and started abducting us in front of public eyes! Luckily, in the two days of abducting they did, many governments around the world started retaliating! Some nukes were even set off, although with the help of space whatnots those nukes were propelled into deep space where some other ships were warping in.

Humanity is now lovingly fighting a space fight, and a whole continent has been american-ized in the process. Also in this process is the revolution of nuclear and solar energy instead of gasoline, and a mineral and metal revolution as we take the space ships we've crashed and use them for our own cities and ships.

But that doesn't concern you too much now, does it? You guys are in space for gods sake, what about getting back home?! Well do I have some news for you! These bitch ass aliens have weak ass materials! We're deathworlders baby! We're stronger than personal structures! Unfortunately not as strong as the ship itself, because you know, protection from space, but we're close!

Now if you don't mind just try breaking free of those hand cuffs!"

The still standing Synter attempted pulling his arms, and with a snap the cuffs broke and his hands were free. Looking around the others on the ground were also breaking free easily. It made the feeling of slight fear dissipate into nervousness, he felt better about the situation.

"These hands cuffs don't really do anything anyway, the aliens made them like cop cuffs because they thought something along the lines of 'the shape will make these creatures weak!' Or something." The human, Richard continued.

"Next, kindly kindly, if you could show some human kindness for your fellow human race and break the glass containers? Its not an ultra strong glass, but you still need something sharp or heavy to break it."

Being as he was standing close to one of the containers, Synter pulled out a small ice pick and gently tapped, the glass quickly cracking & falling into medium sized pieces. Sharp pieces. Around him some people were breaking out on their own, and some of the previously handcuffed persons were using the cuffs to break the glass.

"Careful careful," the voice almost immediately sang," we may be stronger than these damned fools but we can still puncture our feet with glass. Although by the looks of it these aliens only confiscated the outer layer of clothing for extreme weather environments. Geez, these guys totally abducted you in places cold enough to consider death for them, and they didn't even think twice about it? What kind of scientific species are they?"

Synter softly chuckled at that, the man sure knew how to lighten a situation.

"Okay okay, you guys are ahead of schedule compared to my other friends, all 4 compartments of you. 5 ships, 4 compartments each, two rows of walkway per compartment, and 40 people per row. Simple maths by calculators, some of you still have your phones, says thats Sixteen Hundred people they've managed to abduct! And seeing as they have only enough for a flat thousand, killed roughly a mill in quote "terran" end quote Ground to escape with you, and the whole other 7.67 billion people want you back, maybe minus the 1.3 billion people living in developing countries that may or may not focus more on becoming developed other than getting into space, thats a whole lot of responsibility and only 7 of us that's been in space long enough to push you back home. " Richard seemed to ramble.

During Richard's talking, Synter did wonder if he in fact had his phone on him. Sure enough, one look in his most inside pocket and there was his phone. All three of them. One was for personal calls, and it sometimes acted like a mini laptop than a phone meant for game apps. It wasn't his largest, but he could contact anybody via anything on it, and he usually gave businesses this number. The second was his streaming phone, the screen was large but it would be the flattest thing he has, first to even his ass, if it wasn't for the phone case. It had a decent enough processer, enough to that it was practically a second moniter. It made checking his chat during outdoor streams or cooking streams easy. He also downloaded a bunch of music and how to videos to laugh at. His third phone was almost like his streaming phone, but smaller and it had the capacity to run like another laptop. If it was a person then it would be a car that ran on coffee for gasoline, a powerful powerhouse of data processing that meant he could even stream from his phone. But seeing as this was the last phone he had used and it showed he had no signal, he doubted he could do anything but record.

The man on the speakers continued to blabber on about how much of a pain the aliens were for kidnapping so many humans in broad daylight. Synter put away his phones and ran to the ends of the hallway, where other people free of their constraints were starting to gather. Jogging down one end he saw the open containers, probably where he and the other cuffed people were being walked to before Richard interrupted them. Synter did his best going through the not so dense crowd, about half of the hallway so about 20 people.

He stared at the door, trying to find where it ended and where a box looking panel would be placed. Would aliens even have control panels in space ships?

"Ah! It seems a few of you are eager to move on to the next step. Well then, let me get on with the informing. These aliens, or Xeno's as the less offensive term, are pussies and are running away. They will soon be using most of the escape pods, however there are more escape pods then there is scientists. Unluckily there are a few military types onboard in case there is a riot, and they will attempt to quote "sink with the ship". These military types are, however, stupid weak, one of our punches will make gore out of them.

Ah! Someone yelled it! It's the humans are space orcs theory! Or really for us its a collection of stories under the idea, but seeing as that idea is now true it is a theory and these home made stories are now probable stories written under the theory's speculation. Big words, small brain. Basically we think faster for a longer and more death like sleep cycle, and when in practice we are faster and stronger than any Xeno's, although because of our preferred gravity we are more compact and dense than they are.

Theres all the things complaining about earth bugs and earth diseases and earth foods that can kill most other aliens too. Did you know there are only 3 other races coming from death planets, and after being introduced they've all decided to become hermits? It turns out 50% of these non death world races didn't evolce with light sensors, or have limited light sensors, aka eyes. That's why its dark, but the next bit will be easy. At somewhere around 6 feet there is a panel, if you smash it in or find something to pry it open by the cracks, you can hotwire it. While you're figuring out where it is, I'll announce to each hallway individually which hallway and compartment you are. Basically every one of you are in front of some storage container space, whatever they're called."

As soon as the voice stopped the group around him started mumbling to each other. Suddenly the question came out straight,"does anybody know how to hack some wires?"

Synter raised his hand, calling out that he had basically found the panel already and that he knew how to work with electric hardware. But by all of their looks they knew he was too short to reach the panel properly. A strong looking guy stood behind him, bending down to offer a piggy back ride straight for the panel. Synter accepted, someone from his group yelling and gesturing to the other side of the hallway for where Synter had pried open the panel. The first thing he pried open turned out to be the security panel covering. There were buttons galore in a language not written, but raised into the plastic like panel. It would be almost useless to try and hack the electric lock, so instead Synter switched out his tool for a screwdriver.

"2A, you guys are compartment two letter A as in first walkway going from left to right on the ship from a birds eye view. By the way, 2A lower hallway with the guy piggybacking another to reach the panel, you're ahead but on the right track. Trying to crack the alien passcodes on these bare panels would be useless, so after breaking into the panel definitely 6 ft above the ground and unscrewing the alien panels for the wires underneath would be a good next step unless I can override their system using the handy dandy AI I got."

"Its Alien Braille." Synter shouted as the man commented on the passcode panel.

But richard didn't respond to him, and Synter went quiet again with concentration. Just as the man went silent again the final screw went loose, and after tossing the screwdriver of many applications to someone else so they can run it to the other end of the hall, Synter started inspecting the wires. The strong man holding him on his back shifted weight as Synter pulled out a phone, using the flashlight feature to look at the wires. It was a complicated looking mess of different shades of grey, but coming from the walls were colored(surprisingly) braised symbols that each cluster of wires originated from. Maybe a mostly blind species' way of organizing wires without color vision.

The person that ran the screwdriver to the other end of the hallway ran back, the other side just getting the wires exposed as the voice crackled on.

"Awww! The whole lot of you figured out how to get to the wires! Recognizing that most of you punched your way through, that's okay cuz it's taller than most of our heads. Anyways, people with phone lights can now see that there are many colored wires. They did not do the coloring on purpose, but we will use it to our advantage. The wires with the green symbol need to be paired with the wires connecting to the panel. If you do that the doors will open."

As Richard was speaking Synter did so, and immediately the doors open with a slow force. The man Synter was piggybacking on let him down, quickly following the rest of the group that squeezed between the slowly opening doors. Synter hesitated a bit, looking over across the hallway to see that the other end had also opened their door. Synter let the soft light bask his face by the door as Mr. Richard directed everybody to the ends of the ship, the top of the hallway spilling left while his side spilled right, meeting with the other compartments.

But something caught his eye to the left. It wasn't the other compartments spilling into the other side of the ship, instead it looked like a low shiny, the low shiny of his truck. He ran to it, and in the surprisingly opened warehouse, yes the word Richard was looking for was space warehouse, was Synter's truck! It was beautiful even in low lighting, and Synter ran to it's hood to hug it. Other than some dust and alien handprints that basically told him that they didn't know how to get in or reach the engine, it hadn't been touched.

With his truck there were boxes upon boxes of things, his truck standing on some boxes too, and standing on boxes were some other vehicles. Counting 4 other vehicles in total, there was an all electric tesla, a helecopter, a small tractor, and one of the highly classified new human space cruisers, like a van but smoother and meant for launch and landing in space. It probably also had the new gravity function too, and Synter became excited just spotting it. With a crackle in the air, a speaker Synter didn't know was in the room started up.

"Hey there, are you sure you wanna stay here? You can escape with other humans if you want." Richard spoke through a softer announcing speaker.

It sounded like it was under a box or something, but Synter wasn't going to escape space prison without his truck. He shook his head.

"Nuh-uh! Im abducted with my truck I'll leave with my truck. It has food for 3 years if I don't eat like a pig, and besides im a computer mechanical & engineering wizard, if something goes wrong i can look up a how to video I downloaded and fix it. I was interested enough about space before this." Synter exclaimed, attempting to hug his truck tighter but failing and sliding down it.

He fell on his ass and the speaker sighed.

"Okay fine, each of these rooms are meant to house xenos of any race for at least 2 years, and 6 months of hurtling in space is all you need to be caught by earth. I did manage to hack the ship, so I'll weld down your closed doors from the outside to make it space proof." The doors cracked open behind him slammed shut, the sound of large locks clinking together before the heater whir of presumably the fire torches or the Xeno equivalent stirring behind him.

"Meanwhile to survive I guess I can guide you to the warehouse computer and monitor so you can rewire it with the fabricator that should be next to it. It should be to your right, against the wall behind a smaller pile of boxes. Ooh! It looks like this warehouse was marked for refined metals and chemicals! With it you could make your own chemical water & oxygen making machine and ftl drive, if you need it. I'm going to guide the rest to their escape pods and their own warehouse cargo bay so I can catapult you into space towards earth. You ready?"

Synter was already running towards the wall of boxes.

[kayoiwritingarchivies]

TITLE: We’ve met before, haven’t we? (Part 3, final chapter)

CHAPTER TITLE:  행운의 숫자는 3입니다 (My lucky number is 3)

WARNINGS & RATINGS: No warnings apply, Teen and up rating.

FANDOM: Overwatch

SUMMARY:  These three have met the supernatural, whether they wanted to or not. It’s a small world after all. (Or rather, this is the story of how three people keep running into the supernatural, and had favours and boons repaid.

Hana Song’s first interaction with the unnatural was when she was 7, in Busan, waiting for her parents to pick her up from school.

She’s standing at the gate, fumbling with the edge of her skirt, when she sees a cat, covered in scales and having a singular, spiralling horn from the middle of it’s head, with a large bell around its neck.

Hana went up to the “cat” and pet its head.

It turned, crouching down to look at Hana’s face better and gave a hearty laugh. “Why hello there, little human. Why are you talking to a Haetae like me?”

Hana giggled before saying “Because you’re a big cat Mr Haetae!”

The Haetae laughed again, and then asked “Where are your parents?”, titling its head to the side.

“I waiting for them to pick me up.” Hana replied, hands on her hips.

The Haetae pondered this, before saying “Well, you can stay with me until they come and take you home…”

“Yay!” Hana exclaimed, before throwing herself onto it’s back, laughing.

The Haetae was very content to let this 7-year-old climb all over his back, petting him and ringing his bell.

(When Hana’s parents finally picked her up, she kept babbling about “Mr Haetae” and how he was a big cat that was covered in scales! The Haetae in question was on the school wall, making sure she went home safe.)

-LINE BREAK-

The second time, was when Hana was 17, a professional gamer, online handle D.va, and a MEKA pilot, attending a StarCraft conference in Lijiang, China, currently wandering the streets, trying to find the way back to the hotel.

She’s wandering, when she notices A bird, with only one wing and one eye, scrambling to find something.

Hana crouches down, and asks, “Are you alright?”

The bird stops flailing, flapping its one wing and looks her in the eye. “I can’t find him.”

“Can’t find who?” Hana asks, confused.

“I can’t find my other half. Me, as half a Jian, will die unless I find him!” the bird says, panic in its singular eye.

Hana looks at it and says “Maybe I can help you.”

The bird nods, with “Please” quietly said.

So, she picks up the bird, rests it on her shoulder and goes searching for her other half.

(They find the other half eventually, and the completed Jian sings as they lead her back to the hotel she was staying at. When they finally arrive, the Jian gives her a prayer stick with the Chinese character for 3 written on it in fading black ink. “Your lucky number” they explain. “It will bring you luck for the future.”)

-LINE BREAK

The third time (And not the last) is when she is 19, part of the newly formed Overwatch. She’s at Watchpoint: Gibraltar, and she still streams games and battles, albeit a bit less.

She thinks she’s the only one who can see the supernatural, but then she sees Solider: 76 yells into empty corridors and Hanzo talk to thin air and D.va sees what their talking too but she can’t understand why the three of them are the only ones to see these kinds of things she just doesn’t understand.

It’s on a Friday where she’s outside, standing undercover, watching the rain fall.

It’s where she finds a weird thing.

It’s a weasel, with green fur and yellow eyes, it’s nose resembling a pig’s nose, the body long and curving like a snake. It’s dripping wet, but that doesn’t stop Hana crouching down and reaching a hand out to it.

It immediately presses its snout to her hand, and she sits on the wet grass, legs crossed under her, and the creature crawls into her lap, it’s fur soft to touch.

She feels something itching under her skin, watches as the cuts that littered her arm from flying debris from a previous mission begin healing, the scars fading until there was nothing but smooth skin.

Hana looks the creature in her lap, and asks “Did you do this?”

It barks, and snuggles closer in her lap.

So, she sits there, stroking the creature, watching the rain fall

(Later, she is found by Soldier: 76, who’s holding a red glowing feather, covering everything in a warm red light against the darkness of the evening, and she thinks about the prayer stick in her pocket. “It’s time to head back inside kid.”. She nods, and watched the creature scamper away, and she feels herself picked up by Soldier, and she rests her head on his shoulder, murmuring a “Thanks dad.” She’s too tired to correct herself, and too tired to care. Soldier: 76’s feather is warm, she notices, a faint smile on her lips, just like fire.)

[musicatheart12]

A Chat with a Bassist: Natalie Kim from Old Joy

Old Joy is an indie/alternative rock band that released their debut album on September 7th, 2018. They come from the underground New Brunswick scene and have played many basement shows around the area, with their most recent performance being for a student-run charity club at Rutgers University. This week, I got the chance to interview Old Joy's bassist, Natalie Kim, also a student at Rutgers University.

The interview:

What kind of music do you guys play?  How do you, as a band, characterize it?

It's kind of under the umbrella of Alt Rock and Indie just because we're in the local New Brunswick scene. So it's kind of like Indie, DIY kind of music.

How did the band get together?

So my two bandmates who started the band started it before I got to Rutgers. When I came here as a freshman, I met one of them, Phil, and he told me they were looking for a bassist so they kind of adopted me. And then we had no drummer, so we had to go out looking for a drummer. So yeah it started with those two people. The other two of us kind of made our way in.

How long has the band been together?

I joined at the very end of summer before freshman year, and back then we had a like a different drummer like every month.

That's interesting.

Yeah, it was kind of weird since I play bass. Bass and drum really have to work with each other so I would change what I played for like every person. It was kind of rocky to start with, but we found someone about 3 months in, who ended up staying for the rest of the next summer. So when we all decided we were in it for the long run, that's when we recorded our first album.

Wow, that's very cool. Yeah, but he decided to go back to school, so literally the day of our release party, we got a new drummer.

Oh wow! Fun fact, drummers are like the hardest people to find because if you're going to be a drummer, you have to be good because everyone can hear you. There was a really big shortage of drummers, and this is a problem that every band has.

I didn't know that.

So in this current state, we've been together about 2 months.

So even though the current band is fairly new, are you guys still playing songs from the first album?

Our new drummer, he didn't make his parts, he had to learn it. But obviously, from now on, it's going to be him.

Are you guys going to make any new music?

We've started making some new stuff, but we're probably going to record, I don't know, not for a while.

That makes sense.

Maybe sometime next year. But it's also a lot different, because the two members that started the band found me after everything was already written so like, in this case, it's everyone. It's more democratic in the way we're making music. It's like everyone is developing it together, rather than it being the work of two people.

So, I know you're a full-time student. It must be difficult to find time to practice.

It's f***ing hard. The good thing with my band is, they're really good at planning ahead. We'll set up a date for a rehearsal a week or two weeks in advance, I'm so grateful. The worst is definitely when we're recording an album. It was so hard last winter. I'd have to go down to the recording studio like twice a week, and it's like an hour away, so like what I ended up doing is bringing my homework and doing it in a dark lit basement. It was hard work, but it definitely paid off because now it's just basement shows and events, which are just a weekend sort of thing. Sticking it through recording was definitely a good idea.

Were you taught music/playing or writing? Are you self-taught?

Kind of, so like, I think I developed an ear for music growing up from piano lessons as a kid. Even though that only went up until like fifth grade, that's what taught me how to read music. And then through middle school, I played French horn, I played flute.  And when I got into high school, that’s when I picked up bass and I really should've taken lessons then. I regret not taking lessons when I had the time to when I was like 14. I kind of just learned bass by ear. And the internet's fantastic.

I have other questions, but I'm trying to think of a question based on what you just said.

I mean I can keep talking if you want.

Yeah, go for it if you want!

I mean, here's the thing about bass, so like I've had my friends ask me to teach them before. A lot of people have this conception that "oh I have to start the same way I learned piano" with all the scales and fundamentals, but I think for bass it's heavy on intuition. Of course, you'll be a better musician if you know all the techniques and fundamentals but like you cannot be a bassist if you do not have some kind of musical intuition. Like over the first year I picked it up, by the end of the year, I listened to music differently. I never noticed bass parts before I started playing. And then once it like really clicks you start to listen for it, and that eventually grows into the intuition. Especially playing in a band versus an orchestra. I play in an orchestra every year, and it's much more technical. Playing in the underground music scene, its more about what sounds good, what works versus what doesn’t work.

So it's more about understanding the vibe?

Yeah, kind of. It's like what people say about writing, how you can't be a good writer unless you read a lot, it's the same way. You have to listen to a lot of music to be able to play well.

Do you guys ever spend time experimenting with different kinds of music, or do you stick to the same kind of genre?

Right now, most of our rehearsals are geared toward preparing for shows. But in terms of being experimental, I'd say there are 2 parts to that. Number one, there's a lot of cover songs. We'll just like jam sometimes and go off of each other and play whatever. But also we're like trying to be different for our second album… now that we're trying to follow up to our first album, we're trying to be more advanced in terms of adding more atmospheric sounds and big picture stuff. We're going to add some synth, maybe some more keyboard stuff. I think like in terms of experimenting, I'd like to do it more, but we're not going in the wrong direction.

I know Old Joy plays a lot of basement shows. What other kinds of gigs do you guys play?

Just last Friday we performed at the student center for the Seeing Eye club, I forget exactly what the event was called. Yeah so we did that, it was a fundraiser. And in a month we're going to be doing Overnight Sensations which is like a program run by WRSU, which is a Rutgers radio station. So every week they have bands come late at night. We've also done a lot of other charity shows.

And as far as setlist goes, do you have a specific order you play in?

Our album is 7, 8 songs. There are some songs that we all love, and some that we all don't want to play. So we'll play 4 to 5 songs and we'll do like one cover.

So it's short.

Yeah, it's usually like a half hour set. Also a lot of these songs, we recorded them in the winter so almost a year ago. Now that we're more mature musicians it's kind of like, I wish we recorded this differently or played this differently.

Do you guys tease new music in your shows?

Yeah we played a new song at our last show, which was last Friday… but yeah definitely.

Do you need to think about the audience, or do you just do you (as a band)?

It depends. We don't have very many songs yet, so there's a skeleton that we have to follow. It's usually the cover that we'll very. And then the other thing we'll mix up is the order. Sometimes it’s the energetic songs first if everyone seems dead. The hardest part is definitely when everyone's like "one more song!" and we don't have any more song.

What's your response to that? Do you guys play a song from the album that you wouldn't normally play?

We'll play another cover song, we have stuff that we kind of keep in the back in case we need it. But I wish we had more stuff.

How does recording working?

So basically what happens is, first everyone plays, to get a scratch track for timing purposes. Then everyone will go in on their own and we'll put it into the computer and do it as many times as it takes to get it right. It can take forever sometimes. And so the way we did this album was each time we went down there, we'd record one song. It took a while, but it turned out ok. The recording was less than half. The rest of the time was just mixing and then sending it out to get it mastered. Honestly, I'm not a fan of recording because sometimes I can get really perfectionistic. That’s why I really like playing basement shows. I don’t think I've ever played the same song the same way twice. Like this kind of goes back to the experimental thing. Thank god we play live shows because that's where you get to be creative as a musician.

How did you guys come up with the order of the album?

It's weird, I don’t think we discussed the whys of it. We all kind of came to a consensus. It might be a little bit subconscious, and it kind of goes back to the intuition of it. There might be some legitimate reason to it, like songs being in the same key. From what I can observe, I think the biggest things are tempo and mood. As an Alt rock, indie almost emo band, there are energetic happy songs like typical Alt Rock songs, but there are also songs that are really emotional. Like we have this one song "Rover Shore". Watching Phil do the vocals for that was literally spiritual. Like I've never seen anyone put so much emotion into one song. So obviously you wouldn't put that first. We put that sort of in the middle near the end. We never discussed the explicit details, it just flows somehow.

Yeah, it just feels right.

Do you guys plan on making music videos?

We filmed a music video last year, but because we switched drummers, we had to scratch all of that. I really wanted to because one of the girls in the band is a film major. It's definitely possible, the only issue is we all have no time. 3 of us are students, and one graduated but he has a full-time job. Yeah, the biggest issue is definitely time. I understand why some bands buy a house and live together like it definitely makes sense.

Do you have any other interesting stories? Anything cool!

The most exciting moment of being in this band was this Friday. We were at a house for a show and me and my bandmate we were just walking from one side of the room to the other, and we heard a group of people talking and they said Old Joy. It was the coolest thing 'cause it was like people actually know us. That was so exciting even though it was such a small thing because people actually recognize us. Like last week someone was at work and they said some of our music was on the radio. It was really cool!

What's weird is that the style of music that we play is not my style.

So what is your style?

I've never really gotten into indie music, but I figured I'd try it out. When I play on my own, I play a lot of Jazz and Funk. So this is very very very different. And this type of music isn't what I listen to but it's so interesting because the number of things you can do on bass is infinite. I do appreciate it, it's definitely grown on me. Before, all indie music sounded the same. Like to the average person, all classical music sounded the same. It's cool that I've learned so much through this.

Does it make it hard, not having listened to indie music beforehand?

When I first started, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was sticking to the root notes, keeping time. Super simple. By the time recording rolled around, I got the hang of it enough to create my own tracks, but looking back on it now, I would do things 100% differently.  

Natalie Kim is a talented young artist making her way through with her bandmates. With the first album already out, and another in the works, Old Joy is already paving their path into music. It's cool to see the beginning of a band that is transforming into something bigger, especially coming out of a local music scene.

Check out some of their songs:

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

16 nice things we've seen on the internet in 2018 so far

We're halfway through 2018 and it's safe to say the internet's already had some serious ups and downs. 

If you reflect on the year thus far, your mind might wander to its low points, like when YouTuber Logan Paul filmed a dead body in Aokighara, known informally as a suicide forest in Japan, and uploaded the video online. Or maybe your mind jumps to the time Roseanne Barr made an extremely racist remark on Twitter.

Heck, perhaps you've blocked those cringe-worthy moments out because you’re too busy watching President Donald Trump spend his days angrily tweeting into the abyss. But despite all the bad the internet has offered us in 2018, it's had its fair share of good moments, too.

SEE ALSO: Hot knife ASMR videos are therapy for your retinas

From hilarious children and adorable animal videos, to impressive memes and chill celebrity interactions, the internet has given us a lot to smile about this year.

Here are 16 things to remind you that the internet isn't always an absolutely terrible place to spend time.

1. Lisa Frank's social media game

Looking back at social media in 2018, one unlikely hero managed to consistently deliver fresh, peppy, colorful content. That hero is Lisa Frank.

The beloved brand that ruled your childhood is over here absolutely slaying the social game — sharing relatable AF memes, cheerful animal graphics, and rainbows galore on Facebook and Instagram on a near-daily basis. If you're looking for a heavy dose of positivity, some Monday inspiration, or an unexpected laugh, Lisa Frank’s got you covered.

How’s your Monday going? #mondaymood #lisafrank #sweettooth ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

A post shared by Lisa Frank (@lisa_frank) on Jun 11, 2018 at 3:28pm PDT

2. Will Smith's Instagram account

Though the world welcomed Will Smith to Instagram in December 2017, the actor and super-cool dad really hit his social media stride in the new year. 

Smith gives us everything we could ever want in a celebrity Instagram account — he serves up laughs, gives us looks into his personal life, posts those Fresh Prince of Bel-Air throwbacks we all crave, and shares photos with his family members and famous friends. We are barely worthy of your content, Will, but we're glad you're here.

I’ma keep it 💯 wit’ y’all... I Hurt Myself doin’ that Champeta Move.

A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith) on May 9, 2018 at 7:07am PDT

3. Kids finding out they were going to see Black Panther

Since its release, Black Panther has shattered box office records and inspired tons of memes, but we're not sure anything about the franchise will ever be able to top this video of Atlanta middle school students learning they'd be going to see the film.

In one of the nicest feel-good clips out there, Wade King — teacher and director of curriculum and instruction at Ron Clark Academy — captured video of students reacting to the news.

The students just found out we are all going to see BLACK PANTHER! We will have a day of cultural classes, African dancers, historical lessons and then we will all go see the film! Turn up!!!! @ronclarkacademy @chadwickboseman #tlhanna pic.twitter.com/oUhWse5ghr

— Wade King (@WadeKing7) February 2, 2018

Is this not one the purest things you've ever seen? Want more? No problem. The school's founder Ron Clark tweeted another video.

4. The #M'BakuChallenge

Black Panther had such an impact in online communities that it wouldn't be right to simply highlight one glorious Wakanda-related internet moment. Behold: The M'Baku Challenge — a delightful trend that called on people to recreate some of the most iconic lines from Jabari tribe leader M'Baku (played by Winston Duke).

Many Black Panther fans made admirable efforts, but 7-year-old Jordan's rendition was so superb that even Michael B. Jordan showed him some love.

A post shared by Brittnilutherqueenjr✊🏾 (@badgyalbribri) on Mar 4, 2018 at 5:31pm PST

5. Inspiring Twitter thread of women lifting each other up

It's an absolutely beautiful sight when an overwhelming amount of positivity is born from a single act of negativity. That's what happened in May when Twitter user @lewisbcfc74 claimed to be "sick of" seeing girls complimenting each other on Instagram.

Sick of going through insta and seeing girls commenting on other girls pictures 'look at u!!😭' and 'have you seen yourself😍' grow up man you don't even know each other

— Lewis (@lewisbcfc74) May 17, 2018

"Sick of going through Insta and seeing girls commenting on other girls pictures 'look at u!! and 'have you seen yourself’ grow up man you don't even know each other," he wrote. The tweet inadvertently inspired a thread of women who came together for the sole purpose of complimenting one another.

Girl you’re one to talk. Look at your skin, GLOWING

— Saya Norton (@sayanorton_) May 18, 2018

At the time of writing this article, the original tweet had 2,000 replies — most of which are women lifting each other up. Could someone please @ me when all of Twitter is this perfect? 

6. Meghan Markle's pre-glow up photo

When actress Meghan Markle married Prince Harry on May 19, we were blessed not only with gorgeous photos from the big day, but with photos of a young Markle in her pre-royal family days. While she was off becoming the Duchess of Sussex, the internet was busy obsessing over an old photo of the former actress as a teen tourist posing in front of Buckingham Palace in London.

Straight-up inspired by her transformation from teen tourist to adult royal, people dubbed Markle's love story the Ultimate Glow Up. #Goals

every time i feel giving up on anything i'm just going to look at this picture set and get my life pic.twitter.com/t7AFDO2DW7

— indie (@INDIEWASHERE) May 19, 2018

7. Dramatic Little League kid

Little League is no laughing matter. Unless, of course, you're this adorable jokester who was told to run from third base to home "as fast as he can."

In one of the most dramatic moments in Little League's little history, Twitter user @TabbyRodriguez's teeny cousin Lenn completed his victory sprint in agonizing slow motion, taking more than 45 seconds to run to home base. Lenn ignored the haters, making for some absolutely perfect content.

8. Jenna Fischer telling The Office fans about Pam and Michael's airport goodbye

Fans of the beloved NBC comedy The Office still aren't ready to let go of their Scranton family. So when Jenna Fischer, who played Pam Beesley on the show, took a moment to reminisce about the emotional Goodbye, Michael episode, people were pretty pumped.

In an Instagram live, Fischer revealed to followers what her character said to Steve Carrell's during their touching airport goodbye scene. 

"That was me talking to Steve," Fischer told her Instagram followers. "I told him all the ways I was going to miss him when he left our show. Those were real tears and a real goodbye. That was a really emotional scene."

BRB, sobbing.

9. Fans coming together after Brooklyn Nine-Nine was cancelled

A brief moment of absolute panic descended upon Brooklyn Nine-Nine Twitter in May after it was revealed that the show had been cancelled by Fox.

ME IMMEDIATELY AFTER FINDING OUT @Brooklyn99FOX WAS CANCELLED AT WORK pic.twitter.com/8IrllX2TYU

— Nicole Gallucci (@nicolemichele5) May 10, 2018

Fans (and celebs) were distraught by the news, but quickly bounced back from mourning to fight like hell to keep the show going. People tweeted at networks, shared how important the plot lines and characters were to their lives, and furiously thanked the creators, writers, actors, and crew members for all their hard work.

And you know what? IT WORKED. In a beautiful 2018 plot twist, NBC decided to pick up the comedy for a sixth season. One of the most blessed turn of events all year.

We got your SIX! #Brooklyn99 is officially coming to NBC! pic.twitter.com/NNQw2OZquH

— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) May 12, 2018

10. Mom's viral cheesecake rant

"Do you want the fucking cake or do you not want the fucking cake?" That's the question fed-up baker and business owner Kim Copeland — and eventually thousands of others — were dying to know the answer to in May 2018. 

The internet got the rage-filled hero it needed when Twitter user @adrienne_bc shared an entertaining 2:20 long video of her mom, Copeland, contemplating a vague AF cheesecake order commitment made by some flaky person named Ginger. After reading their text exchanges, reflecting on proper cake-ordering etiquette, and explaining everything she has going on in her own busy life, Copeland straight-up went OFF, asking, "Just tell me, Ginger, do you want the fucking cheesecake?"

I wonder if Ginger will dare order another fucking cheesecake again.

11. Kendall Jenner vs. Kacey Musgraves

Ah, FEUDS! Gotta love 'em... especially when they're between celebrities, and they end far sooner than expected and in a very gentle manner, right? Thus is the story of Kendall Jenner and Kacey Musgraves' short-lived, not-actually-a-feud feud.

The tale goes like this: In May, Jenner shared a photo on Instagram of herself sipping tea on a New York City rooftop while wearing lingerie...as one does. And in the background of her picture was a Musgraves billboard, except OH WAIT. It's blurred out. *gasp*

A post shared by Kendall (@kendalljenner) on May 3, 2018 at 4:44pm PDT

In response Jenner's possible shade, Musgraves shared a screenshot of the Instagram post to her own story, prompting Jenner to apologize profusely for the misunderstood shade via Twitter. Jenner explained she "...didn’t edit this photo! Kacey is literally my fuckin fav! ... ask anyone of my homies i die for her!"

Aw, how nice. It's refreshing to take a breather from hardcore public feuding every so often, isn't it?

12. Busting a move at graduation

Few days in life are as important as your pre-school graduation, and 5-year-old Aubrey Toby celebrated hers to the fullest.

On stage, diploma in-hand and dressed in her purple cap and gown, the precious and fiercely talented North Carolina student proudly danced her way across the stage and towards the exciting world of kindergarten.

Toby's godfather Merle Murrain II shared footage of her busting a celebratory move to Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop The Feeling" alongside her far-less enthused classmates. She clearly stole the show and better make the graduation dance a regular part of any future ceremonies. 

A post shared by Merle Murrain II (@themerlemurrain) on Jun 2, 2018 at 9:59am PDT

13. The #APESHITCHALLENGE

Beyoncé and Jay-Z have had quite the 2018 already, what with going on tour together and dropping a joint album out of nowhere. And in case that wasn't enough, they also inspired a very good viral challenge.

The #APESHITCHALLENGE was born after Bey and Jay dropped their music video for "APESHIT" (which was casually filmed at the Louvre in Paris, btw). In one scene, Beyoncé thrashes at the top of a massive staircase while dressed in a huge white gown. Fans promptly recreated the moment in their own homes, using a white bed sheet to get the effect.

14. Hillary Clinton mocking James Comey

Remember that time Hillary Clinton absolutely roasted former FBI Director James Comey on Twitter? 'Twas brilliant.

She simply couldn't resist after it was announced that Comey used a personal email account for his own official government business. Yes, this is the same Comey who opened an investigation ahead of the 2016 election into Clinton's private email account usage during her time as Secretary of State.

But my emails. https://t.co/G7TIWDEG0p

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 14, 2018

"But my emails," Clinton wrote, quote-tweeting news of Comey's personal email troubles. A tweet so iconic it almost lives up to "Delete your account."

15. DJ Switch

Say hello to DJ Switch, the coolest young DJ in Ghana. BBC News Africa shared a video of Erica, aka DJ Switch, who started dropping beats at the age of 9 and has been inspiring people ever since. 

"I picked the name DJ Switch because I switch up people's happiness," Erica said, explaining that while DJing is her passion, she wants to be a gynocologist when she grows up so that she can "help women."

HERO. 

16. A massive Twitter thread of puppies

Finally, we end this light and joyous trip down memory lane with this extremely lengthy Twitter thread of puppies meeting, playing, and being very cute together. Twitter user @BlairBraverman truly blessed the internet with this one.

As you know, we have a lot of puppies right now. pic.twitter.com/Vsw5SE0Wzt

— Blair Braverman (@BlairBraverman) June 26, 2018

It's been a wild ride. Let's hope there's more where these came from in the second half of 2018.

WATCH: Have your face and eat it too with these custom lollipops