#(ooc: I suffered for two hours because i wanted him to have a nice background but i had to add it)

[pinkhairandpronounsboy]

Grass. I like it.

cozy :)

[sireneia-a]

i have nowhere else to post up this but i feel like i definitely want to get my impressions of the fe4 fuyuki manga out somewhere and trying to put this in a tweet thread would prolly be annoying

i fully expect my opinion to change with time cause i think making judgments on something in less than 24 hours of consuming it... doesn’t usually lead to the long-lasting opinions. manga and fe4 spoilers both in here under the cut. i’ll try not to judge the manga in terms of merely deviating from the original game too much cause it’s allowed to take its own liberties, and sometimes those deviations can actually be a really good thing ( e.g. gaiden manga for the most part ). if you want to know abt my opinion on deviations, i’m still Bitter(tm) that they took out lene. this’ll be pretty unorganized cause i’m just spitting out my thoughts without revision cause i don’t intend to make this an actual literary analysis essay. 

anyway, moving forth:

my opinion isn’t really positive. might as well just get that out the gate before i get into details.

i think the main issue i have is that this manga... feels very unfocused in what exactly it’s trying to accomplish. is it a war story? they don’t finish the war. is it a love story? well, that really only came in about halfway and doesn’t focus on the euphoria of love, just the angst associated with a love pentagon. is it a coming of age story? maybe. this might be the closest answer to the truth.

the pacing definitely leaves something to be desired. we go from pretty fast action of seliph being introduced and then taking up arms and then rescuing leif, but... then it just slows down for a filler chapter with all the army members hanging around and talking about how much they like seliph but how distant he is. it’s a weirdly slow chapter that comes out of nowhere, and the mood whiplash is so great; seeing leif go from being this vengeful, frustrated teen who just realized his god worship of seliph was unfounded to leif being a happy-go-lucky guy acting pestering others and teasing them in just a short amount of time... is Very Odd. i’m not against leif being able to show a more casual persona, but i definitely think it could’ve been handled better.

ced’s introduction is as this all mighty, powerful mysterious man and... then all that buildup just goes into making him a background character. it feels wasted, which is how i feel about a lot of this manga honestly.

the manga tries to have some arcs for characters, and i think it pulls it off best with tine, arthur, leif ( in his first few appearances before filler ) but otherwise it’s kinda Meh. there’s just a ton of loose ends that just don’t get resolved at all. i’m cool with this usually, but the fact that the only thing that seemed to really be concluded was seliph’s romance arc and nothing else made it feel extremely unfinished. the other characters in this love pentagon don’t really get closure either, ESPECIALLY FEBAIL.

speaking of febail. Well. i wish he was something more than just “the love rival” character. he’s introduced to get patty/lester development and to further seliph/lana as well. it’s a shame cause febail actually is one of my favorite gen 2 characters ngl and to see him getting reduced to this is.... Hrm. larcei also suffers from this issue too, not really having a character outside of being tended to by lana ( to show that lana is a capable cleric ), to be fawned over by iuchar and iucharba, and to fawn over shanan. ulster might be even worse, really only existing to be the protective older brother to larcei, but when she barely gets any screentime, he might as well be replaced by a stop sign.

i’m not saying we need multiple chapters focusing on characters’ developments either. it functioned just fine with arthur and tine, and leif had a REALLY good arc in the leonster castle chapter. i really liked how they handled fee too! even if she didn’t get any closure. i expected her to show how capable she was at some point and stick it to her dad, but nope.

the manga really likes to focus on seliph, leif, and ares. i get it, they’re the sons of their power trio of dads. i’m not at all surprised these are the three they chose to focus on, but man it doesn’t have a good pay-off imo. ares might be the best handled out of the three despite having his character tweaked a bit ( the fault of removing lene, i suppose ) and i actually liked his progression with the inner conflict of living in isolation. 

leif took a nosedive for the worse when he somehow began revolving his life around seliph despite the fact his first appearance was all about how he should not be heralding him as a god amongst men. leif was that character had a weird duality between being the “shounen best friend” trope for seliph, telling him to never stop believing in himself and reminding him how great he is amongst giving cheeky hints about the romance plot, and being his own character filled with angst. leif brings some nice laughs a few times i’ll admit, and even if it’s pretty ooc for him, i was okay with it i guess; the issue i had was just how his status as seliph’s best friend seemed to also come along with removing all of his initial character development. 

i’m not a fan of how leif’s last bit in the manga is admitting that he didn’t know what he’d do without seliph. leif’s got all this buildup of trying to take on travant because he wants revenge, and he’s shown himself to be capable before this. i think my issue with this is less about leif’s competency ( i really do think though leif’s whole thing of being a pretty horrible lord unit and then turning into this master of all trades in fe4 is super good ) and more about how we don’t really see seliph helping leif out much at all. leif is a pillar of emotional support for seliph, but it doesn’t ever get conveyed that it’s mutual even though the manga WANTS you to believe it is. when seliph goes to check out on leif, it’s always leif talking out his own feelings and coming to conclusions himself without any input on seliph’s end. when seliph does say something, it’s just to scold leif and remind him that they’re friends and that seliph can help him, but i... honestly didn’t want seliph to help leif defeat travant. it felt more like seliph was meddling more than anything, and i could easily see this being fixed with just some dialogue tweaks of seliph saying he wishes to support leif or doesn’t want to see him die. but it’s just “we’ll kill him together!”

seliph is just a standard protag who understands he needs to grow and he closes off his feelings. he is compassionate, charismatic, and he goes throughout the story changing people to ally themselves with him. this is most notable in how he convinces through sheer pacifism for iuchar and iucharba to join his side even though originally their role in the game was all about making a choice between one of the brothers.

speaking of the brothers, they also got shafted quite a bit. i mean, true to the game i suppose, but still. they both had pretty interesting characters when they first get introduced as sons who disapprove of their father but come out to fight because it’s what they’ve learned and been told to do. they don’t understand seliph but feel a sense of wavering conviction because they want to do the right thing. but... then it just goes to nothing, this beginning of a mini plot, because they meet larcei and since larcei barely gets a character in this manga, neither will these two. they fall head over heels for her and then lose their characters entirely. i don’t even know what the point of recruiting the BOTH of them was if they weren’t even going to do anything with them. like, sure, show that seliph is a good person. but they were going to show that seliph is great without this incident anyway. 

the fact that julia gets reduced to just a healer hopelessly in love with seliph is sad. she has this crucial plot importance and it’s hinted at with the chapter involving ishtar and julius, but it really goes nowhere because the manga decides halfway through its main focus is going to be the romance between seliph and lana, so we’re going to end the manga in the middle of chapter 9 instead of actual endgame. julia’s just a slightly upgraded form of febail’s character in this lbr. she’s a love rival character meant to inspire angst within lana. woo.............. she gets brownie points i guess for helping along ares’s arc, but eh.

altena was fine. i think they stuck to everything important about her: her devotion to thracia, her dilemma with leif, etc. the arion and altena plot was okay. hell, even though i really like coirpre’s close relationship with altena in the game, i thought how he served as a voice of reason for her in this without the two knowing each other was actually done really well! just. wish coirpre got recruited. but that’s just me being salty, and i really don’t have an actual valid complaint about coirpre’s writing and minimal involvement in the manga. he served a purpose and he did it pretty damn well.

overall?? i thought this manga was a poor adaptation, and i really don’t recommend it as a way to understand fe4 gen 2′s plot at all nor its characters. but it serves its function as supplementary material, and i heard it’s like infinitely shorter than oosawa if you want a shorter read! it’s got its good points with certain characters like i’ve said before ( the tine and leif recruitment chapters are VERY GOOD and i loved fee in this too! ) and the fact it got a few laughs out of me is something i didn’t expect coming into it. i’m personally okay with the art, though i do wish characters didn’t appear crosseyed as often as they do.

[beevean]

So what are your overall thoughts on Forces storywise? Positives and negatives? Where do you think the story ranks in the series?

Maybe it’ll be easier to just list positives and negatives (warning: long post):

Positives:

- Even by watching a low-quality stream of the Switch version, I can say the game looks gorgeous. It does suffer a bit from the Adventure 2 syndrome, where the art direction can bet too dull for you to appreciate the graphics, but some stages are breathtaking. Egg Gate in particular looks amazing.

- While the plot on its own doesn’t belong in this section, I appreciate the simple fact that they actually dared to break from the lighter and softer approach that’s been going on since 2010, and the fact that they remembered that the cast isn’t just made of Sonic, Tails, Eggman, Orbot and Cubot. The concept was awesome! The tone was perfect, serious but not depressing and too try-hard! There was some action! It’s a step in the right direction, and I hope people will criticize the plot for the right reasons and not because “lol sonic shouldn’t try to be edgy”.

- Shadow will be playable. Even if he’s at his core “Sonic with a OP Light Speed attack” this is very important.

- While at first I was annoyed at seeing old levels again, I’m actually happy with what they’ve done. They’re not just rehashes, they’re treated like actual dynamic environments. Green Hill is not just “hey remember this level”, it’s a place dear to Sonic that was ruined by Eggman. Chemical Plant is also ruined and repurposed as a space port, almost like a Sonic CD Bad Future. Only the Death Egg is pretty much the same, although I admit, the Classic level using the same gimmicks as the S3&K version was a nice touch that I forgave because it made sense in-universe.

- The dialogue! Aside from a couple of stupid lines, mostly by Sonic, there was no trace of childish, jarring humor, nobody was OOC or treated as simple comic reliefs, and the interactions between characters were genuine and believable. Some parts kinda reminded me of the Boom cartoon. “See, Infinite, now we het to know each other! So what’s your favorite color? Do you enjoy long, romantic walks on the beach? What’s the source of your powers? You can skip the first two questions if you like” “Maybe he’ll have more friends if he stopped talking about himself in the third person.” (maybe I just have a bad sense of humor idk :V)

- Eggman and Knuckles were perfect. We didn’t see them a lot, but their characterization was on point. Knuckles was just full of charisma and he radiated confidence, a far cry from the butt monkey he’s been since Sonic X. And Eggman was actually smart, with some clever ideas like having backup sources for the Phantom Ruby, rightfully chewing out Infinite for not killing Sonic, and… well, we didn’t see it, but I like the idea of him keeping Sonic alive in his cell just so he could see what happened to the world thanks to his absence (that’s perfect fanfic fuel). And Mike Pollock managed to sound badass in certain parts. “The sun will fall upon you. Boom! The end. Your pathetic lives… are over.”

- Speaking of Pollock, the voice acting was some of the best in the games this far. I can count on a single hand the times someone sounded fake or unconvincing (mostly Silver, sadly, and Sonic was a bit oscillating). I think I gushed about Liam O’ Brien enough, he clearly had so much fun with Infinite. I can’t wait to hear the Japanese version

- And finally I love Infinite way more than I should. His design, his voice (especially his voice

- I like that thing Infinite did in Capital City. You know, when he mind raped everyone in the city by conjuring those abominations of nature. That was a clever use of his powers.

- The last shot of the game, with the Resistance hideout shining under the sun’s light and a single flower at the center, with the instrumental version of the credits’ song in the background, is honestly moving. Even after the huge disappointment that was the ending, this part made me feel satisfied and like I accomplished something (and I didn’t even play myself). It reminds me of Wiosna from Katawa Shoujo, and if you played it you know how it feels to hear that music after finishing a route.

Neutral:

- The scrapping of lives. I’ve seen people complaining that it makes the game too easy, but

1) there’s still some punishment if you lose a life, just like in Unleashed the timer doesn’t reset and of course you lose all your Rings, so if you die you can kiss that S rank goodbye;

2) lives have been pointless since the introduction of save files. Let’s be honest, when was the last time you got a game over in a game that saved your progress? And what was the punishment for a game over? At worst you just have to restart the level you died in.

So while I’m not particularly happy, I’m not disappointed either and I welcome the change.

- The music. I put it here because it’s kind of a mixed bag, there are tracks that I hate with a passion and tracks that I can’t get enough of (and I’ve only heard a tiny fraction of the whole OST). So overall I would say it’s average-to-good. 

I really wonder why they’re insisting of forcing Ohtani to compose whole soundtracks - the guy is seriously talented and I admire his work, but why can’t he be helped by someone else? I know Kenichi Tokoi and Naofumi Hataya also worked on the soundtrack, but afaik their roles are minimal.

- The Avatar himself. I’d enjoy the idea a lot more if 1) they talked, and 2) the characters stopped shilling them just a tiny bit, especially since everyone else was relegated to the background. Still, the concept of a muggle wanting to help the heroes is cool, as it goes against that sort of “elitism” in the Sonic series. And I just grew too attached to Gadget the Wolf :)

- The level design, the thing people trashed for months on end… it’s okay. Is it good as Generations’? Absolutely not. Is it bad? I don’t think so, because when I think “bad level design”, I think of Knuckles’ Chaotix and Sonic CD. 

Forces is inoffensive in this regard. On one hand, it’s not as linear as it looked like, there are multiple paths and some nice platforming sections. On the other, the 3D parts are few, short and in general not that engaging, and yes, Classic Sonic’s stages are supported by too much automation because the physics engine can’t handle him apparently. In short, if you’re okay with shallow fun and you thought Colors was fine, then you’ll be okay with Forces. (and while we’re not supposed to judge the developers as people, considering the level designers were all newbies I’d say they did a good job)

Negatives:

- the fact that you can’t recollect your rings unless you’re playing as the hedgehog Avatar. That just flies against the very core of the Rings concept.

- The sheer lack of “show, don’t tell”. Most of this game is just told, in fact most part of the plot is told via walkie talkie convos. The majority of the cast is just there to comment and guide the characters during the levels, only Silver is shown actually doing something. The most offensive example is how Eggman conquering the world is “shown” by a simple text box (people are already speculating it’s another sign of troubled production). And we don’t even see that much of the conquered world, either, aside from City (no seriously that’s the name of the area).

- What happened to you, Tails? What happened to the boy who wanted to be more than Sonic’s sidekick? Why the mere sight of Chaos 0 sends you into a panic when you fought Chaos 4 before? Why thinking Sonic is dead makes you “lose it”, when the same thing happened twice already (or once, if you want to discard ‘06) and in both cases you were devastated but still managed to kick ass? Why are you just an exposition fairy? Who hates you that much in the writers’ team? :(

- THE. RUSHING. Oh my god I could rant for hours about how the game not only is too fast-paced, but outright misses chunkes. I already mentioned the text box part, but what about the part where Infinite sends Sonic and the Avatar into null space… and they get out of there in literally ten seconds? What about Fake!Chaos and Fake!Shadow being dispatched like that, without even the simples of boss fights? What about Silver, Shadow and Omega just appearing out of nowhere? What about the “fake sun” plan being thwarted simply by the Avatar after less than ten minutes? What about the relentless teasing of Infinite’s origins, all culminating in a big fat nothing (he didn’t even take off his mask for fuck sake)? What about Eggman just vanishing after the final boss? What about the fact that two thirds of the final boss are rehashes, and at this point I’m seriously insulted by seeing Egg Nega Wisp for the third time?

- Going hand-to-hand with the rushed plot, the wasted potential. Sonic gets tortured in isolation, so you’d expect some consequences to his characterization. Nope! Not even a reveal that he was just hiding his fear by acting tough. Why are Shadow, Chaos and Zavok on Eggman’s side? Lol, they were just illusions, the real Shadow is fine and the others just don’t appear. All the cool hints about a tragic past for Infinite in his own song? Nothing mentioned in-game. He’s an experiment, that’s it. The connection with Mania? Just an excuse to justify the presence of Classic Sonic, whose only purpose in the plot is to snap Tails out of his depression. This game is just begging, “Rewrite me, please!”, and if I could write decently I’d do it myself, I’m that disappointed.

- What’s the deal with Aqua Road? It’s the only gimmick level in the game and it looks like the unholy child of those horrible bingo tables in Bingo Highway and this part in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for PC.

- Very minor, but if Eggman could see the fake sun, that means he would’ve been incinerated too. Considering how smart he was otherwise, that seems like a huge hole in his plan.

That’s everything I can think of. So, in conclusion, the game is generally good but overall mixed, and I dread the coming of November 7th because I can’t even imagine the kind of reception this game will get (and since it’ll come right after Super Mario Odyssey I don’t think it will sell well :\). 

I would personally play it if I had the chance because the game doesn’t look broken, boring or frustrating, and if I can manage to have fun with ShTH Forces will definitely be entertaining :V but it’s clear something went seriously wrong during the production and it feels like there are bits of the game missing, bits that could’ve elevated the quality from “good” to “excellent” - which is also why I hope Sonic Team doesn’t throw everything away but keeps the good parts and expands on them to create an even better game next time.

So if you’re planning on getting Forces, ask yourself what do you want to see in a Sonic game, because that’s the thing that makes the difference between “it’s not perfect but I can have fun with this” and “this game is absolute trash and Sonic doesn’t deserve this”.

[lancemcgun-blog]

klance mall visit

for @irllucyloud : Langst prompt: Lance and the rest of the crew go to a space mall. Lance wanders off and finds an alien who is the alien version of a psychic/therapist. They talk and Keith overhears/evasdrops.

keith literally follows lance in this one lol, i hope its not too ooc for you taste ;u; also this turned out way longer than i expected it to, so aaaah also im posting this on mobile so sorry for no cut!! i’ll add it later, sorry!!!!

-

If Keith told someone he’d followed Lance without any background information, they’d probably think he was a creep.

Honestly, Keith wouldn’t blame them–After all, when Hunk told him that he and Lance had followed Pidge around to see Keith blow up the whole place, he was a little weirded out.

But Keith at least had a better reason than “wanting to hit the town”. In fact, he had two.

This was an entirely new space mall, despite the similarities from the original one they had been to, so it wasn’t like anybody knew where to go. Plus, he had just been checking in on Lance because they were teammates, and DEFINITELY not because Keith had a crippling crush on him, thank you very much.

So while Keith hid behind plants and couches, Lance was walking into multiple stores, coming out with two or more bags more than what he had walked in with.

Once Lance had collected around 19 bags and Keith had successfully hidden behind 6 weird plants and 3 deformed couches, the brunette dropped his bags into some weird Harry Potter-like enchanted bag that looked way too small to fit all of the things he’d purchased–Keith would have to ask Coran about it sometime.

Said raven-haired boy then watched, er, noticed Lance walk into some weird gypsy store.

Keith didn’t know Lance believed in that sort of stuff, but, you know. Whatever.

Keith crept up to the door, and making sure nobody could look at him and think he was eavesdropping, pulled out the galactic newspaper and stared while listening.

“-Uh, you know. I have a pretty sweet team. There’s Hunk, the mechanic and chef, a freaking genius who pretty much located the Blue Lion–my BFF. At least, I hope he feels the same. And then Pidge, who is your go-to person if you need something about computers. Hell, they’re 15 and they built a quiznaking computer that scanned up to the edge of our solar system!- Not that that’s extremely impressive to you guys, but, ya know. We’re a primitive species.

“Allura is a space princess! I know, right? And she’s beautiful, and I used to have a major crush on her, but now I like someone else, you know? But anyway, she lost her father and slept for 10,000 years and she still tries to be a part of Voltron. She’s amazing. And Coran, the closest guy I have to an uncle. His food kind of tastes terrible-” Keith snickered- “but he’s always there for me. Distracts me from being homesick and…stuff. He’s awesome.

“Shiro is my idol, and I’ve always looked up to him. He’s really nice, but also can take charge? I dunno. He’s our amazing leader. He keeps on disappearing, though. But that’s okay, ‘cause Keith’s always ready to step in and lead us.

"Keith’s my–our, our, best pilot and fighter. Perfect at everything. Great at hating me. I dunno. I guess we’re rivals, because I said we were, but I don’t want to put our relat–friendship into that position? I dunno. I mean, I don’t mind, but, I really really like him? In the…Never mind, sorry. He’s really smart, and he’s the reason Voltron is even active again, so…

"Then there’s me. Comic relief. I label myself as the sharpshooter, but nobody really cares. I don’t know. They didn’t even pay attention when I piloted Blue for the first time–just kinda called me out for my horrendous piloting. I…replaced Keith, as usual, the time Shiro disappeared. He’s always ahead of me, and whenever I catch up, he’s already another step forward.”

Keith gripped his newspaper harder. What did Lance mean by all of this?

He heard some alien with a clicky-accent speak next.

“Blue Paladin, you put all of these people on pedestals. Why?”

Lance coughed, then replied, “Well, uh…They’re important and deserve it. They all are kind of a clique and work together easily, but I just…don’t.”

The alien spoke again. “But did you not say they ignore you?”

Lance said, “I did, I guess, but they don’t…They don’t know they’re ignoring me, and that’s okay. Besides, I can only take so much attention, you know? Heh.”

“And…how much time do they pay attention to you?”

The blue-eyed boy sighed. “Maybe a few minutes, and that’s either if I’m flirting or being a mess-up in battle. Maybe an hour a day, tops.”

Keith shivered. Had they really ignored him that much?

“And you know, we’re teenagers fighting a war. I don’t expect them to kiss the ground I walk on…except I sure do still want it. I need constant validation and attention, if ya catch my drift. Haha! …Ha.” Lance then proceeded to cough for what was longer than normal, and it gave Keith a few moments to think.

Was Lance really suffering while they didn’t bat an eye at him? Did he have depression or something while they excluded him? Did–Did he mean to say relationship earlier instead of friendship?

Suddenly, Keith was coughing up his own mess with a tomato-red face.

He couldn’t take this anymore. He couldn’t just sit and listen.

So like Lance said, he stepped in.

“Lance,” he said, quiet but not wavering.

“–Uh, Keith! Ese! What ya doin’, man?” Lance stuttered out, whipping around and voice cracking.

“I’m sorry, but he needs to come with me. Come on, Lance, we need to go,” Keith commanded, grabbing Lance’s arm.

“I-uh–alright? Where are we going? Keith?” Lance hesitantly stepped up from his seat.

Keith did not respond, instead taking to rushing Lance out and into the nearest broom closet. As soon as he shoved Lance in, he looked him square in the face.

“Lance. What were you talking about?”

Lance fidgeted with Keith’s hands on his shoulders, and he sighed, saying, “I was just talking to a space therapist.” He looked up at Keith, then continued, “What does it matter to you?”

Keith could feel anger building up, but took a deep breath and said, “Lance…you know we care about you, right? At least, I care about you. I don’t know if I can convince you that the others feel the same way, but I know I can tell you that you’re my teammate and I’m just worried.”

Lance flushed. “Shit. I, uh, Keith, will you kiss me?”

Keith’s cheeks reddened and only took a second before moving his hands to pinning Lance on the wall and around his neck. It was slightly awkward due to the slight height difference between the two, but the kiss was sweet, chaste, and full of teeth. As soon as they parted, Lance was smiling like there was no tomorrow, and Keith could feel the smidgeon of a grin on his own face.

Once the team found them two hours later, they were curled up in each other’s arms, and stayed like that until they woke up back in the castle.

They didn’t know their places, but that was okay, as long as they had each other.

–

GOD that was rly rushed and im sorry this took so long to write ;0; im working on the others now!!!

[ourtown-rp-blog]

Welcome to the game, JACOB WESTON! Your application was successful, and we’re excited to begin writing alongside you, Hercules. Please read over our checklist before sending in your link, which you should do within 24 hours!

IT’S ALL ABOUT YOOOOU ( ooc ) ♪

MAIN ALIAS: Hercules.

PRONOUNS: She/Her.

AGE: 25+.

ACTIVITY LEVEL: 6/10.

WHO YOU PLAYIN’ ?

FULL NAME: Jacob Lee Weston.

PRONOUNS: He/him.

FACECLAIM: Dean Geyer.

AGE/BIRTHDAY: 27, August 23rd.

ORDER: Third.

TYPE: Solo.

ORIENTATION: Pansexual, Panromantic.

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY ☆

EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Part time.

WORKPLACE: Jammin’ Java.

POSITION: Bartender.

HOW LONG?: One month.

WHO WILL I BE, IT’S UP TO ME ( ic ) ♪

{TW: Death, Cancer, Suicide}

Jacob Lee Weston had a rough start in his youth. From an early age, his parents noticed that he had a problem with aggression. He’d hit people, throw things, throw temper tantrums – he wasn’t an unhappy child, he just didn’t know how to deal with his anger. It got him in trouble for the first couple years of elementary, before his teacher suggested that he either start talking to a therapist, or get involved in sports. Jacob’s parents didn’t want to subject him to therapy quite yet, so decided to see how he would do in athletics. And honestly, Jacob soared. There wasn’t one thing he wasn’t good at. He played football, soccer, baseball, basketball, and even ended up begging his parents to let him take karate. He excelled, always the star in whatever he chose to do. And it helped with his aggression, too. He finally had an appropriate outlet, and things calmed down at home for him.

When Jacob’s parents got divorced, it didn’t hit him as hard as he thought it would. Sure, he was sad, but he knew that he’d still see both of them. And he understood, even then, that love didn’t always last. He stayed with his mother, even though he loved his father dearly; he was always a momma’s boy, and deciding who to live with wasn’t even a question for him.

Jacob was always a popular guy. From elementary on, he never had a shortage of friends. He loved being the center of attention, and he loved surrounding himself with people. One of those people was Serenity Clarke. Jacob and Serenity were friends from the time they were in pre-K together and their parents were just planning playdates with them and the other children. As they grew older, they became practically inseparable. Where you found one, you were going to find the other. Serenity was his biggest cheerleader in life, always supporting Jacob through everything – and even took on that role in a literal sense once they reached their middle school years. It didn’t surprise anyone when they started dating at the young age of fourteen, when the two were freshman in high school. And it was natural to them; they weren’t meant to be with anyone else.

Jacob and Serenity were a high school power couple. She was a cheerleader, he was a jock – the perfect popular couple. So when they graduated, there wasn’t even a question about it – they were going to go to college together. The two decided on Arkansas College, with Serenity majoring in Criminal Justice and Jacob majoring in Biochemistry, with a focus on Pre-Med. Simply put, Jacob wanted to be a doctor. He had the smarts for it, he thought – and when he took the MCAT his junior year of college, at the young age of 20, he passed with flying colors. With his scores, he had his pick of the litter from medical schools. He finished up his schooling and got his bachelor’s in Biochemistry, set on attending the UAMS College of Medicine in the fall. It was in Little Rock, and he still wanted to be close to home. Unfortunately, Jacob never got the chance to start medical school.

Just after receiving his bachelor’s degree, Jacob and Serenity went out on a nice, lovely dinner to celebrate both of them getting their degrees. Jacob took her to Little Rock, and they ate out on the patio with candles lit around them, romantic music playing in the background. Jacob used that night to propose to Serenity. The love of his life, the only woman he had ever had eyes for – he couldn’t imagine living out his life with anyone else. She was his perfect match, and he was certain that they were born to love each other. His heart beat for her and her only. Of course she said yes, and the two wasted no time in telling their loved ones about their upcoming nuptials. Much like when they first started dating so long before, no one was surprised. They were soulmates, plain and simple.

That July, Serenity went to the doctor with complaints of chronic stomach pain, nausea, fatigue and loss of appetite. They both thought that maybe she just had the flu and it was being pesky and not going away. They never thought it could be anything serious. They were a golden couple with the perfect lives together – how could something bad happen to them of all people? But it did. Serenity was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Jacob was confident that they could fight it, that Serenity would be okay – until a friend said the words that would be forever burned into his mind: “Once pancreatic cancer is able to be caught, it’s typically too late.” The one year survival rate was just 20%, and the five year 7%. There wasn’t much hope for Serenity.

Jacob put off medical school, instead deciding to stay with Serenity as much as he could. She told him to forget about the engagement, that they didn’t have to get married – who wanted to marry the dying girl, anyway? Instead of listening to her, Jacob planned a last-minute wedding in Hawaii, deciding that she only deserved the very best while she was battling her illness. It was a short vacation for the two, because her doctors didn’t want her gone long, but they said their vows on a beautiful beach surrounded by close family and friends. It was perfect, and she had looked like the brightest, purest, most perfect angel that there was. Jacob was so in love with everything about her.

Serenity’s condition went downhill fast after that. It was like she was wasting away before Jacob’s eyes. Every day brought a new challenge, and it seemed like she was constantly in pain. For months, that’s what he remembered most. She was so beautiful inside, but her body was getting skinnier and skinnier, and her body was causing her tremendous turmoil. She was miserable, and she hated life, and she would spend hours crying about how she didn’t want to be part of the world anymore. It broke Jacob’s heart, and he would just lay there with her, holding her and telling her how much he loved her and how beautiful she was.

Serenity’s parents wouldn’t give up on her. They had the money to take care of their daughter. They wanted to move her away, but she refused. The couple just wouldn’t face the facts – Serenity wasn’t going to live much longer. In November of that year, Serenity had had enough. Her parents were just prolonging her pain, and she didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Jacob’s heart had been permanently scarred by watching his wife, the love of his life, his best friend since he was four go through what she was going through. So when Serenity asked Jacob to help her commit suicide, he wasn’t as conflicted as he probably should have been. In his eyes, she was hurting. She would always be hurting. Until she was finally taken from the world and granted peace. So why would he make her suffer? If he really loved her, how could he keep her around, in that state of living? No, he loved her too much for that. He couldn’t let her suffer anymore. So, after finding a dealer and buying copious amounts of heroin from them, Jacob helped Serenity OD. He helped her slip out of her pain and finally find peace.

Serenity’s parents were, of course, furious, and demanded a full investigation into the death of their daughter. It had been apparent from the beginning that it was a suicide, but her parents weren’t convinced that Jacob didn’t have a part in it. It was eventually taken to court, and Jacob was convicted of manslaughter. He was sentenced to fourteen years in prison for the death of his wife. At only twenty-two years of age, Jacob was thrown into prison. He never regretted his actions for a moment. He wasn’t angry that he was thrown in prison, and he wasn’t angry at his in-laws. They were grieving their daughter, their light; he knew that. But he knew that, if he had the chance to go back in time and do something different – he wouldn’t. He would make the same choice time after time. He had loved Serenity with all his heart and soul – loving her was like breathing. He was fully convinced that he was born to love her. She was – everything to him. And to see her in pain like that, always so miserable – it broke him. It tore at his heart and soul and he couldn’t fathom making her live like that any longer than she had to. If he had to make a choice again, he’d help her find peace each and every time. He loved her that much.

Jacob being thrown in prison caused the Weston parents to work together again for once – four years after his sentence, they hired a new lawyer. One of the best, very expensive – but they couldn’t handle their son being locked away anymore. It took a bit of time, but Jacob finally saw a judge that took pity on him. They declared his sentence time served, and he was finally released.

That was two months ago. Being apart of society again is proving quite interesting for Jacob – he’s no longer as happy as he used to be growing up, and a genuine smile is a lot harder to come by from him. He’s living with his mother while he gets back on his feet, and he’s started working as a bartender at Jammin’ Java, thanks to his brother Cameron, who manages the venue. Things are slowly falling back into place. Lately, Jacob has been getting harassing phone calls from those he suspects to be the family and close friends of his in-laws, but so far they have seemed relatively harmless, albeit threatening. He doesn’t quite feel like his life is in danger just yet, so he hasn’t said anything to anyone. For now, he’s just enjoying being free and getting his life back together.