#CLEO NATION COME TO ME NOW..

[nocturnalhe]

oh my favourite criminals

1st try at roundabout ah ah ahhhh

[blazevolt]

Existence got in the way, why did no one tell me that life existed

Anyway

Here's a catch-up of all the missed HADM's 18 - 24 done all at once at 2 am because I now care enough about drawing them all

Sorry for the trouble, hermitaday folks 🫣

Enjoy! Hope they inspire!

HADM 18 (waterfalls) - this was gonna be Gems S9 base, but then Grian made his animated waterfall and I caught up to that episode yesterday. Hence, inspired, I did a watercolour rendition of his amazing animated cascade

HADM 19 - CLEEBERT! They're so cool - this is cleo making her armourstand crabs for keralis

HADM 20 - XB crafted riding an elder guardian! He came out a little kiddish, but I'll probably actually map out a design for him... and paint his base too, he's got a very, very cool base

HADM 21 - X-eye-zuma void forgetting how to build a redstone door! I loved this moment during the charity event XD

HADM 22 - Keralis making crabs with cleo for his beach!

HADM 23 - beloved TFC, drawn as a hermitcrab, as he is and was, the truest hermit. The little I've seen of his content showed how funny, interesting and friendly he was to everyone. We can all learn a lot from him still

HADM 24 - finally, joe of the hills!!!! He. Is. Insane.

He is wonderfully insane

He's a national treasure

And i love how juppet turned out

Enjoy! And thank you for coming to my Ted talk okie bye be good

[watarfallar]

*throws the food in your faces* ENJOY!

Martyn: I wish I had more enemies. Ren: I’m sure you will someday, honey.

Etho: Y’know, maybe things aren’t so bad. I’m here. I got the nice ocean breeze. Just alone with my thoughts. BigB: Hey, Etho. Etho: GODDAMNIT!

Scar: I don't like bugs. Bdubs, are you even listening to me? Bdubs: I seem to have misplaced my ant farm. Scar, at Cleo: MOOOOOM!

Gem: I’m so excited! Mumbo: We’re gonna have the best costumes, get the most candy... Gem: And have the biggest stomach aches ever! Mumbo: Yeah!

Tango: Hey besties- Cleo: Die. Tango: What did I do to you-

Ren: Show me Pennsylvania. Scott: I don’t know Canadian geography.

Impulse: Hey Martyn, I’ve got an idea for how to solve this. Martyn, pulling out a shotgun: Yeah? Impulse: Wh- No! That’s not the idea, Martyn!

Grian: Accidentally indulged in too much ‘free time’, turns out I’ve been reported missing for over six months and presumed dead by most local and national authorities.

Scott: Are you busy? BigB: Yes. Scott: Cool, listen to this...

Impulse: You’re alive. Bdubs: No need to sound so disappointed.

BigB, barging in: Syphilis! Etho: BigB: Etho: Pardon?

Tango: Oooh, a train! Scar: We’re in a train station, Tango.

Grian: Am I going to far? BigB: No, no, no. You went too far about 7 hours ago. Now you’re going to prison.

Joel: Pearl, I’m afraid. Pearl: Just stay close to BigB. Joel: That's why I’m afraid.

Scott: Here are two pictures. One of them is your bedroom, and the other is a garbage dumpster. Can you tell which is which? Cleo: Cleo: This one is the dumpster. Scott: They’re both your bedroom.

Pearl: Hah! 69! you know what that means? Scott: What? Cleo: That you're a child. Grian: HOW YOU GUESS MY IQ?!?

Mumbo, whispering to Cleo, who's on the phone with Martyn: Ask them something! Cleo: How are you feeling? Martyn: Fine. Mumbo: Something personal! Cleo: At what age did you first get your period?

Joel: *kisses Lizzie* Lizzie: ! Joel: ...Did you steal my chapstick? Lizzie: Did- did I what? Joel: My chapstick, Lizzie. Did you steal it? BigB: Joel, for the love of God, not this again. Lizzie: I- No, I didn't steal your chapstick. We use the same chapstick. Joel: No, there is absolutely no way we use the same chapstick, because it was only sold on one Etsy shop two years ago and they discontinued it, and I loved it so much that I bought the last of their stock, and I keep it in my freezer so it doesn't go bad. It's been discontinued for three years. No one uses the same chapstick for three years. So unless you've been eating a whole fuck ton of something that's flavored like chocolate and popcorn, you absolutely stole my fucking chapstick. Lizzie:Chocolate and popcorn? BigB: Why do you think it got discontinued?

BigB: Did you win? Or just not die? BigB: Either way, hooray. Pearl: ...Is "no" a valid answer? BigB: The hooray is redacted and you frighten me.

Tango: Etho told me that brown is just navy orange, and I have never been more disappointed with something I agree with.

Bdubs: Come on Gem, do it for our friendship. You can't put a price on that... Gem: Yes I can, dear. Fifty dollars.

Gem: And I’d love to be sorry for that, but we all know I’ve done much, much worse.

Impulse: I wish I was a dinosaur. Skizz: Why? Cause they're big and scary? Impulse: Because they're dead.

(Cue all of the cocker- -clears throat- CLOCKERS QUOTES!)

Cleo: Do you ever want to talk about your emotions, Bdubs? Bdubs: No. Scar: I do! Cleo: I know, Scar. Scar: I’m sad. Cleo: I know, Scar.

Cleo: What did Scar do this time? Bdubs: More like WHO did Scar do this time?

Scar: Why is everyone so obsessed with top or bottom? Honestly, I’d just be excited to have a bunk bed. Bdubs: Bdubs: I'm gonna tell them. Cleo: Don't you dare.

Cleo: Bdubs noticed only today that they can label their email inboxes, but they took apart their entire bloody laptop two weeks ago. Scar: This reminds me of the Bdubs who couldn’t turn on the coffee maker, but remembers about 500 digits of pi. Cleo: I’ll be delighted to inform you that this is the very same Bdubs.

Cleo: The odds of this happening by coincidence are vanishingly small. Scar: I would say infinitesimally. Bdubs: And I'd say teenily-weenily. We all know words.

Bdubs, gardening: Hey, can you bring me the hoe? Cleo: Yeah, sure. *A few minutes later* Cleo: Here you go. Bdubs: Cleo: Scar: Why am I here?

Bdubs: I'm gonna eat the chicken breasts! Scar, snickering: Yeah, eat what you lack. Cleo, deadpanning at Scar: Then maybe I should order brains on delivery for you.

Bdubs: Hey, Cleo? Cleo: Yeah? Bdubs: Can a person breathe inside a washing machine while it’s on? Cleo: Cleo: Where’s Scar?

Scar: When Cleo was born, the gods said, "They're too perfect for this world." Bdubs: Please. When they were born, the devil said, "Oh, competition."

[gghostwriter]

Entangled Strings of Fate

Chapter 3. My torch stays burning

Spencer Reid x FOC

Summary: Caltech, Pasadena - Cleo considers herself a woman of logic. With an IQ of 158 and an eidetic memory, how could she not. But meeting Spencer, the boy genius to hers, had her believing in intangible theories like the invisible string and the fates. Now, if only he would notice the depth of her feelings. Set in Caltech, pre-season 1 and will progress from there.

previous chapter || series masterlist || next chapter

"Growing apart doesn't change the fact that we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that" - Allie Condie

Cleo considered each invite from Spencer an oath—a vow meant to be delivered through each time. Never mind that she had past cases to study or how she initially promised her sister that she’ll attend the family dinner—skipping that was a plus, honestly, she’d rather spend her time in his precious company. She thought about the multiverse all of a sudden and wondered if in those different shards of her, is she still enjoying his presence or is this they only universe where they crossed paths and stayed together? She hoped not. She’d like to believe they were meant to find each other’s company no matter the circumstance. 

Sneaking a peek at him, she knew she had digressed from her present. A present where she found herself with a warm glass of tea on hand and on his rooftop apartment, admiring the night sky. Earlier, he explained he was on an extended leave from the FBI, not that he needed to take a leave really but in his own words, he didn’t feel right about being on the field while his mentor, Gideon, was pulled from the field after Boston, and had called her up to fill his nights with conversations and company. 

“Did you know that comets smell like rotten eggs?” He mentioned one night while admiring the night sky. “To be exact, they smell like rotten eggs, urine, burning matches, and almonds. Traces of hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, sulphur dioxide, and hydrogen cyanide were all found in the makeup of the comet 67P—better known as Churyumove-Gerasimenko.”

Cleo laughed. “Usually comets and meteors are often romanticized but finding out that they smell like rotten eggs definitely ruins the poetry behind it.”

“Actually the idea behind wishing upon a shooting star started thousands of years ago. During the 2nd century, astronomer Ptolemy believed that stars were gods or, at least, signs from the gods,” he rambled on. “Another version comes from the Mi’kmaw nation living in Nova Scotia. They believe that two stars took two sister to heaven. One of the stars represented an Eagle while the other a Hawk. Soon the sisters found themselves bored and strived to return to their people. Hoping to return to Earth, they requested the first human named Kluskap for their return. Kluskap agreed but with the condition that both sisters won’t ever look back. Later on, when they were both sent back to Earth, the younger sister broke the promise and was turned into a shooting star.” 

“That kind of reminds me of the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice,” she commented on, going off tangent. 

He nodded, having understood the connection her mind was going for. “Most people considered Orpheus’s actions a noble, romantic deed in the name of love but Plato viewed it as cowardice for not dying to meet Eurydice right away.”

“But isn’t it because Plato had a negative stance on art? In a woman’s perspective, the whole notion of the man doing everything to get back the woman he ardently adored is the ultimate act of love,” she defended with a slight scrunch of nose from the cold biting air. 

A ring interrupted their comfortable silence. 

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, looking at the caller ID and letting it go to voicemail. 

His interest was piqued. “Who is it?” 

“Remember that guy who I met in the bookstore—Robbie—and went out with for a maximum of three dates? That’s him,” she took a sip of her tea before continuing on. “The dates were fine, just fine, and I even met some of his friends on accident—”

“But?”

“—but, it felt wrong. Like he was showing me off as this genius that he bagged rather than as a woman he’s interested in.”

She sighed and looked at the city night lights. She knew she was a genius, graduating from Caltech with a degree in Political Science at the age of 16 and entering law school right after can attest to that. But that accomplishment was sometimes a detriment in making genuine social connections.

“I’d love to find someone who can appreciate me for who I am and not with what I can offer. God knows I have enough of that from my parents.” 

He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “And you deserve that. If there’s anyone who deserves that, it’s you.” 

“You also deserve someone like that, Spence.” She softly smiled. “Someone who sees how much of a great guy you really are.”

“Morgan says I can’t get a date since I come off as awkward and tend to spew random facts when nervous,” Spencer said. 

Knowing Derek, she knew he stated that in a jest but she couldn’t help but hear the slight hurt in Spencer’s voice. “Well, I for one think you’re amazing. The right girl would think the same way too, Spence. She’ll find your ramblings interesting and cute, just like I do.” 

She glanced down at her watch. Time always seemed to move too fast when their orbits circled around each other. “I should go.”

“Garcia, Morgan, and I are meeting up for coffee and pastries at the usual corner coffee shop tomorrow. Would you like to come?” He asked as he was guiding her to a cab. “Garcia’s been hounding me to bring you around and I quote ‘I miss my ma chou.’”

“Count me in,” she laughs as she gets into the cab. “See you tomorrow, Dr. Spencer Reid!” 

———

Based on scientific studies, consuming sugar increases serotonin levels—the happiness chemical. The brain then keeps craving this “happy” chemical again and again. Maybe that was why Cleo knew she made the right decision in accepting his invitation for breakfast. There was nothing like a cup of good coffee and a freshly baked pastry on a Saturday morning. Add a mix of Penelope’s bubbly self and Derek’s fun persona, the weekend was already starting on a bright note.

“Oh my goodness, I think you got much more beautiful since the last time I saw you, ma chou,” Penelope greeted as she went in for a hug.

“And you’ve gotten more radiant since then, Pen,” she gushed back. 

“How are the two of you this lively early in the morning,” Derek quips. “Hey pretty girl, how’s law school treating you?” 

She sat down beside Penelope and subtly looked around for any sign of Spencer. “Good, can’t really complain specially with the bar exam coming up.” 

“If you’re looking for pretty boy, he’s over there buying your coffee and pastry,” Derek took notice of her searching eyes. There was no hiding from a profiler, after all. “ So tell me, did he make a move yet?” 

Her jaw slightly dropped while Penelope squealed in her set, no doubt also wanting to know. “Derek, you know its not like that,” she rushed out to clarify. “We’re friends, best of friends!” 

Derek and Penelope shared a look. A look that she has been very familiar with ever since their first meeting . It was a look of disbelief and teasing. She knew the whole BAU team had a vested interest in the progress of their platonic relationship. It wouldn’t even surprise her if there was a wager going on who would crack first. 

“Oh doll, you know it’s more than that right? I mean look at you both together, a match made in heaven, Penelope stated as she took a sip of her drink. “What could be more perfect that an prosecutor and an FBI agent together? The power couple if you ask me.” 

“I’m not a prosecutor yet,” she huffed out.

“You didn’t deny it though?” Penelope teased back. “So you agree, you both are a match made in heaven?”

“More like a match made in genius,” Morgan added. “C’mon Murphy, Reid may be as dense as those law books you read but I’m not, you can’t fool my profiler eyes. You’re in love with him, ever since I’ve met you.” 

“I swear its really not like that. Now, can we change the subject please before he comes?” She pleadingly asked as Spencer was approaching with her coffee and pastry in hand.

“Here you go,” he handed the goodies to her. “I got you a freshly baked slice of banana bread, a hot cappuccino, and a Palmier for when you get hungry later.” 

She smiled, cheeks turning vibrant red, and thanked him. With his care and her reaction, no doubt Derek and Penelope were staring at them in disbelief.

“Unbelievable,” Derek muttered as Spencer took his seat beside him.

“What was that?” He asked, having not heard his mumble.

Derek appraised Spencer with an eyebrow arched up. “Nothing pretty boy, nothing at all.” 

[twodiamondhoes]

intrigued by Recency Bias (from the WIP tag game) :3

Delighted by the fact that I got two asks for Recency Bias :D Ty for the ask!!

(Referencing this ask meme)

The Elevator Pitch for Recency Bias is that it is a look at the s9 Ren The King arc, but make it cyberpunk! I'm having a lot of fun with some very experimental (for me) writing techniques.

I am (not-so-secretly) a huge sucker for dystopian fiction, but my favorite thought exercise is always what happens next? What happens after the Tyrannical Government is overthrown and the rebellion takes their place? What happens to the people on the streets, whose entire lives have been upended and now have to adapt to a different political structure or, sometimes even an entirely different way of life?

So Recency Bias is that thought exercise taken to the logical extreme, complete with a bunch of cyberpunk bells and whistles. It's a Gem-centric story, and the main pairing focus is going to be Gem/Etho, with a heavy dose of platonic soup group shenanigans. The original working title for it was "Campbell's Rebellion."

Hilariously, I had one of Gem's subplots being street racing for extra money long before Wild Life aired, but Wild Life is what convinced me to make Joel a bigger part of the plot. Originally he wasn't in it at all, having not been a Hermit in s9, but... I mean, come on, I had to have the Family, right?

Under the cut is the snippet I call my "history lesson," aka the rundown of the original rebellion from the aforementioned dystopia, that eventually became the King's Court. It's mostly to keep me on track and jog my memory when needed, but imo it's also just fun!

After a brutal, bloody civil war, the United States of America found itself shattered, with no hope of a democratic revival. Fear of foreign powers swooping in to lay claim to the Land of Opportunity was at an all-time high, but someone else beat them to it. No one should have been afraid of foreign aid, not when the call was coming from inside the house.

Five corporations with a vested interest in expansion and the sudden lack of governmental oversight put themselves in the forefront of aid campaigns. Before the citizenry knew what to fear, the nation was again divided not by war or differing politics, but by the pursuit of the Almighty Dollar.

For over two centuries, technological innovation and rampant cost-cutting initiatives have led to a landscape that is nigh unrecognizable. Cars flew, goggles halted any advertisement and community initiative not sanctioned by the Corporation in charge of that district, and people were not a collective, not a unit… they were units, no better than the machines that tracked their workflow.

Until, that is, a group of folks from across districts discovered a glitch in their awareness–each other. Together, this disgruntled band of misfits: Cleo, Bdubs, Cub, Ren, and Etho realized how important community was, and how far they were willing to go to protect what they had discovered.

Together, they rallied the populace and set to work creating a new way of life, and, they hoped, a better one.

Unfortunately, change can be slow when you take care to ensure the safety of your subjects, and anti-competition software wasn't the only thing that the corporations were using to keep the populace in line.

Perhaps there was an underlying reason that there hadn't, in all that time, been another rebellion. And maybe it's too late now to start wondering.

[noloveforned]

no love for ned is back on wlur tonight from 8pm until midnight. i took last week off to catch a couple of my favorites bands from the nineties live in dc- velocity girl and tuscadero!

speaking of the nineties, two weeks ago i did a best of 1993 show that's now on mixcloud. as always i played a couple songs that turned out to be a year off due to the damn copyright dates listed on the cd. i know the sdre was actually 1994 and the portastatic might be too! we'll still be doing a 'best of 2003' show in a couple weeks!

no love for ned on wlur – november 24th, 2023 from 8pm-midnight

artist // track // album // label the lemonheads // down about it // come on feel the lemonheads // atlantic the juliana hatfield three // spin the bottle // become what you are // mammoth teenage fanclub // the cabbage // thirteen // dgc belly // dusted // star // sire the posies // dream all day // frosting on the beater // dgc liz phair // never said // exile in guyville // matador cracker // get off this // kerosene hat // virgin the boo radleys // there she goes // so i married an axe murderer soundtrack // chaos the cranberries // dreams // everybody else is doing it, so why can't we? // island unrest // make out club // perfect teeth // 4ad velocity girl // crazy town // copacetic // sub pop tiger trap // puzzle pieces // tiger trap // k the apples in stereo // tidal wave // tidal wave 7" ep // elephant six even as we speak // love is the answer // feral pop frenzy // sarah the pastels // thank you for being you // truckload of trouble // seed dqe // twister // but me, i fell down // feel good all over crayon // the snap-tight wars // the snap-tight wars 7" // harriet bratmobile // cool schmool // pottymouth // kill rock stars guided by voices // shocker in gloomtown // the grand hour 7" ep // scat the breeders // divine hammer // last splash // 4ad the flaming lips // be my head // transmissions from the satellite heart // warner bros. letters to cleo // here and now // aurora gory alice // cherrydisc catherine wheel // crank // chrome // fontana ned's atomic dustbin // saturday night // so i married an axe murderer soundtrack // chaos the smashing pumpkins // hello kitty kat // today ep // hut dig // believe // dig // radioactive moth macabre // two days // moth macabre // interscope eve's plum // i want it all // envy // epic sand rubies // your life story // sand rubies // atlas drop nineteens // all swimmers are brothers // national coma // caroline radiohead // ripcord // pablo honey // capitol walt mink // subway // bareback ride // caroline dinosaur jr. // start choppin // where you been // sire thrush hermit // marya // marya 7" // genius the spinanes // spitfire // manos // sub pop the afghan whigs // what jail is like // gentlemen // elektra morphine // candy // cure for pain // rykodisc evan dando // frying pan // sweet relief- a benefit for victoria williams tribute // columbia barbara manning // joed out // no alternative compilation // arista matthew sweet // time capsule // altered beast // zoo entertainment mazzy star // fade into you // so tonight that i might see // capitol east river pipe // make a deal with the city // goodbye california // sarah portastatic // naked pilseners // i hope your heart is not brittle // merge witch hazel // just don't try // just don't try 7" // bubblegum smile his name is alive // drink, dress, and ink // mouth by mouth // 4ad yo la tengo // sudden organ // painful // matador suede // animal nitrate // suede // columbia u2 // stay (faraway, so close!) // zooropa // island red house painters // new jersey // red house painters ii // 4ad grant lee buffalo // fuzzy // fuzzy // slash godstar // forgotten night // sleeper // half a cow buffalo tom // sodajerk // big red letter day // beggars banquet james // laid // laid // fontana the lucksmiths // adolescent song of mindless devotion // the lucksmiths cassette // banana noise addict // i wish i was him // i wish i was him 7" // fellaheen lambchop // nine // nine 7" // merge sunny day real estate // seven // diary // sub pop shudder to think // animal wild // sweet relief- a benefit for victoria williams tribute // columbia sugar // feeling better // beaster ep // rykodisc superchunk // precision auto // on the mouth // matador archers of loaf // web in front // icky mettle // alias seaweed // kid in candy // four // sub pop bikini kill // rebel girl // pussy whipped // kill rock stars fastbacks // hung on a bad peg // zücker // sub pop pavement // unseen power of the picket fence // no alternative compilation // arista neutral milk hotel // everything is // everything is 7" // cher doll

[game-o-hungy]

DISTRICT 1 INTERVIEWS

Kaski Nothering

Cleo: Hello, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! I am your host, Cleo Patrick. Tonight, we are going to be joined by the honorable tributes of our nation! Here we have Kaski Nothering of district one.

Kaski: *mutters in French*

Cleo: I'm sorry, what was that?”

Kaski: Je ne parle pas Anglais. *gestures with hands*

Cleo: ah, can someone get a translator for my darling here?

*translator comes in and sits next to Kaski*

Cleo: It’s lovely to have you here, darling! Now, I have some questions for you today.

Kaski, translated: all right.

Cleo: ever since you have arrived, we haven't seen you much. What do you think about the Capitol? What do you enjoy most?

Kaski, translated: I enjoy the people and architecture; the buildings are very pretty. I cannot say anything about the food, though, for I bake better than all of you. *winks*

Cleo: *laughs* That sounds like a wonderful talent to have in the arena. Anyways, how do you like your stylists? Do they fit your style?

Kaski, translated: they are good… but the glitter, not so much. *shakes head sadly* too itchy. I prefer my normal clothes.

Cleo: I see. What do you have to say to the other tributes this year?

Kaski: *looks directly at the camera* Pour tous ceux qui ne le savent pas, la confiance est une faiblesse. c'est un couteau.

Cleo: uhh…

Kaski, translated: I mean, I wish you all the best of luck!

Cleo: a friendlier message than other tributes… *shifts in chair* How did you feel about being reaped, knowing that you are not from here?

Kaski, translated: I was confused a lot of the time, and scared. I have no real chance of winning, because of my knee. *gesture with cane* My only chance is to bribe the tributes with baked goods.

Cleo: *chuckles* Maybe you can make me something to see how well it would work. Is there any parting message you would like to say?

Kaski, translated: don't come between me and a jar of flour, if you want a long life. *smiles menacingly*

Cleo: w-well, darling, best of luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Cleo is the interviewer for this year’s Hunger Games. They don’t really know what to make of the weirdos like Kaski and Miracle.

Kaski’s creator didn’t really care enough about Claire to write her interview, but there is this.

Cleo: Kaski, what would you like for Christmas this year?

Kaski: Sourdough starter.

Cleo: Well, that sound won—

Kaski: 250-500 year old sourdough starter.

Cleo:

Cleo: all ri—

Kaski: From France. *stares*

Cleo: just let me—

Kaski: sourdough.

Cleo: Would you—

Kaski: pastry.

Cleo: SHUT THE F—

Kaski: IN A STAND MIXER FITTED WITH THE PADDLE ATTACHMENT, CREAM THE BUTTER AND BOTH SUGARS ON MEDIUM SPEED UNTIL COMBINED. ADD VANILLA AND EGGS. IN A SEPARATE BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER FLOUR, BAKING SODA, BAKING POWDER, AND SALT. IN THREE INCREMENTS, ADD FLOUR MIXTURE WHILE STIRRING. SCRAPE DOWN SIDES OF BOWL. ADD CHOCOLATE AND MIX UNTIL JUST COMBINED. PUT DOUGH IN FRIDGE TO SET. MEANWHILE, PREPARE BAKING SHEETS AND PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350 DEGREES, BEFORE DIVVYING UP THE DOUGH INTO TWO-OUNCE PORTIONS. ROLL INTO BALLS, THEN PRESS DOWN LIGHTLY WITH PALM. BAKE EACH BATCH WITH NO MORE THAN 6 ROUNDS ON EACH SHEET FOR 12 MINUTES, FLIPPING BAKING SHEET HALFWAY THROUGH TO ENSURE EVEN COLORING. LET COOL FOR 5 MINUTES BEFORE TRANSFERRING TO WIRE RACK. STORE IN SEALED CONTAINER FOR UP TO THREE-

Cleo: 💀 bruh

Cleo: What would you like for this fine Christmas, Claire?

Claire: uhh… *gum smack* makeup, I guess.

Cleo: all right… anything else?

Claire:

Cleo: Are you all right? Claire?

Claire:

Cleo: CLAIRE? CLAIRE?

Claire: *gurgles*

Cleo: Can someone help? Claire, can you hear me?

Claire: *blinks* awh, sorry. You made my brain actually think and it almost killed me. I don't, like, know what else I want. Don’t do that again or I'll, like, die or something.

Cleo:

Cleo: WTF IS WRONG WITH DISTRICT ONE??

As the mom friend who organized the interviews said:

“I feel so bad for Cleo; they have to deal WAYYYYY too much. The tributes this year are either idiots or mentally ill or BOTH ;-;”

“they host interviews for ONE year and ONE YEAR ONLY just because ALL the tributes are INSANE”

[ahb-writes]

Book Review: 'I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire' #5

I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire #5 by Yomu Mishima, Nadare Takamine, Amy Osteraas

adventure

coming of age

military school

nobility

science fiction

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finally, some legitimate castle intrigue.

Liam may act like a bit of an idiot from time to time, but he also shows flashes of considerable political fortitude and military badassery. I'M THE EVIL LORD OF AN INTERGALACTIC EMPIRE v5 fully delivers to readers an evolved Liam who is educated, experienced, and an uncompromising noble with plenty of money and influence behind his unpredictable interests. Forming trading alliances with other intergalactic nations? Fearlessly muscling into conversation with the Algrand Empire's top princes vying for the throne? Picking up waifish young women while out on a leisurely stroll? Challenging one of the empires most established warriors to one-on-one combat? If Liam isn't careful, he might actually live up his imaginary reputation of being a bad guy.

Following his tenure of military service, Liam enters another educational stint. But before he wraps up his schooling endeavors and returns to his domain to start ruling in earnest, the young man gets it in his head to start screwing around with the Empire's politics. And why not? Some opportunities are too good to waste. It turns out the quest for succession is tight. Crown Prince Calvin is on top, closely followed by the tempestuous second prince, Linus, and the all but forgotten third prince, Cleo. Liam, naturally, throws his weight behind the meek and disempowered third prince.

EVIL LORD v5 tracks the fallout.

Whether Liam can successfully install a puppet emperor is a question for another day. For now, readers must be content with the reality that Liam has joyously assembled a new rogues gallery for himself. Nobles despise him. Royalty dreads him. Knights panic at his name. Liam takes pleasure in staring down those who underestimate him, no matter their station ("You can't just summon me and force me to swear my allegiance to you," page 82). The funniest example occurs when he meets Cleo Noah Albareto, the third prince, and flashes a cunning smile to his personal guard. The female guard's blood runs cold.

Curiously, while these troubles are of Liam's own making, the author takes to validating Liam's paranoia with actual intrigue. The Empire's highest ranks are indeed scheming to run the young count into the ground with financial sanctions. Figures in the shadows are indeed hoping the the young man mysteriously vanishes through the work of assorted assassins for hire. EVIL LORD v5 skillfully meshes Liam's affection for expanding his political and economic influence with the rest of the nobility's unmitigated uncertainty and caution.

For example, Liam dispatches his various merchant buddies to neighboring nations: the Intergalactic Rustwarr Union (a democratic alliance) and the United Kingdom Of Oxys (a fragmented nobility system). Hard-bargaining and undercover work reveal some black-market shenanigans and a few easily corrupted officials, some of which may work in the young count's favor.

Altogether, EVIL LORD v5 is the payoff this novel series deserves. The current volume features a lot of fantastic, smaller narrative elements, which, in combination, drive the novel series forward with cleverness and alacrity:

A casual discussion on gender parity and gender expression is later validated by characters experimenting with transitioning. Commentary on individual character disposition gains greater clout when Liam learns he has yet another devoted knight with a "bad personality," in Chengsi Sera Tohrei, who adores violence as much as Tia and Marie. A brutal, extended fight scene turns even more chaotic when a so-called swordmaster shows up and starts tearing through Liam's personnel, only for the hero evil lord to step in at the last moment. And finally, Liam's perpetual calm, while under threat from the Empire, earns admiration among other planetary rulers in the outskirts ("I was a true villain, so it was natural that other villains would gather around me," page 157).

❯ ❯ Light-Novel Reviews

[lboogie1906]

Yvonne Staples (October 23, 1937 - April 10, 2018) was born in Chicago to Legendary composer, lyricist, and guitarist Roebuck (Pop) Staples, and his wife, Oceola Staples, a pianist. She began singing in church choirs in the ‘40s along with her siblings Mavis and Pervis, but was not initially a performer in The Staple Singers, led by their father, Pops. She was the sister of Cleo, Mavis, and Pervis Staples.

After her brother was drafted into the army, She became a background singer and business manager for the group.

The ensemble cut the single “Sit Down Servant.” The ensemble is now called, The Staple Singers. Their composition, “Respect Yourself” from the album, Be Attitude: Respect Yourself, peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. It remained on the chart for 14 weeks and became a civil-rights anthem. That same year “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)” peaked at #27 and was on the charts for 12 weeks. “I’ll Take You There” reached #12. “This World” peaked at #38 and remained on the chart for seven weeks and went Billboard Mainstream Top 40. “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)” peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles and remained on the chart for 12 weeks, while “Let’s Do It Again” peaked at #1 and stayed on the chart for 15 weeks.

The Rhythm & Blues Foundation honored the Staple Singers with a Pioneer Award. At the 37th Annual GRAMMY Awards, the Staple Singers’ solo album Father Father, featuring Roebuck (Pop) Staples, the patriarch of the family, won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album – or Contemporary Blues Recording. They received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and their single, “Respect Yourself,” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The Staple Singers earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy of America. “Respect Yourself” was ranked #468 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

They were placed in the Blues Hall of Fame and the Staple Singers were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[finclgicls]

this… familiarity was an unfamiliar kind of discomfort. it made cleo feel like her skin didn’t quite fit right. not in the way that made her want to push ayda off the cliff or tell her to take the next ferry back to the mainland—no, it was worse than that. it was the kind that made her hesitate. made her toe the line between wanting to run and wanting to stay, like she couldn’t tell if this comfort was a trap or something she had been craving without realizing. she used to think she liked being alone. craved it even. she had built her life around it. but loneliness had a way of hollowing you out so slowly that you didn’t notice the pieces missing until someone looked at you with something other than suspicion or pity. the bleeding, the stares, the divine freakshow rumors—she could deal with all that. but this quiet hum in her chest, this longing she didn’t want to name, this desperate ache to feel like a person again… it was so much worse.

she had been walking that island since her legs were strong enough to carry her. she had scraped her knees on that sand, almost fallen off this very cliff more times than she could count, had memorized every goddamn crack in the road like they were part of her. and still, it didn’t feel like home anymore. people had always looked at her with something—curiosity, disappointment, the kind of condescension reserved for small-town tragedies—but fear was new. unsettling. they didn’t wave when she passed anymore. they crossed the street like she might infect them. talked behind cupped hands and locked doors. some whispered about god, others about devils, but none of them looked her in the eye anymore. it wasn’t about her being special, it was about her being wrong. and then there was ayda. sitting beside her like the cliff didn’t matter, like cleo wasn’t dangerous, like she wasn’t other. she spoke to her like she wasn’t a burden or a story or a time bomb waiting to explode. and that messed cleo up in ways she didn’t have the language for. it made her hungry—for company, for softness, for someone who didn’t flinch.

and still, she didn’t pull away. couldn’t, really. because how the hell do you turn your back on the only warmth you’ve felt in years?

“don’t worry about it,” she said, voice casual but cracked just slightly. “you’re just making it painfully clear your life’s way more interesting than mine.” she let the sarcasm hang there, a protective layer over the real bitterness tucked underneath. it wasn’t aimed at ayda—not even close—but it still stung. “i mean, who the hell launders money through kebab shops? that’s got to be one of the weirdest stories i’ve heard all year. maybe ever.” she shrugged, which for her was just another way of saying thank you—for filling the air with something other than the ghosts that usually haunted her. her job used to give her that. purpose. movement. now? now she wasn’t sure she’d ever be allowed near it again. the second her face hit a national paper, the vultures would circle. she’d be a headline, not a byline. and that anonymity she’d held onto so tightly? gone.

but ayda had this way of untangling her, of making the tension in her shoulders unravel one thread at a time. cleo actually laughed—okay, dryly—but it still counted, when ayda mentioned knowing people crazier than her. “you’ll have to come by and tell me some. anytime.” her words came out before she could catch them, and it wasn’t until they hung in the air that she realized how badly they gave her away. fuck. had she really just invited her over? to her home? where she hadn’t moved a single picture frame since her parents died? where grief clung to the walls like mold? “or maybe... coffee. in public. normal.” she winced at her own voice, the awkward little pivot painfully obvious even to herself. “less opportunity for you to see the trainwreck in its natural habitat.”

and still, despite herself, she meant it. every awkward, vulnerable syllable. because ayda made her feel—god, she hated the word—normal. she made her feel real. not like a cautionary tale or a myth or a monster, but like someone who could maybe, just maybe, be worth talking to. it was dangerous. selfish. fleeting. and cleo didn’t give a damn. she could’ve stayed there all night, just listening to her, pretending this was what life felt like before it all burned down.

“yeah, the pain is something,” she murmured, shifting a little as her arms wrapped around her legs. “pretty sure i blacked out with the wrists. no big divine moment. just me trying not to faint like a dramatic little victorian girl.” she glanced at ayda, a flash of vulnerability darting across her features before she looked away again. “i did some research too. not enough to understand anything, just enough to completely scare the shit out of myself. it’s a skill.”

the silence that followed made her skin itch. she hated it. hated the way it left her exposed, so she did what she always did: she covered it with honesty, wrapped in humor sharp enough to cut.

“i’m not gonna tell you to fuck off, by the way,” she said, voice softer now but still laced with a smirk. “you’re the first person in... ever who talks to me like i’m not a ticking time bomb. like i’m not about to start levitating or jump off this cliff just to make a statement. so go on. take advantage of it. you caught me on a good night.” she paused, then added with a sideways glance, “doesn’t happen often. you might want to buy a lotto ticket or something.”

she had enough experience to be able to tell that she was staring too much. sure, making eye contact and gently coaxing out words from people was most of her job - that and editing it all down to three paragraphs lately - but there was a noticeable difference. maybe not because she was watching cleo with rapt, sincere attention - but it was as if she couldn't look away. like, physically, some rope was tethered between her gaze and the blonde's every move, every expression. she forced herself to blink slightly longer, to allow her eyes to glance back at the paper where she was taking messy notes.

there was warmth too, something more than just the fact that the wind and the chill in the air had made their bodies slightly creep closer, as if to preserve heat. it was in cleo's tone, in her jokes, as if her voice was gently tracing a path allowing ayda to follow her through. she chuckled at the words war crimes being used to describe some local lady's food, making an exaggerated point to note in the margin of her pad : no eating patty's food. "i'll be fine, i think. i've gone places with worse options, believe it or not. i once ended up reporting on a kebab shop that was accused of money laundering and the owner insisted on having me eat a new specialty each time i came in for questions. let's just say i took a break from kebabs for a while." she groaned at the memory, before biting her cheek, feeling it warm up at the fact that she had allowed herself to be this relaxed, as if cleo and her were old friends, not on each side of a particular story. "sorry. maybe that was too much. i'll steer clear of patty's food though, thank you for the tip."

once more, her eyes drifted to where the blonde was pulling at her sleeves, a clear show of not wanting ayda's eyes on her wrists. she followed the quiet instruction, instead allowing herself to dive back into the clear eyes - intriguing and yet stormy like the sea around them - as she listened once more, taking notes now and then.

she kept her feelings at bay, best as she could, trying to avoid the voice in her head that just felt pain for cleo, for everything she was going through. ayda decided to focus on the way she spoke, her cadence and the way it reflected what she was saying. she nodded along, another playful smile tugging at the corner of her lip. "you know what? if you keep calling yourself mental, i might just have to tell you about the weirdest stories i've ever had to report on, alright? promise that in comparison, you'll feel perfectly sane." she hoped it wasn't too much, as she noticed her hand reaching out to cleo's arm, instead wrapping her fingers around herself, an attempt at keeping the wind from seeping into her bones. last thing she needed was to catch a cold out here, on a cliff - during her first day.

maybe she voluntarily dipped down her head as cleo continued to talk, pretending to focus on what she was writing down, when she just didn't want the blonde to see her reactions to her words. brows furrowed, chewing on her bottom lip to stop herself from speaking out - there was a quiet rage brewing in her, something she hadn't felt in a long time - at the way cleo described everyone else's reaction to her. the way she talked, it seemed like everyone on the island saw a monster while ayda felt like she was listening to some young woman who just felt hurt, and hopeless.

more teasing about her skills as a journalist shook off the anger simmering inside of her stomach and she allowed herself to open up again, putting the pad aside as she stretched, eyes on the waves. her voice was light as she replied. "i'm afraid catholicism - and christianity in general - is not my forte either." she admitted. "though from what i've looked up, stigmata is seen as a divine mark." ayda added, head tilting towards cleo at the word divine. "no mention of mental anywhere in there. mostly - a mystery. happens to women more often. which is why it was seen as a symptom of hysteria by doctors in the past." she scoffed, rolling her eyes as she shook her head. "i don't know about the religious element much more. though the word that comes back the most is pain." the brunette added with some finality, her eyes drifting away from cleo's despite their magnetic pull, trying to not overwhelm her with what she had looked into. "i've got more questions if you're still up for it. but if it feels like too much, please tell me. even if it's to fuck off, that'd be understandable." she grinned, hoping that her more informal way of speaking would make cleo smile - even if she wasn't sure why she wanted that in the first place.

[hmspogue]

Outer Banks Season 3 Shot by Shot Trailer Rundown

I do not own any clips or screenshots, all rights to Netflix and the creators.

To say I'm still reeling would be the understatement of the century, let's get into it.

John B: "From the very beginning, it was always Kooks..."

Even though they're set on us prying this orange filter from their cold dead fingers, these first two shots are actually stunning?

"...and Pogues"

Holy hell, we know we have all the ohter Pogues reuniting with their parents after they get back home, so JJ being all alone at this house is actually so heartbreaking.

Jiara nation rise, it looks like Bracelet Touch™ takes place at the empty Maybank house I'm not well.

"Some people with everything..."

Why are season 3's always everyones haircut season in shows like what is the source of this phenomenon?

But Rafe and Barry with the key

This hiding job is on par with JJ throwing pew pillows over it in the church.

Although, kind of think this is them getting ready to try and melt the cross down (which makes me so beyond furious), because off to the side you see the lighter fluid and the muffin tins, then later there's shots of gold.

"...and some with nothing."

The DIVIDE. I actually love the dynamic of Kooks vs Pogues heating up and the two cultures that try and exist on a very small island together. Especially since this season seems to be Kiara centric, her whole identity being called into question about where she falls I NEED IT.

I cannot even begin to express how sad I am that we're probably going to get approximately 3 seconds of them hanging out on Poguelandia because look at them!!! Let them be happy!!!

"That's the way it's always been."

SDHCULAISUEHLWAG JIARA FISHING ISNT JUST A MONTAGE I REPEAT JIARA FISHING WILL NOT JUST BE A MONTAGE.

I LOVE HER SO MUCH YES BABE GO FISHING!!!

Pope and Cleo making a signal fire together. Looks like that scene from the teaser of them walking in the field was probably them trying to scout out a good spot for it.

Jarah B looking fine as hell John B I know that bandana is your father's but i cannot even begin to imagine how disgusting it is at this point I'm sorry-

IM BEING SO NORMAL ABOUT THIS!!!!

I feel like both this shot and the previous one are them being saved by the plane that lands.

(@whitetrashjj the mullet truther, your time has come).

"Until now."

This may be my favorite John B set up narration so far.

Also, like I said, them getting rescued by the plane. Kiara looks almost hesitant? Could be the same shot as above where her and JJ aren't too sure about this plane or the people on it.

MMMMMMMM VERY concerning JJ bike crash. Pope and Cleo (or maybe Kie?) in the back of the truck with a crate.

Okay this is SO intereting to me because Ward with blood all over himself (whatelse is new?), Rafe, and Sarah helping him? I can't tell what's in his hand. But the family dynamics this season are goign to be somehow even messier, I can feel it.

Kiara getting kidnapped and taken to wilderness camp, I'm so not ready for this like. It's for sure the Carrera house in the back, the two shirts say Kitty Hawk Adventure.

For a long time, we all thought this was going to be something they ended the season on, but now it seems like it'll be a plot point in the middle. Thanks to @sun-undone and her unhinged costuming documents, we know that this yellow halter top is after the Carrera anniversary party we got BTS from (with the Jiara gate fight and John B rocking Topper's shit and Mike's "see, this is what I'm talking about, JJ"). We know Kie is seen later witht he Pogues, so Blue Ridge may be a quick, one episode plot mid season.

If they've been holding Blue Ridge over her head the whole season, then John B beating the shit out of Topper at the party is sort of the last straw, I cannot een begin to imagine the fight that he and JJ will have about it????

JJ and Kiara INSIDE the Chateau and a fire being lit OUTSIDE? If someone's trying to burn the house down witht hem trapped inside there will be heLL TO PAY.

IF THE CHATEAU GETS BURNED DOWN IM COMING FOR THE PATES I STG DON'T DO THIS TO ME WHY DO I FEEL LIKE IT WOULD BE MY CHILDHOOD HOME BURNING KJDFLAIUDHFAL??????

I know that Cline talked about having to mentally take Sarah to some very dark places this season and this shot just confirms my theory that I seriously think Sarah's going to kill someone and deal with the emotional consequences of that.

I want this to be feral JJ so badly after Kiara's taken, but, sadly, he's not in the right outfit. Not the first time we've seen machete!JJ though.

We saw this shot in the teaser, but looks like they're climbing up an abandoned elevator shaft. They're in their clothes they have on get reunited with Kie. I think it's from the same abandoned hotel the Pogues (minus Kiara, probably because they're going to save her) are in front of in a different shot.

Andd here it is: the new plot of the season and confirmation they're going after fucking EL DORADO NEXT LIKE.

Important to note this is shot on a plane as well.

Oh the Twinkie, how I missed you.

oh look they remembered a mom besides Anna this season WHY MY EYES WET LIKE THESE REUNIONS ALSO WHILE JJ IS COMPLETELY ALONE. HEYWARD, ADOPT HIM YOU COWARD!

Kiara's relationship with her parents is so askjhfailsuh COMPLICATED because I think they really do love her. And she wants more than anything for them to understand her and they just keep missing each other.

"My father and me..."

This shot is very aesthetically pleasing to me. That's all I have to say about it.

YEAH OKAY AND THEN I STARTED FUCKING WEEPING BECAUSE THIS?????? I CANT BELIEVE THEY PUT BABY JOHN B IN THE TRAILER?????

If they only do baby Sarah and Baby John B I will do something so drastic-

"...the treasure was our way out."

The way he's looking at his father? Like the pride in his eyes? I know this relationship is going to sting so badly with the way the Pates have talked about John B having to reconcile the idealized version of his father in his head with the one that left him for gold.

This is a kid that hasn't been hurt by the world or his father yet and I wanna hug him.

(post will be continues apparently i can only up load 30 images at once)

[paigenoelchas-blog]

Over Your Shoulder

01: The Gathering

** see notes at the end of the story.**

TW: Gluttony and a little language.

Having lived in the United States for a large part of my life, I found myself missing Thanksgiving. The traditions that this American holiday contains have helped bring people together as a nation, as a family, a now, as friends. It has, in the past, been the time of year when all of the family got together and celebrated the love and blessings that have been given to them. It was a time when the family would eat, talk and play enjoying the chance to simply be in each other's company.

Over the years, Thanksgiving has changed as the family has. We don't all have traditional lives, sometimes people now celebrate friends that are like family. Since most of us in the group had difficult family situations, I thought it would be fun if we gathered all of the gang and I could host and share a tradition that I loved at the same time.

Jake indulges me and lets me throw Friendsgiving at his cabin. It is the perfect place to hold such a party. It isn't that big, but it is cozy and it is a bit of a drive, so it feels a little more special. We can have a fire in the fireplace and the back porch allows for hours of perfect stargazing. In fact, Jake installed a new fire pit just for the occasion. I can not wait to be around the people that I love the most, eat good food, drink good wine and talk all night.

I call it Jake's cabin, but the truth is I have been living here, with him, in bliss, for the last year. This is the secret reason that I want Friendsgiving here. It has been one year since he carried me over the thresh hold. Yes, he actually did it, as cheesy as it was, He carried me through the doorway, then immediately threw me on the couch and proceeded to christen the living room, and the dining table, and the bedroom, and the shower. I still blush thinking about it, but I wouldn't trade that moment for anything.

Months of prepping has gone into this holiday. I have spent hours on Pinterest and watching decoration videos and assigning everyone a part of the dinner to cook. I trust Cleo to cook all of the desserts, hoping that she leaves the pumpkin pie off of the list. The house smells of freshly baked rolls and turkey, ham, of cinnamon and cloves. The candles are lit, the fireplace is roaring, the place cards are readied, and the silverware is set. It is beautiful, everything is exactly as I have imagined it. Nostalgic feelings light up my face and warmth fills my heart.

I am caught up in my own world thinking back to when I was younger and looking forward to tonight, when I feel his arms wrap around me. He places soft kisses on my neck and whispers a voice that sounds deep and smooth like maple syrup, "This place looks incredible, you look incredible." He spins me around to look in his eyes and my dress spins long after my body stops revealing the deep slit that runs up most of my leg stopping at my upper thigh. It is a long-sleeved, loose-fitting gown and is lower cut in the front than it should be, but I know it will drive him crazy all night. Part of me loves that thought. This is the part of me that bought this dress in the first place.

I am looking at him, the candlelight is dancing in his eyes. All that I can see is love and hope and the place where my soul lives. He brushes a hair off of the side of my face with his hand and leans in for a sweet kiss on the cheek and then whispers in my ear, "You have no idea how lucky you are that everyone is coming so soon because I have some ideas for you and me and that dress... and without the dress. Are you trying to drive me crazy?" He asks.

I smirk.

"You are!" He says in sudden realization. "Naughty girl. You will pay for that later." I smile, knowing that his punishment will be my pleasure.

His eyes turn a dark sapphire and his hands roam down my body and land on my ass. He pulls me into him so that there is no space in between our bodies and he begins searching for the slit in my skirt that allows him access. Finding it, he leans in and caresses the bare skin of my thigh. His mouth is millimeters away from mine when the doorbell rings.

His head hangs down on my chest in a tiny bit of frustration and smiles as one who is bitterly disappointed. Mumbling under his breath, I hear, "Damn it! it is lucky these are my favorite people." He pulls away and we straighten our clothes. I chuckle a little at his frustration and then realize that I carry my own. He slings his arm around my waist as we walk to the door to greet our guests.

We know who will be -- Cleo. She is always painfully on time. We need her to keep us all in line. I also know that her arms will be filled with desserts. She is excessive and overly thoughtful. She will try to make a special dessert for everyone. Cleo and Sam show up with their arms overloaded. Sam is Cleo's boyfriend of about two years. Her mother had set them up at one of their church socials. We expected him to be tight-lipped and stodgy, but he wasn't. He is funny and charming and keeps Cleo from organizing every aspect of her life away and also keeps her safe from some of her more impulsive choices. He has become one of us and almost fills that nice guy slot that Richy has vacated.

Almost...

We still miss him. There'll always be a void there. No matter what he did, whether we can forgive him or not, his presence is missed, especially this time of year.

Cleo storms in with boxes of cookies and containers of cupcakes. Sam carries the pies: pumpkin, cherry, and pecan. There are more sweets here than we can consume in five Friendsgivings. She leans in and kisses my cheek. "Happy Friendsgiving, you two. Jake, could you help Sam unload the car?"

"There's more?" Jake asks incredulously, giving Sam a sympathetic look.

"You have no idea," Sam says. "There is a reason that I have gained twenty pounds since we have started dating." Then he pauses at the sight of Cleo, the look of love on his face does not go unnoticed by either Jake or myself. "I am not complaining. It's been the best two years of my life. We better get those unloaded," he says motioning toward the door. "She has been cooking for three full days. I have taste tested a lot of dessert. I have a question for you Jake, you are a smart guy, what the hell is mincemeat and why do they put that in a pie?" He says as they walk out to the car. Jake shakes his head and laughs a little under his breath. "I don't know, man, but we can look it up after we help your lady out."

As the men are unloading, I see another car pull in the drive. It is Lily and Dan. They have been seeing each other for a while now, though no one really knows how long. They kept it a secret for a while. They knew it wouldn't make sense to all of us. At first it didn't, but when we calmed down and thought about it, Dan and Lily are both fiercely protective of those that they love and they can be reckless in their efforts to keep everyone safe and happy.. They make each other laugh and feel cared for. What else could we want for them?

Dan rolls out of the car and slides around, opening the door for Lily. He is carrying a box with what I guess must be alcohol and a casserole dish. Lily stands up and I notice how peaceful and elegant she looks as she watches him in front of her. He gives her confidence so that she can shine. They are happy and I can't help but smile. Dan is wearing a suit and has shaved. I have never seen him this fancy. "What's up, handsome?" I say as I usher him through the door. He winks at me. "The party has arrived, little one."

Mock offense crosses my face. I punch him in the arm. "Who are you calling little?" I say and he laughs deep from his chest.

Then Lily grabs me around the neck and hugs me tight, looking inside, "Oh, sister, this is amazing." I never thought she would hug me. I never thought she would call me sister. I never thought I would love her so much. No one could ask for a more passionate advocate and loyal friend.

"Come on in. It's cold outside." I usher her in and I notice Dan has usurped the kitchen and is all ready mixing drinks. Cleo is trying to usher him out, but he is not having any of it. Jake and Sam have escaped to research mincemeat in the office. I have a sneaking suspicion that they 'found' the XBOX while they were in there and have gotten lost for a bit.

The door bell rings again. This time it is Thomas and Hannah. He has his arm around her waist, she has a big smile, the kind that always lights up the room when she enters. I am glad to see that smile back on her face, it has been too long. It has been a rough few years for them. The night at the mine was about three years ago. Hannah was sentenced to a few months in jail, but it was almost a good thing because she received much needed therapy during this time. Thomas stayed by her side throughout it all, dealing with his demons as she dealt with the hers, Now it seems, they are stronger than ever, Thomas has his guitar slung over his back. He gives me a quick hug and rushes to meet Dan at what has apparently become the bar for the evening. She hands me flowers. Hannah is the most thoughtful among us. "Thanks so much for having us," she says, rushing into my arms, almost knocking me over. "Where is that gorgeous brother of mine?"

"The office," I answer, "but not for long. I'm pulling the boys out of there soon." I talk tough, but I know that Jake will miss me before I have to drag him out. We can't go long without seeing each other. We waited too long to be in each other's arms.

"I don't care, Im gonna go get him," she speaks in a mischievous voice, flitting across the room like a kid. I hear him scream as she jumps on his lap then the air is filled with laughter. He is tickling her for revenge. I am so happy that they are in this place where all the years that they were separated have fallen away and they can just love each other.

With everyone listening to music and chatting, drinking and snacking, I take a moment to admire these people that I get to share life with. I am happy, I am loved, I am home.

The table is full of food and lush with fabric and place cards, each person has their own space specifically designed for them. Everything is ready, we are just waiting for our last two guests.

The doorbell rings for the last time tonight, it is Jessy and Phil. Jessy has been through a lot these last few years. The fact that she is still here and functioning is a testament to her strength. You see, she had loved Richy with her whole heart, but she didn't realize it until he was gone. By that time, she also realized that he had been lying to her about so many things. Processing that has been rough on her and watching the world move on without her has left her as a shell of who she was. She always seems lonely in our midst.

"Jessy..." I greet her with a hug. I am estactic that she is here. I feel Jake's hand on my back, and a quick peck on my cheek. "Jessica, welcome," He grabs her hand and pulls her in for a hug as he plants a kiss on her cheek. She always blushes a little every time he does this, but she knows that it is an honor. It means that he really cares for her, so she will never tell him to stop. Jake adores Jessy. He is on mission to lead her back to her old self, the one in which the sadness doesn't linger behind her eyes. I, of course, love the fact that he treats her so well. She deserves all of the love that the world has to offer.

Then, there is Phil. He swaggers in with his usual confidence. Over the past few years, Jake and Phil have set their dispute aside. It was easy once Phil realized that my heart only belongs to Jake. The two have become buddies. In fact, they frequently have "men nights", which irritates me to no end as they aren't allowed to share what happens on these evenings. That is the one rule and my only negative about them hanging out. I used to be one of the guys.

Phil picks me up and spins me around. "Hello, Beautiful. Happy American Holiday to you."

Jake shoves him aside jokingly, "We have spoken of this, Phillip. Hands off." Jake grabs me and hugs me tight, but he smiles, obviously understanding that my heart only beats for him. HIs jealousy is gone. Too bad. That was kind of fun for a while. Jake reaches for Phil's hand and they share some sort of secret handshake.

"I know, I know, you got the girl," Phil chuckles and the two walk inside.

With everyone here, we slowly make our way to the table that is filled with so much food that there is almost no room for our plates. If the cabin didn't have an island in the kitchen, I don't know what we would have done.

"Ok, let's get this show started, I am starving. I haven't eaten all day. This food better live up to the hype." Dan winks and changes his tone. "Seriously, MC, this is beautiful and the food looks amazing. Thank you all for all of this,"

"Thank you," I say with tears in my eyes, reaching for Jake's hand "...for being family to me when I wasn't born with the best one. Thank you for making me laugh and for being with me when I cry, for being by my side to help me fight demons. Thank you for being in my life. Each of you makes me who I am today." I raise my glass and offer a toast. "Happy Friendsgiving."

We clink our glasses, "Let's Eat!" I say and the feasting begins.

A little while later, Dan speaks up again, "I don't know who made up this holiday, but I owe it to them, that dinner was incredible." Thomas nods in agreement. Lily shook her head at Dan, acting ashamed of his enthusiasm, but we all know that she isn't ashamed of anything Dan does. She loves him too much to be anything other than enamored. Jake who is sitting next to me, runs his hand up and down my thigh under the table, the dirty scoundrel. I did kind of ask for it. I begin to squirm and change the subject.

"Ok, now here comes my favorite part."

"Dessert?" Jake jokes. He has discovered that I have quite a sweet tooth.

"No." I say and stick out my tongue at him. "Before we get up from the table we each have to tell one thing we are thankful for."

Thomas stands and says, "If it is ok, I would like to go first. "

I nod. He fiddles around with his pocket, Suddenly, I have a good idea of what is about to happen. I look at Lily and she does too.

"I am so happy to be here with all of you."He begins, "These past few years have proven that time is fleeting. I don't want to waste a second not remembering how lucky I am to have this rag tag family. I don't want to waste a second without Hannah in my life. Hannah," he holds her hand in his, " You have been through so much these past three years, and you have been so strong. Watching you survive the kidnapping, jail, therapy, and coming back to yourself has made me fall deeper into love with you. Deeper than I thought possible."

I look around the room and all of us have tears in our eyes, but my eyes lock on Jessy. While all of us are crying tears of happiness, hers are laced with loss, she is on my other side and I grab her hand, letting her know that I am here for her. Lily is about to jump out of her chair with excitement. Dan wraps his arm around her so she can settle.

Thomas bends down on one knee "...Hannah Marie Donfort, will you...."

In that instant, Jessy's phone rings. She answers it. I can't believe that she would answer her phone in this moment. I almost say something to her, but the look of shock on her face lets me know that this isn't an ordinary phone call.

I see tears begin to stream down her face Her words are barely audible through her sobs. "Its been three years, I went to your funeral. How do I even know this is.....you?" There is a long pause and then, "OK. I will. One hour. I have missed you..." another pause followed by, "I love you too, Richy." She hangs up the phone and begins to gather her stuff.

Thomas stands up and Phil grabs Jessy's arm.

"What s going on, Jess?" Phil asks cautiously. "Did you just say that you love Richy? How is that possible.

"Let go of my arm. I need to go right now. Ric.. Richy... needs help. He is alive and he loves me."Jessy says he eyes alight with hope and panic.

"WHAT?" Dan screams. "What are you talking about? This can't be true. He hasn't been heard from in years. He manipulated all of us and...you are going to help him? Where do you think you are going?" Lily is trying to calm down, but we all know that she probably feels the same and who can blame her?

He needs me," she says sadly as she is trying to calm down, " I have to help." Phil is still holding on to her arm. He is trying to keep her safe from herself.

"Who the hell does he think he is that he can call here and ask for help?" Lily interjects.

"...and who the hell are you, Jessy, to think he is worth the help?' Hannah went to jail because of him." Thomas speaks with anger in his voice, though he speaks in a lower tone.

Jessy is getting angry she clenches her lips and speaks through her gritted teeth, "Hannah went to jail because of Hannah. She did the things she was accused of. I love him. I know I shouldn't after everything he's done. I don't know if I can forgive him, but I just can't help it. He is in trouble and I can't deny that everyday has been torture without him."

Jake stands up and takes her hands in his, "Jessica, even if this isn't a trick, he can't be trusted. You can't possibly think you will be safe, that he is stable? "

"I don't know what to believe, but I can't give up on him. It is worth the risk for me. If no one understands, I am sorry, but I have to do this." Jessy's voice has softened, but her resolve has not weakened.

"Then I am coming with you." I speak up and squeeze Jessy's hand. Jake begins to argue, but sees the look on my face. He knows that there is no talking me out of it.

"Even though I think this is a bad idea, I am not letting you two go out there alone, I am coming with you." Jake responds immediately.

Thomas and Dan are still mad, you can see their faces red and fuming, "You are all crazy to risk your lives for that asshole." Dan says with fire in his eyes. Lily is rubbing his back, trying to help him control his temper.

Hannah sits down with her hands in her lap. They are shaking. She holds onto them so tight, that I fear for her circulation. Thomas chimes in, "Do you see what he is doing to her even now, what he is doing to all of us? How can you show compassion for that monster?"

Jake raises his voice. It is deep and commanding. His eyes shift between Thomas and Dan. "Enough. I understand your point, but I would do the same thing if it was MC and I know that you would do the same for the women you love. This seems to calm them down a bit. "We are doing this," he continues, "so stop badgering her and let me prepare."

Phil comes up to us, "I am coming too. She is my sister and if there is a chance that he is dangerous, I will take him out myself for all of the grief he has caused. "

Jake nods and looks at me. He runs into the office and pulls out five backpacks that are filled with everything we could possibly need to take on the world. You can make the boy stop hacking, but you can't take the hacker out of the boy. He had a backpack prepared for all of the friends, just in case.

Locking eyes with me, he tosses the bag to each one of us. I notice that he has also included a bag for Richy when we catch up to him. He crams some extra snacks in the top of Richy's bag along with a couple of bottles of water. "Ready? Everything you need is in the bag." Jessy, Phil and I nod. "Thomas, Daniel, I need you to be ready for support. Keep these two safe. That is more important than your feelings on the matter."

They both nod, understanding his deeper meaning. I reach out for his hands and he grabs mine, interlacing our fingers as we head to the car. Jessy is frantic, all of the emotions showing on her face and her crimson hair flying in the wind. Phil opens the door for her, his face stoic and his expression one of mixed anger and fear.

"He sent me a GPS signal." Jessy says, "And he says that I won't recognize him because of the damage he sustained." her tears begin to fall again. "what could have possibly happened that he is unrecognizable?

This angers Phil. "The damage that he sustained was by his own hand, Jessy how can you feel bad for him?"

"I just know that without him, my heart was empty and now, I can feel again just knowing that he may be alive." She answers and it makes sense to me. I would follow Jake to the ends of the Earth if I thought he was in trouble. No one could stop me.

I look at the seat next to me as my handsome, strong, genius of a man starts the car and speeds down the freeway. He is worried, but not afraid. I know that he has faced many enemies before and that we are in good hands. I feel safe with him.

This is not how I expected this day to end, but if there was even a chance that could get our old Jessy back, I would do anything. If it is Richy that we need to deal with, we will. if it isn't, we will have to face whatever monster that shows it face. Either way, Jessy will get some answers that she deserves and I will have done something to help my friend find her happiness or at least, find a way to end the continual breaking of her heart.

I watch out the window as the road whirls past and I can't help but think this situation is only going to lead us to more trouble than any of us are ready to deal with, backpacks or not. Jake squeezes my leg as if he is thinking the same thing, but he smiles and raises my hand to his lips placing a reassuring kiss on the inside of my palm. I am thankful to be with him and to be by his side through all of life, the good and the bad.

I know with Jake and a little luck, we will find our answers and maybe, just maybe, Jessy will find her way back to the person that she was. Maybe she will find herself someplace even better.

_______________________________________ ;) ____________________

Notes:

This story was inspired by a prompt designed to challenge all of the discord people to think outside of the box, or maybe simple to give them a challenge that would spur on their writing. I would like to thank @raemae17 for always challenging and inspiring us in incredible ways.

I hope you all like my interpretation of this. I can't wait to read all of yours.

Here is the prompt:

The group has gathered to celebrate Friendsgiving. Everyone is having a great time, until.....

And here is the quote that I was also inspired by:

“Missing someone is like hearing a name sung quietly from somewhere behind you. Even after you know no one is there, you keep looking back.” – Tim Seibles

[heresathreebee]

Kinktober Day 25 BREEDING

Rick Flag X Reader

Tags: 18+ | 1.5k words | creole reader, actual daddy Rick, swearing, unprotected sex, semipublic sex, from behind, clothed sex, dirty talk, spitting, breeding of course

AN: super unedited and losing my grip on reality

You have tamed the untameable. A soldier who was ready to die for his country now comes at your beck and call to carry your groceries up the apartment stairs and put your daughter to bed. 

He helps you maintain the bar you co-own with your formally estranged uncle, and you've finally reached a time in your happy little marriage where you feel stable enough to do it. 

You're finally going to have a second child. 

Rick is more excited than he lets on. He doesn't want to pressure you if you're not ready to commit because two kids is a lot of work. Yet he can't help but smile to himself when you announced you were officially off your birth control and started cooing at every baby on the street again. 

God he missed this. The excitement of extending his family. He planned to give all the love and attention you require to keep you happy during the tumultuous changes in your body. 

Rick is very embarrassed as he tries to hide the half mast tent in his pants. Luckily his jeans are dark and the lighting in your bar is dim. He gets you to sneak out from behind the counter a second for a kiss and to let you know your soon to be oldest kid is having a sleepover with Tyla Dubois. 

"You pay her?," you ask. 

"Half now, half later," he replies. 

"Smart boy." You pat his chest and return to your active duties as Rick's friends– formerly members of Task Force X– assemble at the bar and become the friendliest rowdy crowd you've ever had. 

Crazy to think some of these soft idiots are convicted killers. 

Cleo is probably your favorite given she speaks national French. You tell her all about how Rick told you on your second date he learned Louisiana Creole from his cousins and you spent the rest of the night talking in your second language. Cleo said she'd like to see the parades there are you pinky promised to take her the following year for Dia De Los Muertos. 

When it finally came to Last Call, the regulars filed out pretty quickly. It was a Sunday night so nobody was looking to linger and those who did knew better than to delay your cleaning time. One stern look at a newly turned kid and his dad dragged him away by the collar of his jacket with an apology. 

"That's kinda hot," Dubois winked and sipped his beer. 

You roll your eyes playfully. "Don't you have jury duty tomorrow, Mr. Robert Dupont now, is it?" 

Dubois groaned and Chris, Cleo, Abner, Nanawe, and Rick pestered him all the way out the door. While wiping down a table, Rick returned and slotted himself like a puzzle piece up against your back. He plants a kiss in your hair and you feel the brim of his leather cowboy hat brush against you. 

"Miss me?" 

"I just saw you," you chuckle. 

Rick's hands smooth down your sides and grasp your hips as he continues to plant kisses on the back of your neck. You know exactly where this is going, you can feel how hard he is through the thin material of your dress. 

"Now Colonel, I know you're not thinkin about that at a time like this," you tease. "This is a place of business and our friends are gonna notice you're gone." 

Rick hums and you feel it vibrate in his chest deliciously. "I haven't gotten a chance to love you since we agreed to a 'three bedroom' house, and our girl doesn't go to my parent's ranch until December." 

"Touché." 

Rick wastes no time sliding his hands up the hem of your dress. It feels so nice to have this callouses scratch at your sensitive skin and his breath on your neck again. 

You slide your hands over his and guide him to where you want to be touched most. It's slow and languid and if it weren't for how much you missed him, you would have told him to hurry up before the gang comes back looking for him. 

"Gonna put a baby in me, Colonel?" 

Rick's gentle kisses change to a quick nip against your shoulder. He steps backwards, pulling you along the bar until he stops next to a pool table. He leans a hand on the table, your fingers still intertwined, and sucks a mark into your neck. 

"Always wanted to fuck you on a one of these," he growls. 

"Because I always win?" 

Rick rolls his eyes and can't hold back the smile from his face. That's when you hear the sound of his belt buckle open and a gush of moisture coats the inside of your panties. Instead of waiting, you slide down to your knees and help pull hjs cock out. 

It feels almost thicker in your hands than you remember. "Oh I missed you…" 

"Are you talking to me or...?" You turn Rick's teasing laugh into a strangled moan as you squeeze the base of him. 

He plants a large hand on your head and you feel his pulse in his member as you lick the head. The salty taste of his precum hits your tongue and makes you drool. Rick gives shallow thrusts of his hips, pushing the head of his cock past your lips and you massage his balls encouragingly. 

"Up... up," Rick pulls you to your feet and kisses you deeply, tasting a little of himself on your tongue. "I got somewhere else to come right now." 

You struggle to take your underwear off as Rick locks his grip on one of your arms and peppers it with a hundred kisses. You push your fingers past his lip and he sucks on them for you, releasing them with a pop and his eyes trail down your body to watch you finger yourself. 

You sigh at the slight stretch and shiver knowing what he's going to do to you next. 

Rick guides you by your hips to lay you across the gaming table stomach down. His hands waste no time pulling up your skirt and he fucks you with his fingers until he thinks you're ready enough for him. 

You shouldn't be so turned on by the sound of him spitting in his hand, but then you feel his member poking at your entrance and you try to relax. 

"When I get you all to myself," he purrs as he pushes the tip past your lips, "first thing I'm gone do is strip you down and tie you up." 

The stretch of his cock burns your insides, but you put a hand on his hip to keep him from pulling out. At your behest, he slowly pushes in further and further, stopping every time you clench and letting you tell him what you can and can't take. 

He keeps growling about your anticipated early December. "You got twins in your family, right? I bet if you give me enough chances, I can get that gene working in you…" 

Rick finally bottoms out and you both sigh in relief. "Not gonna let you leave that bed until you're full of me, darlin'. I'll let you sleep on my cock and in the morning I'll fuck more cum into you." 

The moan that escapes you is downright filth. "Move baby, move, please…" 

The burn of the stretch doesn't disappear right away, but with the short strokes Rick fucked you with, it evolved into more pleasure. You leaned down on your elbows, head hanging and lifting when he hit a certain spot. He wasn't changing angles on purpose, just gently moving inside you in an almost loving fashion. 

Rick's pulling out all the stops as he purrs some creole nothings into your ear about how pretty you'll be with a round belly. He tells you how happy he is you said yes, how happy you make him, and how he's going to love your child so much. 

"Come inside me, Rick…" you're right on the edge, you need him to come with you. "I need it, need it now…" 

You lean your head on his shoulder and feel his hands tangle with both of yours. One he uses to press to your lower belly, the other he props himself up with on the table. Just as you feel his hips press firmly against your ass, your channel tightens and twitches violently to milk his cock. 

Rick groans in your ear, burying himself in you to make sure you take all of his seed. When he can breathe again, he whispers about the possibility of a baby already in the making inside you. 

You are both startled by the excited squealing of Cleo. "Mon dieu, you are going to have a baby?!" 

[omg-justshutup]

Thought of the day:

It's pretty obvious from my profile that I am a fan of Monster High. I used to watch it ever since I was a child and now that Nickelodeon wants to do a reboot of it everyone is talking about it. But why so much hate?

I will be honest, I don't like this reboot just like I didn't like the 2016 one. The originals are the originals. But what makes those reboots be so hated? I saw many comments on instagram talking about the redesigns, people hating the most the new versions of Clawdeen, Cleo, Lagoona and Heath and how many things make no sense, like Draculaura wanting to learn witchcraft that is apparently forbidden.

This other person posted on instagram an explanation on how this new reboot is about Monster High but it's not the same world and that's why things are so different. But my personal opinion is, if Nickelodeon wanted to take the idea of Monster High but change it as they please, they might as well rename it and change the names of the characters completely and say they just got inspired. It's obvious people are going to compare it to the original since the story is exactly the same just the characters' designs changed and the backstories.

But why don't we go after each character since I have something to say about each one we've seen so far:

Frankie Stein

The animated design is not so bad, and that is true. My personal problem is how she was in the live action, no offence to the actress, I just think they failed in her looks. The backstory fairly enough is the exact same, and personally the they/them pronouns don't bother me at all, it doesn't sound like something that scandalous and it's pretty nice that the LGBTQ+ comunity is starting to be normalized.

Overall, not the worst reboot, still sad they changed her/them so much in looks even if the base is the same

Clawdeen Wolf

I will say it right away, the actress is beautiful, how she was dressed in the live action is not. I do not like anything about this new Clawdeen. They didn't do a 180 to her, but they were close enough. They managed to change Clawdeen from a strong, sassy girlboss to this geeky half normie werewolf and I can see that many people are sad and offended because of this.

So first of all why make her so geeky and clumsy looking? I heard the opinion of someone from the internet saying that they saw the curly hair and the cute redesign of 2016 and thought "Gives off gamer vibes", as funny as that sounds I'm afraid that's actually the logic behind this design. Also the backstory is just something else

"Half-human & Half-werewolf, Clawdeen is thrilled to join Monster High, despite the challenge of being a half-monster in a school of full monster students,,

Ok so I'm guessing Jackson-Holt is not going to be a character in the reboot just like Casta is either inexistant or in prison.

Draculaura

No.

She's not the worst, the redesign isn't necesserely bad. It's just not Draculaura much. If it wasn't for the black-pink combo, I would've never guessed she was Draculaura. Now a thing that might be influenced by my ethnic background but as I'll talk about it later, I might as well say it now: for some characters, the actors were chosen based on the nationality of the character, I feel like this reboot deleted Draculaura's connection to Transylvania/Romania and it's kind of sad. She is Dracula's daughter after all, isn't she? I heard some people's excuses saying "But she isn't his biological daughter". That does not change the fact that we know Draculaura still comes from Romania. Maybe being Romanian isn't all that important for her character but it was part of her identity and I think it's unfair to change any possible character to a different nationality/ethnicity/race no matter what.

Cleo De Nile

I heard quite the comments for this design. I don't hate it. It just doesn't give Cleo vibes much. I like the idea of darker skin, it really isn't a big deal. The outfit is actually pretty and I do believe it might be more culturally accurate. The colour palette is too Nefera though and that is something I don't personally like. What I read about her backstory, all in all she does sound the same much or less. Not the worst reboot in my personal opinion. But see how the actress is arab from what I'm seeing? They tried their best to make Cleo as egyptian as possible but they didn't do the same for Draculaura or Lagoona as I'll get to that soon.

Lagoona Blue

I hate her.

I'm sorry, I do. Her design, her character, they ruined her. She's suddently an ocean unicorn and despite the outfit that all in all in the animation doesn't seem that bad, they made her too girly, it's like she lost her sporty identity. Now my personal biggest question: why did they make her latina? Why did they change her, why isn't she australian anymore? Yeah, Draculaura lost her romanian identity, Lagoona basically switched from australian to latina and for what exactly? I do believe southamericans deserve rappresentation, everyone does and some more than others, but that does not give the right to take away certain rappresenation and change a character especially since there are Monster High characters that rappresent latinos already. Nationality rappresentation is still a thing and it's sad australians don't have their Lagoona anymore in my opinion and I'm not even nearly australian, it's just like how I feel about Draculaura, changing someone's ethnicity/race for me is unacceptable in any case unless it's your own original character.

It wasn't hard to give the same backstory to Lagoona where she grew up underwater mainly and barely knows how's it like to live on land and let her still be australian. Or is it just me?

Toralei Stripe

This must be the least bad redesign in this reboot. The style is almost the same at the end of the day and the vibes seem the same too. The only thing that ruined her is her background. Why is she suddently rich and elite? It's not the worst idea but I just don't think it suits her. I actually don't have much to say about her after this.

Deuce Gorgon

I will be honest, not that bad either. To me this still looks like Deuce despite the green skin. And no offence to the actor but he did look better in the live action than he does in the picture. The backstory seems fairly Deuce enough I just don't get why they gave more personality and power to his hair than to him. Also something I didn't mention earlier so I shall mention now;

Why, just why- did they ship Deuce with freaking Clawdeen?

Like yeah I get it, different worlds. Well different worlds my as-

Out of all the ships they could've made, they just HAD to ruin one of the main ships from the original version.

Heath Burns

I genuinely believe they have something against Heath. What the hell is wrong with his hair? What is that cursed thing? I don't think I even need to explain why the design is offensive to the original Heath. The fact that he's now greek doesn't change much to me, I honestly don't know what was his original nationality, I have this feeling he was american and in this case changing him wasn't the worst even if I still don't agree with changing nationalities. But the design is just horrible.

Headmistress Bloodgood

This design is actually cute. Kinda lost the scary but I don't have much to say to this. I don't know the original nationality of Bloodgood either so I actually don't know if to hate or actually like the diversity even if Monster High has always been diverse from every point aside for body size.

We've been shown more characters but these 9 are the ones we've seen the most so far. But anywho, how do you like those reboots? So far all cartoons that had one just went downhill. Do you think it would've been for the best if the essence of the characters was stayed put or do you actually consider the og MH and the 2022 reboot two different stories? I think it's for the best if I do so too. Also I highly doubt I'll be able to see the film or the cartoon regardless but if I do I WILL be judging the smallest shit ever.

[carmensbroom]

I've once again had 6 hours to process everything I saw in season 4 so I'm just gonna say my thoughts on it (hold onto your fedoras again folks)

first off, WE FOUND OUT GRAY'S LAST NAME?? I was so shocked and happy at the same time I love how everyone asked for player's real name and we ended up with gray's surname for some reason shsjsj. NOBODY ASKED FOR THAT BUT THEY DELIVERED ANYWAY

ALSO GRAHAM IS AN ORPHAN?? my precious boy *throws mommy's boy headcanon out the window*

the second episode really had me shipping carmivy they're so cute we got a girl's trip and I'm all for it

I think I may now be a dash haber stan but let's not make a big thing of it

also ivy eating the chocolate in the middle of a mission deserves an honorable mention because of her cute little tongue (I'm weird okay djsjsjs)

zack trying to bond with shadowsan and him having none of it was delightful

that fucking robot god damn bellum really thought of everything didn't she every time I thought it was gone it made a come back I literally said out loud "carmen is so fucked"

I SWEAR TO GOD EVERY TIME GRAY TALKED ABOUT CARMEN I KEPT THINKING HE WAS GONNA SAY "BECAUSE I LOVE HER" IN WHICH CASE I WOULD HAVE DIED AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY

yall have no idea how relieved I was when I found out that photo of julia was her and her (presumably) mother and NOT a boyfriend sjsjsjs

catch me making a headcanon that julia has a single mom because her father disowned her for coming out as gay based on that picture alone 😭

I'M SORRY BUT THE AMOUNT OF FLIRTING BETWEEN CARMEN AND JULES?? PLEASE THEY'RE SECRET GIRLFRIENDS JUST ADMIT YOU CENSORED THEM AND GO

OKAY BUT WHEN THEY WERE IN JULIA'S OFFICE AND CARMEN SAID "WAY TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART JULES" AND SHE WAS LIKE "YOU REMEMBERED" I LOST IT WHAT DID CARMEN REMEMBER JULES?? DID THEY HAVE A CONVERSATION OFF SCREEN? MAYBE I'M JUST A BIG HUGE LESBIAN BUT THAT'S A BIT GAY LADIES

carmen getting all worried when julia wasn't answering her phone was the blessed gay content I signed up for PLEASE THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SO MUCH

never thought I'd say this but I loved devineaux this season he was funny, he improved his treatment towards julia (I don't recall him officially apologising I must have missed something djsjsjs)

the only thing I didn't like was it kinda seemed like they were trying to hint that chase and jules were into each other and I didn't really vibe with that

all that shit with dr bellum and the crown for cleo really had me thinking cleobellum was gonna be canon what a clown I am (seriously tho the way she lost it when the crown got stolen GIVE IT BACK IT BELONGS TO HER WIFE)

look all I'm saying is: tigress new outfit in the egypt episode was hot

HER FACE AT THE END AFTER SHE GOT TRAPPED WITH ALL THOSE BUGS

I wish julia and gray could have met there's so much friendship potential there 😭

is player... is he a bit 💅 I SEE THAT PRIDE STICKER ON YOUR LAPTOP YOUNG MAN YOU'RE NOT SUBTLE

ngl I nearly teared up when player finally met carmen in person

I'M SORRY BUT JULIA'S BLUSH IN EPISODE 7 PLEASE SHE'S SO SMITTEN WITH CARMEN IT'S BRILLIANT

EVIL CARMEN WAS REALLY SOMETHING ELSE I WAS SO SCARED SHE'D BE STUCK LIKE THAT FOREVER

I mentioned this in another post but when julia was like "don't you remember me? I'm your girlfriend friend, jules" I NEARLY FUCKING CRIED THEY WERE GETTING KINDA CLOSE AND THEN CARMEN GOT MIND WIPED

JULIA TOPS JULIA TOPS I SAID IT ALL ALONG AND IT'S TRUE SHE REALLY PINNED VILE CARMEN THAT'S TOP BEHAVIOR (also this now makes carmen a bottom I don't make the rules)

kinda shocked that paper star was hardly here I don't stan her so it didn't bother me much but still it was just strange they didn't use her this season

when shadowsan whipped out the last doll and carmen had all those flashbacks to when she was at vile I nearly started crying AGAIN

I LEGIT THOUGHT CARMEN HAD KILLED GRAY DJSJSJS AN ELECTRICIAN GETTING ELECTROCUTED THAT'S SOME IRONY RIGHT THERE

gray really confused me towards the end he kept switching sides every five minutes for the whole season I wasn't sure whether to trust him half the time dhshsjs

THE LOOK ON CARMEN'S FACE WHEN SHE THOUGHT SHE'D KILLED GRAY WAS SO HEARTBREAKING AND THEN SHE STARTED CRYING OH MY GOD I'M SORRY BABY

the way she's always been against hurting people/taking lives and then she ended up hurting all the people she loves (she nearly killed zack for god sake) really hit me hard

gray's ending was... kinda weird I understood the parallel of him not wanting to complicate carmen's life like she said about him in season 2 but it was still kinda strange that they didn't have one more conversation or get any closure

I'm obviously kinda upset that carulia wasn't canon they had so much potential imo and the show isn't about romance anyway BUT I'm happy with the content we got and THEY FLIRTED SO MUCH THEY'RE CANON IN MY HEART

THE TEAM RED GROUP HUG KILLED ME IT WAS SO CUTE

kinda annoyed that carmen just straight up left zack and ivy she really just left a note and said YEET

ivy's voice crack when she read the note got me all choked up

ngl I'm still not entirely sure how it ended I had to rewatch it a few times to understand what they were trying to imply sjsjsj

would have loved to know carmen's given name but at the same time she's literally THE carmen sandiego that's who she is, it would be silly to go by a name that she doesn't connect with just because her parents gave her it

her mom being a regular citizen was kinda bittersweet I mean a plot twist would have been good but at the same time it would make the story even more complicated

*dreams of a spinoff movie where we get better closure on everything*

ACME IVY ACME IVY I'M NOT AN IVY STAN BUT DAMN IF I AIN'T SIMPING FOR ACME IVY

I know carmen didn't want revenge but I feel like chief got let off with killing her father way too quickly if I'm honest sjsjsj

JULIA BEING IN CHARGE OF FINDING CARMEN'S MOM OH MY GOSH

I feel so bad for laughing when julia got knocked out the way the cloth fell on her head sent me but when the pole hit her head I was like "OKAY I TAKE IT BACK THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE"

was not expecting julia to physically fight anyone I mean she's always been so calm and collected and then this season she was like fuck it might as well hit a few people before we finish forever

wishing carmen and jules could have hugged or had a scene together where they talked about stockholm but I won't complain it wouldn't have really made sense anyway considering they were cool with each other at the university

so glad the trailer was misleading about the coach brunt situation I really didn't want her to get a last minute redemption

another honorable mention: cleo snapping at julia "DON'T YOU DARE IMPLY THAT I AM COMMON" sent me djdjs she was just stood there like "I am but a humble history lesbian leave me be"

I think that's everything I'll probably add to it later if I think of anything or I might make a part 2 djsjsjs (I've been writing this for almost an hour now 😭)

overall I enjoyed it from start to finish. I haven't really cried about it ending yet I'm still processing everything but I'll probably have a little sob when it finally hits me djsjsjs

CARULIA NATION WE BASICALLY WON NOW EXCUSE ME WHILE I REWATCH ALL THEIR SCENES TOGETHER AND MAKE IT MY ENTIRE PERSONALITY

[bellshazes]

do it again, a My Last Life AU inspired by @opera25. chapter 3: in which Etho experiences the consequences of his actions, Bdubs holds his hand several times, Cleo is a good friend, and the death coffee saga kicks off.

also, here is the playlist I listen to when writing, which includes the titular nada surf song "do it again" and furthermore a lot more the national than is really excusable on a real mix. chapter also under the cut if you prefer to read here over ao3!

Bdubs comes over on Friday evening. Cleo orders pizza in advance and it arrives minutes after he shows up at her front door, cementing the cozy, homey feeling Bdubs always carries with him. When they first met it had almost bowled her over, how familiar and easy it was to start egging him on whenever he got worked up. He and Etho had shown up at her favorite diner for takeout midnight breakfast while she had been hanging out at the bar, chatting with Scott, and without even thinking about it she’d joined their argument, switching sides periodically to keep it going. Years enough have passed that she can’t remember now what it had even been about, but she remembers Bdubs’ instant adoption of her as an ally and the wounded look he gave her when she conceded Etho had some good points, too. Etho had smiled brightly with his eyes and given her the faintest nod of approval, opening up the takeout boxes and settling down on the seat next to her.

She hasn’t seen Bdubs for a few weeks, although he’d sent pictures of his wicked black eye when he’d fallen. It’s mostly faded now, the last of the bruising fading smoothly into the heavy bags around his eyes.

They spend a good while catching up, with Cleo explaining the more unusual taxidermy jobs she’s taken on recently and Bdubs dramatically explaining – nearly to the point of re-enactment – his recent injury, and subsequent wanderings.

“So imagine there’s this game,” Bdubs is saying as Cleo watches him, chin in her hand. “Last one standing wins. But it’s a little, you don’t have just one shot, it’s random for each person how many chances they get. Once you’re on your last one, though, the game changes and you gotta try and take down all the people who aren’t on their last.”

“Oh, I like that.”

“Yeah, and so – until then, you can make friends, it’s all peaceful, you can’t attack anyone else. But it never lasts. There’s this curse, and every week at least one person gets it, and if they don’t kill one of the peaceful people they lose all their chances.”

“When you say chances, do you mean – you’re talking about lives, right? This is a murder game. Which, for the record, I am on board with.”

Bdubs smiles knowingly at her. He heard all the goings-on of her tabletop campaigns and knows exactly what happened to her old D&D group. He’d been an exceptionally good sport about it, showing up for many late-night dinners to let her vent, as if it were a recap of his favorite TV show. “Of course. Lots of drama if you get cursed, trying to decide whether you should betray your ally or confess you’ve been cursed and possibly ruin your chance to surprise anyone… Does it ring a bell?”

Cleo thinks about it. “Battle royale games are popular, but no, it doesn’t.”

“I played it a long time ago, I think, and now I’m desperate to find someone else who remembers it. Frankly, it’s driving me crazy.” He looks it: his eyes are a little too bright, too wide, even accounting for the faded shadow of his nearly healed black eye. “I mean, I’ve been dreaming about it. There must be somebody else who remembers this thing, and if I find them, maybe I can get it out of my head.”

“I don’t know of any games with a boogeyman, sorry.”

“A what.” The way Bdubs says it is more like a threat than a question, but he clears his throat and goes on, suddenly smiling. “You do know it! That’s what the curse was, the boogeyman curse. You already knew. I had a feeling you played too. Oh, Cleo, you have no idea what a relief that is.”

“Hang on, hang on, that doesn’t mean I have any clue what this thing is. What else would you call someone cursed to secretly murder their friends? That’s a boogeyman if I ever heard of one.”

“Naw,” says Bdubs, waving a hand dismissively in her direction. “C’mon, humor me –“

“Have I not been this entire time?”

“Cleo. Okay, alright, what about this. What colors were you thinking of?”

She pauses, wary. “What do you mean, what colors?”

Bdubs doesn’t say a word, just staring with bright shiny eyes at her and tapping two fingers on his leg. Bum pa-dum, bum padum, a steady heartbeat.

“You’re really making me do this.” Cleo sighs. “Green, yellow, red – for the lives you had. It’s like calling it the boogeyman, it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“I didn’t say anything about the colors having to be for the life system, that’s on you! But yes, the boogey gets knocked down to red if they can’t kill a green or yellow in time.”

“I’m starting to feel like you’re the boogeyman in this conversation, actually.”

That gets a laugh, strained though it is. “I’m such a perfect boogeyman no one ever saw it coming. And I had it twice.”

“I can’t see how when you have such an… intimidating reputation.”

Bdubs snorts. He hasn’t stopped drumming on his leg. “Very funny, coming from you. Your reputation always preceded you.”

“I’m deliberately choosing to take that as a compliment, for the record. But you’re taking all of this very seriously. Are you sure you’re alright? It’s just some game, you said.” She watches him squirm and leans forward in her seat.

“It’s not just,” he starts, and then stops. Bdubs looks down at his hands. “I have this dream, sometimes. We’re both red and you help me set up a trap, and then you offer to go talk to Etho, because he’s kicked me out. We’d built this whole fort together, you know, and he hated the way I did the stairs, but he let me mess up his walls because he could tell I thought his idea was ugly… but the rules are the rules. And I remember you doing that for me, probably because you thought it’d be fun to threaten him, but I’m sitting here now, and I can see you.” He looks up and directly at her with big sad eyes. “You have to die a couple times to get to red. It wears on you – you’d gone grey and drained, and I swear to you I can see you like it was last time. Right now, just like what I remember. You somehow knew about the boogeyman and red lives before I even worked up the courage to tell you. I can’t be crazy. Right?”

Cleo pauses and holds eye contact. For half a second she imagines a red bandana around Bdubs’ head, but it’s only the force of Bdubs’ belief that snares her. “First of all,” she says slowly, “there are worse things to be than crazy, which I have told you you are many, many times. But you’re still you, and I’m glad you told me. Have you talked to anyone else?”

He lets out an ugly laugh, but he relaxes a fraction. “No. Tango acts like he knows, but I don’t know if he knows he knows. If you know what I mean.” At Cleo’s raised eyebrows, he continues. “I may have not been very nice to him last time, but any time I accidentally make a joke about it he starts frothing at the mouth all confused-like and then sends these weird apology texts after. Even Etho noticed, but when I said it might be because of last time he thought I meant last time we played games. I played it off like a joke, but he’s got no clue.”

“It’s one thing if you’re dreaming of a game that feels like it was real but if other people are reacting like they know your dreams,” says Cleo, and then can’t figure out how the sentence should end. What if other people are dreaming your dreams? That is not a part of any plan. “I don’t know what to make of that. What exactly did you say to him?”

“Oh, you know,” Bdubs says, looking away. “Just saying he’d gladly sacrifice himself for a loyal friend like me.” He pauses. “I may… he might have been the victim of a boogeyman. Who was me.”

“Bdubs,” chides Cleo.

“And he might have given me a life to come back from red that same day. In my defense he was only green and got all his stuff back, which I think was very polite of me. Not that Tango appreciated all my effort.”

“Bdubs! You know how I feel about traitors,” she says, and Bdubs nods fervently, a little sheepish. “But that is in fact pretty funny. It’s hard to know where Tango stands, sometimes.” She’s not sure how she knows this, other than mostly vague impressions of him when she’s visited Bdubs and Etho’s place and he happened to be there. But it feels right when she says it. “How long have you been putting up with all this?

“Couple of weeks now, since I fell.” Bdubs laughs again, rubs at his bruised eye. “That’s how I died the first time, it turns out. Just plummeted from too high up, nobody’s fault but mine. Most of the dreams are about dying, actually. Or Etho trying to kill me. So that’s – I couldn’t talk to anyone. I didn’t know who I could talk to without them freaking out.”

“Hold on, are you avoiding Etho?” Cleo takes a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Bdubs, if you are here in my apartment because you are using me to hide from him I am going to be very cross with you, and then Etho will be very cross with me for throttling you to death and I’ll have even more trouble than you’re worth to deal with.”

“I’m not avoiding him!” says Bdubs defensively. “Not on purpose, anyway. He sleeps most of the day, and since I couldn’t do much work because of the concussion I was out walking or whatever in the evenings until I had to go to sleep, and we just kind of…” He puts the index fingers of both hands together and then moves them apart with a short whistle. “Drifted.”

“I believe you that all of this dream stuff seems creepily real, but you have to know you can’t hold Etho accountable for this stuff, right?” She tries to say it gently, but she’s not sure if it lands that way.

“I know, I know.” Bdubs has the decency to look guilty about it. “I just don’t think he’d take something like this seriously. I mean, if you hadn’t just told me stuff you shouldn’t have known about it before I even told you I might have found somewhere to check myself in. And if I can’t tell him about it, I can’t exactly explain why I almost screamed when he walked into the kitchen behind me last week and I almost couldn’t stop freaking out when I could see the one weird red eye he has in my dreams instead of his regular face.”

“Okay, I do see your point there. Screaming at your roommate is not generally conducive to working things out,” she says, ignoring Bdubs’ protest. It’s easier to rile him up than tether him, but he looks more himself when he’s indignant and sputtering than that far-away look he has whenever he mentions his dreams. “Look, it’s getting late, and I hate to kick you out, but I really think you should go home and at least consider telling Etho something. At least let him know you’re dealing with some stuff, if you won’t explain yourself to him. And if you do that – if you do that, we can talk about this more tomorrow when I am less tired and more capable of giving good advice.”

“That is a lot to ask of a guy, Cleo,” he says, but he stands up when she does. “If I for some reason am prevented from talking to Etho by such things as him being asleep all day, or un-overcomeable anxiety -”

“You’re still welcome to talk,” she says, pulling him into a hug. He laughs into her shoulder, and they stay like that for a long moment. “You have to know that by now. But I have faith in you. Of all people you should know better than to be scared of Etho.”

“Ha,” says Bdubs, but he gives her one genuine, wide smile before moving to the door. “I’ll text you tomorrow how it went. And I really appreciate you taking me seriously. You have no idea how much worse it was, not telling anybody. At least you know, even if I am crazy.”

“Crazy or not, you’re always welcome here.” She holds the door open and Bdubs steps out into the hallway. “Now, be brave, and bring me back good news.”

“You got it boss,” he says, and waves before disappearing around the corner.

After she’s locked the door and surveyed the empty pizza box on the coffee table, she decides to message Joe before going to bed, because while his advice may not always be actionable there is no better person she knows to present a totally hypothetical dream-sharing, possible fake-memory scenario to. In its own way, it is a weird kind of badge of honor that Bdubs came to her first – even before Etho, which is a disconcerting counterbalance.

By the time she’s settling in, she gets a text from Bdubs: just parked, home safe! sweet dreams. It’s unnecessarily ominous, but probably well-meant; she doesn’t bother responding before turning out the lights, and hopes the well-wishing works.

When Bdubs gets back to his apartment, trying to slink quietly to his bedroom to sleep until he can hold Cleo to her promise to talk more about the game when he wakes up, he’s stopped in his tracks by the sight of Etho on the couch, one hand pressed over his eyes and the other dangling off the couch, glasses clutched in a loose fist. At first he’s terrified Etho has been waiting for him, to confront him about being avoidant, but Etho barely reacts to the sound of the door thudding shut. “Etho?”

He only gets a pathetic, garbled moan in response.

“Hey, Etho, are you – are you okay? Look at me,” he says as the rising tide of anxiety swells up. “It’s Bdubs, I’m home, what’s going on?”

Etho turns his head and parts his fingers the tiniest bit to see Bdubs crouched next to him. “Not great,” he says, and then closes his fingers again to seal his hand over his eyes. “I can feel my heart beating.”

Bdubs gently pries Etho’s glasses from his dangling hand to set them on the coffee table. When he loops his own hand around Etho’s wrist, his pulse is far too rapid. “You’re not kidding. Can you sit up for me?”

“No,” says Etho, who begins to lever himself upright anyway.

“Well, you’re feeling good enough to argue, so that’s either a good sign or a sign being mean to me is one of your essential functions. Don’t even think about weighing in on that.” He hasn’t seen Etho like this since – college, at least, and even then it was different, going days without sleep to finish projects or pulling pranks. “How long has this been going on? And what in the world happened?”

When Etho brings up his other hand to press against his chest, his whole arm trembles. “A few hours, and I don’t… know…” he says, trailing off with closed eyes, breathing deeply.

“Alright, okay. Great.” He’s still holding onto Etho’s wrist. “We’re gonna try and stand up, and if that goes south we are going to the emergency room. So give it your best shot here.”

He tries to haul Etho to his feet, and to Etho’s credit he does groan like he’s trying but contributes essentially nothing to holding himself upright. Bdubs maneuvers himself to support Etho, arm around his waist and Etho’s arm slung over his shoulder. He grips Etho’s hand that’s dangling over his shoulder, squeezing it. Etho squeezes weakly back.

“Emergency room it is.” Etho groans again in protest, but Bdubs is already shuffling them out the front door. “Not calling an ambulance and getting you in the car is the compromise, buddy, so you’re gonna have to hang in here with me.”

It’s a challenge to wobble Etho out to his car, fighting to get the passenger door open and then trying with great difficulty to get Etho inside. Mercifully, Etho manages to buckle his own seatbelt by the time Bdubs gets in the driver’s seat and starts the car. He keeps one hand on the wheel but takes Etho’s left hand in his right, afraid that Etho’s pulse will skyrocket further or he’ll somehow disappear or go where Bdubs can’t help him anymore.

This time, it’s Etho who squeezes his hand as he mutters mostly to himself about people cutting him off and getting stuck at red lights when the situation is so urgent.

“Bdubs,” he says. “Hey, Bdubs.” He squeezes his hand again. “I wanted you to know. I’m so glad you were my partner.”

“Hey, what’s with the past tense there?” Bdubs says, glancing quickly over and then back at the road. He speeds up a little more.

“Last time, I know what you mean now. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you in time.” Etho’s grip tightens and stays that way as he talks. “I wasn’t there, and I didn’t keep our promise. I thought we could be together again, and everything would be peachy, but…” He trails off into a sigh and more unintelligible noises.

“When you’re okay, we are gonna have a conversation about this,” Bdubs says, own heart pounding, trying to focus on getting to their destination as quickly as possible. Etho makes occasional comments on the rest of the slightly illegally quick drive to the hospital but it’s hard to make them out amongst the general sounds of misery.

The process of checking into the ER is as onerous as he expected – trying to fill out the paperwork for Etho, who is still more out of it than Bdubs was when he had a head injury, having to put his foot down that he’d like to stay with his partner as much as possible and yes he had the paperwork to back him up, because Etho had made him keep a copy of important things in his wallet after he fell of the roof in case of something like this. He texts Cleo to let her know he won’t be able to make it tomorrow after all, and texts Skizz as well after weighing the pros and cons of freaking him out unnecessarily versus looping their friends in.

Eventually, far longer than he thinks it should have taken, Bdubs is allowed into Etho’s room, where he’s hooked up to an IV to fix the dehydration. The passing of hours and drip have done him good already, although he looks like he hasn’t slept in days.

“Hey,” says Bdubs, pulling a chair closer to Etho’s bedside.

Etho opens one eye and turns his head slightly to smile at Bdubs. “Oops,” he says.

“Yes, oops. You’re severely dehydrated and no one has told me what else. What did you do to yourself?”

“Um,” Etho says. The corner of his mouth twitches. “I may have ordered the most caffeinated thing they could make from the Southlands. I guess they didn’t expect me to drink it all at once.”

Bdubs stares at him, not sure if he wants to laugh hysterically with relief or strangle Etho right there. “You – you are something else, you know that? If you didn’t look so pathetic right now I’d throttle you. Caffeine? You did this to yourself with coffee? I thought – I thought you were dying, Etho, you were talking crazy and shaking and, I don’t know what even. I thought I was gonna lose you, idiot.”

“Now you know how I felt when you fell,” Etho says, but there’s no bite to it. He weakly reaches out a hand toward Bdubs, who takes it in both of his, derailing Bdubs’ indignant counter-argument. “Doctor says I’ll be fine once I get some fluids in me. It’s not like last time.”

“Do you even know what you’re saying?” Bdubs’ heart is in his throat; Etho’s hand is cold between his fingers.

Etho sighs and closes his eyes again. “I’ve been having the weirdest dreams. You and me building a castle made out of snow. Chasing each other around. Skizz and Tango sometimes are there too. That’s what you meant when you said he was mad about last time, right? I remember them like it was real.”

“It would be pretty crazy if you were dreaming the same dreams as me,” Bdubs says slowly, watching Etho’s face. “They’re not very good ones.”

“Mine are a lot of fun, actually. Except…” Etho trails off and doesn’t continue, even when Bdubs waits for more.

“Except?”

“I already told you I was sorry.”

“Hey, hey, don’t be. Etho, look at me.” He waits until Etho turns his head slowly toward him to make sure Etho understands how serious he is. He hopes his face looks something remotely resembling a grounded, sane person. “We’ll talk about this when you’re better, how about that? Sleep this off and get better and then we can argue like normal over who should be sorry about what.”

“I’d like that. Missed telling you you’re wrong,” he says, sounding tired beyond belief. “Crash is getting to me.”

“I bet it is. Don’t keep yourself awake on account of me. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

Etho doesn’t respond after that, and after a few minutes his breathing evens out and his hand relaxes.

Bdubs doesn’t bother trying to sleep. If he and Etho are sharing dreams – a new and possibly even crazier explanation than secret past-life memories – he doesn’t want to intrude now. He stays awake thinking about last time, and how stupid Etho is to have given himself caffeine poisoning over nothing. How stupid it was of him to not notice enough to intervene, to not have been around to talk some sense into him, and how strange it is that Etho thinks he should be sorry for Bdubs’ death.

He remembers fragments from his last death: that he had made some promise that didn’t save him, that cost him his last life. That he died calling Etho’s name, calling out to an Etho who took great joy in menacing him and making him paranoid, who had attacked him in that long dark stairway. It does not comfort him to know Etho thinks he’s responsible for whatever happened.

Of all the things, it’s Etho’s quiet almost-snoring that almost makes him break down, a familiar noise among all the sterile hostility of an unexpected hospital stay. He can’t tell whether he’s laughing or crying, covering his own mouth to try and avoid disturbing the other occupant of the room who has – presumably and hopefully – been asleep the whole time. It’s Etho, after all. Etho, his partner and his best friend and someone he has always felt like he’s known his whole life, from the moment they met. And maybe even longer, it turns out.

He tries to hold onto that, the rock-solid foundation of his current life, and lets what remains of his certainty and Cleo’s confidence carry him into his own slumber.