#I so wanna know if these were improvised by Stephanie

[caliphoria17]

1. The “rejected” nod

2. The “trying to keep my composure” fingers-through-my-hair move

Aaliyah + her mannerisms (around Cruz)

[raisinghellonstarbug]

So starks-heart (Stephanie) asked and she shall receive...

(Two) word prompt:

Reunion Comfort

Author’s note: Oh wow, so it has been a LOOONGG time since I posted any written content let alone Sastiel content and it feels good to be here again, writing a prompt fluff piece.

I don’t know about anybody else, but Sastiel makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, so although it’s been a while, please bare with me because this is all going to be improvised and not exactly heavily edited. I guess that’s the point though lol XD

What’s great about these two words is that I’m pretty sure they were provided to me conveniently, given that there was a new SPN episode which aired last night (middle of the night my time). I haven’t seen the latest episode yet and I deliberately made sure I didn’t so that this story was not affected nor was going to influence any of my writing choices. This is different and won’t be like what happened. I know that there wasn’t much Sastiel moments as some of us had hoped, so I figured this could be a nice alternative. I hope it’s not too OOC in but I did my best in making it a realistic moment between the softest ship.

I know it’s a bit long, but I ended up just going with what felt natural with this short fic, so please let me know what you think!

-

Fanfic title: It’s Good to Be Here Again, With You

Fandom: Supernatural (duh)

Characters: Sam Winchester, Castiel, Eileen Leahy, Dean Winchester (mentioned)

Ship: Sam x Castiel (Sastiel, Samstiel, Sassy whatever you wanna call them)

Rating: T

Word count: 2241

Tags: Sastiel, Samstiel, Sam x Castiel, Sassy, Sastiel fanfiction, Sam Winchester, Castiel, Eileen Leahy, Dean Winchester, Supernatural, SPN fanfiction, The Softest Ship, OTP: Nothing is worth losing you, Sastiel prompt, Sastiel fluff.

The atmosphere in the bunker had been strange. Dean was going through this funk, a funk that Sam figured Dean had to go through. He thought it best to not interfere. If Sam interfered, he would only cause a stupid, pointless argument between them that wasn’t necessary or worth having during the especially difficult, underlining predicament they were currently faced with.

Chuck was in charge again, persisting with his manipulation and deliberately finding ways to toy with the boys as much as he possibly could or wanted to. Sam was conflicted, trying to hold the fort for himself and Dean, hoping that if he’s patient, Dean will be back to his normal, goofy, happy-go-lucky self. He had to give it time, but he also was struggling to understand one thing in this whole situation.

Why had Dean let Castiel go?

It was frustrating Sam to his very core that Dean was choosing to bottle in everything he was feeling again, but Sam didn’t have the energy to bother trying to talk to Dean about it, especially as he knew that his brother probably wouldn’t give him a proper answer to what happened and why Castiel left so abruptly. However, it did upset Sam that Cas didn’t even say goodbye.

It had been 2 weeks since he left, and Sam was hoping that Cas would come to his senses and return. Sam knew that Dean was partly to blame, but he imagined that Cas probably needed some time away to think and to give Dean some space too.

Sam had sent Cas numerous texts asking if he was OK, tried to ring him a couple of times but would frantically hang up like a teenager trying to call their crush would, and of course he even prayed to him. But he had no answer thus far.

“Goddamn it Cas, when are you going to come back? Don’t you realise how much I need you here right now?”, Sam fleetingly thought to himself, but also hoping that maybe Cas could hear it.

Sam sighed, sitting by himself in the kitchen area, sipping on an herbal tea, his eggs and avocado barely touched. He was trying to live like any other normal day, but he didn’t feel like eating knowing that Dean was in such a rut and Cas wasn’t around.

He had to concentrate on the positive though, the positive being that Eileen was alive and well, staying with him and Dean, looking after them whilst trying to provide some comfort to Sam’s disorderly emotions.

In that moment, Eileen walked in, temporarily distracting Sam from his wavering thoughts. She was only half awake, but she looked peaceful from her slumber. Sam smiled, getting up from his seat to greet her and offers her a hot drink.

She nodded and Sam went to the stove and grabbed the kettle, switched on the tap from the sink and filled the kettle with fresh water. As he put the kettle back on the stove, he lit the stove and grabbed a cup from the cupboard.

He turned back round to face Eileen, softly asking “Did you sleep well?”

Eileen smiled and responded, “Yes. It’s still a bit strange to be awake from sleeping though…”

“Mmmm, I get it. I know what that’s like.”

There was an awkward pause. Sam and Eileen stood there wondering what to say or do next.

Eileen then asked, “So… are we staying here today, or have you found a new case?”

Sam pondered, twitching slightly and clearing his throat. He looked down at the floor, scratching his head.

“Well, I was scrolling through articles on my laptop… but er, nothing at the moment I guess…”

Eileen nodded meekly, feeling Sam’s discomfort.

She then gently asked, “Can I be forward with you, Sam?”

Sam shrugged and nodded, willing to hear what Eileen had to say.

“How are you holding up in all of this?”

Sam thought for a moment on how to answer such a simple question. He didn’t really know how he was holding up. It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure, but he wasn’t going to suddenly break down and focus too much on the negative. He had to keep going, that’s all he knew.

“Um, OK, I guess? I’m just trying to get through all of this.”

Eileen wondered if anything she said at this point could be helpful.

“I can understand that. I mean, I was dead last week. I have you to be gracious I’m here, that I’m alive. I cannot be thankful enough, really.”

Sam smiled, pleased that at least he could concentrate on that, how he too was grateful that she was alive.

“You’re welcome. I mean, it was nothing…”

“Nothing? Are you kidding? You brought me back to life!”

Sam chuckled, appreciating her gratitude. He wasn’t often very good at accepting that he did actually do right by people, often only recognising the mistakes and the bad actions he had previously made.

His mind went wondering back to what Dean was doing and whether he really was OK. Before Dean left to work on a solo case of his own, he insisted to Sam that he needed some space and he was going to meet with an old friend of his that could do with some help. Sam offered to go with him, but Dean didn’t want him to. Sam had to leave it alone, regardless of whether he agreed with it or not.

He couldn’t help but think that if Cas was here, the situation might have been easier to handle. Everything was always easier when Cas was around. He missed Cas being there to comfort him when he often awoke from his nightmares.

His nightmares had become frequent, which made things even more difficult. He still couldn’t quite understand what these dreams meant, but he realised that they must mean something. That was one of the main reasons why he needed Cas especially at this point, feeling like he was the only person he could talk to about his gunshot scar that had lingered on his shoulder ever since he shot Chuck. Sam feared that his dreams must have had something to do with his blackened scar, due to the fact that his dreams started occurring more so ever since that day occurred.

He was getting more and more desperate to see Cas, to tell him the whole truth.

“Do you miss your angel friend?” Eileen suddenly asked.

Sam was surprised by this and stiffened up in his shoulders.

Sam nervously chuckled, “Is it really that obvious?”

He couldn’t help but blush that Eileen brought him up. He wasn’t going to talk about Castiel unless it was necessary. I mean he figured that she wasn’t going to mention him at all, which is why it came to him as such a surprise that she did.

“I liked Cas. He seems like a good egg.”

Sam grinned, “He really is… and he probably would be able to get us out of this mess if he were here.”

“He’ll come around. They always do…” Eileen winked at Sam and Sam went bright red again. Did Eileen know?

“I’ve had my fair share of exes, and it seems like you two just need to work it out.”

Sam could no longer look Eileen in the eye, his voice going quiet.

“I don’t know what it is about Cas, but lately… I, I don’t know. It feels like there’s something between us, but I can’t figure out what…”

Eileen then gasps suddenly, putting her hands to her cheeks as a jerk reaction. She was blushing hard, almost stifling a snicker back.

Sam then frowned at Eileen, confused.

It then hit him. He heard that noise, that flutter that he had heard so many times before. He begun to feel a sudden familiar presence behind him.

He slowly turned around and there he was. Just the being he was begging to see.

“Sam…”

Castiel’s voice was like music to Sam’s ears. The way he said his name always sent chills down his spine.

It was him. He really was here.

Sam was in shock for a moment, but then he suddenly found himself smiling wider than he had done in weeks and his face glowed up completely.

No questions asked, no words spoken, he grabbed Cas tightly into a big hug. The hug was desperate, needy. All of Sam’s emotions were put into this much needed clasp between them. It had only been two weeks, but to Sam it felt like years. Without a goodbye it was difficult for Sam to accept that he had been gone. He held him for as long as he deemed appropriate, but secretly not wanting to ever let him go. He was the only person that was still in his life, his close friend, perhaps who was now more than a friend, who truly made him feel safe aside from his brother. But even then, he didn’t always feel safe with Dean like he did with Cas.

Cas was slightly startled by Sam’s touch at first, but like every embrace he ever received from Sam, he seemed to warm to it pretty quickly. He reciprocated and held so tightly, also not wanting this feeling to leave him, but had to let go eventually as there was still a lady present in the room. Eileen cleared her throat to get their attention.

Sam let go of the embrace, but as Sam turned around, Cas still held on to Sam’s shoulders, rubbing it softly and putting their full attention to Eileen who was still standing their casually, but with a huge smirk across her face. Sam bit his lip, knowing full well what she probably was thinking. She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

“So, Cas… nice to see you again.”

Cas smiled politely and nodded, “Hi Eileen, nice to see you too. I’m glad you’re back, you know from…”

“The dead? Yeah, it’s all fine.”

Cas awkwardly stumbled, restless and unsure whether his people skills were being used correctly. Sam looked at Cas and nervously chuckled and patted Cas on the back, ensuring that he didn’t feel too embarrassed and that Eileen was totally understanding.

“I have to admit, you two… I totally see it.”

Cas then frowned, perplexed by what Eileen meant by those words. He looked at Sam, turning his head sideways.

“Sam… what did Eileen mean by that?”

Eileen snorted, rolling her eyes. She turned on her heel to leave, but before so, she said one last cheeky comment that she couldn’t resist.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do…” Eileen winked and left Cas and Sam to fend for themselves.

Sam was going to interject, but she had already gone.

“Damn it, Eileen. NOW you’ve left me in an awkward position…”

Sam fumbled with his jeans and looked down at the floor, trying to not stare into those mesmerising blue eyes that always got him hooked. He didn’t know what to say. Cas looked like he was urgent to say something, but Sam had some idea of what that might be.

“Sam” “Cas” - they said their names in unison.

They both chuckled and Sam offered to go first.

“Look Cas, I… I don’t know if you heard any of what I had said to Eileen or through prayer or-or-“

Cas put his hand on Sam’s right shoulder, squeezing it softly.

“Before I sort this gunshot wound out on your shoulder, I need to say something…”

Cas had a soft, a smitten smile across his face and it was Sam’s turn to be confused.

“Oh Sam… I can’t ignore how we’ve meant to each other in recent years. I’m sorry you got in the middle of Dean and me. It seems you often end up being so… and I would rather that didn’t happen anymore, because how I feel about you is different to how I feel about Dean…”

Sam’s eyes widened; his brows furrowed. “What the hell did Cas mean by that?”

“…Different?” was all Sam could manage to bring himself to say.

“Well, I watch you sleep Sam. You know that. We’ve shared a bed. I know that’s intimate; I have learnt how humans work. I don’t share that intimacy with Dean.”

Sam swallowed a lump in his throat. How was he supposed to handle this?

“I… I think what is happening between us is not something I’ve shared with anyone before. I’m not sure how to handle it sometimes, but I’m doing my best for your sake.”

Sam really had no idea what to say to any of this, he felt like he should have had plenty to say. But all he felt was gobsmacked that all of these gentle, kind and endearing words that were coming out of Cas’ mouth were making Sam want to jump for endless joy. He wanted to sing, he wanted to scream with eternal happiness. Thankfully, he managed to smile, a bright shining smile.

“Oh Cas… you’re beautiful…”

Sam pulled Cas into another snug embrace, Sam’s hands restless, ingulfing in the feel of Cas around him. Sam squeezed his eyes shut, and he could hear Cas hum, his eyes also shut tight.

Sam momentarily without giving it a moment’s thought, kissed Cas’ forehead and then brought Cas’ head to his chest, cradling him softly.

They stayed like that for a while.

It was the best reunion that Sam had ever experienced.

[tgunn64]

Favorite Villains - Emily Nelson (A Simple Favor)

A Simple Favor was one of my favorite movies of 2018--all I really knew was it was based on a book and I needed to pursue my never ending quest to make absolutely certain Anna Kendrick always has five dollars in her pocket when she needs coffee--but this movie was beyond a pleasure, a truly unique crime thriller that isn’t afriad to be sort of bizarre and even funny, but never in a way that undercuts the dread bred by its villain--who shockingly exceeded my darling Anna Kendrick (forgivemeplease) as my favorite character, Emily Nelson. Emily is the quick friend of Stephanie Smothers after the two meet picking up their respective sons from kindergarten. Right off the bat they have an extremely interesting dynamic, as both are outcasts among the other moms but for opposite reasons. Stephanie is an overly eager people pleaser who over exerts herself fulfilling duties within the PTA, while Emily is a foul mouthed drunkard who wouldn’t give a second thought to the finer parts of mommy culture or giving a damn about her son’s classmates and activities outside school hours. The two bizarrely bond and actually learn about one another. We learn that Emily is affluent, and domineering in about every element of her life, having total control over her husband and her superiors (only in title, truly) of her office job. Things seem awry when she asks Stephanie to pick up her son along with her own from school because work has her tied up (a...SIMPLE FAVOR, IF YOU WILL)...following which she mysteriously disappears. Her husband, coworkers, and superiors all give different explanations, and before we know it she is simply off the grid.

Backing up a little I wanna talk about how Emily strikes the moment she steps on screen. She’s played by Blake Lively, who I think is perfect in the role. She strikes the almost unreal physical beauty that makes Emily seem almost not of this earth, which is bolstered by her apathetic, assertive attitude, as if everyone else is a peon next to her. She’s written and performed in a way that really makes me laugh, the way she casually decides she wants to hurry home and drink after picking her son up from school to the way she pokes holes in the sweater clad, homey world of Stephanie when they meet.That said she’s peerlessly intimidating. You get the feeling that the people in her closest circle are never safe, least of all her husband. That said she gives Stephanie a lesson in self respect and healthy entitlement that she needs. She especially makes a point not to let haughty business types “fuck her in the face”, words that save Stephanie’s skin later on. Emily might quite possible be the greatest instance of a wardrobe impacting me in film. She’s dressed almost as if a stylized supervillain lived in your suburb. The way she flaunts her style and toys with her clothes depending on who she is around speaks a lot--one of her earliest appearances is her in a suit of many pieces, which, as she grows more comfortable around Stephanie she disassembles the outfit as one casually would as they relax and get more comfortable, but in a way that translates herself opening up and putting down her more intimidating facade she uses to keep the other moms at an arm’s length. Her power is never lost because she explicitly makes the decision, but it’s a very clear indicator of her state of mind. From her she parades walking canes, sunglasses, and adorable floral sundresses to unsurpassed gravity.

Emily’s charisma isn’t hard to grasp--but it becomes equally apparent what a toxic person she is the longer you stick around her. One of my favorite indicators of this in the writing is through her son, Nicky. Nicky, especially after his mother’s disappearance, proves to be temperamental to the point of physical violence, far too comfortable with swearing, and disrespectful in a matter his mother has clearly cultivated (“Mommy was right! You ARE a loser!”). It’s hard not to pity a kid at such an impressionable age, who is clearly between a rock and a hard place with two unfit parents. And yet, Emily has a great deal of love for Nicky, most probably the only person she truly cares about through thick and thin. You get the idea that it’s not that she doesn’t care about Nicky so much as it is she never had a proper parental figure in her own life. Nicky’s bond with his mom becomes more apparent yet when he starts to see her eerily around town...long after she has been assumed dead on her business trip. Stephanie has begun to pursue the deceased Emily’s husband only to hear chilling anecdotes that Nicky sees his mommy outside the fence at recess. Made aware of how vindictive and sevre Emily already was, these supposed visions are bone chilling, as are notes Stephanie is left reminding her of the secrets she’s confided in Emily.

Plot wise, I’ve revealed nothing that wasn’t apparent in the movie’s trailers--and I’m actually gonna try and keep it that way. A big part of these entries are equally so to draw readers to the works I’m writing about, which is why the rest of this entry will be a bit more vague, since A Simple Favor is a mystery work, after all. I won’t say how she disappeared or, as the trailers made apparent, faked her death, but I still wanna give credit where it’s due. Starting with the fact that despite being pretty evil a person, Emily doesn’t start fights, she finishes them. I really respect that everyone she slights has slighted her first. The area she crosses is that of severity and opportunities, she’ll pay back two fold what you deal in areas you can’t really blame her for fighting in, which is a really interesting way to handle a villain. Emily’s disappearance was not something she initiated, but something she saw gain from, and I think that’s her most sinful element and one that makes her a delightful villain. She’s also incredibly intelligent--pulling off machiavellian schemes and almost totally off the cuff most of the time. She’s a great improviser, working pretty quickly within the moment but also with totally confidence.

Ultimately, I think what really speaks to me about Emily is her sheer power and gravitas. Whether it’s because you think she’s dead or you’ve become aware what she’s capable of, any character being in her proximity feels like a death flag times one dozen. It’s the kind of movie that makes your whole body just clench, and Emily is a huge part of that. That said she isn't at all an unsympathetic character. The more you learn about her the more you realize that her surroundings were a recipe for a broken person, and as I stated above, her son is what she values above all. I can assure you even with all I’ve wrung from the details in the movie’s trailers, I haven’t scraped the surface of the twist of Emily’s character or her rather brilliant plot, and I think the fact that I’ve been able to gas on about nuances of these things all on their own speaks volumes about what a powerful and charismatic villain Emily is. If you wanna connect the dots, I can’t recommend enough that you check out A Simple Favor, and it’s sexy, stylish, and scary villainess.

[drawingwithgreen13]

Things that don’t get as much attention in Be More Chill as they should (based on the original bootleg and audio)

Gonna put them under a read more coz this list is L O N G

Jeremy lifts his shirt up in his bathroom to look for muscles

Jeremy thinks of Robert De Niro as a ‘hero’ and a cool guy

Rich literally lifting Jeremy up by his shirt collar when Gerard’s legit 5′4

I’d say Jeremy sounds genuinely interested in play rehearsal but a lot of people already know about that

Pretty much all the shenanigans that go on during the first classroom scene, like Rich doing the finger-through-hand fucking thing to Michael

Jeremy outright says he has small nuts

Michael wears his hoodie all the time until he sees Jeremy

Michael knows about Jeremy’s thing for Christine and is supportive of him!

Jeremy writes letters to Christine

Rich doesn’t actually point to Jeremy when yelling ‘gay!’, he just holds his fist up (or he points with his pinkie, I didn’t see)

Jeremy gets surprised by Michael when the two are at the door to play rehearsal, which is where the line ‘I guess evolution's not for everyone...’ comes from

MICHAEL THREATENS TO MOCK JEREMY FOREVER IF HE DOESN’T GO TO REHEARSAL WHAT A NERD

Christine tries to make a joke

Christine knows about sex and makes jokes based on it (’You’re a virgin. First play rehearsal!’ ‘You never forget your first...play rehearsal!’)

All the shenanigans happening in the background of Mr Reyes talking about the play (Jake pumping his fist up when Mr Reyes talks about the sport team and RICH GOING ON HIS KNEES TO PULL A CHAIR UP FOR BROOKE TO SIT ON)

Mr Reyes hugging Christine after saying Shakespeare is dead

Jake trying to be smooth with Christine and Christine obviously being kind of bothered by it, but trying to be kind

THE LITTLE EXTRA PART JEREMY SINGS WHERE HE TALKS ABOUT HAVING A BREAKDOWN THIS BOY HAS HAD BREAKDOWNS FROM NERVES

Rich’s hips during ‘confidence’, you know the one

Rich slapping himself for talking with his lisp

Rich pretty much hinting that he has a small dick

Whatever those weird hand things he was doing were during the ‘it’s from Japan’ part

Slide-y slide-y ‘IT’S FROM JAPAAAAAAAN’

How when Rich sings the next part, a robotic voice plays in the background, almost like it’s his SQUIP talking...?

More hip wiggles

‘TEENAGE ROCKSTAR SPLENDOR’ AIR MICROPHONE AND MORE HIP WIGGLES

Jeremy is a clean freak by the looks of it (’Aren’t you gonna wash your hands?)

Rich’s dancing (THE SHIRT LIFT THO)

How Rich flushes the urinal at the end

All the shenanigans during Two Player Game (stealing controllers from each other, switching beanbags, Michael fucking Tickling Jeremy)

The boys like Nintendo!

Jeremy getting annoyed at Michael’s constant ‘coooool at college’es

Mr Heere entering his son’s room, knowing fully that there’s a guest in there, WITHOUT PANTS

‘Are you hanging out with a girl? Oh...hey, Michael.’

Mr Heere was gonna order pizza for them aww

Michael sounds genuinely concerned when Jeremy talks bad about his parents

Jeremy legit flips Michael off after he says ‘favouwite person’

Michael reminding Jeremy to get to the point during the SQUIP deal

Scary Stockboy is more of a drama queen than Mr Reyes, who’s a drama teacher

Michael’s ‘whatever’ look at Stockboy’s ‘I DON’T KNOW WHY!’

The fact that the ‘pumps’ line was improvised

Jeremy was willing to share the SQUIP with Michael

‘I like to think that some day, you’ll owe me one’ FORESHADOWING

Mountain Dew can apparently be sold in cups?

Jeremy likes chilly fries apparently

Jenna immediately going to record Jeremy spasming on the ground

(The rest is just gonna be from the audio now) Jeremy sounding high as fuck when he says ‘you look like...Keanu Reeves’

Eric not being able to do a British accent for the life of him

How fucking excited Jeremy sounds when he says ‘LIKE IN X-MEN??’

Jeremy’s first independent shirt choice was...a girl’s shirt. What does that imply with his fashion sense? Or maybe he’s so thin only girl’s tops can fit

Chloe making Madeline sounds like the person who murdered her entire family in front of her

How fittig Lauren’s singing style is for ‘Do You Wanna Ride’ like wow?

CHLOE SINGS WITH BROOKE LIKE WHAT, CHLOE WAIT UNTIL ACT 2

The scene where Jeremy is tiredly singing before going to sleep and the SQUIP calling him ‘slugger’

Chloe is, like...really selfish. The way she talks to Christine about Jake makes it clear she isn’t over him

Christine sounding genuinely upset that Jake didn’t go to play rehearsal, and not just sad-upset. She sounds legit betrayed

Jeremy and Christine slow dance Jeremy lifts Christine up and spins her do you see the love in his eyes when he’s looking at her

How well Will C’s and Stephanie’s voices go together

The SQUIP literally breaking ‘cause Christine said she liked Jake

The fucking volleyball line, SQUIP you’re gross

How convincing Will C’s crying is (side note but hearing him cry makes me think back to the fact that during one show he legit started sobbing during the ‘everything about you is so terrible’ line and the show had to stop to calm him down)

BROOKE IS A GOOD GF WHOEVER SHE ENDS UP WITH IN THE FUTURE IS LUCKY

‘Super old and kinda mean to women’

The SQUIP saying he ‘didn’t exactly’ kill Eminem, when in fact, it didn’t kill Eminem, at all. It just predicted a favourable possible outcome for it happening

This isn’t an underappreciated part but I need to bring it up. They straight up killed Eminem (this happened in the book too like Ned u good?)

‘Our future is so clear’ is Brooke thinking about her and Jeremy’s future together?

Whatever her and the SQUIP are doing to Jeremy to make him question his sexuality

WILL C LEGIT SOUNDS LIKE A YOUNG BOY OR A GIRL WHEN HE REPEATS THE ‘UPGRADE’S

Jake is a good boyfriend if kinda a dick at points

Jake Boyd can fuck me up

Eric going l o w when singing with Jeremy at the ‘Christiiiiine’ part

Jeremy gets overwhelmed by voices in his head

The SQUIP is okay to just...leave Jeremy’s head

Michael gets genuinly sassy when he’s upset

Despite Jeremy ignoring him all day, he’s still super excited and happy for Jeremy when he finds that the SQUIP worked

Jeremy literally stating that being honest doesn’t get him anywhere

How we never see Michael’s reaction to Jeremy optic-nerve blocking him? Like, we don’t know if he was sad or angry or confused or all three?

Brooke is a flirt when it coms to Halloween costumes

Jake has...a condom. As if that’s the only thing he’s bringing to the party

Rich has an older brother! Who happens to have a Jason mask

Also, a loaf of bread...

Jeremy being a n e r d with his costume

Apparently the SQUIP wears a Matrix costume?? There’s no bootleg with that footage but wow

Jake not understanding how to treat his girlfriend 101

Rich getting sad during the last ‘It’s Halloween’s

Chloe thinks Jeremy is cute

Chloe is, indeed, probably worse then Madeline when it comes to the sluttiness

Jeremy trying his best to be kind and polite even when Chloe’s pretty much on top of him

Chloe’s ‘flask’ is a baby bottle

THE SQUIP MAKES JEREMY DRINK IT CHLOE DOESN’T FORCE HIM

They actually kiss

The SQUIP actually speaking correct Japanese (and Eric speaking it well)

Chaos

Michael thinks his ‘clever disguise’ isn’t clever at all, judging by his tone

Jeremy and Michael had been friends for 12 years

Joe T took the part in the book where Michael said his BROTHER took a SQUIP and changed it so that someone ELSE’S brother took it instead (side note, this probably makes more sense considering Michael has two mums)

Michael thinks that Jeremy just wants sex with Christine

Will C’s acting is oof so good

Apparently Michael makes a lot of awkward movements with his arms during Michael In The Bathroom, which I find interesting

Also apparently Chloe’s the one knocking?

The scene where Jeremy and Christine talk o the couch

How upset Christine is that Jake and Chloe are having sex, so maybe Christine saw their relationship as more then just romantic...?

‘Popular people are messed up!’ Christine isn’t popular

The monster on the couch making weird noises along with Christine and Jeremy, and all of them laughing

Christine pretty much admitting that she may have feelings for Jeremy, too

Ok I wanted to make a post about this by itself but I need to mention it here, too. When Jeremy says ‘I thought we were friends’, do you hear how angry he sounds? How...almost selfish he sounds? It’s like the SQUIP made him act like he was entitled

The fact that apparently Rich wasn’t drunk or high during the party, so his actions were done while he was sober

Jenna’s ‘WAaAaAoOoHh’

Chloe straight up lying to Brooke about the sexcapade for the sake of them to maintain their friendship

How quick Brooke is to forgive her

How scarily accurate school tragedies are treated during The Smartphone Hour? Like, people make a big deal out of it, only because it’s drama. Like, seriously, the ‘R-I-C-H, can’t you see just how much I love your tragedy?’ almost gave me chills

Jenna, Chloe and Brooke all say Rich is their best friend for no reason? They just say it just ‘cause? What’s up with that huh

Mr Heere is so broken and lazy that he doesn’t even know his own son is starring in a play

How they kept the SQUIP giving Jeremy instructions, like, they didn’t forget about that good job Joe

Jeremy can drive, apparently? Unless that was the SQUIP’s doing like in the book

Jeremy sounds so frustrated with his dad for all the times he wasn’t there for him, due to his mother leaving. In my opinion? He totally deserved to say that

Paul sounds like he’s crying when the first part of ‘The Pants Song’ is playing?

HE LEAVES THE HOUSE WITH NO PANTS MR HEERE ARE YOU GOOD

What shirt is Michael even wearing

He and Jeremy like Weird Al!

The fact Michael tries to hide the blunt from Mr Heere

The fact that Mr Heere thinks its incense

When Mr Heere says ‘do you love him?’ and Michael responds with ‘...what?’ he doesn’t sound like he’s been caught, it sounds more like he’s genuinly confused as to why he was asked that, so maybe it wasn’t intended to be romantic?

Mr Heere calls Jeremy a little shit and I love that so much

Michael is aware of how much of a ‘not-dad’ Mr Heere has been and calls him out on it

Again, how school tragedies are really treated is scarily accurate. It’s clear Christine’s saying what she’s saying because obviously you’re an asshole if you ignore the person in the hospital from a fire, even if you never talked to them

‘Break a leg!’ ‘Not cool’

Jeremy saying that Christine didn’t help him figure himself out, right after she asked. Wow Jeremy way to be an ass

Mr Reyes being the understudy for two characters like damn

(I forgot to talk about The Pitiful Children so I’ll talk about it here) how quickly Jenna is ready to take a SQUIP, thinking it’s a drug

The SQUIP thinks that showing sadness is a human error

ALSO FORGOT TO MENTION THIS EARLIER BUT THE SQUIP WEARS DIFFERENT OUTFITS

How Joe T literally couldn't’t make it anymore obvious that the drink for the play was gonna SQUIP the whole cast

Mr Reyes wants to go to Broadway

The SQUIP’s mock sigh

Michael literally refusing to give Jeremy the MDR ‘cause he wants an apology

The SQUIP blocks Jeremy from speaking

How they’re both arguing while the SQUIP makes Jeremy physically fight Michael

Michael likes to eat eel

Jeremy and Michael are jealous of each other

Oh yeah uh Michael is high throughout all of this

How Will C’s voice breaks when he says ‘I’m SORRY!’

‘Actually, that doesn’t sound weird at all’ Jake what do you like to watch online

Jake says ‘Upgrade! Upgrade! GOD, I love me!’ 

Chloe thought Jeremy slept with Brooke

Michael doesn’t like girly stuff by his ‘ugh...’

Jenna seems to have been given the power to tell what happens through her mind or something?

When Christine sings about wanting to be with Jeremy. I’m like 95% sure that’s not just her SQUIP telling her to say that

Jeremy made Christine drink the MDR, not knowing that it was gonna get rid of all of the SQUIPS. He willingly offered to sacrifice his happiness and freedom for the sake of freeing Christine. If y’all think that he just has some sorta puppy crush on her, I don’t know what to think

Not super unappreciated but Michael screaming with the others ‘cause he’s freaked out

How casual Rich is when Jeremy wakes up in the hospital

Rich decribes the SQUIP as a ‘shiny, happy hivemind’ 

Rich refers to himself by his full name, and not just ‘Rich’

How quick he is to assume Michael is Jeremy’s boyfriend

‘I’m sure some special someone will be lucky to have you, Rich’ is Michael hinting at something, here?

How fucking excited Michael gets when talking about how the SQUIP was destroyed. Like, this boy loves tech and science so much!!

When Jeremy asks why Michael came to help him even after all the stuff he did, Michael immediately responds by saying his dad also helped.

Jeremy sounds like he’s happy crying when he sees his dad

‘It’s reassuring. He still doesn’t know anything about girls’ most people take this line as Michael saying he’s happy ‘cause maybe he has a chance with Jeremy. I think it was originally written as a sorta ‘oh, good, he still doesn’t know about girls, the SQUIP didn’t change him too much’

Mr Heere is legit good at romantic advice

Michael gives not very good advice, presumably because he, too, doesn’t know a thing about girls

‘Tell her that the exthites you thexthually’

The fact that Chloe mentions doing ecstasy is a cool nod to the book

Jeremy is, indeed, an acne boi

Jake is almost as 90s as Michael

The fact that Christine’s original SQUIP was Hilary Clinton raises a lot of questions

Since there’s no visual aid for this, I’m just going by what I’ve heard. Apparently, after Christine agrees to go on a date with Jeremy, HE KISSES HER.

Jeremy proudly confronts the SQUIP. You go boi

Holy FUCK this list was way longer than I thought but it was worth it. I wanna draw stuff for some of these moments in the future damn

[lizartgurl]

“Be Brave” (Aqualight Coffee Diem AU)

So forgive me, because I actually hate coffee, but the concept of coffee shops is really cute to me, especially when you bring @super-spoiler‘s Coffee Diem AU into the mix, so this is cute scenario+cute ship+Owl City’s new song=More cute! So enjoy!

Kaldur decided to blame the heat on his cheeks as his body’s natural defense against the falling snow, and definitely not at the cute girl in front of him.

Being bi was a disaster. He was attracted to basically everyone he saw. There was no escape. Roy and Conner were taking their lucky exchange student buddy sledding for the first time (they didn’t get snow in Kaldur’s Mediterranean home). 

He was confident that he’d seen the girl with a long black braid and a gold nose piercing before, but he couldn’t place where. She was currently laughing in a manner most uncouth as she struggled to help a gaggle of blonde girls about her age drag their huge sled up the hill, but all of them kept tripping through the deep snow. 

They were halfway up the hill when Kaldur and his friends caught up to them with their own sleds.

“Hey Kara,” Conner grinned at the tallest blonde, who stuck out her tongue at him.

“Piss off, Kon,” She said. The girls burst into laughter again.

“Can I help you with your sled?” Kaldur was asking before he could think.

Another blonde, who appeared to have dyed her afro, and who wasn’t Kara, placed her hand over her heart dramatically, “What a gentleman!” The girls backed up to let Kaldur dump the snow off of their sled and hang it over his shoulder to bring it up to the top of the hill.

“Who’s the gentleman, cuz?” Kara asked Conner, holding the hand of the third and final blonde. Kaldur tried not to notice that the girl he had noticed earlier was smiling at him gratefully.

“Ladies, this is Kaldur. He’s an exchange student from Greece.” Conner patted him on the shoulder with a wink as they followed Roy.

“I love Greece!” Kara’s hand-holding buddy squealed appreciatively, “I go there every summer with my mom for work!”

Afro-blonde shoved her hand at Kaldur, “I’m Stephanie, I’m a disaster bi and I’m from Gotham.” Kaldur tucked both sleds under his arm to be polite.

“Kiran, you’re an exchange student, right?” Kara asked the dark-haired girl.

“Yeah, I’m from India,” Kiran smiled. Kaldur almost tripped. Her smile was almost as bright as the sun, dancing off the pure white snow in a dazzling display of light. Kon elbowed him. He knew.

“Is this your first snow?” Kon nodded in Kiran’s direction.

“Yup!” Kiran caught a snowflake on her tongue, adding a little skip to her step, her thick green winter shawl spreading like a pair of angel wings as she bounced along. 

He was going to have a heart attack.

“Hey! It’s Kal’s first snow, too!” Kon patted Kaldur on the back with a little too much enthusiasum, and he fell over.

By then, thankfully, they had reached the top of the hill. Kiran helped Kaldur to his feet and helped him brush the snow off his shoulders. “So, what do you think of the snow?”

Kaldur looked around, blinking up at the sky, praying to the gods above for an answer.

“Cold,” He settled on at last. Like an idiot.

“Hey!” Stephanie held up the girl’s giant sled, “Let’s see how many people we can fit on here!”

“We could barely fit ourselves on there,” Kara’s girlfriend, Cassie, pointed out with barely-contained laughter.

“We can squeeze real close,” Kara suggested with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “Come on, Kon! Grab Bart and Roy! We’ll dogpile on the thing!”

Roy immediately said no, and slid down on his own before further argument could be made, but Kon’s other friends were all in.

“You wanna join in?” Kiran asked Kaldur. Stephanie had already claimed seat at the front of the sled.

Unable to form a coherent sentence, all Kaldur could do was not. Still smiling, Kiran took pity on him, or maybe she wanted to see him spontaneously combust, and gently took his hand and sat the two of them on the sled with Cassie and Kara. 

Rose, one of Kon’s co-workers, agreed to push them down once they were all on.

“Remember!” Cassie barked, “We lean together!”

“Go!” Rose shrieked with glee and gave the sled as big a shove as her tiny muscles could, which was much more than Kaldur expected. They shot down the hill with a collective scream, shooting past every other sled on the slope.

Kiran was seated right behind Kaldur, and as he held onto the sides of the sled for balance, she held on to his torso, like they were riding a motocycle. Kaldur didn’t have a motorcycle, but he had a moped back home in Santorini.

The joyride ended all too early, as Stephanie screamed at all of them to lean to avoid a tree. Everyone leaned in a different direction, and the momentum sent them tumbling into the snow.

“Bart! That was all your fault!” Cassie shouted as they lay red-faced in the snow.

“How was it my fault?” Bart pouted, throwing a clump of snow at Cassie. It hit Kara instead, who threw a snowball at Kon. Then it was just a free-for-all.

Kaldur’s gloves had fallen off, so he packed the snow with his bare hands, tossing one at Connor, then at Stephanie. Kiran surprised him with a snowball exploding on his back. She laughed, and it sounded like the tinkling bells that played at Christmastime.

He was in love. 

“Oh crap,” Kara checked her phone, “Steph! We have a shift in like five minutes.”

“Aw, already?” Steph pouted.

“Come on, maybe you’ll see business girl today,” Cassie teased, making Stephanie’s cheeks flush a lovely shade of pink. 

“Or Wayne boy,” Kara grinned.

Stephanie was already running through the snow, “I’m going, I’m going!”She shouted, sprinting for the coffee shop across the street.

“Any of you guys wanna come in for some hot chocolate or something? I work in the back, and Steph’s only allowed to man the register, but Court and Harper are pretty much barista wizards.”

“Do we get a discount for being your friends?” Kiran asked, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Kara laughed. “No.”

“Trust me, if I could get a discount for being her girlfriend, I would,” Cassie whispered in an exaggerated manner. Kiran and Kaldur laughed.

“Where’s my discount for being the best cousin ever?” Conner demanded, running to catch up.

“Reserved for Clark,” Kara smirked, holding the door open for everyone.

The bell rang to announce customers in the mostly-empty cafe. The only occupied table was a girl with a soft smile and short black hair,

“There you are!” A girl in a green apron and purple and blue hair waved at Kara from behind the counter.

“Steph came in early for once, and I was wondering where you were.”

“Hush, Harper, I brought us customers, didn’t I?���

“Yeah, yeah,” Harper chuckled, “Klarion and Amy did something funky with the frother, so I’m going to make that my main project for today.”

“Ugh, Klarion,” Kara rolled her eyes. “Steph will be out in a sec to take your orders,” She promised. She ducked behind the counter with Harper and disappeared into the kitchen.

Kiran sat down at the booth with the only other customer in the store. “Origami?”  She asked, noting all the folded scraps of paper.

“Yeah,” The girl waved her arms, “Harper’s brother found a book and taught her, so she taught me.”

“We wrote little fortunes on the inside of all of them!” Harper grinned at the girl in the booth.

“Take one,” She handed a crane to Kiran, who shook her hand.

“I’m Kiran.”

“Cass.”

They were all made with neon-colored sticky notes. Cassie took a little folded-up bright green frog that you could hop across the table, Conner took a tiny pink paper airplane that didn’t fly very well, and when Kaldur stood around shyly, Kiran pressed another crane into his hand. While hers was bright yellow, his was a beautiful blue.

Kaldur carefully unfolded his crane. He wanted to see this curious fortune that Harper and Cass had come up with, but he also wanted to preserve the complex folds in the shape of a bird.

He found it, under the wing. Two words in black ink, written in cursive.

“Be Brave”

“Okay!” Stephanie burst out from the kitchen in a hat and apron that matched Harper’s and stepped up to the till.

“You know what you want yet?” Kiran asked Kaldur.

He shrugged. Right now, he was trying to contemplate the complexity and simplicity of his fortune. 

“I think I will just get a black coffee. That is what I usually get.”

Kiran’s nose scrunched up. “You can’t just get the same thing every time! There’s like fifty items on the menu! Don’t you want to improvise?”

Kaldur glanced at the menu hanging over Stephanie and Harper’s heads as the fourth barista, “Court”, burst in.

“Peppermint latte?” He asked Kiran for approval.

She nodded, satisfied, “It’s seasonal, you have to appreciate it while it lasts.”

“Be Brave”

The writing on his fortune flashed in his mind again. 

“Can I buy you a coffee?”He asked.

Kiran blinked, as if his request had blown her away.

“Two peppermint lattes coming up!” Stephanie declared.

“Court, get your butt out here we got work to do!” Harper barked.

Kiran laughed again, as Court stumbled out to help Harper with the drinks. 

Neptune’s Beard, she was beautiful.

“Don’t worry, I was going to say yes anyway,” She promised, taking his hand.

They walked up to the til, where Stephanie smiled smugly at the two of them, to pay for the drinks. Kaldur slipped his crane into his pocket. He may need it later.

[runningfromexplosions]

Chalk Drawings

------Lazytown fluff and friendship fic------

Robbie curled up in his fluffy orange chair and plopped a large tome on his lap. “Ahh, time for a relaxing read,” he sighed contentedly. He opened the volume, called “Magic and Folklore,” to where he had last left off and removed his silky purple bookmark.

“The pentacle,” he read aloud, “Is a magical symbol often used as a shield against malevolent spirits. An amulet with a pentacle carved into it can be worn around one’s neck to ward off evil.  Drawing a pentacle on one’s door is said to keep demons, elves, and other tricksters from entering one’s house. Hmm. Interesting. Wait, ELVES?!” Robbie did a double-take and re-read the sentence. “It says elves!” The cogwheels of mayhem began to whir inside his imagination. Slower, with a mischievous grin spreading across his face, he repeated to himself, “It says elves. And Sportacus is an elf, which means…”

The villain sprung out of his seat and clapped his hands together. “I am a genius!” he declared to the audience of only himself. “It’s disguise time.” He danced over to his display of costumes. “Too flashy,” he said, looking at a sequined dress. “Too clashy,” he said about an ugly leotard with conflicting patterns and colors. “Too…moustachey,” he said about a pair of moustache-print pajamas. The next outfit in line was a simple brown suit with a colorful tie, a pin that looked like an artist’s palette, a beret, and a thin moustache that curled wildly at the ends. “Perfect!” In a whirlwind of magic, the disguise disappeared from its display and reappeared on Robbie. “Now I just need one more thing…”

Ziggy was strolling through town, sucking on a lollipop (as usual), when he saw a big chalk star drawn on the ground. Followed by another big star. And another. A pathway of stars! Curious, Ziggy followed the path to its end, where the man behind the drawings was squatting and drawing yet another star on the pavement with a purple stick of chalk. Ziggy saw that the man had an entire bucket full of all different colors of chalk.

“Hey mister, what are you doing?” Ziggy asked the artist. The artist looked up, frowned, and raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to talk to strangers?” he said, waving his chalk at the boy like a chiding finger. “Hmm, maybe…I don’t remember. But you’re talking to me, and I’m a stranger to you, right?” “Go away, kid, can’t you see that I’m working on a very important public art project?” said the artist, who could not possibly be Robbie Rotten in any conceivable way. “An art project? What kind of art project?” “I’m drawing stars all over Lazytown,” the artist announced proudly, “It’s going to be a masterpiece! That is, so long as some messy child doesn’t interfere.” “I sure hope not!” said Ziggy, missing the point of Robbie’s snide remark. “Oh! Could I be your artist’s assistant? Please?” “Er…” Robbie hesitated. The brat was persistent, and Robbie doubted that the kid would quietly walk away if he told him to leave again. Besides, if Zippy or whatever his name was helped draw the pentacles, it would save Robbie some time. “Fine. But you have to draw stars like mine, okay?” “I’ll do my best!” the boy said, eagerly picking out a blue chalk stick from the bucket. Robbie went back to his work and tried to ignore the child. That is, until the kid sighed. “Aww…” Robbie put down his chalk. “What is it?” he asked offhandedly. “I don’t think it turned out so good,” said Ziggy, dropping his chalk in defeat. Well, Robbie thought, the boy’s star…had points, he supposed. Not the correct number of five, but the thing looked more like a star than it did a scribble. “Here, I’ll help you,” said Robbie, picking up Ziggy’s chalk, “I’ll hold onto the top, and you hold on to the bottom.” Ziggy grasped the bottom of the chalk as suggested. Robbie helped guide the chalk over the pavement until they had drawn a complete star. “There, see?” Robbie said. “Yes. This one looks a lot better. Thank you!” “You’re…welcome?” Robbie mentally slapped himself. He was a villain, not a babysitter, for crying out loud! Maybe the pink one had been right and he was a big softie. “Hi Ziggy!” Speak of the eight-year-old devil. There she was, a pink and white soccer ball under one arm, and…oh boy, the other children were coming over as well. The geeky one, the pigtailed one, and the greedy one- the entire Brat Brigade- surrounded Robbie. “What’cha doing, Ziggy?” asked Pixel. “I’m helping Mr. Artist draw stars!” said Ziggy. “Sounds like fun. We were going to invite you to play soccer with us, but it’s cool if you want to keep drawing.” “Ooh, chalk drawings?” said Trixie, interested. “We can play soccer later; I wanna draw!” “Mr. Artist, can my friends draw, too?” Ziggy asked Robbie. “All right,” Robbie said, realizing that he had no escape from the kids, “But be quiet, because I am trying to concentrate on my work. And remember, we are drawing these stars.” He gestured to the first star he had drawn. “What if we want to draw things other than stars?” asked Stephanie. “Excuse you, Miss Pink, but who is the artist here?” Stephanie rolled her eyes, but went to pick out a stick of chalk from the bucket anyway. Pink, of course.

Despite Robbie’s rule about only drawing stars, the children managed to be creative. Pixel drew entire constellations. Stingy drew stars which he labeled “MINE.” He drew arrows towards the other kids’ stars, and labeled those “MINE,” too. Stephanie and Ziggy worked on a gigantic smiley face design with a star for each of the eyes. Trixie drew on the side of a house. “Trixie, that’s someone’s house! You can’t draw there!” Stephanie warned. “Oh yeah? And who’s going to stop me?” “No one! That’s my house,” Robbie lied, “And you have my permission to draw all over it!” “All right!” the prankster cheered. She spent the next few minutes drawing large stars on the sides of the house until she ran out of space. At least, she had run out of space that she could reach. Trixie’s next move was to climb onto the window ledge. She raised her chalk, prepared to draw a star above the window, when she lost her balance. “Whooooa!” Trixie fell backwards, but rather than land painfully on the ground, she landed safely in someone’s arms. “I got you!” said Trixie’s rescuer. “Sportacus!” all the kids cheered at once, while Robbie growled. Sportacus gently set Trixie back on her feet. “Trixie, why were you drawing on that house?” Sportacus asked, his arms crossed. He wasn’t angry, but his tone was serious. “It’s the artist’s house, and he said I could draw on it,” Trixie explained, “Besides, it’s just chalk. It’ll wash off when it rains.” Robbie wailed. He should have thought of that. If the anti-elf magic wasn’t activated soon, Sportacus would be able to come back once the rain had washed the pentacles away. “Artist?” Sportacus said, looking at the man who had just made the anguished noise. “Yes, hello, that’s me,” Robbie said, masking his frustration with a forced smile. “We’re helping him with his art project,” said Stephanie. “Oh! Sportacus, would you like to draw with us?” “NO!” Robbie interjected. Stephanie glared at him. “Why not? You let everyone else draw.” “Yes, but…he’d ruin our work. He can’t draw! He doesn’t know how!” “I can draw,” said Sportacus, slightly puzzled. “Uh, actually, I meant to say I have a special job in mind for you,” Robbie improvised. Sportacus bounced on his feet in anticipation. “I’m always ready to help! What can I do?” “I need you to go stand in the center of that big star,” Robbie said, pointing to the largest of his pentacles. All the kids had stopped drawing to watch Sportacus move to the designated location. They wondered what the artist planned for the hero. “Like this?” Sportacus gestured to himself, now standing in the pentagon of the star. Robbie rested one hand under his chin and squinted his eyes, pretending to contemplate Sportacus as one would a work of art. He circled around Sportacus, making sure that every part of the elf was inside the star. “Yes, good. Now tell me: do you feel like…skedaddling? Running for the hills?” Robbie wiggled his fingers in the direction of the mountains beyond Lazytown. “Well, I always enjoy running,” said Sportacus, who began to jog in place. “No, no, not running!” Robbie clamped a hand on each of Sportacus’ shoulders to stop his jogging. “I mean, do you even feel a little, teensy, tiny urge to leave Lazytown?” He leaned in towards Sportacus in a way he hoped was intimidating, and whispered in his ear: “For EVER?” Sportacus laughed. “No. I like it here!” He began to do jumping jacks, and Robbie was forced to let go of him. “AAAAARGGH!” Robbie shouted, “WHY ISN’T IT WORKING?” “Was something supposed to happen?” Sportacus asked, pausing mid-jumping jack. Robbie, in a fit, plucked off his fake moustache and threw his beret to the ground. He stomped on the beret several times. “Robbie Rotten!” the children gasped. “Robbie Rotten!” Robbie mocked, “Yes, of course it’s me! I take off my fake moustache and my hat, and suddenly, it’s like you can recognize faces!” Stephanie put her hands on her hips and frowned at the villain. “Robbie, what were you trying to do to Sportacus?” “If you really must know, Pinkie, I was drawing magical symbols to banish Sportafool from Lazytown. But for some reason, they didn’t work.” “Magical symbols? They look like stars to me. I would know, because they’re mine,” asserted Stingy. The other kids giggled. Sportacus smiled at them before turning his gaze to Robbie. “You know what I think?” Sportacus said with a twinkle in his eye, “I think Robbie just wanted to be friends and draw pictures with all of you!” “No!” said Robbie. “Yes!” said Ziggy. “Robbie taught me how to draw a star. See?” He pointed to his first drawing. “I couldn’t do it at first, but he helped me!” Ziggy pointed to the star that he and Robbie had drawn together. Robbie spluttered, unable to deny being helpful. Sportacus gently laid a hand on Robbie’s shoulder. “You did a good thing, Robbie,” Sportacus said softly. Robbie suddenly felt very queasy. “Good?” he whined, “I’m a villain! I can’t be good!” Beyond embarrassed, Robbie snatched up his hat and moustache from the ground. He started to stomp away, but he paused briefly to turn his reddened face and spit out a few more words at his frie—no! Not friends! Annoying acquaintances. “S-smell you later, Sportastink, brats!” “Okay. See you later, Robbie!” Sportacus called after Robbie had turned away again. “See you later!” the children echoed. Robbie felt strangely calmed by their words. Although he had shouted rudely at the kids and the hero, they had replied with kindness. Ugh, why did they have to make it so difficult for him to keep up his grouchy act? Robbie wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone else, but drawing with the kids had almost been... Fun.