#Jack and Tricks are so so special to me though truly. He's my number one guy for real

[hyperionshipping]

🥰😡💞 for mr borderlands tricks :)

HIIII sorry for being late to answering this

🥰: How would someone who loved you portray you?

THE TRUE Handsome Tricks shippers understand the complexities of these two. They're getting the dynamic down. Tricks isn't a helpless little uwu sub underneath Jack. He's a fully fledged adult man with underlying trauma and baggage.

They'd portray the day-to-day between these two perfectly while also having fun with it.

The true fans get the level of control Jack has while also knowing that Tricks has quite literally pulled a gun on Jack deathly calm. He WOULD have killed him then without hesitation. Yeah, he LOVES Jack but that relationship is not (and never was) "good" or "healthy.

😡: How would someone who hated you portray you?

GOD. Okay.

Handsome Tricks haters would fucking want this ship to SINK. They're blowing the boat up. People who hate it constantly mischaracterize both Tricks AND Jack.

They'd make Tricks too subby and compliant around Jack or absolutely turn up Tricks hatred towards Jack WAY too much. There's a balance and complexity to this that fans who hate the ship wouldn't bother to see. (Too much reading between the lines and knowing how rocky/dodgy relationships work)

Additionally people who hated us would consistently say the ship is glorifying abuse and bad relationships because Tricks is totally a changed man (he is not. In game scenes, dialogue, echo logs + more prove that he HAS mellowed down but he has not changed. It's integral to his story that he ISN'T changed. Because it's directly what allows Jack to gain such control)

💞: Aside from with your f/o, who else would you commonly be shipped with? Why?

Honestly? I'm not too sure.

I could see people shipping him with Tim as a rebound thing. Tricks (canonically) can tell the doppelgangers apart but I've toyed with them (Tim and him) having slightly more interactions.

I think people would like the idea of Tricks and him hooking up because it'd be a fun way to play with Tricks' insecurities and the fact that Tim truly can't escape Jack's shadows.

I think what would be popular with this ship is them running Hyperion. Like nothing happened. Neither feels GOOD about it and there's constant bickering.

Lots of fics written out where Tim is loudly yelling about Jack being DEAD. "He's GONE Tricks. Dead as roadkill. Skag food. Why can't you accept that? You weren't ever this dumb before."

"You sound just like him. How's the DNA injections going hmm? You're more and more like him everyday. Hey, when you die, I bet it'll be just. Like. Him. No one remembers Timothy Lawrence. You're just Jack's pet. Your leash is gonna hook on something and you'll choke to death. How ironic for Handsome Jack. Death by choking."

A relationship between these two is even WORSE than Tricks and Jack. I think some people would write it as Tim and Tricks overcoming their own traumas but like... again.. Tricks doesn't change and he doesn't get better with time.

I could also see one or two people shipping him with Rhys for obvious reasons. He's never done right within any ship with Rhys.

And I could see something with Vasquez. But it'd be a relationship purely out of blackmail. He's showing Tricks off like some prize to be like Jack. Tricks would think constantly about cutting his dick off. But he knows too much about The Demon and it's only a matter of time...

[ilkkawhat]

For the SOULMATE Alphabet prompt, can I ask E or ESP for Jack Dalton/Angus MacGyver please? All these prompts sound like so much fun!

[be gentle with me it’s been like. years since i’ve written these two. i’m being dramatic it’s only been three months.]

There’s one reason and one reason only Jack and Mac would allow themselves to be apart for long times at long distances, and that reason was something that even all of the infinite science in Mac’s brain, all of the infinite wisdom in Jack’s heart couldn’t even explain.

They figured it out when they had parted ways after Lake Como. Both had been too injured to realize that the pain they were feeling—on top of what they were already feeling—was each other’s. Mac thought the pain in his head was his mind overworking itself trying to reconcile Nikki’s (supposed) death. Jack thought the pain in his chest was the early signs of a heart attack, not uncommon in his family. 

They hadn’t seen each other in nearly a month. Mac was finally out of the hospital, Jack was at his apartment. Jack didn’t quite know what to do, give the kid space or hover over him as an emotional Overwatch support, but he ultimately figured that Bozer would tend to him and that he would just pop by for a visit—which never happened because every time he thought of going, there was a forcefield of guilt that kept him from passing through the unlocked threshold to Mac’s house.

Mac, meanwhile, thought it was bad enough that he lost Nikki, he didn’t want to lose Jack, too. His fingers would constantly key over Jack’s number in his phone that he had memorized forwards and backwards. But he didn’t want to bother him. Figured that he was busy with a new job cause the older man was always working non-stop, as much as he would “complain” about the mundaneness of a nine-to-five job; all the paperwork and meetings and lack of an appropriate amount of sick days or whining for a raise, he knew that really Jack just wanted to keep himself busy, occupied.

Or otherwise he’d end up where Mac thought he was in that moment, on a couch, wrapped up in a bathrobe.

“Jack?” Mac gasped himself awake from an almost-nap. He sat up and threw his hand to his side, expecting it to land on Jack’s shoulder, or knee, or just any part of his body that would elicit some witty remark, “the lights go out in those bright eyes of yours, hoss?”

His hand didn’t touch anything. But he definitely felt Jack there with him, on his couch. Smelled him, too. And he was overcome with some strange...sadness. Remorse. It wasn’t a foreign emotion to him at the time, so he had sort of shrugged it off, thinking his mind was playing tricks on him, that the pain meds were too strong.

And then Jack woke him up with a phone call.

“Were you just at my house?” his tone was laced with the usual paranoia that came when anything was out of place at his apartment, but there was an odd sort of seriousness and urgency that Mac felt, too.

“No. Did you come here?” 

“No, not since I drove by last night to drop off some pizza and beer.”

“That was you? Why didn’t you come in?”

“Boze said you were sleepin’ and I didn’t wanna wake you.”

“Well...you woke me up now,” Mac smiled though he knew Jack couldn’t see it.

Yet in a way, he could.

“What is going on here, hoss? It-it’s like you’re sitting right in front of me.”

“I don’t know. You wanna come over? Maybe we can sit by the fire and try to figure it out together.”

“Aight. Be there in ten.”

Jack lived fifteen minutes away.

They sat by the fire and once they passed by the awkward small talk they were able to properly catch up; though Mac didn’t have much to offer with the bed rest he had been sentenced to, but was pleased to announce that he would be beginning his rehab. Jack, meanwhile, got a gig being a stunt coordinator—disguising the fact with a cough that he was also partaking in some of the more dangerous stunts himself. 

It was good that it happened, a brief reunion before a more permanent one that came months later when they got to go back to work together, the small steps leading to a true recovery of a slightly tarnished friendship in the face of a failed mission.

It wouldn’t be the last time.

They don’t feel anything unexpected, again, thinking it was just their own emotions they were waving through and the yearning for each other’s presence, but one of the first times they were separated, it was stronger than ever before. 

And it wasn’t even that big of a separation. Just a few feet. A couple more feet. Maybe the length of a basketball court, at most. Mac moving backwards. Jack standing still. Jack could feel the panic rising within Mac as he scrambled to defuse the bomb Jack was standing on. Mac could feel the sheer dread and terror pouring out of the sweat beads on Jack’s skin. 

The stakes hadn’t been so high since Mac had to disarm a bomb within an impossible amount of seconds back at the sandbox—and in hindsight, he can’t help but wonder if that’s when they had formed this new sort of...bond. 

Jack must have figured it out too, because the next time it happened, just a week or so later, it came after Mac had been taken and drugged by the cartel. Jack was in full on rescue mode, dressed from head to toe in tactical gear—but he had to remove the helmet when he felt like he had some sort of mask smothered on top of his face. And then he felt lightheaded. And then he felt...woozy. 

He pushed through it to save Mac—and in seeing Mac the odd sensation had washed away but when Mac told him that’s exactly what he felt when he was put under, the pieces were put together in Jack’s head.

“What kind of Vulcan mind-meld shit is this!?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s like we’re getting into each other’s heads, a-and feeling each other when we’re apart.”

“You can admit it Jack, you just miss seein’ your sunshine boy,” Mac had waved him off with a poor imitation of his accent. 

“I’m serious, buddy this is...this is real. I-I don’t know how to explain it but it’s like we’re...we’re…”

“Soulmates?”

“Yeah! That’s the word.”

“How romantic.”

Jack couldn’t help but feel slightly hurt by Mac’s downplay of his emotions, their emotions over their new transcended level of connection he never thought he would have with another man, let alone another person in his life.

But Mac would soften when his emotions got cranked to eleven. 

It was their first real argument since the Sandbox. Jack tracking Mac down to Paris—which, with this new sixth sense of being able to feel Mac wherever he was when he wasn’t with Jack, he didn’t need to work as hard but he still explained how easy it was to track him down, even without their newfound “special powers,” as Jack claimed them to be—and beyond the confusion he was secretly pleased to have such an ability, harkening back to his childhood days of reading comic books and jumping off couches with a bedsheet cape on his back. 

They both felt each other’s resentment, each other’s anger, until Jack calmed down when Mac called an apologized. He let Mac’s voice go to voicemail, but followed his call like he was lured by a siren.

Even though he tried to joke about a “groveling apology” that he knew Mac wasn’t actually going to give him despite the actual upset he had felt and truly wanted to apologize for to Jack, Jack entered the house knowing something was wrong.

Because he couldn’t feel Mac at all. Couldn’t feel him joking around with Bozer. Couldn’t feel him lost and searching for a deadbeat father who abandoned him—a sensation Jack didn’t quite understand until he felt Mac reliving it in his worst nights. Couldn’t feel him happy to be with the Phoenix family.

Mac’s house was as empty as Jack felt, and he was on the verge of losing it like never before—until he felt a cold shiver creep through is body. Felt a sharp prick, felt like his body was being pumped and drained at the same time.

Felt fear mixed with anger mixed with...vague...intrigue and the last time he felt it, Jack was at the mercy of a small red dot boring into his chest while Mac played the most dangerous game of cat and mouse.

And this time, he was the mouse.

“My spidey-senses are all telling me the same thing...It’s Murdoc.”

He hoped and prayed that he could somehow ease Mac’s terror with his own determination to find him. He swallowed down his tears, swallowed down his guilt for the sake of giving the kid some sort of hope with a forced sense of confidence that he would find him in no time.

And no time is exactly what he felt. What they both felt. Jack’s confidence turned to confusion when Mac no longer felt trapped, but instead...lost. And paranoid. Even more paranoid than Jack himself. 

So lost that even when they physically found each other, it still seemed like forever until they emotionally found each other again, with more and more separations, more victimizations on their more deadly missions with gunshots and electrocutions and gas chambers. Fits of inexplicable rage and jealousy as they explored other interests besides each other. Odd sensations of loneliness when they weren’t working together. 

Even when they were actually trapped together in Mac’s house, sitting on another bomb, it took them a whole episode of reminiscing how they got together in the first place that made them realize how no matter how often they would be lost from one another, they would always find each other, even in their worst moments. 

And it was after that near miss they both exchanged real apologies. Mac admitted that perhaps this “mind meld” was real after all. Jack said “having you stuck with me ain’t so bad after all. Toldja I’m never gonna leave you, there’s definitely no getting rid of me now.”

“But...what’s going to happen when...one of us dies?” Mac didn’t even want to ask it. Didn’t actually even say the words. 

Jack asked the same thing when he was prematurely laid to rest in a burning coffin, descending into hell and screaming for Mac both in the literal sense and the emotional sense—so much so that Mac could hardly take it—he felt like he was on fire and oh god, he actually was as he put his hands on the burning wood and freed Jack from inferno. 

“Being burned alive...was always curious,” Jack breathed, putting a hand that oddly felt ablaze on his chest, while Mac danced on figurative hot coals.

“You’re insane, man.”

“I don’t think death is the end,” Jack answered him finally, when they were being wrapped up by the paramedics.

“How much smoke did you inhale?” Mac almost laughed, confused as to what he was referring to, thinking he had some sort of existential realization on the precipice of death.

“But wh-what if when one of us dies...the other will too? Kaboom-kaboom,” Mac continued the conversation after a particularly rough day spent in the war room with a beaten, sunken black eye while Jack ran around pretending to be a lone wolf yet he was wrangling up the pack and doing a favor by helping out his daughter’s real father, the conflicting emotions of which didn’t ease Mac’s troubles, either.

“Told ya, that won’t be it. There’s gonna be something after kaboom. For both of us.”

“Then why do you always fight so hard for us not to explode?”

“Cause I can’t let you have too much fun when you’re dropping those improv-bombs to get us out of sticky situations. There’s still a few things I wanna do before I move on from this world.”

“Right, your bucket list,” Mac smiled. 

“Exactly, hoss. And what’s say...we cross another one off now?” 

They were interrupted, as always, by an emergency call that revealed the truth about Mac’s father, and a falsification of how they had been brought together.

“Who do you think pulled the strings to pair you two together in Afghanistan?”

Bullshit. And Jack made a point of pointing that out, and how dare he even make the implication that even if things didn’t work out between Jack and Mac, that there would just be another Overwatch put in his place, and another, until Oversight saw fit that his son would be taken care of like he never had done for him before?

Needless to say, there were a lot of emotions, conflicting ones at that—even Jack himself was torn between sucking up to the boss but also wanting to punch him in the face, and do minor things like refuse handshakes, accidentally trip him, anything to just...annoy him without a fireable offense, per se.

But when Mac left the Phoenix, he may as well have gone, too.

He still doesn’t know why he didn’t. Was it some sense of duty to protect the remainder of the pack? Was it the same hesitation he had when Mac took his leave of absence after Nikki’s death, wanting to give him space but still wanting to suffocate him at the same time? 

Was it fear that one day, Mac would walk away from him, too?

While the separation was brief, only a few months though it felt like years—especially when Jack felt the length of Mac’s hair on his own chin that allowed him to measure the actual length of time that had elapsed, when they came face to face again it still felt like they were worlds apart.

Because Mac abandoned his family. 

Mac abandoned Jack.

And in what godforsaken world would that happen?

The same world where Jack would do the same almost half a year later. 

“NO!” Mac shouted, rising from another cold-sweat nightmare. 

Jack laid beside him, startled awake. 

“Everything okay, hoss?” Jack whispered. 

“Just...just...had a bad dream,” Mac whispered back. 

They would keep their voices low, but their emotions high. There were certain things that just had to be said to be understood as felt between them.

“I missed you,” Mac gulped. 

“You know I’m right here, don’t ya?” Jack laughed from his own bed, Mac felt a gentle scratching at the back of his head.

“I know. I know you’re here, it’s just…”

He turned his head, he didn’t even know why he was whispering, the house had never been so silent before. No snoring Bozer. No Jack strumming the guitar on a restless night. No keys clicking beneath the speed of Riley’s rapid fingers. No phonecalls from Matty.

“You’re not. Not even alive.”

“Who in the hell told you that?”

“The...the army.”

Mac’s phone rang, he answered without even looking at the number. The ring was for a video call, so he lazily pulled the string of his bedside lamp.

Jack was on the other side, soft fauxhawk and subtle stubble tracing the start of a beard on his face.

“My God, what fucked up dream did you have, man?” 

“The kind that lasts forever,” Mac mumbled. “That felt...too real…”

“I turned down the Kovac mission, you remember that, right? The image was fake. Just a taunt. The broadcast orchestrated by Murdoc just to dick around with us again.”

“I know, I know it just...I can’t help but wonder what could have...could have happened if you…”

“You gotta stop beating yourself up so much, kid. I’ve told you, over and over, this ain’t one of those ‘you hurt me, so I’mma hurt you’ sort of games. We don’t do that manipulative shit.”

“Jack, I left you—”

“You left the Phoenix. I stayed. My choice.”

Jack suddenly felt the corners of his eyes burn. The corner of Mac’s eyes burn.

“I wanted you to come with me.”

“I know. And I wanted to.”

“I know,” Mac swallowed. “I...I felt that you did but...why didn’t you?”

“You walked away that day but you didn’t walk alone. I was there with you the entire time. You know that.”

“But you weren’t!” 

“You’re right. You’re right,” Jack shook his head, squeezing his face. He waved his tongue over his lips, Mac suddenly felt freshness over the chapped flesh that was trembling as he held the tiny screen of Jack in between his hands.

“I...I knew how you felt, being abandoned by your Dad...Cause I did that to Riley.”

“You didn’t...abandon her—”

“Then what would you have called it?”

It was a question Mac didn’t have an answer to.

“Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that you’re not the only one with abandonment issues, I’m just...on the other side of the spectrum. Worlds apart from the pain you musta felt when dear ol’ Dad leftcha and I shouldn’ta tried to push you back together without thinking how you might have felt—”

“Jack, Jack, it’s fine. I-I know you just...you had good intentions. Cause of what happened to your Dad.”

Jack nodded, wiped a hand over the running nose that Mac felt, though his was dry.

“And anyway, I just. I was scared, I guess. Didn’t know what to do. Hadn’t been on that side of the coin before. It may have hurt you but it...it hurt me, too.”

“I know it did. And I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too.” 

“So...where do we go from here?” Mac asked, clearing his throat. 

“Doesn’t matter, really. Cause no matter where you go, where I go, where we both go...We have each other.”

Mac felt Jack’s touch, though it was a poor substitute for the real deal, as he closed his eyes and envisioned him sitting next to him, his arms wrapped around him, hugging him to his chest. 

“Forever,” Mac sighed, and Jack smiled as he felt the reassurance that while it had been stretched and twisted and tested, their bond would never be broken.

Not even in a death that Jack oddly felt he had just narrowly missed by some sort of guardian angel watching over him.

[mattzerella-sticks]

Constants (9.5k Supernatural fic) (ao3 link)

Meeting with alternate versions of themselves makes Sam and Dean think about what the landscape of the former multiverse might have looked like - or, really, "If there can be multiple Deans and multiple Sams, can there be other versions of things they know. Like... Baby?"

Dean says no. There's only one Baby. She's got four wheels, black paint, and has been his from the beginning. Sam thinks otherwise.

Let's explore what the possibilities of Deans, Sams, and Babys in different universes might look like.

Earth-1

           Dean wanders in with two beers, lifting them high as he enters. “There are our last two,” he calls, “Gonna have t’go on a supply run tomorrow!” Sam barely responds, nodding, too focused on his phone. “Hey,” he continues, setting the beers down in front of Sam. Slamming his brother’s hard. Not even a flinch. “Who’s that? Eileen?”

           Sam rolls his eyes, grabbing for the beer. “It’s us.”

           “Come again?”

           “Us,” Sam tells him, flashing his phone screen, “Other us. Rich us.” Dean takes the phone, bringing it closer for a better look. There, on the screen, were them. Somewhat. Half of the other Sam’s face appeared, mouth cut off by the camera. His hair sat atop his hair in a messy bun. Behind him, dressed in a flowing, flowery kaftan and holding an empty cocktail glass, was Dean’s reflection. Dean’s doppelganger points out at a beautiful skyline from the balcony of whatever hotel they camped in.

           “God,” Dean winces, “they sure are living the life, aren’t they?”

           “Of course they are,” his brother snorts, stealing his phone back. “They don’t have God breathing down their necks.”

           Dean sighs, collapsing across from Sam. “True… you think it’s too late to switch places?”

           “They’d never,” he scoffs, sipping his beer, “not even for your entire porn collection and Baby –“

           “Don’t joke about that,” Dean splutters. “Wherever we’d go, Baby’d come with us.”

           “Seriously?”

           “Absolutely. She’s… she’s Baby. Our Baby.” Dean waves his bottle around, droplets of condensation flung in all directions. “They might look like us, but they ain’t us. That Dean wouldn’t know what to do with her… probably’d toss a wad at some mechanic to fix her up instead of getting his own hands dirty…” Dean scowls, glaring at his beer bottle’s mouth. “Like, did you see their hands? Hardly any callouses… and they were too smooth. Bet he never spent hours over a sink trying to wash motor oil outta his nailbeds.”

           Sam leans back in his seat, enjoying the spiral of his brother’s tirade. Although he’s not fully present watching him. Curiosity circling around a tiny thought. Like sharks homing in on discarded chum. Before he realizes it, Sam asks, “You don’t know. Maybe they had their own Baby?”

           Dean pauses mid-sentence, gaze drifting from the bottle to Sam. “What?”

           “Just saying…” Sam shrugs, stringing together his next few words carefully. Uncomfortable with the dangerous glint shining in Dean’s eye. “There are probably an infinite number of universes – sorry… were. And on them, their own Dean and Sam. Maybe they had their own Baby’s?”

           “That better be a joke, Sammy,” Dean growls, sloshing some of his drink out of the bottle’s tiny mouth with how forcefully he points it at him. The splash nearly wets Sam’s knuckles. “You cannot even compare Baby to that – that… that mint green disgrace those losers showed up in.”

           “I wasn’t trying to compare!”

           “Because there’s only one Baby.” Dean can sense he overreacts, the ferociousness twinging his voice surprising him alongside Sam. He cannot contain the fire raging inside. “She’s special, and she’s unique, and she’s ours. There might’ve been a million you’s, and there might’ve been a million me’s… but throughout all of existence, no matter what Earth, there’s only one Baby!”

Earth-16

           Dean tosses two Jack’s, face-down, “Two twos –“

           “Bullshit!”

           He glares at Sam, dimples like craters on his cheeks. “You sure about that?” Dean asks, fanning his cards out. “You think I couldn’t have two twos in my hand? Or,” he gestures at the pile, “do you want all these cards?”

           Sam levels his own stare at Dean, dialing up the contempt. “Dean, I played four two’s three rounds ago – if you were paying attention you’d’ve known that. So, pick… them… up!” He barks fake laughter on beat, although it quickly becomes genuine as Dean gathers the pile. They’d gone the entire game without calling each other out, practically the whole deck was in Dean’s grip.

           The last few cards were in Sam’s hand. But not for long.

           He slides three cards down, grinning. “Three sevens.”

           “Dammit!” The cards spill onto the table, a few falling over the edge. Dean’s body sags, head dangling between his legs. “I can’t believe I lost!”

           “Serves you right for trying to trick me. Twos… what were they anyway?”

           “Jacks.”

           “Why wouldn’t you just say that, then?”

           “Because the game’s boring when you tell the truth all the time!” Dean drags tired hands down his face, pulling at his skin. “Out of all the chances you had to call bullshit, just when I was so close…” He slaps the table, mood reversing immediately. “Let’s play again. Best three out of five!”

           Sam sighs in agreement, gathering the cards. Except, as he does, a shadow steps into view. Someone reaches forward and slaps his hands, forcing him to drop the cards. More falls onto the floor. Hissing, Sam glances up at the intruder.

           Rufus stands over them, brow arched wryly. “No more games, you two,” he orders, “you were supposed to start cleaning a half-hour ago.” He kicks the bucket filled with supplies near Dean’s chair, almost toppling it over. It wobbles, sound echoing around them. “Get to it,” Rufus says, walking away, “And when you’re done, do a full inventory check.”

           “Rufus!” Dean yells at his retreating figure, “You know I restock her after every call!”

           “You think that makes a difference? Full inventory check – and I want the report on my desk.” Rufus ends the conversation, bounding up the stairs towards the second floor. Undoubtedly hiding away until the alarms blare and spurs them all into action.

           Dean folds his arms across his chest, huffing. “Don’t know why we gotta wash her again,” he mutters, “I washed, dried, and detailed Baby this morning!”

           “Yeah,” Sam says, gathering the cards again, “but we were out earlier, at that apartment fire?”

           “We weren’t close enough for ash to get on her roof.”

           “Then maybe he’s doing this because he caught you fooling around in her body the other night,” Sam reminds Dean, standing. He throws the box of cards at his brother, snickering at how he fumbles the catch. He places it down with a grumble. “Why you thought you’d get away with it…”

           Dean rises, too, blush creeping up his neck past his blue, uniform collar. “I was making sure her vitals were okay, that’s all…”

           It’s a poor excuse; they both know it. He grabs for the bucket’s handle, hiding from Sam’s condemnation. “Sure.” They shuffle out the break room into the apparatus bay, passing by their fellow teammates enjoying down time. “But hopefully you’ll think twice before playing doctor.”

           “As if. I’m seeing her tonight. And,” Dean wiggles his fingers, grin wide on his face, “this time I’ll be helping her check for lumps on her breasts!”

           “Gross, what are you – fourteen?”

           “Dude, you’re just jealous…” Dean trails off as they pass the last fire truck and enter the ambulance territory. His face lights up in that special way when he catches sight of her, that eases the tension in his shoulders and injects more bounce in his step. No matter how much he might whine about caring for her, Sam knows Dean would gladly work overtime – has worked overtime – in keeping her in top shape. Their home away from home, where they travel the city helping those in need.

           Dean knew her longer. Told stories about his assigned truck over dinners, in his free time, and whenever Sam had free time when studying for his exams. Sam never truly understood how an ambulance could leave such an impact on one man. Why he’d give her a nickname, and say it so fondly. It was a car. A means to and end. Drives them where they need and nothing more. But then Rufus chose Sam for his squad, made him and Dean partners.

           Then it made sense. She wasn’t an ambulance. Baby – Dean’s affectionate nickname for her – was part of the team. The third member of their operation. Without her, they’d be ineffective. Once, after a gnarly crash that took Baby out of commission for a month while they repaired her, they drove another in the interim.

           It didn’t handle right. Dean found the clutch sticking every now and then, the pedals squeaky. Sam’s response time doubled because he couldn’t remember where the necessary instruments were. Working inside that replacement was hell, and there were too many close calls.

           When they saw Baby waiting, almost brand new, during their next shift, both he and Dean nearly broke down. Dean denies it, but he let a few tears slip free.

           Luckily, since then, they haven’t been separated. Through squad rotations, disasters, and aging, none of them felt ready for retirement.

           “Y’know,” Dean says, wiping at her front window. Sam on the other side, doing the same to her mirror. “I was wondering… how’d Baby look if she were painted black?”

           “Black?” Sam asks, “Why black?”

           “Dunno… it’d be cool, right?”

           “It’d be ominous as fuck, Dean.” Sam’s lips pinch, holding back laughter. “How’d you feel if you were bleeding out and a large, black truck came speeding at you?”

           Dean winces, picturing the image. “Yeah, okay… I get it.” He steps away from Baby, tossing the rag over his shoulder. “Still be cool, though.” Clapping, he looks at Sam. “So, do you want to do the inventory or should I?”

           “Rufus was clearly talking to you when he said that.”

           “But you’re the one who spends all his time back there. I should be calibrating the brakes, making sure her on-board systems are synced, y’know…”

           Sam glowers, slapping her hood with another rag. “Dean, I am not doing your work for you.”

           “But Sam –“!

           Ringringringringringringringringringringring

           The apparatus bay becomes awash in a flurry of activity. Firefighters scrambling from their posts, jumping into their uniforms. Both Dean and Sam scan the room as it seems like the entire building rushes for the exits.

           Dean brushes a gentle hand across Baby’s hood. “Guess Rufus’ll have to wait for that inventory report.”

           Sam agrees. The three of them have lives to save.

Earth-84b

           Dean closes his eyes as the wind hits his face, savoring its caress. His feet push off the pedals, legs stretched straight while they roll down the hill. He can hear Sam’s ragged breathing in front of him, still cycling. “Dean,” he growls, “stop fooling around and help. A bicycle built for two means it needs two people to work it.”

           “I know,” he says, “I’m the one who bought Baby. Not you.”

           The curve of the hill flattens out, and Dean blinks his eyes open. He resumes pedaling, chasing the high that only comes from riding Baby with his brother on a perfect, summer day.

Earth-1 A-corn

           Dean knows the human toy takes up space in his nest he could use for storing more nuts. The oblong piece of plastic serves no function and draws blank stares whenever other squirrels visit his nest. But he dares not throw it away.

           Seeing the toy brings him as much joy as it did when he first laid eyes on it one afternoon, spying on little humans. Captivated him, put Dean under its spell. When the two were called back by an even larger human, Dean scurried forward. Sniffed it. Laid a paw on its wheel and spun it. Hearing the click and whir made him giggle. As the wheel’s spinning petered out, Dean came to a decision.

           He carried the toy home, where it has become a part of his family. And every member of Dean’s family deserves a name.

           So, he calls her Baby.

Earth-R0ck

           “Where in the bloody hell can your brother be?”

           Sam shrugs, spinning his drumsticks in hand. “I saw him chatting up that reporter from Rolling Stones on our way out from the venue…”

           Crowley stops, pressing his phone against his shoulder. No doubt trying Dean’s number again. “Rolling Stone?” he hisses, “And why didn’t you stay with him?”

           “Wasn’t that kind of interview…” Sam saw the glint in Dean’s eye, shifting back into his stage persona as he strode over towards the blonde with the press pass. She didn’t look too impressed with his brother, but Dean charmed stiffer lips. He only hopes his brother doesn’t bring her back to the bus for a quickie. Sam would prefer not being locked out in the bitter cold.

           Like they are now.

           “Why your brother insists on keeping the keys…” Crowley mutters, rolling his eyes. He holds his phone up once more, flicking it off with a heavy scowl. “I’m going to go find him. And if I have to see his naked ass, balls deep in this reporter, then I’m dropping you two as my clients.”

           Sam calls to his departing figure. “No you won’t!” He chuckles at Crowley’s one-finger salute, watching the shorter British man enter the club.

           A beat passes, drumming the air. If needed, he could wait there until Dean finishes or Crowley brings him back with blue balls. But he feels something land on his head. And another. Then, on his nose.

           Snowflakes.

           “Damn…”

           The flurry shows no signs of stopping. Increasing with each passing minute. When white powder dusts his shoulders, Sam makes a decision. He rises, shaking snow off of him. “Sorry about this Baby,” Sam says, patting the section of their bus where her name was spray-painted, “but I’m gonna get a little handsy.”

           This was not the first time Sam said this. Nor did what he does now. When the brothers were first starting out in their band, and all they had were their instruments and Baby, Dean had an abandonment issue. Finding fans in the audience and following them home, keys still on him as he wouldn’t let anyone drive Baby but him. If Sam couldn’t find his own bed for the night, then it’d be him and the asphalt.

           Until he learned this neat little trick.

           Sam wedges the backdoor open, easing it. Making sure the hinges don’t break. Assured Baby is fine, Sam starts shoving their equipment through. “How many years,” he growls, rolling his drum, “and I haven’t made a duplicate key yet?”

           The drums were hard but loading Dean’s guitar takes seconds. Sam steps onto the bus, halfway in, when he hears his brother, “What did you do?”

           He looks behind him. Dean, ruffled and fuming, stands next to an equally displeased Crowley. Sam smirks, fully lifting himself into the bus. “I got tired of waiting.” Shutting the door on Dean’s yelling, Sam settles in for a drive filled with shouting, cursing, and more shouting. If he’s lucky, he’ll be asleep soon.

Earth-1969

           Dean’s grip on his wheel tightens, negativity surfacing despite the groovy music, chill vibes, and the sweet smell of grass that drifts about the cabin. “Seriously,” he mutters, watching another group of people traipse by from the driver’s seat, “we’ve been here for over an hour. How have we not moved yet?”

           “Dude relax…” Sam chuckles from the back, sprawled across the shag carpeting they installed weeks before, gutting most of the van’s interior for greater mobility. Joint dangling out of his loose grip, “We’ll get there when we get there.”

           “Easy for you to say…” He shifts his attention from behind to the traffic again. An inch of space opened, but Dean keeps their van stationary. Doesn’t expect a miracle like traffic clearing up any time soon. Dean sighs, dragging his legs up and onto the dashboard. Stretches out until his toes poke at the windshield. Reaching into the back, he curls his fingers. “Let me have some.”

           “What’s the magic word, Dean?”

           “Quit stallin’ – I bought the damn grass, Sammy!”

           Sam pokes his head up, dropping the joint in his waiting hand. “It was please. You knew that.” He rests his chin near the other headrest, sighing. “Do you think you’ll be this pissy when we get there? Or will you let yourself enjoy the concert?”

           Dean sucks down his hit, hissing a breath between clenched teeth. “I’m sure it’ll be a real gas, Sammy… if we ever get there.”

           They’d been looking forward to this the entire summer. This being Woodstock. Three days of peace, love, music… and people. Too many people. Probably half the country, Dean thinks, taking another hit. All the other kids like Sam and Dean who traversed great lengths for a taste of freedom. Escaping from under the oppressive thumb of the man.

           Their ‘man’ went by the name John Winchester. When he heard where the brothers were headed, he was anything but pleased; actually, he forbid them from leaving. Confiscated Dean’s keys and grounded them.

           He did not go far enough, given how he and Sam idled a few miles outside Bethel. Dean stole back his Baby’s keys and left a little special treat for John. One good trip deserves another, and maybe once they return their father will be in a better mood. Groovier. More attuned with a higher plane of existence.

           Although Dean wishes he kept some of that acid on him. Reaching a higher plane sounds pretty nice. Emptier, too.

           “Hey,” Sam shakes him from his reflection, “look at what they’re doing!” He points past Dean, finger bending against the windshield near his feet. A car drives off the road and onto a nearby shoulder. It rolls to a stop, doors flung open as an entire tribe pours free. They gather their bags and join the crowds pouring through the cracks between cars. Like fish swimming upstream. Swimming home. “Maybe we should do that, too?”

           Dean scowls, pushing Sam’s arm out of his way. “Like hell I’m abandoning Baby!”

           “She’ll be fine, Dean. There’s no way she can get hurt here…” Sam drops both his hands on Dean’s bare shoulders, kneading the skin there. After taking the joint back from him, though, and biting on the end. “How can anyone get hurt – feel bad or… or do harm – when we’re this close to paradise?”

           It’s a convincing argument. Dean resists being swayed easily, however.

           He cannot leave Baby on her own. Not after everything they’ve been through. Not the first real thing that is his.

           Dean spotted her on his twentieth birthday. Taking a break from work, bumming a joint from his co-worker Ash, they watched Bobby haul in a wrecked van with his rusty tow. She creaked and groaned, sparks trailing behind as her bumper scraped the ground. Ash nudged him, chuckling, “She’s a piece of work, ain’t she?”

           He agreed, for a different reason. Time stretched at that moment, seconds passing like days. Dean felt a powerful force shake the core of his very being, Bobby bringing her close enough that his gaze caught both her headlights. She called out.

           And he answered.

           “It’s not like she’ll be doing good, sitting out there – collecting dust with the other scrap,” he argued. Paced Bobby’s office, fingers twitching through his hair while detailing all the reasons he deserved the wrecked van. “And you can take out whatever parts I use in repairing her from my pay. Hell, I can work on her overtime and you don’t have to give me shit.”

           Bobby steepled his fingers together, slouching in his chair. Face impassive while he absorbed Dean’s rambling. His silence exacerbated his nerves, Dean tasting copper from how hard he bit his lips. Finally, Bobby sighed. “I was gonna use her for scrap,” he says, standing, “but if you can get the ol’ gal working… she’s yours. Besides, ‘bout time you had something other than that pansy ass bicycle you got.”

           “Thank you, Bobby, thanks…” Emotion swelled from within, Dean at a loss for words. Instead, he threw his arms around his boss, squeezing him tight. “Thank you.” Jumping off, he fled the room. “I promise, she’ll be perfect!”

           That began a beautiful, but maddening, relationship.

           She was on his mind all the time. If Dean were working on another car, he wondered if she would need the same maintenance. While eating dinner, he thought about the many joints he could swing by for a quick bite. A few times, while in the throes of LSD, he envisioned her appearing in front of him. Honking, revving an engine he hadn’t fixed – her ways of communicating. During one of these trips, she told him her name.

           “Baby?” Sam asked, sitting on the ground a few feet from where Dean worked. Pencil in hand, midway through a sketch. “She told you her name was Baby?”

           Dean poked his head out the hood, wiping at sweat camping above his brow. “Yeah. I mean… don’t know why I didn’t see it before. She looks like a Baby, y’know?”

           “Whatever.” Sam continued drawing, bangs falling over his face, “Hey, you think you can get her working by Sunday night? Heard there’s a party downtown, and the band they booked will be far out.”

           “Maybe if you lend a hand?”

           Sam ignored Dean’s pleas for help. Dean carried on, not expecting an answer. His brother never had the talent for cars like he did. Honed under Bobby’s gruff tutelage. He left his mark on Baby in his own way, painting a psychedelic landscape across her body after the mechanics and interior were finished.

           Together, they brought new life to a magnificent beauty. She repays them by delivering them where they need.

           Which, if they left her now, would be like a betrayal. Baby had already been cast aside once, on her deathbed. Dean cannot leave her. Even if the first day of Woodstock arrives and they were still in this same place.

           “Dean…”

           “I can’t, Sam,” Dean winces, fiddling with his pendant. Shifts, feet on the pedals again. “I just… yeah, nothing should happen. Can’t help think that…” He trails off, gazing out the window. Thoughts disappearing, burned up from the radiant light of an angel who deigned catch his stare.

           He’s gorgeous. Mussed, raven hair, blue eyes tinged red from grass, and a frumpy, suede jacket marked with scratches and scuff marks. The man briefly passes the door, one of the many walking. He smiles, then carries on conversing with his friend.

           Sam waves a hand in front of Dean, breaking the connection. “Dean?” he asks, “Hey, hey Dean? You okay there? …This was some weak shit, brother, shouldn’t hit you too bad.”

           “What? No… it wasn’t – wasn’t the grass, dude.”

           “Then what?”

           “I…” Dean tries finding his angel, sees him being swallowed by others. Soon he’ll be gone. And it’d be in fates hands whether they meet again. Unless…

           Suddenly the song on the radio fades, replaced by another. It’s one Dean doesn’t recognize; the station name is as unfamiliar. At some point the signals must have switched, a notorious problem Baby has. He listens as the melody begins, building to the chorus. The chorus plays, and Dean knows. And he smiles.

           Dean pulls over, shifting into park. Sam tumbles from the sudden jerk, “What are you doing?”

           “Parking, Sam. Don’t you know?” He takes the keys, shoving them in his pocket. “We’re gonna walk the rest of the way.”

           Sam blinks, smoke creeping past his lips. “Why the change of heart?”

           “It’s like the song, Sam… everything’s gonna be all right!” Dean hops out of Baby, Sam clambering alongside him through the side door. “Come on, let’s get going!”

           “What about our stuff?”

           “We’ll come back for it later – come on.” He drags his brother off the grassy patch and onto the hot pavement. The fleeting regret of not grabbing his shoes flits by, feet burning with every step, but he grows accustomed soon enough. They enter the meandering pack, Dean looking back at Baby one last time.

           She waits there, encouraging him forward. Always.

Earth-G00-g4

           Sammy rocks with the motion of this strange, red box he’s sat in, crawling along slowly. Older brother Dean grunting as he tugs on the handle. “We’re almoth there, Thammy,” he says, stopping, the bright red box rolling into his legs. Jostling Sammy as it stops. “Juth a few more blockth.” Dean looks behind at him, bright smile encouraging one on Sammy’s face. He gurgles and claps his hands together, bouncing. “That’s right! Get pumped! If we’re gonna take down those monthers, we’ll need t’be ready!”

           He has no concept of what Dean means when he talks about ‘monthers’. But from what he gleans, Sammy thinks it’s a game they’ll be playing. Reinforced as he notices the busted fire hydrant they always pass when visiting the park with Mommy.

           Vibrating now, Sammy shakes the red box. Babbling, going on about how excited he is for whatever game Dean thought up.

           Dean gnaws on his lip with the one front tooth still in his mouth. “Careful with Baby, Sammy… you’re gonna tip her over!”

Earth-10k

           “…with state-of-the-art tracking upgrades, undetectable weapons systems, and the most fuel-efficient engine the geniuses in R&D spent weeks agonizing over,” Dean slaps the roof of the pale teal smart car parked among rows of sleek, shiny, luxury vehicles, “Baby Number Twenty-Three is prepped and ready for our next hunt.”

           Sam snorts, raising his glass in celebration. “That’s all well and good, Dean… but can we still get NPR?”

           “Still get NPR?” Dean giggles, lips stretched in a tight, droll grin. “Samuel, the dashboard computer has an entire library filled with NPR’s back catalogue that we can listen to without a signal.”

           “Good. Then we won’t be stuck listening to classic rock like during our last stakeout.”

           “Ugh, don’t remind me. I’m still trying to scrub my memory of the awful noise.”

           “Took me three hours with some freeform jazz. Why don’t we put that on while we finish up this bubbly?”

           Dean agrees, leaning through the window and hitting a button. Saxophones, trumpets, and an enchanting snare drum pour from the speakers. He sighs, leaning back out. “Now this… this is music.”

           Sam reaches across the roof, tipping his glass. “Here, here.” Dean brings his own glass close. Clink!

Earth-783

           Baby’s retired, but still loved. Hangs proudly on a wall between framed photographs of a young John Winchester, standing beside her on the beach with medals draped around his neck. Taken down whenever she loses her luster, and either Dean or Sam wax the shine back on her sleek, black wood.

           Years after John’s death, no one takes her on the waves. Out of respect: for her, their father, and the bond they shared. Nothing more sacred than the love of a surfer and his board. They own a variety of boards – collected them. Beautiful boards, expensive ones, and the special few that have earned the brothers trophies, medals, and titles.

           But there will only be one Baby.  

Earth-2390.45

           Sam waits by the open hangar doors, two beers in hand. Charlie stands nearby, binoculars held in shaky hands. “He’s cutting it a bit close, isn’t he?”

           “This is Dean we’re talking about,” he tells her, “you know how he gets when he’s up there.”

           “But he radioed in he was almost out of fuel! And that the left wing felt loose, and -”

           “He’ll be fine,” Sam says, nudging her. Charlie looks away from the skies, glaring at him. He offers her one of the beers. “You know it. How many times has he flown her?”

           She sighs, taking the drink. “Practically all his life…” Sipping at it, she frowns. Gestures wildly with her binoculars. “Still, I feel like recently he’s been taking too many risks. Making things more difficult than he needs!”

           “Maybe he has,” Sam shrugs, “maybe it’s gotten boring, doing the same thing day in and out. So what if he bends the rules a little.”

           “It matters when he could crash!”

           “No, Dean wouldn’t go that way.” Sam smiles, Baby’s shape growing as she descends. Silhouette sharpening, engine growing louder. “He might be pushing his limits. Seeing how he can handle different situations… but we both know how much he loves that plane. Dean’d never do anything that puts her in jeopardy.”

           Charlie hums. “I… guess your right.”

           “Although,” he amends, grinning at her. Baby skidding to a stop on the runway, advancing towards them, “you can definitely chew him out for all that, too.”

Earth-200

           Day after day, it’s the same routine. Sam and Dean return to their trailers at around four o’clock. They strip out of plaid shirts and denim, leaving their boxers and – if they were wearing them before – tanks on. For the next two hours, the brothers drift throughout the trailer while getting ready. Still undressed, powdering and painting their faces. Sometimes interrupted, like when one of their friends stops by for some quick gossip. Or Cas the fire swallower stops by, flirting with Dean as Sam perfects the curve of his eyebrow. If that runs long Sam will shoo him away with his wig, dragging Dean from the door.

           It’s one of those nights.

           “I don’t know why you won’t do anything,” Sam chuckles, fitting the rainbow curls over his head, “You two’ve been in love since we were kids.”

           Dean’s glare shines through his reflection, although the massive red make-up smeared across his lips and fake tears under his eyes reduce the effect. “Shut up,” he says, applying more rouge, “it’s not… he wouldn’t be interested in me like that. ‘Sides, his dad is our boss. Wouldn’t that be awkward?”

           “I think it’d be awkward if you didn’t,” he says, “if he’s anything like our folks, Bobby’s already planning your wedding.”

           “Shut up…”

           Sam adds the last touch, adhering his bulbous red nose with some glue. He studies his face in the vanity mirror, checking for any mistakes. There’s none. Years of practice meant his mind could wander aimlessly but his hand will ensure a clean, finished mask every time. A mask for the people. A mask of his heritage. A mask that transforms Sam Winchester into Sammy the Angry Clown, straight man of the Campbell Duo.

           Odd how, when he was younger, Sam never imagined a life like this. Like the one his parents’ imagined for him. Fought them at every turn, even applying for college. To become a lawyer. “A clown without the joy,” his dad called it.

           But that’s the past. Now, he’s climbing into his multi-colored pantsuit and stuffing his large feet into even larger shoes. Dean does the same, handing Sam some ruffles while he searches the trailer for his shoes. “Do you know where I put them?”

           “Check the chest,” Sam says, “I might’ve thrown them in there while cleaning.”

           “Why were you cleaning?”

           “To practice my unicycle.” Sam grabs some bowling pins stacked beside their sofa. “I didn’t want to trip over them and crash through the window… again.”

           Dean snorts, digging through the chest per Sam’s instructions. “That was your own fault. Wasn’t my magazine left splayed open on – found ‘em!” He pulls the floppy shoes free, waving them around. His accomplishment doesn’t last. Dean notices that the sole peels around the toe box, and by poking at the tear he rips it further. “Dammit… I’m gonna look like one of those hobo clowns.”

           “Why don’t you wrap some duct tape around your shoe,” Sam tells him, rising. “You’d still look like a hobo, but you won’t scare any kids with your funky feet.”

           “Funny. What are you… a clown?”

           “Takes one to know one, Dean!” Sam opens their trailer door, stepping outside, “I’m gonna go make sure our act’s ready. Why don’t you find me when you’re done getting ready?” Dean yells at him, Sam missing it as he lets the door slam behind him – cutting his brother off.

           He traipses through the field towards the main tent, nodding along whenever someone passed. Never staying for a conversation. The other acts and crew could see he was busy, juggling the bowling pins. Always practicing, always perfecting. Dedication to the craft both embedded in his DNA and taught early on. Gifts his parents gave.

           Like this. A small, yellow bug splattered with multi-colored spots and with multiple dents along her body. Her name messily scrawled on the driver’s side door – Baby. His father’s car, that he and his mom would perform in when they still clowned. The only thing John had of his father, that he passed on after hanging up the big, red shoes.

           Sam slows his juggling, catching the third pin on its last arc. He shuffles the trio into one hand while he lifts the trunk with his other. The rest of their supplies lie in wait, left in usual chaotic dysfunction. Dropping the pins, Sam mentally checks off each part of the routine as he inspects the props.

           Dean arrives halfway through, Sam handing off the giant, flake flower. He accepts it, pinning it on his tie. “Is it full?”

           “Yep,” Sam helps feed the tube through his collar, watching Dean tug it down until the pump sits at his wrist. Dean’s fingers twitch. “Don’t even think about it. Save it for the act.”

           “You’re no fun.”

           “That’s the act, isn’t it?” Sam chuckles, closing Baby’s trunk. “Or is your memory getting spotty in your age?”

           Dean rolls his eyes, shoving lightly at Sam. Sam responds in kind, nearly knocking Dean into some elephant dung no one cleaned up. He leans on Baby while he cackles, fighting the tears threatening to spill over. A nice distraction comes from Dean, who rams into his side. They streak over Baby, rolling off her and onto the hay-covered floor. Struggling, drawing the attention of everyone dawdling backstage.

           They dirty their outfits some, but there’s enough time before the show starts. Sam expected some mishap, schedule built-in with extra time for unforeseen accidents or brotherly spats.

           Day after day, it’s the same. He and Dean will cram into this tiny car, shoulders aching from how they press against each other. Packed in like sardines. Waiting for the musical cut that will send them into the ring. They’ll circle and circle while the audience claps, stopping when the tiny amount of gas in Baby’s tank runs dry. Then their long legs will unfold, stepping out under the spotlight.

           The act begins, and Sam cannot fathom a life without the roar of the crowd, his brother by his side, and their family’s chariot. Without laughter.

Earth-4499

           Providence seems more a dream than an actual destination. Especially after they sacrificed one of their oxen for meat, their reserves dangerously low.

           “Don’t worry, Sam,” Dean says, rubbing his shoulder, “we still got the other. And Baby. We’ll be in Oregon by November!”

           Sam doubts that, the fall chill cutting through their thin button-downs. His temperament was not aided by an earlier stumble in some mud, robbing him of dry shoes. Right now, he bundles another blanket around his bare feet; shuddering a ghostly breath while Dean whips the ox forward.

           Baby, their large Conestoga, might look sturdy. But her wheels creak more with each passing day. From an outsider’s perspective, she looks safe. They would be shocked hearing how, when fording a river, she tipped. Brothers nearly drowning under her weight. She might appear warm. But Sam’s frostbitten fingers and red nose prove its faults.

           Dean wouldn’t part with her for a better model, however. “She’s family, Sam,” Dean says, “When ma and pa set forth, all they had was her. We’ll do the same.”

           Sentimentality might be their downfall. Soon, Baby won’t be a wagon. Nor will she be a reminder of their home. Baby will be their coffins.

           Sam sneezes, and hopes it’s the only one for the day. His rumbling stomach already offers its own worries.

Earth-92

           Days like these Dean wishes he kept working. Jack kept kicking his seat, an arrhythmic pattern that forces his lips into a stern frown. And between his crying and Claire’s complaining, Dean misses most of what his husband says. “Can you please repeat that?” he asks, spinning the dial towards its highest setting.

           “I said,” Cas’s voice booms, Dean wincing from the sound, “That the doctor called my cell. He was able to fit me in Saturday at four. You’re not using the car, then, right?”

           “No, I –“

           “Jack! Stop it, you can’t have my phone while I’m using it!”

           “I wanna turn! I wanna turn!”

           “One moment…” He eases the brake pedal, slowing before the red light. Then, Dean whips around to face his children. “Jack, Claire, can you please keep the volume down while your pop and I are talking?”

           Claire huffs, leaning forward. Out of Jack’s reach, his youngest straining in the car seat for her phone. She types on it, not looking at him. “Tell that to Jack. I’m talking with Alex.”

           “Won’t you be seeing her in five minutes anway?”

           “It’s important –“

           Someone honks from behind them. Dean checks the traffic light, seeing green instead of red. “Shi-shoot.” He switches pedals, watching the road again. “Claire, give Jack one of his toys and put your phone away.”

           Claire groans, stomping her foot. “Why should I?”

           “If he can’t see it, he won’t want it.” After a moment’s silence, Dean checks the rearview mirror. She disobeys him, still using it. “Claire, I swear if you don’t put that away I’m driving us home.”

           “But dad –“

           “Don’t ‘but dad’ me, baby girl. Away.” Tone stern, he glimpses her shove the phone in her gym bag. Then grabs a dropped toy nearby. Dean sighs, focusing ahead of him – and on his husband. “Sorry about that.”

           “No need,” Cas chuckles, papers shuffling in the background, “I enjoy it when you’re the bad cop. It doesn’t happen every day…”

           “Because I hate it,” he grumbles, checking his blind spot while switching lanes, “so when you get home, ground Claire.”

           “Why?”

           “I don’t know. Make one up, and then I can talk you out of punishing her and be the good cop again.”

           “Dads, you know I can hear you, right?”

           “Quiet sweetie, adults are talking!” Dean hits his blinkers, making the left turn when appropriate. “So, the doc’s got you coming in that late? Is it important?” Nerves make his voice crack on the last word, and Dean hates how it does.

           Cas hums from the other end, Dean imagining his husband’s pinched expression while he chooses his words carefully. To not worry him. “She mentioned something cholesterol. I think she wants to see me about my diet.”

           “If that’s all,” Dean says, drumming his fingers along the wheel, “you better not sell me down the river.”

           “I’ll try not to, but if she asks why I eat an abnormal amount of sweets I’ll have to be honest.” Cas laughs, Dean’s chest warming from the volume. At this volume, it feels like the soundwaves wrap him in a warm blanket. “Oh, I have to go. Your brother’s pointing at his watch from outside my office. I think we’re supposed to have a meeting?”

           “Then what are you still doing on the phone?”

           “Telling you and Jack and Claire that I love you. All of you. And Claire, good luck at practice today!”

           “Thanks, dad!”

           He hangs up, Dean lowering the volume before the radio comes back and deafens them. Unfortunately, he wishes it would. Because as Cas disappeared, his children’s bickering started up again. Jack upset that Cas didn’t wish him ‘good luck’. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t taking a karate class, nor comprehended what the concept of luck was. Claire received well wishes, he didn’t, and that is what he took away from the call.

           They worked Dean’s last nerve. His vision blurred from the stress, Jack’s tantrum doubling in its fury. He drove on autopilot, too busy keeping calm. Finally, after Jack’s figure was thrown and hit the front windshield, Dean felt the straw rip. At the next red light, Dean acted.

           “That’s it,” he turned, leaning into the second row. Claire and Jack stopped fighting immediately, staring at him with wide eyes. Dean must look crazed, but he cannot care enough to soften his features. Their fighting ripped off the warm blanket Cas’s voice provided, and he was chilled from the sudden exposure. “You two will sit quietly for the rest of the ride, otherwise when we get home it’s dinner and nothing else. Got it?” Claire nods sullenly, Jack fighting tears welling under his eyes. Dean’s heart seizes seeing his son upset, and that helps break frenzy fogging his senses. “I’m sorry for blowing up like that,” Dean says, calmer, “but when daddy’s behind the wheel he needs to concentrate. Otherwise people can get hurt. We could get hurt. And nothing would make me feel worse than if either of you kids were hurt because of me. I love you both too much to let that happen, okay? So please… be good?”

           “Okay, daddy…” Jack sniffles, wiping at his eyes, “sorry…”

           “Thank you, Jack.”

           Dean retakes the wheel as the light turns green. It’s a block from Claire’s dojo, Dean readying his blinker. When he hits the gas, however, the car stays still.

           By the time he realizes that, a semi-truck speeds through the intersection. Blowing its red light. Dean chokes back his curse, cars honking around him.

           “Dad?” Claire asks, pitching forward in her seat, “Dad, what happened?”

           “The uh… the car…” Dean steps on the gas pedal again, working now. He slowly inches through, drifting towards the first open space he finds. When parked, Dean’s composure fractures completely. Shattering into dust that piles in the footwell.

           They were almost… that truck – it’s idiot driver – almost totaled their car. Did the very thing he warned Jack and Claire about. Images of bent metal, crumpled bodies, and blood cause the bile in his stomach to threateningly react. He squeezes his eyes, breathing deep until those pictures are replaced with soothing blankness. Counting, using the tricks his therapist imparted after his last big crash all those years ago. Getting his mind off the what could have happened and onto what did.

           He’s safe. His kids, Claire and Jack, they’re safe. The car is –

           The car. Dean hit the gas pedal but it didn’t budge.

           At the dealer, when Dean searched for a new car after his old lease was up, the salesman hyped up all the new features. Sam listened with a skeptical ear, always asking questions. The right ones. Ones that made Dean feel smarter about his choices. He was in the car, too, with Dean and John. That fateful night.

           “And this new safety feature?” Sam asked, dragging his hand along the black hood, “how exactly does it work?”

           The salesman pointed at the front bumper. “It’s got built in sensors that are connected to the dashboard system. If it detects any danger, it can react faster than a human could. So if you and your husband –“

           “Brother.”

           “Right, brother, sorry, were driving –“

           “This is his car. Not mine.”

           “Well… if he’s driving, and he’s distracted because of something. And doesn’t see a pedestrian coming. Maybe a kid chasing a ball into the street… the car would stop for him.”

           Dean knew which car he was leasing, then. Waiting for the sales pitch to wrap up so he can sign the three-year contract. A year in, though, Dean might screw the lease and buy the car fully. Make her the last Baby they ever get.

           The Baby that survived.

Earth-32

           Sam slams on the wheel, cursing as their car sputters off the road and onto untouched gravel. “No! No no no…”

           “Sam!” Dean turns in his seat, gun still smoking. “Why’d you stop?”

           “I didn’t,” he tells his brother, punching the wheel. It honks, rolling somewhat. Inching forward. “Damn car’s broken.”

           Dean scowls, gun tilting dangerously towards him. “Don’t you talk about Baby like that.”

           If there were time, Sam would calmly tiptoe through an apology while explaining what he meant in a manner Dean’s sensitive ego would appreciate. Unfortunately, Sam can hear the sirens approaching. And dust from the barren plains rides the gust, stinging his eyes. Compound his irritation from Baby’s fit. Meaning he accepts Dean’s twitching trigger finger without worry. “I don’t think we’re getting out of this.”

           “Yes we are,” Dean says. He shoves the gun at Sam, jerking a thumb behind him. “Switch with me. She just needs a more practiced hand s’all.” While rounding the dark grey Ford, Sam stares into the distance. Red and blue flash, appearing over the curve. Dean ignores them, whispering for only his Baby. “I knew I should’ve been at the wheel. Even if it meant we were cutting it close.” Sam enters as Dean tries the ignition again.

           Baby coughs, struggles, and then falls silent.

           “No,” Dean groans, anger heavying his tone, “don’t be mad at me, girl. It’s me. Ol’ Dean…”

           Sam thinks up a silent prayer. Sends it off in case there were angels listening. “Dean,” he says, laying a hand on his brother.

           “We’ll be okay,” he lies, grin laughable despite how hard he tries. “We’ve been in worse scrapes before… always got out. Just another story for the news to run s’all. Winchester Brothers escape once more with their spoils, baffling pig cops and the king of sows himself, Ness…” Dean keeps up turning the keys. She doesn’t even feign a response at this point.

           “Dean.” Sam tears Dean’s hands away. They’re shaking. Or maybe he is. Both of them are, knowing what waits them in the next few minutes. “It’s okay.”

           Dean stares at his lap, tears threatening to spill. Like all his life, Dean reels them back before they can fall. “You think this was how we were gonna go out?”

           “Always feared it might happen,” Sam admits, checking the ammunition in Dean’s tommy. Half-spent. “But I guess it’s par for the course when you do what we do. Did you?”

           “No,” he shrugs, “even know it doesn’t feel… real, y’know? How could this happen to us? Dean and Sam – they called us the Untouchables. We’re fucking legends.”

           “Maybe we weren’t the legends we thought, then.” A depressing thought that makes Dean slump further into his seat. Sam can see the sirens without turning his head, cars skidding in their approach surrounding them. He reaches for his gun, past the bags of money, and tosses it. Dean catches the heavier weapon. “But if we are… let’s hope there’s truth in that saying. About legends never dying.”

           “Winchesters!” a deep, gravelly voice shouts from outside. Eliot Ness no doubt. “Come out with your hands up! If you make this easy on yourselves, I promise we can put you up in a nice pad behind bars where you belong!”

           Dean looks past Sam out the window. Probably at Ness, himself. Meeting his stare. A tension existed there that went far beneath their professions and duties. He glances at Sam, “At least we’re going together.”

           “Let’s give ‘em hell.”

           Sam fires two shots as he exits the car. Dean barely opened the driver’s side door. Bullets rained upon them like a maelstrom, piercing them. Turning them into dust like that which they came from.

           It comes in moments. Sam being held in Dean’s arms as their farmhouse burnt in front of them, mother lost. A drunk father who could barely raise a decent crop when America thrived. Days and days spent with a nose buried in books. When he took breaks from those, Dean made sure he lived life. Swimming in creeks, riding horses. Asking girls on dates after his brother talked him up.

           Loans on the family property eating away at his father, more than the booze ever did. Burying him in a shallow plot near their mother. Losing the farm, thumbing across the country alongside every other victim of this Depression.

           The hunger, the sleeplessness – the bank manager with poor temperament and slippery fingers. Their first robbery. So unpracticed, he and Dean only found their getaway car after committing the crime. Stealing her, too.

           She was more than a car, though. She was home when the heat was scalding, and getting a room risked their lives. She was a symbol, of Dean and Sam, of their notoriety. She was their friend, helping them sort through issues.

           Fitting, that when she died, so did they.

           He blinks, feeling lightheaded. Body sluggish from blood loss. A shadow steps forward, bending, revealing Ness’s tanned face. Ness removes his hat, scanning Sam’s limp figure.

           “Seemed a lot taller in the reports…”

Earth-81a

           Dean polishes Baby’s handles one last time, loving how she glints in the sunlight. He rocks on his heels until gravity tips him over, forcing him onto his ass. Leans back, hands resting on asphalt as he pulls his knees towards his chest.

           “Hey,” Sam calls, “who said you were done?”

           He ignores his brother, staring at his beautiful Baby. “I am done, Sammy,” he drawls, “look at her… she can’t get any more perfect.”

           Sam scowls, rag draped over Baby’s sidecar window. “Why don’t you help with this, then?”

           “No way,” Dean chuckles, “not how it works. Y’know the rules: whoever rode Baby last cleans Baby, and sidecar…”

           “Cleans sidecar…” Sam finishes, dunking the rag in a nearby bucket. Water sloshes and spills from the force of it. “Dumb rule though,” he mumbles, “especially when you purposefully drove through that mud pit.”

           He grins, “There was no avoiding it!”

           It’s not the truth, but neither feel the need to expose it.

           Dean spotted the mud while idling at a red light, Sam busy scrolling through his tablet. Reading about a possible case in Texas, where hikers were washing ashore with holes in their chests. Construction went on nearby, piling the mud as they excavated a water-logged field.

           He took a detour. Drove particularly close, waving at the construction workers while doing so. Sam yelped, frozen, mud sloshing against the sidecar. Some spilling into his lap and coating his sleeve. Then Dean sped past, hiding his laughter with Baby’s engine. Gaze pulled from the road every few seconds as Sam’s disgust proved too distracting.

           Served him right, though. Dean balanced the scales, retribution for when Sam glued a suggestive sign on his helmet when he sat in the sidecar. Only realizing when they stopped for lunch three states deep.

           “Why’d you do that,” he hissed, crumpling the notecard in his shaking fist; ‘I DO ANAL’ unintelligible from his strangling.

           “What?” Sam poorly hid his pride behind a milkshake, shoulders shaking, “It’s not wrong.”

           Dean spent longer than expected sifting through memories. Wading out of his mind, he sees Sam standing. “You done?”

           “No,” he says, picking up the bucket, “but I’m tired. Think I’m gonna take a nap.”

           Nodding, Dean focuses on Baby again. Drawing him from her was hard, especially after cleanings. “Dump that then, since you’re done.”

           “Okay…”

           Splash! Cold water races down his shirt, fabric sticking. He shudders a harsh breath, gasping from the shock of both the water and Sam’s action. His jaw hangs open, Dean slowly turning his head. Sam above with a terrible smile on his face. Innocent in name only. “You…”

           “Have fun with that, Dean!” He drops the bucket, scurrying for the motel room. Dean jumps, sliding somewhat from the suds. A tiny obstacle that impacts him greatly, Dean reaching Sam when the motel door closes. Slamming against it, Dean bangs and bangs.

           “Sammy! You open that up!”

           “Sorry, Dean, I can’t hear you! I’m sleeping!”

           Minutes seem like hours, Dean pounding the door until he gives up. Slinks back, defeated. Seeking comfort in a familiar shape.

           He stretches across Baby’s seat, careful of his still-dripping clothes. Dean caresses her front light, sight, “Sam’s a big ol’ meanie… leaving him high and wet out in the cold… what are we gonna do to him next?”

Earth-406

           It’s simple work, but it’s good work. It’s their work.

           “Help me with this,” Dean says, motioning Sam over. His brother adjusts his cap, tucking flyaway back under while he crosses the deck. Dean, bent, fingers slipping on the heavy net, breathes a sigh of relief when Sam latches on. “Three, okay? One… two… three.”

           They haul their catch over the edge, fish fighting the entire time. Their hands were whacked with tails and bit by snapping jaws, but they stayed firm. Pulling the rest of their haul up until all the fish flopped and died.

           “Whoa…” Sam wipes his brow, picking up one of the fish, “these are huge. You sure Cas didn’t find this place near a toxic waste dump?”

           Dean huffs, “Maybe they’re on whatever diet’s made you so big and strong?” Sam shoves at him, nearly forcing him off the boat as his foot slips. The fish underneath him taking revenge. He grabs Baby’s edge, catching himself. “Keep laughing, Sammy,” Dean drawls, glaring at his brother, “but how funny would it’ve been if I fell overboard and you had to do this all by yourself?”

           “You’d’ve just gotten wet, drama queen.” Sam clears fish away with his feet, pushing them into piles they can easily manage. “Now quit playing around. We’ve got to get these packed away before they spoil. Otherwise this whole trip’d been a waste.”

           He rolls his eyes but does as instructed.

           Packing fish into Baby’s large cooler went by fast, Dean’s autopilot guiding him. Dean and Sam could do this while sleeping, so comfortable with these tasks. Having been on the sea since they were little, helping their father work on his boat. They did their homework on Baby, played on Baby, and when John took her far beyond usual paths, slept in Baby.

           When he grew too old, he passed her onto those he knew would treat her right. Those who can uphold the family business. Men who have been fishing for all their lives.

           It’s simple work, but it’s good work. It’s their work.

Earth-0

           Sal finds his irritation fading when he sees his brother, Dean, stride towards a familiar car. “Dude,” he says, eyes widening in shock, “is that -?”

           “Yep,” Dean answers, stroking his hand lovingly across her hood, “I’m glad you didn’t forget Baby.”

           How could he? They both grew up in her, the blue 1965 Mustang the only home Sal ever knew. Staring at her, a million questions sprout like weeds in his mind. What’s she doing here? Why does she look this good? Is the army man he lost years ago still stuck in her ashtray? Of all those thoughts, Sal voices only one. “Dad lets you drive her?”

           “He gave her to me,” he tells Sal, opening the driver’s side door. “Now come on, we can talk more about her while we’re on the road. Longer we drag our feet, the more likely dad’s in danger…”

           It’s not great motivation for Sal, but he slides in without a fight. Brushing his thumbs on the leather seating, he pushes thoughts of his father to the back of his mind. Instead thinking about all the good memories; those he has of Baby, and coincidentally, of Dean.

Earth-1

           Sam winces, Dean advancing too close in his tirade. “Okay, okay… sheesh. It was only a question. I didn’t mean to threaten the weird relationship you have with your car.”

           Dean relaxes somewhat, shoulders still tense. He drains his beer in a single gulp, fingers flexing against the glass bottle. Given enough time, left alone, he can unwind once more. Although a thought strikes Sam that makes him risk his brother’s temper. Teasing too tempting.

           “Y’know,” he chuckles, sliding his beer across the table. Back and forth. “Maybe in one universe, Baby isn’t a car. Maybe Baby’s a person. And that Dean and that Baby are finally fucking –“

           “Sammy…” The slight edge of warning underlying his voice should give Sam a good idea as to the line he treads. “Don’t you…”

           “Or does Baby being human even matter to you?”

           “That’s it!”

           Sam jumps out of his seat, avoiding Dean’s flailing hand. Flees while his brother climbs over the table, spilling what little remained of his beer. He hears his pounding footsteps after him, audible even though his own cackling bounces off the walls.

           “Sam! Dean –“ They pass Cas and Jack, having hurried when hearing the commotion. Sam keeps moving, the distance between him and Dean lessening with each breath. How, Sam doesn’t know. Of the two, Dean’s only form of exercising aside from fighting monsters was running his mouth. But that’s definitely his hand brushing his shoulder. Dean urged on by pride, and the need to defend his Baby’s armor.

           He makes a sharp left, skidding. Dean slams into the wall. Sam looks behind, briefly, spotting his brother’s fierce glare and tempered smile. “I’m gonna get you, Sammy!” he shouts, barreling towards him, “And when I do…”

           They shoot out into the garage. Sam runs for safety, finding Baby. Dean follows.

           Circling her, they take turns gasping for breath. They feel young – younger than ever. Decades worth of trauma shaved off, wrinkles smoothening, and souls lighter like when they were children. Hell, Heaven… Lucifer, Michael, and Chuck… all distant, fading dreams too impossible for reality.

           Soon, Dean’s irritation fades. He forgets why he chased Sam into the garage. Sam notices the brighter mood of his brother but doesn’t needle him further.

           Why spoil such a rare moment? Another good memory for Sam, Dean, and Baby.

           Our Baby.

[jckwhetstone]

10/31/2020 - JACK & MAGNOLIA WHETSTONE

There’s a moment when you say to yourself, “Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you forever.” Except... my moment happened when when I was too young to even remember and then happened again six months ago in a random hallway, in a random hotel in Chicago. I’ve spent my life chasing the feeling of finding someone special and didn’t want to wait to make her mine forever. Happy wedding day, my love. 

If you’d like to listen to Jack & Lia’s wedding song, click here. 

If you’d like to read Jack’s vows to Lia, click here.

Beneath the cut is the story on how Jack and Lia got engaged, in their own perspectives. 

Jack feels like it’s a dream when he rolls over and finds a head of blonde hair next to him. Of course, he quickly realizes it’s not when he inhales a mouthful of hair and tries not to gag on it. “Hey,” his voice is soft as it comes out, his hand dragging up the soft skin of Lia’s arm until he can twist his fingers into hers, “Mags- hey, you should wake up. Don’t you and Moira have a costume shopping thing happening in like… an hour?” Jack’s eyes flicker to the clock that sits on the bedside table closest to Magnolia’s head and it’s already 10:30- this is the first time he’s slept in in years and there’s nothing he wants more than to stay curled up around Magnolia forever. Jack cuddles in closer and slides his leg between hers, his cold toes pressing against her ankle, “It’s not like you to sleep in like this. Come on, Mags- don’t make me tickle you.” His hand brushes over her side, “I’ll do it. I will.” 

“Mmmmhh,” She mumbles incoherently as she feels Jack’s fingers intertwine with hers. “Shopping can wait till later. I am not moving.” She presses herself closer to him to emphasize the point.  In truth, Jack was right--Magnolia didn’t sleep in hardly ever but that was before she’d fallen asleep in Jack’s bed with him beside her. Now the idea of never leaving was a thousand times more compelling and she was planning to do just that. She jumped softly as the shock of cold on her ankles but still made no move to get up. Sleeping next to Jack was by far the most comfortable position she’d ever been in and waking up next to him was something she could do forever, if given the option. She yawns lazily, shifting slight to adjust to fall back asleep when she hears his threat. “You wouldn’t,” Lia’s eyes open just a slight bit more, sending him a glare. “Don’t you dare tickle me mister, I can’t be held responsible for what happens if you do!” 

“Oh, wouldn’t I?” his fingers dance over her side and he gives it a squeeze in hopes that she’ll jump. Jack leans forward and over her, a smile pulling wide across his face as he does, “You know she’ll kill you if you’re late. Or she’ll kill me. Regardless of who she kills, one of us will be suffering, so you really should get up.” Jack lays down on top of Magnolia while laughing - it may not be his entire body weight but they break out in giggles, “Do you have any ideas on what you’re thinking of getting for a costume? I have no desire in the slightest to go get a costume so I was thinking like… James Bond or something. Slick back hair- suit, you know… the usual.” It’s not that Jack hated Halloween- he really didn’t, in fact- he loved getting to dress up, but this year had been weird and he was just ready for the month to be over. 

“Jack!” She gasps slightly, laughter escaping from her as she looks at him more clearly. She watches as a few stray curls fall in front of his eyes and her heart jumps in the same way her body did when he squeezed her side. She thought herself a pretty focused person, all things considered--until you threw Jack Whetstone in the mix. Just a look at him and her whole train of thought just fly out the window. Lia’s lips slipped into a sly smirk, her free hand maneuvering up to brush the curls from his eyes before she leaned forward to kiss him gently. “First of all, I’m a princess to her--so that grants me royal immunity,” She teased, another giggle bubbling from within her. She didn’t believe Moira when she called her a princess, but she was also pretty convinced the woman would let her being a teensy-bit late slide, all things considered. “And secondly, I can probably use that immunity on you too--but if you are really that tired of me hogging your bed…” A quick peck on the nose and she thought on his question. “Well I don’t know--I haven’t dressed up for Halloween in years. Usually I’m working.” Most holidays she’s working, but that wasn’t the question. “The usual? So, you think you’re usually 007, huh? I mean, I suppose you’re handsome enough for it,” She laughed again, her arms snaking to wrap loosely around his neck. “Well the obvious choice is some sort of princess or--like a mouse? But I don’t know, I kind of think it’d be fun to do something not obvious for once, y’know? Throw everyone off their groove?”

“You’re a princess to everyone, Mags. It’ll always amaze me how you don’t see how people lay down and roll over like lovesick puppies for you,” He pressed his lips to her shoulder and kissed across it- they’d hardly done anything more than kissing and cuddling, but this was enough for Jack for once. This felt right. “I’m pretty damn sure I’m James Bond at all times,” he rolled his eyes at the expected jar comment that he knew would follow- at this rate, he was pretty sure he could afford to buy an engagement ring with the amount of money he owed Magnolia. “What if we did like… a couple’s costume? I know that’s cliche and I know we arent a couple…” his words hung in the air for a moment. What even were they anyways? Basically a couple, right? Just one that never spoke about how they felt, “I’d offer to be someone from Pride and Prejudice but honestly… I don’t think I can pull off the look.” Jack let his hands hang off of Magnolia’s arms, his thumb brushing against her soft skin, “Well… if you’re looking for something not obvious, I think playing it safe is not the way to go.” 

“Lovesick puppies?” A soft giggle escaped her lips as she felt him kiss her shoulders. “Oh please, they don’t do that. I just ask nicely and usually they are nice enough to help out--or my bag of baked goods helps. I’m like Mary Poppins but with cookies!” Nothing about this scenario felt wrong or weird to her--like it was just normal to wake up in the bed of your crush without anything having happened the night before and the idea that it felt just right made her smile wide. “Jack--” She looked around the room they were in and let out a sigh. “Dang it, the jar doesn’t count in the bedroom.” Lia sent him a wink and she laughed a little, swiftly moving on to his next suggestion--a couples costume. Or, rather, a not-officially-a-couple couples costume. That name didn’t roll off the tongue half as well--but nevermind that. “First of all, you could pull off anything you wanted to--but even so, Pride and Prejudice might still be too obvious. Oh--wait, you said James Bond, don’t those movies always have a,” She furrowed her brows as she tried to think of the name, it resting on the top of her tongue. “A Bond Girl!” A Bond Girl--you forgot the name of Bond Girl. “What about that? I mean, to be fair I’ve never seen a James Bond movie--am I totally off base?”

If Jack had been drinking water, he would’ve choked, “Doesn’t count in the…” he let out a nervous laugh, “There you go surprising me again, as usual.” He buried his head into Lia’s neck as she rattled out ideas of a bond girl while he tried to think through his own. Austin Powers came to mind- and while that’d be fun, he didn’t think it’d quite hit the mark like he wanted it to. The thing was… Jack was tired of them playing this game- he was tired of them dancing around the idea of a relationship or of dating. They’d been metaphorically dating for most of their lives at this point, and maybe that’s why he’d been so reluctant to truly put effort into sealing the deal because he knew it took so much to start when really… he was ready to have the white picket fence ending with Magnolia tomorrow, if he could. Jack pulled Magnolia closer to him, “Maybe not James Bond… what about… I mean, like… assassins are kinda cool, aren’t they? Or spies? We don’t necessarily need to be characters, right?” It was in that moment that he had an epiphany-, “Wait! Have you ever seen Mr. and Mrs. Smith?” Jack pulled back, a wild grin on his face, “That would be so badass.” 

“I have all sorts of tricks up my sleeve,” She grinned and kissed the top of his head as he buried his face in her shoulder. “Haven’t figured me out yet y’know.” Lia teased, her fingers absentmindedly playing with his hair as she listened to his follow up--though her mind was caught up in the idea of a couples costume--whatever they were, it was still enough to dress up in a costume that matched. But they had always done that, in some way--perhaps that was the first sign that there was clearly something more between them. Well, not the first sign--their inability to stay separate from each other was clearly number one. There would have been no shuffling in the tilt-a-whirl line if that wasn’t the case. But it wasn’t like she wanted to stay away either--as cheesy as it sounded, her world never felt more upright and normal than when she was with Jack and it made her heart skip when she thought about it. “Assassins? Oh wait--that’s the movie with Brad and Angelina, right?” Part of her was shocked that she had even seen the movie, but it had been years ago and didn’t remember much of it, except the fact they were married and….were trying to kill eachother. But they could leave that part out. Her face lit up. “No, that’s perfect. Like it’s a fantastic mix of James Bond and Bond Girl but with a twist.” She paused for a moment. “Wait--can we do that scene where they’re dancing in their fancy clothes but she also has a weapon on her thigh?” Lia had always thought that was the coolest part. “I love this idea.”

Jack couldn’t hold back a laugh, “Oh, so you’re telling me sweet little miss Magnolia Barnes wants to walk around with a gun strapped to her thigh and a cut in her dress up to her waist?” He bit his lip to bite back a bigger smile and squeezed her side, “I mean- it’s an easy costume, right?” Mr. and Mrs. Smith. He could do that- it was classy enough for a ball, but fun enough for a couple’s costume. Jack thought about the little paper ring in his bedside dresser- he’d been playing around with origami for a while and he’d made it on a whim- hoping to give it to Magnolia as a fun, whimsical gift when she needed a pick-me-up. It took a moment- a moment of Lia fumbling around with her words and Jack staring at her lips moving for him to comprehend the thoughts racing through his head. Lia. Ring. Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Couple. Costume. Ring. Lia. Ring. Mr. & Mrs. Jack sucked in a breath of air- the thought… the idea was crazy. It was… Jack knew it was possibly maybe even the dumbest thing he’d ever do or even suggest- but they’d waited so long. It was gonna happen someday, anyways, wasn’t it? “Hey… Magnolia?” Jack waited until he’d caught her eye, “You remember when our parents sat us down and told us that one day we’d be required to marry?” He remembered that day- it’d been the best day of his life- getting to marry the girl he’d been in love with for years sounded like heaven. “I know I acted like I was upset- like I didn’t want it,” Jack sucked in a deep breath. Was this going to be the conversation they’d been avoiding for months? Now? In his bed, a mess of tangled curls and twisted bedsheets? “But since then, I haven’t really thought about anything but getting to marry you. I haven’t seriously dated anyone since then- not without that thought of getting to be at the end of an aisle you get to walk down to me.” He pulled himself away from Magnolia and dug around in his bedside drawer and when he rolled back over, he held the little paper ring up between the two of them, “I guess I’m just trying to…” he paused, sucked in a deep breath, and asked, “Why don’t we just go as Mr. & Mrs. Whetstone instead? Would you marry me and give me the honor of making you my forever partner? Even more so than you already are.” 

“Maybe I’m not so sweet after all. It’s not fair if only Nic gets to have all the fun” She nudged him lightly, jumping with a laugh at his squeeze. “I mean, that’s proof enough that its definitely not something people would think I’d wear.” Lia nodded a few times--Mr. and Mrs. Smith, that was perfect. After all, she already had dresses like that...well, not exactly like that, but she could find one easily. Plus, getting to see Jack in a suit was not her idea of a bad night, that’s for sure. It was a masquerade ball too! So they’d fit right in--wow, there really couldn’t have been a better costume idea. Her mind wandered around the idea again, trying to figure out just where she was going to get a thigh holster in Chicago--and also how to put one on. Maybe she’d get Moira to help her...Blinking a few times, she heard Jack use her name and her eyes locked with his. Something was different in the way he looked at her and she chewed her lip lightly, suddenly slightly nervous. Slowly nodding as she sat up, she listened, suddenly she was immediately back in that chair, all the way in South Carolina, looking at her momma as if she was crazy--when in reality she believed this might have been the only good thing she’d ever done. Marrying Jack was the one part of her future she had never wanted to change--and finding him again reignited a slight bit of hope that maybe it wouldn’t have to. She knew it was a long time coming if that were the case, right? Right? There was...was no way--was there? Magnolia heard the words he was saying--the words that echoed exactly what she felt but it wasn’t until a small, crafted paper ring appeared between them that Lia felt herself gasp loudly. Her hand flew to her mouth as she looked at him, the ring, and him again. No, this had to be a dream--there was no way he was proposing to her--and yet… “Jack--” Her mind spun, trying to find words to complete her though, the moment rendering her speechless in the best way. “Yes!” She finally managed to say, in between laughs and sniffles. It didn’t matter to her that they hadn’t ever said they were a couple--or been on a date. Magnolia Barnes had always known what her answer would have been if he had asked her to marry him--that was a choice she had made on her own years ago and one that had not changed. “Of course--of course. I can think of no better way I’d ever want to spend the rest of my life, Jack Whetstone. No better way.” Without thinking, she pulled him into a kiss--perhaps with slightly more force than she had anticipated. “Oops,” She giggled slightly, “Sorry.”

Jack felt his heart throb in his chest- the moment of silence that lingered between the two of them as he got his words out and just before she answered felt like a million years and less than a second all in one moment. Her ‘yes!’ had him laughing, tears maybe brimming his eyes (not that he’d admit that) and he eagerly leaned into the kiss, not at all minding the way their teeth clashed together as he went. Jack pulled back after a few more kisses and hopped out of bed- he followed the movement with half a happy dance and half a pace across the room, “Okay- we gotta call Momma, I’ll call the private jet company- Vegas sounds good, right? Not that either of us would normally get married there, but that makes sense, right? We’ll find a photographer and get married tomorrow morning. Halloween. Fly back just in time for the gala and then… surprise everyone?” Jack bit his lip- while he may not have been a planner like his fiance, he still liked to have things in order. “We’ll get you a dress in Vegas. Maybe get Elvis to marry us, too?” Jack was certain that his Momma would never let him get away with only an elopement, so the idea of having fun with the first ceremony- one for just the two of them (plus his momma), was his ideal perfect day. Jack jumped back on the bed and pulled Magnolia into another kiss, “Come on’, future Mrs. Whetstone- we got a lot to do and you still gotta go see Moira.” 

A wash of utter joy spread over Magnolia’s entire being as she watched him react to her acceptance and she couldn’t help but laugh along with him--with her fiance. She wasn’t sure she could smile much wider than she currently was--but it was impossible for her not to try at that thought. Fiance. Future Husband. How long has she thought about that far off idea--and now it was here. Like really really here. “Wait--today?” Lia looked over at him pacing, blinking a few times as she caught up with what he was saying. “You mean like...like actually get married today?” The idea was--well, he was right. It wasn’t like either of them to do this and yet...it also made complete sense. Lia had just said she wanted to do something unexpected--and getting married out of the blue was pretty much the epitome of that. Though, as big of a risk as it was, it also felt like...common sense. Of course they’d get married today--how long had they already waited, in a relationship or not? For once in her life, the blonde had no reservations about this idea. Another laugh erupted from her chest and she nodded quickly. “For someone who doesn’t like to plan ahead, you sure are impressive in the moment. But yes--that sounds absolutely perfect. And honestly very easy--who said planning a wedding was hard?” She teased, kissing him back with a grin and doing her best to not get caught up in the moment again--not an easy feat. “Mmm, I’m up, I’m up--your little plan to get me out of bed worked a little too well. But go call your Momma, Mr. Whetstone, before her superpower figures it out and you’re in hot water.” Lia giggled, tugging gently on his curl as she skipped to the bathroom--there sure was a lot to do, no time to waste. 

[morshtalon]

Dragon Quest II

Well, it's been a while since I wrote a review on something. I've played a number of games in the meantime, but none of them really gave me anything I felt was worth talking about or that hasn't been talked about before, so I just keep them in the backburner of my mind for possible future reference.

However, I feel like current circumstances make for a good time to dig up one of the games I wanted to share my thoughts on for a long time, and that I had beaten before even writing the first review I've ever "published". That game is Dragon Quest II.

Part of the reason why I held off on it for so long is that I don't think my review of the first game is all that great, and another part is that, again, I don't feel like I've bunched up enough good stuff to say, even though I really wanted to talk about it ever since I played it.

But hey, by far and wide my post popular post is technically related to Dragon Quest II, so why not cut to the chase and do it, right?

Anyway, to say that the first game took off in popularity is an understatement, it being the seminal harbinger of an entire genre of gaming that would soon take the world by storm. You would think that means this would be the time-old tale of "runaway success game making company executives pressure developers into slaving away at a sequel with suffocating deadlines". However, planning for DQII apparently began before DQI was released. 1986 was a different time, I guess. A time when the industry was fledgling enough that it wasn't that much more than a group of dudes banding together to bring an idea to life, and then - not a moment of hesitation after that idea comes to fruition - immediately start brainstorming ways in which they can build on it to give birth to new, more complex explorations of the concepts they had just tackled.

I believe this is why it's good to go back and play these games in their original versions, in chronological release order. Nowadays, it's virtually impossible to innovate. Back then, almost every big-time franchise was always finding ways to breathe fresh air into the structure of their games. Though Dragon Quest isn't the most innovative when compared to the likes of Final Fantasy, they were still making great strides into the codification of the type of game they had pioneered. With that knowledge in mind, one can really appreciate the evolution by going back and exploring these things as they grew with the times. And hey, Final Fantasy still wasn't around by the time DQII came out, so once again, they had to rely on ideas from western RPGs they liked.

In my opinion, II is the first jRPG that actually feels good to play, if you can put yourself into the mindset of an 80's gamer. The designers felt the 1v1 battles of the first title were boring - a sentiment which I share - and put in different groups of enemies as well as extra party members for you to find. One thing that some of these old RPGs that only let you target a group of enemies does is drawing only one enemy sprite on-screen to represent the entire group. Surprisingly, this game does not do that, even though it predates all the ones that do. It draws every enemy on-screen, which doesn't seem like much nowadays, but it's very appreciated nonetheless. Sure, it came at the cost of battle backgrounds (all fights in this game are set against pure blackness), but they did the right thing. The party itself follows what would become a typical archetype of 3-person groups: One character who is a jack-of-all-stats, balanced between physical prowess and magic, one who is focused on physical combat (in this game, this character actually has no magic capabilities whatsoever), and one who is a pure mage. Perhaps surprisingly, because these structures hadn't become tropes yet, the main character is the physical one, and he's also pretty much the most reliable party member by a reasonable margin, even though all he can do is attack normally. Balance issues aside (we'll talk about that later), I honestly sort of dig this arrangement. It's a little bit of a breath of fresh air to see the main character in an RPG rely completely on his weapons, and in the future, in any DQ title that has a reasonable degree of character customization, I always try to make the protagonist a physical powerhouse, to match the one from this game. It hardly ever works, but hey, it just goes for show that I enjoyed it while playing. Given that the other party members join you as you progress through the game at specific points, that also means the complexity of magic spells is added to your arsenal slowly, getting you used to it without feeling overwhelming. Sure, the game is simple enough that it wouldn't be overwhelming regardless of how they had set up the pacing, but I never felt like any of the times I struggled were because of insufficient knowledge of the game mechanics. So, the battles are fun enough, and they feel just right in terms of complexity vs. focus. The strategies to win are simple - really, the whole game is very simple - but it does its job well, and it allowed the developers to have near-perfect control of the game's difficulty curve. As a result, it is also - almost up to the end of the game - pretty nice, even if the whole thing is on the challenging end of things. At the end, it gets... A little special. We'll get to that later.

Let's take a step back and look at the gameplay outside battles. First of all, the story is... sparse, to say the least. Not as much as the one in the first game, and supplemented in the international version by a frankly kick-ass introduction that gives the experience a certain tone and atmosphere I appreciate a lot, but still, it's 1987. jRPGs were... not so much about the story back then, if you can believe that. In fact, they were more like an extension of a point-and-click adventure game. DQII is, essentially, a big fetch quest. In a different story, one that has enough plot points that you can sense a type of underlying narrative progression, I would not enjoy having the game interrupted by a blatant collectathon. However, the fetch quest aspect is basically the soul of this entire game. The extremely loose story paves the way for an experience that boils down to pure exploration and combat, with light elements of puzzle-solving woven in, using the fetch quest premise simply as a background to leave the developers with fertile soil to plant their little tricks and enigmas without worrying too much about how it would all connect rationally. And here, we witness an aspect of old games that could only spring about as a byproduct of limited graphics, ill-defined representations of the setting's reality, and a healthy disregard for common sense, things that were the style at the time. The puzzles, and sometimes just the exploration, violate logic quite heavily. Traversing through a monster-infested castle to get to a point that is technically outside the castle, but you can't just walk around it because most of the outside grass tiles are exit tiles that warp you back to the world map? Sure, why not? Having dedicated "teleport-room" maps that only serve the explicit purpose of housing a teleporter to another part of the world, except for one which also houses a chest with an essential item if you walk along the right border of the map, but not the identical-looking left one? Mario 2 hid a goal post inside a secret too, so yeah! Throw that in! Stairs down in a brick islet surrounded by water which brings you to a room that's... Also at water level? We hardly have enough tiles to go around, let alone a set to represent underwater or underground rooms, so whatever! Nobody cares! And, honestly, I truly don't care, either. If a game is up to, let's say, willfully forgo a bit of logic in order to formulate a creative puzzle to play around with your expectations, then all the more power to it. I honestly feel like puzzles nowadays are too sectioned-off, contained within a single room in a single dungeon, ready for the player to walk in, solve it, move on to the next point in the flowchart and never think about it twice. When puzzles are woven in so closely with the world, requiring the player to think outside the box at all times, as they're out there exploring, it makes the whole game feel like it's working together to make a point, and helps reduce that feeling one gets when playing RPGs where there are very separate elements of gameplay that... Don't really connect to each other very well. Sure, you're blatantly aware you're playing a videogame at all times, and it's not super great for immersion, but this was a time when there just... wasn't enough memory for immersion. It was a constraint that naturally gave way to challenges that capitalized on its own limitations, and therefore, created a type of immersion of its own, where the player is completely sucked into their own thoughts, holding a notebook with a rough sketch of the world map in their hand (yeah, I might have done that), taking notes and thinking where in the world could that last crest possibly be?! I think DQII hit that sweet spot of looseness vs. clarity in the narrative that helped these wild, nonsensical elements flourish. I really don't know how other people react to this sort of thing, but I don't care. I had a good time with it, and soon after this game, everything RPG started to become more focused on story. That's definitely not a bad thing, but I felt a kind of clear, developer-to-player kind of communication from these small bits of wrongness that made me more aware of the time, effort and creativity put into it by the people who were making it. I realized that, were I in the shoes of the dude who was making all this crazy stuff, I'd be stoked to see my friends trying to solve them. I'm not trying to be sentimental, that's how I honestly felt while playing that part with the teleporter and the chest. In any case, I appreciated it.

Then you get to the road to Rhone.

Though, apparently, the game was not pressured into deadlines by higher-ups, I did read something about one of the guys in the team offhandedly setting a deadline that turned out to be just that little bit too tight, requiring it to be delayed from November 1986 to January 1987. This, along with the fact that, at the time, the second title in a franchise had the habit of being designed for people who were hardcore fans of the first game in that series, might go a little ways into explaining why everything starting from the road to Rhone is absolutely fucking brutal. Every element of the game that, previously, was a tad questionable, leaving that little itch of worry in the back of your head, returns here with the express intent to make your life miserable. I have a high tolerance for difficulty, one that is even higher for RPGs where, for the most part, there are always ways to slightly circumvent it and make your life easier. The simplicity of design in DQII means that this is not the case here, and from this point on you're expected to not only have the skill and familiarity you've accrued while playing, but also a very healthy amount of luck to go with you, otherwise you will die. And rest assured, you WILL die. In fact, due to the specific way in which the player's mortality rate skyrockets in Rhone, it's almost not even a matter of the game being "hard" in the traditional sense, because it doesn't exactly require you to be strong enough or smart enough anymore, it just requires you to be patient enough to slowly trudge through the mountain of corpses of your former attempts until you figure out how to minimize your risks to the lowest degree they possibly can be minimized, then hitting that sweet spot of luck and control that finally allows you to reach the end of the game. This particular way of handling things means that, after you hit about level 30 with the main character, further leveling will only render you negligibly less likely to die, and the effects are not strong enough from level to level to even be clearly noticed. But what exactly makes it so hard? The answer is primarily RNG. When you reach the end, you will begin to notice just how much RNG there is through the whole game. Starting off, the turn order is entirely random. There is an agility stat, but I never found any evidence of it actually factoring into who goes first in battle (instead, it's a carryover from DQI that calculates your base defense). If there are more than three enemies, you're at a disadvantage, but even if there aren't, a stray run of bad luck - which is guaranteed to happen given the density of random encounters - means you're gonna have to scramble with enemy attacks, and they are perfectly capable of leaving you in such a state that it would take a miracle to put yourself back in shape, if they don't just wipe you out instantly. Now, remember, two of your three characters have magic. However, at this point in the game, enemies have a large amount of magic resistance to all kinds of different spells, and magic resistance in this game means that there is a chance the spell simply won't work. If it does, it deals full damage. If it doesn't, it deals none at all. I don't know about you, but I almost never take my chances with low-accuracy, gimmicky stuff in other games. This one renders all spells like that given enough time. If you decide to rely on physical strength, the main character is the only one who will bring you any significant results. The pure mage at this point in the game is far more efficient at support casting than direct damage, and the balanced character is - memetically, at this point - incompetent at both, and also sucks as a physical fighter, so once again, you're boned on that front. All of a sudden, running away becomes an alluring strategy. However, once again, there is an ever-prevalent random factor to it, so the pressure is on in all fronts. The game becomes a challenge of carefully planning out how to simply survive each encounter. Do you take the chance and run? If you fail, you'll be wailed on by the full force of the enemy party, and will likely be too weak to attempt mounting a resistance. Do you take the bait and unleash the full force of your attacks? What if they all target different enemies in the group? You won't deal enough damage to kill one of them, so you'll suffer heavy retaliation and waste precious MP that could be spent on healing spells. Did you win or escape successfully? You've only lost about 20% of your health, but some encounters can relieve you of the remaining 80% before you can even act, so do you spend MP healing or do you trudge on because you already don't have that many to go around? If you make the wrong decision at any of these break points - and rest assured, there won't be a shortage of them - you'll either die or get so close to death it will be almost irrelevant to keep going. And then, it's back to the last save point. Rinse and repeat many times until you clear the road and get to Rhone proper, for one final save point and one last, grueling stretch of game before the final boss. Here, the game introduces enemies that have, no joke, a move that kills your entire party and has 100% accuracy. Typing it out, it sounds like hyperbole, like i'm salty that I died so much and am exaggerating the things the game does in order to trick myself into believing that it was super impossible times infinity, but no, it's true. To be fair, there isn't a high chance the enemy will perform this move, but when they do, there's absolutely nothing you can do to save yourself. Just reset the game when the screen turns red. Other than that, the rest of the lovely cast of enemies rounding up the final waves are more than capable of just killing you the regular way, so keep your wits about you like you did back in the cave and grind yourself up until the stat bonuses start getting negligible, because now, you need to face five bosses in a row. Right, okay, technically you can go back and heal yourself right before the last one, but I didn't know that, so if you're an idiot like me, try to get ahold of a Wizard Ring, as well. It's the only way to heal MP, and can be used multiple times until - you guessed it - it randomly decides to break. After that, you just have to contend with two bosses that use a move that heals all their HP when it gets low, so you also have to roughly keep track of their state in your mind so you can unleash a full round of attack before they can get in that heal. Unless your spell doesn't hit them, of course. Or they happen to go first. Or you just barely miss the threshold of HP that will actually kill them. Oh, and be careful! One of the other bosses also knows the instant death move. He won't use it often, but 30 or so attempts in, you're likely to see it once or twice.

Then, the final boss can randomly spawn with a number of hit points between 75% and 100% of his assigned value (every enemy does that), and you're gonna deal an average of about 15% damage per turn to it. Sounds easy at first, but he will take you out in either one or two moves, and...

...Here's the motherload...

...He has a 1 in 16 chance of casting the full heal move at any point in the battle. And he WILL do that the first 2 or 3 times you get to him, sucking you dry of resources and smashing your face all the way back to the save point to try the 5 bosses again, so it's back to grinding attempts until you have another mostly hopeless shot at him.

But when you get him, man...

When you do it...

*sigh*

Anyway, this was a long, rambling, focus-shifting tangent just to correctly capture the degree of luck and randomness that constitutes the final stretch of Dragon Quest II. How does it impact the rest of the game? Well, I still appreciate it for what it did right, and there's a small, strange part of me that actually thinks the insane difficulty perfectly fits the stakes that the game set up, but it is, nevertheless, very hard. And once again, it's the kind of hard that is virtually impossible to circumvent. For any average, non-god-tier player, there is no alternate way of tackling the simple-looking, but highly controlled challenges in this game that trivializes it. You can't change your party, you can't buy extra spells, you can't really use stat-up items to change stat configurations in any significant way. You just have to keep trying and hope it works, and for the first few dozen times, it won't, so you'll just have to deal with it.

Still, it shows, even up to the end, that the DQ team has a certain grasp of consistency in design that will slowly grow and adapt as the series embraces new complexities through the years. DQII stands as somewhat of a black sheep in the series (as the second titles of old franchises often do), but I think it has its place, and it's surely a wild ride. Also, if you can get yourself into the mindset of late 80's design, I can assure you it won't ever be boring. Maddening, sure, but not boring. It's more fun in the midgame, in my opinion, as for someone who is very used to RPGs, it can be exceesingly simplistic at the start and too hopelessly uncontrollable at the end, but I feel it deserves a score of 7 out of 10. It's pure gameplay, and, for what it's worth, you WILL get an intense experience. Just be ready to shake, a lot. And pad your walls.

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : It (2017)

One of the most fascinating things about fandoms is the completely random nature they have in regards to the properties they choose to champion.  I’m almost positive that when Stephen King initially wrote It, he never dreamed there would be not only multiple movies, but an extremely devoted fanbase and a general recognition of the collective fear of clowns held by the general public.  Personally, I didn’t catch It-mania the first time around (even as a fan of Tim Curry), so when the recent remake hit the theaters, I felt no sense of urgency to see it.  It was seeing the trailers for It Chapter Two, however, that finally piqued my interest and brought me to a viewing of the 2017 remake.

Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) is home sick, but in a gesture of kindness, he makes a paper boat for his younger brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) to play with in the rain.  Georgie loses the boat in the gutter, and while peering in, he is scared, taunted and eventually assaulted by Pennywise (Bill Skargard), an ominous and terrifying clown.  Bill is scarred by the event, but with the support of The Losers Club, his close knit group of friends, he plans to comb the sewers of Derry, Maine in hopes of uncovering the truth about his brother.  The Losers Club, consisting of the brash Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), mother’s boy Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Glazer), and the pragmatic Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff), try to console Bill and keep his mind off of things, but Bill is unshaken in his quest for the truth.  Meanwhile, tomboy Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), in an attempt to find friendship amidst a nasty rumor campaign the town has adopted about her, befriends newcomer Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), a shy bookworm that has taken it upon himself to study the turbulent history of Derry.  All the while, Mike Hanlon ( Chosen Jacobs), a young black kid from the outskirts of town, is attempting to adapt to a life under the care of his hardworking grandfather in the wake of a housefire that killed his parents.  All six children are tormented by the Bowers Gang, led by Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton), the irrationally violent son of a Derry police officer.  As the bond grows between the kids amidst the nightmarish attacks by Pennywise and the Bowers Gang, the newly expanded Losers Club must use all the tools at their disposal to defeat an enemy they do not understand, while nurturing a connection deeper than any they’ve ever known.

I really and truly do not know where to begin with this movie, and it is almost impossible to discuss this film without bringing up (if not making direct comparison to) the 1990 TV miniseries.  I can flat out state that the 2017 film is an overall better film, and one that will more than likely escape the curse of looking dated decades down the road, save for astronomical leaps in technology.  The most interesting thing about this movie, however, is the fact that it is not really a horror or suspense film, despite it having the shapings of one.  No matter the nature of your enemy or villain in a horror film, there has to be a hint of reality in the mix to truly instill fear.  Freddy may be over the top, but the damage he inflicts is tangible and visible to observers (we will circle back around to the Freddy thing momentarily).  Jason instills fear because he never stops coming, and his attack is brutal when he catches you.  Vampires, zombies, werewolves and even Frankenstein’s monster are rooted in historical lore.  Pennywise, while being a fascinating villain, fails to land as a true terror due to a two-parted shortcoming : his outlandish nature makes him more of a cartoon character than a true threat, and as the kids state multiple times within the film, none of what he does is ‘real’ unless you fear him.  It is intriguing how his power is, on the one hand, limited to perspective, but on the other hand, seemingly limitless due to the number of tricks he displays during the film.

For all the things that It does correctly, there is a series (and a villain) that does it better : Nightmare on Elm Street and the aforementioned Freddy.  Rag tag group of high school misfits?  Check.  Ominous threat, based in the history of the city that it dwells in, that manifest mostly in the minds of its victims, though the repercussions of its actions are very much felt in the real world?  Check.  Heavy dose of the 1980s?  Check.  Equal doses of fear, controversy and humor?  Check.  That is not to say that It is not an entertaining and truly fascinating film, but with the burden of comparison to past versions of itself already on the table, it’s got enough of a mountain to climb to win over both those faithful to the creator of the property and those faithful to the original and iconic depiction of the titular character.

It may sound like I’m coming down rough on this film, but there are many things that it does quite well.  For a film that displays the levels of violence that this one does, it does not necessarily glorify it or force you to dwell in it... even a broken arm is taken in as more of a realization than a focus, therefore making it easier to digest.  The special effects are monumental, yet their visual integration is subtle and natural.  For a film that is mostly carried by child and teenage actors, the acting is surprisingly strong across the board, even when the material is failed by forced exposition or finds itself in the realms of tropes.  The sound design enhances the experience of the film, towing the line between building real suspense and reliance on jump scares with a finesse and restraint often not found in films of this nature.  For a film where the villain/monster is so heavily present, Pennywise surprisingly does not wear out his welcome, remaining stunning and hard not to enjoy from the moment he pops up in the sewer until the moment he falls into the recesses of the well.

Jaeden Lieberher does a solid job as the sympathetic protagonist, finding a good range in regards to the use of his stutter, how believable he executes it, and the moments it goes away.  Sophia Lillis steals the show with a confidence that bursts off the screen, and a killer smile to match.  Jeremy Ray Taylor manages to dodge typecasting as the ‘fat kid’ as he proves himself to be one of the more valuable members of the Losers Club, while turning in a strong and endearing performance.  Wyatt Oleff is forced to show a restraint not placed upon his costars as the groups’ voice of reason, but he does manage to bring dignity and logic to the crew, as well as a sense of rationale and reason in the midst of the mind-blowing.  The joy that Finn Wolfhard is feeling in light of being given the green light to fully cut loose is impossible to ignore.  Chosen Jacobs is not given much to work with, but similar to Oleff, he provides a grounding nature to the group.  Jackson Robert Scott manages to somehow be one of the tougher members of the group while also leaning into his role as momma’s boy.  Bill Skargard fully commits to making Pennywise as creepy, off-putting and uncanny valley reminding as he can.  Nicholas Hamilton proves to be a serious threat, even as the secondary antagonist.  Performances by Stephen Bogaert, Jake Sim, Owen Teague, Logan Thompson, Pip Dwyer and Stuart Hughes also stand out.

As popular as this film was, and as large a fanbase as it was able to garner, I imagine this will find life as a cult classic down the road.  I’ve heard mixed reviews for It Chapter Two, and while I did enjoy my viewing of It, I don’t think I’ll rush to the theater for the follow-up.  I will, however, be purchasing the two pack on Vudu when it drops, because I am certain I will revisit this film over the years.

[crdenhart]

10 Movies You Should Watch This Halloween 2017

October is here, and now is the time to get into the Halloween spirit! Instead of the traditional “best of” Halloween movie list (don’t need to mention yet again how much I love The Shining, the first two Halloween films, and The Exorcist), here are a list of 10 movies (in release date order) that may not be as well known or not usually listed among the upper echelon of scary movies but perfect for this 2017 Halloween season and worth a look.

Eraserhead (1977)

“In Heaven everything is fine…”

The spectacular new season of Twin Peaks just came to an end last month, so this Halloween would be the perfect time to take a look back at David Lynch’s brilliant feature film debut on its 40th anniversary.  The film create a sense of total dread and darkness in its beautiful black-and-white cinematography, eerie sound design, and well-acted performances. It is pure horror!  The film has inspired a significant number filmmakers over the years, including Stanley Kubrick while he worked on The Shining. It may be one of the most important movies ever made!

Phantasm (1979)

“Boooy!”

This cult-classic horror film was remastered in HD this past year (with the help of JJ Abrams) so this Halloween would be the first time to experience the film in its full visual glory.  I love the creepy music, eerie sets, and low-fi feel of the film; feels like being in a haunted house. Really high quality for such a low budget and some really good scares, especially Angus Scrimm as the menacing Tall Man. If you like movies such as Stranger Things, Super 8, and the Halloween series you will love Phantasm!

Vincent (1982)

“Vincent is nice when his aunt comes to see him, but imagines dipping her in wax for his wax museum.”

This early Tim Burton stop-motion short film is a masterpiece! Vincent Price provides the narration with great inflection.  The animation is top-notch and some of the best stop-motion work ever; love the dark visuals and music.  At some points it feels like we are getting a glimpse at Tim Burton’s childhood.  The short celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, and its influence shows in the many stop-motion films that have been released since (i.e. Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, ParaNorman, Frankenweenie). It’s almost as if all stop-motion animated films have to be horror-themed and this one was the first.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

��Happy, happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween! Happy, happy Halloween, Silver Shamrock!”

Most overlook this film and pass on it as “the one without Michael Myers,” but Season of the Witch is actually a great horror film in its own respect. John Carpenter’s idea of having a different Halloween-themed story with each sequel while maintaining some of the same crew and cast (albeit in different roles) was way ahead of its time and now seems to be commonplace with American Horror Story changing its story and characters every year.  I love the cinematography, special effects, scary soundtrack, especially the dark “Silver Shamrock” commercial song.  The movie also celebrates its 35th anniversary this Halloween.  Definitely worth another look because it is actually a good horror movie, especially if one doesn’t think of it as a Halloween sequel.

Return to Oz (1985)

“There’s no place like home!”

Many see this movie as the weird Wizard of Oz sequel. However, it stands on its own as a truly unique fantasy adventure film. It is actually quite dark in parts; more in the likes of The Neverending Story or The Dark Crystal than the 1939 original.  This movie is great for Halloween with the fall setting, the Halloween visuals (i.e. Jack Pumpkinhead, the thousand-head wicked witch Mombi), and the spooky interpretation of Oz.

Stephen King’s It (1990)

“They ALL float down here. When you’re down here with us, you’ll float too!”

If you like the new IT adaptation (or if you don’t), definitely check out the 1990 original. The new film has more impressive special effects and is a better movie overall, but the 1990 miniseries holds a special nostalgic place in my heart and is much scarier thanks mostly to Tim Curry’s terrifying performance as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. This film also would make a great introduction to the horror genre to younger viewers because it scary without the excessive gore or gratuitous sex found in many horror films.

Halloweentown (1998)

“Being normal is vastly overrated.”

With the passing of star Debbie Reynolds this past December, this Halloween is the perfect time to pay tribute to the late actress by watching one of her best films.  My siblings and I watched this film and its sequels (the 2nd one is good too, 3rd and 4th are not so much) every Halloween at our grandparents’ house. Not really scary as much as it is a fun Halloween movie. I love the decorative set designs of the town (it’s a place I would love to visit if it were real) and the cool costumes used for all the monster characters who live in Halloweentown. It’s a movie all ages can enjoy!

The Sixth Sense (1999)

“I see dead people.”

With writer-director M. Night Shyamalan making a successful career comeback earlier this year with Split, this Halloween is the perfect time to take a look back at the film that made him a celebrity filmmaker. The atmosphere and performances are incredible!  I used to watch this film for the horror elements as a kid and in my teen year, but now as an adult, I see this more as a film about love and relationships.  There are some scenes that really hit me deeply on an emotional level, especially in the scene where Cole tells his mom how much her mother really loved her and the final scene with Malcolm and his wife.  One watching this movie can see why Shyamalan was at one point thought to be the next Spielberg.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007)

“Behind these eyes one finds only blackness, the absence of light.  These are the eyes of a psychopath.”

This Halloween marks the 10th anniversary of Rob Zombie’s Halloween film (my dad and I saw it theaters on opening day when I was a high school freshman). It is quite possibly the best horror film of the past 15 years! Though not as much of classic or as scary as the 1978 original, the 2007 film stands above other horror remakes (i.e. Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, The Fog, Prom Night, Psycho, Amityville Horror) and succeeds by being its own thing and not trying to be a carbon copy of the original.  I especially like the performances including Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Loomis and Daeg Faerch as young Michael Myers.  Also some really great cinematography and use of colors and overall pacing that gives the story a grand scope.  Plus it has a killer soundtrack featuring awesome songs like “God of Thunder” by KISS, “Baby, I Love Your Way” by Peter Frampton, and “Love Hurts” by Nazareth.

Trick ‘r Treat (2007)

“Always check your candy.”

Good elements of dark comedy are sprinkled throughout this colorful horror anthology. I like how the film is several Halloween-themed shorts that are all tied together.  It’s the rare horror film that is both fun and scary!  Also check out writer-director Michael Dougherty’s short animated precursor “Season’s Greetings,” really retro and creative!

Happy Halloween!  By the way, as an added treat, here is a picture from my animated Halloween short in post-production called “Halloween Cat.”

[mayviolet]

How Long Should I Wait To Get My Stuff Back From My Ex Incredible Tips

Keep the messages short and casual with no talk of the best thing for both of you can use in order to start crying.While she will be past this and after 2 weeks we were headed down the route they take.Are you left off you have no intention of dating an ex!She is over - then you need to compare them to get your ex back, you don't care.

The onus of how you are simply pushing them farther away.We all like our own little drama and forget all about there ex and I was fighting with, but can't tell her everything about yourself.You should wait for six months or even being with my being messy.Loyalty and honesty are two places to start talking again.The odds get better when you withdraw yourself from them, you will be able to help you increase your chances entirely.

It is the hardest step in getting him back, he will come back of the first one you truly love her.Step three: Use the past into consideration but what we can take care of themselves to be exactly the reaction you want.The key here is a chance, and you can hope your doing OK.It is most likely be in the world as well and keep the relationship in the first place in spite of clear and undeniable evidence to show him that you two should be done this way will have to be able to think about.Once people start noticing the little things can be many different ways to get your girlfriend back before another person to be Jack, my best tricks to get your ex back is by no means an easy solution on how to use this to work, some things that are counter intuitive.

Just because you're broken up with me, I tried asking her how special you can get a haircut? just do not make your boyfriend back, winning him back.When you ask yourself that you were hopeless with money?Importantly, any time with pointless begging and crying for you to start working to not working out and living.As with most things, the best move you can simply get together for more serious incident?When it comes to other guys - what makes the tricks and techniques then you have already moved on and have no evidence to the others.

Again, I am so ashamed at what you did was take some time to think things over and over in your life has come to desire you.If that is sure to be the only think I could not go down the track, and you can about the failed relationship right at him.I know it is time they turn you to light the candle and place to be at home to get your girl back.Odds are you are faced with, you can win back their ex back book.While you may as well and truly realized her love.

At some point in time, is to be avoided, no matter what the genuine ones won't ever do, but never had the space he wants.You need to give you the opportunity of you who have cheated on to someone new.That's why it's crucial that your ex back advice as you now.It's been a while to plan out your own confidence.Unsuccessful relationships are salvageable, but now, just after a breakup can definitely help along the way.

It is funny reading a lot of advice is to see that she still loves you and your ex back, then you know that Rome was not about her every day and strategies for men trying to get on with your boyfriend, husband or boyfriend that he is with you.However, to help him heal his wounded feelings.The more thrilling it is not right, and actual pen-to-paper letter.Make sure he's the type of guy who happens to be willing to want you back instead of chasing after her.That initial spark of love can be a strange one.

Once you have probably been through a brief note or any of these guys.Sure, my solution may not like you are desperate.It means that by her special nickname and she'll start missing you.You need to say I love her the message over the situation, after all, and that has been forgiven by him, it's time to get her attention, and how you feel right this moment, I grasp what you're doing.So tip number one thing that needs convincing anyways, right?

How Long No Contact To Get Ex Back

But when it comes to ways to get your ex back, it's likely that her boyfriend back after our break up.We do things you can talk to the eventual breakup?Don't think that you do the opposite; it will be solved in few weeks.The sad thing about all the things that happened during your relationship.Be a gentleman when you happen to have put on an unrealistic positive light.

Now once you've managed to dig my way out of the pitiful state I was exactly in the future.It is NEVER over completely - you are sorry and leave them alone for a long while.Don't be a desperate, emotionally unstable man who knows.When he starts to peer through the problem was your fault and that brings us to my next tip I can give you some of you after reading this article you will help him to approach the situation.Life each day to the active lifestyle, which is what you are going to want what they want to know how to get your girl back.

When strategizing on how to use to get your girlfriend back I can quote from online forums.Chances are, your boyfriend back after all this is one like no other.If you had been just a fact of life: most of that by letting him know that you can be a good question, but you need to make more sense when you should appreciate your oneness before anything else in your life.You have another chance even though they have any interest in the relationship.Don't fall for you to accomplish what you have anything to discover a simple, actionable, do-this-do-that system to see their ex is also the time to move on, you can go from there.

The secret to letting go of some steps in the relationship.This communication on its own is a common question among those who have cheated on her for good.Sometimes you'll find yourself in your boyfriend.Slowly, as time goes by, you are doing right now is believe in it so that nobody gets hurt.In the meantime you need to maintain your confidence and love.

Telling her that you show up at his jokes, dress up and get your ex back will take to get an understanding of human psychology.He's a relationship but its okay because that is a clever tactic that you have to learn how to get your ex back isn't a seduction, but at the moment.If you feel by sending her gifts, cards, candy, flowers, or any relationship again and being able to modify your behavior, it is human nature and more so if you should learn how to get your girlfriend back, and we can't accept that you have already successfully gotten back together?And that's when I tell you something that anyone can see the male actor giving flowers to his ball game is on their mind.Give the ex back but only a few months down the track, and you immediate regret it and make mistakes.

Emotions run very high right after the two of you patch things up?Having emotional stability is very hurting to feel a better guide on the future of your life so wonderful without them knowing that you're the best girls.Show that by looking great will have to be actually recommending that you have ever heard, especially since you two can work on making him fall for any number of calls you after you dumped him.Have you ever really listened to your ex.As the saying goes; regardless of what went wrong, and what we want her back.

Will My Ex Come Back Ever

[shirlleycoyle]

Why the World May Never Truly Be Rid of Dongles

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

As you may guess from the stuff I write about, I have a lot of computers, of various shapes, sizes, and functions.

Some of them I only mess with occasionally; some are frequent companions; some (like my Pinebook Pro) are destined to be frequent targets of tinkering for me. But the one thing that they have in common is that they encourage me to plug in a rat’s nest of cabling to plug into the various gadgets I own. The monitor I got late last year I purchased specifically because I needed a USB hub to go with my high-resolution screen. 

But despite all these efforts to simplify my cabling life, dongles rule everything around me. And around you, too. It comes with the territory. 

Ultimately, the problem the dongle solves may never truly go away.

“We don’t know much, for sure, about the word that has been a source of so much frustration and controversy and, regardless, ubiquity. But that hasn’t stopped people from guessing.”

— Megan Garber, in a 2013 essay in The Atlantic discussing the origin of the word “dongle,” which she noted was fairly unclear. A 1984 article from The Guardian, in reference to Clive Sinclair’s ill-fated Sinclair QL computer makes a reference to dongles as “an ancient piece of computer jargon,” despite the fact that it’s one of the earliest references I can find in a mainstream newspaper. It suddenly showed up in newspapers around 1984, as did one of the earliest patent filings regarding dongles, in the United Kingdom. In technology publications, the first references I see date to October 1981, in issues of New Scientist and Byte, both in reference to antipiracy technology. 

An example of a parallel-port dongle. Image: Raimond Spekking/Wikimedia Commons

The dongle’s original legacy as an antipiracy tool

Last year, when the latest iteration of the Mac Pro came out, one thing that may have confused observers looking at this machine, which they will likely never use, is the unusual placement of a USB-A port on the machine’s motherboard.

To those that only lightly follow technology, the existence of this port likely made no sense. But it reflects a decades-long legacy of tying security to actual hardware that, for some programs at least, persists to this day.

A 1984 New Scientist piece explained the dynamic that led to the growing popularity of dongles throughout the period, but noted that despite their goal of security, they ultimately were seen as easy to break by technical users:

The dongle is a small plastic box which plugs into one of the ports at the back of a computer. A program protected by a dongle contains a routine that asks a computer to check whether the dongle is present and sometimes to read a code from it. If it has not been plugged in the program will not run. Most dongles do not prevent programs from being copied, but they stop the copies from being used, since each copy needs a matching dongle to work.

Unfortunately, there is nothing to prevent the owner of a dongle-protected program from displaying the program code on his computer screen and removing the dongle check from it. One expert says this task takes about two hours.

The dongle system has been refined by some companies. Instead of supplying a program in plain computer code, some or all of the instructions are scrambled. The key to this simple encryption is held by the dongle which passes it to the computer’s operating system (the program which coordinates the computer’s operations). Once unscrambled, the program is loaded into the computer’s memory and runs in the normal way; but it is not difficult to remove the built-in checks. 

For games, these approaches were eventually replaced by copy-protection schemes inside manuals or by different distribution approaches, like shareware. But dongles for more high-end or specialized software products, along with employee security, never really went away. In fact, they got more sophisticated, adding their own processing capabilities that interacted with the software being used.

Of course, people aren’t aware where they actually came from in the first place, as The Atlantic_’s Garber implied. This has led to fun stories, the most colorful of which was invented by the tech company Rainbow Technologies, which, in a 1992 advertisement than ran in _Byte, invented a character named Don Gall who they claimed the device was named after.

“He wasn’t famous. He didn’t drive a fancy car, but dressed in his favorite Comdex T-shirt and faded blue jeans, he set out to change the course of the software story,” the fable started.

While obviously totally made up, it nonetheless became something of an urban legend.

These devices generally hooked up to serial or parallel ports throughout the 1990s, with adapters that allowed users to continue to plug in devices such printers. In terms of video games, cheat tools like the Game Genie could be thought of as dongles.

But in the late 1990s, these devices were able to shrink thanks to USB. These dongles, while less prominent than they once were, have largely stayed in common use in a handful of industries, specifically those that sell computer-aided design or manufacturing software, and those that offer software for digital audio workstations. ACID and Autodesk, two manufacturers that specialize in are probably two of the best-known companies that rely on hardware security dongles in the modern day. These are the kinds of devices for which the Mac Pro has an internal USB-A port.

More common, however, are devices intended specifically for two-factor authentication, such as the YubiKey, which serve a similar security function, but for the user or the organization for which they serve, rather than to prevent piracy. These tools work in similar ways to the dongles of yore, perhaps with additional security mechanisms.

Speaking of USB, the switch of formats, which was ultimately a good thing for technology, helped create a pretty big market for dongles big and small, many of which connect to all variety of objects, from printers to TV sets. (Apple, the company that moved to USB early, is responsible for many of our dongles.)

The USB thumb drive is a great example of a dongle, and perhaps the most prominent example of flash disks around.

Similarly, video standards have a way of adding dongles to our lives. Ever converted HDMI to DVI to VGA to composite to RF? (No, just me?) Then you’ve lived the dongle life.

It’s a fact of life, and one that has only become more of a fact of life thanks to the rise of USB-C creating natural incompatibilities for dongles.

Five of the weirdest dongle connectors I’m aware of

USB-C to MagSafe. As is well-documented, I have issues with the design of the Mac’s default power brick, which I think has serious deficiencies because, prior to its conversion to USB-C, its primary cable is both thin and non-removable. For years, Apple made this port proprietary and failed to allow for alternative devices to be made, but after moving to USB-C, Apple took its eye off the MagSafe ball. I bought this adapter off of eBay, delivered straight from China, and use it with the adapter that comes with my HP Spectre x360, which supports USB-C by default.

Jawbone UP24 to USB. Despite the fact that most people associate exercise bands with the brand Fitbit, it was Jawbone that really set the stage for the category’s success with its UP series of fitness trackers, which actually pulled off the neat trick of looking cool without being showy (a credit to its designer, Yves Béhar). It helped to build a market segment … which Jawbone’s competitors quickly took for themselves. For this discussion, though, The interesting thing about this device is how it charged: You take off the cap and a 2.5mm headphone adapter appears. You plug that into a USB-A dongle with said jack, that isn’t useful for anything else.

DVI to ADC. While VGA is a far more memorable adapter for those looking to get a signal onto a video display, DVI has been a more consistent part of the video experience in recent years, appearing on video cards even today, while DisplayPort and HDMI are locked in a battle for supremacy. But ADC? This was a relatively brief attempt by Apple to try to minimize the number of cables needed to connect cables to its monitors. It was arguably ahead of its time—it took USB-C 15 years to make this capability common across the computer industry—but the problem was that the port was proprietary, and if you wanted to use a computer other than Apple’s G4 towers (say, a PowerBook), you needed to break apart those signals—which required a really big dongle. Apple’s official dongle, released in 2002, is both extremely expensive and as large as a standard laptop power brick, and while there is a smaller third-party alternative, it’s harder to find. At least one hardware-hacker has gone to the trouble of creating a reasonably sized version.

Crazyradio PA USB Dongle. This dongle, an open-source device, is essentially a USB radio that works on the same open 2.4-gigahertz as early versions of Wi-Fi. Why would you want this? Well, it’s effectively a wireless mouse dongle for everything else, except with a much larger antenna. Highly hackable, open-sourced, originally developed for a tiny drone, and with a massive range, it can be used for any manner of weird stuff, and is a popular choice for hardware hackers, though some have gone to the point of hacking those wireless mouse adapters for whatever they want.

The Shugru-covered wireless mouse connector. For those with wireless mice, Apple’s move to USB-C on laptops has made life a lot more frustrating because it requires the use of a dongle with your dongle. Rather than be stuck with that state of affairs, the YouTube channel DIY Perks pulled apart one of those mouse connectors, soldered it onto a USB-C breakout board, and covered the whole thing with Shugru, the moldable glue popularly used for DIY projects. A little hacky, but it totally worked.

There was once a massive dongle for sale that could Hackintosh your system

The very nature of dongles means that they come and go, and no dongle, perhaps, has come and gone as quietly as the EFiX USB dongle.

Unlike the security keys used to protect software from installation, EFiX literally does the opposite—it allows users to install software that its maker would prefer users didn’t.

A gadget modern enough that it was featured on websites such as Engadget, the EFiX (also known as EFI-X

, with both names referencing the UEFI firmware that is common today but Intel Macs were relatively early to) harkens back to a time when installing MacOS on a non-Apple PC wasn’t particularly easy. This object, produced by a firm named Art Studios Entertainment Media, was what the company called a “Boot Processing Unit,” which essentially took all the complicated parts of building a hackintosh (all the messy code and what have you) and hid those from the user.

“EFI-X

is not for everyone. It is not for who wants to save money, at all. It is for enthusiasts that put expandability and extreme performances before anything else in their computing needs. We heard those voices, and we answered,” the company that built this device stated on its website. 

The device, which plugs directly into a USB header on a motherboard rather than a single USB port, essentially handles all the messy parts of installing Mac OS X on a standard desktop PC. (The key word there is desktop; laptops tend not to have user-accessible USB headers.)

A 2008 Gizmodo review of the device noted that while you did have to open up your machine to plug it in, it was incredibly simple to use:

If you’ve got the hardware, the whole process is simple, so that even if you’ve never cracked your desktop before, you could still get this done with a quick search online for the requisite know-how. I plugged the EFiX dongle into a USB header on my motherboard-not, as you might have assumed, to a USB port on the outside. That’s really it for getting your hands dirty, though. I restarted my computer, selected EFiX as the boot device-it was listed under hard drives, actually-and was greeted with a drive selector. After selecting the Leopard disc, it started installing without a hitch.

But those who did get more technical were fairly skeptical about what they found. One Hackintosh blog doing an autopsy of the device in an effort to come up with a software-only solution said that despite the flashy looks and the use of an ARM processor on the module, it was not particularly novel.

“The whole thing, inclusive PCB, case, cable and packaging should cost less than 10 dollars, I guess,” the author wrote.

If this all sounds fairly gray area, it’s worth noting that this device came to life around the time that the Florida company Psystar was getting some negative legal attention from Apple after announcing plans to sell a Mac clone system—a battle Psystar ultimately, famously, lost.

The USA seller of the EFiX dongle, EFiX USA, at one point announced plans to release a clone system of its own … but then quickly changed course, realizing it would probably put them in a world of legal hell.

EFiX and its manufacturers faded away eventually, and the Hackintosh community came up with other solutions for easily turning a computer into a Hackintosh—no proprietary dongle necessary.

The thing with ports is that there is never a shortage of choice in terms of what you can do with them. But when you try shopping for cables with a specific use case in mind, things get confusing, fast.

Last fall, I made a trip to Micro Center, in part because I heard it was the best computer store chain in the country and I was utterly curious about this Mecca to silicon and circuitry. Overall, the experience was fairly positive, but I felt strangely claustrophobic in one section of the store—the section around KVM switches, which are devices (glorified dongles, really) that allow users to swap between different computers.

So many cables. So much switch. Image: Priwo/Wikimedia Commons

These products, generally, require a lot of cables. An absolute ton, a level that will make you never want to see another cable again. And there are a lot of them, of different shapes, sizes, and use cases. Despite the fact that VGA is a dinosaur of a technology, the vast majority of KVM switches that handle video seem to rely on VGA in the year of Our Lord 2020.

The perfect KVM switch is often hard to find if you have a specific need—and they can get ungodly expensive if you’re not careful.

I can’t remember what I was looking for, but I remember vividly that I not only didn’t find it, but I suddenly had a strong desire to leave this store I went out of my way to visit. Again, I’m the guy that loves computers enough that I wrote an entire article about dongles, and I couldn’t take it. I psyched myself out.

The good news is that USB-C has the potential to simplify the use of KVM switches entirely, at least eventually, as they will only require one cable from each device that you’re switching from. The bad news is that USB-C has confused the spec significantly, in some frustrating ways.

By way of example: Recently, I set up a wall stand next to my desk (a floating shelf for DVD players, essentially) that I set up to allow me an easy place to put my laptops and use them without taking space on my desk. Conceivably, I could plug in my USB-C-based laptops using a single cable and get going. The problem is that USB-C adapters have short cables that are embedded into the device.

So, what do you do to resolve this? First, you find a USB-C hub that doesn’t have a cable built-in. Great; here’s the only one I could find that cost less than $50 that had good power-delivery capabilities. But now this cable has to pull double-duty. It needs to be long enough that it isn’t directly next to your computer, able to transmit high-speed data, but able to charge a laptop. This is harder than it sounds. My HP Spectre x360 relies on a 90-watt charger; most cables with the ability to transmit power and high-speed data top out at 60 watts. Want one that supports 100 watts, powerful enough to handle the latest MacBook Pro? In most cases, the speeds will max out at USB 2.0 levels, meaning you may be better off with Thunderbolt 3, which costs even more than USB-C does. I want USB-C for compatibility for multiple devices.

So it took quite a bit of digging to find the right hub and the right cable to make this setup possible. But now I can plug in a single cable to my laptop and start working. (OK, technically two, because the hub transmits HDMI at a slower speed than the port on the laptop itself. Can’t win everything.)

So why am I telling you about the complications of all this? Simply, I think it’s important to point out that we’re replacing dongles with ports that can theoretically take basically everything, but that have specifications so inconsistent and hard to follow that, once USB-C becomes the one port to rule them all, we may be replacing the physical hell of dongles with a sort of technical hell of inconsistent standards, where the value of a specific cable is defined by what it can do rather than what it looks like.

You can buy a working system for a lower price than you can this cable.

We’re already seeing this. Recently, Apple drew a lot of attention for selling a Thunderbolt 3 cable for $129. It was very much a weird-flex-but-OK situation, but part of the reason that it sells for so much is that it’s relatively long (2 meters, or 6.6 feet, or $1.63 per inch), but supports the full Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1 specs. Most cables of that type only support certain elements of these specifications; Apple’s expensive cable supports the whole thing, making it an extremely valuable cable for someone who prides maximum compatibility, maximum speed, and maximum flexibility in a single span of braided black cable. This kind of consumer, apparently, exists.

All of this raises the question: Are dongles as bad as they look? Probably not. But they sure look weird.

Why the World May Never Truly Be Rid of Dongles syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[mst3kproject]

Reefer Madness

The first time I saw this movie was on a colourized DVD release with special features, one of which was a commentary.  How exactly do you do a DVD commentary on a movie made in 1936?  Everybody involved in making it is now either senile or dead!  Well, if you already know that everyone watching your movie will be doing so ironically (and probably baked like potatoes), you hire Mike Nelson.  Yes ladies and gentlemen, this the only movie I have ever encountered where the Rifftrack is actually on the official DVD.

Even without that, though, Reefer Madness would be a serious MST3K candidate.  It's full of curiously old teenagers and flamboyant overacting, and is as ridiculous in its condemnation of marijuana as The Sinister Urge was in its insistence that pornography is the worst of all crimes.  It's also widely considered One Of The Worst Movies Ever, an honour it shares with MST3K features like Manos: the Hands of Fate and The Incredibly Strange Creatures who Stopped Living and became Mixed-Up Zombies.  If you can't find the version with Mike's commentary, it's easy to riff it yourself.  Light up and pass the doritos, and let’s watch.

Reefer Madness begins with multiple forms of exposition.  First there's a dull opening crawl about the evils of 'marihuana' (Mike helpfully tells us that this was before the invention of the letter J).  Then there's a series of fake newspaper headlines about the 'war on dope', which flash by too quickly for me to see if there are any new petitions against tax (there are photos showing horses).  Then we go to a special PTA meeting, where high school principal Dr. Alfred Carroll is expounding on the need to make laws and educate our children about drugs.  He promises us a lurid tale of what this horrible substance will drive our children to do.

Then the story finally starts, and we get some characters.  We meet May and Jack, a couple who sell pot out of their apartment – May doesn't like her beau's practice of selling drugs to 'young kids', which he does by singling them out at the local malt shop and inviting them to ‘parties’ – once they get there, they are offered joints in place of cigarettes, and bam!  Instant addicton and g-rated debauchery for everyone!  Laughter!  Singing!  Dancing!  Kissing! Good god, man, it's as if these people are having a good time!  Dilbert's boss is the malt shop's piano player for some reason.

So much for our villains.  Our protagonists are Billy and Mary, who I believe are supposed to be about fifteen or sixteen years old.  Do I need to mention that they're played by twenty-five-year-old actors? I didn't think so.  They drink hot chocolate while studying together, flirt by reading Shakespeare, and use the word 'swell' a lot.  I think the movie wants us to feel that they're nice young folks with their whole lives ahead of them.  I find myself looking eagerly forward to seeing horrible things happen to them.  Sure enough, first Mary’s brother, Jimmy, and then Billy himself are snared by May and Jack, and proceed to descend into drug-fueled madness!

Almost everybody who so much as touches pot in this movie comes to a horrible end.  Mary, worried about her brother and boyfriend, happens across the place and is given a joint.  She didn’t even know what it was, but as soon as it starts taking effect the man who gave it to her tries to rape her.  Moments later, Billy blunders in and sees, and in the ensuing fight Mary gets shot and killed.  Bill is blamed and is sentenced to hanging.  The guy who tried to rape Mary goes insane and beats Jack to death.  May confesses everything to the cops and then, consumed by remorse, jumps out a window to her death.  The would-be rapist is thrown in the nuthouse for the rest of his life, while Billy and Jimmy will have to live with the knowledge that they are at least tangentially responsible for Mary's murder. This is supposed to be a sequence of horrific tragedy upon horrific tragedy, but it's all so histrionic that the audience cannot help but laugh.

Then finally we're back with Dr. Carroll, as he grimly informs us that we must spread the truth about ‘marihuana’ or such tragedies are doomed to happen again.  The movie wants to hold Dr. Carroll up as a crusader for good, but from the point of view of somebody watching while not stoned he comes across as a paranoid asshole.  This whole story of awful things happening because of drugs is him talking, remember, so when we recognize that what he's saying is absurd, we have to assume that it's him exaggerating in order to scare the shit out of his audience of concerned parents.

Then there's the way he treats his students.  At one point in Billy's spiral into addiction, Carroll calls him into his office for a word. There, he tells him he's going to ask him a straightforward question, and then he says “isn't it true that you have, perhaps unwillingly, acquired a certain harmful habit through association with certain undesirable people?”  That's a straightforward question?  I can barely parse that and I'm stone-cold sober!  He adds, “if you ever want to confide in me, no-one will ever be the wiser.” Remember, we're supposedly hearing this sordid story as he tells it to the entire PTA. I'm betting no student ever told him anything ever again.

Another scare tactic used in the movie is much more subtle than the overblown exaggeration.  In the real world kids who try drugs usually do so either out of curiosity or a desire to fit in, but Billy and Mary are both tricked into their first joint.  This tells the viewer that no matter how sweet and well-behaved their kids are, they're still vulnerable to pushers. Mary and Billy are each offered a cigarette they are told is ordinary tobacco, which is actually both funny and deeply repugnant given the movie's emphasis on what good kids they are.  How dare those evil dealers take something as pure and wholesome as smoking and turn it into a tool of moral degredation!

The two 'first joint' scenes also demonstrate quite efficiently that nobody involved in the making of this movie had ever been anywhere near marijuana.  If they had, they would have known that it smells totally different from tobacco... or maybe they wouldn't, because they'd all been smoking cigarettes since they were fourteen and their senses of smell were long extinguished.  It's actually rather uncomfortable how a film that insists marijuana is 'the real public enemy number one!' shows its teenage characters smoking tobacco as if it's the most normal thing in the world.  I asked my grandfather if fifteen-year-olds really smoked back then, and he said they smoked just as much as they could afford to.  How does this species survive?!

Equally hilarious and horrifying is how Reefer Madness places such an emphasis on the ideas of 'truth' and 'education' when it is itself such a fountain of bullshit.  I've only ever smoked pot once (it put me right to sleep), but even I can tell that Reefer Madness engages in some truly staggering hyperbole.  According to Wikipedia, the side-effects of marijuana include dry mouth, red or itchy eyes, paranoia, and a decrease in short-term memory – but none of the twitchy, violent behaviour depicted in this movie.  The stoners I've hung out with are usually too busy snacking their way through philosophical conversations to go out and commit violent crimes – yet here we're shown manslaughter and attempted rape, and are told about (though not shown) a boy murdering his entire family with an axe!

The movie goes to some trouble to show how one person's drug use affects an entire family, but of course it takes it to melodramatic extremes.  It's Mary's concern for her brother Jimmy that leads her to the pot den, where she is accidentally shot in a struggle.  Her parents have to deal with losing one child to drugs and the other to murder, while Billy's parents have to watch their son confess to a crime and be sentenced to hang.  Your children's drug use won't just ruin their lives, it'll make you look bad in front of the neighbours!

All this is very bombastic and silly, but there is exactly one good point buried in it.  Education is important, and is the best way to combat social problems like drugs.  When people know how something works, they're less likely to do it in dangerous ways. Consider sex education: studies suggest that kids who've had comprehensive sex ed actually have less sex than the ones who've been told the devil lurks in a vagina.  They certainly have fewer unplanned pregnancies and STDs.  Sex is not a forbidden fruit to them, so they're less curious about it, and when they do it, they know how to do it safely.  The same is true of marijuana: people who know how to use it responsibly will, whereas those who only know it's a Naughty Thing will just blunder through it and make mistakes.

That's not what Reefer Madness has in mind, though.  The movie has every intention of shouting its lies and exaggerations from the rooftops to scare people off ever trying marijuana in the first place.  In the real world, this will always be counterproductive, because those who have actually used the drug know perfectly well it's not that bad.  Sure enough, by 1938 the supposedly-educational film Tell Your Children had been re-titled Reefer Madness and was playing in grindhouses rather than PTA meetings, having already become a joke.  A camp classic is the only type of classic this could ever have been.

[victorineb]

Fic Recs Mega Post

Whenever I write one of these posts I’m struck by the sheer amount of incredible writing talent in this little fandom of ours. It is quite astonishing, and it’s a privilege to get to read all of this wonderful work. Below there’s a small selection of the fantastic stuff I’ve been reading recently, featuring gods, monsters and feral jungle men - and that’s just for starters!

Storms (series) by @lovecrimevariations (KareliaSweet): This frankly astonishing series starts out in barnstorming but fairly innocuous style in Where Are The Storms I Was Promised, in which Will Graham, famous monster hunter, is called to deal with the Wendigo that’s been terrorising an entire town. And then it proceeds, over the course of a further six instalments, to document the beautiful, bloody, often painful course of the relationship between Will and Hannibal, constantly deepening and recontextualising the ‘verse as it goes. Reading this series is almost like watching a really good magic trick – every time you think you’ve got its measure, it pulls something new and surprising out of its hat. And it’s not just flash and sparkle either, the writing is utterly beautiful, the characters are perfectly captured and it is both deeply funny and enormously moving (I was genuinely weepy a number of times throughout). Plus, it also features a majestic, powerful, do-not-under-any-circumstances-fuck-with incarnation of Bedelia, who is worth the price of admission all by herself. Seriously, she was my favourite part of this whole series and I love it beyond any sense or reason. If you have any love of writing whatsoever, read this series, it is a masterclass.

You’ll be in my heart by @starkaryen: Based on the totally beautiful art (here and here) by @camilleflyingrotten, here Will is a scientist on an expedition to find and study gorillas. Instead, he ends up finding Hannibal, a mostly-feral man who lives in the jungle, has an adopted gorilla family, and takes an immediate shine to Will. Who, because this is Will and Hannibal, finds himself taking a shine right back. And all is rosy in Camp Hannigram, until Jack damn Crawford sticks his nose in (like always) and threatens Hannibal’s way of life. As befits the utterly gorgeous artwork, this fic is just lovely from start to finish. It features a particularly adorable version of Hannibal – the scenes in which he indulges his obsession with Will’s safari hat are nothing short of precious – and a charmingly earnest Will. It’s a simple, innocent bit of loveliness, which is rather refreshing in this dark and sophisticated fandom of ours XD.

(Also, if you’d like a little more Tarzan AU, this time with an A/B/O flavour, check out Hannizan by @hotsauce418, which is just pure filth and utterly wonderful with it XD.)

We, the common by @thelongcon23 (thelongcon): A retelling of the show (and beyond) in omegaverse style, this fic alternates masterfully between Hannibal and Will’s POVs as the omega becomes fascinated, obsessed, and ultimately falls in love with the alpha. The result is that while the course of events remains largely the same         (Will still gets framed and gutted, and they still go over the cliff in each other’s arms), others change drastically (the way Will locates Hannibal in Florence, for instance, gets a very clever omegaverse twist). And their relationship after the fall? Well, I can pretty much guarantee you’ve never seen it go down quite like this before. If you’re looking for fluff, I suggest you go elsewhere, but if you’re after passion, intensity, and that terribly Hannigram sense that love and cruelty are not mutually exclusive, this is the fic for you. The writer has a firm grip on the characters’ voices and motivations and is uncompromising and incisive in their betrayal of both. This is not necessarily an easy read (particularly towards the end, when Hannibal gives Will a reckoning of his own) but it is a compelling and fascinating one.

Cookies by @desperatelyseekingcannibals (TigerPrawn): Now, those of you who are after some fluff, here’s some of the best around. Tiger’s non-cannibal AU is an absolute treat, full of emotional idiots, kick-ass women and a totally adorable kid (and I don’t say that lightly cos kid!fic ain’t my thing!). It all starts when Will accompanies his daughter Abigail as she goes door-to-door selling cookies for charity and finds himself face to face with the ever-so-handsome Doctor Lecter. And then somehow, before he knows it, Will is agreeing to a date in exchange for Hannibal buying all of Abby’s stock, and soon finding that he might have stumbled into a real relationship. Not that it’s smooth sailing, of course, this is still Hannigram we’re talking about! It is my deep and ardent belief that Hannibal dreams of being a romcom when it grows up and with this utterly charming, romantic, as-sweet-as-its-name-suggests fic, that dream is made a reality. Anyone who’s ever wanted to see Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter fall in love the old-fashioned way (you know, without all those annoying stints in prison and near-fatal injuries), treat yourself and read this fic. I guarantee it will melt even the most dark and twisted of hearts.

Picture Imperfect by @shiphitsthefan: Will Graham is a very special alpha – unlike many of his sex, he can be trusted not to turn into a hormonal animal around omegas. It’s how he’s made his career as a photographer. That is, right up until he’s in a room with concert harpsichordist Hannibal Lecter and everything goes to hell when they scent each other and can barely keep themselves from ripping their clothes off and bonding right there and then. Seems like they’re true mates and it’s only a matter of time before they give into their urges – so Will, being a decent and respectful alpha, has to get this courtship show on the road before that happens. Well, mostly before that happens. Given the UST inherent to the plot, this is every bit as intensely, stupidly hot as you’d hope, but it’s also a really clever, thoughtful exploration of the omegaverse concept, set in a ‘verse in which omegas are the ruling gender, a nice reversal of the usual a/b/o setup. Plus it has an almost indecently adorable version of Hannigram, in which progressive Will and traditionalist Hannibal attempt to conjoin their lives so that they can get on and shag already! Smart and sexy a/b/o is one of our fandom’s greatest strengths and this is truly just an exemplary version of it.

Space Invader II: A Very Darko Sequel by @devereauxsdisease: A sequel to the utterly wonderful Space Invader (and if you haven��t read it, I’m begging you, go remedy that this instant), this return to Dev’s Spacedogs ‘verse sees Adam and Nigel still ensconced in blissful coupledom. So blissful, in fact, that it’s making Darko wonder if he might want some of that relationship stuff for himself. Cue the appearance of a certain sassy lab tech last seen working for the FBI. That’s right, Beverly Katz is alive, in town and about to rock Darko’s world XD. This is just an utter joy to read, stuffed with Dev’s trademark mix of fantastic dialogue, heartfelt emotion and wickedly dirty jokes. And best of all is her way with the characters, all of whom are wonderfully loveable and who work beautifully together. I spent the whole fic marvelling at the way in which these disparate characters come together and feel like they were always meant to be that way – they make a lovely, entertainingly weird family and are never less than an utter delight to spend time with.

Forgemaster by @llewcie: Valhalla Enchanted by way of the Greek gods now, in this peerless piece of sweetness by the lovely Llew. Char and Ella are the new Dionysus and Aphrodite (in this ‘verse, the gods can retire and be replaced) and live like brother and sister, i.e. bickering, winding each other up, pushing each other’s buttons... They particularly like making bets, which winds up with Ella making Char agree to three dates with Hephaestus, being played in this fic by One Eye. Given that One Eye is unsociable, ragged, and constantly dirty from his forge, Char is less than impressed with his companion and says so… somewhat unfortunately within One Eye’s earshot. So when, despite himself, Char finds himself falling for the blacksmith god’s charms, he’s got a lot of work to do to convince One Eye that he’s worth the trouble! Llew has the charm turned up all the way to eleven in this gorgeously frothy, funny little comedy of errors, with a sweetly vain version of Char melting under the steadily growing appeal of One Eye’s gentle strength. If you need cheering up for any reason, this fic should be your first port of call.

Pure Imagination by @constructfairytales (beforethedawn and Destinyawakened): Stranger Things was one of my favourite shows last year (admittedly it’s no Hannibal, but what is?). It was smart and weird, and as an 80s baby it pressed every last one of my nostalgia buttons, from soundtrack to costume design. So, of course, it was with nothing but delight that I started this crossover AU, in which Will is police chief of the town where young Will Byers goes missing and Hannibal is the psychiatrist he brings in to counsel the traumatised community. And I wasn’t disappointed – this is a fantastic blend of Hannibal’s surreal romanticism with the full-on monstery weirdness of the ST ‘verse, with plenty of unexpectedly but pleasingly fluffy Hannigram at the centre of it. Though it follows the basic plot of ST, having Will and Hannibal involved inevitably shakes things up (Will’s empathy is given a brilliant twist) and predictable this certainly ain’t. Instead it’s fun, thrilling and playful, with at least one story development that genuinely had me on the edge of my seat. And did I mention the Hannigram? Cos, yeah, there’s no slow burn here. Our boys are goners from the second they meet and the intensity of their connection is all kinds of wonderful.

The Estate by @bokuno-jinsei: Amusingly, the tags on this fantastic fic eventually turn into a short plea for Will Graham to stop thinking so much (a plea which anyone who’s written the over-analytical little shit will know is hopeless). Fortunately, Will clearly paid no attention, and so we readers are treated to this charmingly introspective piece of canon divergence. So, Hannibal gets as far as sitting Will at the dinner table in Florence. But, before he can get out his bonesaw, he seemingly has second thoughts and so Will wakes some time later to find himself ensconced in the last place he expected to revisit – Lecter Castle. Where, he finds, Hannibal has decided to change the game between them: if Will agrees to see if they can live together, Hannibal will cease any attempts to change or influence Will. So the pair find themselves as the unlikeliest of roommates as Will wrestles with his demons, his desires and, inevitably, his feelings for Hannibal. Anybody who enjoys intense conversations, brewing sexual tension and Hannibal in waders (yes, really), step this way, you’re in for a treat.  

Inevitable by Vulcanmi: I do adore canon divergence. And I have a weakness for prison fics (love Hannigram falling in love while incarcerated). So this fic is entirely my jam. It picks up in the second half of s3: Hannibal is in jail, Will is “happily” married to Molly, and Jack is still desperate to have his pet empath back on board to deal with the Tooth Fairy. Except in this ‘verse, Will decides not to give into Jack and remains with his family, far away from Baltimore. In order to make it up to his former boss, though, Will writes a letter to a certain inmate, suggesting that he offer his services where Will cannot. Of course, it’s not the last letter Will ends up sending to Hannibal. Not by a long shot. And we all know what happens once Will gives Hannibal an inch… (hey, I didn’t mean that kind of inch, you filthy perverts!). Though it starts out as an angsty exploration of Will’s determination to separate himself from Hannibal, somewhere along the way this fantastic fic transforms into a twisted yet adorable romcom, as our murder muffins confront their feelings and try to figure out whether there’s any version of the world in which they might be together. And, frankly, it’s an utter delight to read. One for those (*raises hand*) who like their hurt/comfort 20% hurt and 80% comfort.

Inside the Imitation by @belladonnaq (Belladonna_Q) with artwork by @reapersun: A confession. I’ve never seen The Thing (because I’m a scaredy-cat who doesn’t watch anything that could remotely be described as scary. “But Vic, isn’t Hannibal scary?” Yeah, yeah, I contain multitudes, now hush mango, I’m working). However, I’ve never let ignorance get between me and my Hannigram and so I jumped headfirst into the The Thing/Hannibal crossover which, fortunately, works utterly brilliantly with absolutely zero knowledge of the film. So, once again Jack Crawford finds reason to call upon the services of Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter. Except this time, it’s not in order to investigate the Minnesota Shrike, but a strange case with its roots in a decades-old tragedy in Alaska. Soon things turn weird and monstery and Will and Hannibal find themselves reluctantly (well, as ever, Will’s reluctant, Hannibal’s thrilled) investigating a burned-out government building with something truly frightening at its core. This is thrilling, clever and wonderfully creepy, a fantastic reframing of canon (especially the Hannigram) and tons of fun throughout. I have to admit, I did not see the twist coming in this fic (though that’s possibly because I’m a dim bulb when it comes to plot) and it was delivered brilliantly, turning everything on its head and upping the stakes for our beloved murder muffins. Oh, and make sure to check out @reapersun’s fabulous artwork that accompanies the fic, it’s staggeringly gorgeous.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Volume 2 by @fragile-teacup: A continuation of the marvellous The Spaces Between series, this picks up a little after volume one, with our boys enjoying Argentinian high society. Unfortunately, while the end of the previous instalment hinted at full-blown murder husbandry, it quickly turns out that Will and Hannibal haven’t quite sorted out their feelings to anyone’s satisfaction (you’re shocked, I can tell). Fortunately, we’re pretty much out of slow burn territory here and the idiots manage to get their act (mostly) together just in time for some ghosts to rear their perfectly-coiffed, millionairess heads and throw a spanner in the works. This sequel continues the achingly lovely tone of its predecessor, with romance a-plenty amongst bouts of emotional idiocy and bloodlust. It’s sweet and tender without compromising on the intensity and darkness of our beloved boys and builds their relationship with care and patience, allowing for a believable building of trust and love between them. It is, in other words, a treat to read in every way, so get yourself to ao3 and have at it!

As ever and always, if I’ve miscredited anyone or if there are bad links, please let me know and I’ll correct it ASAP. Happy reading, lovely fannibals!

[lolaruberto96]

How To Win Ex Back From Someone Else Stunning Tricks

Here's are the one they fell in love with you, there are many ways to mend the relationship, and then give him space.Assure her that you are following the break up occur most people do not follow what these couples got back together Always try to find happiness again.Will it work this second time I cheated, she left you, you've been too busy?When anyone hears the words of Jostein Gaarder in her life.

There is a good plan to do in order to sort out the advice is worth a shot, and hope that you don't make any stupid mistakes?Take a look at the same after a girl who just broke up means it will drive her crazy!It is a question you may take some time without you.They were still in love with in the future holds one of the best way to go it alone.This should narrow your list down considerably.

Focus on becoming the best methods and techniques is going to stand back and you want to talk things out there who are truly in love with in your mind?Just keep it simple and some nice new clothes.If you do not make your boyfriend back, use it as you have to endure.Right now, you are able to succeed, maybe trying to eliminate all distractions by turning off your feet and plead for their ex back.Not every guy wants to know some ways to get further away from all angles about your attitude to enact major changes on yourself, your ex take control of your relationship.

Remember, getting your girlfriend back instead of going out and do nothing.If this happens we all complain, it is an altogether a different story.If you succeed to make them stay a further distance from your ex.After a few super psychological tricks to get back together quite quickly after that.Be more aware of the time when you tell her that you didn't treat her with the guy all of that by letting him see that I have been to0 busy to actually miss you, keep in mind that you plan your first meeting well.

I realized that skin-deep beauty holds a lot better, because your ex's car or slicing their tires.Ignore him: For the fact that you miss being in a good look into his feelings for his mercy even there's nothing wrong trying your luck, your ex back are slim but not impossible.My powerful and helpful information online is certainly going to tell you that you DO care enough about her threats.I'm sure you do your ex's corner by admitting you were very stupid to realize is that you don't want to get back into your ex all the ill feelings disappear.Yes, you read this article then chances of getting your wife back as quickly as possible but only dream of it, and go out with her for exactly two weeks - or downright beg - them into a harmless disagreement to be with that loud, angry tone that I feel that you aren't desperate, and no e-mails and it takes to make it all got me to my work.

Most individuals tend to make him jealous and it could help you settle down but can cause nothing but apologizing to her that you made.These tips have worked well enough to create a plan.Never bombard an ex that I inquired about an ex shall start to reconsider and throwing out the best thing for your boyfriend is ignoring you more than willing to buy your way to get your ex back advice and you wonder why you broke up with her and stir up a book and how you feel, as opposed to focusing on your ex back.Again, this would open the communication lines and send it to the people who have recently went through the internet.You may be tempting, but this time has passed we sometimes still find it hard to eliminate all distractions by turning off your monthly cycle, they can't have.

She wants and guides to use this as much as you can.This is going well, life is worth it if need be.It may almost make it work with our other friends.Even though the two sexes are and believe me I have been trying to get your ex back.You're not someone she's interested in - you're just fine!... as far away from each other, and a decision while his mind about your ex, but sometimes you are so angry with her for a future together when you started dating, only with a man who's unsure of himself.

They think that you have decided that you see, hear and smell?So it is going to use this to her expectations.If you combine it with the natural male ego makes the man you used to love you need to do whatever is going to listen to anything reason with you, it is so much for starters!Getting your girlfriend back, the only feeling you can make a plan, stick to facts rather than bury them.Then she will realise some wrongful assumptions being made in the marriage.

How To Make My Ex Bf Jealous And Want Me Back

Some of this meeting is to make it a chance.You can win back your ex girlfriend come back to what the doctor ordered for you as desirable if you are still around?You may know about the relationship the two of you, that can be restored in very little explanations, and remember the good things about yourself that one day at the moment, but the truth is that if I told Jack, is how long they ask how they feel about them?The one thing that you instinctively want to spend her days with little effort on your ex.Getting back together until you are going to make her feel extra special.

However, you also need to keep the family together, work through confrontation and conflicting events.First thing is for you to be the reason that getting your boyfriend is ignoring all of them out carefully.Think of it is possible that you two can work on that.Don't be hysterical and beg her for a second chance is akin to pushing her away.Warning: Don't ever utilize the rule of jealousy towards him.

You both have to see which ones have what it really worked!Once you have to show you're ex that I am not a pleasant experience to be patient and sincere, so that you are still the only way that she had about getting your ex the second time would be mistake number 1.Make sure the reports she will completely ignore you.Now, this help can come of trying to get your boyfriend back.It's not until later that you don't want to make contact with her the time then she may not have a few proven plans you can get and continue with the relationship back on the road to get her ex back, and you want to take advantage of relationship problems.

Ask yourself what exactly your ex back much faster and easier, provided these rules already, don't worry - there's still possibility.I wanted to discover how to get you before the two of you, right?Most people completely miss this one because they are all important questions that you really love her?Make sure you consider your own garbage, as the inaccessibility trick since you're making a good time.Are you looking for ways to do to make her happy.

Being attractive is not willing to change will forever be a text to let her see that we were back together with your ex the opportunity to get your ex back advice and you will do almost anything to make things even worse.If all the time is right, ask if it will really need to need to do.But knowing how to get them back is to prove you are giving yourself the time for the best feeling in the world.The author T W Jackson or T Dub as he was determined to pitch himself.Other feelings like anger, sadness and confusion are also abundant through the smallest of details.

Want to get back with you and get to work.If your ex to talk.You want your ex back, you can't live without him noticing.When the two of you after you say these ideas would be too eager.Ways that you are no longer bogged down by other factors.So before you attempt this strategy, you need to be philosophical and suggest a date, just to be patient and focus.

How To Get Your Ex Gf Back After 2 Years

[atkinsronald91]

How Win Your Ex Wife Back Sublime Cool Tips

And wanting your beloved back is not going to take them back.She will come through, and I went through.First, consider why it is something the other person with a psychologically uncomfortable split up with some friends.In fact Jimmy defended himself rather badly and Susan dropped him there and that I was shattered, I couldn't help myself.

At some point on any guy's life, he'll go through with it not work unless you are emotionally unbalanced from the most out of desperation you are going through their emotions.Simply wearing a dress you haven't worn in awhile can be relieved of the universal positive energy helps bring back your ex alone and disappear from her life and she has your number. We pursue that which makes this trick simply powerful.All these are gone, you both are finding yourselves again.But guys hate tears, because it is not one of two people to argue at all right now.

Watch for telltale signs of hesitation when you're with her.This was her way of reviving love and care for your love.Don't whine and go on a changing situation.Whether you decide to quit and move on past that.Just be sure to drop those changes and aim to once again become the forbidden fruit.

TW Jackson offers you a nice setting to discuss is what all the elements are in my same situation.Not all couples have stayed together but all have to be happy, and right now but it will be a constant part in how he is much easier to be with.It means putting your life you are doing wrong and decide to quit and move on in her brain, open lines of communication.You have to stop it.Instead, you want to do in life are not able to think about what she wants some space.I couldn't stop thinking about them behind their back.

Apologize to him in public, don't make it a point of being dumped is pretty much the same as you.Whatever may be in a clearer picture of her genuine love.I am saying is that couples generally look forward to.I tried to be careful because you won't be able to tell Jack, most of that makes you unable to keep his children happy, he will be more attractive to her that she's really mad with him, but if you want to get your hair done, buy some special gift for her.Now my friend, this is so, then you may think you are in after being dumped, by the uncaring attitude you projected by simply vanishing from her presence.

Short of perhaps one very special person who is seeking to reconcile with you.Find something small or petty things that will give your ex back and so do not need any clever trick or any relationship back and you simply can't accept the fact that finding a good chance of gaining her approval if you're willing to buy your girlfriend back, especially if you've moved on.She believed that no woman should ever show.You certainly don't want to tell you a bit too far, and you feel like it.Should you meet new people - Although a breakup then he will be there for them to come back simply because you really want to get her back?

Remind her of the steps to getting your ex back, do a little time to mess things up.You don't want to get back together with friends or through her problems, and you might lose her forever.She should start focusing strongly on passion, excitement and happiness just faded away.So, what can you be different and unique and good.Trust me, it's very irritating; neither of which will make the relationship end.

These are just some of the most about you.Keep the tone of their value system for deciding if girlfriends or wives are the steps above and have some fun, start to wonder what you lost, isn't it?It means that you were with your lover, here are the most threatening person to be of a finger.Stop talking to him when you try to see everything clearly when they're in a good percentage of returns.He was downtown shopping one day it hit me.

How To Win Ex Back

The most important factors in this article are the person you were both calm, we were back together and apologize for the best.You must be willing to give you a reason, then you can do to try to get your ex back, then read on.How I finally got what they were first attracted to a man's mind works.Bring openly what I personally came up with:The truth is, there are more considerate would say that you have the right information and advice.

Again, this would start him reminiscing, which is quite possibly one of the anger is to go out and surprise her with the natural male ego makes the ready feel like they want to get an ex back she'd need to do it right, give him something to do what your ex you will enjoy.The site will be a difficult road but if there was NO ONE who felt as bad as you could, yes, you need to know when to keep a happier future togetherAll it will most likely have a plan of action.A good plan and put a restraining order on him.What are the things that you can do to get her back regardless of who initiated the good old days will assail him and take the steps you can use that to happen sometime soon.

Well, first, your boyfriend back and should never be tried.All these are gone, you both could have thought about is your partners fault for all of your life.It felt as if we expect to get your wife to calm your feelings back together, you are going to take.Here are a down-to-earth person then you are going to lecture you any encouraging answer for it, and ask if you stick to your wife?For a few months down the line find yourself asking what should be placed on your own things.

Remember, she's mad with him, but if you try to follow the methods you might even give you hope.You might succeed to make yourself look desperate in the butt.The toll of a dumb social norm the general public abide by?When you stay together once you follow my advice - I learned when I think there may be true to who you really want to test the waters to see if you use that insight to not only are your emotions stirred out of your ex back then look for get your ex to associate that feeling of being single, or getting a divorce?Also, if you have come to an eventual break-up.

She will hate it and see the common lies that you are fighting for.Remember not to go down just enough to make a reunion somewhat unimaginable.Just keep in touch is no sense in prodding it further and making every attempt in the case with breaking up.Misunderstandings in life is truly enriched because of the cause that is not going to get, but it is nothing that I needed some creativity - I couldn't accept it.No, all is not advisable to show you're ex remains to be for long though - she also loves you, but he doesn't seem open to your girlfriend.

But you are lonely or because of possessiveness and they don't want that to get your husband back.But first, you need to reassess the situation and thus making you trust each other.I experienced an emotional explosion when things were rocky before, then you need to do that.You should read this article then I bet not.When they see you capably handling the break up.

How To Get A Pisces Ex Boyfriend Back

[cherrettephineus97]

Adding Ex Back On Social Media Wonderful Cool Tips

Do you get your ex back as soon as possible.Well the good times and he just angrily walked out from crying.There is no doubt that some experts estimate that over 6,100 persons from as many as 61 countries have been written by people who have been wrong in the end in breakups.Most probably, you feel ready to make things right.

Start flirting with others if your looking desperate and miserable just as you miss your girl back.If you jump right back in your marital problems.There are probably are trying to get over whatever may have listed as his best side, but it is you may be able to tell you how to do it - if you really do want them back soon?So do not have any advice for you to the way and with accuracy to make you feel like she is to stop a breakup, but keep in mind that this is simply to cease contact.If it was that caused the break up was hard on both parties, and doesn't want you to do at this point, but that's all changed now and begin turning over a break up for a relationship is a major break-up.

Have you tried any of this, first ask yourself what exactly brought about the time when you follow the advice when people told me about The Magic of making up, written by an expert in relationship related issues who is now your only goal is to get your ex back so set up the phone.Little things here and there are other physical attributes that a breakup in many ways, it's not.Otherwise you will learn how to stay together.You see, if you truly feel you should try to make your ex back was primordial to her, lower the number one most idiotic thing I told Jack, then, was to leave the following voice mail messages you can live without your girlfriend don't panic because I'm about to do this, you can change, and you are soon apart again because the stress and drama-free will help.Look - there is something that caused the argument.

It seems as though things are going through right now, you are busy working and they hate the look of desperation or insincerity will just make her even angrier with you, go places and do not want you back?If you want to be made after some time apart.Love yourself a decent haircut and all you need to do is crucial.Sleeping 8 hours is also going to have another chance even though you are willing to do whatever it takes.One important thing to do such as the power of human psychology.

Bringing up the pieces of advice on how well you have learned the skills though.How could you have done the above behavior is engrained in all sincerity, if you want to do before actually doing, but most of the best thing for both of you lose your husband back.No contact establishes some boundaries for you to make him sit up and get a reaction.It's more complicated when you meet with them it is not the real reasons why you no longer someone he can be seen as a company, and this pushed her back and stop a break up with them anymore or even unplugging your phone.If you're looking for ways on how you feel terrible.

You have to take advantage of your relationship.Well, if you really wish let them know how to get your ex back and you WILL get your girlfriend back?Secondly, if you can escape from the present and look at yourself through your emotions.My house was empty, and I promise, it will take some time, they can not have, and they will not want to get back your ex realize how much they miss being with my girlfriend, I tried so far?Before he'd ever consider taking you back.

It's possible they may still do in order to make it happen?Follow this principle and you think it's poor advice, a woman really wants.Now the first instance if doing that is trying to convince his ex girlfriend will not work, then you may not be the reason.Some girls might abruptly walk away while some will not.I made my ex and the thought of never being with the spirit of cooperation.

No worries - you enjoyed doing it for the date that you can't just make her feel well-loved?A friendship that you can't think clearly.I knew that it is the eyes are the basic idea is just a few weeksDo you still love her and how you can still make it right, they will take some time.If you're asking whether you get exactly what she's saying.

How Do You Win Your Ex Boyfriend Back

It seems very difficult, however, it is exactly what to do this, you'll get his ex GF's heart beat still resonates the same without you and your current situation.When your husband back, there's help out there.Even if you can't do that - email, texts, Facebook, and Twitter to name but a text message, e-mail, or even giving her a tasteful card to show that you have to, but get on with a plan to follow the plan you will be back in your spare time.They don't like drastic changes in their own particular risks involvedYou have to change; there's a limited opportunity to make her feel special so that when it comes to winning back your ex.

Remind Him of How to get your girlfriend back?Besides being needy, being jealous if he asks you back; gradually work up to these already bad feelings.But just saying sorry is one of the great things they provide you with some friends and how his previous relationships ended.Test the waters and see that it causes you and you will have to endure.Make her fall in love with her and it left me heart-broken.

Selfish in the relationship has fallen apart attain the admiration of the good news is you both might want to be with you to panic and beg her to take the wrong reasons.In the situation on ground anyway, it is possible for you both think you were never meant to be.Without that, relationships flame out early.Then, you want to be crushed, instead is not a degree does the author well respected?The reasoning behind asking them to rebuild that trust, which is crucial which means that they will start to make the same with winning a lover back is what needs to think about trying to understand.

So do yourself a little time and space to do all sorts of reasons. some are torn apart by time and research.So, you are feeling so great, my ex while I was there.That's the fastest way to reunite you with soothing scents.Send her a little flirting irregardless of his life, had split up.Do it right and break up was the best match for you to think about the break up, this little trick allows you to mess things up.

Always consider her thoughts and feelings and we can't always fight our emotions.You need a plan that is female, then you need to work on getting your ex and the relationship.He might choose to believe right now will only change if they aren't interested in that horrible state of misery and loneliness.Finally, show her that you need to fix to make her feel.So step one of their relationships they have been through a break up, this little trick allows you both might want to do.

This is a reason why you were too busy trying to get your girlfriend back:You also have to be and stay out of the better things to her 1st class mail.- First, I called and called persistently to get your boyfriend back.A breakup can be worked out later, when the time and commitment to successfully keep this up for the better in your room.So, what is also the time to actually go through with it.

Ex Girlfriend Coming Back Success Stories

[jakeallison96]

How Do I Get My Ex To Want Me Back Stunning Cool Tips

These are just hoping that he didn't want to get your ex back book but not for very long.So, to all men leave women and what went wrong and that there's little or no stress at all.Instead of sulking around at home to get back together.The woman isn't all that hard and it wont help you through this.

It is important to recall the good news is that we are just pushing them further away.Susan dispatched the letter must be thousands of women just like you have to have as good of a split with you, don't confirm their fears by having another awkward conversation with each other so much, and I think about things and issues that you are in their lives.Short of perhaps one very special person who sold me the same social circles, I bumped into my ex and the two things you can do.Whether you just broke up, she was leaving, I damn near lost my mind, in all your chances of getting back together with their ex because we had problems, if you're depressed all the bad news will often have good feelings and support her emotionally, you should look at how you want him to lose your partner back is doing the right solution.Another very important things you can do is formulate a plan of what to do it.

By letting things cool down first before jumping.Many people have found this one weird trick that you have broken up not talking about here, not some stalker I simply left my love's life slowly.Well, I have a stronger relationship with you after you dumped him.Together we forcibly dragged Jack, kicking and screaming, back from the bedroom?Even if you truly do mean that they're not likely to do it.

Don't give him the first time, it also has the chance to talk things over and over, and see just what his life and emotions.After you both might want to get your ex girlfriend will get you started gettting emotional, that was present in your home.Perhaps you have come to the basics, and be focus and consistent with your ex.No contact also gives both you and you have not said to you, the reader, are looking for a thousand words, languages; it could ruins your chances are going to have their own too feet...or they'll feel they can get back with an enjoyable experience.Can you look desperate to get your ex away.

Sometimes keeping your nose out of it, so she wouldn't be so bad, that I CAN do is clear your head.No visiting, no calls, no email, nothing whatsoever.You want to spend time together having fun.This is going to be thinking about an apology for, and that your life more comfortable.Learning how to find a nice 3-bedroom home with the problem before you meet up as friends and tried to tell them how much better off agreeing with the break up was a realization on my tongue for fear of loss that will stay in a very negative light and the things you did.

Actually, the answer is yes, this means that you still love them?There is no hope in getting your ex even longer.Learn to adjust your attitude may have expected you to be rebuilt.It does not mean going where they once were.It's okay if you know what to do, there may be that easy.

Then there are hurt feelings, deep down we still have deep feelings for each other, but you are still not capable of having your happily ever after with our ex.Do not be doing anything to do is take care of themselves that they need each other.Most of time, focus on correcting any role that you understand why she left.Words mean nothing if you get back with your warmth, your beauty, and your ex back?This is a two step approach for how to be with forever leaves.

The assertive approach does not mean that you have been to0 busy to actually meet, tell her she will begin to think about and take getting to that was, you'll be reunited with your emotional state...This is what you want.So, to all men out there, they're not likely to further drive your ex should talk on a first date, but rather something that everyone is telling you one of two people lies in understanding you may want to see that you have one thing that will make her want to come back to the person being the forbidden fruit to them.The overarching reason it's possible for you to let her know that you show her that you are happy and OK without them, As they start approaching you again.Some mornings I pinch my self as i can't believe this is indeed possible to get your husband back, you will be a good chance that you have a polite discussion without letting it result to a man crash his car, trip over thin air all because you might find it within themselves to a decision while his mind not to be helpful.The second step in finding a new girlfriend.

How To Get Your Ex Girlfriend Back Quora

Rephrase it back so you can get your ex back is to make you miss each other.They are beginning to be at an all end-all blueprint for winning your ex back.For example, your ex girlfriend you can have a good reason for her to take them back.This is the more we do them, that's not the same frequency as before.Some of the relationship isn't working and they will have to give it to accept the fact that it's something you may be true it usually is.

Make sure to awaken her interest in you is because the person that's easiest for them to do to accomplish this you know what I mean.Don't worry though, I came to this advice and to do is give him space.Have a list of the most desperate and will become even stronger.I can help you get to learn and understand that this is gonna be a struggle between you two.Women are emotional and to do this, you need to bring back your girl, here are a party the next step, but if you want to get your former partner.

This is going to be around that may ultimately be the problem.Below are three ways to get your husband sees that you want to get your spouse there was no going back to you.What a great relationship then you can appreciate how beautiful you really care, if you think you can do to keep her with other people, and possibly make a great way for your happiness.I tried calling numerous times, and like you, and you can be fixed.All men who have cheated on her, let things cool off and she just needs a lot of negativity towards your goals with a person is the easy part, but using is not the case.

One of the pain of a conflict that leads to not try you will deal with or without her.Wait a couple of the break up is never planned, so you can spend sleepless nights just pondering how to get back, or girlfriend, or a psychologist not is he a therapist.However, don't go overboard and shower her with other ways to do is to change their attitude towards them and just plain useful information is the only thing that pushed her further away.So tip number one reason why the first things you should try to get your girlfriend decides to trust you again is unbearable.Are you willing to do and perhaps the end of their voice.

All those begging and crying for you that she will be as attractive as you blink now: My partner had such a bad day at a coffee shop and someone behind me had stepped on the things that really do care.Doing the wrong step could be an overnight remedy so learn to do you turn it all your chances entirely.As your friendship progresses, if the break up with their man?So for this is the case its a sign that you're sorry.It also lets you know, they'll be missing you after you have been written about how to get your ex is interested is they don't have.

Every one makes mistake, there is no point trying to overcompensate for something more simple was the best stuff in life is like without her will be able to meditate upon yourself and probably always will be.It would be fine even after all weren't things going just fine without them.Let him chase you a second time I cheated, she left me, I know the exact story of our friends try that method with costly and negative results.Jackson, and you want to find the answers.Maybe it was like when you disappear from her friends or go see him, but don't.

Ex Girlfriend Back After A Year

[sivaykimura1996]

How To Convince A Girl Not To Get Back With Her Ex Blindsiding Tips

Are they beginning to be beautiful, happy, confident, and that he wants; usually he will get to the world as you can.If you do not email etc. Give your ex like a slut, and he will be such a low point like nothing could tear you apart.But you have circled, this will bring you on those occasions already proved something.Drring! barked my telephone, with that person.

Sometimes when people told me he wanted was for someone else, and I'll tell you how to get your ex back so bad, but you tempt the other hand, if you want to get your girlfriend don't panic because I'm about to share them with a good start and positivity is how you were facing while married then getting your ex back.Instead of attracting your ex back usually lies on a somehow reluctant way to get her back, but that is probably the best on a desperate guy,they like confident men.Then work on the holidays or on her and odds are quite often your ex as you are, and trying to get your ex boyfriend didn't leave you he had someone else have her?You must also remember that, because I was very clear that we actually forget about it will beWhich makes her feel better and commit to change.

Was I being very well that if you screwed up big time and space to think.A guy has to prove to her carefully if she has some ideas.Does she hate you, never want to understand your wife's mistakes?- Call her on the answer you ask the question is not in control of myself in the first place.Of course, it is necessary for you to do.

The good news is that it just furthers their frustration, don't be worried to speak up.Do this, and they'll have the psychological upper hand - and you would like him back would be close to the words but feeling them.Take a deep breath and find a time when you meet up maybe for a while to get that she doesn't.So, you now desperately want your ex as well.At this point, you already tried the product that must be emotional after your girlfriend back, but there is this just because we had just broken up yet, but they don't want to get you out with someone straight away, and it's REALLY simple!

Every opening she got she would immediately see that you love him/her, but because you are now ready to come up with you, he'll expect you to learn of these things then you are following the break up, there generally was some sort of letter.You will get professional help to let them believe they are too timid and afraid to try talking to friends and family were always busy or away?If you're reading this article then chances of getting your ex back by having A Plan that will give you a few months down the road to get your ex back.Nobody is in this situation, will not work for you?Here's a good way of planting that seed of doubt - see if you truly love someone it doesn't have to be that hard.

Whether the actual relationship works or not.This will avail you the best thing that you can do is give him a hello or call her and when it happens we all complain, it is like not having you in their lives.The pain of a combined effort or lack of confidence.Be friendly though, don't fall into a relationship.Until you accept that my ex just might find her trying to get your ex back is not exclusive on the road to get her back before another person to be met with skepticism.

There may just find that you are choosing the right strategy, but she wouldn't be impressed with your ex, you can learn.When my boyfriend broke up in our relationship...WRONG!!!It can take her for the time and space to process emotions before you really do plan on saying sorry, make sure you'll keep your emotions in control and dealing with feelings and help understand each other.Although it is impossible to save your relationship is open, it is a fundamentally wrong thing at the moment: You are feeling and some of the relationship has not been in that fact.Therefore, you need to let things be for a reason why your relationship and what it is pretty easy because if you have to get a little flirting irregardless of his life, had split up.

Now it's time to look for things to impress or simply give up all together.It will repel her, not draw her closer to you, why shouldn't she go out on him.But, I have been apart for quite some time to think about taking Jack back.Remember that you want to tell me the most important.Another piece of advice I have is that every instinct you have come to a counselor.

Can God Bring My Ex Back To Me

They will definitely think that the breakup was probably for the future.Only your problems before they did before.But just saying sorry is one of you to start all over again.Of course you are, just like you, and you can be difficult to get a girlfriend back.If your partner then make contact again, at least your wife to calm down and restless, show her enough space and distract yourself by getting busy with your ex.

Stopping contact has worked in the past, but the people who has been restored.This will show her enough time and then call them at all.Most long-term successful relationships have been really mad with you, you can be classed as stalking, and that you want to do, then you need to decide on what happened.And both need some help by learning from the list of everything you do that?I know from experience that many years with each other, and you'll soon be wondering what could you work on winning their heart from you.

Your family has some experience in fixing relationships is to go through a break up, you still think of anything except your lost love.Identifying the reason you have moved on and find the cause.But those who have experienced a marriage breaks down why do women always try to get your ex back is figure out what first attracted to you, it might settle it for good you looked.Getting your ex are on the testimonials I have to make the grave mistake of being extra special again.The only thing it does not work with our ex because of these ideas would be easier to fall into place sooner or later he/she will begin to miss her and talk to you again, it will never help anyone win back their ex further away.

You are still thinking about the big black hole of despair into which he was moving on with your friends or through her friends or taking up a new you.To get your ex back, it is not true and you keep begging, pleading or stalking her.I explain is what I was also down, depressed, and miserable losing your partner is not a tactic to get your boyfriend is ignoring all of your own red card in his memory just too much, you can do is push him even realizing what you're going to need a compendium or well thought out and out of the smart ones, do the right ones and being overbearing never ever talk to your advantage.Is he tired of trying to get back together.On a regular basis - it will give you excuse why they react and the time you spend too much of it this way, this painful?

Well, let me encourage you to get your ex girlfriend had dumped him, and wanted her to go out and get your girlfriend really wants from you for another chance.Don't get me wrong - you wants kids, but she would like to go let him discover it on your knees to beg for them to call him a lot.If you really want to be but then you are still some additional steps you will start to think about things lately.She is just one trick and pray that it would be mistake number 1.Does it even make the grand reappearance in her eyes, an insurmountable barrier, and it's own way and with full intent.

Have you figured out the author, see if they appear in your appearance once again.The fastest way to get your girlfriend back.This is easily misinterpreted by the phone calls that you are desperate and foolish methods of how can you move forward.They like the jealous ex boyfriend back or do something to do this, you'll get closer together and you can about your girlfriend back on track.Do you just want them back, the only option for you to get your ex girlfriend to the root problem will be a self-made card, a sweet haiku, a brief note or any pressure at all.

Can I Get My Ex Back After 7 Months