#Sam is going to get such a good grade at being a brother

[michaelmilligan]

Helloooo! For the wip thing, how about sabriel fake dating? :)

Hi!! So Sabriel fake dating is pretty much what the title says - Sam and Gabriel pretend to be dating. For completely logical, altruistic reasons, of course. 😌

There's also Saileen in this story, because ultimately my agenda is always Sabrieleena polycule endgame.

Have a snippet of the beginning:

“You're dating who?!” Dean asks, sounding like someone just insulted Baby, or said that cake is better than pie.

“Gabriel.” Sam gestures to the angel next to him, who has been smiling smugly ever since they agreed to do this.

“'Sup, future bro-in-law,” Gabriel says. When Sam glares at him, his grin just widens. “Yeah, Sammy and I are a thing now, better get used to it.”

“Don't call me that,” Sam mutters.

“And why would you-” Dean gestures to Gabriel, then to Sam. “No, why would you-” Finally, he looks to Cas helplessly, who has been frowning all this time.

“What about Eileen?” he asks, very seriously.

“Oh, it's fine. We're on a, you know, a break. Of sorts. Don't worry about it.” Sam can feel himself starting to sweat. Damnit. He pretty much lies professionally, why is this so hard?

“A break?” Dean seems concerned, but he doesn't say anything more, just glares at Gabriel.

“Congratulations?” Adam says from the table, where he's still playing UNO with Michael. They barely looked up at Sam and Gabriel when they announced they had something to say, and he doesn't look at all bothered by the fact that Sam is supposedly dating the brother of the archangel who is possessing him.

Michael frowns at his cards, then puts one on the pile in the middle.

“Another reverse card?? You have got to be cheating,” Adam complains, grinning when Michael glares at him.

“I don't cheat,” Michael informs him. “... much.”

Adam rolls his eyes, but he's still smiling. It's almost cute, the way the two interact as if they've known each other for years. (Which, okay, at this point they have, even if you don't count how time works in the cage.) The thing is, that's all they're doing – playing games, watching movies, smiling at each other dopily. Sam has never even seen them hold hands, much less kiss, even though there is clearly something between them.

Same for Cas and Dean, really. Even after beating God and getting actual free will, those two are still dancing around each other. Somehow, Sam always thought that once all the obstacles were removed, especially once it wasn't Chuck's story anymore, they would figure it out quickly. But instead it's worse now. Cas seems to be keeping a distance from all of them while he waits for Jack to return from Heaven, and Dean has been throwing himself into hunt after hunt, even though he used to talk about retiring after all the God stuff was over.

And that's exactly why Sam is doing this. Maybe if his brothers see that it's possible to date an angel, they'll finally get their shit together and start doing it themselves.

[marvelfanfn2187a113]

Let It Out

Sam and Dean Winchester & little sister!reader, Castiel & teen!reader

Requested by Anonymous

Having two older brothers who fight monsters had its own set of problems. Being a witch doubled those problems. Suffering from a depression that you didn’t dare tell your family about, that just multiplied everything until every little task felt impossible to complete with such a weight on top of you.

You had had a handle on your life for a long time—after all, you were used to the hunting and the lack of sleep and the loss. That is, until a certain archangel friend of yours died. That was when your depression really got going—Gabriel was gone, and it was like his death reminded you of everyone you’d ever lost, and you couldn’t take it.

The worst part was that you couldn’t tell your brothers; they were busy saving the world, the last thing they needed to hear about was your problems. Besides, they had it just as hard as you, if not harder. Why should you make it all about you?

So, you didn’t say anything, and it was taking its toll on you and your skill set. Magic was dependent on emotions, and yours were everywhere.

It wasn’t just your magic that was changing; school wasn’t going so well either. The boys were too busy to have noticed, but your grades were dropping and—

“Y/N?” Sam’s voice snapped you out of your reverie, and you turned to see him holding up a piece of paper. When you caught a glimpse of the front, your stomach dropped. It was your report card. “What’s this?”

“I-um…” you had nothing to say.

“You can do better than this. Much better. We both know that, so what happened?”

“I-I just…got distracted.”

“Distracted?” You hadn’t noticed Dean in the corner of the room until he stood up and spoke. “By what, hunting? I thought you agreed, school comes first.”

“It does!” You insisted. “I just—“

“If you can’t do both, you know which one you’re dropping,” Sam said.

“No!” You panicked. Hunting was the only outlet you had for your powers, and right now your powers were the only outlet you had for your grief.

“We agreed!” Dean insisted. “You said you would drop hunting if you can’t do both.”

“But I can!”

“This says otherwise.” Sam waved your report card.

“That’s not fair!” You cried. “One report card doesn’t-“

“Your grades have been dropping for a while,” Sam interrupted. “I just didn’t think they would get this bad. I should’ve mentioned it sooner, I just…” he sighed. “I thought it would get better.”

“It will! Don’t stop me from hunting,” you pleaded.

“You’re not giving me much of a choice!”

“Sam, you can’t—“

“That’s enough,” Dean barked, and you both shut up. “We made an agreement, and you’re going to honor it. Until the grades go up, you’re not hunting.” Dean slung his bag over his shoulder as he spoke. “We’ve got work to do. You stay here and study for that test you told me about, understand?” Dean’s tone left no room for argument.

“I understand,” you grumbled, unable to look him in the eye, whether from anger or sadness you weren’t sure.

“Good.”

Your brothers were gone without another word.

As the Impala’s engine started up and the boys drove away, your hands curled into fists and you let out a yell of frustration. You jumped in surprise when the table next to you fell over. Did you bump it? You didn’t think you did.

Maybe you needed to pay closer attention to your powers. Or maybe you just needed to put them to good use.

…

“What do you think you’re doing here?” Dean demanded.

“I think I’m saving your bacon!” You retorted before casting a spell on the closest ghoul.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Sam insisted before taking a headshot at the ghoul heading for Dean.

“You’re welcome,” you grumbled as Dean shot the ghoul that you had petrified with your spell.

“Y/N behind yo-“ a third ghoul pounced on you before Sam got the chance to warn you.

Dean tried to aim at it, but he couldn’t get a clear shot without risking hitting you.

Sam jumped into action at your cry of pain. The ghoul had bitten into your shoulder before Sam managed to tackle it off you.

As soon as you and Sam were clear, Dean blasted the ghoul’s head off.

“Y/N?” Sam was by your side in an instant, peeling the fabric of your shirt away from your bleeding shoulder, cringing when you cried out in pain. “Ok, you’re ok, you’re gonna be fine.”

“That was crazy,” Dean grumbled as he knelt next to you to examine your injury. “That was really stupid, kid.”

“I-I didn’t see him,” you cringed. “I-I’m sor-“ you broke off with a cry of pain when Dean lifted your head, jostling your injured shoulder.

“You shouldn’t have even been here,” Dean sighed, glaring at you. “And I thought you got that guy with a spell! Your magic doesn’t seem to—“

“Dean, she’s bleeding a lot,” Sam interrupted quietly, glancing nervously at the growing puddle of blood beneath you. “I think we should try for Cas.”

“Hey Cas,” Dean stepped away from you to talk to the angel. “Cas, we need you over here! Y/N’s hurt pretty bad. Can you—“

“I’m here.” Sam jumped in surprise when Castiel appeared next to you.

“Cas,” you croaked, whimpering when Sam moved to make room for Cas.

“Shh, it’s alright little one. This won’t hurt at all.” Cas placed two fingers on your forehead, and your wound slowly sealed itself with a blue glow.

“Thanks Cas,” you breathed as you slowly sat up, rubbing your shoulder as the pain slowly went away.

“Cas,” Dean spoke up. “I think her magic’s gone all wack, can you—“

“Dean, I’m fine, really,” you said. The last thing you wanted was your brothers looking in too deep to why your powers seemed to be failing. You would look weak.

“Her powers aren’t anything physical,” Cas said. “If they’re not working correctly, she either mispronounced the spell, or she’s not in the correct mental state to perform magic.”

“Cas.” You wanted to interrupt him, but it was too late.

“Y/N.” Dean stepped closer to you, and you ducked your head to avoid his gaze. “Sweetheart what’s he talking about?”

“I’m fine.” Your voice came out small and timid.

“Y/N, talk to me.” Sam stepped forwards.

You shook your head, blinking hard and fast in a failed attempt to keep the tears at bay. Your hand unconsciously sought out something to hold onto, and your fingers clamped onto Cas’s trench coat.

“Are you alright?” Cas’s gentle voice was the only invitation you needed, and you practically flung yourself into his arms, burying your face against his shirt as your tears began to fall. Cas froze for a moment, unsure of what to do, but slowly he wrapped his arms around your shoulders, pulling you tightly against him.

“It’s alright,” he soothed. “It’s ok, I’ve got you little one.”

“I can’t do this anymore,” you sobbed, clutching onto Cas like a life preserver. “I-I miss Gabriel. And-and Joe and Ellen, and my-and my dad.”

“I know,” Cas sighed. “I know, it’s ok.”

“I didn’t mean for it to mess up the hunt.”

“It’s not your fault,” Cas promised. “You’re allowed to feel like this. It’s ok to feel sad, it’s ok.”

“Maybe we should take her home,” Sam cut in.

“Don’t go.” Cas’s heart constricted at your whimpered plea as you held on even tighter to him.

“I won’t,” he whispered to you before looking at Sam. “Go on, I’ve got her.” With that, Cas disappeared with you.

You jumped in surprise when you arrived suddenly in your room.

“I’m sorry,” Cas said. “I didn’t mean to surprise you.”

“I’m ok,” you sniffled, still unwilling to let go of Cas.

“Ok.” Cas smiled. “Would you like to lay down?”

You nodded, and Cas led you over to your bed and let you lean on top of him after he laid down.

“I’m sorry,” you said finally, your throat constricting as the tears returned.

“Don’t ever apologize for what you’re feeling,” Cas said, wrapping his arms around you. “You can let it out now, you don’t have to hide it.”

“I just don’t want Sam and Dean to think I can’t do this,” you cried.

“You can trust them. You don’t have to be alone with this, you never do.”

You didn’t respond, and Cas didn’t push it. He held you in his arms and you finally let out your years upon years of tears that you hadn’t let yourself cry before. Eventually you fell asleep, and still Cas didn’t move.

Most times when he was needed, it was so he could heal your or your brothers physically, and that was easy for him. This was much harder; he wasn’t well versed in human emotion, and he wasn’t all that sure that he was helping you correctly, but he sensed that his presence was all you needed.

So here he would stay.

Taglist:

@nyotamalfoy

[smrsxx]

Jitterbug | Bayverse!Optimus Prime x fem!human!reader

Pairing : Bayverse!Optimus Prime x fem!human!reader ( she is Sam's younger sister )

Summary : At first she was the exact same as her brother Sam , but after some tragic events she became a little bit distant . But when he came - she was confused . She did not know how to react when she realized that she loved him . When him and the Autobots landed on the Planet Earth , he expected humans like Sam to be intrigued by them , what he did not expect was to fall in love for a certain girl with bright blue eyes.

Tw : mental health issues , diagnosis of illness , angsty feelings , a very concerned Ratchet , confused Optimus , parents stupidity , but fluff at the end.

English is not my first language so if you spot any mistakes please just bare with me .

Ps : I got away with this one because OPTIMUS DESERVES SOME LOVE , but I really enjoyed it so I hope you do too .

Edit : I think it is so bad for some reason . Some people will say that the song does not fit with the imagine , but I think it is better this way .

11k words

______________________________________________________________

Let's just say that your first encounter with the Autobots was not like you've imagined it to be .

Not that you've ever imagined about meeting extremely tall and big aliens that can turn into cars .

You've never imagined that you'll fall in love for the leader of the Autobots when you first saw him either .

It was a cold night in the early days of October when you and your older brother Sam got into a really big fight .

Things got even worse when your parents came upstairs to calm you both , but instead of doing that they intervened and the situation escalated .

From arguing with your brother about something that you both forgot after a while , to both be arguing with your parents about literally anything .

Their criticism about Sam's progress in school that was not so good , how you were being a not so helpful person because of your mental health issues .

" How much more oblivious can you both be ? Sam do you even realise how much money we are going to spend for your college if you do not graduate form High School with at least decent grades ? "

Your father had told your brother , but he did not answered .

He believes that in situations likes this one - silence is the best option.

But when your mother turned to you . . . Sam saw red .

" And you Y/N haven't we spent enough money for your therapy ? Buying pills every God damn month ? It happened long ago , you should have been able to forget it by now . I mean , it is like you are doing it on purpose ."

He immediately grabbed your right wrist and dragged you out of your house .

Your parents yelling at you to come back at the house immediately or else -

That is how you found yourselves in the middle of nowhere eating McDonald's and drinking coffee inside his car .

Dad bought him a yellow Camaro with black details a couple of days ago , but he was experiencing some weird problems with it .

The most common one - the radio turned all the time on its own .

You loved it .

And so did Sam that night .

The radio was playing some funny jokes to help you both forget the ugly situation back at the house .

Uncontrollably laughing you did not hear a big track changing its form to a 22ft alien robot .

Optimus Prime thought that Bumblebee was still into his alt - form just because he enjoyed it .

The thing is that Bee was so happy that you both were laughing at the jokes , that he did not even noticed his leader looking down at him .

" Mother of Primus . Are you even listening to to me ? " Optimus Prime asked a little louder this time and Bee frozed in his spot .

When Optimus realized that Bee had passengers inside the car he left a breath he did not know he was holding .

Bee opened his doors slowly telling you to get out before he could change into his original form .

Both you and Sam were shocked beyond repair .

Bee was looking down embarrassed when Optimus kneeled on the ground to take a better look at you - both .

Coming close to your faces he asked :

" Are you Samuel Witwicky descedant of Archibald Witwicky?"

" Yeah . " Sam had answered holding at you like a teddy bear .

" My name is Optimus Prime . We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron . "

" But you can call us Autobots for short . " Another one said .

Where did he come from ?

" What's cracking little biches ? This looks like a cool place to kick it . " Another one asked .

You heard yourself silently laughing .

" My first lieutenant the designating Jazz . " You heard Optimus deep voice saying .

" How you learnde to talk like that ? " Sam asked smiling .

" We learned Earth's languages through the World Wide Web . " Optimus answered while looking at you .

Shocked by his piercing blue eyes , you did not realised that another bot had said that your levels were unstable and your body was asking for some rest .

Sam looked worryingly at you .

" And you are ? " Optimus asked you .

" Huh ? " You asked him lost in his eyes .

" She is my younger sister Y/N . " Sam had answered for you .

Suddenly you heard George Michael's voice in Bee's speakers .

" You put the boom - boom into my heart

" You send my soul hig - sky

" When your lovin' starts "

Ratchet the medical's officer had stoped Bee with what it seems to be a laser .

Optimus tried to save you both from embarrassed when he properly introduced to Sam that Bee was his guardian .

And while Ironhide and Jazz were both not interested in the conversation , Ratchet decided to tell his leader that you needed a guardian too .

He offered to become yours so he can have you close by his side since of your unstable health levels but Optimus decided otherwise .

__________

Ratchet was never more anxious and afraid in his whole entire robotic life .

After their first encounter with you and your brother , he soon realized that Sam was the type of guy that tried to fing good in every bad situation . He was alaways happy and funny . Laughing at everything him and Bee did .

You on the other side were more close , introvert , sometimes you spent to many hours of the day alone , you had sleepless nights , you found peace in listening to 80's and 90's music in your earphones .

And of course he had realized that you and Optimus - your guardian had a think for each other .

Everyone seemed to know except you two .

Although after the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons you reached your breaking point .

__________

Anxiety and panic attacks , insomnia , sleepless nights , nightmares , constant fight with your parents , Sam's abstinence , Ratchet's healt questions , Bee's teasing about you and Optimus - Optimus .

You can not lie .

You two were closer that anyone else .

Ironhide believed that your bond was even stronger that the one of Sam and Bee's .

You loved him - more that n just love actually .

You could not imagine your life without the big bot .

And when one day were you were at your worst , Optimus did not returned home that night chasing after some Decepticons , you thought that he was dead .

Only Sam knew why .

You left the compound that night crying and when Optimus returned and did not found you , he knew that he was in deep trouble .

Sam told everyone the truth .

One year ago you had lost forever your bestfriend right in front of your eyes .

The memory was just too much for you and you slowly started getting depressed .

When the therapist diagnosed you with it it was too late you were already deep within it .

Sam told Optimus that you liked him .

And after that Optimus knew what he had to do .

__________

You heard the big truck coming to a stop and after a couple of seconds the sounds of Optimus changing from his alt - form .

" Are you alright Jitterbug ? " Optimus Prime asked you coming closer to you .

Jitterbug . . .

The nickname Optimus had given you after he found out that the song Bee used was your favorite .

Wake my up before you go by Wham!

Your silence made him even more worried .

"Sam told us what is going on and I wanted to say that . . .

I'm sorry Y/N .

If I realized sooner maybe I could have find a way to help you . " He said .

" It's not your fault Optimus . " You finally said to him , voice hoarse from crying .

When you looked up at him - even in the dark night sky he could see your red eyes .

Oh Sweetspark . . . he thought .

He placed his left servo on the ground near you .

After a couple of seconds you hopen up while he was briging you closer to his face .

" Y/N I would like to confess something to you that I hope it will not jeopardize the relationship with have build up . Sam told me - " Before he could complete whatbhe wanted to say you interrupted him .

" Did Sam told you that I like you ? " You asked , tears already building in your eyes .

" Is it not true ? " Optimus asked you .

" No it's not like that . Look you are Optimus Prime . You are a Prime . The leader of the Autobots . And I'm me . Just me . " You said . Taking it of your chest .

" That doesn't meen anything Y/N you humans have helped us with so much that we can call your planet Earth home . And in my home your in too . I am willing to help you get through your pain my Sweetspark . " He confessed to you .

" I thought I was your Jitterbug . " You said to him while placing your hands to his face plate pressing your lips in his dermas .

He stared in your blue eyes , the ones he grew to love so much .

" What do you think about going back to the compound ? It's about to rain and it's a long drive . " He said and slowly he transformed back to his al - form placing you inside his cabin .

" Can you please put our song ? " Your sweet voice asked him and he for sure did it with happiness .

Wake me up before you go by Wham! was playing .

Your song .

__________

" Y/N your back . Is everything okay ? " Your older brother Sam asked you once he saw you .

" I am going to kill you . " You said to him while running to catch him .

Sam started to scream for help while Bee and Jazz seem to enjoy the moment .

" Primus . What is going on ? " Ironhide asked Optimus but before he could answer Ratchet showed up .

" Well at least her levels indicate that she is doing better . Someone save Sam , his stress levels are duplicated .

__________

@unimportantbabymilksharkte

@k----a27s

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Supernatural reboot where Sam does not believe in the supernatural when the series starts. Yes the original pitch concept is just soo juicy when you think about it a little too much like I do. This is slightly tweaked.

Sam escapes his family to go to college not because he wants out of the life of the monster-killing business. He escapes them because he thinks they're utterly crazy and there’s no monster-killing business because there are no monsters.

Growing up, John brings Dean along on hunts and leaves Sam sheltered to keep him safe (and keep him away from possible corrupting supernatural influences...) so Sam never really gets to know the monstrous John and Dean go after. If he has glimpses of it growing up, he's ready to dismiss those as deceptions of the brain of an impressionable kid, as tricks of anxiety, of exhaustion, of stress. Maybe even as John and Dean’s craziness rubbing off him, something that scares him, pushing him even more to distance himself from them.

He really does not want to end up like Dean, who has soaked up John’s delusions entirely. He wants to stay sane. He’s worried that the psychosis might be genetic, a weight that’s always in some corner of his mind. He hopes it’s not, and in the meanwhile his best bet is to get away, to live a normal life, to surround himself with normal people.

It works. He goes to college, he lives the most regular of lives imaginable. He has friends and a girlfriend and has good grades and a positive outlook on his future. He never really speaks about his family. His friends can draw some guesses from his vague information—that his mother died when he was very little, too little to remember anything about her; that his father is not exactly winning any parenting awards; that he has a brother who is basically a copy of their father. They can guess that his childhood was not good, but they don’t pester him for details. They know it’s not something Sam wants to talk about. But it’s reasonable. Lots of people have bad childhoods.

Dean doesn’t show up in the middle of the night. He shows up on campus, he joins Sam and his friends for lunch. It’s tense. Sam’s friends’s idea of Dean is not exactly flattering – and it doesn’t help that Dean looks as different as your average nice Stanford student as you can imagine. Leather, tattoos, weird jewelry and creepy amulets. They hope that the thing that dangles from of his earrings and that looks alarmingly like a mouse skull is not authentic. It’s also obvious that the last time the two brothers saw each other didn’t exactly end well.

Dean asks Sam to join him in his search for their missing father. Sam obviously refuses, unwilling to get dragged into his family’s paranoias and delusions. But Dean insists. There’s no girlfriend burning on the ceiling in this version. Sam really does not want to go, his friends and girlfriend obviously back him up. But cracks start appearing into Sam’s opposition to Dean’s request. Deep down, he loves his brother. He starts thinking that maybe, if he goes with him, he can help Dean. There’s a chance Dean might rub his craziness off Sam, but also a chance Sam might rub his sanity off Dean. His friends think he’s out of his mind, he has a big fight with his girlfriend about it, but eventually he decides to give Dean a chance. Only for a little while. Just a toe in the water. Just testing the waters. No getting involved in anything crazy, just making sure Dean doesn’t do anything dangerous.

But then he starts suspecting that Dean has something to do with John’s disappearance. That something isn’t quite right. He starts feeling uneasy. He starts getting scared that his fears are coming true, but also chastises himself for being irrational and swayed by foolish concoctions of the illogical side of his mind.

It definitely doesn’t help that weird things happen around them. He rationalizes them every time, but he’s increasingly unsettled.

He’s torn between trusting his feelings and dismissing them as emotional nonsense. He’s torn between wanting to stay away from Dean for his own sake and sticking with him for Dean’s sake.

It’s only at the end of the first season that Sam is faced by the irrefutable proof that it was all real. And it’s a terrifying journey with a terrifying conclusion – but once Sam is in, something shifts. Because Dean is no longer the crazy brother. Because John’s behavior was never a mental illness rooted in his DNA. Sam sheds a weight, after all. And his relationship with his brother can be built all over again – from scratch, which is anything but easy, but on the solid grounds of a shared experience.

[scoobydoodean]

I've noticed people often point to Donatello as the model soulless person and then argue the sharp contrast between him and Sam as proof that deep down, Sam is just a really shitty guy who has terrible thoughts that he manages to keep under wraps only with a soul. I don't think this is that fair of a take.

I think using Donatello as the contrasting character is cherry-picking and that Donatello is a very poor comparison for Sam. Donatello is more of an exceptional soulless person than a rule. We see multiple examples in season 11 of other people losing their souls. Several go crazy and murder people like feral animals. None of them have the ability to feel right vs wrong—they just understanding the existence of the societal rules they've grown up with, and either accept those rules or don't based on what they believe is in their best interest. Previous traumas also seem to play a role.

Someone like Donatello has never been through anything traumatic that we know of, and he's just a professor. He has no need or incentive to kill anyone and no previous traumas that might induce him to want to harm anybody. Intellectually, he likely understands rules as a good way of maintaining societal order. He also understands that if he breaks the rules, he's going to get in trouble and lose his job, go to jail, etc. He isn't a fighter. He's just a professor and all he wants to be is a professor. The biggest moral quandary he deals with on a daily basis is whether to bump a student's course total up half a point to get them to the next letter grade. His goal is simply to continue being a professor. The rational option for him is to be a model citizen whether he can feel what the right thing is or only understands rules on an intellectual level.

The core thing soulless Sam tells you about Sam is that being a hunter is the occupation he finds most interesting (or else he'd go do something else that he found more intellectually fulfilling). All he cares about is killing monsters and capturing alphas and the intellectual fulfillment he feels when he clocks a witnesses lies (6.06) or solves the latest case puzzle. Fulfillment isn't nearly so cut and dry for Sam with a soul, because he has to deal with emotions which create more conflicting goals and desires than simple intellectual stimulation.

Hunters live lives where they are constantly faced with moral dilemmas that normal people will never face, and they know how to escape legal consequences. This is what makes soulless Sam such a dangerous hunter and why the outcome is so different from someone like Donatello. Soulless Sam's most rational option is not necessarily the societally acceptable one. Sometimes there is no societally acceptable option or any written rule that encompasses the complexity of the actual situation. Normally, hunters will "feel" out what's right and what's wrong in these situations. Soulless Sam identifies this ability as something he lacks. Sam recognizes this as a hindrance at first and wants Dean to fill that role for him (6.01, 6.06, 6.08). However, he also slowly begins to think that maybe other hunters are the problem and are hindered by their emotions and that he is better because he's capable of pure efficiency-based rationality. This is why he lies to Samuel, lies to Dean, and keeps secrets from Dean for Samuel (6.06, 6.07). He wants their help to reach his own goals, but increasingly sees their potential emotional reactions to his actions and each others actions as an inefficient hindrance that will impede the mission.

Letting a vamp turn Dean isn't something Sam with a soul would do or likely even think to do. This is the guy who went on two multi month revenge quests after his brother was killed (3.11, 4.01/4.09). With a soul, he cares about Dean's safety—even when he pretends he doesn't. He's hurt and killed people for hurting Dean or to keep Dean safe and he's been willing to hurt and kill more (example 1, example 2, example 3, example 4, example 5, example 6). Soulless Sam also has no reason to want Dean harmed unless it benefits him. There is nothing in him to love Dean, but there's also nothing in him to hate Dean. When he sees Dean being turned, and stops in his tracks, and smiles, it isn't actually because he's taking pleasure in seeing Dean being humiliated. There's nothing in him to feel hate toward Dean like that. Even hate like that would require a soul. Why Sam is smiling—what he's taking pleasure in—is seeing his plan come together—a solution to the issue of "find the alpha vampire". He immediately realizes he has an "in", and because Dean is merely a tool who can benefit him, his suffering that occurs in the process doesn't matter to the equation—just what Soulless Sam can get out of him. Using Dean, he's solved the latest intellectual puzzle. The same thing happens in 6.10 when Meg is on Dean's lap with a knife, making sexually suggestive commentary. Sam laughs—and Dean at first thinks it's because soulless Sam enjoys seeing him being treated that way, but Sam tells us he's laughing because he's figured Meg out—because he realizes she's desperate and scared of Crowley. Laughing at her takes also takes away her sense that she has the upper hand.

[stusbunker]

Spotless: Measure

Chapter Two

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader

Word Count: 1866

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, band dynamics past and current, buried feelings, mild drug use, unbeta'd

Series Masterlist

Divider courtesy of @cafekitsune

Dean pocketed his keys and grabbed his coffee off the roof of the impala. Sam was already halfway to the studio entrance sipping on his green smoothie and all together being the energetic morning person that he annoyingly was. They had been at it until after midnight, but were back before their usual ten o’clock start time. Dean knew it’d be another grueling day, but at least he was just working out the final few songs and not screaming himself hoarse in the box again. Yet.

Dean followed Sam inside Trust No One Studios, a rundown building off the highway that wouldn’t look like much if the owner wasn’t a paranoid security stickler. The parking lot and the entrances were all covered by cameras. They fobbed their way into the main entrance and nodded at the day guard, Ronald, who waved them through the metal detectors. He was a fan, but had kept a lid on it since Sam had snapped on him during their third album.

“Thanks, Ronnie,” Dean muttered, voice still raw. 

“Good luck in there,” Ronald replied, but only to Dean.

Sam rolled his eyes and huffed off down the hall towards the basement steps. Dean trailed after his brother and bandmate to the largest recording room Frank had to offer. The Leviathan Level held two studios, but they were going deeper, to the bottom level, dubbed Purgatory, and its nearly grade-school-auditorium’s worth of space.

They meet another guard at the bottom of the steps, but just flashed their lanyards at him to continue on toward Ash’s domain.

Ash had been engineering their sound since the beginning. In fact, Dean wasn’t sure he had any other legit sources of income besides whatever residuals he earned off their soon-to-be five albums. But he wasn’t about to ask him either. Ash was a weird dude, wicked smart, but weird.

The control room still smelled vaguely of pot when they entered, but no one cared. Sam walked straight through to the door to the main part of the studio to start his warm ups. Dean dropped into one of the chairs at the dials and finished his coffee. He knuckled one eye as he watched the clock on the wall, wondering who would be the next to arrive. He didn’t want to call Lee and wake his ass up to get back to it, but he would if the rest of the band weren’t ready to play by ten.

As he toyed with the lip of his gas station coffee cup lid, Dean’s phone buzzed with an incoming text to one of the many group chats the band had. The name ‘Trouble’ was Dean’s hint that it was actually work talk.

>>>Don’t forget to take pictures! Or I’ll come down there and get them myself.

Which was a blatant bluff on your part and Dean knew it. Frank and Ronnie both gave you the creeps. Plus, you liked to hear the finished product in its entirety, which he kind of loved about you.

<<<Not it

Dean replied before anyone else and repocketed his phone unwilling to figure out just who would be getting the candids for your next social media blitz. He had too much to worry about as it was. He pulled out his notebook he kept in his back pocket with song ideas. The bridge to ‘Pushing Through’ was giving him problems and he wanted to rework the lyrics a bit.

This had been a hard album, both in getting the band to come together and make it happen and how much he was pouring into each song. Without Cas, Dean’s whole process was off and instead of asking the new kid or, hell, even Sam for help, he decided he needed to write most of it single handedly. Call it penance or a martyr complex, Dean had made his bed and he was going to lie in it.

Late night phone calls and hours on the road

My worst mistake wasn’t fightin’

It was having all this guilt that never showed

When you said I was getting frightenin’

I just pushed through

Late night phone calls and hours on the road

My worst mistake wasn’t fightin’

It was holding back this love I never told

Then I see your eyes filled with lightin’

You pushed me through (strike through)

You pulled me through

Dean didn’t realize Kevin had come in until he heard the keyboard join in on Sam’s scales. He looked back at what he’d adjusted and hummed to himself. This wasn’t a song he’d have written even two years ago. It was a fuckin’ love song for one and it put the spotlight on the last year and a half of his mistakes. He almost didn’t want to ruin it by putting it out there for the world to see. But they needed twelve and it was the closest to finished he had. 

For the band and this deadline, Dean could be brave.

Pamela strolled in and slumped against Dean’s shoulders, somewhere between a hug and using him as a pillow. He chuckled and patted her head as he flipped to the next song on his list. 

“Where’s your husband?” Dean asked off-handedly, knowing Lee couldn’t be far.

“Ex-husband,” Pamela grumbled.

“Sure.” Dean honestly couldn’t keep track anymore. Pam and Lee had been married to each other at least twice and shared one kid, two houses and three dogs between them.

“He’s dropping Gibson off at his mom’s, nanny needed a day off,” Pamela explained and Dean could feel the glare she was giving him.

“Well, isn’t that nice of you.” Dean gave her a fake smile.

“I know. A thoughtful employer— in this economy?” Pamela snarked and picked up Dean's coffee, frustrated when she found it empty. “Ugh! Okay, well, I’m gonna go stretch— maybe I can talk that brother of yours into some yoga before we get going.”

“You are such a creeper.”

“Sammy’s a big boy, Dean.”

“I don’t want to know.”

Pamela shook her head and slinked off to join Kevin and Sam. 

“Take some pictures— cuz I aint!”

Pamela glanced back at Dean and winked while pressing an imaginary shutter button. Dean stood suddenly and chased her into the live room until she squealed and hid behind Sam. Her tiny frame dwarfed behind Sam’s, Dean relented, smiling genuinely for the first time that day.

Dean grabbed his acoustic and strummed, pacing around as he muttered his amended lyrics under his breath. Lee and Bobby made it in just after ten. Luckily, Sam and Pam already had enough of their bending competition, which kept Lee from getting pissy about it. Just as Dean and Lee were going over the chord progressions on ‘Rupture’, Ash strolled into the control room and started hooting into the intercom that it’s time to roll.

“Fucking finally,” Dean grunted and ducked out of his strap. They did things as they came, but bass and drums always were put down first, so he, Lee and Kevin hung back until they were needed.

“Alright, ya idjits. Show me what ya got,” Bobby ordered from his seat beside Ash.

So they did.

Lunch showed up just after two. And, naturally, Dean devoured his sub as quickly as he could, which was when Pamela decided to remember to take pictures for their socials. 

Dean rolled his eyes and licked his lips, chewing as the lettuce and mayo collected at the corners. If his hands weren’t full, she would have gotten the bird, but priorities, you know?

“Gross,” Sam replied, laughing.

“Don’t worry, grumpy, I’ll get your good side too,” Pamela teased.

“I’m sure you will,” Sam muttered and cracked open his bottle of water.

Lee balled up his napkin and threw it across the table at Kevin who apparently had been still snapping pictures. “Save it for the session, newbie,” he grunted.

Dean glanced across the room to where Ash and Bobby were talking, both more serious than the last few hours justified. He met Bobby’s eye and held it, knowing he’d find out sooner or later what had the old man extra bristled. 

They finished their food and relaxed for another few minutes; they had a good handle on the tracks they were working out. But that still meant hours more until they were tight and Ash had everything he wanted. Even then, Dean made them do more takes, just to be sure. He was a perfectionist, like his father before him, and Phantom Traveler had gotten to where they were with that driving force leading the way.

Sam was the one to rein Dean in. “Look, man, that was it. We had it three rounds ago. I’m beat.”

“Ash?” Dean called back into the control room, not willing to be outvoted without certainty.

“It’s all gravy on my end, Dean-o.”

“Pam?” Dean asked his drummer and part-time mindreader.

“Kevin and Sam can clear out, I think we can hit that intro harder.”

Dean looked at Lee, who sighed, because he knew Pam was right and Dean was just letting her be the bad guy.

“Alright, from the top!” Dean called out and Pamela quickly counted them in.

Sam and Kevin stayed to listen, sipping water and slumped into any free space they could find behind their gear. Sam was stuck, Dean was always his ride. But the kid could duck out whenever he wanted. The fact that Kevin stayed solidified Dean’s faith that he was going to work out. Without Cas, it had been weird. Well, first it was awful, but now that they were here, back making music, what they did best, it was an adjustment. 

But Kevin had stepped up and Dean couldn’t deny he was grateful.

No one could fill Cas’ place in the band. But the kid had good hands and on top of that he sang, filling out their harmonies with a higher range. Something Cas never did. So, yeah, it was still weird. But if Dean had learned anything living in California, it was that weird didn’t mean bad.

They tackled the intro until Dean was sick of it. And Lee and Pam both were giving him the stink eye. One final check in with Bobby and Ash and Dean released them for the night.

“Alright, I don’t want to see your faces until Monday at ten,” Bobby explained. “Take the weekend off. Be stupid, but save your voices and your fingers.”

“Awww, he really does care,” Dean snarked, throwing a ball cap over his sweat-damp hair.

Bobby glared. “You’re no good to me sounding like my great aunt Ethel, jackass.”

Kevin laughed and everyone held their breath, impressed and surprised by him openly mocking Dean. But Lee couldn’t hold it in and started laughing too. And by the time Ash and Sam were in on it, Dean was crossing his arms and murdering them all with a look. Pam slinked her arm over his shoulders and patted his back condescendingly.

“I hate you all,” Dean muttered. Eventually he dropped the dramatics before looking over at Sam. “Let’s get outta here already.”

“Yeah, already,” Sam agreed, shaking his head and following Dean back out to the parking lot.

Tagging: @deans-spinster-witch @mrswhozeewhatsis @cosicas-cuquis @fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like @suckitands33 @ladysparkles78 @deans-baby-momma @stoneyggirl2 @sassy-pelican

Chapter Three: Rest

[greta-van-rose]

Middle of the Night🌙(Part 1)// J.T.K

Pairing ; Jake Kiszka x reader

series

Trope - Friends to Lovers (slow burn with angst)

A/N; I had the idea so i'm doing it... also I'm a college student and will try and update as much as I can !!

Warnings: Alcohol consumption (that's all I can think of)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You've been best friends with the twins since second grade. Josh had sat with you inside during recess because you had forgotten your homework at home; he had actually gotten himself in trouble by talking back to the teacher and swears that he did it on purpose. "No one should be punished for an honest mistake, she was being ridiculous!" and a beautiful friendship had bloomed.

It feels like that was just yesterday, and all of a sudden you were getting ready to graduate. Twins still by your side along with their siblings and his youngest brothers best friend Daniel.

Currently sitting in the Kiszka's backyard beside the fire. As a "Last Hoorah" Josh said when he presented the idea.

"How does it feel knowing Monday you will officially be done with the grand 'Frankenmuth High'" Sam questioned with a huff taking the seat next to you.  Arm slung around your shoulders drink in the other hand alcohol very apparent on his breath. "All I have to say is good riddance" you reply slight giggle while you slightly lean into him to keep him steady. 

"Awh come on sunshine, it wasn't all that bad" Josh jokes standing in front of you two. "yeah yeah Joshua, now if I can be excused I want another drink" You say holding up an empty cup "Come on love, you can't leave me" Sam groans reaching out to you as you got up, you had a hunch he has a crush on you, it's very sweet but Sam is a heavy flirt, all the Kiszka boy's are. "Let the poor girl be Sam" Josh steps in sitting next to Sam. "I'll wait for you my love!" Sam dramatically shouts for everyone in a 5 mile radius to hear. You giggle walking past a group of people sitting around Jake, sharing stories of the year.

The relationship you had with Jake was different from Josh and Sam. Recently it's taken a turn for the worse. There's been some weird tension that came out of nowhere. He doesn't call you by any of the sweet nicknames him and his twin had given you growing up, any sort of physical touch gone, even glances your way during class that turned into making stupid faces from across the room trying to make the other person laugh had disappeared. You had decided to distance yourself from him, assuming he had a girlfriend and didn't want to cross an boundaries, which you respected but also thought he cared enough to acknowledge your existence or give an explanation.

Making your way into the kitchen to make another drink and grab Sam a bottle of water, you hear the back door open and close, choosing to ignore whoever just came in a continue with your drink.

"Sammy boy is really putting the moves there on ya" you hear from behind you, recognizing the voice as Jake's you tense up a bit. "He sure is, everyone in a 5 mile radius can hear him" he chuckles and comes to stand by you. "Can't blame the kid" is all he says grabbing the drink you had just made and turning around, you lightly grab his arm-feeling him tense "that's mine Kiszka, make your own. And what do you mean by that?" You say facing his back.

He finally faces you, eyes scanning your face. Having a war within himself, he has something he wants to say but he just won't.

After what feels like a lifetime of silence, he shakes his head muttering "nothing" and walking outside. Being left there dumbfounded, you have no idea what to do. You finally choose to follow him back outside and getting some kind of explanation. You must have sat there for longer than you thought because by the time you got to the fire Jake had his arm around another girl and didn't even look your way.

Deciding to let it go no matter the heaviness you felt in your chest, you walk back over to Sam Josh and Danny who were trying to "go find bigfoot". "My love has returned!" Sam cheers running to you "Glad you missed me Sammy" chuckling as you return the hug. "You seem sad what's wrong" he rushes out looking at your face. Josh shot a look in your direction with a raised eyebrow, sending him a look of 'i'll tell you later' while returning back to Sammy "I just missed you and couldn't stand to be away from you any longer" squishing his face and releasing the hug. " "Alright lover boy let's go to bed" Josh tries to drag him in the house. "No I can not deny my girl of my presence" he fights coming back to you,"I'll be here when you get up you need to lay down" He reluctantly gives in after I pinky promised to be here until he gets up in the morning.

Danny went inside with Sam, during this fiasco all the other people were gone from the fire and you assume they had all left, but no sign of Jake. Josh waves you over to the fire "come on talk to me" he pats your back as you take a seat next to him.

Josh was your person. He could read you like a book and knew exactly how to be there for you. He is your number one, but you hadn't talked to him about the Jake situation. You didn't want to put him in an awkward position.

So you sat there in silence for a minute debating if you wanted to let it all out. "You know you can talk to me right, about anything or anyone. I'm always here for you." He reassures sensing the state you're in. "Even if it's someone you share DNA with." you mutter. "Even if it's someone I share DNA with."

Letting out a sigh you begin, as you talk the angrier and more hurt you get. Alcohol amplifying said emotions, you feel a tear run down your face. "Hold on sunshine" Josh interrupts looking at your face wiping the tears, "not to make you feel bad, but why didn't you tell me any of this. I could have helped or talked to him." he seems hurt. "I didn't want to put you in a bad spot, things were fine just different between us but after tonight I don't know what that means or if I pushed a boundary. I don't want to upset him but I feel like that's all I've been doing and I don't know how." As you wiped your face from the excess tears, Jake was walking towards the fire from the front of the house.

Laying Directly next to you, was his acoustic guitar. Dammit. You quickly wiped your face to make sure it was dry. Just then making eye contact with him, his face flashed with concern and looked like he wanted to comfort. Yet, he grabbed his guitar and said goodnight.

As he walked in the house you turned to Josh "I know exactly what it is" Josh then looked at you with a smile. "How can you be smiling, and how do you know any of that, has he talked to you about this?" your mind is now racing, "I will not be the one to tell you but, I will go confirm it with dear Jacob, but listen to me when I tell you this. You have nothing to worry about because I know how you feel as well" He squeezes your shoulder as he stands up reaching out his hand for you to grab.

"You Kiszka's just hate giving explanations apparently. You stand your ground and don't grab his hand. “Please just trust me on this."He grabs your hand from your lap and pulls you up "On the other hand, you're going to lay down and go to sleep."

You both walk to the house, parting ways as he goes upstairs and you go to sleep in the living room. After grabbing the blankets and pillows you look at the clock and see it's only 1:00 a.m. As you go to lay down, you're still in jeans and didn't plan on staying the night so you didn't grab any clothes. You could go in Ronnie's room and use her's, but felt bad invading her space, so you opted for Josh.

As you're about to knock on the door it swings open, revealing Jake, not wanting to give him a chance to say anything "I didn't plan on staying the night so I was just coming up to ask Josh for some clothes to sleep in." You say slightly avoiding eye contact. "Oh, he's cleaning up outside. I'll grab you some" he motions for you to come in and sit on the bed.

You take a seat on Josh's bed as Jake grabs you clothes from his drawers. He hands you a pair of sweatpants, a faded 'Terry Reid' shirt that looked older than he was, and a 'Frankenmuth High Soccer' hoodie with Kiszka #8 on the back. You mutter a thank you and get up to walk out of the room. Suddenly Jake's gentle grip is felt on your wrist; stopping you in your tracks.

"Goodnight" He finally said and let your wrist go.

You go to the bathroom across the hall to change into the clothes and process whatever it was that just happened. After changing and brushing your teeth you head downstairs to sleep on the couch.

"You know Ronnie's at her friend's house for the night, you don't have to sleep on the couch" Jake says coming around the corner with two glasses of water in his hands. 

“I'm okay with the couch, I don’t want to invade her space” you reply, adjusting the blankets and pillows on the couch before laying down, trying to avoid looking at him. “Suit yourself then. Here's water” he said, shrugging and setting the glass on the coffee table. Muttering a quiet “thank you” as you hear him go up the stairs. Sighing trying not to think about the situation with you and Jacob, you can't help but hear Josh’s words echoing in your head as you drift off to sleep.

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

[jackoshadows]

Benioff and Weiss had Arya sailing away on a boat at the end because according to them Arya’s story over 5 books is her having ‘cool badass’ adventures!

It’s bad writing, it’s NOT THE BOOKS, and anyone trying to argue that the show’s ending for Arya is going to be her book ending should be embarrassed to call themselves a reader of ASoIaF.

This is how David Benioff and Dan Weiss described Arya’s arc in the books, downplaying Arya’s trauma and suffering in order to prop up Sansa.

Benioff: [Sansa] just seems really believable, and also she goes on one of the most interesting journeys, because she doesn’t start out as someone who is sharp, and shrewd and tough, but she becomes that person.

Arya is kind of always there—which is what’s great about Arya—but Sansa had to get there by painful experiences. She’s always been one of my favorite characters.

Weiss: In a way, Sansa has to face harder choices. Arya always has a pretty clear path, like: “What’s a cool, badass thing to do and I’m going to do that thing.”

Benioff and Weiss haven’t  a) Read the books. At the Oxford Union discussion they didn’t know Sam Tarly was a POV character until John Bradley told them!

or b) Don’t understand the themes and character arcs that the author is telling in his story. Remember according to them ‘Themes are for 8th grade book reports’ and not important.

or c) Have read the books, and yet don’t care about the story GRRM is telling, instead putting their own spin on these characters based on the actors.

Meanwhile Book Arya:

“She could feel the hole inside her every morning when she woke. … It was a hollow place, an emptiness where her heart had been, where her brothers had lived, and her parents. … The hole will never feel any better, she told herself when she went to sleep.  

Some mornings Arya did not want to wake at all. … If the Hound would only have left her alone, she would have slept all day and all night.” (Arya XII, ASOS)  

“She could feel the hole inside her where her heart had been.” (Arya II, AFFC)

Just a reminder that in the books Arya Stark goes through an absolutely harrowing and traumatizing journey after she flees KL and the Lannister guards send after her by Cersei.

TWoW Arya:

Half-light filled the room, grey and gloomy. Shivering, she sat up in bed and ran a hand across her scalp. Stubble bristled against her palm. I need to shave before Izembaro sees. Mercy, I’m Mercy, and tonight I’ll be raped and murdered. Her true name was Mercedene, but Mercy was all anyone ever called her…

Dan Weiss reading 11 year old Arya shaving her head, getting ready to be raped in a play - ‘Wow, this is so cool and badass!‘

Also, the way they talk about Arya having a clear path and no hard choices to make, meanwhile:

Arya watched them die and did nothing. What good did it do you to be brave? One of the women picked for questioning had tried to be brave, but she had died screaming like all the rest. There were no brave people on that march, only scared and hungry ones. - Arya, ACoK 

Arya deciding to make her escape from Harrenhal, Arya deciding to rescue Gendry at great risk, Arya taking along Weasel at great risk, Arya being ordered to kill the insurance agent, Arya deciding to keep Needle. And these hacks think that Arya has a clear path and no hard choices?!

Dan Weiss about Needle:

Arya's gotten very good at letting go, she's been forced to let go of everything that means anything to her in this r53world. And she does a great job getting rid of that costume and getting rid of her money and getting rid of the coin, but Needle was a very, very special gift. She sees herself as an instrument of revenge in many ways in this world and that sword is the way she's going to exact that revenge on the people who wronged her family. It's the instrument of that revenge. Letting go of Needle would really be letting go of Arya Stark, and the fact that she can't let go of Needle makes it clear to us that she's not at all ready to be no one.

In the books:

Needle was Winterfell’s grey walls, and the laughter of its people. Needle was the summer snows, Old Nan’s stories, the heart tree with its red leaves and scary face, the warm earthy smell of the glass gardens, the sound of the north wind rattling the shutters of her room. Needle was Jon Snow’s smile.

Polliver had stolen the sword from her when the Mountain’s men took her  captive, but when she and the Hound walked into the inn at the  crossroads, there it was. The gods wanted me to have it. Not the  Seven, nor Him of Many Faces, but her father’s gods, the old gods of the  north. The Many-Faced God can have the rest, she thought, but he can’t  have this. - Arya, AFfC 

GRRM about Arya and Needle:

- Needle! The last link to Winterfell and Arya. The Faceless Men want her to give it up because they recognize it’s importance.

Arya is missing her family and home in KL right from her second POV chapter in AGoT!

The rest of the time, they ate in his solar, just him and her and Sansa. That was when Arya missed her brothers most. She wanted to tease Bran and play with baby Rickon and have Robb smile at her. She wanted Jon to muss up her hair and call her “little sister” and finish her sentences with her. But all of them were gone. [---]

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father’s table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen. Their wives gave her scones and she invented names for their babies and played monsters-and maidens and hide-the-treasure and come-into-my-castle with their children. [--]

Only that was Winterfell, a world away, and now everything was changed. This was the first time they had supped with the men since arriving in King’s Landing. Arya hated it. - Arya, AGoT

Arya missing her home and family in every book, wanting to desperately go home, trying her very best to first get to Robb and Cat and then Jon Snow and failing and losing hope and only being with the FM because as GRRM says’ where else does she have to turn to’.

And Jon is waiting for her in the North. The two characters with the closest bond. Jon is trying to save her. There’s an entire plot about the North rising up for Arya Stark.

It’s very, very clear that Benioff and Weiss didn’t care to understand Arya as a character, weren’t interested in writing for her other than as a one-dimensional killer/assassin having bad-ass adventures and the final insult being Michelle Clapton saying that Arya was just passing through when talking about Arya finally, finally getting to Winterfell as reason for why Sansa gets all the Stark sigils and clothing and not Arya.

They sidelined the Starkiest Stark - Arya - and Bran and Jon and killed off Rickon so that they could turn Sansa into The Stark ™

Reminder from D&D themselves:

and GRRM:

[reallydumbdannyphantomaus]

Switch

danny and jazz are such siblings. even when under a secret identity, danny cannot stop being an annoying younger brother. also, spectra! (ao3) (masterpost)

Part 3 Chapter 2

Something was wrong with Kwan.

If asked, Danny couldn’t exactly say what had concerned him in a way that made sense to most people. Kwan didn’t seem angry or sad. He wasn’t yelling all the time or too depressed to get out of bed. If anything, he seemed almost aggressively happy. Like the moment Danny started to worry that he was upset, he smiled bright and made a joke.

Maybe that was what did it. No one was actually that happy all the time. But all of a sudden, Kwan stopped complaining. He never sat down at the lunch table with a groan and launched into whatever stupid thing Paulina had done in Algebra. He never whined when he died in Doomed. He never put his feet in Danny’s lap and switched the channel from National Geographic to whatever sports game was playing. He didn’t make fun of Danny at all.

When exactly it started, Danny wasn’t sure. But he’d first noticed about a week prior, when he, on reflex, sneezed into his hand instead of his elbow. Kwan had always hated it when he did that. “That’s nasty, dude. Go wash your fucking hands,” he’d said every other time. One of the things about being a doctor’s kid was that he was particular about sanitization.

This time, though, Danny was already off the couch before he noticed that Kwan hadn’t said anything. Instead, he was staring at the pillow in his lap, mouth twitching in a grimace. Kwan, noticing his stare, turned and smiled up at him.

“Are you good, dude?” Kwan said. He was so fucking earnest, too. Like a goddamn puppy. Staring up at him with big ol’ eyes. So goddamn concerned because Danny stood up suddenly.

“Yeah. Yeah, no, I just…” Danny let the sentence trail off before sitting back down.

It didn’t hit him until he got home that night: Kwan hadn’t said anything about his sneeze.

So something was wrong, but what was he supposed to tell anyone? “Oh, he’s too happy”? “He didn’t make me wash my hands when I sneezed”? They’d call him a lunatic. Maybe he was. How could he know what was wrong if Kwan wasn’t going to say anything?

He could talk to Dr. Huang, but that felt too close to snitching. He didn’t even know for sure that something was wrong beyond just a feeling. This whole thing just felt… nuts.

Well, if he was crazy, maybe he needed to go to an expert.

—

“Any reason you insisted we meet in the mall and not at home?” Jazz said, slurping on an Orange Julius.

“Because Mom and Dad are somehow simultaneously the least involved and the nosiest parents in the world?”

“Fair enough.” Jazz took another slurp. “So what’s going on?”

Danny pinched his nose. “Okay, look, I’m going to tell you all this in confidence and if you ever tell one single other person about this I will never tell you anything ever again for as long as I live, okay?”

“Are you… okay? Like are you in danger? Because even if you hate me, I’m not going to let you—”

“No! Jesus,” Danny said, pointedly ignoring the fading bruises under his shirt. The hunter ghost—Skulker—had come after him again, but at least this time he’d managed to get the asshole in the thermos. Kwan had looked sick when he saw the mark, though Danny wasn’t sure why. Kwan had seen him worse before and had never come close to vomiting. “It’s just personal, is all, okay? And I don’t want to hear anything about it from Mom or Dad or Lancer or—or anyone!”

“Okay, okay.” Jazz held her hands up in surrender. “Are you finally going to tell me what happened between you, Sam, and Tucker?”

“Nothing happened, we just… don’t hang out anymore.”

“Uh huh.”

“I mean it!”

“Danny, the three of you have been best friends since fifth grade. You didn’t gradually grow apart; you suddenly fell apart. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine, but I’m not an idiot.”

Danny crossed his arms and slumped in his chair. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Jazz took another sip of her drink. “Okay, okay. Then what did you want to talk about?”

“Kwan.”

“Ah. The new friend.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t talk about him much.”

It was true enough; Danny figured that talking about Kwan would only draw attention to the fact that Sam and Tucker weren’t around anymore. Of course, Jazz had noticed anyway.

“Well, he’s just—weird lately.”

“Weird how?”

“Gah, I don’t know! It sounds dumb if I say it out loud.” Danny slumped even further in his seat.

“Dumb or not, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me anything.”

“It’s—he’s too nice!”

Jazz tilted her head in confusion. “And that’s a problem?”

“No! I mean, yes!” Danny groaned. “Look, he wasn’t being mean to me before, you know? But… he teased me sometimes. We teased each other. But now it’s like he can’t be anything other than perfectly nice all the time, even when we’re just messing around. Like, the other day I sneezed into my hand—”

Jazz wrinkled her nose. “Gross, Danny.”

“That’s what he always said! He always told me to wash my hands and that it was disgusting and stuff. Now he just sits there awkwardly even though I know he noticed.”

Jazz hmmed. “It does sound a little strange, but not overly worrisome. Can you think of anything that happened recently that might have impacted him?”

Danny thought back for a moment. “Well, he was friends with the kid that died.”

“You see? It could very well be a response to the grief he was feeling, then. Something that just needs to run its course.”

Danny shook his head. “But he wasn’t acting like this at first. It only started after—” The words died in his throat.

“After what?”

“The shrink.” Jazz gave him a look. “Sorry. Grief counselor. He started seeing her around when this whole thing started.”

“Danny, Dr. Spectra is a highly trained specialist. She’s trying to help Kwan. Correlation is not necessarily causation.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means that just because two things happened at the same time, it doesn’t mean they’re linked. He could just have other things on his mind.”

Danny groaned. “Ugh, I know it sounds silly and—and small! But he’s not acting like himself. Maybe it has nothing to do with the—with Dr. Spectra, but something’s wrong, Jazz. I know it.”

Kwan didn’t seem sad, it was true, but—shouldn’t he? His friend just died! He should be upset. Conflicted. Instead, it seemed like Kwan was going out of his way to seem entirely unaffected. It couldn’t be normal.

Jazz slurped the dregs of her Orange Julius. “Are you sure you aren’t just looking for problems to avoid thinking about something else?”

“Am I—what?”

“Are you sure this isn’t about whatever happened with Sam and Tucker?”

Heat flushed his face. “Yes, I’m sure. And I told you I didn’t—”

“I’m just worried—”

“—want to talk about it! I know exactly what happened! I don’t need you to therapize me about it!”

Jazz shrank in her seat. “I’m only trying—”

“I don’t care! Why don’t you listen to me for once?”

“I am listening—”

“It sure doesn’t feel like you are.” Danny jolted out of his chair, knocking it over. Heads snapped over to their table, and his face reddened further with embarrassment. He picked the chair up and jammed it back under the table. “Whatever. I’m done with this.”

“Danny, wait!”

He ignored her and stalked away.

—

Danny wandered Amity Park in a fugue of fury for twenty minutes before he calmed down enough to start making a plan. The conversation with Jazz, frustrating though it was, had also brought him to his first lead: the shrink.

Okay, so it wasn’t much of a lead. Correlation, causation, blah blah blah. But even if it wasn’t actually her, this Spectra lady might have some idea of what was bothering Kwan, right?

As the thought crossed his mind, Danny shook his head. No. No. That was the sort of shit that had pissed him off about Sam and Tucker. Invasion of privacy and shit. He could not turn around and be the world’s biggest hypocrite about it now.

Maybe he could just… look her up. Spectra didn’t sound like a common name; maybe he could find something on the internet. A school she used to work for, or something. If she was legit, she should have credentials online, yeah? A thread to pull at. Something.

Tapping in “Spectra” to the search bar led him to a brand of breast pumps. Damn it. Looked like he’d need a first name at the very least.

He could ask Jazz, but she was kind of the last person he wanted to talk about this with. He could ask Kwan, but he was definitely the last person he wanted to talk about it with. He could go by her office on Monday?

That would be reasonable, he supposed. Just wait.

It was Saturday, so the school was closed. He was supposed to head over to Kwan’s in an hour, but he hadn’t planned on leaving the conversation with Jazz so abruptly, so now he was stuck wandering around the city until it was time to go over there. He could go home, but Jazz would just corner him again. He could show up early, he supposed, but since Kwan was the one he was so worried about…

Danny put his phone away and started back down the street. Mindless wandering it was. He walked for another five minutes before he stopped and faced a brick wall.

“I hate waiting,” he said, resting his head against the wall.

Well, he had ghost powers. He had an hour to kill. He could just… sneak into the shrink’s office. Take a peak at her name and maybe see if she had anything incriminating lying around. Like cult robes or human bones or something.

The thought had barely formed in his mind before he was slipping into an alleyway and transforming into his ghost form—into Phantom. 

(He’d started referring to his ghost self as Phantom out loud, even. Kwan didn’t even tease him for it.)

He flew toward school, flickering on his invisibility. One of those things he’d been practicing with Dr. Huang: using two powers simultaneously. No more falling unconscious from exhaustion. Dr. Huang insisted that if she was going to let him fight ghosts, even provisionally, then she was going to do her best to make sure that he was as prepared as possible. If he wasn’t hanging out with Kwan, then he was training with her.

(You aren’t gonna die, she said, not on my watch. Not if I have anything to do with it.)

(Danny whined and complained, but there was a little warmth in his chest at how blatantly she cared.)

And he could see the payoff now, flying while invisible like it was second nature. He had enough brain space leftover to obsess over what was wrong with Kwan and that terrible conversation with Jazz, even.

He practiced holding intangibility, too. If he didn’t have the brain space to obsess anymore, that was an unrelated consequence.

It can be forgiven, then, that since he was putting so much effort into not thinking, he didn’t notice that, when he flew into Spectra’s office, someone else was already there.

He flicked off his invisibility and intangibility all at once, hovering over Spectra’s desk, and someone screamed.

“Ahh!” he screamed back. The bright light of a phone flashlight blinded him, and he pawed at the light switch with his eyes squeezed shut.

“Who—Who’s there?” a thin, familiar voice demanded.

Danny blinked away the spots in his vision to see fucking Jazz, trembling but trying to pretend she wasn’t, one hand on her hip. Which, seriously? He’d tried so fucking hard to avoid Jazz and her big sister disapproval, and where did he find her but breaking into school. If he wasn’t currently a ghost and also breaking into school, he would so be lording this over her head for forever.

“Uh, Phan—Phantom.” He tried to make his voice deeper, but it cracked in the middle of the word. Fucking puberty.

“Who’s Phan—are you glowing?”

“Um. Yeah.”

“Are you floating?”

“Yeah?”

“No.” Jazz shook her head, stepping back. “No, no no no, this can’t be real!”

“Look, I know it’s weird, but can you please freak out more quietly?” Danny flicked his head back and forth, like someone would spring out of the darkness. It was stupid; who else would be here, anyway? But he’d already had one big surprise and he wasn’t looking for another one.

“You’re a ghost?”

“...Yeah.”

Whatever reaction he was expecting her to have (fear? anger?), it wasn’t for her to kick the wall and shout, “God dammit!”

“Are you okay?”

“No! If my parents find out that they’ve been right about ghosts this whole time and I’ve been wrong, they are going to be so insufferable. My brother, too.”

Danny couldn’t help it. He pointed and laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up,” she said, because she was exactly the kind of teenager to say “yuck it up” without a hint of irony. “Can we, like, agree to call you a ghoul or something? Literally anything other than a ghost?”

“Absolutely not,” he said. Just because she didn’t know he was her kid brother didn’t make him any less her kid brother.

“Ugh, fine. You’re not gonna, like, kill me or anything, though?”

“Nah, you’re good.”

“Well, at least my parents were wrong about one thing.”

Danny felt a blush rise up to his cheeks and he turned away from Jazz. She was really willing to trust him despite him being a ghost that she just met. He’d never tell her, but it was nice.

“Yeah, I’m just here to—wait, why are you here?” She’d been so dismissive of the idea that the shrink could be involved, but now here she was not even an hour later, breaking and entering at the school when she’d always been the most obnoxiously well-behaved person he’d ever met. It made no sense. Was Jazz secretly a rule-breaking badass this whole time?

No. No way.

“None of your business!” Jazz reared back and crossed her arms. “Why are you here?”

If that’s how she wanted to play it… Danny stuck his tongue out at her. “None of your business.”

“Jeez, I meet an actual ghost, and he’s a freaking child.”

“You started it.”

Jazz groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine. Fine. I’ll tell you why I’m here if you tell me why you’re here, okay?”

“Okay,” Danny lied.

“Look, I've been… shadowing Dr. Spectra for a couple weeks now and—something's off about her. She keeps being confused when I mention stuff about psychology that she should know. She hides it well, but she always changes the subject when I bring up any specific theory or practice.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. This was a very different story than “she's a highly trained specialist.”

“So she sucks at her job?”

“Well, that's what I thought at first. Like, definitely bad, don't get me wrong, but not… intentional.”

A hand reached into his chest and squeezed. “But now?”

“My little brother. He's worried about his friend, and I—well, he came to me and said his friend started acting weird when he started talking to Dr. Spectra, and I thought it had to be a coincidence, because she’s not a great therapist but that doesn’t make her evil, and I didn’t want to badmouth her to my kid brother, so I didn’t say anything to him, but then I was curious so”—she took a deep breath and unlocked her phone—“I googled her name, and, well, there was only one result that seemed to be about her.”

It was a blog, homemade, with a glittery pink header that read “Justice for Sarah” in curling font over a blue background. The most recent post read:

The IDIOTS at WXKZ still refuse to print the truth about Sarah’s murder even though we showed them her diary. So I just have to keep posting about it here, I guess. My daughter was depressed, yes, but she was getting better! She was seeking help! She even went to her school’s guidance counselor all on her own. And this ““““““Doctor””””””” Penelope Spectra started telling her lies and making her worse all over again.

Sarah wrote about it in her therapy diary. “Dr. Spectra says I need to not worry my parents so much” “I have to make sure I’m not a problem anymore” She was NEVER a problem! She was my baby! And I don’t care that she swallowed the pills on her own, this Spectra lady is the one that killed her!!!!!

But the cops won’t listen, and the journalists won’t listen, so I just have to keep her story alive here. Please, help me get justice for my daughter. She was 15. She liked drawing bunny ears on all our pictures of her. Don’t let Spectra kill someone else.

Danny could imagine, for a moment, a woman sitting at her desk, furiously typing this post, scrubbing tears from her eyes. There was no filter. No clever designs to enhance empathy, to draw his attention to just the right places. No well-crafted language to make him just the right combination of angry and sad. Whoever made this blog clearly had no experience with this sort of thing. It was honest, in a way that very little on the internet was anymore.

“Oh,” he said. “Oh shit.”

Was this real? Was this the same Spectra? Was she saying this garbage to Kwan?

(If Jazz was right, then he almost felt bad for Spectra, because Dr. Huang would definitely, definitely kill her.)

(He thought about the tightness of Kwan’s face when he insisted that he had nothing to be sad about, really, don’t worry about him, and he didn’t feel bad anymore.)

“Yeah,” Jazz said. “And, I don’t know, it could be a lie. I found an obituary for Sarah, but it doesn’t mention cause of death or anything. It could just be a grieving parent, looking for someone to blame.”

Danny coughed. Act normal. Act normal. This didn’t affect him personally. “Or it could be something worse?”

“Pretty much. I just can’t figure out why. What would someone get from intentionally being a bad therapist? What possible motive could there be?”

There was a pounding in his skull and his chest. It felt hot, but he couldn’t stop to focus on it. He was pretty sure he knew what it was, ultimately, and it would only make Jazz suspicious of him if he let it out now. “Maybe some sort of cult thing?”

Was he speaking words? Were words coming out of his mouth?

Jazz shook her head. “That seems like something that would involve more people, y’know?”

“I’m all out of guesses, then.”

She rolled her eyes and moved to the desk, tugging at one of the drawers. Danny pushed down the fire in his head, the red swamping his vision and floated forward to help.

They made quick work of the desk, skipping through a bunch of innocuous files, some fidget spinners, blank notebooks and planners. For someone who had been in town for weeks now, Spectra really didn’t have much personal stuff in her office. Danny wasn’t sure if that was suspicious, or if he was inclined to see everything as suspicious right now.

“So, why are you here?” Jazz said as they moved on to the filing cabinet. It was locked, but a simple tug with an intangible hand pulled it right open. “You never did say.”

Danny winced. “Uh. Same thing.”

“Oh, your little brother also made you suspicious that the therapist you’ve been shadowing might not just be bad at her job, but actively evil?”

“Something like that?”

“Hey! The deal was: I tell you my story, you tell me yours!”

Danny opened his mouth to say something smart that would deflect all suspicion, but he was cut off by the sound of the office door handle turning. Before either of them could panic, he grabbed Jazz’s shoulder and turned them both invisible.

The door opened and in stepped Spectra’s odd little assistant, the short man with the green eyes. 

“Now,” he said, voice soft, “I know we didn’t leave those lights on when we left yesterday. Is someone in here?”

The little man swerved around to look under the desk, stopping right in front of Danny and Jazz. Jazz let out a little whimper before Danny got his hand over her mouth and the man’s eyes whipped up.

“Ah,” he said, “so there’s a little ghostie in here. Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’m not here to muscle in on your turf. Why don’t you come out so we can talk? Face to face?”

Danny said nothing, clenching his hand harder around Jazz’s mouth. He felt something wet soak into his palm, but he couldn’t tell if it was Jazz’s sweat or tears. 

“Oh, come now. We can work together! Look,” and there was a bright flash of light and instead of the man, there was now a green blob ghost. “See! I’m one of you. More or less.”

Jazz got impossibly tenser against him.

Yeah, Danny was now willing to say that Spectra was probably evil.

“There’s no need for any… hostility between us. We won’t get in your way if you don’t get in ours.”

There was cement in his mouth, binding his jaws together. There was lava in his chest, burning holes in his heart. He couldn’t afford to be either afraid or angry right now, though. Not with Jazz right there, so very scared that he could feel her heart beating through her shirt.

“What is in your way?” he said at long last. His voice sounded like gravel, but it should help to disguise him.

“Oh, very little. We’ve got our own set up here in the school. Honestly, we’d be glad to have you around. More ghosts means more misery for us.”

“Misery?”

“Yes, well, you see, this is what I meant when I said more or less. My boss and I—we need to feed on human emotion. Misery really does the job for us, and what better place than a high that’s beset by ghosts?”

Danny said nothing, horror wiring his mouth shut.

“So you see, we have absolutely no reason to interfere with whatever your plans are for this town, and we pose absolutely no threat. Honestly, we should be friends.”

Jazz trembled in his hold. That was enough information gathering, then.

“Uh, okay, then,” he said. “Bye.”

Maybe not what a cool, mysterious ghost would’ve said, but he was too strung out, too terrified, too furious to care. He tightened his hold on Jazz, turned them both intangible, and flew them out of the school and into the night.

[madneedshelp]

Breaking Point - Josh Kiszka x F!Reader

Summary: It feels like everything in your life is spiraling into chaos and failure. Well, all but your relationship, which is why you decided to go to your boyfriend, Josh, and his band’s concert despite all that’s weighing down on you. However, it all comes crashing down right in front of him on the one night you want to just forget about it.

Warnings: None really, lots of stress and angst but some fluff in there too

You stood at the side of the stage, hidden just far back enough to be out of view. Despite everything weighing on your shoulders at the moment, a smile was stretched wide across your face. Watching the guys perform could do that to you, erase all your worries.

In a weird way, they made you almost forget the real world. Forget that you’re a med school student just desperately trying to reach your end goal of being a doctor. No, at that moment you were just the girlfriend of a singer in an incredible band.

You watched happily as Josh danced around on stage with his brothers. It was always fun to watch them, they put on such a good show. Danny had his impossibly fast drum solos, Jake would sling his guitar behind his head and play, Sammy would switch from bass to keys and do so flawlessly, and you were always mesmerized by Josh’s singing voice.

The night flew by and before you knew it you were backstage waiting for the boys to join you. In your brief free time, you did the one thing you told yourself you were going to avoid: look at anything school related.

As you pulled up the app with all of your grades and emails from teachers, nervousness started settling in the pit of your stomach. Once the screen loaded everything plummeted in an instant.

You’d practically failed your midterm in one of your core classes for the semester. If you wanted to pass the course and stay on track, now you’d have to get essentially a perfect score on the final and the paper you had due next month, which would be nearly impossible with how harsh your professor graded.

To make matters worse, it appeared you had also received an email from the head of the research lab you interviewed with last week. Being in that lab would open so many doors for you and even allow you to be published before getting your M. D. Well, it would have. You didn’t get the open spot.

Tears were already stinging your eyes as you stared numbly at the phone. You’d put in weeks of work and it had apparently don’t nothing. You were going to have to find some way to bust your ass even more than you had been and put all you had into fixing your grades and possibly finding a new research lab.

The roar of cheering fans that signaled the end of the show startled you from your daze. You took some deep breaths and tried to calm yourself down, but you could feel an unavoidable breakdown racing toward you. Fuck. You just wanted one night to enjoy life and to not focus on the school that's taking over your life. It had been so difficult to make it to a show with your busy schedule and the boys' packed schedules, but here you were and you were about to ruin the night.

"Y/N! Glad you made it!" Sammy was the first to pop backstage, giving you a quick side hug before hurrying off to find some water.

"Good to see you, Sammy," You gave him your best grin, thankful that the interaction was brief enough that he didn't notice you were barely holding it together.

Danny and Jake were close behind Sam, mirroring his behavior almost exactly. That only meant Josh was soon to follow. Josh, your incredible boyfriend, who could read you better than anyone.

"Baby! You're here!"

As Josh rounded the corner, he beamed at you and rushed over. The smile you gave him in return was genuine. As cheesy as it sounded, nothing could take away the joy seeing Josh gave you.

"Wouldn't miss it," You grinned, dissolving into laughter as he picked you up and spun you around.

Your lips met his as he set you back on the ground, taking your sweet time with the kiss you'd been waiting months for. It felt so good to be with him again.

“Hey, this is very touching, but we should get going, you two! The drive to the cabin is a little long and I’m tired as fuck,” Sam poked his head around the corner.

You broke apart from Josh with a chuckle and the two of you went to gather your things hand in hand. Since you had a few days off school and the boys had a quick break in the tour, you had all planned to go on a quick trip to relax and spend some time together.

Once the bus was packed up and you were given the all clear to go, everyone cleared out. Since a bud wouldn’t exactly be ideal to navigate out to a cabin in the woods, Jake, Sam, and Danny drove in one car, which left you and Josh in your car.

“Want me to drive, Baby?” Josh asked as he put his bag in the trunk.

Ever the thoughtful gentlemen, you thought with a smile. “That’s okay, you’re probably wiped from the show, I got this.”

Josh frowned at you. “You also drove several hours today just to get here. Honey, let me drive this leg so you can have a break.”

You gave him a small smile and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Fine, you win. I guess I can let you take over for a bit.”

He grinned victoriously and snatched the keys from your hand. You rolled your eyes with a chuckle and climbed in the passenger seat.

Wordlessly, Josh grabbed the aux and started playing your usual playlist. You turned and stared at him in surprise.

“No John Denver?”

He laughed quietly as he pulled out of the lot behind his brothers’ car. “I listen to more than just him, you know?”

“Oh, wow, really?” You deadpanned. “Obviously I know that, it’s just usually he’s your go-to after a show.”

“Well, maybe I’ve been missing you lately and this makes me feel close to you, Mama.”

This damn man. “Keep talking all sweet like that and you might have to pull this car over.” You shot him a devilish smirk.

The corner of his mouth twitched upward in a matching smirk. “I’m not in much hurry to get to the cabin…”

A thought pops in your head and you can’t stop yourself. “No going at the green light girl, because I want to be with you now!” You sing at the top of your lungs in the most off key voice.

Josh’s eyes widened as he dissolved into laughter with you. It had been too long since the two of you had time for these antics.

“In all seriousness, Sam would probably kill us if we didn’t show up right behind them. Jake, too. We have the booze remember?” You nod to the back seat, which is filled with supplies for the evening.

He let out a huff. “You’re right. Unfortunately. Oh well, we have all night for me to show you much I missed you.”

You felt your cheeks warm and a flutter was sent through your chest. You’d been dating for literal years, but he still had this effect on you. “Such a flirt, Joshua!”

“Only for you, my love,” He grinned.

The ride seemed to fly by as the two of you got each other caught up on the events missing from your frequent phone calls. Well, all the events except your recent discoveries about your exam and research lab. You were happy, Josh was happy, tonight was just going to be about that.

In no time, the five of you had arrived, carried in your bags, and started the “festivities.” Jake had been dubbed bartender for the evening, which meant everything was going to be really strong. While Sam and Danny went the beer route, you joined Josh in having a salty dog. He loved them, but you had to admit they weren’t your favorite cocktail. The vodka, however, seemed ideal tonight.

“You know, I feel like whenever I hang out with you guys, I’m the only girlfriend here. I’m starting to think maybe your girlfriends don’t like me,” You sipped at your drink and gave the other guys pointed looks.

“Hey! You know that’s not it!” Sam chuckled.

“They’re also just busy, like you, Missy.” Jake tilts his glass toward you.

“Maybe you’re the one that’s not here when they’re here?” Danny shrugged.

You let out a laugh. “Oh yeah, that’s it, I’m definitely avoiding everyone.”

“If it makes you feel better, we barely have time to breathe right now, so no one really does anything with anyone.” Jake points out with a chuckle.

“Cheers to that,” Sam lifts his beer towards the group. “Sometimes I still can’t believe we’re making it work. Oh! And cheers to Y/N! She’s gonna be a doctor soon, saving lives and changing the world!”

“Cheers!” The boys chorus, but you’d frozen in your seat.

Soon. Probably not quite as soon anymore. But how would he know that? Sam didn’t know your progress with school was spiraling fast.

It was just a stupid toast, so why was it making you feel like you couldn’t breathe? You’d been holding it in all night, why was it about to burst out now?

You excused yourself and hurried to the bathroom down the hall. The door was barely closed behind you before the tears were pouring down your cheeks.

This was your breaking point. You’d put your whole self into med school. You didn’t go out and party, save for when you had breaks from school. You studied daily, turned in only the best work you could do, and stayed relatively involved with volunteering and such. All of that work, and you were still scraping by.

Sometimes it felt like you had nothing left to give. Like maybe you shouldn’t have chosen this path because maybe you weren’t built for it.

“Y/N? Baby, are you okay?” Josh’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.

The way his voice spoke, so softly and almost scared, it hurt you even more.

He waited a beat for you to answer, but you couldn’t form a response. “Baby, I’m coming in, okay?”

He gave you a moment for you to protest or ask him to wait before he opened the door and stepped inside. You watched his face fall as he took in your tear-streaked face as you held yourself tightly.

In an instant, he had his arms wrapped around you and was whispering assurances quietly. He held you like that until you calmed down, not prodding until you were ready to talk. Your arms drifted to his back, fisting his shirt in your hands. It helped in a weird way. Maybe because it felt like everything else was falling apart around you, but he was here, solid, an actual grounding force you had with you. Everything may have been shit, but you had him.

With a shaky breath, you stepped back and wiped your face. He didn’t even have to voice the question for you to answer him.

“I pretty much failed my midterm, and I didn’t make it into the lab. I might not graduate as soon as I thought now because I might have to retake the class. Josh, I…I don’t think I’m cut out for this.” You admitted, voice cracking.

He stepped forward and kissed away the tears sitting atop your cheeks. “Don’t say that, Baby. You’re so so fucking smart, and driven, and caring. You’ve talked about being a doctor ever since high school, and if anyone can make that dream come true it’s you. You’re the most incredible person I know. Don’t let this change anything, if you want this then I have no doubt you’ll accomplish it.”

You stared at him and felt a fresh wave of tears. “Josh…”

Panic filled his face and he wrapped you in another embrace as you cried. “Fuck, that was supposed to make you feel better, not worse. I’m so sorry, Baby, I just meant-l”

You shook your head into his shoulder. “No, no, it’s not that. You did help, I promise. It’s just…”Here it came, the underlying fears that were always in the back of your mind. “It’s just that what happens if I do make it? You’re a touring musician and I’ll be essentially living at the hospital. We’ll never see each other. I can’t lose you, Josh, I don’t want to lose you…”

Josh cut you off before you could voice any more of your paranoid thoughts. “You won’t. You’ll never lose me, I promise you that. We’ll figure out. No matter what it takes. Y/N, you are my everything, nothing in my life means anything without you in it. We’ve made it work for this many years, I’ll do it for the rest of my life, Baby.”

You were still crying, but now it felt more sourced from the pure love you felt from him. You leaned forward and kissed him, putting all the words you wanted to say into feeling. Josh was better with words than you, you never knew exactly how to tell him how much he meant to you. You hoped this would suffice.

Once you’d semi-tidied yourself, you felt like you could face the group again. Now that he knew you were okay though, Josh was ready to fight.

“I swear, Sammy is gonna-” He began to seethe.

You chuckled and put a hand on his chest. “Easy, tiger, don’t go bite Sammy’s head off. This isn’t his fault, he had no idea.”

“But he still made you cry.” Josh frowned.

“No, he didn’t, fucking med school made me cry. Now, let’s have a good time and enjoy our little trip before we have to go back to work. It’s bad enough we never see each other, I don’t want to waste the weekend.”

Josh let out a tired sigh. “Fine, I’ll drop it. But only because you want me to.”

“Thank you, Joshy. I love you.” You grinned and kissed his cheek.

That brought a genuine, Josh smile to his face. “I love you too, Baby.”

[coro-chan6]

Somehow Supernatural

Chapter 4: Something New in the New

Summary: Casey gets threatened with death, but gets to leave with Crowley, so it's fine.

Tags: teen!oc, gn!oc, superpowered!oc, Winchesters being assholes, Castiel being the voice of reason, Dean pissing himself, demon dogs, crying

Sam told me to sit down on the couch and not move. Of course, I didn’t move. He was shoving a fucking angel blade in my face. He looked so angry, and his anger didn’t simmer when he saw my scared shitless face. It didn’t even simmer when Dean and Castiel came into the room.

“They're a monster, Dean,” Sam told his brother right as he entered the room. Dean didn’t look angry. He just looked disappointed.

The older brother sighed, “Guess I really do have to kill them.”

“No!” Castiel and Crowley yelled out.

I would have protested too, but I was so fucking scared. It’s no fun being on the bad side of the Winchesters. For the first time since this whole thing started, I really just wanted to go home. The only thing that was scary back at home was grades. No one was trying to kill me there.

“What do you mean no?” Sam’s head snapped to Castiel, “This is what we agreed on.”

“You can’t kill them,” Castiel moved so his body was blocking mine, “I won’t let you.”

“Neither will I, by the way,” Crowley stepped up next to Cas, “They’re special. They're not just some low-level demon that I’ll allow you to kill off.”

“So, they’re a demon?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know,” Crowly responded honestly.

Well, that was really reassuring. The fucking King of Hell couldn’t figure out what I was, the Winchester brothers wanted to kill me, and I was freaking out. It was too fucking early for the shit.

“They are not a demon,” Castiel finally decided to say something, “They are not a monster. They are, however, something very powerful-”

“More of a reason to kill them!”

“Do not interrupt me, Dean,” Dean looked taken aback, but stayed quiet, “They may be powerful, but they don’t know how to use this power. They are as harmful as a paper cut. They are also a child. You will not kill someone that is innocent just because they have powers that they weren’t aware of.”

“You’re telling me they didn’t know!” It was Sam this time that yelled.

Castiel stayed calm, “No, they didn’t know. Look how scared they are.”

The angel moved over slightly so the brothers could get a good look at me. I don’t remember when it happened, but tears were now on my face. I was trying to make myself as small as possible as if that would keep me safe, and, again, I had no idea what was going on. They could probably see it in my eyes.

Castiel was now fully back in front of me and I was grateful. Not to sound like a broken record, but I was so fucking scared. I looked over to Crowley and saw he was already looking at me. If I wasn’t hallucinating, it looked like the demon felt bad.

“...so we’re not going to kill them,” Castiel was still talking, “We can take them somewhere else, but we’re not killing them.”

I heard huffs of agreement before Castiel moved from in front of me. I saw Sam and it looked like he felt pretty guilty for almost shanking me. He couldn’t meet my eyes. Dean just stared at me like he was expecting me to do something bad any second.

Crowley didn’t move from his spot in front of me. I didn’t mind, but I think others had something to say about it.

“Why are you still standing there?” Dean asked. His eyes were accusatory.

“The dog is in front of me,” Crowley stated casually.

“What dog? There’s no dog, Crowley.”

“Oh, squirrel,” the demon smirked, “It’s a demon dog,” Dean took a huge step back and almost tripped on his own feet, “You of all people should know that they’re invisible.”

“Why…” Dean's face looked as white as a sheet, “Why is there a demon dog in the bunker?”

“Casey asked.”

Dean’s eyes snapped to me. Really? Did Crowley really have to throw me under the bus like that? Right after they agreed not to kill me? Dean looked too scared to be mad, but he still tried. 

“I was curious,” I mumbled.

“J-just get it out of here!” Dean squeaked.

I frowned. One of those big frowns that looks cartoonish.

“Crowley?” I started.

“Yes, child?”

“Could you please make Steven leave?”

“Steven?” Crowley lifted his eyebrow in amusement.

“Yes, Steven. Steven the demon dog. The right-hand man of the King of Hell himself,” I snorted and then started laughing hysterically. I started laughing so hard that more tears ran down my cheeks. Not because of fear this time, but because I named a fucking real-life demon dog Steven.

“Casey is in shock,” Castiel stated.

“Yeah…” Sam muttered guiltily. 

Crowley took out his whistle after staring at me like I was crazy and blew. I felt fur brush across my ankles before the demon said that the demon dog was gone. 

“Now,” Crowley said, “I think it would be best if I took them.”

Sam and Dean looked like they were about to protest, but Crowley gave them the ‘talk to the hand’.

“From what I saw, you can’t keep them safe. If anything, you two idiots would be the ones to kill them, and I will not let that happen. So,” Crowley wiped nonexistent lint from his suit jacket, “They should come with me.”

“Cas?” the old brother asked the angel.

“For now,” Castiel took a breath, “I agree with Crowley.”

“Great! Now go get your stuff, child.” Crowley waved his hand in the general direction of the bedrooms. The thing is, I’d never been to my room before. Remember? I slept on the fucking couch.

“I, um, don’t know where my room is,” I twiddled my thumbs.

“Right, these pigs made you sleep on the couch,” the King of Hell sneered.

“We didn’t-”

“I found them asleep on the couch. You made them sleep on the couch,” Crowley snapped.

“I will lead you to your room. You can get your clothes,” Castiel offered.

There was no chance in hell that I was gonna get more clothes like the ones I had on. I would rather sever my fingers with a plastic knife before wearing these rags. Seriously, who picked these abominations?

“If clothes are all I need to get from there… I think I’m good,” the angel tilted his head in confusion, “The clothes probably look like shit or they’re flannel. I’m not wearing either of those. I have pride.”

Sam and Dean looked offended, but I didn’t really care.

“Crowley can get me clothes that don’t make me wanna wash my eyes with bleach,” I turned to the demon in question, “Right?”

He sighed, “I can.”

“Great! Then, I’m ready to go!”

“Alright, child. Out the door then.”

“You drove?” I was surprised. I thought he was gonna teleport me out of here or I was gonna find out that he had wings. Plus, I had cars in my own world. Riding in one now is so fucking lame when there’s supernatural shit that can help you travel.

Crowley scoffed, “Of course not.”

Crowley and I were at the top of the stairs when I decided to acknowledge the men - and angel - I was leaving behind. I wasn’t very fond of Sam or Dean right now, but Castiel probably saved my ass today. He saw something in me that made him want to spare me. Something that he didn’t see in whoever occupied this body before.

I turned and smiled, “Thanks, Castiel. Hope to see you soon.”

The last thing I saw before the door closed was Dean and Sam looking like guilty little fuckers. They were enough dumb to think that after voting to kill me that they were gonna get a goodbye. 

AN: We're getting to the good part.

[journey-to-the-attic]

woah hi. HOWDY! I didn't realize it had been so long I have so much to say

1. your comic about IK meeting god is not only hilarious but also the colors on the background and how they change with God's dialogue is insanely good and itched my brain perfectly so thanks for that, maybe save some talent for the rest of us tho 🙄 and the dot effect is also perfect your color mushing is great

2. The dragon AU requests..... ..URGH I JUST. I JUST LOVE DRAGONGS. They are written SO nicely and I love the powers and builds that you chose for the brothers I can very clearly envision them in my mind while reading and it makes me so happy. SO happy. I love how sulky Belphie gets, hiding under his fluff and loafing like a cat this is grade-A writing right here it doesn't get any better than this

3. Completely unrelated to the other two, but I had a vision that IK was acting like that homophobic dog. Likely stemming from your coming about her knowing Lucifers "secret" but not making clear what that secret is hence the She Knows What You Are thing

But I pictured her going around with that same wide-eyed passive look and that SLIGHT disgusted curl of her lip and just making everybody question whether she's being for real with how good she does the face. all that to say that dog would be IK's twin if he was some shades darker to match her hair. thank you for your time

hi sam!!!!! okay re: 1. thank you!! i was going slightly crazy over many layers and many blend modes trying to get it to look the way it was in my head, thank goodness it payed off

re: 2. i'm very glad! it's built up to include bunch more stuff but i really do love the dragon au (and writing it) to bits, the main thing stopping me from turning it into a fic atp is time

re: 3. that's so funny and wait hold on. i've just looked it up and not only does the homophobic dog have a wikipedia page, i've just learnt that her name is WHITNEY CHEWSTON which is absolutely fantastic (the inclusion of "not to be confused with whitney houston" at the top of her page is hysterical)

this is the face lucifer sees for weeks after that conversation

[ro-sham-no]

sam has intrusive thoughts. he knows what they are, and he knows that they happen to him. what he doesn't know is if his... less than brotherly thoughts about dean are just of the same ilk, or if they stem from his actual desires.

maybe it's just his brain jolting through potholes of its own making; maybe. or maybe it's his own sickness, his own wanton wanting, because he was born wrong. born twisted, dirty. inundated with sin, forever trying to taint those he loves most.

cw: violent & graphic intrusive thoughts; softcore car-wash p*rn starring dean from teen!sam's perspective (a.k.a. underage sam being gay & horny)

sam winchester experiences intrusive thoughts. he knows this. they spring unbidden into his mind, always with such startling clarity,

i should stab this toothbrush through the back of my throat. maybe i'll suffocate; drown in my own blood, spit, and vomit

or,

i'll gouge out the flesh on my arms with my nails if i just accidentally scratch them. wet flesh under my nails. trails of skin and tissue being flayed everywhere. quivering muscles underneath on display

or,

we have a pair of pliers in the toolkit in the back. if i just go and get them, i can rip all my teeth out from the root

... and so on. intrusive thoughts: sometimes violent, sometimes just disturbing, but always revolting- or at least, it's supposed to be always. sam knows he should be disgusted, horrified by all of them. and he is, the thoughts often eliciting a physical reaction, like a wince or a shudder, shaking his head, hitting it, pulling his hair. anything to derail his brain for just a second to reset. all of his brain's misfired urges and impulses completely disgust him.

all of them, that is, except one, which has reoccurred unfailingly but in varying forms since about the 9th grade.

it was 1997, and dean got the impala from dad for his 18th birthday. ever the faithful caretaker, he started tuning it up on his own and washing it, even more regular than john ever had. if they were set up in a motel, that meant dean would do maintenance in some empty parking lot and then go to a car wash joint, usually alone, after work at whatever inane local job he'd gotten. but sometimes, when they would squat in rent a house, dean would use the driveway and a good ol' fashioned bucket & sponge to give baby a rubdown on his own, pulling out special polishing wax for her chrome accents and everything.

so, it was 1997, sam was two months into being 14, and it was the middle of summer. they were posing as a happy family somewhere in the American Suburb. it was sweltering, and school had long been let out, so sam was inside reading in the living room. the window-shades were fully open to let in the cozy sunlight while he shamelessly took advantage of the non-faulty air conditioning. dean was outside washing baby after changing her oil, as per usual.

the loud clunk of dean shutting off the house's hose spigot made sam look up, unconsciously observing his brother, who'd donned the one ratty pair of swimming trunks he owned and a once-white, now oil-stained tank top for the occasion. he was drenched- though whether it was sweat or hose water, sam couldn't quite tell. dean fiddled some more with the spigot just next to the window, allowing sam to gaze on unfettered. sam didn't even realize he was doing it, relaxed and unaware as his hindbrain continued to make more and more detailed observations,

like how the angle of dean's jaw was set off just-so in the sun. or the way the firm, rounded definition of his bare shoulders shifted and rippled as he messed with the hose and bucket. or the way his wet tank top clung to his chest and stomach, slipping up just enough on one side to show the pronounced curve of his obliques. or how a wedge of un-tanned skin was revealed on the opposite side of his waist as his threadbare swim trunks were tugged down from the weight of the water they were soaked in. or even, just a small eye-stray further inward, how the same heavily soaked garment sunk in and scrunched up at his hip crease, first, and then swelled back out sharply towards the middle as it clung oh-so-tellingly to dean's-

sam's eyes snapped away quickly (why did he feel guilty?) as dean picked up the bucket by the handle he had finally fixed and turned away to bring it to the car. the younger boy, still unaware of his own mind's machinations, didn't even resist as his eyes and thoughts continued to stray, once again unbeknownst to him.

he must've dropped the bucket of water on himself when the handle popped out of place. maybe he let the spigot run a little longer, too, and let it get him wet and glistening all over, because no way had a singular bucket of water gotten dean that wet. not with the way he was so clearly soaked down his entire backside, causing the back of his tank, too, to cling to his torso.

sam idly noted that dean was starting to spread soapy water over the impala which was facing towards the house, tilted up on the driveway. dean had to bend and stretch himself out over baby's front to sponge at the crease where her windshield met her hood.

see, he must've gotten himself more wet, since his swimming trunks, again, were struggling to stay up. they worked in tandem with his clinging tank top which had continued to ride up, revealing dean's back dimples. two innocuous indentations of flesh, sitting atop his waistband and pointing downward to the once again un-tanned skin sloping across the sinful curve of dean's... assets. the beginning hints of his firm curves were just barely peeking out to join his back dimples, showing the delta of skin that led down into a dark crevice, so cruelly hidden from view by the swim trunks, still unfortunately hanging on for all they were worth.

even sam's subconscious hesitated at this, beginning to wake up the boy in question to his own internal monologue, but he still wasn't fully cognizant.

he gazed on as dean squeezed out the last bit of soapy water from the sponge, turning to grab the empty bucket as well and trek back up to the water spigot to rinse them out. as he walked up to the house with his hands full, he wiped his face against the inside of his arm, possibly to scratch an itch or wipe away sweat- sam didn't have the bandwidth to decide which it was as his brain fired up once again.

dean's lips dragged against the inside of his arm, catching with friction and then releasing so elegantly. can lips be considered elegant? maybe not. maybe dean's lips were just... red, and plump, and crested, ever-so-perfectly. they looked warm, heated by the sun and the scrape of dean's teeth as he periodically bit them raw.

sam's thoughts started to organize themselves,

it should be me making dean's lips warm, instead. only i should have the right.

i should be the one biting dean's lips raw; biting them until they bleed, all for me.

it should be me clinging wetly to dean's torso, riding up on his back.

i should be the one holding onto dean's waist, letting gravity incessantly tug my hands lower and lower until i dig into his back dimples.

it should be me who drags even lower still, until i clutch my fingertips where the sun isn't privileged enough to touch- where no one should be privileged enough to touch. no one except me.

i should be the one grasping his innermost vulnerability in my hands. i'll treat it better than anyone else could.

it should be me. i should be the one.

sam's hindbrain finally catapulted into complete awareness,

it should be me, kissing dean. i should be the one kissing him, holding- loving- fu-

sam's eyes widen and he flinches away from the window as the thought fully registers, stumbling off of the couch and back towards his room that he shared with dean on shaking legs, a previously unnoticed throbbing between them taking a sudden precedence in the priority of his blood flow.

it's fine.

just another weirdly desirable, actually alluring intrusive thought.

it's fine.

[underforeversgrace]

title: the walls you hide behind (I saw the truth inside the real you)

words: 2,142

Story Summary: Jazz is tired of the ghosts, tired of her parents not doing enough, tired of Phantom's recklessness and her brother's persistent exhaustion. When she yells all of her frustration at her parents after nearly getting killed by a ghost, she gets sent to Vlad's mansion in Wisconsin for the weekend - where she's offered a chance. She could have the ability to fight back, protect her brother and her town. Jazz leaps at the prospect. When she returns to Amity Park at the end of the weekend, it's with abilities and strength of her own, and she's fueled by anger and disdain. And she's got her eyes, first, on Danny Phantom.

Chapter 5 of 10: Same Black Holes and Black Mistakes

AO3

Tumblr Chapter One

Tumblr Chapter Six

Beta by: @probably-dead

(Also, check out the AO3 link for some really awesome art by @englandamericaitaly!)

~~~~

“My grades are fine!” Jazz shouted, pushing herself from the breakfast table and standing.

“Jazz, yes, technically they’re still good, but -“ Maddie started and Jazz’s jaw clenched in anger.

“I don’t have a single grade below a 95! Seriously?” She asked, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest.

“You used to be consistently over a hundred,” her father pointed out. She glared at him and he withered slightly. He’d never been able to handle Jazz when she was angry, and Jazz was furious.

She wanted to scream at them for all of the sudden remembering they had kids, that they needed to give their kids attention. Why did they have to decide to start paying attention now, when Jazz was getting used to balancing her normal life and the life of a vigilante? She already was irritated she’d felt the tug of a ghost recently and hadn’t been able to go chase it!

“High school is harder than middle school, okay?” Jazz lied. In all honesty, she found them both to be child’s play. The lowered grades were more due to her running out of class so often and homework assignments being done, just not done with her previous Type A personality kind of work.

“Jazz, you’re in eleventh grade. You did wonderfully in ninth and tenth grade. I just don’t understand what’s happened this year. Danny’s grades have fallen as well.” Maddie said, worry aging her face.

Jazz glared at her mother. She had to fight to keep the nanobots from reacting to her, even as they burned up her back, vibrating in tune with her rising mood. “I don’t know, Mom. What happened at the start of this school year?”

The parents shared guilty looks and Jazz knew she’d won this conversation.

She sighed, letting some of the anger dissipate, the tech in her skin cooling down as she did. “It’s time for school. I’m going to go get Danny.” Jazz spun on her heel and marched upstairs, taking down her ponytail and redoing it in a braid to give her hands something to do as she went through some slow, meditative breathing. She knocked on the door with her elbow so as to not lose her place with her braid. “Danny!” She yelled. She wanted to have a talk with Danny about how he wasn’t in class yesterday, but it was the Violet Trapper who saw him, not his meddling older sister, and she wasn’t willing yet to confess her secret to her brother.

When Danny didn’t respond, she groaned, tying off the half braid she’d managed. “Danny!” She yelled again, pushing the door open. “It’s time to go!”

Silence met her again and Jazz’s face scrunched in confusion as she realized his bed was empty. At that moment, her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out. Sometimes she swore Danny had some kind of psychic powers - like now.

From: Danny

I left early 2day 2 meet up w sam n tuck for some studying. C u @ school

Despite the reassurance, she frowned. When had Danny left? Her and her parents had been in the kitchen for over an hour and she could’ve sworn she’d heard Danny roll over in his bed when she first went downstairs. How had he gotten out without her seeing or hearing him?

She shrugged, she’d see him at school and he - unlike her - actually needed to study. She didn’t wish her parents goodbye as she left the house, getting into her car and heading to school.

She wished she could just fly to school, if she was being honest. It was exhilarating. Even if she ever grew to regret the ghost hunting, she didn’t think she’d ever regret the nanobots that allowed her to soar above Amity. She had almost told Danny a few times, just so he could fly too - she just knew he’d love to, he’d always had his head in the stars. But she couldn’t - not until the ghosts were handled, not until she was sure she could fly without being attacked.

Jazz yawned as she made the short drive. She’d been woken up four times by ghosts last night, and then the conversation with her parents this morning just had her exhausted. Still, she had a meeting with Lancer this morning, one he’d requested.

The fact she was who he reached out to with concerns over Danny instead of their parents spoke volumes about her family. But he sounded worried and Jazz was not fighting ghosts on a nightly basis just so her brother could continue to fall behind. Not with all the scrapes and bruises she had so often, not with the injuries that should’ve had her out of commission for weeks and instead healed in hours, courtesy of the technology in her veins. No, she was not letting her own life fall to the side just so Danny’s could do the same.

So she headed straight to Lancer’s office once she got to school, grinning at the banner above the entrance proudly proclaiming Spirit Week Centennial: 100 Years of Casper Spirit. Again, she debated telling Lancer the truth - he was the vice principal, and her grades had started to fall, plus she knew he wouldn’t risk telling her parents news like this, as studiously as he avoided them. If anyone could get her the accommodations she needed, it would be him. She honestly didn’t have a good reason she wasn’t telling him. She knew the reason she kept it was childish, but still, she held her secret close.

So what if the only reason she didn’t tell Lancer was because it was fun being a superhero with a secret identity? Her other goals were noble enough, she was allowed her fun, too!

His door was already open when she arrived, but she knocked politely anyway.

Jazz wasn’t sure what she was expecting from her teacher this early in the morning, but it certainly was not her probably-in-his-fifties year old teacher hopping around the room with pom poms, chanting the spelling of Casper.

“Jasmine!” Mr. Lancer said with a grin when he saw her, setting his pom poms down on his desk. “Sorry, I was just getting ready for Spirit Week! I do love it so much. The pomp, the circumstance, and especially the spirit sparklers! Did you know I was a cheerleader when I attended Casper?”

“Really? Uh, no, had no clue. Anyway, you wanted to speak with me about Danny?”

“Ah, yes, young Mr. Fenton,” Lancer said, his tone shifting back to one of a bored English teacher. Jazz had to hold her tongue to keep from fuming at him. Danny was continuing to be bullied and the school was doing absolutely nothing about it - it didn’t help that Danny had apparently been right that first night she got back and his bruised nose had healed by morning. “Can you walk with me, Ms. Fenton? There is someone I’d like for you to meet.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Lancer,” she said, following the balding teacher out of the classroom and down the halls.

“Now, Jasmine, I do want to talk to you about your brother. I taught him in eighth grade last year, do you remember?”

Jazz nodded. “Yeah, this is your first year at the high school.”

“Correct. Now, I do remember your brother. He was quiet, didn’t get into trouble, was quite intelligent when he applied himself. He’s changed, noticeably, since then. I will admit, Jasmine, I am worried for him. Sudden behavioral changes like this… well, it’s raised more than a handful of red flags, you understand?”

“What’re you saying, Mr. Lancer?” She asked, frowning.

“Is it possible your brother has gotten involved with… illicit substances? I hate to even ask, but I am at a loss. Normally I’d bring my concern up to the student’s parents…”

“But my parents are as likely to blow up a wall as they are to talk to Danny,” Jazz sighed. As they walked, her ghost radar went off, pointing in the direction they were going. 

Lancer smiled apologetically at her. “Ah, unfortunately. I decided perhaps you were best to talk to, at least first. You see, we’ve finally got a school guidance counselor and -“ He opened the door and paused, his calm demeanor morphing into one of shock, the ghost she was sensing rapidly disappearing.

Jazz’s jaw dropped as she took in the scene - her brother, surrounded by destroyed furniture and damaged equipment. He stared at them like a deer in headlights.

Danny facepalmed. “Good one, Fenton. You let him get away, you idiot!”

Jazz rubbed her temples as Lancer began to lay into her brother. “Mr. Lancer,” she finally spoke up when her headache showed no signs of abating. “Look at this. It had to be a ghost attack. We’ve had enough of them by now. That desk is still smoking.”

“Yeah, Mr. Lancer, it was a ghost!” Danny added, looking at her in relief.

“But,” she continued and Danny’s relief wiped away to betrayal the more she talked, “if we’re getting a guidance counselor, I do believe Danny would benefit from seeing them.”

“Jazz!” Danny said indignantly. “I don’t need a shrink!”

Jazz was interrupted before she could snap back.

“Oh dear, what has happened in here?” A red-haired woman said as she walked into the room, immediately dropping the temperature from Cold to Colder. Jazz saw Lancer and Danny shiver and she mimicked them, despite not feeling the cold anymore. She felt a slight buzz in her chest, but it wasn’t focusing in any one direction. Jazz frowned. That was the feeling of her ghost radar, why wasn’t it solidifying?

“Ah, Ms. Spectra, welcome,” Lancer said, holding his hand out to her. “Apologies, there was a bit of an… incident this morning.”

Spectra smiled warmly, seemingly completely unbothered. “No worries, Mr. Lancer, it happens!” She said cheerily. “And who are these two?” She added, gesturing to the teens.

“This is Jasmine and Daniel Fenton,” Lancer said, gesturing to the two of them as Spectra tidied up some of the wall decorations. “Jasmine is an exemplary student, I was actually going to ask her to do the spirit speech at the assembly next week. This is her brother.”

The look on Danny’s face told her he didn’t miss how Lancer sang her praises while barely acknowledging him. He seemed sad - hurt, even - but he quickly smoothed his face back to one of irritation.

“She’s also a fink,” he grumbled, glaring at her. Jazz did her best to ignore it - if only he knew how hard she was trying.

“That is enough, Mr. Fenton!” Lancer admonished. “Get to class now. We’ll let you know when your first session will be.”

Danny scowled at Jazz, stomping away with a huff.

“Anyway, Miss Fenton, what do you say to being the keynote speaker at the spirit-a-thon? Ms. Spectra has already agreed to handle the preparations for the assembly, so you can come to her with any concerns.”

“I don’t know, I’m busy with homework, and my college entry papers…” Jazz said, resisting the urge to rub her chest as it felt like she had irritated bees in her rib cage.

“Don’t worry about it, Jasmine!” Spectra said with far too much cheer. “I’m sure we can find someone else with more school spirit!”

This woman is a licensed therapist? Jazz wondered. While there was nothing technically wrong with what she’d said, it rubbed Jazz the wrong way. Still, Jazz pretended to smile. “Thanks, Ms. Spectra. I’m sure there’s other students who are just as capable as me.”

“Not a problem!” Spectra said, patting Jazz’s shoulder once. A frown crossed over the woman’s face for just a moment, gone so quick Jazz wondered if she’d imagined it.

“Are you sure, Miss Fenton?” Lancer asked. “You really are our best and brightest.”

“I’m sure, Mr. Lancer. This ‘best and brightest’ student is focusing on college right now.” And ghost hunting.

He sighed sadly but didn’t push. “Certainly. Go ahead and get on to class, then, Ms. Spectra and I will get some sessions scheduled for your brother.”

Jazz hesitated before she left, studying the new counselor. Technically, Jazz didn’t have any reason to dislike her, the woman had been perfectly friendly - maybe she was just too friendly and that’s why Jazz felt off about her? She was sure Lancer and the school board had thoroughly vetted Spectra before hiring her, after all. So despite her reservations, she nodded. Danny needed help that her parents couldn’t give and that he would never speak to her about.

He could be mad at her later, she determined as she left the office, Lancer and Spectra’s conversation muffling as they closed the door behind her.

The buzzing didn’t settle down until several hours later, and her discomfort with Spectra was forgotten.

[kylejsugarman]

16 and 21 for Baby, 6 for Demi, and I forget what their brother's name was i'msosorry but 4 for him!

thank u ro!!! 🥺 although 40 lashes for not remembering mason's name

16. What does your OC's childhood bedroom look like?

when baby is still living in the ayuluk house, she sleeps in the bedroom that was converted from a closet back when mason was born, which did its job but wasnt anything special. once jesse and demi decided to move in together, he got really excited by the prospect of turning the spare room into baby's new bedroom. he built her a trundle bed with drawers underneath to store her toys and books and a desk while demi painted the walls light blue. there's thick blue curtains over the window to keep out bright sunlight on snow light that have graphics of kelp and coral along the bottom half and fish to make it look like the ocean floor. one corner has all her doll stuff and is padded with a rug so she can comfortably play on her knees. it's a little eclectic and theres definitely a lot of blue, but baby LOVES it. her room is her favorite place in the world.

21. If your OC could speak to their childhood self, what would they say?

man. "we're kind of weird, but that's ok. we don't have to change that part or anything. but please don't think ur wrong or not supposed to be loved. ur going to be so happy. people will like u for real and u will like urself :)"

6. Did your OC have a teacher or a mentor growing up? What was your OC's relationship with them like?

demi definitely looked up to her mom and had a lot of love for her, but it was difficult to like. fully learn from and trust her because demi Was the lightning rod for sam henry's abuse and everyone Knew it, including her mom. she was really polite to adults, but didnt really trust most of them or expect them to understand her until her eighth grade science teacher. initially, her teacher was just impressed by demi's intellect and performance in the class, but she soon realized that demi was not being nurtured quite the way she deserved to be. this was a smart, sweet kid who didnt recognize those traits in herself. she gets to know demi and invites her to read or do homework in her classroom before and after school so demi doesnt have to wait outside. she's the one who encourages demi to start volunteering at the animal shelter once demi admits that she'd like to go into a caretaking profession and likes animals more than people. it wasn't anything like Monumental, but demi really needed this kind of encouragement and just attention from an adult and it set her on her career path. they're facebook friends and demi agonizes at least once a month over whether she should send a message to her to express her gratitude or if it would be Weird.

4. What was your OC's childhood dream? Is that still their dream? If it has changed, why did it change and what's their new dream?

mason was the kind of kid who wanted to do Only Cool Shit when he grew up. like he did Not want to be a doctor or a police officer, he wanted to be a BMX racer or helicopter pilot or just like. guy who drives monster trucks for a living. his dream was basically to live to the extreme and never, ever have a boring life. now as an adult, this isnt quite his dream anymore, but he still aspires to not live a boring life. working at the docks and manning industrial fishing boats injects some excitement into his life while also providing a pretty good wage for first his family, then himself. he and his buddies will do fun, risky shit—snowboarding, axe-throwing, jumping ice floes—just for the sake of having fun. mason has a little more self-awareness now and concern for his wellbeing since he had to take on a lot of responsibility before he was even an adult and currently wants to stay at least somewhat safe to be there for his sister and her family, but he's sticking to his dream of never letting tedium and fear win.

[jake-whatthefisgoingon-kiszka]

Summer Crush

Hydrangeas

Part 1

Summary: Sam had been caught in the middle of a friendship triangle for years. The problem was it wasn’t a competition for you. No you actually had a secret crush on his other best friend, Danny. When the boys come home for the summer Sam gives you one word of advice, distance yourself from Danny.

Pairings: Danny Wagner x fem reader x Sam Kiszka *slash pairing

Warnings: 18+, NO minors!, sexual content, slash pairings, friends to lovers, kind of enemies to lovers, love triangles, drinking, talk of jealousy, potential threesomes, not going too into detail yet don’t want to spoil it but do be warned 🫣, if the part number is in italics then there’s spice

Word count: 2.9k

“Wait Danny is coming to sub in tonight?!” You groaned up at your best friend while he was trying to get his equipment put together in a rush.

You had tagged along with Sam and his brothers for a gig like you usually did. The only problem was tonight when you all arrived at the venue, the current drummer had a scheduling issue which meant he wasn’t coming.

The boys had all but given up thinking they were going to have to cancel at the last minute. That was until Sam had the bright idea to call his other best friend, Daniel, to play drums instead.

When Danny agreed and started making his way they frantically started to unpack and get everything set up so the concert wouldn’t start too late when he arrived.

“Danny’s good, knows the music, he’s been to a lot of our shows” Sam tried to assure you although it absolutely was not working.

“I’ve been to a lot of your shows” you pointed out and he stopped what he was doing briefing to look over at you with a smirk.

Sam had always been caught in the middle of being best friends with both you and Danny. With you growing up just down the road from the Kiszka’s you had spent your entire childhood being friends with the boys.

Although you were in the same grade as his twin brothers, Josh and Jake, you had always felt the closest connection to Sam.

Sam’s outlook on life put you at ease. You were always caught up in something whether it be making good grades in school, practicing your heart out for your theater class (although you could never out perform Josh), or trying to impress your parents. Sam on the other hand was always unapologetically himself. When you were around him he could sense you getting stressed and would make you take a deep breath to remember you didn’t owe anyone anything but yourself.

When Sam started school after you he made another friend in his grade, Danny. When you were little kids it didn’t mean anything. Honestly, Danny was just another boy you hung out with like the Kiszkas.

As all of you started to mature, however, you started to distance yourself a little from Danny.

Sam, being the type of egocentric guy he was, thought the two of you were just competing for your role in the ‘best-friend’ title.

The truth was, the more Danny aged, the more your attraction for the once boy now young man grew as well.

You kept this crush on Sam’s other best friend a secret close to your heart, worried that if things ever progressed between the two of you it would put Sam in a complicated situation.

When Danny arrived he seemed to notice you first, nodding over in your direction like he wasn’t even surprised you were here as well.

“Danny boy!” Josh over-excitedly welcomed him by clapping a hand onto his back and dragging him further into the small and cramped backstage room. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“Yeah, I’m sure” he tried to reply with confidence but you and Sam could both tell he was quite nervous.

“Well good cause there’s no going back now, we’re on” Josh laughed while Sam went over to actually assure his friend he’d be alright and run through tonight’s planned performance to bring him up to speed.

The show went on without a hitch after Danny joined them. While you watched from the corner of the stage you had to admit they had an energy now that hadn’t been matched until this point. Danny was going all out with his chance to shine, the boys all sharing wide grins with each other, playing more animated and passionate than they had since Josh found his vocals.

After the show everyone stuck around to mingle for a while while the band cooled off backstage. When Sam finally emerged he found you quickly and gave you an enthusiastic hug. Although you squirmed to get his still sweaty body off of you.

“That was amazing wasn’t it!” Sam refused to let you go, his long lanky arms completely engulfing your shoulders and smothering your face into his chest.

“Yes Sam, you guys were great, but I can’t breathe”.

He loosened his hold but kept his hands on your shoulders, leaning over to speak quietly this time directly just to you.

“We were talking back there, and we are thinking about having Danny join us permanently”.

“Oh, umm, well isn’t that something” you weren’t sure what response to give him. After witnessing tonight you definitely couldn’t deny the compatibility they had, but you knew in the back of your mind that meant seeing Danny a lot more often.

Your alarm started going off ripping you from your sleep giving you that delirious feeling you got when you were having such a vivid dream it made it hard to come back into reality.

Reality was it was five years later, while you had gone off to college in Detroit the boys had pursued the band and really gotten down to work with getting signed and producing music.

Although years and miles had been put between you and Sam you still stayed very much in touch. Sometimes when you were in a dark place you thought distancing yourself, or even cutting the friendship off completely, would help with the sting of loneliness you felt at first while they were away touring and you were still stuck in Michigan studying. Time really did heal all wounds though, and you found yourself settling into life in Detroit with new girl friends from school.

Last year had been a very busy year for the band, yet Sam had still managed to come to your college graduation. You had tried to tell him it wasn’t a big deal, you were only graduating from a design program, but nonetheless he was still over the moon for you and your achievement as were you for him.

Transitioning from school life into the working community proved to be harder than you initially imagined. Unfortunately there were a lot of design graduates and without the experience or something to set yourself apart from the others, it was hard to land good paying jobs.

Currently you were just working commissions, trying to build up a portfolio, when the band got a break and all returned home for a few months to relax and reset. Sam immediately contacted you to return home as well and join them.

At first you were a little weary to accept. You hadn’t lived with your parents in quite a while, and that was actually doing a lot for you to get the space and ease the pressure, but once you brought up the idea of coming to spend the summer with them they sounded so ecstatic about it you couldn’t say no any longer.

You were hoping your first night back home would be quiet, but you should have known ‘rest and relaxation’ wasn’t in the Kiszka brother’s vocabulary.

“Where are we going?” You demanded from Sam when he picked you up from your parents house late in the evening.

“To a party!” He replied, “lots of old friends are excited to have us back in town so they’re throwing us a welcome home party, I’m sure there will be people from highschool who will be glad to see you back too”.

“You guys were my only friends from highschool” You reminded him with a sigh. It’s not like you weren’t a social person, you just bonded with Sam and his family at such a young age you never felt the need to go looking for anyone else before college. Then of course there was Danny as well. “I think everyone is just excited to see the rockstars from our small little town come back”.

“That may be true” he nodded his head not even attempting to disagree with the bold statement you’d made. “Regardless, we’re going to have fun tonight”.

The rest of the car ride was quiet. Surprisingly it still didn’t make you feel uncomfortable to be in silence around Sam. That fact only solidified that despite being apart for so long your friendship was still strong.

You weren’t too worried about bumping into people from highschool at the party, like you had said, most everyone would be more occupied with the boys. Seeing Danny again after all these years is what really got your heart racing.

“It’s so great to see you again!” Josh in his usual high spirited demeanor welcomed you to the party. He pulled you into a fast hug although his body didn’t engulf you like his younger brothers did.

“Glad you came” Jake smiled at you when it was his turn, opting to squeeze you from the side which you knew from him was just as endearing of a greeting as his twin.

“Come on I think Danny’s in the kitchen getting us some drinks” Sam placed a hand on the small of your back and pushed you away from his brothers. Months and months squeezed into confined spaces and sharing everything with his family had made his possessiveness of what was his even worse. Because of that you knew he wouldn’t let you out of his sight for long tonight, but it didn’t bother you one bit because there was no one else you’d rather spend time with than him anyways.

“Look what I’ve got” Sam called out to Danny when he found him, motioning his arms around you to give you the grand entrance you deserved.

“Look what I’ve got” Danny parroted with a cheeky smile as he displayed the three drinks he’d mixed.

“Are you guys even old enough to drink yet?” You questioned with a hint of a teasing scoff in your tone. You were quickly remembering the last time you guys all had some mixed drinks in plastic cups together was in their garage right before you went off to college and they got busy with the band. At that time none of you were even close to being legal to drink but it didn’t stop you then.

“I won’t tell if you won’t” Danny looked up through his dark lashes mischievously, already bringing the rim of the cup up to his lips and taking a drink.

“To a summer together!” Sam raised his cup to you in a toast, you held your cup up to his and he thrusted them together nearly causing the contents of both your cups to spill over the top onto you.

You laughed at his silly sentiment, it’s not like you were drinking wine or champagne from a glass, you didn’t even know what Danny had mixed together, yet Sam still insisted. Little did you know what ‘a summer together’ would mean for the three of you.

You were the last to taste your drink, immediately feeling a warm shiver wash over you as the mostly alcoholic liquid went down. “What did you put in here?!”

Both Danny and Sam laughed at you like they’d expected you to have a better tolerance to liquor since college. You sure as hell weren’t going to let the two of them show you up though, so you kept talking drink after drink until the burning sensation went away and a numb fuzzy feeling enveloped your whole body.

After a while and a few more drinks you had opened up to socializing with a few others but you found yourself back with Sam and Danny in the small living room all crowded on the couch together with Sam in the middle.

You had ignored Danny for most the night but in this very moment you let your better judgment falter and your gaze shifted past Sam next to you onto his friend.

Although you had fought the feeling all night the second you laid eyes on him jealousy boiled over.

You and Sam had been so close before, literally spending everyday together. Even if all that time together made you so sick and annoyed with each other that feeling never lasted for long, always making up for whatever stupid fight you might have gotten into and going right back to goofing off.

Now you felt like just another admirer. Danny was with Sam every day now so did that mean he had won Sam’s imaginary best friend competition?

Before you could catch yourself staring, Danny’s eyes met yours and you quickly looked away, stumbling around in your head for a way to distract from the awkward exchange.

“Danny, Sam’s hair has gotten really long, do you guys not have a stylist?” You picked up a couple of chestnut locks and played with them in your fingers behind Sam’s back.

“Hmm” he hummed in agreement, “his hair has gotten long, but he won’t let anyone touch it”.

“Will too!” Sam butted in, “I just don’t want it cut just yet, I think it makes me look cool”.

“Do you think it makes Sam look cool, Danny?” You continued your conversation, addressing Sam like he wasn’t sandwiched between the two of you still.

“Cool? I’d say cute” Danny teased knowing how Sam would react to the evocation.

“Cute?! Cut it out!” He tried to elbow his friend to silence him but Danny was able to dodge just in time, springing up from the couch.

“I think I’m going to get another drink, anybody else?”

“I’ll come with I could use some water” you replied and stood up as well.

“Water?” Sam complained, obviously wanting you to continued drinking with them, but you knew if you let yourself not only would you have a huge hangover in the morning, but you would probably do something stupid.

“You just stay here, we’ll be right back” you pointed at him with a stern look that said no more complaints and followed Danny who had already started to walk away back into the kitchen.

“So, what were you staring at earlier?” Danny randomly asked once the few other people in the room had made their drinks and cleared out.

“Me? Staring? No, I was just spaced out. One too many Danny cocktails”. You raised your cup that now held water up in your own toast for the night “To Sam learning when to stop making everything about himself”.

Danny cracked a crooked smile and walked around the bar you were leaning on, positioning himself to stand right in front of you.

“To learning a little about ourselves” he raised his cup and gently clanked it against yours watching as you hid your sudden onslaught of redness behind yours while you took another drink.

As soon as you lowered the cup again Danny took a step closer and leaned in to steal an unexpected kiss from you.

Your mind went into complete error mode when his lips, still wet from the liquid he just drank, pressed firmly against yours. Like your brain couldn’t tell your hand to correctly hold a cup any longer you dropped it onto the ground next to you. The little remainder of water inside splashing up onto yours and Danny’s legs. Since it was just water you weren’t too concerned with picking it up right away. Instead your arms regained function and you wrapped them around Danny’s neck, yanking him down into a faster, needier kiss.

After just a few more seconds, right before you thought your brain was going to explode from being unable to compute what was going on, Danny pulled away and quickly exited the kitchen without a word.

You were flabbergasted, stunned into an immobile state as you were left staring at the entryway waiting for him to come back and either explain what just happened or push you down onto the table and make out again.

When you saw a tall frame reappear it didn’t take long to recognize it was Sam checking in on you. You quickly snapped out of it and ran around to find a towel to clean up your mess.

“What happened?” Sam questioned and your whole body shook, afraid he saw the way Danny rushed out. “Spilled your drink?” He came further into the kitchen to help you clean and you were able to relax a bit knowing he was oblivious to what just happened.

You found a towel and wiped up the small mess while you got a new cup to refill.

Just when you thought you were in the clear Sam spoke up, “Hey can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course, anything” you tried to act natural but trying hard made you worry it came out forced.

“I know you, Danny, and I have been really close in the past,” he started and stopped once to reorganize his thoughts in his head, something he didn’t do often, “but I just want to ask you to keep your distance from him. Danny’s my best friend too, but he’s also in the band so we have to make sure things stay good between us. I hope you understand what I’m saying and don’t take it the wrong way”.

“I got it, Danny and I aren’t as close as you think we are anyways” you forced a laugh since you were lying right in your best friend’s face.

A relieved look washed over his face which only deepened the guilt you felt right now. “Ok, I’m glad you’re not like mad about it”.

“Sammy,” you set your cup down this time and held your arms open for a hug. “Nothing can get between us, just look at everything we’ve survived”.

“Yeah, you’re right” he replied after meeting you for the hug and placing his chin atop your head.

Your heart was banging against your chest still, you were almost sure he could feel it, but the matter seemed to be settled.

Your crush for Daniel Wagner had to finally go away.

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