#and my mom couldn't really understand why I was upset. she thought I wanted it anyways

[crystalisopod]

I'm so grateful that my autism has sort of mellowed out as I aged, and that I'm less sensitive sensory-wise. because it's just so... I don't know, embarrassing? to think back on every meltdown.

it's embarrassing because everything hurt so badly, but it's not something I could talk about because it was all just mountains out of molehills. it's like having a breakdown and screaming over a paper cut, it's hard to even talk about without it sounding incredibly silly or making myself sound oversensitive and pathetic.

[fruity-fruition]

My thoughts on Tenma Parents!

I am the Tenma parents' number #1 defender in a way. I still think they fucked up Tsukasa, but not intentionally.

(fyi, Tsukasa is definitely a mama's boy and I don't accept criticism. Saki's on the contrary)

I think Tsukasa's parents loved both him and Saki equally, unlimitedly, and wholeheartedly. The sad reality is that life handed the entire family a shitty deck of cards. And while love is unlimited, time and attention isn't.

They try their best, they genuinely do, but it's difficult juggling their job AND an ill child AND another child.

Due to Saki's (uncontrollable!! Remember!!) condition, one of the parents has to be with her nearly at all times and the other one has to work for the additional hospital bills (since the government can't cover some surgeries or procedures. Idk how it works in Japan but)

They try to be there for Saki and Tsukasa a lot but they do notice growing concerns abt both of them.

Saki's getting quiet, nearly bursting into tears every time Tsukasa or any of them leaves the hospital room. She clings on to people a lot to the point of where it hurts.

Tsukasa's getting quiet too. He thinks they don't notice, since he's trying to act upbeat and cheery in front of Saki to cheer her up, but they can't ignore... that. Whatever is happening to him.

They both don't know what to do.

Despite their best efforts, Tsukasa was still left home alone most of his late childhood and early teens.

They don't have favourites, but after a while, they can't say they know their son anymore. They saw him grow up without them, and it's the most heartbreaking thing to not be there.

--

They had to miss his middle school graduation. They tried to take time off work, but neither of them got off fast enough to reach the ceremony. Both only saw him that day at the hospital.

But Tsukasa lied. Lied to Saki's face, because he didn't want to upset her.

Tsukasa's mom: "Sweetheart, we're so sorry-"

Tsukasa: "-that you had to leave the ceremony early? It's okay!"

Their parents look at him confused because the issue is that they weren't even there. But Tsukasa gave them eyes, begging them to play along.

Tsukasa's mom: "...yeah. y-yeah, work called in and we really couldn't avoid it much longer"

Tsukasa lets out a sigh of relief before nodding and smiling "really! It's okay!"

When leaving Saki's ward, his mom asked him why he lied, and he just looked at her and shook his head.

Tsukasa: "...Saki does this thing, where she blames herself for stuff she can't control. I-I don't know how I know it, but I'm sure she'll do the same if she found out you weren't there. I don't want to see her doing that."

Outside, his mom pulls him into a hug, whispering apology after apology as she holds him. He kept insisting, it's fine! Really! He's a future star, with loads of celebration to come! Who cares if they missed one?

His mom looks at him, with genuine sadness, and asks him to be honest with her. Is he upset?

She noticed him froze, before shaking his head.

Tsukasa: "Not at all, mom! I understand why you both couldn't make it"

Tsukasa's mom: "...You can understand and still be upset. You're allowed to be"

But despite her best efforts to make her son open up, he still shakes his head and tells her it's alright.

She thinks he doesn't know that she knows. She knows that he wants them to worry less about him, which made them worry more.

--

She learned from Saki that Tsukasa doesn't have a lot of friends. He never mentions it a lot to Saki, but every time Saki asks him if he'd be hanging out with people, he just looks at her confused.

Tsukasa: "Why would I hang out with other people when I have the most incredible sister in the world!"

When he started to open up to her again, later in the future, when everything had settled down and life was beginning to move steady, she'll learn that his classmates think he's overbearing.

He wasn't getting bullied, nor was he actually disliked. But in terms of friends? They think he's a bit too loud, too tiring to deal with. Some even think he's a bit too selfish.

She would argue about that final point with her life. Because if anything, she wishes Tsukasa thought of himself more.

--

They learned more about him when he was 17. They learned about his friends, his troupe, his work, and how close he's gotten towards achieving his dreams. They're so unbelievably proud of him. He's grown into such an incredible person.

They just wished they could've taken the credit.

--

They loved their children equally. Even when Toya was pulled into the frame and they unknowingly gained a third, they loved him all the same.

But there's a difference in loving and knowing, because their son felt far more distant to them than their daughter. And they're trying their absolute best to fix that rift before it's too late

--

Both Tsukasa and Saki suffered majorly in their life, both in vastly different ways. But in terms of parents, I think Tsukasa got the short end. But not intentionally, y'know? It's like. Accidental child neglect.

[supercorpkid]

Baby Danvers who is Kara's bio little sister sent to earth with Kara in the pod as a baby. Has a crush on Ruby Arias, they bond over being Kryptonian and teenagers not allowed to use their powers in public. Please 🙏

(love your work)

Everything Has Changed.

Supergirl. Baby Danvers. Kara Danvers x Sister!Reader, Alex Danvers x Sister!Reader, Ruby Arias x Reader. Sam Arias.

Word Count: 2310.

"No," Kara repeats, speaking to you as if you were a toddler. "You can't join the track team when you have super speed. You know that."

"You just won't let me do anything!" You scowl, showing your sister how upset you are. Usually, that's all it takes, but when it comes to your powers, Kara never budges.

"Yeah, because it's not fair to other people, Y/N! You have superpowers," Alex chimes in from the kitchen. You roll your eyes, knowing this was bound to happen. The open concept in Kara's apartment really doesn't help when you're trying to have a conversation with just one of them.

"What good are all these powers if I'm not allowed to use them?" You turn on your heel, quickly going to your bedroom and slamming the door behind you. You hear a crack in the wood and curse under your breath.

"If you break another door, you won't get a replacement!" Alex yells, and you grunt in frustration.

God! You break a few things around the house or bump into someone and break their arm on the street a couple of times and now you're treated as a menace! Sure, it doesn't help that your bedroom door looks like it might turn into ashes if you slam it one more time, but most of the time it isn't on purpose. 

Do you really want to join the track team? Not necessarily. What you really want is a way to use your powers without Kara and Alex yelling at you. You can't wait until you're an adult.

When you were younger, you couldn't wait to get your powers. When you and Kara crashed on this planet, she was already a teenager, so she immediately got all of them—the flying, super speed, super strength—everything you always wanted. But since you were a baby when you came to Earth, you had to wait until puberty.

Now, you finally have them. You can fly around the world, save people, hear all the gossip at school, and yet your sisters insist that you mustn't use them.

"How did Eliza do it?" Kara asks, and you put your headphones on mute to hear the conversation better. "I seriously don't remember what she used to do when it was me."

"Well, if I remember correctly, it was basically the same," Alex says, and you can't help but roll your eyes again. Perfect Kara Danvers wasn't so perfect after all.

"Eliza was more composed after it, though." Kara takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. You slide your glasses down to look at them moving to the couch. "Did I mess up her life by bringing her to live with me? Eliza said she wanted Y/N to stay there."

"Kara," Alex reaches for Kara's arm, giving it a gentle stroke, "you wanted to bring her here so you could teach her about her powers, to help her feel how normal it is to have them. Besides, you promised your mom you'd take care of her."

"Alex, I know all the reasons, but what if they're not enough? Having me fly around, saving people, using my powers daily, and not being able to use hers—I don't think it's helping as much as I thought it would."

Alex is silent for a moment. "You know, Sam has told me the same thing about Ruby. Maybe we need to get them together, so she can see that even though her experience feels singular, it really isn't."

"That's a good idea, actually." Kara grabs her phone right away. "I'll ask Sam if they're free this weekend. Oh! And Lena can come too."

You smirk — of course Kara would want to bring Lena everywhere.

Kara knocks on your door a while later. You take your headphones off and watch as she slowly approaches, testing the waters. "I'm sorry you can't join the track team. You do understand why, right?"

You sit up in bed and give her a soft, "Yeah" so she knows you're no longer upset. She sits in front of you, grabbing one of your stuffed animals on the bed so she has something to do with her hands.

It takes a couple of seconds and a long breath from her to add, "I love you, baby. I'm just trying to protect you." Kara blinks at you, and you can see how sad she is about fighting with you all the time.

It's not fair that she had to take care of you all your life. Sure, Eliza was an incredible mother figure to both of you, but Kara is 13 years older than you, and she promised your mom she'd care for you when Alura put you both in that pod. And that's what she's done her entire life. She fed you, changed you, taught you both English and Kryptonese, told you about your planet, and showed you its place in the sky. She's the blood relative who truly raised you (sorry, Kal, but it's true).

As soon as she graduated from college and got a job, she brought you to National City to live with her. Eliza wasn't happy about it, but you were over the moon. You'd never say this out loud, but deep down you know Kara is your mom. Not Alura, not Eliza, not even Alex (though she sometimes feels like one). Kara cradled your baby self in her arms all those years ago, and she has yet to let go.

You throw yourself into her arms, hugging her with all your strength, grateful you can't hurt her with it. "I know. I'm sorry." Tears threaten to leave your eyes, and you swallow them. "Kar, I – I know you're doing more than you should as a sister. And so I don't want to be a burden to you."

"You are not a burden!" She squeezes you tighter. "You could never be a burden, little one. You are my whole world." Kara holds your face between her hands, her eyes full of tears, and when you look at her, you know exactly why. "You are the most important person to me in any universe. That's why I don't want you in any kind of danger."

"I know, but I just want to make you proud."

"Oh, baby. I couldn't be prouder of the girl you are, trust me. But we still need some rules about using your powers. You're all I have left," she reassures you.

"I mean, did I die at some point?" Alex asks, leaning against the doorway.

You smile. "Pretty sure you're a ghost, and this house is haunted, yeah."

Alex opens her arms and joins the hug. "You'll have a nice weekend with Ruby and will stop breaking the doors, right?"

You crack a smirk. "I'll try. No promises."

They let you fly to Metropolis, and you appreciate it, even if it's just a less-than-five-minute flight. You get to carry Alex, while Kara carries Lena—because, of course, Lena was coming.

You've met Sam before, though you don’t remember much about it. However, you’re sure you’ve never met Ruby. Usually, you dislike when people dictate who you should or shouldn’t be friends with, but that changes when you meet Ruby.

You love her excitement about things, which mirrors your own enthusiasm, often dimmed by other teenagers who want to look cool. Ruby is nice, has superpowers, and is best friends with her mom (which is similar to your relationship with your older sisters). So when Sam says you’ll have to share a room with Ruby, you’re thrilled.

It's refreshing to have someone you can confide in about your powers, your frustration with not being able to use them freely, and how much you love your sisters despite their misunderstandings.

"I know! Like, okay, I get it. I can't use my powers to gain an advantage in life, but maybe I want to play volleyball!"

"Or join the track team!" You agree, pointing at her. Ruby’s smile widens, and you stare up at her from your spot on the sleeping bag on the floor.

"And honestly, she gets so mad when I break something, like it’s my fault I have super strength." Ruby makes space for you in bed and invites you up with a gesture. You promptly sit in front of her without a word, too preoccupied with your complaints to talk.

"And yes, I understand it's hard to explain why my door keeps breaking, but I’m a teenager! I’m supposed to slam doors behind me."

Ruby laughs in agreement. "It probably doesn’t help when I break things at school, though."

"One time I stopped suddenly in P.E. class, and a kid running behind me ran into me. He broke his nose. I didn’t even move." You give her a sheepish smile. "That was hard to explain."

"That’s nothing! We were playing dodgeball, and I sent someone flying across the room." Your eyes widen at the image. "I was banned from P.E. for weeks, and everyone started calling me 'Wonder Chick.'"

"Uh," You smile. "Did you tell them they got the planets mixed up?"

"Tried to. Mom wouldn’t let me."

You laugh loudly, and although Ruby laughs too, she shushes you so none of the adults come to check on you.

You talk all night, and as the hours pass, the connection between you deepens. You can’t believe how easy it is to open up to Ruby, sharing things you’ve never felt comfortable saying before. After showing her where Krypton would have been if it still existed and teaching her a few Kryptonian words, you both lie side by side on the roof, gazing at the early morning sky.

The sun rises, casting an orange glow that makes Ruby's chestnut eyes shine even more than when she’s telling a story. You think it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. Her eyes feel like coming home.

The conversation eventually slows, and a comfortable silence settles between you. You’re both exhausted, but there’s a sense of peace that neither of you wants to break.

“I’m really glad I came here,” you murmur, your eyes heavy with sleep.

"Yeah," She scoots a little closer. "I’m really glad you came too. I’ve never met anyone who understands me so much."

"I know! Same." You bite your lower lip, looking at Ruby's lips. "I think you might be one of my favorite people already." Your cheeks flush when you realize what you just said. "Is that weird?"

"No." She shakes her head, eyes flicking between your eyes and lips. "It can’t be weird to meet your soulmate."

Soulmate? Oh.

"May I ask what you two are doing out here?" Kara’s voice nearly makes you jump out of your skin.

"Shit." You place a hand on your chest, checking if it’s still there. "Kara! You scared us!"

"You two should be in bed!" You open your mouth to argue, but your sister cuts you off. "Come on, go get some sleep. You guys can talk more before we have to leave."

Your face drops at the thought of leaving, and you see the same sadness on Ruby’s face when Kara’s eyes soften. "You guys will see each other again. Rao, why are teenagers so dramatic?" When she doesn’t see you moving, she adds, "Bed! Now!"

You obey her orders, Ruby slipping into bed and you into the uncomfortable sleeping bag on the floor. You drift off quickly, a sense of contentment washing over you. Despite only getting a couple of hours of sleep, you don’t regret it one bit.

"Ruby! Y/N! Come down for breakfast!" Sam calls from downstairs. Even though more sleep sounds tempting, breakfast sounds even better. You both rush to the kitchen.

"Oh, cool sweater, by the way!" Ruby points at the "Power to the Girls" slogan, and you beam.

"Thanks," Kara’s voice comes from the couch. You can see her snuggled up with a mug and Lena, but she’s not looking at you. "It’s mine. And no, I didn’t let her borrow it."

You glance down at the sweater. "It was mixed with my laundry. I thought you’d given it to me!"

"Nice try." Her voice comes a second later. "Stop stealing my clothes."

You shrug. "I tried."

The rest of the day passes in a dreamlike haze. You find yourself wishing your sisters had thought of this sooner, but you’re incredibly grateful they finally did. Meeting Ruby, your soulmate, has changed everything. For the first time, you don’t feel so alone with your powers. You have someone who truly understands you.

When it’s time to say goodbye, you feel a pang of sadness, but you know this isn’t the end.

"You’ll come visit next weekend, right?" You ask again, even though both Sam and Ruby have reassured you several times.

"Yeah. And you’ll text before that, right?"

"As soon as I get home!" You smile proudly. "So in like, five minutes."

"Cool."

You can’t suppress your smile as you look at her one last time before taking flight. "Cool."

As you fly back home, you feel a sense of peace you hadn’t expected. Meeting Ruby is one of the best things that has happened in your life, and you’re already certain of it. Maybe your sisters are right about some things, but that doesn’t mean you’re alone. You now have Ruby, someone who understands you like no one else ever will.

You: Photo 📸 You: Guess what? It turns out you can break doors when you're too happy too! Rubes: Love the pic. Alex looks thrilled 😆 Rubes: Please get a new one before I visit.

You smile at your phone. For the first time in a long while, you feel that things are going to be okay. Your life isn’t as bad as you thought. In fact, it might just be pretty great.

[lostuntothisworld]

Spaghetti theory time:

The "Luka lying to Ladybug about her secret identity after he was so fired up in Truth only to lie to her in Wishmaker" salt has died down for the most part, but I would like to bring it back up.

I'm gonna do you all a favor and copypasta the transcript below, because I know nobody is going to rewatch the episode.

Marinette: I'm sorry about earlier. There were mosquitoes on the boat, I thought we needed some insect repellent but the drug store was closed so I had to- Luka: Shh, listen, the song of the water. If you listen carefully at this very spot under the bridge, you'll hear a melody. (They listen to the river and smile at each other.) You know, I never knew my father and my mom would never bring herself to tell me. So when I just couldn't deal with it all, I would take refuge here and the melody of the water would console me. What about you, Marinette? Where do you go when you disappear? Marinette: Uh- Luka: You tell me, I'll accept it. If you're still in love with Adrien, I'll understand. I won't be jealous you know. Marinette: That's not it, not at all. Luka: Whatever it is, I just want it to be the honest truth. Marinette: The truth, Luka… is the only thing I can't tell you.

Then we get shocked Luka. He get's akumatized/amokized, and the scene continues:

Shadow Moth: Truth, I am Shadow Moth. I'm giving you the power to force people to tell you their most sacred secrets. Luka: (struggling against it) Truth needs to be shared, not taken by force, Shadow Moth! Marinette: (shocked what he just said) Uh! Shadow Moth? No! Luka, please resist, I am so sorry! Shadow Moth: Why should you resist when she doesn't trust you? Luka: Marinette does trust me! Marinette: I do! Of course I do! Shadow Moth: If she trusted you, then she would tell you the truth! (Upon hearing this, Luka becomes shocked, so he kneels.) Accept my power and you will know everything. And all I ask of you in return is to expose Ladybug and Cat Noir's little secrets. Luka: (succumbing) Run, Marinette! 

...

Luka does NOT want to force the truth out of Marinette. He tells her to run! And it's very much implied it triggered a traumatic past when his mother wouldn't tell him who his father was. What if his mom used the exact phrasing of "The truth is the one thing I can't tell you," when things got bad? If there's one thing Miraculous is good at is shocking the audience with traumatic backstories. I have my own theories as to what Luka and Juleka's traumatic backstories are... And are we really going to victim blame Luka for not being able to resist, especially when resisting Gabemoth and breaking akumatization was not actually known to be something that can be done at this point? Onto Wishmaker:

Lots of people are upset that Luka lied to Marinette at the end of Wishmaker with regards to hers and Chat's secret identities. They want Marinette to be angry with him, and for Luka to face consequences. Lying is supposed to be bad, isn't it? And Luka got akumatized into a villain who was dead set on finding the Truth, and he just lied to her about it. Inexcusable! Which is a valid interpretation if you take it at face value.

Now let's fast forward to Migration, and a little theory I've had since the episode aired: Secret identities and masks are a metaphor for being queer. Let me explain the metaphor in more detail: by rewinding back to Wishmaker and the metaphor presented to us then.

In Wishmaker, child Alec was bullied for his big hair, which he was very proud of. So he shaved it all off to fit in with what society wanted him to be. His akumatized form had a bald cap, and in the end Alec decides to "live his truth," (Astruc's words not mine), and essentially wear a big wig and become a drag queen. Iconic.

Oh yeah, and his nightmare in the season 5 finale was his father shaving off his hair.

Gonna have to link this shitpost here, just for an interesting comparison.

(It's interesting to note that both Griffe Noire and alternate Adrien have partially shaved heads, and should be included closer to the bald end of the chart in the shitpost)

Anyway, it's a bit of an unwritten rule that you don't out another person, even if you know they are queer. You have to wait for them to come to you with this reveal. It's sensitive information, and could potentially be extremely dangerous for the person being outed. A similar parallel to being a superhero with a secret identity.

Using this logic, it's not surprising the animators made Chat surprised when Luka detransformed in front of him in Ephemeral even tho he had a front row seat to Luka in Miracle Queen.

Onto the next scene of interest:

Marinette: If I tell you, things will never be the same between us again. (shakes her head) It'll mess up everything, maybe even destroy it. Alya:(voice breaking) Marinette, I'm your very best friend. Marinette: And I… I'm Ladybug.

I was actually shocked with this scene back the first time I watched it. Yes, the reveal, but also how everything in it is presented. To the dialogue, to Marinette's reasonings and how it'll mess up everything between the girls, and how everything will change and be destroyed, to Alya's oddly somber reaction to finding out her favorite superhero is her best friend, and then the subsequent hug.

It's framed as a coming out scene.

So let's circle back to Luka lying to Ladybug back in Wishmaker, and keeping that secret until Migration. His choices there make a whole lot more sense with a queer lens.

Don't believe me? Remember, Migration (the episode where Luka's lies and secrets are brought to light), is the episode that Luka shoves Adrien in a closet and he falls out of the closet as Chat Noir.

Those bedroom eyes at Luka sure do make a whole lot more sense here.

[mitsukiwa]

Do virgins taste better (tom kaulitz)

Classes had went by pretty fast and soon it was lunch. George had asked for me to eat lunch with him and his friends and I was in no position to say no. So I accepted, he had told me to meet him by the locker room close to the cafeteria building.

So that was where I was currently heading to right now.

My eyes searched through the crowd. In search for a shoulder lengthen brunette.

He pretty much stood out. It was easy to spot him once I neared the locker room building.

His face lit up once again when he noticed me walking towards him.

His smiles really was pretty. I smile back.

"Alright, let's get head to the cafeteria" he says.

He both begin to walk side by side up to the Lunch area. We entered the cafeteria, as I followed him to a table. There were two boys already sat in the seats.

One in particular caught my eye the second I laid eyes on him. He had black hair with blond streaks, the blonde contrasting on his inky black hair. His hairstyle was unlike what I have ever seen before. Though I still thought it looked pretty cool.

George takes a seat, patting the empty seat beside him for me to sit down.

I seat myself beside him, and look at both boys on the other side.

The boy beside the black haired guy had blonde short hair. He looked sweet, and kind.

I flashed them both a smile.

The black haired and blonde flashed me a smile of their own.

"Guys this is y/n she's new" George said. Motioning towards me.

"Hi, y/n I'm bill" bill says. That smile of his brighter then the sun itself.

"Hello, bill it's nice too meet you too" I say, delivering the same smile as his.

"And I'm gustav" the blonde boy said. He gives a grin.

"Nice to meet you both" I say

"Tells us more about yourself" bill says. He sounded eager to know.

I rub my forearm, there wasn't much interesting about me.

"Um, well my mom and I moved here from California" I start off saying.

Bill's mouth dropped, his beautiful brown eyes widening. They seemed oddly familiar as if I'd seen them before. But I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"You mean you come from the United states!"

I nod my head once "Why did you move here to Germany?" Gustav asks.

"My mom got a great job offer here, she just couldn't turn it down, so she decided we live here" I say.

I did miss my old home, my old friends, everything.

"How do you know German?" George beside me asks.

I turn to face him. "My mom's German, she spoke to me in her language growing up"

George nods slowly in understanding.

"That's cool!" Bill exclaimed. I look over at him flashing him a smile.

"Oh, toms coming" George said.

I look toward the direction he was looking at.

I had wished I never did, because what, who I saw wasn't someone I wanted to see at all.

He walks towards us, with a girl next to him. His arm tossed over her shoulder as they stalked closer to our table.

He pulls open a chair and sits down on it, the girl accompanying him sits on his lap, facing him.

I glare at him from across the table.

It was that jerk from earlier today.

He places his hands on the girls waist. She leans close to his ear and whispers something to him.

I roll my eyes away from the pair. I cross my arms over my chest, deciding to ignore the elephant in the room.

Bill clears his throat, gaining "toms" attention.

He moves his head to the side to look at the black haired boy.

His eyes find mine for a moment. He looked away quickly before I can even react.

"What?" He asks the dark haired boy

"I'd appreciate it if your temporary thing leaves for a moment I need to talk to you about something" bill said.

Toms brows furrowed for a moment before his eyes caught mine once again.

"What about her, can she leave too" he motions towards me with his chin.

I glare at him. The corners of his lips tug up slightly. I knew he was just trying to upset me. Wanting to get under my skin, and not gunna lie it was working.

So I looked away from him and back at bill.

"Tom, would you please" bill said.

Tom sighs out through his nose. He looks right back at the girl in his lap, and mouths something to her. I couldn't hear anything from my spot.

She gets up from his lap and walks away.

"There, you happy" Tom said annoyed.

Bill flashes a smile at him, "thanks, bro"

Tom rolls his eyes. "Alright, so I wanted to tell you-"

"Shouldn't she leave too" Tom points at you with a finger.

"She could stay" George said

"But why? you made that girl leave what makes her any different"

"Tom, do you even know that "girls" name?" Bill asks.

Tom shrugs, swiping his tongue over his lip ring.

My eyes caught sight of the silver piercing. It was captivating and my attention was pulled away from it when bill continued talking.

"Her names Jaime, I bet you didn't even ask for her name" bill said rolling his eyes at the dreaded haired boy.

"I'm not interested in asking her name, that shits useless" Tom said, sliding a bit further down his chair. He was now in a slouched position.

Bill let's out a sigh, seeming to give up.

"Anyway, this is y/n, she's new at this school" gustav said, motioning towards you.

Tom looks back at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Hi, y/n, im "moron" he said, making his tone similar to a females voice.

I clench my jaw. He was mocking me.

The boys around us gave him a look.

They don't know I had already came across this jerk in the hallway.

"Hello, moron, nice too meet you" I try forcing a sweet tone.

Tom squints his eyes at me.

There was so much tension and I was sure the boys could sense it.

Bill let's out a nervous chuckle, his laugh lightening the mood.

"Now that you've introduced yourselves, Tom I need to tell you something" bill said.

"What is it?"

"We're going to be touring next month"

Toms jaw dropped.

I cocked my head to the side, I was genuinely confused.

George leans over to me, cupping his hand to the side of his mouth.

"We have a band" he whispered

I turn my body to look directly at him.

My eyes were wide open.

"A band- like" I stuttered over my words. I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"Yea like a band band" George says.

He smiles down at me, his smile easing me.

"You should come over after school, we'll show you how we play" George suggested.

I hummed thinking about it, I would have to send a text to my mom about me not coming home till a little later.

"Sure" I flash him a smile. "Yessss" he draws out with excitement.

"Guys, she's coming over after school to watch us play" he said out loud.

The boys heads shot my direction each one with a different expression. Bill was obviously excited with his big bright smile. Gustav was a bit more neutral. And as for Tom, he had on a deep scowl.

" a private concert for some girl we don't even know" Tom said. With distaste in his tone.

I roll my eyes at him, just who did he think he was.

"There's nothing wrong with that" George says.

"Whatever, I'll see you guys after school" Tom got up from his seat, and retrieving from the table.

"He's for sure finding his next 'girl'." Bill said, in an annoyed tone.

I giggle at that.

George nudges my shoulder gaining my attention, "trust me, we play pretty good"

"I'll take your word" I smile up at him.

He nods at me.

Two more classes left and school would finally be over, I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited.

I was giddy with excitement the whole two periods.

And soon it was time for us to go home

[sweetbillwriting]

In The Dead of Night

THREE

Characters: AU Eric played by Bill Skarsgård from The Crow (2024)

Setting: This story is set in A WHOLE OTHER WORLD than the movie. Shelley isn't a part of this story. Eric will be different from the movie, especially because I haven't seen the movie.

Warnings: 18+. NSFW. Heavy themes. This chapter mention suicide.

Notes: The Snapchat name is made up so if there is a user with this name it's just a coincidence!

“How is he?”

“Ehm… They've put him in a coma for now…”

“What happened?”

“It was some accident in the garage. He got hit in the head.”

Robin sighed deeply but sounded more disappointed at his uncle than worried.

“Mom has called three times a day and talked nonsense. She forgets who's hurt, or she wonders why I leave my wife like this…” He laughed unamused, and I swallowed hard. I couldn't imagine what he went through.

“I can visit her if you want? Maybe she just needs some other company.”

Robin was quiet on the phone for a bit too long, and I started to wonder if he had hung up on me.

“Hello?”

“Yeah! Yeah, that's probably a good idea. But don't let her talk so much; she just gets upset and-

“You mean about your brother?”

The thought was never to force him to talk about Eric like that, especially not when he was worried and upset, but Eric was the only thing I could think about.

Robin was silent again, but then sighed deeply.

“Yeah, about Eric... You don't understand; she can be so upset that no one can calm her down. Sometimes they've even needed to use calming medications. It's not worth it. She's sick, she doesn't need that stress.

“But... it's her son.”

“I will not discuss this, Della. You don't understand," he said forcefully before hanging up in my ear. I made an offended scoff and looked at my phone. I understood he was upset, but I just wanted to help. Right?

I wonder if this meant I shouldn't go to Lotti. Maybe he didn't want me there at all if I showed signs of wanting to talk about his brother, but I had already decided that I would go to Lotti. She needed to talk about Eric, just as much as I did.

×××

I had another reason to go to Lotti. When I was there trying on her old clothes, I had left it all behind, so now I could just say I wanted to continue where we were forced to say goodbye.

She sat outside that day. It wasn't as hot that day, and small breezes played with her chestnut hair. She sat by the table we had been sitting by with Robin, and she looked a little tired and confused in her relaxed, light blue button up shirt.

“We heard from her son that there’s been an accident in the family?” Asked Fiona carefully before we walked up to Lotti.

“Yeah, her husband's brother. He's in a coma right now," I said with a serious look. It was sad, but I mostly felt bad for Robin.

“Oh, that's awful. I know he has talked a bit with her about it but didn't succeed, so we decided with him that we would just say he's on a trip.”

I nodded and then gave Fiona a sincere thank you. It was always amazing to meet people who really cared for others, and she seemed to be amazing with Lotti.

Walking up to Lotti, I waved my hand with a smile while I crossed the lawn to get to her. Lotti gave me a small smile and pulled out a chair for me.

“Where is Robin?” She asked at once, and I licked my lips in preparation for the lie.

“He's on a trip. With another friend of ours.” I smiled and sat down on the chair she had pulled out.

“And Max?”

“You mean Odin? He's at home; he can be home by himself for a few hours.”

Lotti nodded and looked around at the other residents with distaste. I had just met her twice, but that sort of judgmental face didn't feel like Lotti.

“Someone has stolen my shoes.”

I gave her a confused look and then looked around at the people.

“I think it's that bitch, Debbie. You should see her son, fat like a walrus, who came to visit her once and ate up all of Nikolaj’s birthday cake even if he wasn't invited,” she muttered to herself. It was obvious this day was a bad day, and I started to feel like I shouldn't have come.

“Ehm… Lotti, I just had some questions.”

My stomach twisted in shame, and I could feel my cheeks heat up. I should’ve just left her alone to rest, but I had too many questions. Eric had stolen both my heart and brain, and I needed answers, especially because of how realistic my dreams were. I started to question my own sanity, especially when I searched for the username on Spotify Eric, in my dreams, gave me and it existed and had lists full of punk, metal, and rap. It really looked like it could be his account.

“What was Eric’s girlfriend’s name?”

Lotti gave me a confused look but then seemed to search for the name in her head.

“Simone… Ehm, Davis, I think? Why do you wonder?”

I smiled, forced and shook my head.

“I just- maybe- I- Maybe I know her?”

Lotti didn't say anything, just gave me a strange look. It felt like the normal Lotti would have just been happy talking about her son, but now she looked at everyone with suspicion.

“Was his biological mother’s name Linda? Is she alive?”

I understood at once that this was the wrong question to ask because Lotti looked at me in rage and flew up from her chair.

“Linda was a fucking meth whore!! The only good thing she did was Eric, and he…”

I looked at her in shock and could hear nurses run to us behind me.

“Eric was the only good thing she did, but she had given him her awful, dirty habits! My son!! She destroyed my son!”

The tears had started to stream down her cheeks now, but she also huffed heavily, like it took all her power to scream.

“Lotti, Lotti…” Said Fiona and walked up carefully to Eric's mother, who gave her an upset but calmer look.

“I think it's time to rest now.”

Lotti looked at her first with protest but then breathed out tiredly.

“Yes, yes…”

Fiona gave me a quick look before the two of them walked in, and I tried to calm down my heart rate that had been raised by Lotti's behavior. I took some deep breaths. I felt awful over what happened and that I was responsible for it, but I also felt another bigger feeling that made my heart rate go up again.

Neither Lotti nor Robin had given me Eric's biological mother's name. It was just Eric. The same thing with the Spotify account.

How could a person in a dream give me new facts I hadn't even been close to having before?

×××

3.32 PM. 3.33 PM. 3.35 PM. 3.37 PM. 3.39 PM.

The clock ticked on and I looked at my phone like I had a reason to but I didn't. I laid on my bed staring up at the ceiling while Odin stood on the rug looking at me confused.

Eric. Eric. Eric. Eric. Eric.

He was the only thing I thought about. Everything from the memories from my dreams (his laugh, his sad eyes, the shyness behind the tough look, his kisses), the little others had told me but also the big question: What was real?

I had always had vivid dreams, dreams with a real plot and people with clear facial features but this was something else. I couldn't feel the difference between my dreams and what was happening for real the day before. The experiences were just as clear and in some way the dreams even felt more real because Eric awakened such big feelings in my body.

Could a dream be real? Fuck, I had really started to lose it because not only couldn't a dream be real but Eric was also dead. He even said it himself.

Fuck, no, he didn't, it was a dream. I had really started to lose it when I thought about “Dream Eric” as a real person, who could tell me he was dead.

I turned to my side and looked at Odin who whined and made some nervous steps. He needed to go out and as a dog mama I had no other choice than to go out with him. Maybe it would be good for me.

It felt like a hot day in late July when I went out the door, and Odin pulled on the leash as usual. He barked at two dogs, loudly and rudely, and it was a struggle getting him to shut up. I saw how the other dog owners judged me, and when the second one finally had their back against me I started to cry. It was all too much. I probably needed help for real because the only thing I had thought about the whole walk was that I needed to ask Eric how he had made Odin so calm.

Eric was dead. It was a dream. I need to understand that. The guy in my dream was an imagination created in a bored, lonely, love-starved person's head, from a picture of a beautiful, mysterious man. Maybe I needed medications for hallucinations. I started to cry even more and it made Odin whine and pull in the leash worriedly. I didn't care if they were hallucinations. The only thing I was really worried about was that I would never see Eric again.

×××

‘Simone Davis’ was a quite common name, and when I searched for her on Facebook and Instagram, I got so many hits that it wasn't even worth checking ten accounts.

I needed someone else to tell me more about Eric. It was obvious Lotti was too fragile, but she also had a mother's perspective. Robin didn't want to talk, and others had just heard rumors because Eric had never lived in this town. Simone Davis was the only thing I had to go by. I hadn't tried much before I found a Simone Davis that actually seemed as believable as it could be. I had just looked through Robin’s 800 friends on Instagram because it felt like I should, never really believing I would find her, but there the raven-haired beauty was. She had a picture where she stood with her long black nail against her burgundy lips, and you could see her tattooed arms just like Eric had. Her tattoos were better made, though, and had more artistic motifs. She looked like the girl; you were equally envious of her looks as you were afraid of her. Of course, Eric's girlfriend was a mistress of the night, not a thrift store loon like me.

I looked through her pictures; they were mostly selfies or pictures of records or abandoned houses. It was obvious she was a photographer, but her favorite subject seemed to be herself until four years ago, when a face I knew took over. I was forced to hold in my tears because I felt so stupid, lying in bed, hugging my big dog while crying over a guy I'd never met. But there he was, but in the last photos he wasn't. It was his face, but also someone else's. He was rail thin, and his face was sunken in. He had some sort of wound on his lip that was bloody but blue on the edges. I couldn't tell if he had dark circles around his eyes or if they were fading black eyes.

It was the junkie Eric. It wasn't hard to tell. He had his hood up in most of the pictures, and they missed the love and happiness the pictures she had taken before of him had. The earlier ones were bright, dreamy, and sexy. These were taken in the dark, unfocused, and many were really unflattering. It looked like he was high in some of the pictures with either an unsteady gaze or his eyes on their way up in his head. They were terrible pictures, and I cried with so many different feelings. It felt like I looked at the man I loved, all broken. I cried because I had never seen anything like it before, but I also cried over how loveless the pictures were. It looked like his girlfriend stopped loving him long before they broke up, and instead of taking flattering portraits of him, he was just a lifeless subject, an object she documented.

The last picture of him was a black-and-white one, with a crow sitting on his hand. He smiled proudly against the camera, full of happiness and life. He looked like the Eric I knew. Around him was a white heart, like a frame.

Don't do drugs, kids.

It was the only text under the picture, and I could see the picture was uploaded three years ago. It was her goodbye to him.

×××

Big green eyes looked at me. There were gold specs in them, like gold dust in a green forest river. It must have looked like that when they started to find gold in California.

I knew those eyes, framed with dark lashes and a hiding place for secrets. I knew those eyes.

I took in Eric's whole face, the pixie nose, how his lips had disappeared because of a broad smile, the dimple and the many tattoos. I threw myself around his neck in happiness and relief at seeing him again. I didn't even think about the fact that we were lying in my bed.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Said Eric with a laugh, but he let me hug him for a few seconds before moving away. I looked at him with confusion until I registered his bare shoulders and chest under the cover.

“I'm naked,” he said in such strong embarrassment that he covered his face with his hands.

I giggled in excitement and surprise.

“What? But I'm not?”

I wore a thin white tank top and a pair of silky pajama shorts. It was a regular sleeping outfit for me, it was even the same I had gone to bed with before waking up in my dreamland.

Eric dragged his hands over his face and made a sound of embarrassment, and I laughed at him.

“Fuck, you must have decided this. If this the kind of dream you invite me to, I expect some action.”

He looked at me teasingly, even if his cheeks were pink.

“I decided? I think you decided you wanted to show off!”

I said it with a laugh, but snuck closer to him and played with the edge of his cover. He gave my hand a look and smirked a little while scratching his brow over and over.

“I don't have any power over this, I just show up here!”

“So do I!”

“But it's me who came here naked!” He said it with a pointed smile. I laughed and pulled on the cover a bit.

“Maybe you should just roll with it then?” I pulled on the cover a bit more with a beating heart. “Show me…”

Eric stopped scratching his eyebrow and looked at me amused, but then pulled the cover from his body. His long body. I don't think I've seen anyone take up so much space in my bed. He was full of doodled tattoos, like someone used him as a bulletin board. Under the tattoos, he was so ripped that I felt my mouth get dry, but I had the opposite reaction between my legs. He didn't have a six-pack, but an eight-pack, and they traveled down to those sharp lines framing his shortly trimmed pubic hair and then down to his cock. He was half hard and bigger than anyone I've been with. It was pink, and visible veins crawled up to his adonis belt. Fuck. Fuck.

“Oh fuck…” I said with a moan, biting my lip. I didn't dare look at his face, and I didn't dare touch him. Instead, I just looked between his abs and his cock and pushed my legs together.

Eric took my chin and steered my face towards his. He smiled a little playfully, and I giggled with a blush.

“I've never been with a guy like you…” I whispered and dared to lay my hand on his naked chest.

“A guy like me?”

“Ehm…” I felt my blush intensify, and I didn't know where to start.

“The tattoos… Your body…” I giggled, embarrassed again, and looked away. Eric made an amusing sound and sat up completely against the headboard with spread legs. His cock was next to me now, and it felt like it was a third person in the room.

“Your size…” I said with a lower voice and looked from his cock to his face. Eric smiled proudly but was also a bit embarrassed and pulled his cock a couple of times.

“Isn't it your turn now? Give me a little show?” He said it teasingly and made me laugh, embarrassed. He looked at me for a while and smiled kindly.

“You don't have to,” he said, seeing my embarrassment turn to insecurity. I looked at him with love and sat down close to him so I could kiss his plump lips. It quickly turned into deep, passionate kisses, probably because the both of us were so horny. I dared to take my clothes off while we kissed because it felt so much more natural, and Eric pulled me easily up in his lap so I could straddle his thick thighs. He leaned back a little to be able to look at me, where I sat naked on top of him. I could feel his erection against the inside of my thighs, hard and hot, and I dragged my wet folds over his while leaning back on my palms. Eric made a heavy exhalation and looked at my hips roll over his member.

I bit my lip. I felt sexy under his gaze and let one of my hands drag down my chest to my sex so I could touch myself while his big eyes watched me.

“You're such a dirty girl…” he said with a deep, raspy voice, but let me continue. “Show me, show me your cunt, show me that little wet hole…”

I giggled, leaned back more, and spread my folds with two fingers. He made an aroused little whine that transformed into a roar before he attacked me, so I fell on my back. I made a little scream through my laugh while he kissed my face and neck. I dared to drag my hand over his pulsing erection, and when he made a bit of a pained sound, I looked up at his pretty face. He looked into my eyes, then down at my legs and between them, and pushed my thighs towards my belly. He looked up again, obviously seeking some sort of consent, and I nodded. I would have consented to anything.

He kissed down my chest and belly, and with surprising smoothness, he crawled down between my legs. I looked up at the ceiling, up at my turquoise rice paper lamp. I had him between my legs. Eric was between my legs, and I could hear him breathe heavily before he carefully started to give my folds open-mouth kisses. I closed my eyes, but a bark startled me at once. No, no, no! Would I wake up now?

“Odin! Go away!” Eric said it authoritatively, and I could hear Odin leave the room. I breathed out in relief and took a pleasant new breath when Eric started to kiss and suck my folds again. It was obvious he wouldn't stress this. He took it one thing at a time; he didn't touch my clit until his lips and tongue had tasted all the secret hidings in my pussy so when he started to massage it with the tip of his tongue, I felt close to an orgasm at once. He pushed his tongue hard against the bottom and shook his head side to side, but I didn't need more than a minute before I came over his face.

I couldn't stop moaning, dazed, and euphoric. I laughed, but it became a throaty moan again when Eric pushed into me determingly.

“Okay?” He just said when he had just pushed in, and I nodded but was completely overwhelmed by the intense orgasm at first, then how girthy he was. He held my arms over my head by my wrist while he pushed into me and searched for my eyes. When he was sure we could share the moment together, he started to move his hips skillfully, and I needed to use all my powers to hold my eyes open. It was intense. So intense.

×××

I was worried after that dream that I would never see Eric again, but the dream started to come every night. Exciting, amazing dreams. We visited his old school, his favorite park he used to draw in, and some cities I had visited when I traveled through Europe and Asia a few years ago. It was weird having places like the Eiffel Tower and the streets of New Delhi by ourselves, but in all my dreams, we were alone. We made love on a balcony in Barcelona without anyone seeing us. I sucked him off in front of the ducks in the park. It was like a dream. It was a dream. Or was it? I couldn't understand, and when I was home in my bed with Eric again, I felt a need to ask him some questions.

We laid naked next to each other. We stripped as often as we could when we were together, sometimes just to touch each other's skin.

“Where are you when you're not here, with me?” I asked carefully. He spooned me from behind, and I played with one of his big hands.

“I don't know,” he said shortly, and I could feel him shrugging. “I guess it's mostly dark? Sometimes I think I can hear someone talking, but maybe it's your regular life I can hear in some way?” He laughed a little in confusion.

“So you like, sleep?”

“The eternal rest, I guess.” He stroked my hair away from my neck so he could give me tender kisses there. I was quiet and let his kisses take over my thoughts. It was too depressing to think about. Too weird to think about. Eric was lying in a coffin under dirt. His body… I tried to get the thought away; the inner pictures were too awful.

After some more kisses, I could hear a growl in my ear. No, it wasn't Odin; it was Eric.

“Is the puppy here again?” I said with a laugh, and he licked my ear, and I was forced to lay a hand over it because it became too much.

Eric had a really playful side, especially under the foreplay. It wasn't a part of our lovemaking, but he loved acting like a dog or like he had never seen a woman's body before he gave me a hard pounding.

The puppy crawled up, so he stood on all fours over me and nuzzled the side of my neck and naked chest. When he lightly bit one of my nipples, I pushed him away. 

“Bad dog!” 

He gave me a big-eyed look but smiled playfully and then continued with playing and fighting me, like he was a dog who hadn't learned to play nicely. He made me laugh but was also, strangely enough, aroused. It was something so sexy in a man looking like Eric wanting to play that he was a puppy. 

××× 

“So you have slept more than 12 hours per night this week? That doesn't sound good at all!” Said Desiree while she put more sugar in her tea. 

She had come to me after work because she thought I was so bad at answering my phone. She was worried about me, while I didn't think much about my real life at all. I thought about Eric. My days were short, so I could meet Eric again. I went up, ate, took a shower, cared for Odin, and fantasized about Eric. Then I went to bed again to be able to talk about silly things like what really happens to a worm when you cut it in half, scream with music we had listened to as kids (Evanescence was great for it) and make love in all sorts of ways. I hadn't even thought about having a social life outside of my dreamland. 

“You miss Robin?” 

“Hm?” I looked at her confused until I realized what she meant. Robin was still with his uncle. 

“Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. We hang out quite a bit, but mostly I'm just tired,” I said with a shrug. Desiree looked at me inspectingly. 

“You must tell me if it is something... I mean, you asked about Robin's junkie brother; are you taking drugs or something?” 

I made a little laugh and made a face. 

“Of course not! I would never! You know that! I don't even take painkillers!” 

“I know, I know. But you sleep too much. You should do something about it.” 

I shrugged my shoulders because I had no plans on sleeping less. The only thing I didn't know then was that my dream, playing puppy with Eric, would be my last dream about him. 

The first night, I thought it was maybe just that night, but when it continued, I started to cry myself to sleep, but Eric wasn't there to comfort me. Instead, I had the boring dreams I've had before the dreams about Eric, about rude customers, and about friends I hadn't seen for ten years. Eric was gone. 

I looked at my bed tiredly the fifth day. I hadn't slept a thing that night, and it felt like I never wanted to sleep again. I knew you died if you didn't sleep or started to eat your own flesh or something, but I wasn't afraid of that. In my darkest moments, I wondered if death was the answer to everything. Reunite with Eric in the land of the dead. After all, he was there, so if I wanted to find him, I was forced to join him there. I thought about methods to do it—taking pills, cutting my wrists, jumping in front of a train—when my phone rang. I looked at it and felt some sort of hope in me when I saw Robin's name. 

“Robin?” I answered quickly. 

“Hey! I'm on my way home!” He said it brightly, and I laughed in relief. 

“Oh, god! I missed you so much!” 

“Have you? You haven't called?” He said it with a laugh, and for a second I saw his brother in my head, laughing—the reason why I had neglected Robin. 

“I'm sorry, I've just had some trouble with my sleep. How is your uncle?” 

“He's good. He's awake and up, and yeah, he will be fine.” 

“That's so good. Oh my god, Robin... I missed you so much…” I said and cried silently for myself. 

××× 

I really tried to accept that everything with Eric was a dream. Sometimes the brain is weird and my imagination created something I needed right then and there. It was strange to think that the only person I really had been in love with was a creation in my brain, that the passionate sex we had was probably me masturbating in my sleep. It was also weird to think about what creativity my brain must possess without me knowing it. 

After two more weeks without Eric I decided to make a change and went back to work. Instead of my shorts and tank tops I wore long 70s skirts and airy 90s dresses. I knew I needed to act like I was okay to be okay. Robin cut my hair in my regular style so it looked fresh and cute again and after a month more I started to date a friend of one of my colleagues. Her name was Angelica and worked as a dog trainer and complained over Odin every chance she got, even if she couldn't discipline him either. In those moments I thought about Eric. I also thought about him when she went down on me and he was better at it, even if she shared the same anatomy as me. I continued to date her even if we didn't have anything in common. It felt like it was what I should do in this world. In a world without Eric. 

××× 

Angelica pulled on my dress and I looked at her irritated as we stood by the bar waiting for our turn. I had a short black lace dress on, and I knew she tried to say that she thought I needed to think about its length. When I leaned into the bar counter too much it rode up, and some lucky people could probably see my ass cheeks. To Angelica's horror I instead pulled it up a bit more so people could definitely see my ass and she pulled it down fast. 

“Fuck, must you be so uptight! It's Friday for fuck sake!” I said and got a pleased nod from a guy standing next to me. I gave him one back like we were members of the same club and Angelica rolled her eyes. 

“Can't you think about me a little? I don't think it's cool you do stuff like that when you're here with me!” She said over the music, quite loudly. 

“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a shoulder shrug. 

Angelica could be quite controlling and jealous and it had surprised me because she was a knockout. She was that kind of a girl who guys tried to turn and beg to be straight but she didn't want cock. She wasn't like me and could miss a cock when I was with a girl. She thought they were gross, just like the men attached to them. 

“Can't we go home instead?” She said and I looked around at the people in the club. I wanted to dance, even if it was bad music. 

“Can't we dance?” I asked with a sweet smile. Angelica looked at me sourly and crossed her arms. For a moment I felt forced to do what she wanted but then a remix of Video/Radio by System of a Down started to play and I felt my heart start to beat so hard it definitely tried to crawl out from my chest. Memories from a dream made my blood into fuzzy soda. 

“I must dance!” I just said, and jumped out on the dance floor alone and pushed my way forward to the DJs podium. 

I was good at dancing on my own. I pushed away every hand that caressed my skin, ignored every friendly smile, and moved away from every crotch that tried to push against me. I was in my own world, or in mine and Eric's. He danced silly, sometimes lost in the music, but he also pulled me close to him so we could enjoy each other's closeness and feel our pulse go down together. Eric was the only dance partner I needed. When a Justin Timberlake song came on it felt like it was time for me to leave the dance floor. It wasn't music Eric would dance to. I searched for Angelica, and for a few seconds I wondered if she had left without me, but then I saw her on a couch with a dark haired girl, sitting way too close to each other to be okay, if I cared. I had thought the thought before, that I needed to break it off with Angelica, but didn't know what to say. Now she gave me a reason. Angelica played with the girl’s hair, and dragged her hand down her tattooed arm. It was then I looked more closely at the girl’s face. Yes, it was. I was almost positive it was… 

“Simone?” I walked up to her, and Angelica, and Angelica quickly moved away from the girl. If I hadn't been drinking I would have never dared to play my game, but now I was a bit drunk, high on my fantasies of Eric, but also a bit pissed Angelica humiliated me. 

“Yeah?” Said the girl, and looked me up and down confused. She wore a black tank top and black jeans, nothing special at all, but they looked great on her. I sat down, in between them just to be annoying, and looked at Simone closely. She was hot in a much more interesting way than Angelica, and in another world I maybe had tried to flirt with her too. 

“Aren't you Eric's ex?” I said it carefully, I didn't want to upset her. She looked away with an unreadable expression then sighed. 

“Yeah.” 

I nodded a little, and tried to slow my heart rate by taking a few deep breaths. 

“I'm sorry for your loss. It was three years ago, right?” 

“Hm?” She looked at me confused, and I looked at her in a similar way. 

“Since Eric's death?” 

“What the fuck are you talking about? He isn't dead.” 

I looked at her like she was speaking another language. I couldn't understand what she was saying but sweat broke out on my forehead and under my arms. If she said what I thought she said something was really weird. 

“Yes he is, I know his brother…”

“No, he's out there, being a high asshole as usual.”

“No… He died, his mom-” 

Simone took up her phone and scrolled through something, then she pushed her phone in my face. It was a story on Snapchat by someone called “JickJackRoo42”, and there next to another tattooed guy he sat, alive and well. He had a joint between his thumb and forefinger, and inhaled when he noticed the camera. 

There he was. Eric. My Eric. Dead Eric, but fully alive Eric. 

“Eric isn't dead!” 

× 

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Why Are Seers Always Cursed? (1)

Wesley Weston is a son of Apollo with the rare gift of prophecy.

Written for @crossoverdanuary Week 2024, Day three: Percy Jackson | Lake

Takes place shortly before Luke, Annabeth, and Thalia's arrival at Camp Half-Blood and while Wes is in middle school, so before the primary canon events of both series.

You can also read it on AO3

Chapter 1: Family Troubles

Next Chapter

[Warnings for implied/referenced infidelity]

Wes couldn't remember a time when his parents didn't have marital troubles. His eldest brother, Easton, claimed that their parents had been completely happy together once. Even though their mom's work as a flight attendant meant she wasn't home much, they were still happy and in love. Dad was holding down a job back then, and Easton had just started school. Kyle couldn't actually remember it, but he claimed to, nevertheless.

Then Mom came home pregnant with Wes, and everything changed.

They tried to salvage their relationship, keep the family together, but in the end, rather than staying together despite Mom's job, they only managed to stay together because she was away so often.

To his credit, Dad never took it out on Wes.

It wasn't until Wes was eight that he even knew Walter Weston wasn't his biological father. Kyle had let it slip when he was mad at Wes for winning eight games in a row of Guess Who.

He'd gotten angry and shouted, "I don't have to take this! You're not even my real brother!"

After the initial mess was sorted out, Walter took Wes aside and explained that he was his brother's half-sibling, that they had the same mother, but that Wes had a different father. He'd made sure to emphasize that he was still Wes' father, too, and that it didn't mean he loved Wes any less. And Wes had just nodded.

Everyone seemed surprised by how well he'd taken it, but subconsciously, Wes felt like he had always known.

Things settled down after a while. As Wes got older, as he learned more, he finally started to understand the real reason for the tension between his parents whenever his mother came home. Dad had forgiven her for cheating, but she'd still broken his trust, and no matter what happened, he couldn't help but wonder if she'd been unfaithful again while she was away.

Sometimes, Dad would get drunk, at a New Year's party or something, and he would get all sad and cry about losing the love of his life. Wes would help him to bed, and he would cry about how good a kid Wes was, and how he wished Wes really was his kid and it wasn't fair. And he would cry about Easton being so good in school and about Kyle having so many friends. 

It was embarrassing, but there were worse things for a drunk guy to be than sad and sentimental. At least he didn't get that drunk very often.

It wasn't until Wes was ten that he finally worked up the courage to ask his mom about his real—his biological father.

As long as he could remember, when his mother came home, she would sleep in the guest room. So one night after she finished her nighttime routine, he went in to ask her in private. Her face was covered in a pale green mask, and her hair was tucked up in a ring of curlers around her neck to preserve the shape.

"Wes," she noted when he came in, closing the door silently behind him like he thought he would get in trouble. "Hey, hon, what brings you here?" she asked. "You can't have had a bad dream already, you haven't even gone to bed yet."

"No, I... I wanted to ask you something," Wes told her. "I didn't want to do it earlier because I thought it might upset Dad."

"I see," she said.

Wes could tell already that she knew what he was going to ask, but she was waiting for him to say it.

"What... I mean... who.... Who's my real dad?" Wes finally got out. "Will you tell me about him?"

"I knew you were gonna ask someday," she said, a sad expression falling over her face.

"Will you tell me about him?" Wes implored. "Please?"

She sat on her bed and Wes sat down next to her.

"He told me his name was Apollo," she said. "But he was a musician, so that might've been a stage name. I never did get a last name from him. When we met, he said he saw me crossing the sky, following the path of the sun, that he'd seen it almost every day, and that I'd caught his eye.

"I still don't quite know what he meant by that. At the time, I thought he was clumsily trying to compare me to an angel, but I'm not so sure now. What I do know is from that moment on, I felt like I was under a spell, completely charmed by him. 

"We met a few times. I didn't mean for them to be dates, but he clearly thought they were. He would sing for me, and write me poetry, which would sometimes be good and sometimes not so much. His haiku was especially bad. Then one night... well, one thing led to another, and you were born. I never saw him again after that, so clearly he was only after one thing and once he got it he was done with me."

"Sounds like a jerk," Wes said with a scowl.

"I didn't think so then, but hindsight is 20/20," Mom replied with a nod. "In any case, my little foray with him wasn't worth the damage it did to my marriage. I regret everything about those meetings with Apollo." 

She looked down at Wes, all tense and nervous in his Transformers pajamas, and wrapped an arm around him to squeeze him into her side. "Everything but you. You were the only good thing to come out of it."

"Is it okay if Dad can be my dad instead of that guy?" Wes asked. "I don't want him to be my dad."

"It's more than okay," she said.

From then on, Wes' biological dad never got brought up. When Kyle got mad at him, he would sometimes, petulantly, refer to Wes as his half-brother, but never aside from that. Slowly, their parents finally started to truly patch up their relationship.

Then, one day, a few weeks before Wes' thirteenth birthday, he had a dream.

He dreamed that he was laying on his back in a field, soaking up the sunlight, and then the sun came closer and closer, and slowly, the sun turned into a man with golden blond hair, and tan skin, and a guitar on his back, and he knelt down next to Wes and kissed him on the forehead.

"Tell your mom I'll see her soon," he said.

Wes always woke up with the sunrise, but that morning, he awoke in a cold sweat. He waited until he could find a chance to call his mom without anyone overhearing and hoped to God that she wasn't in the air. He was pretty sure her flight had landed by the time he called.

"Hi, Wes, what's up?" she asked when she picked up. She sounded confused.

He couldn't blame her; he was confused too. "I just wanted to tell you..." he trailed off. 

Now that he was finally doing it, it seemed supremely silly to tell her that she was going to meet his bio-dad again soon. What would he even say? It came to him in a dream? That answer was funny in response to a math teacher asking how you reached a certain result, but it wasn't the kind of explanation anyone took seriously. Still, Wes felt like he had to tell her.

"I uh... I just have this really strong feeling that you may end up meeting my bio-dad soon," Wes bit out. "I don't know why, I just... felt like I should tell you."

"Honey, I haven't seen him in thirteen years," his mother reassured. "I don't think either of us has to worry about me running into him again after all this time."

"But—"

"I'll tell you what," she said. "I'll make sure to keep an eye out for him just in case, and I promise if I see him, I'll turn the other way. Okay?"

"No, you need to talk to him!"

There was a stunned silence on the line. Wes didn't even know why he said that.

"Why?"

"I... I don't... he has something important to tell you." Why was Wes still talking? Where was this coming from? Why couldn't he just shut up?

"What are you saying?" his mother asked. "Have you heard from him? Did he contact you somehow?"

"No it's just... I can't explain it, okay just... please mom."

After another long pause, she finally said, "Alright... if you say so, hon. I trust you."

The next time his mom came home, the day before Wes turned thirteen, she walked in the front door with a tight smile. She spoke only in short sentences. It seemed like her mind was far away, occupied with something else.

That night, Wes and Kyle heard yelling from their parents' room for the first time in a long time. Mostly their father. Walter Weston rarely lost his temper, so for him to be yelling like this, it had to be about something serious.

"Don't tell me she did it again?" Kyle said with a sneer.

Wes didn't dignify that with a response. He pressed his ear to his own bedroom door and tried to make out what they were saying. The words were muffled, and he didn't catch most of it, but he did hear a few things.

"... my kid, not his!" in his father's voice. And, "He doesn't get a say!"

Then his mother, whose voice hadn't been loud enough to hear up to this point shouted back, "But what if Wes is in danger!?"

Wes' breath hitched. Was something going to happen to him? Had his mom actually met his bio-father? Had he threatened Wes in some way? 

Wes strained his hearing to listen, but the voices had gone silent. When they picked up again, it was at a much lower volume, and he couldn't make out a single word of what they were saying. That night, he laid awake worrying, unable to sleep. When dawn broke, he gave up on trying and got out of bed.

He wished basketball season wasn't over. That would give him an excuse to leave the house and go to school for early morning practice. He scored the most three-pointers of anyone on the team, and getting praise from his coach and teammates was always a morale booster. He could really use something like that about now, rather than just stewing in his anxiety while he got dressed.

When he left his room, his mom and dad were already awake, sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Wes, honey, we need to talk to you," his mother said gently.

Wes' first thought was, 'You're getting divorced and it's my fault,' but he knew instinctively that that wasn't the case. He also somehow knew that the real reason they wanted to talk would be arguably worse.

"Why don't you have a seat, son," his father said.

He called me son, Wes thought as he cautiously sat down across from them, whatever this is must be really serious.

"I don't know how you knew," his mother began, "But as it happens, I did run into your biological father again, the day after you called me, in fact. And he did have something important to tell me. It was a warning."

"What kind of warning?" Wes asked. "Did he threaten you or something? Did he threaten me?"

"No, no... well, not quite," she said.

"He told her you were in some sort of danger," his father cut in. "I don't know if he has enemies or something and he's worried about them finding you, or what, but he said that he was sending someone to come get you and take you to some kind of, I don't know, protective custody or something?"

"He said it was a private summer camp in Long Island," his mother clarified. "Somewhere where you'd be safe and protected. He seemed very serious about this, it was unlike him. I did some research already, and it's definitely legitimate. I arranged a flight to New York for you and whoever he sends already. They should come for you as soon as the school year is over."

"That's it?" Wes asked. "Nothing about what kind of danger I'm actually in, or why? Man, if I thought this guy was a jerk before, I know he is now."

"Are you saying you won't go?" his father asked. His voice was hopeful, but his expression was conflicted. He didn't want his son to leave, but he didn't want him to get hurt either. "There's no real evidence you're in any danger aside from this random man's word."

"I don't want to take that risk," his mother said pointedly.

"I'll go," Wes said. "It's just for the summer, right? Then I can come home again?"

"That's right," his mom said.

"Then I'll go."

School ended three weeks later, and a lanky man came to pick Wes up at the end of the day. He wore baggy slacks, a dark striped button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and an unbuttoned gray vest. A flat cap covered his curly brown hair. He looked like he belonged on a street corner selling newspapers. He stuck out like a sore thumb in front of a school. 

His eyes zoned in on Wes the second he stepped out of the school building.

"Wesley Weston, right?" the man said once Wes was close enough to hear him. "Name's Melvin Barkley, your father sent me to get you."

"Don't call him that," Wes grumbled. "I didn't realize you were gonna come get me right when school ended. We gotta stop by home and pick up my bag."

"Can do," Melvin said amiably. "Lead the way."

Wes wasn't sure if he'd been sent as a sort of guide, or as a body guard, but he was particularly laid back for someone in either profession. When he walked, he walked with a strange gait, and his eyes darted around every few seconds before fixing solidly back on Wes.

School ended early on the last day. When Wes got back home to pick up his bag, the place was empty and all the lights were off. He didn't turn them on. It felt like it would be wrong somehow. 

Kyle had gone to the skate park with his friends the second the final bell rang. Easton wouldn't be coming home from his first year of college until tomorrow. Mom was on a flight to Germany right now, and wouldn't land for another eight hours. And Dad was still at work.

Wes wasn't going to get the chance to say goodbye. Instead, he wrote a note and ended it with, See you all at the end of summer! Love, Wes

[literaila]

Heyy so I've readed your fanfic A Typical Family and I can't stop re reading it because, well, let's just say that the manga is not at it's finest (Prettysureyouknowwhatimean.) and your fanfic is doing a great job helping me with my mental stability caused by Gege Akutami 😀 so thank you!

I love everything, I sure as hell needed that fluff. But one of the things I like the most is actually y/n's past, I like that you didn't went into details about what happened to her and it was just mentioned like two or three times. I like that a lot because it makes the character more intriguing and you give the reader the posibility of being as creative as possible when it comes to her past, I atleast came up with a few ideas of how she used to live.

But after Chapter 29 I couldn't help myself but wonder what really happened to y/n with her family during her youth. In details. Because I felt that there was A LOT going on-

So yeah, that's why I searched for you in tumblr, fell in love with you after scrolling down your account for a bit (which means hours) and decided to ask you if you could specify more about her past? What happened to her? How was her daily life living in a place where she was missunderstood by her own parents? How did her parents treated her? Did she always felt lonely? Is that why she's so insecure when she became a mother? I REALLY am intrigued.

Thanks again for everything and let's hope to find that annoying cat's hideout 😄🔪

(idoindeedunderstandexactlywhatyoumean)

ah. my dear reader.

she started as just an archetype of sorts, i suppose. like a person in my head but not enough of a person to interfere with the story in any particular way

the focus was abandonment issues so that satoru/suguru leaving could actually have some purpose.

but as i’m sure everyone is well aware—i don’t do simplicity, and i wholeheartedly believe that each and every character (in any media) should be a little… messed up? hurt? battling their own demons??

i think about things in the ways that it’ll improve or harm a story. and satoru leaving reader after being left by everyone else—that’s what i latched on to originally

(actually originally originally it was just a one-shot of megumi calling reader mom and being upset about it… ah how things change)

so i continued with that idea and im not sure when exactly i decided that her parents were awful, but they were. it made it easier for her to avoid talking to satoru about any issues, and easier to understand why she would care so much about these kids and them growing up with (no offense to gojo) a child for a father.

and at the beginning you can tell (or maybe only i can idk) that she is less self conscious about herself, and more worried about the kids. how are they going to react to this? how can a recently graduated person become a mother in under an hour? so it’s not that she’s insecure because she didn’t have a good childhood—that’s just how she is. too thoughtful, a bit anxious.

(mostly just to tie in satoru and readers relationship because i figured they’d need some balancing somewhere)

but then as the characters become more of their own, i needed more from her character. why does she care about these kids so much beyond just having morals? why do they trust her almost immediately?

and this began in the part where she’s consoling tsumiki—because i wanted to give baby a moment sorry not sorry. suddenly she missed her estranged parents and understood how sad miki felt. how much losing your mother matters.

but i’ve always made it fairly clear that tsumiki is just trusting. so easy one there.

but with megumi—reader is more worried that satoru is going to raise him under his wing. and obviously, that’s a horrible decision. satoru is barely a normal teenager to reader so… yeah she doesn’t trust him with megumi. who is obviously impressionable and easy to persuade.

plus the boy is rough for a six year old—needs a gentler hand than some people (ahem, satoru) can give him.

but unlike tsumiki, megumi was going to take time. so instead of a moment they have lots of little things—like the fact that she can read his emotions even when he’s trying to close them off, or that she watches him interact with both tsumiki and satoru very differently.

their trust is built on silence—but once megumi can depend on someone there’s really no going back.

and none of this has anything to do with reader necessarily—but her foundation is made from the two children, and satoru.

and then i had to push some more on the two of them. because—they are in love (they don’t say it ever, but it’s obvious), but they need a reason to hide it.

for satoru it’s because he has been raised to be the most important thing, and to not really trust anyone. and when suguru leaves he realizes that no matter what no one will understand him—he’ll always be a level ahead, a step too high.

so for reader it has to be different. some echoes of pain. and as soon as i realized how scared she was for megumi—i had to give her a reason to be scared. i imagine that she’s always been terrified of jujutsu, not because it’s difficult or because there was some nasty curses, but because it essentially ruined her life.

i imagine her parents to be average, run of the mill people. i think she depended on them when she was very young, and was naturally trusting (like tsumiki) as a child. she’s the type to believe that her parents are the best people in the world.

but once a little girl begins to see things that aren’t there—to scream and hide in closets, or cry while being dragged into the kitchen—things shift.

i don’t think it was bad at first, but when her cursed technique manifested, her parents understood that she was something other.

outwardly, they provided everything a child needs. food, home, clothes, education. but they refused to listen to her when something was wrong, they would leave the room when she entered—because she carried that negative presence with her.

so, i think to reader, they treated her like she was the curse.

and when yaga shows up, rattling about jujutsu high and these strange things that only the two of them would be able to understand, there was no returning back into the child her parents had loved.

she was different. too different for them to understand—or want to even try to.

i doubt they gave her a choice in going to school. if they could get her out of their house, get her curse out of there—they were going to.

(not to mention that there’s no reason for her to stay at home—not with two people who couldn’t care less about her).

so she was essentially sent away at fifteen and (like reader says) they were gone not too long after that.

(i think both the first and second years found out about this because yaga was trying to be nice and tell them not to push and accidentally revealed too much information. also he’s a gossip oops).

with the type of childhood she had—bad but not awful, nothing to run from—it makes it hard for her to connect with other people. and reader truly does believe she is the curse because that’s all she’s been taught.

but everyone at jujutsu high can understand, even if it’s the smallest amount. going there changes her life, simply put.

with at least five other people there to understand the things that she does—the burden is divided equally among all of them. she doesn’t have to hold it all alone.

so she connects with suguru, begins to realize she was just a child and not a problem. she learns how to control her cursed technique and is no longer scared that she’s doomed to forever push people away.

and she makes friends. friends make all the difference in the world, obviously.

plus, there’s satoru and he’s a burden of his own.

but at least she gets to choose it this time, no matter how difficult he makes it.

[storiesbyjes2g]

3.120 Joyous occasion

I woke up, revving with excitement about the day's festivities. Today, we celebrated that blessed day Sophia Aguilar came into the world. Regardless of the circumstance, I was beyond grateful her mother chose to give birth. And now, as Sophia Murillo, we'd also open our home and welcome family and friends for the first time. The icing on the cake would be announcing our new family member. There was nothing about this day that was not joyous. Even the weather was perfect. True, every day in San Sequoia seemed to be perfect, but I couldn't have asked for a better first day of summer. The warm temperature, accompanied by a cool breeze, was perfect for our outdoor festivities.

One by one, our guests trickled in, starting with Rashidah, then Less, Maira, Shirley, and Mama. Shirley was brimming with excitement because it was also her birthday and she couldn't wait to be big, she said. I hadn't known her long, but it was crazy to me how fast children grew up. Actually, all the little girls in my life were grown or near grown now. Chi Chi's daughter, Luna, was a grown woman. Orion, our neighbor, was a teenager, and now Shirley. Wow. Even the little sims in my life were females. Thank Watcher for Dub. I couldn't wait for him and Maia to be our neighbors.

Alessia arrived upset, and I assumed she was still mad about us leaving the bar so abruptly. But it was her pregnancy that had her face all frowned up. She loved Jace and was eager to create a life with him, but children were not part of that equation. I was kind of relieved to hear her sounding more like herself, but I hated she wasn't looking forward to having a baby. If only she knew what Sophia and I went through to get to where we were, maybe she'd appreciate what she accidentally walked into.

As she complained about the changes in her body and being sick all the time, Mama smiled at me as she slipped past us and went into the house. That was weird, so I ditched Less' pity party to go after her. I found her in the kitchen, standing in front of the sink. At first, I thought she was waiting for the tea maker to brew, but she was just standing there staring at nothing. Between her arriving without Dwayne and now this weird behavior, I knew something serious was up. I needed to get started on Sophia's cake anyway, so I gathered my ingredients and tools and got started.

"Is Dwayne running late?" I asked, casually.

"No. Umm...he's not coming."

"Oh. What's going on with you two?"

She sighed. Even with her back toward me, I knew her eyes rolled, and her face wrinkled into a scowl.

"That child... I guess she told you."

"She didn't know the details, but she said she heard you arguing. What happened?"

She hesitated, shifting her weight and sighing some more.

"He's fed up with me."

My imagination formed all kinds of answers to my next question. Most of them involved my dad.

"Why?"

"Because I haven't given him an answer yet."

I almost dropped the egg I was about to crack.

"He proposed?!"

I was oddly excited but also frustrated. I wouldn't say Dwayne and I were friends, but I didn't mind him now. It is what it is, you know? He was the one who made my mom happy. Bonus points for him understanding the situation and being respectful of everyone's feelings. Plus, he really was a good dude. I let all that drama go a while back, so he was welcome in my life if he chose to be part of it. With that in mind, I didn't appreciate Mama stringing him along all that time.

"A while ago," she said. "I wasn't ready then."

"Sounds like you're still not," I spat.

"I don't appreciate your tone, Luca."

"I'm sorry, Mama, but I just don't get it. Everyone has moved on. Even Dad! Why are you still waffling on this? Don't you love him?"

"Of course I do!"

"So what gives??"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be in this position! I want to say yes, but something inside won't let me!"

I didn't mean to upset her and relented.

"Okay. I'm sorry. I just want you to be free of this, Mama."

"That makes two of us. Especially now. I need to get out of that house."

All the alarms began blaring as I entered into protect mode.

"Is it that Jason?? What did he do?"

"Jace. It's not him. It's Alessia. If you and Sophia decided to move back home, I'd be totally fine and comfortable with it. But Alessia is different now, and I'm not comfortable living with them. I feel like a third wheel in my own house. How bad would it be if I accepted the proposal just to get away from them?"

"I'm not even gonna answer that. Besides, you know she's gonna need help with the baby."

"And Sophia won't?"

"Sophia is prepared. Less never wanted this."

"True."

I heard the front door open and shut and wanted to see who arrived.

"Can you finish this?"

"Sure, go ahead. I got it."

I found Dad in the living room, staring out our beautiful window. He turned around when he heard me, and I noticed he shaved down his beard. I smirked at the thought of my parents doing everything they could to keep from looking as old as they were. When I reach their age, I'd like to think I'd embrace the process, but I had no idea what it was like, so we'll see what I do.

"This is such a nice view," he said.

"The best," I replied.

"And the house is gorgeous. You did it all yourselves?"

I laughed at the question hidden between the lines.

"Yes, we did. Mama was not invited this time."

"Good for you. I'm so proud and happy for you two."

In the corner of my eye, I saw Sophia had finally come out of the bathroom and headed upstairs to put on her makeup. She had so much hair and always took her time bending every strand to her will. It was no wonder she always looked amazing.

"You wanna know a secret?" I asked.

I waited until I heard her enter our room to tell him.

"Sophia is pregnant," I whispered. "Mama hasn't seen her yet, so don't say anything."

His eyes watered just as I imagined they would, and he embraced me, squeezing tight.

"Congratulations, son. I am so glad to hear that. My heart is so full!"

"Thanks, Dad. We didn't want to say anything, but it's been quite the journey."

"Oh no. Really?"

"I'll tell you about it someday, but it's behind us now."

"That's right. The little one is here, and it is already so loved."

[otdiaftg]

The Raven King - Chapter Seven

Day: Thursday, October 5th Time: 11:30 PM EST

"I mean literally soft. Too many curves, see? I feel like my hands would slide right off. It's totally not my thing. I like..." He drew a box with his fingers as he searched for words. "Erik. Erik's perfect. He's a total outdoors junkie, rock climbing and hiking and mountain biking, all that awful bug-infested fresh-air stuff. He's stronger than I am, and I like that. I feel like I could lean on him all day and he wouldn't break a sweat." "Funny," Nicky said. "That didn't used to be my type. None of the others I crushed on growing up were anything like that. Maybe that's why none of them could help me." Nicky turned his hands palm-up on the table and considered them. "My parents are kind of crazy, you know? There's religious and there's super psychotic religious. Me and Renee, we're the decent sort, I think. We go to different churches and have some different ideas, but we respect each other anyway. We understand that religion is just an interpretation of faith. But my parents are the black-and-white crazy kind. It's only right and wrong with them: hellfire and damnation and judgment from on high. "For some reason I tried coming out to them anyway," Nicky said. "Mom was pretty upset. She locked herself in the bedroom and cried and prayed for days. Dad took a more direct route and shipped me off to Christian gay camp. I spent a year learning that I was infected by a disgusting idea from the devil, that I was a living test for every other good Christian on the planet. They tried using God to shame me into being straight. "It didn't work," Nicky said. "For a while I wished it did. I went home feeling like an abomination and a failure. I couldn't face my parents like that, so I lied. I pretended to be straight for the rest of high school. I even dated a couple girls. I kissed a couple of them, but I used my faith as an excuse never to get further than first base. I knew I just had to keep it together until graduation. "I hated my life so much," Nicky said. "I couldn't do that, you know? I couldn't live a lie like that day after day. I felt trapped. Some days I thought God abandoned me; sometimes I thought I failed Him. Halfway through my junior year I started thinking about suicide. Then my German teacher took me aside and told me about a study abroad program. She would set it all up for me, she said, if my parents would sign off on it. She'd handle admissions and get a host family and everything. It'd be expensive, but she thought I needed a change in scenery. Guess she knew I was that close to the edge. "I didn't think Mom and Dad would go for it, but they were so proud of me for my so-called recovery they agreed to let me go my senior year. I just had to last another semester and then I could go. I was so desperate to get out of there I didn't even really pay attention when Aaron and Aunt Tilda moved to Columbia that spring. All I cared about was keeping it together until May. I know now I should have tried harder, but I would've been no good to him how I was. "When the plane took off from Columbia, I was scared to death," Nicky said. "I was so relieved to leave my parents and everyone I knew, but I didn't know if being in Germany would change anything. When I landed, my new host brother was waiting for me in Arrivals. Erik Klose," Nicky said, sounding it out like he was saying it for the first time. "He taught me to believe in myself. He showed me how to balance my faith and my sexuality, and he made me okay again. I know it sounds dramatic, but he saved my life." Nicky flipped his hands over and laced his fingers together. The look he turned on Neil was as reassuring as it was worried and made Neil want to edge away. "That's what love is about, see? That's why Exy isn't ever going to be enough, not for you or Andrew or anyone. It can't hold you up, and it won't make you a stronger or better person."

Art used with permission by Kurra. Thank you @kurra !

[artracoon]

PJO SERIES HOT TAKES/UNPOPULAR

OPINIONS. Sorry if I offend anyone, it's just an opinion. NO HATE I LOVE RICK AND THE ACTORS 💙(I just don't like Disney directing tbh)

The Athena kid in me is screaming at the top of their lungs because they think they could make a better script than Disney. BRO FINISH 2

Chapters in like 5 minutes- AND THE FIGHT SCENE BETWEEN MS DODDS AND PERCY

WAS RUUUUSHED Slow down Disney that was a good bit. They also made it happen outside instead of having her lead him inside. How hard did the mist have to work with all those people there???

Is it just me or is Sally kinda mean, where's our mom figure? Im crying over Luke's acting it was so good but also why are you dropping bombshells on us the second episode??

No offense to the actors but some of the lines felt like they were from Disney channel in the 2000s. It feels almost like a completely different story I understand why but I thought it was going to be more accurate

Love Annabeth’s "you drool when you sleep" but why was the scene setting so weird??

1 I drastically miss the Hellhound scene. It was one of my favorite scenes. They should have made the first two episodes *| accidentally vaporized my math teacher" and "My mom teaches me bullfighting" then they wouldn't have had to rush it so much. So much information was thrown at us in the first episode I couldn't process it. Also the convo between Percy and Sally in the Cabin was really unrealistic... Why did she have to drop that on Percy so fast I thought Mr. D and Chiron were supposed to have that conversation with Percy.

The bathroom scene was fine but I really wish Annabeth could have been there, instead of making her look like a huge stalker. We could have had her show him around camp like I get we want to build that relationship with Luke so it hits harder but Idk I personally wouldn't want her on my team if all she did was go "Im stalking you to see if your worthy" ditch me and watch me fight 3 v1 and then push me in the ocean. The Ares kids bashing... but Clarisse's acting was great. That scream of anger was amazing.

I feel like they took the first book and went

"eh don't need this, or this hmmm nah that doesn't seem important" and then shook it all about. They changed so much to save time but they didn't even make it a movie so there wasn't much point??

The intro was fine. I didn't really like the dialogue between Percy and Sally at the beginning. The museum was okay but we didn't get a lesson about Kronos so no foreshadowing for that at all. No one really seems to remember this but Percy didn't keep the pen and it doesn't make sense for him to as-well with getting kicked out of school. In the Book Percy was given the pen while fighting Miss Dodds. Afterwards he was still unknowingly clutching the pen when he went to talk to Mr.Brunner who took his pen back saying he should bring his own pen next time, making Percy more confused because Mr.Brunner had given him the pen.

Later when he's leaving for the quest Chiron gives him the pen saying it was from his dad. That means Percy wouldn't have had the pen during his time at camp and his fight with the minotaur. So it wouldn't make sense for him to defeat the minotaur with its horn rather than his pen if he had the pen. In the book he HAD to defeat the minotaur with his own horn because he had no other weapon.

He had a hard time on the beach and during sword training because no other sword felt right. I could rant forever on everything they overlooked.

Sorry no one asked for this rant i'm just so upset because Rick said it was going to be accurate and he chose these Actors because they would be able to play the parts more accurately but the script doesn't work so I there's no point in having actors who would do a good job if the script doesn't do a good job

[roxyzwritez]

pearlrose content

wanna see how ive been writing all these episodes? spoiler: it was not written with the intent to be read. but its really cute if you can get past and decipher my writes. (also im not 100% sure i like how i did this. may redo this one.) pls feedback. also @rosenotactuallyquartz i think you may like this ((im sorry abt the near daily tags))

under the cut so dashes don't get flooded

greg wakes up. gets coffee. gets breakfast. sits outside. frown.

rose floats over.

rose: good morning greg!

greg: hey rose.

rose: what's the matter? :(

greg: i was hoping you wouldn't ask.. im not doing great.

rose: why is that?

greg: i thought i'd be so happy that you're back. i thought i'd still be completely in love with you like i was before, but.. i just don't feel it anymore. im sorry.

rose, frown: that's okay, greg. we can be friends. i understand. i disappeared for 14 years- not that long to me, but that's a long time for humans. i understand if your feelings changed. especially with all my.. mistakes… revealed. im just glad you told me.

greg: are you sure? its okay to be upset, rose.

rose: i dont follow human relationship dynamics. im a little sad, sure, but you're still a friend. its not the end of the world.

greg: as long as you're okay.

rose: i am. don't worry about me, greg.

greg: okay.

she looks at him with a smile before flying off back home. she walks in.

tumblr note: im really unsure abt the breakup thing honestly. it feels weird especially how she just instantly goes to pearl. tell me ur thoughts yall!

stv, eatin chaps: hey mom.

rose: hi steven. wheres pearl?

stv: ooooooo-

rose chuckles: oh, stop it.

stv: i think she went to her room. she's been in there a lot recently.

rose: huh. alright, thank you steven.

stv: no problem.

rose goes into pearls room.

rose: pearl?

pearl quickly gets up: y-yes rose? sorry, i didn't know you were coming.

rose floats on over: i would like to talk to you about something.

pearl,😳: o-okay.

rose: i know how you feel about me. but im not entirely sure you understand how i feel about you.

pearl looks away: but- greg.

rose, chuckling: pearl. i talked to him just now, and he told me he doesn't feel that way towards me anymore. and from what i understand about human relationships, being with multiple people is a bit of a problem. ive always loved you, pearl. i knew either this would happen, or he'd… reach his time at some point. this was always going to happen, pearl. i don't need future vision for that.

pearl: i-

rose tacklehugs her to the ground and they roll around happy. pearl happycries

rose: ohh, my beloved pearl. not my pearl, but my beloved pearl. does- does that make sense?- oh my- (starts laughing)

pearl, chuckling softly: i know what you meant, rose.

rose: okay. good. le smoochie

pearl: i love you, rose. so much.

rose: i love you even more.

pearl: no, i do.

rose, chuckling: oh, pearl.

they smile at eachother.

stv: that was the cutest thing i've ever seen in my life.

pearl extremely embarrassed: STEVEN!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE-

rose: pearl, its okay. they're all allowed to know. we don't need to be a secret. besides, garnet probably knows anyway.

pearl: o-okay. but steven please don't do that again.

stv: it was so worth it. i will never forget this.

rose: alright, steven. can me and pearl talk in private again?

stv: aww mann. okay. (leaves)

rose: you don't know how badly i wanted to be with you. always. it hurt that i couldn't be there for you for those years.. trapped in his gem. i wish i could've done something, but i just couldn't. believe me, i tried.

pearl: its okay. its not your fault. you're here now, and that is enough for me. (squeeze hug cry) im sorry for crying so much i cant help it.

rose: let it out, pearl. its okay. (soft hug n comforts back, headpats and otherwise adorable shit)

[highwaytothedangerzone502]

Foxtrot Alpha Alpha - Chapter 42

Pairing: Hangman x Female OC

Word Count: 2561

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of assault and death

Summary: Hangman learned his lesson a long time ago to never show his true feelings when someone's words or actions hurt him. To do so showed weakness that could be exploited, and Seresin men couldn't show weakness. Of course, there was an exception to every rule, and Jake's always came in the form of women, three in particular: his mom, Juliette Kazansky, and the girl whose name he could no longer bring himself to speak. She was the girl that got away; she was his biggest 'what if' and his biggest regret; she would forever be the ghost that haunted his dreams. Jake believed that's where she'd stay, for he would surely never see her again after what he did.

Or so he thought.

Notes: This is the sequel to India Lima Yankee; I'm using the same callsign for the Female OC as in Ghost Story because I just really like it, but they are different characters; chapters in italics are flashbacks.

Chapter Songs: Grave One Thing Right

****

Hangman

Jake heard the steady, incessant beeping first. The soft murmurs of voices in the distance followed, but they were too far away to understand anything. Who was speaking, though? And where was he? He tried to lift his head, but while his brain sent the signals to his muscles to do so, nothing happened. His body refused to move.

Maybe opening my eyes is a better first step. Hangman thought, realizing he could not, in fact, see anything. He winced at the effort it took to do such a simple task, and his vision spun violently; it took all of his willpower not to succumb to the sleep that called him to return, but he had to figure out where Ghost was, if she was okay-

"Jake?" A familiar voice whispered, although not Ghost's soft and sweet one. It wasn't Maverick because of the slight Texan drawl. What about Kyle or Nick? But why would they be there? They would've killed him already if they were. Unless they wanted him to be awake before they committed the act, which Jake wouldn't put past either of them. The thought sent a surge of newfound strength, and with every ounce of willpower he could muster, he opened his eyes and struggled to sit up to confront them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there, brother," insisted the man calmly, placing a firm hand on his shoulder and gently pushing him back onto a bed. "It's Matt."

"Matt? " Hangman echoed, blinking in surprise. He started scanning the room, noticing the sterile, neutral interior, the barely-disturbed white bedsheets covering his lower half, and the pale blue hospital gown he wore. "What—how are—wait. Ghost. Where's Ghost?"

"She's fine. Just went to grab something to drink with Coyote. She'll be upset she missed you waking up the one time she leaves."

"Leaves? What are you- what are you talking about? Where am I?" Hangman looked his brother up and down in confusion, taking in his unusually bedraggled appearance. His normally perfectly styled hair- a trait he and Jake shared- stuck in different directions like he'd rolled out of bed only moments ago. "What are you doing here?"

Matt sat down in a chair next to the bed Hangman resided in. "Ghost called me. Guess she saved my number after all these years. Got here as fast as I could. Truth be told, it was uncanny timing. I was already heading to California because I got a tip that Nick was out here. As for you, you're in the hospital. You got out of surgery a while ago and have been sleeping the anesthesia off the last few hours."

"Surgery?" Jake repeated incredulously. "What for?"

His brother leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "You don't remember?"

"No, I-" Jake rubbed his face, cringing at the pain in his shoulder when he did so. He wracked his brain for the memories, replaying the evening over, and talked himself through it aloud. "Uh, Ghost and I got a call from Rooster and Juliette to watch their dogs while they went to the hospital. Maverick came over shortly after searching for Ghost. They talked. Ghost excused herself to grab something from her backpack, which was... was in my living room. That left me and Mav to chat. A noise, like a- like a bang, caught our attention, and when we went to check on Ghost, she..."

An image of Kyle with his hand wrapped around Ghost's throat, a bright red mark on her cheek in the shape of a handprint, the red haze that descended over his vision at the sight of her in peril...

And Nick.

Nick had been there. Had been pointing a gun at them, one Hangman had no doubt was fully loaded.

Jake's nostrils flared, a snarl involuntarily curling his lips. "Where are they?"

"Jail. I've already alerted the police in Texas about their whereabouts, so if California tries to release them, Texas authorities will have them extradited to stand trial down there."

"You think there's a chance they won't try them for attempted murder?"

"There's always a chance. Nick and Kyle are already trying to blame the attack on you and Maverick, saying they were trying to talk to Ghost, and you two started the brawl. Obviously, she's defending you two, and all the damage on you three supports your side of the story."

"Are they hurt?"

"Yeah. Since they were armed, they did worse damage to y'all, but you did a number on them. Especially whoever hit Nick in the back of the head."

Hangman started to laugh but winced at the pain in his back and abdomen. "That- that was Juliette. Finally took down the asshole. Don't know how he or Kyle kept going with the punches we were throwing at them."

"Drugs. Both had it in their system. Not sure which one. Or ones."

"Not surprising. So why am I in the hospital?"

Matt leaned back in his chair, his knees bouncing up and down. "When I say they did a number on you, I mean specifically you. Ghost and Maverick didn't escape unscathed by any means, but you took the brunt of it from Kyle. They counted about a dozen stab wounds. The fact you're alive, man... they had to staunch the bleeding, stitch you up, and give you a blood transfusion. We weren't sure you were going to make it," he said, his voice softening at the end.

Hangman gulped, only one question coming to mind. "Will I be able to fly again?"

"Once you recover, yeah, I think so. I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to, but I also may not be the best person to ask that."

A slight relief then. "What are Ghost's injuries? And Mav-"

A crash of something dropping to the floor behind him interrupted the conversation. Hangman turned to look at the newcomer in the doorway, and his heart practically stopped at the sight of Ghost. She rushed to his side with Coyote on her heels. Neither of them appeared like they'd gotten a lick of rest.

"Jake!" she breathed, taking his hand in hers and lifting it to her lips to press a gentle kiss on his knuckles.

"Hell, man, it's good to see you," Coyote said, running a hand through his too-shirt hair. "How are you feeling?"

Hangman didn't respond, his eyes assessing the damage done to Ghost and his mind formulating what pain he'd inflict upon Kyle for doing this to her. He removed his hand from hers and, ever so carefully, traced the outline of the bruise on her cheek before dragging it down to her neck, where his thumb- feather light to the touch- brushed over a thin, angry red line.

"Kyle's knife cut me when I pretended to pass out," Ghost explained, sitting on the edge of his bed. "Barely hurts."

"I'm going to kill him. Next time I see him, I'll kill him," Hangman said with such deadly quiet that no one in the room doubted the truth of his words.

"He's not worth the jail time."

"But you are."

The corners of her mouth quirked upward. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. How are you? How badly were you hurt? How are Mav and Bradshaw?"

"I'm better seeing you awake. I have a bad concussion, but other than some scrapes and a couple bruised ribs, I'm okay. Mav and Rooster have some scrapes and bruises, but they're fine."

"Princess... why do I remember something being wrong with her? Is she okay?"

Ghost pursed her lips and dropped her gaze to their intertwined hands, now resting on the white sheets. Coyote coughed and said, "Hey, Matt, can you help me find the Blackwoods and Maverick? They wanted to know when Jake woke up."

His brother nodded and exited the room with Coyote, leaving Ghost and Jake alone. The latter prompted, "How's Juliette?"

"She's alive."

Something about Ghost's tone set him on edge. "What happened?"

"If I tell you, I need you to promise me you won't blame it on yourself. I need you to understand that what happened to her would've happened whether you were here or not."

"Annalise-"

"Promise me."

"I-I promise."

Taking an unsteady breath, Ghost explained what all had happened since the attack, how Juliette seized because of her high blood pressure, how she'd had an emergency C-section, had coded in the middle of it due to AFE- amniotic fluid embolism. Because the doctors were concerned her symptoms prior to arrival may have been related to AFE, they were already prepared in case it occurred. They'd stabilized her relatively quickly, and both babies were in the NICU under careful observation to ensure no damage had been done to their health when Juliette coded.

Hangman had promised Ghost he wouldn't blame himself for the situation, but all he could think about was- regardless that Juliette was resuscitated- how he could add yet another person to the list of who had died in the hospital in his presence. Surely this couldn't be some grim and grisly coincidence? "How's Bradshaw holding up?"

"You could ask me yourself, you know." Ghost whirled around at the sound of Rooster's voice from the entryway. Coyote stood behind him. "I heard you were up. Thought I'd come see how you're doing."

"I'm alive. How are you holding up?"

"I haven't snapped, if that's what you're wondering, but I have your girlfriend to thank for that."

Bradshaw- pale and with dark bags under his eyes- shuffled behind Ghost and pulled her into a side hug. At some point in time, seeing the affection the two shared for each other would've bothered Jake, but knowing they were practically siblings now, knowing that Rooster had no eyes but for Juliette, and that Jake himself had Ghost, all he felt was relief that his girlfriend had had support from Rooster during this.

"All I did was sit with you," Ghost pointed out, eyes briefly darting over to Coyote, who took residence in the chair Matt had previously occupied.

Rooster shrugged. "Yeah, but that's what I needed. You recognized that."

"How's Juliette? Any updates?"

Rooster rubbed his eyes with his hands, a silent but unmistakable sign of his stress. "No. Sarah's with her right now. Jack is watching the dogs for us, and Joey is on his way back from Hawaii as we speak."

"Whatever we can do to help-"

"Just get better. That's an order."

"You're not my Captain, Bradshaw. You can't give me orders."

"He's not-" Maverick stepped into the room with Charlotte and Jackie Blackwood behind him- "but I can."

Hangman grinned. "Hey, Pops. You look the best out of all of us."

Rooster rolled his eyes. "All right, Kiss-Ass. I'm going to return to Jules, but let me know if you need anything. Enjoy the peace and quiet before the Daggers come visit."

Bidding the group goodbye, Rooster exited the room; Charlie, Jackie, and Maverick immediately surrounded the bed, and Coyote got up to move next to Ghost, keeping a careful eye on her as she swayed a little on the bed. Hangman would be forever grateful for his wingman's acute awareness.

Ghost's grip tightened on his hand, and he suddenly remembered that everyone in this room knew Ghost's true parentage. I really thought this meeting would be more awkward.

"I did, too, if we're being honest," Coyote agreed.

The realization struck Jake hard, and the heart monitor betrayed his embarrassment. "I- I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you've still got anesthesia in your system, so we'll let it slide," Charlie replied, giving him a small yet playful smile. "Thank you for protecting my-" she glanced at Maverick out of the corner of her eye- "our daughter."

Maverick nodded in agreement, seemingly unable to speak. His gaze kept drifting to Ghost, who remained uncharacteristically silent, even for her. Jackie must've noticed, too, because she casually sidled away from her mom and next to her sister, gently bumping shoulders with Ghost. The female aviator returned it lightly but didn't look up, keeping her eyes on hers and Hangman's intertwined hands.

"We're so relieved to see you up and talking," Charlie continued, "and whatever you need, I'm here for you."

"Thank you," Hangman said sincerely.

"I need to make a few calls, but text me if you need me. Both of you, okay?"

Hangman and Ghost nodded. Charlie, Jackie, and Maverick hugged the two aviators, Coyote gently squeezed his friends' shoulders, and then they exited the room, leaving Hangman and Ghost wholly alone.

"Talk to me, Ghost. What's wrong?" he prodded softly.

Her voice was all but a whisper. "I'm so sorry, Jake. This is all my fault. If I hadn't- I never should've started anything with him."

Hangman's heartstrings tugged in agony at the sight of tears welling in his girlfriend's eyes and her desperate, silent fight to keep them at bay. With a painful effort, he braced himself on his elbow so he could reach up and lift Ghost's chin with his knuckle. "Annie, look at me. You are not responsible for this. You cannot control his reaction to your actions. He could've handled your rejection by not losing his shit and coming after you with Nick. Kyle's the problem, not you."

"I know, but what did I ever see in him? Why did I-" Ghost's voice broke, tears of guilt and shame flooding silently down her cheeks.

"Because as I remember you telling me, you thought he'd changed, and he gave you no other reason besides his troubled past to make you believe he remained the same person he'd been back then."

"It was a mistake. A horrible mistake-"

"We all make mistakes, Annie; it's ok-"

"It's not when it nearly got you killed!" she burst. Ghost trembled and furiously wiped away tears. "I nearly lost you last night, and it made me realize how close I came to losing you all those years ago, and logically, I know... I know I can't control other people's actions, but this never would've happened if I hadn't fallen for his stupid lie and charms. I thought I was a better judge of character than that. I don't care if my bad judgment inflicts painful repercussions on myself, but it's not okay when it drags in other people, especially when they nearly get killed because of it."

Hangman had been in her position before. He understood the self-loathing running through her mind for guilt over something she had no control over. Even if she had made a bad judgment call, it wasn't Ghost's fault for Kyle's reaction. And in that moment, Hangman suddenly had an epiphany of his own. He'd made a bad judgment call during his training exercise that ended in Ghoul's demise, but it hadn't been his fault that her parachute didn't open. However, he'd have to come to terms with that later because he had to focus on Ghost right now. She needed him.

"Come here," he ordered, opening up his free arm and motioning for Ghost to embrace him. She did, being careful to avoid hurting him. Wrapping his arm tightly around her shoulders, Hangman said, "I do not blame you for any of this. You have me forever."

He could feel Ghost smile into the crook of his neck. "And always.

****

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[roseeycreates-blog]

Hi po, author-nim.

It's me na naman hihi. Salamuch for responding to my previous question, it means a lot to me 🥺(cue fangirl screaming). I have lots of other questions hihi (if you don't mind po🤭). What would be Lin's reaction to the revelation that she was taken away from Toph when she was a baby? What would be the reaction of the other the Gaang members? Better yet, Tenzin's? What would happen to Kanto and Lin's relationship afterwards?

No pressure po in responding right away, kasi baka busy ka din with your life. And the fact, na many ang questions ko this time (sorry pu, grabe na fixation ko sa AU na ito😔)

Anyway, sending you a lot of saranghes💞 Hope you have great days ahead :)

Hi, anon~

Thank you so much for showing interest in this~ it means a lot to me! 🥹🥹🥹 I might be overreacting, but I’m just really happy right now. I don’t feel like I deserve to be called “author-nim,” though😅😅😅

What would be Lin's reaction to the revelation that she was taken away from Toph when she was a baby?

After the reunion, Lin angrily told the Chief to leave, furious at her for almost killing her dad. Once she was gone, Kanto revealed everything to Lin. Initially, she was upset with her father, wondering how he could have done such things. However, she soon realized that he had been a good dad all her life, giving her everything and never speaking ill of her mom, always saying great things about her. She forgave him.

Her feelings towards Toph were complicated. She thought, if Toph had chosen family over duty, none of this would have happened. It made her question if Toph really loved her dad or if the things he said about her were true.

Bonus: The thing that broke Kanto and Toph's relationship was his connection to a gang. Kanto's father was the leader at the time, but when Kanto left the city, his dad passed the leadership to someone else and bought the land near Republic City. He loved Republic City so much that he couldn't just leave. So, he became that sweet old man with a farm.

What would be the reaction of the other the Gaang members?

Aang and Katara weren't surprised when they initially met Lin. Katara had sensed that Lin was a bender back then. They were happy to see how Lin had grown up. Though they couldn't understand why Kanto took her, they couldn't deny he had done a great job raising her.

Bumi and Kya were really surprised and both thought the same thing: "How would Tenzin process this?" Bumi was convinced that Tenzin would flip out. Kya was worried about their relationship, knowing how much Tenzin loved Lin and how this news could affect them big time.

Sokka and Suyin were both shocked. Sokka was especially upset with Kanto for causing Toph so much pain and depriving her of time with her eldest daughter. Out of everyone, Sokka had seen firsthand how broken Toph was after losing them. Oh! and it was a bit awkward for Suki, given her history with Toph, but she tried to stay supportive.

Zuko wasn’t surprised that they were alive. He had done a background check on Kanto to help with Toph’s investigation. They had only limited information about him and his dad, but they knew how capable they were. Zuko was pleased to hear the news, especially since Izumi had spoken highly of Lin from their brief meeting. Mai encouraged Zuko to send gifts or even travel to Republic City to visit them.

Tenzin's reaction

Tenzin was the most shocked among all of them. He didn't know how to process it and all he wanted was to go to Lin and ask her personally if it was true. He went over to the farm, thoughts circling his mind.

When Lin met him, she explained everything. After hearing it all, Tenzin could only say, "This won’t affect us, right? We love each other, and what happened in the past won’t change what we have now."

Lin lowered her gaze, trying to compose herself. "I need time for a while, Tenzin," she said. "We should stop seeing each other for now. My complicated family problems must be mine alone. I don't want to drag you or your family into this. I also can't shake the fact that, technically, we could be seen as cousins since my mom was married to your uncle. Even though we're not blood-related, it would cause a stir. I don’t want to cause more trouble for you."

Tenzin, tears in his eyes, pleaded, "Everything will be okay, trust me, Lin."

But Lin shook her head, her voice breaking as she said, "Please, Tenzin. Leave." Tears streamed down her face, the weight of her decision heavy on both their hearts.

What would happen to Kanto and Lin's relationship afterwards?

At the moment, Toph despises Kanto, but Kanto still has lingering feelings for her, though his love for Lin is stronger. Right now, Lin is all he can think about. They eventually discussed their next steps, now that everything was out in the open. They agreed that Lin would stay at her farm but train in earthbending with Toph. She would also need to have sleepovers with her mom’s family from time to time, to learn more about her sister Su and reconnect with Toph.

Toph also insisted on adding Lin to the family register and giving her the Beifong last name. Lin, however, pushed back, saying she didn’t want any media attention and preferred to keep things as low-key as possible. She also made it a condition that her father wouldn’t be arrested or charged with anything in exchange for accepting the name change.

(I just discovered a new Stardew Character creator—yay!)

Here's Kanto and Toph~

Hi ulit anon~ Sana okay kalang, may bagyo ngayon dito. Well, habang ginagawa ko itong reply~ Keep safe sa atin~ Also please send mo lang yung mga sks mo. I really appreciate you! 🥹😊💕

[izzyspussy]

may or may not be putting this in tatg (& if i don't maybe i'll make it its own fic) but like. and i know other people have mentioned this, right, about how when one parent is abusive there's no realistic way for the other parent relationship to be all hunky dory or whatever.

and the way jamie talked about her in season one, the way his childhood bedroom is as-was and there's such an abundance of publicity-looking photos on that shrine as compared to personal photos which are all kid photos, etc. we can - if we choose to - assume that there was at least some kind of in between period where jamie and his mom were not as close.

and idk i'm just thinking about the specifics of that in between period and how they both felt about it / their motivations / etc, and how we can also assume - if we choose to - that georgie pretty much knows What Happened wrt james. i mean there's equally as much room to interpret it as jamie didn't tell her exactly what happened in amsterdam specifically but she could tell he didn't have a good time and took him back, or maybe he did tell her exactly what happened and she took him back for the same reason of like overwriting the memory or whatever. like those two are equally canon-supported takes imo.

and tbh i don't think either one of those is more likely than the other, but personally i think the way the vibes feel to me, i err toward the latter. because when jamie told roy he seemed to know like okay this isn't a good experience but it's not that bad and assumed roy thought the prostitute would have had a worse time somehow. so from that we can maybe assume - if we choose to - that he wouldn't really know to hide it from georgie (of course on the other end, we could assume instead he would have felt the feelings without thinking about them and hid because of that even without knowing, but that's not what i'm assuming rn). but we can ALSO assume that since jamie so automatically didn't think roy was talking about him when he said "traumatizing" then.... georgie wouldn't have said as much when he told her.

and like. okay. so maybe she thought if she said the big scary words, if she said "traumatized" if she said "abuse" if she said "rape" that would make it worse. maybe she thought she needed to not make a big deal about it, right, to protect jamie, to not make him even more upset. i know that this is something that people think when faced with this, especially with kids.

but i also know. most of the time. in my experience. that is not the right choice at all. it seems right, and the people doing it absolutely are doing what they think is best and honestly there's not ever going to be much of a "best practice" for this because everyone is affected differently, etc. but in my experience. it's the wrong thing to do.

and it's also kind of a known phenomenon that people don't want to admit their parents were wrong or to hold things against them, especially when they have an understanding that the parent in question was going through their own struggles or surviving their own traumas at the time. buuuuut. not wanting to feel a certain way doesn't actually make you not feel that way. and additionally, not know why you feel a certain way doesn't make you not feel that way. in fact, even not realizing you feel a certain way at all doesn't make you not feel it either!

so. i think jamie was probably really upset with georgie for never saying it. for just trying to help jamie through it by moving past it, instead of ever facing it directly and calling it what it was and impressing upon him how serious it was, how wrong. (and he was also angry about this wrt to teachers, doctors, coaches, etc etc. not ted, even tho it's the same and he should have been, because it was in a pretty messed up spot when ted didn't step in, when he didn't step in again, when he later suggested more of the same just moving right along, and he maybe couldn't feel angry at ted right then whether knowing why or not, these things are sooo complicated, but later probably! later, he might be angry enough to call ted up in america and say hey man. i need to say my piece about this actually.)

and all that shit was true for him - that he didn't realize he felt that way, and if he did he wouldn't know why, and if he did he wouldn't want to - until he got to a better enough and stable enough place that he could work through all that and then have a conflict about it.

but anyway, yeah! so that's part of the reason why they were maybe not totally estranged but definitely strained in season one, maybe for a lot of season two, and however long before canon. (i think i'm headcanoning here that they started rebuilding/healing their relationship around the christmas episode, though i don't remember exactly where that falls in the timeline other than "before wembley".)

and then on the other side! georgie would probably - despite all efforts, and knowing she was being irrational, and knowing it wasn't jamie's fault - would feel a little bit sort of something similar about jamie being ""close"" with james in immediately pre-season one times. like because, he's her son, she loves him so much, and he's supposed to love her too, and he's like hanging out with her abuser. his own abuser too, yes, but! again, feelings don't care about sense. and like, she was never really angry with him, she was never actually disappointed in him like he thought she would be, but there would be this sort of background bitterness that he was (seemingly) choosing to spend time with james and change his behavior to suit him.

it's a really complicated, excessively shitty situation!

but yeah i think probably they never really talk about or even really need to talk about georgie's side of things of feeling shitty about jamie choosing to be around james, because that's totally not his fault and he was suffering for it anyway, and imo that's just one of those "your kids will hurt your feeling sometimes" facts of parenthood type of things. it would simply... pass.

but either in very late canon off-screen, or else post-canon, they absolutely do have to talk about it and let jamie get out that she did him wrong by not saying those words and making a suitably big deal over It All. and like of course he's aware she did what she thought was best and there's no real way she could have known how that would affect him or not, but it is something he has a right to be upset about and have addressed.

anyway all that to say. that's why he's not calling her about his nightmares in tatg. (and also this is at least preeeetttyyy close to my actual canon interpretation of their relationship and why it is the way it is and why it isn't the way it isn't.)

[monsterfucker-lisa-swallows]

this is going to be a very uncomfortable and potentially triggering conversation so i suggest you scroll past if you have a lot of empathy because this isn't fun at all

also wanna preface this by saying i'm not interested in spreading conspiracy theories or "truther" claims because i feel that's incredibly disrespectful and potentially harmful to the people that need the most help. any allusions to unverified rumors will be presented as uncorroborated, not as fact (only bringing them up because i know that's the kind of rumor floating around and i don't want to seem like i'm participating somehow in dismissing concerns). because we simply don't know. and it's not our business.

i've had this bad feeling about amanda bynes for the past decade. it's the same pattern we've seen with child stars over and over again. the drugs, the mental breakdown, the conservatorship. but i pushed those nagging thoughts away. i didn't have the bandwidth at the time because i was living in an abusive household when her most public battles were happening. i didn't have the time or the emotional understanding to put towards what was happening to her even as i felt it mirrored what i was going through or what my mom was going through. then i found out about dan schneider a few years ago. i didn't really engage with the rumor and speculation about him - i was in my early 20s when this all broke and i didn't know most of the shows he'd been involved with except by the fact that my younger siblings watched them. i'd been an amanda bynes fan - hugely into the amanda show and what i like about you. my siblings watched drake and josh, icarly, and victorious. i didn't have the emotional bandwidth at the time to look into what people were saying. i knew it would upset me if i learned too much. but i couldn't stop thinking about amanda.

i heard about quiet on set from news websites. i saw the headlines about drake bell. it shook me to my core. the things i was reading were horrific and immediately put me in mind of what my sister went through as a teenage survivor of repeated sexual abuse by a man who was trusted with our care. she'd had a huge crush on drake when we were growing up. i wonder if she's heard about this.

this immediately made me think about amanda again. this time i couldn't push the thought away. i guess i'm finally ready to process the way this whole situation has felt to me.

the way people talk about amanda reminds me of how people in the 50s talked about judy garland. child star with incredible talent, far beyond her years, with incredible charm and personality and the whole world at her fingertips. everyone loved working with her. until she became erratic and had a mental breakdown fueled by drugs. (you could even argue there were parallels because both women were frequently typecast as the wholesome girl next door and not really allowed to break out of that infantilizing box.) and no one could ever think why. why does this happen.

i've come to believe that mental illness always has a cause. brain chemistry fucked up by trauma, whether that's long-term stress or a singular event or repeated traumas stacking on top of each other. the mind can't cope. i really, truly believe something horrific happened to amanda bynes. and i know people will say, well, maybe it wasn't dan schneider. she was doing fine for years after she stopped working with him. i want to make one thing very clear. trauma doesn't always manifest symptoms immediately. not everyone comes out of a trauma looking shell shocked. i know from my experience because i didn't have my breakdown until a year after my abuser was exposed and i'm still feeling the consequences to my psyche to this day. and i think it must be difficult for child stars to process this trauma. the pattern i've seen is the child star endures something terrible, gets incredible fame and begins taking on more and more pressure, then when this isn't enough to make them happy they turn to drugs. you think because they got out that it would all just go away? no. they were raised to play characters so they played those characters. there was incredible pressure to just play those characters because that's what the fans want. having struggles isn't part of the brand. it had to be especially rough on nick stars because there wasn't much separation between them and the characters they played. it was the amanda show. drake and josh used their real first names. the separation between who they were and who the character was was probably a very blurred line.

i wonder how long this documentary has been in production. tracking down these people and petitioning courts had to have taken ages. amanda was supposed to be at 90s con last year but cancelled due to illness and had another psychotic episode. 90s con itself may have been a trigger for her, but if someone had reached out to her or if she'd heard about this production...i could see that triggering her and making her relive the horror she went through. there are so many unsubstantiated rumors floating around. i can't speak to whether she was high on adderall during that interview when she was 12 (she could've just been a hyper child but they could've been pulling a judy garland on her and i don't trust these people plus she's said she got hooked on adderall when she was a teenager for weight loss but she may not feel comfortable disclosing if the studio has her under NDA). i can't verify if that side twitter actually belonged to amanda. it could be some sicko thought it was funny to accuse her boss of knocking her up and forcing her to get an abortion at 13 or accusing her father of various things.

but i get why she wouldn't speak up because people won't believe her no matter what she says. i went through something and people in my hometown still debate whether i'm crazy or lying for attention. my family did everything they could to put me under control and get me diagnosed as paranoid or delusional so they wouldn't face justice. (really don't get me started on how the mental healthcare system is used by abusers to cover up their sins.) i wouldn't put it past her parents to do that, especially considering amanda had a bad relationship with them as a teenager which sent her further into that groomer's clutches. she doesn't owe us anything because it'll start a firestorm that could retrigger her as people debate if she's delusional or scrutinize her past mistakes to determine if she's a perfect enough victim to deserve sympathy.

which brings me to drake bell. i knew he was the victim before i watched the doc but it still gave me chills when he sat down in that chair. like it felt like the air drained from the room. it was so obvious that what he went through has affected him so deeply and that he had no one to turn to. my abuser had so much community support, so many people making us out to be lying opportunistic bitches. i can't imagine having to carry that secret. i wonder if the people around him can pinpoint it in retrospect when he started being different. i want the other kids on set to know that it's not their fault they didn't know and that they had a bad opinion of him at some point. my sister and i were pitted against each other by the man who assaulted her and it's only with context later that i can see what was going on. i have no doubt that schneider employed these tactics so no one would feel comfortable disclosing what happened to them.

i admit that i cried watching the drake bell episode. that had to be incredibly difficult for him to open up about it after all these years and i hope he can get some closure and that someone starts a support group for these former nick stars.

and to drake bell himself. you were a child. you had no idea what grooming looks like. most grown people don't seem to know what grooming looks like based on how they talk about these issues. you are not at fault for what that man did to you or not knowing how to handle it. you didn't do anything to encourage this and you're not at fault.

and to his father. i appreciate that you did what you could to try to protect him. my mother had a similar experience trying to protect us from my abuser but everyone assumed she was psychotic and had her put away. try not to blame yourself when you were the lone voice of reason and everyone else insisted you were in the wrong. i do have fault to throw on amanda bynes' parents to some degree depending on what part of all this is true, but i can't find fault with drake bell's father who did try when he saw something wrong.

and i'm sorry but dan being super nice to drake afterwards seems like an attempt to make himself look better and get another hit show. i don't believe for a second that dan didn't know anything or that he had any motives beyond making his own star rise. he wanted to churn out product, and couldn't have that product if drake bell was visibly distraught.

i want to know how many people have known it was drake for 20 years and said nothing. how many people were in peck's side of the courtroom and yet still had the audacity to think this child was at fault in some way. that's vile and utterly unforgivable.

i just want to end this by saying to leave these people alone. don't harass anyone who hasn't spoken up because they may not be in a headspace where it's healthy of them to say anything. they don't owe us any explanation of why.