#but Luke changed it because OF COURSE he would follow Julie anywhere

[phantom-curve]

happy second birthday! 5 for juke, any au of your choice?

Thank you! Please enjoy some mildly angsty but ultimately extremely soft Juke cuddles, set in a post-canon AU where Julie brought the boys back to life.

#5: feeling their pulse

Sometimes, when she woke up in the middle of the night and was still stuck in that place where dreams felt like reality and reality felt like a dream, Julie forgot that the boys were okay now. She forgot about the hug and the stamps floating out of their skin, dissolving into the ether as if they had never existed in the first place. She forgot about the magic that had slowly but surely brought her boys back to life, real life, like blood pumping, lungs expanding, aging just like everyone else life. She forgot about the paperwork and the reunions with Luke’s parents and Bobby-no-wait-Trevor Wilson, and the completely mind-boggling realization that she got to keep them, forever, safe and sound right at her side. Because it still didn’t feel real. People died. It was a fact of life, and something Julie had learned to accept when she lost her mom way too early. People did not come back to life because of the power of friendship and love. Except her Phantoms did.

It was on those nights that Julie would go searching for Luke. Like a moth drawn to a flame, she always seemed to be able to find him no matter where he was.

Alex and Reggie weren’t fully ready to find their families again. Coming back to life itself was a big enough change for Alex. Throw in the fact that he had gotten to bring Willie along with him, and he wasn’t quite ready to add anything else to the mix just yet. Reggie did want to find out whatever had happened to his family, but Julie knew that he was also kind of okay with existing in the unknown for the time being. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him, and he was trying to decide if it would be worth the risk of learning something devastating that he would have otherwise not known.  

So, two of the boys stayed with the Molina’s. Ray had upgraded things in the studio, creating a space for Alex that was safe and private so he could be close when he wanted to and alone when he needed it. Reggie had moved into the house, not only because Carlos had practically begged him, but also because he preferred being surrounded by the family as much as he could. Luke told Julie it was probably because their family was the kind he had always dreamed of, loving and supportive and not always on the brink of arguing over nothing.

Luke, on the other hand, had mostly moved back into his parent’s house. There were some growing pains, especially because Emily and Mitch were still just generally adjusting to the fact that the son they had mourned for 25 years was back in the land of the living, but also because for Luke, those years hadn’t really happened. The fights and relationship struggles were still fresh for him, even if his parents had mostly forgotten them. Which meant that Luke still spent a lot of time either in the studio or crashing on the Molina’s couch. Julie didn’t mind, particularly on nights like tonight when she needed the solid reminder of his presence to convince herself that he wasn’t about to disappear from her life permanently and without warning.

Luke seemed to know she was coming before she appeared. He had fallen asleep on the living room couch after a late night Super Smash Brothers tournament with Reggie and Carlos, but by the time she was tiptoeing into the room, nothing but the hallway nightlight to guide her, he was sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He smiled softly at her when she entered the room.

“Hey Jules, I thought I heard you wake up.”

Julie didn’t hesitate to join him on the couch, leaning into his side when he lifted an arm in invitation. Luke leaned back against the couch, pulling her close as he wrapped the blanket around both of them. Julie let her head fall to rest on his chest, just above his heart, the steady beat echoing in her ears. She smiled when she heard it pick up, still in awe of the fact that she did that to him. Luke sighed, the sound tinged with contentment, as if his night hadn’t been quite right until she had found her way into his arms.

“Did you have another dream?”

His words were hushed, soft against her scalp as he traced his fingertips up and down her arm. She tried not to huff in response.

“Am I not allowed to cuddle you just because I want to? Do I have to have a bad dream to make it okay?”

Luke’s arm squeezed her close, his heart stuttering and then racing even faster than before.

“N-no, of course not. You know I’m always here for you. I just...wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Guilt crawled like lead through her veins. Julie blinked away the sudden tears that seemed to spring up out of nowhere, reaching across his chest to grab his unoccupied hand and pull it close. She didn’t look into his eyes as she wrapped her fingers around his wrist, her pointer and middle finger coming to rest against his radial artery, the thrumming of his pulse pumping fast and furious through his veins. She let the rhythm consume her, let it soak into her own skin as a reassurance that he was here. He was alive, real flesh and bones beneath her touch, and he was going to stay that way for as long as she had anything to say about it. Luke didn’t comment, but she knew he knew what she was doing.

“I just forget sometimes,” she whispered into the quiet room, finally dragging her eyes to his so she could drown in the sea green depths of his gaze. “I wake up and it’s like, I can’t believe it’s actually real. It’s too good to be true. And then I panic, because what if it was all just something I made up, some way of coping with my mom’s death and everything else, and I can’t even trust myself to know that you’re real.”

Julie shuddered against him, that very real fear still lurking a little too close to the surface.

“I just...needed a little reminder.”

His blood pumped sure and steady underneath the pressure of her touch. He was here. He was alive.Luke’s arms hauled her impossibly closer, body shifting to sweep her legs out from under her so that she was forced to practically lie on top of him. He wriggled slightly, so he was further underneath her instead of next to her and buried his face into the top of her head, inhaling deeply like he also needed a physical reminder of her existence. She felt the pressure of his lips against her hair, let the touch burn a fiery path along her spine.

“I’m here, Julie. I’m right here.”

Forever.

The sentiment went unspoken, but it hung between them, heavy with implication and promise. Luke wasn’t going anywhere, not as long as there was a beat to his heart or a thought in his brain. Julie knew that, logically. He had sworn it over and over again, even before the boys had actually come back to life. To the ends of the Earth, he had sung, stealing lines from a Lord Huron song and twisting them to meet his purpose, I will follow you.

He was humming now, under his breath, the sound weaving its way into Julie’s ears and lulling her to sleep within the comfort of his embrace. Not a song stolen from the radio this time, but one of their songs. One of her songs, written for him and stuffed into her dream box back when she still viewed them as an impossibility, separated by time and circumstance. The universe had different plans it seemed, a chance for true love to triumph after all.

We create a perfect harmony.

The beat of his heart slowed, the feel of it underneath her fingers mellowing into a more familiar pattern. One that spelled out the sound of home, forever and always with her.

[creativeashproductions]

If I Stay Part One // Luke Patterson

Summary: A beautiful day Luke visits a record store to relive the times he would buy an album, but he finds more than memories. He meets you and a connection blossoms between you two and then Reggie and Alex as well. All is well until Julie discovers something.

Warning: Swearing, talk of death and car accident!

Words: 2.6k

A/N: This is based off the movie If I Stay and the movie Charlie St. Cloud. Sorry for not posting sooner, my sister in law along with my three nieces were in a car accident. Thankfully the kids are okay but my sister-in-law in currently in hospital due to minor injuries thus far.

TO BE TAGGED SEND AN INBOX PLEASE!

Masterlist

So, Julie’s life changed dramatically in the lost year and few months, firstly her family lost their mother. Secondly, Julie’s love for music faded until the melody and lyrics were haunting memories. Thirdly, after losing her place in the music program, she had to question her sanity. For in her garage lived three teenage ghosts to her disbelief and horror quite frankly; the ghosts grew on her so much she was in a band with them.

In the hours that Julie was attending school, the boys tended to tour the entire city. They enjoyed seeing the changes that had happened for the two and a half decades. Reggie really enjoyed the western-themed stores, even scaring a little girl with a floating cowboy hat that disappeared once on his head. Alex adored learning about the drastic changes within in the LGBTQ+ community, he had plans for when 2021 LA Pride came in June. Luke, of course, would go anywhere that had music such as music stores, record stores, concert venues and even followed a rock legend once.

“Ooh.” A voice spoke in the record store, “This would be the perfect gift.”

Luke turned to see you gazing at the Rock N’ Roll records with a passion in your eyes and an adorable smile that melted his heart. He couldn’t help but walk closer even if he had no clue if you could see him or not.

“Def Leppard? Definitely one of my favourite bands.” Luke spoke anticipating the usual one-sided conversation. His speculation shattered when you turned to face him with big eyes, “You can see me.”

You nodded your head, pushing your hands into your faded blue jeans glancing around the store, hoping the owner didn’t notice. To your relief the man was oblivious, Luke glanced over before stepping closer.

 “You’re alive?”

“Mhm.” You spoke, removing a single hand to play with your burgundy jacket that cinched at the waist to give form. It was open to reveal a plain black shirt that left an inch of your midsection free, “I always wondered if ghosts were real. I got my answer.”

“This is so cool! My friend is the only person that can see my friends and me.” The grin was breathtaking on the teenage ghost. There was a connection between the two that was immediate and intense.

“At least you’re not alone.” You supplied turning to pick up the record, turning it around to read the tracklist. In the end, you decided you didn’t feel like buying it, replacing it you started for the front door.

A college-aged person walked in glued to the screen of the phone not replying as you mentioned a thank you before the door closed. Luke rushed to follow your steady pace in black hiking boots.

“Where are you going?” Luke questioned coming to the same stride as the girl that had taken his attention quickly. His interest had grown when he found he could hold a conversation with her.

“It’s a nice day. I thought I would go for a walk.” You replied, stopping to look around the street with curious eyes. Luke yearned for those eyes to look in his again because he swore he saw a galaxy in them, “Would you like to join me?”

Luke’s head was nodding in response with a new pep in his step as you walked down the street filled with all different kind of stores. Luke recognized Family Living Grocery store as the one that the Molina got their groceries, he and the guys had joined Julie on a trip once. It was one of his worst memories as a ghost, surrounded by snacks and food he couldn’t indulge in.

“So, what’s your story, Caspar?” You questioned stopping to look as at a beautiful dollhouse, “My cousin had one. We actually renovated it a while back for her unborn niece.”

“Caspar?” Luke teased, watching the nostalgia faded from your expression as you continued on the walk. His hazel eyes, greener at the moment, glittered at the different banter he had with you than the guys or Julie.

“Well, I don’t know your name!” You exclaimed turning the corner at a parlour with gorgeous stencilled artwork on the glass.

“Luke. My name is Luke. Hey! I know this shop!” Luke beamed, stepping back to take in the storefront. In the twenty-five years since he last saw it, the blue faded into a teal, but the door was still the same as it always was.

“You have a tattoo?” You asked, scanning his arms bare in the cut off shirt he wore. You couldn’t see any ink on his skin. Luke couldn’t help the smirk on his face at the blatant heated gaze.

“No. It was 1994. We just played our biggest gig at the time, and Bobby decided we should get tattoos.” Luke’s mouth twisted at the mention of his former friend, “Of course we were sixteen and Alex just about fainted in the shop. The guy took one look at Reggie and laughed at our fake IDs. Told us to come back in a few years.”

One of the few memories that weren’t tainted by the betrayal that Trevor Wilson had gone on to do a year after the tattoo fiasco. It was more than not being credited or his songs being stolen, but it was also that someone he wholeheartedly trusted turned his back on them. Luke frankly didn’t care how Bobby coped after that fateful night. Still, he changed his name and refused any mention of his previous music experience. That hurt a lot.

“So, you’re a ’90s kid.” You raised an eyebrow coming to a stop on the edge of the street, pressing the button to cross.

“Technically a ’70s kid. We died in ’95 a few hours before a life-changing gig.” The mood turned sombre as Luke thought back on that one night that life decided to raise both middle fingers at his dreams, “Death by a hot dog.”

The snicker fell from your mouth before you do anything about it but sobered up quickly in the view of his painful admittance.

“So, you’re seventeen?” You asked crossing when the crosswalk light flickered on. Your attention focused on crossing while listening to the teenager.

“Forever seventeen but I would eighteen physically, but if I had survived I would be forty-three.” Luke mused shoving his hands into his staple black jeans with the chains and his constant accessory of a blue rabbit’s foot.

“Oh, damn. I’ve seventeen as well.” You replied dodging pedestrians before humming a to a song you had heard recently but where you did was unknown. You didn’t want to bump into anyone.

Luke glanced down at his watch, somehow even in death it worked, noticing that it was around the time rehearsal would commence. The thought barely ended before a flash of light preceded Alex’s presence. You slightly jumped in response.

“Luke! Julie’s wondering where you are. We have rehearsal.” Alex was surprised that Luke wasn’t already at the studio. He was always the first one holding his guitar for the rest of them.

One glance at the girl beside Luke cemented a reason for his tardiness. Alex could see that you were the reason and a pretty reason too. Alex wished he had your jacket with such a beautiful colour, but the music was more important.

“Oh, man!” Luke panicked fearing that being late would cause Julie to leave the band after the whole school dance fiasco.

“So, Luke. I like your name by the way. I’m Y/N.” You greeted holding back from offering you a hand, your theory would have been proven correct. Ghosts can’t touch other people, all the movies portrayed that.

“Nice to meet you! I’ll find you soon!” Luke shouted seconds before Alex poofed them both away with a single hand on his bandmate’s shoulder.

A content smile appeared before you continued on your way, unaware of the lack of acknowledgement from people on the street.

The next few days, Luke would find you either in the record store or just out front during his free time. He hadn’t realized how lonely he was touring the music entertainment spots until he had your company. Soon you were joined by Alex and Reggie every once in a while.

The three were planning outings with their new lifer friend as Julie grabbed her songbook from her room. She was amused when the three wouldn’t shut up.

“What are you planning?” Julie questioned scanning their animated expressions, even taking in the slight change in Alex’s appearance.

Alex had a braided bracelet of the rainbow on his left wrist that definitely hadn’t been there yesterday. He even seemed calmer and less anxious, as well.

“What happened to Alex?” Julie questioned with a small smirk, “Did you bump into Willie?”

Alex shook his head, “No, Luke met this girl at a record store and then Reggie and I met her. She’s cool! There’s this app she showed us, and it had videos of anything you could imagine!”

Julie’s teasing smile faltered at the mention of Luke meeting someone before it returned once more. She pushed the feeling away as this girl had brought peace to the drummer.

“What’s her name?” Julie asked, pushing the songbook away to listen intently to the new piece of the boys’ afterlife. The three burst into stories of the girl.

“She took me to this cool place nearby where people store their horses!” Reggie burst out, clapping his head, “I already have a country song started! This is so a hit single for our future country album!”

Alex only released an exasperated sigh at Reggie’s idea that he voiced every single day since the beginning of the band. Luke was just used to finding sheets of songs from Reggie around the studio and often his songbook too.

“She also brought me a bag of clothing she had in her house that she let me go through. Apparently, her house is the place where cousins take their old clothing.” Alex supplied striking a pose in his new white sweater with a rainbow logo on the front.

Julie grinned at the positivity radiating off the two boys.

“Is she a ghost?”

Luke shook his head, “No. She’s alive.”

A spark of happiness flits itself inside of Julie before it dissipated because Flynn had already gently let the girl down about Luke.

“What’s her name! I’m gonna find her Instagram!” Julie took out her phone waiting as Alex supplied her the name. Her thumbs froze before she could type staring down at the black screen.

The name was familiar.

Laying on a bed on San Pablo Street was a girl with her eyes closed and a serene expression. This bed wasn’t just any bed in a home. Instead, this bed was one no one wished to be in. A bed with machines surrounding and right in the middle of those machines was Y/N.

The very girl that had met Luke, Reggie and Alex were in fact in the ICU of a hospital recovering in a coma.

“Why do you look like that?” Luke demanded as the colour drained from the lead singer of their band.

“Are you sure it was Y/N Y/L/N?” Julie gulped dread filling her veins as each boy nodded their head and the girl slumped, “I go to school with her. The thing is she’s been in a coma for two weeks now.”

You were outside the record store once more as the three ghosts appeared in front of you each looking the worst you had ever seen them.

“Did you lie?” Luke questioned stepping closer to the teenage girl that furrowed her brows in confusion, “You said that you are alive. Why did you lie?”

“Lie?” You asked, taking a step back from the odd energy the boys had. A look of distraught on each face, “What are you talking about?”

“Why are you here every day at this exact time. Never late, never early.” Alex questioned sick to his stomach as your brows came together.

“I- walk…” You trailed off thinking of the last week in deep thought paling as you had no recollection of going home or getting to the store. It was like you blacked out each time.

Actually, the last time you remember not being with the guys or at the store was two weeks ago.

“I don’t re…member.” You whispered, “I haven’t seen my family since…oh my god.”

Luke stepped closer, terrified as he reached out, hoping with his entire being his hand would go through you. It didn’t. Luke’s hand rested on your arm, still wearing that burgundy jacket. Your eyes flickered between his solid hand and the same outfit you wore for weeks now. Why would you be wearing a jacket and hiking boots in Los Angeles?

“My cousin had been saving up for a trip for her eighteenth birthday. She wanted to go skiing, so we split the cost between our families.”

As if a wall broke, you realized with horror that the college boy that hadn’t held the for you like you first thought. He hadn’t seen or heard you because in his world you weren’t there. No one had acknowledged you because they couldn’t see you just like they couldn’t see Luke.

“What else do you remember?” Reggie spoke up next, noticing that Luke was getting more upset. His eyes going so light the green appeared to be blue and glittered with tears and his heart dropping.

“My parents, my cousin and I were driving up the mountain in the rented car. There-“

Two Weeks Ago

Your head leaned again Lou’s head sharing the headphones connected to your phone blasting the carefully curated playlist. Lou had been living with your parents and you the last six months as her parents were travelling for work. It was a dream because she was like a sister already and vice versa; Lou as a surprise baby with her older sister being ten years older.

“We haven’t been to the slopes since we first got married.” Dad said glancing over at your mother in the passenger seat, “Didn’t we conceive-“

“Dad! Gross!” You shouted, wrinkling your nose as he glanced in the rear-view mirror to smile at your antics. Your mother’s laugh was probably one of your most favourite sounds in the world, it was warm like hot chocolate on a cold day.

“Did you see that video of the hologram band?” Lou asked, not paying attention to your family’s antics, “It’s super cool.”

“We still have half of our playlist to go through. You should show me when we get to the cabin.” You replied, “We could put it on the projector with the others.”

The others being your extended family, including the surprise of Lou’s parents. Your mother pointed out the snow on the mountain gaining everyone’s attention. It was beautiful compared to sunny Los Angeles.

Lou’s thumb was just about to click the video of Julie and the Phantoms against your wishes. You felt the fear before the yell, snapping your head up you watched as a pickup truck hit ice swerving into your lane. The screech of tires preceded the crunch of the vehicles hitting each other. Throughout the surrounding area, the echoes of the crash bounced off the mountains scaring birds away. Miraculously Lou’s phone survived the crash and played the electric video of ‘Edge of Great’ by Julie and the Phantoms. A song you would hum under your breath during your walks meeting the guys.

The snow turned red under four of five bodies. You lay nonconscious a stark difference in the burgundy jacket and black shirt you had painstakingly chosen that morning.

If I Stay Part Two (Final)

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[cloudshapedpatch]

sing me a lullaby (don’t tell your boss what to do)

a super indulgent, tooth-rotting fluffy Julie and the Phantoms one shot.

julie can’t sleep so she goes to her boys for comfort. no plot. just sugar.

or! read on ao3 here

* * * *

Some nights, Julie could sleep like a rock. The band had found she was a surprisingly heavy sleeper, and could fall into a deep REM cycle within minutes. She was notorious for being able to fall asleep anywhere if she was tired enough. 

Tonight was not one of those nights. 

After many hours of tossing and turning, 3 relaxing YouTube videos and maybe a few too many melatonin gummies, Julie gave up on sleep. 

Her go-to solution to any problem nowadays was to see her boys, so without much thought, she slipped into her favorite funky monster slippers and made her way out the front door. 

The cold night air slapped her cheeks with a little alertness, and a little sense. If she went out to the studio, she was sure to stay up all night. Alas, it was still 2 in the morning, and her better judgement had set with the sun. She didn’t have anything really important to do tomorrow, right? 

She opened one of the studio doors and squinted against the lights, too bright in contrast to the darkness of the house.

“Jules! What are you doing up?” Reggie was the first to notice her arrival, standing up to guide her to the couch (giving up his own seat and opting to sit on the floor in front of her; she failed to notice in her fatigued state). 

“Couldn’t sleep,” Julie mumbled, rubbing her eyes. 

“Jeez, you’re shivering,” Luke was always quick to worry about her, “Why didn’t you grab a coat?” 

Alex had already taken off his pink sweatshirt and laid it in her lap before she could answer. As she slipped it on, she noted that while it was not warm like a living teen boy’s sweater should be, it was still warmer than she was expecting, and she was glad to have a little bit of extra heat. 

After having taken a couple of moments to recover from being outside (she’d admit, it was colder than she was expecting), she went to answer the boys’ questions, but giggled at the sight of them. Alex and Reggie had sat themselves down right at her feet and Luke was seated on the armchair next to her, all looking like curious puppies waiting for a treat. 

“Well??” They said at the same time, only filling Julie with more mirth. 

“Nothing, I just knew coming in here would make me feel better.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew she should have changed her wording. Luke stood up and was demanding she tell him who hurt her feelings, Reggie had attached himself to her legs, resting his cheek on her bare knees comfortingly, and Alex was halfway out the door, saying he’d figure out how to make a cup of tea. 

A fit of giggles later, Julie explained she just couldn’t sleep and was doing fine emotionally. It was only after the boys had sat back down that Julie asked what they had been doing before. 

“Just a little bit of lyric writing. Can’t play with the melody until everyone leaves for the day tomorrow, but it works for us.” Luke shrugged, looking toward his abandoned notebook on the piano. 

“Ooh, let me help!” 

“Uhh…” Reg and Alex said together, in their usual harmonised way, looking anywhere but at her.

“Look, Julie,” Luke started, and she already knew what he was gonna say, “You got school in the morning. You shouldn’t be writing.”

“No no no, it’s fine! Writing will tire my brain out, you know?” They didn’t look convinced, so she continued, “My thoughts are running a mile a minute, let me get ‘em out on paper. Please?”

All three boys looked away from her then, mumbling about how difficult it was to say no when she pouted. Finally they gave in, and they led her to the piano to pore over the notebook. 

Of course, they only got a few lines down before Reggie was throwing wads of paper at Alex, and Julie played Never Gonna Give You Up as softly as she could while simultaneously keeping her laughter down (the boys were fascinated that she knew the song since it had come out when they were young, which prompted a short lesson on memes and Rick Rolling. Reggie was especially enthralled by this). 

Luke gave up writing and went to the dart board, where Julie had hopped off the piano bench and challenged him. Not being one to back down, he and Julie played while Reg and Alex cheered them on. Alex humored her while Reggie was convinced no one could beat Luke at darts. He was right, but Julie didn’t mind so much, especially after Julie got to over-exaggerate her pity party and receive a nice long hug from her opponent, sharing an amused look with Alex while Luke rocked them back and forth. 

“I could go for some nachos right now.”

“You always want nachos, Reg.”

“Again, Reginald?”

It took Julie a moment to think through his statement (hey, it was past 3am, she had brain fog to wade through). Ever since the night they opened at the Orpheum, the boys found they could do other small things besides touch Julie, like eat, and much to Reggie's delight, take showers. 

She just giggled and grabbed Reggie by the hand, starting the short trek to the house, knowing the other two would follow. For a moment, she had forgotten what she was wearing, but stepping back into the cold night reminded her. She had walked out of the house wearing her pajama shorts and a short-sleeved crop top, and she was drowning in Alex’s hoodie. Her face heated at the thought of all the boys seeing her in nearly nothing but the large pink sweatshirt, playing off the color in her cheeks as windchill.

But she should have known the boys wouldn't have behaved.

Because while nothing the boys said would be able to be heard by her father or brother, the results of their actions were definitely audible. Alex was trying to heat the queso, but he spent too much effort trying not to drop the jar that he forgot about the spoon, which clattered loudly to the ground. All four froze in terror until Luke burst into laughter because some cheese had splattered into Julie’s hair, and she replied by smudging some cheese onto his nose. And after the ensuing cheese-throwing war, the kitchen was not a pretty sight. The mere thought of her dad coming down to see his daughter covered in cheese, alone, in the middle of the night, in their equally messy kitchen brought shivers. She’d surely be back to seeing Dr. Turner three days a week. 

The boys did their best to clean, but mostly entertained Julie while she wiped up the mess and carried the plate of nachos back to the studio (how long does it take a band of three dead teen boys to make a plate of nachos? apparently, 38 minutes) before they flopped on the ground in a big pile. Julie laid with her head on Luke’s chest, who had his head on Alex’s lap. Reggie laid on Julie’s legs and she ran her hands through his surprisingly soft hair as they slowly worked through the plate. 

“Hey Julie? Will you sing me a lullaby?”

“Are you serious?” Julie turned her head slightly to see him more clearly. She almost laughed, but then saw the look in his eyes, and couldn’t tell if he was serious or about to tease her. “Luke, you guys don’t even sleep.”

“Aw, c’mon Jules,” Reg begged, “You have such a nice voice.”

“The voice of an angel.” Luke added. Julie pushed all thoughts of the song she never let herself write down, yet constantly played in her dreams, and hoped that they couldn’t see the flush creeping down her neck.

“Fine. But only because I love y’all.”

Alex wiggled excitedly from under her as she cleared her throat and started to sing A Thousand Years (Julie was sort of glad they had died 25 years ago. She would virtually never run out of new material to impress them with, and Christina Perri was a classic). At some point Alex had laid down too, and Reggie had closed his eyes as Julie kept scratching his scalp as she sang. Luke ran his fingers over her shoulder as if he were strumming his guitar. And everything was alright.

A large yawn took over Julie’s voice just as she finished the song.

“Alright, time for bed, little miss.” Alex joked, poking her tongue as her mouth opened in another yawn. 

She swatted his hand away yet made no effort to get up, instead choosing to nestle further into Luke’s neck. “Sorry, can’t, Reggie fell asleep on me.”

Reggie cracked one eye open. “Nice try. We don’t sleep, remember?” Reggie climbed off her and grabbed her hands, pulling her to a stand. 

The blood rushed from her head down to her toes, causing her vision to turn dark and her balance swayed. Before she could catch herself, Luke had scooped her up into his arms. 

“Come on boys. We got a girl to tuck in.”

“Yes sir.”

“At your service.”

Julie played off her wheeze as a snort of amusement, burying her face into her hands. A few moments passed and they didn’t move, so she peeked out from between her fingers, only to see all three boys looking over her like she was exactly what they asked for for their birthday.

She yelped in surprise which only caused the boys to laugh. Julie huffed and crossed her arms, pursing her lips to keep from smiling.

“Oh, lighten up, boss. We’re going now.”

And then he was smiling that smile that he usually reserved for when they were alone or on stage. She snorted (for real this time, but still in an effort to keep her composure) and poked his cheek. 

For the fourth time that night, the cold night air whipped at her legs and face as Luke and the boys carried her to her bedroom. Reggie made an offhand comment on how absurd it would look if Ray woke up and saw his daughter floating around the house, and Julie had to slap her hand to her mouth to keep from laughing aloud; the boys all laughing loudly without restraint didn’t help.

And finally, once they were in the safety of her bedroom, they did exactly what they said they would. Alex tucked the pink hood inside the sweater so she could lay on it more comfortably (“You look all cozy, you can sleep in it for tonight.”), Reggie pulled back the covers and fluffed the pillows. 

Julie felt like a princess, being pampered by these boys who had crashed into her life and nestled their way into her heart. Luke even laid her down, hand supporting her neck, and all three of them literally tucked her in. 

“Hey guys? Will you sing me a lullaby?”

They groaned, mumbling together about karma, payback, and song recommendations. Eventually they settled themselves on her bed and sang her a song she didn’t recognize, one that must have been vaguely popular in the 90’s. It was soothing, and she felt the tugs of sleep start to take her under.

She must have dozed off, because she awoke to some shuffling, opening her eyes to see the boys tip-toeing out of her room.

“Luke,” 

She hadn’t meant to say it out loud. She had been thinking of him (and the fuzzy lingerings of a dream lined the edges of her mind, one with Luke and a magical dance and that sweet smile of his). But all three boys stopped, before Alex pushed Reggie through the door with a wink.

“You okay? Need anything?”

Her words failed her, heart full and eyes nearly brimming with tears. She scooted over and pulled back the covers, patting the sheets next to her and avoiding his eyes.

Just like she knew he would, he made no comment but slid into the bed and let Julie resume her earlier position on his chest. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled the covers back over them both and wrapped his arms around her back, keeping her close. 

Idly, she noted how much she liked laying on the boys (and especially him) because they were the perfect cuddling temperature. Not too hot, but not cold. Plus, she reasoned with herself, if he was nervous, at least he wouldn’t overheat the bed. 

Wait. Nervousness. She was sure Luke could feel her pounding heart, beating like thunder against his too-quiet chest. He didn’t say anything, just rolled her curls between his fingers as they laid in comfortable silence. 

Her thoughts began to wander, instead of relishing in the moment like she longed to do, but thoughts of all the boys had done for her, not just tonight, but in all the months she had known them. 

And then his thumbs were running over her cheeks, whispering soothing words and lifting her face, locking their eyes. Her cheeks were wet. She must have started crying.

“Happy tears, don’t worry about it.” 

He looked back at her quizzically.

“I was just thinking about how grateful I am that you guys are in my life.” She bit back the ‘especially you’ that fought to escape.

“We’ll always be here, Julie. You’re okay. Just go to sleep. I’ll wake you around 6? You’ll need to take a shower.” Luke took his hands out of her hair to show her a bit of cheese he picked out. 

Julie covered a laugh again, resting her head back on his chest, relishing in his company and willingness to do whatever she asked. And she fell asleep, for real this time, with his fingers in her hair and soft hums pulling her into the best sleep she’d had in a while. 

And never had she felt happier than that morning, Luke softly singing her into consciousness while Reggie brought her a cup of hot coffee and Alex picking her outfit for the day. 

Bonus:

Julie came home from school later that day exhausted but overjoyed. Flynn had teased her endlessly, but she was too happy to care.

Like she did every day, she said hello to her family before going into the studio to do her homework.

But her brain short circuited as she opened the door and found all three boys jumping up from their seats to greet her, Luke wearing Alex’s pink hoodie. It was a little small for him around the arms, not leaving much to be imagined. Julie felt her eyes grow wide, her brows climbing higher, but unable to fix her face or look away.

Alex, never one to miss a cue, nodded his chin towards Luke. “He insisted on wearing it today cause it smelled like you.”

Luke sidestepped to him and whacked him with the back of his hand, but the message had been received. She’d think about that later. For now, she had math homework and a cuddle pile with her ghosts to continue. 

[aro-of-artemis]

no grave can hold my body down (i'll crawl home to her)

A jukebox soulmate au where your missing stuff finds its way to your soulmate.

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29147940

They say that there's someone who makes up the rest of your soul. That they're your perfect match and once you meet them, once you touch them, your wandering souls will be fused back together, whole and unbroken.

 Luke's not sure who they are. But honestly, he just wishes his shit would stop going permanently missing. You lose something and it's sucked through some kind of hole in space-time to be found by your soulmate. Luke would really like to have a conversation with whoever came up with this system cause it sucks.

 Cause he's a forgetful guy. His brain is always going a million miles an hour, with at least three different trains of thought chugging away and sometimes the tracks cross and there's a collision and all the passengers have to bail out and it's just a mess, okay? Keeping track of his stuff tends to fall by the wayside a little bit.

 It's how he lost his favourite beanie. And don't get him started on the number of individual socks that have just poofed themselves out of existence. He always has to have a box of new guitar picks handy because as soon as it's not in his hand or clamped between his teeth, it's as if it never existed. He just hopes his soulmate appreciates them.

 But it's a give and take. He'll reach into his pocket to find scrunchies, hair clips, endless bobby pins. Just generic stuff that tells him very little about who his soulmate is except that they probably have long hair. (Once, he found one long, dark hair curling around the folds of a scrunchie. He keeps it tucked between the pages of a notebook, stashed away on his bookshelf.)

 (And yeah: they. He's spent a lot of time thinking about this. He's had crushes on all sorts of people and their gender never really made a difference, but his introspection also leads to a solid black ring resting on the middle finger of his right hand.)

 One day, he opens his school bag to find a homework page that does not belong to him. He looks at it, front and back, scouring for a name, a hint, a clue, feeling a thing with feathers rise behind his ribs, reducing his lung capacity and making him draw in shallower breaths. But nothing. Just the slightly messy handwriting of someone who thinks faster than they can write. He sighs and stuffs it back in his bag, reluctantly retrieving his maths book. His frustrated sigh must have been audible because Reggie leans over from his own desk.

 "Hey, you all right, man?' His eyebrows are drawn up together, lines of concern creasing his face.

 "Yeah, yeah. Just soulmate stuff junking up my bag."

 It's not always junk, though. A bracelet turns up on his bedside table. He starts wearing it every day. He refuses to take it off, even to sleep. Sheet music to an unfamiliar song is found wedged between his records. This particular item makes his heart beat faster, his chest tingling and warm. Because they're a musician too. It makes sense, of course. No way his soulmate could not like music. It's basically Luke's entire soul (or half soul, he guesses). But the confirmation makes him feel both calmer and more anxious. He wants to meet this person.

 His favourite item to ever turn up is a photo. A woman and a little kid sit in a field, turned towards each other, faces pointed away from the camera. But he can see their smiles. He sleeps with it next to his face on the pillow the night he finds it because he doesn't want to look away. In the morning, he tucks it into the back of his song-writing journal where he keeps the rest of his heart.

 At 17, he and his best friends are on the precipice of being legends. As he pulls his guitar from the case, a long, striped scarf flutters to the ground, the kind someone might tie in their hair or loop around their wrist. He ties it around his bicep for good luck. It makes him feel like his soulmate is there, by his side, cheering him on.

 They meet a girl - Rose - who looks so familiar. Something about her smile. But he just can't quite put a finger on it. All he knows is that her presence is reassuring. Safe. He doesn't know her but he feels a tug in his chest that says family. The same tug he feels when he looks at Alex and Reggie and Bobby. (He's changed his mind, his half of his shared soul is made up of these three dorks and the music they make together.)

 And then he dies. As darkness closes in around him, he thinks I'm sorry, boys and I'll never get to meet them.

  ---

 "Flynn!" Julie whines. "I can't find my homework anywhere!"

 Flynn rolls her eyes. "Did you check your school bag?"

 "Yes," Julie bites out, not actually mad at Flynn, just at the situation.

 "Your desk?" A nod. "Your dad's car? Under your bed? Your locker?"

 Julie has to stop her. She knows from experience that Flynn'll just keep going. "Yes, it's not anywhere."

 Flynn shrugs nonchalantly, a smirk pulling the corner of her mouth. "Well, guess it's gone to your soulmate then."

 Julie groans loudly in frustration. She pulls her beanie (their beanie) down over her eyes and slumps back against her locker, trying desperately to not look like she's pouting but definitely pouting. Flynn just gives her an unimpressed look.

 Julie breathes out harshly through her nose and resigns herself to retrieving the schoolwork she does have from her locker.

 "Ugh, gross!" she exclaims, fishing a pair of boxers out from where they had appeared in the dark recesses of her locker.

 Flynn's snort turns into a full belly laugh as Julie holds them away from her body, arm extended as if she were holding hazardous waste.

 She chucks them back in and slams the door shut. "Come on, let's get to class."

 Flynn follows, tripping over herself as she continues to laugh her way down the hall.

 ---

 Julie isn't sure who her soulmate is or whether she knows them already. Of course, it's pretty rare to meet them in high school, but a girl can dream. Unfortunately, it seems that her soulmate is terrible at doing laundry because she'll often find individual socks lying on her bedroom floor and undies crumpled in the corner of her bathroom. The beanie that turns up is quickly added into regular rotation and if it isn't on her head, it's tucked into her bedside table. The muscle tank threw an interesting spanner in the works as it set her mind to imagining the kind of person who might wear something like that. (She might, maybe become a person who wears something like that. Occasionally. When the desire strikes her.)

 She's fairly certain that they're a musician. She's constantly finding half-written lyrics strewn around her room in the most atrocious handwriting seen outside of a doctor's office. The lyrics - those that are legible - are beautiful. Occasionally they'll be lyrics to a Trevor Wilson song, though, which is a bit weird but she assumes they must just be a big fan. She appreciates their good taste.

 Another hint is the guitar picks. She finds them everywhere: in her sock draw, between the pages of her school books, next to her toothbrush. One memorable time, she found a pick snarled in her hair. And all of them, every last one, are covered in tooth marks. As if her soulmate has a habit of chewing on their guitar picks. It's kinda gross. Even so, she collects them in a jar on her desk with the date she'd found them written on the back.

 ---

 The boys turn up and her life is turned right-side up. She tells them to stay out of her room. Constantly. Boundaries, she reminds them. Alex and Reggie get it, they can respect her personal space. But, Luke. She knows he goes in there because he keeps leaving his stuff everywhere.

 On this day she finds his flannel just draped across her bed, as if he's trying to irritate her. She snatches it up and storms down to the studio.

 "Luke!" she shouts as she enters the studio, ready to tear him a new one. "What have I told you about going in my roo-"

 She stops short because all three boys are ripping the place apart, looking for something. When he turns around to face her, she sees tears wetting his face that he quickly tries to swipe away. Her heart leaps into her throat.

 "Luke, what's wrong?" she tries to ask but is interrupted.

 "You found it!" His voice is a little watery but exuberant.

 "I -- what?" she shoots him a quizzical look.

 "My flannel. Well - my dad's flannel, but -" he cuts himself off, scrubbing his fist over his eyes.

 Julie scoffs a little, gently. "Yeah, dude. You left it in my room."

 His eyebrows furrow in that way of his.

 "No, I didn't."

 "Uh, yeah. You did."

 "I haven't been in your room."

 "Well, clearly you have," she says, shaking the flannel a little and holding it out to him.

 "Thanks," he says softly as he grabs it, still looking at it with a bewildered expression. But he shrugs it on and uses the sleeve to wipe away what remains of his tears.

 When Julie looks over at Reggie and Alex, they're exchanging a meaningful look that Julie can't quite read. When they notice her gaze, they both glance away, once again fascinated with the chairs on the ceiling.

 Huh.

 ---

  "Julie! Stop leaving your homework in my song-writing journal!"

 "I didn't put it there!"

 "Well who did, then?"

 The patented Reggie and Alex LookTM makes an appearance.

 ---

 "Hey! I used to have a beanie like that!"

 "Uhuh."

 "I did! It was my favourite until I lost it."

 Julie nods but doesn't look up from her homework.

 ---

 "Ew, gross, Luke! Why do guitarists chew on their picks?"

 He shrugs a little sheepishly. "It just helps me think. Besides, if I put it down it just kind of … disappears into the void." He gestures vaguely at the aforementioned void.

 "That's true," Reggie pipes up. "He's always got a back-up supply!"

 Alex scoffs a little. "Yeah, but he's the only guitarist I know who chews on his picks."

 "Well my soulmate chews on theirs," Julie puts in, "So Luke's not the only one."

 She hears the implement in question clatter to the piano. When she looks at Luke his eyes are wide and a little sad. None of them had really talked about soulmates. She's not sure about the implications that being dead has on finding a soulmate. None of them had found theirs before they died.

 Alex, however. He'd managed to literally run into his soulmate in ghost form, so who knows. She's not sure if there are any rules. Whether both parties have to be dead or if one can be alive.

 (If she's honest with herself, she's spent a fair amount of time thinking about this. Thinking about Luke. She pushes the thought away when it pops up cause it's not possible but it always creeps back in. But they can't even touch so it’s a moot point. That longed-for skin-to-skin contact that bridges the gap between souls remains elusive. The silly daydream of a love-struck girl.)

 ---

 "Julie," Flynn says worriedly as they sidle up to their lockers, "Where's your ring?"

 "My rin-" she lifts her right hand to her face and studies her empty middle finger with distraught consternation. The space where delicate twists of black metal usually sit is bare. "My ring! I - I'm sure I put it on this morning."

 "Yeah, I saw you wearing it," Flynn confirms, her eyebrows furrowing.

 Julie can feel a tide rising in her throat, swelling up behind her eyes, each crash of the sea battering against her ribcage in a heartbeat tattoo.

 A poof to her right interrupts her rising panic. She looks at Luke, eyes wide and watering.

 "Julie! I came to bri- What's wrong?" he cuts himself off when he notices her distress.

 "My ring is gone!" Her voice is tight, as if trapped in her throat.

 Flynn had cottoned on Luke's presence and had begun to move around to where he stands to prevent their peers from thinking Julie's well and truly gone off the deep end. (Julie thinks distantly how grateful she is for such a wonderful friend.)

 Bafflingly, a bright smile splits Luke's face. "This ring?" And pinched between his pointer finger and thumb is Julie's ring.

 Julie's entire body visibly relaxes and it's as if her spine contracts a couple inches, muscles no longer held taut by emotion, the tide pulls out.

 "Where did you find that?" Her voice is practically a whisper now, adrenaline having sapped all energy.

 Luke shrugs nonchalantly. "It was in my pick container for some reason."

 Creases form on Julie's face but she gratefully receives the piece of jewellery. She slips it into its rightful place and when she looks up she realises Luke's eyes have gone wide. Her eyebrows pull up into a question.

 "You -- no, sorry, nevermind." He shakes his head and takes a step back. Julie moves forward a step. Flynn glances around to make sure no one is watching.

 "No, Luke, it's okay. What's wrong?"

 He shakes his head again, eyebrows drawing together and the hint of a smile on his lips. Instead of answering, he reaches his right palm out to touch hers, letting their rings knock together.

 "Oh," Julie breathes. She's not sure how she'd missed it before. Maybe just that it had blended in with all his other rings.

 "Yeah," he says, bashful, "Oh."

 Julie smiles at him and he smiles right back.

 ---

 The Orpheum happens. And the boys are clinging to the last shreds of themselves and she's crying out Go, save yourselves.

 But No music is worth making, Julie, if we're not making it with you.

 And she hugs him. And she can feel him. The places their skin meet spark with some cosmic electricity but there's no time to dwell on it because she has to save Alex and Reggie too.

 It isn't until later, when Reggie exclaims, "Hey, what's that on your back?"

 She twists around, glimpsing the shape of a hand darkening the skin of her lower back. Her head whips around to look at Luke and she notices. "Luke, your shoulder!"

 One hand flies up to his left shoulder, tracing over the darkened patch where Julie's palm had first rested against his skin. Their eyes lock.

 "You're-"

 "We're-"

 She's not sure who's making which language-adjacent sound.

 Alex is looking back and forth between them, a grin pulling across his face while Reggie's mouth hangs open in realisation. But they stay quiet. The see, told you so's will be saved for later.

 Julie starts moving, crossing the room towards Luke. Luke seems to shake out of a stupor, surging towards her as well. They meet in the middle, her arms once again wrapping around his neck in a replay of their earlier embrace. His hands find their spot on her back.

 "It's you, it's really you - " she's babbling. She continues to babble. Luke moves a hand up to smooth back her hair and gently places his lips against her forehead, finally causing her tongue to cease. The touch is so painfully tender it feels like a branding iron against her skin. They stay there for a century or so, just rocking to an inaudible beat, clinging to one another.

 Finally, Luke tucks his chin so that he can rest their foreheads together, breathing the same air.

 "You're amazing, Julie Molina. I would die a thousand times to find you."

 She nods, unable to form words cause, yeah, so would she.

 They pull back and her eyes slide over left arm, landing on the scarf tied there. "My scarf!" She tugs on it a little.

 Luke chuckles, sliding his palm along her jaw. Realisation crosses his face. "Oh, that is my beanie."

 His head whips up and around when loud guffaws break past stifling hands. Alex and Reggie have dissolved into borderline hysterics. He looks back at Julie whose eyes fill with shared mirth. A laugh bubbles up in his own chest, spilling over and out of his mouth.

 And finally, surrounded by Alex and Reggie and Julie, his soul is complete.

[niamaggie]

100 - Julie and the Phantoms Prompts

In honor of my favorite holiday and one of my more recent obsessions, I have been posting fic prompts over on the Julie and the Phantoms Discord server (https://discord.gg/2WC6GD23UT). Today I reached a milestone of 100 prompts and decided to masterpost them here. 

Some of these are fluffy, but many are angsty/whumpy, but they’re all ones that have popped off in my brain in the last month or so. Many are of the guys and Julie, but they’re are prompts for pretty much every character. I’ve done my best to put triggers before the actual prompt, but if I’m missing any, please let me know.

These are free to use, however, I do ask that you tag me or send me a message if you decide to fill one since I would love to read it and add it to this list. <3 

Prompt 1: *Triggers - Body Horror* The Phantoms feed off of Julie’s energy to stay corporeal. The more energy, the longer they can stay visible and the easier they can interact with everyone. At first, it’s really great. The guys get to meet everyone officially and things are looking up. But, Julie is having a harder time staying awake and keeping it together. She feels guilty since she loves how the guys are able to enjoy themselves. She doesn’t want to end that for them. Eventually, she can’t keep up anymore and tells them what’s going on. Queue cuddle time to recharge and talk it all out. They decide to slowly build up Julie’s abilities. Bonus: ALL THE CUDDLES

Prompt 2: What if Julie knew Caleb outside of the guys (maybe history with her mom)? What if she considered him family and didn’t realize he was the one causing issues with the guys? They run into each other when Caleb comes after the Orpheum performance expecting the band to take his deal. Julie: “Uncle Caleb?” “Julie?!”

 Prompt 3: *Triggers - Nightmare* Julie has a night terror after the Orpheum performance, thinking the guys are gone. She runs into the studio and the guys are all there sleeping/napping. She breaks down, and just grabs onto them and won’t let go. They all cuddle her to calm her down, telling her they are still there. They all fall asleep on the couch.

 Prompt 4: *Triggers - Child Neglect, Child Mental Abuse, & Anxiety* There’s more to Alex’s story with his family than what Luke said. They don’t just disapprove of him; they outright pretend he doesn’t exist. It gets to a point where he completely breaks down in the studio after having a bad practice day (the kind of day where nothing is going right). Being a ghost, is like what his family did to him, but on a much bigger scale. It’s much harder to deal with... Just want the band to comfort him, please?

Prompt 5: *Triggers - Mental Health* Reggie really, really wants to be able to interact with Julie’s family. Now that they can touch her, he shyly asks if they can officially meet them. “If that’s ok?” “It’s just they..” She beams and says, “ Of course.” Reggie just hugs her super tight with watery eyes.

 Prompt 6: *Triggers - Murder* The hotdog’s weren’t rancid; they were poisoned. Why did someone want Sunset Curve dead? (Not Bobby/Trevor)

 Prompt 7: With all the new found fame for “Julie and the Phantoms”, the band starts amassing quite a fan following. One particular “fan” thinks Julie doesn’t deserve/is good enough to be playing with them. They’re determined that she needs to go. #ProtectiveGhosts.

 Prompt 8: Hanging out with the boys has some perks (especially since they can now touch). With practice, the guys can do a lot more than just poof away. So, they decide to use more ghostly tricks on Julie in their set/show. Julie phasing through the boys like in Bright, teleporting her to different areas of the stage, helping her with magical costume changes?

 Prompt 9: Ray decides he needs to meet the boys, especially after that performance. If nothing else, he just wants to thank them for saving his daughter and his family. When he does meet them (and catches the little things they say about their families), he decides to officially/unofficially adopt them into the family. There is no way he can let any child (let alone these ones) think that no adult is in their corner.

 Prompt 10: The boys being involved with Julie’s family. Simple things like helping set up the dinner table (spots for all of them and Julie’s mom) and talking about their day. Cue, Tia Victoria showing up and being condescending/rude to the family. So, the boys decide a little payback is in order. Meanwhile, the Molinas just sit there and are like “What are you talking about? We didn’t see/hear anything?”.. #TheBoysDon’tPutUpWithThat

 Prompt 11: *Triggers - Physical Abuse* - Julie notices things are off with “Nick”. She can’t explain it, but she knows something isn’t right with him. He’s asking all sorts of questions about the Phantoms, asking who are they, how did you meet, how does it work, etc. Julie tries to brush him off with short answers, but, “Nick” is persistent and he wants what he wants. “Nick” eventually gets fed up with playing nice and grabs Julie’s arms hard enough to leave bruises. Julie gets away after a few moves (there’s no way that girl doesn’t have some killer martial arts moves). She shows up to practice with angry tears. The guys ask what’s wrong, but tells them it’s nothing and tries to start practice. Luke holds her arm and she hisses while taking a half step back. The guys are shocked when Luke pulls up her sleeve and they see the finger-shaped bruises. #ProtectiveGhosts #PissedOffGhosts

Prompt 12: *Triggers - Bullying* What if people did notice Julie talking to thin air? She’s shunned/bullied by everyone at school including Flynn (Julie never gets to sing “Flying Solo” to her). It gets so bad that she runs away after an exceptionally bad day. The boys try to convince her to go home, but she refuses. Feeling guilty, they decide to watch out for her. So, her new life a mix of epic shows at night with the guys, but the reality is she’s still homeless on the streets of LA. Eventually her dad and brother find her (and with some words from the boys about their own regrets), they all take her home.

 Prompt 13: *Triggers - Bullying* One of Carrie’s dancers decides to pick on Julie about her mom, thinking it will put them in better standing with Carrie. Unfortunately for them, that type of “attack” on Julie was the one thing that Carrie won’t stand for. Because even if Carrie and Julie aren’t friends any more, they have a mutual/silent agreement that their moms are off limits. Carrie apologizes to Julie for the attack and says she knows better. They don’t magically end up best friends again, but they’re no longer enemies.

 Prompt 14: *Triggers - Murder* The line in “fit to kill” from “You Got Nothing To Lose” stirs up some ideas because what if Caleb was responsible for the boys deaths? After all, he does seem fixated on them... Maybe he just wants them as more ghosts for his club or as a part of his house band? Maybe it’s more their potential? Either way, the boys ruined his plans by not showing up for 25 years… Good thing he had Willie keep an eye out for them… But then again, he did bargain with Willie for his freedom in exchange for theirs.

 Prompt 15: *Triggers - Child Neglect & Abuse* What if Julie’s family were the opposite from cannon because they blame her for her mother’s death? … If only, Julie hadn’t needed a ride from voice lessons and a reckless driver was actually paying attention… Julie connects with the boys on another level since none of them have good families. They become each other’s found family instead.

 Prompt 16: There are consequences for using the likenesses of the deceased. What happens when Julie and the Phantoms get CEASE & DESIST notices from the boys’ families? What do they do since they can’t play/preform?

 Prompt 17: Julie and Flynn think it’s time that the boys got some new clothes and personal items. Queue ghostly shenanigans at the mall/stores with all three of them.

 Prompt 18: Actual Witch Julie! She meant to summon her mom (also a witch), but accidently summoned the guys. Oops. She tries again using part of “Wake Up” lyrics to talk to her mom, but it doesn’t go anywhere… Julie’s best gift is her voice, good thing she’s working on her enchanting skills.

 Prompt 19: *Triggers - Injury* Concussion – Julie has an accident and has some retrograde amnesia of the last few months, meaning she doesn’t remember meeting the guys. How do you explain to someone that you’re ghosts, but only you can see them unless you’re preforming together? “Like how?! That doesn’t make any sense?!” Just want the guys trying a couple of different ways to convince her, but Julie is being stubborn. Think first scene of them together, but more denial and more of “Stop talking to them. They’re not real. There’s no such thing as cute ghosts.”

 Prompt 20: Comic Con?! Julie and the Phantoms go to Comic Con (either as guests or maybe as performers?). They’re all super excited, but Reggie can’t contain himself. How can he with all the costumes, the artists, and the actors. Hello?! “There’s so much to see!” Plus, how much mischief can they get into? 😉

 Prompt 21: Rules/Boundaries – You know how Julie keeps mentioning boundaries and the guys keep breaking them? She decides to come up with a list to keep in the studio… Honestly, I would just like to see little moments where the guys keep breaking Julie’s rules. Could be a 5+1 fic, where most of them are comedic, but the last one is gut-wrenching?

 Prompt 22: What if Julie was more physically connected to the guys? Like when she’s sick, they’re sick, etc. And what if they start showing signs of aging like their hair getting longer as months go by? What does that mean?

 Prompt 23: Julie starts experiencing shooting chest pains. At first, she brushes it off, but they’re getting worse. During practice, she gets another one, only this time she can’t take in a breath. Can the boys help her?

 Prompt 24: When the guys are “preforming” at Caleb’s club, Julie goes looking for them. When she finds them, she can tell they’re in trouble and decides to crash the party. She helps free the guys and everyone else from Caleb’s clutches with a musical number of her own. Without the other ghosts feeding his abilities, Caleb fades away into nothing.

 Prompt 25: Birthdays – Would love to see everyone else’s birthday moments, but with Julie and the Molina family? Maybe a little angst since I don’t think Reggie or Alex’s family really celebrated theirs and here are the Molinas stepping up for some boys who are eternally 17?

 Prompt 26: *Triggers - Body Horror, Human Remains, Murder* The guys are feeling pain again, but it’s all over, and it feels - different and wrong. It takes a few days to find out why. On the news, are their photos. They’re bodies are being exhumed as their deaths have been reopened as possible homicides.

 Prompt 27: Band Life – Just a little cut scene where everyone is doing warm-ups. But, I really want to see the guys helping Alex stretch before (since apparently drummers can get terrible muscle aches/cramps).

 Prompt 28: Holidays – Just imagine the guys’ first holidays with Julie’s family. All the usual cheesiness, but must include a trip to the mountains and a snowball fight.

 Prompt 29: Sleepover – It’s late and the band decides to have a sleepover in the studio. After a bit, it turns very deep and emotional. It becomes a really eye-opening experience for Julie as she learns more about her bandmates and they her.

 Prompt 30: *Triggers - Allergic Reaction* Food - The boys are very protective of what the Molina family eats. I’m talking they will throw out, reheat, overcook food if the food is at all questionable. One day, they throw out Julie’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich “because the jam looked off”. So, they make her a peanut butter and fluff one, too bad that they didn’t know Julie’s allergic to corn (which can also be used to make marshmallows).

 Prompt 31: *Triggers - Cheating* The guys ask Julie what the situation is with Carrie and why she’s seems to be out to get her? Julie explains that they used to be best friends before Carrie’s mother cheated on her dad and Carrie caught her in the act. “After that, Carrie was gone from school one week and it was like her personality changed overnight into this plastic I’m-better-than-you robot. I tried talking to her, but she ignored me for months. Anytime I tried, she pretty much just harassed me to go away. Then my mom got sick and then she died. I just didn’t have the energy to keep trying.”

 Prompt 32: Julie singing in Spanish and the guys being in awe.

 Prompt 33: *Triggers - Death of a Parent & Grief* Rose’s death… How did she die? What were the Molinas like in the first year after her death?

 Prompt 34: Something where the Julie is being interviewed and has to describe the guys and they her?

Luke – Contagious, Sensitive, Intense

Reggie – Lovable, Goofball, Questionable

Alex – Loyal, Emotional, Careful

Julie – Gifted, Fiery, Thoughtful  

 Prompt 35: Luke singing “Unsaid Emily” acoustically for a show (Julie did reach out to the Pattersons beforehand).

 Prompt 36: *Triggers - Illness* Julie having to perform while she is seriously sick. The guys try to convince her to postpone, but she’s being stubborn. She continues the show until she literally collapses at the end of it. The guys are worried and take her home afterwards to recuperate.

 Prompt 37: I really want a protective Flynn fic where she doesn’t trust the boys after they ditch Julie and her at the dance. She makes them work hard to make it up to them.

 Prompt 38: *Triggers - Character Death* What if Rose was the one who found the guys after the rancid hotdogs and called 9-1-1?

 Prompt 39: *Triggers - Injury* The jolts happen to Julie instead of the guys. Despite the guys being the ones cursed, every jolt is felt by Julie instead and she gets weaker and weaker. What better blackmail and incentive to the guys need to join Caleb’s club?

 Prompt 40: *Triggers - Possession & Stalking* The guys notice possessed Nick stalking Julie at school and eventually her house/studio. #PhantomBodyguards

 Prompt 41: *Triggers - Bullying* What if Carrie witnessed Flynn and Julie being bullied by another student? Something in her snaps and she rips the bully a new one before helping Flynn and Julie.

 Prompt 42: With Julie’s help, Luke is able to track down Reggie’s and Alex’s families as a surprise/gift. He wants to give them the same closure that Julie gave to him.

 Prompt 43: Role reversal – After a performance, Julie is the one to poof out.

 Prompt 44: What if Julie was a medium (since birth) and was trying to talk to her mom, but can’t? Instead, she got the guys?

 Prompt 45: *Triggers - Physical Child Abuse, Child Emotional Abuse, Child Mental Abuse, Child Neglect* The boys’ lives are a lot darker than canon. Reggies’s are physically abusive, Alex’s are emotionally/mentally abusive, Luke’s are neglectful/never around. 3+1 (Molina family being awesome).

 Prompt 46: *Triggers - Suicidal Thoughts & Ideation* Reggie was suicidal before having found a family with Luke and Alex (and then Julie and her family). He looks back on where he was and where he is now. “I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anyone else to feel like that.” And “All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul and they will never notice how broken you really are.”– both Robin Williams

 Prompt 47: Julie is the new student at school, but the guys are still ghosts. How would it play out if no one knew Julie before “Bright”?

 Prompt 48: JATP are being interviewed (virtually) and the interviewer starts asking inappropriate questions about Julie and the guys’ relationship. Julie is clearly upset (as are the guys). It gets so bad, the guys decide to disconnect and refuse to continue. Afterwards, they cuddle Julie and talk about it.

 Prompt 49: A lifer from Caleb’s club sees a JATP performance and are not happy to be paying for an exclusive ghost experience only to find it available for free. As time goes on, more and more lifers are refusing to go to Caleb’s club until it’s an actual “ghost town”.

 Prompt 50: Bobby/Trevor is a lifer at Caleb’s club.

 Prompt 51: *Triggers - Murder* Bobby/Trevor made a deal with a ghost in 1995. Help him become famous now and in return, he will join his ghost club after his death. Too bad Bobby/Trevor didn’t read the fine print. He didn’t just sell his soul.

 Prompt 52: Battle of Wills – Julie goes to Caleb’s club and tricks him into letting the boys and Willie, by intimidating him with her “powers”. Something like, “If I can do this now as a lifer, I wonder what else could I do?” Caleb would then threaten her life and Julie would reply that she would just come back as an even more powerful ghost and make his afterlife a nightmare. Instead of his nightly parties, it’ll be nightly riots. Caleb eventually agrees to let the boys go in exchange that they (and Julie) never enter his club again. After being freed, they meet up back at the studio and the guys are in shock. They can’t believe she did that. Julie responds saying, she couldn’t just leave them behind. They’re her band, her family. Plus, it’s not like she has any actual powers that could take on Caleb… Or does she? #BADASSJULIE

 Prompt 53: *Triggers - Murder & Body Horror* What if Caleb took more than souls? Turns out he drains the life of the living to run his club, and then takes your soul as part of his deal. The drain isn’t a part of the deal, but rather a consequence of going to the club itself. The more often you go to get answers about the other side, the closer you are to joining it.

 Prompt 54: *Triggers - Murder* What if Julie was also a ghost? A terrified ghost who doesn’t remember how she died. Her mom is still alive and her family still lives in their house, but they’re more zombies than people. Julie can’t interact at all with them unless she’s playing with the guys. The guys try to help her remember as her family grieves. As time passes, Julie gets flashes of memory of her death or rather, her murder. She was killed in the studio by Bobby/Trevor after discovering he stole Sunset Curve’s songs. It isn’t the first time he’s killed…

 Prompt 55: *Triggers - Death of a Parent & Grief* Before Julie played their CD and the guys appeared, changing her life forever, she was just a girl grieving for her mom. One day, something sparks her to laugh. A laugh that makes her feel so light, that’s she’s floating only to crash down to earth when she realizes her mom won’t ever laugh like that again… Julie refuses to laugh if her mother can’t… Just want something where someone tells Julie that it’s ok to laugh again.

 Prompt 56: How did Alex and Luke find out about Jar Jar? 😉

 Prompt 57: *Triggers - Bullying* Carrie’s getting harassed by someone and breaks down after a Dirty Candi number. Julie sees it (or maybe Alex spots it and tells her) and puts a stop to it and defends Carrie and her performance. It leads to Carrie sticking up for Julie a couple of days/weeks later, and it slowly leads back to a road of friendship.

 Prompt 58: *Triggers - Possible Injury* (Before 1x9) In his excitement to catch ghosts, Carlos sets up a trap for the guys, but Julie gets caught in the crosshairs. Option A: She’s more annoyed then injured. Sibling hijinks ensues. Option B: She gets hurt and Carlos has to help her. Either way, the guys apologize for making her life harder and antagonizing Carlos.

 Prompt 59: *Triggers - Injury* Julie gets a concussion at school (I’m thinking gym class). She’s extremely confused, which the nurse warns is normal but also gives her a list of protocols to follow. Julie gets home and can’t see the guys, but she can hear them. She doesn’t understand what’s going on and gets very frustrated with them and herself. As she starts to cry, she asks for her mom.

 Prompt 60: *Triggers - Possession* You know how Flynn yells at demon and Carrie responds? What if Carrie was actually a demon? Think Buzzfeed Unsolved (fandom) head canon with Shane, a demon posing as a human, and Ryan, as the unsuspecting human.

 Prompt 61:  *Triggers - Medical Condition* Julie arrives home after school with a migraine that’s been building all day. Everything boils over when she steps into the kitchen and Ray’s cooking dinner. She heads right for him and seeks comfort. The guys are a bit lost, but are quiet as Ray whispers to Julie.

 Prompt 62: *Triggers - Character Death & Missing Characters* What if the guys don’t actually know how they died? And what if, their bodies were never found and that they’re still considered “missing”? How would that change things?

 Prompt 63: I can see this falling under Witch!Julie, but it doesn’t have to? Julie marked the boys by gifting them Dahlia pins (which they wear with pride) before they visit Caleb’s club. He goes to mark them on the night of the dance, but the stamp doesn’t “stick” and his other powers don’t work on them. He makes up some excuse, but he decides to investigate. He goes to the house and confronts Julie. He tries to pull on his usual bag of tricks, but they don’t work on her either. Caleb threatens her, “I’ll get them one way or another.” “I wouldn’t bet on it.” “Haven’t you heard, all bets on me?” “Yeah, the odds aren’t in your favor.” “Who do you think you are?!” “Julie Molina, from Julie and the Phantoms. You... obviously don’t get out much.” #FlusteredCaleb

 Prompt 64: After a couple of weeks of constant late-night rehearsals, gigs, and studying for finals, Julie can’t keep her head up during band practice. She keeps nodding off at the piano, blinking rapidly, and shaking herself to try to stay awake. The guys stop playing after the nth time Julie slows down or misses a cue. They decide that it’s time for her to go to bed. They drag her to her room and with strict instructions to change, go to bed, and that she has to sleep in tomorrow until noon.

 Prompt 65: Slang Exchange – Flynn and Julie teach the guys 2020’s slang while the guys teach them early 90’s slang. They each keep explaining more obscure and crazy words/phrases until it turns into a friendly competition of each era’s craziest terms.

 Prompt 66: In Julie’s dance class, they’re given their mid-term or final exam where each person must preform 3 different styles of dance with a partner. Julie asks if the dances can be performed with people outside the class or even multiple someone’s and the teacher agrees as long as the person or persons are there on the day of the exam. Julie asks the guys to help her since they have such distinct body moves/styles. Examples: Hip-Hop, Rumba, Salsa, Waltz, Cha-Cha, Swing, Tap, Foxtrot, Jive, Tango, etc.

 Prompt 67: *Triggers - Physical Child Abuse & Scarring* Julie walks into the studio after school and sees that only Reggie is there and he’s changing his shirt. It’s not an usual sight to have Luke or even Alex change shirts in front of her, but Reggie had always been a little shyer. When she sees his back, she now knows why. There are a lot of thick old scars near his spine. When she drops her bag in shock, Reggie gets spooked and poofs out. Julie then spends the next few hours anxiously waiting for him to come back. When Luke and Alex later poof in and see her distress, she explains what she saw. Luke and Alex exchange looks and Alex tells Luke to go talk to him while he explains things to Julie.

 Prompt 68: Ever notice the amount of jewelry the guys have? I would just like to see the stories behind how they got them, particularly their necklaces? My head cannon is that the necklaces are gifts from each other over the years.

 Prompt 69: *Triggers - Mental Health* Five times Julie can’t touch the boys when they needed comfort and the one time (and more), she can after the Orpheum show.

 Prompt 70: *Triggers - Mental Health* After Julie can touch the guys and after Ray and Carlos know about them, the Molina family decides to surprise them with their first family meal. The guys are super happy, but a little worried. The last two times they ate, things didn’t end well (the hotdogs and Caleb’s club). The idea of being able to food or being able to eat, feels… tarnished?... #FamilyComfort

 Prompt 71: JatP debuts a new song and they decide to switch things up, literally. One second everyone is in their normal position, the next everyone is playing a different instrument and killing it. For example, Alex on guitar, Julie on bass, Reggie on piano, Luke on drums.

 Prompt 72: *Triggers - Death of a Spouse* Can we have a Ray and Rose moment like Amelia and Dr. Harvey from Casper (the scene with the red dress)? One where they tell each other how much they love and miss each other?

 Prompt 73: *Triggers - Mental Health* During the day while Julie is at school, Luke is in Julie’s room. He knows he shouldn’t, but he’s been feeling off and being in her room makes him feel better. But, the more he looks over her pictures and reads through the writing on her desk (he learned his lesson about breaking her trust with looking in her dream box), the more he feels guilty when he can see all the good memories in them. He feels so guilty because it feels like everything wrong or that has gone wrong lately is his fault – running out on his parents, having the idea to eat the hotdogs, making Julie’s life difficult by making her lie to her family, needing to get revenge against Bobby/Trevor, which led them to Caleb and missing the dance, which breaks Julie’s trust, almost not making it to the Orpheum show… He just keeps spiraling until Alex and Reggie come looking for him.

 Prompt 74: After that magic hug, Julie takes note of the guys Orpheum outfits.

 Prompt 75: *Triggers - Mental Health* Empath!Julie. She feels things on a deeper level and can sense what other people are feeling. She channels her emotions through her music and it’s why it feels so alive. It’s why her family has been so worried about her not playing music for nearly a year. She was so shut down, they feared they would lose her too… When the guys show up, she isn’t ready to open herself up emotionally to them. It’s also why she can’t touch them. As time goes on and she opens a bit and she tries to touch them, it doesn’t work because she’s not strong enough yet. It’s only after “Stand Tall” that she allows herself to be vulnerable/strong enough at the same time that she can touch them.

 Prompt 76: During “Perfect Harmony”, when Luke says, “Step into my world”, Julie actually steps into the ghost world. After that, she can see more than just the guys and now sees ghosts everywhere.

 Prompt 77: *Triggers - Food Hoarding & Child Neglect* The guys were food starved before the hotdogs. Reggie’s family was poor and couldn’t afford enough good food at home. Luke didn’t have much money for food after running away from home nearly six months before he died. Alex wasn’t welcome at home, let alone the dinner table.

 Prompt 78: *Triggers - Graphic Murder, Possession, Medical Condition, Possible Medical Disability* This one is gruesome and it’s based on a nightmare… Caleb possesses Nick a little earlier than cannon. He still goes over to the Molina’s with flowers and rings the doorbell. When Julie opens the door, he slashes her throat and then stabs her. He runs as Julie staggers with her hands on her throat and torso. Ray hears her struggles and rushes over, yelling for Carlos to call 9-1-1. The guys try to keep Julie calm and in the present. They follow the Molina’s to the hospital, where Julie is placed in a coma. She’ll live, but her ability to talk, let alone sing is unknown. Meanwhile, the police think it was a crazy fan because of the dropped flowers.

 Prompt 79: *Triggers - Body Horror* What if Caleb’s stamp only caused the guys pain if they’re playing their instruments or preforming outside of his club? Being unable to perform is excruciating, but spending their afterlives as Caleb’s puppets isn’t enough/real either. Which leads to Luke’s words, “No music is worth making Julie, if we’re not making it with you.”

 Prompt 80: *Triggers - Body Horror & Nightmares* Caleb haunts Julie’s nightmares and causes her to sleepwalk into danger. Think the nightmare scene in “Anastasia” where Anya nearly jumps off the ship thinking she’s jumping into a lake to see her family. Who/what does Julie see? Who/what wakes her?

 Prompt 81: Halloween special! The Molina family are a bunch of werewolves. Can you imagine the craziness when the guys realize what they are? The questions they might ask (particularly with Alex’s “softer touch”)?

 Prompt 82: *Triggers - Mental Health* Reggie’s biggest fear is being alone and the absolute worst thing you can do is ignore him. His parents used to do it all the time to punish him. So much that, he felt like a ghost long before he died. The only thing that kept him afloat were the guys, and now Julie with her family… After a bad day of flashbacks of his old life, all he wants is to be with his new family.

 Prompt 83: *Triggers - Child Neglect, Child Mental Abuse, Child Emotional Abuse, Mental Health, & Anxiety* The feeling of not being enough, let alone good enough is something that haunts Alex constantly. He was a good kid, who had good grades, never talked back or caused trouble. He helped out around the house and did everything his parents asked of him… So, why wasn’t he enough for them?

 Prompt 84: *Triggers - Mental Health* Julie comes home upset and runs into Alex. He stops her and talks to her. Over time, he calms her down enough to explain what happened. She does and he hugs her as he tells her that she can always come to him. After all, a big brother always looks after their little sister.

 Prompt 85: *Triggers - Body Injury/Horror* Some thing a little different? What if the guys didn’t know how they died (or anything about their past really)? What if they only knew their music/instruments, their friendship, their first names, and not much else? It’s pretty much a foggy mist when they push too hard. Julie has to play detective to figure out who the guys were and what happened to them. She still loves music, but she’s not ready to play/sing quite yet. I just imagine Julie in the studio trying to piece together bits and pieces of information to dig into the mystery of who the guys were/are.

 Prompt 86: Artist!Julie. She’s obviously a creative soul and I can just see her drawing the guys in their element. And also sketching them how she sees them in normal everyday activities in their afterlives.

 Prompt 87: Julie walks in on the guys hanging out with her family. She realizes that the guys are more than family to just her. Her family is their family too and she loves them all the more for it. Later, she gives the guys extra hugs/cuddles.

 Prompt 88: *Triggers - Stalking* After a gig, Julie is harassed outside by a creep. The guys poof to her wondering what the hold up is. They end up scaring the creep off by becoming visible and corporeal. The creep is terrified.

 Prompt 89: Willie teaching Alex the choreography to “The Other Side of Hollywood”. As Alex opens up and allows himself to relax, he teaches Willie some dance moves.

 Prompt 90: The guys help Julie and Flynn study for finals. Luke – English and Music Theory, Reggie – Calculus and Chemistry, Alex – Social Studies and History

 Prompt 91: *Triggers - Mental Health* Reggie overhears Julie talking to Flynn on the phone about being a waste and thinks they’re talking about him… He’s obviously very upset and decides to leave, but not before leaving goodbye notes/gifts for everyone. It takes over a day for Luke and Alex to track him down and bring him home.

 Prompt 92: *Triggers - Illness & Mental Health* Burnt Out!Julie. Suffering dehydration, exhaustion, and just feeling overwhelmed, Julie isn’t sure how much more she can take. The guys step up and force her to take a break. They may be ghosts (sorta), but she’s still human and she needs to rest.

 Prompt 93: During a Molina family dinner, the guys are curious to what they’re having and Julie replies it’s ____, her mom’s favorite dish. The conversation stalls, and the guys offer up some of their favorite dishes (and least favorite) to help ease the tension.

 Prompt 94: *Triggers - Racism/Sexism & Mental Health* Someone says something bad or gives a backhanded compliment to Julie about her looks, but compliments the guys. The guys are horrified/disgusted with that person.

 Prompt 95: Family Game Night – The Molina family, Flynn, and 3 ghosts play classic board games (think Twister, Monopoly, Payday, Clue, Uno, Pictionary, Apples to Apples, Taboo, Jenga). I just keep imagining Alex with his “let someone with a softer touch” and being the most competitive one.

 Prompt 96: *Triggers - Mental Health* Julie writes a song about missed opportunities in honor of the guys. The first time she plays it for them, the guys just break down. After that, they decide it needs to be part of their set list with an acoustic version.

 Prompt 97: For a school project, Julie has to take a play and then write a song about it, however, they’re not allowed to say which play it is or name any characters. After the songs are presented, the class gets to guess what play it is for extra credit. She’s given Romeo and Juliet… And she knows exactly what to write about.

 Prompt 98: Alex being introduced to Adam Lambert. That’s it, that’s the prompt.

 Prompt 99: *Triggers - Mental Health* When Julie calls Luke out for only thinking about himself before walking away, her words hit a lot harder than in cannon. Luke poofs away and breaks down because he knows she’s right… Because all he can think about right now is how much he misses his parents… Just want more expansion from Luke’s POV.

 Prompt 100: *Triggers - Possession & Injury* When Nick starts acting weird, Julie grabs his arm to get his attentions. She let’s go immediately because her hand feels like it’s on fire as Nick screams in pain. Something is not right… She realizes it’s not Nick and forces Caleb to release him. Julie and Caleb both feel the burning pain, but Caleb gives up first. He’s forgotten what actual pain felt like and vacates Nick’s body.

[fanfics-arent-therapy-but-idc]

JATP FANFIC

Juke

Fluff

Oneshot

Time and Space

Julie and the boys decide to take a break from the band while Julie gets her bearings at college while they go and explore. Turns out that kindred spirits don’t take well to time and space.

Julie sat on the black swivel chair at the studio, back slightly arched over a keyboard as she recorded a new part to the chorus of a song she was working on. She hummed the lyrics lightly allowing her fingers to make what she heard in her head come to fruition. “Perfect” , she said once she added the keyboard to the song and replayed it. The song was mostly pop with a little bit of soul. It was right on brief as far as she was concerned, but the professors at Berklee were no joke. She just hoped that she did enough for an acceptable grade. After saving the song on her drive, she made her way to her room on 150 Massachusetts avenue. Her roommate, a dance major from Brazil, wasn’t going to be home until 11:00pm, meaning that she had two hours of alone time.

She entered the cozy room with a smile. Alana had turned on the L.E.D fairy lights and she could also smell the faint floral scent of the oil diffuser. She must have done this before she met up with her friends for their weekly Friday dinners . Julie locked the door, sat on her desk, and scribbled a note of gratitude, ending the note with a new Portuguese phrase that she’d picked up from her, “te amo muito”. After placing it on her bed, she began her nightly routine: shower, sing in the shower, wear her comfy pajamas(which consisted of an old, ripped up T-shirt that she had stolen from Luke years ago, and fluffy reindeer pajama pants), check her phone for messages, find out that she didn’t receive any, and ultimately sit on her bed for another hour with her notebook and a pencil. She usually felt most creative around this time, but tonight was not one of those nights. She stared at her phone that was all too proud to showcase her embarrassingly empty notifications list.

At first, the band came to the decision to go on hiatus for Julie’s sake. They had spent every hour of everyday together for two and a half years, cultivating a loyal following and making great music. A needed break, just so Julie could focus on school, was the logical move. Ever since they materialized as real people, they hadn’t spent much time exploring this new world. This was their chance. She mostly attributed the lack of communication to the fact that they probably still had no clue how to use smartphones and ignored the very plausible idea that they might have needed a break from her. She and Flynn spoke more often, but she was easily busier than Julie over at Northwestern with her double major in Performance studies and Film and Media studies.

Sigh. Julie fell backwards onto her bed and closed her eyes, remembering the day she left for Boston. It was still super hot in California, but she had a sweater stuffed into her carry-on for when she landed on the East Coast. The boys drove a separate car that contained most of her luggage, while her Dad, Flynn, and her brother were in another car, blasting the radio. Her father singing the loudest, trying to drown out the pang in his chest, Julie assumed. She was excited to go to college, but she would miss her hometown, her family, Flynn, and the boys. When they parked, the boys insisted on carrying all of the luggage. She had to wrestle Reggie to hold on to her carry-on. The boys wondered at everything they witnessed, none of them having taken a flight anywhere before dying. She distinctly remembers the way Luke smiled and waved at the troupe of pilots walking past them and towards their respective flights. When it was time for her to pass the threshold, her dad broke down, silent tears breaking through. “Mom would be so proud of you”, he assured her. Now it was Julie’s turn to cry. She hugged them all one more time, Luke last of all.

“Hey”, he started, “don’t forget about us when you become a cool, super smart, college student”. Julie laughed so hard that she startled the entire waiting area full of people.

“I promise that I won’t. And just because the band’s taking a break… that doesn’t mean you can’t call, or text, or video call. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Of course, once I figure out how to do that video call thing you’ll be seeing this face once a day”, he promised. Julie laughed again, wiped her tear-stained cheeks, and boarded her flight.

That was three weeks ago. The first time he video called her, the connection was poor, and they couldn’t hear each other. The second time he tried to call, she just got an embarrassingly bad grade on an exam that she had spent all night studying for in addition to being days behind on a project in the very same class. Julie lay in bed cringing at the memory of that afternoon.

“Hey Julie! woah, are you crying? What’s going on are you oka- “

“No- I mean I was, but I- I’m good now, just busy”,

“Oh. Well, what’s up?”

“Uh, nothing much honestly. Just… yeah just super busy”

“Julie, do you need me to hang up?”

“I’m so sorry, but yes. I’m just-”

“Busy? Got it. See you later”

She felt physically ill remembering that day. She had half a mind to text him an apology, but some sort of self-preservation setting inside of her stopped her every time. Knowing Luke, he’d probably texted everyone that she was super busy and not to be disturbed. Maybe that’s why she’s been left on radio silence for a week. Her dad even downsized from his daily calls and he always kept them under ten minutes; even if she insisted that she had more time. She was just about to call it a night when her phone vibrated. She froze. Don’t get too excited. It’s probably from one of your professors.

It wasn’t. Julie blinked and turned the brightness all the way up on her phone. The message read:

🎶Luke🎶: Hey, are you busy?

Julie was quick to respond:

You: No, not at all. Wanna talk?

Just as the little notification popped up to indicate that her message was delivered, there was a knock on her door. She assumed that it was Alana coming home early. She frequently forgot her keys so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, but who she opened the door for was completely unexpected.

“Dad! Carlos! What are you doing here?” Standing in front of her door was her dad and brother. She hugged them tightly and to more of her surprise, just outside the doorway was Flynn, Alex, Reggie, and Luke, standing humbly behind everyone else.

“Don’t be mad at us”, Alex said, “Luke made it very clear that this surprise could not be spoiled under any circumstances”.

“But we’re not that good at keeping secrets,” Reggie added.

“So you all decided to ghost me?” she questioned.

“Sort of”, Alex responded quietly. They were all looking at her. Wondering if they had made a grave mistake and if she would slam the door in their faces. She wouldn’t.

“Well… the risk was worth it. I am officially surprised!” she whispered, realizing that her fellow, sleep-deprived, students would not appreciate the interruption. The look of relief on everyone’s face was hilarious.

“Come on everyone, let’s get out of this hallway. I know a good 24-hour diner just around here. They have seats big enough for all of us”, Julie suggested.

“That sounds great Julie, but please tell me that you're getting changed first?” Flynn asked.

Julie remembered that she was in her ‘comfy clothes’. Clothes consisting of Luke’s shirt and Christmas pajamas. “Uhhh, yeah. Give me a minute”. She shut the door, jumped into a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a sweatshirt. “Okay, now I’m ready! Let’s go”.

The walk to the Diner was short, but Julie had learnt a lot. Carlos just started a photography club at his school, Flynn’s roommate, Justine, has an aunt who owns a hair salon, meaning discounted box braids all year. She was really excited about that. Reggie has been surprising fans at local cafes with acoustic versions of the band’s best hits. Alex has been holed up in every museum and library in California and Dad was up to the same old stuff, taking photos, cooking, and whatever old people do, Julie added to her dad’s protest.

“I am not old”, he responded as he pushed open the Diner doors. The place was pretty clean to most city-dwellers standards. The faded blue and yellow banquets surrounded the walls and long wooden tables were placed across from them. Julie took the liberty of snagging a few stools from the counter, seeing as the room was empty. Julie, Carlos, and her Dad sat on the stools while the rest of the crew spread out on the banquets. When the waitress came around she informed them that they were in luck and that there was a fresh batch of maple bacon and regular glazed hot out of the deep fryer. They ordered one of each for everyone, along with a pot of classic Diner coffee and a pitcher of water for Carlos. As they waited for their desserts, the group fell into a lull. Julie took this chance to get into Luke’s head. He had planned an entire trip across the country for her, but he hadn’t said more than twenty words to her since she’d layed eyes on him.

“So, Luke,” she started tentatively, “what have you been up to? Visit any museums lately?”

“Pfft I wish!” her father exclaimed. She peeked over at a mortified Luke and the sympathetic stares of his friends. “I swear all he ever does is sit in that studio, write songs, and sulk”, he continued mercilessly, only stopping when the waitress arrived.

“Here are the donuts. The coffee and water are coming right up”.

“Thank you so much,” her Dad responded kindly. “Now back to what I was say-”

“Julie, can we talk… outside,” Luke interrupted. Flynn and Carlos tried to stifle a laugh that ended in both of them choking on their donuts. Julie was… confused to say the least but she obliged, standing and walking shyly past the door he opened for her.

‘It’s freezing out here!’ She wanted to say to cut the tension, but she knew that the weather was not one of the topics of conversation that Luke had on his mind. They were walking now, taking small steps to nowhere in particular. Luke spoke first.

“So, as your father has so kindly told you, our beloved friends, and the entire Diner staff, I’m sort of miserable without you”.

Julie snorted. “Well, to be honest, I'm not having such a great time without you either. We’re really that co-dependent, huh?” Luke was smiling next to her and she was smiling back. She really did miss his smile.

“Ha, well, you say co-dependent, and I say that I'm deeply in love with you,” he shrugged, “same difference”. What? Julie froze. She was not prepared for this, but one could say that that was just bad planning on her part. Julie still remembers the day when she almost lost him to Caleb. The feeling of absolute darkness surrounding her heart, the feeling of heartbreak and anger. She was way too young to call that feeling love, but looking back, looking at all of the late-night songwriting sessions and the way she lost all ability to speak when he gave her that smile, maybe it was. Maybe it still is. Realizing that Luke was watching her, she tried to utter some sort of response.

“Luke, I-”

“You don’t have to say it back, in fact I'm asking you not to, but just hear me out on this one request. Please?”

“Okay.”

“Let me stay.”

“Where? My dorm room. I think that Alana and my dad might have something to say about that,” she answered, unsure of where this was going.

“Very funny Molina. He was doing his nervous finger twitch. “C’mon lighten the mood Julie!” She chastised herself.

“Right? I should drop out and pursue a career in come-”

“Let me stay here in Boston”, he butted in. She didn’t mind because she could see how much what he wanted to say scared him. “I'll get my own place, I'll work crappy retail jobs when all my money runs out, I’ll busk on the streets for all I care, but I… I need this. He was gesturing at the two of them.

Julie stood there unmoving. He needed her. The sentiment was horrifying and exciting at the same time, but she couldn’t hide her truth when he was showing his off right in front of her. To her, he was that bit of California sunshine she was always missing, the series of sounds that filled the empty part of a song she was producing, he was like the sweet glaze on a soft donut; he completed her. Without thinking, she grabbed his shaking hands and placed them on her cheeks. Like from memory, he was caressing her face. She placed her hands on his face and did the same. For a split second, Julie was sixteen again, in her mother’s studio, holding on tight to what she had left, what she wanted more than anything.

“I need you too, Luke. You're the glaze to my donut.” It was Luke’s turn to laugh now. Julie knew it was a stupid metaphor, but it got the job done and it made him smile.

“Oh my gosh that was terrible”, he teased, putting both hands over his mouth in shock, “how did you get into Berklee?”

“That’s a lot of talk coming from someone who didn’t get into Berklee”, she teased back, arms folded.

“Hey, don’t underestimate me! I could have gotten in had I applied”, he assured her.

“You don’t even have a transcript, Luke.”

“Once again, do not underestimate my skills of persuasion. I managed to get you to let three ghosts live in your studio” he replied.

“Fine. Then apply next semester,” she teased.

“Is that a challenge, Molina?”

“More like an invitation”, Julie looked him in the eyes now, all jokes aside.

“I’ll be there. Always”, he answered.

“Wow. That was, inspiring”, said a familiar voice, “but can we please get back to the hotel? The waitress just warned us that we don’t want to be walking around here after dark.”

Julie and Luke turned in unison to see a paranoid Alex standing in front them. “Oh, and congratulations on the two of you finally realizing that you are literally inseparable. This past month has been torture for me! Now c’mon, let’s go before we get murdered, but for real this time.”

The trio walked back into the Diner with Luke and Julie holding hands. This was met with various cheers, chants, and a relieved “finally”! from Julie’s dad. “Now I can use my studio in peace!”

THE END!

[cthomashoodstory]

Best Years but Not in the Same Way (20)

Previous Part

sorry guys i took so long to write this chapter. i hope u guys still waiting for it :)

Masterlst

-

You were sitting on the car with Calum, Michael, Luke, Ashton and Andy and we were going to the hotel after we arrived at Airport on Osaka, Japan. Yes, you’re part of the Meet You There Tour as a special guest. It was a very last minute decision for you and the boys because what was happened back then when Justin got enganged and it affected your work.

It was Mike’s idea. He was talking to 5SOS manager and also the boys to added you to the tour because you got so distracted since July 7 aka Justin’s engagement day and it really affect your work at studio. You were more silent, daydream, less eating and Mike was so worried about you. The band and manager agreed to featured you to be part of the tour and honestly at first you were embarrassed and ashamed of yourself because it was all true, you were distracted about something you should not have, your performance wasn’t that good and you were a burden for them. But the more you thought of it the more you realized that you need a getaway from this situation. You need a fresh start and also you’ll be with Calum 24/7 and it is what you need right now. But you felt bad to them especially Calum because you were here because you had a ‘problem’ and if you didn’t have it you wouldn’t even be here.

They were filming for their tour documentaries vlog and they were talking but you didn’t paid attention to it. You rather put your headset on and looked at the window so they won’t care about you being there. You felt so jet lagged because it’s 7 A.M on Japan time.

“Hey Saara you good?” Luke asked you and you nodded. And then Andy turned the camera to you. “So what’s your first impression of us?” Luke asked you again and all of them were laughing including you. “I mean Japan, your first time right?”

“Yeah,” you put your headset to your sling purse. “I don’t know i just got here all i see was airport and highway and we haven’t arrived at hotel, I haven’t seen how was the city, the food, the people, the venue, so my first impression of you guys is,” you looked at the camera and gave a thumbs down and we all laughed together.

After an hour, finally the team arrived at hotel and checked in. You got a room for yourself even it’s not that big compared to others, since the rest of the team was sleeping on a room with 2 people, you gladly you didn’t pair with other people.

You were sitting at the bed and someone knocked on your door. You opened it and you saw Calum stood there holding a paper bag. “Can i come in?” You nodded and let him in. “I ordered coffee and a cupcake for you. Here.” He gave the paperbag and you put in on a table.

“Thank you, Cal.” You sat on the bed alongside with him. “You don’t have to do that. I could buy it by myself. But thank you for always care about me.”

He grinned. “Anything for you, Bar.” “You coming with us? To our pop up store?”

You shook your head. “No, I’ll better stay on hotel.”

“C’mon, it will be fun to have you there with us. We’ll travel around after we visit the store. We will have lunch somewhere and sushi? We’ll eat sushi like we did in LA but this is fresh because we eat in the origin place.” He convinced you so hard but you couldn’t go with him.

You smiled. “I’d love to, Cal. But I’d rather stay here today than going out. As much i love being here with all of you, especially with you, i felt guilty i felt ashamed of myself about what happened. I wouldn’t be here if something didn’t affect my work. I would be still on the studio with Mike, Julia and Tranter. So please, let me stay here, okay?” You hold his left hand.

“Okay, then i’ll stay with you today. I’m gonna tell the others.” He got up and walk to the door but you hold his hand.

“No,” you said jt with a high tone. “No Cal,” you repeated again with a slow tone. “You have to go, it’s your pop up store, it’s your schedule to meet your fans. Don’t worry about me. You can call me or text me okay?” He finally understood and hugged you. Then he walked our from your room.

-

It’s 1 A.M in Japan and you were on the hotel room resting after a tired show on Zepp Tokyo venue. The audience was so hyped and energic. You were the special guest on the tour and you sang three songs which was Lie To Me, since you were added to be part on the tour unexpectedly, the band and you agreed to recorded your own verse of Lie To Me and added the new part for the tour. The other songs was Why Won’t You Love Me and Valentine. You didn’t really sing a verse on Valentine song, you were just sang a chorus together with them while playing piano part. You really had to learn piano within a month and you really tried your best. And 2 days show on Japan was incredible and it was so amazing for you. it’s been 2 years since the last time you were singing on a tour stage and it was Justin’s Purpose Tour when you and him sang Cold Water, Major Lazer single featuring Justin and you. You felt so nervous yet so excited to be on stage again, singing and interacting with fans.

Honestly, on both Osaka and Tokyo shows, while you were on stage, you couldn’t take your eyes off of Calum. He looked so happy while playing bass, singing, and he also keep his eyes on you while you were singing. You felt happy whenever he’s happy and the source of his happiness is you.

You closed your eyes and tried to sleep but you can’t. You felt tired but but your brain told you the otherwise. And now you saw the clock and it’s 2 A.M.. and at 8 A.M you and the team have to fly back to Los Angeles before came to New Zealand to continued the show. Ugh you really hate when you couldn’t sleep when there’s a big event.

You got up from your bed and changing into casual clothes because you decided to out from the hotel and walked around the city. That was the last thing you ever thought.

You closed your hotel room door and you startled because on the next door, you saw Calum also closed his room door.

“Hi,” he greeted you nervously. But he grinned afterwards. He looked so fine even he only wears his hoodie combined with his leather jacket.

“Hi…,” you greeted him back. “Where you going? It’s midnight and aren’t you tired?” You asked him a silly question that everyone knew the answer.

“I’m going out for a walk, I couldn’t sleep. And what about you? Where you going? Aren’t you tired and supposed to sleep?” We both laughed because he imitated your question.

“Yeah me neither. I couldn’t sleep even though my body is tired and i guess we have the same ‘agenda’, so, let’s get out?”

He nodded and we walked out together from the hotel. You walked alongside with him and kinda follow him anywhere he walked because you didn’t know this city and he’s been visiting this city like 4 or 5 times, he said.

Both of you walked down the street without saying anything. You were busy with your thoughts and perhaps he was too. Well actually this moment was awkward enough for you to talk to him. Like, how you felt being tour with him after what happened with you? Lol.

“So how’s your day? You like being tour with us?” He finally started the conversation.

You grinned. “Of course. In fact, i love being tour with you all. I love being here with you.” You looked at the ground because you knew your face is red. “I want to apologize to you… for what happened. For the reason why i am here. I admitted that I’m still stuck at the past, i admitted I’m still hurt by the fact someone is moved on, but I’m trying hard to let it go, I’m trying to moved on even though I’m struggling at the process, I’m still doing it. And I’m glad that you’re here with me during the process. And if you’re willing to wait longer, i would appreciated it.”

You put your both hand on your jeans pocket and slightly you looked at him. He seems nervous and yet he didn’t say anything.

“I know moving on is the hardest thing to do, and I’m glad you’re trying to do it.” He looked at you with a genuine smile. “Can’t wait till the day we’re… you know.” He laughed and so were you.

You felt a lil bit freezing since you only wear long sleeve and not a jacket. And suddenly Calum pulled out his jacket and gave it to you.

“Hey, there’s a 24/7 store, should we go there?” Asked him. You nodded and we walked together. And suddenly he gave his left hand to you. “Want to hold it?”

You laughed and hold his hand.

-

To be continued.

Next Part

[ghostboybabies]

Just a Little Bratty || [JATP Agere/CGLRE Oneshot]

Julie Molina wasn't a bratty little. At least, that's what she'd say if you asked. But if you asked anyone else, everyone would tell you the same thing: She was simply a toddler who didn't like rules. Or cleaning up messes. Or bedtime. Or veggies. Luke Patterson was the only person in the world that could get her to behave. Just a few words in a certain tone and she knew that she was pushing it. Every time Julie refused to follow a rule, or threw her little temper tantrums, he was always the one left in responsible of dealing with it. But, she was still his princess. And he loved her.

A/N:I'm currently experimenting with writing the JATP characters as littles and caregivers, so I hope you guys like my first Little!Julie Molina fic. It's also *the* first Little!Julie Molina fic in existence, but y'know...

anyways, I hope y'all like this! Julie cries but I PROMISE that everything turns out fine in the end. Lmk what you think in the comments!

{Ao3 Link}

--

Everyone else was gone. It was just Julie and Luke.

Just how she liked it.

When everyone else was there, Julie felt like it was crowded, and being openly little felt so much harder. But Luke always made her feel safe and small,without making her feel uncomfortable in any way. Luke was almost perfect.

Except for one thing.

Rules.

He said that they were there to keep her happy and healthy, but following them wasn't very enjoyable. And there was just so many of them! There was bedtime, and 'no sweets before dinner', and even a rule against making messes and leaving them!

Crazy, right? Who likes cleaning up messes? Definitely not Julie.

This specific instance of rule breaking started with Arts and Crafts in the studio. Supplies were neatly organized on the coffee table, set out by Luke for Julie's entertainment. 'What'cha working on, Jules?" Luke looked over her shoulder, trying to see whatever she was creating. She sat up, allowing his to see her page. On it, was a doodle of a flower, which she was working on coloring in. "It's so cute, princess! I'm sure it'll look perfect on the fridge once it's done."

Age regression is something that Julie started doing after her mother passed away, recommended by Dr. Turner himself. So of course, Ray and Carlos knew about it. And they were completely okay with anything that helped her heal in a healthy way. So things like hanging up her coloring pages or carrying around a stuffed animal were pretty normal in the Molina house.

Though, Ray had been pretty freaked out to learn that Julie's caregiver was a ghost boy that had been living in his house for months. But that's a story for another time.

"Really?" Julie asked curiously, adjusting herself so that she was looking back (and up) at Luke. Luke nodded, smiling at her softly. Julie took the comment as praise, letting the pride and happiness bubble up in her chest as she returned to working on the childish artwork. She hummed songs as she decorated the page, switching out her markers for another color every here and there.

After a while, Julie capped a dark pink marker and set it with the others, picking up the paper and handing it to Luke. "Lukeee," she whined, pushing at the table it front of her. She had been sitting on the ground, so that she was at level with the coffee table. Luke sighed, putting the paper down on the couch next to him and holding out his hands above her.

She reached up, letting Luke pull her up from behind, laughing a bit as she came to stand on her feet. "Can I go play outside now?" she asked, twirling around so that she was facing him.

"Of course. You just have to help me clean up this-" Luke stopped talking once he saw Julie trying to run off to leave the studio. "Hey! Come back here." he shouted, causing her to stop in her tracks and face him. "You know the rules. I set up the craft stuff, and you help me put it away when you're done. You can't just leave this all here." Luke crossed his arms, giving her a look that said 'don't push this'.

"Yes I can," Julie tilted her head. "And I will. Bye bye!" she turned around quickly, making it almost all the way out of the door before Luke's voice sounded again.

"Julie."

Julie liked to pretend that Luke being strict with her didn't faze her in the slightest, but really, that tone of disappointment coming from Luke felt terrible. She turned around quickly, rocking on her feet again. She had a light pout on her face. In a soft, small, and childish voice she said..

"But I don't wanna clean! I wanna play."

"I know, kitten. But if we play and just leave everything out, then everything would become a mess!" Luke explained, making a motion that instructed Julie to come back over to him. She hesitantly did so, stopping on the other side of the coffee table. "And, cleaning won't take to long! Will you be a good girl for me and do this?" he spoke softly, giving her a hopeful look. Julie thought for a moment, debating her choices. Right now, Luke seemed a little upset with her. If she did this, maybe he'd be proud!

He had said that she'd be a "good girl" if she listened to him. But she didn't wanna!

"No!" she crossed her arms, stomping her foot harshly on the ground with a huff. Luke's eyes went wide. Even thought she did stuff like this often, he was never prepared for it in the moment.

"Julie, calm down. Come sit," he instructed, trying to prevent anything more then a little temper tantrum from happening. Maybe it was all the conflicting emotions, maybe it was just stubbornness, but Julie did not calm down.

"No, no, no!" she shouted, using her arm to swipe some of the art supplies off of the table, as if the bratty act would prove that she wouldn't take his orders. She didn't even know why she had gotten worked up so quickly, but she did know that what she just did was gonna land her in trouble. She stepped back, hugging herself and glancing nervously between the mess she just made and her caregivers shocked face.

She was ready to cry before he even said a word, feeling a familiar drop in her chest as the childish anger faded from her demeanor. The 'drop' was a mix of guilt and anxiety, pooling in her stomach. "Why did you do that?" Luke spoke up after a moment of shock, giving her a strict look, speaking in a confused, but obviously not-happy tone.

"Don't know." Julie looked down, avoiding his eyes.

Luke realized that yelling wasn't going to get him anywhere with the little, her emotions had changed quickly and he could tell that she felt bad enough at the moment. Yelling and being to harsh would only scare her. He took a deep breath, patting the spot next to him on the couch. Julie obeyed immediately, sitting close to Luke.

She wanted to reach out for comfort, but she didn't know if she deserved it. She knew that she was in trouble. She hadn't been a good girl. Only good girls got cuddles and praise from their caregivers, right?

"Baby, you know you can't do things like that. I understand that you don't like cleaning but throwing a fit and making a mess doesn't solve anything." he adjusted himself so that his whole body faces her, and she did the same thing to him, nervously looking up at him with glossy eyes.

"I know...m' sorry." her words were reduced to mumble as her eyes casted downwards. She blinked hard, tears running down her face.

She hated crying! Her face got sticky and uncomfortable, and she had all these icky emotions. She just wanted to play, and be a little girl for as long as she could. Why did she have to be sad?

"Why're you crying, princess? I'm sorry that I shouted at you, I shouldn't of done that," Luke apologized, cupping the side of her face and forcing her to look up. Julie sniffled.

"Don't be mad at me, please. m' sorry!" she repeated herself, choking on her her words and pulling her face away from his hand.

"I'm not mad at you, kitten. I never was, okay?"

Julie didn't reply in any way, only blinking blankly up at him. Luke sighed, continuing to speak in his soft voice. "I'm just trying to get you to listen to me, alright? I promise, I'm not upset."

Julie looked at him, trying to determine if he was lying, or hiding something. She decided to believe him when he opened his arms. She might have been hesitant to believe that she deserved the affection, but right now, she needed the comfort. She began to babble apologizes into his chest, cuddling close to him as her tears dried up. "I love you, princess. You know that, right?"

Luke didn't speak again until Julie pulled away from the hug, wiping at her eyes. Her tears had left wet spots on his shirt, but Luke didn't say anything. Julie nodded a bit. That reassurance, along with the hug, made her feel a lot better. "Love you too." she replied, trying to rub the stickiness off of her face.

Luke went quiet, trying to work out an internal conflict. Usually, when stuff like this happened, after comfort came the punishment. A short timeout usually did the trick in teaching Julie a lesson about whatever she had done. But she usually didn't break down as badly as she just did there. Luke had to remind himself that she was only apologizing because she thought he was mad at her, she probably didn't understand what she had done wrong. And, if he just let her get away with that, she might just go back and do it again. He knew what he should do, but he really didn't want to.

"I feel better now," Julie admitted, looking at Luke in a way she did a lot. With her innocent eyes, blinking up at him.

"What do you mean, sweetheart?"

"Felt bad. But now I feel better." She spoke as if her words explained everything, leaving Luke to remain confused. It didn't take him long to come to the conclusion that she must of felt guilty about the whole situation, and that he had helped her feel better. He smiled lightly, nodding a bit. Julie's facial expression dropped into a sad one once again. "Am I still in trouble?"

Luke hummed, hoping he wouldn't regret his next words. "Well, I can't just let you get away with this. How about you go sit on the loft steps for a few minutes, and when your punishment is over, you can help me clean all this up?" Luke motioned to the table, and the mess that still sat there. His statement wasn't really a question, but rather an instruction.

"B-but I don't want timeout!" Julie pouted, crossing her arms. Luke chuckled, rolling his eyes.

He was secretly glad to know that she was back to her usual bratty self. He preferred a bratty baby over a sad one, any day. "You know the rules, baby. Go sit." he instructed again.

She huffed, but she stood up and make her way over to the ladder. Instead of sitting on of of the steps facing away from Luke, like intended, she climbed up a bit and poked her legs through the other way carefully. She rested her head on her arms on the step closest to her head level, swinging her legs a bit (as she was off of the ground) and looking around. Luke didn't bother with telling her to face the other way, even though that was usually a requirement of a timeout.

Luke watched as Julie pulled many pouty faces. Not the guilty kind, the kind that were meant to convince him to end the punishment early. Maybe it worked, but that wasn't the point.

Luke could only handle the pouting for a few minutes, before giving in and telling her that her time was up. She got out of her position on the ladder as fast as she could without hurting herself, jumping up and running over to the side of the coffee table. "Can I go play now?" she asked, bouncing on her feet.

"No yet, darling. We still have a mess to clean up." Luke reminded, getting off of the couch and pulling a few colored totes from under the coffee table. Julie huffed, seemingly annoyed, but she complied. Luke had given up a while ago on getting her attitude in check. She was going to complain and pout and whine about everything, he only really cared if she actually ended up doing the thing.

While they picked everything up, Luke noticed that Julie was a little tense. She was also over exaggerating the 'I'm mad at you because you put me in timeout' thing, acting a lot more upset about it then she'd usually be. Almost like...

Almost like she was trying to mask another emotion. Like guilt.

It was possible that Julie still felt like Luke was mad at her after he punished her. Luke didn't know if he was correct in this conclusion, deciding to look into it farther before doing anything. He didn't really have to, though, because the evidence presented it itself.

When they were done, and Julie helped put the totes away, she looked at him hopefully. Like she was waiting for something that would help reassure her that she was okay. Luke realized what she was probably waiting for.

"Good job, princess. I'm proud of you." he smiled lightly, deciding to offer another hug. He opened his arms, and she filled them quickly. She seemed a lot less nervous, and tense. Like his simple words of praise had managed to wipe away any worry in her mind.

"Really?" She asked, just to be sure. Just to hear it again.

"Mhm. You did such a good job helping me, baby!" he swayed in place, squeezing her tight. She giggled, before speaking in a confused voice.

"But...I didn't listen?"

"I know, but you did eventually, right? You learned your lesson and everything is okay now. I promise," He spoke softly, kissing her head. Julie hummed, snuggling into his embrace.

Everything really did feel better when she was wrapped up in Luke's arms. Everything was okay again when the caring ghost held her close. Luke cared about her, and being reminded of that always made her day better.

Luke loved his princess, even if she was a little bit bratty.

--

A/N: Please leave feedback in the reblogs/replies/my askbox, whether that be something you liked, something that could be improved, or maybe even a request (I can't guarantee that I'll write it, but I'd still love to hear ideas!)! And please, if you write for JATP, maybe try/consider writing agere content! People seem to really like it but there's not much of it yet, and I really wanna see what people come up with!

Reblogs especially would be VERY appreciated, so that more people can discover this!

[shirlleycoyle]

Blood Of Christ

As medical technology advances, and becomes ever more intimate and perhaps even invasive, where will we draw the line—and why? Today's inventive work of speculative fiction, from the brain of Terraform regular (and Daily Beast tech reporter) Blake Montgomery, digs under the skin of the matter. Enjoy. -the ed.

“Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting on May 9, 2288. God save the United States and this Honorable Court.”

Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union: Your honor, we move to introduce Plaintiff’s Exhibit 55, Massachusetts vs. Abraham.

Justice: Any objections from the opposing counsel?

Attorney for the state of New York: Yes, your Honor. The evidence is immaterial. The ACLU is grasping at moral authority by introducing a lurid story of murder into the proceedings. It’s a naked attempt to shore up weak legal reasoning.

Justice: Your response?

ACLU: The precedent set in Massachusetts vs. Abraham buttresses our case that the state is arguing for an unconstitutional regulation of religion that impinges on the First Amendment. Convicting my client of a crime for his refusal on religious grounds to participate in state-mandated medical trials will erode religious liberty. Dr. Luke Abraham was convicted of a crime and imprisoned for a religious practice, and his church collapsed in his absence. Likewise, my client has declined to undergo a nanomachine enhancement experiment conducted by his government, and he has a constitutional right to do so. Citizens are not lab rats, no matter how great the greater good may be.

Justice: The nature of Abraham’s crime makes it difficult to see his conviction as anything more meaningful than the redress of a heinous act, but I’ll allow you the chance to demonstrate the connection, counselor. Proceed.

*

State of Massachusetts, Plaintiff

vs.

Dr. Luke Abraham, Defendant

On the charge of Murder in the First Degree

Jury Trial, Day 7

Date: July 19, 2267

Location: Essex County Superior Courthouse

Before: Hon. Deborah Tola, circuit court judge, referred to herein as The Court

The Court: The court now calls Massachusetts vs. Abraham. Will all parties state their appearances for the record?

Attorney Ives: The State appears via Essex County District Attorney Uriel Ives.

Attorney Jacobs: Dr. Luke Abraham is here in person. Attorney Martha Jacobs on his behalf.

The Court: While we are outside the presence of the jury, it is the court’s understanding that the prosecution wishes to continue calling witnesses today.

Attorney Ives: That’s correct, your Honor.

The Court: Any objections or motions from the defense?

Attorney Jacobs: None, your Honor.

The Court: Understood. Bailiff, bring in the jury.

(The jury entered and was seated.)

The Court: Members of the jury, welcome back. Did anyone attempt to speak to you about this case since yesterday?

(Jury members answered in the negative.)

The Court: Very good. With that, we are ready to proceed.

Attorney Ives: The State calls Sarah Lazarus to the stand.

(The witness entered the courtroom.)

The Clerk: Please raise your right hand.

(Sarah Lazarus, called as a witness herein, having been first duly sworn, was examined by Attorney Ives and testified as follows:)

Q: Mrs. Lazarus, could you tell the jury how old you are and where you live?

A: I’m 39, and I live in an apartment in Salem.

Q: Have you always lived in Salem?

A: No. Until recently I lived on a farm an hour outside the city by hover car.

Q: What was the nature of your accommodations there?

A: I lived in a house that was part of a 500-acre compound owned and operated by the Church of Christ the Physician.

Q: Did you live with any family?

A: My husband passed away several years ago, so my son and I lived together in a small house on the edge of the farm. The church allots living space based on how many people are in your family. We were in that house until, um, my son, I, uh, until we…we…Could I please have some tissues? I’m sorry.

Q: Of course. That’s all right. Take your time.

A: I’m sorry. I’m ready.

Q: Are you yourself a member of the Church of Christ the Physician?

A: I was for most of my life. I left last year.

Q: How did you come to join the church?

A: I was born into it.

Q: Did you choose to leave as a result of the actions of the defendant?

A: Yes.

Q: Is it more common for members to be born into the church than to convert?

A: Yes.

Q: Why is that?

A: Most people outside the church are injected with medical nanomachines very early in their lives, but the church believes that procedure taints the body with sin and won’t allow it. We—um, sorry— they sometimes call the machines “Satan’s blood cells” or “blood pests.” You can’t get into heaven if they’re inside you, and you have to remove them to convert. That process is very painful and possibly deadly. It requires losing a lot of blood and quickly replacing it with transfusions that don’t have any bots. I’ve seen it. It’s horrible. When people learn about it, most of them get scared off.

Q: In your understanding, why are most people outside the church injected with nanomachines?

A: To fight against diseases and heal wounds better than a normal human body could.

Q: For what reasons do people follow through with conversion?

A: Our biggest group of initiates who weren’t church members’ children were Rejectors.

Q: Could you tell the jury what Rejectors are?

Attorney Jacobs: Objection, your Honor, to the witness’ competence. Mrs. Lazarus has received no scientific training and therefore cannot accurately describe the biology of a Rejector.

The Court: Ms. Jacobs, please. The nature of Rejectors is common knowledge taught in the first grade. Go on, Mr. Ives.

Q: Thank you, your Honor. Mrs. Lazarus?

A: Rejectors are people whose bodies can’t accept any nanomachines. The technology can cause severe side effects for a small number of people. The founders of the church were Rejectors.

Q: And why would these people seek out the Church?

A: They typically don’t have anywhere else to go. They’re not allowed to live in most cities or even visit. If a child can’t accept nanomachines, it’s taken away from the parents who can, and vice versa. Some states tried to establish Rejector settlements, but no doctors would go there. Everyone died.

Q: Do you have nanomachines in your blood?

A: I do, yes, as of recently.

Q: The state moves to introduce Exhibit 47, your Honor: “Nanomachine Prevalence in the United States Population and its Effects,” a Harvard University study.

The Court: Any objections, counsel?

Attorney Jacobs: Yes, your Honor. Competence, again. Mrs. Lazarus is not, I will repeat, a trained scientist. She is unqualified to interpret results of such experiments.

The Court: I’m inclined to agree this time. Mr. Ives?

Attorney Ives: The study demonstrates how widespread healing nanomachines are among the people of the United States, which establishes the contrast between medical norms and the uncommon practices of the Church of Christ the Physician. The state will ask Mrs. Lazarus only to read text from the study, not to provide her opinion of it.

The Court: I see. Objection overruled.

Q: Could you read the highlighted words here, Mrs. Lazarus?

A: “We extrapolate from a representative survey and blood tests of 20,000 US citizens that 94% of the US population maintains a functioning level of bloodstream nanomachines as of 2265. Survey respondents reported becoming sick 72% less than the control group of citizens living with no nanomachines at all or too few to observe any healing function. Analysis of blood tests in conjunction with medical records indicated that recuperation from a five common illnesses accelerated 38% among the study group versus the control.”

Q: Thank you, Mrs. Lazarus. So people with nanomachines in their blood recover more quickly from most ailments and fall ill less often than those without. In the absence of these machines, where do church members find healthcare?

A: We train our own doctors, who study current medical treatments and determine what’s acceptable under church doctrine. They go by a code: “The body of Man was made in His image. We will neither harm nor corrupt it.” We call them “Lukes” instead of “doctors,” because when each one graduates from church medical school, he legally changes his first name to Luke after the patron saint of physicians. It’s our—oh, uh— their highest honor and most respected job. No one else in the church bears that first name, and each head of the church, who’s always a doctor, adopts the full name Luke Abraham to signify that he’s the caretaker of the whole congregation. That’s a lifelong position.

Q: Is the current head of the church, Luke Abraham, sitting in this room?

A: Yes.

Q: Could you point him out for the jury?

(The witness identified the defendant as Luke Abraham.)

Q: What is the penalty within the church for injecting nanomachines?

A: A purification rite. It’s seen as treason against your body, God’s ultimate creation, so the injected person is taken to the cathedral for a Letting.

Q: And what is a Letting?

A: When the Lukes discover that someone in the church has been injected with nanomachines, they’ll cleanse him the same way they do converts. They strap the sinner to a steel surgical table, make incisions in his body, and let his blood run. Sometimes they make transfusions. Sometimes they don’t. Father Abraham takes a cup of the sinner’s blood and pours it into a sacred fire. Boiling nanomachines make a squealing sound like lobsters.

Q: That sounds like a brutal procedure. Did people die?

A: Yes. Often.

Q: Did you ever see anyone try to stop them from happening?

A: No. We were too afraid of Father Abraham.

Q: Did law enforcement ever intervene?

A: The police sniffed around a few times about rumors people went missing, but for us there was a lot of shame in talking to outsiders. I don’t think anyone beyond our walls knew about the conversion process or Lettings, even though everyone in the church had seen both many times. If anyone out there—here, I suppose—did know, they didn’t care. Outsiders thought we were freaks regardless of what we did. They would’ve been happy to hear we were killing each other.

Q: Where did Lettings take place?

A: In a dark chamber attached to the central cathedral called the Cleansing Chapel. The walls, the floor, and even the vaulted ceiling are this disgusting faded red. Father Abraham and the other Lukes stand on a circular stone platform, high off the ground, in the center of things. There are scenes of Christ healing people engraved in its sides. The same ones are carved into the Lukes’ ceremonial scalpels.

Q: Your son Isaac, was he injected with nanomachines when he was an infant?

A: No.

Q: Did you want him to be?

A: No. I believed at the time that would be sacrilege.

Q: What did you do when he got sick as a young child?

A: I put him in the Lukes’ care, always to good results.

Q: Was there ever a time when your son didn’t recover while in the Lukes’ care?

A: Last year, when he was 13, he got sick with something I’d never seen before.

Q: Could you describe it for the jury?

A: Um, he had a high fever for weeks. His lymph nodes were so swollen that they formed lumps all over his body. He tossed and turned all night. He would hallucinate during the day or have these appalling nightmares, always of a giant bull with wings. Eating and swallowing anything was painful for him.

Q: Did the Lukes attempt to treat him?

A: They did. They tried several different remedies, but after three weeks, they told me they were done, that they were at their wits’ end.

Q: What did you do?

A: The night they said they couldn’t do anything—basically saying Isaac would die—I had a tantrum in the hospital. I trashed the office of the Luke in charge of his case. Later I went to another Luke I knew well, Luke Silver. He was on the younger side. I had taught him math in the church’s school when he was a child, and he had taken care of Isaac as a baby. I asked him to, um, to…

Q: To do what?

A: …to inject Isaac with nanomachines. Oh, God, I just couldn’t think of anything else to do!

(The witness began weeping heavily.)

A: (unintelligible) die. I’m his mother, for (unintelligible) I loved him so much, and I (unintelligible) I’m so sorry, Isaac. I’m sorry!

The Court: Mrs. Lazarus, I understand that this is a difficult subject, but I must ask you to control the volume of your voice.

A: Ok, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…um, oh, Luke Silver. He hesitated initially, but he did it. I’m convinced he wanted to save Isaac as much as I did.

Q: Did the infusion alleviate Isaac’s illness?

A: It did. He recovered in two weeks. It was hailed as a miracle. Father Abraham preached about it at a Wednesday evening service, about how someone could be “far beyond the hands of Man but still within the grasp of God.” He claimed he and the Lord had healed my son, even though that obviously wasn’t true.

Defendant: You dare question my communion with—

The Court: Dr. Abraham!

Attorney Jacobs: Sit down right now, Luke.

The Court: See that doesn’t happen again, Dr. Abraham. Go on, Mr. Ives.

Q: Could you describe what happened to you and your son in the Cleansing Chapel after he recovered?

A: Yes. Give me one minute so I don’t cry again.

Q: Of course.

(The witness did not speak for several minutes.)

A: Thank you. Ok. Three Lukes dragged me from my house to the cathedral by my arms and hair. I was so scared. The Chapel already smelled like rotting blood and smoke when we arrived. They tied me to a chair in front of the carving in the stage that shows Jesus with Lazarus, which felt like a terrible joke. If they were planning to kill me, I think they would have put me on the platform itself. It seemed like Father Abraham didn’t know I had asked Luke Silver to inject my son.

Q: Was Dr. Silver present?

A: No. I remember thinking he must already be dead.

Attorney Jacobs: Objection—lacks foundation. The witness is guessing at Dr. Silver’s whereabouts without direct knowledge of them.

Attorney Ives: It is the witness’ opinion that it was possible Dr. Silver had been killed.

The Court: Objection sustained. The jury will disregard that answer. Please describe only what you saw, Mrs. Lazarus.

Q: What happened next?

A: The ceremony started after they bound and gagged me. Father Abraham walked Isaac up to the stage. Isaac seemed calm, even though he had seen Lettings before. He was wearing the thin white robe everyone in the church wears for baptisms, Lettings, and burials. Two Lukes were waiting. They strapped him to the steel table. I tried to scream at him to run, but I had a lot of cloth in my mouth. Father Abraham began making incisions him. First the short and shallow cuts in his biceps and calves. I could see his blood start to run off the table. Then he, he…

Q: How did Isaac react?

A: (Inaudible)

Q: Mrs. Lazarus?

(The witness screamed.)

The Court: Mrs. Lazarus!

Q: Sarah, please calm down. Please. We’re almost through.

A: Ok. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. This is so much harder than I thought it would be. Isaac’s eyes had been half-closed, but once Father Abraham started cutting longer and deeper, closer to his heart, they opened wider than I had ever seen. He looked right at me and started shrieking for my help. He was writhing on the table and splashing in his own blood. Isaac was hurting so much. I wanted more than anything to tell him it was my fault, to say I was…

Q: Did Father Abraham say anything during the attack?

Attorney Jacobs: Objection—counsel is leading the witness by calling the defendant’s actions an “attack.”

The Court: Sustained. Rephrase your question, counsel.

Q: Did Dr. Abraham say anything to Isaac on the stage?

A: During a Letting, the entire church watches, even young children, and congregants chant. Father Abraham said the words along with everyone for a while: “I am Abraham. I am Isaac. I am Abraham. I am Isaac. This is my body. This is my blood. This is my body. This is my blood.” Isaac’s blood was dripping off his face as he shouted Bible verses about healing.

Q: Thank you, Mrs. Lazarus. I know this is tough, and I appreciate you being here this morning.

A: Oh, and he also grabbed Isaac’s chin. He would turn Isaac’s head so that they were looking into each other’s eyes as he dug the scalpel in.

Q: How long did the ceremony last?

A: I don’t know. It felt like my whole life. I wanted to close my eyes more than anything, but Isaac kept turning to me. His blood was leaking into his eyes.

Q: Did Isaac die during the Letting?

A: Yes.

Q: How did you know?

A: Father Abraham announced it. He raised his red hands and said, “We have lost our sinful brother to the blood pests. Pray he makes his own journey to a more peaceful place, for he is beyond our help now.” Isaac’s head lolled towards me, but his eyes weren’t moving. They didn’t even seem blue any more, just blank. The whites were red. There must have been a dozen cuts on his face…I’m sorry, I can’t.

Q: I understand. One last question: did Luke Abraham kill your son?

(The witness did not answer immediately.)

Q: Mrs. Lazarus?

A: Yes. He bled my son to death.

Q: Nothing further, your Honor.

The Court: Do you wish to cross-examine the witness, Ms. Jacobs?

Attorney Jacobs: No, your Honor.

The Court: You are excused, Mrs. Lazarus. Thank you for your testimony.

(The witness exited the courtroom.)

*

ACLU: After Luke Abraham was convicted, he was imprisoned for life. Massachusetts filed a slew of subsequent lawsuits that eventually brought the Church of Christ the Physician to bankruptcy, and the church crumbled without its leader. We argue that the conviction of Abraham coupled with the pattern of legal harassment amounts to an intentional dismantling of the Church of Christ the Physician by the state. To wit, the state pursued a de facto legislation of and infringement on religious activity, an unconstitutional act, much like what it has done to my client.

Justice: Thank you, counsel, but you have not proven your point. A jury is asked to consider only the facts of the case, not to weigh a verdict’s aftershocks. The law cannot predict the future. The objection is sustained. Massachusetts vs. Abraham will not be entered into evidence.

ACLU: What? Your Honor! After I read all that to the court?

Justice: Ritual murder committed out of zealotry is not a religiously exempted medical procedure. I agree with the state’s argument that you are making an emotional appeal more so than a logical one.

New York: Thank you, your Honor.

Justice: What happened to Sarah Lazarus after that case? You said the church collapsed after several years, but what of her?

ACLU: She became a leader of the movement against the church.

New York: Somewhat reluctantly, you must admit. She preferred her private life as a teacher in Salem, even with the prejudice against her as a former church member. But the sensation that followed every turn of her case thrust her into an unavoidable spotlight. She said in interviews that she had made an individual decision, not a categorical one, and felt sympathy toward the remaining members of the church. She died of natural causes many years later.

Justice: As natural as they can be, with these machines in our blood.

New York: Yes, your Honor.

Blood Of Christ syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[creativeashproductions]

Shattered Hearts // Luke Patterson

Summary: The teenage years are supposed to the best time of life but not when fate has other plans for Sunset Curve. Not feeling well reader stays home while Luke prepares for the performance of his life at The Orpheum. Shit hits the fan hard and the fallout ensues.

Warnings: Swearing, death, hospital, cancer (type is not detailed) angst, and fluff.

Words: 2.3k

Requested: @lolychu​

A/N: I didn’t go into detail about the kind of cancer because I didn’t want to, I want it to be as general as it could. I’ve never gone through it or had someone close go through it so it could be wrong and I apologize for that. Broken heart syndrome is REAL by the way.

Masterlist

Los Angeles, 1995

There are articles of some medical mysteries that can’t fully be scientifically explained, such as when someone dies in excellent health following the death of a loved one. The scientific term is takotsubo cardiomyopathy, but the world knows it merely by Broken Heart Syndrome. It was a day that was supposed to be the greatest of your teenage years, but the day couldn’t have gone any worse.

First, you woke up with an incredibly high fever and newfound bruises. Pain in a wrist out of nowhere but you wrote it off. You had plans, and illness wasn’t scheduled for the day. Your boyfriend and his band had gotten their big break, well their almost big break. Today was the day Sunset Curve would perform at The Orpheum, and you were gonna be backstage cheering them on.

Luke made his appearance at your house in the morning before early rehearsal, and you managed to convince him you were feeling okay. He went on to their studio, and your mother drove you to the hospital in fear.

Life was an asshole. While you waited for test results pale against the hospital sheets, an ambulance rolled in. Carrying three bodies that would go to the morgue for positive confirmation of death. You wouldn’t know for a full day, Luke’s parents too grief-stricken to call you and that’s okay. 

“Mom?” You asked as her form caved in on the floor near your hospital bed, “Mom!”

Her eyes filled with so much pain brought you fear and concern. With a struggle, she came closer to hold your hand tightly and spoke brokenly the fate that would snatch you.

“Baby, you don’t have the flu.”

“That’s good? So just meds and we can go home?” You asked heart clenching as her eyes closed tight and you knew whatever the doctor had told her after pulling her out of the room wasn’t good.

Couldn’t be good with the slump in her shoulders, the pain in her eyes and the guilt coating her every word. Mom wasn’t a housewife; she wasn’t a flower in need of protection, but she never kept something from you. Always said it straight and as it is.

“Sweetheart, they’re gonna move you to another ward.” You knew deep in your heart the news had to be the worst because Mom wasn’t telling you the whole story. Finally, she broke down, “The doctors got the results back as soon as they could. The fever, the bruises, and the broken wrist have a reason. You have cancer.”

Cancer. A word that sealed your fate. It left you reeling in shock. It shattered your dream with just one single name. Couldn’t be seen but made its presence known. The coming hour was spent with the specialist detailing the type and a tentative treatment plan he wanted to initiate immediately.

A nurse escorted your mother out as the orderlies and nurses prepped you to be moved to a new room. Knowing you were in good hands, your mom walked to the main doors for fresh air only to be astounded at the sight of Mitch and Emily Patterson. Equally shocked, they came together.

“Emily?” Your mom spoke, looking carefully at the parents of your boyfriend. She wondered how the Patterson’s had found out, “Did someone call you?”

“No.” Emily spoke with a numb voice. Your mom took a step back, understanding that one could only react that way for one thing. Something had happened to the Patterson teenager.

 “Luke isn’t here, is he?” Your mom asked, turning to look up at the tall building of the hospital, “Y/N, hasn’t had a phone. She only found out, but Luke hasn’t been with you-“

“The cops came,” Mitch spoke tucking his upset wife into his arms. He was equally as grief-stricken and bitter, but he had to be calm for his wife. They wouldn’t get anywhere if one of them couldn’t get answers.

Your mom gasped, “No.”

“I always knew that band-“Emily’s own sob cut her words off as her knees threatened to buckle. Your mom helped lead Emily into the emergency room before she jogged off to join you but not before turning to the Patterson parents.

“We’ll meet up. Discuss why we’re all here.” 

Being told you had cancer and then informed your boyfriend died all in one night was the most painful thing you had to live through. It was weeks of screaming, invasive procedures and therapy sessions. Your father came from his business trip to Dubai as soon as he could and didn’t leave your side.

A painful six months rolled with cancer stealing your hopes and a fucking bad hotdog taking your dreams away. Nothing made you curious. Nothing felt worth living for.

Not the realistic watercolour tattoo your parents let you get of Luke’s blue guitar you loved so much. It seemed to have a terminally sick child made it practically impossible to say no to, so you got a tattoo of your favourite lyrics of Sunset Curve.

In pretty font, it said ‘When all the days felt black and white. Those were the best shades of my life’ just like it said in Now or Never. One of your favourite songs, you got the privilege of watching Luke create.

“Mom, can I have a popsicle?” You asked from your bed. Eyes barely open as she nodded off her chair, “My mouth is dry.”

“Of course.” She nodded, leaving the room with a kiss on your forehead. Both of you mumbling I love you just in case. You felt like your clock was close to the end, so every word had meaning.

It was a good day so far; you hadn’t had to press for more pain medication like the last couple of weeks. You had managed to turn to stare out the window at the pretty sky. Your eyes fluttered shut completely content that this was it.

Your mom returned to a room with doctors and nurses trying to resuscitate you with your father screaming. No one could figure out if it was the cancer or the broken heart syndrome that killed you first. Your death was a double blow to Luke’s parents the most, along with Reggie and Alex’s own parents. 

Los Angeles, 2020

So much had changed since you died in 1995. Phones had changed, and buildings were torn down. You changed as well too. In relief physically, you had changed from the gaunt, skinny, pale patient to the girl you had been before the diagnosis.

Your hair now looked as healthy as it had been before you had cancer and you weren’t gaunt looking. You were looked just like you did a few months before you got diagnosed and you hoped so since you were dead. It would have sucked to be dead and beyond ugly.

“Do you think she went on to have a family?”

You kept your attention on the waves crashing the beach content to watch the waves doing the same movement they had since the beginning. You paid no attention to the group walking by. Not until one tripped over you landing in an awkward heap.

“Ouch!” The voice hissed. Your eyes flicked down to Reginald fucking Hastings’s blue eyes in pure shock. You scrambled away from the teenager with a sharp scream that pierced the ghoul group.

“Jesus.” You grumbled pushing the little sand that had stuck somehow to your body made of air.

“Oh my god. I think I just summoned Luke’s girlfriend.” Reggie hissed towards the equally astounded members of former Sunset Curve and current Julie and the Phantoms bandmates.

“No, you idiot we’re dead.” You spoke, taking a deep breath in, “After not seeing you for five years I thought you passed on. I’ve been travelling around America and Canada. Something felt like I needed to come home.”

“When did you die?” Alex questioned sadly when you were quiet. His sad blue eyes unable to leave your expressive face, he hoped somehow you had lived to your 90s and died to come back youthful.

“It’s wasn’t harm-“

“No, Luke. I don’t think I’ll ever positively know what happened, but the night you guys died my life ended as well.” You revealed sitting back, letting the three boys join you for an intriguing story to them. Luke wasn’t hesitant in grasping your hand in his, “Funny enough your bodies were being unloaded in the morgue while I was being told by my Mom, I had cancer. The battle was hard but short.”

“Cancer?”

“Our love story was destined to be tragic, whether it be cancer or a hotdog.” You told the teenage guitarist to experience in the afterlife to be gentle about it. The three boys flinched from the indifference, “Have you visited your parents yet? My parents are home for a few weeks.”

“My neighbourhood was torn down. Alex doesn’t know about his and-“ 

“-I’ve seen my folks once so far.” Luke finished playing with your fingers, “You say our love story was tragic, I say it would be tragic if we hadn’t had the chance in life that we did.”

You nodded your head, “Where have you guys been?”

All three boys took their chaotic turn in describing their last meal to Reggie tripping over you with the belief of walking through you. They were in a band with a lifer who made them visible to the public when playing music together. You told them that your parents would choose a destination from your dream travel journal; you would follow them on the adventures.

Slowly you met Julie who put up a distance as she acclimated to having the girlfriend of her crush around always. Julie couldn’t help the feeling of jealously when Luke focused on the teen ghost girl. She couldn’t even hate you! You were so lovely and welcoming to the girl with respect for boundaries, in fact, you were exactly the girl she would have been friends with. Julie loved Flynn, but she could be over the top and dramatic sometimes.

“Good rehearsal. I’ll meet you outside.” Luke spoke, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. You nodded before walking through the white, painted barn doors.

Everything put away properly; Luke was quick to meet up with his girlfriend for their date. Alex noticed the stare by Julie. He had seen it for the past few weeks since you were introduced to the passionate musician with a beautiful voice.

“I’m really sorry, Julie.” Alex softly told the sad Puerto Rican girl yearning to hug the teenager but alas his ghostly body couldn’t allow it.

“Did I have an honest chance before she came back?” Julie asked. Her doe brown eyes bringing Reggie’s attention to the conversation at hand. 

“No.” Reggie answered this time solemn with his blue eyes holding no mirth or childlike glee, “Luke’s been in love with her for years. She’s his all or nothing.”

“I didn’t have a chance between them, and I don’t want you between them either. It’s not a nice place to be even if I was mutually breaking up with his as well.” Alex soothed the live girl yearning to physically comfort her but alas that damn hotdog ruined everything.

“Luke also said when the first big payment came, he would marry her. He wanted to give her the wedding of her dreams.” Reggie unintentionally rubbed the salt in Julie’s wound on the topic of her tragic love story.

Julie learnt to deal with the pain of seeing Luke, so in love and happier than before you had reconnected. In her fashion, she had hidden a new box for her thoughts that was so well hidden the boys would never find it. It was filled with papers that progressively got less romance angst.

“I’m just saying,” Alex spoke, raising his hands in the air after another one of Luke’s emotional rants on the loss of things in death. Such as marrying you.

“Dude, we’re dead, and our ghost connections happen to either be our band, Willie or a very questionable sketchy vintage magician.” Luke snapped slouching on his couch sulking as you were spending time with your family no matter how oblivious they were to your presence.

“I’m ordained.” Willie supplied sitting next to the blonde drummer who had easily swayed from Caleb to the good side again. At the group’s looks of disbelief, he continued, “I was bored! Took some art classes too. It won’t be the average wedding, but you could still call each other spouse.”

“I can check local clubs for wedding dresses. Flynn can easily put together music and Alex can find a venue.” Julie piped up, avoiding the sympathetic look from Reggie, who still thought the teenager had feelings for his bandmate. She no longer did. 

“You can use one of your rings on a chain as well. Maybe hold off on getting a ring until we get money from the band.” Reggie gave his input, earning himself a proud expression from Alex; an expression the drummer rarely was able to give his friend.

“I guess I’m proposing.” Luke beamed already thinking of ways to make his proposal special, not like being ghosts wasn’t already impressive enough. 

It wasn’t the ideal wedding, but it honestly didn’t matter as long as the two of you were able to vow yourself to each other. It no longer mattered on the details other than you two.

Tag List (PLEASE SEND AN INBOX TO BE ADDED! I CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE ON THE LIST VIA POST COMMENTS!)

@safehavenmuse @siennanoelle01 @whiterose291 @mell-bell @blackhood5sos @ficrecsideblog @ifilwtmfc @deadpoolgirl23 @crappy-unicorn @sunsetcurve-h @elioelioeli0 @lovesanimals @popcrone818 @lolychu @deepsleepnat @tenaciousperfectionunknown @aunicornmademedoit @just-a-writer-here @simp4reggie @parkeret @faithiebrock01 @overlyhypedup @differentsoulrascalsalad @aesthetic-lyss @versaceapa @carleywhittaker @lostgirl219 @itsalexx21 @elllaoo4 @merxxleighann @mediocremunge @fantomlovesjuke4ever @dpaccione @oswin05 @kaylinfayezink @aberette13 @faithie-brock-gillespie01 @eharvey0218 @overlyhypedup @benstormy @auriandthepussicats @sarcasticsagittarius1998 @whothefuckstolemykeds @kcd15​ @siriuswvrld​ @princessvader15​ @xoxbloodreinaxox @heimdoodle​ @joshy-obx​ @lovesanimals​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @am3l1a-24 @flying-solo-without-you​ @jaskiers-sweetkiss​ @lostrandomfangirl​n @must-be-a-weasley-92​ @jatp-holland​ @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch @dxlanhxlland​ @dasexydevitt13​ @ifilwtmfc @arianagrandes-things @kinda-really-lost​ @marinettepotterandplagg​​ @ssprayberrythings​​ @morgandamrose @thedarkqueenofavalon​ @zukoshonourr​ @crybabyddl @spooky-season-bitch​ @kcd15​ @morganayennefertyrell @magnet-girl​ @all-in-fangirl​ @kinda-really-lost @tenaciousperfectionunknown​

[cloudshapedpatch]

take my money (take my heart, too)

the awkward julie & luke sugar daddy/baby au no one asked for

rated teen and up for swearing and semi-mature themes such as the concept of a sugar daddy/baby arrangement

no smut! insane tooth-rotting fluff tho

slow burn juke

and disaster lesbians flarrie side plot and (eventual) willex

also a coffee shop au because i said so

read on ao3 (chapter 1 and tag list below the cut)

* * * *

Julie is nervous. No, nervous is an understatement. Her knees bounce uncontrollably under the table, shaky fingers twirling the straw in her iced coffee. And the knot in her stomach seems to grow ever tighter.

She pulls out her phone to check the time for the third time this minute. How is it still 10:57 am? Just as she is about to put her phone back in her pocket, it buzzes with an incoming text from her best friend/roommate, Flynn.

Flynn: calm down

Julie smiles despite herself, turning around to look at her friend a few tables away. Thank goodness for her friend, willing to throw away a morning to make sure she is safe and comfortable on her blind date. She shoots Flynn a small smile. Flynn, to their credit, is taking their job very seriously, wearing an absurdly large sunhat and sunglasses, sipping on a mug of hot tea with a decoy book under her nose.

Julie turns to anxiously watch the baristas, moving around the small space with ease, mixing drinks hot and cold alike. Twirling around each other without even looking. And she lets her mind wander.

How had she gotten here? Waiting for a man whom she had never spoken to, let alone seen? And she isn’t counting their text messaging. Not really. Not even if they had been talking for weeks. Not even if they regularly stayed up well into the night just to keep talking to the other. Not even if he had her blushing furiously, toes curling from giddiness and hiding under her sheets, smiling at the flirtatious speech bubbles on her phone for longer than she’d like to admit.

Because that doesn’t count. She has never heard his voice. She has never seen what he looked like. Anyone could be a charmer, and she is undoubtedly nervous about who she might find walking through the door and towards her.

How had she gotten here? It is a simple question, and one she has the answer to. Doesn’t mean she likes it. She had made an offhand comment to Flynn at work one day. Julie is sick of working 12 hour days in the cafe (not this one. she would be dumb to meet a stranger in her workplace) and barely scraping by. She had joked she needed someone to fund her shopping sprees.

Flynn had suggested a sugar daddy.

Julie wants to bang her head on the table. Past Julie is an idiot. And now Present Julie is going to pay the price.

Why had she let Flynn convince her to download that dumb app?

(Because she has a virtually useless college degree, bills to pay, and school loans creeping up on her and she is cutting back every month. Living in L.A. isn’t cheap.

And, if she really lets herself think about it, Julie is lonely.)

She checks her phone again, pleased to find it is finally 11 am. He should be here any minute. Luke should be here any minute.

Is it a red flag that he had only been willing to share his first name? Should it have concerned her that he didn’t have a profile picture on his online dating account? Is she dumb for letting him change the subject every time she asked about his job? Solid ‘maybe’s to all of those, but! After they had started talking, they had instantly clicked. He loves music almost as much as she did, maybe even more. They bonded over that, and many other things.

This is fine.

She straightens her posture, glancing down at her dress to make sure all is in order. It’s baby blue with golden sunflowers all over, and she had slipped a cropped denim jacket on top, the one with patches of all her favorite bands. She fusses with the loose curls hanging by her face, her hair pulled into a half bun at the top of her head, leaving a clear view of her sunflower earrings. It’s the perfect outfit to be noticed in, she had told him she’d be wearing blue and sunflowers, certainly he wouldn’t miss her.

Whenever he decided to show up.

Wait. he would show up, wouldn’t he?

Of course he would.

...Right?

Before she can get too far down that rabbit hole, the chime above the door is jingling, and Julie has to fight hard not to turn and see who it is. The anticipation crawls up her spine and settles in her neck, jaw tingling.

A man comes in, approaching the counter with confidence in his step. One barista takes one look at him and gapes like a fish, turning to a coworker to nonchalantly point at him. Both girls look at each other and quietly squeal, letting one of the male cashiers help him.

Must be attractive, she thinks, and she isn’t disappointed by what she can see from the back. His sleeves are short, showing off his muscular arms and he’s tall. She’s always liked tall men.

Supposedly handsome stranger orders his drink and waits at the counter for it. One of the girls hands it to him with a gleeful smile. He accepts, then says something to her before the girl’s smile falters and points right at Julie.

Wait, she’s pointing at Julie?

Definitely handsome stranger follows her finger and lands on Julie, eyes scanning up and down her body (at least, what he can see from above the table), his face instantly lighting up in the most gorgeous smile she’s ever seen.

And then he’s turning back to say thank you and then making his way towards her and oh no what what what--

Because this isn’t her date. It can’t be, right? But Luke Patterson is stepping up to her booth, sliding into the seat across from her.

“Hey, you’re Julie, right?” His voice, sweet and thick as honey, and Julie would know that voice anywhere.

“Luke Patterson? You… you didn’t say--” She cuts herself off before she can say something foolish.

Because there is no way in hell she’d unknowingly put up her sugar baby services to Luke fucking Patterson. Not rockstar Luke Patterson. Not lead guitarist and singer and songwriter for her favorite band, Sunset Curve. Not literally in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Luke Patterson.

“Yeah, about that… I am really sorry about not telling you. It’s just not something I like mentioning to everyone I meet, you know?”

She’s having a hard time processing what he’s saying. He’s so close. Why is he leaning on the table like that? Why is he so close?

“Yeah! Yeah, totally. That’s understandable.” She laughs nervously, taking a sip of her coffee to avoid speaking any further.

“This… this is okay, right? You’re not mad?”

“Mad?” This clears her mind a bit. She takes in the way his hands fiddle with the rings on his fingers, his shoulders raised, and while his smile is easygoing, his eyes say otherwise. Why would she be mad?

She expresses this to him, and he just looks at his hands.

“Well, because I wasn’t completely truthful with you. And I totally understand if you want to walk away.”

“No!” She says before she can filter herself. His eyebrows raise in amusement. “I mean, it’s fine! I was just… surprised, that’s all.”

And surprised is correct. Luke Patterson is the same Luke she’s been talking to for the last three weeks, the very same one who’s been making her laugh and who’d almost made her miss work last week because they had texted about everything and nothing until the sun came up.

He seems to like her answer. His smile never leaves his face.

“You seemed to recognize me. You a fan of Sunset Curve’s?”

And maybe it’s the way his cocky smile burns her cheeks, or just the fact that he’s talking to her. Panic sets in and she lies.

“Never heard of Sunset Swerve.”

“You knew my name.”

“You know it’s a household name, right?”

“Your jacket says otherwise.”

And shit. She had forgotten about the Sunset Curve patch right over her heart. In fact, it was the first patch she had put on the jacket. But he doesn’t need to know that.

“Fine. You caught me. I’m a Curver. Happy?”

And though she’s teasing, he couldn’t seem to be happier. Seriously, she’s worried his dopey grin is gonna break his face. Then an ugly, ugly thought rears its head in her mind.

“Wait. You let me gush about Sunset Curve so many times and you didn’t say anything?” Her sentence ends in a laugh.

“Oh, Julie, I wanted to so bad. You have no idea!”

Julie finds herself not really registering the second half of his sentence. She had missed it, the first time he said her name due to being starstruck, and her face warms a bit when she recalls just how good her name had sounded when he said it. Like a splash of cool water on a hot day. Like sap dripping fresh from a tree, glinting in the sunlight.

“Then why didn’t you?”

He sobers a bit at this, though his eyes still hold the same fire as before. “Well, I didn’t really want to go around announcing that. Can you imagine how many matches I’d get if I put that little tidbit in my bio?”

Julie laughs at this, the absurdity of it hitting her. Of course. He’d want someone who’d like him for him, not for his status, or name, or fame or money.

Oh. Shit. She was literally here for his money.

“For sure! Must’ve been hard.”

“Oh, not really. I matched with you on day one and deleted the app once we exchanged phone numbers.”

“Really?” Julie felt a little guilty for still having the app on her phone now, even after she was pretty sure Luke was a good match. There was still the possibility that mystery man was a total creep. If she’d have known who he was, on the other hand…

“Totally! I’ll be honest, my bandmates put me up to this, but once we started talking I just knew I had to meet you.”

Julie’s mind still feels a bit foggy, like she was dreaming. A fantastic dream, might she add.

“I’ve been really excited to meet you too. My best friend also convinced me to get the app. She’s actually over there.” Julie smiled, nudging her head over towards her friend, where they were certainly trying their best to eavesdrop.

“Brought a plus one, I see?” Luke chuckled, giving Flynn a wave. Flynn hid her already shielded eyes from view with her book.

“Hey, you gotta remember I was meeting someone whom I had never seen before, and the fact that I didn’t know your last name was not helping.”

Luke’s smile turned bashful again. “Ah. She’s backup.”

“Yep! But I think they’re good to go.” Julie whipped out her phone and sent Flynn a quick message, relieving her of her duties.

“You sure? I might kidnap you.”

“I’d let you kidnap me.”

Oh god. She so did not say that.

He seemed to think it was funny. At least she was amusing. At her own expense, maybe, but amusing nonetheless.

Amusing to Luke Patterson.

If she doesn’t stop saying his last name, she’ll go insane. This is just the dorky guy she’s been talking to. The one she’ll hopefully get to talk to tomorrow.

Despite the rocky start, Julie would say it was a successful date. Coffee turned into lunch at a nearby bistro, and he walked Julie to her car a few blocks away. She didn’t get to her apartment until after 4 o’clock, and Flynn was waiting with two glasses of wine in their shared living room. Julie is eager to spill all the details, and Flynn is the perfect listener, oohing and ahhing at all the right moments.

As Julie crawls into bed after her eventful day, her phone dings on her nightstand.

PayPal: Luke Patterson sent you $500.00  “I had a great time today :) hope to see you again soon!”

Well. If she had calmed down any, this just undid all of her efforts. A wave of guilt floods over her. The concept of a sugar daddy sort of seemed too outlandish to really fathom. But now she feels awful taking his money.

She’s really doing this, isn’t she?

Julie: you really didn’t have to

Luke: but i wanted to

Luke: it’s ok tho right?

Julie: i guess it’s fine, it’s just a lot of money

Luke: i realise how conceited this is going to sound but its no sweat off my back. just think of it as a gift

Gifts. She could live with that.

* * * *

taglist! @ladyblanche :)

[paradoxicalca]

(OC) Tom Wilson-Proofing the Penguins (An Alternate Reality)

(Previous parts of this series include: Dundon DIYs the Hurricanes, Re-Chiarelling the Oilers, Moneyballing the Sens, Covertly Tanking the Wild, and Frenchifying the Canadiens.)Part IIt's May 1st 2019, and the Pittsburgh Penguins have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in four games by the New York Islanders. The Penguins front office - GM Jim Rutherford and his two assistants Bill Guerin and Jason Karmanos - is meeting to discuss where things went wrong and set a course forward."I think it's pretty clear why we lost" Karmanos says. "We couldn't move the puck up the ice, we got beat on the forecheck, and our speed just isn't what it was two seasons ago. I think our strategy on July 1st should be finding guys who can play the game with pace and really pressure the puck." Guerin nods."And don't forget about Tom Wilson," General Manager Jim Rutherford points out. "That's the elephant in the room"There's a pause, and Guerin and Karmanos exchange bewildered looks before turning back to their 70-year old boss."What do you mean Jim? We didn't even play them this year, and they just got eliminated anyway.""I found a pretty neat page on the computer last night," Rutherford says out of nowhere. "Hold on, I'll load it up."Guerin and Karmanos wait patiently as their boss pokes at his keyboard, licking his thumb every so often and occasionally pausing to operate the mouse with two hands. Finally he has successfully inputted the URL, and calls his assistants to look at the screen.The site loads at an excruciatingly slow pace as Internet Explorer struggles under the weight of the 14 toolbars Rutherford has added to it. "Jim" Guerin says exasperatedly "You really need to get Chrome"Rutherford looks over at his PC and frowns. "I don't know, I'm fine with black. Ah, it's loaded!"The site is HockeyFights.com, a registry documenting every fight at the NHL, AHL, and junior level."I can see every fight that Tom Wilson has ever had. Look! There's the one where he beat up Oleksiak right before I traded him.""Jim, shouldn't we be focusing on free agency right now?"Rutherford stares daggers at his assistant. "I am focusing on free agency right now."Part IIIt's May 15th. The Penguins front office has taken a few weeks off to reset and recharge in preparation for what will likely be a tumultuous summer. Big changes will be necessary, and there is a sense that a core player might be moved to shake things up following the humiliating playoff defeat. When Guerin and Karmanos arrive at PPG Paints arena, they notice that Rutherford's 1972 Ford Thunderbird is already there, and is utterly filthy - almost as though it never left the parking lot. If this is odd, it's nothing compared to the sight that greets them when they enter the Penguins' war room.The place is a pigsty. The floor is blanketed with scraps of paper, empty cans of beans, scattered Werthers Original wrappers, and cigarette butts. Affixed to all four walls by staples and hockey tape are newspaper articles, photographs, and Pittsburgh Penguins letterhead covered in scrawled all-caps words. And in the middle, in a stained undershirt and track pants, muttering wildly and running back and forth with the rabid energy of a much younger man, is Jim Rutherford."Good god Jim, what the hell happened here?"Rutherford turns towards them suddenly like a deer who's heard a twig crack ten feet behind it. His eyes are bloodshot and his face, now framed by an impossibly long white beard, clearly hasn't seen sunlight in weeks. He speaks, his voice an atrophied, almost disembodied croak."Bill, Jason, I cracked it. I-I figured it out. it was Tom. It was Tom this whole time! It was right there in front of us. Everything was always about Tom."He gazes almost lovingly at a printed out picture of Tom Wilson's face on the wall. Then, without warning, he charges at it and rips it into pieces.His face lights up with a manic smile and lets out a wheezing laugh. "Don't you see? Don't you get it?! As the Earth revolves around the sun, this league, this league REVOLVES around Tom Wilson. Everything is clear to me now, it's all been connected this whole time. We are nothing NOTHING but pale reflections of his demonic light. He is both the source and conduit of unfathomable power and will be almost impossible to defeat""For Christ's sake Jim we won back to back Cups! Get yourself together!""We won those Cups because he let us, Bill, he let us! But we've made him angry, very very angry, so we have no choice."He falls to his knees, his eyes roll back in his head, and he bellows out in one breath:"SESTITO FOLIGNO MARTIN GAZDIC JOHNSTON RITCHIE FISHER SIMMONDS BOLLIG MCQUAID CLIFFORD REAVES GUDBRANSON PROUT BOLL PRUST SCHENN! These are our new gods, the only men who have warred with the sun and emerged victorious. They shall protect Sidney and Evgeni, our delicate golden angels, from this planetary force of destiny. It is written, and so it shall be."He darts towards the phone and makes a call. "Lou! The ones they call Matt Martin and Ross Johnston, bring them to me. Take Guentzel. You agree? You fool! He is weak and cowardly!" He hangs up and makes another. "George! Reaves, now! I'll give you a 1st! And Simon too? Why not, he could never fight Tom anyway. Deal!" Then he starts calling other teams, dumping players seemingly at random to make room for lavish contracts to the lucky free agents who had, according to the userbase of HockeyFights.com, defeated Tom Wilson in a fight.Guerin and Karmanos can only look on in shock, paralyzed by the chaotic sight in front of them. By the time either of them can find their voice, the team they have so carefully assembled over the course of five years has been completely shredded in the name of irritating a player who they will probably face about 5 times that season. The only silver lining they can think of is that Paul Fenton agreed to trade Marcus Foligno for Jack Johnson for some reason.Both men feel no choice but to resign and get the hell out. Their good names can't be anywhere near this hideous monument of paranoia, this homing missile of goons and scrubs. Rutherford, sitting in a pile of garbage, is alone in his world, and realizes that these men probably worked for Wilson this whole time. It all finally clicks together, the final puzzle piece revealing the face of deception. Rutherford is an oracle, and an oracle must walk alone.EpilogueBy the time the season rolls around, more than a few aspersions have been cast on Rutherford's sanity. The opening night roster is as follows:Marcus Foligno - Sidney Crosby - Matt Martin Brett Ritchie - Evgeni Malkin - Wayne Simmonds Ross Johnston - Kyle Clifford - Ryan Reaves Luke Gazdic - Brandon Prust - Tom Sestito Dalton Prout - Kris Letang Luke Schenn - Erik Gudbranson Brandon Bollig - Adam McQuaid Matt Murray Jared Boll Analysts predict using WAR models that the team will attain only 48 points and finish last. Others point out the futility of trying to apply any kind of rational analysis to this lineup.Which makes it all the more surprising when they began to win.Freed of their penetrating fear of Tom Wilson, Crosby and Malkin deliver career seasons, finishing 20 points ahead of the field. Wilson himself becomes a nervous wreck, losing considerable amounts of sleep and faking injuries to avoid playing Pittsburgh. The Penguins cruise to a Stanley Cup, defeating the Capitals along the way in an embarrassing 4-game sweep. Wilson's unsuccessful attempt, legs and arms shaking from anxiety, to fight Foligno in the deciding game brought a tear to Rutherford's eye as he saw his mortal foe fall before his army of light and good.Rutherford said it best in his Hall of Fame speech, delivered in November while the Penguins were in the middle of a 13 game winning streak:"Most of all, I would like to thank Tom Wilson, for without hell there is no heaven. Without dark, there is no light. We mere men can ascend to the status of God only when tormented by the devil. Each day I breathe, I shall strike at thee, Tom Wilson. And if my blade should one day connect I will die truly at piece."This struck some people as a bit weird but it wasn't any more off-putting than most of what Bobby Hull had said at the pre-ceremony reception so they let it slide.~~~~~~~~(Next time, something a bit more straightforward and less... conceptual. Don Cherry finally gets some control of the Toronto Maple Leafs) (OC) Tom Wilson-Proofing the Penguins (An Alternate Reality) Source

[healthandfitnessrecipes-blog]

How Sugar Keeps You Trapped in a Cycle of Addiction

https://healthandfitnessrecipes.com/?p=8020

By Lisa Egan

I admit it: I’m a little bit addicted to the stuff.

I know it’s terrible for my health, but sometimes I need a fix.

And…the more I have, the more I want.

I used to believe that I was weak…that I simply lacked willpower.

But, lately, I feel a bit vindicated: mounting evidence is showing that the tiny white crystals are VERY addictive.

****

Sugar is found nearly everywhere. It is in approximately 75 percent of packaged foods purchased in the United States.

The average American consumes anywhere from a quarter to a half pound per day.

Did that sink in?

If so, you probably think I’m terrible at math, or that I made a typographical error.

As outrageous as consuming up to a HALF POUND of sugar per day sounds, it is entirely possible – and common.

It is equal to about 30-60 teaspoons of sugar in a 24 hour period. Still seem like it would be hard to consume that in one day? Well, consider that ONE 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola contains 39 grams of sugar and 140 calories. And every single calorie comes from…sugar. Four grams of sugar equals one teaspoon, so ONE can of soda contains almost 8 teaspoons of sugar. Cranberry, pomegranate, grape, and orange juice contain 48 to 63 grams of sugar per 12 ounces…which is 9.6 to 12.6 teaspoons of sugar per serving. 

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Sugary beverages are the primary source of added sugar in the average American diet, and they are particularly dangerous because the method of consumption is rapid. It’s easy to gulp down a few sugary drinks every day without thinking much about it.

Then, of course, you have to account for all of the non-liquid sources of sugar you consume.

As you can see, avoiding sugar can be challenging, consuming a lot of it is fairly easy, and tracking your intake can be difficult (unless you are a meticulous label-reader and number-cruncher).

To make matters worse, sugar can be highly addictive.

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James DiNicolantonio is a cardiovascular research scientist at St. Luke’s Mid-America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. He says that refined sugar is similar to cocaine, and that studies show it can be even more addictive than the recreational drug.

In an opinion piece for The New York Times, DiNicolantonio explained why comparing sugar to drugs is not hyperbole:

Substance use disorders, defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, exist when at least two to three symptoms from a list of 11 are present. In animal models, sugar produces at least three symptoms consistent with substance abuse and dependence: cravings, tolerance and withdrawal. Other druglike properties of sugar include (but are not limited to) cross-sensitization, cross-tolerance, cross-dependence, reward, opioid effects and other neurochemical changes in the brain. In animal studies, animals experience sugar like a drug and can become sugar-addicted. One study has shown that if given the choice, rats will choose sugar over cocaine in lab settings because the reward is greater; the “high” is more pleasurable.

Sugar stimulates brain pathways just as an opioid would, and sugar has been found to be habit-forming in people. Cravings induced by sugar are comparable to those induced by addictive drugs like cocaine and nicotine. And although other food components may also be pleasurable, sugar may be uniquely addictive in the food world. For instance, functional M.R.I. tests involving milkshakes demonstrate that it’s the sugar, not the fat, that people crave.

“When you look at animal studies comparing sugar to cocaine,” DiNicolantonio told Here & Now, “even when you get the rats hooked on IV cocaine, once you introduce sugar, almost all of them switch to the sugar.”

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Sugar addiction is not biological, DiNicolantonio says. A certain consumption threshold must be achieved over a certain period of time in order to alter the brain’s neurochemistry. Subsquently, people experience dopamine depletion and sugar withdrawals:

You get this intense release of dopamine upon acute ingestion of sugar. After you chronically consume it, those dopamine receptors start becoming down-regulated — there’s less of them, and they’re less responsive. That can lead to ADHD-like symptoms…but it can also lead to a mild state of depression because we know that dopamine is that reward neurotransmitter.

In the following video, pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert H. Lustig and psychologist Dr. Elissa S. Epel explain how sugar and other junk foods can “hijack” the brain to make us want more and more.

#SUGAR – the skinny on #obesity and sugar #addiction https://t.co/kOIjFd7ulp

— Heather Callaghan (@healynC) July 20, 2018

Evidence is growing that eating too much sugar can lead to cardiovascular disorders, fatty liver disease, hypertension, insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, kidney disease, and even cancer.

The only ones benefiting from your addiction are the sugar and processed food industries. Think you can rely on your government to provide you with accurate information about the dangers of sugar? That’s not going to happen – Big Sugar is a large, powerful, and wealthy industry that has been using Big Tobacco-style tactics to influence policy and ensure that government agencies dismiss troubling health claims against their product for decades.

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Your health is in YOUR hands.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this series. We’ll talk about the mounting evidence that shows the links between sugar consumption and disease. In part 3, we’ll cover tricks that can help you break the addiction cycle.

Additional Resources

Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease

Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper’s Guide

Good Calories, Bad Calories

Pure, White, and Deadly: How Sugar Is Killing Us and What We Can Do to Stop It

  *I have also published this article on Steemit.*

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Explore our articles on SUGAR

This article appeared first at Nutritional Anarchy and appears here with permission.

Disclaimer

Nutritional Anarchy is owned and operated by Lisa Egan and may contain advertisements, sponsored content, paid insertions, affiliate links or other forms of monetization.

Credits: Original Content Source

[placetobenation]

This week marks two years since World Wrestling Entertainment officially kicked off a new era with the company’s second “Brand Extension.”

With the benefit of hindsight, let’s take a look back at the brand split in concept, the initial draft itself and the fallout. Who won? Who lost? Which perceptions changed over time?

The Background

In May 2016, WWE announced it would be instituting the Brand Extension to reflect the creation of SmackDown Live and a focus on creating opportunities for talent throughout the company.

The company announced a draft to split its rosters between Monday Night Raw and the newly christened SmackDown Live. Every name on the main roster, with the exceptions of those who were injured or suspended, was eligible, and six more superstars would be drafted from WWE’s developmental brand, NXT.

Along with the draft, the brand extension meant SmackDown moving from its traditional Thursday or Friday night taped slot into a full-time two-hour live show on Tuesday nights. Each of the two main brands was assigned a somewhat convoluted hierarchy of a General Manager and a Commissioner — Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon on Raw, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon on SmackDown Live, respectively.

Those weren’t the only differences from WWE’s prior brand split in 2002, though. Raw moved to three hours several years ago, which made the dynamics for the draft itself different. Because of the extra time needed to fill on Raw, that brand received three picks for every two from SmackDown. Along with Raw getting the first overall pick, it only added to the decades-old perception that WWE views SmackDown as a clear second to Raw in importance.

The Draft

The draft took place in the July 19 edition of SmackDown Live and later that night on the WWE Network, drawing a huge ratings boost for the Blue Brand and marking a rare instance of SmackDown beating Raw in head-to-head ratings, including an increase of nearly a million viewers from the prior year’s SmackDown.

At the end of the night, the rosters ended up as follows:

RAW

Seth Rollins

Charlotte (WWE Women’s Champion)

Finn Balor (from NXT)

Roman Reigns

Brock Lesnar

The New Day (WWE Tag Team Champions)

Sami Zayn

Sasha Banks

Chris Jericho

Rusev (United States Champion)

Kevin Owens

Enzo and Big Cass

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson

The Big Show

Nia Jax (from NXT)

Neville

Cesaro

Sheamus

The Golden Truth

Titus O’Neil

Paige

Darren Young (w/Bob Backlund)

Sin Cara

Jack Swagger

The Dudley Boyz

Summer Rae

Mark Henry

Braun Strowman

Bo Dallas

The Shining Stars

Alicia Fox

Dana Brooke

Curtis Axel

  SMACKDOWN LIVE

Dean Ambrose (WWE Champion)

AJ Styles

John Cena

Randy Orton

Bray Wyatt

Becky Lynch

The Miz (w/Maryse, Intercontinental Champion)

Baron Corbin

American Alpha (from NXT)

Dolph Ziggler

Natalya

Alberto Del Rio

The Usos

Kane

Kalisto

Naomi

The Ascension

Zack Ryder

Apollo Crews

Alexa Bliss (from NXT)

Breezango

Eva Marie

The Vaudevillains

Erick Rowan

Mojo Rawley (from NXT)

Carmella (from NXT)

The roster layouts were interesting, with SmackDown notably landing veterans like John Cena, Randy Orton and Kane, but also filling up on NXT call-ups (four to Raw’s two). In addition, SmackDown drafted young, fresh-to-the-roster individuals like Apollo Crews, the Vaudevillains and Baron Corbin.

Recognizing the unique makeup of the brand’s roster, WWE dubbed SmackDown “The Land of Opportunity,” focusing heavily on Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon’s fan favorite status by trying to establish new stars and re-establish traditionally underutilized ones.

But in the time between the draft and 2017’s “Superstar Shake-up” (*shudder*), who did the draft benefit and who did it hinder? Which show “won”?

The Winners

AJ STYLES

Undoubtedly the superstar who most benefited from the brand split, AJ Styles seamlessly transitioned from a feud with John Cena into being the centerpiece of SmackDown Live, a role he was less likely to have on a Raw show dedicated to the likes of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and, soon, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. On SmackDown, Styles simply drew the biggest reactions on the card, quickly outshining the likes of WWE Champion Dean Ambrose and Randy Orton.

By October, Styles held the WWE Championship and became known for getting the best match of the week out of his opponents, who ranged from Ambrose and Cena to Dolph Ziggler and the unlikely James Ellsworth. Through it all, his promos and matches stood out as the best in the company during this time.

THE MIZ

Despite holding the Intercontinental Championship, the Miz was lost in the shuffle before the brand split, a seeming non-factor in the grand scheme of WWE. With a new roster of opponents and a bigger spotlight on Tuesday nights, Miz raised his game to new heights (with the help of his lovely and talented wife, Maryse), taking advantage of every minute of screen time WWE afforded him. Where he shined most was on a new SmackDown recap show on WWE Network called Talking Smack. There, he engaged Daniel Bryan in an ongoing war of words that set the internet ablaze and generated buzz unlike any SmackDown had experienced in ages.

KEVIN OWENS

“Or, should I say, KEVIN OWEN?” Thanks, Hideo!

But seriously, K.O. broke away from the pack on Raw thanks partly to a devastating injury to inaugural Universal Champion Finn Balor and mostly to his natural charisma and work ethic. Owens spent the latter half of 2016 as Universal Champion, delivering classic promos alongside his “best friend” Chris Jericho. Frankly, their banter and partnership was one of the few things keeping Raw afloat from a quality standpoint after the draft, and for Owens, it was an opportunity that would’ve been delayed if not for the draft.

CHARLOTTE AND SASHA BANKS

One could make the argument that the rivalry between Sasha Banks and Charlotte (Flair) was the preeminent story on Monday Night Raw during the latter half of 2016. What is inarguable is that the brand split allowed these two women to break new ground, main eventing Raw on multiple occasions and engaging in the most violent and heated women’s feud in company history.

Their biggest accomplishment during this time was main eventing the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, the first time in company history women had been afforded that honor. They followed with sensational Falls Count Anywhere and Iron Man matches, firmly entrenching women in the main event picture where they belong.

THE USOS

Jimmy and Jey Uso were dead in the water as a happy-go-lucky babyface team in the summer of 2016. Luckily, thanks to Talking Smack, the brothers were able to completely change their image into a vicious heel tandem with the ability to spit fire on the microphone. The Usos shocked internet fans who had largely written them off by crafting dangerous characters who felt more realistic than just about anyone else on the mic. It was a breath of fresh air for one of WWE’s greatest tag teams.

ALEXA BLISS

The third person from NXT to be drafted, Bliss quickly proved to be the most valuable. She transitioned from being primarily a manager in the developmental brand to being SmackDown Live’s top heel and one of the best promos in the entire company. Her facial expressions and understanding of her role made her a standout and, by the end of the year, the number one woman on SmackDown Live.

The Losers

BECKY LYNCH

This could be perceived as a controversial choice. After all, she was the first SmackDown Women’s Champion and held that title from September until December. However, even as the champion, it felt like Becky’s comparatively limited roster of opponents (including the green Carmella and Alexa) combined with the red-hot Charlotte-Sasha rivalry to make her title reign look unimpressive. Bliss’ fiery promos took much of the spotlight in the division, and Lynch found herself left in the dust by January, with the company moving on to Naomi as the top babyface and Lynch headed for a lackluster 2017.

SAMI ZAYN

Fresh off the heels of his rivalry with Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn seemed to finally have an opportunity to break out of Owens’ shadow and forge his own path. Unfortunately, he and Owens ended up on the same show and Zayn quickly found himself serving as an enhancement talent to the likes of the rising Braun Strowman and, of course, his old pal K.O. It would take more than a year and a change of brands for Sami to begin realizing his potential.

RUSEV

Despite holding the U.S. title at the time of the draft and being thrust into a feud with the company’s perceived top guy, Roman Reigns, it became apparent quickly that Rusev wasn’t valued as a top-level star. He had a series of up-and-down matches with Reigns that resulted in him losing his title at Clash of Champions. He spent the rest of the year running in place, finally feuding with Enzo Amore and Big Cass before succumbing to injury.

AMERICAN ALPHA

A team that seemed like a can’t-miss draft pick ended up flopping quickly. Without being given characters or cool vignettes, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were left to go out and just wrestle. While they had some excellent matches against the Usos and the surprisingly potent team of Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt, Alpha never seemed to connect with audiences in a major way, nor did they get the booking support needed to get over as a modern day Steiner Brothers. These two talented prospects ended up as pre-show fodder, if they could even make the roster of major PPVs in 2017.

LUKE GALLOWS AND KARL ANDERSON

Before the draft, Gallows and Anderson had carved out a valuable niche as the Club, AJ Styles’ brothers in arms. As an indicator of their value at the time, note how they were drafted on the televised portion of SmackDown Live, when even the more established Usos had to settle for being picked on the Network.

Unfortunately, separated from Styles and with their other former Bullet Club buddy Finn Balor injured, Gallows and Anderson were just another forgotten tandem after a notably bad feud with the New Day. Perhaps sunk by the all-time bad “Old Day” skit, they never really rose above pre-show enhancement matches.

The Busts

These were the picks that ended up, for various reasons, failing to live up to the hype of their draft positioning.

ALBERTO DEL RIO 

The last televised pick for SmackDown, Del Rio was a bit of a head scatcher even at the time. But within a month, he was suspended for violating the company’s wellness policy, and he was released on September 9, making absolutely no impact on the brand.

DEAN AMBROSE

As SmackDown’s top pick, Ambrose was expected to carry the brand as the WWE Champion. But in his first major PPV encounter, he laid an egg with Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam and found himself getting booed in the process. By September, the title was gone, and by January he was back in the Intercontinental Championship race, where he’d been a year prior. Despite some genuinely great matches (including a classic TLC match against Styles), Ambrose wasn’t able to shine as the flag-bearer for his brand, at least at this time.

FINN BALOR

Finn lands here through no fault of his own. Balor was on the precipice of superstardom, winning the inaugural Universal Championship match at SummerSlam. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury in the process that put him out past the following WrestleMania. The injury left Raw somewhat short-handed and allowed others to rise and fill the vacancy. By the time he returned, Balor appeared to have lost favor as a potential top champion.

The Sleepers

BRAUN STROWMAN

Arguably the hottest star of 2017 was the 48th person picked in the 2016 WWE Draft. Strowman went from Wyatt Family flunky to jobber-destroying monster in no time, overcoming initial skepticism to get over organically more than anyone else on Raw.

CARMELLA

Call her Ms. Irrelevant if you must, but the last pick of the draft is the current SmackDown Women’s Champion and the winner of the inaugural women’s Money in the Bank match. After a thankfully brief babyface run, Carmella found a suitably annoying heel character and grew into it over the course of a year, thanks partly to an entertainingly obnoxious alliance with James Ellsworth. Ring work aside, she succeeded beyond what her draft status would indicate.

SHEAMUS AND CESARO

Both these guys were spinning their wheels in WWE before the draft. Cesaro still couldn’t quite figure things out on the mic, while Sheamus had settled into a boring midcard role. Neither wrestler appeared destined for greatness until they were put against one another in a best-of-seven series in the fall. After that, they formed a “Wacky Tag Team Partners Who Hate Each Other” alliance that surprised many by actually working. Today, the Bar is considered one of the best tag teams in recent WWE history, and it all dates back to this draft.

And the Winner Was …

SMACKDOWN LIVE was better and more consistent than Raw during the time between the brand split and the first Superstar Shake-Up, owing to a shorter runtime, a better main event picture, more emotional storylines (remember the incredible Miz-Ziggler feud culminating in the Career vs. Title match?), more surprises and a consistent tone as the “wrestling show.” Even wrestlers like Dolph Ziggler and Bray Wyatt, who had been stale, found brief resurgences on SD Live, as Wyatt’s pairing with Orton proved shockingly successful. Sure, it ended in a brutally bad WrestleMania match, but the pairing worked in the beginning.

Raw, meanwhile, dealt with prominent injuries, little in the way of elevation, a depth issue in the women’s division and inconsistency in presentation. The return of Goldberg helped, as did Chris Jericho sticking around longer than expected, but the Roman Reigns push continued to disappoint, Seth Rollins struggled to find his footing as a babyface and Brock Lesnar rarely appeared.

Ultimately, the brand extension itself was a bit of a mixed bag, but it rejuvenated several careers and gave SmackDown its relevance back. As a fan, that’s a win, and we should be happy for the many superstars who reached new career heights as a result of the brand split.

[mikeyd1986]

MIKEY’S PERSONAL BLOG 62, July 2017

On Monday morning, I had my first Healthy Cooking on a Budget class for Term 3 at Balla Balla Community Centre in Cranbourne East. Despite recognising half the people from last term, I was still feeling a bit anxious and uneasy. I was like a strongly bonded molecule being unable to loosen up and relax. I was working with Kevin today who is also very friendly like myself but because I don’t know him that well, my guard instantly went up. It takes me a long time to warm up to and open up to people.

Our cooking teacher Jodie was her usual chirpy and bubbly self. I really didn’t want to bring up her mother’s death or funeral as these are sensitive subjects but it seems like she’s doing better now. Today we ended up making three different dishes from one roasted BBQ chicken. Watching Jodie cutting up the chicken into segments felt like an animal anatomy demonstration. We used the breast for the wraps, the drumsticks and wings for the pie and the bones for the stock/soup.

We started off by making the shortcrust pastry. It took me a while to get used to working with rubbing flour and butter together to make breadcrumbs but I got there eventually. We then cut up a few different vegetables including celery, onions, capsicum and carrots, frying them off in a saucespan for the pie filling. We also used a pressure cooker to make our chicken stock which only takes about 25 minutes. http://www.ballaballa.com.au/progra...

On Monday night, I had my Strength Training session with Luke Davey at Breakaway Fitness in Berwick. To be honest, tonight wasn’t my best performance of all time. Far from it in fact. However, I did learn from valuable lessons about myself so I can consider that to be a really positive thing. Part of it was me trying too hard and the expectations on myself being highly unrealistic. Sometimes you’re just not going to be able to lift that weight. That’s life.

WARM-UP...I actually started really strong with my warm-up exercises. Beginning with a few yoga-esque poses including wide-legged side stretch with overarm, forward fold and twisted calf stretches. But when it came to doing the kettle bell deadlifts and pull aparts with the resistance band, I was having some issues with my lower back. I was also struggling to keep my form and I was beginning to get frustrated with myself.

DEVELOPMENT...This frustration continued into my deadlifts. Today I started doing 5 rounds of 1, maximum weight. I was overthinking and second-guessing myself a lot, even with sliding the plates onto the bar. I just felt so stupid because I couldn’t do it properly. Still, I wasn’t going to cry and I wasn’t going to give up. I was doing okay with the lighter weights but when it came to do 100kg, I was on the verge of losing my form and not being able to do it. I got fatigued and worked up even though I just wanted to get it done and smash the deadlifts. It just didn’t happen for me today.

WORKOUT...At this point, Luke decided that it was unsafe for me to continue with the deadlifting and I can completely understand that. But of course, my mind had other ideas after I was strapped into a 15kg weight vest and told to run through Intrepid Drive and back around the block...”Oh no! Luke’s disappointed in me because I didn’t complete the deadlifts and now he’s punishing me.” But this thought was beyond ridiculous and obviously untrue.

Still I wasn’t feeling that great about myself in the moment. Running was a struggle both physically and mentally. I also had to be mindful about vehicles reversing out of driveways and turning at the interaction so I had to slow down a few times. When I got back, Luke explained why he changed my workout. I know that he had good intentions for me. If he was truly disappointed in me, he would have cracked the shits and walked off.

It was like a reflection and a wake-up call at the same time. Reflecting on the fact that I’ve come a long way since I started training with Luke and dropping 17kg which was almost the amount of weight I was carrying with the vest on. He also wanted to me clear my head and hopefully get myself into a better headspace rather than continue with the deadlifts and most likely not get anywhere in my current mental state.  https://www.facebook.com/breakawayf...

After the session, I had a one-on-one discussion with Denee Lalouette. The look of concern on my face must have matched my thoughts...”Oh shit! I’m in trouble. This is going to be a Principal’s office type conversation.” But of course that was just my fear and anxiety talking. He essentially just wanted to clear the air with me after Thursday night and get me to understand his intentions behind what he was telling me.

I did take things the wrong way and got defensive at him. Simply, my emotions and my ego got in the way and I misinterpreted everything he said to me. I saw it all in a negative, harsh and judgmental light as if he was attacking my character. The four principals that he discussed with me are: What you think you become. The world is a mirror of your life. Every battle is won before it is fought and Life is a paradox. It was tough trying to articulate myself to him but I still managed to be open and honest with him about the beliefs I held within. https://www.facebook.com/compiapp/

Driving from Berwick to Frankston South was a bit of a challenge in terms of peak hour traffic but still manageable. I was a little worried that I might be late making it to my Meditation class at Brahma Kumaris Centre for Spiritual Learning, The Peninsula but Angie is pretty casual about lateness so it wouldn’t be a big deal. Typically, I got there a few minutes before 7. Phew!

Tonight we discussed another huge topic which followed on from last week’s class. We did a recap about Soul’s being eternal beings which have original qualities including peace, love, joy, wisdom, purity and innocence. Next Angie talked about how the faculties of the soul (Mind, Behaviour, Intellect and Sanskaras) all interact and influence each other. The most important point was that the intellect part was responsible for changing the cycle and whether our thoughts and feelings are positive or negative ones.

She then discussed the concept of the Soul World where souls spent time to rest before leaving and moving into the Physical World and into another body. The soul is like a fully-charged battery with all original qualities. But after many births and rebirths, these qualities deplete and lose energy. They are then covered up by Vices (Ego, Greed, Lust, Attachment and Anger) which are not lasting and not fulfilling.

The last part of the class was dedicated to the Supreme Soul, which is the existence of a higher being that is looked up to. It is known by many names including God, Jehovah, Bubba, He, Him, Father etc. The role of the Supreme Soul is to provide an energy source and connect to other souls. It is in a state of total peace all the time. This part definitely challenged my current spiritual beliefs but at the same time I still found the information interesting. http://brahmakumaris.org.au/events/...

On Tuesday night, I attended at Vinyasa Yoga class with Aaron Petty at Personal Performance Training Centre in Berwick. I’ve been practicing yoga for about 8 years now and I absolutely love experiencing different styles, teachers and venues hence why I decided to give this class a try. It was a fully booked class with about 11 students and it was held in the upstairs training room.

Being a Vinyasa styled practice, I knew that this would be quite an intense, high energy class. Thankfully it was also a judgement free zone. In fact, a few people were laughing at themselves when they couldn’t hold their balance in Aeroplane Pose and Flip The Dog Pose. The main thing was that everyone was giving it a go. It didn’t matter if you couldn’t quite keep up with the Flowing Sequences or be able to lift your feet up in Crow Pose. These poses are meant to be challenging so there’s no shame if you can’t do something (advice I really need to take myself sometimes!).

Aaron’s approach is very easy going and flexible (pardon the pun). Unlike most yoga teachers, he eliminates most of the Sanskrit jargon and focuses more on which muscles to activate during each pose. I was sweating heaps through the class and I was thinking thank god this wasn’t a hot yoga or bikram yoga class or else the entire room would be melting (It’s getting hot in here!). Aaron is also very knowledgeable, explaining the benefits about Pigeon Pose including the promotion of healing by releasing tension through the hip flexes.

The toughest part of the class for me was definitely the flowing sequences which included the following poses:

Flowing Sequence 1...Forward fold, Half Lift, High Lunge, Plank, Chaturanga, Cobra/Up Dog, Downward Facing Dog.

Flowing Sequence 2...Chair pose, Aeroplane pose, Crescent Warrior, Warrior 2, Reverse Warrior, Side angle pose, Triangle pose.

I also appreciated Aaron’s choice of music which was a mixture of 60’s inspired ambient funk to modern lounge and chill out tracks. During my relaxation, I began to feel weightless and could feel the vibrations of the music through my body. It was quite an unusual sensation but it was quite a pleasant experience and I was able to just let go of my yoga practice. Hopefully PPTC makes yoga a regular thing because I really enjoyed Aaron’s style of yoga.

On Thursday afternoon, I had a Remedial Massage session with Brendan Rose at MyoMAX in Berwick. This week, I’ve really been burning the candle at both ends and by the time I walked into the waiting room, I was ready to fall in a heap. I was feeling flustered and worn up so this massage couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I was particularly sore in my shoulders, arms, upper back and sides especially after my yoga class on Tuesday night.

I was feeling a lot more comfortable and a lot less nervous than my first session with Brendan. When he asked how my week’s been and how I’ve been feeling, I honestly didn’t know where to begin. Suffice it to say, I’m trying to balance out my time better rather than cram everything into a couple of days. I made a spur of the moment decision to pick Sia for today’s background music. She’s a great singer songwriter and I needed something to wind me down.

Brendan was very thorough when it came to releasing the tension and stiffness through my back muscles. I think through Crossfit/Strength training and my own self-development, I’ve learned to “toughen up” and deal with the pain. Plus I trust that Brendan knows what he’s doing. No pain, no gain as they say. He wants me to work on straightening my spine out using the foam roller. We also worked on my squat depth and squat technique. I felt a little self-conscious about it but I was going for it. I didn’t care how many times it took to get it right. https://www.myomax.com.au/

On Friday morning, I had my Strength Training session with Luke Davey at Breakaway Fitness in Berwick. Today was another ordinary session for me as a week’s worth of stress had accumulated on top of me. Sleeping in, I was rushing out the door at 8.30am and of course I got stuck in peak hour traffic along Clyde Road. The only thing that was calming my nerves was the new Feist album I was listening to in the car. Besides that, I was feeling anxious about not making it to UFT on time.

By the time I saw Luke, I was already mentally exhausted. I was having difficulty articulating how I felt inside and just wasn’t feeling myself today at all. I was even getting jealous about Luke having side conversations whilst I was training because the attention wasn’t on me. It was really bothering me. I began questioning whether UFT PLAYgrounds was the right place for me because I just didn’t fit in here. Once the “negative thought” train has left the station, it’s very hard for me to get it to stop even when I’m slamming on the brakes.

WARM-UP...These exercises were a mixed bag for me today. Starting with the rowing machine, I had to do an 8 round TABATA (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off). I tried to focus but I was getting distracted by the conversation Luke was having. I was also getting frustrated by how much I was struggling with my single arm rows and could feel the emotions festering up inside of me. The awkward silence was extremely loud between Luke and I but I really didn’t want to bring up my issues today. Instead, I tried hard to channel my energy into the workout and feel a bit better about myself.

DEVELOPMENT...Today I was working on my bench press again, this time doing 5 rounds of single reps at 50kg. This was a really heavy weight for me so I really needed to dig deep mentally. After the first few rounds, I decided to focus my attention on taking deep breaths in and out, visualising myself lifting the bar up in a straight line without struggling. This was a much better and more productive way of using my rest time and thankfully it paid off.

I felt really proud of myself for managing to turn this negative session into a positive one just by believing in myself and blocking out all other mental distractions. It’s been a tough week for me and it’s even harder trying to explain it to your personal trainer. Sometimes it’s just easier to go within and sit with the silence, as uncomfortable as it may feel.

Straight after my PT session, I went to the Fountain Gate Hotel for the Denise Drysdale Xmas in July show. My parents were already there inside the function room but I was only a few minutes late and didn’t miss much. It was a surreal experience meeting Denise in person after seeing her on countless morning shows such as Ernie & Denise and Studio 10.

She performed a one hour show filled with songs (What a Wonderful World, Tell Him, Jingle Bells, Silent Night), funny stories about her life and plenty of rude jokes relating to menopause, breasts and surgery. This was exactly when I needed in that moment, positive energy and laughter. After the show, we lined up at the buffet table and filled our plates up with salads, roast lamb, pasta, lasagna, roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli.

On Friday night, I went down to my friend Mandi Herauville’s gym for my first Bootcamp class at The Yard Strength & Fitness in Pakenham. I was still feeling emotional and not thinking clearly when I arrived. Unloading with Mandi before the session tonight helped immensely. Sometimes you just need to laugh about shit in order to let it go and feel better about it and that’s exactly what we did. I feel bad whenever I get defensive and annoyed at somebody else because then I become the victim. It’s difficult whenever you’re in a hypersensitive state to see things objectively and that’s what happened today.

I met a few of Mandi’s other clients tonight who were all really friendly. Despite feeling mentally drained and worn out, I decided to participate in the Bootcamp class. The warm-up consisted of a rope walk, sit ups, push ups, mountain climbers, squats and lunges. Next we worked on our dead lifting technique, doing 3 rounds of 10 reps. I’m still working on my form and technique but it has improved heaps and I was feeling good about them tonight.

For the workout, we did a circuit with 10 different exercises including: sumo dead lifts, overhead sandbag lifts, fit ball crunches, skipping, leg raises, jumping over the rope, boxing, ladder jumps/runs, pike push ups and renegades. We had to do 3 rounds each and it was all self-paced. We all had a lot of fun with Mandi cracking jokes and singing along to Drake (You used to call me on your cellphone) whilst working hard and sweating heaps.

We ended the session by doing a series of stretches and a brief guided meditation by Mandi. I really enjoyed myself tonight and I’m glad that I made the effort to come out despite how shitty I was feeling inside at the time. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and now I’ve discovered a new safe place to go to both to hang out and to train. https://www.facebook.com/TheYardStr...

“There’s one thing that I never did, its called giving up. It goes on and on and I felt so alone. As I grew up and grew old life began to unfold. Heavy hearts filled with hope and the truth will be. That there is something there but nothing wrong with me. And the truth will be that there is nothing wrong with me.” Dream on Dreamer - Taking Chances, Breaking Free (2011)

“Sometimes I take another breath, Another step to embrace what I have. Then I stare at you, staring back. And I know that I'm not dead. It takes a voice to make a change. It takes courage to not be the same. If the world is silenced today, I make sure to scream my name.” Dream on Dreamer - Don’t Lose Your Heart (2015)

[chelsorz07]

ooh yaaas 100 questions. please don’t unfollow me for posting a million of these tonight

Are you young at heart, or an old soul? Both I guess? Like the activities I enjoy are what most people my age would consider boring, but I’m not mature enough to take care of myself.

What makes someone a best friend? Someone who doesn’t abandon you no matter how busy you both get or how far apart you are, who makes you laugh, who you can do absolutely nothing with and still have a good time, who you can talk to about anything without judgement or having your feelings invalidated, and ideally someone with the same or similar taste in music so you can jam the fuck out in the car together.

What Christmas (or Hanukkah) present do you remember the most? My first guitar when I was 14.

Tell me about a movie/song/tv show/play/book that has changed your life. Supernatural has changed my life by consuming it.

Name one physical feature that you like about yourself, and one you dislike. I like my face and hate just about everything else. Psoriasis makes my skin terrible and my body hurt everywhere all the time, my hair never cooperates, I can’t lose weight, and my boobs are too big so they hurt as well. I suppose my nails are kinda pretty. At least as far as shape. Underneath they look terrible, also because of the psoriasis, but I always have them painted.

Would you like to reconnect with any friends you’ve lost contact with? The friends I’m still in contact with are the only ones I need. Shouts out to @amandavanhalen​ and @sloan28allday​

What’s more important in a relationship: physical attraction or emotional connection? I mean, both.

Name a movie that you knew would be terrible just from reading the title. Oh jeez...um...Mean Girls 2? Because nothing could ever be as good as the original.

What holiday do you most look forward to? Fourth of July. Except this year I did absolutely nothing because I’m stuck here all alone and have no money.

How is the relationship between you and your parents? Dad: used to be horrible but now is good and I really miss him and he’s one of the main reasons I want to move home. Mom: used to be good as long as we swept all our issues under the rug, then got really bad because I refused to do that anymore, and now is getting a little better because we’ve had so much distance between us for two years and haven’t been able to be at each other’s throats all the time.

You’ve got the TV on, but you’re not really watching. What channel is the TV on? The Netflix home screen.

Name a song that never fails to make you happy. The Jock Jams Mega Mix. Don’t judge me.

You know at least one person named Michael. Tell me about him. He’s my best friend in the entire world. 

Have you ever read the “missed connections” on Craigslist? Have you ever posted one, or wanted to? I don’t get on Craigslist because where I lived wasn’t even listed under the cities. We have Pennswoods Classifieds.

If you could pick anywhere to live the rest of your life, where would it be? Bradford. Unless I could pack my family and friends up and take them to Nashville with me.

Can money buy happiness? Yes. Not that material things equal happiness. But money would definitely buy me a house in Bradford so I could be with the people I love.

Do you drink? Smoke? Do drugs? Why, or why not? Used to drink, don’t anymore because I either get so smashed that I puke and cry and pass out or have half a beer and want to take a nap. Smoke at least a pack a day. Have smoked weed and done a few different types of pills, but they also just made me sleepy so I don’t see the point.

Is there anyone close to you that you know you can’t trust? You don’t have to give names. I don’t really fully trust anyone but my dad.

Where was your favorite place to go when you were a little kid? The Erie County Fair. It was like a big deal okay?

Have you ever spent a night in the hospital? Once. Got my tonsils out when I was 10. But everything else I’ve gone for has been same day.

Do you enjoy being with only one or two friends, or with a large group of people? One or two. 

Do you like the type of music your parents listen to? Do your parents like the type of music you listen to? My parents like country and so do I because I was raised on it, but my musical tastes extend far beyond that and theirs don’t. My dad likes some classic rock too but my mom doesn’t.

Have you ever been bullied? Have you ever bullied anyone else? Yes and yes.

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pizza.

If your partner wanted to wait until marriage before having sex, would you stay in that relationship? I’ve been married for two years and haven’t had sex since February (not my choice, he’s just uninterested) so I think I can live without it. I’d rather do it myself anyway. It’s faster, less gross, less weird, less painful, and I know I’ll have an orgasm every time.

Do you believe in a god? No. I’m a Satanist, which means I believe in self-indulgence, not that I worship the devil. Since most people are fucking uneducated sheep who seem to think that’s what it is.

Of all the social networks in the world, why use Tumblr? Because I know everyone I follow has the same interests as me and won’t think I’m crazy because of my passion for those interests.

What’s your favorite Tumblr tag to track? I don’t track tags, I just follow pages with content that I like.

Would you call yourself/your family “middle class?” Lower middle class.

Name a TV series you didn’t enjoy until after it ended. I just watched Parks and Rec in its entirety this week and I fucking love it.

Have you ever bought a product from an infomercial? Dave bought me my last guitar off of HSN.

If you could give up your car and never have to drive again, would you? I’d stop driving but I don’t think I’d give up my car because it’s freaking AWESOME, I’d just hire someone to drive it for me.

If you go back to one point in time to give advice to yourself, when would you go and what would you say? I’d go back to 2015 and say “Get married in a fucking courthouse because marriage is cool but weddings are terrible.”

What’s your “quirkiest” habit? I don’t know if this counts as quirky but if I like a movie or tv show I can memorize the entire thing after watching it twice.

What is “normal?” Are you normal? There’s no such thing.

Someone close to you is dying. You have the choice to let this person live for 10 more years, but if you do, you cause the death of 10 strangers. You don’t have to see them die. Do you take the offer? Of course. I don’t care about strangers, only people in my life. Don’t give a shit if that makes me a horrible person.

What is one thing you could never forgive? It’s not a matter of forgiving anymore, I just stop caring. Like you’ve fucked me over, you’re gonna continue to fuck me over, I’m not even surprised.

Would you rather be in a relationship after the honeymoon period ends, or be single? My relationship never had a honeymoon period and I’m still in it after eight years so.

Is it possible for guys and girls to be just friends? Yes.

Where do you and your friends go to hang out? We don’t because they live too far away.

Write the first paragraph of your obituary. I don’t want an obituary. Or a funeral. Just burn me and cast me into the wind.

What is the best TV theme song ever? The Friends theme, OBVS. But the Buffy theme is my jam too. Shouts out to Nerf Herder.

When you were young, what would you dream you would be when you grew up? A musician.

When you’re alone in your own home, do you walk around naked? Only from the bathroom to my bedroom. Which is literally two steps.

What gets you out of bed in the morning? The urge to pee. And it’s not so much “in the morning” as it is “every motherfucking hour of the day”.

Do you want to have more friends than you have right now? Nope. Two is good.

What part of the past year sticks out in your mind? Realizing how badly I want to move back to PA.

You win a scratch-off lottery game that gives you $2000 a week (after taxes) for the rest of your life. Do you keep your job? I’d probably work somewhere just so I didn’t get bored.

Could you be in a long-distance relationship? If you’re in one, what makes yours work? I’ve been in a straight-up long distance one before and it didn’t work. Dave and I are sorta long distance because he’s out of town for work for two weeks at a time, then home for six days before it starts all over again. And honestly I think the time apart is WHY we work. Because if I had to spend every moment of every day with him, someone would get their throat cut.

What’s the best route to your heart? Don’t treat me like shit. It’s really not that hard. Or maybe it is, idk.

Have you ever met someone through the internet, then met them in real life? No.

What is your favorite sport? Football.

What has been troubling you lately? Not having a job. I just got one though. I’m excited because the people seem cool and it’s at a store I love so helllll yeah 20% discount.

Did you enjoy your high school prom? If you haven’t gotten there yet, do you look forward to it? If you didn’t go, why not? I did not go. Because I was hanging out in a cemetery with friends and that was more fun.

What do you use more often: your intuition or logical reasoning? I try to avoid problems at all costs but if I actually have to solve one I’m usually more logical.

Do you know what makes you happy? Escaping reality.

Tell me about the last book you read. I don’t even know what it was.

What is the nicest compliment you’ve ever been given? Couldn’t tell ya. I don’t get a lot of them.

Who was your first crush? Celeb: Luke Perry. IRL: Charlie Burns. I’ve mentioned this before. He’s still hot.

Do you believe that there is life on other planets? Don’t care.

Predict what your life will look like a year from now. Hopefully my address will be in Pennsylvania instead of Ohio.

Often, people will ask how your last relationship ended. I want to know how it began. His ex was a crazy, lying, abusive bitch and he only got away from her after we graduated because she was a year behind us, so we started talking online and then texting and just decided we were in a relationship but it was doomed from the beginning.

Where is your favorite place to go out and eat? Renna’s Pizza, oh how I miss you.

What is something you want to change about your current situation? My address, my health, my weight, my bank account, and the fact that I am almost 28 and childless. So yeah pretty much everything. Oh, I also want it to be October because I’m tired of waiting for SPN and TWD.

Early bird or night owl? Night.

Are there any childhood possessions you still hold on to? Lots.

Give me an unpopular opinion you have. I don’t like Game of Thrones. Really wanted to, I just thought it was boring.

What was the last song that was stuck in your head? Weightless - All Time Low.

Where do you live? Be as general or specific as you want. Dover, Ohio. I know I complain about it a lot but it really is a lovely city. There’s tons of things to do and places to eat. Certainly a lot more places to find a job. I just want to go home where my family and friends are.

Do you believe in giving kids medals and trophies for participation? FUCK. NO. This is the only generation where you don’t have to earn your accolades and it turns kids into giant wimps, sore losers, and even worse, sore winners. Drives me up a wall.

What was the longest car ride you’ve ever taken? Took us about 12 hours to get to Cumming, GA because idk if you’ve ever driven through the Smoky Mountains but holy BALLS are those roads scary.

Have you ever taken part in a protest? I protest things all the time. Just not in public with people because I don’t like public or people.

Would you ever use an online dating service? I signed up for a few back in the day but never actually met or even talked to anyone I was matched with.

What is your ethnic heritage? White. Mostly Irish/English.

Describe a person that inspires you. Not necessarily specific people, just musicians. Music is my heart and soul and I wish I had half the talent or drive that any of them do.

If you earn minimum wage doing what you love, would you? I mean yeah any money is good money at this point.

Do you believe in luck? No.

Describe the last time you were very angry at someone. I’m sure it wasn’t that long ago, and I’m also sure I was more angry than the situation warranted, but I really can’t remember right now.

Do you want to live until you’re 100? Hell no I don’t even want to live till I’m 70.

Do people change? If so, how do you keep a relationship together when both of you start to change? People change on a daily basis. And if you’re in a relationship, you’re either gonna change and grow with each other, or you’re gonna grow apart. Or fall apart. There’s nothing you can do about it. 

Have you ever risked a friendship by telling someone you liked them? Every guy I’ve ever been with or liked was my friend first, so there’s always that risk. Usually it doesn’t turn out as bad as you thought. I mean, Mike and I were friends, then together, then on and off throughout several years, then didn’t speak for a long time, then almost got back together, then didn’t speak again and now we’re best friends. Shit just happens that way. Onnnn the other hand, there’s a girl I like but I can’t tell her because she’s got a boyfriend and I’ve got a husband and I probably won’t even be living here a year from now so it’d be pointless anyway. But she’s a lovely person and doesn’t annoy me like most super-chipper people do so I’m glad to be her friend. 

Would you rather be alone doing something you enjoy, or doing something you don’t like with your best friends? If I don’t like the activity I’ll probably just be surly and ruin everyone else’s good time, and I don’t want my best friends pissed off at me for that, so I’ll say doing something I enjoy alone.

Do you practice what you preach? I don’t really preach anything. Or practice anything. Look man, I literally just sit on my couch watching Netflix and playing Words With Friends on my phone. I’m not that complex of a person.

If you take precautions to stay safe, do you ultimately act more recklessly? I try my absolute hardest to avoid any situation that could potentially be dangerous. 

What do you value more in a significant other: Attractiveness or intelligence? Intelligence.

Are you hard-headed? You betcha. Not complaining. Thanks dad.

Have you ever laughed uncontrollably when it was socially inappropriate? I think that’s when I laugh the most.

When have you felt most alive? Any time I’m at a concert.

Would you prefer to live? A city? The suburbs? The countryside? The mountains? Suburbs but of a small town.

Do you often skip breakfast? I don’t have legit meals. I just eat whatever when I’m hungry.

How do you know what true love is? You don’t. Nothing is ever that straightforward. It’s just trial and error.

Would you want to know the exact date and time you were going to die? No, I’d like to decide.

Where is “home” for you? Bradford.

What song best describes your life right now? Weightless. It’s described my life since the first time I heard it eight years ago.

Do you want to be perfect? Again, no such thing.

What have you never tried, but would really like to someday? What’s holding you back? I want to go to the motherland (Ireland) and Greece, but it’s expensive, I don’t fly, don’t have a passport, and am scared of other countries.

How do you express your creativity? Music, art, makeup, and the way I dress. Which is literally just band t-shirts and flannels. So also music.

Describe your neighborhood. Decently clean, lots of duplexes, a couple weird neighbors but nothing scary, some old people, and there’s an elementary or middle school (not sure which) one block over so it gets kinda noisy and the street is busy when it’s not summer.

Name something you only liked because it was popular. I’ve never liked anything based on popularity. I just like what I like. And usually it’s not popular at all. At least not where I’m from.

Give me the story of your life in six words. I don’t know what I’m doing.