#gosh danG its feels good to be done

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Love About Fionna and Cake (Vaugish spoilers ahead)

For those who follow me, this isn't going to be an EXTENSIVE review, but it's not going to be a "Quick Thoughts" either. It's more like an in-between option because, gosh dang it, I NEED to talk about Fionna and Cake.

When it was announced there was going to be a Fionna and Cake spin-off series, my stomach immediately filled with dread, and for two reasons. First of all, I just wanted Adventure Time to be done. Not because I hated the series. Far from it, in fact. It's because with the show's finale being this big conclusion that left me feeling empty inside and with "Together Again" feeling like a better, satisfying end to the franchise AND Finn and Jake, the last thing I wanted was MORE Adventure Time. I know the show's tagline is "The fun will never end," but the fun HAS to end at some point.

Also...I wasn't really into Fionna and Cake, both as a kid and as an adult. As a kid, I found it weird that Adventure Time just had this random episode where all the characters had swapped genders for some reason and my dumb young boy brain went "Ew, girly nonsense!" I matured past that now and actually learned to appreciate how it's actually a playful jab at the fanfic community and their occasional cringiness. That being said, I still wasn't into...how weird things got with Fionna and Cake, and I was NOT ready for a whole series based on them. I mean, why would I want a series of a genderswapped Finn and Jake when I could have...Finn and Jake?

But then the show came out...and I was NOT expecting the ten-episode long emotional roller coaster that had no right being as good as it was. NOR was I expecting it to be for adults this time.

I heard about...two weeks? Yeah, two weeks before hand, I heard that Fionna and Cake would have a TV-14 rating, and that's primarily the reason why I got more interested in the show. And a part of me kind of wish I didn't know that beforehand because I kind of wanted the surprise of characters going "God dammit" and Finn stabbing a monster in it's snout, leaving a gaping bloody hole in it. Like...could you IMAGINE?

But before you say anything, Fionna and Cake, thankfully, isn't rated TV-14 JUST BECAUSE it has swears, violence, and its main character topless for...more than half the series, to be honest. In actuality, the show's rated TV-14 more or less for the themes and messages that appeal more towards adults than it would have for kids. This show is more or less for the fans who grew up with Adventure Time, whether they're the kids now in their early twenties like Fionna, or the adults that watched the show for some reason and feel the same existential dread as Simon. The show is about the two of them and their growth to learn the lesson every body and their grandma needs to learn: Just cope.

Some of us yearn for a magical world with adventures that saves us from our boring, mundane lives. Others, even as adults, feel like they don't belong in certain spaces and wish to have back their loved ones who made them feel like they DO belong. So Fionna and Cake is there to just give the harsh truth, but instead of making the show feel like a downer, it gives a beautiful yet tragic experience that says you shouldn't yearn for what you WANT and appreciate what you NEED. Fionna wanted a magical world, but she didn't NEED it. Simon wanted Betty back or to return to his madness, but he didn't NEED to. The journey these characters go on leads to Fionna needing to learn that her life is fine just the way it is and that Simon needing to learn that his life HAS purpose even if it's without his true love. As for how they go through it and what conclusions they come to...I'm not going to spoil it because it's all brilliantly done and best left for you to see for yourself. Trust me when I say there is so much about their journeys that's best left to see for yourself if you haven't. But the bottomline is that it teaches audiences that your life is just fine the way it is. You just need to see the beauty through the dread and/or tragedy.

And despite this overlaying maturity, the show is still very much Adventure Time. It's filled with characters saying goofy things and acting silly, it's just now the show can go FARTHER with its mature messages, no longer having the kiddie gloves on for the sake of the children. They can go ALL IN on the existential dread much more than they did in the past, is unafraid to explicitly kill characters, and can make the gay characters kiss and date...Okay, they probably COULD have made that last part for kids with Steven Universe and The Owl House popularizing LGBTQA+ representation in children's media, but they definitely couldn't with those first two options! And I'm so glad that despite being mature, Fionna and Cake stuck with Adventure Time's brand of charm, heart, and fun times. It's just that those fun times can be interrupted by your favorite characters dying...But don't worry. They're not the REAL characters you grow up with.

Fionna and Cake is a multiverse story, meaning the show jumps between world after world. Not only does it provide peeks into new, interesting worlds based on these "what ifs" I didn't know I wanted to see, but it also allows the writers to basically kill off every character you loved as a kid. Sometimes it's explicit by showing viewers unmoving, withered, and sometimes even BURNT corpses, and other times it's implicit with nothing viewer interpretation guiding what MIGHT be true. Adventure Time HAS gotten dark like that in the past, but this is a time when the writers really go all out without holding back an inch, and I respect that.

And as for this being a multiverse story, I know we're all starting to get sick of those, but Fionna and Cake does it in a way that takes advantage of its premise. Each universe provides a dark and twisted version of Ooo, to the benefit of teaching Simon and Fionna to find what they NEED, not give them what they WANT. Again, I won't give away HOW, but it all works really well and it's why multiverse stories like Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and The Flash tend to fail. I talked about this last night with a buddy of mine, but a multiverse story works better when it's used to help the characters grow and provide interesting views of things that COULD HAVE happened if things went differently. Not to spit out cameos for specific fans or make jokes about how pizza is in balls or how Aquaman's dad didn't marry the queen of Atlantis. Fionna and Cake has cameos, but they're again to show how different each universe is, teach Fionna and Simon, and even reveal the tragedy that they present at times. It just happens to be done in a way that's a fun cameo for fans.

Speaking of which, it's hard to recommend Fionna and Cake because this is a spin-off that's clearly for the fans of Adventure Time. The ones who watched the show from the beginning and get all the little in-jokes, references, and call-backs that were frequent of the series. If you HAVEN'T seen the show...I'm willing to say you'd enjoy it ENOUGH, but you'd still be left confused. You COULD watch the show beforehand, and I definitely recommend you do that, but that means watching ten seasons and four specials of television just to watch ONE spin-off. Not everyone is going to have the patience to do that, and I can understand why. Just know that if you're fan, you'll definitely enjoy this.

If there's anything to complain about, the only real nitpick I have is Cake. Despite being the OTHER titular character, she...doesn't really do much or have a journey to go on. Her character is just being there for Fionna and wanting to be the magical cat she wanted to be. Only instead of coping with what she has, Cake...doesn't do that. She gets what she wants and she's fine with it, which is kind of disappointing. And as a character, she's kind of selfish, not really caring what happens to Simon just as long as SHE gets exactly what she wants. Now, she still has some great one-liners and still has an engaging purpose as a counter-argument to what Fionna needs to learn, but that doesn't change how she's pretty much the weakest part of the show, at least to me.

Fionna and Cake is definitely a show that has more strengths and weaknesses, completely shattering expectations and making a show I didn't know I needed. Would I want another season? Eh, not really. I'm fine with how things end here. But I'm glad I watched it and I'll likely rewatch it over and over again.

If you're not a fan of Adventure Time, this probably won't be your cup of tea. But if you are, then this is a solid A series for you. Check it out and see that just because the fun will never end, that doesn't make it a bad thing.

[bettimbellis]

A Collage (of Yelling)

I saw someone do something like this to advertise their fic- they linked the fic, and then put in a little collage of various comment snippets. I can’t find the post to show off- someone please do let me know if you’ve seen that, I want to credit them. 

Either way, my Hollow Knight post-Black-Egg-Temple fic (linked here) has 209 comment threads on it. I’ve gone through and found some bits. These bits were mostly chosen for entertainment/intrigue value out of context- a lot of my favorite comments didn’t get in. 

Got some good reviews there, I think. Anyone wanna see the collection I have of Discord screenshots from folks yelling at me about this fic?  (Seriously though, thank all of y’all who comment, yell in the tags, whatever- I love it. Really helps keep the writing muse going, too.)

Image descriptions below the cut. 

[Image ID: a collection of bits of text placed on a light green background, in several groups. Text is as follows. 

Excuse me who gave you the right to hit me with this line at seven in the morning”, with an arrow pointing to the left. also it feels like there are many things to be concerned about lmao  God, Hollow is such a poor baby. A lanky wet cat left in the rain. Hollow, that feeling is love, dear, no need to feel so confused about it. Hornet, my sad dumb little spider baby, go to bed. in summary holy shit this is fucked sounds like stressTM can these characters stop being so relatable good Lird *smacks my face* Hornet. Hornet. the fuck HOLY FUCKING SHIT [all caps] It was so soft!!!! And then it became *so goddamn angsty-* *squints harder*  Wet rag is my new favorite character. *thunks my head on a wall* Gosh darn it Oro course you had to have integrity But also OW MY HEART?! SHATTERED?1 POOR BABY HOLLOW IM GONNA CRY Gosh dang. The last chapter was a little lighter, but apparently you were just holding back for this one.  (Chp. 3) I stg this whole chapter made my emotions whip back and forth between “awww :)” and “awwh :(” and “oh. Oh no baby do not think like that”.  Augh. just, augh. / ...except that bit at the end. ...except that last sentence, ‘cause, yeah. / *hides face in hands* this has been exhausting for everyone, apparently. Hollow knight or: when you are so touch starved that your standards for touch that you want are somewhere in the abyss that has spawned you.  Whatever the FUCK happened in the last section is Oh Lord Oh God What The Heeeeeellll Ohhhh My Goood No Waaayyyy... Will be waiting for the next chapter STARING at ao3...

i was so relieved to read this that i accidentally put my phone in airplane mode trying to respond “it is startled out of its pleasant memory-” pLEASANT???? PLEASANT!?! Hollow no. HOLLOW NO- / why does this for some reason almost feel like fluff.  My urge to keysmash at you is strong Just. God. Everything about this is so fucked in so many ways.

Something about this line just makes me want to. Maybe stab the king in the chest. Repeatedly. And then throw them off a bridge. Idk Actually many things about this chapter make me want to stab the king in the chest repeatedly and then throw them off a bridge. Because *holy shit* Hollow, honey, you have so much trauma. OMG ghost, what have you done [stressed emoji] Okay then. Well. Um. That’s a lot to happen.  God it’s such a mess Ah yes, the eldritch nonsense trying to approximate a living creature, my beloved PK you ass. PK you absolute ASS get over here I wanna hit you with something heavy-  oh / im immediately punched in the face okay thank you for that Right off the bat I am mildly excited about this chapter solely because you played with text formatting and that makes my serotonin levels rise. I don’t know why but thank you for that.  CONFUSION SOUP I’M FHDHDJFKFKGH I wanna join the cuddle pile :<<< let me in [holding Hollow gently in both hands] / I will get you all the fresh-dirt-scented soap Fucking superb you funky little vessels. Oh boy! Spiraling!

Oh this chapter hurts ‘specially bad. Because it wasn’t enough to be possessed and neglected and quite literally tortured and driven insane, now we gotta have more medical issues and amnesia-  I fuckign cried at this one, oh my god. Pain is always a tearjerker, but it’s nothing compared to someone who’s been in pain so long finally getting that first big moment of *realizing they’re wanted* and *heard* and *healing*  And I gotta say, (this is gonna sound bad) I really do love Hollow’s victim blaming. Or how it’s written. I love how you write characters in pain <333 “Oh, just a quick chapter to read before bed,” I thought to myself. “I will enjoy it and feel a normal and manageable level of emotions about it.” / ...Thanks for making me all teary in the wee hours, now I’ll never get to sleep! (...I mean this as praise.) Oh. Oh Hollow. So wrapped up in the need to be useful. So incapable still of seeing that their own gut-wrenching familial love might be returned in kind, whether they have some designated purpose for their existence or not.  Yeah. Relieved. / Oh, Hollow... You have already left kudos here :) [three times] / Have I ever been told the definition of insanity?  honestly the body horror was the /least/ disturbing thing in this chapter. not to say! that it was not disturbing - even then, less the horror and more the. context. i want to punch TPK. into a lake. that is on fire.

First comment of my first reread, and MAN. This opening hits just as hard the second time.  Keep in mind Hollow Knight was made by Australian people Hollow 100% deserves a nice date at the palace if they so wish. anyway, I feel very emo about Hollow, all the time.  HOLLOW IS LETTING THEMSELVES HAVE WILL, LET’S GOOOOOO Ghost is doing Fine:tm:, Hornet is doing Fine:tm:, Hollow is *actually* doing pretty well Good news! Hollow is an emotional wreck!  Hornet is doing sooo normal right now (lying).

TLDR; amazing story, glorious update, poor Grimm, I Am Desperate For Shield Lore, someone please tell Ghost it isn’t their fault, the entire gaggle of siblings needs a group hug, I Am Going To Put The Pale King’s Corpse Through A Shredder, and Hornet needs another good cry. 

anyways fuck you for writing this keep it up

[nightinghoul]

The Year of Swedish Fish (2022):

(A Facebook crosspost)

I'm kind of weird about New Years resolutions in that I don't really like them, but sometimes I accidentally make them, or there's a theme or a word that works it's way into my mind. This year, I made a very intentional decision to have a positive, ridiculous, fun resolution that would make me feel good. I resolved to to eat Swedish Fish. It was the best resolution I've ever made, and I highly recommend that everyone try making a stupid, easily attainable goal for the year at least once.

My first batch was a Christmas present from my nephew's lovely fiance, Billie, and another from my brother-in-law, Brent. It was a lot of fish to start out with, and lasted me through February.

I'm March, I bought some colorful pastel Swedish Fish Eggs, which were basically miniature gum drops with tiny Swedish Fish mixed in. I started feeling powerful and bought a bag of just the Fish from Kroger a couple of weeks later. I said to myself "I'm a gosh-dang adult, and I'll buy a huge bag of Swedish Fish whenever I want." (Yes, I think gosh dang, inside my adult mind. Gosh golly gee! Hot diggity dog! Son of a gun! I can do whatever the fuck I want!)

Then I bought myself some other things, which is always surrounded by a lot of guilt for me. Gifting is a very strong love language for me. It's tangible to me. I have a hard time understanding people, but I understand a gift. I stumble over words sometimes, but I can give a gift, and it says what I want to say for me. I wanted to express the same thing to myself. I wanted to express "I hope this makes you happy" to me. I have a really difficult time with my self talk. So in lieu of practicing positive mantras, I bought myself a cool vintage tobacco pipe. I collect them. They make me happy!

I gifted myself with a couple more pipes over a few months (I actually got a whole batch thay came with a stand, and I haven't added them to my collection photos yet!). Then I started gifting myself with healthy things. I gifted myself with time alone, and exercise. I gifted myself with books, art, friendship, and improved health. These more spiritually substancial gifts to myself did help with my self esteem, but for a while, I really lost sight of the most important thing: Congealed corn syrup, artificial flavors, and red 40, in the shape of fish.

In July, I refused to buy a bag of red white and blue Fish, because the flavors sounded awful, and because I'm uncomfortable with nationalism and flag waving: It's okay to say no. Twice, I tried off brand versions, and they were simply not right: Sometimes going without is better than settling. In October, I bought my very last Swedish Fish - a single red fish in a tiny package: Sometimes less is more. I also learned that the rainbow fish are hard to find.

2022 really had its ups and downs. The best part has been spending time with my new friends, as well as keeping in touch with friends I met last year. I also continued with the pet portrait business I started towards the end of last year (I think?) when I just made a leap of faith and started offering them on my art page one day. I have had steady commissions since then, and for the first time in my life, I feel like a success! Plus, D and I have both had excellent recoveries from surgery!

The bad parts have been awful. Pinky passed away so suddenly a couple of months ago, and my heart is still in pieces. And it's been a year of worry for pets and human loved ones alike.

I look forward to 2023... and I'm scared, for some reason. I'm nervous for time to pass. I suddenly feel weirdly superstitious about the number 3 for no reason. But I look forward to it all the same. Something Swedish Fish didn't teach me - I learned it all on my own: We forge ahead, because stopping is not an option. This is best done in full immersion. Or, as another famous fish once said: "Just keep swimming!"

Happy holidays, folks, and may 2023 be your year! 😊

[cielospeaks]

b6 temp tri thoughts

bc hoo boy for me who hated b3 there is a lot to unpack.

firstoff b3 itself thoughts. gosh what a fucking disappointment of a story. for me this was where heroes story started to go downhill. initially gacha was kinda lame but the story was nice or at least bland and unoffensive (aka b1), and from b3 on the gacha was better but the story was much much worse.

before b3 i actually liked the starter trio bc sure, they were boring, but they seemed responsible enough. just like super generic standins for the usual lords/ect. after b3 their personalities developed. () was a fucking control freak and jerk, the sort of person who lectures you on your own customs and tells you why your beliefs are wrong, and also guilt trips you into complimenting them. () is a fucking stalker who has shit taste in relationships and people, thinks abuse is romantic, and is like the embodiment of being positive in a nasty way. () is a horrible leader, a kissass, and has none of the original characters likeable traits (defender of the weak, funny, ect) and instead is just ‘i love money’ memes.

the other characters introduced arent much better. gosh dang eir i was rooting for you to be a pamina character when you were first introduced. now i just feel like. the tired man with his cigarette looking done with everything. like i havent liked eir since b3 so i dont hate her now or anything but like. ok good for you youre a piece of shit.

honestly this is just gonna be me ripping b3 a new one so ill skip to the temptri story. as a premise its not bad, def better than b2s story: hel is left rulerless so the person who’s taken over needs to get rid of the other heir for like. competition. something something i think its like addressed in game of thrones or something idk medieval royalty politics. its like why macbeth sent assassins after duncan’s sons even tho they were out of the country. so the god/dragon of eir’s birthplace, who was also apparently her nanny, saves her life by merging with her and they go on a quest to retrieve the souls of eir’s dead subjects. like ok yea thats vaguely interesting sure go off.

the good: a little more development on hel/ymir. i also do like ymir! shes like the mom whos kinda a pushover, like if her kid (friend’s kid) wants to eat candy late at night she’ll do it bc she feels bad she wasnt in the kid’s life enough sorta thing. having the magic dragon being kind to the protagonist is such a fucking refresher after b2 of n ifl just threatening and demeaning fj orm (and laegy) for like five chapters (until they decided shes redeemable at the fucking last minute despite her being awful. but anyways i digress). i dont have a problem with her. cool good for you.

im having a separate section for ganglot bc i really liked her. like esp seeing the fan reaction against her and how badly shes written in the story makes me like her infinitely more! oh my gosh!

-shes actually dutiful at her job. like shes a really cool i think the word is anti villain? a character who actually has noble and good motivations but does it in a chaotic way/that is destructive to the protagonist. or something like that. theres a mess left over bc of the order’s swaggering and someones gotta clean it up and shes gonna be that someone bc her guardian is dead now, killed by her guardian’s adopted daughter. like her motivations are understandable, she’s after eir for medieval politics plus you killed/helped kill my role model slash mother figure who i thought was also your mother how fucking could you.

-shes that trope of “guy has a bitter animosity toward their presumed rival but said rival is just a dude. who acts normal abt it”. and gosh i love that trope. (herb, sal (from f g o and amadeus the movie version too), randall monsters inc, the list goes on i bet) its a good trope and i always love to see girl characters written with beloved traits of guy characters (gosh i wish there were more characters that arent guys written with wholesome kind jock kronk type characteristics. high school au feng is basically that. but again off topic). i feel bad for ganglot bc she just had to choose the person to have a vendetta against who would actually fuck her up out of proportion but. -doctor idv mourn emote-

-her design is nice and her backstory makes her personality/character more sympathetic. i like the classy formal look, it fits as her being a handmaiden and very dutiful, kinda like the maids/butlers in 14. im so grateful they didnt make her an au version of the main characters like the fan theories were saying. she was abandoned as a child and is older than eir/adopted presumably before eir was, which means she couldnt be those characters even if they wanted her to be. fuck you eat shit fall off your horse. anyways. she basically had nothing and was taken in by someone who not only provided for her needs but offered herself as an example. im willing to bet that seeing hel gave ganglot a purpose/something to look up to, and that hel, while providing for her needs, probably treated their relationship more as a business/apprenticeship sorta thing. in fact theres even stuff that said that ganglot loved looking after eir, which makes it seem like she was kind to eir (which makes what happened even more sad/pisses me off) and only hated her after she killed hel. and considering ganglot didnt know abt what hel did to eir, she wouldnt know why eir rebelled against her. and eir never fucking explains it to her. to ganglot it must look like eir just was like “oh woops looks like im a princess to a pretty lively fairyland happily ever after kingdom im ditching your goth busy realm of the dead to go fuck off and escape from my responsibilities and also imma help some pet self insert of a kill-happy spoiled ass prince and his friends kill your boss slash role model byeeeee -nail polish emoji-”. like idk. its totally relatable and understandable why ganglot would want to kill eir.

-her fatal flaw that leads to her demise is her kindness/mercy. which is something you almost never see with villains, esp ones that are supposed to be unsympathetic. like maybe in a series with an antihero who takes advantage of them falling for a trick or something. or like joseph joestar outwitting the pillar men, but then its less kindness and more like “honor/chivalry” being outwitted by wiliness, which imo is completely different. this is like if the hero is pleading for their life before fighting the villain, the villain decides to give them this out of mercy, and the hero, without explaining anything to the villain who presumably was their friend before, just fucking sacrifices their friend’s life to murder the villain from within in order to kiss up to their longtime abusers who have a sad backstory uwu and that makes it ok. gosh i fucking hate some aspects of this game. anyways i think a villain who has a point whose mercifulness leads to them being killed by a dirty trick is kinda interesting and at least new.

the bad:

-gosh i hate the u b w ripoff in the plot. like please just get a better plot point dont rip off a fucking boring f ate story. their appearances were played up but ultimately did basically nothing but motivate eir, potentially to do worse things but then again thats up in the air (no pun intended) how much of what she chose to do was “for my friends!” and how much was her own idea.

-the jokes abt eirs new design. i dont have a problem with her new design, or even her decisions. it makes sense, seeing shes spent the last however long around these assholes that maybe she’s changed for the worse (or rather from a blank slate to something worse than that). but what i do have a problem is w the “jokes”. no assholes you cant just “cure” depression for one what these characters have is more akin to life altering trauma and just bc theyre wearing brighter colors and smiling more doesnt mean their “depression is gone/cured”. i dont like the in game explanation for idunn but i have my version which is (imo) more meaningful and in character. i think for eir technically it makes more sense with the lore given, as besides askr, which treats her like a pet or a trophy, ymir is the first person in her life whose treated her decently, and in a parental way at that. so yea, not really w the design but definitely with the fans jokes. shut the fuck up.

-the writing. like as a sort of tragedy of people not fucking communicating a la spi derman 1 (2002) or an episode of conan its fine, in fact its pretty good. like for those reasons (+ the sort of medieval drama aspects) i like it or rather dont have a problem. its that those aspects are basically just glossed over for a generic and not really morally substantial “good wins evil loses” angle that this series likes to take. its not as bad as b2 where “sure this person basically kept your life as a carrot on a string to get you to fight your mutual respected former dead enemy who that person dehumanizes, and also they constantly belittle and threaten you but hey they had a crush on your ancestor so that makes them a good person uwu in the end”, but its still not great. like i said ganglot is a really cool character and very multi faceted and sympathetic, but the series just treats her like “hels evil successor who hates eir for no reason” and the fandom calls her incompetent so im just like. i will bite you but im also too tired. idk. i like ganglot. she seems like kind of a workaholic young lady who both is the “i serve someone and am super faithful but they really dont deserve me” trope i unfortunately like (i say unfortunately bc its fucking annoying bc i always end up hating the person theyre faithful to unless its beet and schooby and in that case beet is just too lovable to hate, and also he never asked to be idolized also so him being greedy is something you cant blame him for).

-i think if the story was done better? or like a version id actually like? theres not much id want to change. i think to make eir actually sympathetic she should actually try to communicate what she learned abt hel/what hel did to her to ganglot, and ganglot either ignores her or shuts down eir, or ganglot still cant forgive her even knowing the truth. something like that. a quick fix and that makes everything better. have a flashback to when they were younger and ganglot being kind to eir, and make it more of a moral conflict eir has against fighting and killing her former friend. kinda like the scene in spi derman 3 (2007). ok enough spiderman references id also address what happens to hel after the story. either eir kills ganglot and resumes the responsibility for both the realm of life and the realm of death. or she is able to defeat but not kill ganglot, while recognizing her as an enemy also has the strength of character to recognize she’d be a good ruler of the dead, and gives her blessing/relinquishes her claim to the throne while leaving, never to see her again or something. idk.

id also personally just eradicate all mention of (u b w characters) from the story and make the ending not that eir goes back to her “friends in askr” but that she goes back to set things right, not as their tool and pawn but as the leader her people in the realm of life (and depending on which the realm of death) need, acknowledging her responsibility to her people and her independence. but nooooOOOoo she goes back to the people who treat her as a toy like all happy to be that way. this years story and the protagonists happily sacrificing others for their schemes and then having the gall to act sad abt it afterwards as if tehy werent the one who twisted the damn knife istg

[deeeelightfuldee]

If you had to cook dinner for someone tonight, what would you make? lol ummm pizza, eggs/bacon, blts, air fryer roll ups. a sammich.

What's the furthest you've ever traveled? not far lol. 

How would you describe yourself in three words? reliable, diligent, caring

Who's the most overrated actor? I literally don’t follow mainstream media lol. i haven’t got any clue.

If you could master one skill, what would it be? id love to be a fantastic cook. or master a new language. or be a brilliant writer/author.

Have you ever done the right thing and then felt guilty? seldom. i think cutting ties or ending toxic friendships/relationships can be difficult. sometimes its like I know im giving 110% to someone and that they’re dependent on receiving that and when it comes to me needing to leave them, it can be difficult with guilt because i feel like im harming them (even though ultimately it is helping them).

Who's the most underrated musician? oh probably MANY. 

If you could instantly master one type of dance, what would it be? oh man, this is tough. i’d love to do swing dancing and ballroom dancing

If you could go to a celebrity's birthday party, whose would you go to? lol uhhhh hmmm someone who throws a DANG good party.

Do you like the new president? not particularly. maybe he is a cool person outside of politics. but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What did you eat for breakfast today? I had a muffin

What's your favorite type of music? i listen to EVERYTHING. but my go-to for pretty much anytime is country

Do you like tuna? I used to like tuna quite a bit. i don’t think i like it much anymore.

What were you doing at 2 am last night? I woke up from being too hot.

What do you like on your salad? all the stuff the cheesecake factory does so well

What message would you put in a fortune cookie? lol probably would need quite some time to think of something cutesy and hopeful.

What's the kindest thing someone has done for you? helped.

How often do you wear hats? ive been wearing them much more frequently. if im outside for any amount of time i try to keep my scalp covered.

If you could change one thing that has happened this year what would it be? I would probably change some stuff about the way relationship stuff went down.

What about last year? freaking last year was SO PAINFUL.

If you were trapped on an island, who would you bring with you? a boat owner with their boat.

Have you ever broken a bone? many times. my bones are pretty weak lol

Would you rather be really hot or really cold? i am ALWAYS hot so i would love to be freezing cold over being warm.

If you could get rid on one bad habit you do, what would it be? lol. poor eating habits, allowing people i care about talk poorly to me (i just started allowing this again and thats gotta stop)

If you could be on the cover of any magazine, which one? oh gosh, no

Your house is on fire. You can grab 3 things. Name them. aside from mom, gram, ben, and lottie... i have no idea. 

Are you more of a morning or night person? i do well at either 

What was the worst concert you went to? lol i havent been to bad concerts i don’t think

When was the last time you recieved flowers? like 2-3 weeks ago

Do your parents worry too much about you? im sure mom does lol. dad MOST definitely does not.

Would you rather be a zombie or a mummy? neither.

What would be the perfect first date? something thoughtful and dreamy

[lunatens]

soulmates: joshua

word count: 2500

part: 4/4

genre: fluff, slight angst

pairing: joshua x gender neutral reader, some junhao on the side

summary: your soulmate’s name is covered by a scar—leaving only a mysterious “j” for you to decipher. 

sorry it took me a BILLION YEARS to finish this, to be honest i wasn’t really sure where i wanted to go with it and then school and everything. i’m not really happy with how it turned out, but i really needed to just finish it! if i feel like it i might write a lil fluffy epilogue some times if people want that! anyways, hope you like it <3

~

christmas music echoes over the frozen river, and you hum along to the merry tunes as you lace up your skates. your friend group decided to have a fun day doing lots of winter-y activities--there was finally a snowfall the other night, just in time for christmas. cue a day full of sledding, shopping, decorating trees, and building snowmen (although seungkwan mostly just ran around trying to start snowball fights; needless to say, he was successful and an all out war did in fact take place in jeonghan’s yard). you’re joined by minghao and jun of course, as well as joshua, jeonghan, jeonghan’s soulmate, vernon, seokmin and seungkwan. in the past couple months , you’ve taken to talking to joshua more--you find you actually get along really well and you have a lot in common. minghao and jun have definitely noticed joshua’s name coming up in conversation more often, prompting them to tease you lightly—however they stop once you mention you only want to be friends with him until his birthday so you won’t be heartbroken again. in your head, joshua is just a close friend of yours who happens to be really cute and funny and kind to you, nothing more than a just a friend (you try really hard to tell yourself that but it doesn’t always work, especially in moments such as when he does that cute thing where he sticks his tongue out just a little bit and your heart flutters every time).

vernon, seokmin and seungkwan are the first on the ice, chasing each other around in some game of tag. minghao rolls his eyes at them, then tugs a shaky jun out onto the river, followed by jeonghan and his soulmate not too long after. it’s just after sunset, and the twilight sky is peppered with twinkling stars that mirror the christmas lights lining the path to the frozen river. several families and couples glide along the ice, travelling at various paces. you stifle a laugh as you see a young boy trip over his own skates; he gets up quickly and rushes to catch up with his friends. the winter air is cold, but you’ve dressed warmly. you sit there for a second, caught up in your own thoughts as you watch your friends enjoy themselves in the jolly atmosphere.

“um..y/n...” a voice mumbles from your side. you snap out of your daydreams and turn to face a blushing joshua. “can you help me tie my skates? I...I've never been skating before,” he says sheepily. you can’t help but smile at how cute he looks, all embarrassed and shy. “of course,” you reply, bending down to tie the laces. you make sure to pull them tight, peering up at him. 

“good?”

he nods, standing up and immediately losing balance. his arms wave around in circles as he tries to stop himself from falling over. he grabs onto you for balance, then gives you an apologetic look. you giggle at him, then loop your arm through his.

“come on, i’ll teach you,” you say, guiding him towards the river. Joshua takes one step onto the ice and immediately falls backwards, taking you down with him. you can’t help but burst into laughter, and you hear him join in from beside you. vernon's face appears above you with a questioning look on his face. 

“y/n, I thought you said you could skate?” he says mockingly. before you can reply vernon gasps and skates away quickly. you help joshua up as seokmin and seungkwan race by, making a beeline for vernon. when they reach him at the other side of the river, they tackle him into the snowbank, limbs flying everywhere.

“such dorks,” you comment. “okay, let’s try again--this time without falling. we’ll start out slow, so you can get a feel for the rhythm, okay?”

“okay,” joshua nods, biting his lip in determination. 

you start out slow, joshua practically just walking on the ice, but slowly he picks it up and you start gliding along at a faster pace. he clings to your arm the entire time though, and you try not to think about it too much-- he’s just a friend, after all, and you’re simply helping him learn to skate.

minghao and jun whizz by, minghao turning and flashing you a wink and a heart as he skates backwards. you send him a death glare and he smiles innocently at you before jun pulls him back around. 

~ 

after a while of skating laps and talking with Joshua, jeonghan waves you over to the river bank. “race you!” Joshua challenges then takes off, zooming across the ice and dodging other skaters expertly. you stand there frozen as the ice beneath you, confused. you make your way over to the area where everyone is sitting rosy cheeked and happily talking while they tug off their skates.

“i thought you said you don't know how to skate,” you question Joshua, narrowing your eyes at him. everyone else falls silent and turns their heads towards the two of you in shock, then go back to their own business (although you definitely saw that smirk on jeonghan’s face). joshua simply shrugs.

“i’m a fast learner, i guess. i had a good teacher,”

“ohh, okay then,” you say, although the butterflies in your stomach see right through his lies. you mentally squash them, trying desparately as ever to not get your hopes up. joshua's birthday is in a week, so you’ll know soon enough--you just have to last until then.

“how does some hot chocolate and a movie at my place sound?” jeonghan asks, and everyone agrees enthusiastically. the rest of the night goes smoothly, and you try not to notice the way joshua's hand brushed yours when he passes you the mini marshmallows for your drink, or when he chooses to sit next to you on the couch, or when there is conveniently only one blanket left for the two of you to share. 

~

you don’t see joshua, or any of your friends (besides minghao and jun once when they brought you some cookies that they made together) for the next week--everyone is busy spending time with their families for the holidays. you wake up on december 29th wishing you could fast forward to midnight--going through this day is going to be agonizing, although you’re sure joshua feels more anxious than you do. deep down, you feel like you’ve always had a connection to him from the moment you first saw him at jeonghan’s months ago. you don’t want to let that get your hopes up, though, so you convince yourself there’s no way your name will appear on joshua's skin tonight. 

you take a hot shower to clear your head, then begin picking out your outfit for the little get together at joshua's later. you’ve never been to his house; usually events are held at jeonghan’s. joshua insisted everyone dress in ugly christmas sweaters, so you dig through to find the one you think you have from jun’s christmas party last year. you tug the scratchy material over your head, internally groaning and wishing joshua hadn’t asked for something so unflattering.

~

after spending the whole day anxiously waiting and getting yourself ready, it’s finally time to head to josh’s. you send him a quick text to let him know you’re heading out, adjust yourself in the bathroom mirror, and walk out to your car with feigned confidence. you swing by to pick up jun and minghao, then follow jun’s directions to joshua's. 

arriving at his house, you knock cautiously on the door. a woman opens it, and she welcomes you inside. she takes your jackets to hang them up in the closet as you introduce yourselves.

“ahh, y/n! josh has told me quite a lot about you. it’s nice to finally meet you,” she says warmly. your cheeks flush pink, and joshua comes racing down the stairs, giving his mom a stern look. 

“okay, i’ll get back to the kitchen,” she says, raising her hands defensively. “just call me if you need anything!” she calls over her shoulder.

“your mom is so sweet,” you comment.

“yeah, she’s pretty great. the others are already here, we’re up in my room watching a movie--we were waiting for you guys to come so we could play some games or something.”

the three of you follow joshua upstairs, and your heart melts at all of the childhood pictures of him adorning the walls. minghao and jun walk past you as you pause to look at a particularly cute picture of a very young Joshua clinging to a puppy.

“that’s my old dog, she was really great,”

you start at Joshua's voice beside you; you hadn’t noticed his approach. 

“she’s really cute,” you say, smiling warmly. Joshua returns the smile.

“yeah, she was. speaking of cute, I love your sweater--what are those, polar bears?” he teases, gesturing to the fuzzy white shapes on your sweater.

“i think they’re trying to be polar bears,” you say with a giggle, looking down to examine your own sweater. 

“well, either way, they’re cute. lets go join the others,” Joshua says and guides you to his room. everyone excitedly says hi from the various places they’re sprawled about--Joshua's room is definitely cozy with the amount of people in it. Joshua turns off the tv and pulls out a stack of board games; everyone scrambles in attempt to form a circle (although seungkwan refuses to move from his position on the floor, so it’s a pretty lopsided circle). 

~

the next couple of hours are spent playing a variety of card games and board games. the room is filled with laughter and the occasional bickering about rules. halfway through a very intense game of uno, there’s a soft knock on the door. it slowly swings open as Joshua's mom peeks in.

“it’s 2 minutes to midnight, so I've got cake downstairs for whenever you’re ready,” she says before closing the door. the room falls dead silent as all eyes turn to Joshua, who’s suddenly pale as a ghost. everyone was so caught up in the games no one had realized it was so close to midnight; you’re surprised even you didn’t notice, since you were so nervous earlier. all of those nerves come flooding back, and you feel your palms grow sweaty and your throat go dry. 

“i guess...we’ll stay here until midnight and then head down for cake,” Joshua says, looking down at his uno cards. everyone silently nods, the room filled with tension and suspense. people glance between you and Joshua; by now, pretty much all your friends have noticed how close you and Joshua have gotten, and you know everyone’s thinking the same thing. you see Joshua grasp jeonghan’s hand from where they’re sitting on the bed, and he licks his lips nervously. minghao and jun lean onto you, and you’re grateful for their silent support. everyone’s eyes are glued to the clock radio beside Joshua's bed, and it’s perhaps the longest minute of your life. with jeonghan, although you were hopeful, you were fairly certain going in that he wasn’t your soulmate. with joshua, however, you didn’t feel that doubt in your heart, although your head tells you he’s not the one; the heartbreak this time would be so much worse.

the numbers on the clock change, and everyones gaze flicks to joshua, who’s pulled down the collar of his sweater to expose his collarbone. slowly, an elegant black font begins to etch itself on his skin. you feel hot tears fill your eyes, and your hands go to your mouth to stifle a sob as you’re flooded with relief and happiness and excitement upon reading your own name scrawled on his skin. the room erupts in congratulatory cheering, and you feel your friends’ arms around you. Vernon directs everyone downstairs to let you and joshua have a moment together. you barely notice everyone leaving; your eyes are locked on Joshua's, your grin mirroring his. you hear the door close and rush to wrap your arms around him. he stands up to catch you in a tight embrace, your arms wrapped snug around him. your head spins in exhilaration, and you pull back a little (keeping your arms looped around his neck, however) so you can see his face. he moves a hand from your waist up to your face to wipe away your tears of joy.

“i--i can’t believe it,” you say, trying to contain your giddiness.

“i can,” joshua says, his thumb softly caressing your cheek. “since the moment i first met you, i feel like i knew. watching you date jeonghan was the hardest thing I've ever had to do; not just because you were with someone else, but because i knew you’d have to go through the heartbreak. didn’t you feel our connection from the beginning, y/n?”

“honestly, i did, but i was just so ahead of myself and caught up on the first cute boy i met with a name starting with j, so i just brushed it off. i’m sorry i put you through that, shua,” you say, cursing your past self. joshua smiles and blushes at the nickname, then hugs you tighter to reassure you.

“no, don’t apologize! it doesn’t matter now; we’re here, and we have each other, and the rest of our lives together,” he says with a wide smile, picking you up and twirling you around. you let out a loud laugh as you spin, wrapping your legs around Joshua for support. he backs up to sit on his bed with you on his lap, the two of you breathless as you take in each other’s faces. you’ve never had the chance to be so close to joshua before, but now, with your face hovering mere centemetres above his, you take your time to cherish all of the details; from his dark eyelashes to his rosy cheeks and finally his pink lips. you can’t hold yourself back any longer, and you lean in to connect your lips with his.

you’d kissed jeonghan lots of times, and while it was nice, it was nothing compared to your first kiss with joshua. as cheesy as it sounds, magical is the only word you can really use to describe it. for the two of you, the universe has finally aligned, and everything feels at peace. eventually, joshua pulls away just enough to be able to mumble softly to you, your foreheads still pressed together.

“we should probably head down, everyone’s waiting,” he says, and you can hear how much he doesn’t want to leave in his voice.

“screw everyone else, they can wait,” you say, and you press another kiss to Joshua's lips. he smiles into the kiss and somehow manages to pull you even closer to him. you decide you’ll never grow tired of kissing joshua, and you can’t wait to spend the rest of your life at his side.

[m-aster-of-spinjitzu]

the hues of an empty sky

Missing memories, or having two of them for one moment - not quite the same, but if there's one thing Jay's leant over the last few weeks, it's that literally nothing makes sense anymore.

Or, some Skybound aftermath, Zane actually expressing emotions about his memory switch being turned off for all those years, and what was supposed to be a 'they tell everyone about the erased timeline' fic, but it turned into a 'two characters who barely interact on screen talk at like one am in the morning, and don't actually tell the other what exactly they're alluding to the whole time' fic that I wrote at like one am- 

Also yeah, I realized too late that they split up to look for Wu after s7, we’re just gonna pretend that they waited a few days or something, idk anymore tbh, lol.

(I also didn't have time to edit - so please tell me where the typos are? 😂💛)

Word count: 4539

Prompt: crying, from @ninjago-bingo 's warm board.

Trigger warnings: the main character has a panic attack, and squeezes their fingernails into their hands once or twice but I think that's it.

*facepalms* also, guys, i’m so stupid - i literally just realized that this freaking CHANGES TENSE HALFWAY OHMYGOSH I-  i don’t think it’s super noticeable, but ugh, apologies to anyone who actually thought my writing was good lol-

---

It's cold.

Bitterly, freezing cold.

The biting chill of the air is a bit strange for this time of year, but, heck, that's nowhere near the craziest thing that's ever happened to him - not by a long shot.

He sighs, squinting at the stars dotted liberally against the black canvas of the sky.

Cole had once joked that one of them might be the remains of their golden weapons, after they'd hurled the burning mass into the sky - in another alternate timeline; one that only existed in the memories of a certain few.

Gosh - that seemed like such a long time ago.

Wouldn't it be nice to go back to that time, when he'd still thought that their powers were the coolest thing ever - instead of despising them for all the responsibility and sacrifice that came with them? When one of his biggest worries was whether the girl he had a crush on liked him back - not wondering if his friends would survive the night?

"I did not expect to find you awake at this hour, Jay."

Reflexivity, he jumps back, his mind twisting his friend's gentle voice into the- the djin's triumphant, accented one.

You're supposed to be a ninja. What good are you if your friends can still sneak up on you?

"Geez, warn a guy before you sneak up on him! I almost fell off the Bounty!"

"My apologies. I was... surprised to find you awake at this hour," Zane answers. "What are you doing?" "Couldn't sleep. It's too cold," he confesses, not entirely a lie. Ninjago wasn't 'that' far from the Sea of Sand, but he'd grown up in a much warmer area - unfortunately resulting in his practically nonexistent tolerance to the cold. That never failed to stop Kai from teasing him about it, though. He doesn't mention the pressing weight on his chest, almost tangible - or how it constantly makes him feel. Like he's being dragged through the darkness of an empty sky, spikes of fear making everything so freaking terrifying- "You?"

"I have been analyzing my memories of Pixal, in the hope that it may lead me to her whereabouts. However, all my efforts have proved... unsuccessful," Zane answers wearily, shifting his gaze to the sky.

Oh- oh. They'd all be so caught up in the chaos of the last few weeks - hey, it's not like any of them had asked the universe to permanently be out to get them! - that they'd forgotten Pixal was still offline.

"Hey, I'm sure that she's still there somewhere," he says, earnestly. "After all - she wouldn't be your girlfriend if she didn't pull a vanishing act every now and again, eh?"

The question is punctuated with a laugh, but he doesn't say that he's a little worried about her too. They hadn't talked much, but-

I can't see one of my best friends find out that his girlfriend is dead, a quiet voice at the back of his mind points out. Well - been there, done that, wouldn't recommend, he thinks bitterly. Emotional breakdowns and frequent nightmares apply. Anxiety attacks are half off, too!

It's quiet for a few minutes, neither of them seeing a need to break the silence. The wind blows softly through the sails above them; gray wisps of cloud revealing a pale sliver of moonlight that paints the sky in its glow.

It should be a peaceful night: beautiful, calm, no one trying to kill them or destroy their city - for a change.

His hands won't stop shaking.

It should be a peaceful night, but, as usual, the world is too freaking unfair for that-

He hasn't even slept for a full night in weeks! Well, not since- since-

Don't think about it! That's only going to make it worse, duh-

"Are you alright, Jay?"

"Yeah- I- I'm good, thanks," he says quickly, ignoring the way his breathing keeps speeding up. FSM, not this-

Not for the first time, the world suddenly becomes too loud - too much. Every little thing, from trying to breathe properly or even walk- feels insurmountable, because, gosh, oh gosh, it's going to come crashing down if he even moves-

The memory starts off the same as it always does.

Rubble strewn over the temple grounds, his friends literally reduced to nothing more than statues. A shot that hit the mark perfectly, but perfectly shattered his world in the process.

A poison-splattered dress, a terrifying realization.

Her well-aimed joke, but one that never fails to sting every time. Gosh, why hadn't they just allowed her to join their team in the first place? Maybe they could've prevented this- this- whole situation, if they hadn't been so freaking egotistical-

And, again, he's overwhelmed by the sheer sense of helplessness, all his power and training and skills completely useless to one of the people he cared most about. FSM, if only I hadn't used my first w-request so carelessly! If only I'd been able to escape- or, or if only I'd been able to assemble the team faster! If only-

Despite being in what must've been unimaginable pain, she offers a strained smile - a sweet gesture that, ironically, feels like she's poisoning him, because- because FSM, this is all so wrong, it wasn't supposed to end like this-

He watches with horror as her eyes dull and she stills in his arms.

She's gone, FSM, she's gone and it's all my fault-

"Jay?" a voice asks, concern evident in their tone. Distantly, he registers that he's having a breakdown in front of one of his best friends - one of the things he'd been trying really hard to avoid.

Dang it.

"I-" he tries to say, but, great, he's breathing too fast to even get the stupid words out.

"Breathe in for four seconds," Zane says, softly.

Four seconds? Time has no meaning right now, narrowed down to, like - falling down a chasm, terrified of what's at the bottom, except the fear's all around, this- this... foreboding thing of his mind that keeps yelling that he needs to run, or fight, but he can't, can't-

Right. Four seconds.

You're okay, you're fine, no one's trying to hurt you or your friends. She's not dead.

But what if- what if they're being dragged out of this ship right now? What if it was all a dream, and she's dead anyway, because all of us were too stupid to come up with another plan, and none of us could even do anything when she-

After a little while, when he could breathe a little easier, and the fear didn't feel like it was slamming into him from every possible direction, he slowly opened his eyes. Shakily, he wiped a tear from his face - as if that would wipe away all the weeks that had, theoretically, never even freaking happened.

The sky comes back into focus - pinpricks of light against pitch black. 

How was he going to come up with some sorta explanation without... well, explaining everything?

Great.

My nerves are frayed, and I have to lie to a walking lie detector - what could possibly go wrong?

"Are you alright?" Zane asks, his brows creased in concern.

"Heh heh, yeah. Probably just too many video games," he replies quickly, laughter a bit strained.

"You were muttering to yourself," his friend replies quietly. Ugh, trust the way-too-observant-nindroid to call him out on the remains of his facade. "If you do not mind me asking, what was 'all your fault'? I am sure that it was probably a misunderstanding."

You're the one who misunderstands everything, he thinks wearily, ignoring the part of him that yearns to tell someone else about... well, everything that's happened because of that stupid teapot. He's not one to keep secrets by nature, and it's been taking a bigger toll of him than he'd thought it would. Is this how Nya felt when she was still the Samurai? "It's- it's nothing, probably just nonsense."

"Are you sure? You seem... quite worried about something."

Dang it, were his hands still shaking? He presses his fingernails into his palms, squeezing his eyes shut for a second.

He's talking to one of his best friends, FSM. Weren't friends able to tell each other anything?

"Do you think it's easier to forget? Better?"

He didn't even realize he'd asked a question until Zane's eyes widened in surprise.

A forest coated in snow, ice crystals dangling from the tree branches above their heads. Plenty of screaming - way too much, he reflects, couldn't they have been a bit nicer? It must've been pretty jarring to learn that you weren't human, or that your father had erased years of your life from your mind - in that weird underground treehouse. Those crazy tree monsters - and the realization that they all had much more power than they'd thought.

"N- nevermind," he stutters, fleetingly thinking of kicking the deck. "That's way too personal, you don't have to answer it-"

"I do not mind," Zane says, a bit sadly.

Oh.

Heck, his friend was way too nice.

They gaze up at the stars for a few minutes, not really seeing them - one drowning under the weight of too many secrets, the other, too many memories.

It's quiet - too quiet.

Ugh, he thinks, sighing, that sounds like something a low-budget horror movie would start with, cringey sound effects to match.

But the silence is a painful reminder of the days he'd spent tossing and turning in a cramped cell - nothing but his worries and the bruises on his leg from that stupid ball and chain keeping him awake.

He's been trying hard - maybe too hard - to avoid being alone, avoid being in a situation where they've gotta be quiet ever since then, because, dang it, his memories always seem to fill the silence, and they're always far more terrifying than they should be-

It's easier, in a way, to be mocked for his stupid jokes than it is to relive a single moment from those nightmarish few weeks.

Almost reflexively, he grasps for something to fill the quiet.

"Heh, this is a bit awkward. It's okay if you wanna leave-"

"I do not mind," Zane echoes, walking a bit closer. "It is not as if I need to sleep. But... I do not quite know what to think of your question."

There comes the answer - or a semblance of one at least, and it's the last thing he'd been expecting.

"You don't know?" he blurts out before he can even think of trying to filter the thought. Way to treat your friend who's been nothing but kind to you, Jay. "But you're- you're a nindroid! You know everything-"

"Pixal," his friend mutters softly, sighing, and the hurt, the fear, laced through the word makes something in his heart practically twist. He knows all too well what it feels like to be in that situation - even if, technically, it had never happened.

Then- "I wish that were true. But I suppose that my emotions make certain situations much more complicated than... than they need to be. Thus I cannot give my perspective on this - or, at least, without sounding quite conflicted."

"You know that you're allowed to be conflicted, right? Even the coolest Nindroids don't know everything."

"...Yes, I suppose so."

Jay frowns at the almost subconscious hesitation, eyebrows creasing in concern.

"Seriously," he starts earnestly. They're both leaning on one of the railings just above the deck now. "Just 'cause you're a nindroid doesn't mean that you've gotta chase some kind of perfection that doesn't even exist."

He doesn't miss how Zane's eyes widen in shock, their bright blue hue glowing a little brighter - and heck, if that doesn't hurt even more than the earlier realization.

"Besides - it's not like none of us haven't made mistakes before. Hate to go all Wu on ya, but they help us learn or some stupid thing like that. Even if the mistake is trying not to make 'em, you know?"

"Thank you," Zane replies, a tired smile on his face. "Even the most advanced tech is susceptible to error, I suppose."

They've all made lots of mistakes, heaven forbid if one of them is still agonizing over messing up over the crazy situations the universe constantly put them in. It's not like they were told they'd have to face more ancient evil armies than they could count, were they?

Maybe it's time to stop focusing on events that never even happened, and pay more attention to your friends. What's the point of being part of this team if you're always scared or selfish?

"Shut up," he mumbles, rubbing his temples. What's the point of fighting if your own brain is gonna fight you whenever it gets a chance? A few seconds later, he schools his face back into his default anxious grin. "Great, cause I- I- could use your advice on something." "Alright," comes the quiet reply, his friend seemingly lost in thought.

"What if you wanted to tell someone something, but you couldn't?"

His breathing starts to speed up again, but he grips the deck until his fingers are practically bruised, stark white against his tanned skin. Not this time-

"Is this what you were referring to earlier? An event that you blamed yourself for?" Zane asks, eyes flitting between the floor and the sky.

Dang it, way too observant as usual. He masks his surprise with a laugh, but the conversation definitely isn't going as planned and, oh gosh oh gosh, what if-

No, there's no way that any of them would even believe that. Besides - no one can remember stuff that they've forgotten, especially if magic's at play.

"Yeah, kinda," and he's surprised by how steady his voice sounds. It's not easy to even think about that- event, talking about it is a whole different thing. A much more difficult thing, but also - a bit, a little bit, easier. "I-" "Apologies for interrupting," his friend interjects. "I suppose that I have not been entirely honest with you." What?

"A few days ago, I discovered a number of deleted memory files buried deep within my code."

Just like that, his whole world tilts out from underneath him.

It takes every ounce of his strength to keep himself from falling into the abyss again.

Wait, what?

Has he really known for all this time? It's been weeks! Surely he would've said something? It can't be, it never even-

The rational part of his mind points out that he can remember every day of those few weeks. Well, he was the one to make the wish - magical logic is kinda stupid, but maybe that's why he had to remember it or something?

Well then, a small voice interjects, why was Nya cursed to remember everything too?

Of course, even the stupid magical logic doesn't even make sense to the one who caused this whole mess in the first place.

"They were almost entirely corrupted - scrambled in a way that I am not familiar with. However, I did realize that certain files bore dates that have not even occurred yet. I dismissed it as a problem with my code, however..."

Breathe, calm down, it's not like he was able to process them or anything-

We agreed that no one was supposed to know! What if they end up blaming us for keeping it a secret this long, or, or-

"I mean, they could've been-" he starts, but the way in which he's nervously twisting his fingers is a pretty clear indication that he's lying, dang it.

"So when you mentioned that you were unable to tell someone something - did you mean that it was because they had quite literally forgotten about it?"

Great. Fantastic. Of course the literal robot has pieced it together by now-

He squeezes his eyes shut for a minute, hoping that if he ignores the problem, maybe it'll go away.

Okay, fine, maybe he's trying to figure out a way to fix this whole mess. Doesn't mean that he's any closer to coming up with a solution, though.

"Er, yeah," he whispers, shoulders slumped, eyes still firmly shut. Because gosh, he doesn't want to - can't, can't - see the realization dawn that, yeah, he's lied to people he's known for years and years, even though they've all seen way too many times that secrets bring nothing but trouble-

"Well, then - I would say that you don't have to tell them," Zane replies, surprisingly... earnestly? That, or he's either too freaked out to understand the tone properly. Could be either.

He opens his eyes, hesitantly.

And it comes as a bit of a shock to find nothing but concern reflected in his friend's.

The almost persistent weight on his chest feels a little lighter now, like the sky isn't as quite so empty.

Well, it still kinda is. But that doesn't hold as much weight as he'd thought it did - not if one of his friends is willing to look past that; past the heaviness of holding up all those memories with nothing his single star, flickering in and out of the darkness, to try and light the unforgiving darkness of the sky.

"Why?" Jay asks, so quietly he can barely hear it himself. "Don't I owe it to them? Do you?"

"No. Definitely not," comes the reply, so full of conviction that he almost stumbles back. Why-

"My father..."

Oh- oh.

"thought it was better to spare me the pain of mourning him than for me to know who I was," Zane confesses, hesitantly. "Not that I disagree, necessarily. I just..."

He trails off, clutching the railing so hard that the wood almost snaps beneath his titanium fingers.

It takes Jay a little while to realize why - why exactly his friend, who has access to a wealth of knowledge and information, is grasping for an answer. Because- because, well, even if someone does something in your best interests - sometimes the choice isn't always up to them. Or maybe it is, but it was... difficult, to say the least, to let go of the fact that his parents had never told him the truth sooner. Not that he blames them, necessarily - it's not like they knew that his father would pass on before he'd even get the chance to meet him - but... it's confusing, and difficult, not to know why you were left at a junkyard as soon as you were born. Maybe if he'd known that sooner, he could've asked the one person who might've had answers - although it's not like hoping for the past to change will actually change it.

They don't even know that you know, a small voice at the back of his mind points out, and suddenly everything makes a lot more sense-

"You wanted a choice," he breathes, eyes widening. A choice - like one that he'd never been given, one that he stills struggles not to hold against two people who've always had his best interests at heart. Even if they did have the right to withhold that one thing, after all they've done for him - the 'what if's' still echo in his mind far more often than he'd like. "There's nothing wrong with that, even if it feels that way. I kinda get where you're coming from, dude, and it's... super confusing, but I'd be pretty mad if my memories were tampered with like that."

So would anyone, he realizes, heart sinking. Oh, great. Not helping-

"I- I suppose so?" Zane answers, but it sounds more like a question than a reply. "However, in the same vein, it would be unwise for you to give away your choice whilst you still have one." "But don't I owe it to everyone? You just said it, it's horrible to alter people's memories and I- I-" "Did we forget... whatever it was for a good reason? "I- I mean, I guess, but..." "Then you do not owe it to us to relive something that we do not even remember." The words should be a relief - and they kinda are. But some part of him really does want to explain the crazy alternate timeline, and everything that happened in it. It's just... really, really freaking difficult.

"What if- what if I wanted to, though?" Jay asks hysterically, running his hands through his hair in a frenzied sort of way. "And I still couldn't? I just, I-"

He cuts himself off with a bout of forced laughter.

Zane takes a moment to reply, the bright blue light in his eyes flickering - a small tell that he was thinking so deeply, his processors were literally sparking up a bit.

"You queried earlier if it was easier, or better, to forget. And while all situations are different, I suppose it is... well, subjective. What do you think?" Zane asks, softly.

Derailing the conversation a bit, but his friend's obviously smart enough to be leading up to something.

Sure, he'll go along with it.

"I mean, there are some things I'd rather forget, you know? I guess we all know what that feels like," Jay replies, the statement with oddly sad air to it. They're still kids, after all, and it gets a bit exhausting pretending that their superhero lives were all fun and games - when they'd just given him enough grey hair to last then lifetimes, and enough nightmares to keep him from ever getting the normal amount of sleep his mum always prattled on about.

Sleep, heh heh. Practically a foreign concept, now.

"And I know that stuff that happens, like shapes us or something - and Master Wu would probably go off on a whole ramble about why we learn from our mistakes or whatever," he laughs nervously, resisting the urge to just fall headfirst onto the deck of the stupid ship instead of continuing the conversation," and how 'our scars only make us stronger', crap like that, but I just-"

"I'm just really... tired of this," he confesses warily, shoulders slumped. "W- I remember so many horrible things, and I-" he breaks off, laughing bitterly. His voice takes on a sort of brittle quality, way too high pitched, "and I can't even talk about them, dude. If that's not the most pathetic thing ever, I dunno what is."

"It does not-"

"Don't say it," Jay mutters, rubbing his temples. "I know, I know, my feelings aren't pathetic, they're always valid, whatever, spare me the lecture-"

"That is not what I was going to say," Zane replies gently. "It just seems that you have answered your own question."

"Gee, which one?"

"I do not know how much helpful assistance I can provide in this situation, but it is understandable to wish certain events had never occurred. However, seeing as we cannot change the past, it seems unwise to dwell on said events if you can avoid it."

Jay stiffens, clamping a shaky hand over his mouth. Something seems to press down even harder on his chest, a heavy sort of weight that causes his breathing to speed up again. Don't say it don't say it there's no reason to warn them this time-

"If you would like to tell any of us about something, of course you are welcome to. It does not to be the whole story, after all. Just make sure that it is the decision you choose, not one you choose because of what you think how it will affect others," Zane finishes quietly, ducking his head as if he's embarrassed.

The stars are still white-hot, burning away some million miles above them.

"Thanks," he says, and puts his hand softly on Zane's shoulder. "I mean, I know - that all makes sense, I guess. It's just- I-"

"You want to?"

"Yeah," Jay starts, sighing, "I do. It's just- it's not just my choice. And I'm pretty much dying already right now, so, as fantastic as making it all worse sounds, hard pass."

Oops, maybe he shouldn't have said that last bit. They'd agreed not to tell anyone about it - even this conversation was cutting it way too close. It wasn't impossible for them to put everything together - they were a pretty smart group, after all, even without their resident inventor and engineer - and Jay didn't really know what he'd think if they did. Fearful? Relieved? Angry?

"That does... not sound great? Dying certainly does not seem-"

"It's called sarcasm, Zane."

"Oh- yes. My memory now accesses the fact that people often speak in that manner. It does seem a bit counterproductive, though. Why not just say what you mean?"

"Shut it, you have no clue how integral to my life it is," Jay replies with a halfhearted grin.

A few seconds later, he remembers something his friend had mentioned earlier, and the grin disappears.

"You know that you can talk to us if you're not happy, right?" he asks, earnestly. Sure, it's not like he could always do that, considering, well, a stupid djin and even stupider magic, but it's not like he needs to. It's- well- he'll be okay, probably. Maybe. Kinda.

Zane's eyes blink on and off again, blue fading in and out. "I... I suppose that I was not quite aware of that."

Okay, they've screwed up way too many times, but this... this is pretty bad. Dang it, how long does it take for them to throw self-preservation instincts at their friend before he freaking- picks them up or something?

"However, will it not hurt those who have experienced the same unfortunate events?"

Dude, not the best question to ask someone wondering the exact same thing-

"It's been... uh, nice, kind of, talking to you. So- I don't think so, and I'm pretty sure someone would say so if it did. Besides, don't we talk about our adventures all the time? It'd probably be better if we... uh, well- heh heh, nothing."

"If we talked about the less than positive elements of them? Perhaps, but I still-"

Maybe it's the fact Zane has always tried to be there for him, or maybe he's too sleep deprived to care anymore, but this is a way too familiar situation and-

Well, not ignoring the issue would be a start.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're family, Zane. We care about each other. And, gosh, that means that we care about you too. Memories are stupid and annoying sometimes, but we have to make good ones too, right? To block out the bad ones a bit, I guess? Kinda, at least."

They both look away from the stars now, grappling for something else to say.

In the end, they leave it be with a hug and a fondly exasperated warning about sleeping, if you happen to need it.

After all, they're family. They don't have to be perfect, or tell each other everything - even if it does take them a long time to realize that, and an even longer time remembering it.

---

The next time Jay startles awake from a nightmare, the sky is still empty - painfully so, like an ache that simmers beneath the surface even when it's not able to be seen.

The hue, though, is a little lighter.

Just a little - the all-encompassing darkness of it is now a navy sort of blue, his star shining a little bit brighter.

It's still not sunrise, not even close - but he'll take it. AN: the ‘sky’ mentioned at the start and end is a stupid metaphor that i somehow ended up liking too much to trash, it’s ‘empty’ because he hasn’t told anyone about the timeline, and Nya’s not included because they never had a chance to tell each other everything significant or even talked about it or processed it on screen. so yeah! if you read this,,, not great thing, can i send you a hug or good vibes or smth? tyy🥺

[claybrownie7566]

I want all the Links in the chain to watch the Polygon unraveled video for the timeline because I just made a post and now I can't stop thinking about it so here you go.

Here is all the boys' commentary on the Zelda Timeline according to Brian David Gilbert:

Sky and Four: "ok ok everything seems to be going according to plan. Ok! We are good. Nice"

*high fives

BDG: "and then Ocarina of Time"

Time: oh sweet Hylia here we go

BDG: *explains the normal two timelines

"and then there's a timeline where Link DIES. He fights Ganondorf and just can't do it so then we have a Link to the Past"

Time: Ø_O

Legend: O_O

The others: 😬

Twilight: "umm.....ok well we were right about me I guess"

Wild: *jabs Legend

"basketball"

Legend: "Shut up!"

BDG: "and then we have Links Awakening where Link goes sailing and he crashes and dies in the ocean"

Legend: O_O

LITERALLY ALL OF THEM: O_O

Wild: "Im-"

Warriors: "sheesh no wonder you're so grumpy"

Legend: "that can't be right! I went on like twenty quests before I even set foot on that boat!"

Twilight: "I don't know man"

BDG: "and then instead of having an existential crisis or hanging out with pirates-"

Wind and Time: *look at eachother

BDG: "he gets really into fashion and then we have triforce heroes"

Four: "you what now?"

Legend: "Oh Hylia help me"

BDG, lovingly: "and then it's the Legend of Zelda! The first one" <3

Hyrule: "aww"

Legend: *smiles

"everybody loves Roolie"

BDG: "then the second one. This is the same Link idk some cult wants to resurrect Ganon or something"

Everyone: *slowly turns to look at Hyrule

Hyrule: *shrugs

"what!? They didn't! I stopped them! Its fiiiine"

BDG: *explains Breath of the Wild

Wild: "Umm"

Wind: "Huh....so that's how you got my shirt"

Twilight: "and Majora's Mask"

Hyrule: "and my hat"

Wild: "hehe......yeah."

BDG: "ok I'm gonna make it worse here we go"

Everyone: *groans

BDG: "easy Zelda spinoffs. Like the one where Link learns to use a crossbow for big game hunting-"

Warriors: *rolls his eyes

"of COURSE Twi was part of big game hunting"

Sky: "yeah geez Twi we know you grew up on a ranch but you're playing into this a little too hard"

Twilight: *shrugs

"I don't think being a sharpshooter is going to hurt my reputation at all."

Warriors: "point taken"

BDG: *talks about the CDI games

Time: "who?"

Legend: *puts a hand up

"upbabababa......no. I don't wanna talk about it"

Everyone: *turns to look at him

Legend: "we aren't talking about it."

Wind: "What did you-"

Legend: "I said we aren't talking about it!"

*covers his face while the footage plays

Warriors: "oh my gosh"

BDG: *tries to explain the BS games

Legend: *throws his hands up

"is this Legend slander day!?"

Wild: "well we certainly call you Vet for a reason sheesh mate"

Legend: "I'm going to die before this video ends"

Time: "THERES MORE?"

Legend: "there's ALWAYS MORE TIME!"

Twilight: "I'm gonna cry for you"

BDG: "Tingle-"

Time and Wind: *both press fast forward

Sky: "you cant-"

Time: "no"

Wind: "not today"

BDG: "Hyrule Warriors"

Everyone: "Yay!"

Twilight: "there he is"

Warriors, about to sob: "WHY AM I NOT CANON!? THE TIMELINE WOULD MAKE SENSE IF I WAS CANON!"

BDG: "Hyrule Warriors is the second most important game in the entire timeline for how it goes everything together"

Warriors: "THATS WHAT IM SAYING!"

*counts on his finger

"Midna, Medli, Sprite, Marin-"

Legend: "what now?"

Warriors: "Ruto, Wind, Skyloft. It's all there! Everyone is there! Anytime there is a weird gap in history, it's because of ME. Do I exist on some weird plain of existence to just catch the broken pieces of time!?"

Four: "strangely poetic, but yeah I guess so"

BDG: "ok back to Ocarina of Time. Remember existential crisis? He's done! What does he do? Mario Kart, Super Smash bros, Soul Caliber 2"

Everyone: *looks at Time

Time: *smirks

"I don't tell you guys everything"

Legend: "you were in soul caliber?"

Time: *nods

Legend: "d-do you need a hug?"

Time: "it's fine let's keep going"

Twilight: "I feel like we should address this, but that was me in super smash......"

Sky: "I was in Mario kart?"

Wild: "I was in both.....with Fable actually"

*smirks

Legend: "you WHAT"

Wild: *cackling

Legend: "we will have words later sir. Also rip Time"

Time: "yup. No fun for me since smash bros melee."

BDG: "but while you were doing that Ganon got resurrected so....that's on your conscience"

Time: "PLEASE I ALREADY GET NO SLEEP LEAVE ME ALOOOONE"

Twilight: "dang he really just called you out"

Four: "This timeline is terrifying"

BDG: "Sonic is also in this timeline"

Hyrule: "Aww yes! That was awesome!"

Everyone: ???

Hyrule: "what? I can have fun too"

BDG: *explains the Skyward Sword Manga and the Link before Sky

Wind: "wait who's that? Why isn't he here?"

Sky: *sighs

"First is a tricky case. He dies in the war with Demise. Sun says there was no point he could've left to join us or he would've. Maybe we will get to meet him, but he has no point in time to join us.....unless we broke him out of prison but that'd be bad."

Time: "Prison?"

Sky: "Long story."

Everyone: *tries to process the rest of the video

*collapses on the floor when it's over

Time: "I hate our life"

*mumbles of agreement*

[keyheartsia-dorm]

The Dorm Leaders with a S/O who Burned themselves making Microwave Food

(This is definitely not something that just happened to me like 10 minutes ago but you should definitely like and subscribe and don’t forget to hit the Bell icon Cause seriously some parts of my hand Hurt like a B...Not that I burned myself or anything)

Riddle Rosehearts

• So Your feeling a Gosh dang HUNGER

• You’re too hungry to wait For Trey to bake anything So

• So Kennel Corn it is!

• In your HUNGER daze you threw the popcorn in carelessly and forget to Press the Popcorn Button and just pressed the 4 Button instead of the 3 Button like you meant to even though 3 PROBABLY would’ve Ruined Your Popcorn anyway

• You text Riddle to see if he’d wanna Share some Popcorn He said he would bring some Tarts he had just put in the oven So you waited...Thinking about Food...not noticing the disaster you were Setting into place

• Anyway you Open the Microwave Full of Hope like a Doe being born on a beautiful spring day then as soon as the black Popcorn started shooting out of your Microwave in Ramshackle you then had the same disappointment as a spring Doe who was just forced to watch Fox and the Hound Like Holy Heck that Movie gives me the Hecko Deppreso

• One Burning Kernel Hit your Cheek Just as you Wince Riddle Comes into your Kitchen With Wide eyes

• He Drags you out Picnic Basket with Tarts in Hand and Takes you to the Nurse’s Office and Asks for...whatever Burned people Need As He Patches you up you 2 Share a ~Moment~

“Riddle Honestly it’s not THAT big of a deal” You Chuckle Anxiously “Don’t be Ridiculous Y/N!” he keeps Patching you up “It Must Seriously Hurt..” He looks a little Sad and while looking sadly into your eyes he kisses your cheek where the Burn was you wince as He Quickly Spits an Apology you Chuckle “You can Kiss it better if you want~” he Looks away bright Red as you 2 Sit in the Nurse’s Office Sharing Tarts

Leona King Scholar

• “I can’t Hecking Cook!!!” you found yourself Exclaiming in the Savannaclaw Kitchen Ruffling your hair

• You see Poor F-Ing Ruggie Needs a Break that’s not a secret to anyone (# Please Stop Hyena Abuse # Please Edit A Garfield Comic Where Leona is Garfield and Ruggie is John) so you said you’d make Leona his Lunch

• why the Heck you said you’d do this you Adorable stupid Hecking Idiot you but hey you did dumb dumb

• So here you are looking in the Freezer and BINGO Big ole Meat Chunk!

• So you being A fanfic protagonist Put a giant mystery meat chunk in the microwave pressed some Buttons and said..”Eh Good enough” Guess your sex god heart throb Boyfriend Is rubbing off on you ok I see how it is Y/N OK I SEE HOW IT IS

• Anyway besides my needless aggression with my words You started to look for some utensils you found A Bento Box and a Spoon thank goodness but you figured you might Need some mittens Lunch was soon and The meat was long done but no mittens

• You take it out..and HOLY MOTHER GOD WHY DID YOU THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA YOUR PALMS MIGHT AS WELL BE ON FIRE

• Leona Nonchalantly Enters The scene cause Ruggie Told him you’d be making his Lunch and Lunch started like 15 Minutes ago

• He looks at the Scene before him and sighs and takes your hands like the sex god heartthrob he is and looks at your red palms almost Deadpanning

Your face a light red “Yeah...I know I massively Screwed up with your Lunch But I really wanted t-“ “I know And I appreciate it even though you are a massive screw up..But you keep trying I appreciate that about you” He starts to lick your Palms and your face Erupts into a Blush “What the Heck!?!” he looks up at you “It’s to cool your hands down but you ARE gonna go get me Food from the vending machine afterwards”

Azul Ashengrotto

• you slam your Hands Dramaticly on your Kitchen Table “I CANNOT ACCEPT ANYMORE FREEBIES FROM THE MONSTRO LOUNGE” You were sure Azul Would start making you pay if not Azul Jade for sure

• So time to start making Food for yourself!! You Quickly Head to a Convience store where a Certain Chaotic Neutral Eel Notices you Buying like 10 Frozen...PIECES OF FOOD

• You Dump like all off them on your Counter and Choose to make some Weird fish

• You Slap that Sorry Sucker in the Microwave and like the other Sorry Suckers in this Scenario you will Burn yourself and beautiful Bishounen Shenanigans will ensue but we’re not there yet

• You literally just bought a piece of not even normal looking fish Of course it didn’t come with a Time Recommendation So you while staring at it for like 10 minutes (Letting it thaw quite a bit but you didn’t notice) You threw it in for 7 And figured “eh 7’s a lucky number this’ll work” Didn’t you read Leona’s Scenario? What happened when THEY said Eh

• You Dumby You Dating a Merman Boughta Eat a fish Dumbo what do you have? Ears?

• Anyway Floyd and And Azul are Chatting well it’s more like Floyd is talking At Azul while he does paper work Yeah I totally Saw them Buying a bunch a Random Frozen Weird Massively Weird Right? Anyway So Apparently They Let you Mix ALL THE slushie is Flavors”

• Azul hearing this After finishing up some more Paperwork Decides to go Visit You and to his Shock he finds you Trying to hold a Basically at this point Charcoal Fish and when you drop It on your leg Leaving a SEXY weird fish shaped burn he’s Immediately on that

He puts a Hand to his Temple and sighs For a Moment before sweeping you off your feet before you could say a word..the you did say a word a few in fact “I’m Sorry Azul I know you can’t give me freebies forever but I’m a terrible cook” He Kisses your forehead and gives you a reassuring look “You’re my Beloved you can rely on me as much as you want I’ll get you some bandages when we’re back at the monstro lounge and Jade will make you something not made of Charcoal” and you bet he carried you all the way

Kalim Al Asim

• you both wanted to cook Something for Jamil...Okay this’ll go south fast.

• the road to Heck Is often Paved with Good intentions

• You Were tasked with picking out food and Kalim for Kitchen Prep

• Anyway Let’s get this poor Wreck Jamil’s gonna have to fix over with

• “I Picked out some Tofu! Smart people like tofu right?

• Kalim Tossed that And all sortsa Stuff Into the Microwave and Waved off all your concerns figuring it’ll be fine! come on Y/N you coward Your a fanfic Protag you don’t have to think Silly goose no thoughts head empty

• like 15 minutes later you 2 Hear Smoke while trying to make Pulpless Handsqueezed Orange Juice cause HECK PULP

• He Opened The Microwave and the only thing that Looked even Remotely salvageable was the tofu and because you 2 are the cutest most head empty Couple Apparently you didn’t Put a plate underneath so you braving all the danger reached into the Microwave...

“Ouch!” You teared up a little And were about to Put your finger in your mouth as you do Before Kalim put your finger in his Mouth You looked at him shell shocked after a couple seconds he started pressing light kisses on them “I’m so sorry! I should’ve thought this through more! I’ll nurse you back to health!” And For the rest of the day he essentially treated you like you were crippled he carried you he fed you everything don’t worry you slipped away for a little to clean up the mess in the kitchen before Jamil got back Kalim Babysitting is always an Experience to be Had for sure

Vil Schoenheit

• “Vil! I wanna Eat Carbs Heck you!!”

• if that’s not how Every story I do With Vil Starts I’ll be Gosh Danged

• “FINE EAT YOUR MAC AND CHEESE YOU’LL RUE THE DAY-“

• anyway after you stopped listening to him you looked him DEAD in the eyes and Shoved that frozen Mac and Cheese in the Microwave and slammed...Some Numbers In wow what a power move

• He Gasped and Power walked away

• You Laughing Manically Triumphantly

• But after awhile you felt kinda bad and decided to make some Carb free food for Vil as an Apology for Deliberatly and spitefully trying to make him Mad

• But that was the final nail in your microwaved coffin When you took out your Luckily not entirely burned Mac and Cheesies it was real hot like

• You were trying To get it to a plate Quickly And Spilled some on your Wrist Luckily Your Sexy mean Boyfriend was Here To save the day and wow he’s holding something”

“Sweet Potato?” He peeked through the Door and saw you Holding your Wrists in Pain he immediately walked in And Held them tenderly “I’m Sorry Sweet Potato things got heated I did get you a..Low Carb Meal at Olive Garden I Hope this Makes things up to you I know I can’t Control your life it’s just kinda my nature” You Smiled at him through the pain “It’s Fine Vil I got WAY too Mad I’m sorry I made you a salad” you both Enjoyed your food him feeding you yours then later he put some lotion on your Wrists

YES ITS BEST BOY-

Idia Shroud

• Omg it’s the best boy 🥺

• I mean I am not Partial to any character Do not worry I do not want to be in a Poly relationship with both Malleus and Idia

• So you wanted To Hang Out with your Boyfriend today he said sure but that he would be Busy doing raids with his Online friends you agreed and even said you’d bring snacks which you did

• Including Instant Ramen! My-I mean YOUR favorite

• you decided to show how reliable in the Kitchen you are to your boyfriend by making such a Delicacy for him while he doesn’t have the time to himself at the moment

• This is will work out Well

• You decide to do it in your kitchen and bring to him

• this will work out well

• You..ACTUALLY MAKE IT PERFECTLY

• You also Make it mostly towards his room before divine intervention Intervines and says That’s not the point of this fanfic idiot

• It probably mostly worked out for you cause you have the best taste tho so-

• Ortho Hears a Mighty Loud Catwerwhail (here’s hoping I spelled that right) and Comes to check whose outside the door

• “Big Sister/Brother?” He Quickly Runs some Water on your Shoulder and Bandages you Up And Leads you in Idia’s Room With the snacks in tow meanwhile he’s wondering if your Ok or not

“Idia Senpai!” You Sit next to him And he notices your Bandages “What Happened?” You look away a little Blushing a bit “I Spilled hot Instant Ramen on my shoulder Ortho parched me up though but! I brought the rest of the snacks though sor-“ Before you can apologize he Puts his Jacket on your shoulders “No I’m sorry for not noticing I would’ve...Tried to help” His sad expression turns into one of his Competitve smirks “I’ll Finish this Raid Boss so Quicker then you even Burned Yourself!” And He did cause he’s the best Gamer boy then you played Monoply With Him and Ortho cause he’s the best boy you have the best taste RAMEN TASTES SO GOOD-

Malleus Draconia

• My Second Love I mean nothing Let’s finish this I’ve been here since like 4 it’s 7 rn

• You invited Malleus to dinner And you wanted a Good Blanced Dinner!

• Chicken From Panda Express

• McDonald’s Chocolate Milk

• Some Patties from Burger King

• Oh Yeah Veggies!

• Wait! Everything’s Closed now!!! Y/N I KEPT TELLING YOU TO STOP BEING DUM-

• Oh you have some frozen Vegetables? Okay Touché

• You Toss them in the Microwave for 6 Minutes and get ready

• You dress as Nicely as Possible in 10 Minutes cause you plan Things Horribly apparently...not that I relete having been here for like at least 2 hours

• He’s Here~ him being Also the best boy is already setting the table with Magic cause he’s just nice like that and even Enchanted the food to be set on the table and the milk in the Glasses

• But you INSISTED to present The Vegetables

• “Child of Man I really don’t min-“ “No! I got this really!!”

• Let’s see how well that turned out for you

You got the Vegetables Outta the Microwave in such a Haste you didn’t even notice how hot it was and dumped it on the plate it wasn’t horribly burnt but was Horribly Hot Malleus was Amazed though “So Man’s Growing Vegetables in Bags now?..” he Reached to touch but you smacked his hand away so fast your hand touched the food and burned you “Ouch! I’m sorry Mal But it’s really hot” He immediately Understood and Summoned some Magical Water as he do and your burn was gone “I love you Child of man even though us Fae Can’t burn you tried to shield me anyway my sweet gentle Child of man”...Did you know that I ain’t know that?

I have a Masterlist it has all my X reader fics And my Oc Stuff I will be Adding this in like a day or 2 probably now if you’ll excuse me I never Wanna Look at another word again except also I’m literally probably gonna go read fanfic

[intheticklecloset]

My Hero Academia Sentence Starters #21-30

A collection of the MHA sentence starters I’ve done, compiled for the sake of ease. These are all stand-alone stories.

~~~

21) Lee Bakugou, Ler Todoroki

“Get off of me!” Bakugou snapped, shoving at Todoroki, who was currently trying to crawl into his lap. “Back off!”

“You said I could if I won,” Todoroki replied calmly, pausing in his approach. “Don’t make me use ice shackles.”

Bakugou bristled. “You don’t have the guts, you—”

Todoroki wordlessly snatched up his wrists, shoved them to the head of the couch, and used his ice to freeze him in place. Then he finally reached his destination, settling himself on the blonde’s hips. “You were saying?”

“G-Get off,” Bakugou demanded again, though this time through a shiver from the cold. “Idiot, you can’t just—”

“You said…” Todoroki reached under his shirt to rake his nails down his ribcage, effectively silencing his protests and replacing them with a yelp and a few giggles. “…that if I won, I could tickle you for five minutes. And I did win. See there?” He nodded toward the TV, where his character stood over Bakugou’s in victory.

“Y-You…you cheated somehow,” Bakugou tried, trying his best not to break into another fit of giggles at the light skittering along his sides. He squirmed, twisting his head to hide his smile. “You couldn’t have w-won without cheheheating.”

Todoroki rolled his eyes, then shoved Bakugou’s shirt so far up he was able to slide it up his arms and over his eyes, blinding him. “Stubborn as always.”

“W-Wait! Icy-Hot, I can’t sehehehehehehee!” Bakugou squealed, giggling uncontrollably as Todoroki scratched lightly at his sweet spots. He could feel his cheeks growing redder by the second, but he couldn’t do anything about it, helpless as he was. “Stahahahahahap, this isn’t fahahahahahair!”

“Well now, that’s too bad.” Todoroki was smirking; Bakugou could hear it in his voice, even if he couldn’t see it. The light scratching became gentle kneading, and finally the blonde dissolved into actual laughter, squirming and kicking but going nowhere fast. Todoroki chuckled. “Maybe next time you should put up more of a fight.”

*

22) Lee Shinsou, Ler Deku

“Don’t call me cute!”

“But you are!” Deku smiled up at Shinsou, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him closer. He nuzzled himself under his boyfriend’s chin. “You’re super cute!”

Shinsou tensed, trying to pull away. “H-Hey, don’t – Midoriya, stop it—” He couldn’t help the giggle that slipped out of him as he tried to twist his head away from the mop of green hair, unable to pry himself free of his partner’s firm hold. “That tickles! Don’t—”

Deku looked up at him, eyes wide and bright with excitement. “Tickles?”

Shinsou’s cheeks turned pink. “N-No, I mean – I mean yes, but – Midoriya!”

Deku held him even closer, standing on his tiptoes to better reach his neck and collarbone, peppering them with light kisses that made Shinsou dissolve into helpless giggles. “Now you definitely can’t tell me you’re not cute, Toshi~”

“Stahahahahahap,” Shinsou giggled breathlessly, trying to push Deku away and failing. “You d-dohohohohon’t understahahahahand, it tihihihickles so much – plehehehehehease!”

“Light tickles really drive you crazy, huh?”

“Midoriya, plehehehehease – Izuku!” Shinsou squealed when Deku reached up to trail his fingers along the back of Shinsou’s neck down to his shoulder blades. Honestly it was a wonder the taller boy hadn’t completely collapsed yet. “Ahahahahahaha, nohohohohoho! Stop, plehehehease!”

Deku giggled, finally slowing his light tickles to a stop, wrapping his arms around Shinsou’s neck and pulling him down for a kiss. “Just admit it. You’re cute.”

“Ugh, fine,” Shinsou relented, grabbing Deku’s hips to both pull him closer and dig in without mercy. His boyfriend exploded into laughter, and Shinsou grinned from ear to ear at the sound. “But you’re cuter.”

*

23) Lee Deku, Ler Shinsou

“Gee, I wonder where you are~”

Deku pressed both hands over his mouth to keep his giggles at bay, waiting anxiously in the darkened closet for Shinsou to find him. Because he would find him. It was a matter of time, and Deku knew that. Probably the taller boy already knew where he was and was just messing with him by pretending he didn’t. The thought made Deku’s heart race faster.

Suddenly the door to the closet flung open, and all Deku could see was the outline of his boyfriend before Shinsou dropped to his knees, grabbed his sides, and dug his fingers in relentlessly.

“Aiieehehehehehehe!” Deku burst into giggles, squirming and kicking but not fighting back. He knew it was pointless, and besides, he was having too much fun to want to stop now. “Hitoshiehehehehehehehe!”

“Yes, Izuku?” Shinsou teased into his ear. “My, you seem especially ticklish today, don’t you?”

“No I dohohohohohon’t!”

“Yes, you do~” His fingers dug into his sides even more, one hand sliding up to his ribs as well. “Tickle, tickle~”

“Nahahahahahaha Hitoshiehehehehe!” Deku flopped backward onto his boyfriend’s lap, and Shinsou took the opportunity to worm his fingers into the smaller boy’s underarms, making him shriek with laughter, kicking the air wildly. “AHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!”

“I don’t hear you asking me to stop, ‘Zuku~”

“BEHEHEHEHECAUSE I DON’T WAHAHAHAHAHANT YOU TO!!”

Shinsou beamed, hoisting Deku up so he was seated in his lap rather than lying on it, wrapping him up in a bear hug and squeezing a hip teasingly. Deku let out a scream of laughter, struggling in earnest now but going nowhere fast. “Is that so? Well, then, allow me to give you more of what you want~”

*

24) Lee Bakugou, Ler Ojiro

“Not so tough now, huh?”

Bakugou’s arms trembled with the effort to keep the shelf from tipping over while Ojiro’s tail brushed along his exposed underarms. He gritted his teeth. “J-Just gehehet the screw into the wahahall already, you i-idoit!”

One of the single shelves in the kitchen area had suddenly broken free from one of its hinges just moments before, and without really thinking about it, Bakugou darted forward to keep it from making a mess of spices and pan sprays on the ground that they’d have to clean up later. He’d successfully managed to balance the shelf while Ojiro went to the storage closet to get a new hinge and a couple of replacement screws, but now that he’d come back, all the tail hero seemed to want to do was mess with him.

Bakugou was desperately trying not to laugh. That tail of his was so soft and plush, and it tickled like crazy, but he’d rather die than give Ojiro the satisfaction of hearing him beg.

“Come on, Bakugou, you know you want to giggle,” Ojiro teased, standing with his hands on his hips, tools in his fists. He continued to brush the tail all over his underarms and neck. “Let it out, now. Come on~”

“Fihihix the shehehelf, you stupid extrahaha!” Bakugou snapped, really fighting the urge to bring his arms down to protect himself.

“Fine, I know what will make you laugh.” Ojiro stepped right up to him, pulled his shirt up to expose his ribs, and brushed his tail over the sensitive skin there.

Finally, Bakugou had no choice. Forget dying – he just wanted out of this situation. “Agh, fihihihihine, fine! Stahahahahap it before I drohohohohohop everythihihihing!”

Ojiro obliged, grinning. “That’s more like it.” And he finally got to work repairing the broken shelf.

*

25) Lee Kaminari, Ler Sero

“Dude, did you just snort?!” Sero laughed, pressing his fingertips deeper into Kaminari’s knee pits. “Oh my gosh, do it again!”

“NO!! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!” Denki was losing his mind laughing, pounding the floor with his fist in an effort to tap out. Another snort slipped out of him, making him even more embarrassed than he already was. “STAHAHAHAHAHAP, SERO!!”

Sero chuckled, finally leaving his knees alone to scribble at his thighs instead. “You’re too ticklish for your own good, my friend.”

“Tehehehehehell me sohohohohomething I dohohohohohon’t know!”

“Okay. You’re also stupid cute when you’re tickled. Bet you didn’t know that.”

Surprised, Denki lifted his head, taking in Sero’s sweet smile and blushing all over again. “I-I am nohohohohohohot!”

“Yeah, you are.” Sero scooted up to sit at his side, grabbing his waist and squeezing. “You’re super cute. Like, I might actually die, you’re so adorable.”

Denki tried to push him away but only succeeded in weakly grasping his wrists as he tickled, which only made him more sensitive. That and the teasing were really doing a number on him. “Nohohohohoho, stohohohohop it!”

“But you’re cuuuuute,” Sero whined playfully, poking randomly up and down Denki’s sides and ribs, making the blonde yelp and squeak and roll around helplessly. “So. Cute. You’re. So. Dang. Cute!” He teased with each poke, enjoying the bright pink flush that was coming over Denki’s face and ears.

“Sero,” Denki pleaded, finally managing to grab his arms and free himself from his tickly demise, if only for a moment. “Y-You can’t…just say that. Unless you…you…”

“Mean it?” Sero grinned, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek. “I do mean it.” Then he kissed his neck, and Denki dissolved into giggles all over again. “You’re such a cute, ticklish little sparkplug~”

*

26) Lee Deku, Ler Shinsou

“You can’t make me!”

“Oh?” Shinsou leaned down to Deku’s face, smirking, pinning his wrists to the wall even harder. “Pretty sure I can make you do anything, Midoriya.”

Deku opened his mouth to reply, then clamped it shut. He was fairly certain Shinsou wouldn’t use his quirk on him without permission first, but since he wasn’t 100% sure, he decided to err on the side of caution.

Shinsou quirked a brow. “Giving me the silent treatment, huh? Well, I can fix that.” He shoved Deku’s arms above his head, crossing his wrists and pinning them both with one hand while his other reached down to scratch lightly in the smaller boy’s underarm.

“Eep!” Deku squeaked, unable to help the tiny giggles escaping him as he tried to twist away. Shinsou’s finger started digging in a little deeper, making him break instantly. “Nohohohohoho, Shinsou!”

“Gonna say it now?”

“Nahahahahahaha!”

“Very well.” Shinsou grabbed his thigh, pressing his thumb into the space where it met his hip, and Deku nearly buckled, the sensation was so strong.

“GAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHO!!” He screamed, laughing uncontrollably. He tugged at his arms but Shinsou was surprisingly strong for how lean he was. “NO FAHAHAHAHAHAIR!! SHIHIHIHIHIHINSOU!!”

“Say it.”

“NOHOHOHOHOHO WAHAHAHAHAY!!”

With a growl, Shinsou kept drilling into that ultra-sensitive spot while leaning down to kiss Deku’s neck, making the poor boy squeal with hysterics.

“OKAYOKAYOKAHAHAHAHAY I’LL SAHAHAHAHAY IT JUST STAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“That’s more like it.” Shinsou smirked, stopping his assault but keeping a hand on his thigh in warning. “Out with it, Midoriya.”

“I-I…I’m a…” Deku groaned, turning to hide his face in his shoulder. “I’m a…c-cutie pie.” He cringed. “That’s so embarrassing, why did you make me s-s-sahahahahay thahahahahat?!” Shinsou had started scribbling over his open tummy, making him giggle all over again. “Nahahahahahaha!”

“I made you say it because it’s true,” Shinsou replied, smirking, kissing his cheek. “Duh.”

*

27) Lee Bakugou, Ler Kirishima

“Ohoho, you like to be tickled here, don’t you?” Kirishima teased over Bakugou’s roaring laughter, scratching at his bottom ribs with purposeful strokes. “But you’re just too ticklish to stand it! Hmm…what to do, what to do…?”

“KIRI STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!” Bakugou pleaded, writhing on the bed helplessly, his arms tied to the headboard above him with the very necktie he’d worn to school that afternoon. His uniform shirt had been unbuttoned and opened up for ease of access, and the vulnerability was making this all so much worse. “PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE, STAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“But you so obviously like being tickled here,” Kiri hummed in mock distress. “I don’t want to stop when you love it so much!”

Bakugou flushed red, desperately squirming everywhere he could. Kiri’s fingers kept up with him, and his face was just so cute as he so easily made the blonde fall apart, and the atomic teen was losing his mind. But the redhead was right – he did love to be tickled here, even if he couldn’t stand it. He kicked his legs uselessly, both loving and hating that he couldn’t bring his arms down to push him away.

“NO MOHOHOHOHOHORE, KIRIEHEHEHEHEHE!!” He screamed, the gentle, persistent scratching truly driving him up the wall now. He didn’t know how much longer he could take it. “AHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!”

“Had enough, giggles?”

Bakugou hated that nickname because it made him so dang flustered every single time. Still, he nodded frantically. “YEHEHEHEHES, YES, ENOHOHOHOHOUGH!! PLEHEHEASE!!”

Kiri gradually slowed to a stop, allowing Bakugou to reenter the world of non-tickles with as much ease as possible. Then he leaned down and planted a kiss on his lips. Bakugou hummed in surprise and appreciation, kissing right back until Kiri pulled away and grinned. “Want another round?”

*

28) Lee Kaminari, Ler Bakusquad

It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. The others stared at him. Denki could feel himself beginning to panic. Had he just said that out loud?!

“I…I mean…uh…” he stammered, trying to take it back however he could but unable to find the words. He hid his face, not knowing what else to do. “I’m sorry, forget I said that.”

“Forget?” Bakugou said incredulously.

“Oh, we’re so not going to forget that,” Sero teased.

Kirishima chuckled. “So you want to be tickle tortured, do you?”

“That’s so cuuute~” Mina squealed.

Denki was blushing so hard he felt like he’d gotten heatstroke. Seconds later his hands were being pried away from his face by Kiri’s strong arms, and Sero, Bakugou, and Mina were all wiggling their fingers at him. “Eep!”

“Here we come~” Mina teased.

Bakugou smirked. “You asked for it, dunce face.”

“I can tie you up with my tape if you’d like,” Sero said, holding up his arms for emphasis.

Denki gasped, shaking his head frantically. “No, nonono, I can’t – I’m t-too ticklish for that!”

“You’re super ticklish, huh?” Kiri teased into his ear. He chuckled. “Get him!”

And get him they did, drilling their wiggling fingers into his sides, his ribs, his belly, his underarms – even throwing in a couple of squeezes to his hips and thighs once in a while. Denki tossed his head back and unleashed a long string of laughter he’d been dying to let loose for days. God, he’d wanted this so bad, but had never had the courage to say it – until just now, apparently.

“So, what was it you said?” Sero teased, wiggling a finger into his belly button. “‘I want to be tickled until I can’t breathe’?”

Mina cooed, Kiri laughed, and Bakugou smirked evilly. “Consider it done, dunce face.”

*

29) Lee Todoroki, Ler Bakugou

Todoroki often restrained his attacks during training for one purpose: he didn’t want his friends to be scared of him. To stop tickling and teasing him mercilessly just to see him lose his mind in laughter. To be close in a way he was afraid he would put an end to by unleashing the full force of his power during training.

Unfortunately for him, Bakugou took issue with that approach.

“You better stop holding back on me!” the blonde snapped once their training session was over for the day and the entire class was beginning to pack up and leave the grounds.

Todoroki hesitated. “I just – I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Hurt me? Bah! You couldn’t lay a finger on me, Icy-Hot, especially if you’re holding back like that!”

Todoroki merely shrugged and looked away.

Bakugou growled. “I’ll make you see things my way.” In a flash, he’d kicked Todoroki’s legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground in surprised heap in the moments before Bakugou ripped off his shoes and started scribbling wildly over his socked soles.

“AIEEEAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! NAHAHAHAHAHAHA BAKUGOU!!” Todoroki screamed with laughter, unable to hold back his reactions whatsoever. Curse him for going after his worst spot right off the bat! “STAHAHAHAHAHAP I CAHAHAHAHAHAN’T TAKE IT!! PLEHEHEHEASE!!”

“Promise you’ll stop holding back on me and I’ll stop tickling you to death,” Bakugou demanded, turning to look over his shoulder at the mess he was making of the normally stoic boy. “What do you say, Icy-Hot?”

“OKAYOKAY FIHIHIHIHIHIHINE I’LL STOHOHOHOHOHOP HOLDING BAHAHAHACK!!” Todoroki pleaded, laughing hysterically as he writhed on the ground. “I’LL DEFEHEHEHEHEAT YOU NEXT TIHIHIHIHIHIME!!”

Well, that was the wrong thing to say. Bakugou ripped off his socks next, going straight for his toes. “Oh, will you, now?”

“NONONONO I’M SOHOHOHOHOHORRY I TAHAHAHAHAKE IT BAHAHAHACK—!!”

*

30) Lee Shinsou, Ler Deku

“Relax, it’s just a massage!” Deku laughed, highly amused by his poor boyfriend’s increasingly distressed state. He kneaded into his shoulder blades again for emphasis, making Shinsou choke on a laugh.

“Gah! Pfft no – no it’s nohohohohohot! You knohohohohow what you’re doing, you jeheheherk!” Shinsou tried to sound angry, but it came out as more of a whimper. His legs kicked behind him as he squeezed his arms to try and keep them in place above his head so he could rest his cheek on them. But another scribble between his blades from Deku had him cackling into the bedsheets all over again. “Nahahahahahahaha! Stahahahahahap it alreadyehehehehehe!”

“I’m literally not even trying to tickle you,” Deku giggled, swiping a finger from Shinsou’s shoulder blades to the base of his neck. “Well, at first I wasn’t, anyway.”

“Leheheheheave me alohohohohone! I cahahahahan’t take thihihihis!”

“Oh, I think you can.” Deku leaned down to press soft, feather-light kisses along Shinsou’s upper back and shoulder blades, and his usually well-composed boyfriend broke down into a long string of utterly helpless giggles, squirming desperately.

“Izuku, nohohohohohohoho! Nohohohohohot thahahahat – it tihihihihickles! Plehehehease!”

“Does it now? I would never have guessed.” Deku chuckled, trailing his kisses from his shoulders to the back of his neck, nuzzling into his ears from behind, enjoying the half-whine, half-moan that came out of his boyfriend. “Tickle, tickle, little Toshi~”

“Dohohohohohon’t call me thahahahat,” Shinsou begged, turning his face to the side to try and catch his breath a little better. “You’re smahahahahaller than me.”

“Yeah,” Deku agreed, blowing air across the back of his left ear, making him shiver and giggle at the same time. “But baby talk works way better on you, doesn’t it, my ticklish little Toshi?”

Shinsou’s cheeks turned hot pink. “Shuhuhuhuhut up…”

Deku kissed his neck again. “Never.”

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Knock Knock Knockin' on Hooty's Door" from The Owl House

Wow. They are really pushing it for that secret message, huh?

Anywho--Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

I think it goes without saying at this point that Season Two of The Owl House is setting itself up as a season without filler. Now, filler episodes aren't always bad. Yes, it hurts when a series turns away from the main plot for a week. But at best, they're utilized as a chance for the writers to play around with the characters and developing said characters without it relating to the overarching story. So, some people who see that consider it a bad thing that a series doesn't have that many filler episodes.

I like to call those people: F**king morons.

Don't get me wrong, I see where some of you are coming from. And I'd be willing to agree...if The Owl House was a plot-driven series. Which it's not. It is a character-driven series. Because for every plot thread and narrative that the show presents, they always relate to the characters and develop them further each time these threads get brought up. For example, look at "Knock Knock Knockin’ on Hooty's Door" (It pains me just to write that). Several narratives move forward, and it’s all done to make the characters grow. And to explain how requires going into spoilers. So keep that in mind as you continue reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Hooty: Might as well start with the character that this episode is about.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't a huge fan when I found out we're getting a Hooty-centered episode. I've grown to love him over time, but he is a comedic character that's best used in small doses. Primarily due to how his voice is grating to me (My ears are still bleeding...). With that said, I do really love his contributions in "Knock Knock Knockin' on Hooty's Door" (Seriously, there couldn't have been a less awkward title?). Hooty's antics when trying to help everyone are as hilarious as they are heartwarming. He deeply cares for his friends but just doesn't understand how his plans could do some unintended harm, which is pretty lovable if you ask me. We also get some surprisingly great insight into his character, as he feels insecure about basically being the comic relief who doesn't really do that much other than being funny. Rarely do you get that level of dimension from a comedic character, and it's even more uncommon for that to work out as well as it does here. It once again proves just how competent the writing is in this series to the point where we get an episode about Hooty, and it's funny and heartwarming instead of being annoying. And whoever is responsible for that, you're the best.

Lilith’s Letter to Hooty: I mean it when I say that I love how Lilith kept her word about her and Hooty becoming penpals. Their friendship was something I would have never expected to love, and I'm still shocked that it works so well, so seeing it continue like this just warms me to the bone. Plus, it is pretty sweet that Lilith's kind words are what inspired Hooty to do what he's done in this episode...meaning it's Lilith we should thank here--SON OF A WITCH! Even when she's gone, she's still working her way into my heart!

King going through Puberty: What?! KING IS EVOLVING!

(There, I made a Pokemon reference. Do I get my cookie now?)

Eda Keeping Herself Awake to Train Herself: I'm willing to bet a large sum of money that this has everything to with Raine getting captured last week. If Eda was still the most powerful witch in the Isles, she might have actually saved them. But she isn't, and now the love of her life is in the clutches of a tyrant planning something that could potentially be the end of everything. So I can understand Eda pushing herself to her limit to get back on top again, as I would probably do the same. It's not healthy in any way, and Eda would be doing more harm than good. But when it comes to the people you love, logic doesn't always win out in the end.

Luz Wanting to Make her Way into Amity’s Heart by Making the Echo Mouse Happy: ...That's it. I Just...I just love everything about it, ok?

This was also when I knew that I was wrong to doubt that there would be zero Lumity in this episode. I realize my follies now, and I humbly apologize.

Hooty Teaching King About Demons: This was so funny. So, so funny. Probably doesn't come as a surprise, especially since The Owl House proves itself as a comedy before, but the jokes have never hit as frequently and as hard as they did here. From Hooty getting offended by King's dance to him and Dana's insert wanting a "DNA sample," everything managed to successfully make me lose my s**t. It does come at the expense of King suffering, but I can stomach that much more than if it were Eda or Luz. And, as a bonus, we get lore about how demons work, added with another great joke of King getting in trouble with Hooty for saying he already knows this stuff. Humor isn't always the show's strong suit, but when it works, it f**king works.

King Wanting to Know What he Is: But despite how funny King's vignette was, we still get to see more of his character grow. We learn that he's frustrated now that there's this big question mark over his life now, feeling extra angry that his father "abandoned" him to leave such a present mystery. It shows the hidden resentment he has that Lilith inadvertently brought out, made even worse when King's father hasn't responded to the video yet. King hasn't really gotten that much development until "Echoes of the Past," so it's pretty cool that the writers haven't really slowed down on it. Especially when it leads to these great moments of King venting his frustrations.

King’s Shouting Powers: KING learned FUS RO DAH!

(And now that's a Pokemon reference AND a Skyrim reference. WHERE'S MY GOSH DANG COOKIE!?)

Eda’s Nightmare: If King's vignette hits you hard with the laughs, Eda's will absolutely hit you harder with the feels (never make me say "feels" unironically again). Knowing that Eda's life got thoroughly screwed over by the curse is something we could figure out on her own. But seeing just how much the curse ruined her life and tore apart relationships that mean the world to her really does a swell job at ripping apart the soul. What's even more tragic is, technically speaking, it's all sort of Eda's fault too. She kept hiding the curse, refusing to be a burden to others who would do all they could to help. If she had only been open and honest, things probably wouldn't have changed much, but they most likely would have been better than they are now.

Eda Attacked her Father as the Owl Beast: ...I don't know what I was expecting when "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" hinted that there was some possible tension between Eda and her father...but it definitely wasn't this.

The fact that we see blood where his eye used to be doesn't make things any happier, either.

Raine Broke Up with Eda: Before we get into anything else, let's celebrate the fact that it's now confirmed that Eda and Raine really did use to date in the past. Because this show is just f**king phenomenal with its LGBTQA+ representation!

But, seriously, this is a fantastic reveal that goes far beyond just shipping...well, sort of. It shines a new light on Eda and Raine's interactions from last week, revealing that while they're not a couple anymore, they still very much love each other. It helps make their last interaction especially tragic, as they were both on the same page now and could very well be together again. Only for them to be forced apart for the second time in a way that's much worse than the first. And I frickin' adore that this series changes the impact of one episode one week later. Again, it shows just how competent these writers are, and kudos to them for making something so...perfect.

The Moon Person: WHO THE FU--Nope. Nope! We have more than enough mystery bulls**t to deal with through CreepyLuz and Philip Wittebane, so I am PUTTING YOU ON THE BACKBURNER FOR NOW!

(They're probably nothing more than a one-off character, anyway)

The Owl Beast and Eda are Connected: Through visuals alone, we, the audience, can clue into what the curse really means. The Owl Beast doesn't want to be a part of Eda as much as she doesn't want it to be a part of her. Whether they like it or not, and they very much don't, they're stuck together. The thing is, and this is what I love the most, they still decide to make the best of their situation rather than let it ruin their lives even more. This might be the best possible turn Eda's curse could have made. It'll still affect her, and there are probably more negatives than positives, but at least now, it's not the worst thing in the world. And I feel like that's all anyone can ask when in a position like her own.

Eda's “Pretty Dream”: I don't know what emotions are toiling inside me more with this moment. Awe and wonder over how beautiful Eda's dream is, or heartbreak over the implication that she has only had nightmares since getting cursed...I'm gonna say both. Yeah, it's definitely both.

Eda’s Harpie Form: Well, fan artists are gonna have a field day with this...especially the freaks.

(You know who you are. And you're weird!)

Luz Calling Amity a “Cotton-Candy Haired Goddess”: ...Have I ever mentioned how much I love this show?

Hooty Kidnapped Amity: ...Hooty, if your stupidity wasn't charming, I would be more than willing to call the authorities over how you kidnapped a girl in your version of a knapsack and locked her in the basement. For that is going to ring SO MANY alarm bells in people's heads.

Amity and Luz Stuck in a Tunnel of Love: *Smacks lips* Mmm. The adorable awkwardness of this moment is just *chef's kiss* magnifique!

Luz being afraid of getting made fun of:

Amity’s look of hope: I mean...just...f**king--LOOK AT HER:

That is the look of a girl who, while embarrassed as hell, still is ecstatic to learn for a brief moment, everything that she is hoping for has a high chance of being real. Who, in their right mind, wouldn't go "Aw!" at something so pure and innocent?!

Luz Destroying the Tunnel of Love: This is how to effectively utilize dramatic irony. The audience can understand why Luz is tearing the place apart because she explicitly states that she's afraid of Amity rejecting her in the end. They also know that's bogus, thus making it extra painful to watch Amity's heart break more and more with each second (which is perfectly represented through Amity's expressions). You feel bad for both of them, and even worse when you know that it can easily be prevented by the simple art of communication. That's what makes it great dramatic irony. Knowing the point of view of each character results in a scene that evokes emotions in two different ways.

Hooty’s Breakdown: This was...genuinely hard to watch. Not that it was badly written, far from it. It just...hurt seeing how destroyed Hooty was when he realized he failed the people he has such an admiration for. On the upside, a wholesome moment follows soon after as the Owl House gang tries to reassure Hooty that he's done a lot of good that night. It's a pure action that shows even though Hooty gets on their nerves all the time, they still care about him...damn it. I think I'm gonna cry.

Eda’s Advice for Luz: ...Eda...You're the best.

You found out that your surrogate daughter wants to ask a girl out, and not only were you quick to deliver the best possible advice ("Just go for it!"), but you also quickly reassure her that it doesn't need to be perfect.

And you know what? That's it. Eda is the best cartoon mom! She might not technically be Luz's mom, but I don't give a s**t because she is the best!

Luz and Amity Ask Each Other Out: Shh-sh-sh-sh...

Do you hear that?

...

...

...It's the sound of dozens of Lumity fans collectively losing their s**t...and I'm one of them.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!

IT!

IS!

CANON!

AH-HAHAHAHAHA!

HOLY S**T! Holy s**t! Holy s**t...might just be the best way I could possibly describe this! Finally, after all the waiting, speculating, and praying, THESE TWO IDIOTS FINALLY GOT TOGETHER! AND IT WAS PERFECT! I mean, it was awkward as s**t, but that's what makes it perfect! You know why? You wanna--Hey! *snaps fingers*. You want to know why? It's because they're teenagers. Of f**king course, it's going to be awkward! This is their first relationship, so there will be a lot of missteps along the way. And that, in itself, brings me to the best (second best part?) thing about it happening in episode eight of the new seasons. Most endgame couples get together in the climax or even at the end of the series. But to have them get together this early on, means there will be quite a few episodes dedicated to showing them grow as a couple.

And better than that--EVEN F**KING BETTER THAN THAT--dozens of kids are going to see these two, a realistic depiction of young love that just so happens to involve two girls, and are going to learn once and for all that there is nothing wrong with being who they are. That fact alone is f**king incredible. Yes, it sucks that season three got cut short, and we'll have even less time with Luz and Amity, but knowing how many kids have felt seen today almost makes it worth it in the end.

And if I see one mother f**ker saying this was poorly paced, I might just hunt them down for SPORT...Sorry if that was an overreaction. I'M JUST SO HAPPY! Because they're happy! Look at them. Listen to them! It's so...GAH-HAHAHA!

“They’re adorable! And deserve all the happiness!”: You're darn right, Hooty! You're darn right.

King’s Father(?) Shows Up: What the--WHAT?! They're doing this now?! Here?! After everything else?

Oh, man. What could this mean? What dynamic changes will this cause in the main cast? How could the writers fit this in during the next two episodes? And what--

Hooty Eats the Letter: ...Pfffft--HAHAHAHA!

Oh, man...I should be mad, and I wouldn't blame others if they are...but that is too much of a brilliant f**k you that I can't help but appreciate it. Bravo writers. Bravo.

WHAT I DISLIKED

...Dislikes? Dislikes? You would honestly believe that after everything I witnessed in this episode, that I would have the gull to list anything wrong with it?!

HOW DARE YOU ASSUME THAT I WOULD BE SO CALLUS TO--Actually, I do kind of have an issue with the episode's title. It's just too much of an awkward mouthful for me to get behind. I understand that the writers wanted to sneak the K into the secret message, but were there really no other titles starting with K that they couldn't come up with?

But that's just a personal issue, and in no way do I think anybody else would feel the same way. Especially with how well-written everything else is anyway.

IN CONCLUSION

"Knock Knock Knockin' on Hooty's Door" (title aside) is another A+ episode. It was hilarious, heart-wrenching, and downright adorable while keeping me entertained with every minute. I'm sure there are some issues I was willing to ignore due to how expertly written everything else was, but why bother looking for the chinks in the armor when I could just enjoy a perfect episode for being so...perfect! Some of you might be willing to disagree with me, but to that, I say: Don't knock it till you've tried it.

(Now, if you don't excuse me, I'm going to go lie down. It's...It's been a day.)

[tanakavox]

here guys. This reaction was done @bssaz97 again. And that's it for the author's note.

"I miss baby Zwei!" Weiss sulked.

"We know Weiss, you've been saying that for the past ten minutes," Blake's vein appeared on her head.

"Why can't we see more of him! He was so cute and innocent!" Weiss crosses her arms and huffs..

"He spent the entire time antagonizing me!" Jaune replied.

"He can never do wrong." Weiss cemented in her mind.

"Forget it VB, she's a lost cause." Yang told her fellow blonde.

"Well let's see what this next viewing has in store for us all." Ren calmly stated.

The screen shows Jaune on Planet Namek facepalming.

"Urgh, what was that idiot DOING bringing me here!" He mutters before turning to look around his eyes widening. "It's... Wait a minute, I can feel it... This is my home! I can finally see its beauty! The lush blue fields, the crystal clear waters, the wind brushing past my... GOD, THIS IS BORING!" He yelled out before groaning. "No wonder I feel at home."

"We're back to Namek!" Ruby shouted in excitement.

"And there's alien Jaune-Jaune!" Nora jumped in.

"Wait isn't this the world where Cinder is supposed to be really powerful?" Jaune asked.

"...oh crud/shit." Many of the original audience replied. Those who were new to the theater didn't exactly understand what they meant but supposed they would eventually see why.

The scene cuts to Cinder confronting Mercury, Oscar, Neptune, and Trifa

"Oh hell yeah! Emerald wake up, we're back in the world where I'm a badass prince!" Mercury says as he shakes her shoulder.

Emerald loudly snores.

"Hey! You said to wake you when 'the snooze fest' was over."

"Not… interested." Emerald conveniently snored.

"Emerald, you will watch this viewing." Cinder orders.

"Yes Cinder!" Emerald miraculously much more awake.

"Wooow." Mercury drawls, shaking his head in genuine disappointment.

"Shut it!" Emerald hissed.

Cinder smiles coldly at them. "Well, Mercury. You've finally pulled it off. You've managed to dash my hopes entirely. With some help, I see." she turns to look at the rest of the group.

"Quack!"

"Neptune, seriously, not helping!" Oscar said ebowing him.

"I can try."

"I'm very curious. Where exactly are you from?" Cinder asks calmly.

"Don't you snitch!" Nora shouted at the screen.

"We're from rem-" Neptune started before Oscar stopped him.

"Neptune, no!"

"Oh right... Thanks for stopping me, Oscar. 'Cause I can't shut-."

"They're from Remnant." Trifa deadpanned.

"Traitor!" Ruby glared at the girl on the screen. Her anger was shared by many in the audience. Whether good or bad.

Blake was feeling the same amount of betrayal twice after remembering how Trifa was one of Ada-his agents sent to kidnap her in the past.

" Little bow girl, why?!" Neptune shouted out in disbelief.

"Because my name is Trifa."

Nora huffed, "Well maybe your name should little bi-!"

"Nora please." Ren asked his oldest friend and companion to let it go.

"'Sigh.' Fine, but I'm still mad." Nora said.

"Oh good. I'll stop by there on the way home. Pick up some space eggs, some space milk, and BLOW IT THE F**K UP!" Cinder screamed at them before calming here. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm usually far more composed. I'm just a little bit ABSOLUTELY LIVID." She said with barely contained rage.

"Oh, Cinder. Quit being such a bitch. I lost my chance at immortality too and you don't see me crying about it." Mercury said mocking with a smirk.

"Yep. Sucks to suck!" Yang stayed for both Cinder's in the audience and on screen.

"Care to say that to my face." Cinder stood up.

"Whoa now One Eye Cinder. We can't fight here, remember, so I can say whatever I like and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Yang explains with a toothy grin.

Cinder growls, but reluctantly sat back down as she began to curse this theater's damned rules.

"Yes, Mercury. But you see, the difference between us is I'll live long enough to regret it." Cinder charges at Mercury and engages him in battle with a battle cry.

Scene cuts to Jaune flying through the sky

"Hey we were getting to the good part!" Mercury shouted.

"And what part would that exactly be Mercury?" Cinder asked directly.

"The fight scene, what else." He said nonchalantly.

Cinder stared at him for a moment before looking back at the screen. Mercury was one of the few people that she could tolerate back talking to her so she paid it no mind.

"Everything looks the goddamn same on this goddamn planet!" He thinks and sighs before he sees something on the ground. "Wait a minute, a body! SOCIAL ACTIVITY!" Jaune yells as he yells flying down and landing next to a body, which was Hazel. "Please tell me you're not dead!"

Hazel begins to speaks in Namekian/Klingon

"What the hell is he saying?" Coco asked.

"It appears he is attempting to communicate with Mr. Arc's alternate in their native tongue." Ozpin rationalized.

"Do you know what he's saying Jaune?" Velvet asked.

"Velvet, I think Ozpin means-."

Velvet giggles before she starts laughing. Her team along with his shortly after.

Jaune was staring at them confusedly before his eyes widened in realization. He chuckled while rolling his eyes, "Oh haha, very funny Velvet."

Ruby just stared at the exchange expressionless, the joke was funny but for some reason she didn't want to laugh. Weird.

"Ah, crap. I find the only living thing for miles- and he's so broken he can't even talk right."

" I was speaking Namekian, you idiot. Don't you know anything about your own people?" Hazel gasps out, barely holding on to life.

"Well, we're demons, right?" Jaune asks hopefully.

"Eh, more like slug people."

"Ah, dammit! I liked it better when I was a demon."

"And I liked it better when I had proper bladder control. Nobody's perfect."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. What happened?"

"Let's just say our world elder's kind of a giant green asshole."

Jaune and many of the other male audience members bowed their heads in silence for loss bestowed on the Namekian people.

"Yeesh! Port's a bit of a dick in this one… or lack thereof," Yang quipped.

"YANG!"

"Too soon?" Yang winced.

"Preachin' to the choir on that one." Jaune agreed, an image of Ozpin showing in his head. "Well, it's been fun, but I have to go DIE again…" He turns to leave.

Jaune mentally groaned as he remembered that in this world his life was the one entwined with Ozpin. Also he no more thrilled about the prospect of seeing his alternate die (again?) in a way that could've been easily avoided.

"Dang Arc, you're a bit sassy in this world, huh?" Coco asked.

"And green with antennas." Velvet whispered to Fox.

"Ahhh," Fox nodded, getting a clue of what the counterpart looked like.

"Wait. I might be able to help you." gasped out Hazel.

"Look, buddy. If you want to add me on MySpace, I switched to Spacebook a while ago." Jaune turns to left again.

"What's MySpace?" Oscar asked.

"Beats me, but it sounds mega old." Yang commented.

Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow and even Winter winced at Yang's unintentional jab at them. All of them who used to own MySpace accounts.

Salem just looked confused at the mention of these names. 'What's a MySpace and Spacebook? Is it a form of communication?' She thought to herself.

"No, no, no, no. Listen. I think I know something that might work out for both of us. I don't wanna die and you seem pretty lonely."

"DESPERA-, I mean, go on."Jaune said, getting yells before switching back to a normal tone.

"There's a special ability our people share. Forbidden, even amongst our most sacred clans."

"And we're just going to abuse it?" Jaune asked

"Oh, maliciously!" Hazel said with a grin.

"Bitchin'! How we do?"

"Well that didn't take much convincing at all." Emerald said, impressed by how quickly it took the dying Hazel to convince Arc to comment on what was probably the Namekians form of the Black Arts.

"Hey Jaune-Jaune needs all the power he can get if he wants to kick Cinder's butt!" Nora shot back. "Yeah!" Ruby echoed Nora's sentiment.

"Well, first you put your hand upon me."

" 'Kay" He places his hand on Hazel's elbow)

"Yes. Like that. Now lower."

"Uh-huh."

"Lower."

"Hmm…"

"Little lower."

"Hmm..".

"Ah! If we had junk, you'd be gay right now." Jaune groans as Hazel smirks at him. "Fusing!"

"Gods Dammit!" Jaune facepalmed. He couldn't believe how his alternate would fall for such an obvious trick…. though to be honest he probably would have fallen for it all the same.

Jaune fuses with Hazel, a bright light blinding the viewers. After it's disappears, Jaune only is there and he looks at his hands in wonder.

"Wow. Unreal. My gosh. This is amazing! I feel INCREDIBLE!" He then begins to chant Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I can win! I feel great! I-can-do-this! HAAA…"

Hazel's voice from inside is heard inside Jaune's head. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Nothing." Jaune replies after stammering a bit.

"Really? 'Cause it looked like you were chanting to yourself."

"Are you in my head?" Jaune ask changing the subject.

"Yup. Don't worry; supposedly I should fade away into your subconscious. Sooner or later."

"Is this what it was like for you?" Jaune asked Oscar.

"Pretty much." Oscar deadpanned

"...Wow, that's really weird." Jaune slumped in his chair.

"Yep. Well, you kinda get used to it after a while." Oscar replied.

"Does it?" Jaune asked him seriously.

"...No." Oscar slumped into his chair as well.

'If I could have carried this burden in my original body for all these millennia and spared you, I would have… no one deserves this burden.' Ozpin told himself in his mind. He determined it would fix nothing if he told them that, there was no changing the past.

"Okay. So, what now?"

"By my estimate, this fusion should have given you just enough power to wipe out the bitch who killed our people."

"And?"

"Well, let me put this in terms you'll understand: You can win! You feel great! You-can-do-this!" Hazel said, repeating Jaune's chant.

"Oh, ha-ha!"

"Yeah go Jaune/Fearless Leader!" Ruby and Nora both cheered.

Jaune's face turned beet red, but he did appreciate their show of support.

The scene cuts to Mercury and Cinder in a brawler lock

"Impudent... little…" Cinder hissed. Her scouter shows "F**K THIS I'M OUT" before exploding on her face, Cinder grunting in pain.

"Damn, Mercury must actually be pretty strong to make that device off itself," Yang stated.

"Why do you sound so surprised blondie? Still sore about our match up?" Mercury quipped.

"You are so lucky I can't mop the floor with your face." Yang shot back, her eyes flashing crimson.

Mercury and Cinder both back off, producing a small crater due to their power.

"I'm impressed, Mercury. When did you graduate from pull-ups?" Cinder said mocking.

"About the same time you got off the rag." Mercury fired back.

Cinder smirks a bit. "Cute. But bear no false hopes, Mercury. You're a mere paper tiger in front of a storm. You have no idea what true power I possess."

"It's that you can transform, right?"

"I can transform…" Cinder's face's falls. "Okay, when and how?"

"Guldo told me."

A flashback of a conversation between Mercury and Guldo appears

"So... Did you know that Cinder can transform?" Guldo said.

"Huh. That right?" Mercury said disinterested.

"Yeah. And Burter's gay."

"Really!?" Mercury asked, genuinely surprised

(back to present)

"And then I threw a dog treat at him. True story."

"That's so rude!" said the collective voices of Ruby, Weiss, Velvet, and Fiona.

"Oh cry me a river, I lost my conscience long ago." Mercury replied back.

"Right. But if you are so aware, why do you persist in goading me?" Cinder question raising an eyebrow.

Mercury grinned viciously."Because Cinder. You're not dealing with the average Saiyan warrior anymore. I am a Super Saiyan!"

….

"A what?" Oscar asked.

Cinder rolls her eyes at this apparently hearing this before. "Oh, here we go!"

"That's right, Cinder. I've arisen beyond the limits of a normal Saiyan, and into the realm of legend- the legend that you fear. The legend known throughout the entire universe as the most powerful warrior to ever exist!" Cinder starts speaking faintly at this point alongside him. "I, Prince Mercury, have become a..". Cinder cuts him off

"...Super Saiyan. Blah, blah, blah, blah, I get it. Then you slayed the Jabberwocky and went on to save Narnia." She clearly wasn't taking him seriously.

"Wow! This Super Saiyan sounds awesome!" Yang concluded. Her sister as well as Jaune, Nora, Oscar and Ren. What? He could like things.

"Thanks for the praise Blondie." Mercury said.

"Yeah something tells me your alternate is way too overestimating himself." Emerald stated.

"You're just jealous you're not a Super Saiyan." Mercury shot back, unfazed by her earlier remark. Causing Emerald to roll her eyes.

While the name seemed silly to the more mature members of the audience, they too were intrigued by the tale of this being.

"Go ahead and mock me, Cinder, but I'm not afraid of you. So why don't you doll yourself up and get ready for a night on the town, because I'm about to take you to a ballroom blitz."

"Fine. I'll indulge you, Mr. Super Saiyan. But before I do I have a funny little story I'd like to tell you."

"Funny how?"

"I like to call it, "I killed your dad"."

"...Was that supposed to shock me?" Mercury questioned.

Mercury stares at Cinder blankly. "So "ha-ha" funny."

"You see, thanks to a rogue lower-class warrior, your father caught wind of my plans…"

(flashback to planet Mercury)

A saiyan runs up to What seemed to be Marcus Black

"King Mercury, I have urgent news!"

"Speak, Butarega." King Marcus/Mercury said in a booming tone.

'Wait why does the old bastard have my name? Eh, guess it doesn't matter. Wait, does that make me a junior?!' Mercury thought.

"Well well, looks like I should call you Junior now. Huh?" Emerald comments, her smirk showing she greatly appreciated this new knowledge.

"I'm not a junior!" Mercury yelled.

"What's that? Couldn't hear you Junior!" Yang joins in on the teasing.

"I'm gonna get back at you both. Just you wait." Mercury growled. Hating how the tables have turned on him.

"Bardock has gone absolutely mad, sire!"

Off-screen someone screamed out: "Cinderrrr!"

"What's all the commotion about?" King Marcus/Mercury asked.

"He's been telling everyone that Cinder plans to destroy Mercury!"

"Wait, my son, the planet, or me?"

BUTAREGA looks at the king for a few moments before answering " ...Yes."

King Marcus/Mercury blasts Butarega away.

"Oh my gods!" Ruby cried out.

She and many others in the audience were shocked that the Saiyan King just killed his subordinate so callously. However, both Salem and Cinder were impressed at the King's show of force.

"Freakin' smartass." King Marcus/Mercury mutters and goes look a the Counselor. "Counselor Obleck, what do you think?"

"Let me tell you what you need to do. You need to sit him down…" Oobleck began.

"Uh-huh." King Marcus/Mercury said nodding his head.

"...you look her dead in the eye…"

"Yes."

" ...and you say, "Don't blow up my planet.""

"What? He can't be serious." Winter remarked.

"It appears that this version of Bart is not as wise or tactful as he is in our world." Ozpin rationalized.

Teams RWBY and JNR pressed 'X' to doubt.

"And you think that will work?" King Marcus/Mercury asked.

"she'd have to be aaaaaaawfully evil if it didn't. And I'm not gonna lie, I like the cut of her jib." Oobleck said with a grin.

"All right, but I want you to take my son, the Prince, off-planet just in case things go south."

"Don't worry, sir. You'll do juuuuuust fine."

"Wait. Hold on a damn minute, the old bastard actually cares about someone other than himself? Yeah like that's legit." Mercury crosses his arms.

Some in the audience looked at the silver haired assassin and just for a moment, they felt sympathy for him.

shifts to King Mercury approaching Cinder,.

"Cinder, can I sit down and have a word with-" King Marcus/Mercury said before Cinder interpreted him.

"SHORYUKEN!" Cinder yelled out, uppercutting King Marcus/Mercury in the jaw, causing the latter to fall back while producing with an echoing scream.

"K.O.! YOU WIN!" A voice yelled out.

"Yatta." Cinder whisper out looking at the king's dead body with grin

"Seems negotiations didn't go as he was expecting." Cinder floated to herself. What she didn't notice was that Mercury had stared at her after that statement was said.

He wasn't sure why but hearing her gloat about killing his dad made him feel… odd. It's probably the popcorn he was eating. Nothing more.

(back to present)

"And then I blew the planet up. The end."

Mercury stares at Cinder confused. "How did you know about the parts you weren't there for?"

Cinder gives a blank stare at Mercury and then proceeds to transform.

"Wow, nice comeback Cinder. Really showed him." Jaune said.

Cinder chose to ignore the blonde fool, she didn't dare waste the energy to acknowledge him.

"Nep, do you feel that?" Oscar asked with a fearful look as Cinder's power grew as her body.

"I taste that!" Neptune screamed a look as fear on his face as well.

Cinder finishes transforming into his second form, a Bigger bulkier form.

"Whoa! She's huge! Like that Hazel guy from Haven!" Nora shouted.

"She sure is..." Emerald didn't know how to feel about this new form of Cinder's. It looked too bulky and tall.

"She kinda looks like a bull with those horns." Ruby noted.

"All done." Cinder smiles a bit looking at all of them satisfied. "And judging by the expression on your face, so are you."

"What...? How?" The usual cockiness in his voice was gone.

"Let's be practical and put a number to that feeling, shall we? Last time I clocked this form it was at... one million." Cinder's smile only grows widener.

The audience didn't know what she meant by that but they determined that it must've meant that she was terrifyingly strong.

Cinder loved it, if only she could feel what that power was like. She might even get drunk from it.

"You're lying!"

"Am I? Am I really?" Cinder sarcastically said, raises her hand and explodes the island that everyone is currently standing on, making an explosion so big that it can be seen from the planet. Cinder is shown standing on what's left of the island.

"Whoa!" Fiona and CVY cried out. This being their first time seeing a destructive force of this magnitude. Whitley also sweat dropped, while he had been pleased with how powerful he was in one of the previous worlds. This was an entirely different kind of power than he thought was ever possible.

"Not impressed!" Mercury yelled off screen. "I can do that, too!"

"Neptune, are you okay?" Oscar asks flying above the destroyed island.

"Yeah, and I've got a Little bow girl right here!" Neptune replied with a grin holding Trifa closely.

Cinder begans sings to. " Peaceful young races with fires on their houses

Millions of voices all silenced like mouses

Watching the cowards bow toward their new king

These are a few of my favorite things "

"Oh great she's singing now, as if this Cinder wasn't terrifying enough." Oscar said while clinging to his seat in fear.

"Is it just me, or is she singing to herself?" Neptune asks but is cut off by Cinder charging at him and impaling him with one of her horns, causing Neptune to drop Trifa.

(Neptune Owned Count: 15)

Neptune screams in pain.

"Oh no!" Ruby cried out. But immediately was off put by the showed counter on the screen.

Some in the audience giggled at the sight of the counter, even if they knew it was wrong.

"Neptune!" Oscar screamed out.

"Well, he's dead." Mercury deadpanned in his head.

"This is... the worst... pai-i-i-in!" Neptune said through gritted his teeth.

"Really? Sure it isn't this?" She looks up and starts shifting her head up and down." Or this? Or this? Or this? Or this? (Neptune Owned Count: 16-21, with two 1Ups coming up in the last two ones)

"Neptune, stop! You're making him stronger!" Oscar pleaded.

"I-can't-help-it!" Neptune screamed.

(Neptune Owned Count: 22-25)

At this point most of the audience were laughing. It was a horribly dark joke, but the presentation was spot on and too hilarious. The huntsmen and huntresses that knew the blue haired boy felt very guilty, but they couldn't stop laughing.

"One down!" Cinder throws Neptune off her horn and towards the lake. "Ah, I think impalement is my favorite way to kill a person."

Oscar begans to shake with rage. "You condescending... sadistic... callous... MOTHERF**KER!"

"Pardon?" Cinder ask with a raised eyebrow but then Oscar attacks Cinder by kicking and punching her in the face before knocking her upward with an uppercut and finally kicks her towards the ground. Oscar then starts charging up an energy blast.

"WHOO! Go Cute Boy Oscar! Woo-woo-woo!" Nora cheered on her newest teammate. His other friends joined in cheering for Oscar's alternate.

Oscar was deeply embarrassed but also very ecstatic that he was able to keep up with the frightening tyrant.

"Oscar SMASH EFFEMINATE ALIEN! Oscar STRONGEST THERE IS!" Oscar thought to himself.

Oscar launches a ki blast directly at Cinder, causing a massive explosion. Oscar is then seen in midair catching his breath. Cinder is seen lying face down on the ground, covered in sand from Oscar's assault.

"Ten points for team ALPN!" Nora cheered.

"Yeah, how's that feel, Cinder?" Mercury yelled out. "Now if you can, why don't you pick your sorry ass up and take on a REAL Saiyan…" Mercury's voice trails off as Cinder is seen getting up with a annoyed look.

"Huh. That happened." She muttered before turning to Mercury. "Mercury, mind sitting right there for just a moment, I need to go play babysitter."

"Oh crap, abort Oscar! Abort!" Jaune called out.

"Think! What would Dad do in this situation?" Oscar began to think to himself in a panic.

A flashback of Sun wearing a backpack showed up.

"Bye, son!" Sun said in the flashback in a big dopey smile.

"Damn it Sun." Blake facepalmed.

"Wow, my other self has some issues." Oscar realizes.

(back to present)

"I'm beginning to think I have issues…" Oscar thought to himself when he got punched by Cinder and hit the ground. He tries to get up, but gets crushed by Cinder's foot.

Cinder turns to grin at the Silver haired man. "So, Mercury. Does this get you angry?"

"It's getting ME angry!" Nora shouts at the screen. Her team, RWBY, Qrow, Ozpin and Winter show the same hostility towards the Cinder in the screen.

Mercury shrugs. "Not really. Kind of a smartass."

Cinder frowns "Well then, why am I even bothering?"

"Because you get off on it?" Mercury said hetaintly.

Cinder grins viciously. "Oh, unbelievably... Huh?" Cinder moves to dodges a disc but her tail gets cut off. She turns to glare at culprit.

"Alright, who has the balls?!" She screams out.

Camera zooms on to Neptune, who is the one responsible for cutting off Cinder's tail. Neptune then turns around and starts repeatedly spanking his butt.

"Kiss my ass, bitch! I'm immortal!"

Cinder growls angrily and flies after Neptune.

"Whoa! Neptune's back up already? I thought he was out for the count!" Yang confused. Happy that he lived but still confused as to how he was back in good shape.

Neptune imitates Curly's whooping sounds while flying away and screams: "Suuuck myy diiii…"

The shifts to Mercury thinking to himself. "How the hell did he get up? Oh, my God, I swear if he used that wish of immortality on himself, I am going to murd... " He stops himself and opens his mouth in shock. And speaks out loud after a short pause. "That... bastard."

"Hahaha-ha-ha! You can't kill an immortal!" Emerald laughed.

"Why are you laughing? Weren't you cheering for Cinder?" Mercury implies.

"I am but I'm also cheering against you." Emerald explains.

"You're despicable, you know that right?" Mercury deadpanned.

The scene shifts to Trifa healing Oscar "Come on... You can't leave me alone here; you're the only one I can talk to!" She mutters to herself.

Oscar eyes open, regaining consciousness."I... you... healed me."

"You are the only one I respect."

"Then why did you heal Neptune?"

"The better question is: why did I tell him he was immortal?"

"Ok where is this girl in real life, I'm starting to like her style." Emerald comments.

"I'm starting to not like this Bow Girl." Weiss concludes.

"Yeah that was kinda mean." Ruby adds.

"But it did give him a helluva confidence boost." Yang points out.

The audience reluctantly agrees with Yang.

Neptune flies back to the battlefield with a huge grin. "Holy crap! Thank God I'm immortal!"

"Actually, I healed you, you idiot!" Trifa said off-screen.

"Wait, so I could have died back there?" Neptune realized with his eyes widing.

"After all that you're just going to tear him down like that!" Weiss shouted.

"Yeah, and unlike the runt and I, you don't get a power boost from it." Mercury replied.

"Hax! I call hax!" Neptune whined.

The audience agreed with Screen Neptune.

"How did you escape?" Oscar asked.

"Oh, it was awesome!" See, She was gaining on me there for a minute, but then I managed to lose her in some crevices, but she kept cutting me off at every pass."

"She didn't just blow it up?" Mercury pointed out?"

"Thought the same thing, but no! So I thought fast and I used the Solar Flare on her!"

"And then you used your Kienzan to cut her in half?" Oscar asked gleefully

"Um…"

Cinder flies back to the battlefield, angrily and screams at them. "I WILL MOUNT YOUR HEAD WHERE MY TAIL USED TO BE!"

"To answer your question, Oscar. No, I did not do that." Neptune muttered.

"Damn seriously? He could have finished her off so easily, it was literally in his grasp." Coco shakes her head.

"Douse this bitch!" Mercury yelled.

Mercury, Oscar, and Neptune fire a barrage of energy blasts at Cinder, covering her in smoke.

"Did we get her?" Neptune asked

"Neptune, we can feel her energy. Why do you bother asking?" Oscar asked back annoyed.

"I'm an optimist."

"You're an idiot." Mercury said, glaring at him.

"You're both wrong. You're dead." Cinder said as the smoke cleared and is shown to be unfazed by the blasts.

"You know what? I'm sick of this." Oscar said, his face hardening. "If I'm gonna die, then I'm gonna go out the same way Jaune would!" He moves in to attack Cinder head-on.

"Oscar, no!" Neptune goes to fly after Oscar.

"No! What are you doing?! Don't go out like my other self!" Jaune shouted clutching his head.

RWBY, ALPN, and Ozpin were clouded in worry.

" No, goddamn it!" Mercury also flies after Oscar when a new figure surrounded by light appears in front of the trio. The light clears, and the figure is revealed to be Jaune.

"M... Mr. Jaune!" Oscar cried out.

"Yes! Fearless Leader is here for the rescue!" Nora cheered.

The Jaune in the audience let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, well, well! I'm legitimately surprised I missed one of you." Cinder smiles a bit. "But that's just fine because I've been working on some jokes. Now tell me if you've heard this one: How many Namekians does it take to-" She gets sent flying by a punch from Jaune.

"Just one." Jaune said stoically.

"GO JAUNE GO!" Ruby screamed.

Most of the audience looked towards her from her outburst, including Jaune who was staring wide eyed at her.

"Er, you know. Smash Tyrant Cinder's no good face." She attempts to save face, throwing out air punches to diffuse the situation.

"...Yeah!" Nora shouted.

[bluebuckstallion]

the sun will rise again - mlp fic p2

part one contents: aj and big mac are like. 13 and 15. big mac realizes she is a trans woman, and is guided by applejack, but there is much more to it than just that lol. its also a little hard for her. sappy, feel-good, tough internal conflict but overall happy fic. paragraph one is previewed here, the rest is below the cut! disclaimer: there is no transphobia in this fic lmao im not gonna write abt horse transphobia. this is a feel good. but cw for fear of outing (note: i am aware my blog makes posts a little hard to read bc of a glitch, i am trying to fix it at the moment, i apologize D: i rec reading it on tumblr mobile or highlighting the words as you read, im sorry!) paragraph one: The wind whispered lovingly, cooling little Big Mac and Applejack's drowsy heads. A time like this in a young pony's life can be very confusing, something the two of them had grown to be very familiar with. Applejack rested his backside against the trunk of one of his family's old apple trees, if they had no where else to take solace, at least they had the orchard and each other's company, he thought. It felt nice, having this little secret kept safe by somepony you knew would protect it, and who still cared about you just the same. "If nopony accepts us, at least we have each other. I don't care if it's just you and me, Big Mac, we'll be jus' fine." Applejack stated in a soft voice, breaking the silence. He was accepting of his circumstances, no matter how they turned out. As long as him and his sister ended up okay. And again, he was sure they would. Big Mac smiled and folded her hooves neatly, "Eeyup."

-

Applejack worked his fluffy hooves through Big Mac's mane, doing his absolute best to make the fine ginger hair into a braid. He wanted to do something nice for his sister, something to celebrate her bravery and courage in realizing - and telling - Applejack, and he wanted her to feel nice in her own body, even if she couldn't change much right now, or for a while. No matter how small the act, Big Mac was especially grateful. Nobody had ever treated her like this, on purpose at least, like she was a mare. And every chance Applejack could sieze he would do just that, remind her that was what, *who* she was. "So, Big Mac, what do you reckon I call you now?" With that her eyes widened, and her brows furrowed, it caught her off guard. "Like...my name? I didn't know I could change my name..." she let out, slightly confused, a tender hoof raising to her chin as she thought hard. "Yeah!" AJ beamed, not straying from his tedious work. Big Mac, still lying down, started shuffling her hooves again. "Well... I always thought if I were a girl my name would be something pretty, which I mean, I am a girl and all, but I don't feel very pretty ever," she admitted disheartened. "You're plenty pretty! You're an Apple! You wouldn't say Ma or Granny wasn't pretty, would you?" Applejack pointed out, gesturing absentmindedly in the air with his hooves, then promptly returning back to his work, being sure to keep a steady hoof. "Well... Nope." Big Mac blurted awkwardly, pursing her lips. "But-" she began. "No 'but's'!" Applejack interjected, "You're an Apple, and a dang pretty one!" Applejack closed his eyes and lifted his head proudly, putting his non-dominant hoof against his puffed chest, "Look at me, I'm an Apple and I'd say I'm awful handsome, just like Pa!" he said with an endearing foal-like passion and certainty. He chuckled, his cheeks growing slightly cherry as he let out a tiny chuckle, and got back to his work, about a quarter way down the locks. Big Mac grinned slightly, "I suppose," and tapped her hooves together shyly, playing with the grass falling between them. "You know, I always did think my mane was a little long for a stallion," she laughed playfully, diverting from the subject and trying to reassure herself. She went to touch her mane, and was swiftly batted away by Applejack's quick hoof, "Nuh-uh Big Mac, I'm workin' here. Don't go touchin' it now," he said sternly but still non-maliciously. He just wanted it to look perfect for his big sister, he wanted her to be proud, and feel as pretty as she could. Applejack wanted to know how it felt to look pretty, too, but in the way he'd always dreamed of. He wondered often if he'd ever get the blessing of such a wonderful feeling. "Applejack, do you ever wish you were born a colt?" Big mac asked genuinely, still a little unsure of what Applejack was feeling, but knowing there was solidarity in it somewhere, she just had to understand it a little more. "Well - not really," Applejack spat out, his eyes looking away from his busy hooves, and quickly darting back to them before he drifted off in fantasy. He thought about it for a second, and still felt strange. "I wasn't really born a filly or a colt... or anything, I think, I was just born me. And I wouldn't really have it any other way. Sure, I mean, maybe I'd like shorter hair or somethin', or a uh," he struggled to find the words in his young foal vocabulary, "maybe if my nose was a little more colt-ish I'd be happy. But I think I'm pretty happy with me now. I do hope when I'm older my voice is a little better, though. I can't really do much though," he sighed dismissively. He continued, "I don't ever really feel too bad about who I am... I think I just feel happy about who I am. When I see myself as not a colt and not a filly, just a foal, a pony, it makes me real happy-like. But, I don't get too sad unless people are real serious about calling me a filly. I do get sad sometimes though, when I look too much like a filly to other people..." As Applejack placed an orchard blossom in Big Mac's hair, tucked snug and safe behind her ear, a thought went through Big Mac's head. "Applejack!" she jumped up, the rush of movement startling him, who was so concentrated seconds prior. "Let's give you a haircut! It'll be like how you braided my hair for me, we can cut yours!" Applejack nervously rubbed his elbow, then raising his hoof lightly beneath his muzzle, and he began to sweat. "Well, I, what if Ma and Pa don't like it?" Big Mac thought hard as Applejack grimaced, "Well, we can hide it with one of Pa's hats, an' I'm sure they won't mind," she suggested happily. Applejack considered briefly, just for a moment, the downsides of it all. He then immediately turned them all away and smiled so hard his eyes shut, stomping his front hooves against the ground up and down, "Okay, let's do it Big Mac!" As they galloped back to the barn, Applejack had suddenly realized he was so surprised with how much Big Mac had been talking, she never seemed so excited to talk about anything, and he realized how much this all meant to her. It meant a lot to him, too. Especially that his sister was so supportive while still knowing so little, but in her defense, he didn't know much either. It was a very special feeling, he thought to himself, very pleased. They skidded to a halt clumsily as they reached the doors to the barn. Foal-ishly peeking through the front windows, they realized it was only Granny and baby Bloom home, their parents must be out. They looked at each other, grinning, and cantered to the back, sneaking inside through the back door. When they made it to the bathroom, Applejack noted Big Mac looked a little worn out, wearing a tired look on her face. She figured all this chattiness probably made her sister a little exhausted. He shot a reassuring patended Sibling glance at her telling her all she needed to know, not needing words. Big Mac let out a gentle smile. She helped her little brother reach the cabinet above the sink, reaching the scissors that were so high up it took them both working together to reach. Applejack had a slight doubt in his mind, his parents probably didn't want him touching the scissors by himself, did they? But he had his big sister with him, and it had to be done! Nopony else would, and only they understood. Applejack balanced shakily with two hooves on Big Mac's back, warily reaching one back hoof up onto the sink, as he balanced with his two front hooves against the edge of the cabinet. He grasped the scissors between his teeth, and brashly jumped down, just barely missing a potential accident, even though they both knew better than to jump around with scissors, they threw caution to the wind regardless. Applejack happily put his front hooves on the rim of the sink, tapping them and bopping his little head, he looked at his big sister, who began working at his hair. Big Mac chopped with a great lack of care, playfully snipping one strand then the next. Applejack beamed the whole time, simply happy to have it happen, plan or not. Big Mac frequently spun around him, balancing on three hooves and sometimes getting in so close that she held his face with one hoof, his hair with another, and cut with the scissors firm in her mouth. Applejack's body relaxed completely and was kicking and rearing with every cut, wiggling and happily holding his front hooves together and constantly swishing his head from side to side to check how it looked, one side fell to his muzzle, and the other to his chin. He smiled bigger than ever before. With the final snip, Big Mac dropped the scissors carelessly to the tile below. She gently grasped Applejack's chin and turned her sibling's head forward to face the mirror, and his mouth immediately fell agape, his jaw slack, and his eyes slowly widening with the purest joy there ever was. He cupped his hooves to his mouth, removing them, turning his head to the side, and then fixing himself and putting his hooves to his open mouth once again. He felt a soft tug in his throat and his chest, and he couldn't control the watering in his eyes, "Big Mac!!" his voice cracked. "Yes Applejack?" the filly said apprehensively, fearing that she had done something wrong. "Oh Big Mac, oh my gosh I love it so so much!!" He bucked and whinnied, spinning in circles, his once-flowing tail too short to trip over now, and the euphoria of it all was the most overwhelming emotion little Applejack had ever felt. The tugging became so immense he couldn't ignore it, and he acknowledged it by leaping onto Big Mac with a hearty hug, squeezing her tight as his little arms could, and he rubbed his muzzle into her neck. Big Mac politely pushed her hoof between her neck and AJ's hoof, making sure he didn't squeeze too tight, struggling slightly to breathe. This foal was definitely a strong one. "Thank you so much big sis!!! I feel so great!!" he neighed, stepping back, one hoof raised wiping his immense wave of tears. The feeling of euphoria shot through his body in a rush, showing itself in the form of a tiny but powerful hop, as he lifted his legs into the air and threw them around. Applejack rushed back to the mirror, urging Big Mac to come look as well, as she didn't quite see herself yet with her hair "done all proper-like." Big Mac's face became pale, as she felt the rush of a thousand different emotions. The paranoia became astounding again, what if she didn't like how she looked as a filly? What if she still didn't feel right? What if it wasn't - Her thoughts were abruptly cut short by Applejack tugging her over, knowing her sister just sometimes needed a push in the right direction. "Lookie Big Mac!!" he placed his arm cheerfully around her, wrapping it over her back. Big Mac's eyes were glued shut, and she only bashfully peeked one eye open because curiosity would've ate her alive otherwise, and deep down she knew she had to see herself eventually. She uncovered her hoof from her eye, and opened both of them slowly. Her mouth opened ever so slightly, and she wasn't even aware she had stopped breathing, her eyes fluttered up and down the braided locks, along with her heart, and her eyes landed on the blossom in her ear. She couldn't speak, her throat clogged up from such elation. She felt the choking once again, but it wasn't like before, this feeling was quite welcoming actually. It rushed from her throat up to her head, and took her breath away. The sobbing ebbed at her cheeks right away, and she turned to look at her brother. As they spoke with lack of words, they stared with inordinate graditude. As Big Mac smoothly turned back to the mirror, Applejack stomped all his hooves again, one after the other with no apparent order or care, shaking his head in a frenzy as his ears twitched and he smiled a mile wide. He finally felt *pretty.* Big Mac watched herself adoringly, for the first time ever, and felt this acceptance and understanding of herself coursing through her veins with a confidence she'd never had. She blushed, and her ears fell downward, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Applejack," she whispered softly, as if she were too worried the world would hear her secrets. Applejack peered closer with wide, curious eyes, "Yeah Big Mac?" he whispered back. "My name.." she mumbled. Applejack raised his eyebrows, captivated, as Big Mac slowly lifted her hoof to the blossom behind her ear. "Blossom?" Applejack stated inquisitively, before Big Mac could shake her head AJ corrected himself, "Orchard Blossom!" he exlaimed, leaning back and jumping in the air, "Oh big sis, that's so pretty!! I love it so much!!" Orchard Blossom nervously gestured for him to keep it down, as he was prone to being unaware of his volume control. Applejack embarassedly covered his mouth with a shy smile, "Oops, sorry big sis." he cleared his throat, "Orchard Blossom!!" he yell-whispered, the excitement shining through him, he stamped his tiny hooves and clapped them together in celebration. "That's so pretty, Orchard Blossom!" Applejack told her earnestly, loving the new name. "I don't think I want a new name, but I'm really happy ya found one you like!" "Orchard Blossom, Orchard Blossom, Orchard Blossom!" Applejack repeated, playfully prancing in circles, excited by the sight of his short tail, he spun even faster. "What's all that commotion in there? Applejack? Big Mac? Are ya in there?" they heard through the shut door, hoofsteps gradually approaching, painstakingly slow but steady. Both of them felt their hearts drop from their chest as they froze, unable to even fathom moving. How would they explain any of this? Applejack hurried to clean up desperately, brushing the hair together with his hooves, coldly sweating from his brow as he frantically hurried to remove any evidence. He stopped mid-sweep to quickly shove his father's hat on his head, which slumped immediately and blocked his vision. "Oh dangit Blossom, Pa's hat's too big! I can't see!!" Orchard Blossom was still unmoving, sheer panic stopping her very breaths. Applejack felt the tugging in his throat rise up again as he began whimpering.

[dreamerhideout]

by my side

part 2 of “the enhypen love playlist” series

jungwon | heeseung | jay | jake | sunghoon | sunoo | ni-ki

summary: after a troubling past few days for university it-boy jay park, his s/o’s company is all he needs. in that same timeframe, he realizes how you mean the entire world to him.

genre: hurt/comfort, fluff, university!AU

characters: jay x reader

warnings: alcohol consumption near the end

word count: 1269

a/n: gosh this was so hard to write orz (i really did go overboard... and i swear this sounded better in my head), i apologize if this isn’t very good :’) anyways, the second installment to “the enhypen love playlist” series! i knew from the very beginning that this song would probably be something jay’d relate to. enjoy!

more under the cut!

you bit at the edge of your pen as you studied the mess of papers scattered in front of you. you then leaned forward, bringing a sheet of scribbles to your face; it was as if the answer to the written problem would miraculously pop into your head when you squinted at the paper long enough.

despite you feeling as if you were getting nowhere with your psychology assignment, you preferred doing it in the comfort of jay’s off-campus apartment rather than your dorm. it was a wonder how he managed to find this gem which was coincidentally close to campus, but it wasn’t as if you were visiting there uninvited. in fact, as jay’s first girlfriend, you had recently been spending most of your time at his apartment, and it wasn’t without reason.

“(y/n), your eyes.” jay walked out from the bathroom before gently pushing the paper away from your face. “squinting at your paper like that won’t do anything.”

“i just thought it would, y’know?” you laughed weakly, slapping the paper on top of the kitchen island then burying your face in your hands. you let out a weak groan, and that was jay’s cue to chuckle and plant a kiss on the side of your forehead.

“are you still not done with it?” he asked. he opened a drawer before pulling out a cookie pack, tearing it open, and grabbing a piece. you were now scribbling at your paper once more when you heard the soft crinkle of wrapping bump your hand. jay had slid the cookies over to you and you gave him an apologetic smile.

“i just need to do two more questions, and then i can finally relax.” you pause when you see the bags under his eyes and how they were still slightly bloodshot, albeit not as bad as a few nights ago. a silent feeling of unease settled in the bottom of your stomach.

you knew jay was strong. he was a well-known person on campus; everyone has probably heard of him. how could they have not? he was loaded with money and had an amicable personality; in a way, he was your typical socialite. a few days ago, however, things took a turn for the worse. after a messy fall-out he experienced with some friends, which somehow ended in him removed from the vice-captain position of the university’s dance team, he was furious. but jay park wasn’t always angry, and you knew better when he asked you to meet him outside your dorm building late that night, sobbing into your arms the minute you held him.

“you holding up okay, jay?” he was stuffing his face with the last of his cookie, and he paused for a bit before swallowing.

“yeah, i guess...” he replied, slightly muttering. “it wasn’t as bad as before, though... i just,” jay sat on the edge of the island, swinging his legs. they made soft thumping noises as his heel hit the back of it, “it’s all different now.”

the distant noise of the tv and jay’s thumping filled the air as you watched how he dejectedly gazed down at the floor. you knew how much the team and his friends meant to him. it was hard for your boyfriend to act like all the piercing comments the general public threw his way were of no bother to him, and from the way he let out a tired sigh, it seemed like he was ready to break. sliding your stool back, you put your pen down and walked over to where he sat, placing your palms on his knees.

“jay, look at me,” your voice neared a whisper. his eyes met yours, and the crestfallen gaze he gave you pained your heart a little more.

“you’ll get through all of this, okay?” your fingers went up to caress his cheek, smiling as you did so, “and you won’t be alone. i’ll be here with you every step of the way.”

almost immediately, he wrapped his arms around you and buried his face in your shoulder. exhaling a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in, he whispered shakily, “thank you.”

you softly combed your fingers through his hair as you hummed a small sound of approval. he was crying again; you could feel your cardigan slowly begin to dampen. when he let go of his embrace, you gave him a soft kiss on his nose, then leaning your forehead on his. the loving gaze in your eyes was enough to allow a small smile up to his lips before he cupped your cheek and pulled you in for a deep kiss. you could still taste the salt stains from his tears, but you pay it no mind as you felt a familiar warmth spread through your body.

you pulled away a few seconds later, giggling. he too was happier, smiling before sliding off the island. “anyhow,” jay mused, walking over to a hanging cabinet before opening it. he then pulled out a bottle of expensive-looking wine, “i had this kept for special occasions only, and tonight seems like the perfect time to pour a glass.”

“dang, okay...” you sat back to your stool. in a final attempt to finish your assignment, you picked up your pen and asked him, “what's the occasion?”

“tonight’s the moment i realize how much i'm in love with you.”

you froze, pen in hand as you tried to register what he had said. “wait... what did you just say?” you stammer as you looked up to face him. he had grabbed two wine glasses from the far side of the kitchen, his elbow resting comfortably on the countertop as he leaned against it.

“you’ve been by my side since the day i met you, (y/n).” his gaze was soft, “despite all that’s happening to me right now, you still choose to stay.” he knew that anyone associating with him would also feel the brunt of the hate he was receiving, yet he was so thankful that you did.

a warm flush crept up your cheeks, “lemme finish this last problem before sharing that toast with you, then.” getting back to your paper, you could hear him pop open a cork, then pouring himself and you a glass.

a few minutes passed by before you placed your pen down, finally done with the mountain-load of questions assigned to you. you sighed in relief and stretched before standing up to search for your boyfriend. he was sitting on the sofa in front of the tv, with two wine glasses placed on the coffee table. you made your way over to him, taking a seat before snuggling into his shoulder. “hey.”

he kissed your temple as a greeting, smiling as he picked up the glass in front of him. you followed suit, now sitting upright to face him. “a toast,” he started, “to us... and to love.”

you clinked your glass with him before taking a dainty sip of the liquid, its smooth flavor rolling down your throat. placing it on the coffee table once more, you leaned on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around you. behind the tv was a glass wall that allowed you a scenic view of the night city skyline. you stared dreamily at it before turning towards jay. eyes meeting yours, he gave you a quick peck on the lips before smiling. it looked like so much weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and it was beautiful.

“i love you, angel,” he whispered, “forever and always.”

and you wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

[percywinchester27]

A lot like ‘Us’ (Part-34)

Word count: 3.4K

Pairing: Sam X Reader AU

Warnings: Feels, fluff

Series Summary: Y/N Y/L/N is eager and honestly, still in awe that she managed to get herself an acceptance from Stanford Law School. On the face of it, her life seems as put together, mysterious and independent as one might hope for. On the insides, she carries the burden of past that haunts her till date. Seemingly, she’d left it all behind; that is until she sets foot in the class of the Law School’s youngest, most promising professor.

A/N: The story employs two different timelines. The present timeline for the story takes place in 2014. Please let me know what you guys think :)

Beta: @deanssweetheart23​​. I love you so much, darling <3

A lot like ‘Us’ masterlist

The rest of the week was hard.

There were things you wanted to do and then things that you had to do. Unfortunately for you, the Venn diagram of those two things were two circles that did not touch.

Normally, you loved your job, you loved studying and your classes. But sitting through Sam’s class was becoming a new, different type of torture. The pretension was wearing you down. You could see it grating him, too. You rarely spoke up in his class now, trying not to draw attention, neither did he call upon you like he did with other students. 

The library was still your second home, though, thanks to the untimely desertion of the other odd shifts librarian, you were left to run double shifts. Molly was sorry about it, but she didn’t have a solution for you, not until she had a new hire. That meant you were stuck in the library all the time. The guys in the apartment were starting to miss you. Kevin came over one evening to inform you everything sucked when you weren’t around. His face had made you hug him.

As for you? Without the free evenings, you couldn’t go over to see Max. You missed him terribly and it would do no good to whine about that to Sam, since you were still unsure about how he would take your excessive attachment to his son. 

Not that you didn't have the chance to talk to Sam. After Sam put Max to bed, each night he’d call. You would sit in the alcove of the library widow and talk to him for hours- about the day, the classes and everything under the sun. Sam told you about the cases he was working on, the judges he really disliked and the girl Chase was chasing. Sam thought he was named aptly. He was also your faithful informant about Max. Apparently the playground bullies were back at it with the mean words. You blurted out loud how you wanted to punch the kids and Sam piled on top of that. Cheerful conversations about shaking kids followed.

It felt so juvenile to talk with him over the phone, like when he worked in New York and you were stuck in Lawrence, but not quite. Now, it was exciting to imagine him blushing on the other end when you accidentally said something complementary. Or if a student decided to stay in the library late night, you had to giggle in hushed voices so they wouldn’t overhear your conversations. The thrill of it was exciting. Those few hours had become the highlight of your day.

So, when Madison asked you what you were smiling about in the last lecture on Friday, you had to make up a reason. You couldn’t very well tell her that the bruise Sam was sporting on his cheek was because Max outran him on the basketball court and Sam slipped and fell.

“Just thinking of something funny.”

“Wouldn’t have to do with the green eyed hottie from Monday, would it?” Madison wiggled her eyebrows.

“Who, Dean?” You burst out laughing. “Maddie! He’s married to my sister.”

She laughed with you, face apologetic. “Dang! He’s really hot. Is it bad that I’m sorry he is married?”

“Definitely not,” you giggled. The good old Winchester genes had caused many casualties.

On the dais below, Sam collected his things.

“Ooohh, Professor Winchester is heading out. I better catch him before he leaves. You wanna come? Talk about the assignment?”

“No, you go on.” Sam had given you a run down of the assignment last night. You wanted to pout that he was right. You could have done better.

“Still awkward about the whole drowning thing, huh?”

You looked away, not wanting to remember the pool.

Madison wasn’t paying attention. “You were… I don’t know, delirious. You kept calling him by his name and…” Madison looked at you warily. She did not complete the sentence.

“Y/N saw the opportunity and took it,” said Rebecca from the next row. “I would sell my soul to be lifted like that.”

You slung your bag around your shoulders and made a move to get up. For all you cared, Rebecca could get hit by a truck. Not only were you furious at her for planning that prank with Brad, it made you feel murderous when she objectified Sam like that, reducing him to some greasy creep of a professor. It was insulting.

“Wait up now, sweetie!” She came up from behind. “Don’t act so prissy now. We all know you’re not as innocent as you make yourself out to be.”

“Excuse me?”

“You think I’m blind? To not see how you’re playing with all these men to get what you want? First, you have Brad panting after you, so you get the attention? Then you’re dancing with some random blue eyed man at the induction dance. The very next day you’re swaying in the arms of Chase Lincoln of all people. The moment you touch the pool water, somehow Sam Winchester is miraculously saving you… and two days later you’re crying like a damsel in distress in the arms of yet another man!” She was counting off her fingers. “And people call me slutty! I’m going to find out what your secret is, Y/N. Because I know you have one! And when I do...”

“You know what, Rebecca?” You said as calmly as you could. “Why don’t you go screw yourself.”

With that you headed straight for the library. When Madison caught up with you, her face was red. “Can’t believe I was ever friends with that hag! Gave her piece of my mind.”

“Madison, you should catch professor Winchester before he leaves. I’ll be okay.”

She assessed your words against your expression, then nodded and left.

You wanted to be by yourself. 

Thankfully, cataloging was time-consuming and tedious. It took your mind off of Rebecca’s awful words. For the life of you, you couldn’t understand why she was so mean to you. 

“Excuse me, miss, can I borrow this book?” Enquired a sweet voice. 

You dropped the marker in your hand and looked up. Max was standing beyond the desk, a huge grin on his face. You gave a little yelp of your own and hurried from behind the counter to throw your arms around him, kissing him on his cheek. 

“Gosh, I’ve been dying to meet you,” you said, pulling back to look at him. 

He was wearing a plaid shirt over a small faded t-shirt and jeans. Such a mini-Sam. You couldn’t resist the urge to lean over and kiss his other cheek.

Max started blushing, looking down at his shoes.

“What’re you doing here?” You asked, leading him to one of the benches.

“Alex broke her arm last night. She couldn’t come over today. Dad’s got work. He asked me to hang out here.”

“Oh, no, is Alex okay?”

Max snickered. “Yeah. She was trying to sneak out for a party and fell out of the window.”

You pursed your lips trying not to laugh with him. “Poor girl.”

“Aunt Jody’s super-mad!” He added and you couldn’t help the giggle that burst through your lips.

“Max, is that you?” Molly asked, sticking her head from behind the shelves. “Darn kid! It’s been ages. Where did you run off to?”

“Mechanics camp!” He told her. “I know where an engine goes now. And how to hot-wire a car.”

“They taught you that at the camp?” You asked, skeptic.

“No, uncle Dean did.”

This time you laughed in earnest.

“You know Max?” Molly frowned.

You nodded. “Remember my little friend I told you about?”

“The one you were holding a bake sale for?”

“Yep, he’s the one.”

Molly put her hand to her lips. “Well, no shit! Do you know who his father is?”

You and Max immediately looked at each other, confirming your secret with a tiniest of nods. 

“He’s Sam’s boy, this cute little nugget here.” Molly pulled his cheek. To Max’s credit, he didn’t rub his cheek afterwards.

Which reminded you. “You wait right here, Max. I’ll be back in a minute.” You quickly found the stash of cookies you were saving for tonight's dinner and hurried back to him. Eating at the library wasn’t allowed, but Max was an exception to every rule. “Cookies for you. I know these are your favourite.”

Max’s entire face lit up. True to his nature, he offered you one before digging in. You watched as he took a few bites, sneaking looks to the book he was holding- Adventures of Sinbad. 

“I read one of those when I was kid. It had a monster bird that carried Sinbad away to its nest.”

“Oh, the Roc! That one’s my favorite!” Max clapped his hand and the cookies clattered to the floor.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, trying to pick up the bag.

You stopped him with a gentle nudge. “Let me.” After cleaning the cookie crumbs from the carpet, you unwound the scarf from around your neck and used it to clean the crumbs stuck to Max’s mouth and shirt, fussing over getting it all away.

When you made him stand up to clean the hem of his pants, you noticed Sam standing behind you, arms crossed over his chest. He had a peculiar expression on his face- tender but also guarded.

“You’re not supposed to eat the library, young man!” Sam tried for stern, but ended up sounding amused.

You straightened up. “I make the rules here. Max can do whatever he wants.”

Max gave Sam a smug look, before running to him. In a motion that must have been more of less a reflex, Sam reached out and hefted Max up in his arms. 

“Look, what I found!” Max showed him the book.

Sam made a face. “Sinbad again? That sixth voyage was lame.”

“I wanna find out how it ends. There’s only one adventure left!”

“Alright, but this is the last of Arabian tales for the year. I get second hand sea-sickness just reading about it. I’m starting to miss Charlie and the chocolate factory.”

“You hated Charlie and the chocolate factory!”

Sam smirked. “You’re this close to getting my point.”

Max turned the book over. “We’re out of authors,” he told you.

The words shook you out of your quiet and you smoothened your expression. The scene before you was making your throat close up. You had never seen them together before. Max’s entire body language changed- his shoulders relaxed and he became less polite… just a bit more demanding, the way a child should be. Sam on the other hand radiated contentment. His voice changed, becoming softer, loving when he spoke to Max. You were sure you had been staring at them hungrily as if you couldn’t get enough of the interaction.

“Any suggestions?” Sam asked, tone still mild.

“T-Tolkein,” you stuttered. “You should try The Hobbit.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Elven songs. Wonderful.”

Molly came over to greet Sam and you excused yourself to go back to the desk and take a stock of the emotions coursing through you. At any point it could get too much and you didn't want either of them to see that.  

On their way out, Max waved at you. “Bye, Y/N!”

“Bye, Max.” You blew him a kiss. “You turned my day around, bud!”

There were too many people in the vicinity, so when it came to Sam, you nodded. “Professor.”

He mirrored your gesture. “Ms. Y/L/N.” And with a look full of promise of later, he walked away. You waved at Max till he was out of sight.

“Such a lovely boy,” Molly sighed. “Horrendous business what happened to him.”

“Yeah.” You cut the topic short, still unable to think of Max’s past without feeling faint. Thinking about it was so hard for you, Max had lived through it. 

Molly was in no mood to change the subject.

“Sam’s an amazing guy to give up the lawyer life and settle down here for that kid.”

You narrowed your eyes. “What do you mean?”

Molly threw out her hands, slightly embarrassed. “It’s Sam’s personal choice and all that, but he had a solid career in LA. After that Simmons affair blew up in the media, he could’ve stuck around and bagged A-list celebrities as clients. He moved out to this place for Max’s sake- so there was some normalcy and stability in his life. Then, again, Sam’s had his share of downs.”

Your back felt like ice, knowing what was coming.

“I’m not supposed to talk about it but it’s just you.” Molly leaned in closer. “Did you know his wife left him?”

She must have interpreted whatever your face showed as shock, because Molly continued. “Don’t know much about the whole thing. I heard bits and parts from the grape wine. Some girl he met in Kansas straight out of Yale. Took a plunge in a couple of months and this girl bolted not even a year into the marriage. Can you believe that? I mean, look at him… What the fuck was she looking for that he didn’t have!”

You could taste the blood by biting into your lip too hard.

“Never heard of him dating anyone since. I think he’s still in love with her.” Molly whistled. “At least they have each other- Max and Sam. That kid spends a lot of time here. You’ll keep finding reasons to feed your little friend cookies.” Molly flashed you a grin. You couldn’t quite return it.

It was past twelve when your phone rang. You’d just locked the library behind you and had given up on all hopes of the call.

You hurried to pick it up.

“Hey,” Sam breathed. “Sorry it took me so long.”

“It’s alright,” you sighed in relief at the sound of his voice. The sinking feeling in your stomach since the talk with Molly began to dissipate. 

“It’s your fault really,” Sam said. “Max liked The Hobbit too much and went to bed real late. How am I supposed to wake him in time for his class tomorrow?”

His concerns were so normal, comfortingly mundane. Sam made it sound so easy, when in fact, all this must have been so hard. One time you heard someone say a mean thing about Sam’s wife and it had you rankled. Sam must’ve lived through years of whispers, stories and ugly rumours. He must’ve had to defend his choice of staying committed so many times. Hadn’t the words shred his heart?

“Y/N? Everything okay?”

You cleared your throat. “Uh it’s just… it’s good to hear your voice.”

He was immediately on alert. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Weird day.”

“Where are you?”

You looked about your dark surroundings. “Crossing the playground, almost to my building.”

“Do you want to come over?” He asked, voice hopeful but unsure. “We can sit in the front lawn if you want.”

You made an impulse decision. “Yeah okay.”

Ten minutes later you were sitting on one of Max’s swings. Your tan sweater wasn’t helping much as you shivered in the chill, waiting for Sam to show up. Weird how you made it before him. He lived right there!

Noiselessly the front door opened and closed. Sam walked briskly towards you. He was dressed in dark grey sweatpants and a black full sleeve t-shirt. In his hand he carried an afghan, a thermos and two mugs.

“Here,” he handed you the afghan. It was the same one that was wrapped around you on the night of the pool party. The memory brought blood to your face.

“We don’t have adult juice around here today, but we do have hot chocolate.” Grinning impishly, he tilted the thermos in your direction. He sat on the ground in front of you, carefully filling up the two mugs with the rich, brown liquid while you wrapped yourself in the Afghan. 

Eagerly, you took a sip and moaned indecently.

“Good, isn’t it?” Sam chuckled. 

This was very close to what heaven would feel like. 

“So, what’s the deal, huh?” He asked after a few sips. 

You hesitated, not wanting to admit what the real problem was. It would be the case of a teapot crying to a boiler.

“You know you can tell me things, right?” His voice was soft, beguiling. 

“It’s something Molly said after you left.” You gave in, selfishly spilling it all. 

Sam listened to the whole story, then shook his head at you in exasperation and beckoned you with his hand. You blinked a couple of times, then gave up and went in willingly. 

What the hell, right?

 Sam tucked his arms around your shoulder once you slid on the ground next to him.

“You and I, we know what the truth is,” he said. “How does it matter what anyone else says?”

“Is that what you told yourself all these years?” You asked in a small voice, unable to meet his eyes.

Sam sighed. “Why are you doing this to yourself, Y/N?”

“You didn’t answer me.”

His fingers curled around your shoulder over the afghan. “No, I didn’t have to tell myself anything. I knew I loved you. That was enough.”

“I don’t know if I can be as strong as you.”

“That’s because you’re so much stronger,” he said. “None of those people have lived your life, they don’t know what you’ve been through. I can bet my ass, they wouldn’t have made it out of half of it in one piece. It’s easy to judge.”

“That’s not my problem,” you argued. “I don’t care what they think about me. But I can’t stand how it makes you look!”

Sam surprised you by chuckling lightly. “You’re cute when you’re indignant. Especially on my behalf.”

“Quit making this into a joke, Sam.”

“I seriously don’t know what else to do.” He put a finger under your chin, tilting your face up. “Look at me. I’m the happiest I've been in years! Do you really think I give a rats ass about what anyone’s got to say about me? My personal life has never been anyone’s concern except mine and yours. The only other person who has any say in this is Max. And that kid doesn’t shut up about you.”

Sam’s eyes were scorching, melting against the night sky.

“Molly’s wonderful, and I know she has a soft spot for me. But by the end of the day, it's just gossip. There’s no substance to it. So will you please drop it?”

At long last you nodded. 

“That’s like my Y/N.”

A rustle from the other side of Sam’s fence made you stiffen. The bushes behind the planks began to shake.

“What’s that?”

Sam shrugged. “Probably Alex sneaking out.”

You frowned at him. “Didn’t she break her arm doing exactly that?”

He snorted. “When has that stopped teenagers? It does make life a bit difficult. Jody’s grounded her. She can’t babysit Max for a while and I got work tomorrow.”

You saw Alex creeping on the sidewalk in front of the lawn. She saw the two of you huddled and froze like a deer caught in the headlight. Sam winked and waved a salute at her. After a minute she unfroze, returned the gesture and went off on her way. 

“Why don’t you drop him off at the library in the morning? I’ll keep an eye on him. I’m covering the first shift.” You worked to not sound too excited.

“Yeah, that still doesn’t fix the afternoon. I won’t be back before four.”

“Easy. I’ll wait with him here.”

Sam looked at you, hazel eyes wondrous. “You’d do that?”

“Sure. I owe him a pie anyway.”

“You’re a lifesaver!” He exhaled. “Seriously, I could kiss you right now!”

All you had to do was look up. Sam was right there.

Another crash sounded over the fence, louder than the first, followed by a muted ‘ow.’  You saw lights flare up in what must be the living room. From somewhere inside you heard Jody curse. “Jesus fucking Christ! Claire, what’re you doing on the ground.”

“Why do you always have to catch me!” Claire whined in the darkness. “Alex just left!”

“What. The. Fuck!” Jody yelled. “Get in the fucking car! We’re going to find your sister.”

That did it for you as you buried your face in Sam’s chest, smothering the giggles. His arms wrapped tightly around you. Sam himself was shaking with silent laughter over you.

Yeah, this was pretty close to heaven.

*********************

A/N 2: Thank you for all the support over the last week. 

Sam was right when he said-  “You and I, we know what the truth is. How does it matter what anyone else says?”

I’m going to take his advice :)

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[cellard0ors]

WHELP.

No one hated this. so, it's continuing. I have no title as of yet. Still dedicated to @lallyloo

Part 1 here

Rhett used to live closer.

Now he doesn’t.

Link knows there are a variety of factors that went into the move, and he respects them. Still, it was nice before - when he didn’t have to travel so far. Now here he is, driving out into the middle of nowhere to see someone who used to be a short distance away.

Everything used to be…closer.

Sometimes Link looks back, riffles through his memories and it’s almost painful. It’s not that the memories are bad per say, it’s more how they feel. So close and so far – recent, yet ages ago. It’s an uncomfortable dichotomy, so he does his best to just concentrate on the present.

And, presently, he’s pulling up to a tiny little cabin surrounded by towering California redwoods. His car crunches loudly over the gravel drive - loud enough to summon his friend, even if his hearing’s declining. Although - to be fair, Link’s hearing is not the greatest either.

Hearing, sight, the combined ache of your muscles and bones - yeah, getting older is a real bitch. Not a word Link likes to say, much less think, but facts are facts. Age isn’t pretty, albeit there are some advantages. One of which being that you can pretty much go and do whatever you please, whenever you please.

Especially if you made a rather lucrative creative endeavor at one point. Mythical Morning may be gone, but the capital earned is doing its job of keeping him cushy in his golden years. Rhett as well, who certainly couldn’t have afforded this place otherwise and as he emerges from his home he offers a wave.

Link returns it, but finds he has to fight off a scowl. Really, it’s not fair. Link went silver early and he always thought he looked pretty damned handsome with it- a total silver fox.

But Rhett?

Well, Rhett always did have a history of beating him.

He might have gone silver later, but damned if he doesn’t wear it better. His beard is neatly trimmed, long hair tied back and he looks like some kind of rugged highlander cowboy combo that could get away with being on the cover of one of those old romance novels Christy used to thumb through.

…terrible…

A man his age shouldn’t look so good.

Rhett shouldn’t look so good.

And considering what Link’s come here to talk about he really doesn’t want to think about that right now.

Focus on the present, Neal, he reminds himself, shaking his head while he parks. When he gets out Rhett charges up, one hand out for a shake, which Link takes and then the two share a brief, back slapping hug.

“How ya been, brother?”

“Told you last night - tired and tired of being tired. You?”

“Same,” Rhett chuckles, “but figured if you were makin’ the drive up here, there might be more to say.”

There is, but Link’s not ready for it, instead clearing his throat while moving towards the two rocking chairs near the porch, “Mind if I-?”

“Help yourself,” Rhett says with an expansive gesture and the two end up seated and looking out over the wilderness. Link’s been here before. They’ve done this before. Just sat in these chairs and shot the shit. But today, Link finds himself a little more riled than usual, a little stiffer, and Rhett must pick up on it, because he sighs, “You might as well spit it out.”

“Spit what out?”

“Whatever it is you’re trying to avoid, bo,” Rhett says and he’s got a cooler of sprite nearby. He grabs a can and cracks it open, taking a swig before continuing, “We can sit here and waste time until you work up the nerve or-”

“I have the nerve!” Link cries but Rhett just goes on as if he hasn’t been interrupted, “-you can just spill. Probably feel better after.”

“Doubt that,” Link grouses and reaches into the cooler to get his own drink. Because Rhett managed to call him out so smoothly, so quickly, he decides to take his time on purpose. What was it Lily said? Be ‘deliberately obtuse’? It’s not quite what he’s doing now, but close enough.

Rhett, unbothered by Link’s act of defiance, merely sips his can and rests in his chair - annoyingly regal and relaxed. Sometimes Link really hates him. But it’s the kind of hate that’s so tangled up with affection that it’s irritating beyond measure, so he just stews over his own soda and waits.

For the longest time, it feels like neither will break the silence, but - considering Link came here to see Rhett and not the other way around - he decides (very graciously, he might add) to bend first, “Is it ever hard on you?”

One of Rhett’s eyebrows wing upwards, “Is what ever hard on me?”

Link shifts about, suddenly wishing these wooden chairs had some cushion, “The whole,” he waves a hand around them, “lonely woodsman thing?”

“…you think I’m lonely?”

“Well, I mean…” Link feels very tongue tied and very stupid and he doesn’t want to somehow inadvertently insult or hurt his friend, “Do you-? Do you ever think about how-how things changed?”

Rhett shrugs easily, “Things change, Link. That’s just life. Nature.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Link grumbles, “But I mean-? I’m more like-?” he growls under his breath because he’s annoyed that he can’t articulate his thoughts easily, “You and Jessie…”

“What about me and Jessie?”

“I mean…you were married…”

“We were?” Rhett asks the last as if it’s a hugely shocking revelation and Link hopes his expression manages to convey how he feels about that kind of response, “Yes. You and Jessie were married and then, y'know, um, you-you weren’t and I-I guess I just wondered if-if-?”

Rhett takes a deep pull on his sprite before sighing, “Are you asking if I’m lonely without Jessie?”

“Uh…sort of? Or, I mean, more-more directly - did you ever think this…this is how it would end up.”

“Gosh, no,” Rhett laughs and the corners of his eyes crinkle in that way that always makes Link’s heart twirl a little, “No, I sure didn’t. But; mean, ’s like I said, things change. So do people. Jessie and I loved one another, but,” he shrugs again, “Kids grew up, moved out, and when it was just me and her we’d found things’d changed.”

“But…” Link sounds sort of lost, “How?”

Rhett’s narrows his eyes at him, “Man, you know how. We’ve talked about this! She and I were just…different people than we used to be. Different from who we were when we got married and all. It wasn’t bad - we still loved one another. But there just…”

He rolls his shoulders and sighs again, one big hand rubbing at the back of his neck, “Wasn’t that spark anymore. I love her. Still do. Heck, we still talk - just spoke to her last week! But being in love with her?”

The last is asked in a way that pretty much answers itself. Link gets it. He does understand it. And as Rhett said – they’ve talked about this before. Back when it first happened, even. Link knows the story. He knows it and he knows it and yet…

“I guess, I’m…well, I’m-I’m just asking because you-you live up here all by yourself and I…I live by myself and…”

Rhett’s heavy lidded eyes take on this sad, soulful look, one that makes Link’s throat close up around his words, “That what this really about, brother? You thinkin’ about Christy again? You really the lonely one?”

“Yes,” Link blurts and, sort of horrified that he did, rushes on, “And no. No, mean…this-this isn’t about Christy…this-this is about Lily.”

Rhett’s eyes widen and his head rears back, the confusion on his face paramount, “Okay, alright then - color me perplexed, 'cause I don’t see how my being lonely and then your being lonely has anything to do with your daughter.”

“Lily thinks we should go out!” Link squeaks loudly and hoo boy! Bad enough the words came out in that sharp of a tone, but he also Did. Not. Mean. To. Say. Them!

He was planning on working into it in a far more casual manner. Maybe even jokingly. Like, 'Hey, my daughter thinks we should go out! Isn’t that a laugh riot?’ Or 'So, my children are conspiring against us!’ Or really anything - any way - different than how it came out just now.

Rhett, for his part, doesn’t seem all that rocked by this announcement, “Oh. Um. Alright. Sounds good.”

“Sounds good?!” And wow. Just wow. Link thought he sounded squeaky and loud before. That came out even worse. Mickey-Mouse-sucked-on-helium-and-went-hysterical worse. Rhett must have misunderstood, right? Right?!

As if sensing the question, Rhett finishes off his sprite and tosses the can in a nearby trash can, “Sure. We can go out. Where you wanna go? Wouldn’t mind takin’ a trip. Been an age since we done it.”

His reply confirms Link’s thinking and he deflates, but only a smidge, because he now knows he still has to explain, “No, no, no. I-I mean she wants us to go out. As-as in out out.”

Watching the realization dawn on Rhett’s face should be funny. It really should. More so when he asks in a higher tenor, “Out out as in-?”

“As in a date, man. My little girl thinks we should date,” Link wants to make this into a joke. He feels like he should be able to do that. He knows he should. Because that’s what this is, isn’t it? One big joke and he tries to laugh but the sound comes out so false and weird he stops it immediately, instead pressing on, “Rest of my kids too. She was just…just the one elected to bring it up or-or something…”

Rhett sits up straighter and crosses his arms. His eyes dart from side to side and he looks like he’s thinking so danged hard about this. Way harder than Link thinks he should.

“Let me get this straight: your kids,” Rhett points to Link, “think we,” he waves a finger between the two of them, “should go out with one another?”

“Yes.”

Rhett blinks several times as if he’s physically processing this. His mind a computer pushing through a big old file of data. Which is probably why he offers an indelicate, “Huh.”

“Right?!” Link cries, because he feels like Rhett understands. Rhett gets Link. Rhett knows exactly how Link thinks and feels and Rhett gets this situation, Link’s situation, perfectly.

“My kids pushed me back into datin’ long before yours did.”

…and this was not the response Link expected. He’d expected laughter. He’d expected an eyeroll. He’d expected anything but Rhett to say what he just said and thus his response is less than elegant, “Eh?”

“Locke and Shepard got on me 'bout dating only a year or two after the deal with Jessie was finalized. Think they were worried I’d become some ol’ hermit in the woods…” the last comes out in a bit of a chuckle as Rhett looks around them, “Can you believe that?”

Link can’t help but join him in chuckling on that front. Once the laughter dies down, Rhett sits up, threading his fingers together before letting his hands hang down between his knees, “Told ‘em I didn’t need it. You reach a certain age and you don’t date anymore.”

“That’s what I told, Lily!” Link crows; overjoyed that his pal is in agreement.

One slender shoulder rises and falls in an easy motion as he confesses, “Not that I haven’t been out though.”

This draws Link up short. It startles him. It makes him sit up as well, his own hands mirroring Rhett’s and one of his legs starts jiggling restlessly, “Y-Y-you’ve been-? Been seeing someone?”

“Nah,” Rhett offers a lazy grin, “Not seriously. Seen a coupla different folks, but no one I’d care to see again.”

So.

Rhett had…or is…dating. Sure, he doesn’t call it dating, but still…the omission trips Link up. For some reason, he’d just believed both he and Rhett were in the same boat. Sure, Rhett was divorced, not widowed, but Link had felt – in some way – that it held the same sort of principle.

You chose someone to spend the rest of your life with and when their life or your life ended, that was that. There was nothing else, no one, else. And he’s aware how immature that is, how backwards-thinking, but it just…it’s what he always thought. Until now. Until this very moment where Rhett revealed that it’s not that way at all.

At least not for him.

Rhett…seeing people…with-with potential romantic intent…

For some reason it just doesn’t compute and now Link knows he’s the one blinking madly as he tries to process this. One reason it’s hard to swallow comes to mind, so he asks, "You-you never mentioned…?”

“Gentlemen don’t kiss and tell.”

“You’re telling me right now!” And there’s that hysteric tone again.

“Not givin’ you names, now am I?”

Link feels the sound of sheer disgruntled aggravation that leaves him right now really nails his feelings home. Rhett, however, is unmoved, “Gotta say though, Lily is way off base…”

Link’s hands unhook as he practically melts. A wave of relief washes over him, his whole body falling back to rest against the chair, “Finally!”

“…we already know one another.”

Link’s head snaps back up so quickly it defies his advanced age, “What?”

“Well, not only are we well past the age of dating, dating in and of itself is for people who don’t know one another,” Rhett returns candidly, “We’ve known one another damn near all our lives. So, telling us we should date isn’t quite right. If we went out, it’d probably be called something else.”

“What?!”

Rhett strokes at his beard thoughtfully, “Wonder if there’s a name for that? People who’ve known one another for a long time, but then decide to bump it up a notch. Mean, it’s probably still just called 'dating’, but I really think they should come up with another word for it, because they’re making up new words all the time for all kinds of things so, you think there’d be one for that.”

“WHAT?!”

Rhett looks at Link and he edges closer to him, voice colored with concern, “You alright there? Thought I was the one with the bad hearing. My hearing aids really help, so if you think your ears are starting to go you can ask your doc about-?”

“My hearing is fine,” Link stresses, “But I’m not sure about everything else, because, apparently, I’ve woken up in some alternate universe!”

“…well, we did used to say we traveled the multiverse.”

“Can it, McLachlin!” Link points at him, tone sharp, “You’re the one who said it wasn’t a question you needed to answer!”

“…a question-?”

“Back on the show!” Link cries, “One time you said you didn’t need to answer the question of what it’d be like if we kissed or made out or-!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rhett laughs and waves both of his hands, “Look…first off - for the most part - you’ve always had a better memory’n me. Even back before we were old coots. Second, pretty presumptions of you, ain’t it?”

Link frowns, waits for Rhett to continue the thought and when he does, it takes all the strength Link has within in his body not to strangle the other man, “Mean – you jumping right into kissing and making out…haven’t even taken me out proper yet. If you want to start courting me…”

“I don’t!” Link practically leaps to his feet at that. A rather impressive feat considering his body doesn’t move with near the alacrity it used to, “I-I-I mean, I’m-I’m not-!”

“No?” Rhett sniffs, “Rude.”

“What?” And Link hates repeating himself, hates sounding so stupefied but honestly: what the heck? “Do you want me to be courting you? To take you out out? To date?”

Rhett looks far too damned tranquil for this conversation, “Just because a long time ago I said I didn’t need to answer the question to that, don’t mean I’m not pondering it now.”

And with that, Link dies.

Or he feels like he dies.

Or something else.

Something transcendent. Something where he really has confirmed that, somehow, the planets have shifted, the stars have aligned, and he’s been transported to another universe, because he couldn’t have possibly heard that right.

Yet he knows he did.

Link feels lightheaded. He feels like he’s outside of his body, his voice coming back to him in an echo, lips moving unbidden, “But-? You’re-you’re not-? You’ve-you’ve never been interested in-?”

Another easy shrug, “Not sure if I’m interested in men. But I sure as shit am interested in you. Always have been.”

Link really thinks he should sit back down. Sit back down or fall down. Just…down…

His hands feels shaky and wild as they find the arms of the chair, as he lowers himself back into, as he breathes, “You’re interested in-in-in-?”

Link’s head moves around as if looking for someone else, because saying ‘in me’ (and the ‘me’ being Link himself) doesn’t seem at all possible.

Rhett, seeming to finally take pity on him, sighs, “When I say ‘I’m interested in you’, I’m not declaring some secret, unrequited, suppressed feelings for you, man. I’m saying you’re my friend, I find you interesting, and I ain’t entirely opposed to seeing if there could be more to it,” he unlaces his fingers to wave between them, “To us,” then he changes one of his hands into the two fingers to motion between their eyes, “To this.”

“…this…” is all Link can manage. It comes out faint and whispery. He’s still pretty convinced he died. Probably happened on the ride here. Damn twisty backroads.

“…’course if you’re not interested,” Rhett sucks his teeth, “Or chicken…”

Link snaps back to life right quick. He’s alive. He’s alive and in his body and his ears are burning, his heart pounding, his cheeks bright red as his blood pressure rises, “I’m not chicken!”

Rhett just eyes him balefully and-and the utter gall of it! Of those eyes looking at him in this fashion and Link puffs up, “I’m not! I’M a modern man, dang it! I-I’m not afraid to-to-!”

He runs a hand through his thick (now completely) silver hair and tugs it hard, “It’s just-? It’s crazy! It’s insane! It’s-it’s-it’s-!”

He’s stuttering all over himself, all the things he wants to say not coming out of his mouth quickly enough and he just points at Rhett accusingly, “It’ll ruin our friendship and be all kindas awkward and-!”

Rhett leans back in his chair, crosses his arms again and stretches out his ridiculously long, giraffe-like legs, “You know…we drank one another’s urine.”

Link stalls at that.

“Once upon a time.”

Link is still stopped. Enough that Rhett just breathes in and looks off to one side, “Messed around with one another’s feet. Did Mama Bird/Baby Bird. Cuddled with cockroaches.”

“Thought you said I had the better memory.”

“’Bout some things,” Rhett offers with a small grin, “My point is – we’ve done much crazier things. Only difference this time would be that it’s personal and it’s not for an audience.”

Link digests that, chews on it. He rolls it over and over again in his mind. Rhett seems to be waiting for him to answer – one way or another and when it becomes obvious that no real answer is forth coming, he lets out another sigh and rises up, wincing some.

Link would bet it’s due to his lower back twinging, because sitting long periods of time now just does that to him. Link knows, because it does it to him too.

Rhett puts his hands in his pockets and offers another blithe shrug, “Look, don’t worry about it. I don’t blame you if you’re-”

“Okay.”

Link’s eyes are downcast. They went in that direction when he knew his final answer. He wants to raise his head. He wants to know who said it, that quiet word. So quiet as to almost be inaudible.

And shy.

Quiet, shy…unreal.

And he knows he said it. Knows it came from his mouth. And he feels it when Rhett gets closer to him, feels the heat of his friend and he can just make him out of his peripheral vision as he repeats just as quietly, just as shy, “Okay?”

Link licks his lips and looks up. He looks up into his friend’s kind eyes and feels his head wobbling on his neck as he nods, “Okay. Yeah. I…I guess it’s…it’s worth trying…”

“So,” Rhett’s lips tug up in one corner, a teasing sort of smirk, “You are courting me?”

Link shoves out at him and the two laugh. But the fact still remains. Link has just agreed to go out with Rhett. Out out. As in a date, as in…

…and Link knows, eventually, the panic will return. But for now? For now, it’s nice to just be with his friend and laugh.