#he's still fun and i still like him but he's not anywhere near Maya's level of complexity and that's a real shame | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

runningwolf62 · 5 years

Text

@wardencommanderrodimiss @pachelbelsheadcanon

I’m not going to pretend this isn’t rough in places but it’s done! It’s done and about half as long as the rest of the fic all together.

Orangestripe paced around the border looking for any sign of anyone. He could catch a scent of Wolf having come by. Please don’t let him run into Viper.

“Orangestripe?” He perked his ears and spotted Bird, the tortoiseshell made her way over to the border.

“What’s wrong?”

“Can you get a message to Demon?” Orangestripe asked, his claws sank into the earth to root him in place, “Firebirdstorm was attacked by rogues and he looks really bad off, like might be dying.” They’d dragged him and Spiritstar back to camp both covered in blood, Orangestripe wasn’t sure Spiritstar had been breathing when he’d seen her.

Bird’s eyes got huge and Orangestripe felt bad for scaring her, “please, I just, I think he’d want to know.”

Bird nodded and touched her nose to his shoulder, “May your StarClan watch over him.”

“Thank you,” he stepped back and watched her run off into the undergrowth. He drew in a breath to taste the air, once he was sure he couldn’t smell a rogue he set off at a quick trot. He didn’t like feeling unsafe in his territory but until they got to the bottom of the attacks on Firebirdstorm and Spiritstar no one would be safe.

He made it back to camp quickly and let out a breath of relief. He was safe at camp at least.

“Orangestripe.”

He about jumped out of his fur and whirled around to see a pair of dark green eyes glittering in the dark. Darkleaf stepped out of the shadow he’d hidden in and Orangestripe forced his fur to lie flat.

“StarClan, Darkleaf, you scared my stripes off.”

The deputy almost looked amused for a heartbeat before his eyes narrowed, “you shouldn’t be out of camp by yourself.”

Orangestripe flattened his ears, “I was just-“

“You were being reckless. We have several cats injured and we can’t afford another.” His tail lashed behind him, Orangestripe stepped back in surprise. He’d always known the deputy as a laid-back and supportive cat. The anger and possibly grief that flashed in his eyes now was not something he was used to.

“I’ll be more careful,” Orangestripe promised, Darkleaf’s stance barely relaxed.

“You had better.” He turned away and headed back to where he’d been before. At first Orangestripe wondered if they had other Clanmates he was planning to scare the fur off of but Darkleaf’s gaze was focused on- oh. He was watching over Spiritstar’s den.

“You should get some sleep.”

“I’m fine.” Darkleaf replied flatly and Orangestripe left him to it. He slipped into the medicine cat den, careful not to wake Cherrywing to lay down next to Firebirdstorm.

His friend twitched in his sleep and Orangestripe could smell the poppy seeds on his breath. He rested his head on Firebirdstorm’s shoulders and closed his eyes. He was slowly lulled to sleep by the sounds of Firebirdstorm and Cherrywing’s snoring.

He’s sitting in the hospital waiting room when Edgeworth finally shows up hours later. Larry blandly answers his questions. Some part of him knows he should be worried about Maya and Pearl.

But he’s still staring at the tiled floor unable to think about anything other than that Elise is dead.

“He’s got a cold and needs two day’s bedrest,” Edgeworth grumbles to himself, “I thought you said he was dying.”

Larry looks up at that, “I saw him fall off a burning bridge into freezing cold river rapids.” That was some Rasputin levels of bullshit that Nick was alive but Larry would count his blessings. Or Nick’s blessings. ‘Cause it was really starting to seem like all Larry had were curses.

Edgeworth pauses to look at him, “have you gotten any sleep?”

“Not since eleven last night. What took you so long?”

“I had to charter a private plane!”

“Gay.” Larry mumbles exhaustedly. Edgeworth looks already fed up with him and Larry can’t blame him.

Edgeworth sits down in the chair next to him and actually doesn’t object when Larry leans on him out of exhaustion though he does wrinkle his nose- oh yeah Larry smells like a burnt bridge.

“What happened to your hand?”

Larry looks down at the bandaged hand, “only phone was a public phone about a foot from the burning bridge.”

“You called me on a phone next to a burning bridge?”

“I called the police first,” Larry defends himself tiredly and looks over, “oh hey, what’s that?” It looks like Nick’s defense badge.

Edgeworth turns it in his hand, “he must’ve been addled by the drugs to ask me to do this.”

“I mean, someone with a cardboard badge wasn’t stopped so you should be fine.”

“What?”

“Orangestripe!” He opened one eye to find Splashpaw poking at him, the medicine cat apprentice waved her tail frantically as she looked up at him.

“What’s up kid?” He yawned and stretched out his shoulders, Firebirdstorm seemed to still be passed out though he mumbled something about a fox. Orangestripe looked to him confusedly before back to Splashpaw.

“Demon’s here!”

“Oh!” Orangestripe glanced down at Firebirdstorm, “how is he?”

“Demon?”

“Firebirdstorm!”

“He’ll be fine once he sleeps off the poppy seeds!” Splashpaw purred at that and something in Orangestripe’s chest untied itself. He wouldn’t lose Firebirdstorm.

“Alright excuse me.” He hurried out of the den to find Demon and Darkleaf staring each other down.

“Where is Spiritstar?” Demon demanded, Darkleaf barred his fangs.

“She’s busy. You’re not a member of the Clan anymore Demon, by your choice. You can’t just come and go as you please.”

“I came because I heard Firebirdstorm might be dying!” Demon snapped, “I didn’t just run over here in the middle of the night because I felt like stretching my legs.”

“That’s my fault,” Orangestripe moved forward, Darkleaf glared at him but he hurriedly explain, “I tried to tell you. I thought Firebirdstorm was dying and I thought Demon should know.” He hadn’t expected Demon to actually come to camp. “Come on you can at least see him though.” And get away from Darkleaf who seemed to only be getting worse tempered.

“Darkleaf calm down,” Orangestripe turned to see Feathersong slip out of the elder’s den, the older she-cat nodded once to her former apprentice and flicked her tail towards the medicine cat den. Orangestripe didn’t need telling twice and led Demon over.

Cherrywing was sitting in her nest when they came in, her greeting slurred by a massive yawn.

“So Firebirdstorm is fine?” Demon sounded annoyed and Orangestripe flattened his ears.

“Sharppaw,” a voice slurred and Firebirdstorm tried to sit up, “didn’t expect you to come visit.”

“I heard you almost died.”

“Nah just fought a rogue patrol,” Firebirdstorm’s tongue hung out just slightly like he’d been startled in the middle of grooming himself.

“You were covered in blood,” Orangestripe huffed as he headed out, “sorry for thinking you were dying.”

He settled outside the den to wait for Demon to come out, the least he could do for the poor guy was walk him home.

Darkleaf was settled near the leader’s den and staring him down, Orangestripe ignored him as best he could. The awkward tension between him in the deputy was not fun and honestly he just wanted to go back to sleep.

After a bit Demon padded out and up to Orangestripe. “I need to speak to Spiritstar.”

Orangestripe looked over at Darkleaf and then up at Demon, “Good luck with that.”

Demon took a deep breath and let it out, “just come with me please.”

Orangestripe got to his paws and stretched his back out, “you know I’d follow you and Firebirdstorm anywhere.”

Demon paused with one paw raised and took a moment to just look at Orangestripe as though truly seeing his friend for the first time, “you would wouldn’t you.”

Orangestripe blinked at him and nodded. Side by side they walked up to Darkleaf, Orangestripe mimicked Demon’s casually refined way of walking.

“I need to speak to Spiritstar,” Demon informed Darkleaf.

“Go home Demon,” he lashed his tail and glared at the two of them, “you both have some growing to do if you think this is how warriors behave.”

Oh Orangestripe was so getting put on Elder’s duty. Well then might as well risk it all, “just let him talk to her Darkleaf, I might be a mouse-brain but Demon’s always had sense. He’s the one asking not me.”

Darkleaf’s response was cut off by Spiritstar poking her head out of the den. Orangestripe and Demon both started at the swath of cobwebs over her neck and chest.

“Demon,” she greeted him, “is everything alright?”

“I was told Firebirdstorm was badly injured,” he glanced over at Orangestripe, “and while the direness of his situation was exaggerated, he has asked me for a favor. To serve as a warrior of SpiritClan until he is recovered enough to resume his duties.”

“What?” Darkleaf looked to Spiritstar, who nodded.

“Very well then,” she agreed with a glance at her deputy, “Darkleaf, you should get some sleep. You’re beginning to get irrational.”

Darkleaf clawed at the ground and started to object before his shoulders slumped, “but you’re injured.”

“I have all the Clan looking out for me,” Spiritstar assured him gently, “my safety is not your responsibility. Go get some sleep.”

“Fine. Demon, Orangestripe, you two and Harestrike are the dawn patrol for tomorrow.” Orangestripe accepted the punishment for what it was and let Darkleaf march past him.

Spiritstar watched him go with a sigh and then turned to Demon, “you’ve come to us at a good time.” When he went to speak she added, “for whatever reason. We’re grateful to have you.”

“You might want to hide in the medicine cat den with Firebirdstorm,” Orangestripe murmured to Demon, “so Darkleaf doesn’t accidentally kick you or anything.”

“Provided that you both get your rest I see no reason Cherrywing would object to that,” Spiritstar agreed, “now unless you have any concerns, to bed with you both.”

The two shared a look and nodded, “yes Spiritstar!”

Larry and Edgeworth had gone their separate ways after that, Larry had gone back to the temple – avoid looking it, can’t avoid looking at it, Elise had died in the courtyard – and tried to get some sleep. He’d ended up in Heavenly Hall as much of a shack as it was, it was as far from the crime scene as he could get.

A knocking on the door pulled him out of bed and stumbling to answer the door, “yes?” He rubbed at his face, “Edgy?”

Edgeworth does a double take at the sight of Larry, “you’re staying here?”

“Yeah,” Larry stretched out his shoulders until they popped, “did you need something?” He spots Gumshoe over Edgeworth’s shoulder, “listen, I was just napping here because the other temple is a crime scene.”

Edgeworth looks to Gumshoe, “you’re the witness that saw the lightning hit the bridge correct?”

“Yeah,” Larry rubs the sleep from his eyes, “that’s just what happened, that’s what woke me up.”

Edgeworth nods and lets out a breath, “do you have any idea why Wright would ask me to defend this woman?”

Larry hesitates, trying to figure out how to tell Edgeworth that she looked exactly like Nick’s crazy ex-girlfriend when Gumshoe cuts in.

“Wait, hold on! Objection!”

Larry and Edgeworth turn to him and Larry is tempted to close the door as Gumshoe huffs and puffs, “what is this! Prosecutor Edgeworth can’t be a defense attorney!”

Larry proceeds to get in what might be the dumbest debate he’s ever had (this week at least) while Edgeworth stands there looking ready to fake his death and hide in Europe again.

“I knew rushing to this country was a mistake.”

“Well you’re committed now Edgy!” Larry replies cheerfully and looks like Gumshoe is ready to murder him.

“Any sign of Maya or Pearl?” He asks.

“Maya is trapped on the other side of Eagle River but the bridge should be completed by tomorrow, what is this about Pearls?”

“She’s missing!” Larry explains that situation to Edgeworth, who turns to Gumshoe as soon as he’s done.

“Sorry Prosecutor Edgeworth! We’ve been lookin’ for her but no sign yet.”

Larry sighs and ducks into Heavenly Hall for a moment and comes back with a pair of juice boxes and granola bars.

“If you find Pearl she probably hasn’t eaten since last night.” He doesn’t mention the biting cold or the murder. Pearl has to be fine. She has to be.

“Where did you get those?” Edgeworth asks as he takes them warily.

“I work here so I stashed some food in the temple in case I forget to get lunch,” Larry admits with a grin “good thing huh?”

Edgeworth considers him and says finally, “I’m glad at least one thing has gotten more competent in my time gone.”

Larry manages a smile at that, “thanks Edgy.”

Harestrike took one look at who had been put on patrol with her and hurried a badger’s length ahead of them as though she knew they wanted to gossip with each other and wanted no part of it.

Orangestripe glanced at Demon, “how are things going with reforming the group?”

“You would know as well as I, you’re in my camp often enough.”

“Story telling is an important part of Clan culture!” Orangestripe defended himself, “and there’s no other way for them to get stories. Unless you’re telling them.”

“Who said we were a Clan?”

Orangestripe gave him a long look and Demon turned his head away. Orangestripe bumped him with one shoulder.

“Whatever Demon, you pretend Firebirdstorm isn’t changing you for the better.” He trotted cheerfully with little kicks from his paws as he walked, he heard Demon laugh at him and simply held his head higher.

“You’re a mouse-brain.”

“And you all love me!”

Harestrike stopped up ahead to look at them before the she-cat burst into laughter at their antics and Orangestripe couldn’t stop himself from purring. Even with the looming threat of a rogue group stalking them this was what it meant to be part of a Clan.

And it was nice to have Demon be a part of that again.

They haul Larry up before the judge and he’s so exhausted that he doesn’t realize why Edgeworth’s objected to him at first.

“Wha?” he blinks at Edgeworth and then it dawns on him, “sorry, Laurice Deauxnim is a pen name. I’m Larry Butz.” He rubs at his face and tries to focus.

The crack of a whip across the witness stand startles him enough that he almost falls over and wakes him up.

He tries to testify honestly but he’s so tired that some of his details are hazy (to be fair he’d also like just woken up when he saw the bridge was burning) and he can see he’s starting to drive Edgeworth nuts with how hard it is to get his story straight.

He’s also cowering in fear from Von Karma’s whip, he remembers very well what she did to Nick.

When he presents his sketch as evidence he doesn’t expect like applause but the judge and Von Karma don’t have to be that rude about it.

“I had just woken up and I don’t typically use colored pencils!” he defends himself and sways heavily before catching himself on the witness stand.

“Witness focus!” The judge orders and Larry nods and tries. But he starts zoning again when Edgeworth and Von Karma start sniping at each other only to tune in and realize they’re now taking shots at him and his testimony.

“You know,” he cuts in over Edgeworth, “my teacher did just die, I burned my hand calling the police after she was murdered and one of my two childhood friends fell off a burning bridge into a river, Maya and Pearl are still missing and I have slept maybe two hours in the past two days because Nick asked me and Edgy to defend the woman who looks like his ex from college who tried to murder him so if I’m not making sense right now it’s not intentional.” He blinked blearily at Edgeworth, “I have realized that I’m a nuisance and that I’m an idiot and I’m working at getting better but be a little patient with me right now.”

There’s murmuring from the gallery and Larry thinks he hears some sympathy from them because yeah he’s had a hellacious past forty-eight hours.

“Good lord,” the judge says and stares down at him.

Larry shrugs his shoulders, “honestly that’s not the worst week of my life.” He pauses, “or maybe it is let me think about it.”

Von Karma raises her whip but only to pull on it not to strike and Larry’s grateful ‘cause he’s fairly certain it would just knock him unconscious at this point.

“… Does the defense wish to cross-examine… that?” Larry is impressed that he’s managed to throw her off if her tone and hesitations are any clue.

“What is the worst week of your life?” the judge asks and Larry considers it.

“Probably the week Edgy was accused of murder. Like the week you faked your death was bad but you’re alive so you know, all forgiven. But the sheer trauma of all that and that’s not even getting into Nick cross-examining a parrot.” He’s rambling and swaying but he’s exhausted and worried and just emotional tired.

Edgeworth is looking at him in surprise, “you… you hardly- that case-“

“Your life is awful man and you had to deal with all of that in three days and that sucks,” Larry is leaning heavily on the witness stand now and yawns.

Edgeworth is still apparently processing that Larry considers bad things happening to him something bad and Larry turns to Von Karma to see if she has any questions.

“What was this about a bridge?” she asks and that pulls Edgeworth out of his stupor.

“Wright attempted to cross Dusky Bridge while it was burning. He fell through the boards and into the rapids.”

Von Karma startles and Larry waves a hand but let’s Edgeworth explain that Nick just has a cold.

“Once again it is impossible to tell if he is lucky or unlucky.”

Larry shrugs his shoulders and thinks only the bailiff is really paying attention to him and mostly out of concern he’s going to collapse.

“So in this image,” Edgeworth holds up the sketch, “this floating figure?”

“I think is Iris. I was tired and far away but she was a wearing a hood-”

“Objection!”

“Edgy, I love ya man but maybe don’t shout.” Larry rubs his temple and hopes he doesn’t develop a migraine.

Edgeworth ignores him to present a piece of evidence, namely that Nick had Iris’s hood.

“Of course he did,” Larry rolls his eyes, “can’t stay away from girls that aren’t healthy for him and don’t get on me Edgy I never ate poison for a girl.”

“WHAT?!?” Von Karma and Edgeworth are both yelling again. Larry leans his head against the stand.

“Dahlia Hawthorne. She was a bitch and tried to frame Nick for murder and Iris looks just like her and its weird but I don’t think she’s tried to poison Nick so that’s already an improvement.”

He looks over at Edgeworth and can almost see him planning to look her up. “But if Nick had her hood I guess it wasn’t her so… Oh!” he finally remembers something and fumbles in his coat pockets to retrieve his find, “Edgy! I totally forgot.” He pulls himself off the witness stand to stumble over to him and set the stone in front of him, “I thought this came off Iris’s hood, I found it half buried in the snow when I arrived at the bridge but if she wasn’t there or didn’t have her hood or whatever I don’t know what this is.”

Edgeworth stares at it for a moment before asking in a slightly strained voice, “is this a bloodstain on it?”

And Larry knows he’s probably got another hour on the stand now.

Orangestripe padded into camp behind Demon. He could see a few of his Clanmates give his friend dirty looks but one or two gave him a friendly nod or waved their tail in greeting.

Darkleaf padded up to their patrol, Harestrike halted and Orangestripe and Demon stopped behind her.

“Did any of you see any sign of Splashpaw?” He demanded.

“I haven’t seen her since last night,” Orangestripe replied while Harestrike shook her head.

Darkleaf let out a rough sigh, “great. Just great.”

“She’s probably just gathering herbs,” Harestrike flattened her ears, “bad time for it though.”

A patrol headed out past them and Darkleaf shook his head.

“Stay in camp, we need some warriors here. I’m heading out to look for her.”

Demon and Orangestripe shared a look and once Darkleaf was gone they headed to a quiet spot in camp.

“I don’t know what’s put a burr in his pelt but he needs to lose it,” Orangestripe muttered and Demon snorted softly.

“I suspect our answers can be found with Spiritstar.”

“Well since Darkleaf’s gone, now’s our chance,” Orangestripe pointed out. They looked around before the headed over to Spiritstar’s den.

“Spiritstar?” Orangestripe called softly, after a moment she poked her head out.

“Oh hello you two.” She sat at the den enterence, in the daylight it was very obvious how badly she’d been wounded in the battle with the rogues. Asides from the thick swatch of cobwebs over her throat there was several patches of fur missing from her flank and shoulders as though someone had perched on her back during the fight and Orangestripe could smell blood and marigold mixed together.

But she blinked warmly at them, “is something wrong?”

“Darkleaf’s acting like a fox with a toothache-“ Demon’s tail slapped over Orangestripe’s mouth though Spiritstar’s whiskers twitched.

“Between the attacks on you and Firebirdstorm and Darkleaf’s behavior it is obvious that something large is going on.” Demon flexed his claws, “and I would like to know what as this might affect my group.”

“And because it has already hurt Firebirdstorm,” she mused and Demon looked away. Orangestripe batted his tail off his mouth.

“What’s going on?”

Spiritstar let out a sigh and signaled for them to come into her den.

“The rogues are led by Splashpaw’s sister, my cousin.” She sat down in her nest with a heavy sigh. “She has always resented and blamed my family for the fact that her mother was exiled.”

“Wasn’t she exiled for trying to kill you though?” Demon asked. Orangestripe looked over at him in confusion.

“It happened right before we were born remember?”

“No?”

Spiritstar nodded, “this is what has haunted the three of you this entire time. My mother waged war against Spark and drove him off but the cost was high. She felt that was her failure as a leader and stepped down. Her sister felt she should’ve been deputy, not me, and attempted to prevent me from getting my nine lives. She failed and was exiled. She took her daughters with her and had a third kit, Splashpaw.”

“But you brought Splashpaw to the Clan!”

“Yes,” Spiritstar’s gaze softened, “she’s a good young cat and I knew she was my cousin the moment I saw her.” She shook herself, “this is also why Spark hated our Clan and your father Demon.”

“My father?”

“Your father was one of SpiritClan’s bravest warriors.” Spiritstar’s voice was sad as she remembered him, “he never hesitated to do what was best for the Clan and in the fight against my mother it was your father who snuck across the battlefield to find Spark and it was he who drove Spark onto the battlefield where my mother beat him.”

Spiritstar looked exhausted and Orangestriped wondered how much of that was from her wounds and how much of it was from what she’d just told them, “but then… why the attacks now?”

“I suspect my cousin wants revenge for me accepting Splashpaw and just in general.” Spiritstar shook her head, “she will likely target my family as well as attempt to recruit Splashpaw.”

Orangestripe flattened his ears, “is that why Darkleaf has his tail tied in knots?”

Spiritstar’s gaze landed on him, “Darkleaf is a good deputy and good cat but I fear he sometimes lets his heart rule his head.” She sighed again heavily.

Oh. Oh. Orangestripe was going to have to start paying attention to elder gossip, where Spiritstar and Darkleaf mates? Or-

Demon dipped his head and got to his paws, “thank you Spiritstar.”

“I should thank you Demon, Firebirdstorm and Orangestripe are lucky to have a friend like you.”

Demon paused at the entrance to the den, “one last question though. Is that why they attacked Firebirdstorm? Because he was your apprentice?”

“Yes.”

The sound of crying pulls Larry out of his book and scrambling out the door to see what was going on. He hurries to the bridge, where the sound seems to be coming from. He scans the area and it doesn’t take long to spot the source.

“Pearl!” She’s alright! Larry moves to where the girl has fallen in the snow crying, “hey, you okay?”

“My. Larry!” She wipes at her face and between the tears and the cold air she’s a snotty, teary mess.

“Hey kid where have you been?” He crouches down next to her as she sniffs softly.

“I was all alone,” Larry’s chest tightens at that as Pearl cries about being alone in the Inner temple. Where was Maya?

“Hey, hey, shh… you’re okay now and you were very brave!” He assures her, which makes some of the crying stop.

“Really?”

“Yeah!” Larry smiles at her, “you were super brave to be all alone like that. Come on, why don’t we go to the Heavenly Hall and get warm and celebrate how brave you were?” He’s still got some snacks and juice boxes stashed away.

Pearl nods and lets him lead her to the shack. First he gets her some tissues so she can dry her tears and blow her nose.

Once that’s taken care, food and juice. Pearl is oddly quiet the entire time until she finally asks a question.

She sniffs, “is it true?”

“Is what true?” he asks, crouching down to her level.

“That Miss Deuxneum is dead?”

He sucks in a breath, “yeah, yeah she is Pearl.” He smiles gently, “but Nick and Edgy are on the case!” He hopes that’s reassuring because honestly that’s all that’s got him going right now.

Pearl wipes at her face, “I’m sorry I didn’t go read with her.”

Larry isn’t quite sure how to respond, he’s learned a lot about how to handle kids but this is uncharted territory for him.

“I’m sorry too Pearl.”

She sniffs again and he pushes the tissue box to her. Larry has no idea what to do now. He’s grieving too but Pearl needs a stable adult right now. But he’s been coping by rereading Warrior Cats books so he’s not sure how ‘stable’ of an adult he is. Where is Nick when he needs him?

He goes to clean up his stuff to make room for Pearl and see if he can’t remember where he put his phone so he can text Nick. Until he shows up he’s gotta take care of her.

“Mr. Larry?” He looks to her.

“Yeah squirt?”

“What’s this?” She’s holding up Into the Wild and Larry’s chest twists.

“It’s my favorite book,” he comes over to sit beside her, “I’ve been sad and so I’ve been reading my favorite book to make me feel better.”

And you know, escapism. That kind of thing.

“What’s it about?” Pearl seems desperate for a distraction and Larry was her age when he got into Warriors so why not.

“It’s about a house cat who discovers that in the forest behind his house there are wild cats living in groups called Clans. They ask him to join him and when he does he goes on adventures. He even solves a murder, like Nick!”

“Can you help me read it?” she asks and Larry considers the violence in it and what she’s been through before nodding.

“Yeah let’s get comfortable and you can read it out loud!”

“Orangestripe!”

He turned his head to find Maria had seen him and he waved his tail in greeting.

“Just bringing Demon home,” he assured her with a soft purr, “how are you?”

“I’m alright,” her yellow eyes looked sad though, had she missed him?

“It’s good to see you.” She continued and seemed to shake off whatever was troubling her, “how is SpiritClan?”

“We’re a bit worried about the rogue attacks though no worries we know it’s not you all!” he meowed cheerfully, “hopefully a few patrols and we’ll have them gone soon.”

Maria’s eyes darkened and she replied, “just take care of yourself and your Clan Orangestripe. Especially your young cats.”

He blinked at her in confusion but nodded, “of course.”

She shook herself, “I’m sorry dear, I’m just an old fool worrying about things. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“I think we’re all worried right now,” Orangestripe assured her, “but we’ll be alright.”

“Of course you will,” she agreed. Orangestripe tilted his head but spotted a pair of kits padding up and flicked his whiskers, “I think you have an audience.”

Maria turned her head to look at them, “oh hello young ones.” She beckoned them forward, “Orangestripe, do you have a story for them?”

“Me?” He turned to look at her and she purred.

“I’ve taught you how to tell stories haven’t I?”

“What are you, training to be an elder?” one of the kits asked and Orangestripe turned to look at Maria.

The older she-cat was obviously struggling not to laugh, “That is no way to treat a guest who might have a story for you.”

“I have a story too, about Wolf and my friend Firebirdstorm and when we were looking for Demon!”

The kits sat in raptured attention as he told the story and he thought he told it well if the look of pride Maria gave him was anything to go by. But there was something sad in her gaze as well as she watched him entertain the kits. He finished his story with a flourish and as the kits scampered off calling their thank yous he stepped towards her.

“I think you should be heading home Orangestripe,” Venom remarked and Orangestrip stepped back, away from Maria and Venom.

“Uh, yes, I should, goodbye Maria.”

“May your StarClan watch you Orangestripe,” she replied and Orangestripe swallowed.

“Now Orangestripe.”

He gave Maria one last curious look before he bounded away.

He loves reading with Pearl, it’s fun to watch her get more confident with some of the words. He can really understand why Elise loved working with kids when Pearl looks to him for help with words. It’s weirdly reaffirming to help a child grow. They read until Pearl more or less passes out against his side.

“Alright squirt I think that’s enough for now.” He tucks her into bed under a large pile of blankets and curls up in the corner to sketch a few pictures of Splashpaw for her.

Anything to keep his mind off-

Bzzt.

Oh shit his phone. He’s finally found it. He grabs it as it buzzes again and swipes it open. To no one’s surprise WolfDragon is blowing up his notifications.

ARE YOU ALIVE

I WILL COME TO THE UNITED STATES AND FIND YOU I SWEAR

I’M ALIVE!

The next message is in a langue Larry doesn’t recognize and he’s not sure he wants to translate. He certainly doesn’t trust Google Translate to do it.

Uh?

Sorry

I’ve spent the past like two hours worried about you

Not in jail then either

Why would I be in jail?

I heard your mentor was murdered and you weren’t answering me

I came to one of three conclusions

Oh.

Look 1 was you were the murderer but if you haven’t been arrested there must a lot of evidence you didn’t do it

Excuse me?

You’re her apprentice that gives you motive it’s usually the people closest to the victim

Not in my experience but I’ll take your word for it.

That was a weird sentence

Says the guy thinking I might’ve killed someone!

I said one of three

And I was relatively sure it wasn’t that one

Which meant either you’d been murdered too

Sorry I’m fine!

Or you were having a breakdown somewhere

…

Okay that one is true.

Do you want to talk about it?

I do but I might start crying and there’s a kid here and that’s the last thing she needs

When there’s not a kid

Uh yeah. Sounds good.

Larry looks over at Pearl and lets out a rough sigh.

Sorry for worrying you

Newsflash Asshole! I’ve loved and cherished my friends this entire time!

Not exactly a newsflash Wolfman.

This make me part of your pack?

You always were

What did I say about making me cry while there’s a kid here!

Yes Larry might be about to cry but fuck he needs someone in his corner right now. He quickly fights back the tears when he notices Pearl’s stirring, the earthquake while he was talking to Wolf probably woke her. He’d just ignored it since he was used to them by now.

He just sends a quick thank you to Wolf and promises to check in with him later.

“It’s cold,” Pearl mumbles sleepily and Larry glances to the empty fireplace. Hmm yeah he should probably do something about that.

“Do you wanna help me look for firewood?” he asks as he rises, “once we get a fire going we can read some more!”

“Yeah!” Pearl slips out from under the blankets and Larry meets her at the door to open it.

“You’re warm enough right?” She wasn’t really dressed for the weather but she didn’t seem to care, scanning the area for firewood.

“I’m fine Mr. Larry!”

She startles and Larry looks up, scrambling to his feet before he realizes it’s just Nick, Edgy and Oh god that has to be Von Karma he can see the ruffles and whip from here.

Larry watches Nick try to get information out of Pearl and comes over.

“Alright then Pearl, why don’t we go see who is worse at building a fire and then sit around our tiny fire and be losers together?” Larry offers and Pearl sniffs and nods.

“Alright!” she scurried off and Larry turns to Nick.

“Give her another few hours, I found her in the snow crying.” He rubs his hands together, “let me distract her and give her a chance to cope with what happened and then she’ll talk to you.” ‘cause she loves Nick. He looks to his friend with a grin, “glad to see you’re looking better though.”

Nick is just staring at him but Edgy nods slightly. “You as well, did you get some sleep?”

“A few hours,” Larry rubs at his burned hand, Nick’s eyes linger on it so he shoves his hands back in his pockets, “it’s uh, been a few rough days.”

Von Karma side eyes him but she doesn’t say anything nor does she threaten him with the whip so he’ll take it.

“Any luck with the investigation?” Larry asks for the sake of conversation and Nick and Edgeworth look at each other.

“Ah.” He lets out a breath, “just let me know if I can help.”

“You’re not holding onto anymore evidence are you?” Edgeworth asks and Larry gives him a dirty look.

“That was dumb but I did not touch a gun at a crime scene or eat a-”

“There’s still no sign of Maya,” Nick cuts in.

“Foolish fools,” Von Karma cracks her whip but strikes none of them.

“Mr. Larry I found a twig!” Pearl calls.

Larry shakes his head and turns to Nick, “I can watch Pearl for now, go turnabout the case Nick.” He starts to walk away from them to go find Pearl and some actual firewood.

Orangestripe paused with one paw raised, his ears angled quickly as he listened to the woods, “who is there?”

He dropped into a crouch lashed his tail angry, “I mean it, I can hear you.” He bared his fangs, ready to defend his Clan the way he’d sworn to.

“Orangestripe?”

“Splashpaw!” Orangestripe jerked out of his crouch as the apprentice slipped out of the undergrowth. “Where have you been, we’ve been worried about you!”

“I’m sorry!” Splashpaw ran to him to bury her face in his fur, “I’m sorry I got lost and I-” it’s muffed by his fur and partially mumbled but Orangestripe is more concerned that she’s alright.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he promised her and pressed his muzzle against her shoulder, “you’re home and safe now. Come on, let’s get you back to camp.”

Gently he herded the apprentice back to camp, she was oddly quiet but stayed close to him and seemed otherwise alright though her tail drooped slightly.

“I don’t know if I can be a medicine cat,” she admitted finally and Orangestripe halted to turn and look at her. “Cherrywing’s so good at everything and I- I’m not. I can’t even talk to StarClan.”

“I didn’t know if I could be a warrior,” he admitted to her and sat down. After a heartbeat she sat down beside him as well and he curled his tail around her to pull her closer.

“That’s why I’ve been spending time with Demon’s group,” he explained as he stared out into the forest, “learning from them and trying to figure out where I belong ‘cause… it’s hard. But I’m finding that my place in the Clan might be more based around story telling.” He gently nudged Splashpaw, “okay so, you, an apprentice, can’t summon StarClan and speak prophecies or whatever you went off into the woods to do. That’s what mentors are for. To teach you those things.”

Splashpaw’s ears flattened and Oragnestripe pressed his nose against her shoulder. “Come on. Things always seem worse on empty stomachs and little sleep. Let’s go home.”

Larry has the fire going and Pearl’s done some more reading by the time Nick turns back up. Larry doesn’t need to be a psychic or spirit medium to see something’s bothering him and lets him talk to Pearl privately. He slips his phone out.

Hey.

You’re probably asleep but I think I’m on babysitting duty for a bit longer, poor kid.

Poor kid cause this whole thing is rough not because I’m bad with child care.

I figured

WHY ARE YOU AWAKE

GO TO BED

You’re in emotional distress

AND I WILL BE TOMORROW ONCE YOU’VE SLEPT

Wait.

Good try writer-boy

…

Go to sleep.

“Larry?” He looks up at his name to see Nick coming back in with Pearl.

“Hey Nick!” He forces a smile, Pearl still looks rather rough over all but who doesn’t up here. Probably Von Karma and Edgeworth. He catches the small head jerk Nick gives and gets to his feet.

“Pearl why don’t you warm up next to the fire, I think Nick wants to ask me a few questions.”

Pearl blinks up at him and then nods, “okay Mr. Larry.”

Larry follows Nick outside to stare rather blankly at the bridge before turning to Nick, “so what’s up?”

“So you recognized Iris too?”

“Took me a bit but yeah.” Larry looks to Nick, “she does look like your evil ex that tried to frame you for murder. I’d say kill you but- actually no, she tried to kill you too.”

Nick is quiet a moment and looks like he wants to say something but what he does say is, “she’s her twin.”

“What?” What are odds of that? No one else but them. “Well that explains why she recognized us I guess?”

“Yeah,” Nick shoves his hand in his pockets. “There’s more.”

“Oh no,” Larry pinches the bridge of his nose, “let me guess. Uh… they’re actually Maya’s half-sisters and have actually been possessed by an angered spirit that drove them to murder?”

Nick glares at him, “take this seriously!”

“I am!” Larry snaps and Nick steps back. “Remember when Mia died Nick ‘cause it feels a lot like that for me right now okay? Elise is dead, you almost died, if I need some humor to cope let me have that!” Tears prick at his eyes and he wipes them away.

“This isn’t like that-”

“Bullshit it’s not Nick,” Larry shoves him and Nick steps back, “sure Elise wasn’t my mentor as long as Mia was yours and I didn’t become a children’s book author to save my best friend from childhood from the shitty path he’d gone down but I’m not like, I’m not an idiot!”

Nick stares at him and Larry wonders how long they’ve talked around talking about this. “I get it okay, I’m an idiot but you don’t have to shove it my face every time we meet up.”

They stand there staring at each other, breath billowing out into the cold before Nick finally speaks. “I’m, I’m sorry.”

Larry sags and offers Nick a sad thumbs up, “it’s…” really not okay but are either of them, “I get it.” His hand drops back to his side.

Nick’s eyes linger on his hand, still wrapped in bandages and then to his face, “yeah I- shoot. I just… of all the things I expected, you somehow turning your life around to become a successful children’s author isn’t what I expected.”

“You’re like twenty-seven Nick you can swear.”

“Darn you to heck.”

“Well gosh Nick.” The two of them start to giggle at that, it’s not funny but it is, it’s the closest he’s felt to Nick since Mia Fey died.

Larry bumps his shoulder against Nick’s, “wasn’t what I expected either but here we are.” He sighs and just sags. Nick does as well though it’s less visible in his suit.

“I’m sorry about Miss Deuxneum.” Nick doesn’t look at him, instead he’s staring at the bridge. “She seemed very kind.”

“She was.” Larry agrees and shakes his head, “she was a good mentor and a wonderful person.” He stares down at the rapids that Nick somehow survived a fall into, “does it get easier?”

Nick laughs.

“I’m the wrong person to ask,” he says and Larry looks at him before he thinks about the fact that Maya usually helps Nick and he’s seen her channel Mia. Oh. Oh. Which is worse, he wonders. The grief at no closure or to drag out the inevitable.

“You were uh, close with Dahlia and Iris though.”

“Oh you have got to be shitting me.” Larry turns to look at him, “please tell me it wasn’t about the possession.”

“No, they’re Pearl’s half-sisters. Maya and Mia’s cousins.” Larry barely has time to react before Nick lays out what Pearl told him about her mother telling her to summon Dahlia.

Larry groans and shakes his head, “that family is fucked up. I’m sorry, no disrespect to Mia, Maya or Pearl but the rest of them.” Larry grimaces.

“You’re including Iris in that.”

“Nick she looks like the woman who tried to kill you and is hiding something.” Larry lifts an eyebrow at him and Nick doesn’t have a response to that.

Larry’s attention is taken by a figure crossing over the bridge, something about their face is strange and then he places it.

“Is that… Godot?”

“You recognize him?”

“No I can just smell the coffee grounds from here, yes I recognize him.” Larry shoves Nick lightly, “Solider 76 looking motherfucker.”

Godot has them in his sights and makes his way towards them once he’s off the bridge.

He glances at Larry and then at Nick, “Finally figured it out have you Trite? How painful the crime of being oblivious is?”

Well fuck him too alright then. Larry gives him a sour look while Nick just looks startled.

“The Entrance to the Sacred Cavern looks like a fucking puzzle workshop.” Larry sucks in a breath at that description, no progress in getting Maya out yet?

Godot huffs, “but it’s all a waste of time.”

“W-why do you say that?” Nick asks hesitantly and Larry can almost feel the cruelty he knows will come.

“Because Maya Fey’s not coming back.”

“What?” Larry asks at the same time Nick snaps, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“What the fuck?” Larry asks and Godot’s impossible to read behind the mask but his contempt oozes from each word.

“It was Trite’s job to protect her. Just like it was his job to protect Mia Fey…”

Larry scoffs, “and my job to protect Elise I suppose?” he’s ready to fight this prosecutor, there’s no coffee around for him to throw, “you’re just-”

Nick elbows him and Godot continues like he hadn’t spoken, “two sisters caught up in the worst circumstances.”

“I…” Nick hesitates and Godot smirks.

“And you were the only one by their sides.” The smirk fades but the contempt only strengthens, “you were the only one who could’ve saved them.”

“That’s bullshit.” Larry cuts in and glares at Nick before he can elbow him again, “you ever met the Fey sisters?” He shakes his head, “no one was ever going to ‘protect’ them from anything. Mia made her choices Nick wasn’t supposed to fight her battles.”

“I didn’t know anything about what was going on!” Nick adds and Larry wonders how much it’s haunted him, that he couldn’t save the woman who’d done so much for him. How much was not being able to save Elise going to haunt him?

Godot barks a laugh as bitter as dark coffee, “what did I just say Trite? Being oblivious is a heinous crime.” He shakes his head once, “Tomorrow… we’ll settle everything in court tomorrow.”

“Who fucking raised you,” Larry cuts in, and Godot jerks back, “a pack of well-read coffee drinking coyotes or what?”

Godot stares at him a moment and Larry thinks he might be about to laugh at either the gall or the stupidity of what Larry just said. After a moment he turns to Nick. “Tomorrow. Once and for all.” With that he heads off down the path, Larry muttering insults until he’s out of sight.

“Did you say fox-hearted in there?” Nick turns too look at Larry who realizes he might have actually just cursed in Warrior cat speak.

“No?”

Orangestripe groomed one paw and dragged it over his ears while Firebirdstorm looked around camp.

“I know I just got out of the medicine cat den but I figured Darkleaf would’ve assigned me to a patrol by now.” He mused, Orangestripe stopped with his tongue partially out to look up at his friend.

“You know… I don’t think I’ve seen him since this morning at least.” He got to his paws and looked around, “Hey Beetlelight!”

The brown tabby jumped slightly, “yeah Orangestripe?”

“Have you seen Darkleaf?” he asked, he could see a few Clanmates stick their heads out of dens as he asked, “Firebirdstorm and I don’t know if we’re on any patrols.”

Beetlelight paused and slowly tilted his head, “I… no I have seen him!”

Harestrike pushed her way out of the warriors den, “he’s not sleeping and his nest is cold.” Orangestripe looked to Firebirdstorm, who shook his head.

“Where is he?” One of the queens asked, Orangestripe flattened his ears as it became more and more clear their deputy was missing.

Firebirdstorm got to his paws, “Alright! Beetlelight, take a hunting patrol to the bramble thickets. Keep an eye out for him but we need to eat.”

The older warrior hesitated a moment before he nodded and signaled to a few Clanmates.

“Harestrike.” Firebirdstorm turned to the senior warrior, “can you lead a border patrol along Demon’s border?”

The senior warrior stared at him for several heartbeats before she nodded, “alright.”

Firebirdstorm let out a rough breath, “and we go tell Spiritstar.”

“I heard.” Orangestripe and Firebirdstorm jerked their heads to look over to where their leader sat outside her den. Her shoulders slumped and her head hung.

“Thank you Firebirdstorm for taking charge.” She let out a heavy sigh, “are you two able to go on patrol with me?”

Firebirdstom nodded and Orangestripe wasn’t going to let them go alone, not after last time. “Of course.”

“Good,” Spiritstar set off at a good pace for a cat who’d been badly attacked just a few days ago. Firebirdstorm stayed at her flank while Orangestripe brought up the rear. StarClan knew what they might find at the border that Spiritstar was leading them every more quickly towards.

The smell of blood hit Orangestripe’s nose at the same time he heard Spiritstar hiss under her breath, “that mouse-brained idiot.”

They came out at the border and the ground lurched under Orangestripe’s paw long enough for him to lose his balance and then slammed back under his paws.

“No,” he croaked as he stared at the familiar form that lay over the border, a long furred gray she-cat never again to tell stories with him. Maria’s flanks were unmoving and the large bite wound over the back of her neck told him everything he needed to know.

Darkleaf sat beside her, blood rolling down his face from a scratch next to his eye. On the ground before him was the dead body of a she-cat with striped legs and tail like Cherrywing and Splashpaw but her fur was a pale orange.

“Darkleaf,” Spiritstar halted over the corpse of her dead cousin and stared at him. “What have you done?”

Darkleaf raised his head to look her in the eyes, blood clinging to his whiskers and muzzle, “I kept the Clan safe.”

Larry settles in the gallery as close to behind the defense’s bench as he could get. His fingers twitch and he aches to draw something. Anything. Just a distraction from what’s about to come. Nick comes in with Pearl beside him and Larry can’t help but think that she looks too small for this.

Edgeworth sits down next to him, Larry offers him a small smile and Edgeworth nods.

“Wright will do Elise Deuxneum justice,” Edgeworth assures him. Larry nods silently and anything else he could say he never gets the chance because Godot is taking his place and they are being told to all rise and he’s on his feet as the judge takes his place.

“Moment of truth I guess.”

He regrets his words not five seconds later when Iris sets out to make Maya the murderer. He leans to Miles and mutters, “I told him Iris was hiding something.” It’s all bullshit. Elise would never have attacked Maya! And Maya didn’t have it in her to kill someone, but of course Wright gets it in his head to trust Iris and this happens.

Edgeworth gives him a look and shakes his head, “it wasn’t this.”

Larry huffs and settles back in to watch when Nick hits him with a sucker punch he could never have seen coming.

The blade in Elise’s staff, that’s a surprise but not nearly as much as his next objection.

“Her real name was… ‘Misty Fey’.”

Larry’s startled cry is swallowed by several others from the gallery. He looks to Edgeworth, “did you-”.

Edgeworth shakes his head and looks at him with concern, “are you alright?”

“I-“ Larry just stares at him, his chest feels like a bomb just went off in it, “no?” Elise was Maya’s mom?

Edgeworth steadies him as Nick continues to try to tear apart Iris’s testimony. “Thanks Edgy.” He’s glad to have someone here because they’re only somewhere like fifteen minutes in and he already feels sick.

“You killed her!” Orangestripe flung himself at Darkleaf who simply rolled under his paws to let Orangestripe pin him down.

“Your loyalty should’ve been to your Clan Orangestripe,” he looked up at him as though he couldn’t see him, “you and Firebirdstorm-”

“And Clan cats don’t kill to win our battles don’t lecture me!” Orangestripe dug his claws in, “why was Maria even here?”

“She wanted to help SpiritClan and Demon’s group and feared that this group of rogues would destroy us both,” he explained in an infuriating calm voice, “she came to me.”

Firebirdstorm hauled him off Darkleaf but the deputy made very little moves to get up. He looked to Spiritstar wordlessly.

Spiritstar closed her eyes and turned away from him, “Orangestripe, who is…”

“She’s an elder of Demon’s group.” He shoved Firebirdstorm off him but stayed near his friend, “she- she was learning Clan stories from me and teaching me how to be better at storytelling.” She was his friend and in some ways another mentor to him.

Spiritstar shook her head, “Darkleaf, why?”

“I wouldn’t have had to do it if Firebirdstorm had done his duty.” Now he hauled himself to his paws to glare across the field at them, “he was by your side when you were attacked he should’ve-”

“Is this about the Clan Darkleaf or about her?” Firebirdstorm challenged with a jerk of his head at Spiritstar, “I know I failed but what are you blaming me for? Failing the Clan or Spiritstar losing a life?”

Larry gently bumps his shoulder into Edgeworth’s in support, “not your fault.” He makes a note that Edgey doesn’t like earthquakes next to Nick’s hatred for the cold. His head is still spinning from the message in blood and the realization that his picture had been both upside down and useful. Nick’s been better too! He’d even said it was unlikely Larry would’ve made a mistake so there had to be a reason his art was wrong. But then… if- she wasn’t Iris then who was… on the stand…

“OH YOU BITCH!” he surges to his feet as Nick names her as Dahlia Hawthorn.

Edgeworth grabs him to pull him back down and he’s probably going to be thrown out but it’s worth it to see the look on Mia, Nick and Dahlia’s faces.

So very worth it.

“What’s the difference?” Darkleaf replied.

Spiritstar looked down at Maria’s body, “Darkleaf-“

“She was going to keep coming!” he sank his claws into the ground and snarled, “she’d gone after Splashpaw twice already! She might have actually killed you next time and I-“

Spiritstar stepped forward to press her muzzle to his, “Darkleaf.” Orangestripe watched as the tension slowly melted out of him.

“I never needed you to fight my battles.”

“But I wasn’t ready to lose you.”

Orangestripe sank against Firebirdstorm to stare blankly at Maria’s corpse, “was it worth it?” He asked. “You lost everything.”

Darkleaf let out a hollow laugh and shook his head. “No Orangestripe. I did this because I thought I would lose everything.” He looked at Spiritstar before he looked to him again.

“Yes. For that alone it was worth it.”

Larry sulks around outside in the lobby, they have some nerve, not even letting him press his ear up against the door to hear what’s going on in there. And come on! If anyone deserved to be yelled at it was Dahlia! She’d almost killed Nick and now, if Larry was understanding things right, she’d killed Elise. Or Misty. And what the hell was that.

Larry heads to the vending machine to stare blankly at the food there. Misty Fae. Elise Deuxneum. All one person.

He stumbles away to the bathrooms because he might just need to throw up. That or cry and he does not want to do that in the lobby where anyone could see him.

The wall is cool and firm against his back and he flips his phone out. How would he even begin to describe this entire case to Wolfdragon.

You there?

Hey

Can you just tell me about your day?

Please?

Or about Warriors, anything

Sure thing

They revamped the Warriors site and now if you go on there the government assigns you kin and a warrior cat name

What?

I’m assigned Dustpelt kin and my name is now Sorrelsong

Dude.

I’ve never been so off-brand

Can you change it?

Nope!

I’m registering now.

Watch me get Wolf- something

I will steal it from you somehow

Songtoe is my government assigned fursona

Larry keeps refreshing hoping for a better one but while they aren’t getting worse they aren’t getting better.

Sorry I’m just

Holy shit

Shut up Sorrelsong.

You could’ve refreshed.

I accepted what was given to me

Fuck that.

Rebellion.

GOD DAMN IT IT JUST NAMED ME SKYRED

PLEASE INCLUDE THAT IN YOUR FIC

I REFUSE

The door opens and Larry shoves his phone in his pocket praying he didn’t just agree to that terrible username. Miles looks down at him “that floor is probably filthy.”

“Couldn’t care.” He does accept Edgeworth’s hand though, “it’s not like I was sitting next to the urinals.”

“Thank god you have some sense.” Edgeworth goes to wash his hands, “they’ll probably let you back in, we called a recess.”

“What happened after they threw me out?” He washes his hands as well and sees a small nod of approval from Miles. Success.

“They called and said the found Iris in the Inner Temple and Dahlia tried to convince Wright that Maya had killed herself but even Godot was willing to help point out the flaws in her logic.” Edgeworth heads for the door and Larry follows after, “Wright and Mia taunted Dahlia until she left Maya’s body. She’s with Wright now.”

Larry lets out a breath of relief. “Still refuse to believe in psychics?”

“I don’t have to put a good word in with the bailiff for you, you know.”

Larry lets out a sigh, “so, then Dahlia killed Elise? Er, Misty?”

Edgeworth shook his head, “no and Godot has challenged Wright to solve the case on his own.”

Larry sucks a breath in through his teeth, “and he said yes because only one of us can have any impulse control at a time.”

“I don’t know about the second part but you’re right about the first.”

“I’m right about all of it now let’s go before they close the doors on us.”

“That may be your opinion Darkleaf but this cannot be allowed to-” Spiritstar sat down heavily. “Firebirdstorm, would you help Orangestripe take her back to Demon’s group for vigil.”

Orangestripe gently grabbed Maria’s scruff and Firebirdstrom moved to help carry her.

“What about…” Firebirdstorm trailed off as he looked at Darkleaf.

“We will have the Clan decide what to do with him,” Spiritstar declared firmly, her head held high, “if they still want him as their deputy.”

Darkleaf’s ears twitched once, Spiritstar glanced at him and Orangestripe felt a pang of sympathy. As furious as he was with Darkleaf he was still a Clan mate and someone he’d looked up to for moons.

Imagine that being your mate.

Or whatever they were with each other, they’d never really publically specified and right now Orangestripe cared only for getting Maria back so they could sit vigil.

The walk to Demon’s camp was thankfully silent, Orangestripe didn’t want Firebirdstorm’s pity right now nor did he want to talk at all.

To his relief it was Timber that was sitting guard and spotted them, “whoa! What happened? Is that Maria?”

Orangestripe gently set the elderly she-cat down and nodded, “can you fetch Viper and Demon, do it quietly?” He blinked at Timber, “please, I promise we’ll explain everything but it’s… there’s a lot.”

Firebirdstorm pressed against him gently and Orangestripe leaned against him. Timber hesitated another heartbeat and nodded, “yeah sure thing pal. Just stay here.” With that he turned and bounded away into camp.

Orangestripe screwed his eyes shut and tried to pull himself together. He needed to be able to talk without rambling all over the place the way he always did when he was upset.

Timber came back and with him was Demon, Viper and Wolf.

Wolf took one look at everything and hurried to Orangestripe’s other side to press into him, “hey.”

Orangestripe buried his muzzle in his thick fur, “hey.” He let Firebirdstorm do the talking, selfish but he wasn’t sure he could honestly speak right now. He just pressed into Wolf who seemed more than content to let him lean on him.

Demon sighed heavily when all was done, “I will leave Darkleaf’s judgement to Spiritstar. You two are welcome to sit vigil with us tonight.”

Firebirdstorm shuffled his paws, “I- I think Spiritstar might need me.” He looked to Orangestripe, who nodded at him.

“It’s okay.” He got to his paws and shook himself, “I’ll stay for the vigil but Spiritstar probably needs you right now.”

Firebirdstorm touched noses with him, “yeah but do you need me?”

“I’ll be okay,” Orangestripe flicked his tail at Wolf and Demon, “we can talk later, you do what you need to do.” SpiritClan and Spiritstar needed Firebirdstorm right now.

Firebirdstorm gave him a quick lick between the ears, “okay.” He nodded to Wolf and touched noses with Demon before he bounded away back towards SpiritClan territory.

Wolf gently nudged Orangestripe to his paws, “come on. You’ll need to explain this vigil thing.”

“I can do that,” Demon replied with a small nod to Orangestripe, “Viper-“

“This is all Clan nonsense.” She replied firmly but Orangestripe could see her soften slightly when she looked at him. Did he look as ragged as he felt?

“But if you feel it will help then I will help you.”

Demon nodded and after a heartbeat he added, “I think being allowed to grieve will allow wounds to heal.”

Orangestripe staggered to his paws with Wolf’s guidance and met Demon’s gaze with a look of understanding and grief.

Demon moved to his other side and as he carried Maria into camp he was supported on both sides by Demon and Wolf.

Larry sinks on to the bench in the lobby and just buried his face in his hands. Pearl wasn’t looking. He can break now. But Nick is. Edgey is. God Von Karma probably is.

“Larry?” He looked up in between his fingers to see Nick standing over him.

“I… you want to come with us? Maya’s been looked over by a paramedic and declared to be fine, just some exhaustion so I was-“ he pauses and turns to look at Edgeworth, “hoping for a ride?” Larry doesn’t have to wait for the yes he knows is coming, Edgey can’t say no to Nick.

“Where are we going?” Larry asks as he gets to his feet.

Nick grins, “well we need to go get Pearl. And I think we missed the bus.”

Larry shrugs and grins, “sure.” It’s forced and fake but maybe he’s better he’s not alone right now. He grabs his bag with art supplies and follows after them.

Von Karma joins their band with a glance at Edgey. “I shall chaperone you foolish fools lest you meet a foolish end.”

Edgeworth sighs, “where are we going Wright?”

Larry and Maya’s eyes get wide as they both spot it, “is that your car?” Larry moved to the flashy red thing, “jeez.” Probably worth more than all he’d ever earned in his life. Under his breath he mutters, “Nick really got a sugar daddy huh?”

Maya swats him on the shoulder and Larry grins at her. When Maya smiles back he can seem the wear on the edge of it, the same fraying feeling he has. But they’re holding themselves together. For now.

“You don’t have to come Franziska,” Edgeworth thankfully didn’t hear him and instead was addressing his sister. “You could leave with detective Gumshoe to hold our dinner reservations.”

“Eldoon’s has reservations?” Larry’s head pops up from where he’s been examining the car. He escapes with only a glare from Franziska and not a whip as she shoves past him for the front seat.

“No Gumshoe has reservations at Tres Bien.” Nick cringes, “he’s paying though and you’re invited.”

Oh yeah Nick told him about that. “They ought to give you a discount,” Larry twists so that Maya can open the door and get in the middle of the backseat.

“I was going to give directions.” Nick’s pout changes into a yelp as Franziska whips him.

“Foolish. You can give your foolish directions from the backseat with the other fools.”

Larry pauses halfway in the car, “hey!”

“You think you are not a fool?” Franziska tugs her whip but Larry just grins.

“Maya doesn’t deserve that.”

Franziska’s eyes are narrowed and she tugs on her whip so Larry scrambles into the car and shuts the door as a shield between them.

Nick comes around and ends up on the other side of Maya, behind Edgeworth. “Alright, this should be pretty quick at least.”

It’s long enough though for Maya to fall asleep on Nick and Larry to get to work on a drawing. His tongue sticks out as he works, using the mirrors and glancing at the other passengers for references as needed.

He has the picture of Eli- of Misty to work from and he just saw Mia and Godot so he thinks he manages them alright only to look up in surprise when he sees where they are out the window.

“Back to the beginning huh?” He asks Nick, who nods slightly.

Larry grimaces and leans against the door to look out the window. “Alright.”

Wolf insisted on walking him back and Demon agreed. Orangestripe ached and was too exhausted to argue with his friends.

He and Wolf walked side by side towards SpiritClan camp when a blur shot out.

“Orangestripe! You’re home!”

He ducked down to let Splashpaw throw herself at him, “hey! Of course I came home.”

Cherrywing and Firebirdstorm padded out of the camp after her, Wolf nodded to both of them.

“So?” he asked curiously, “what did happen to Darkleaf?”

Orangestripe looked up at them curiously, Firebirdstorm let out a soft sigh.

“He will remain deputy for now and the Clan agrees what he did was both selfish but ultimately in the Clan’s best interest.” His ears flattened. “He’ll never be Clan leader though. And I don’t know if Spiritstar can forgive him.”

“She can,” Cherrywing nodded firmly, “it’s going to be a bit awkward for a while there but she’ll be able to forgive him. And you… the speech you gave Firebirdstorm, I think you made him forgive himself.”

“Sorry I missed it then,” Orangestripe straightened up to Firebirdstorm’s height. “You’re really Spiritstar’s legacy aren’t you?”

Firebirdstorm purred softly and dipped his head. “I hope I can be worthy of being called that.” He looked over his shoulder, back at the camp. “Come on. We need to talk.”

Orangestripe touched his nose to Wolf and murmured a good-bye. Firebirdstorm was right. They needed to talk, to heal. With luck and time, to forgive. And with more time, to grow. To become their own legacies.

And Orangestripe would tell their stories.

#FINALLY #Larry Writes Warrior Cats

14 notes · View notes

dylanobrienisbatman · 6 years

Text

The 100 Characters Hogwarts Sorting Series

The Philosopher’s Stone “You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart.”

The Goblet of Fire “Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor... ...By Gryffindor, the bravest were Prized far beyond the rest.”

The Order of the Phoenix “For were there such friends anywhere As Slytherin and Gryffindor?... ... Said Gryffindor, “We’ll teach all those With brave deeds to their name... ...While the bravest and the boldest Went to daring Gryffindor.”

In Harry Potter, Gryffindor just seems to hold all of our “good guy” characters, but I am taking a more ‘trait based’ approach to Gryffindor here. Gryffindors are brash, bold, daring, brave, and wild characters. They don’t follow the rules, not because they have some sort of disdain for them, or because they necessarily think their way is better, but because rules get in the way of sheer, unadulterated bravery. Not always the kindest, or the most caring, Gryffindors care about being the hero, more than anything else. They like the glory that comes with it. The powers of Gryffindor can be used for good or for evil, and the Lions in this show are truly varied in that regard. In Gryffindor we find:

Zeke Shaw

An all out adrenaline junkie, who joined up into the airforce for the thrill of it. He stands up to bullies, no matter what ‘side’ those bullies are on, and he’s got a knack for flinging himself into dangerous situations when his moral compass calls for it. He likes the thrill of it, and he gets into danger just for fun. Motorcycles too fast on the highway, jet planes, and spaceships. He didn’t join up for the cause, he joined up for the fun of it. He is smart as hell, but what he values most in himself is his own bravery. Lion heart for sure.

Jasper Jordan

We got a taste of Jaspers Lionhearted ways during season 1, and by a taste I mean we saw it big time. He wanted nothing more than to BE the hero. He lept into the water to save Octavia. He swung across the river to impress the girl. He followed Clarke and Bellamy to the meet up on the bridge, and even though he panicked, he revelled in the glory and popularity. He wanted to be like Bellamy, the big hero, the one everyone loved and adored. And as much as I think Jasper was terrified, all the time, he wanted to be brave. He organised his friends in the Mountain to save everyone. He was untying his own hands to slit Cage Wallace’s throat in season 2 before Clarke pulled the level. And when he became self destructive, that bravery turned dark. He threw himself into danger, just to feel something. He put himself in harms way because it was the only thing that made him feel alive. And in the end, he was still brave. He was just tired, and his depression and PTSD took over, but he was able to bravely stand with his friends and say that enough was enough, for them. It was horrible and sad, and I wish he had been able to get better, but he was brave, all the way to the end, and that was who Jasper was. The Brave boy who wanted to be a hero.

Harper McIntyre

Gosh, if there was every a character who deserved the moniker of Brave, its Harper. Thrown to earth as a teenager, she found her place in a group of insane criminal kids, and fought her way to being the first female guard we saw. She stood up for what she thought was right, what she believed in, even when it went against what her friends and loved ones believed (“it takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies... but a great deal more, to stand up to your friends”), and she picked herself back up after every horrible thing she experienced, pulling herself back up long enough to find peace in space with her new family. What a brave, beautiful soul.

Octavia Blake

Octavia has always been all brawn, and that is such a strong Gryffindor trait. Octavia flings herself headfirst into a situation without really sitting back and thinking things through, and uses her bravery and her just sheer force of will to get her way. In season 1 we saw it a lot with the way she was with Lincoln, and from what we learned about her childhood. Bravery was the thing that kept her going under the floor, and it’s what she used in season 1 to find her place, and it never stopped. She wants to be a warrior, not because she believed in any cause, but because she felt like fighting and winning gave her purpose. She fought for skaikru not because she truly felt they deserved a place, but because they needed a champion and she could be that. She became an assassin because the only way she could cope with her loss was through violence and anger. Even how she led in the bunker was SO Gryffindor. She would listen to her advisors, but it was never about what the smartest choice was. By the end it was about her power. That lust for hero status, for legend and fame, is very Lion of her.

Madi kom Louadaklironkru

The littlest Lion. I think i knew she was a little gryffindor when she said Octavia was her favourite in the stories. She was fuelled by stories of warriors and fighting, on legendary heroes. She didn’t love sneaky Murphy or brilliant Raven or kind and loyal Bellamy, she loved the pure brawn and fight of Octavia. Madi’s bravery came through on her own throughout the season as well. She made rash, arguably stupid choices when it came to saving the people she loved (telling O she was a real nightblood to protect Clarke anyone?), but she also had no problem calling Clarke out when she felt like they needed to be the heroes. Taking the flame, her biggest fear, to save her mom? Brave as brave can be. Leading an army into battle to save the world? The bravest little lion of them all.

Marcus Kane

Marcus started out as the quintessential rule following hard-ass character in season 1, but he evolved into someone so much more over time. Marcus is one of the Gryffindor characters who is not ruled by the want for legend, but is still ruled by brashness and bravery. He’s a smart guy, for sure, and he’s true to his beliefs, but he functions best when he’s leading the charge. He stands up to tyrants (re: pike, alie, octavia) with no concern for his own life, because he believes in doing whats right. He also puts himself into positions of power, because his charm and charisma gets him there. There is a reason he functioned so well as the ambassador for Skaikru, even though he wasn’t their leader. He had the ability to smile and charm his way to diplomacy when more intellectually brained characters like Jaha couldn’t, and he was able to do it with a true sincerity, where characters like Clarke and Abby would have had too much of their own agenda to succeed.

Finn Collins

Finn was all about the glory of it all. He would fling himself into danger to prove himself to the girl, at any turn. But Finn’s bravery was dark, in the most gryffindor way. He was brave because of what it gave him. Recognition. Respect. The awe of the crowd. Finn was never a character that really seemed to care about anyone other than Clarke and Raven, but he planned peace talks and massacred villages because of the women in his life. His bravery knew no moral place, it was all for his own self interest.

Illian kom Trishanakru

Illian was difficult to sort because sometimes it was hard to see who he really was, but I think his bravery was a big part of him. He ran straight into the enemy camp to blow up the ark, with no care for what it could be used for, because his own anger pushed him there. He wasn’t particularly smart or sneaky about it either. He saw Octavia, and decided she was his in, and he did it. He showed up for his conclave because his people needed a champion, and fought because he had too. Duty and honor drove him, but so did vengeance.

Ontari kom Azgeda

Ontari is all fight. I see a lot of people sort her into slytherin, but she is nowhere near cunning enough. If she had been more Slytherin, she wouldn’t have needed Murphy to help her with her long con as Fake Commander, but she would never have succeeded without him. Her middle of the night conclave/massacre wasn’t strategy or sneakiness, it was just sheer brawn. She saw the chance and went for it. She lusted for power. She used her strength and her violence to take it. She took out the eyes of an advisor instead of trying to woo him. She cut off the heads of the noviciates instead of just winning on her own, which she easily could have. She took the chip from ALIE, even though Murphy told her not too, because she thought it would give her true power. Ontari was all about glory. She wanted to be the Commander because she wanted to win.

Roma

Sadly we didn’t see a lot of Roma, but girl was brave. She never hesitated when the group needed to send out a rescue party. She grabbed a weapon and ran off to help. She did it because the group needed her, and she was there.

Paxton McCreary

McCreary is such a Gryffindor. He isn’t that smart, or that conniving, but he made his way to leadership by sheer force and pressure. He succeeded by taking what other, more tactical leaders left behind when he took power from them with brute force. He blew up the world, because if he couldn’t lead it, then no one could have it. All bravado, all the time.

Cage Wallace

Cage Wallace wanted to be the man who brought his people back to the ground, and he was willing to do whatever it took to get there. He utilised his fathers foundation, Dr. Tsing’s mind, and his own charm to get himself into power, and once he was there, he would stop at nothing to get his way. I feel like he could also be a Slytherin, but I dont think he himself was actually the mastermind behind the planning. He saw what Dr. Tsing could do, and what it could get them, and he convinced the people he needed to put himself into power so he could use her to get it. I think he was much more nerve and gusto than anything else.

Maya Vie

My sweet, brave girl. Maya was a character that came off as tymid and fearful sometimes, but that was such a complete misdirect. She was a force of nature. She fought back against the world she had grown up in because, even if it meant her own death, she knew the right thing to do, and she was going to do it. She helped Jasper, she helped Bellamy, and in the end, when she was being hunted by her own people, after her father was killed and her world was destroyed, she was still ready to stand up and die for her cause. Bravery ran through her veins, and her strength was inspiring.

Of course these are my personal opinions, and how I see these characters. Enjoy!

Ravenclaw Hufflepuff Slytherin

#Zeke Shaw #Octavia Blake #Jasper Jordan #the 100 #gryffindor #harry potter #hogwarts #hogwarts houses #t100 hogwarts series #harper mcintyre #madi kom louadaklironkru #marcus kane #finn collins #illian kom trishanakru #ontari kom azgeda #roma #paxton mccreary #cage wallace #maya vie

52 notes · View notes

ambitionsource · 5 years

Photo

AMBITION Season 1 ♫ “These Boots Aren’t Made For Dancing” [ 1.08 ]

CREATED BY Esther (rapunzles) & Maggie (quincywillows)

CULTURE SWAP – As part of the truce, the performers and techies walk a mile in the others’ shoes – almost literally. Some students are more equipped for the change than others. A technician performance at the end of the week promises plenty of surprises.

50 Minutes (10K words) || No warnings apply.

[ ← Black, The Color of Techies Scorned ] [ S1 Synopsis ] [ The Miserables → ]

( Follow along with the music on Spotify here! )

INT. AAA - BLACK BOX THEATER - DAY

Song Cue ♫ ♪ “Better When I’m Dancin’” as performed by Meghan Trainor || Performed by Zay Babineaux (feat. AAA Sophomores)

The new world order is in full swing at AAA – and the students are just beginning to figure out what exactly that means. To launch into the change, ZAY BABINEAUX leads the full class in a loose and upbeat rendition of the light-hearted bop.

Yes, that is the full class. Not only are the performers jamming together, but the techies are getting pulled into the dance and each getting their moment to show off their moves. Zay has a little duet with each of them (except Lucas, naturally), including a true standout moment with JEFF MONROE who actually seems to have a semblance of rhythm in his body.

JADE BEAMON allows Zay to twirl her, before scrambling bashfully back to her desk. DYLAN ORLANDO trips over his feet trying a step Zay attempts to teach him and ASHER GARCIA. DAVE WILLIAMS knocks over a desk and sends NICK YOGI and NIGEL CHEY into hysterics. The dancing isn’t good, but gosh if it isn’t charming as heck!

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

The parade progresses into the auditorium, much like the last time Zay dragged them all into a dance. Everyone is twirling around and shuffling together, laughing and taking the challenge in stride. It’s a message of encouragement, both to the techies doing something they’re not great at and to Zay’s fellow performers, who are stressed as hell about what this episode might entail for them. It’s cute! It’s endearing!

But why is it necessary?

SHAWN HUNTER and ANGELA MOORE explain it to us, as the class settles into their seats in the front of the auditorium. They stand together on the stage, addressing the class and explaining what the assignment is going to be for the week.

Angela: Considering both sides of the class have now come to a truce –

Charlie, fondly: This school is bananas.

Angela: We want to keep that collaborative spirit and sense of exploration going as we try to navigate how to work together moving forward. This necessitates a better understanding of one another.

Shawn: An exchange of ideas, if you would.

So, to follow this trend and foster a better understanding of one another, they will be swapping sides for the week. Yes, the performers will be working through each of the roles a technician typically puts into a production. Meanwhile, the techies will be preparing their own number, which they will perform at the conclusion of the assignment. Then, all the elements will come together for the full production experience. It’s a culture swap, baby!

Although there are students clearly not enthusiastic about this development – if LUCAS FRIAR’s disdainful expression or FARKLE MINKUS’ nervous twitching are any indication – but there’s also tentative excitement in the air. This could be fun.

Cue opening titles.

INT. AAA - CAFETERIA - DAY

The performers are discussing these new changes at lunch, and already the subtle changes in dynamic are already on display. Rather than all sitting in different corners of the room, Farkle, MAYA HART, Zay, and CHARLIE GARDNER are enjoying their lunch together at the same table. Nigel and YINDRA AMINO are also with them.

The reviews about the announcement of this week’s assignment are, decidedly, mixed.

Maya: This is insanity. Absolute anarchy.

Farkle: Look, everyone wanted me to lay down my arms and come to the negotiating table, so I did. This is what happened. I’m not taking any blame, thank you very much.

Charlie: Oh, come on. Maybe it’ll be good for you all to… learn something.

Maya: I’m sorry, when did we promote you to speaking level?

Zay gives Charlie a playful nudge. He almost chokes on his food.

Even more surprising is the arrival of Lucas to their table, floating over and carrying a stack of paper. His mere presence anywhere near the performer tables is unprecedented, so guess that’s the new world order talking. He greets them all stiffly before handing out the papers, a flyer explaining all of the tasks they will be learning over the course of the week.

Zay: Oh, and you’re gonna perform, right?

Maya, mockingly: Ooh, hear that? Huckleberry is gonna perform!

Farkle: You mean embarrass yourself. You’re going to embarrass yourself.

[ Lucas laughs along, taking the moment in stride. In some ways, this is scarier than if he showed anger. ]

Lucas: I’d be careful if I were you, Minkus. To progress through each station, you have to get approval from a senior technician to confirm that your work is of a satisfactory quality. Do you have any guesses who that senior technician might be?

[ Farkle has stopped laughing, mouth hanging open slightly. Charlie speaks for him. ]

Charlie: Is it… you?

Lucas: (: See you all in lab!

At the other end of the cafeteria, RILEY MATTHEWS is seated at the indoor techie table. She is eagerly discussing the assignment with ISADORA DE LA CRUZ, rambling on about how amazing it is that they’ll finally get to perform and already imagining what the number might be like. She can’t wait for the entire class to see how talented Isadora is.

Her rant is interrupted when Lucas rejoins them, sliding into the seat next to Riley and bumping her shoulder in the process. She clears her throat, getting distracted by how close he’s sitting. It’s hard to forget she now knows very well that he and Isadora are nothing more than platonic…

Isadora has no such distractions. She glances over her shoulder at how shaken the performers seem before looking back at the mischievous expression on his face, giving him a look.

Isadora: What did you do to them? Lucas, don’t –

Lucas: What? What, I did nothing! Nothing. I was just… preparing them. (:

Isadora rolls her eyes, already prepping a retort as Lucas smirks to himself. Riley glances at him, unable to hold back a smile. When he locks eyes with her, she bashfully looks down at her food.

Isadora: Don’t cause any more trouble, please. We finally have a school-wide truce, and I wouldn’t mind it if that could stick for a while.

Riley: It does seem like a long time coming.

Isadora: I just want everything to be normal now. That’s it. No changes, no drama, just… normalcy.

At Adams? That’s an impossibility. As if on cue, Yogi runs in, raving about whether or not everyone has “seen it” yet. Their table exchanges exhausted looks, assuming he’s referring to the AAA Confessions page and telling him they don’t wanna hear it. But that’s not what Yogi is talking about.

He slaps down his phone on the tabletop, the assembled brigade of techies leaning over to take a look at it. It’s open to an article from a tabloid, the focus being Isadora and her famous connection to Valerie De La Cruz. She’s officially low-hanging publication fodder. Lucas, Riley, and Isadora look up at the same time, exchanging matching looks of shock with varied degrees of indignation.

So much for normalcy.

INT. AAA - BLACK BOX THEATER - DAY

Shawn and Angela are together in the theater classroom, enjoying their lunch as a pair. Shawn is seated in the desk chair, looking up at Angela sitting with her legs crossed on the desktop. It’s her desk, after all, so who is gonna tell her not to sit on it?

They’re flipping through the tabloid themselves, getting a sense of what storm might be brewing next. It never ends at the Academy for the Arts, it seems. Angela also drops the news during the conversation that she is eyeing a few auditions in the coming weeks, and she thinks she’s going to go out for them. She’s been putting them off because she wants to be present for as much of the musical casting process as possible – which is coming around the bend in a week or so – but she’s got a few auditions slated for Thursday and Friday. She wants to start trying to get some actual roles and pursue her dream again, crazy as it still seems.

Shawn is obviously a bit uncertain about this development. He makes a cheeky comment about how telling it is that he just got her back and off she goes again with this dream thing, but he’s mostly kidding. She tosses a playful statement back his way, kicking at him lightly with her heel.

He reaches up and pulls her off the desk, pulling her onto his lap instead as she bursts into laughter. They exchange a kiss, obviously in a better place to have this conversation than they were in their early twenties. Hopefully that mojo persists…

INT. AAA - ERIC’S OFFICE - DAY

The chaos unfolds in Eric’s office, where Riley and Lucas marched Isadora as soon as they saw the article. ERIC MATTHEWS listens calmly while they rail on how ridiculous this all is, not to mention an invasion of privacy. Isadora is also quiet in the chair across the desk, not offering much to say herself.

JACK HUNTER is also present, equally as up and arms about the whole thing. Rather than playing his usual role of diffuser, he feeds off of Riley and Lucas’s frustration, the three of them just riling each other up and backing one another up. It takes Eric a hot minute to get them all to shut up, finally allowing Isadora the floor to speak.

When she does, however, she doesn’t say what any of them were expecting. She states she basically wants to ignore it. Yes, it’s stressful, and yes, it’s freaking her out, but she’s sick of reacting to it already. She just wants to pretend it’s not happening.

Lucas: Dora, are you serious?

Isadora: It’s not like I can make it go away, can I? But it’s just words on paper. It can’t do anything to me. And who actually reads that thing anyway?

Lucas: Yeah, but –

Jack: Are you sure that –

Isadora: I just want to pretend it’s not there, and focus on the assignment. Is that too much to ask?

No, it’s not, really. Lucas and Riley exchange a look, before looking to Jack. He steps forward, assuring Isadora that he will do whatever he can to get to the bottom of this. They’re going to figure out who leaked this information, and they’ll put a stop to it. Isadora is skeptical.

Isadora: Oh, yeah? You can’t even figure out who is running an anonymous Instagram account for a high school of 200 students. You’re really going to deduce the source of a nationally printed tabloid? [ off Jack’s flustered response ] Sure. Give it a try. Otherwise, I really just want to go back to the usual routine.

If that’s what she wants, there’s not much more they can do. Eric assures her that she can come to him at any time, which she already knows. She gets to her feet, leading the way out. As they’re leaving, Jack has one more comment to make towards Lucas.

Jack: You know, I think this is the first time you’ve left one of our offices without saying something inappropriate or knocking something over.

Lucas: [ with a cheeky grin ] Revolution is beautiful, isn’t it?

Eric: Yes, my yet-to-be-broken mugs and I are very happy with this new world order.

After Jack exits as well, Zay pokes his head in. Eric lights up when he sees him, responding in affirmation to Zay’s statement that he asked to see him and eagerly gesturing for him to take a seat. He explains they’re just waiting for one more person, just as Charlie appears in the doorway.

Eric happily greets him, inviting him in to join them. Charlie spots Zay and has a split second of hesitation and what could be described as panic, but he breezes past it and pulls himself back together in a blink. Could’ve just been a trick of the light. But the moment he’s seated, he immediately asks what Eric could’ve called both them in for specifically.

As he explains it, he pulled the two of them in because they’re some of the most universally liked students in the class. They have a reputation for good attitudes and keeping things positive, and given the challenge present this week for many of their classmates, he was hoping that they could work together to actively make sure things stay light and people are feeling good.

There’s a bit of a question of like… isn’t that Eric’s job, but Zay and Charlie exchange a look before agreeing that they’ll do it. Eric is thrilled.

INT. AAA - HALLWAY - DAY

As Zay and Charlie step into the hall, they both agree that they have no idea what exactly they’re supposed to be doing. But hey, Charlie says, they’ll try their best. Together, as Zay reminds him. He pats him on the shoulder, and Charlie glances at his hand before breaking into a grin.

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

And together, Angela reiterates in class, is how they’re all going to manage this week. It’s going to take collaboration from both sides to get to the end of the assignment successfully. And Shawn agrees. Thus, let’s kick off this exchange of swapping sides…

Song Cue ♫ ♪ “Strangers Like Me” as performed by Phil Collins || Performed by AAA Sophomores

A montage carries us through the start of this immersion project, chronicling all the ways that they’re beginning to step into one another’s shoes.

The techies attempt to teach confused performers the basic ropes of their usual jobs. Jade leads them through a costuming seminar, Yogi inevitably sticking himself with multiple pins. Nate painstakingly shows Haley, Clarissa, and Darby how to construct a set piece, but they can barely carry the wood by themselves. Isadora runs them through basic stage mechanics, almost knocking Farkle off the stage on accident.

On the lyrics “Every gesture, every move that she makes makes me feel like never before,” the focus is on Charlie and Zay. The latter is helping Isadora and Asher with a bout of choreography, and as Charlie watches it’s evident that he’s clearly… struggling with something. He keeps wiping his palms on his jeans, and swallowing hard like he’s dying of thirst. Maybe he is! It’s a relief when Dylan pulls him away again for more help.

When it comes to “Why do I have this growing need to be beside her,” the moment belongs to Riley and Lucas. He and Dave are teaching her and a group of performers about crewing and moving set pieces during a scene, proper protocol for moving in the dark and where to hold the pieces. Riley evidently says something silly that makes the group of them laugh together. Lucas catches himself smiling at her like an idiot, and then is like. Wait a minute. What am I doing.

Riley, of course, doesn’t notice a thing.

On the flip side, performers are also attempting to give tips to the techies – teaching them dance moves, helping them stand taller with more stage presence, etc. Charlie spends a chunk of time with Dave, Dylan, and Nate, maintaining a positive attitude while showing all of them and their left feet basic dance steps. Maya examines each of them and adjusts their posture. When she gets to Lucas and he just glares at her, she just skips over him. Smart move, miss Hart.

INT. AAA - TECHNICIAN’S BOOTH - DAY

When the bridge arrives and we’re at the slower reprieve (“Come with me now to see my world…”), Lucas brings Riley into the technician’s booth for the first time. She follows him up the steps and then hesitantly into the space, knowing full well how sacred it is. She glances at Lucas for a sense of permission before stepping up to the lighting board and main window, getting a taste of the view.

She’s totally entranced by the view of the stage, but Lucas isn’t looking at that. He can’t stop looking at her.

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

The rest of the montage progresses with an epic feeling, showing the opposing sides beginning to get the swing of their new stations. Dave does some terrible dance moves, but with confidence! Zay manages to build part of a set piece without killing anyone. The only downbeat is Farkle, who is clearly struggling with every task put in front of him. Poor, poor, little diva…

Angela and Shawn watch all this unfold, exchanging smirks before lightly high-fiving one another. So far, so good.

INT. AAA - TECHNICIAN’S BOOTH - DAY

Riley is still in the booth with Lucas, getting her lesson in lighting from him. He’s showing her how to operate the board, sort of mumbling through it as he’s not the instructor Jeff or Isadora would be. But Riley is being a good student, listening very attentively and asking plenty of follow up questions.

When it’s her turn to set up the correct lighting design, she’s cautious as she places her fingers on the board. Partially because it’s an expensive board and she doesn’t want to like, break it, but also because she doesn’t know what she’s doing and doesn’t want to mess up. Lucas senses her hesitation, leaning closer and helping guide her hands to the right sliders.

Yes, it’s that kind of classic maneuver. Lucas leaning over her shoulder, his hands lightly resting on top of hers. It’s difficult to tell whether the move is intentional on either of their parts, but the moment they realize how close they’re standing it’s clear they weren’t prepared for it.

Riley catches her breath, tilting her head to look at him. She speaks softly, telling him that she thinks she understands why he likes being up here so much. The way it’s sort of removed, has this sense of quiet isolation… but how you can still see everything. The whole world is within your reach, even if you’re safely on the other side.

Riley: There’s something… I don’t know, beautiful, about that. Isn’t there?

Lucas: [ gazing at her, swallowing ] Yeah…

The moment is interrupted when Isadora storms in, wondering if either of them are going to do the hell job they’re in charge of and change the lighting? The two of them jump away from one another in seconds, shaking off the tension.

Isadora pushes past Riley, fixing the board herself. She claims they’ve been shouting up at them for like three minutes, what the hell were they doing up here, playing cards? Lucas can’t even look at them, turned away in the other direction.

Guess Riley’s turn in the lighting booth is over. Whoopsie!

INT. AAA - PROP LOFT - DAY

Farkle and Maya are in the prop loft, receiving instructions from Asher about the best way to handle each item. He’s going to detail about the elaborate organizational method he has set up for the place, and how it took his entire freshman year to implement it. He emphasizes how each prop is like a child that must be well cared for, handled delicately and with patience… just as Farkle accidentally knocks over one of the tables and sends a bunch of items scattering all over the floor. Asher lets out half a shriek as Maya scrambles out of the way of the wreckage, Farkle sputtering out an apology.

Asher looks like he might pass out, but he assures him it’s fine. He heads out to get a dustpan in case anything was broken, although the possibility seems to kill him as he speaks it. Maya and Farkle bend down to start gathering the fallen. She jokingly claiming that he’s a natural prop master, but Farkle doesn’t really find it funny. It’s obvious he’s in a mood, so she decides to zip it for now. They continue to clean up in silence.

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

The techies are assembled on the stage, grouped together to discuss their assignment. Much like their brainstorm in 1.02, they’ve got the rolling whiteboard out and Dylan and Asher are alternating taking notes. Most of the suggestions written so far are nonsensical or silly, demonstrating just how seriously they’re taking this potential performance.

Isadora has a surprising amount of ideas, throwing them out there passionately. Nate points out that it seems she’s been bitten by the performer bug, but she simply states it’s the auteur in her and she doesn’t want them all to embarrass themselves so it may as well be good.

Lucas, conversely, is the grumpiest about the whole thing. He claims they should just not do it. There’s no way they can force them to perform. It’s against their rights – those ones they just fought tooth and nail for. Dylan and Asher exchange a hesitant look, while Jade states that maybe they should just try and approach it optimistically.

Lucas: I would rather cut my feet off with a rusty hacksaw than do this.

Dave: Well, that would hurt. :(

It’s clear this brainstorm isn’t going anywhere productive, especially with Lucas in his current mood. The group disbands, sauntering out until it’s only Isadora remaining. She hangs back and keeps working on the whiteboard, scribbling a couple more ideas. She even starts to storyboard a sequence, muttering some potential lyrics under her breath.

It’s clear – she’s enthused about this performance. Now there’s a cinematic twist…

INT. SHAWN’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Shawn and Angela are eating dinner together on Shawn’s cushy couch, discussing how they think the assignment is going. The conversation quickly devolves into kissing, the two of them back in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, until a knock at the door yanks them out of it. Angela asks if he’s expecting anybody, which of course he isn’t, but he gets up to investigate.

When he pulls open the door, Jack is standing there. He’s out of breath, having ran all the way from the nearest subway station. Well, not the nearest, in his haste he jumped off a stop too early, but case in point he made it. Shawn is like great… and why are you here?

Jack invites himself in, settling down next to Angela on the couch after greeting her offhandedly. Angela is a bit embarrassed to be seen in such a situation by her boss, but when she exchanges a look with Shawn he just shrugs.

Jack doesn’t seem at all fazed by it, pulling out his laptop with urgency. He explains that he’s gotten a lead on the tabloid debacle, after spending the past couple of days doing some deep diving and investigating.

Jack: It took some research, and some conferring with online sources, not to mention a lengthy thread of rather persuasive emails –

Shawn: God, you need a hobby. Or a hook-up.

All this aside, Jack was able to retrieve the IP address of the source the tabloid used for the story. He turns his computer to show Angela, Shawn leaning over to take a look as well. She recognizes it first.

Angela: [ with a gasp ] Is that – ?

Jack: The IP address for Adams. Yes, yes it is. [ With gusto ] The source came from inside our school.

So there it is. Someone at AAA is leaking things about Isadora, and now they’re going to get to the bottom of it.

INT. MAYA’S APARTMENT - DAY

Maya is getting ready for school, KATY HART finishing up dressing in her waitress uniform for work. Bag gathered, she takes a moment to admire her mother, who questions why she’s looking at her with that goofy expression.

Maya makes a point of saying how much respect she has for her, considering she’s been working a fraction as hard as she does for the past couple of days and absolutely hates it.

Maya: I’ve been doing manual labor and things for other people eight hours a day for two days, and I wanna die. You, you do it all the time and don’t even bat an eye. I don’t think I appreciate that enough. I love you.

Katy smiles, wandering over and giving her a kiss on the head. She claims it’s entirely worth it, especially getting to see her follow her dreams. If that means making coffee and serving pie to greasy New Yorkers, then so be it. Oh, and the occasional well-groomed arts student.

Maya accepts the playful jab, claiming that since she’s been getting a taste of her life, Katy deserves a slice of hers. She prompts her mom to pick a song, whatever comes on the radio at work a lot of that she finds herself humming a lot. Katy is hesitant at first, but then she tells Maya to hand her her cell from the coffee table.

The moment she hands it over, Katy already knows exactly what song to play.

Song Cue ♫ ♪ “9 to 5” as performed by Dolly Parton|| Performed by Maya Hart & Katy Hart (feat. AAA Sophomores)

The moment the jaunty piano rings through the apartment, Maya already knows the vibe. Katy is like you think you can keep up? And Maya is like it’s not even a question.

Katy takes lead on the first verse. When she sings “pour myself a cup of ambition,” Maya lets out a laugh. And yeah, it’s because it’s a nod to the title of the show. Cue credits!

The mother-daughter duo dance around together for the first chorus, and it is absolutely charming. We can see where Maya gets her love of performing from, even if Katy never got to see that dream realized. But for a moment in that morning, she gets a taste of it.

INT. AAA - BLACK BOX THEATER - DAY

Maya takes the energy and sentiment back to school with her, leading the rest of the performers along with it as they complete their techie tasks. It’s another number that allows us to feature smaller moments with performers we don’t spend much screen time with, such as CLARISSA CRUZ and HALEY FISHER.

All in all, an endearing fun time through and through. Make the dull work flashy, Maya!

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

Riley is attempting to tackle set construction again. Dave is trying his best to help her, but she’s not quite getting it. She’s too delicate with the tools, and you have to be a little forceful with them if you want them to get the message. Lucas walks over to check in and Dave explains the situation.

He steps up to help, coming up close to Riley again and showing her how to properly use the staple gun. It’s another classic maneuver in the vein showing someone how to bowl or golf only… staple gun, and once again necessitates more physical contact than either of them have ventured before. He explains that she has to give it a little more pressure, successfully planting a staple while pressing down his hand over hers.

Dave applauds the success, but Riley isn’t even aware of it. She is totally struck, just staring at Lucas over her shoulder and trying to figure out how to use words again.

Isadora stomps over, proclaiming that this job should not be taking so long. She essentially pushes them to the side, taking the staple gun like ugh, just let me do it! She does the full swath in like fifteen seconds, tossing the tool back at Dave. Riley backs off apologetically, claiming it wasn’t Dave’s fault and she’s just slow on the uptake.

Isadora nods her along, before turning her glare to Lucas. Her expression clearly conveys disdain, like, hello? You’re slipping? Please pull it together in the one week we need to be on top of things? Yes, Isa, he is indeed slipping…

INT. AAA - JACK’S OFFICE - DAY

Another bulletin has been released about Isadora, discussing how she might be following in Valerie’s star-studded footsteps considering she is opting to perform in class that week. Eric and Jack are both hunched over the tabloid article, deducing that culprit likely isn’t in the sophomore class. All of them know the expectations of the lesson this week and are aware this performance isn’t anything more than a requirement.

HARLEY KEINER shows up, asking if Jack still needs access to the databases. Jack responds emphatically, allowing him to do whatever he needs to his laptop. When Eric questions what is going on, Jack explains that Harley is giving him access to the school online usage database so they can see who has been using the library computers which route to that specific IP address.

Eric: I didn’t realize you tangled with the technical, Harley.

Harley: I, janitor Harley Keiner, am a man of many interests. I am not simply limited to the sanitorial arts.

Well, no arguing with that. The three of them crowd around the computer, watching as Harley enters the database. Hopefully, taking them one step closer to finding their leak.

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

The class has come back together for specified costuming time, a duo of performers each assigned to design the costumes for a technician.

Zay and Riley have been assigned to work with Lucas, who absolutely refuses to talk about the assignment itself. Zay is fishing for details about what their number might be considering they need it to, well, design costumes, but Lucas doesn’t even want to talk about it.

However, all hope is not lost considering they are at least getting measurements. Yes, it is worth noting that Lucas is perfectly fine letting Riley touch him all over to get statistics with her measuring tape – across the shoulders, around the torso, obediently following her soft-spoken directives and doing whatever she needs. Zay is lowkey raising his eyebrows at this, but Riley isn’t saying a word about it because she does not want to jinx herself. Clever girl.

When Zay tries to step forward to help, Lucas reverts back to his Shawn-dubbed “feral cat” state and hisses at him but, you know, in brooding human form. Zay backs off with his hands raised in surrender, more than happy to let Riley do all the work if it’ll keep him from getting rabies.

INT. AAA - BLACK BOX THEATER - DAY

Farkle and Maya are working on Isadora, getting much more about the performance out of her than Lucas. Maya is doing the measurements for her, approaching all of the close contact delicately and waiting for cues from Isadora to proceed considering she knows how uncomfortable this might be for her. Behind them, Farkle attempts to piece together scraps of a costume with the sewing machine. Maya asks if the techies are excited about the number, or if they’re all dreading it as much as Lucas clearly is.

Isadora: Is he that obvious?

Farkle: It’s like he’s sweating mediocrity.

Maya: Us performers can smell fear. Especially his; it’s rare.

Farkle also comments that the pressure of the tabloid can’t be helping Isadora’s nerves. Maya shoots him a look to shut up, but Isadora claims it really isn’t bothering her that much. She’s hardly keeping up with it considering how much work she has to put into this week. But so far, she’s kind of enjoying it.

Maya seizes this excitement, stating that Isadora should totally audition for the musical next week. They could certainly use the additional female star power, and what does she have to lose if she actually enjoys it? Isadora seems reluctant, but the more Maya goes on about it the more it seems she may be warming up to it.

Farkle interrupts the train of thought, sticking himself with a pin for the fourteenth time and letting out a resounding “FUCK!”

Maya: It’s costuming, Farkle, not brain surgery.

Farkle: Brain surgery would hurt less.

EXT. AAA - LUNCH COURTYARD - DAY

At lunch that afternoon, the techies are deep into discussing their performance, Isadora leading the charge. They’re running out of time, after all, so they need to get it together.

Lucas is zoned out, his mind elsewhere. Isadora calls him out, snapping him back to reality and expressing disdain that he isn’t paying any attention.

Isadora: God, where is your brain this week?

He doesn’t know, Isa, he doesn’t know! Riley took it and she won’t give it back! He snaps instead, getting defensive about how they shouldn’t be concerned about him considering he doesn’t even want to do it anyway. If Isadora is having such a good time with the whole thing, what does she need him for?

Isadora holds his glare, before pointedly continuing the discussion about the choreography. Lucas rolls his eyes, stabbing at his food. Dylan and Asher share another tacit exchange.

INT. AAA - BLACK BOX THEATER - DAY

Unfortunately for Farkle, he’s the next person who has to deal with Lucas. He’s still stuck on the costume construction assignment, and Lucas isn’t in a very forgiving mood.

Lucas: Look at that. [ Looking up from the mess of cloth. ] Still sucks!

He tells Farkle to try again, which he’s sick of hearing. Farkle jumps to his feet, throwing the costume down and claiming he’s not doing shit again. Lucas claims he will, that is if he wants to pass. The moment is tense between the two of them.

Farkle: You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Must be so nice to finally wield control over the people who are so frustratingly more talented than you. Does that make you feel better? Less inadequate?

Lucas: I’m not the one who’s been stuck on the same assignment for three days because I can’t figure out how to work a little needle.

For a second, it really seems as though Farkle might pounce. Lucas raises his eyebrows, amused, but the moment is disrupted when Shawn pops in. He summons Lucas to his office, sensing the tension the second he steps in but deciding to just diffuse it rather than comment on it.

Farkle waits for them to leave, before kicking at the ruined costume again in frustration.

INT. AAA - SHAWN’S OFFICE - DAY

Lucas is seated across the desk from Shawn and Angela, who are confronting him on the basis that they’ve heard from his classmates that he isn’t taking the assignment seriously. He scoffs at this, defending himself and pointing out that he’s done nothing but patiently train the performers all week despite their glaring incompetence.

That’s not what they’re referring to, though, and Lucas knows it. Angela goes on to highlight the upcoming techie performance, citing specific things that Lucas has said or done over the course of the week that indicate his lack of compliance. All of the above have concerned his classmates, and made them worry about how their final assignment was going to turn out.

Lucas deflects and focuses on the very notion that his fellow technicians snitched on him, demanding to know who told them these things. Shawn states that he knows damn well they can’t divulge that information, and that shouldn’t be his takeaway from this conversation anyway. When they push him again on the assignment he gets defensive, claiming that they literally can’t force him to do this if he doesn’t want to.

Angela points out that he’s a student of this school and it’s part of the curriculum. So, actually, they absolutely can. Lucas storms out, knocking a stack of papers off the desk on his way out for good measure. Angela is totally shocked by this behavior, but Shawn seems totally unimpressed. Nothing he hasn’t dealt with before. He starts gathering the papers again, unbothered.

She laments that he absolutely shouldn’t tolerate that kind of outburst, but Shawn states it’s hardly different than when Farkle has a diva meltdown and stomps off. He comes further to Lucas’s defense, claiming he used to be the same way in high school. She should remember, shouldn’t she? Besides, he knows how it feels to be so reluctant to perform, certain you can’t do it. It’s difficult when everyone around you is so talented, and you know you’re not.

This parlays back into a discussion about Angela going off to try and get back into the business, only this time the focus is about what it would mean for the two of them. It’s evident that Shawn still has some leftover bitterness from being left behind the first go around. Angela assures him that it’s not going to change anything between them, as they’ve both grown and changed yet came back together anyway.

She also tells him that if he wants to become a better performer, then all he has to do is ask.

Song Cue ♫ ♪ “Over And Over Again” as performed by Nathan Sykes|| Performed by Angela Moore

Angela pulls Shawn into a slow dance with her, singing the romantic tune to convey that her devotion to him is indeed true. Although he’s a reluctant dance partner at first, he loosens up over the course of the song. Now that’s romance!

INT. AAA - BLACK BOX THEATER - DAY

Charlie has stepped in to help Farkle, as he’s clearly struggling the most out of all of the performers. Although he has as generous and soft an approach as ever, Farkle is basically foaming at the mouth at this point and is like I’ll kill you, saying some harsh and not very grateful statements to Charlie and what he can do with his plucky positive spin on things.

Zay steps to Charlie’s defense, pulling him away from Farkle and taking over. Only his lecture is far less encouraging and more of a wake up call.

Zay: Look, we’re here to be emotional support, not your personal punching bag. So first, you can apologize to Charlie, and then, you can stop being a royal bitch to everyone who just wants to help you.

Farkle, stunned: … sorry.

Zay: Needs improvement. But you can figure that out on your own.

Farkle is floored. Charlie is floored, watching the exchange with wide eyes. He doesn’t even react when Zay takes his arm and drags him from the room, leaving Farkle alone.

INT. AAA - COSTUME LOFT - DAY

Zay leads them to the costume loft, climbing up the ladder into isolation first while Charlie follows along in a daze. The costume loft is a rather confined hideaway in the realm of the auditorium, a place where students go to chat in private or… confer in other ways. Heaps of costumes make for suitable enough cushions, the rest of the eclectic assortment of clothing hanging from racks.

Zay continues to complain about Farkle’s behavior, flopping onto one of the piles. Charlie catches up to the last few minutes, coming back to reality and claiming that Zay didn’t have to do all that.

Zay: Of course I did. No one should talk to you that way. You let people talk to you like that all the time?

Charlie: I, uh… just never seemed like a big deal. Just trying to keep things polite.

Zay: There’s being polite, and there’s being a pushover. You’re way too good to let people step on you like that.

Charlie blinks, absorbing this sentiment. It’s unusual for someone to stand up for him so pointedly, and it clearly means a lot for him. Whatever he’s starting to feel here, it’s definitely deeper than he thought…

INT. AAA - HALLWAY - DAY

In a quick cut montage, Lucas goes around to each of the techies and interrogates them about who snitched on him. It’s accomplished in a relatively comedic manner, especially for people like Dave who clearly have no idea what’s going on. By the time he gets through a majority of the crew, it begins to become clear exactly who the prime suspects are.

INT. AAA - TECHNICIAN’S BOOTH - DAY

Asher and Dylan show up to the booth, asking if Lucas wanted to see them. He greets them cheerfully, gesturing them in and telling them to get comfortable. He asks if they want anything – snacks, a juice box, whatever – which Dylan definitely takes. Fun times with techie dad!

Or so they thought. Once he’s got them all cozy and secure, Lucas turns the tables on them and methodically questions them about whether or not they ratted him out. They start out resolute at first, adamant that they didn’t do anything, but as Lucas speaks more quickly and with more authority, clearly laying out the logic for how he figured out it was them, Asher cracks first.

Asher: Alright, okay! It was me, okay! We did it!

Dylan: Ash!

Asher: Oh, don’t look at me like that. He’s onto us! He knows! Look, you can see it on his beautiful, withholding face!

Lucas questions why they did it, but it doesn’t take much more to get them to spill all of it. Asher explains that they felt like he was holding back the group, and this week was going to be difficult enough as it is. Once Asher falls it’s not long until Dylan is confessing too, expressing that it took everything in them to turn him in, but they didn’t want the rest of the techies to bear the brunt of the decision. They really believed they were doing what was best for everyone involved.

Both of them apologize profusely, claiming they never intended for it to get back to him this way and they completely understand if he wants to pitch both of them off the catwalk.

Dylan: Just, please, let Asher wear a blindfold. He’s scared of heights. Me, you can just look me right in the eyes when you – [ Gestures a violent shove. ]

Surprisingly, however, Lucas is rather level-headed. He states he’s not mad, which both of them have trouble believing. He starts pacing, trying to figure out how to move forward with this revelation. Dylan rubs Asher’s shoulder reassuringly.

Lucas: … did you really do it because you’re concerned about me? You think I’m holding back the group?

Asher: Not you, specifically. Like, not you or your ability or anything like that.

Dylan: I actually happen to think with a little bit of practice, you could be quite the leading man.

Asher: [ hurriedly, off Lucas’s eyebrow raise ] We just know how much your opinion means to us, and we know it’s true for the rest of the crew. So when you keep shooting down the project, it’s like… it’s hard to get everyone in the right spirit.

Dylan: Yeah. If your attitude was a little more, like, receptive, the crew would totally go into the whole thing with more confidence. That’s all.

Lucas takes this in. It sure demonstrates the impact of his leadership, just like Riley said he had. He releases a sigh, before requesting that the next time they have an issue with him, they just come to him with it instead of going through a third party. They eagerly agree, apologizing again and promising him they will.

It’s evident that despite his demeanor, Lucas does care about his techie crew and the way they perceive him. He doesn’t care about much, sure, but the things he does? He’ll do anything for.

And boy, is he gonna have to do something…

INT. AAA - BLACK BOX THEATER - DAY

Farkle is tackling the costuming assignment for like the fifth time, well on his way to losing his mind in that claustrophobic black box. Jade is present now, doing her best to talk him through each step. He’s just totally frazzled and basically shutting down, and when Riley walks in to see how things around going Jade is more than happy to pass the responsibility of him to her. She makes a beeline out of there, Riley approaching and settling down across the table from Farkle.

Riley coaxes him into giving the assignment one more try, her calm demeanor and patience alone helpful in its own right. As they’re working through the costume piece by piece, she nudges him into expression why he thinks this assignment is so difficult for him. Farkle opens up a bit – it’s the Riley effect, after all – about how this situation just feels out of his control. Like there’s all these elements that he can’t control, and the less competent he is the more that feeling escalates. It’s a vicious cycle.

Riley empathizes, considering what’s going on with her parents. She states that Farkle can only control what is, well, within his control. And, believe it or not, accomplishing this costuming task is within that sphere. All in all, a key friendship building moment for the two of them.

INT. AAA - HALLWAY - DAY

Isadora gets a notification from a messaging app, startled to discover it’s from her mother. It’s the first correspondence she’s received from her in months, since she went to visit for winter break. Valerie apologizes for the way the tabloids have seemed to jump on her, and promises that she will take care of it.

Isadora ignores the messages, opting not to respond. She’s obviously still hurt by the state in which her relationship with her mother exists.

When she looks back up again, she’s made it back in front of the black box. The audition sheet for the musical is glaring back at her, almost daring her to put her name on it. It goes against everything she’s ever thought about herself and performing in general… and yet, she can’t seem to look away from it.

Clearly, she has some deliberating to do.

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

Lucas is alone at center stage, trying and failing to teach himself the choreography for the techie performance. It’s partially his fault considering he put it off until the last minute, but the fact that he clearly has no idea what he’s doing regardless certainly doesn’t help. Not to mention the nerves. That never improves a difficult situation.

Riley pushes through the stage doors and wanders into the wings just as he’s starting over from the top, evidently frustrated. She hangs back for a moment to observe, clearly finding the visual wholly endearing. Then, she decides to throw him a life preserver.

Riley: Well, there’s a sight I never thought I’d see.

Lucas brushes off her teasing commentary, explaining that given how important grades are to his crew he figures he should at least put a semblance of effort. Riley nods along, seeing right through his aloof exterior. If he really didn’t care, he wouldn’t be here attempting to rehearse.

Riley volunteers to walk through the steps with him, picking up the choreo sheet and taking a look at it. She observes his approach to a couple of the steps as he walks through it, stating exactly just how stupid he thinks each move is.

After getting a good sense of where he’s at, Riley claims that his main problem is that he’s too stiff. He’s all lost in his head, and there’s no way he’s going to be able to perform the number if he’s so locked up. She claims she can help him, but only if he trusts her and allows her to do so. Can he do that?

After a moment of hesitation, he agrees. He raises his hands in surrender, telling her to do whatever witchcraft it’s going to take to suddenly make him a good dancer.

Amused, Riley pulls out her phone and finds a waltzing track. She explains that it’s important to just get comfortable with movement first, and a waltz is probably one of the most basic forms of dance there is. It’ll at least loosen him up. He seems hesitant, but when Riley holds out her hand, it doesn’t take him long to take it. She adjusts their posture, Lucas allowing her to take the reigns and set them up correctly.

Riley: We’ll use the 3-count – you can count that high, right? [ Off his offended expression ] Just kidding.

Lucas: Ha ha ha. Very funny.

Song Cue ♫ ♪ “Princess Diaries Waltz” as performed by John Debney || Instrumental

They start off slow, taking the dance one step at a time. As they’re going through the motions, Riley can tell that he’s still stuck on the technicalities of it all. His head is constantly down, focused on what his feet are doing rather than letting them operate on their own.

Riley: That’s your problem. Don’t you see it? You’re overthinking. You keep looking at your feet.

[ Riley reaches out and lifts his chin, putting them back at eye level. Lucas locks eyes with her, speechless. ]

Riley: Just look at me.

From that moment, it’s clear – Lucas has slipped. He is cascading off the mountain top and falling head over heels.

As the music swells, the two of them continue their lesson. The longer they work at it the more they get the hang of it, actually getting comfortable with the whole thing and, dare it be said, having fun. Lucas even ventures a twirl under the arm, Riley breaking into laughter.

Definitely loosened him up, that’s for sure.

As they waltz, Isadora runs in looking for Lucas. She intends to tell him about the message from her mom and ask what he thinks about her potentially auditioning for the musical, but the second she sees them on the stage together she stops. She ducks back into the shadows of the aisle doors, watching them dance together.

She can tell from the look on her best friend’s face that something is different. Something is changing, and she gets the feeling she shouldn’t interrupt. But the notion also spooks her – if they’re changing, what does that mean for her? What else might change in the process?

Isadora backs off, disappearing back through the doors and leaving them alone.

INT. AAA - LIBRARY - NIGHT

Jack and Eric are both staying late, working together to comb through pages and pages of computer usage records. Eric flips through the documents while Jack cross references using one of the library desktops, the screen washing them both in blue-white computer glare.

As they’re searching, the two of them vaguely discuss the current sophomore class assignment and whether or not they think anything is actually going to change because of it. Eric points out that it’s impressive how quickly things can change under the right circumstances – including their dynamic.

Eric: I mean, at the risk of jinxing it, never before would I have believed you and I would be working together so effectively with such a clear goal.

Jack: Yes, I suppose our priorities tend to be… rather divergent.

But they both care about the students. That’s the obvious unifying motivation for both of them, and perhaps they should default to that train of thought more often. Something to think about.

The somewhat vulnerable conversation screeches to a halt when Jack stumbles upon what he thinks might be exactly what they’re looking for. There’s information about an email exchange with the supposed IP of the tabloid, and the student logged in at the time is a junior named Marly Evans.

Jack and Eric exchange a look. One step closer to answers…

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

The performers are all seated in the front section of the auditorium, chattering lightly and impatiently waiting for whatever is supposed to happen next. It’s odd for them to be there in the audience rather than getting ready to perform.

Suddenly, music blasts on over the speakers, being operated by Clarissa.

INT. AAA - TECHNICIAN’S BOOTH - DAY

Clarissa leans back, looking rather pleased with herself at having done the maneuver correctly, as well as relieved. CHAI FRESCO, working the lights, gives her a congratulatory pat on the back.

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

The moment the track begins, it’s clear what performance they’re about to be experiencing. All of the performers in the audience react accordingly, jaws dropping and excited laughter already premeditating the performance.

Song Cue ♫ ♪ “Dancing Queen” as performed by Mamma Mia! Original Movie Cast || Performed by AAA Sophomore Techies

As the first opening chorus kicks off, all eight of the usual techie crew make their way down the center aisles on either side of the center section. They’re going into this ridiculous number full throttle, singing along to the track with fervor and sporting the hilarious and amazing costumes that the performers put together for them over the course of the week.

Coming down the aisles, Lucas and Isadora lead the lines on either side and make their way up to the stage. As they pass through, the techies interact with their classmates in the audience. Nigel and Yindra pat Jeff and Nate on the backs as they sashay their way past. Dave high-fives Yogi and Haley, while Dylan and Asher blow kisses to Riley.

Isadora takes a brunt of the singing – and given the talent level of most of the techies vocally, this is for the the best. However, Dylan does get his claim to fame on the line “you’re a tease and you turn ‘em on, leaving ‘em burning and then you’re gone,” which he delivers with such a flourish. Asher joins in with him on the second half of the line, the two of them standing back to back and just belting that jazz.

In moments where the choreography pairs them off, the duos are Lucas & Isadora, Dave & Jade, Dylan & Asher, and Nate & Jeff. It’s so cute to watch them goof around with each other. They may just pull this heist off yet.

During the midst of each chorus (“having the time of your life, ooh”), Dave gets a mini dance solo. It’s all like, bad dancing – the robot, flossing, moonwalking – but it’s hysterical. Jeff also break dances, which is just legendary.

For each beat of the chorus where they sing “you can dance, you can jive,” the choreography involves pointing out towards the audience before turning to the side whilst Dave takes his solo to finish with a spin on the ooh. During one of these points, Lucas directs his point to Riley and winks. Yes, I did say that right. That idiot actually winks. Riley hides her face in her hands, a la Rachel Berry in Never Been Kissed.

They bring the number home going back to back with their dance partners, Lucas and Isadora at center stage. The moment their part is done and the final music swell takes over Lucas breaks into a relieved smile and pumps his fist in the air, so happy to have the whole thing be done with. But he did it!! Isadora tilts her head back against his shoulders, also relieved they managed to pull it off.

Dylan and Asher are jumping around and hugging. Dave hugs Jade and twirls her around. From the audience, the performers leap up and giving them a resounding standing ovation. I could never convey how truly iconic this whole sequence is, but there you have it. One of the best numbers in the full series of AMBITION.

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

Given that it’s usually the techies who clean up and strike each performance, now it is up to the performers. Charlie and Zay are cleaning up the stage, cheekily congratulating one another for successfully keeping their class from imploding.

Now that he’s had a couple days to think on it, Charlie makes a point of thanking Zay for standing up for him. Zay tells him he’d do it any time, and admits that he’s actually had a really good time this week goofing around with him. Charlie is all nervous chuckles and flustered waves of dismissal, but it’s clear the sentiment means a lot to him.

As he’s heading out, Zay calls after him.

Zay: Think I might take you up on that offer to hang out sometime. You know, if that offer is still valid.

Charlie: [ with a smile ] Hit me up, and I’m sure we can work something out.

Zay watches him go, unable to hold back that smile that blooms across his face. Then he gets back to work, putting the last of the set pieces back into place.

INT. AAA - GIRLS DRESSING ROOM - DAY

Maya finds Isadora in the dressing room, having just changed back into her usual clothes. Maya congratulates her on a job well done, and Isadora returns the notion by thanking her for the ridiculous but effective costume.

Maya reiterates her stance that she believes Isadora should seriously consider auditioning for the musical. Even though she did clearly have a lot of fun with “Dancing Queen,” Isadora hesitantly admits that her reluctance doesn’t just stem from the performing aspect of it.

Without saying much else, Maya senses that she’s referring to her mother, and all the baggage that comes with that. So she takes a different persuasive approach.

Maya: I get what you’re feeling. It may seem like I take after my mom, and I guess I do in some ways – especially the vocal ability. But otherwise, I really don’t. She’s sweet, just naturally, and softer than anyone I know. I’m not like that. [ a beat ] I’m more like my dad. And I fought against that part of me a lot, because he’s trash. He left me. He hurt my mom. But… it’s those parts of me that are like me that help me get where I want to go. The determination. The ability to be demanding, when necessary. The stubbornness –

Isadora: Yes, all of your best traits…

Maya: [ with an eye roll ] I know they’re not the most popular, believe me, but they’re a part of me. He’s a part of me, even if I wish he wasn’t. So I embrace it instead. Because I’m pretty effing awesome, and I’m not holding myself back because of him.

Isadora considers this, avoiding her gaze. Maya gives it one last push.

Maya: You’ve got talent, Smack. Don’t let the things your mom has done hold you back or stop you from doing what makes you happy. Don’t give her the power of taking away another good thing from your life.

Hanging on this sentiment, Maya gives her a light touch on the shoulder before heading out. Isadora ruminates on all of this, turning back to face herself in the mirror. She starts to wipe off her stage makeup… before hesitating. Tilting her head, trying to decide if she likes it or not. If this is something she may actually want to investigate…

Song Cue ♫ ♪ “Bird Set Free (Live for Spotify)” as performed by Sia || Performed by Isadora De La Cruz

Isadora launches into this anthem for self-expression, growing more empowered the further into the song she gets.

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

She takes the performance into the auditorium and owns the stage, not inhibited by anybody watching her or the pressure of living up to expectations. Just fully leaning into the interest in performing she’s been holding back for so long, potentially opening up the gates to pursuing it.

And boy, will she get to pursue it…

INT. AAA - JACK’S OFFICE - DAY

Jack confronts MARLY EVANS (17), the student who has been leaking information about Isadora to the tabloids. She claims that it was just to make a quick buck – she’s trying to pay for college soon, after all – and she never meant to like, hurt anyone. Jack states that her behavior is an intrusion of privacy, and such treatment of another student could warrant expulsion.

Marly points out the hypocrisy that Lucas can literally start a fight and not get expelled, but Jack highlights the glaring differences in both of the situations. Angling for one last plea, Marly claims he might reconsider her sentence after she offers what information she knows about the AAAC. Which is to say – she knows things that he might find interesting.

Jack hesitates… this could be a good lead in an other cold case…

INT. AAA - AUDITORIUM - DAY

The world seems to have righted itself once again, as Farkle and Maya are back standing at center stage while the techies are seated in the center section. They first commend them on their fun and energetic performance, before going on to explain that although the week was brutal, they learned a lot and are happy to have participated in it.

Farkle: Really, I’m just happy to have passed.

But as the techies should well know, they’re performers, and they can’t get through an entire week without a song of their own. This one, though, they claim is dedicated to their crew.

Maya: We lean on you guys all the time, usually without even realizing it. I think after this week, it’ll be hard to forget how crucially.

Farkle: So this time around, we’re extending the invitation back to you.

Song Cue ♫ ♪ “Lean On Me” as performed by Glee Cast || Performed by AAA Sophomores

The rest of the performers take the stage as they hum their way into the number, Zay coming to join the other two divas at the front. He takes the first verse, the class joining in on the chorus.

About halfway through, the performers take to the edge of the stage to gesture the techies up there with them. They help pull them up over the front of the stage, climbing up to share in the performance with them. As the song slows to the bridge, the divas give the solo to Isadora who delivers it with gusto.

The class dances together through the rest of the number, emphasizing some of the new bonds that have been built through the episode or strengthening the old ones. Dylan and Asher each have an arm around Lucas. Dave is jamming with Haley and Nigel. Isadora fits pretty effortlessly in with the core group of performers, bringing the song home with them.

Angela and Shawn watch from the back, swaying together and reveling in the fact that their two sides of the school have finally made peace. She leans her head on his shoulder. Shawn smiles watching the sophomores band together and bring down the house to close us out. Finally coexisting.

For now.

END OF EPISODE.

#S1 #episodes #108

1 note · View note

bapyess1r · 6 years

Text

Sum’n Bitch: pt1

It started 10 years ago…

“Maya, I mean it, it’s time to go!” I heard my father yell from the bottom of the stairs. I groaned as I blew out my candles and grabbed my book bag. He was interrupting my morning rituals.

“I’m coming…” I shouted back as I stood up. I went to the closest mirror and checked to see if my hair was still in place and it was. I opened the door, running downstairs to greet my father with a kiss on the cheek. He held out the brown bagged lunch he made for me so early in the morning and kissed my forehead. “Sorry I’m late, pappy.” I joked.

“Don’t call me pappy. That makes me feel old.” He replied laughing a bit.

“You are old!” I said walking towards the end of the driveway to go to my school bus. I was too far away for him to rebuttal and he just smiled and waved.

It was just another dreaded school day. When I got closer to my bus stop, my friend Louise waved at me from across the street. Her long copper hair hanging on either side of her pale face beneath her black page boy cap, a stunning smile pulling at her thick, curvy lips. I grinned, waving back and running towards her to engulf her in the biggest hug. We chatted like every day as we waited in the humidity of dawn for the bus. Luckily, it wasn’t too cold today, I had forgotten my jacket on my way out and the sheer white top I wore wasn’t doing me any favors. “Damn…” I exclaimed as the bus pulled up, trying to gather my thoughts as the day approached. I got on the bus and nodded to my acquaintances, smiled at my classmates, and made my way to the back of the bus and we people watched while looking over each other’s homework like the good students we tried our best to be. I looked up from Louise’s government essay as the bus stopped to pick up more students and I smiled when I saw his face through the water spotted window. The sun seemed to peak through the heavy clouds to shine just in his direction. Logan stood up from his couch position as he talked to his best friend. His smile was blindingly white, damn near perfect and carefree. He ran his hands through the front of his short thick dark locks as he threw his faded red book bag over his shoulder. My jaw dropped practically looking at him. When he got on the bus, he waved at me and smiled. I gave a closed lip smile and continued to look over the work before me.

“You know we could do a love potion thingy. I know you know one.” Louise suggested raising a thin copper brow. I could see the mischief sparkling in her dark orbs.

“I’d rather not stoop to that level.” I groaned. The idea was tempting but I knew it was wrong. I wanted to keep my dignity for as long as possible.

“You never wanna do anything fun.” She pouted playfully.

“Get a new friend then!” I joked with a laugh and she clung to my arm in protest, giggling.

Classes were ok. I got A’s on my assignments and asked questions and stuff. In Biology, Louise and I dissected a frog and she hated it. I had one friend in photography named Ian. He was funny and had an incredible eye. We were often models for each other’s photos. He would often flirt with Louise when she walked me to class. In history, we watched Newsies. I still didn’t know what it had to do with what we were learning but I loved musicals so I said nothing. Geometry was boring, P.E. sucked, English was ok, Drama was interesting. I mean, it’s drama class…. Lunch was different. Nicole Healy was the bane of my existence. She was everything I could never be. She wore her highlighted dark brown hair in coils and eyelashes so long, you’d think she’d fly away if she blinked too fast. She was tall and light skinned with a slim, curvy figure and that made me jealous. She was a Sophomore and the Regina George of the school. This particular day, Logan came by to pick up some flash cards I made. I passed but he failed the Geometry test but he got a retake. In the midst of the small talk, he began flirting with me a bit. The wind blew by messing up my hair a bit and I was already fidgety from nervousness. “Thank you so much for this, Maya. That test kicked my ass today.” He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.

“It’s not a problem. If you next flash cards again just y’know….let me know.” I said awkwardly in the cringiest fashion.

“I definitely will…. do you uh….have anyone to go to the uh….Halloween dance with...by any chance?” He asked, blushing a little bit.

“Oh my god!” I snorted. I was geeking out. I couldn’t believe he wanted to take me. “No! No I don’t!” I told him, enthusiastically.

“Oh great! Do you maybe wanna-”

“Maya, your blouse is torn!” Nicole interrupted. She and her two friends stood behind her like puppies waiting for her command. I freaked out and stood from my seat to try and touch my back and the back of my pants.

“Oh my god, where?” I exclaimed feeling nervous. Logan also checked around my body as Nicole approached us.

“There’s no tears anywhere.” He said to me, shaking his head and shrugging.

“Sure there is! Right there!” Nicole exclaimed as she grabbed the front of my sheer white top and torn it wide open, exposing my bra to the whole school. I frowned in humiliation as Louise got up and covered me with her big black bomber jacket. Nicole and her friends laughed as the cafeteria reacted with mixed noises. I looked back in a snarl as my friend walked me to my gym locker. I still had a tee shirt. I changed in the girls bathroom and Louise paced back and forth in anger. I just stared off into space. I couldn’t believe that had happened. Logan saw me. Not only him but the whole school…

“We’re doing something about this right?” Louise growled. I shrugged. I didn’t want the drama. “What is that?”

“What?”

“That. That shrug. What the hell is that?”

“I’m not gonna do anything. I’m just gonna keep my head down. I just wanna get through the week.” I groaned.

“No you’re not. You’re gonna do something about this. Nicole has been humiliating you for far too long and this is not ok.” She exclaimed.

“Well!.....what would I even do?” I pouted.

“Do you have a spell for eternal diarrhea?” She joked and I laughed a bit. Suddenly, I became full of darkness and my brain thought of an evil thing.

“I have an idea of what we can do. Meet me at my house tonight around 9.” I smirked.

“Oh hell yeah.” She said.

“Also… I need you to do something for me. I need you to get me a strand of her hair.”

“I can do that. Don’t worry about it.” She said as the lunch bell rang and my name was suddenly called on the PA. I was to be sent to the school counselor. I groaned.

“I don’t have time for this!” I exclaimed.

“I’ll meet you after class.” She said. “Be strong.”

“Yeah…” I mumbled as I dragged myself to the counselor’s office.

When I arrived, she sighed upon seeing me. She took her glasses off and placed them into her snowy white short feathered hair, rubbing a small hand over her wrinkled face. “Ms. Andrews…. wanna tell me what happened?” She asked me as she leaned back into her chair.

“No, Ms. Sykes. I don’t.” I said sarcastically as I took a seat in one of the chairs at the front of her desk. I flopped as I sat down and sighed.

“Jesus, kid…. why won’t you let me call your father- at the very least, her mother? Get her in trouble for a change.” She groaned.

“Because I don’t want to deal with everything that comes out of that.” I snapped in a monotonous voice. She sighed heavily.

“Don’t cha ever get tired of her doin’ this to ya and gettin’ away with it? Hmm? I can only help if you let me.”

“I won’t need it. I appreciate the offer though.” I said snarkily.

“You sure, kiddo?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Alright...fine.” She said this to me reluctantly but I didn’t care. I just wanted it to be 9 o’ clock so I could get my revenge.

|9 o’ clock|

“Am I doing this the right way?” Louise asked as she placed the black candles in a circle around us indicating North, South, East, and West after casting a circle with olive oil. Then she placed two red candles on either side of the southern candle and the last one near the northern.

“Yeah, this is perfect. And it’s a full moon tonight which is perfect because I had no clue that it needed to be present….” I said looking up at the moon in our backyard, taping the hair strand to the back of a picture of Nicole we printed off her social media. I wondered suddenly what lengths my friend went to in order to acquire this strand of hair. “How’d you get this so easily?”

“You know how the art room is so close to the gym? Well her last period is P.E. So I excused myself to the bathroom, snuck to the girls locker room, got a strand off her brush.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“And you’re positive this is Nicole’s hair?”

“Yeah! Look at it! How can it not be? What are we even doing?”

“I’ve decided that I’m going to perform a hair loss spell.” I smirked and my friend giggled with glee and mischief before we continued with the spell. I sat facing South as Louise stood outside of the circle to watch. I closed my eyes to gather all my rage to center my energy and breathed in deep. I picked up the candle behind me and bowed in each direction lowly and humbly, seeking pardon from the gods for what was about to go down. With that same candle I burned the strand of hair all the way up to the picture and placed it on the porcelain plate in the middle to burn to ash. When it had completely burned, I quickly blew out all the candles and looked at Louise.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. The spell works overnight.”

“..... is it forever?”

“Unfortunately not. It’s only temporary. Her hair will grow back. Slowly.”

“Nah…..Nah- she needs something else. A little extra.” She said pacing and thinking.

“Jesus, Lou. Nicole Healy is losing her hair.her hair! Do you know how fucked up she will be from this alone?”

“I don’t care. It’s not enough after all she put you through…. what about bad luck? Don’t you have like a cursed object or something that I can place on her?”

“Do I look like Dumbledore to you?” I chuckled.

“For a bad luck curse, just wear a pentacle, light a black candle and think negatively about her.”

“Oooohhhh! I can do that!”

“Do you own a pentacle?”

“No….”

“I’ll lend you one and a black candle if you wanna do it that badly.” I said cleaning up.

“Yes please!” She grinned.

“You’re a psycho you know that, right?”

“Would you still be my friend if I weren’t?”

That was an excellent question. She balanced me in a way no one else could. If anything, I needed her! After we cast the spell, Louise went home. My father, Virgil, watched his tv programs as I did the dishes from tonight’s dinner, casually asking me questions about what Louise and I did. “I saw you take some candles out back. What were you guys up to?”

“Just a full moon ritual. We needed some good luck for a test tomorrow.” I lied. Usually if I just make shit up and use a bunch of fancy words, he believes me.

”Did it work?” He chuckled with his deep voice.

“We’ll find out tomorrow.” I smirked. I couldn’t wait to see her tomorrow. Oh how I wished I could see the look of something awful on her face when she gets that first clump if hair in her hands. I grinned at her suffering. The next day was going to be interesting. I had been messed around with the Heathers for far too long and it was time I took action. I felt liberated doing the spell somehow, like from here on out it was going to get better. But I knew I was gonna have a price to pay for it. I just didn’t know what yet.

#supernatural poc #supernatural reaction #supernatural imagines #supernatural headcannons #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fandom #supernatural smut #sam winchester #dean winchester #sam and dean #sumnbitch #supernatural fanfic #sam winchester x oc #dean winchester x oc #fictober18

4 notes · View notes

fereldanwench · 6 years

Text

Some spoilery thoughts on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Not comprehensive at all because there’s so much I could say about any TR game, but this is pretty lengthy.

I’m at 66% right now, and I’ve done a good bit of challenge tombs, side quests, and artifact hunting, but I think the bulk of the progress reflects the story, which I will delve into:

The Visuals In terms of graphics, especially the environments, the game is pure eye candy. I’m so glad I upgraded my GPU in time for this game, because playing it at the ultra settings is just a beautiful, immersive treat. The lighting, the richness of the vegetation, the colors--It’s so nice to see some saturation in a Tomb Raider game again.

The main characters look really good, too. Sometimes the animation for Lara’s worried/stern mouth movement looks a little weird to me, but overall, I think everyone looks solid. Good animations, good textures, long hair--even if it’s not as refined as Lara’s--has a lot of movement and fluidity to it, highly detailed clothing.

My biggest gripe here is the fact that all the village NPCs have like the same 3 faces repeated over and over. Some variations to scarring, injuries, and hair diversify the population a bit, but it’s a pretty glaring visual deficiency compared to how lush and rich the rest of the world feels.

The Audio/Soundtrack I’m generally not much of an auditory person--I can absolutely appreciate a nice soundtrack and quality voice acting, but it’s usually the visual stuff in a game that really draws me in. But the sound effects and soundtrack really stand out to me here, especially in the areas where it’s just Lara. There’s so much rich ambient noise and the music does a lot to add to the atmosphere.

Having just replayed Rise last week and 2013 a few months ago, I don’t recall feeling that same audio engrossment that I have here.

The Gameplay Shadow offers different difficulty settings for its 3 pillars of gameplay: combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving. I’ve kept combat and exploration at the default normal setting, but I bumped puzzle-solving up to hard because of my own personal play style quirk: I like using the survival instinct mode a lot to help me keep my bearings, but Lara’s advice on how to solve puzzles gets repetitive to the point of irritation.

I’ve been saving most of the challenge tombs for my stream tomorrow, so I probably have a comparatively low exposure to them versus everything else, but I have loved solving every single tomb/crypt puzzle I’ve come across. They’re hard enough that they make you think and you feel accomplished after solving them, but not so difficult you get frustrated and want to resort to a walkthrough. They definitely stand out as a vast improvement over the previous two games.

Exploration is very similar to Rise, but with some enhancements. I was a little wary of the wall run because it’s implementation in Anniversary was a glitchy mess that sucks the fun out of a lot of the later levels, but it’s very smooth in Shadow. I’ve had a few jump misses in general that were bullshit, and sometimes it’s unclear how the game wants you to respond to certain platforming areas, but overall, her movement through the world is engaging. Effortless or challenging as appropriate to the task at hand.

My favorite addition to the exploration is definitely the underwater areas. Lara swims a little bit in Rise, but it’s mostly through linear caverns and often just on the surface. We get full underwater areas to explore, complete with treasure hunting, resource gathering, and even piranhas. The controls here took some getting used to for me, but it’s smooth sailing now. Or swimming, as the case may be.

The combat really takes a backseat to the exploration this time around, and I am a big fan of this--I found the seemingly endless shootouts with bullet sponge enemies in TR ‘13 to be a little at odds with the proper exploration-puzzles-combat ratio for a TR game, and I think that was greatly improved in Rise, but the big story advancements were still heavily centered around big gun fights. These are still a part of Shadow, but now the story moves more through exploration and discovering secrets in crypts and tombs. And that is exactly how it should be.

Shadow puts more emphasis on stealth combat as well, which I’m mostly okay with. I typically did prefer going stealth, especially in Rise because it felt like another type of puzzle, but there are a few areas where the game doesn’t really give you a choice. Just on principle, I’m not super keen on that, but overall, I still think the combat here works well as a part of the gameplay. It’s there for some action, but it’s not stealing the show.

So far my least favorite part of the gameplay is all the goddamn villager fetch quests. The rewards for most of the ones I’ve done have been pretty good, and some have some mildly interesting stories, but on the whole, they feel empty and... Well, like fetch quests. I don’t mind back-tracking for things like artifacts or unlocking new secret areas and tombs, but I’m not playing Tomb Raider to interact with people and do their errands for them. I’m playing Tomb Raider to uncover secrets and explore ruins and be alone. (Mostly. I don’t mind another sidekick from time-to-time.)

I think sometimes the fast travel system and map interface made these even worse. If it was easier to get to the locations/people you need for the fetch quests, it might feel less tedious. But when you can only fast travel through camps, and you and your destination aren’t anywhere near one, it starts to feel like a chore running through a crowded town.

The Story Like I mentioned, I’m not done with it yet, but I’m definitely towards the final third or so of the main plot.

I’m... Not feeling quite as sold on this one as I did on the previous two games.

Let me start with the stuff I do really like:

I really like the relationship between Lara and Jonah; I think their conversations are some of my favorite parts of the game. I really like Dominguez as an antagonist. I find him very compelling. I love how the supernatural stuff has been infused into the world, especially with the creatures that were apparently protecting the silver box. I love Unuratu, up until she dies, which really sucked.

I like seeing Lara get unhinged; I really like the idea of a darker Lara, and I loved the scene when she thought Jonah was dead and just went full-fucking Rambo on Trinity. I generally like the way the story uses Maya, Inca, and Christian mythology/symbolism/riddles/etc. The setting alone is one of my absolute favorites, and I’ve been wanting to see Lara return to the region of the world since 2008.

I think ultimately it just doesn’t feel as tightly focused as 2013 and Rise. I’ve never really played Tomb Raider games for the story, so I tend to be pretty forgiving and just kind of roll with the punches, but this just feels like they’re trying to pull too much into one game. Although personality-wise I find Dominguez excellent, his strong ties to both Paititi and the Crofts just make him feel kind of spread thin for some reason. And I kind of had a hard time following the politics of Paititi and the rebels and the Cult of Kulkukan and how they’re related to Trinity and and Dominguez being Amaru and Unuratu being his sister-in-law and family legacies and sons to be kings and then the scary people living in the cenote and the oil company in that other city--It just was... A lot.

I do not dislike it, and I’m totally onboard to see where it goes, but again, having 2013 and Rise so fresh in my mind, something about Shadow has felt a little off comparatively in this respect.

And just as a side note: the longer Jonah is at Lara’s side, the more I expect he’s not going to make it, and I’m not sure I can brace my enough if she does lose him.

Final Thoughts On the whole, I am loving this experience. Minus my grievances with the story and fetch quests, I am completely enthralled with this game. So much of the gameplay evokes the same response I had to Core’s early games--This really feels like what a modern Tomb Raider game should be. The puzzle-combat-exploration ratio is perfect, the environments are so lush and immersive, the tombs are challenging and atmospheric. I just want to explore every inch of this world.

Having played and finished all major TR titles (except AOD), Rise ended up bumping TR2 from my all-time favorite TR game. I was really hoping that Shadow would be able to de-throne Rise, and in some ways it does, but I don’t know that the overall package is better. I’m guessing I’ll probably know by tomorrow or Monday night, though.

#g: tr reboot #s: tomb raider #t: wench.txt #sottr spoilers

3 notes · View notes

angrybrowngirlabroad-blog · 6 years

Text

Lakedown Breakdown (I need an editor just to tell me not to do things like this....)

As I have said, I adore Antigua, but I also adore Lake Atitlan, for reasons both different and oddly similar. The birthplace of Mayan creation, spoken about in their language, Lake Atitlan was formed when a supervolcano exploded and collapsed in on itself 85,000 years ago. This eruption left a layer of ash over the world, and you can date different sediments around the planet by looking for the debris from the volcano that would become Lake Atitlan. In the wake of the eruption, rain water began to fill the basin, forming the lake that exists today. New lava vents broke through the surface, too, forming the volcanoes San Pedro, Atitlan and Toliman. They lay dormant now, though occasionally Atitlan/Toliman vents some gas and ash. The lake rises and falls with the seasons, though it’s been on a rising trend the last couple of years, swallowing up the houses of those foolish enough to build on the shore. Most Mayan villages are built further up the steep hills of the crater’s edges, making walks into town an exercise, and making most of the tourist area’s right on the water. Some of the buildings abandoned by the rising waters now sport brilliantly colored murals, painted by locals and people passing through.

And they pass through a lot, there are several towns on the lake (and one under it, a Mayan town swallowed by the rising waters, it’s exact location known to only a few to prevent scavenging), each one has a different feel, and draws a different type of people. Some of the towns are very traditionally Guatemalan, and cater little to tourists, others are all about the seasonal influx of people. There seems to be something for everyone at the lake, though the beauty of it alone is enough to draw you in, with it’s incredible blue water surrounded by sharp cut crater sides. A moonrise over the lake, or watching a storm roll across it during rainy season, is enough to make you want to stay forever, even without the variety of interesting things the towns offer. Having visited a lot (but not all of) the towns on the lake, I’ll leave you with my impressions of each. SAN PEDRO: A friend has a saying, “Every night is a Friday night and every morning is a Sunday morning in San Pedro.” The only town on the lake that has a bustling, extranjero party scene. There are several bars, operating at different times of the year, some catering to the strong expat community, others catering to the people passing through. One club holds reign, with the only real dance floor, and while the service often leaves something to be desired, there is a decent chance for good music. Other bars take their spots as places to watch sports, hosts for pool tournaments, locations for trivia, or just various drink specials. San Pedro also lays claim to some decent and better than decent restaurants, various Spanish schools, and a Sunday bbq where the town gets together to eat around a pool and a local band plays. The town itself holds several of its own celebrations, including a fair the fills half the streets with various games, booths, and clattering rides. In addition to that is has a well-stocked market with ridiculously cheap produce, delicious coffee, and local artisans making beautiful clothing out of traditional fabrics. San Pedro seems, at least to me, to be the town where the locals and travellers mix the most, I met several interesting people there, Guatemalan and foreigner alike, and had some incredibly conversations that I don’t know that I would have been able to find anywhere else. The town sits on the western side of the lake, in front of the volcano of the same name.

Kayaking in front of the San Pedro volcano, art in the abandoned houses on the shores of Lake Atitlan

SAN JUAN: Just over the hill from San Pedro, a ten minute boat ride or a twenty minute tuk-tuk away for the same price, San Juan is much more chill than frantic San Pedro. No party scene, San Juan is more the local artisans town, a place for the Maya to show of their traditions and make money doing so. There is a women's weaving cooperative there, where you can go and learn all about the traditional process of making dyes out of plants, spinning cotton thread, and weaving them together to produce incredible garments, as well as buy fair trade items made by the local women, each tagged with it’s creator’s name. The town also has a chocolate shop that will demonstrate for you how cacao beans get made into chocolate. There is also a local leather shop where a Mayan man makes incredible bags, some with one-of-a-kind paintings on them of things he has seen in his dreams. San Juan also contains some really good restaurants including a wine and cheese place that’s available by reservation only (I think it’s the only one on the lake to do so). A tranquil place that’s a nice way to spend the day, I wish I had visited more often.

Not actually San Juan, but a photo of the one of the boats used to get to other towns on the lake with a puppy next to it! The llanchas are the tuktuks of the water, and the easiest way to get to the other towns.

SAN MARCOS: The other most popular town on the lake, and a hippy mecha. If it’s New Age, you will find it here. Not as large as San Pedro, the town has one main boulevard, and a lot of it’s more interesting things (yoga studios, meditation retreats, etc) are located in the hills above the town center. The location boasts a nice dock for chilling in the sun, several hostels including a big one on the water that hosts live music a lot, tons of options for vegan and vegetarians, people selling crystals and wire wraps in the street, and more yoga/contact dance/meditation/reiki classes than you can shake a stick at. The people who have lived in San Marcos for a long time seem not to take the “woo” too seriously, and can laugh at themselves, while also working hard to give back to the community, supporting the locals, making sure the children have access to education and opportunity, and generally beautifying the town and lake. Those who pass through are blend of grounded hippies and seriously, over the top, trustafarians (unfortunately, it felt to me like more the latter than the former), the sorts of people who set my teeth on edge. These are the people who don’t even seem to acknowledge the locals around them, even as they help themselves to a paradise they are only a guest in, and I admit, at times they make it difficult not to write off San Marcos all together. Let’s just say I would never live there, the way I did in San Pedro.

Looking at volcanos Toliman and Atitlan from a lookout point near San Marcos and my favorite sign from my favorite spot in San Marcos, Hostel Del Lago.

TZUNANA: My experience with Tzunana is a little limited, as I mostly went there to visit with my friend who owns the Hummingbird Hostel. Tzunana means “hummingbird” in the local Mayan langauge of Tsu’zu’hil. The town is small, and generally quiet, the tourist presence is little here. There are some nice hiking trails that lead to beautiful waterfalls, and a chance to do some swimming by the dock. Maya Moon Lodge, which is located twenty minutes up the hill from the dock, was one of my favorite places to chill and watch the storms roll across the lake. More nature than touristy, it is well worth a visit if you like peace and calm.

Stream in the hills above Tzunana, and the view from above the town. JAIBALITO: My only experience with this place was going ashore to meet someone. I had drinks with him and his friend at a hotel/bar/restaurant on the lake. The location was pretty, and had a good view of the lake and volcanoes, plus you could rent the hot tub or a towel to go swimming in the pool. However, having not gone into the greater town area at all, I can’t say much of anything about local life here. Between Jaibalito and Santa Cruz there is a beautiful hotel that has a lower level partially swallowed by the lake that’s fun to swim in!

Playing in the sunken part of the hotel around the corner from Jaibalito.

SANTA CRUZ: Another area where the tourist section and the local section were very clearly separated. Several hotels and hostels dot the lake’s edge, including an adorable cafe that I loved, and the town sits high above it. Each hotel/hostel is different, Free Cerveza offers glamping in huge, bell tents, and a family style dinner each night will all the beer you can drink but you run out of things to do there quickly if you’re not really into swimming or sitting around. La Iguana has open mic nights, and a generall friendly and easygoing staff, it was through them that me and friend booked a weaving class with one of the women in town. We hiked up to the town from our hostel, and waited by a small white church where the woman met us. She then took us to her house, set us up with chairs, and let us pick the colors for our basic belts we were going to weave. I thought, with my experience as a seamstress, that while weaving would not be easy I might have some natural aptitude. I was wrong, I was very, very wrong. We were doing extremely basic weaving, and I still could not get the hang of it. Our teacher was patient, and understanding, but it did nothing to assuage our complete lack of talent. After two hours of toil she told us she would finish our work and to come back later. We did as we were told, and now I have a black, red, green, turquoise and blue belt, with very obvious delineations between my work and her. Very humbling, which is good for me now and again.

Glamping in near the lake at Free Cerveza, and learning how to (kind of) weave in Santa Cruz. PANAJACHEL: The most city-like of the towns, other than Santiago, Panajachel boast one of the highest populations on the lake, several large hotels, and a huge area for tourist shopping. It’s location also makes it a transportation hub, with shuttles going to San Cristobal, Antigua, Guatemala City, and Semuc Champey among other destinations (San Pedro offers these as well, but with it’s road in and out frequently under construction, availability changes). There are hostels and bars, a market, and a large stone church in town. Outside of town there is a large nature preserve that’s home to spider monkeys. On Mondays and Fridays there is also a fabric market held at the firefighters station, where Mayans come to sell their used huipils (the traditional handwoven and embroidered shirt Mayan women wear) and cortes (traditional skirts, made out of four pieces of hand woven fabric stitched together, often with decorative embroidery covering the seams, to make one long tube of fabric, held in place by a hand-woven belt). The variety of colors and designs at the fabric market are a straight up assault on the senses, as a seamstress I was completely overwhelmed, and I can’t wait to go back and buy more one-of-a-kind fabrics from the Mayan woman who have made this their trade.

The fabric market, so many colors and designs, I was completely overwhelmed.

SANTIAGO: The other more city-like town on the lake. I have only driven through Santiago, and got a flat tire there, so I did not explore much of it. It seems similar to Panajachel, but with slightly less hotels and a smaller tourist market. It’s location, separated from San Pedro by the San Pedro volcano, with its own “bay” (is it a bay when it’s a lake?) makes from some beautiful views and the area outside town plays host to Lake Atitlan’s own festival, Cosmic Convergence, which takes place over New Years Eve every year.

There are several more towns on the lake, and many of them are more traditional than the usual tourists spots. What the towns share is a strong sense of community, a version of law known as Mayan justice, tradition evident in the clothes and three different Mayan languages spoken on the lake, a preponderance of fried chicken carts, and a dock as many of the towns are only accessible by the little boats that speed across the lake from dawn until dusk. It’s history is different from Antigua’s, but it is strong nonetheless. The indigenous Mayan people were heavily targeted during Guatemala’s 20 year civil war, entire towns were wiped off the map in areas, and the lake saw fighting, as well as several natural disasters. But the people persist here, keeping their traditions alive as best they can as tourism impacts the local environment and culture.

There is a legend about the lake, during the time when the conquistadors first came to Guatemala (Guatemala was one of the last places to be conquered by the Spanish, the indigenous people resisted for 200 years, long past Mexico’s fall). It was said that a soldier of the conquistador’s army met and fell in love with a beautiful Mayan woman who lived at the lake. The soldier’s commander, a conquistador, grew jealous of their love, so he went to a witch because he wanted to make the woman fall in love with him. The witch gave him a ring that would make whoever wore it irresistible. The conquistador wore his new jewelry, but one of his soldiers set eyes on him and was immediately smitten. Angry with the results, in a fit of rage the conquistador killed the soldier and his Mayan lover and threw the ring into the lake. Now the magic of the ring calls out to those who visit the lake, drawing them in and making it difficult for them to leave. Now I can’t speak to magic rings, or conquistador curses, but I have felt a sort of magnetism the lake holds. The people who live there already, the people it attracts, the beauty of the lake itself, it’s mysterious and explosive origins and all the legends attached to it….. If Antigua holds the history of colonialism, of conquest and governance of the new land as the former capital and religious center of Guatemala, then Lake Atitlan contains the history of the indigenous people and their struggle to maintain tradition and dignity for generations in the face of oppression. Each place represents a different, boldly colored thread in the tapestry that is Guatemala’s story.

Lake Atitlan at sunset from San Pedro’s shore.

1 note · View note