everydaybayarea

[despair-tea]

Wow! Crazy to think that in just a couple of weeks I'll have to add a new year folder to my GGST replay archive.

I've got a bunch more 2022 replays saved that I need to record and edit for the archive, but I'm impressed at myself for sticking with the game for a year and a half. Let's keep going into 2023!

some personal musings below the jump:

When this game was coming out, I decided I had had enough of being weak. I resolved to put in a serious effort and try to get good at the game. Before then, I was just an arcade mode player who could beat her friends at Soul Calibur. But now I'm at least strong enough that I can be proud of it.

I know I keep making mistakes, but my growth from that first month til now has been incredible and I've gotten way better at other fight games too. I've made friends, listened to a ton of good music, and spent a lot of quality time with my wife.

So yeah! let's keep striving! I want to keep getting stronger and having fun with these games.

And check out my other blog, Lars Canyon, if you wanna see more fight game clips and match footage. It's cute on desktop so take a look!

[vintagedoctor]

my friend is discovering fallout 4 for the first time

i love fallout 4. ive played that game to death and beyond. i know most details and all the endings and many of the quests and weapons and - yes im well aware of its problems, but i still enjoy it. i did enjoy it. ive moved on to other, better rpgs *cough cough baldurs gate 3 cough cough* and didnt think much of my beloved 1st person post apocalypse talking simulator. until my friend told me he got it and started playing it. for some reason i had already assumed he already played it but to my surprise, he knew nothing of the franchise. he had dabbled in skyrim for a bit, sure, but apparently he had no knowledge of bethesda's 2nd masterpiece. when i was in a voice call with him next, he of course, shared his screen so i could watch him stumble along the commonwealth, dying to bugs and raiders alike. he had gotten to the raider gang in the corvega assembly plant, the one in power armor and with a rocket launcher. i misremembered what the raider had and told my friend to beware the fat man. he didnt know what that was. he didnt know what the fatman was. thats when i realized something.

i had played fallout 4 for well over 400 hours, pretty low compared to other people but enough to where i can spew out random facts about that damn game. but my friend not knowing what the fatman was- the most iconic weapon in the fallout franchise- made me realize how fresh this is all to him. here is someone who is discovering this world with new eyes, not knowing a single thing abt the commonwealth or the minutemen or the shitty story or the repetive quests. when people wish to relive their favorite games in fresh eyes, they wish for this. here i was, as my friend's guide thru this junkpile of a game, seeing it thru new eyes once again. the thrill of discovery, smth i strive for but shy away from. im scared to try new things. i love my sameness. but that gets boring. it sure as hell gets boring. but not anymore.

i saw this as much when my friend stumbled upon covenant and i told him it was a good quest. i maybe shouldnt have even told him that but i wanted him to see it for himself and made sure he did it before it locked him out. he did the entry quiz, making a joke about how hes not getting let in and showed surprise when he was. now for me, i know u r let in no matter ur answer- a mix of irony w the whole synth test and also bethesda game design- so it was fun to see his shock. he walked around covenant and i suggested to him to get deezers lemonade. he tried to get infinite but sadly, all you get is what deezer has in stock. that started the quest and he was making comments about how sus the town was. yes! hes on the right track. he now had to track down a caravan and got mighty lost. i had to explain to him how quest markers work and surprisingly how to access his quest log. i guess its not all obvious to many. he had to leave shortly after but in dms he was telling me how he wanted to save a certain npc in covenant. my heart sank. bethesda doesnt work like that. if he turns against covenant, that npc that he loves will turn on him and he will be forced to kill her. idk if he has gotten that far in the quest line (i'll see later when he wakes up) but i dont want to imagine the disappointment.

thats what i realized with besthesda games. while they make great atmospheres and music and lore, the actual gameplay and rules are never clear. its not like baldurs gate where larian thought of every possible outcome for every quest. its more bethesda knows rpgs must have differing outcomes but doesnt understand what that means. when they market their games to be freedom of choice and play how you want and "see that mountain, you can climb that", it sets an expectation. an expectation they dont follow thru on. i hope this doesnt dissuade my friend from continuing. i think he will really enjoy some of the quests and especially power armor. he already decided to play for a power armor build. it would be very funny if he sided with the brotherhood of steel for his first run, as i did since i was a dumb kid and didnt understand the blatant military critique that it was. he might, as i did, think, big gun means fun time. thats perfectly fine. the factions in fallout 4 arent as deep philosophically as bethesda treats them to be.

all in all, watching my friend discover this great game for the first time has reminded me of my struggles with the game. he even had his first bugs due to modding. a bug i had similar issues with but we quickly solved. my hope for him is that he finds as much passion in the game as i do. theres a reason its in my top 5 games.

[prxttyvcnom]

‷ heads up ; if you hear WEAPON by AGAINST THE CURRENT blaring, it’s most likely SKYLER CAMERON making their way down the shore ! they’re 26 years old and celebrate their birthday on 2/12 in numbers - i knew they were an AQUARIUS ! especially since they’re very DETERMINED and RECKLESS. they are from UPPER EAST SIDE, NY, staying in DOWNTOWN and are currently working as a ASPIRING ACTRESS/FASHION INTERN, here at the cape. they always did remind me of crumpled up pieces of torn sketch paper scattered on a hardwood floor ; the desire to go on walks with no real destination ; and the pulsating lights of a club dripping down waves of blonde hair.‷

ABOUT SKYLER: Falling on my face again, so I know I’m right on track.

CHARACTER BASICS

FULL NAME: Skyler Rhodes Cameron

NICKNAME(S): Sky

AGE: Twenty-Six

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Woman, She/Her

FACE CLAIM: Sydney Sweeney

EYE COLOR: Blue

HAIR COLOR: Blonde

HEIGHT: 5′3″

WEIGHT: 110 lbs.

DATE OF BIRTH: February 12th

ZODIAC SIGN: Aquarius

MAJOR: Fashion Design

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, French, & Italian

HOGWARTS HOUSE: Hufflepuff

OCCUPATION: Intern to a local designer, Aspiring Actress

HOBBIES: Singing, Baking, Shopping, Yoga, Photography, Guitar, Drums, Acting

HOMETOWN: Manhattan, New York (Upper East Side)

RESIDENCE: Downtown

HOUSING: One bedroom Loft

TIME IN TOWN: 1 year

FAMILY

MOTHER: Diana Cameron (née Carmichael)

FATHER: Liam Cameron

SISTER: tbd Cameron

CHARACTER HISTORY

Skyler was born and raised in the Upper East Side of New York with both her parents and sister. Her Mom, a well known face around the world for retiring from the modeling world to style them, met a man traveling the globe as a musician. Liam was nowhere near as successful as his wife, but somehow two opposites managed to maintain a marriage and start a very creative family. The Cameron girls grew up surrounded by music and lavish parties, it wasn’t long until Skyler realized how much she loved to sing. Her sister and father would play instruments and she’d dance around the living room and sing for them, loving that this seemed to turn into a weekly tradition. She fell in love with being in the spotlight, though she quickly stuck to only singing in the shower once she saw how talented her sister was with music as a way to give each of them something to allow them to shine differently but together. As a young girl Skyler would sneak into her mother’s closet when they had a gala or late night function the girl’s weren’t old enough to attend and spend hours staring at the shoes, perfecting the art of walking in heels by the age of 5.The sneaking continued as she’d venture into her mom’s workshop and “borrow” designs off her rack for parties, being sure to put the items back before morning.Skyler was always drawn to fashion, wearing it, creating it…you name it. She was happy to pick up another passion that’d look good on her college applications alongside acting, getting the chance to design costumes for her onstage performances didn’t hurt either. When she was finally able to go to all the events she’d study what everyone was wearing, learning what was popular and using it to start designing her own clothes in secret, not wanting her mother’s influence to smother her.She never thought she was any good, so for a while she stuck to drawing anything she could: fruit, people, nature. anything that didn’t involve clothes, but she always found herself coming back. It wasn’t until she met (wanted muse connection) that he truly got her to start honing her craft and focusing on what mattered to her most.As Skyler entered university at Cornell, she saw herself debating between her desires, seeing as fashion would lead her directly under her mother’s shadow and that’s something she’s still striving to steer far away from. She’s always loved her mother’s designs but knew a developed career would involve Skyler working under her and not getting to experience the real world on her own. The spark for acting came back bigger and stronger than ever, resulting in the blonde signing up for every production Cornell had to offer. Junior year she was offered an opportunity to study abroad in Paris, quickly jumping on that before finding herself romantically connected to a big designer. He went behind her back and stole her designs for himself, publishing them without her consent and leaving the credit she rightfully deserved unmarked. Skyler was devastated, not knowing how to handle the betrayal of someone she put all her trust and ideas in. She used this as her plea to fly back to New York to continue her degree.She was offered an intern position with a local designer in Cape May shortly after she graduated and she’s been here ever since, doing her best to look toward her future rather than the past.

PRESENT DAY UPDATES

If there’s a party you’ll be sure to find her there, especially with a drink in hand.

She only fully trusts one person in her life: her sister.

She’s her sister’s opposite. being very outgoing, playful, and down to try anything once, charming people with a simple smile from across the room.

She’s always felt this bit of responsibility to make her mother proud and constantly feels that pressure which is one of the main reasons she’s questioning what to do with her career.

Where she goes, trouble tends to follow due to the blonde’s overwhelming sense of adventure and curiosity.

She landed her first acting role, a small commercial and wants to do more in this line of work. She’s also been featured a handful of times as an extra.

She’s the type that her family has money but she’s not one to show it off, never making extravagant purchases especially now living on her own.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

muse :open. her number one support system, made her realize how amazing she was at fashion design. if it wasn’t for him she’d probably still be sketching trees.

best friends :open. open. open. these people are always there for her when she needs them.

fwb/hookups/flings :open. open. being a girl who isn’t one for relationships unless it clicks, it leaves the girl with a lot of free time. she gets bored easily so there’s more than one but it’s always fun and carefree, just like her.

revenge hookup :open. started as a fling to get back at one of her exes and now the two just can’t seem to stay away from each other.

childhood friend :open. their mother’s quickly became friends, always visiting skyler’s mother’s store to get the best designer clothes they could. which led to the two talking while their moms did, getting close and spending time together at events.

protective friendship :open. the person who always comes to her rescue, won’t let anyone mess with her or talk bad about her in their presence. often is seen throwing skyler over his shoulder and carrying her out of parties before she does something dumb.

bad influence :open. the two always have a good time out together, fueling each other’s bad decisions, daring one another to do something crazier.

good influence : open. tries keeping her head on straight and out of trouble.  

cuddle buddy :open. a sort of confidant relationship that usually revolves around them spilling their guts or talking shit, cuddling with no cares in the world. possible that the cuddling could lead to something more romantic.

sexual tension :open. the two can’t seem to stay away from each other and though nothing sexual has happened yet…they’re never far from crossing over that line.

casual exes :open. open.

party friends :open. open. the people who wouldn’t been seen far away from skyler at a party. having drinks in their hands and/or having a good time on whatever dance floor they could find.

chosen sister : open. the person skyler can open up to and talk to about anything. she looks out for skyler like they were actually related, protecting her and being there for her whenever she needs.

the one without the label : open. the two became a frequent thing, partners in crime that were exclusively sleeping with each other. time went on and skyler wanted a define answer of what they were, a label. he denied her and the response was a simple okay, then ending things completely.

partner in crime :open. the first person skyler ever got high with. trouble is always guaranteed when the two are together.

occasional drug buddy :open. when skyler gets high, she likes to do it around someone else, this person allows her to feel comfortable and have a good time. often seen calling her to smoke as well.

aren’t you famous? : open. the person who’s seen one too many commercials featuring a beauty line and skyler.

supplier : open. this person supplies her with whatever when she needs it.

[delinqucntdaydreams]

[ sydney sweeney, cis woman, she/her ] — whoa! SKYLER CAMERON just stole my cab! not cool, but maybe they needed it more. they have lived in the city for ALL HER LIFE, working as a FASHION INTERN/ASPIRING FILM ACTRESS. that can’t be easy, especially at only 26 YEARS OLD. some people say they can be a little bit STUBBORN and RECKLESS, but I know them to be CAPTIVATING and DETERMINED. whatever. I guess I’ll catch the next cab. hope they like the ride back to MANHATTAN! 

ABOUT SKYLER: Moonlight swelling through the trees.

CHARACTER BASICS

FULL NAME: Skyler Rhodes Cameron

NICKNAME(S): Sky

AGE: Twenty-Six

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Woman, She/Her

FACE CLAIM: Sydney Sweeney

EYE COLOR: Blue

HAIR COLOR: Blonde

HEIGHT: 5′3″

DATE OF BIRTH: February 12th

ZODIAC SIGN: Aquarius

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Pansexual

LEVEL OF EDUCATION: Bachelor of Fine Arts

SCHOOLING: Cornell University

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, French, & Italian

HOGWARTS HOUSE: Hufflepuff

OCCUPATION: Intern to a local designer, Aspiring Actress

HOBBIES: Singing, Baking, Shopping, Yoga, Photography, Guitar, Drums, Acting

HOMETOWN: Manhattan, New York (Upper East Side)

CHARACTER HISTORY

Skyler was born and raised in the Upper East Side of New York with both her parents and sister. Her Mom, a well known face around the world for retiring from the modeling world to style them, met a man traveling the globe as a musician. Liam was nowhere near as successful as his wife, but somehow two opposites managed to maintain a marriage and start a very creative family.

The Cameron girls grew up surrounded by music and lavish parties, it wasn’t long until Skyler realized how much she loved to sing. Her sister and father would play instruments and she’d dance around the living room and sing for them, loving that this seemed to turn into a weekly tradition. She fell in love with being in the spotlight, though she quickly stuck to only singing in the shower once she saw how talented her sister was with music as a way to give each of them something to allow them to shine differently but together.

As a young girl Skyler would sneak into her mother’s closet when they had a gala or late night function the girl’s weren’t old enough to attend and spend hours staring at the shoes, perfecting the art of walking in heels by the age of 5. The sneaking continued as she’d venture into her mom’s workshop and “borrow” designs off her rack for parties, being sure to put the items back before morning. Skyler was always drawn to fashion, wearing it, creating it…you name it. She was happy to pick up another passion that’d look good on her college applications alongside acting, getting the chance to design costumes for her onstage performances didn’t hurt either. When she was finally able to go to all the events she’d study what everyone was wearing, learning what was popular and using it to start designing her own clothes in secret, not wanting her mother’s influence to smother her. She never thought she was any good, so for a while she stuck to drawing anything she could: fruit, people, nature. anything that didn’t involve clothes, but she always found herself coming back.

It wasn’t until she met (wanted muse connection) that he truly got her to start honing her craft and focusing on what mattered to her most. As Skyler entered university at Cornell, she saw herself debating between her desires, seeing as fashion would lead her directly under her mother’s shadow and that’s something she’s still striving to steer far away from. She’s always loved her mother’s designs but knew a developed career would involve Skyler working under her and not getting to experience the real world on her own. The spark for acting came back bigger and stronger than ever, resulting in the blonde signing up for every production Cornell had to offer.

Junior year she was offered an opportunity to study abroad in Paris, quickly jumping on that before finding herself romantically connected to a big designer. He went behind her back and stole her designs for himself, publishing them without her consent and leaving the credit she rightfully deserved unmarked. Skyler was devastated, not knowing how to handle the betrayal of someone she put all her love, trust and ideas in. She used this as her plea to fly back to New York to continue her degree.

She was offered an intern position with a local designer in the city shortly after she graduated and she’s been here ever since, doing her best to look toward her future rather than the past.

HEADCANONS

If there’s a party you’ll be sure to find her there, especially with a drink in hand.

She only fully trusts one person in her life: her sister.

She’s her sister’s opposite. being very outgoing, playful, and down to try anything once, charming people with a simple smile from across the room.

She’s always felt this bit of responsibility to make her mother proud and constantly feels that pressure which is one of the main reasons she’s questioning what to do with her career.

Where she goes, trouble tends to follow due to the blonde’s overwhelming sense of adventure and curiosity.

She landed her first acting role, a small commercial and wants to do more in this line of work. She’s also been featured a handful of times as an extra.

She’s the type that her family has money but she’s not one to show it off, never making extravagant purchases especially now living on her own.

[violetsilhouettes]

Welcome to Aurora Bay, [SKYLER CAMERON]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [SYDNEY SWEENEY]. You must be the [TWENTY-SEVEN] year old [ACTRESS & FASHION INTERN]. Word is you’re [DETERMINED] but can also be a bit [RECKLESS] and your favorite song is [WEAPON BY AGAINST THE CURRENT]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [SEABROOK QUARTER]. I’m sure you’ll love it! 

ABOUT SKYLER: Falling on my face again, so I know I’m right on track.

CHARACTER BASICS

FULL NAME: Skyler Rhodes Cameron

NICKNAME(S): Sky

AGE: Twenty-Seven

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Woman, She/Her

FACE CLAIM: Sydney Sweeney

EYE COLOR: Blue

HAIR COLOR: Blonde

HEIGHT: 5′3″

WEIGHT: 110 lbs.

DATE OF BIRTH: February 12th, 1995

ZODIAC SIGN: Aquarius

MAJOR: Fashion Design

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, French, & Italian

HOGWARTS HOUSE: Hufflepuff

OCCUPATION: Intern to a local designer, Aspiring Actress

HOBBIES: Singing, Baking, Shopping, Yoga, Photography, Guitar, Drums, Acting

HOMETOWN: Manhattan, New York (Upper East Side)

RESIDENCE: Seabrook Quarter

HOUSING: One bedroom Loft

TIME IN TOWN: 1 year

FAMILY

MOTHER: Diana Cameron (née Carmichael)

FATHER: Liam Cameron

SISTER: tbd Cameron

CHARACTER HISTORY

Skyler was born and raised in the Upper East Side of New York with both her parents and sister. Her Mom, a well known face around the world for retiring from the modeling world to style them, met a man traveling the globe as a musician. Liam was nowhere near as successful as his wife, but somehow two opposites managed to maintain a marriage and start a very creative family.

The Cameron girls grew up surrounded by music and lavish parties, it wasn’t long until Skyler realized how much she loved to sing. Her sister and father would play instruments and she’d dance around the living room and sing for them, loving that this seemed to turn into a weekly tradition. She fell in love with being in the spotlight, though she quickly stuck to only singing in the shower once she saw how talented her sister was with music as a way to give each of them something to allow them to shine differently but together.

As a young girl Skyler would sneak into her mother’s closet when they had a gala or late night function the girl’s weren’t old enough to attend and spend hours staring at the shoes, perfecting the art of walking in heels by the age of 5.

The sneaking continued as she’d venture into her mom’s workshop and “borrow” designs off her rack for parties, being sure to put the items back before morning.

Skyler was always drawn to fashion, wearing it, creating it…you name it. She was happy to pick up another passion that’d look good on her college applications alongside acting, getting the chance to design costumes for her onstage performances didn’t hurt either.

When she was finally able to go to all the events she’d study what everyone was wearing, learning what was popular and using it to start designing her own clothes in secret, not wanting her mother’s influence to smother her.

She never thought she was any good, so for a while she stuck to drawing anything she could: fruit, people, nature. anything that didn’t involve clothes, but she always found herself coming back.

It wasn’t until she met (wanted muse connection) that he truly got her to start honing her craft and focusing on what mattered to her most.

As Skyler entered university at Cornell, she saw herself debating between her desires, seeing as fashion would lead her directly under her mother’s shadow and that’s something she’s still striving to steer far away from. She’s always loved her mother’s designs but knew a developed career would involve Skyler working under her and not getting to experience the real world on her own. The spark for acting came back bigger and stronger than ever, resulting in the blonde signing up for every production Cornell had to offer.

Junior year she was offered an opportunity to study abroad in Paris, quickly jumping on that before finding herself romantically connected to a big designer. He went behind her back and stole her designs for himself, publishing them without her consent and leaving the credit she rightfully deserved unmarked. Skyler was devastated, not knowing how to handle the betrayal of someone she put all her trust and ideas in. She used this as her plea to fly back to New York to continue her degree.

She was offered an intern position with a local designer in Aurora Bay shortly after she graduated and she’s been here ever since, doing her best to look toward her future rather than the past.

PRESENT DAY UPDATES

If there’s a party you’ll be sure to find her there, especially with a drink in hand.

She only fully trusts one person in her life: her sister.

She’s her sister’s opposite. being very outgoing, playful, and down to try anything once, charming people with a simple smile from across the room.

She’s always felt this bit of responsibility to make her mother proud and constantly feels that pressure which is one of the main reasons she’s questioning what to do with her career.

Where she goes, trouble tends to follow due to the blonde’s overwhelming sense of adventure and curiosity.

She landed her first acting role, a small commercial and wants to do more in this line of work. She’s also been featured a handful of times as an extra.

She’s the type that her family has money but she’s not one to show it off, never making extravagant purchases especially now living on her own.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

muse : open. her number one support system, made her realize how amazing she was at fashion design. if it wasn’t for him she’d probably still be sketching trees.

best friends : open. open. open. these people are always there for her when she needs them.

fwb/hookups/flings : open. open. being a girl who isn’t one for relationships unless it clicks, it leaves the girl with a lot of free time. she gets bored easily so there’s more than one but it’s always fun and carefree, just like her.

revenge hookup : open. started as a fling to get back at one of her exes and now the two just can’t seem to stay away from each other.

childhood friend : open. their mother’s quickly became friends, always visiting skyler’s mother’s store to get the best designer clothes they could. which led to the two talking while their moms did, getting close and spending time together at events.

protective friendship : open. the person who always comes to her rescue, won’t let anyone mess with her or talk bad about her in their presence. often is seen throwing skyler over his shoulder and carrying her out of parties before she does something dumb.

bad influence : open. the two always have a good time out together, fueling each other’s bad decisions, daring one another to do something crazier.

good influence : open. tries keeping her head on straight and out of trouble.  

cuddle buddy : open. a sort of confidant relationship that usually revolves around them spilling their guts or talking shit, cuddling with no cares in the world. possible that the cuddling could lead to something more romantic.

sexual tension : open. the two can’t seem to stay away from each other and though nothing sexual has happened yet…they’re never far from crossing over that line.

casual exes : open. open.

party friends : open. open. the people who wouldn’t been seen far away from skyler at a party. having drinks in their hands and/or having a good time on whatever dance floor they could find.

chosen sister : open. the person skyler can open up to and talk to about anything. she looks out for skyler like they were actually related, protecting her and being there for her whenever she needs.

the one without the label : open. the two became a frequent thing, partners in crime that were exclusively sleeping with each other. time went on and skyler wanted a define answer of what they were, a label. he denied her and the response was a simple okay, then ending things completely.

partner in crime : open. the first person skyler ever got high with. trouble is always guaranteed when the two are together.

occasional drug buddy : open. when skyler gets high, she likes to do it around someone else, this person allows her to feel comfortable and have a good time. often seen calling her to smoke as well.

aren’t you famous? : open. the person who’s seen one too many commercials featuring a beauty line and skyler.

supplier : open. this person supplies her with whatever when she needs it.

[princessdreamie]

DBH part8

Character references: C: Chance, Fa: Fabian (one of C’s friends & an actor from Na’s favorite show), Br: Chatty/Bratty (N's & Ct's Daughter, but bratty fits her way better if you ask me lol)

New Character/s: Mel: Melody (Fa's girlfriend), Cl: Collin (C's personal driver)

Ofc there are other family members as well but i will include them whenever they actually play a bigger part in the story parts. I highlighted the 2 names since there aren’t many colors I Could choose from lol. So that’s why I picked the current most important ones

At the big kid's school

Br saw C's message in the morning. She thought that he was going to apologize to her on a coffee date. She was very pleased with herself, thinking that he had a change of heart. Maybe even resume their relationship as it once was. In other words, him being the nice timid boy she knew, and she could ask for anything if she acts sweet. She would try to take advantage of his 'guilt' to see how sorry he was. Even bragging about it to her friends at their lunch table. Some of her goons asked if she is going to date him. As much as she likes to think of him as a cute boy, he wasn't her type. She was more into his actor friend, Fa. The girls giggled to themselves.

Fi & Br used to date for a short time but the girl broke up with him bc she felt bored after some time dating her childhood friend. Fi felt defeated for quite some time but hasn't stopped trying to get back with her. Which would have become pretty difficult since he was now studying at a school where his parents work nearby. He had to take over their work eventually so thats why he only gets to visit them every once in a while.

Br was considering his confessions but always turns him down every time. But she was promising him that she might be his Gf when they finish school. But since meeting the cool and easygoing Fa, she couldn't pass off this opportunity. Sure, he was working for a kids' show, but he was still one of the most popular boys in school.

If rumors would go around of them dating, her popularity of being N & Ct's daughter would just increase. She learned from her mother that status is one of the biggest rewards they could have aside from finding love. So that's why she was striving to be the new rising star in her circle and find her true prince charming.

A few tables away, C was eating with his pals, goofing around. Fa's phone started to ring and quickly picked up the phone. He started to talk all sweet and nice. Which was not like him when he was around his friends.

The Ferguson boy then remembered that in one episode, his character had a gf. So he began teasing him out of boredom. Fa was astounded that his buddy knew about this character. C eventually admits that he started to watch it after his lil brother begged him to watch the show.

He liked it but it wouldn't be on the top of his recommended watch list anytime soon. The table laughed and the rest began to tease their Actor friend as well.

C mentioned passingly that he used to watch a different kid's show. Ultraman. To which Fa scoffed at him: „That old dinosaur? Please, they have been Competing against us from the start. They realized they were losing their audience to our show, so they try every kind of movie trope in the book to keep the old fans to themselves.“

Thinking back, C was a big fan of the superhero show. But as Fa said, the franchise has been slipping in popularity. Meanwhile, the fantasy adventure was skyrocketing in the media. Some adults seem to enjoy it as well. The demographic stayed for the kids still.

Fa's character was supposed to stay single throughout the show. The producers changed it sometime later after meeting his real partner, Melody (Mel). Being offered a tryout, Mel was unsure of herself from the start. She was a jewelry designer. Not a movie star. But the ppl loved her performance so much that they begged the couple to let her play a character.

It took some time but Mel started to like the atmosphere and the cartoon itself. She usually records her lines at home so that she could still work on her designs. It takes a lot of effort to get her lines just right but she was happy to help her S.O. in any way.

She agreed to keep playing her character if she stayed anonymous. She wanted to be known for her accessories. She hasn't gotten a huge following yet. But her family supports her to reach her goal.

Another boy on their table asked how a C has still not asked anyone out yet. His response was: „If you would have asked 8-year-old me, I would have had a girl in mind. But now I am just trying to get my grates as good as possible.“

Br would have been an easy choice at the beginning, but like all things in life, people change. And after hearing about the breakup between her and Fi, he certainly was glad to be over the small crush that he had for her.

After school ended, C ordered his driver today to get him to the coffee house. While they drove, C and his driver, Collin (Cl), talked over some basic things from today. He was a middle-aged guy with a slim build to go with his resizing hairline. E hired a driver for his son so that he could go anywhere if he needed to. His background was clean and his recommendations coming from his previous clients had the CEO finally let to hire him.

C and Cl got along pretty well, and the man had always some good advice if he was asked.

Finally arriving at their destination, C tells Cl to wait for him to bring him home. As he entered the building he could already see his cousin sitting with an iced coffee, reading something on her phone.

Finally meeting at the table, they went down to business. Disappointingly for the girl, he was NOT talking with her for an apology but to warn her. Advised that the next time he sees her brother or his pal at any event/party they were hosting or attending, he would make sure that they would be alienated by the people around them for anyone's safety.

[a-second-chance-su-au]

Final Post.

You read the title. I won't be continuing A Second Chance anymore. Below the cut, I explain what the plot was gonna be.

I plan on stepping away from SU as a whole now. The only thing I want to finish is Half a Puppet, which you can read on AO3. ((This is absolutely my. best work, I am super proud of it. Pearl's chapter is my magnum opus at the moment. If anything, please go read that lol.))

Thank you everyone for supporting the blog. This was fun, and it got me though COVID and a lot of 2021. I love you all a lot.

I am still active on Tumblr. I am hyperfixated on Cuphead right now, and run the @cuphead-contract-au blog. I am also working on an original project I eventually want to make into a real animated TV show called Follychromatic. You can follow my journey there. @follychromatic.

Thank you all for everything.

Basically, her thing with Connie was because Rose and Greg had been the same right before Greg made Rose go away. She doesn't want the same to happen to Steven.

Pink yelled at her and banished her. This is why she hates Pink, but loves Rose. She joined the rebellion because of that. Reread the intro bit, Rose knew what she had to do.

Spinel would learn to grow more mature and compassionate about the people around her. She would learn what a healthy relationship looks like and strive to have that with everyone. She makes up with Connie, and they become good friends.

In Future, she winds up teaching the gems how to play games. Her sole episode would be about trying to get Steven to relax, similar to Snow Day but not a replacement. It would happen closer to Mr Universe, maybe before the trip but after Steven realizes he has trauma. She'd see how down he is and try to take his mind off of things, which we realize does not work.

Stop there if you would like. Below is a long, long, LONG post, full of the ENTIRE timeline all the up through Season 4. This is copy+pasted from the google doc I had, and incomplete.

...

The full, uncut timeline, following Spinel on her journey! Everything from just single scenes in already-existent episodes all the way to fresh, new content, in chronological order, with all the important stuff, including notes on important visuals and metaphors/symbolism! Timeline starts when Spinel is first created.

17,000 Years Ago

Spinel emerges from her kindergarten.

It was on the planet above the Garden, with the large heart-shaped hole in it

She emerged as her Homeworld-designed self, and immediately recognized Pink and hugged her. Volleyball was present for it.

Pink managed to sneak Volleyball to a couple of playtimes between her and Spinel. The trio was happy, but Spinel never paid much attention to the pearl.

8,000 Years Ago

Volley’s eye cracks.

Pink had been throwing a tantrum at the time and her scream hurt her eye physically

Pink didn’t know about her healing powers before this point, so had no way of fixing it.

She rushed to the other Diamonds, asking if they knew a way to heal her

The Diamonds take Volley away and Pink swears to get better.

Instead of helping, the Diamonds saw that, despite the fact that they GAVE PINK A FRIEND, she still saw her Pearl as one and took her away

This was the moment Pink swore she wouldn’t throw a tantrum again (but note: growth isn’t linear, and yes, she DOES throw a few more first, but that’s later).

A rift is drawn between her and Spinel

Pink likes being equal to others around her, and that was the relationship she had with Volleyball. They were equals in friendship.

That was the only relationship she had like that, so when Volley got taken away, it devastated her

Spinel was created for the sole purpose of serving Pink Diamond, and her friendship is one-way to the point that she doesn’t want Pink to be on equal ground with her. She’s perfectly fine being beneath her, which Pink is highly uncomfortable with.

This is when she started getting annoyed with Spinel, and mostly started going to her to get away from the palace instead of just to play.

Pink starts becoming more mature.

In her quest to A) stop being childish, and thus B) get a colony, Pink knew she needed to grow up. So she began acting more like Yellow and Blue wanted her to.

She wasn’t happy, however, and came to the garden to let loose. She could be as childish as she wanted there.

7,500 Years Ago

Pink is gifted our Pearl

However, she is still throwing tantrums, and at one point, she hurts Pearl during one, causing her to get rejuvenated. Not gonna keep making you Pearls just to get them taken away, Pink. 

This causes Pink to never want to use that blasted devise again. She wasn’t aware that it completely reset a gem, just that it erased certain behaviors and memories.

Our Pearl is programmed for no funny business, creating another one-sided relationship that Pink doesn’t want any part of. 

Spinel and Pearl met only a few times before the thing happens, but enough that Pearl knows who she is and can remember her later.

6,000 Years Ago (000)

Spinel is left in the Garden

It’s finally paying off. The Diamonds see Pink as one of them (only took 2,000 years, haha!). She’s given Earth as a colony.

However, because the Garden is her place to let loose, she gets extremely annoyed at Spinel for jumping around her like she does. She’s worried they might take her colony away again.

She didn’t mean to forget about her. The way she was always punished was that she was locked in the tower. How is this any different? 

Spinel is NOT going to mess this up for her.

Pink comes to Earth

Colonization begins in the Prime Kindergarten

5,850 years ago: (150)

The Amethysts emerge

Pink goes down to Earth with Pearl

They keep sneaking off for about two months before Pink really realizes what it’s doing to the planet

Pink starts trying to persuade the Diamonds to leave the planet alone.

At first, they don’t take her seriously, but when she keeps asking, they start to get annoyed with her. They threaten that this is her colony, she wants it, so if she ever wants to have another, she is to shut it.

Blue is much harsher during this time, and Yellow is a bit softer. Just a tiny bit, though. (Grief changes the both of them)

Coral and Amber approach Spinel and ask her if she wants to play with them. She says no, that she’s already playing with Pink. They insist, having seen that Pink probably isn’t coming back any time soon, but again, Spinel says that Pink wants her to stay still. So that’s what she’s gonna do. The duo retreat into maintaining the garden, but their own worry starts to make the garden run rampant.

5,825 years ago (175)

Blue starts the human zoo

Pink tries to show her life and say that she wants to preserve it. 

Blue just kinda rolls her eyes and goes “okay fine” and the zoo is built.

5,800 years ago: (200)

Pink gives up trying to persuade them

Though not entirely, as she does bring it up sometimes.

The Gem War begins

Pink starts leading a double life

5,750 years ago: (250)

Garnet meets Rose and Pearl

Pink starts fighting for gems

Now recruits newly-emerged gems into her army

Rose starts spreading her message

Pink starts to become more isolated, starting rumors about herself

5,650 years ago: (350)

Beta Kindergarten gems are commissioned per Yellow’s request

Rose’s army is now a genuine threat

Homeworld gems start to hear her message and switch, or fear her, depending on what they hear

5,600 years ago: (400)

Coral and Amber try again to get Spinel to move, but she insists that she’s okay where she is.

5,500 years ago (500)

Jasper and the other Betas emerge

There is a massive battle at the Beta Kindergarten as Jasper starts her path of destruction

Word of it gets to Rose, but she’s too late to get there. Jasper took out almost all the Crystal Gems stationed at the Beta Kindergarten.

5,400 years ago: (600)

Eyeball arrives on the battlefield with seven other Rubies, responsible for aiding Pink Diamond as extra muscle around her area

Pink likes to keep her Rubies as far from her as possible, just from the discomfort they bring (and because they make it hard for her to sneak off)

5,375 years ago (625)

Rose and Pearl come across a human child all alone

This reminds Rose of Spinel

She gets her and brings her to Earth

Spinel stood in the garden for about 625 years

Coral and Amber are left behind without a second thought

Two years later, Pink banishes her

Spinel becomes a Crystal Gem

5,300 years ago (700)

The whole thing with Bismuth goes down

Rose doesn’t have Lion by this time, so she stores the bubble away in Bismuth’s forge instead

Spinel is devastated, but not enough to poof herself.

She knew Bismuth for about 75 years.

5,250 years ago (750)

Spinel and Eyeball meet on the battlefield, though nothing too interesting happens. Eyeball gets her pinned at one point, which is really hard to do, but it ultimately ends in a draw

5,200 years ago (800)

Spinel meets Jasper on the battlefield, resulting in a showdown. Spinel is terrified of Jasper’s power and strength, and runs from her. There’s a chase as she and some of her close friends flee. 

She makes a huge choice and decides that they can’t run forever, and to save her friends, she turns to face Jasper herself.

The two fight, with Spinel actually doing okay, but she winds up getting poofed

She would have been shattered, but 7TH and 7TP rush in. One throws her gem to the bushes while they fight, resulting in getting poofed. Jasper decides to keep them for information, and can’t find Spinel’s gem.

Spinel reforms and rushes off to the CG base in tears, only to learn that her friends sacrificed themselves to save her.

She swears that she will get them back, and she and Jasper shall meet again.

5,150 years ago (850)

Pink “shatters”

Spinel feels grief even though she knows well that Pink abused her. Pearl has a talk with her about the whole thing, and Spinel feels better, knowing there’s someone else who misses her too. (BUT REMEMEBER THE GAG ORDER)

Immediately, the Homeworld gems start a plan to shatter every Crystal Gem, with new intel from a rebel on a potential place their base may be.

A huge battle takes place, drawing all gems on Earth to it 

Yellow comes down in a ship and starts work on the Cluster, heading to the Prime Kindergarten to issue the experiments immediately, while there are no witnesses

Blue follows her, and the two have a confrontation with each other

Yellow wins the argument, and Blue reluctantly agrees, leaving in her ship after grabbing a few more humans for the zoo (to remember her by)

The Crystal Gems are victorious 

5,100 years ago (900)

The Cluster’s plantation is completed

Yellow slips back off the planet under the cover of night

5,000 years ago (1,000)

The Homeworld gems flee

Premature celebration happens

Spinel was hugging Pearl in joy when Rose grabbed Pearl, saving Spinel from the attack too

The Diamond Attack blasts the Earth and corrupts the gems

The war is over… for now.

4,500 years ago (1,500)

Amethyst emerges

1975

Greg is born

1997

Greg meets Rose Quartz (22 years old)

2001

Steven is born

Rose “dies”

This is the event that drives a rift between Spinel and Amethyst. Spinel was greedy for all of Rose’s attention there at the end, but her respect for Pearl and for Garnet as leader allowed them to get close to her. However, she literally pushed Amethyst away during that time, and because of that, Amethyst’s time with Rose was reduced from what it could have been. From then on, Amethyst holds a grudge against Spinel, and she retaliates since trying to make it up to the little Quartz failed.

2009

Steven (8) moves in with the gems

August 15, 2013

Steven turns 12 years old, the age he is at the start of the show

SEASON 1

Spinel’s arc starts in “Bubble Buddies,” in which Spinel is jealous of Connie

Man of the Mountain

Spinel feels she and Steven are drifting apart, and decides to try and get close to him again. They play in her room in the Temple, sending Steven off on a quest as a knight (which can be played on when Connie steps into that role irl). During it, things go too far and she has to rescue Steven. They had fun, though, and he confirms for her that they’re still close.

Giant Woman

Not worthy to make an entire ep out of, but basically, Spinel CAN go with Garnet to get the Earth Beetle. Spinel can swim in lava, just not for as long as Garnet can. She’s meant to be backup.

So Close

After “Giant Woman,” Steven stages another adventure to try and get Amethyst and Spinel to fuse, too, just like what happened with Pearl and Amethyst, but spoiler alert, it doesn’t happen. Instead, we learn that their arguments started when Steven was born, which kinda begins his self-blame and awareness of his family’s tensions even more so than “Giant Woman,” wherein he was mostly focused on himself rather than his family getting along. “Emotional hell” episode.

Steven the Sword-Fighter

Spinel grabs Pearl’s gem before it hits the ground with her elastic abilities, and basically stands vigil by it while waiting for her to reform. She sasses Holo-Pearl, insulting her, and in this scenario, Spinel is the one to accidentally start a fight with the thing. Steven, not wanting another family member to get hurt because of it, tries to help out and ultimately defeats the hologram. Spinel remained by Pearl’s gem the whole time, though attacked from a distance. Once Pearl reforms, Spinel hugs her and doesn’t stop until sometime after the star has crossed the screen and ended the episode.

This Just In

Just a fun one. :)

Parody of Scooby-Doo! Spinel starts narrating everything and breaking the fourth wall while she does it, too, creating drama (and giving a reason for the title to be just that).

Mirror Gem

Spinel walks in on Steven setting up a school and gawks, asking why he would want to do that? She went to school back in the 1930’s and it was terrible. When Pearl suggests the mirror, Spinel is just as in awe of it as Steven, showing that she doesn’t know what it is. She is with the two of them all day, and is delighted to find a friend in the “defective” mirror. When Steven wants to tell the gems, Spinel insists that it’s a bad idea, but poor Season 1 Steven doesn’t pick up on her nervousness and tells them anyway. As things tense, Spinel runs to Pearl, trying to tell her that it’s okay, the mirror isn’t a threat, but all this does is separate her from Steven when Garnet tries to take the mirror from him. He runs out alone, and all the gems run out to try and find him. Same plays out as he sets Lapis free. She then yells at the OG3 for knowing she was in there, but not letting her go. She offers Steven and Spinel to go “home” with her, which Spinel knows what she means and refuses. She offers instead to have Lapis stay on Earth, where they’re safe from Homeworld’s cruelty. Lapis refuses, tells them both not to trust the OG3, and walks into the ocean. Spinel is hurt that they didn’t mention Lapis to her, but doesn’t say anything (for fear of what happened between her and Pink).

Secret Team

As Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst run around the Temple fixing their mistakes, Steven stumbles across Spinel. She asks what he’s doing, to which Steven responds “nothing!” and keeps searching. Spins is suspicious, but again, says nothing. She hears Garnet’s speech at the end, though, and realizes that they were keeping secrets from her again.

Left Behind

Spinel calls everyone together, and says she knows everyone is keeping stuff from her. She inquires what that might be, and when no one speaks up, decides to create her own. She enlists Steven’s help, and together, they start creating secrets to keep from the gems. It escalates until it’s just Amethyst, though (as Garnet has future vision and Spinel just can’t do that to Pearl), and Amethyst is aware of it. She calls Spinel out, the others telling her that she has to stop, and she confesses that she feels betrayed because of the whole Lapis thing, then the Secret Team thing. Garnet tells her in her most gentle voice that Spinel couldn’t handle that kind of information, to which Spinel realizes that they don’t trust her. She runs off. Garnet tells Steven she’ll bounce back and get over it, but he follows her anyway. He finds her, just in time to hear her sing about feeling left out in the group. He walks up to her and tells her he feels the same way, and that if she wants to be with them, she’s just gotta try harder. That’s what he does. Spinel agrees, and the ep ends on a bittersweet note.

Fusion Cuisine

Zoisite is teased, as when Steven tries to bring his whole family, that means Spinel too, but because of Amethyst’s and Spinel’s tense relationship, the fusion fails. Instead, she’s left behind again (as Connie mentioned nothing about a sister…), and Alexandrite goes instead. Then it plays out the same way.

Warp Tour

In a bout of pure betrayal Spinel ultimately sides with the Gems instead of Steven, singling him out from the group. She agrees Steven is being silly. However, she stays with him as he stays up, trying to get him to take his mind off stuff. He refuses, and she gives up, heading back into the Temple. If he wants to play, he’s welcome to. Just give a knock. Then it plays out the same way.

The Test

Spinel’s room features a few funky, funny, not-quite booby traps. A cage comes down and nearly traps him (though like the spikes in Garnet’s room, would stop before it actually hit or trapped him), he has to jump around on a few platforms out of the reach of what looks like octopus tentacles, and then he lands in a ball pit after jumping off the platform. Finally, it’s a riddle to guess which door was correct, to which there are three doors, meaning three answers. Each door leads out, but Spinel makes it seem like there’s a pitfall trap in front of each to make it matter. Steven gets the answer right (the answer being a rabbit), and moves on to Garnet’s room. During the gem’s talk, Spinel insists that giving him an actual win would be a lot better, but Pearl states instead that this would work the same way. As long as he can do this, it’ll raise his confidence. Spinel agrees with Amethyst’s assessment of “we’re bad at this,” and the conversation goes the same way, as does the episode.

The Mountain Spire

After the episode “Horror Club,” Garnet discovers that due to two simultaneously occurring “earthquakes,” two Gem structures are bound to collapse. She and Amethyst take one, Pearl and Spinel take the other. Steven insists on coming along, and Garnet allows it. While walking, we see bird and rabbit imagery, as Steven goes on about how the last two times they were on an adventure like this, Opal happened! The other time, though, Amethyst and Spinel fought. But if Opal happened, then there was a chance something could happen this time, too, right? They arrive at a tall structure with pieces falling collapsing more by the second; the Mountain Spire. They have to replace to Sun Goddess statue, which was already up there. Steven’s now getting some flashbacks to a different adventure he was on, and now is determined to make sure he doesn’t mess this one up, too! Not a second time! 

Spinel repeatedly runs ahead, appearing to be playing, when in actuality, she’s clearing the coast for Steven and Pearl. She constantly looks for Pearl’s approval. Pearl gets progressively more annoyed. Finally, she confronts Spinel about her behavior, stating that she doesn’t like the clinginess she’s been showing. It looks like it’ll escalate, but Spinel doesn’t try to argue with Pearl at all. She admits that she’s attached to her, maybe more than she should be, but that’s because she respects her. When Spinel was lost, who picked her up and showed her a home with the Crystal Gems? Pearl. She had always believed in Spinel, and Spinel just feels good being around her and being there for her. Pearl says she had no idea, and admits that she maybe has been a bit harsh on her lately, and they both come to peaceful understanding without Steven’s help. (Note: Spinel and Pearl are both lesser gems, and they can connect using that, too. Try to hint at that if possible.)

Climax: the statue has fallen, and the top of the spire is collapsing. The statue is about to fall through the floor (with many many many holes in it), and Spinel can’t reach that far without getting a bit wobbly, so she doesn’t want to risk reaching for it and causing it to fall. They need to be more careful. Spinel and Pearl fuse into Lepidolite. She is agile, stretchy, careful, and self-sacrificial to a fault. She leaps in, bouncing across the room and grabbing the statue before anything can happen to it. Then, the ground shakes again and the floor beneath Steven caves, causing him to fall. She catches him, but only just. She is stretched too far now (as her stretchiness isn’t as much as Spins on her own), and has to make a choice. A vacuum just like the one around the Sea Spire sucks Steven down, making her lose her grip on him, and she makes the decision to go for him rather than the building. She pulls, tossing him up and onto safe land, then falls. She tosses the statue back up to him, and he has to put it back. Once he has, the spire fixes itself, and Lepidolite is saved. She brings Steven down to her level (since they’re going down now), and jokes about the place being a fixer-upper, before unfusing. The three gems head back, mission successful. 

Garnet and Amethyst were also able to fix their building, but their victory is short lived as Steven starts gushing about the fusion he saw. Pearl and Spinel smile at each other. Together, they are pretty great, huh?

Frienemies

After “Maximum Capacity.” Another episode to progress Spinel’s relationships with Connie and Amethyst. Connie comes over for the day, and Spinel insists that she hang out with them, too. Everything Connie does is “wrong,” and she leaves in a huff. When Steven offers to play video games with Spinel and Amethyst, the two start bickering with each other. A few days later, Connie comes back over and Steven tries to push Spinel away, but the gem refuses to leave the two alone. Connie confronts her, asking what he problem is. Connie has never done anything to Spinel before, right? We find out that Spinel has made it her mission to be Steven’s best friend, since that was Rose’s final request of her before she died, and both Amethyst and Connie are “getting in the way.” Connie sees through it and notes Spinel’s jealousy, insisting that he is still his own person, too. Spinel tries to retaliate, but Steven stands up for himself, saying anyone can be his friend and Spinel cannot decide that for him. If he’s Spinel’s best friend, cool, but he’s allowed to hang out with other people, too! Spinel is shocked into silence for a moment. All three others come to comfort her, empathizing about wanting a friend (Connie) and missing Rose (Amethyst). When Connie leaves, Spinel gives her an apology and asks if they’re on stable ground. Connie doesn’t know, but it’s a start. She leaves. Spinel smiles and hugs Steven, insisting she’ll try to do better.

The Return

Jasper and Spinel recognise each other. Spinel shakes with rage. Jasper says she’d be interested in taking Spins on again, just for the challenge, but Garnet jumps in before Spinel can answer, demanding Jasper leave this planet. Things mostly play out the same, except when Garnet gets poofed, Spinel acts immediately. She creates the illusion of a battlefield, masking her approach as she attacks from behind. Jasper, however, expects this, and catches her, throwing her into Pearl and Amethyst as they run closer. Jasper then grabs Steven and knocks him out, ending the episode. Jailbreak plays out the same way.

SEASON 2

Crossover Calamity

This would replace the Uncle Grandpa episode! It’s a goofy, non-canon ep in which Spinel and Amethyst visit different SU AUs together, all while fighting.

Starts off with Spinel raiding Amethyst’s room for her timepiece, since she got to keep it in “Steven and the Stevens”. She needs it for a game she’s playing. Amethyst catches her and the two fight over it. It winds up transporting them across dimensions instead of though time, and they wind up in a Steven Universe x Undertale crossover. They meet Steven and Frisk, and when Steven wonders what Amethyst is doing here and doesn’t recognise Spinel, it’s clear they’re not in the same timeline. They have to work together to get back, since the timepiece is cracked. 

Next, they visit Bendy and the Ink Machine (since there is officially a crossover with that one now). They walk in on Bendy singing “Welcome Home”, and get attacked by the Ink Demon. They teleport away right as he’s about to catch them, transporting to an equally dangerous situation in a different AU. They run, going through a few more AUs until they wind up in canon SU, during “Other Friends.” They watch Spinel poof the gems, then leave, traumatized. 

They end up in front of the Spinel House, where Spinel is instantly drawn to. Henry Stickmin reference! Her options are: Knock, Amethyst, Break In, Remove Layer, or Request Entry.

Knock: Is the correct answer. Spinel knocks on the door and is let in

Amethyst: Reference to Charles! Ames runs off-screen, shapeshifts into a helicopter, and crashes into the building. Fail line: Amethyst, flying in! :D    ...You were expecting this, weren’t you?

Break In: Amethyst and Spinel concoct an elaborate plan to break in. It goes successfully, until they land in the middle of the room from crawling through the vents. The Spinels think they’re getting robbed and attack. Fail line: Everyone knows gravity only exists in cartoons when it’s least convenient, c’mon now.

Remove Layer: Animation/drawing joke. A tab is brought up showing all the layers in Ibis Paint, and the layer with the House is turned off. The spinels all stare at Star, and it end in a fail just like that. Fail line: You were supposed to get INTO the house, not make it disappear completely!

Request Entry: Meta joke! I suddenly show up out of nowhere and get pushed into the building to meet the directors and request that Spinel get added to the house. But my social anxiety to talk to them ruins this and I walk back out. Fail line: This is why people typically approach me first.

Back to business. Once Spinel has knocked and is let in, she meets the Spinels! It’s Spinel Hell for Amethyst, and she wants to get out of there as fast as possible. Joke about how the House is a place for Spinels to get away from the cruelty of their actual AU existence, and then ask if Star wants to join. She says no. Spinel asks if it’s possible to repair the timepiece, to which Rejuvenated or Spinny just slaps some duct tape on it and calls it good, sending Star!Spinel and Amethyst back on their way. It works, and they end up back on the beach. Spinel thanks the stars that’s over, and starts to walk off with the timepiece, ready to continue her game. But then Amethyst fights her for it, and they start crashing through several AUs, probably at dramatic/important parts and completely interrupting everything. Their final stand would be in either SU canon or breaking the fourth wall entirely and they exist on Tumblr or other social media accounts. They have a talk while fighting/playing keep-away, and reconcile. They teleport one final time and end back up on the beach. Amethyst decides it’s whatever and lets Spinel play with it, but she gives it back, claiming to not want it anymore. The two wind up dumping it in the ocean.

And that is why Spinel looks like a wreck. She smiles proudly at Steven as she finishes telling her story. He believes her until Garnet warps back in, asking her how training with Amethyst went after Ames threw her in the sea with her whip. Spinel groans, insisting Garnet ruined the mood. But then we go into the ocean, only to see that the dimension piece is actually there, at the bottom of the sea…

Optional: Spinel pulls a Genie and pulls up the bottom of the page, saying “Made you look!” Then the credits would roll with all the AUs present/used in the story.

AUs: SU x UT, SU x BATIM, HTTYM, I Am My Diamond, SU-Revived, The Spinel House, lab-raised-steven, White Diamond Steven AU, (maybe Gone Wrong? But make it more like a joke than anything serious,) Starhair!Spinel, being-monster-au, su-rogue, restore-the-universe, CHITSU, irl, silent films, SU x GF, SU x TOH, that one gif of Spinel doing the Distraction Dance, Perfect Steven, SU Rewritten, Spinel Goes to Homeworld (“I can’t believe I’m talkin’ ta my reflection-“), Corrupted Spinel, SU x Epic Mickey, plus any and all 

M E M E S. Also, potentially foreshadow as much as you want.

wow that was a lot lmao

Sworn to the Sword

Spinel teases Connie about wanting to train, but in a more light-hearted way that before. She is serious as she tries to warn Connie about Pearl’s teachings, insisting that Pearl could go extreme sometimes, but Connie ignores her, insisting it’ll be okay. The rest of the episode plays out the same, except when Spinel finds out Connie fell for Connie’s teachings, she remarks that she tried to tell her, earning her a glare from Steven. “Just sayin’,” she says, shrugging, but her concern is evident. Rest of the ep is the same.

We Need to Talk

Spinel was doing the filming on the tape Greg and the band was recording, and her cinematography (due to her stretchy limbs) is amazing. She gets along with Greg very well, and thinks he and Rose are cute together. She does join Pearl in teasing him, but her teasing is much more light-hearted than Pearl’s salty, “you’re just a phase” teasing. She is Rose’s best friend, and she doesn’t think Greg can change that. At the end of the episode, though, she is fearful that she was wrong, and Rose and Greg might be closer than any of the other gems to her. She and Pearl share a fearful glance.

Time and Place

The gems are on a mission to recover an object somewhere inside a volcano. Spinel goofs off with Steven, and Garnet commands them to stop. This place is dangerous. Steven stops, but Spinel persists, continuing to make faces and perform silly stunts to try and get him to smile. She does a dramatic flip into a stalactite, bouncing off of it and landing in front of Steven with a “tadaa!” The stalactite cracks and falls, blocking the corruption they’re trying to get to away and nearly getting everyone else hurt or poofed. Spinel herself falls into the lava, but climbs back out perfectly fine. Garnet benches her, insisting that she be more responsible and serious, comparing her to Steven and driving a rift between them unintentionally. Afterwards, Spinel tries to show responsibility as things run awry in the house- the house gets messy and she cleans it, the fridge stops running and she plugs it in, the heater was working in overdrive so she shuts it off. It comes to a climax as a corrupted gem, the same one they were after in the volcano, suddenly warps into the house and wreaks havoc. It’s revealed she caused everything, and after the gem is dealt with, Spinel apologizes, saying that hey, at least she dug the guy out of the rock fall! Garnet doesn’t unbench her, though, and insists that she needs to show real responsibility and start taking things seriously. Steven comes over to comfort her, saying that there is a time and a place for this kind of behavior, and the volcano wasn’t it. She nods, accepting that. 

Chille Tid

Spinel is still benched, and so was waiting for everyone at the beach house. She stays behind for the slumber party, though Amethyst and Steven have to team up to make sure she doesn’t go in the Temple. This is because, when Spinel starts dreaming, her illusion powers kick in and she starts showing what she’s dreaming. Tonight, she dreams of playing with Rose and Steven both inside her garden (foreshadowing the Rose/Pink reveal). This provides a bit of backstory for her, too. She’s awoken as Rose wilts away like an actual rose, and Steven vanishes. Her feet are wrapped in roots, and she sits up quickly only to see that the others had been watching.

She’s ecstatic to learn that Lapis is okay.

Amends

The gems leave for a mission, but Steven stays behind with the still-benched Spinel. He plans a full day of fun for the two of them! Later, they bump into Greg, who is just off of another hard day of work at the car wash, being kept on his toes recently. To relax, they decide to jam out together. At one point, Steven would ask how often Rose joined him (knowing that she’s sung with him at least once) and what she played. Greg responds, saying that she would play and sing with him often. Spinel interjects, commenting that the more she hung out with him, the less she was there for everyone else, and the more lonely Spinel got. She realizes she said that out loud, and dives head-first into apologies, throwing back to some of the things she said in Man of the Mountain (“don’t hate me” and “It won’t happen again” etc). Both Greg and Steven calm her down and ask what brought that on. We now find out that Spinel was abandoned a LOT in the past, but with the CGs, she felt better, but then Greg came along and she started feeling that way again. She hates being alone. She likes him, though, so she never said anything. She tries so hard not to blame Greg- he didn’t know. She never told him, or anyone, since that wasn’t a very nice thing to do and friends are nice to their friends (she’s actually scared of being screamed at like with what happened with Pink). Please don’t hate her? Greg insists that no, he doesn’t, and that he’s sorry he didn’t realize. She’s sorry, too. Steven speaks up, stating that it was really brave of Spinel to tell them that, and to overcome her fear of them thinking less of her or something. He’s proud of her. She smiles at that. 

The next day, Greg wakes up late (like, it’s NOON levels of late). He rushes outside to see Spinel doing his job for him at the car wash, and doing it quite well! Steven is there helping her. When asked what’s going on, Spinel states that she still felt bad for what happened yesterday and wanted to do something nice for Greg, so she took over the car wash for the day! She turned off his alarm so he could get some rest, and has been doing a good lot of the washing. She also gave the van itself a wash, and cleaned all the brushes inside. Greg, in awe, thanks her a lot and gives her a hug. He makes an offhand comment about her showing initiative like that, and how that responsibility was something he never expected from her. Garnet agrees, walking up behind them. Upon seeing the maroon gem, Spinel apologizes again for the volcano incident, and promises to do better. Garnet, having seen that Spinel is capable of taking control and responsibility, unbenches her. Spinel doesn’t stop helping Greg, though, and at the end of the day, they all get ice cream together. Fin.

Too Far

Peridot doesn’t know what to make of Spinel, not having ever even heard of her before. We find out she’s one-of-a-kind, built to be a best friend! She likes to be friends with everyone! Peridot states that she and Amethyst don’t get along, causing the pink gem to blush and run off.

Too Close (NEW FORM)

Spinel now tries to be Amethyst’s Best Friend, along with LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE where she can! It gets toxic quickly, and she more or less becomes Amethyst’s more-annoying personal Pearl for the day. Peridot is quick to point this out. Amethyst confronts her about it, and they have one last fight before Spinel finally starts to learn that you don’t have to give your everything in order to be a good friend (and stop pampering them GEEZ). That’s unhealthy. It’s obsessive. It can smother people! She needs to find a better balance! Spinel states that if she doesn’t give everything, then she feels like she’s lacking on her end, that she isn’t doing enough. If she isn’t by her friend’s side all the time, who’s to say they won’t get mad at her, or leave her? Steven points out how exhausted Spinel has become while taking care of everyone so obsessively. Amethyst agrees, stating that she cannot run herself ragged trying to do everything all at once. She insists that she’s okay, that she can keep going. She was built to be a friend, and she’s been slacking on her end. She’s not gonna stop until everyone around her is happy! She’ll prove it! She then runs away to make the Best Day Ever for everyone, but Amethyst chases her down, now determined to make her see sense. She tackles the other gem, telling her that if she truly wanted to be someone’s friend, she needed to calm down, back off, and respect their wishes to have her leave people alone! Spinel poofs, mostly from exhaustion, but also because she’s getting Pink Diamond flashbacks. 

When she reforms, she walks up to Amethyst and apologizes. If being a friend means leaving people alone, then that was something she was going to have to work on. Being a friend isn’t gonna be easy, but she can try. Just let her know whenever they need her to leave? Amethyst says she’ll do so, and the two hug it out. While doing so, Spinel asks if they can start over, and try being friends again. Amethyst agrees, saying it’s worth a shot.

SEASON 3

Super Watermelon Island

With Spinel and Amethyst finally getting along, Zoisite can now be formed! The battle with Malachite still happens, but now featuring Spinel’s illusion powers and Lepidolite’s feather duster (for cartoony hyjinx). 

Barn Mates

At the end of the episode, Spinel is super happy to finally see Lapis again, but surprising everyone, she doesn’t leap into Lapis’ arms or anything. She instead extends a hand to shake.

Hit the Diamond

Spinel plays referee and pitcher. While doing the lineup, she announces that her name is Sarah, or would Sandy be better? She’s shushed. Later, there’s a throw-away line about how if the CGs don’t win this match, she, Sandy, is quitting. She knows what’s gonna happen and isn’t gonna stick around to witness it. Someone smacks her for breaking the fourth wall.

Too Short to Ride

Spinel stretches out without shapeshifting, which makes Peridot even more upset that she can’t do it. During the shapeshifting part, Spinel becomes a dog and a rabbit, playing a game of chase with Amethyst. 

Trapped

After “The New Lars”. The hunt for Jasper continues, but Spinel and Steven take a break to go visit Peridot and Lapis. Steven and Peri hang out for a while before realizing that Spinel and Lapis are gone. They go looking for them, discovering them atop the silo. They’re laughing. Spinel apologizes for the whole mirror thing, saying that she knows what it’s like to be trapped and abandoned for years, too. Lapis says that it wasn’t her fault, it was Homeworld’s. Spinel says she knows that feel, having been the playmate of her old owner before she got left behind like a broken toy. She insists that Lapis had it worse, though, since she was forced to stay in one spot whereas Spinel chose to stay there, forever… Lapis tells her not to compare what they went through. They’re both hurt, and they can connect over it. That’s what’s important, not who had it worse. Spinel gives her a side hug, saying that she’s really glad Lapis is here. Steven and Peri decide to give them some privacy and leave, the other pair being none the wiser they were ever there.

Days pass, and the hunt continues. Pearl asks Steven if he’s seen Spinel, to which he says no. Garnet states that they need to find her and she warps them to the barn. There, Spinel and Lapis are continuing to hang out. Pearl is the first to scold, demanding to know where Spinel has been when they’re trying to find Jasper? Peridot hears this and tries to get Pearl to stop talking, but she doesn’t. That rogue gem is only going to cause trouble! Spinel feels awful, starting to apologize, but Lapis cuts her off. She insists that Spinel is always being left behind anyway, and has to constantly wear a smile to keep morale up, which makes her feel trapped, but here, she doesn’t have to do that! She’s free! She doesn’t have to be anyone’s friend here. So back off and leave her alone! Steven asks timidly if that’s true, to which Spinel nods. 

She explains that she’s been trying to keep her distance, like Amethyst asked her to, but she feels like she isn’t being a good friend and is slacking off. That makes her stressed, because she knows her friends don’t want her around, so she kept coming here. She doesn’t have to be friends with Lapis or Peridot- that expectation was never there with them. She’s free to just relax here and get her mind off stuff. She didn’t mean to stay away for so long, but she thought no one wanted her there unless they had work for her to do. How can you be a friend if you stayed away? She had no idea, and it was so, so confusing. Spinel says that she was made to be a best friend to one person, and when that person sent her away, she felt lost. The same thing was happening again, and she didn’t know what to do. f

Lapis explains that she used to be a terriformer, shaping planets for her superiors forever and she wasn’t happy. But now, she feels much more free. Playing mediator, Steven builds on that, and explains that she shouldn’t have to feel like she needs to be friends with everyone. That’s an impossible task. If she needs to force it, then it isn’t friendship, and instead, is more just servitude. Lapis and Pearl both agree. Be friends with who you want. Who do you want to be friends with? Spinel thinks, hesitant to say her answer in fear she’ll make people angry, but everyone insists they won’t be. She says she wants to be friends with Steven, Amethyst, and Lapis for sure. She looks up to Pearl and Garnet, and they’re always gonna be family, and they can stay that way. For now. Everyone (sans Peri) hugs her, proud of her, before Peridot interrupts and announces that if she wants to be friends with Lapis, they’d have to fight over it. It looks like Spinel might fall back on old habits for a second before Peridot laughs, saying she was joking. There’s enough Lapis for both of them. Lapis, embarrassed, flies off. The ep ends as Spinel and Peridot look at each other in confusion, wondering what they said.

Together Again (formerly called “Camping”)

After “Restaurant Wars”. Spinel decides to take her friends camping! Lapis was “busy,” so it was just Amethyst and Steven with her. While out, they discover a corrupted gem, a quartz of some kind. She is a powerhouse and overruns everyone, then won’t leave them alone. The monster is big, and the group is in the mountains, so they slip into a small cave in the mountains where the beast can’t get them. As it walks away, Spinel sees the gem, located on its shoulder- it has a scratch in it. It’s 7TP. Her eyes flash in recognition, and she then tries to take it herself. She winds up pinned beneath the amethyst’s paw. She confesses that she knew the gem from the war, and it was one of her best friends. On the battlefield, the fight that occurred just before everyone was corrupted, 7TP got a scratch across her gem, not deep enough to count as a crack, but deep enough to be recognizable. They have to bubble her, quick! Steven and Amethyst get 7TP off Spinel and fighting ensues, but Spinel can’t bring herself to hurt her old friend now that she can put a face to the monster. Amethyst and Steven can’t take her alone, and at one point Amethyst is thrown down next to Spinel. The two agree that this isn’t working, and they fuse.

Lavender Alexite is a smaller, squishier version of Sugallite, now with 85% less visible muscle! Amethyst’s determination combines with Spinel’s frustration, and both of them together are able to bring the fusion down with their grappling hook-like weapon, tying her up and Lavender herself finishing the corruption off. Spinel bubbles her after Steven heals her, sending her off. Unprompted, she explains that when her old owner decided to get rid of her, 7TP was by her side. She’s been by Spinel’s side for so long. Refueled determination to heal corruption.

Note: Maybe mention 7TH at some point?

Monster Reunion

Spinel is shocked that the corruption could be healed as she was, but gives Steven space to be with Neph. At the end, she asks Steven if she could do that again, to which Garnet says no. 

Healing Haze

Spinel goes up to Steven in the middle of the night to wake him up. She tells him that Garnet and the rest of the Gems are out on a mission trying to find Jasper, and they think that she’s exploring the desert. She drags him into the Bubble Room, brings down 7TP, and unbubbled her. Steven, having had no say in this (and was half-asleep until just now), freaks out. As 7TP is reforming, Spinel tells him to heal her before she wrecks the place and they both get in trouble! He does, slapping on some healing spit, and 7TP half uncorrupts. Spinel cautiously approaches, asking if the gem remembers her. She shapeshifts back into her War design, to which the gem now recognizes her. Spinel starts calling her Violet. Violet starts to freak out, realizing she’s been corrupted, and rushes to look at her reflection. She’s shocked and dazed. Spinel calms her down enough to switch the topic over to Steven, gesturing for him to come on over. She introduces them to each other, and tells Violet that things will be okay now. However, just like with Nephrite, Violet eventually recorrupts. Spinel bubbles her again, then thanks Steven, giving him a crushing hug. 

The next night, she asks the same thing from him. Seeing Spinel so happy the previous night makes Steven more willing to let the gem out this time, though he still isn’t completely onboard. But, they have fun anyway, until Violet recorrupts again.

They do this again and again, with Steven’s unease growing more and more. This feels wrong, and he tells Connie as much on the phone. Connie tells him that he needs to get Spinel to stop. They bubble those gems for a reason- so they don’t suffer. By letting her out, having her back for a while, only to have her become a monster again, over and over and over… that can’t be good for poor 7TP. What if that has some kind of long-term effects? They need to stop. Besides, getting poofed so many times must hurt, even if Violet does just accept it when the time comes. Steven agrees, and when Spinel inevitably comes up to him the next night, he tells her all that. Spinel is devastated, and tells him to go back to sleep.

He wakes up to Spinel yelling. He looks over and sees 7TP running out of the Temple, fully corrupted, with Spinel tearing after her from behind, waving a cloth. Steven asks what in blazes she’s doing, to which she replies that she took some of his spit while he was sleeping and put it on this here very cloth and she put that on the gem and it didn’t work! She’s still corrupted! Steven gets understandably upset, and now the goal becomes catching Violet, and fast! 

They wind up bringing her in through music, with Spinel singing a lullaby to her (a nod to Blue Order). Steven can now heal her, but since she’s already formed, it doesn’t do anything. She’s aware enough to have a conversation with now that she’s calm, though (maybe?) and Spinel apologizes for everything. They poof and bubble her again, for good this time.

When the other gems get back in the morning, they ask what happened to the house. Spinel owns up to her mistakes, and accepts the fact that they’re gonna bench her again. Garnet tells her no- Spinel understood what she did was wrong and learned her lesson. 7TP will be better off in the bubble, for now. Spinel asks about, since Garnet has future vision, why didn’t she stop her from unbubbling Violet so many times? Garnet states simply that Spinel was going to learn her lesson, and this was the only way that she’d truly understand. Just words weren’t gonna work. 

Catching Up

After “Alone at Sea,” Spinel decides to do something fun with Lapis just like they did with Peridot. Shorty Squad Assemble, now featuring Spinel and Lapis! They decide to spend a day wherever Lapis wanted to be, which for now, was the barn. Understandable.

Next step, make Lapis a bootleg Funland! They all set up a bunch of fun activities around the barn, including a ring toss, a bean bag toss, a dance floor (with a radio), and water balloons! There’s also a game of baseball if people wanna play. 

It’s a cute ep that is filled with fluff until, after a while, Lapis keeps zoning out. Steven, Peri, and Spins all try to keep her distracted, but Amethyst is the one who eventually steps up and tells Lapis to just spit it out. Lapis explains that Jasper has been on her mind, and she appreciates what everyone is doing for her- it has truly been fun- but it’s not working. Everything that happened on the boat is fresh in her mind, and she honestly just wants to be alone while she processes everything. Sorry for being a downer. She flies back into the barn.

Spinel and Steven go after her, though Amethyst and Peridot agree it’s best to leave her alone. The two find her on the top floor, and inch closer. Spinel tells her that she shouldn’t be alone to think about this kind of thing- being alone sucks. They both should know that by now. Steven asks if she wants to talk about it. Lapis says no. She appreciates the sentiment, really, but she needs to figure things out alone. They don’t know what it’s like to battle Jasper constantly, how tiring being stuck with her is. Spinel pipes up, saying that although that’s true, she does know what it’s like to fight Jasper. It was 5,300 years ago. They met on the battlefield, and she nearly got shattered that day. She recounts the story. She never had someone to talk to about it, and she thought that she couldn’t, since she was supposed to be everyone’s friend, their relief. But that’s not how it works. Right? It goes both ways? So don’t be silent. 

Lapis says that she just doesn’t want to talk about it. There are things that happened down there that she doesn’t really want anyone to know about, and she wants to keep it down. Though, again, she really appreciates the sentiment. Steven and Spinel leave, then meet up with the guys down below.

They play baseball for a while, two on two, before someone hits the ball super far away. Lapis comes back with it, saying she’ll talk when she’s ready, but for now, let’s just have fun. Ends on a lighter note.

Bismuth

Spinel is almost as happy to see Bis as Pearl! Almost. Her weapon upgrade is a serrated blade. While sparring, Spinel turns on the illusion powers, then bounces around her like a ping pong ball. She attacks from behind, but Bismuth, expecting this, catches her. She shoves Spinel away, making room for Pearl to then come in! The rest is the same. Spinel clings to Pearl when Bis is bubbled away.

SEASON 4

Know Your Fusion

Garnet + Spinel fusion as well? Just for a moment? Pearl could take Sardonyx’s place while she’s gone. Spins would likely point out that she’s never fused with Garnet before, and since we’re meetin’ new fusions anyways, could it be cool to add one more to the roster?

Think more about the idea before declaring it canon. Don’t take away from characters, remember? This might not fit into 11 minutes, or maybe make it double length? Two parter? Think about it.

Return to Mask Island

After “Future Boy Zoltron”, Spinel tells Steven she’s convinced Lapis to hang out with them for a day! Steven decides to take the party to Mask Island, since it’s such a pretty place and would be good for unwinding. Lapis is nervous, since the last time she was here, she was Malachite. Whoops. Steven and Spinel both insist this will be good for her, since she wants to get over her past trauma of being fused with Jasper, and balancing some good memories into the mix of bad will do her some good! Amethyst agrees, so Lapis gives in. Steven tells her that fusion feels amazing, but only with the right people. They make camp, and montage of them having fun and unwinding. Show something slinking in the water.

Eventually, Steven breaks out the s’mores supplies. He and Amethyst really start talking, and they don’t really notice when Lapis and Spinel get up. They run out of crackers, and Amethyst volunteers to get more, only to then notice that half their party is gone. Steven will find them, and Ames runs off. 

Four Gems and a Baby

Steven was intended to be Spinel’s new Best Friend so she thinks of him as a fellow Spinel playing a game with them at the moment. Like Ames said, being a baby was fun, so this must be going somewhere. Rose said he was gonna be a friend. So that’s what he was.

Gem Heist

Spinel becomes mute: the misadventure/near shattering :)

That Will Be All

She’s FIIIIIIINE…

Ruby Round-Up

Mission: Find and Locate All Ruby Guards

After “Storm in the Room.” Everyone heads back out into space to see if we can’t find the Rubies. We are able to find Army, Leggy, and Doc before Doc calls the cops on us and a Homeworld ship shows up. We find out more about Gem technology, namely that you can only go a straight line while using the gravity engine, so in theory, the other ship can track them. They need a safe place to hide. Spinel takes over the controls, and she takes them to the solar system with the Garden in it.

The whole time, Army and Doc don’t make it easy to escape. They keep making this harder for them to drive, having broken many parts of the ship in an effort to get it to stall, and the other gems have to leave Spins alone to drive while they make sure the three Rubies don’t cause any more trouble.

They hide the ship behind one of the smaller planets/moons floating there, shutting off the engine to help prevent being tracked/seen. The other ship zips right on past, missing them entierly. They power the ship back on, and land on the centerpiece.

The episode ends with everyone stepping out, and Spinel introducing them to the Garden.

Right Where You Left It

We visit one of the gem’s childhood homes…

Spinel takes on the grand tour of the garden, hoping to find parts and pieces to fix up the Roaming Eye. The three Rubies are put in time-out. We see the inside of the room, where Pink’s Biopoison Injector awaits, along with a line of rejuvenators. We also meet the cautious Coral and the untrustful Amber. Coral is in charge of all the plants, whereas Amber is in charge of making sure the buildings don’t collapse, but they only are supposed to be at work when they’re called. No one has called for thousands of years, and they’re too scared to go investigate. Spinel left a while ago, too, giving them zero reason to go out there. If an elite saw them, they could risk being shattered since no one wants them anymore. Where do useless gems go?

The two wind up telling them about the biopoison, and how it was made just for this garden when Pink finally decided she was done with it forever. The rejuvenators were meant to reset a gem, but Pink decommissioned them after a single use. Yellow has more. 

They ask Spinel if she’s back to stay, also where is Pink Diamond? This is where we find out Spins and Pearl belonged to Pink. She’s gone, Spins says, and no, she’s not staying here. Do they want to go with them to Earth? After some thought Coral and Amber decide no- the threat of shattering is really scary, and they can’t fight back. They don’t even have gem weapons. Spinel tells them that she didn’t either, until her friend made her one! She pulls out her scythe. They could come along, too. The Earth is a beautiful place. They agree reluctantly, but then state that they don’t want to be a part of anything; if Earth is a place to be free, then they want to explore, maybe fix up or tidy up some Gem ruins there. Fighting is not an option, and they’re tired of staying in one spot. 

The others agree, and Spinel apologizes for not paying them more attention when they were here together. She has a history of only focusing on what she wants to focus on, and ignores everything else. All is forgiven, and it’s back to Earth we go now that the ship is prepared.

The three Rubies manage to escape and warp back to Homeworld...

Making Up

Time to be frens with Connie. Finally. Took ya long enough.

and this is where it stops lmao. cliffhanger.

[dwellordream]

“By the early 1920s, the older generation of physicians who insisted that athletics would damage women's fragile bodies had largely been discredited. Nonetheless, concern that women's participation in vigorous exercise programs, competitive sports, and other forms of strenuous physical activity would undermine "natural" gender differences lingered through the rest of the decade. After all, sport had developed in the nineteenth century as a male preserve, a domain in which men expressed and cultivated masculinity through athletic competition.

Women's assumption of such "manly" activities therefore continued to unnerve many contemporaries who questioned the social consequences of their unprecedented exploits. How could a woman who "on the stroke of six [o'clock] . . . jumps out of bed, throws herself on her bicycle and races like a newspaper boy out to the tennis court or the gymnasium, and then arrives at the office at nine, completely out of breath" possibly retain her femininity, wondered some observers. Could women who participated in "mannish" activities such as soccer and boxing be truly womanly outside the sports arena? 

And was it not possible that unrestrained physical activity might really, as some critics suggested, cause young women to "shake off a part of their sex and acquire a considerable part of the robust and rough assurance of a masculine being?" For those who harbored such concerns, the media's endless fascination with extraordinary female physical feats did little to alleviate their worries. Throughout the postwar decade, newspapers and magazines reveled in stories about women, both from Denmark and abroad, who broke gender conventions as soccer players, wrestlers, hammer throwers, long distance runners, motorcycle drivers, sharpshooters, and parachute jumpers. 

Photographs of female firefighters, bus drivers, ditchdiggers, and construction workers only added to this carnivalesque display of female modernity that simultaneously announced the arrival of a new type of physically active woman and the collapse of distinct male and female preserves. Equally popular were stories of female accomplishments that seemed to throw into question men's physical supremacy. When, for example, the young Danish-American swimmer Harriet Mille Carson managed to cross the English Channel in record time in 1926, while "the first-class male swimmer" against whom she competed had to "give up due to wind and waves," she did so under intense media coverage.

And the following year, when the seventeen-year-old Edith Jensen became the first person ever to cross the Sound between Denmark and Sweden, only one day after a male swimmer had failed to reach that goal, the press once again touted young women's stunning physical strength and endurance. While most ordinary Danes probably found such spectacular female feats more exciting and entertaining than threatening, those who participated in the public debate were generally troubled by such activities. In their minds, these were examples of the worst aspects of women's physical activities—vulgar in their competitiveness, excessive in their aim, unfeminine in their vigor, and immodest in their public display. 

Instead of promoting stronger, healthier female bodies, such activities, they feared, would ultimately undermine women's physical well-being and, rather than making them more beautiful, might make women mannish and muscular. It is therefore hardly surprising that many contemporaries felt that some guidance was called for lest young women slip entirely out of control and lose themselves in unhealthy competition and damaging excesses. Even advocates of female exercise were often uncomfortable with young women's enthusiasm for strength, speed, and record-breaking. 

While interested in promoting physical freedom and athletic enjoyment for women, the vast majority of them were also committed to preserving gender difference, and they saw competitive strife as an unfortunate and eccentric American phenomenon that threatened to ruin not only "the sound Danish tradition of women's exercise" but also women's physical health and femininity. In response to charges of masculinization and out of concern about women's health and well-being, they therefore began to articulate a philosophy of female athleticism that defined proper physical activities for women as fundamentally different from those of men.

Women, they argued, should carefully choose only those forms of activity that suited their constitution. Exercise should not exert, and it should never "develop a woman's body so that she becomes too muscular." Besides, women should not engage in competitive sports. Not only might frenzied competition lead a woman to loose her composure and "aesthetic appearance," but it also brought out aggressiveness and other "most unfortunate character traits in a woman." Rather than athletic prowess and bodily strength, the development of soft and harmonious feminine bodies ought to be the objective, and women should therefore confine themselves to the "feminine" category of pleasurable exercise and physical fitness, leaving "masculine" sports to men.

Female physical educators, including exercise instructors, gymnastics teachers, and physical culture specialists, were particularly adamant in this stance. By the 1920s, these women had for decades been striving to develop specifically female exercise programs. Criticizing nineteenth century traditions of gymnastics and physical exercise for their masculine bias, their emphasis on disciplining and strengthening the body, and their stiff, militaristic bent, they insisted on the importance of acknowledging gender difference and cultivating exercise systems for women that were not a "blind imitation" of men's. Instead of strenuous drills and apparatus-based gymnastics that developed muscular strength, they encouraged light floor exercises, rhythmic movement, and figure training that called forth physical expressions of women's feminine nature.

According to its advocates, specifically feminine exercise programs had numerous advantages. First, they took place in gender-segregated spaces and made it possible for women to exercise under the guidance of female instructors without exposing themselves to the lewd gaze of male spectators. Second, in contrast to competitive sports and masculine styles of gymnastics, which were deemed "too brutal and therefore [threatened] to ruin the harmony of the female physique," the new styles of exercise offered physical activities that were designed to preserve and enhance women's "figure and feminine grace" and make them "supple, graceful and rounded in form and movements."

Typically described as relaxing yet invigorating, such exercises allowed women a measure of organized physical expression without violating their femininity. Third, and perhaps most importantly, these forms of physical activity did not seek to "turn women into athletes" or encourage them to become "unappealingly emancipated," but allowed each woman to develop her body to its fullest aesthetic potential. A harmonious, fit female body, radiating health and "natural" feminine beauty, was the inevitable result of such proper exercise. 

Considering their emphasis on style over strength, physical attractiveness over athletic accomplishment, and gender segregation over mixedsex companionship, it is not surprising that advocates of the new exercise systems met with widespread support even among many former critics of women's physical activities. By advocating new forms of moderate physical exercise that promoted health and fitness along with feminine beauty, female physical educators had clearly managed to stake out a culturally legitimate position. Edged between modern sports and conventional physical restraint, they proposed a compromise that merged athletic enjoyment with activities suitable for female bodies and psyches. 

While physicians, physical educators, and other interested parties debated these issues, young women continued to pursue a variety of physical activities. Some paid scant attention to the words of authorities, delighting in many of those exact activities that most horrified contemporaries. Amanda Christensen, for one, was never deterred from her love of competitive bicycle racing. "I knew, of course, that girls were not supposed to do that," she conceded, "but that never stopped me. Why should people tell me what I could do?"

Most young women were much less assertive and self-confident. While they were enthusiastic about sport and physical exercise, they were also concerned about how their participation in different activities might be perceived. As one young woman wrote to an advice columnist, "I want to have fun, but I am not sure whether it is appropriate for young girls to play hockey." Despite the desire to have fun and take part in what were perceived as "modern" activities, she and many other young women did not want to violate too many cultural norms, and they were unwilling to risk too much social ostracism. 

Besides, most young women were as concerned about their femininity as were other contemporaries, and despite their interest in physical exercise they did not want to risk appearing "mannish" and unattractive. Not surprisingly, many girls and young women therefore responded positively to the new forms of exercise advocated by female physical educators. From the early 1920s, both devoted sports enthusiasts and women who had never before participated in organized physical activities flocked to exercise classes. According to Jenny Okkels, "We all took exercise classes." 

Regitze Nielsen agreed. "Any young girl took exercise classes back then," she recalled, adding with obvious delight that "it was so much fun, such camaraderie." Part of the appeal of exercise classes for young women lay in the very qualities stressed by advocates of physical exercise. Clearly, the cultural respectability of such activities enabled even cautious young women to engage in various forms of female physicality without exposing themselves to charges of improper behavior. Within a wholesome atmosphere, apart from men and under the supervision of female instructors, they found welcome opportunities for pleasurable and fun-filled physical activity. 

Moreover, the particular forms of exercise promoted by female physical educators in the postwar decade offered young women a chance to reshape their bodies in ways that simultaneously set them apart from older generations of women and fit their perception of what constituted a "modern" physical style. Key components of this coveted style included physical self-confidence, a graceful feminine body language, and a certain "natural" ease—all characteristics that female exercise instructors strove to teach their students. 

Aja Packness, who participated in exercise classes during her youth in the 1910s, recalled, for example, how she and her classmates learned to "swing and sway and twirl so we looked like butterflies. We learned rhythm, graceful poses, and arm movements, but first and foremost we learned to behave freely and unconstrained. I am to this very day grateful to Miss Schjellerup [the instructor] because she taught us to walk freely across a dance floor where many people were watching us. And we learned to sit properly on a chair—not shyly out on the edge." 

Because many physical educators adhered to the philosophy that "each individual [is] endowed by nature with a personal rhythm," exercise classes also encouraged the pursuit of individuality and personal expression, both factors young women associated with female modernity. In addition to these appealing qualities, the enthusiasm that many young women displayed for the exercise classes sprang from the legitimacy they seemed to grant to sensual pleasure and the pursuit of physical beauty, an undertaking that nineteenth-century moralists had often criticized as evidence of female vanity and self-absorption. 

Physical educators idealized the healthy, harmonious, physically fit female body, and they were never sparing in their praise of "the beautiful sight of many young, slender female bodies engaged in rhythmic exercise." Many of them actively encouraged women to pay attention to their appearances and to take pride in their efforts to attain "cheerful, agile and healthy" bodies. Of course, the praise bestowed on those who strove to be physically fit entailed an implicit critique of those who failed to do so, but even as they enforced a new set of standards for what constituted an attractive appearance, advocates of women's exercise and physical culture nevertheless succeeded in claiming for women the right to take new kinds of pleasure and pride in their bodies.

In the course of the 1920s, then, the tension between young women eager to explore new forms of physical activity and older contemporaries concerned about the consequences of unrestrained female physicality gradually faded as physical educators managed to develop new forms of female exercise that were sufficiently feminine to deflect charges of improper masculinization and, at the same time, sufficiently exciting and physically gratifying to attract large numbers of young women. Although some female athletes continued to excel in competitive sports and to upstage men in spectacular feats of performance, the fact that the majority of young women turned their energy toward feminine exercise seemed to quell much of the opposition that initially surrounded women's forays into the sporting world.”

- Birgitte Soland, “Fit for Modernity.” in Becoming Modern: Young Women and the Reconstruction of Womanhood in the 1920s

[youarejesting]

Sly like a... ? Part 4

[Master list] [Sly Master List] Beta: n/a (at the moment) Rating: All Pairing: Hybrid!BTS x FailedHybrid!Reader Genre: Hybrid au, fluff, action, adventure, angst, drama, slice of life. Some marked chapters will contain mature/smut scenes, BUT they will not have plot in those scenes and are 100% skippable without losing your place in the story. Words: 1.8k

Summary: Human’s strive to be better, faster and stronger looking to animal DNA. Thus Hybrids are born. As the rise for designer and Pedigree Hybrids increase, so do the failed attempts. There is one species scientists are unsuccessful in creating, but, folklore says they have been here all along, hiding and blending in with the humans for many millennia. How clever they are.

[First] [Prev] [Next]

Deciding to sleep in the lounge was not only because you had grown too tired from cleaning to retreat for a bed, but also as you had given up your room so each hybrid had their own personal space. Another and more pressing reason you had slept on the couch was to perhaps talk Yoongi down from leaving. 

It was understandable he was apprehensive about the trials and after your in depth conversation he agreed to truly think the offer over before making any rash decisions. That’s all you could hope for, that he tried for the sake of himself and other hybrids in his position. The first day hadn’t gone as successful as you had hoped but you had developed a good impression with the initial three hybrids.

“The story of the fox goes back to Chinese folklore, in a book called the classics of Mountain and Sea. The book was filled with monsters and mythical creatures that roamed the earth hidden among the humans. They called the fox ‘Huli jing’ and said they had immense power,” Felix spoke quietly tucking you into bed, his silver hair shone by the faint glow of the night light in your room. 

“Some say that every ten years a fox grows a new tail, and others say when a Fox falls in love it will only have one.” He explained seeing you sitting up he pressed his finger to your forehead trying to push you to lay down, “Are you laying down, this is supposed to be a bedtime story.”

“I know but your stories are so good I don’t want to fall asleep again,” You whined but reluctantly gave way, “I am laying down, tell the story, tell the story.”

“In the mountain lived a young man, who spent his days gathering wood, food and water, one evening he wished under the moon for a wife that could love him and give him a family. The next morning he was visited by a beautiful woman, she was everything he wished for and the two fell in love. She told him she would marry him and give him a family if once a month under the full moon she could disappear down to the river and he would never follow. So he obeyed never following and the two had two children, she took the children to the river every full moon and the man started to grow curious.”

“He followed her to the river and saw her remove and wash her skin. She was not a human but a fox and their children splashing in the water were foxes too but they didn’t need to remove their skin. They were part human and were good at disguising themselves. The fox saw her husband standing there and she fled with their children never to be seen again.” Felix saw your eyes drifting and gave a low chuckle, “That will be it for tonight you have lessons in the morning.” 

Growing up in a government facility had everything a real home would, except love, you didn’t have a mother or father to care for you. But you did have a young researcher named Felix who would often visit and dote on you, giving gifts and teaching you about Hybrids. He helped you to understand that you were in fact a Hybrid even if you didn’t appear like one. Felix often told you stories, myths and legends about foxes. He made sure to never treat you like a failure, unlike the other researchers.

“Am I ever going to be allowed to leave, no one will want a hybrid who doesn’t look like a hybrid, but no one wants to deal with a human who has animal tendencies?”

“The right people will accept you when the time comes” He smiled, a knowing glint in his eye, he always looked like he was hiding something. You had a way of getting information out of everyone who worked in the facility but not Felix, he was the exception always calling you out when you tried. “They are out there, now it’s time to sleep.”

He left and after a few moments the lights in the hall switched off. The door creaked open and you shuffled over in your bed and lifted the blanket. Jimin slid under the covers and the two of you fell asleep cuddling. Everynight Jimin snuck from his room to yours if he wasn’t caught and the two of you fell asleep beside one another. His tail nervously in his hands where he would twist it gently.

“Jimin is out of bed again!” 

A head of red locks poked into the room, Felix’s eyes met yours and with a playful wink he turned to leave and you swear you saw three silver bottle brush tails trailing behind him, “They are asleep Astrid, leave them be,”

Woken by something soft brushing against your hand, you opened your eyes taking in your surroundings. That’s right you were staying in a government house, you hadn’t lived in one of these buildings since you were a teen. The buildings all smelt the same, like the same disinfectant and carpet shampoo, you were used to this even if the disinfectant made it hard to relax. It was hard to adjust to a place that smelt like nothing, everything smelt like something. 

Turning towards your hand you found Jungkook rubbing the sides of his face against your hand and letting your fingers brush over his head. It was a natural reaction cat hybrids have sweat glands in their cheeks that are filled with their scent and well when they nuzzle or rub their faces against something it transfers that scent. 

You scratched behind his ears, he stopped closing his eyes and purring happily in response and you hoped your scent would soon occupy some of the house to ease you discomfort

“Good morning Jungkook!” You greeted him, scratching more diligently behind his ears. He leaned into your touch, you assumed from his purrs that he felt safe and happy to live with you. “Have you had breakfast?”

“Uh, no” he whined a pout prominent on his lips, either he was really hungry or he was upset that you had stopped petting him. You were heading into the kitchen and starting to prepare a large breakfast. Before you had the chance to set the table there was a knock at the door. Jungkook ever so curious slinked across the room to peek out the window.

“Your friend Jimin is back and he brought two new hybrids,” Jungkook's voice died off towards the end and Seokjin stepped out his tail all messy from his sleep. Seokjin petted Jungkook’s head tired and the younger hybrid followed you to the front door.

Pulling the door open you saw Jimin dressed beautifully in a suit and with some rather beautiful make up, he was fresh from his photo shoot. “I look good huh?” He leaned in kissing your cheek and walking inside, muttering something about the smell of the government houses. 

Behind him was Kim Namjoon looking bored. He carried a small potted plant in his hands and practically stumbled up the steps but tried to play it off with a look of contempt lacing his features. He was the tallest out of all the hybrids you had met and you could see Jungkook’s wide eyes already admiring the older Hybrid. 

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” He took your hand and kissed your knuckles and stepped inside. Asking Jungkook to lead him to the room beside Jimin’s he nodded and led the taller feline hybrid to his room. Namjoon seemed a little taken back by Jungkook’s admiring stare.

Jung Hoseok was just full of smiles so excited to see everything the city had to offer, his eyes shone, he would be a ball of energy. His reaction to the house was just a series of loud sound effects, clapping, and giggles. You grinned greeting him with a smile. He was quick to give you a hug talking about how his previous owners had given him some food as a gift. The farm where Hoseok was born were breeders of deer and similar hybrids.

Hoseok had a kind of silly face like Jin's. He was very expressive and when he smiled you just knew he was happy. You could tell he was from the country as he was very lean and yet still muscular. He wasn’t on to shy away from hard work.

With the two new hybrids in the house you felt the tension build, especially between Seokjin the oldest, Yoongi who wasn’t one to follow someone's orders and Namjoon who thought of himself superior to the other hybrids. This was going to end badly if you didn’t step in so you did.

“I would like for you to have no fighting and as of right now I am the leader and the boss, when the time comes that you have grown accustomed to one another then we will vote who will be the leading figure. But for arguments sake I will take the leadership role do we all agree?”

“Yes, of course” Seokjin smiled, he respected your decision and also would rather not start a fight with two predatory hybrids.

“A smart decision.” Namjoon nodded watching Jimin searching for something in his bag, a familiar scent catching your attention. Yoongi smirked seemingly amused by the two hybrids who were quick to bow their heads.

“For now,” Yoongi muttered, slinking off to his room, his dark tail the last thing you saw as he turned down the hall.

“Oh, Y/nnnnn?” Jimin cooed from across the room he had a dark bag filled which from what you could smell was full of fruit, “I got you a present?”

“Blueberries?” You went to run over to inspect the bag but he held up his hand, freezing you to the spot.

“And?” he smirked, rustling the bag letting more of the fresh fruit aroma fill the air,  “What else can you smell?”

“Mulberries?” You sniffed the air stepping forward slowly, “and what is the last one?”

“Grapes and Plums” Seokjin sniffed the air coming closer, you had a bit of a laugh, at least there was someone in the house with similar taste as you. The two of you tipped the bag into a bowl and ate together, the others all enjoyed the breakfast you had made especially the grilled mackerel but you couldn’t help but notice Jimin pouting. Perhaps he didn’t like that Seokjin was enjoying the gift he had gotten for you.

“Thank you so much Jimin, these berries are my favourite and I am so proud of you for letting me share with Seokjin, as he loves them too. You are making such a good first impression, you are such a good boy” Jimin’s face flushed in response apparently he didn’t expect to be praised but you knew how much he loved words of affirmation. 

[First] [Prev] [Next]

Tags:  @simplymemyself @lolsiiike @min2jeon @notruercolors​ @luvaffaire​ @grazysf​ (please make sure you have tagging setting on so you get notified when the story updates)

How can I save this to receive and read updates?

‘Follow’ and turn on ‘Notifications’ so you never miss an update

Add your name to a ‘Tag’ list [HERE]

‘Reblog’ this post with the hashtag #BTSsly

Or you can ‘Like’ this post (but good luck trying to find it a week later, we both know how many things you like a day, perhaps we will meet again in the future.)

[oveliagirlhaditright]

The Mom Friend

Yeah… though Neku had certainly never signed up to be these four’s mom—and he still had no idea how that had happened—he now knew he wouldn’t change it for the world. Oneshot. Canon compliant. Mom friend Neku. Neo spoilers.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33385999

At first, if you had asked Neku if he had become the mom friend of the Wicked Twisters, he would have laughed in your face.

Because while he would admit he loved the youngins’—and was very protective of them—some old habits of wanting to be cool, and being somewhat rough around the edges, died hard.

But it was with Nagi that Neku finally realized that this was the case.

The girl had decided to go vegetarian, but her body was rejecting not having a lot of protein and thus needed something like nuts this very instance? Who was it but Neku, who went out to buy her some, at near three o’clock in the morning (because he was a good friend and had expanded his horizons that much), since her parents had recently died in a car crash and they could no longer do it for her, the poor girl.

So, Neku crept into Nagi’s dorm window around one-forty-five-ish—which, looking back on it, probably hadn’t been a good idea and could have scared his friend. But, hey: Neku had gotten used to being in the Game. And the week that Coco brought him back before he ran into Beat, he’d been in hiding, and had maybe gotten used to the idea some; and Nagi didn’t seem spooked, so maybe her mind was still stuck on sneaking around in the Reapers’ Game, too—and Nagi took the food out of Neku’s hands like it was the easiest thing in the world before ruffling his hair.

“Much obliged, Lord Neku,” she said as she fixed her glasses in this dim lighting, so she could see him better. Or so Neku guessed. “Now, hopefully, I can feel better enough, that I can work on my essay about the Canterbury Tales. …No one knows such suffering as me,” Nagi moaned, before going back to her bed and starting on the cashews.

“No, problem,” Neku said then—feeling sort of awkward, as he went to mess with a pair of headphones that were no longer on his person anymore—“if you need help with it… I, uhh, guess I could try and lend a hand. I have university coming up soon, too. And I know they’ll have me doing some English stuff, so…”

“Unless you want to be bored to tears, I suggest that you not make such a promise, unless your heart knows little joy,” Nagi warned him.

And Neku didn’t have to be told twice. So, he did backout of helping her with that paper.

But he knew when he visited Shiki soon—and she asked him what he’d been up to—she would still tease him about being the mom friend, for going out and buying protein for Nagi in the wee hours of the morning.

…

And it continued on like that… and Neku was somewhat loath to admit it, because hey: he had an image to uphold here.

But then again… maybe not, because if this was him pushing out his borders as far as they would go—as Mr. H had instructed him to do three years ago—Neku knew he would gladly do so… even at the risk was being called a “mom”, and even an “old maid”, or something.

Right now, Rindo had severely hurt his ankle… and who was he holding onto as they hobbled away, with designs to get him to a hospital? Neku.

“This is the last time I ever try something from the 90’s again!” Rindo complained, as Neku was half-carrying him to his car now (and how nice it was, that Neku could drive now—from memories of another him that hadn’t lost such formative years—that Joshua had implanted into his head).

“Yeah, Rindo… scooters were cool and everything—yours truly had one—but even I don’t know why you decided to try and bring them back now of all times… Especially since they had a bad habit of spinning right back around and nailing you in the ankle… which you know all too well now,”

And godamnit. Neku really had become the mom friend, huh, if he was now telling his younger friend this venture had been dangerous from the get-go, and how he could have easily seen that if he’d tried to?

Neku pulled on one of his spikes, irritated with himself here, but tried not to show Rindo, lest he think he was mad at him.

“Well, I’d thought about getting a motor scooter,” Rindo explained, Neku loading his pal into his backseat now. “So, I think that’s what got scooters on my brain… But I was trying to be green, and still think of a faster way to catch things in FanGo than walking! And now look where it got me. Oy! …But I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. This should be the least of my problems, when just a few weeks ago I was fighting for you guys’ survival, huh?”

And Rindo paused in where he’d been about to put a hand over his eyes, to peek at Neku now who was currently getting into the driver’s seat—as if he was asking for the past Living Legend to remind the new one to have his priorities straight.

“For real,” Neku told Rindo, whilst he started to pull away now. “When I got out, I was mostly thinking about the Game… about what Joshua did, and how even then, I still trusted him but couldn’t forgive him. And I was so excited to finally meet up with my friends—to finally have some and care about that—be glad, Rindo, that you got out with your friends, and there’s so much trust between you. Like there is between Josh and I now.”

And Rindo set down his phone then—apparently like he had when he first met Shoka in the RG—like he was really listening to what Neku had to say, and he had to appreciate that.

And it might have been his imagination… but Neku could have sworn he saw a flash of blue nodding his head at Neku’s words, as it sat back there with the injured Rindo.

…

The next time Neku ended up being the “mom” for someone in the Wicked Twisters, after the Game, it was with Fret.

It was towards the end of his and Rindo’s sophomore year of high school…

Fret had been ecstatic to come back to life, Neku had known, and wasn’t wasting his second chance. He had really thrown himself into his studies, Rindo had told Neku in private (quite proudly, Neku might add).

If he could keep it up, he would probably even be able to graduate early. And talent scouts were looking at him, Neku had been told: towards a kid who hadn’t strived that hard in school, but now was and excelling because of it.

Naturally, Fret had decided that his calling was fashion—everyone who had been playing the Reapers’ Game with him would have gathered just how much he loved clothes—and apparently he had really thrown himself into designing towards the end of the year, and was trying to put a portfolio together for Jupiter of the Monkey to look at: who the school was suggesting he try and intern with, as they had some connections with (and damn, if Neku didn’t wish he’d gone to Fret and Rindo’s school now, being a huge J of the M fan himself).

Part of Neku wondered why Fret just didn’t try to intern with Shiki during his senior year, but perhaps it was because he was afraid Shiki would just give him the position because they were friends and not because she really thought he was talented.

Anyway… Fret hadn’t gotten the internship. J of the M had said the Fret should try to use less color (you know what? Maybe Neku didn’t like them very much anymore…).

And since then… Fret had seemed to give up on his dream of being a fashion designer, and was trying to be an actor.

And, look: Neku had no problem if him wanting to do both, if he thought he could do it and this was really what Fret wanted… though call him crazy, but he felt like something else was at work here: something that Neku and Shiki had both experienced before.

So, Neku had sat Fret down to talk about it at Ken Doi’s—away from the filmmakers who were currently trying to film in Dogenzaka, that Fret had just been a part of—and laid it all out on the table, “It’s okay… to get Imposter Syndrome. I’ve had it before with my art. Even Shiki has before. But if you want to be an artist, you’re going to fall down a few times… Fret, I feel like you don’t want to be an actor, so much as you don’t mind people dinging your acting, because that isn’t something you care about as much as your designing.”

And after Neku had spoken, Fret somehow looked both like Neku had made him had an epiphany he hadn’t quite realized, and like Neku had stumbled upon the horrible truth he hadn’t wanted anyone to figure out.

Neku took a bite of the yummy curry that Ken Doi had been kind enough to make just for him, after he’d brought Joshua around recently (he’d said he’d missed the two of them. Go figure), and let Fret get his bearings.

And now he was sighing, and running a hand through his hair, much like Neku often did. Neku smiled, finding it hard not to sympathize.

“Oh, man. I really do have to get back into fashion, huh?”

“You do,” Neku agreed, wondering what wonderful articles of clothing Fret might come up with for him to wear in the future. Shoka, too. Really, with those two and Shiki and Eri, Neku had it made in the clothes department, and he was not complaining. “And it’ll be hard sometimes. But most things in life worth gaining are.”

And when Fret smiled back at him, Neku knew he’d made some progress here—which was good—and then he did one thing that was decidedly not mom-like, and let Fret get the bill. Why? Because Neku was a starving college student at this point, and Fret still had parents who paid for stuff for him.

…

And then the last person who needed Neku’s help (…for now, he guessed. Because apparently this was a full-time gig. And at this point, Neku wasn’t complaining because he happily would have taken custody of all the Wicked Twisters long ago if he could’ve), was Shoka.

…Who was freaking out after Rindo having tried to give her a promise ring and wasn’t at all being her usual FanGo loving self, where Rindo was concerned.

And, yeah… Shoka could be a bit of a tsundere sometimes, but Neku felt like the issue ran much deeper.

Neku also happened to see Shoka looking into the mirror a lot lately… And at first, he wondered if she’d become self-conscious like Shiki had been.

But upon hearing the arrogant comments that Shoka still said about herself—that Neku’s surrogate little sister so deserved to say, he thought—he knew that wasn’t the case.

He tried to use a bit of his soul power on her… because it turned out that Neku was strong enough to use it in the RG some, but all that really told the ginger was that it was a deep-rooted issue with Shoka and not what said issue was.

Finally, Neku knew he had to just talk to her.

“Let me in, Shoka,” he urged her—after he’d caught her looking at wedding dresses in her apartment at a group hang-out (it was just the two of them at said hang-out right now; everyone else had gone to get food for everybody). “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

And it was pretty fitting, Neku would later think, that he used Shiki’s old words to him with Shoka here, since she made him think of Shiki some—what with her favorite Mr. Mew hoodie and all. Especially when they’d been in the Game.

And at his question, Shoka sighed—like opening her thoughts to Neku was the biggest burden in the world—and dropped the magazine like it had burned her.

“What?” she demanded, fiddling with the zipper at her neck. “About Rindo? I feel like him wanting to give me a promise ring is silly—and of a time gone by—so of course I told him ‘no’, and give him a hard time about it. Not all of us can be you and Shiki, you know…”

And with that, Shoka seemed content to ignore Neku, and to go boot up her PS5 so she could play the “Stranger of Paradise” demo.

And, hey: more power to her—Neku thought it looked sick, too—but no way was he letting her get off that easily. “That’s a lie, Shoka, and we both know it. So, what’s really going on here?”

Shoka was sighing once more now—as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. And it probably was, with this tragic girl—but she shuffled on the couch closer to Neku, which he saw as a good sign. “Fine… I guess I should have known that I couldn’t lie to Mr. Soul-Reader… I just- I feel I look too much like them: Ayano and my little sister. And I know it’s dumb, but I worry about it.

“Will I be like Ayano and settle into one thing? Like, say I get really into being Rindo’s girlfriend here… but I force myself to marry him one day, because he really wants that: what if we end up living a loveless life because of that, I didn’t want to tie the knot but forced myself to just because it was what he desired? And since I look like Little Sis… If Rindo and I do end up together, what if I end up dying young like she did and leaving Rindo alone. It’s too much.”

And here Neku had to pull Shoka into a small hug and kiss the crown of her head, whilst he ran calming hands down her arms. Shoka had been through way too much trauma for someone so young. It wasn’t fair. But even with all of that… Neku had to make sure she was sure of one thing right now.

So, he got off the couch and kneeled in front of Shoka, so she was looking into his eyes, and wouldn’t miss how serious this was. “Shoka… you definitely have a lot of baggage there, that I do think you should talk to Rindo about. And I’m so sorry that you’ve lost so much family for someone so young… but know that your family isn’t you. Their lives aren’t yours, nor are the things that they did. The things you do are going to be totally different from them, and you have to make those decisions for yourself. Got it?”

“Okay, Neku,” Shoka allowed, while she helped to pull Neku back up now. And she seemed to be blushing a little… but that was okay, because so was he. Neku may have been the mom of this little group, but big declarations of the heart like that could still be hard for him.

“Thanks!” Shoka beamed, before throwing herself at Neku to give him a quick hug this time.

And Neku laughed slightly. “No problem. Now, what do you say we get super far in this awesome demo before our friends get back, for being losers in forgetting to take us with them to get the food?”

“I think that sounds like a pretty sweet deal!” Shoka agreed, already pulling away from Neku and going for the controller.

Yeah… though Neku had certainly never signed up to be these four’s mom—and he still had no idea how that had happened—he now knew he wouldn’t change it for the world.

Especially when the rest of his children came back happy—which was always a perfect sight to see—and Shoka did end up working things out with Rindo.

It was a wonderful world, indeed.

Author’s Note: Yeah, I’m headcanoning here that the last Dive that you do (not counting Rhyme) for the little ghost from Shinjuku was Shoka’s sister.

Hope you all enjoyed!

[ofprettyvenom]

ABOUT SKYLER : Falling on my face again, so I know I'm right on track.

CHARACTER BASICS

FULL NAME: Skyler Rhodes Cameron

NICKNAME(S): Sky, Rhodes

AGE: Twenty-Five

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Woman, She/Her

FACE CLAIM: Sydney Sweeney

EYE COLOR: Blue

HAIR COLOR: Blonde

HEIGHT: 5′3″

WEIGHT: 110 lbs.

DATE OF BIRTH: February 12th, 1997

ZODIAC SIGN: Aquarius

MAJOR: Fashion Design

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, French, & Italian

HOGWARTS HOUSE: Hufflepuff

OCCUPATION: Intern to a local designer, Aspiring Actress

HOBBIES: Singing, Baking, Shopping, Yoga, Photography, Guitar, Drums, Acting

HOMETOWN: Manhattan, New York (Upper East Side)

RESIDENCE: Kitsilao

HOUSING: One bedroom Loft

TIME IN TOWN: 1 year

FAMILY

MOTHER: Diana Cameron (née Carmichael)

FATHER: Liam Cameron

SISTER:

CHARACTER HISTORY

Skyler was born and raised in the Upper East Side of New York with both her parents and younger sister. Her Mom, a well known face around the world for retiring from the modeling world to style them, met a man traveling the globe as a musician. Liam was nowhere near as successful as his wife, but somehow two opposites managed to maintain a marriage and start a very creative family. 

The Cameron girls grew up surrounded by music and lavish parties, it wasn’t long until Skyler realized how much she loved to sing. Her sister and father would play instruments and she’d dance around the living room and sing for them, loving that this seemed to turn into a weekly tradition. She fell in love with being in the spotlight, though she quickly stuck to only singing in the shower once she saw how talented her sister was with music as a way to give each of them something to allow them to shine differently but together.

As a young girl Skyler would sneak into her mother’s closet when they had a gala or late night function the girl’s weren’t old enough to attend and spend hours staring at the shoes, perfecting the art of walking in heels by the age of 5.

The sneaking continued as she’d venture into her mom’s workshop and “borrow” designs off her rack for parties, being sure to put the items back before morning.

Skyler was always drawn to fashion, wearing it, creating it…you name it. She was happy to pick up another passion that’d look good on her college applications alongside acting, getting the chance to design costumes for her onstage performances didn’t hurt either.

When she was finally able to go to all the events she’d study what everyone was wearing, learning what was popular and using it to start designing her own clothes in secret, not wanting her mother’s influence to smother her. 

She never thought she was any good, so for a while she stuck to drawing anything she could: fruit, people, nature. anything that didn’t involve clothes, but she always found herself coming back. 

It wasn’t until she met (wanted muse connection) that he truly got her to start honing her craft and focusing on what mattered to her most. 

As Skyler entered university at Cornell, she saw herself debating between her desires, seeing as fashion would lead her directly under her mother’s shadow and that’s something she’s still striving to steer far away from. She’s always loved her mother’s designs but knew a developed career would involve Skyler working under her and not getting to experience the real world on her own. The spark for acting came back bigger and stronger than ever, resulting in the blonde signing up for every production Cornell had to offer. 

Junior year she was offered an opportunity to study abroad in Paris, quickly jumping on that before finding herself romantically connected to a big designer. He went behind her back and stole her designs for himself, publishing them without her consent and leaving the credit she rightfully deserved unmarked. Skyler was devastated, not knowing how to handle the betrayal of someone she put all her trust and ideas in. She used this as her plea to fly back to New York to continue her degree.

She was offered an intern position with a local designer in Vancouver shortly after she graduated and she’s been here ever since, doing her best to look toward her future rather than the past. 

PRESENT DAY UPDATES

If there’s a party you’ll be sure to find her there, especially with a drink in hand.

She only fully trusts one person in her life: her sister.

She’s her sister’s opposite. being very outgoing, playful, and down to try anything once, charming people with a simple smile from across the room.

She’s always felt this bit of responsibility to make her mother proud and constantly feels that pressure which is one of the main reasons she’s questioning what to do with her career.

Where she goes, trouble tends to follow due to the blonde’s overwhelming sense of adventure and curiosity.

She landed her first acting role, a small commercial and wants to do more in this line of work. She’s also been featured a handful of times as an extra.

She’s the type that her family has money but she’s not one to show it off, never making extravagant purchases.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

muse : open. her number one support system, made her realize how amazing she was at fashion design. if it wasn’t for him she’d probably still be sketching trees.

best friends : open. open. open. these people are always there for her when she needs them.

fwb/hookups/flings : open. open. being a girl who isn’t one for relationships unless it clicks, it leaves the girl with a lot of free time. she gets bored easily so there’s more than one but it’s always fun and carefree, just like her.

revenge hookup : open. started as a fling to get back at one of her exes and now the two just can’t seem to stay away from each other.

childhood friend : open. their mother’s quickly became friends, always visiting skyler’s mother’s store to get the best designer clothes they could. which led to the two talking while their moms did, getting close and spending time together at events.

protective friendship : open. the person who always comes to her rescue, won’t let anyone mess with her or talk bad about her in their presence. often is seen throwing skyler over his shoulder and carrying her out of parties before she does something dumb.

bad influence : open. the two always have a good time out together, fueling each other’s bad decisions, daring one another to do something crazier.

good influence : open. tries keeping her head on straight and out of trouble.  

cuddle buddy : open. a sort of confidant relationship that usually revolves around them spilling their guts or talking shit, cuddling with no cares in the world. possible that the cuddling could lead to something more romantic.

sexual tension : open. the two can’t seem to stay away from each other and though nothing sexual has happened yet…they’re never far from crossing over that line.

casual exes : open. open.

party friends : open. open. the people who wouldn’t been seen far away from skyler at a party. having drinks in their hands and/or having a good time on whatever dance floor they could find.

chosen sister : open. the person skyler can open up to and talk to about anything. she looks out for skyler like they were actually related, protecting her and being there for her whenever she needs.

the one without the label : open. the two became a frequent thing, partners in crime that were exclusively sleeping with each other. time went on and skyler wanted a define answer of what they were, a label. he denied her and the response was a simple okay, then ending things completely.

partner in crime : open. the first person skyler ever got high with. trouble is always guaranteed when the two are together.

occasional drug buddy : open. when skyler gets high, she likes to do it around someone else, this person allows her to feel comfortable and have a good time. often seen calling her to smoke as well.

aren’t you famous? : open. the person who’s seen one too many commercials featuring a beauty line and skyler.

supplier : open. this person supplies her with whatever when she needs it.

[btswishes]

Love me for who I am now

Bucky x Reader ( Chapter 2 )

Previous / Next

Summary: You apply for the Stark internship and end up getting it, so now you have 5 months to make a good impression to continue working with the Avengers.

A/N: Continuing my little experiment here with chapter2, a bit more filler for the story. Sorry for any mistakes made, hope you enjoy it even a tiny bit.

Word count:  2,903

Warmings: fights, harsh language, not part of the original MCU

Y/N- Your name 

Y/L/N- Your Last Name

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

   The suitcase made a slight thumping sound, when you laid it down on the floor next to your desk. Wasting no time books found their new home on the empty shelves, notebooks fell asleep in the dark drawers. Pens, pencils, markers and all your stationary soon followed suit and found their own little space to rest.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.” the silence in the room finally got overthrown by the voice of its new owner, asking for some help in the matters unfolding 

Yes Miss Y/N

“Would you put a timer for 5min from now please?” still focused onto your stuff, finding them a visible but safe from damage storage. Nothing could destroy as well as time and dust did.

Timer set for 5 minutes from now.

“Thank you.” The only thing left to do now was to get the clothes in the closet and move the tech to the lab. Hopefully Dr. Banner wouldn’t mind waiting a bit more, not like he seemed to but who knows, Hulk lived inside him after all. You didn’t want to take a chance and play with his limits. The closet was hidden inside the wall, stealthy I must say. Toothpaste and toothbrush, essentials and cosmetics. All was done, now.

      Ding Ding Ding.  

Timer is going off  Miss. Shall I turn it off or restart it?

“Thank you F.R.I.D.A.Y. You can turn it off. “

  Your laptop and small bag were safely nestled under your arm, making your way outside the room.  For a moment you thought you got lost, but the orange tint of the sun’s rays soon pulled your attention in the right direction. Around the corner your nose caught the smell of caramel. Your head hesitantly protruded behind the pillar, as you called out to the man holding 2 cups in his hands firmly.

“Oh.” He jumped a bit, reaching out offering one of the mugs “ I hope you like it, we don’t have much selection when it comes to tea here. Coffee addicts you know.” he laughed out

“It is ok. Thank you very much.” Your leg levered and you swung onto the bar chair like it was nothing, taking a sip from the hot drink. You felt it warm you up slowly as it went down, melting away a bit of your anxiety. Once again your sight was captivated by the view. No one knows how much time passed since you got lost in the sunset, but it was nice. You could barely hear the bustling city from the 134th floor. It was only you, the sun and the room. Quiet almost like a safe serene space.

“Beautiful isn’t it.” Bruce shook you out of your little mind palace

“Mm? Ah, yes. Very much so. “ you puffed out some air with your smile, eyes forming little crescent moons “I feel like a cat, my attention keeps drifting to the glass unintentionally.”

“I understand you. I keep doing that myself and I have lived in the compound for quite some time now. “ the conversation was lighthearted, easily drifting over the main reason for your arrival “One would think I would be used to it by now.”

“Mr Stark made this place so calm. Big yet homey.” Your head scanned the area, words intriguing the doctor “ In a way it contrasts the inner state of most of the Avengers.” realized what just came out of your lips, your body stiffened. Oh man, way to ruin it - you thought to yourself “I am so sorry.” The mug clanked under the table, sending a vibration to his palm, as you bowed “I spoke out of place.”

“I think you might be on to something.” Your neck pulled your head up, a few strands of hair falling down next to your soft cheek. Bruce was still looking at the setting sun with a soft smile, his jaw exposing the beard to the light, coloring it a deep fiery yellow hue. There was something nostalgic in his dark eyes. “Most of us here have some sort of troubled past- lets sugar coat it a bit. This whole building, on the levels we use., is like a constant Zen state. It calms us down unintentionally. How do I say this...” He turned towards his coffee, laughing out almost silently.

“Maybe it offers you the peace you couldn’t have on the inside, masking the pain from past trauma. A way to indirectly cope with all that had happened, offering a haven to heal the past.” Bruce was listening to you, taking in your way of thinking and how right you were about something that had always been in front of his eyes ,but he had never noticed it before. Such a young girl, so much pain in her manner. He couldn’t bring himself to ask you about the weight inside your voice. It felt too close for him to do so. He had just met you after all, it is not like he could just straight up ask you about all your deepest and darkest secrets, that you might be hiding underneath your mature façade.

“Well, enough about our depressing past.” He pushed off the table “Lets get you situated in your new place.”Dr. Banner began walking in the direction of the lab, turning towards you from time to time. He was make sure you were close by and not lost somewhere in this maze of halls, corridors and who knows what else Tony could have hidden in these walls, for some unsuspecting person to stumble upon.

“I am sadly not familiar with your work like Tony is. He told me about you literally a few hours before you arrived, so you would have to excuse me for that.” You nodded with a smile, accepting the apology he didn’t even need to speak of 

“The lab is pretty big.” He unlocked the door and turned the lights on. It was exactly as he said and nothing like you had expected. The color pattern was the same tints, maybe a bit of blue mixed in as well, a dash of red. The tables and tech inside were state-of-the-art, high-quality and very well kept. Some weren’t even yet released or known to the public. Talking year 3054 up in here.

“This will be your desk, right next to me.”Bruce plopped onto his chair and waved at you “Hi, Hi.”

  He gestured for you to get yourself as comfortable as possible, which you almost couldn’t wait to do. Your fingers gently ran over the material getting familiar with it. Just with one look you already knew where everything was going to go, like it knew it’s own home. You had a tech bay, where you could check how systems worked, if they didn’t and building anything. It was amazing, just an arm’s length distance was possibility and creation itself. Excitement boiled inside you, eyes wide. Reaching inside the bag, you pulled out your work computer, your project tablet and made sure they were all connected to the internet and matched the Stark system interface. As soon as you saw the company logo you were all set up.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.” the silence danced hand in hand with your voice

Yes Miss. Would you like a run down on the desk functions?

“Yes please.” In a matter of minutes you realized that this wasn’t just some random fancy desk ,but a whole machine of its own. Interactive hologram functions, building station and program 3D design. It had it all. Bruce was shocked how easy you worked with F.R.I.D.A.Y. , naturally taking a lead and informing yourself at 100% capacity about what you will be working with. For a second Tony flashed before his eyes.

“What made you apply here?” he cut your investigation “I don’t mean to be rude but I saw some of your pre-university work.”

“No problem. I was mostly out of the country for a very long time, maybe most of my life. When I came back the Avengers were something I loved watching on the news.” The praise went over Bruce’s head unnoticed “ There was something nostalgic when I looked at you guys. Mr. Stark’s tech, the way everyone fought with ease, I don’t know how to explain it. I craved that in my life, almost like a forgotten world I was striving to immerse myself back into. “ a gentle crook of the neck and a smile eased Bruce from the question

“Well you made it here, so congratulations.” loud joyous clapping followed his words” I think I am talking for all of us, we will love having you around. So-” His face became serious, glasses finding the bridge of his nose onto his face, eyes sharp “Would you like to start with your job here miss intern?” he winked playfully waiting to see your reaction. Like a mirror ,you pulled your hair away from your face, rolled up your sleeves and flashed back the same look of determination. “Introduce me to your train of thought and your projects.”

“I work mainly with the structure and characteristics of vibranium. At first, I was focused on making prosthetics that pack a punch the same way the Iron Man suits worked and Sergeant Barnes’s arm- of course on a smaller scale. But then my mind started drifting towards the process before amputation, which was for a certain percent of people the healing factor. Maybe inside strength as well. ”

“As in incorporating it into medical technology?” this sounded too simple of an idea coming for someone Tony chose, yet Bruce kept listening. He was judging the book by its cover way too soon.

“Not exactly. Vibranium has a metal crystal structure that possesses ‘memory’ the same way other metals remember being indented even after getting fixed or straightened eventually. My theory has a few parts before I reach the main plan. Going on an atomic level, even deeper to its base structure, I change the connections between the atoms. They have the same functions as in keeping the shape, but missing that molding memory.”

“You are saying you can mold the bonds, selecting freely what function to remove?” Bruce pushed back off his chair, letting the idea enter his ear and stay there, feeding the interest on his face.

“I am not saying I can.” he was listening more and more with each passing minute “I am saying I did it. I am in the final stages of my project.” Your hands pulled out a flat disk of vibranium  “F.R.I.D.A.Y. would you do a double scan before and after I bend this?”

Affirmatively Miss. Scan done. Shall I offer a hologram?

“Please do.” Right between your two bodies you could now see the basics of the metal “ See how the bonds are thicker? I noticed, metal bonds just have to keep  the shape of the crystal structure. Not only did I make vibranium stronger than it originally was, but now if I bend-it.” Your voice strained in pair with your muscles, as you folded and unfolded the sheet. The second scan showed no memory intake not even deformed the shapes “I call this metal healing.”

“That...that is amazing, not even a crease to be noticed! But where are you going with this?” Bruce rubbed his face, still shook from what you just showed him

“It might sound stupid, but this isn’t even my main idea. You see, if we look at matter as one and the same, things start to add up. Everything on a molecular level has no difference. Bonds, and atom-placement dictate what the object will be, look like and how it works- properties if you wish. I looked at vibranium and human flesh as different parts of one thing, which lead me to believe enhancing people could be done without super soldier serums.”

“That is… truly amazing, but won’t the testing period be a sadistic thing. We are not HYDRA thankfully.” As great as this was Bruce had a point here “Human experiments are not a politic the Avengers will ever lean upon. As fellow humans nonetheless.”

“I am not planning to make another Winter Soldier. I already have control over vibranium on levels outside and inside hyperspace.” You pulled out a bottle of metallic looking dust. The top unscrewed easy and you spilled the contents like heavy silvery snow all over the floor. “If I take quarks from the human body and use them to make 1 proton from the atomic nucleus, I can theoretically program it to answer to the human body using the unbroken rule of our system.”

  Bruce blinked a few times understanding exactly where you were reaching “All work in favor of the body.” He said out loud, glasses sliding off his skin

“Exactly. If they get programmed correctly the metal will work for the body, under the command of the main system- the nerves and brain. Post that success I would be able to inject them with a liquid medium directly into the bloodstream. As they make their way to all parts of the body, they will get acquainted with the cells. I want to change them so they will be susceptible to hormones as well. Basically I want to make a metal compound that reacts like organic matter. It would be able, upon will, to pile around bones, create fibers, strengthening muscles ecc. Some could even carry other substances with them, or isolate toxic ones. Now their size and ability for diapedesis is still questionable. So far I can move them at a certain extend.” You swung your hand and the dust lifted off the floor cleanly in one swoop 

“That is amazing!” Bruce pitched his voice after seeing the floating cloud “Are you using some kind of device ?”

“No, this dust was modeled after me, I am the only guinea pig so no one was harmed in the making. I have to say though, it was quite painful till I got it right.” You laughed out uneasy, scratching your arm  

“ I could only imagine, taking your own tissue for this. What else could it do?”

“Well. I know that Mr. Stark isn’t into weapons anymore, so I pitched him the enhancing technique only. The dust’s only function right now sadly is shaping.” Your fingers danced as the vibranium cloud formed Captain America’s shield, before turning into a sword. “As long as I have enough information of structure, function and the way the object works I can make it.” Your footsteps were confidant and strong.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. the window if you please.”

Certainly Miss

   The clicking sound of the metal around the glass flung the object open. Your hand reached outside and pointed towards the sky. “My uncle had a deep interest in weapons so naturally I learned as well by listening to him.” The dust wrapped around your hand and formed a Heckler Koch pistols. With the pull of the trigger you shot into the air, making Bruce jump from the sound.

“I am sorry about that, I should have warned you.” You giggled stepping in

“That is a completely functional firearm. His breath normalized as his body took him right up to you, running his hands over the gun “ This is, something I can’t even imagine.” Eyes scanning every inch of it looking like a perfect mold “How does it look so solid? Smooth, no trace of it even being made from any smaller particle. ”

“Oh that, intra-atomic pressure. Kind of like gravity times 100 or more. If I pitched this to Mr.Stark I think the selling point would have been…”your fingers gently pulled the weapon out of Dr.Banner’s hand as the vibranium flew from the outside to the magazine “ It doesn’t run out of ammo since I call it back at anytime AND once in the body I can infest it.”

“It could travel through the blood stream and form clumps in certain organs!” he gasped

“I could have gone a bit more sadistic with this one, but I will stop talking now.” You laughed out sending your project back to its jar, securely tightened up. 

“How far is your limit? I mean is there a distance at which you can’t sense the partials, any mental fatigue or physical? You are amazing! This is something out of this world truly, no wonder Tony accepted your application. I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything closely resembling…wow.” He kept praising you each time his mouth opened

“Banner.” Light and confident footsteps accompanied the familiar playboy voice inside the lab

Welcome back Sir

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. medical bay on standby please.”

As you wish Sir

“I would appreciate it if you stepped back from my new intern and helped out a bit. We have injured coming in stat.” Tony waved his hand and Bruce pulled away from you, cleaning the couch on his side “You too miss intern. No slacking off just because it’s your first day. Treat it as orientation.”

“Yes Mr. Stark.” Panic rose up inside you again as you tried to follow what Dr. Banner was doing. Injured? Were the rest of the Avengers on a mission this whole time? It didn’t matter, you were mobilized as well and for a second it felt kind of cool, like you were also an agent fighting crime. The grunts and groans pulled you back to Earth as Captain America’s large frame stepped inside.  

[cosplayinamerica]

Spiderman from Marvel 1602 // Cosplayer: kammospark

Tell us about Spiderman1602, I’ve seen many versions of Spiderman but  thiis is a new one to me! What led you to this concept of this version of Spiderman?

Well I've always had an appreciation for lesser know outfits of popular heroes. Looking through many wardrobes and outfits, the obscure ones always stood out to me, "Wow, I've never seen this one before!" I'd think to myself, and I figured others who know the characters well would love to see them brought to life too, or even people curious about the stories of them would enjoy seeing it. I feel everyone has a love for Spider-Man; he's such an iconic superhero and has so many suits, and even though they can be quite diverse, they still feel recognizable as one of the Web-slinger's costumes.

While I was looking at different Spiderverse characters for inspiration on a new Spider-Man cosplay, I saw Marvel 1602 and it immediately caught my attention; I thought it was such a fun looking design. Definitely away from a modern or futuristic look, it's charm won me over, and I had to put it together. And as a fan of the fantasy genre in general, thanks to many years as a GM from D&D as well as other media, I also enjoy Ren-faires and wanted something to wear to show my love for Superheroes and Renaissance.

When you wore it out to conventions, what was the response? Obviously they knew you were Spiderman because of the mask but were they confused about the rest of your outfit? What were some of their guesses?

Oh people certainly get a kick out of seeing the outfit. Some people have called Me 'Lord Spider-Man', 'Ren-Spidey', 'William Spider-Speare', a lot of creative names for it that never fail to make me smile as much as it does for them. Whenever I wear a Spider-Man cosplay, I always want to try and take pics with as many Spider-Men as I can find, and most of the time it's the other Spiderman cosplayers that recognize who the character really is. I love having people laugh and get excited over the character, it's part of that Con Magic where people just can't help but feel like a kid when they see something that fills them with joy; its my favorite part of this fun hobby, just making someone's day memorable, even for a moment.

Besides conventions , I see you wore the costume to a Renaissance Fair. What was responses there? Was it different from conventions?

Ren-faires in general are a great time! And when I started this costume, I was excited just thinking of the reactions from people and how happy they may be. I've taken 1602 to quite a few Ren-faires: Central Coast Ren Faire, NorCal Ren Faire, and Kingsburg Renaissance of Kings.

The first place I ever debuted it was as CCRF, and I was stopped by about 20 people before I could make it past the first 3 booths. It really does feel like a different environment going to faires. D

uring them, I'd be a bit more 'theatrical' and introduce myself as Peter Parquagh, and try my best to make people smile or laugh. I've gotten the opportunity to meet many wonderful people and people with stunning and gorgeous Renaissance outfits. Kids come walk by amazed that they actually got to see a Spider-Man at a Ren Faire.

One instance, a bard played the spider-man theme song on a lute as he traveled around me. At two different faires my presence was requested by the Queen, and I was escorted to her, one even knighted me! Everyone just has a blast role playing and getting caught up in the fun, the energy is so infectious and delightful! 

Take us through how the outfit was put together?

Well, I cannot take full credit on the cosplay. My mother was actually a large part of it. Growing up, my mom was always really involved and loved making costumes for Halloween for me and my sister. And one of her favorite aesthetics is period piece era fashion and she loves Jane Austen.

As I was looking for ideas for a new cosplay and showing her, she was drawn towards 1602 and offered to do as much as she could to help create it, and she loved helping putting it together. The suit is a handmade outfit following a 14th century cavalier pattern. The design called for detachable sleeves and very baggy slops, but we decided to have the sleeves attached and slim down the slops slightly, to give it a mix of authentic and Spider-man's sleekness.

We went looking online and found this wonderful blue velvet fabric with Fleur De Lis imprinted onto it and thought it'd really help the outfit pop! We had to make sure we kept the fabric in the same direction: it has a difference in shimmer if facing a certain way, and we wanted the Fleurs facing the same way as well, so we tried to be mindful of that. We pleated the red fabric in the front and it was quite stubborn, but we tried our best to make it look similar on both sides of the torso. The back has a spider and has legs that lead unto the front; we cut out red fabric and hand-stitch embroidered on, and was quite meticulous.

Me and my mom kept an eye out online for just the right buttons we wanted for the costume. Something antique and era appropriate but also thematic, and after a while, we stumbled across a web-designed antique gold button set. We also looked for a thick ruff rather than the costumes original thin look. The original costume look also called for the mask to have open eye holes, but I opted out of that, and felt that a traditional mask look better complemented the costume. After that I acquired socks and shoes and then it was finished! 

How did you discover cosplay?

As mentioned earlier, my mom loved making mine and my sister's costumes growing up. She's a seamstress as a hobby, and is so creative and artsy. Halloween was probably my favorite holiday growing up, and I was so happy I got to wear something made with much love from my family. Some of my favorite notable costumes growing up was a knight, an astronaut, and Pikachu.

As I got older, around high school, I still liked the idea of costumes, even bought a cheap Captain America outfit for The Avengers premiere night, but I mostly dropped off on dressing up. I grew up in a very small town, but eventually, after I moved out to the city, I heard about 'conventions' and I was interested and wanted to try and wear something to one. I decided to make a classic Punisher costume, and wore it for the con. It was a small venue, but even then it finally hit me, 'This is a thing people do. People love to dress up, go make friends, bring smiles and show their love for their Fandoms and interests. THIS is what Cosplay IS'. I finally understood what this little hobby of mine was, and I embraced it.

Have you discovered something about yourself through cosplay?

I've always thought of myself as a people pleaser. I'm someone who really only want others to be happy. I'm also someone who loves to share their interests and engage with others about things that we can share and discuss and geek out over.

When I was young, I often felt left out from social circles, due to my often eccentric personality. I found it really hard to make friends, and I am forever grateful for the friends that I have made and been with me for years.

Cosplay has opened up another avenue as far as friends and socializing. My first couple of cons I was initially intimidated, but I have to say that I'm so glad I got into this hobby, for I've met many people with interesting stories and wonderful personalities, and people I still talk to often. It's really helped me feel like I can make good friends and memories, and I'm sure that others have felt similarly and that's something I treasure.

What are your future cosplay goals?

As with most cosplayers I'm sure, I have way too many projects in my head with very little work on a lot of them. I suppose my current goal is to rework the headpiece of a cosplay I finished last year, my Bioshock Big Daddy Doll. The head was massive and too cumbersome so it needs to be redone.

As far as new projects, I would very much like to do a Prince Link cosplay, inspired by the creation of theLostSindar. Another idea would be to do more superhero variants and make a Blue Lantern Flash that 8ve been eyeing for a couple of years.

One thing I definitely want to get good at is working with foam. I am massively inexperienced with foamsmithing, and I strive to learn how to be good at it and learn how to make wonderful things with it. It's just like when I first went to cons; starting off can be a bit scary or even overwhelming before we really get it going, but that exposure to things we really desire is all we need to get hooked and make it our passion.

https://www.instagram.com/kammospark/

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Getting To Know...

Josie Pace.

Hailing from Detroit, Josie Pace is releasing her stunning 11 track album IV0X10V5 today. Josie Pace’s music represents a piece of her solitude. The blistering glow of downtempo post-industrial beats, electro-pop melodies and layered soundscapes are home to Josie’s captivating lyrics; she is a songwriter in the purest sense. The result is a pulsating sound that will haunt you with vulnerability while basking in Josie’s world of self-reflection and unapologetic rock and roll attitude that Detroit is legendary for.

​When musician and producer Ken Roberts saw an acoustic performance of Josie he was blown away. The raw and intimate performance captured the one thing all songwriters strive to achieve: believability. The two started working together with Josie’s songs as the foundation. As an accomplished guitar player, Josie moulds and refines her songs acoustically only to tear them apart and rebuild them with Roberts’ grinding synths, unique production style and the addition of Mark Damian’s live drums. Songs quickly formed into a unique sound that pulled from the likes of Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails yet contained a high art fashion swagger as if you just bumped into David Bowie at a Halston Party

We had a chat with Josie all about the album, her background. creative process and more. Read the Q&A below.

Hi Josie! How are you? What does a typical day look like for you at the moment?

"A typical day in the life of me? Well the most important part of my day (in my opinion) is making coffee! I always make a pot of coffee before I do anything else. My producer and bandmate, Ken Roberts, and I usually sit down for a few hours to go over and respond to emails for interviews, advertising, logistics of possible upcoming tours and shows etc. A lot of the clerical work we do right now is for the upcoming release of my first album titled IV0X10V5 (pronounced “noxious”).

"After all of the clerical work, recently, we have been getting ready for the album release party show in LA at Bar Sinister on Feb. 12th. So I pour another cup of coffee and we head over to the studio and set up all of our live gear for rehearsal. We tweak and nit pick every song to make sure that we are putting on the best show we possibly can. We work with light techs for our light show and make sure all of that is running smoothly. Right now we are in the process of switching to a new rack for all of our on stage gear to make it easier for travel on tours.

"I try to post to my socials a few times every day, to promote the album and to share with my fans what I am doing and see what they would like more of. Chatting with a few and sometimes going live at rehearsals to show them what I have been up to.

"After hours of rehearsing I like to try to get to the gym as often as I can to train for performing and work on stamina and breathing exercises. I make dinner which consists of a lot of ramen and salads and I do it all over again the next day."

For anyone discovering you here for the first time please give us a bit of background on your musical journey. Who/what have been the biggest influences on your electro-rock sound and aesthetic?

"I am fortunate to have grown up in a family that was into music from the start. My dad has an amazing singing voice and my mom was always playing Prince while dancing around the house as she cleans. I knew from very young what I wanted to do in my life. I was influenced a lot by what my parents would play on the radio. Some of my biggest influences are The Eagles, Styx, Phil Collins, Joan Jett, Prince and Pat Benatar. I have always been influenced by fashion as well and that plays a huge role in what I do, Alexander McQueen and Vivian Westwood designs were some of my favorites. Joan Jett and her style of female bad assery, Prince and his androgynous glam style and attitude of quiet genius and literal “prince of music” really impacted me and influenced my style. Throughout my school life I would consider myself a little emo/ scene kid. I loved listening to bands like Escape the Fate, My Chemical Romance, Hawthorne Heights, NIN and Paramore while still listening to the classics that I grew up on as a child. The range of different genres molded the way that I write songs and think about the structure of songs.

"Once I started working with Ken Roberts, he showed me bands like Revolting Cocks, KMFDM, Japan, Skinny Puppy a whole range of different bands I’d never heard. We kind of melded both of our styles and influences to created an electronic rock sound that when stripped down to me and my acoustic guitar, could pass as any genre. With the whole production of synths and live drums and my classic writing and melody style. I think we created something extremely unique and yet familiar."

You've released an abundance of awesome singles since 2017. And now you're releasing your debut album IV0X10V5. Why have you chosen now to put a full length out into the world and what does it mean to you? What do you hope fans/listeners take away from it?

"Once the pandemic hit us with lockdowns in 2020, it was a bit hard to create and release things. We weren’t playing any shows, I couldn’t even get into the studio for a few months. Ken and I had talked about releasing a full length album and we decided to put it together over the lockdown. We shot 4 music videos over the course of the lockdown so that almost every song chosen for the album has a video to release along with it. We worked so hard to created this first album, so many people put so much time and effort and creativity into the album and it is overwhelming to have so much support for it. This album means so much to me, it’s quite literally a dream come true. I’ve put my entire soul into this album, all of my feelings and desires and heartaches. I think what I would want people to take away from it is that, we are not alone. Everyone goes through insane up’s and downs, but If I could make someone feel less alone in all this, that would be amazing."

Please take us through your songwriting/creative process. What do you enjoy the most and what do you find the most challenging?

"When I write a new song, I like to let it come out whatever way it wants to. I always write on the acoustic guitar first. Usually playing a few different chord progressions until something I like sticks. Humming different melodies over the pattern, usually words just come to me and as they do I write them all down and record the session into my phone as well. It’s a bit hard to explain but I feel like when I write its sort of an out of body experience for me. It doesn’t ever feel like I’m really there, it’s almost like a dream state. But when I really get something going I can’t stop. Words come to me from whatever I feel, whatever I’ve subconsciously decided to write about. After that process is over and I have a song. I bring it to Ken, and we go through it line by line and transpose it into a synth rock mess of awesomeness. We go through tons of different synth sounds for hours and we have Mark Damian track drums for the song as well.

"The most challenging part for me is just starting, I struggle with doubts and fear of not having any songs left in me. No one wants to be a washed up dried out musician. I try to give every song a piece of my soul."

Finally, what else is next for you? Will you be touring the album?

"As I mentione before, I have a release party show at Bar Sinister in LA on February 12th, and a hometown Detroit album release listening party at Smalls in Hamtramck on February 25th. I am currently planning shows and tours to promote the album and I am hoping to get over to Europe to tour for it as well!

"I am already thinking about my second LP or EP to release if Covid restricts us from playing live."

[kpop-zone]

Itzy reaction to their s/o having freckles

Yeji

“Hi!”

You hadn’t even managed to enter the apartment yet when your extremely excited looking girlfriend greeted you with a wide grin.

“Hi?”

Your response sounded like a question, making your confusion all too obvious.

Yeji, however, didn’t seem to care and simply grabbed your hand to drag you behind her.

“I have something for you!”

She smiled, causing curiosity to flare up in you.

The two of you came to a halt in her bedroom where she grabbed something and held it behind her back.

“It’s nothing special, but I saw it and thought of you.”

Your girlfriend explained before pulling out a magazine.

“Look! Don’t they look pretty?”

She said before pointing at the cover page.

It was the newest issue of a famous fashion magazine that showed some models with freckles. You immediately knew why Yeji decided to show you this. You had never really liked your freckles, but since living in Korea, you struggled to accept them even more. People sometimes stared at you because of them, making you painfully aware of the fact that they were an undesired attribute here.

Yeji, however, loved the little brown dots and hated that people had managed to make you insecure because of them. She always made sure to praise your freckles and had developed the habit of peppering your face with kisses whenever your insecurities got the better of you. Her loving words were usually able to cheer you up, just like her gesture right now.

“They do, don’t they?”

You answered, causing Yeji to nod keenly.

“Yes. I mean they’re not as stunning as you, but they did a great job, nevertheless.”

Your girlfriend grinned cheekily while winking.

You giggled in response before wrapping your arms around Yeji’s waist to pull her into a hug.

“Thank you.”

You mumbled against her body, feeling her hands running soothingly across your back.

Maybe the harsh words of others were powerful, but not even half as powerful as the ones of your girlfriend.

Lia

“Good morning!”

As soon as you opened your eyes, you were met by the beautiful smile of your girlfriend who was fondly looking at you.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

You responded, causing Lia to giggle cutely. From one second to the other, however, her face became serious and you cocked your head to the side in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

You asked concerned, not being able to interpret your girlfriend’s expression.

“You’ve got a new freckle!”

She suddenly gasped excitedly, catching you off guard.

“What?”

You chuckled in disbelief while Lia scooted closer to you.

“Right here! You’ve got a new freckle!”

Confidently, she pointed to a spot right beneath your left eye, making you laugh in response.

“How can you tell? I have hundreds.”

You doubted that even you were able to tell how many freckles you had, but the look on Lia’s face made it clear that she was sure.

“Because I love you and know you better than anyone else. So I also know all of your freckles! And that one wasn’t there yesterday.”

Her words were making your heart flutter and additionally to your freckles, a blush was now decorating your cheeks.

“Really?”

You asked sheepishly and Lia nodded without hesitation.

“Of course.”

She smiled softly before leaning in and leaving a kiss on the newest addition on your face.

You had never been more grateful for your freckles in your life.

Ryujin

“Seriously, how rude can a person be? He just shoved me and stole my seat.”

You were complaining about what happened to you in the subway on your way back home, but Ryujin found it hard to concentrate on the words that you were saying.

As you were sitting across from her, the last, golden rays of sunshine of the day fell through the window on your face, illuminating it in a soft lighting and accentuating your freckles whose number had grown exponentially in the past weeks. Since she knew you, summer had slowly become her most awaited season because the more freckles were covering your face, the cuter you looked. And right now, at least a hundred of them were making her heart flutter when she was looking at you. Ryujin could spend hours just studying the details of your face. There was always something new to discover and everything was simply designed to perfection.

“Ryujin???”

Your impatient voice ripped Ryujin out of her trance, causing her to blush immediately.

“Huh? What were you saying?”

She asked sheepishly while you were looking at her with one eyebrow raised.

“Why were you staring at me like you’ve never seen me before?”

There was amusement in your voice that was darkening the red color on Ryujin’s cheeks.

“I wasn’t staring...”

She mumbled but you shot her a disapproving look causing Ryujin to clear her throat. You were gorgeous; there was no shame in admitting that she was just fascinated by your beauty.

“You just look really beautiful right now. That’s all.”

Now it was your turn to blush, making a smug grin appear on Ryujin’s face.

“You’re so cheesy...”

You complained, but Ryujin just shrugged.

“It’s not my fault that you’re so stunning.”

She smirked victoriously when you scoffed in disbelief but couldn’t hide your shyness that was showing in the soft smile that was playing on your lips.

How could you be so cute?

If you continued like this, Ryujin wasn’t so sure if she would survive this summer.

Chaeryeong

“I think I’ll be coming home around 11pm.”

You said while rummaging through your closet to search for a nice outfit.

“Ok. You can call if you want me to send a driver to pick you up.”

Your girlfriend offered while lounging on your bed and observing your struggle.

“Thanks, I will. You can also call if you’re too bored and want me to come home.”

Eventually opting for a rather simple, yet elegant outfit, you quickly got changed before flashing Chaeryeong a smile and walking to the bathroom to do your hair and makeup. When you stood in front of the mirror, however, you looked at the reflection in confusion, because your girlfriend was wordlessly standing right behind you. Slightly bewildered, you started doing your hair while keeping an eye on Chaeryeong who was observing you closely, making you assume that there probably was a reason for her behavior. When you asked her, however, what she was doing, she just shrugged and said, “Nothing.”

Not having an issue with the proximity of your girlfriend, you continued taming your hair until you were somewhat satisfied with it and ready to start with your makeup. It was just a casual meetup with your friends, so you didn’t need to go all out, but you still wanted something to conceal all of the spots on your face that made you insecure. Just when you reached for your foundation, however, Chaeryeong suddenly made a yelping sound that made you turn around in surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

You asked confused when you found your girlfriend pouting.

“Do you really need to use that?”

She pointed to the foundation and you cocked your head to the side in confusion.

“You know that you don’t need to cover up your freckles, right? You look gorgeous and are just perfect the way that you are.”

Chaeryeong explained, causing you to avoid her gaze sheepishly.

You had never been able to hide your insecurities about the brown spots on your body from your girlfriend who was striving to make you feel loved ever since. You assumed that it had probably been so easy for her to see right through you, because of her own insecurities that she had since people started sending her mean hate comments. She was really sensitive because of it and couldn’t stand witnessing others being sad because of their appearance.

When you looked up, you saw your girlfriend watching you with sad eyes, so you immediately put down the foundation again.

“You know what? No, I don’t need to cover them up today.”

You said, causing a wide smile to appear on Chaeryeong’s face that seemingly lit up the whole room.

“Really?”

She asked and you nodded in response. Happily, your girlfriend flung her arms around your neck, making both of your laughter echo in the room.

It seemed like you didn’t have another chance but to love yourself if this was the only way to make your girlfriend happy.

Yuna

“I’m home!”

You yelled happily as you stepped through the front door of the dorm, instantly feeling yourself being at ease. But instead of being greeted by the girls, you were met with silence this time, leaving you confused.

“Hello?”

You asked with your brow furrowed before waiting for any signs of life in the dorm. Soon the distant shuffling of feet could be heard, and a door opened.

“Y/N...”

It was your girlfriend, but the weird tone of her voice immediately alarmed you.

“Yuna? Is everything ok?”

Concerned you walked into the direction of her room, finding the door halfway closed, so you stopped in front of it.

“Yes, but I might have done something stupid... Promise me that you won’t laugh.”

Your girlfriend’s voice sounded from directly behind the door, making you curious as to why she was behaving so strange.

“Ok, would you please open the door now though? You’re starting to scare me.”

Following your ask, Yuna revealed herself. As soon as you saw her face though your eyes widened, and you looked at her with an open mouth.

“What.Is.That.On.Your.Face?”

You asked confused, studying all the brown spots on her face that made her look like a car had splashed her with some dirt outside. A pout formed on your girlfriend’s lips and she huffed annoyed as she crossed her arms.

“You know how much I love your freckles. You look so cute with them, so I wanted some too. And I saw this video on TikTok that shows how to get some with the help of color hair spray. It just didn’t quite work out...”

Yuna sheepishly pointed to her face while pouting profusely.

Realizing that there was no reason to worry, your shock died down, leaving you behind with pure amusement that was tugging on the corners of your mouth. Not being able to hold it in any longer, you snorted with laughter before tumbling over.

“You look like you have dirt all over your face.”

You choked out causing Yuna to punch you.

“You promised that you wouldn’t laugh.”

Your girlfriend looked incredibly sulky, so you wiped away your tears of laughter and tried to stop yourself from cracking up again.

“You also look cute without freckles.”

You smiled while resting your hand on her hip and pulling her closer.

“Yeah but not as cute as you.”

Lovingly, Yuna stroked your cheeks that were covered with freckles, causing you to blush lightly.

One thing was for sure: you would never feel insecure about your freckles ever again.

[sabineelectricheart]

Work of Art

Summary: Cove has self-esteem problems, but Jamie is on the case.

Rating: K - Intended for general audience 5 years and older. Content should be free of any coarse language, violence, and adult themes.

Words: 1700

Notes: If you have self-esteem issues, clap your hands. If you have self-esteem issues, clap your hands.

Jamie and Cove were curled up on the couch at the Last residence in the afternoon sun, his head in her inviting lap as she played with his seafoam coloured hair, twirling her fingers on the waves of it.

His eyes had drifted closed a few minutes before and his besotted girlfriend took the opportunity to take in his features. The way the sun streamed in from the window directly onto his face made everything more defined.  High cheekbones, a strong jaw, straight nose, athletic frame and soft lips made the girl wonder why he was not a model.

Jamie smiled at the thought. Cove was the most beautiful person she had ever seen, especially with the delicate tip of his lips into that sweet, comfortable smile that she did not see often enough.

She felt herself laugh lightly. With such, her lower abdomen vibrated, disturbing the boy’s rest on her lap.

“What?” He asked with a sleepy voice, sitting up and opening his eyes.

“I was just laughing at myself, Cove, that’s all.” Jamie said, smiling.

He tipped his head to one side, his long hair falling over. “Why?”

She had found that he asked a lot of questions. It was his curious nature coming out whenever he would get comfortable with people, and she is quite sure that he is not more comfortable with anyone else other than her. She found it endearing, a cute childish habit that kept him jovial.

His serious and focused personality could seriously afford it.

Running her soft fingers through his hair again, she closed her sweet eyes and let her straight smile widen.

“You should really be a model, you know.” She said, opening one eye, as if spying his reaction.

He sat up, pulling away from her.

“Don’t be naïve. I can’t be a model.” He mumbled, curling into himself.

“Sure, you can. I mean, have you looked in a mirror lately?” She laughed.

The green haired boy watched her as if he was sure she was joking. “That’s why I know I can’t.”

Jamie snorted a laugh, but it put her in near physical pain knowing that he did not see what she did. Leaning forward, she placed her hand on his cheek.

“What’re you talking about?” She chirped.

He shook his head, hunching his shoulders so he looked smaller. “I have a funny pair of eyebrows. Even an idiot like Jeremy used to say so.”

She flinched. It is not as if this was any news to her, as he would complain often about his clothes and appearance, never satisfied with any positive change he achieved, and always fixated on whatever he could not improve, like the weird design of his eyebrows. In fact, she wonders if his Spartan workout routine was steaming from that self-esteem problem of his.

It was an absolute crime that he could not see what she saw in him.

“You’re absolutely handsome, Cove, magnificently so.” Jamie said, holding a sweet look on her round face. He refused to meet her eyes as he shook his head.

He pulled his knees to his chest and hunched up his shoulders, like he was afraid of she actually seeing him. For a moment, she cursed herself for ruining one of his rare moments of peace. She thought for a moment. Suddenly a thought hit her. She would just have to show him what she saw.

Popping up off the couch, she began to walk away. He raised an eyebrow in question, but she only offered a smile in return. She held up one finger and half jogged to her bedroom.

Just to the right of the door was an old full-length mirror. She plucked it from its spot and lugged it out to the couch where Cove was waiting with a puzzled expression. Still, he said nothing as she arranged it so he could see himself.

Reaching out, she motioned for him to give she his hand. Sometimes he was a little skittish with his hands, but she was a patient woman. He looked at her outstretched hand for a few moments. She knew that he had to think about it. That was okay.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he drew his eyes up to meet hers with an anxious expression. She tried her best to look encouraging. Eventually, he placed his sun kissed hand in hers.

Offering him a soft look, Jamie pulled him to his feet. He still stood the way he had when she had first met him when he was nervous: head down, hands tucked behind him, and shoulders hunched.

He was nervous.

The girl slipped behind him, nudging him a little closer to the large, oval mirror so his face was close.

“Do you want me to tell you what I see, Cove?” She asked quietly, resting her chin on his shoulder.

He nodded, just barely though.

“I see high cheekbones, an incredible jaw line, a straight nose, and soft lips. I see hair wavier than the sea, unlike any I’ve ever seen before, a colour that reflects light in extraordinary ways. I see some very cute, slightly pointed, ears. I see a pair of gentle and light green eyes so shiny that they’d belong on a jewellery store. I see a tanned, beautiful work of art.” She said, running her fingers through his hair again.

“Art.” He breathed, in awe of her statement.

She frowned at the surprise in his voice. “Yes, art.”

He tipped his head, looking at the mirror. Thinking. He always had to think about things.

“Art…” He repeated once more, sounding just as surprised as he had the first time. Now she was registering that he had begun to blush.

“A masterpiece, really.” Jamie reiterates. “I don’t know what you see, but that’s what I see.”

Blinking slowly, he stared at his own reflection.

“You really see all of that?” He asked, cautiously.

“I see so much more than that, honey.” She laughed. “Standing right in front of me is an unbelievably strong young man. A kind, gentle soul who strives to do better, to be better, so admirable. A person with cool scars and heart-wrenching stories that you will never tell and a valuable life. A life so bright and precious that is worth the whole world and back. There are so many good things about you, Cove, and if I have to show you all the mirrors in town until you believe me, then so be it.”

“Oh.”

Just one little word, but it said so much. The way his voice trembled when he spoke and how his breathing had shifted like he wanted to cry made she want to cry too.

She wished that she could find better words to express how wonderful she thought he was. He still stared into the mirror. Glossy eyes gave way to tears and she reeled back. She had not meant to upset him.

“I’m sorry, Cove. I shouldn’t have…” She trailed off.

Slowly, he turned around and looked at her. She wiped tears from his face with the pad of her thumb, beginning to cry as well. A single finger came up and tentatively brushed a tear away from her eye. He looked confused, but happy.

As much as she hated to see Cove cry, this time it did not seem so bad. Unlike any other time he cried, he seemed grounded. She smiled at him. He offered a shy one in return.

“Thank you, Jamie.” He whimpered. “It means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me.”

“Just telling the truth.” She said.

He shifted around for a moment, beginning to hold his arms out.

“Can… Am I allowed…?” He asked, arms twitching towards her.

“If you want a hug, Cove, just know that you’re always allowed to hug me. You don’t have to ask.” She chuckled, pulling him into her inviting arms. He clung to she like he had never been hugged before.

“Really?” He whimpered, as if he was surprised with her declaration, due to his badly defined hang-ups about physical intimacy.

She cut him off and clutched him a little tighter.

“If you want affection, just say so. I’ve got it in spades.” She giggled.

He pulled back, eyes shifting around from her face to the floor, flitting back and forth.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, observing carefully his tells as in to decipher the unsaid request.

His cheeks flushed red and he dipped his head down so his face came closer to hers. Finally, she understood, or she thought so.

“Um…” He mumbled.

“A kiss?” She asked.

Again, his eyes fluttered away and his cheeks flushed an even deeper red, but he nodded shyly.

Turning her face up, she pressed her lips to his lightly. It was no more than a soft brush, but it caused him to squeak.

She breathed a laugh.

Cove connected their lips as second time. Then a third. Then a fourth, staying longer this time. Smiling, she kissed him back. She let him get used to the feeling of her lips on his, glad to let him figure things out. Hesitantly, he put his hands on her waist; she could feel the roughness of them through her shirt. She was not sure how much time had passed when he pulled away.

“Will you hold me? Please?” He asked, stumbling on the word hold.

She smiled, gently pulling him back onto the couch so that he was laid next to her with his head on her chest.

Wrapping her arms around him, she kissed his hair. “Nothing would make me happier, sweetie.”

He snuggled into her, pressing his nose to her chest and his arms wrapped around her midsection as he made himself comfortable.

The late afternoon sun bathed both of them in a warm, golden glow and Jamie began to admire her boyfriend again. This time he was admiring her back.

There were still tear tracks on his face, but he was smiling at her. Just a soft tip of the lips. She sincerely hoped that he would keep that expression for the rest of his life.

Cove Holden, especially with that smile, was a true masterpiece.

*_*_*_*_*

Our Life Masterlist