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peculiarlylost · 3 years

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Amberprice Fanfic Compilation

To whom it may concern,

I've been felling quite shitty lately and nostalgia is the only thing keeping me breathing, therefore I'll be providing you the best Amberprice fanfic recommendation you didn't ask for.

Previous warnings before you proceed: a. Amberpricefield it's not my cup of tea, so you won't find any here; b. This was made completely based on my own literaly taste (don't come for me if you hated it all); c. I've been struggling with keeping my focus for long periods of time, that's why you won't find a lot of multichapter works here. I'm really sorry, but a long history requires a lot of brain cells and I've burned them all lately; d. Huge thanks for all the amazing authors who wrote this pieces, you've been doing Gods work; e. Fell free to recommend all types of Amberprice fanfic that I missed out. I've made this thinking that someone could be felling as shitty as I'm felling right now and could use some escape from reality to help cope with everything else.

START OF THE LIST

1. Buried Childish Qualities by Scorpion_Queen (https://archiveofourown.org/works/27196012/chapters/66428533) Amberprice + Summer Camp = pure nostalgia. This fanfic fells like those endless summer nights where you would stay up until dawn doing absolutely nothing simply cause you could. It reminds me a little bit of "Looking for Alaska" by John Green which only added for the nostalgia felling.

2. Castles in the Air by Scorpion_Queen (https://archiveofourown.org/works/19161673/chapters/45544687) When I started my marathon of reading Amberprice Fanfic until my eyes stopped working, something that really pissed me of was the over-the-top romanticization of Chloe and Rachel. For me, the beauty in their characters was the visible flaws, that's what made them "touchable". No one is completely good or bad (except Mark Jefferson, fuck him), and this author understood beautifully this assignment. Definelly a must read if you like the nuances of their relationship. Chloe and Rachel are actually Chloe and Rachel in this one.

3. Slumber Party Rules by Scorpion_Queen (https://archiveofourown.org/works/28055220) At this point you must think that I'm in love with Scorpion_Queen. Well, you're completely correct! It's been a while since I loved so much an authors work that I wasted long hours reading all their pieces. I couldn't thank Scorpion enough for that. Basically, this one shot involves a game of truth or dare from Max pov. It was very interesting seeing how other characters interpret the relationship between Chloe and Rachel.

4. Coward by Mogatrat (https://archiveofourown.org/works/11067531) Smut + Angst = pain. I'm a huge simp for authors that shows the ambiguous relationship between them. It's a very quick read, ideal for poop time (that's me trying to be funny).

5. Every Move Just for Herself by Mogatrat (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15923051) Mogatrat do a FINE job when the business is Smutt + Angst. Also, the internalized homophobia is *chief kiss*. This is a very quick read, so you know...

6. Pink Bubblegum by Danganphobia (https://archiveofourown.org/works/13155687) This one just fells like home. It's the type of reading that just fells right, you know? It's easy and uncomplicated. Do you remember how I said it that i hated over-the-top romanticization of Chloe and Rachel? Well, my hatred does not apply to this one. HAPPY ROMCOM AU Y'ALL. Just accept this gift without further explanation.

7. Yours by craashintome (https://archiveofourown.org/works/13210812) Another gift without further explanation. HAPPY ROMCOM AU Y'ALL!

8. Strawberry by Danganphobia (https://archiveofourown.org/works/12627669) Here's the thing: after a while, reading fanfic and pretending that the real world is a mirage got me quite happily alienated. Therefore, that's my excuse for all the fluffy one shots in a role. So, you know, enjoy yourself :)

9. Notice Me by lunargrrrl (https://archiveofourown.org/works/13505091) The format of this one fells like a poem. Honestly, I never thought that something like this would captivate me at all, but it definely did. Pleasant surprise to say at least.

10. So, You're a Fatalist Then? by Dandybear (https://archiveofourown.org/works/12434655) After I read this one, it took me a while to read another Amberprice Fanfic. I have this theory that most of us reads to live a life that do not belong to us. We have the privilege to simply escape. And I loved to escape the fact that Chloe and Rachel never left Arcadia Bay. This piece reminded me what actually happened.

11. Can't Complain About Much These Days by breezered (https://archiveofourown.org/works/13267965) Do you remember the cutscene in the end of Before The Storm where Chloe paints her hair completely blue? Well, I hope you do, because Rachel helps her out in this one. Believe me when I tell you that you need a little bit of fluffy after the last one.

12. Please Don't Be My Valentine by Ghost_In_The_Hella (https://archiveofourown.org/works/18082052) Conversation Hearts by Ghost_In_The_Hella (https://archiveofourown.org/works/29562945) No need to call me Santa or, in this case, Cupid (ba dun tss). Valentine's Day Special y'all!

13. Tonight I'll Lie Awake, Felling Empty by orphan_account (https://archiveofourown.org/works/4583376) If there was a Life is Strange Before the Storm part II, this piece would definely be a part of the plot. If you need more persuasion to read this masterpiece, I will leave you with this quote: "For Rachel, who doesn't believe in past regrets, it will probably be like it never happened."

14. Alright in the Evening (Baby With You) by breezered (https://archiveofourown.org/works/13214394) That's the euphoric felling that Rachel tried to describe to Chloe the night after the play, where everything is possible and running away is the easiest thing in the entire world. This piece fells light.

15. And the Forest Burned (You See Smoke) by breezered (https://archiveofourown.org/works/13153557) This one destroyed me in the most beautiful way possible. I've been staring at my computer screen for a embarassing amount of time trying to describe how this made me fell so I can indoctrinate you to also read it, but I'm failing horribly. Do you know that book that list 1001 things you have to do before dying? Well, if I've written that book, reading this fanfic would be one of those things. If that's not enough for you, stay with this GENIUS quote: "No, loving Rachel Amber doesn’t kill you. It never burns out, not really. Her absence doesn’t make the fire fade or dwindle, it stokes it and stokes it until the passion and the heat from loving a ghost burns you up and leaves you empty. You spend every second of every day painfully loving Rachel Amber until there’s nothing left for you to give, no more energy and no more attention." (I'm also in love with breezered. What can I say? I'm a whore).

16. The Way You Kiss me (Will Work Every Time) by breezered (https://archiveofourown.org/works/13343250) This author is just *chief kiss*.

17. Gone by orphan_account (https://archiveofourown.org/works/16579007) I've never seen a single soul in this Earth that doesn't love Smut + Angst. Have fun kiddos :)

END OF THE LIST

#max caulfield #amberprice #life is strange #rachel amber #chloe price #arcadia bay #fanfic #smut #women loving women #bts angst #maxine caulfield #victoria chase #kate marsh #nathan prescott #lis bts #life is strange fandom #life is strange before the storm #life is strange spoilers #chasefield

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boldlyvoid · 3 years

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ain't it fun? | Part five

Summary: reader just needs an NA meeting before they have a meltdown, they end up with the best friend they could ever make.

Warnings: pregnancy, chronic illness, spencer's career chance - he's a high school teacher now, they have a 1-year-old, smut at the end but not graphic.

word count: 2.8k

a/n: I imagine this is in season 10, so they've been together at least 7 years-ish now, I just jumped well into the future because I wanted to! also, Cordelia's nickname is Edie and pronounced Ee-dee !!

P1 P2 P3 P4

“No.”

Spencer sighs, “are you going to like any of my suggestions?”

“When you give me a baby name that isn’t from some weird old male book character, then yes, I’ll take them into consideration,” she replies, hand on her stomach as she lays back against the pillows.

She was huge, 9 months pregnant and so, so close to the finish line. She was swollen and in pain and exhausted. Going off every single medication and recreational drugs to make a life was a commitment and a half, she was doing well but she was so ready to be done. To do a few more months of breastfeeding and then go back on her medications.

Spencer was terrific. He was googling and asking Penelope to research things, he had called doctors he knows and friends and did everything in his power to find a way to ease her pain even before they got pregnant. He’s taken the last 3 months off of work and he doesn’t know when he’ll go back. He has just been so, so incredible the whole time.

Naming a child was hard. You had to not only think about all the nicknames and what their initials spell, but you also had to think about how they’ll like it; if it’ll fit their personality and spirit. And most of all, is it going to get them bullied? There are some terrible kid names. Like Richard… how do you name a newborn Richard?

“I want something meaningful with a nice nickname and works with our names and her siblings,” she whispered towards him. “They need to all work together.”

“What are some of your favourites?” He asks, moving in closer and finding a way to cuddle in with her and her pregnancy pillow who has all but replaced him lately.

“I like earthy names, like Lennox, Juniper, Aspen, Elowen,” her voice is really soft, she bites her lip at the end as she thinks them over again. “And old things like Cordelia and Winnifred.”

“Which one sounds the best with Reid?”

“I like Cordelia Reid the most, and then we can call her Edie and I was thinking you can pick her middle name?” She’s been thinking about it for a while, but too afraid to know his opinions.

“Cordelia means core in Latin, which makes sense cause she already has my heart,” Spencer teased, he has made it very clear that their little girl is going to be spoiled, loved and a daddy's girl.

He took all his fears of being a bad dad and threw them out the window. He knew that just being there was all he wanted from his dad, and so that’s what he was going to do. He left the BAU for the time being, he was doing the odd lecture at the academy and answering calls for cases. They couldn’t just stop using his brain, there were some things too pressing to not ask the walking computer, but other than that, he was done.

He was looking into other jobs for when he finally decides to go back, he was unsure how long of a paternity leave he wanted. He was really content with just staying home all the time now, but he did miss going out and being useful during the days. The job he was most interested in, however, was a high school teacher.

A prep school in DC is looking into adding an Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology course to their curriculum, and they wanted Spencer. They thought he would be perfect for the seniors, he is fun and young and attentive, he can control a room and keep them entertained, and he’s probably the best teacher a kid could get.

It was going to make him a good dad too.

“I think Jade is a nice middle name,” he adds after thinking it over for a few minutes.

“Cordelia Jade Reid,” she says the full name for the first time and it just feels right, like they already know her.

—

She was very calm for a newborn baby.

She liked to just look around and blink, she licked her lips a lot and she was constantly breaking out of her swaddle. She was always happy to have cuddles with her dad and she pooped every night at exactly at 3 am, without fail. She didn’t cry a lot, but when she did it was still wonderful to hear.

They were so in love with her, she was absolutely perfect for them. She fit right into their sleeping schedule and their life, she ate like a pro, she slept most of the night and she was growing way too fast for their liking.

One day they’re crying over the fact they made a life in a tiny little hospital room, and the next thing they know she’s about to turn 1.

She’s sitting in bed with Y/N, she’s sitting in her lap with two handfuls of hair and a story to tell. She’s been babbling so much lately, she hears them talking all the time and she wants to join so badly. They indulge her, asking her to continue her thoughts and gasping at her gossip.

“No way, and what did you do next?!” She asked the little one sat in her lap.

Edie babbled on once more, smacking her tongue on the roof of her mouth as she pushed air past her vocal cords, humming and making the funniest sounds. She went on and on, she was so enthusiastic, like her father, as she waved her arms around to make her point.

“That is so fascinating, you are so cool, little Edie,” Y/N hyped her up, smiling at her as she leaned in close and pressed their noses together.

Cordelia laughed and it finally made Spencer giggle too, he had been watching from the doorway as his ‘wife’ and daughter talked in bed. They were best friends already, always talking and snuggling, learning or reading together. She was always happy when she was with one of them, she was needy and snuggly and very co-dependent but they didn’t mind, they preferred all the attention from her.

“Look who’s home,” Y/N whispered and Cordelia shot a glance towards the door, she smiled and screamed as she saw him.

“Hi Edie!” He waves at her with a smile, he takes his bag off and places it by the dresser followed by his blazer.

He gets into the bed and she instinctively reaches for a hug. He wraps her up and she snuggles right into his neck, with a fistful of his shirt, she just holds him there. She didn’t understand why he wasn’t home all day anymore, she missed him for lunch and at nap time but she loved the new routine of a snuggle when she woke up and he got home.

Spencer leans back against the pillows beside Y/N, turning his head to capture a kiss from her lips. They always just spend a quick second kissing when he gets home, even if it’s just a peck or a full-on passionate make-out, he always kisses her when he comes home. He smiles at the end of the kiss, pulling her into a hug too.

“I love Fridays,” he whispers, “Edie do you know what Fridays mean?”

She pulls away and sits up, she loves to listen to him. “Friday is the last day of the school week, which means I get to spend 2 whole days with my favourite people now.”

Edie smiled, almost like she understood what he meant, and then she was talking again, it was completely incomprehensible but they imagined she was telling him about her day.

“You forgot the part where we went to the park,” Y/N added.

Cordelia looked at her with wide eyes, “dada,” was the only word she said before babbling on again and they both stopped.

“Did she just?” Spencer was shocked and frozen still after asking.

Y/N sat up and looked right into Cordelia’s eyes, “who is that?” She pointed at Spencer.

“Dada!” She said it again and they were suddenly all squealing, even Cordelia was suddenly excited as she kept screaming dada over and over again.

“Can you say, mom? Or mama? Mummy?” Spencer tried his hardest to find an easy way for her to say it.

“Mumm,” she pushed her lips together to hum her M sound and Spencer was floored, he bounced her up and down a small amount as they cheered.

“Smartest girl in the world!” Spencer cheered her on before pulling her into another hug.

Y/N was crying softly, little tiny dreams that she didn’t even know she had were coming true every single day with them. She knew she wanted to be a mom when she was growing up, all those dreams died when her illness got worse and they all warned her that having kids would put her at risk of being moneyless and that working wasn’t an option to even support them. Let alone the threat of them taking them away just because of her autism or depression possibly being considered ‘too bad’ to care for them.

Spencer took all those fears and he kicked them out. Every day she got to experience the most precious gifts the world had to offer, her daughter was perfect and her husband was incredible. Together they were a perfect little family that ran on trust, love, and communication. Always talking, always hugging, always there for each other.

—

They crawl into bed much later than they expected to. Cordelia didn’t want to go to bed, she was trying her hardest to keep staying awake to spend time with them but eventually, sleep won. They finally placed her in her crib with her white noise and her complete darkness and closed her door for the next few hours of peace.

They both let out a deep sigh before rolling to face one another. “How was your day?” He asks, like always.

“Good,” she smiles, “I think having a kid and getting on her schedule was the best thing I’ve ever done actually, cause I’m sleeping on time, I’m eating when she does and I’m outside a lot more. She’s given me this purpose and it’s rewarding on my body.”

Spencer moves in so he can kiss her nose, “I love hearing that.”

“How was your class today?” She asks back, loving his little stories about all the 17 and 18-year-olds that were fascinated by him. As well as the kids who thought it was cool to try and pick on him before getting the shit verbally kicked out of them in front of the whole class.

It was interesting seeing him in a form of authority, he never really took charge at the BAU, she’s never seen him yell at his friends and he’s never really yelled at her either. He’s been incredibly calm, so to see him verbally tear someone apart by acknowledging their biggest flaws to make sense of why they feel the need to bully, it was pretty intense.

“They were a lot better today, they enjoyed the lesson and the kids that were giving me trouble skipped, I guess he really didn’t appreciate me calling him out that bad on Tuesday,” Spencer smirked, rolling his eyes like he cared.

“I still can’t believe that he thought it was okay to call you names in front of other students, where is the respect these days?”

“Well,” he’s about to do what he always does. He can never be truly mad at someone because he knows why everyone does what they do and that they can’t help it. “In his file, it says his parents are newly divorced, we get a list of all the kids information on the attendance like allergies and things, but also small info like life changes in case they act out.”

“Doesn’t mean he can call you the f slur,” she whispers, “all because you wore a purple shirt?”

“If I met his father I’d probably get an answer for that,” he adds, “if he’s afraid to show his emotions around his son, it’s probably why his son thinks colours are gay.”

It makes her laugh, “you look hot in purple too so I don’t see the problem?”

“Do I?” He teases, getting in even closer and pressing their bodies together.

She rolls her eyes before wrapping her arms around him and leaning forward for a quick kiss, “I think you look sexy all the time.”

He kisses her as a thank you, “I think the same about you.”

“Even when I haven’t showered in 2 days because she cries if she can’t see me and she cries if she gets wet?” Y/N laughed, annoyed but in love with their little monster at the same time.

“Always,” he reminds her. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she kisses him again after.

There are probably a million more things to share from the day, but they spend their time kissing instead. It’s been too long since they’ve just rolled around in the sheets making out like they did in the beginning. Before they ever had sex, before they had kids and a house and a love as strong as they do now.

A part of them missed the early days when everything was new and exciting, but she also loved the fact that they knew each other so well that they didn’t have to communicate anymore. They ran like 1 unit, always completing the other person's thoughts, needs and wants. They were so unbelievably happy.

She wants him badly and he wants her just as much, and he’s about to take her when she pulls back. “Nope, as much as I love her I can’t get pregnant again for at least another year.”

It makes him laugh as he pulls away and rolls over to look through his nightstand for a condom, “it wouldn’t be that bad?”

“You carry it then, seahorse it up,” she teased. “I like being back on my medicine, I need some time to be okay before I go through all that again.”

Once he’s all situated in the latex and back between her legs, he hovers over her, so close that their lips are touching ever so slightly. “I am fine if it’s just the three of us forever.”

“I’m not,” she smiles, “there will be 4 of us one day, just not today.”

With that, she’s pulling him into another kiss as he pushing inside. It’s a feeling she’s accustomed to but will never be used to, it’s a stretch that shouldn’t be as intoxicating as it is. She holds him closer as she plays with his tongue in her mouth.

He was so good at everything he did, especially the sex. He knew every single part of her body now and exactly how to push all her buttons the right way. She could live in the moment of his pumping in and out of her while his thumb circled her clit and his other hand groaned her breasts. Eventually, he kissed down her throat and she was a mess of breathy moans and low gasps.

Writing in the sheets, her legs wrap around him as she tried to pull him in even closer. It was impossible to get closer but he was still too far away, she wanted to absorb him and live in him forever. He was her safe place and she never wanted to be anywhere else.

As her orgasm bubbled, so did his. The both of them gasping and panting, she whined as she breached the edge and gripped his back, “Spence!”

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he whispered before fucking into her harder and faster, pushing her through it as he reached his own.

His movements on her clit never stopped and suddenly one felt like two and she wasn’t sure when the rush was going to stop and she didn’t care when it did. It was powerful, soothing and euphoric. A high she could live in for a while and return to it without problem as long as she had him.

He came with a small moan, trying to keep quiet as he muffled it into her neck, stilling his hips on his last thrust and dropping onto her more. Her hands were all over his back as she pressed kisses to his forehead, coming down but not wanting the love to stop there.

The love was never going to stop there for them. Their love was never-ending, and somehow as she held him there in her arms and felt his breath on his neck, she turned to see the baby monitor with their peaceful child sound asleep down the hall, she loved him even more now somehow.

Loving Spencer Reid was like falling down a bottomless pit. She never knew when she was going to reach the end, but she was content with falling.

smut taglist: @g0lden-cth @doctorspenceryeet @samuel-de-champagne-problems @reiding-recs @shemarmooresfedora @spencers-dria@reidsfish @manuosorioh @mochionly @jswessie187 @k-k0129 @calm-and-doctor @blanchardsbk

#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid request #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine #aint it fun

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yamithediaperdork · 3 years

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My Little Brothers revenge Part 1

My little brothers revenge

The Hickman's were for the most part a average middle class family. both the parents worked and they had two children.

A 12 year old named Justin who had natural blond hair in a brush cut though he currently had it dyed indigo blue to go with his icy blue eyes. He had a jock's build (well as much as one could have at that age) and wasn't scared to use his physical power to his advantage.

his little brother Alex was short for his age and was always being mistaken for a 6 year old or worse when he was 9 and a half. He had red hair that went down to his shoulders and he kept in a pony tail and his checks were sprinkled with freckles.His slim body meant he was last to be picked for any sports though unlike his brother he was a strait A student and actually sometimes had to help his older brother with his homework, a fact that neither of them enjoyed.

It was their mother Anne (who Alex took after in appearance) who insisted that he help his big brother and it always ended with Justin pissed off and Alex hanging from a bed post by his sponge bob underoo's.

Their father who Justin took after in appearance refused to believe his little all star could be such a bully and so it was usually left to Alex to figure out a way to hold his own or go and whine to their mother, getting him labeled a mama's boy.

Still all brothers fight, it was just a fact of life and it might of all just gone this way with them being a semi happy family till the day the bully of a big brother took things a step too far and Alex decided that Justin had to be put in his place once and for all.

Alex had been hanging out with his friends Saturday afternoon, playing video games in the living room and having semi pissed off Justin who had wanted to watch a movie with HIS friends.

But mom and dad made sure that the TV time was shared and that both boys got a block of time and with their parents just down the block, Justin knew better then to try and strong arm them out.

Said friends were Kyle and Lyle, twins from down the block who had a semi creepy habit of finishing each others sentences and had light caramel skin and black hair in matching mushroom cuts. it was easy enough to tell them apart as by a semi quick of fate Lyle had brown eyes while Kyle had green.

Missing in action because he'd gone fishing with his dad was Max, anther shrimp who had dirty blond hair in a short Mohawk (his attempt to look cool which had backfired) and was so white he looked pale most of the time.

being shrimps themselves they had hit it off well with Alex and had formed a semi losers club of sorts, though Alex wasn't found of the name the twins who loved anything Steven king had insisted and he was out voted 2 to 1 since Max had joined the group after.

the boys were doing a retro gaming session of sorts, playing downloaded old games on a new machine and the game of choice for the moment was Ninja turtles two.

"Man, this game is so bad.." Lyle spoke up, playing as Leonardo.

"That it's almost good!" Kyle finished and was playing as Ralph.

"heh, that the fun part of these old games..you know they were giving it their all but just were limited." Alex said.

all three of them were seated on the hard wood floor of the living room though they had spread out a blanket since despite the chill of the October air his parents had refused to turn on the heat yet.

the twins nodded and Alex went to say something else when he hear the booming footsteps of his brother then a familiar stink hit his nose.

'No way, he wouldn't!' Alex thought.

"Hey Little Alexandra, Didn't mom tell you to toss out your pissy wet diapie when you got changed this morning? It's bad enough your a bed wetter, do you have to leave your soggy huggies around?" Justin asked.

and indeed Justin was holding out a totally soaked Spider-man print diaper in front of him, holding it with just a finger and his thumb and holding his nose.

Behind him were his friend Adam (Nicknamed grizz or grizzly because of his girth and wildly unkempt brown hair) and Rayne, actually a year younger then the other two but a head taller and so very, very much stupider. Rayne kept his head shaved because he thought it made him look more like the pro wrestlers that he so so loved.

"is that-" Lyle asked, pausing the game and turning to look.

"-A diaper?" Kyle finished, raising a eyebrow.

"JUSTIN! Mom told you not show people those! and I DID toss it out!" Alex huffed and whined, his cheeks going crimson then adding. "And DON'T call me Alexandra!"

"Whatever you say pamper pisser. Look, I went to go into our room to get something and was assaulted by the stink of your bed wetter pants." Justin said and then tossed the soggy thing at Alex, hitting him in the face and knocking him over.

the truth was Alex KNEW he'd tossed the diaper out this morning, he wasn't allowed to toss his very much needed bed time diapers out in the house trash because Dad and Justin would raise a fuss about it stinking up the house and he'd had to wait five minutes because the paper boy had stopped to talk to Mr. Johnson next door.

"JUSTIN GROSS!" Alex whined and sat up, whining and now smelling like stale pee.

"Whatever dork, go and toss your diaper out then take a shower..me and the guys are gonna start our movie early. Wonder twins, I'm sure you don't wanna stick around and hang out with a pamper packer like my little brother right?" Justin said.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Lyle huffed and went to put a supportive hand on Alex's shoulder, but then pulled it back.

he was with his friend but that didn't mean he wanted to get any of the ick on him.

"What he said! Everyone matures differently! Heck, Lyle only just stopped needing a night light this year!" Kyle said, then pout his hands over his mouth as his brother glared at him.

"...Pfffftt BWHAHAHAHAHA!" all three big bullies broke into gut busting laughter.

"I'm not the one who has to suck on a pacifier during thunder storms!" Lyle shot back and blew a raspberry at his twin who huffed and glared.

the bullies naturally were loving it as the twins only dug themselves in deeper and Alex just face palmed.

"Guys, you're NOT helping yourselves." He pointed out.

"Oh my god, it's a group of BABIES! No wonder they all get along!" Grizz laughed, slapping his leg.

"I bet their next sleep over is gonna have them in a crib." Rayne added.

"Alright pamper packers, out of the living room, this movie is PG 13 and I don't want you all blorting your pants when something scary happens. Wonder twins, get your asses home. Alexandra, go take a shower AFTER you toss out your pissy diaper." Justin said, unable to believe just how well all of this had worked out.

"Whatever jerk.." Alex huffed and got up.

he saw his friends off though the twins were still semi huffing and fighting, shoving each other as the walked away and Alex got his wet diaper tossed out without anyone seeing him.

as he went upstairs and got his shower ready one thing was on his mind.

'This means war. I'm gonna make him feel EXACTLY how embarrassing being seen in diapers around your fiends is.' Alex vowed to himself.

Ok, he had no idea HOW he was going to do so, but while Justin may of won the first battle, it was going to be Alex who won the war and prove his Brain's out did his brother brawn.

The movie was going about as well as could be expected since they had to keep pausing it to have anther laugh at just how dorky Alex and his friends were.

Of course Rayne and Grizz had known for awhile (even if Justin technically wasn't suppose to of told them) about Alex being a diaper filler. (and he might of exaggerated what all Alex used his diapers for)

Maybe a SMALL part of Justin had felt sorry for Alex being humiliated like that in front of his friends, but Grizz had actually come up with the idea and he didn't wanna look like a pussy in front of the guys.

Besides with it coming out that the twins were just as big of dorks as his little brother any real guilt had vanished and he toyed with the idea of dragging out Alex's old play pen out of the basement for the next time he had all his dorky friends over.

'heh, get some pacifiers to shut'em up..put them all in Alex's diapers and take lots of pictures. boom, homework and chore bitches till I graduate.' Justin thought with a smirk and chuckled.

"what's so funny? Oooo and I know that look. Someone's had a evil thought." Grizz asked.

"Heh.. How would you guys feel about making some diapered nerds do our homework for us?" Justin asked.

"well, could be funny, but where are we gonna find some?" Rayne asked.

"..." Grizz roiled his eyes

"...Rayne buddy just smile and listen." Justin said semi sweat dropping.

"I can do that!" Rayne said with a big toothy grin.

Shaking his head Justin started to explain his evil plan, and his friends laughed and chuckled, and were MORE then on board.

Getting out of the shower and drying off, Alex got dressed in a pair of black jogging pants and a t-shirt then sat on his bed with his laptop.

He tried different google searches trying to figure out just how to get his brother back in diapers but for the most part it ended up giving him story link's that he bookmarked to look over later and see if there was anything usable.

He did find a forum called little brothers revenge and it had some really wicked ideas for the most part, but only two threads popped up when he searched for diaper.

the first one was clearly bull with it talking about how this kid had pooped in a diaper and hide it in his big brothers room and gotten the big brother in trouble (and even if it wasn't, Alex would hold off crapping himself as a weapon of last resort.)

the other thread was old, and had been posted just before Christmas of last year and had a little brother talk about how he had set his brother up to look like he wanted diapers for Christmas and his dad had fallen for it, and so had the rest of the family.

Of course there was a lot of disbelief in the read over that and one guy commented 'pics or your full of shit!'

As Alex scrolled down, he pretty much thought the same but then his jaw dropped as there was a picture of a sleeping boy, in a t-shirt and thick diapers and sucking on a paci and a younger boy was in frame too, it was a semi selfie and was smirking and giving the peace sign. the caption under the picture read 'Believe me now bitches?'

"Hoooly shitttttt." Alex said, this guy was his hero!

he didn't seem to be activate on the forum anymore though, there were a bout a dozen replies and a few more comments from the guy but then he vanished.

his user profile did have a e-mail attached to it and so Alex snagged it and went to write the guy a e-mail.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: DUDE YOUR MY HERO!

Hey just wanted to say, I saw your post on Little brothers revenge and wanted to say how awesome that was and also I was wondering if you had any advice or tips on getting a big brother in padding. mine's being a total butt hole lately and just ugggghhh @_@

I had one idea about maybe like peeing on his bed after he gets up to frame him for bed wetting, what do you think? hope to hear from you soon!

E-mail written Alex clicked send and then went to kill some time play a few games online, never once suspecting that while he was trying to plot his big brother diaper doom, he was likewise plotting out Alex's downstairs.

It was a hour latter when Alex heard the ding that told him he'd gotten a reply and he switched tabs to go and take a look.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re:DUDE YOUR MY HERO

Heh, thanks for the high praise though I gotta warn you, first of all this is something you've gotta be reallllly careful with. Diaper humiliation is a double edged sword, trust me. Had a friend named Ken who tried this and now he's in diapers.

Anyways just taking a leak on your big bro's bed is dumb, you'll get busted for sure! what I'd recommend is making use of laxatives and pee pills in increasing doses till he's wetting his pants all the time and blorting them too. It's a longer game but better results.

what made you wanna get his butt back in diapers anyways, and FYI i expect 'baby pictures' when your plan works.

Alex thought about that for a second and couldn't help but wonder if maybe this 'ken' was really Ben, but pushed that thought out of his head as he started to write his reply.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re:Re:DUDE YOUR MY HERO!

Oh well, I'm a bed wetter and the butt hole went and fished one of my soggy diapers out of the trash and threw it at me while I was hanging out with my friends, trying to say i never tossed it out. so trust me, he totes has this coming.

I really got nothing to lose if I get busted since I'm in huggies every night so I'll try out your plan. it works out because he likes to make me get him drinks and snacks.

as for the picture of him once he's back in huggies heh, sure. thanks for the advice and I'll let you know when the plan starts to work.

E-mail sent Alex closed his e-mail and his game tab then went searching online for the best med's to get to reduce his brother to a helpless pants wetting stinker, only to pause after a few minutes recalling that Max had gotten in trouble awhile back for causing a series of messy accidents around school.

'nggggh..no way he'll be back yet though. I'll go and talk to him tomorrow.' Alex thought and set his laptop aside and laid back on his bed, thinking about just how much fun he was gonna have and ended up conking out.

which was unfortunate as he hadn't put on one of his spider-man diapers and with in ten minutes a wet patch was starting to grow on the front of his jogging pants, which while the dark color would hide it, the tan covered blanket he was laying on wouldn't.

"So when do you think we can do this?" Grizz asked.

the movie was basically forgotten but had been kept on to cover up their voices on the off chance Alex came downstairs (Small chance of that) or if their parents came back early.

"Welll that's the tricky part. I have to have all four of the dweebs here AND have my parents gone. they're going on a weekend trip in about 2 weeks though so I'll try and convince the dweeb to get the loser's club all over here." Justin said.

Rayne, who had just shut his mouth like he'd been told to raised his hand like he was in class.

"heh, Yes Rayne?" Justin asked.

"Aren't they into that dice game, Dragons and prison or whatever?" he asked.

"..Dungeons and dragons, yeah." Justin chuckled.

"Same difference. anyways, say you've been reading up on it and wanna try your hand at hosting a game, but just want them over before you embarrasses yourself in front of us.Most nerds I know love to play and will jump at the chance." Rayne said and smiled.

"Sweet fucking cthulhu. Rayne had a good idea." Grizz chuckled and to patted the bigger boys head. "good boy!"

Rayne beamed and was clearly proud of himself and Justin chuckled.

"Ok, I'll just have to learn enough about this nerd stuff to fake it and get them over. you guys will have to be ready to help though, I don't wanna risk one of the losers getting away." Justin said nodding.

"Hey, as long as I don't have to change any shitty asses I'm in." Grizz said.

"Wait, your gonna make them USE the diapers?" Rayne said and then laughed lots. "Gross!"

"Heh, well the best blackmail is a sobbing little brat in a stinky diaper blackmail. no way the dweeb will risk him in all his smelly glory ending up ALL over town."

"Man, I am glad your not MY big brother." Rayne said, never mind the fact Justin was pretty sure if he tried anything on the semi giant he'd be the one in huggies.

"Eh, No worries. you'd be a awesome little bro. Now all we need to do is go and pick the perfect pampers for them."

"Oh, I got it! There's this discount store my mom drags me to because they have her cream of wheat and other junk she likes cheap, but they got in a shipment of over night diapers for big kids, boys and girls. the boys has rockets and stars on them and are blue." Grizz said, setting up the best part.

"Oh, this is gonna be good." Justin smirked.

"the girls has unicorns and rainbows and are pink!" Grizz finished and cackled.

Plans set for his brother's diapered humiliation, the boys finally turned they're attention back to the movie.

After the movie it was getting late and so Justin sent the guys home as technically speaking they weren't suppose to be over, only him or Alex could have friends over for the most part if mom and dad weren't home. (Weekend vacations were the exception, though their folks made it clear the house had been be clean when they got back)

Whoever had their friends over was also suppose to clean up after them and after a chip fight in the living room Justin smirked, knowing he could get Alex to clean the mess up, since it would be Alex and his friend getting blamed for the mess.

Of course Justin usually made Alex clean up after him and his friends anyways but that always took a little bit more effort in the form of using the dorks undies to bounce him like a yo yo if he didn't listen.

He toyed with leaving Alex sulking in their room where he been since the shower and just letting the dweeb get in trouble but since it was Justin's turn to start dinner so it'd be ready and he didn't feel like cooking, he had to get Alex downstairs anyways to be a good little chore bitch.

"This will be SO much easier once I have the blackmail on him." Justin sighed to himself as he made his way up the stairs to the boys shared bedroom.

Opening the door he went to go and say something but was hit by the stench of piss and a quick look confirmed the little bed soaker had gone night night without a pamper on.

"Hey dork face! wake up! you pissed the bed!" Justin said in a loud voice.

"Ngggh a gigi boo..Five more minutes mommy.." the still mostly asleep dweeb said, trying to shoo Justin away.

"heh, baby talk? really? Wow, just when I think you can't lower the bar any more Little bro.. ALEXANDRA! WAKE UP!" Justin said then cupped a hand to his mouth and yelled.

Alex jumped sort in bed then sat up, eyes wide and panting, looking around.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" He growled once he locked eyes on Justin."ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?!"

"No, but you had a wetting attack dork." Justin said and pointed.

Alex went to say something then looked down and went from pissed off to blushing and tried to cover himself up.

"Ah crap crap crap crap!" Alex whined and got up off the bed.

this was NOT good. not good at ALL! Dad was already riding him on the bed wetting and if he found out Alex had soaked the bed from a little nap he would NOT hear the end of it, or worse, dad would make him wear ALL day tomorrow!

"Ah..ah..Justin big brother who I love ever so much.." Alex started, swallowing and trying to put on his best 'I'm so cute help me' faces.

"Save it dweeb. I'll keep my mouth shut about your little..well BIG accident as long as you go and be a good little chore bitch and get the living room cleaned up and start supper." Justin said and leaned on the door frame, a evil smirk on his face.

Considering his options Alex just hung is head and then did a small nod.

"Butttt to show you I'm not totally heartless..I got some clothes that need to be washed so you can do them and wash your sheet at the same time as a cover up. I know, my kindness knows no bounds. just be thankful mom got you that rubber sheet or you'd be going to sleep in a soggy bed tonight." Justin said and laughed.

'gee he's all heart. letting me do his landry and clean up AND cook.. ' Alex thought but it WAS better then trying to explain the sheet alone.

"Yeah ok.." He said finally and went to strip stripping the bed.

"ah ah ah, what do you say to your kind and wonderful brother for helping you out?" Justin said, milking this for all it was worth.

'He has to be..ok no, I know him better then that.. just keep digging your grave jerk.' Alex thought then took a deep calming breath.

"Thank you for letting me do your landry big brother." he said, clenching a fist.

"Anytime dork. not get to it, you don't have a whole lotta time. my clothes are in the hamper in the bathroom." Justin said and started to walk away, then poked his head back in. "Oh and dweeb? next time don't forget to put on your diapies when your going for your afternoon nap."

and with that he walked off laughing.

"...I'm SO going to enjoy getting him in diapers." Alex huffed.

Changing into a pair of clean spider-man shorts and a captain America t-shirt, Alex got the load of landry started and then went to work cleaning up the living room while keeping a eye on the time.

the chips were everywhere and every time he though he was done he'd spot some more and wondered how much the three bullies had actually managed to get in their stupid fat mouths.

Between the cleaning and getting landry switched over he didn't have time to make anything too special so he went with the old stand by of making macaroni and cheese with hot dogs as it was quick and simple and his parents never really expected Justin to go all out when he was cooking anyways.

Dinner was ready and the landry was finished by the time their parents got home, Alex just had to go and get it out of the dryer but he figured he'd have time to do it stealthy after eating.

"So, what did you boys do for fun today?" Dad asked as they were sitting at the dinner table, a small grimace on his face at the prospect of eating the old stand by.

"Oh well-" Alex started by Justin cut him off.

"It was pretty much same old same old for me, went out and played some football with the guys and had fun. Came back though and I think The twins brought over some super sugar loaded snacks or something because Alex and them where have a chip fight and trashed the living room. it was cute though." Justin said and smirked, winking at Alex who's jaw hung open.

"Alex, you didn't!" Mom signed and shook her head. "After supper you'll be cleaning up the living room!"

"Oh don't worry about it mom, I know little guys like him just need to get it out of their systems. after the twins went home he was super pooped though, think it was a sugar crash so let him go and take a nap and I cleaned up the living room." Justin lied.

"Well that was was nice of you Justin, but in the future leave the cleaning for Alex to do." Dad said and shook his head at Alex. "Alex, we've talked about this."

Alex for his part was stuttering now, trying to think of a way to prove his innocence without getting scolded but first shots had been fired by Justin and there was nothing he could do now.

"Alex did you say thank you to Justin for cleaning up after you?" Mom asked and her tone made it clear if he hadn't she expected him to now, but again Justin spoke up.

"Oh, he's already thanked me for something else. see somebody was just SO sleepy when he went for his nap that he forgot to get his bed wetter pants on and well, Let's just say it's a good thing I had to do a load of landry anyways." Justin said as Alex,'s jaw dropped.

"Y-You said..you.." Alex stammered.

"Alex! what have I told you about not going to sleep without one of your diapers on?" Dad asked in a sharp tone.

"N-Not to do it again or..or.." Alex whined, looking down and feeling ready to cry.

this wasn't fair! he'd done everything Justin had asked him too and he was still gonna get punished!

"Or you'll be spending the next day in your diapers all day. Now I was hoping NOT to have to use that punishment but clearly you've left me no choice. you can still use the potty of course, in fact I encourage it, but you WILL be in diapers all day tomorrow." Dad said.

His tone left no room for argument and feeling hot tears start to slid down his cheeks Alex looked down at his bowl of food and sniffled.

"Yes sir."

After supper Justin offered to do the dishes if Alex would go and get the landry out of the dryer, but mom said since Justin had already cleaned up after Alex, made supper and did the landry for the most part he could go and relax and watch TV with their dad while Alex got the landry out and folded it.

Justin smiled and kissed his mom's cheek and asked if she was sure, but she insisted and so he went and plopped down on the couch, ready to watch some hockey with his dad and giving Alex a shit eating grin as the huffy and tear stained cheek dork started to stomp his way up the steps till dad called for him to knock it off unless he wanted to go to bed early.

'Oh my god. this worked out even better then I could of hoped! Mom and Dad are just too easy!' Justin thought, having to bite his tongue every so often to keep from laughing.

the dweeb had done all the work and yet here he was sipping on pop and munching on chips with their dad while the dork was off folding his undies and was gonna be a crinkle butt the next day.

'It'll be a nice little preview of whats to come.' Justin thought and let out a little chuckle despite himself.

"what's so funny?" Dad asked.

"Oh, just thinking of how silly Alex and his friends looked this after noon. they were like sugar crazed toddlers." Justin lied.

"heh, Next time you should try and get a video of it, I bet it looked cute." Dad chuckled.

Upstairs Alex was mentally cursing up a storm, pissed off and fuming like crazy as he folded pair after pair of his brothers skid marked undies.

'Son of a bitch! son of a bisket eating bitch! I'm not just gonna get him in diapers, I'm gonna make him the biggest dumbest big baby loser of all time! I'm gonna have him in the halls of his school in nothing but huggies and a bib and bonnet!'

of course a small part of Alex knew that going that far likely wasn't gonna be possible, it was a warm thought that helped him keep from just having a melt down fit that would of gotten his bun's blistered and him put to bed before it was even 8 pm.

He should of know better then to think that Justin was gonna hold up his end of the deal, or he should of spoken up about getting the landry done but nope. He'd trusted his big brother and was paying the price for it now in spades.

'And now I have to wear a diaper all day tomorrow..Maybe I'll wait till Monday to go and talk with Max.' Alex thought.

it would mean putting his plans on hold for a bit but he really didn't wanna waddle the block and a half over to Max's with pampers on under his pants.

Finishing up the folding and putting the clothes away Alex checked to make sure that his rubber sheet was dry and tugged in his blanket he'd hung out the window to dry (as it would of taken up too much room in the machines to do Justin's landry too) and with it dry he started to make his bed.

'God, what did I ever do to deserve a asshole like him for a big brother.' Alex whined mentally and finished making his bed, looking it over and then jumping and letting out a girlish shriek as a hand came on his shoulder.

"heh, Relax sweetie, it's mommy." Came his mother voice, sounding a little amused.

"That's ok, I didn't need that heart." Alex huffed, blushing and turning around to face his smirking mother. "what's up mom?"

"Well I wanted to come up and check on how the folding was going and to help you get ready for bed." She said with a smile.

"...Mom it's not even 8 yet, and it's a Saturday night.." Alex said, not liking where this was going.

"Oh You can stay up and everything till 11 like normal, but I just wanna make sure you don't conk out with your 'special armor' on." she said, using finger quotes.

"Mom I think I'm quite capable of putting my own diaper on." Alex huffed, feeling a hot blush cover his face.

"And yet you soaked your bed earlier." She cheerfully pointed out.

"T-That was different, I was just all tired and didn't realize I'd be conking out!" Alex whined, sounding more like a fussy toddler the the big kid he was trying to be.

"I know sweetie, but it kinda goes with my point. what if you just conk out again tonight? do you really wanna have to go to school on Monday in a diaper?" She asked, and the ruffled his hair.

The mental image of it stopped Alex's whining in it's tracks, picturing himself in a bib and spider-man diaper and sucking on a paci in the halls.

"No way! I'd Dieeeee!" Alex whined and shook his head no A LOT.

"well then let mommy help you out. And also if your gonna keep being so tired maybe we'll lower your bedtime for awhile." She added, then smirked and winced at the glare Alex gave her. "Now now, no using your super pouty powers on family."

"Moooom!" Alex huffed but resigned himself to his fate, when she got like this there was no getting her to back down.

He reached under his bed and pulled out his pack of spider-man diapers and noted that he was running low, and started to tug down his shorts when mom spoke up.

"Oh Alex, before we get your in your bed time diaper, do you have to use the potty?"

"mom, I know I wet the bed but I THINK I would know if had to take a leak or a dump you kn-" Alex started and then there was a loud 10 second poot out of his bottom and his tummy was gurgling.

"You were saying?" Mom asked, holding her nose but smirking."

"I-I'll be back.." Alex said in a small voice, blushing SO bad as he went past her he was shocked his hair hadn't caught on fire.

As she watched him go and had to fight the urge laugh, the little guy's undies had a fresh skid mark appearing on the back.

'Maybe I should look into getting him some of those washable training pants.' She mused.

One trip to the potty later and with Alex realizing what's he'd almost done in his undies, and the fight was all out of the little guy at least for the moment.

Zero fight was put up as he let his mom take his shorts and briefs and then proceed to diaper him, numbly just going along with her requests of butt up and the like.

"Are you sure your feeling alright? Maybe I should of checked your temperature before getting the diaper on." Mom asked, putting a hand to Alex's forehead.

"N-No I'm fine..just I dunno, Tired." Alex said, wincing.

he had to be the only boy his age to still get his temperature checked via the back door and it's wasn't that fun of a experience.

"Hmmm I think somebody better lay off of the sweets for awhile if it leaves you JUST drained after." Mom said and then started to tug Alex's blanket up on him.

"M-Mom what are you doing?" Alex whined, looking at the clock, it was 7:51 PM!

"I think you've had a big day, and your just not feeling that good. it would explain all the huffing and whining too. if you be a good boy and go night night for me now I'll see what I can do to get your father to back off with the all day diaper punishment tomorrow. I have to take you shopping for more diapers anyways with you almost being out and you get embarrassed enough as is when your in your undies."

Alex whined and whimpered a little but after a few seconds just signed and nodded.

"Good boy." She said and leaned down, kissing his forehead and then went and got one of his stuffie style Avengers from their display shelf and handed him Thor.

Lacking the energy to fight back Alex just took the offered stuffie and snuggled into it as his mom turned off the lights in the room and paused at the doorway.

"Night night little guy. Mommy will leave the door open a crack for you so you don't get scared. Love you and see you in the morning." She coo'ed/

"..Love you too mommy." Alex said, blushing.

He hadn't been scared of the door in like ages but somehow mom had the impression he still was and the only reason he wouldn't accept a night light was Justin would complain.

She left the little guy to go to sleep and Alex listened to her footsteps.

'This is bull shit. I'm not some little baby! I bet I don't even fall asleep till 11 anyways.' He huffed, crinkling and squirming in his bed.

Five minutes later he was snoring softly around his thumb as he sucked it in his sleep.

"So did Alex give you much of a fight?" Justin asked as Mom came downstairs.

"Just a token one, he's already gone to bed. I don't think he's feeling well and I think that should excuse him for needing his punishment tomorrow." Anne said, though the last part was more directed at her husband.

"Look, rules are rules, and if we start g-" Jackson started but was cut off.

"Excuse me, but who's idea was the rule that a D or worse meant no TV or computer time, and yet Justin who got a D on his last English test is watching the game with you?" She asked sweetly.

Justin gulped now and turned to his dad.

"Uh..you know..I think mom's right, we can't punish Alex if he had his accident because he's sick!" Justin chimed in.

"Heh, Nice try buddy but your mother is right in a way. I can't really punish your brother and not punish you. "Jackson said

"Soooo Alex isn't wearing a diaper tomorrow?" Justin asked hopefully.

"try again buddy, but do it in anther room so I can finish watching the game." Jackson chuckled and ruffled his sons hair as the 12 year old pouted.

"Finnne, I'll just go to my room an-." he started to huff and went to get up.

"ahhh nope. First of all I know you well enough you'll just go on your laptop." Anne said. "and second of all your brother is sleeping. Don't worry though, we have LOTS of board games you can play with me."

"Geee, spending Saturday night playing board games with my mom. aren't I lucky." Justin groaned

One mind numbing night of games later and Justin went to bed, taking note of the fact that Alex had semi drenched his pillow in drool and was still sucking his thumb.

'Heh, He's kinda cute...Still gonna make him a big dumb diaper nerd chore boy..but he's cute.' Justin thought before going and climbing into his bed.

as he went to go to sleep he had the most wonderful evil idea that could at the same time be played off as just being a nice big brother and help get 'revenge' on Alex for making him miss the end of the game.

'Hehehehe damn I'm so smart!' Justin chuckled and dropped off to sleep.

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karimac · 3 years

Text

…in the details, Part 3

A/N: Warning for this series: 18+ audience (minors DNI), some cinematic level violence, some fluff and angst. Doubt that smut will be involved, but it may be implied. I’ll make sure that is noted clearly if it pops up.

All relationships, at this point anyway, are platonic.

Please do not repost or translate my work. Likes, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

A bit about the OC Kari

Part 1

Part 2

All mistakes are my own.

Word count: 3,556

Well, that was not exactly the best idea, was it?

Dr. Darcy Lewis, unlike her colleague, Dr. Erik Selvig, was not a big fan nor an authority on any form of mythology. And the Irish history ask was a longshot at best.

So, here you were, in the coffee shop smack dab in the middle of Westview, talking to Dr. Lewis and getting nowhere fast.

“And, that’s not happening,” the astrophysicist grumbled as she set down her phone and took another sip of her beverage. It was some weirdly sweet concoction that looked like what humans thought rainbow-colored unicorn poop looked like. This world was not ready for what real magical beasts looked like. Most authors had not gotten all of that right in their books. No surprise there. No human really needed to see such things on a daily basis, and whoever had been the muses for those authors had covered up a lot.

“I take it Dr. Selvig has no clue on the Celtic Pantheon?” you asked as you sipped your very boring, light, non-sweet hot coffee. The barista probably wanted to laugh when you ordered it, but he did his best to stifle his snicker. “It was a very long reach on my part, Dr. Lewis. I’m sorry I roped you into this.”

“You can call me Darcy because you actually acknowledge my academic status,” the brunette said as she flipped her phone over again. “So, Thor is off in space. You don’t want me calling Falcon or his pal with the metal arm. Captain Marvel isn’t on your contact list. Ant Man and The Wasp? They can be sort of science geeks, right? Wait. Banner? Is he OK to call?”

Before you could open your mouth, Darcy was texting Banner off her own phone. “You know Bruce?”

“I met him at some meet and greet at MIT before the world went poof,” Darcy replied as she set her phone back down and seemed to be praying Banner would actually return her text. “Stark was there, too, but Banner was the one I got coffee with. Sweet guy, you know, even if he gets all green sometimes.”

As you sipped your coffee, you noticed a few people giving you odd looks. It made you very nervous. “Maybe we should finish up and get back on the road?” you asked Darcy as you quietly motioned toward the other patrons getting their daily fix of caffeine.

“Yeah, bubbe isn’t answering me anyway,” Darcy said as she picked up her phone and got up from her chair. By now there were several residents blocking the exit. “What is your problem? We paid. We’re busing our table. Then we’re leaving.”

“Are The Avengers going to hunt her down?” one woman in the back of the group asked as Darcy looked back toward you and mouthed the word “Help” before turning back to the crowd. The questioner was loud, but you couldn’t see her because of the big delivery man standing in front of her with a huge pile of Amazon packages. “Why did you come back?”

It was time to vamp. With an apparently faulty memory, this was going to be interesting.

“Before you all ask about what is going to happen regarding Wanda Maximoff, I want you all to know I have no authority to speak for The Avengers. I have never been a true member of the team. I helped them at a time when things were beyond bleak for this world. It was an honor and a privilege. But I am not a spokesperson. I am not a team leader.”

“Then why did you come here?” a man with glasses, holding a briefcase, asked from the line where he was waiting for his order. “Then and now?”

“I came the first time because I was looking for my friend. I was pulled into that nightmare just like you were. I wish I had been able to help her before any of this happened.”

“But you have powers, right? Couldn’t you have shut her down, hot stuff?” the first woman added as she moved to the front. Then you recognized her. Agatha Harkness. If Wanda kept her alive, there was a reason for it, and all the pain you had rising in your core had to be tamped down fast. Harkness had hurt Wanda, and that would have to be addressed one day. You were good at playing the long game.

“Taking her out in any sort of power stunt could have jeopardized your lives. I was not sure what she did to make it all happen, and I was not going to risk your lives. I’m sorry it wasn’t put to an end sooner. Now, if you will excuse us, we need to get to a meeting regarding the incident here,” you said as you and Darcy pushed through the crowd and back out to the street.

“OK, what was all that? Spin? Or are you remembering something?” Darcy asked as you got back into her car. You had left your rental on the outskirts of town. Better to travel as a unit until your business here was concluded.

“I remember a couple of things from that mess,” you said as you tried to keep your hands from shaking. “I remember Wanda and Vision’s sons. Billy and Tommy. I remember the house where I lived. Can we drive out to where Wanda had her house? Maybe that will help?”

Darcy pulled out of the parking space and made the lefts and rights to the lot where Wanda’s house had been. The one you were living in was in a lot right next to it. It was empty now, too, but you got out of the car anyway and stood in the center of the patch of dirt. You closed your eyes and held your breath as you tried to piece together what had happened. And then you started to cry as you fell to your knees.

“Whoa, slow down,” Darcy said as she ran and knelt beside you. “What did you see?”

“It’s weird. Wanda came over one day and more or less apologized to me because she couldn’t give me my real happy ending. I can show you, if you’ll let me…”

“Go into my mind?” Darcy protested before you could wave her off the idea. “No Vulcan mind melds for me today, thanks.”

“No, I carry this mirror, and you can see memories in it. Trust me, I do not use telepathy as a first line of anything. I tried it once, to help a friend, but it just caused more problems,” you groaned as you pulled the mirror out of your backpack. You waved your hand over it, and Darcy could now see what had happened with Wanda.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t find them and bring them here,” the Sokovian said quietly as she walked around the 1980s version of what was your living room. It was way too pastel for your liking, but the hints of fuchsia, orchid and teal in the overall cream and light gray design weren’t so bad. You had a couple of cats there with you. One was an orange tabby with a penchant for eating tuna at any given moment. He was warm and affectionate and just a ray of sunshine dressed in fur. The other was as white as the driven snow, but his own cuddly disposition came through. He was the one who would leave you weird gifts every morning. Rocks, feathers, and yes, the occasional dead mouse would be at the foot of your bed each sunrise. You’d find out at the end of that nightmare that the cats were only constructs of Wanda’s chaos magic.

“I know you miss the three of them,” she continued as she pointed to a framed picture of Steve, Bucky and Sam, all decked out in appropriate 1980s clothes that made them look like they ran away from some cop drama. “It’s probably better that there aren’t too many Avengers here anyway. Vis is getting concerned. And this way, well, no one needs to know which one you would have chosen. I know. You know. So you can always talk to me. Like we did before. But I gave you the wedding ring to make sure no one came on to you. Just in case I can get him here soon.”

As you showed Darcy the memory, a tiny part of you was screaming that this whole scenario seemed wrong. You watched Wanda’s crimson glow float around you as she spoke. You vaguely remembered The Morrigan trying to kick some sense back into your addled brain, but Wanda’s world was much too enticing to let your other self come to the fore. You wanted the damned happily ever after with the husband and the house and everything that meant in the modern American ethos. You had rationalized things for years in such a way that you’d never let yourself get it. That was why no one was here to hug you at night like Wanda had Vision. Maybe that fact alone was enough to crack Wanda’s hold on you a bit more than she realized?

But you also had to admit that you wanted to be there for Wanda in case things went south. That much was clear from the moment you showed up in Westview the first time.

“How come you didn’t just zap her? Fight back?” Darcy asked as you fully shifted to the present day and paused the memory.

“Because she wasn’t wrong. I did miss Bucky, Steve and Sam. I missed Banner, too, because they were, in the end, the ones still here that cared if I lived or died. And Spider-Man. Which is random and weird, but he did. And frankly, what I said in the coffee shop was true. I had no idea what my powers would do to her spell. I could have leveled the town. That was not an option.”

“So, that Agatha woman…” Darcy started to say and then stopped. “Wait. That was her? In the coffee shop? That was why you were acting so weird?”

“Yeah. Wanda could have killed her or taken Agatha away with her to imprison her. She didn’t. After what Agatha tried to do to Wanda, to try and take her powers, Wanda had every right to finish her off. But Wanda doesn’t likely know all that yet. There are rules set up from ages ago. Things witches can and can’t do to each other under specific circumstances. So Wanda left her trapped here—for now anyway. But, whatever happened with them, it affected me, too. I got hit with stray magic blasts. I’m betting it messed up my powers in ways I didn’t realize. And maybe my memories as well.”

As Darcy knelt there, her phone finally chimed. It was some weird little R2-D2 chirpy beep, and she looked elated as she showed you the message. “Seems Bruce still cares if you are OK or not. I don’t think bringing him here is such a great idea…”

“Did anyone send him data about what happened here?” you asked as you got to your feet, pocketing some of the dirt from the lot before you stood up. “Air and soil samples? Readings from the residents?”

“I can get them for him. Trust me, Jimmy Woo and Monica Rambeau would be more than happy to help. I’m glad that loon Hayward seems to have gone into hiding or was hauled away to The Raft,” Darcy noted as she checked her phone again. “Seems the doc is working out of a Stark lab here in Jersey. Road trip?”

You really didn’t want to go see Bruce. You had no idea how you’d explain any of what you did to him.

++++++++++

You rehearsed what you planned to tell Bruce a million times in your mind as Darcy drove along the Garden State Parkway to a place called Woodcliff Lake. Stark Industries did indeed have a lab there, and it made you want to scream as you walked into the facility. You did not need yet another reminder that you could not save Tony Stark’s life at the end of that final battle with Thanos. That was part of why you were in this mess in the first place. It was also why you had a screaming fight with Stephen Strange, but no one else knew about that yet.

“Dr. Banner? We’re here!” Darcy yelled as you walked toward what had to be the research wing. The lack of security in the place was a bit disturbing, but then again, there were probably booby traps built into every square inch of the place. You could just hear Tony now as you got closer to the lab area. It would likely have been close to the speech you got the first time he talked to you at the compound.

“Hey! Lucky Charms! Don’t touch any of the expensive stuff. I guess that means don’t touch anything. I still have no idea why you are hanging around the team except that Steve wants you here for some reason. Maybe you’re tied to…his friend…and I just don’t want to face that? Still have issues with all of that, even if the man is dead. Pepper and Morgan said I should be nice to you, but I’m not quite there yet after what happened in Berlin. They are better people than I’ll ever be.”

“Earth to Kari?” you finally heard Bruce say as he waved his massive green hand in front of your face. Then he realized why you were likely spacing out. "Dr. Lewis, can we have a minute?”

“You can call me Darcy, if I can call you Bruce?” Lewis said as Banner nodded to her. “Cool. I’ll go find the little scientist’s room and be right back,” she added as she left the lab.

“So,” Bruce started as he pointed you toward a set of chairs at one side of the lab, “Darcy filled me in via text. I have no idea what happened with Wanda, and I know none of us know where she is. I did call a friend who wants to help,” he noted as a swirling circle of yellow light formed near the window that looked out over the parking lot. “I figured you’d listen to him, and he knows more about this stuff than I do.”

“What did you do?” Wong shouted as he exited the portal. “You usually listen to reason. Why did you go after Wanda all alone?”

“I went to help Wanda. She was hurting. She watched Vision die twice. She lost Pietro. I can relate to all that very, very well. My twin Branan died in front of my eyes, too, and I’ve buried two husbands. Both died in battle. I just wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. But she…she hit all my vulnerable points. And she was under attack at the same time. From a woman named Agatha Harkness and from the director of SWORD. Some martinet named Hayward. He built another Vision. I think Hayward was using Wanda’s powers to bring him to life. Darcy is going to check in with some of the people who worked with her to get you more intel, Bruce.”

“Another version of Vision? Great,” Bruce muttered as he looked over at Wong. “As for this Harkness person…”

“The name rings very small bells, so I’ll need to do some research,” Wong noted as you bumped your left fist against your forehead. “What?”

“Harkness is a succubus. And she is old. Not as old as I am, but she is still a good 400 years old, give or take a day. She apparently survived the Salem Witch Trials. Wanda spelled her and left her in Westview. I think she is, at least in small ways, aware that her world is all wrong. I didn’t want to press it when I saw her in that coffee shop. We do not need an angry succubus flying around. Wong, they got into an aerial battle, and Wanda was using sigils, runes, whatever you want to call them, to focus her power. I think she picked that up from good old Aggie. I never showed her anything like that on purpose. I always suspected she had magic in her bones, but it wasn’t my place to start that fire. The bigger issue is that Wanda conjured up two children while she was there. She created cats for me, so anything is possible. I got knocked out by the end of the fight, so I have no idea what exactly happened in the end other than Wanda running off and Agatha being left behind for some reason.”

“And?” Wong asked as he started to look you up and down. “You did a spell? And it went bad? Your aura is all messed up.”

“I…I tried to do a spell so The Avengers would think of me less and less, and then eventually I’d just be a fleeting memory. I felt walking away in the dead of night, the thing I usually do when I am leaving town, would not be good enough. The spell got botched, and now I’m connected in some fashion to Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. Looking back at it, I spent more time with them in the days leading up to my departure. Steve and Bruce were there the day I left, and so were Sam and Bucky. And…I’m carrying a lot of guilt about Bucky after his accident in 1943.”

“All this on top of the magical circus Wanda made? Are you insane?” Wong yelled as he started to pace.

“And the fight I had with Stephen on the day of the battle. Yeah, I guess I am insane,” you replied as Wong threw up his hands. Bruce had gotten extremely quiet, and that was not a good thing.

“Before we get to dissecting your spell, Kari, was this because of what Tony said? About you not being an Avenger because you were…?”

“Unstable? Yes. And the fact I could not bring anyone back from the grave, especially during that last battle. And the fact about who killed his parents. Buck did while under Hydra control. Steve found out and never told Tony. I ran into The Winter Soldier a few times over the decades, so there was the chance I could have prevented their deaths, too. Tony really had no reason to ask me to join the band.”

“Once we get your spell problem sorted, then we will address this, too,” Bruce said as he looked toward Wong and shook his head. “I loved Tony like a brother, but he was wrong…”

You winced a few times as you tried to listen to Bruce and Wong, now joined once again by Darcy, as they tried to figure out how to fix or reverse that spell, and they hashed out what might have happened to you during that first trip to Westview. You were really trying to focus on their questions, but you felt a tug that no one else could ever have possibly felt.

“Baltimore,” you mumbled as you pulled out your cellphone and debated texting the person you felt tugging at that damned invisible string. No. That would have ended badly, especially since your original spell had gone haywire.

“Bucky Barnes was arrested?” Darcy asked as she showed you her phone alert. “I bet he punched that new fake Cap in the nose. Sorry, but that guy looks like he has no clue. I saw him on Good Morning America. Total cheese fest.”

“Wait. What?” you asked as you took her phone. “Sam didn’t keep the shield? I just hope Bucky didn’t punch Sam and wind up in jail for that!” You gave Darcy back her phone and looked at yours again. It was buzzing. “Anyone here know who the hell is Christina Raynor?” you asked the trio in front of you. No one had any clue about that. You hit the speaker button as you answered the call.

“Hello? Ms. MacOrish. I’m James Barnes’ therapist, Christina Raynor. Sam Wilson said I should give you a call and ask you to join us in Baltimore. As quickly as possible, if you can. I don’t think Mr. Barnes wants to spend the night in a holding cell.”

“Oh no, you are not going to Baltimore,” Wong said as he crossed his arms and got a stern look on his face. “Not while your head is all over the place. You could portal to Baltimore in the 1800s for all you know. You could end up eating lunch with Lord Baltimore in the 1700s. You really shouldn’t do this.”

“Wong, what better place for me to go than to see a therapist?” you said with a smirk as you opened your own portal, this one a lovely shade of emerald green, that went to where Raynor was waiting for you—outside an interrogation room at the city jail.

“Mr. Wilson said you’d be fast. He did not tell me you were one of the powered class,” Raynor said as you went through the portal, looking back to wave briefly as you heard Darcy’s last comment.

“What about your rental car?”

#avengers x oc #bucky barnes x oc #sam wilson x oc #bruce banner x oc #wong x oc #darcy lewis x oc #avengers #bucky barnes #sam wilson #bruce banner #wong mcu #darcy lewis #my mcu oc #my ocs are my babies #my oc writing

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lovelivingmydreams · 4 years

Text

A might have been part 2

Okay listen. If you really believed for even a moment that I was going to make an alternative past for @kingcreativityau where King got to be friends with baby instinct/fear and write all the way up to the split and then not include everything that happened after... Do you guys know me at all? My brain will not be sattisfied with this narative until i have written at least up until the return. And if there ever comes a time where the og comic comes to a conclusion, you better believe I’ll write how all of those events transpired in this alternate version of the timeline. So like it or not, at least two more parts are coming. So there. Enjoy!

part 1 here

A friendship for the ages

Creativity blinked in confusion. What… What was he doing? He looked up and saw… Himself? “Wow, you are just like me!” they chorused. They looked at each other stunned for a moment before they burst out laughing. They got up and shook hands. “Creativity,” they introduced themselves, laughing once more. “Wow, no kidding,” they snorted. “King?” a broken voice wondered. Both looked up. Curious about who spoke. Someone about their height took a step closer, pushing away from a smaller boy. Wait they knew this guy right? The name was at the tip of their tongue. “Not me. Is he talking to you?” they both wondered, looking at each other. “Guess not,” they shrugged. But King did sound familiar, though it didn’t quite feel like them. “I call Prince!” the one in the red cape declared. “Why?” The green caped one pouted. “Because I was first to call prince!” the prince reasoned. “Oh… That makes sense. Then I’m duke!” duke grinned. They turned to the boy, both grinning widely. Seemingly unaware of the atmosphere surrounding their appearance. Prince stepped forward proudly. “I am Prince!” he announced with a bow. “Nice to officially make your acquaintance.” Because they did know him didn’t they? Why was it such a mess in their heads? “Duke!” the other cackled. “Duke, dukey!” he giggled then. “I’m dukey,” he exclaimed with glee. “This… Is quite the unexpected turn,” a taller boy with glasses said. “Unexpected? You killed king! And all you can say about it is that it was unexpected?” The familiar boy cried, making the tall boy flinch. “Fear, kiddo…” the shorter boy soothed. Fear! “Oh! Fear! You are Fear!” Duke shouted, jumping up and down as he pointed at Fear. “You are our friend right?” Prince added. Fear looked up at them, tears still in their eyes. “Why are you sad? Whom must I slay?” Prince asked. “Yeah! We’ll make them poop their pants!” Duke added. Fear took a step back and shook his head. “You stay away,” he sobbed and took of. “Fear!” the little boy with glasses pleaded. The twins looked at each other. “What did we say?” “Fear simply needs time to ‘mourn’ your previous form. He’s highly emotional, it was to be expected that he would not respond well to such a big change with no time to mentally prepare. Let him have his tantrum. He’ll be back soon,” the tall boy stated firmly, adjusting his glasses. The boys wanted to believe him but both he and the little guy who introduced himself as Morality and the other as Logic cast worried glances in the direction Fear had ran of to. Sometimes they’d disappear in that direction and come back looking sad. Prince and Duke got to know the mindscape and, more importantly, the imagination fairly quickly and both agreed that Thomas was the most amazing person in the world and deserved everything he wanted. Sure Duke could be a bit gross sometimes and Prince could get a bit egocentric and too caught up with his own thoughts. But they were doing well. Logic was frustrated though that neither had interest in homework. And Morality seemed upset that they didn’t care much for playing with the other kids. Not even Thomas’ brothers. Well that was their problem really. The twins had each other. There was one side they were interested in though. Fear. The ‘tantrum' as Logic called it had still not blown over and everyone seemed worried. So, deciding to investigate to satisfy their curiosity they went looking for him. They knew what direction to go in. The others had gone to talk to Fear a bunch of times since he left. All they had to do was walk in the direction they went until they found him right? The walk was long, but eventually they saw a big willow. No Fear though. Was he in the shadowy part of the mind? “Stop!” The twins froze and looked at the willow. Had the tree just shouted at them? “Hello?” Prince called. “Leave me alone!” They knew that voice! The twins ran up to the tree and pushed the branches out of their way and froze. Fear was sitting up in the higher branches, hood pulled over his face and four spider legs springing from underneath his clothes. He looked down and six purple eyes lit up in the dark. “I said go!” he growled. A yellow snake slithered up from a hole in the tree wrapping itself protectively/comfortingly around his figure. “That is so cool!” Duke grinned getting himself a jab into the ribs from his brother. “Fear. We… We just wanted to know why you don’t want to be our friend. Did we do something?” Prince asked gently. “No! I’m keeping everyone safe. People who are nice to me get hurt.” “That isn’t true fear…” the snake hissed gently, surprising the twins. Fear glared at the snake. “Isn’t it Deceit?” he growled, making the snake recoil. “Thought so. Just… Go with them. I’ll be fine,” he muttered as he curled in on himself and wrapped his legs around himself like a cage. “That’s a lie. You aren’t fine,” Deceit objected. “Is he… Is this because we aren’t king?” Prince wondered nervously. For all his grandness he was terrified of falling short. He didn’t want to be less wonderful than this King person. If he wasn’t as good or better than the original, what was the point of him existing? “This has nothing you do with that! Just leave me alone!” Fear growled hiding in his hoodie. The snake sighed and came down, turning into a teen boy. Duke whistled impressed, while Prince looked away. Something about the scaled half of the boy's face made something in his gut twist. It felt like guilt. But he’d never met this side. What could he have done to feel this way? “Maybe you two have more luck,” Deceit muttered as he left the shelter of the Willow. “Finally,” Fear huffed. “Now if you two would kindly go back to the central consciousness and get back to work. Thomas needs you two too much for you to waste time on me.” Prince rolled his eyes. “As if. Logic is making homework and if we try to have fun now we’ll get yelled at.” That caught Fear’s attention. “You aren’t helping?” he asked confused. “Why would we? Homework is boring,” Prince scoffed as he put a hand on his hip and made a gesture with his other as if to indicate how obvious his statement was. “Yeah, we only ‘get in the way’,” Duke chipped in. Sounding like he was quoting Logic. Fear rolled his eyes. Honestly. “Have you not been listening to anything Morality’s been teaching you?” he asked. “I am a prince! I know good from bad!” Prince objected, sounding rather insulted. “Not about being moral… Has Logic been showing you around then?” Fear wondered. He had assumed Morality would take up the role of care taker. But maybe Logic had taken up the task of instructing the new sides in the ways of the mindscape? “Showing us around?” Duke wondered as he and his brother exchanged glances. “Wait… so they just… Expected you two to know what to do?” Fear asked shocked. “What is there to know? We are creativity. We found the imagination and that is that,” Prince huffed. Though he was intrigued by the idea of more, he wasn't going to admit to being I’ll informed. Fear jumped out of the tree and took them both in. “You’re not lying to get me to come back are you?” The confusion on the twin’s faces must’ve been enough. “Fine,” Fear surrendered grumpily as he started walking to the central conscience. “I’ll show you the basics, but then I’m kicking Logic’s behind in gear and heading back home.” The twins protested, but were secretly excited. They’d needed someone to actually break their ties when they disagreed. To actually listen to their stories and give input other than almost blind praise or cold analysis. Not to mention the fact that they had known him as a friend when they woke up while the others had been mostly strangers in their eyes. That had to mean something. Surely he was a fun playmate. When they saw the stress bunnies for the first time they were absolutely delighted to have something to hunt. And surely enough, Fear was enjoying himself too. Fear showed them how to make learning fun for Thomas and he even showed them that playing was more fun with others. And though he insisted he’d leave again soon, and avoided the others for a good while, he stuck around. Prince and Duke soon discovered just how far Fear was willing to go to keep them safe. During the first nightmare Fear encountered with them he defended them fiercely. Actually almost injuring himself. The twins were shocked by this and took better care to make sure Fear didn’t endanger himself for their sake again. “You aren’t really going back to the willow are you?” Prince asked one day, almost timidly, though he tried his best to sound casual. Fear shifted. The twins knew how to work with the others, they understood what to do with stress and worries and fears, they knew who to turn to when trouble arose… But he could find a million reasons not to leave them and he knew why. He had grown attached to them. He’d tried not to. It felt like a betrayal to King and he still worried he’d loose them right when he got comfortable with the new situation. But he couldn’t leave their side now. “Nah. I don’t trust you two not to burn down the mindscape without me keeping an eye on you,” he teased. Prince scoffed and gave him a push. Duke just shrugged, because honestly? He would definitely cause chaos and destruction if Fear didn’t redirect him every once in a while. Fear knew that if he was staying he should talk with Logic and Morality. “Padre! Teach! We got someone here who wants to talk to you,” Prince announced. The two sides turned and the twins made way to show Fear was with them greeting both sides with an awkward wave. Morality gasped and clasped his hands in front of his face. “Kiddo! Are… Are you back to stay?” he asked carefully. “I mean… I’ll stay out of the way if you want. I just… Yeah, I’m back. Those two need babysitting and neither of you are up to that it seems so…” He felt two fists push at his shoulders and chuckled. “You know I’m right,” he grinned. Then he looked up at the two sides he’d been rather rude to. “Listen, I’m still not happy about you guys not including everyone in the decision. But Princey and Duke don’t seem to be upset with you two. Not really, so I can’t be either. You tried to do what was best for Thomas. I can’t be mad about that. I just… I was afraid to let you guys back in I guess.” Fear couldn't meet their eyes. He was sure they hated him by now. He'd been pushing them away and…

Suddenly he was tackled in a hug by Morality.

“Oh kiddo. Of course you're welcome back!”

“Indeed. Though you might not have been talking to us, we have noticed your efforts. Or was I to believe that the twins suddenly got interested in assisting with schoolwork on their own?”

Fear shrugged as best as he could while still being embraced by the heart.

“From what I heard, yeah? I mean you guys seem to expect them to just know how things work.”

Logic nodded. “I see. Well we did attempt to explain at first, but we failed to communicate with the twins properly.” It had been puzzling to him why the twins couldn’t just follow his instructions. He would have to ask Fear what he’d done to get them suddenly interested in helping out. But almost overnight Logic had gone from overseeing the homework by himself to having two eager assistants making Thomas excited to learn again.

Morality finally let go and grinned up at him. “Guess a dad can sometimes learn a thing or two from his son,” he teased. Recalling how Prince had suddenly started to include his family and classmates in the stories he and Thomas made again. How Duke’s unfiltered curiosity started branching out to other people as well. How had Fear done that? Fear rolled his eyes. “Whatever short…” the teasing remark was cut off as Fear looked Morality up and down a few times. “Did you get taller?” he asked perplexed.

He was sure Morality used to be a head shorter than him. But now the difference was less than an inch.

“Um yeah. I guess…” Morality mused waving his hand above their heads in fascination. “I didn't really notice. Gosh. Maybe I’ll end up taller than you. Wouldn't that be something?” he chuckled.

Fear just shrugged dismissively.

“Nuh uh! We'll be the tallest!” Prince declared. “Just you wait!”

“Fear is going to be a midget forever though!” Duke chuckled.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Fear frowned.

In answer the twins flanked him and he could see they were both taller than him. Not by much, but enough that he couldn't deny it once he paid attention to it. Of course. Even when he was no longer the youngest he was destined to be the baby of the group. Well better remind the twins why he's called Fear then.

“You have five seconds,” he smirked.

“Huh?” Duke wondered.

“Four seconds, “ Fear grinned as his eyes lit up with a violet shine.

“Duke run!” Prince urged and the two took of. Fear chuckled for a few seconds before he let his spider voice echo through the mindscape. “One, Here I come.” And then he took off after the twins.

“He’s a little different isn't he?” Morality mused worriedly as he listened for the sounds in the mindscape, relieved to hear nothing but laughter fill the metaphysical air. Fear was just playing.

“As was to be expected. Fear held a strong attachment to king. More so than either of us. I don't think that I would've been able to convince him to help me stage a coup so to speak if it had come to that.

That loyalty and attachment has now transferred to the twins in some measure, but that does not replace what he had with King. The roles seem to have switched though. He is the caretaker now, though the twins seemed ready to fight on his behalf when they first formed…” Logic summarized looking into his notes. He’d been cataloguing the changes in the Thomasphere after the split and how they correlated to changes in Thomas’ over all wellbeing for future reference.

“They are more equal now,” Morality noted. “Fear wouldn't have dreamed to initiate such a game with King, or to say anything suggesting he needed help. I think… “ Morality frowned. There was no way to say this without sounding terrible. “They might both be happier like this. King… he would want this for Fear,” he decided. King cared for Fear almost as much as he cared for Thomas. It was out of concern for them that he’d asked them to do this. He might not have expected this outcome, but he would understand right?

“So long as the progress of the past week keeps up, Thomas will greatly benefit of the situation.” Logic supplied.

Morality let out a sigh. Thomas would be fine and Fear would fully forgive them with time. And then they could build on this new foundation. He would make sure his family stayed happy. That was his job. He was the dad after all.

It was only a matter of time before the twins would run into Deceit. Especially since the Dukes ideas were unpleasant to Thomas more often than not. Fear usually managed to get Duke to use his ‘inside voice’. Sometimes Prince would notice Fear was getting uncomfortable and reign his brother in. But that couldn’t last forever.

“What is going on here?” Deceit wondered as he walked in on the trio. Duke paused in his rambling and Prince looked up from where he and Fear were sitting on the ground, his arm around the nervous side’s shoulder while Fear had been curled up in a ball trying to block out the images Duke was planting in his head. Once he saw who it was though Prince looked down, he still didn’t like looking at that scaled face.

Fear looked up and went from comforted to comforting. He didn't know what happened, but he did know that for some reason king had changed Deceit and Prince had inherited some sort of phantom guilt.

“Snake-face hi!” Duke on the other hand found it amazing.

“You’re clearly the charmer of the two,” Deceit drawled. Fear was pretty sure that some of his change in attitude had to do with him spending so much time with Dee right after what everyone just called ‘the split’.

He had simply rubbed off on him. “Hi Dee,” Fear smiled tensely. “Fear, good to see you out and about,” Deceit smiled warmly. It was odd. When King first discovered Instinct, he’d been sure he wouldn’t like the new side. He didn’t like how excited King already was for a new friend. And by all accounts he should’ve stayed away from him, but he just couldn’t help but feel a bond with him. They both had a job that wasn’t particularly fun to do, both had parts of them the others disliked. And they both took King’s split hard. Not that he had told Fear of the latter. What was the point? And King hadn’t wanted Fear to know anyway.

“Yeah, I guess you were right. I couldn’t hide away forever,” Fear smiled tensely. “What seems to be the problem here?” Deceit wondered. Something had called him here after all. He knew he couldn’t avoid talking to the twins forever, but he had pretended he could. And now he had to make a stellar first impression. Great. “Oh… Did I do the thing again?” Duke wondered. He didn’t get why the others got upset over is suggestions so much, but they did and he tried to not be too much. But now he really was just having some fun. He wasn't saying Thomas should do anything. He was just making pictures.

Still, Fear was clearly upset. “It’s… It’s fine. You can’t always help it,” Fear assured him. Duke looked around and noticed an abundance of stress bunnies and kittens and puppies, most of them slightly more grotesque than Fear’s usual were. He liked it. But why hadn’t Fear gotten rid of them yet? It wasn’t like him to let them roam free for long.

“Want some help with those?” Deceit wondered as he gestured around. Fear looked at the dozens of creatures and let out a tired sigh. “I’ll get it. Just… I need a moment,” he muttered. “Very well. Duke was it?” Deceit asked. Duke nodded. “I need some help maintaining the Willow. Would you be so kind?” Fear frowned. What? Duke just jumped up with a big smile. “Of course double D!” he grinned. “Wonderful. Fear, Prince, you don’t mind if I borrow him for a couple of hours right?” he asked. Fear looked at Prince who just shrugged. “If he’s okay with it. But he will come back after right?” The prince asked tensely. “Of course. I’ll send him straight to the imagination even,” Deceit bowed before leaving, the Duke following right by his side, ranting about one thing or another. Fear looked at Prince. “You sure you are okay with this? You two haven’t been apart since… Well. Ever.” Prince shrugged again. “I… I think so. We don’t have to be together all the time right?” Fear shrugged. “I guess not,” he allowed. They weren’t one person anymore after all. Fear tried to remember that, but it was still strange sometimes. “I’m going to round up those guys,” he announced as he got up. Prince followed his example. “Want some help with that?” Fear hesitated, he didn’t usually ask anyone for help. The point was that he’d deal with them alone right? He'd just told Dee he could handle it… “Morality says that friends should be able to count on us to help them. So… I want to help,” Prince insisted. Fear smiled at that. “Yeah, sounds fun,” he allowed. As Deceit promised, Duke returned to the imagination after a few hours. All the shadow creatures had been dealt with and Duke was back to a level of crazy Fear could handle. Thomas had not been negatively affected by Dukes mood after he went to the back of the mind it seemed. The twins started going off on their own more often after that. Duke tended to venture to the willow to chat with Deceit for a while, while Prince remained on the front of the mind at all times. Fear wandered between the two. He couldn’t really handle not seeing either for too long. Still things started to get to a new sort of normal and Morality and Logic became more and more convinced every day that they’d done the right thing. Everyone was happier now. That’s what Morality thought, until he found Fear, sitting in a corner of the mind by himself. Which was unusual. “Heya kiddo. Where are the twins?” he wondered gently as he knelt down. He was a good inch taller than Fear by now. Which made Fear officially the shortest of the group, a fact the twins loved to tease him about. “Duke is at the willow and Prince is fighting a dragon or a witch, I don’t know,” Fear shrugged, his eyes shimmering. Had he been crying? “Ok… And why are you here all by yourself?” If Prince was fighting something, Fear would usually stick close by just in case. And sometimes that was indeed needed, though Morality and Logic both wondered if Prince occasionally just liked having Fear save him and fuss over him afterwards.

“I… It just hurt too much today,” he whispered, a sob breaking free. Morality felt a sharp pain in his chest. He knew what Fear meant and he couldn’t believe he never picked up on this. Of course spending time with the twins was hard on Fear. “Oh Kiddo… Do you want a hug?” Fear didn’t always allow physical affection. This time however he seemed to be really in need of some, because he almost immediately latched onto the fatherly side and started sobbing. “I care about them, I really do! But I miss him so much!” he tried to explain. “Of course. Loving them doesn’t take away how you felt about him. I think those feelings actually make each other stronger. Remember what he said? That it didn’t matter what name you used, you’d always be his friend? This is sort of like that,” Morality assured him. “I… I know… Most of the time. But sometimes I feel so bad for liking them, and then I feel bad about feeling bad… What if that never stops? I don’t want to hurt them!” he pleaded “It’ll get better. There will be bad days, but it’ll get better. I miss him too. I know it wasn’t the same as it was for you. But he was important to me too.” “Sorry, I… I didn’t mean-” “No kiddo, that’s not what I meant. I was just trying to say that I understand. And I’m here to listen. Okay? Just come to your dear old dad whenever you need to okay? I’ve got you.” Fear let himself relax into the embrace and cry the tears he’d been holding back for months. He didn’t notice someone was watching them. Morality did though, and he tried not to let the accusatory glare get to him. Deceit could think of this what he wanted. Morality was just trying to look out for his kids. Things got a little better after that. Fear was more relaxed when hanging out in the back of the mind, the vague memories of being an incorporeal instinct not as haunting as they once had been. He got even bolder in his banter with the twins. He was also a bit more comfortable with letting them be without him from time to time. And he got a bit braver when it came to confronting the uglier parts of the past. “I’m just saying. If you ask them they’ll probably change you back,” he insisted as he laid down in the patch of grass underneath the willow. The twins were doing a school project with Logic and he had chosen to catch up with Deceit who still didn’t come up to the central consciousness except to retrieve Duke when needed.

“I don’t want them to change me back Fear, drop it.” “Then why are you hiding away all of the time?” Fear countered. “I know Princey is kinda awkward around you, but that won't get better if he never gets to know you. And the others will warm up to you. I'll have your back remember? No matter what happened between you and him, the twins deserve a chance don't they?” Fear pointed out. Deceit sighed. “I suppose you have a point… And Duke isn’t horrible company,” he allowed. Fear smiled and they both started debating over something Thomas' teacher did that week. The subject laid at rest. Deceit never did ask the twins to return his face to normal. He felt it was fitting honestly. A permanent warning to everyone of what he was. Princey slowly relaxed around Deceit as the later visited the central consciousness more often. And once again things in the mindscape improved.

#kingau #sanders sides #tssides #creativitytwins #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #janus sanders #this au lives rent free in my head #but i need the space #please send help

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wayhavnsfinest · 4 years

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The Misadventures of Baby Sitting

This is a “crack fic” I thought up of one day on my way home from work. It’s chaotic and I ran with it. There is strong language in this and mentions of torture. Read at your own discretion.

Word Count: ~1.7K

Summary: Vexx and Damon find an abandoned baby. Part 1 of ???

Characters: Vexx Serif, Damon Reznor, traveler.

___________________________________________________________

The mood on the Andromeda Six is tense. Aya had gone after June after the announcement of the trip to Orion which left Calderon to pilot the ship. Ryona had gone to the med bay to begin her research on Vexx’s condition. Bash had gone to the cargo hold to investigate the goodies Alisa had bestowed upon the crew, leaving you alone with Vexx and Damon.

You shift uneasily from one foot to the other, terrified that one of them might attack the other.

“So we’re working together again?” Vexx grins as he holds the icy stare that Damon is throwing his way.

Damon’s icy exterior shifts into a grin. “Just like old times. Except don’t expect me to haul your ass out of trouble.”

“You never did any such thing.” Vexx retorts sliding back into the familiar banter with his old friend.

“Bull. Shit.” Damon enunciates. “How about that time you found a baby.”

“Oh my god. I forgot about Bryce.” Vexx smiles.

“I still cannot believe you named it Bryce.” Damon goes to lean against a wall, still cautiously eyeing Vexx.

“Bryce is infinitely better than Wilbur.” Vexx says as he crosses his arms.

“Hold up!” You say as your brain finally comprehends the conversation happening in front of you. “You two found a baby. And you named it?!”

“Well we weren’t just going to leave it.” Vexx says as he looks at you with genuine shock. “ What kind of monsters do you think we are?”

“Yeah, your majesty, shit, we weren’t about to leave a defenseless baby alone in the city’s underbelly.” Damon replies.

“There is definitely a story here,” You say. “I want to hear it.”

“How much time you got?” Damon asks. “We can give you the long version or the short.”

“Spare no detail” you say as you slide down the ship’s wall into a sitting position.

“Well it all started a few years ago. Carrot head and I were working together on a job for Zovack.” Damon explains. “I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard voices outside our shitty rented room.”

~2 years ago~

Damon walks out of the shower, his shirt clinging to his still damp skin. He looks around at the rundown motel room Vexx and he had to share. The room is dingy and dark. Only one of the bedside lamps worked, leaving most of the light to filter through the broken shades. The air conditioning in the room had long since stopped working. How this hell hole managed to draw in new customers was beyond him.

Where the hell is Carrot Head? Damon thinks. He walks to the mini fridge and is about to pop open a beer when he hears a voice. Instantly recognizing it as his work partner’s he heads in the direction of the sounds.

“Come on dude. Just tell me what you need.” Vexx says as he holds a very distraught baby by the armpits. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”

Damon just stares at the scene. Vexx is still in the clothes he wore to bed the previous night, and the baby he is holding couldn’t be more than 7 months old. “What the fuck is that?!”

“It’s a baby dipshit, what do you think it is?”

“A fucking joke is what I think it is.” Damon says, still trying to wrap his mind around the situation. The smell instantly hits him. Damon’s nose wrinkles at the smell. “How hard did you get hit in the face last night?”

“Why?” Vexx asks turning his attention away from the baby to face Damon.

“Little dude needs his diaper changed.” Damon states. Vexx continues to stare at him blankly.

“What the fuck do I change it with?”

“Well I don’t think anyone will miss your pillow case.”

“Fuck, no.”

“Then we need to find a general store and hope they have a diaper or something.” Damon says hunching over and putting his hands in his pockets. This is certainly now how I wanted my only day off to go. He thinks to himself.

After fashioning himself a baby sling out of extra bedsheets, Vexx leads Damon to the general store in search of baby supplies.

“So how did you find this guy?” Damon asks.

“He was left alone outside the motel. I heard him crying as you were in the shower. You take long ass showers by the way.” Vexx says as he checks his holo pad with one hand and cover’s the baby’s head from the sun with his other.

Damon shrugs. “That chick’s body glitter was hard to get off.”

After walking in silence for several minutes, Vexx finally takes his eyes off the holo pad. “The extranet says that there is a family planning store about two miles from here, we should be able to find everything we need there for Bryce”

“Woah, hold on. You named it?! You can’t name it, you’ll get attached. You can’t afford to get attached because we’re not keeping him.” Damon pinches the bridge of his nose with his pointer finger and thumb, taking a deep breath before continuing. “We need to find a hospital or one of Orsanna’s guards to take him.”

“We can’t just keep calling him, it, you idiot.” Vexx says. “You got a better name than Bryce?”

Damon studies the baby. “Wilbur.”

“That’s an old man’s name!” Vexx huffs.

“He kind of reminds me of an old man, he’s bald, he can’t take care of himself, and he shits his pants.”

“Wow,” Vexx says as he blinks, taken back. “You know I’m seeing a new side of you Damon and I don’t like what I see.”

Sighing and knowing he’s going to regret it the minute he asks. “Were you thinking we could keep him? What the hell would we do with him? Dress him in a top hat and a Kevlar vest and take him on missions with us like a little mascot?”

“I wasn’t thinking of a top hat….”

Damon actually stops in his tracks. “You cannot be serious.”

Vexx shrugs, “I always wanted a little brother.”

Damon continues to stare at Vexx in disbelief. “You’re shitting me right? Like actually shitting me.”

Vexx continues to walk to the family planning store all the while ignoring Damon’s nagging.

~~~~

“HOLD UP!” you shout. “You kept the baby?!”

“Would you let me finish.” Damon says crossing his arms.

“Yeah he didn’t even get to the good part where I get swarmed and propositioned by many beautiful women. Nothing wins ladies over like a baby.” Vexx smirks.

Damon rolls his eyes, “skipping that part. Anyway back to the story.”

~~~

Finally arriving at the family planning store Vexx consults with a manager who gathers up all the basics for Bryce. Meanwhile Damon tries to distance and distract himself from Vexx and Bryce. His distractions don’t amuse him for long and he finds himself saddling up to Vexx and the baby. “Are we done here-“

“Oh wow! What a cute baby! Are you the fathers of this little angel?! Oh I just love seeing young families out together.” An old woman steps up next to Vexx and coos over the baby. “What’s his name?!”

“Bryce”

“Wilbur”

Vexx and Damon find themselves saying the baby’s name simultaneously. Damon and Vexx share a look before Vexx recovers the situation. “His name is Bryce Wilbur, named after both of our fathers.” Vexx gives the old woman a charming smile.

Damon can’t help but roll his eyes. “Laying it on a little thick there bud.” He mumbles.

The old lady continues to coo at the baby until the smell coming from Bryce’s diaper has her recoiling. “Oh someone made a poopsies. Your daddies better change you.” She pats both boys on the arm and leaves.

Damon frowns at the old lady and helps Vexx with the bags full of baby supplies. The two of them leave the store and head back to their rented room.

Once in their rented room, Damon takes the baby from Vexx and cleans him up. “There you go, you little poop monster. Feel better now?” Bryce looks up at him and coos. “Fuck, you are pretty cute. You’re going to be a little heartbreaker one day, aren’t you?” Damon can’t help but smile at the baby. “We need to get him to a hospital or a guard.” Damon says as he looks in the direction of Vexx.

“Yeah, Yeah, you’ve said this before.” Vexx says popping open a beer and taking a long swig of it. “Let me shower, then we’ll find someplace to take him.” Vexx says with a hint of sadness.

Vexx emerges from the shower to the sight and sounds of Damon threatening their mark who is tied to a chair. Realizing Bryce is nowhere to be found, Vexx feels his heart speed up. There is no way Damon got rid of Bryce in the fifteen minutes I was in the shower… Could he?! Vexx wonders to himself. Vexx frantically looks around for Bryce. He starts to fear the worst when all of the sudden Damon turns around.

“You gonna help me with this bastard or not?” Damon asks.

Vexx notices Bryce strapped to Damon’s chest. His heart rate returns to normal, seeing that Bryce is safe. How Damon still manages to look menacing with a baby strapped to his chest is quite impressive in Vexx’s opinion. “Yeah I’ll take it from here.” A sinister grin forms on Vexx’s lips.

~~~~~

“OKAY! Spare some details!” You shout covering your ears. “I don’t want to hear how you two tortured and/or killed a man!”

“Kill?! How the hell are we supposed to get the money and manpower from him if we killed him?” Vexx asks matter of factly.

“I don’t want to hear it!” You say with a frown.

Damon waves his hand dismissively, “Alright, we will skip that part.” He’s about to launch back into his story when Calderon’s voice comes over the comms.

“Damon! I need you on the bridge!”

“Sorry, your majesty. We will have to finish the story another day.”

“I’ll finish the story.” Vexx throws a wink in your direction.

“Oh hell no!” Damon snaps, “You’ll lie and embellish the hell out of it and I’ll look like a complete asshole.”

“It’s not an embellishment if you did act like an ass.” Vexx retorts.

“Damon. Now.” Calderon’s voice echoes.

“To be continued, your majesty.” Damon says as he makes his way to the bridge to help Calderon.

#andromeda six #a6 #andromeda 6 #a6 fanfic #andromeda six fanfic #damon reznor #vexx serif #a6 damon #andromeda six damon #andromeda six vexx #a6 vexx #don't kill me #this was a dumb idea and i ran with it #i will finish it completely one day #but for now enjoy my idiot brain

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tracynotabi · 3 years

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Riptide Day 2 / Undertow

September 11, 2021

D-Day.

Kevin, Ivan, Joey, and I were getting a ride from Spencer, who was also taking Narq to the venue, while Robert and Parker got a ride from someone else. Well, at least we didn’t have to walk to the venue. I didn’t pack sunscreen.

At 9am, about half an hour we were supposed to leave, Kevin gets a stomachache.

Me: He just needs to poop. Spencer: The classic.

We end up going to the lobby to wait for Spencer in Narq, which was fine considering we actually didn’t want Spencer, our ride, waiting for us.

Spencer: Okay, Narq’s just using the bathroom rq lol Me: Is he also having tummy problems Spencer: Nah just bein stoner and forgetting to do stuff lol Me: The classic

We go get Chick-fil-A and I’m sitting underneath the dashboard again by Kevin’s feet. I think the employees were very bewildered, as the woman on the other side of the window did a double take. I would, too, if I saw a smaller-than-average person just hiding underneath the dashboard sipping on a cup of Coke.

Some time after I get to the venue during doubles, I end up talking to Jimmy (j u m), when Kevin comes rushing over to me, a panicked look on his face.

Forgot to mention, but Kevin actually couldn’t get all of his poop out before coming to the venue and now it is back with a vengeance.

He tells me that he’s unable to go to any restroom because there were three stalls in the men’s restroom: two were occupied and one was clogged with poop.

He had tried flushing the poop one but it only made it worse. It just clogged more and the water level rose. If he had sat down and insisted on finishing, his balls would be touching the water and that’s a no-no.

He tried asking the front desk for other restrooms, but he was informed it was the only one. He was desperate and you could just see it in his eyes that he was about to break.

Me, using the big, wrinkly brain that I had, told him to use the women’s restroom. He froze, not even realizing that that was an option.

Now before anyone complains, hear me out.

I would rather be in a restroom with a male in the stall next to me, than exit the restroom and see someone standing outside the men’s restroom trying to wait for a stall with a shit stain in his pants. Excuse the vulgarity, but it’s true.

If you’re ever at one of my tournaments and you need to go and no male restroom is unoccupied, for the love of god, please fucking use the women’s restroom. I do not need this mess on my hands and you best believe I’m shoving myself in the men’s restroom if I gotta fucking go expel unicorns and rainbows.

I go to the restroom with Kevin and stand awkardly on my phone to keep watch, because he didn’t want any of the staff members actually seeing him and risk himself getting kicked out of the venue.

That would’ve been extremely unfortunate.

Luckily, nobody else needed to go use the restroom while Kevin was in there and he was able to safely compete his duty (lol).

If anyone is upset at my suggestion, I’m sorry, but I wasn’t about to not provide such a simple solution for Kevin’s emergency.

Anyway, the tournament start shortly after that.

First match I pay attention to is Kevin vs. Wombat. In my head, I think it’s pools so I shouldn’t worry too much. I try to watch Kevin’s sets, but it makes me physically ill sometimes because my anxiety is wracked up like crazy and I just want to throw up. Many have witnessed me walking away and trying to distract myself multiple times at multiple different tournaments.

It’s like that gory horror movie that you can’t keep looking away from.

Besides knowing that I get sick, I figured it would be fine since I actually enjoy trying to support my boyfriend and watch him come out of pools winners’ side. Not meaning any disrespect by Wombat, by the way. He’s great. Just realistic. It’s like how I expect Kevin to lose to Bob.

Kevin loses Game 1.

Ooh my tummy’s doing barrel rolls like the way Twisty did with that pullout bed. I look away but I’m just so distracted by the crowd noises.

I totally get it, though. Obviously, it’s sick that Wombat’s holding his own against Kevin, who is seed 3 of the tournament. I’d be excited, too, if my friend was making an upset on someone else. But Kevin’s my boyfriend, so obviously, I want him to win.

Kevin barely wins Game 2 and I’m like ooooh boy. My tummy’s going to town and I think I gag a little by how sick I feel. Gotta focus on getting Joey his next match. *deep breaths*

When heartswaptv airs the whole tournament, definitely check out the set. It was really good (as far as I can hear, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the rest of it).

Kevin comes over to me after he’s out of pools and I scold him for making me worried.

AND YOU NOW WHAT HE SAYS?

Kevin: Babe, it’s fine - I almost lost to Zeddy at Redacted City and I got 2nd. I’ll be fine. Me: T____T *incoherent whining noises*

Does Kevin thinks he’s fucking cute for saying that or something? I was not amused.

Since I didn’t have to volunteer TO the entirety of the tournament, I bounced around mingling with other people.

At one point, I get a message from Suvir in our group chat about how he, Sosa, and Narq were planning on coming to visit NorCal. Of course, since Narq was already here, I decided to just go up to him and ask.

Me: So I heard you’re coming to NorCal? Narq: I am? Me: That’s what Suvir said. *shows phone* Narq: I guess I’m going to NorCal!

Suvir: Narq doesn’t actually know. Sosa just said he’d take him with him and said Narq would agree to go because he’s Narq. Me: Oh that makes sense why he had no idea what I was talking about.

It wasn’t until around top bracket did things start to pick up. Not too many spoilers, because (1) no spoilers before they upload the vod and (2) I have a terrible memory when it comes to the matches.

I remember holding up Kevin’s phone to stream to our Discord because we had some non-PM player friends who wanted to see and I think Kevin wanted Thomas (ThundeRzReiGN) to give him some advice throughout the tournament. Not actually coach, but to critique his play.

As more and more top players fell, Kevin made it a goal to do his best not to fall into the landmine that was Losers’. So many heavy hitters were large threats to him: Techboy, Malachi, Akimi, Cloudburst...

Not to say that Winners’ side didn’t have their fair share of monsters: Peter, Parker, Kumatora, Twisty, Nogh, Lunchables...

Kevin’s first match in Top 32 was against Bongo, who people sleep on quite a lot. For those of you that don’t know him, he’s a Captain Falcon from NY who actually beat Kevin at Flex Zone 3 in 2018. Kevin had beaten him at Encore, but it wasn’t easy.

Not to mention Falcon is a pain the butt for Mario. Unfortunately, the match was not recorded (as far as I know), and it was a very exciting match from what I heard. I avoided watching it because based on how long it took, I knew it had to have been a Game 5. During that time, two matches have been finished on “stream.”

Kevin had said his match against Bongo was the toughest one he had - not to discredit his other opponents, of course - but according to him, it was the scariest and closest. Also the threat of being put into Losers so early would’ve made the climb to Top 8 a lot harder.

His overall goal was actually to make Top 8. Despite being a third seed and rank 5, what I’ve noticed about Kevin is that he does have doubts about himself quite often. He’s never complacent in his opponents and worries all the time about being upset and I don’t think anyone puts more pressure on him more than himself.

As I watched my friends progress through bracket, all I can think is there’s not much I can do. I don’t understand the game very much, despite my heavy involvement in the scene. In fact, more often than not, I believe I understand the game the least compared to everyone else.

A tangent from the actual tournament itself is coming, but I think I should address why I’m even in this community:

While everyone loves the game, I love the community behind it. I find it worth it to sit/stand in one location for hours at a time because it allows my friends to enjoy the game they love comfortably without worrying how the tournament is progressing. They can focus on their own growth and passion.

I think what I see is completely different. Like I said, I don’t really understand this game - I can’t differentiate uairs, bairs, d-smashes, etc. I compute it in my head, but can’t visualize it. I don’t recognize most combos - in fact, more often than not, I’m sitting there just staring at the screen kind of blankly. Sometimes, it does make me wonder if I really am part of this community because I don’t really understand the game.

I can’t say I particularly care too much about the game, but I understand how much of an impact it’s made on me and for that, I’m very thankful for this game because it’s led me to some great people.

Back to the actual event and less sap. lol. Is anybody still even reading?

For something put together in a mere two weeks, Trin and their team did an amazing job. Three recording set ups, graphics, a pot, a venue... props to them for gathering the scraps and making a whole out of it. And to think we almost didn’t go.

Madeline (Swanner) ended up coming and it was honestly so good to see her. We aren’t particularly close, but she’s someone I’ve come to care for and just want happiness for her.

Major spoiler, but I don’t think anybody who cares about PM/P+ doesn’t know Kevin won the tournament.

Everyone expected a pop-off, but Kevin just sat there, crying.

I don’t think there’s ever been anything that Kevin has been more passionate about. He loves this game; he loves this community. Never did it ever occur to him that he would win.

I wish I could say more, but honestly, him winning stunned me speechless. And if you didn’t know, the first thing he said after was that he had to call his mother.

His mom is one of his biggest supporters and I love her to death. She has such a huge heart and has never, ever frowned upon Kevin’s love for the game, whole-heartedly supporting it.

I hugged Maddy, because I can’t even imagine how heart-breaking it must be for her to see what could have been on the mainstage. I imagined how much it must’ve hurt her because she just loves the game and the community, but to see it constantly be torn down by Nintendo and her unable to do anything... Give Maddy a hug and thank her if you see her. She deserves the world.

We ended up walking home with PNW, Bob, Mar, Bongo, Cameron (LoyaL), Ivan, and a few others, honestly too dark to completely see and name. It was a very nice night.

We did, however, pass by the rundown house that definitely looked like if we were to talk in there, we’d be killed by the axe murderer that lived there.

Kevin also lagged behind a lot because his phone notifications were going off like crazy and I was worried he was going to just get lost in the darkness or get hit by a car. Stop looking at your phone when you cross the street, dammit.

We got back to our hotel room and ordered pizza - it was bad. God-fucking-dammit, Ohio, why do you suck so much? Kind of a shitty dinner to end the day on, but nothing else was open at 2am. FeelsBadMan.

#Super Smash Bros.#Project M #Project Plus #Nintendo #Riptide #Undertow #Fuck Nintendo

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angstew · 4 years

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How to have a baby during COVID-19 pt 2-The roller coaster of pregnancy

And so it began. The roller coaster of pregnancy. The first & only pregnancy I’ve experienced. In the middle of a pandemic. While barely sober enough to be done detox. What a combo. But I was determined to break the stereotype. I would not endanger my unborn child, I would not resort to my selfish & reckless ways. I would do something different. And then reality hit, and I felt the whole emotional rainbow at once, and then felt guilty for some of the ways I felt, shameful, like I didn’t deserve to have a child with the thoughts I was having. In case you’re not familiar with addiction & recovery, there is no cure. I know it’s a controversial subject(my favorite kind) but in my experiences it is NOT a choice, it is NOT curable, and the biggest argument starter it seems, I was born this way. Example, when I was younger & I discovered skinny jeans, I bought every different color of the same pair....when I found a song or a band I liked, that’s all I listened too until my mom finally had enough. You get the idea. Anyway, so that being said, some of the thoughts that swirled around my head in the early stages of the pregnancy included “just do one” “noone would know” “the baby will be fine just once” “I wont be a good mom anyway so why not just do what everyone expects” I am proud to say, that I did not use during my pregnancy, and still haven’t to this day but I do not judge women that do, it’s heartbreaking how sad but real that struggle is. And I was so embarrassed to share those thoughts, because I felt like I shouldn’t be having them. More about that later...

Okay, so now I’m pregnant, my fiance & I live in a recovery house, we were both just laid off of work, and I mean within 1.5 months of finding out, we were both jobless, and I was absolutely petrified. This may be TMI, but I have always been afraid of the dentist & the OBGYN, so getting poked, prodded, and having a human being come out of there mortified me. So, I did what anyone in this society does-google. I downloaded every single pregnancy app, I googled every single movement, feeling, question & thought I could think of. I was determined to be good to this baby, to undo all the wrong I had done through my life. My fiance turned into the baby whisperer, talking to my stomach before this baby was even the size of a kidney bean. It was beautiful. Thank GOD for the PUA money, because without that we probably would’ve had this baby in a recovery house....just kidding, but seriously we would’ve been living with family & not able to bond as a little unit. While I was out of work though, I tried to use the time to read, learn & eat as much as possible. The first 4 months all the baby wanted was nachos, until one long awful night filled with vomit, diarrhea & lots of tears, I didn’t go near Mexican again. After that, it was hot wings. I started eating mayo on sandwiches (which I HATED), ate eggs every morning(also wasn’t a big fan), whatever that baby wanted to eat he got, my fiance made sure of it. And I can’t forget the famous pregnancy pillows. A true must have. My fiance’s dad got me a C shaped pillow & my fiance became as obsessed with it as I was. I would fold this thing up in it’s little portable bag & drag it back & forth between my house & my fiance’s just to get some comfort...& so my fiance could get a little snuggle with it here & there. So as soon as I started getting used to being pregnant, and started to embrace all the changes, I became a house manager for 10 women, which means a glorified babysitter- giving drug tests, monitoring chores, enforcing rules, which would be fine if people want to get sober, but this particular group wasn’t there. So it was very difficult, and honestly, I didn’t give as much attention & effort as I should have, but I was determined to try and help as much as I could, while juggling all of my own things. Needless to say, around 7 months pregnant I had to step down. The drama, the running back & forth between spending time with my fiance & having to deal with house shit became too much. All I wanted to do was be with the father of my child & experience every little thing with him.

Okay, so I know I’m jumping around, and for that I apologize, pregnancy brain is a real thing & 7 months postpartum it’s still alive and well. So, I finally got the courage to tell my mom about the baby. She was the last one I told, and the one I was most afraid to tell. My mom & I have always been incredibly close, she’s been the most amazing support that I could ask for. But I knew before telling her what she’d say...”are you crazy” “this is NOT the time to have a baby” “you are being so irresponsible” and it actually ended up going WORSE than I imagined. We barely spoke for months, and when we did, there was so much tension, so many things unsaid & so many unshared feelings you could literally FEEL it in the air. It was absolutely terrible. It was the hardest part about the pregnancy for the most part. She finally started to come around right before we moved into our apartment, because I think she realized she didn’t want to lose out on her daughter & her life. I was moving into my first apartment, yes at 27, finally moving into my first apartment, I was getting bigger & more exciting things were happening with the baby, I was finally growing up & starting this beautiful life & I think my mom realized she would miss out if she didn’t put aside her feelings and just be my mom. I still am so grateful for the moment she came around, because I didn’t really have anyone to talk too, woman wise. Sure, I could ask the older women at the house, or people I knew, but it’s not the same as MY mom. I wanted to be able to ask her the gross, embarrassing questions I didn’t even want to acknowledge were happening to me. “What do I do about the horrible acne I have?” “What makes this gas go away?” “Will I poop on the delivery table?!” “What happens if the baby comes out & I’m not ready to be a mom yet?” Questions only a mom can answer. Thank God for moms.

So as I said earlier, at about 7 months, we finally were able to move into our own apartment, and I was ecstatic. I could sleep with my fiance AND my pregnancy pillow at the same time. I could fill my refrigerator with whatever me & my fiance(AKA my fiance & the baby) wanted, and most importantly, we could start getting ready for this baby. We could give him a HOME. Decorate the different rooms, get the nursery ready, we could settle down, relax & wait for this baby to make his grand appearance. It was just one less thing to be stressed about, we had somewhere to bring this new little guy too, we could be together & we could pack for the hospital...something I waited until about 8 months 1 week to do....

After we finally settled into our new place, I noticed the famous swelling of the hands & feet, only this was not normal. And unfortunately, the hospital that I was going too for prenatal care was ALWAYS slammed, it was during COVID so the doctors wanted to be in & out, it was someone different every time & I felt like nothing I said was heard or more importantly, taken seriously. So when I started complaining about the swelling, without even looking at it, it was dismissed as normal swelling, and I was told I was fine. I was starting to go for weekly stress tests as well after my appointments and THERE was when the preeclampsia was discovered. Not at my OB appointment, where they’re supposed to be physically checking me and making sure I’m okay. Where I complained of swelling, headaches, fatigue, which are all red flags. Anyway, at 8 months 2 weeks, I went for an OB & stress test appointment. As usual the OB said everything looked great, HA. I went down for my stress test, found out my BP was 145/90, after taking it 4 times it was determined I had preeclampsia & would be admitted immediately for delivery. It was hands down the most terrifying thing in my life(at that moment, because it got much scarier in the next few days) Because of COVID, my fiance wasn’t allowed in the appointments with me, so when I found out I was staying, I called him in a meltdown, while begging the nurses to let him come up. And so began the most traumatic, excruciating, beautiful, breathtaking week of my life...the induction of Oliver. (yeah, you read that correctly, a WEEK)

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esperwatchesfilms · 4 years

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New Year’s Evil

youtube

I got the idea to start this challenge while stoned in the middle of the night and desperate for a goal. Something to put myself into. And I thought, “COVID has made me a shut-in who only watches films and talks to people. What better way to spend that time than to actually attempt to beat that world record I set out to beat so long ago. Unfortunately, I’m doing it very unofficially so only the people I talk to on a regular basis are likely to pay it any attention. I’ve got to point out here and now that my scoring system for films is arbitrary and is not a true reflection of how much I enjoyed watching a film. My scores are based on silly things that I give and deduce points for as I see fit. The Esper Scale of Entertainment (or the ESE) is understood by no one, but I will give a clear indication of why points were given and taken away at the end of each post. With those two things out of the way, I’ve got to admit I really enjoyed New Year’s Evil despite its 35/100 ESE rating. It starts off with a disappointing horror movie rule-breaking trope. There’s a woman of color in the first scene. Clearly, this means the killer is going to kill her. She committed one of the ultimate horror movie sins by being a woman of color, and thus, the movie gods decided she had to die, which was made even worse by her cliché killer-pops-out-from-behind-a-shower-curtain death. Then we get the opening titles. About eight 80s punk-rockers are packed into a convertible and blasting “New Year’s Evil” by Shadow, the video I attached to this post. So, from the word go, I have no idea what I’m watching, but I’m here for it. The song slaps, so I’m immediately all in. Earlier we saw the Yvonne (the woman of color) talking to a friend over the phone saying, “I’m on my way” before her horror-movie-trope demise, and once the credits end, we are more properly introduced to Diane, aka Blaze, a TV/radio personality who is hosting a party she calls New Year’s Evil, which appears to be a punk show where all the opening title convertible punks were headed. Before going out on stage and starting the show, Diane/Blaze’s son rocks up in fancy coat tails with blue jeans and a crumpled tie. He’s handsome as hell, but holy hell, I can’t deal with this look. I should have probably taken more than five points off for this look alone, but it’s too late now. Anyway, Blaze and Derek (Coat Tails) have a weird mother-son exchange, and their interactions are cringey at best, but incestual-feeling at worst. Anyway, the show Blaze is hosting is a punk rock show where there are some unexplained people on a stage answering telephones (is it a telethon? We don’t know. No one seems to be pledging anything. Are they making requests? It is not explained). So, Blaze is the host and decides to get in on the answering-the-phone action. When she does, a modified voice says to call him “Ee-vil!” He pronounces it exactly the way Mermaid Man does in Spongebob Squarepants, and I could only see the ridiculous face of Mermaid Man in my head any time he said it (because, oh, yes, friends. He can’t only say it once! Anyhow, the man says he’ll be killing one person on the hour every hour from 9 pm to 12 pm. (East Coast’s New Year to West Coast’s New Year) So, naturally, Blaze informs her agent that he needs to get ALL the police there to protect everyone. Meanwhile, there’s a mosh pit happening in a sanitarium, where they are watching the New Year’s Evil show live on television. While we are at the sanitarium, an orderly (I think?) and a nurse sneak off to have some fun. The orderly has a small radio capable of recording external sound (like an oversized Talkboy) as well as the sound being emitted from the radio. The nurse makes some mention of it, to which he responds, “I always come well-equipped.” She giggles, bites her lip and says, “I bet you do!” Which tells us, as the audience, that not only are they about to do the do... but this dude’s definitely the murderer. Because we’ve already seen one horror movie rules death. So, of course, we need to see another. Nurse lady has sex? Nurse lady has to die. From here on out, there are more killings as the police rock up and try to sort out what’s happening. They’re portrayed as very useless, very authoritarian/demanding, and very judgmental -- soooooo, accurately, I suppose, is the word I’d use. They’re portrayed accurately. We see the killer in the car with two women, one of which is a ditzy blonde who just cannot shut up. She talks about all the different types of meditation she’s tried. She tells the killer her friend tried one of the types, too, for her “nervous diarrhea”. You know, just the thing you tell a stranger you’re thinking about sleeping with... that your friend gets nervous poops. The ditzy blonde girl is our next horror movie trope. “The Fool”. Done in by her own stupidity. They stop somewhere for snacks or some such (I honestly don’t remember), and the friend goes in leaving the killer alone with the ditz, whom he strangles with a plastic baggie that is also full of weed. When the friend comes back, the car is gone and in its place is her friend’s shoe. She sees a nearby dumpster with a piece of fabric matching her friend’s dress poking out. She walks over while some generic horror music mixed with some Walmart Brand Jason Voorhees breathing plays, and she opens the dumpster, and the killer is inside with a lighter which he flicks on and grins menacingly at the woman, who is yanked into the dumpster, where we can assume she, too, was murdered.

I should note that somewhere before being murdered, the ditz says, “When a girl doesn’t have a date on New Year’s Eve, she’s in Shit City.” And ditzy girl? I hear ya. From here on out, there are some necessity injuries. He is being hunted down by bikers for what seems like no reason at one point, so he hides at a drive-in movie, where he sort of kidnaps a girl who was getting felt up by her boyfriend. He yanks the dude out of the car and throws him aside after stabbing one of the bikers who was chasing him. We don’t see him die, so I’m going to assume it’s an injury since he seems to only be interested in killing women. He then, later, knocks out a security guard trying to get into the punk party because the police have now determined that Blaze is probably the final target. The police and Blaze are about to check on Blaze's hotel room (the party is being held in the hotel in a ballroom or something, I’m assuming. Convention center? I don’t know. The place is connected to the hotel), where her son is, and they pull a gun on him. She yells that it’s her son, and they apologize and leave, and she apologizes to Derek saying she forgot he was there, and he storms out, “YOU ALWAYS FORGET ME WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH”. The police leave, and when another officer comes back, THE KILLER ANSWERS HER DOOR. PLOT TWIST -- THE KILLER IS DIANE/BLAZE’S HUSBAND!!!! He called earlier to say he would be late, and when he shows up? HE’S THE KILLER!!!! I have to admit, I didn’t see this coming. The husband was mentioned briefly, but my brain didn’t connect it, so it was a pleasant surprise that this 80s film done duped me. Good job, New Year’s Evil!!

Anyway, Blaze is seen in the elevator moments later flirting with the officer, who’s married and has two sets of twins, information to which Blaze comments, “What’s the matter? No TV?” Suggest, Blaze. Very suggestive! It sucks that your creepy murder-husband rigged the camera in the elevator, so he knows about your weird suggestive conversations with randos, something it seems his son has also alerted him to, because when he reveals he’s the killer to her, he mentions that ladies are evil in general. Okay. So, it wasn’t just me. It wasn’t speculative. Dudeski really does just hate women. The whole film is just, “Guy hates women. Guy’s New Year Resolutions include killing all the nasty womens.” He tortures her a while by handcuffing her to some chains underneath the elevator, and then making the elevator go up and down with some fuse box of some kind that happens to just be easily accessible and next to where the elevator is. At least I haven’t seen this form of torture in film before, so that’s fun. The end is relatively boring. The police sort out that the husband used to be in the sanitarium we saw earlier where the nurse died. They find him torturing his wife, and they chase him to the roof, where he runs to the edge of the building, quotes Hamlet, and immediately plummets to his death wearing a goofy mask that he’s only worn twice in the film, both for short periods of time. He dies on impact, and everyone goes to investigate the body. The son picks up his mask and ominously stares into the distance, telling us before he’s actually told us that he’s totally going to take up his father’s quest to murder the womens.

Blaze is put in an ambulance, and when it pans to the driver, it’s the son, wearing his father’s mask. The film ends, the credits roll, and I move on to the next one.

Overall, I laughed throughout. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this film, but if you’re bored on New Year’s Eve and feel like a “horror” film, this one isn’t the *worst* one you could watch. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the ESE rating I gave it.

Quick ESE explanation: every film starts with 50 points for being a film. From there, I add or deduct points based on... my whim.

35/100

50 +4 for packed punk convertible +2 for New Year’s Evil 80s metal theme song +1 for switchblade comb -5 for coat tails with blue jeans -5 for creepy incestuous mother-son duo -2 for Mermaid Man pronunciation of “Ee-vil!” +10 for “I always come well-equipped.” “I bet you do” -5 for punks moshing to some funky blues -5 for predictable horror movie trope deaths +2 for maniacal punk laugh +3 for the “Oops” because he pissed off the bikers +5 for punks booing the police at the New Year’s Evil party -7 for the creepy incestual feeling of the interactions between Blaze and Derek +10 for PLOT TWIST!!!! -25 for the woman-hating killer +5 for creative elevator thing +2 for Hamlet quote -5 for highly predictable ending

#movies #world records #most movies watched #New Year's Evil #New Year's #review #spoilers #80s films #punk movies

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canid-slashclaw · 4 years

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The Outliers - A Guild Wars Love Story

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapters 10 and 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16 , Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Six months passed since Kaleb and Amalthia had first moved in together. Since that time, she transferred some of her most important possessions from her father's place - including the ubiquitous workbench and welding components, which she set up in Ulfgar's back storage room. Kaleb, on the other hand, could not quite bring himself to return to his old homestead, especially considering the circumstances of his departure.

His tour of duty with the Seraph was over, so now he had far more free time available to establish his career options. During this time, both he and Amalthia began searching for hotspots throughout Tyria, hoping to cash in on their respective combat skills. Helping to clean towns of troublesome undead became a particular specialty of theirs.

***

Kaleb clamored up a small hill while waving a brightly colored banner that was attached at the end of a long pole. As he held the colorful object aloft, the mournful groans of the undead became ever louder.

"Hey! Over here you maggot shitters!" In spite of their various states of decomposition, they moved with surprising bursts of speed. So much so that one of them nearly snagged Kaleb by the ankle just as he was trying to sprint away. When he reached the top of the precipice, he found that his only avenue of escape had been blocked. The undulating mass of festering corpses began surging directly towards him as he threw down the banner then pulled out his revolvers. His weapons blazed as scores of the rotten creatures began to fall in droves. Seconds later, he saw a row of their heads explode followed by a thunderous crack.

"Keep up the good work, love. You're doing great," came Amalthia's voice from another precipice three hundred yards away. She waved to him while lying in the prone position with her high-powered long rifle tucked firmly against her shoulder. Several shots from her longarm destroyed half a dozen of the putrid creatures as they tried converging on Kaleb's position.

"A little more off the side, if you don't mind Miss Steelblade," Kaleb shouted as he felled several more of the creatures with his revolvers.

"Be more specific, Mr. Grimwald. Left or right?"

Twelve more zombies surged upon Kaleb's position. He quickly turned, reloaded then emptied all but two rounds in each gun as the corpses fell all around him.

"Whichever side is closest to killing me first would be great. Please and thank you."

Amalthia reloaded as well then lined up more heads for a multi-shot takedown. As the high-velocity rounds ripped through the row of skulls, showers of rotten brain matter splattered across Kaleb's face and clothing.

"Ugh! Well, that's one jerkin that's going to become a work shirt," he quipped as he tried his best to prevent the rest of his designer outfit from getting soiled from the remnants of the undead.

"Serves you right for wearing your church clothes to a risen slaughter," Amalthia shouted with laughter.

Kaleb chuckled at the comment and responded in kind. "Well, then I am appropriately dressed, cause this sort of thing is my kind of preying!"

"Pray or prey? Homophones are a bitch, aren't they?"

"Oh. Now you're just being factious. Clear my back."

Amalthia unleashed two more rounds, as one of the risen's body started to convulse after it had been relieved of its head. Reloading, six more to your left."

"Got 'em!"

He fired the remaining four rounds then as he reached down to reload, he found that his ammo reserved had been completely exhausted.

"I'm out. Hit me up for some reloads," Kaleb shouted as he locked his eyes upon hers.

She grabbed four bundles of replacement speedload rounds then, then using an atl ltl-type throwing device, hurled them in Kaleb's direction. With reflexes rivaling that of a cat he caught the reloads then promptly attempted to chamber a full load of them into each revolver. However, the undead were almost upon him by the time he was trying to reload.

"Looks like Bob is gonna get a workout today." Kaleb drew his longsword and began hacking away at the risen masses.

"Did you hear that? Something's coming, love - something big!" Amalthia's lower ears began to twitch from picking up the low frequency sound.

"My hearing isn't a sensitive as yours. You have any clues as to what it might be?" Kaleb asked as he finally had a chance to reload his guns.

Amalthia replied. "Nada. Surely even you can hear it now, because it's really, really close."

Kaleb readied for the next onslaught when, suddenly, a cluster of trees in front of him began to part. Rising up from the parted treetops, stood a massive humanoid figure that looked to be at least thirty feet tall.

"I may not have heard it, but I sure as hell see it. Giant... RUUNN!"

With a measure of speed even he had not dreamed was possible, Kaleb darted towards a mass of undead all the while firing wildly, hoping to avoid the giant that was rapidly coming his way. The creature's enormous stride quickly closed the gap as he tried desperately to avoid its grasp. It was too late.

The hideous decomposing monstrosity grasped hold of the young man, lifting him up towards its massive head. He fired several rounds into its skull but with no effect. As the creature's lipless jaws yawned opened to devour its prey, drawing Kaleb ever closer towards its foul-smelling mouth, the abomination's entire body began to convulse. Suddenly, the creature began to buckle to the ground. Kaleb looked up at its face and saw standing atop its head; the backlit form of a slender horned feline. When the monstrosity finally crumpled to the ground, Amalthia was standing over the creature with her longsword planted deeply into the base of its skull.

"Base of the neck. It's the only way to kill those things, silly!" Amalthia said as she loped off the vanquished foe on all fours. She then ran over to Kaleb and gave him a brief but passionate kiss.

"Well, I knew that. I was just firing for effect."

"Yeah, right. Sure you were. You panicked. Admit it!" She playfully chided him.

"Did not!" He stuck his tongue out.

"Bullshit. Did too! Be a man and fess up!"

"Okay, okay. I'll admit, I was a little freaked when a thirty foot monster was going to turn me into two-hundred and ten pounds of poop," Kaleb retorted.

"Um. The undead don't poop."

"They do too. Or else how else would they be able to keep eating so much."

"Well, I've never seen one poop," Amalthia shook her head while grinning in amusement over the nature of the conversation.

Upon gaining his composure, Kaleb pointed to the fallen giant. "Poop or no poop, that's quite a haul, there. Whaddya think? A hundred gold just for the big guy?"

Amalthia shook her head. "Nah. Fifty tops. You know how cheap town mayors are in these places."

"Y'know. If neither of us had a conscience, we could have let them snack on a few of the townsfolk first. I'm sure the mayor would have paid us double for each head we turned in," Kaleb stated as he began the grim work collecting the heads (or at least what he could salvage) from the fallen undead.

"Blah! It's going to take me over a week to get this stench out of my fur. Well, it looks like I trashed yet another set of flashy clothes as well," Amalthia grumbled as she began hacking off the heads from the fallen corpses.

Kaleb gathered up a sack full of heads as well then hurled them into the back of the dolyak cart. Any skulls that were fragmented or too badly shattered to be reconstructed were placed in a separate wooden box.

"I hope they don't chince us on our kill count. I know I must have blown up at least thirty heads."

Amalthia began her own meticulous count. "Perhaps you should use Bob a bit more, then. He does give a much cleaner cut, after all."

"That's all fine and dandy from your point of view. You're not the one standing just inches away from hordes of gouls wanting to have you for their next meal." Kaleb sounded miffed.

Her ears drooped. "I didn't mean it that way, Kal. I was just trying to be funny, that's all."

Kaleb came up to give her a reassuring hug. "I'm sorry, honey. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

She looked into his eyes then gently licked him on the face. "It's alright, sweetie. I think the both of us are just tired, stressed and exhausted. Tell you what - once we show the town mayor our bounty and collect our pay, we can go to Lion's Arch and shop for some totally new wardrobes."

"Um. Did you just lick me after cleaning the undead gunk off your fur?"

Amalthia planted her muzzle on his lips then ran her tongue down his mouth for a moment before pulling away. "Would you expect anything else?"

She smiled and laughed. Kaleb, on the other hand, hunkered over and spat on the ground several times.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..."

***

The couple headed on over to Lion's Arch the following day. Flocks of seagulls soared low over the fishing docks as Amalthia and Kaleb enjoyed the seaside atmosphere. They were strolling along the boardwalk, hoping to find some unusual decor for their new place.

Kaleb held up a giant bronze starfish sculpture. "Like it?"

Amalthia placed her clawed finger to her lips then shook her head. "Nah. The nautical theme is just not our style."

"Bummer. It would have looked great hanging over our bed."

"Um. That's asking for a death wish, you know. One good bump and that thing will go falling off and wind up gouging through someone's eye socket. I'll pass, thank you very much," Amalthia said as she turned away giving a dismissive wave.

"Do your people perceive everything as being deadly? I thought they loved sharp, pointy objects." Kaleb quipped.

"Weapons, yes. Poorly made, tacky sculptures? No so much."

The artist merchant gave her an angry glare. Kaleb carefully placed the tacky object back on the display wall.

"Hey. Didn't we come here to buy new outfits?" He said.

"By Buntfur's tail... you're right love! Let's head on over to Ariyana's place."

Kaleb and Amalthia headed towards the main shopping district. Each wanting to hold the others' hand, but knowing that open displays of romantic affection between their races would only invite unwanted trouble.

They finally arrived at the boutique named Roses and Thorns Apparel. The menagerie of custom-made outfits overwhelmed Kaleb - everything from norn wedding gowns to sylvari casual wear was on display. He especially liked the charr-themed human-sized apparel.

The owner happened to see them walking in. "Darlings! Why come on in!"

"Hi Ari. I'm back, as promised," Amalthia said as she waved to the chicly dressed sylvari woman.

Ariyana immediately recognized her client and strode over with a grace befitting a feline. Her large green eyes looked Kaleb over carefully as the patterns in her barklike skin glowed a shimmering pale blue.

"Oh my. Who is this specimen of a man?"

"Kaleb's the name." He reached out to shake her hand. With the regalness of a courtier, she clasped his hand with both of her delicate fingers as she greeted him with a wide smile.

"Kaleb. Your name is no stranger to my ears. Amalthia, darling - tis good to see you!" She reached out to give the charr a hug.

Amalthia returned the favor. "Good to see you again as well, Ari. How are things going here? Is Jestin around?"

"Fine, fine. My dear. As a matter of fact, things are going quite splendidly. One of the noble families from Divinity's Reach commissioned us to design their wedding apparel. They wanted a norn theme with a bit of sylvari flare thrown in. Oh. I almost forgot... my fiancé is downstairs putting the finishing touches on a business suit for a client."

"I'm glad that things are working out so well for your business. So you and Jestin getting... what's the word, love?" Amalthia struggled with the word as she looked in Kaleb's direction.

"Married?" Kaleb helped her out.

"Yes. Married."

Ariyana's face lit up when she heard Amalthia call Kaleb 'love'. "Goodness me. So are you and this lovely lad together as well?"

Kaleb held Amalthia's pawed hand. "Yes we are. We've been through a lot together and I'm very happy to call her my significant other."

"Just a moment, dearie." Ariyana ran towards the basement stairway and shouted. "Jestin my dear. You must come up now. You'll want to see this."

"Be there in a minute, dear."

Unable to contain her jubilation, Ariyana gave both Kaleb and Amalthia a big hug. Her fiancé came up the stairs a short time later. He was a slender human of long blond hair and soft porcelain skin complexion. He appeared to be somewhat shy and introverted, but when he joined his mate his demeanor changed dramatically.

"Jestin. You remember Amalthia, don't you?"

"Yes I do. Nice to meet you Amalthia." He shook her hand and only gave Kaleb a friendly stare.

"He doesn't bite darling. This is Kaleb, Amalthia's mate."

"Mate? Oh wow! Nice to meet you Kaleb!" Jestin eagerly grabbed him by the hand and shook it vigorously.

Kaleb clapped him on the shoulder and smiled as he returned the handshake. "Nice to meet you too, Jestin. Even nicer to see that there are more couples like us around."

"So true, indeed," Ariyana said as she remembered something else. "Oh how rude of me. Would you two like to go out somewhere to dine or have you already eaten?"

"His stomach is a bottomless pit and so is mine. We are game," Amalthia replied as she gave Kaleb a quick kiss on the cheek.

The two couples headed out of the shop then down along the main thoroughfare as they perused the various eating establishments. Ariyana noticed that her friends were not holding hands in public and decided to provide some encouragement.

"It's okay, darlings. People here don't think twice about cross-racial couples displaying affection with each other."

Kaleb seemed skeptical. "But a human and a charr? I have yet to see a couple like Amalthia and I."

"Well, someone has to start somewhere. Might as well be now, right?" Ariyana said as she clasped hold of each of their hands and joined them together.

"Thanks, Ari. I just don't want our open display of affection to be a source of trouble for you and Jestin," Amalthia said as she held Kaleb's hand tightly.

As the quartet rounded the corner to the next alleyway that led to another row of shops, Kaleb noticed a group of around twelve scruffy men approaching their direction. When they got closer, he could see that they had a number of weapons sticking out from under their jackets.

"Well take a look at this sight, boys. Two humans holding hands with a fleabag and a walking cabbage," said a large bearded man with a scarred face and rotten teeth.

A smaller man with a patch over his left eye reached into his overcoat for something sinister. "We don't like their kind. Disgusting!"

"Disgusting is right. Get 'em, boys!" The twelve men rushed the quartet only to be stopped in their tracks when Kaleb drew his revolvers.

"I've got enough here for each of you. Now let's just call this a cultural misunderstanding and we'll all be on our merry way."

The big man laughed. "Oh. I'm scared of your big, bad guns. Go ahead, boy, and shoot. If you do, it'll bring the full force of the Brotherhood and the Lion Guard on top of yas."

"He's right, Kaleb. Let's do this up close and personal. Ready Bob?" Amalthia said as she reached to draw her longsword.

Ariyana stopped her before she could unsheathe her weapon. "It's okay, darling. No need to draw that long, nasty object."

"Ariyana, please... don't!" Jestin shouted as he tried to stop her.

Ariyana calmly moved towards the men as she began to monologue.

"I have invited my friends to brunch. And those who know me also know that I hate breaking promises. Now you all be good lads and run along," she smiled with a strangely wicked gleam in her eye.

"Well. If they are going to lunch then they'll need to have some appetizers first, starting with a salad," the big man said as he drew out his shortsword and lunged towards the sylvari.

When his blade swung down, all it met was air. But before he had time to react, a slender feminine form emerged from behind followed by unimaginable searing pain. Ariyana's dagger thrust deeply into the man's side, causing his eyes to roll back just seconds before he fell on the ground dead.

The remaining eleven men had no time to react before the sylvari's fleeting shadowy form began slashing away at their vital areas. One of the last things the skinny man saw as a dagger going into his eye socket. When it was all over, twelve bigots lay on the ground either dead or dying.

Amalthia looked at Kaleb and confessed. "You now, if I were into doing women, I would ask her to be my mate right now."

Kaleb laughed in agreement. "I would too."

"Aren't I enough for you, Kaleb?" Amalthia teased.

"Well, you made the statement. So I just had to respond in kind." He laughed.

Jestin just sat on the ground quivering in shock. "I... I had hoped she wouldn't slip back into her old ways. Damn those narrow-minded bigots for doing that to her!"

Ariyana wiped off her twin daggers using the cloth from one of the fallen goons then deftly slid them away under her pantaloons. "Aww. I'm so sorry, dear. I had a momentary relapse. People like them cause me to do that sometimes. Please forgive me."

"I do," Jestin said as he stood up and held his mate close.

"Glad to know he forgives you. But I can't say much for the Lion Guard. Lookout!" Kaleb said as he pointed towards some approaching soldiers. "If you will, dearie. Be so kind," Ariyana said to her mate who pulled out a small staff.

Within seconds, an invisibility bubble formed around them. Jestin then beckoned for everyone to head towards the alleyway at the far end of the street.

"Hurry! It will only hold for another ten seconds," he said while trying to maintain the illusion.

Mesmers. Gotta love 'em, Kaleb mused to himself as they successfully evaded capture.

The illusion fell away once they were safely on the other end of the row. Amalthia looked at her sylvari friend and said. "That was some mighty fine dagger play. Where'd you learn to do that anyway?"

Ariyana casually smiled acting as if nothing unusual had transpired. "Well. I wasn't always a fashion designer, you know. Before my beloved found me and saved me from those dreadful Nightmare Courtiers, I used to be one of their best assassins, although I am ashamed to admit it now."

"You were part of the Nightmare Court?" Kaleb queried.

The sylvari bowed and shook her head in shame. "It was a dreadful time for me. To even think I was part of that vile entity. Anyway, my beloved saved me from myself."

"How'd he do that?" Amalthia asked.

Jestin held his mate close. "I will explain the rest. She still gets very upset whenever this subject comes up."

The young man began to tell his tale of how he and some elementalists from the Pact forces came across a Nightmare Court patrol in the Brisbane Wilds. During the engagement, Ariyana managed to kill nearly every Pact member except for him.

"There I was scared out of my wits. She held those daggers just below each ear threatening to thrust them into the base of my skull. My death was only moments away when reinforcements arrived. While she was distracted, I managed to conjure an illusion to slip away. By the time she realized what happened, she was already surrounded."

He continued his tale.

"The Pact commander wanted to execute her on the spot. I, however, wanted to see her live to see her answer for her crimes. It was during our trek through the wilderness that she began to break down and confess that she really didn't want to be a part of the Court. She was chosen because of her natural ability with the blade. So by the time we reached base camp, my perception of her began to change. I no longer thought that she was an inherently evil person, err sylvari I mean. Anyway, she was just caught up in a situation where she had to adapt in order to survive."

Ariyana interjected. "Out of all my captors, he was the one who took the time to understand me for who I was. I suppose it was then that I began to fall in love with that human."

"So what about you? Did you fall in love with her?" Amalthia asked.

"It certainly wasn't love at first sight. But after talking to her awhile, my feelings for her began to grow. It was then that I decided to vouch for her character. Several weeks later, she was put on trial for her alleged crimes. Through a miracle of good fortune, I managed to convince the judiciary that she was a victim of circumstance. In the end, the court ruled in her favor. We've been together ever since," Jestin said with a smile as he held Ariyana's hand.

The sylvari smiled and asked. "Fair is fair. Please, tell us your story."

"Oh my. Where to begin," Amalthia said as she and Kaleb took turns discussing the origin of their love affair. After exchanging stories, the two couples headed on over to one of the local eateries. They arrived at a local seafood cafe and each ordered their own local dishes.

"I wonder if they will launch an investigation into that incident back there," Kaleb wondered as he dove into his plate of shrimp pasta.

"Murders happen here all the time. If I confessed, they might actually award me a medal for cleaning up the city of its filth. Sorry if the comment may come across as cruel and insensitive," Ariyana said with a sheepish look on her face. She and Jestin shared a crab legs delight with several sides of cornbread.

Amalthia laughed as she poured her mead over a fourteen-ounce bloody rare dolyak steak. "It's okay. I understand. The old ways never truly die out. Learn to embrace them, my sire always says, because you never know when they might come in handy."

Kaleb raised his glass to offer a toast. "No truer words spoken, m'dear! To the old ways... and new."

"Here, here," came the chorus.

Once they were finished with their meals, the four of them headed back to Ariyana's place of business. Kaleb looked at his outfit then at Amalthia's and realized they had lost track of their main reason for going to Lion's Arch in the first place.

"Ari. Can you possibly hit us up for some new outfits? We need ones that are durable and can survive the rigors of our profession," Kaleb commented as Amalthia nodded with a big smile in agreement.

"Why of course, darling. Once we are in the shop, I'll break out the sketchpad and we'll work out a design that is suited to you both! Oh. I have a wonderful vision in mind already."

Amalthia's ears fluttered. "Ohh. I can't wait to see your idea! Bite-resistant body armor is a must, though."

"But of course! You will never know it was even there," the sylvari said with a smile.

Kaleb interjected another idea. "Oh yeah. Our outfits must be matching, if possible. It would be nice for people to see that she and I work as a team."

"Consider it done, dearie."

Kaleb and Amalthia spent the next few hours getting their measurements taken by Ariyana and Jestin. Once the measurements were finished, Amalthia began perusing the rest of her friend's shop hoping to find some additional inspiration. She looked at a long, white dress that appeared to be made for a petite human.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kaleb said as he wrapped his arms around Amalthia holding her close.

Even though she was a head and a half taller at full standing height than Kaleb, she lowered her heels enough so his head could comfortably rest on her shoulder. He stroked her mane and kissed the side of her neck as she purred in satisfaction.

"Um. I suppose so. What exactly is it?"

Stunned, Kaleb gave her a brief explanation of human marriage rituals and mentioned some of the traditions and customs that went along with them. Upon hearing the information, Amalthia began to smile and gave her mate an affectionate lick on the face.

"So I guess that's what I'll expect if you have to kiss me," Kaleb said with a laugh.

Ariayana overheard the conversation and chimed in. "Ohhh. Wouldn't that be special? To have the two of you join under the banner of such a sacred tradition? You keep giving me ideas, my furry horned friend."

Amalthia turned to the sylvari. "It was actually Kaleb's idea to see me in one of those."

"My dear. You would look splendid!"

"I agree with Ari. That would look really good on you, with a few alterations of course," Kaleb said as he held Amalthia's pawed hands.

In the background, Jestin looked at his new friends and smiled as he walked over and stood next to his mate.

"It is truly the dawn of a new era in Tyria when a human and a charr consider getting married to each other."

Kaleb thought to himself as he held Amalthia close, indeed it is my friend, indeed it is. (All chapters have been posted to AO3. Chapter 24 is posted here.)

#gw2 fanfic #tyrias-library #the outliers #kaleb and amalthia #human and charr #guildwars fanfiction

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krreader · 5 years

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friend or foe | chapter 2.

pairing: kim taehyung x reader fandom: bts ; snsd ; g-idle ; shinee ; solo artists (sunmi + iu) ; g-idle ; red velvet ; twice ; nct warnings: non idol!au ; supernatural!au ; cult!au ; language ; kidnapping genre: angst ; mystery ; smut previous: 1

summary: when you were younger, stories of vampires, demons and other monsters used to keep you up at night, until you grew up and realized none of them were real. that’s what you continued to believe until you found yourself mixed up with a cult that had these same exact monsters as members and you weren’t sure if you were going to be their next meal or if they had something else in mind for you..

a/n: I love this fic so much, like as much as I love writing my other stories, this one has just so much amazing supernatural and science shit going and I’m liviNG okay. I hope you like it!!!!!!

“Are you okay?! Did they hurt you?!” was the first thing you asked Yoona when they put you and her in another room, but your sister immediately cupped your face and smiled reassuringly.

“(Y/N), please.. calm down, alright?”

“Calm down? Did you just hear what they said? They're crazy!”

“They're not, sweetheart,” she sighed heavily and pulled you onto a couch that was standing in the middle of the room, grabbing both of your hands and looking directly into your eyes, “They're telling the truth. About everything.”

It was one thing to know that this girl inside there could do weird magic tricks, but believing you're a goddess from another galaxy was a bitter pill to swallow.

“They manipulated you, didn't they?”

“No, unfortunately they didn't. Trust me, if I could change your fate, I would do it in a heartbeat. You deserve a boring life where you go to university, fall in love, find your dream job, get children and then die peacefully. But that life isn't yours to live.”

“Listen, my memories might be a bit shit, but I don't remember being in another fucking galaxy, okay? I remember.. a mom and a dad and..-” you closed your eyes for a moment, the images flashing so quickly before your eyes that you had trouble comprehending them, “A.. normal.. life.”

“Stop,” she cupped your face once again and waited until you were looking at her again, “I wanted you to think you had a normal childhood with a family, but that was never the case. I kept giving you new memories, every year. When you were a child, I gave you memories of a family that was with us. When you became a teenager, I gave you memories of that same family being proud of who you became.. but there was never a family, (Y/N). Think about it.. did you ever hug them? Kiss your mother's cheek? Look into your father's eyes? No.. no, because I had to give you these fake memories, in order for the real ones not to come through yet.”

“Real ones? What real ones? That I'm actually a goddess? That my parents died tragically because of an invasion?”

“You were a baby.. no baby would remember this night. But you're a goddess, (Y/N), your comprehension is better than that of others. I knew that if I didn't give you fake memories, you'd eventually remember what really happened, even if it were just faint flashes or sounds. And then you'd start having questions that I couldn't answer yet..”

“So what.. you're not even my real sister? That was all a lie too?” you kept pushing the whole goddess thing away, kept telling yourself that it was fake and wanted to talk about other things in order to distract your mind from the real issue.

However that question you just asked was an important one to you. Because this woman in front of you was the only real thing you could truly remember. The only person you ever hugged and whose warmth you felt. The only woman you ever cried with at night.. she was the only real thing that you were sure of.. or maybe she wasn’t.

“I..-” Yoona gulped down hard, “Your mother was my best friend. She knew that the only person she could trust with this task, who would be able to do it, to get you to safety, was me. But she didn't want you to grow up without any family at all. And because of my age, or at least the age that I appear to be, I figured posing as a sister was the easiest way..”

Posing as a sister.

So much for her being real.

“The easiest way,” you repeated, then started laughing humorlessly, “You tricked me. You made me think I had a family that loved me. You made me think I had people that cared about me!”

“I do care about you,” while you were getting angry, Yoona remained calm, “(Y/N), I told you that your mother was like a sister to me. She always said that when you'd grow up, you'd call me Auntie Yoona. That's what she wanted.. she wanted me to be a part of your life.. a part of this family.”

You were angry, confused and emotional. Your brain was pushing out one memory after the other and they were all glitchy, because now you knew they never happened.

Nothing was real.. your entire life was based on a lie..

“I don't have a family,” you said bitterly, getting up from the couch and walking out. But before you could, someone stood in your way.

Taemin.

“Can't let you go, sweetheart, boss won't allow you to leave.”

“Tell your boss he can suck my non-existing balls. I'm done with you assholes and this shit show! I just want to go home and figure this bullshit out.”

“I like her,” Sunmi said with a chuckle, “She has more balls than you do, Taemin.”

“Do you want me to show you..-”

“Enough!” Taehyung yelled, walking into the room looking just as good as he had before, still in that business outfit of his, “(Y/N).. please.. let's talk about this in private.”

“You guys are crazy! All of you!”

“Ouch,” Yuqi said, suddenly standing right beside you and scaring the shit out of you again, “Oops. Sorry,” and then she was gone, just as quickly as she had appeared.

Proving your point.

“Please.. have a cup of tea with me. Just you and me,” Taehyung offered you a smile and held out his hand, hoping his charm would work on you like it did at the party.

But a lot had changed since then, even if it was only a few hours ago.

“Fuck. You. Fuck you and your stupid, bullshit..-”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Yeri appeared beside you, a calming smile on her face. So calming that, somehow, the second your eyes landed on her, you were okay again. It was as if life would figure itself out, “Come on, honey. I'll show you outside, okay?”

Taehyung wanted to protest, but one look from Yeri was enough to tell him that he just had to trust her on this.

It seemed as if right now, she was the only one you were okay with.

An advantage she wanted to use.

“Please don't think too badly of our leader, he's.. just very passionate about our cause. He's been waiting a long time for this moment, you know?”

“Yeah, well.. sucks for him. I won't help him.”

Yeri kept her promise. She showed you outside, but not like you expected her to.

Because suddenly you were standing in a garden, a grand one at that. Flowers were growing everywhere, fireflies and the moon illuminating it in the most gorgeous light, a small pond being right in the middle of it.

It looked like straight out of a fairy tale movie.. not in a horror movie. Because that's what you thought you were in.

“To be honest, I wouldn't have told you who you are the way that Taehyung did. He thought a direct approach would be the best idea, but I told him that wouldn't work. You've grown up as a human, you think like a human, you behave like a human.. you see a vampire, a witch, a demon, a ghost, an angel and the devil in one room and you freak out, that's normal. But I would have shown you the good side of us first. The side that humans usually like when it comes to supernatural beings.”

“I don't know.. unless you have mermaids and unicorns here that poop butterflies..”

“Well,” Yeri thought for a second, then pulled you to the pond, that turned out to be a lake actually.. bigger than you thought it would be. Just another trick your mind was playing on you today, “They don't poop butterflies, but they do exist. Our unicorn ran away last week, though. Sunmi had a really bad day and tried to bite it, it's.. it's a long story. But we do have a mermaid.”

“Stop shitting me.”

“I'm not,” Yeri laughed, turning to the lake, “Jieun? Are you up?”

Nothing happened. A few moments, everything except for the chirping of the crickets was silent. You almost wanted to laugh, but then..-

“It's only 3 AM, of course I am,” Jieun, apparently, appeared on the surface of the lake, only her head sticking out, “And who is that? A new recruit?”

“She's the one the boss kept talking about. (Y/N).”

“Oh my god! I'm so sorry!” Jieun immediately swam towards you and only when she hopped onto the grass did you see the tail.

And then you screamed.

“No, no, no, don't scream! Wait, let me..-” it took a few seconds but then the tail turned into legs and then she stood in front of you like she was a normal human being. Like she didn't just have a fucking fish tail there a moment ago, “Here.. see? I'm normal now! I'm like you!”

“You're a fucking fish person!”

“Mermaid, actually, fish person is kind of offensive to my people. But you're (Y/N), so you can call me whatever you want to call me. After all, you're the hope of our people.”

“Fish..- Fish people? I'm the hope for fish people? What, do you want me to kill all the sharks?”

“Nah, they don't bother us, I'm actually friends with one of them.”

This was a little too normal of a conversation you were having right now. She was a fucking mermaid after all. But then again, tonight you had met all sorts of other creatures before, and quite honestly, mermaid was your favorite so far, because from the looks of it, she seemed to be the least threatening one next to Yeri.

“Supernatural being doesn't necessarily mean something bad, (Y/N),” Yeri started, a soft smile on her face, “We have nice creatures too. We have fairies, nymphs, elves, spirits, hybrids.. we have people that live normal lives and that only come here on weekends to play cards with the elderly. We have people that have normal partners, despite their supernatural abilities. We're not all bad. We just want to stop hiding..”

“Well, let me tell you, if you do that in public,” you pointed at Jieun, “People will make Sushi out of you.”

“Sushi,” Jieun shuddered, “Disgusting.”

“Aliens, Androids, Supernatural beings.. what does it matter? The human race will never be the only race.. and someone has to make a start and come out of hiding and say: Hey humans, you're not alone here, so stop pretending as if you are.”

“Not sure they'll be too happy about that.”

“But see, that's why we need you and Taehyung. That's why we need good leaders. Taehyung has so much power, (Y/N), but he's.. well. To put it nicely, he doesn't have the necessary qualities to interact with the humans and make a deal. But you? You've lived with them for all these years, you know how to talk to them. If anyone can convince them that we're not a threat, then it's you. With your help and your powers, we can form an alliance that is so strong that nobody can break it.”

You listened carefully, but then remembered what Tzuyu had said earlier.

“The witch.. she said that I could either be a rightful and just leader or a destructive one.”

“I'm an angel, (Y/N). And while I can be.. angry sometimes, I do like to see only the good in people,” she grabbed your hands, “It is true, ultimately it will be up to you and Taehyung on how to approach the situation, but I don't think you want to conquer humanity.. do you?”

“No.. no of course not!” you replied, but then quickly added, “Not that I will do any of that. Because I'm just a normal girl.”

“Of course you are,” Yeri smiled, “I understand that it will take time for you to accept your role in all of this. Nobody had expected you to jump onto the band wagon and scream Yeehaw. But for now, I just want you to see that you don't need to be afraid of us. That when you're here, you're not in danger. Because believe me when I say, these people here, these beings.. they look up to you. They want to protect you, because they know who you are. Nobody here would harm you, they would rather give their life for you than hurt you in any way or form.”

“Not sure that's any less creepy, but thanks.”

You ended up walking through the entire garden with Yeri, meeting several other people on your way. Old people, young people, even children. They were kind, they smiled, they were happy. More happy than you had ever seen any human.

There was no hatred here, there was no judgment here only pure bliss, happiness and kindness.

Usually, when you were walking down the street to your apartment, you had at least three guys looking at you weirdly or catcalling you, women eyeing you like you were disgusting and children being disrespectful brats and running straight into you without apologizing.

But these people here were peaceful. They were at ease..

..and that was a nice change for once.

While you and Yeri strolled around and got to know the people here to take away your fear, Taehyung watched you from the rooftop with a smile.

Until someone else joined him.

“You don't even know if she's the right one, the prophecy said a goddess from another galaxy.. so why try to convince her of it when you have so many more goddesses from other galaxies to choose from that would be more than excited to become your queen?” Taeyong joined him, an angry look on his face, “You're wasting our time here.”

“Shouldn't you be.. I don't know.. down with the dead where you belong?”

“Very funny,” Taeyong pretended to laugh, but then became serious again, “The Comet Galaxy, the Black Eye Galaxy, the Sunflower galaxy, just to name a few.. they all have goddesses like her. Goddesses that grew up ruling. That know what to do. Her? She's an amateur and she's going to ruin everything we’ve built for our people.”

“You don't know shit, Taeyong.”

“But you do? See, this is exactly what I told people would happen if they appointed you as the ruler and not someone like me or..-”

“I know, I know,” Taehyung interrupted, “I know there were many candidates for the position, but the people chose me. So get over it, alright? I want her and that's my decision.”

“Whatever,” Taeyong turned around on his heel and started walking away, “I just came here to warn you, brother. Out of all of us, I'm the one that wants to see you gone the least. The others, however? Now they will do anything they can to overthrow you and take your place. And.. your queen.”

“They can try,” Taehyung muttered while the god of the underworld disappeared through a portal, “But she'll be ready when they come. I'll make sure she knows how to protect herself.”

He had faith in you.

That's why he chose you and none of the other goddesses.

Because he believed that you were the only one who could do this.

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trustyourgutblog · 5 years

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When Shit Got Real - My Journey to Digestive Disease Diagnoses

Greetings everyone! C Here :]

One of the reasons that S and I decided to create this blog is that we both struggle with chronic health conditions. I thought a good place to start would be talking about my journey of how I got diagnosed. In May of 2016, I graduated from my clinical social work master’s program. The previous 2 years had been among some of the most stress-inducing years of my life and I have a feeling that the life stressors, along with genetic predispositions, were significant catalysts to my diagnoses.

I had grown up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (s/o to all da Yoopers reading this) and in order to pursue my dreams of attending graduate school to become a mental health provider, I had to move away from my family, friends, and the place that I had always called home.

*Enter huge stress catalyst number 1*

A few weeks before I was scheduled to leave for graduate school, I started to experience some major anxiety about moving so far away from my family and friends and attending school (thanks to the semester that I had taken off). I wasn’t experiencing full blown panic attacks, but my episodes of racing thoughts, rapid heart rate, and shortness of breath were enough to make me ask my primary care provider for anxiety medication. Thank the universe that she was a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and encouraged me to try more holistic ways to manage my anxiety such as going for walks, staying active, and seeking out help from natural supports.

Fast forward to finding an apartment, completing the 400 mile move, and entering graduate school. The first few weeks were pretty difficult, but eventually I made friends and began to somewhat relax. The academic and scheduling demands of grad school were constant and I was experiencing a baseline level of stress at all times (juggling classes, homework, reading, my internship, and a side job). Not to mention, I also pushed myself out of my comfort zone to study abroad in Europe for 2 weeks during the summer between my first and second year. Don’t get me wrong, I was having a blast and the busyness of my new life was exhilarating. But, I was putting my body under months and months of ongoing stress without pause.

Grad school seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was May of 2016 and I graduated with a 4.0. You guessed it – I’m Type A and a self-proclaimed perfectionist (I’m including my GPA here to illustrate the level of chronic stress that I was experiencing – if you’re a control freak like me, you know this type of stress). A few weeks after graduation, I continued to work my student assistant job as I looked for a job in social work. I was also on the hunt for a rural location so that I could get more assistance with my student loans. Seven applications later and I had gotten a call back from a Community Mental Health agency requesting to schedule an interview.

A few days after the interview, I received a phone call stating that I had landed the job! Praise be! I was so excited that thinking about the stress of finding a new place to live and the 2- hour commute hadn’t even occurred to me. It turns out that they were short-staffed (big surprise in social work, I know) and wanted me to start right away. So, I gave a 2 week notice at my other job and began looking for a place to live. I started working a few days a week at my new job (since commuting 2 hours a day, 5 days a week is enough to make anyone go mad), and was able to able to find a place that was halfway in between my boyfriend’s job and mine. About a week after my boyfriend and I had signed the lease, he was given another work assignment and he would no longer be working at this site – he was now going to be assigned a traveling job where he would have to visit sites all over the country. So here I was. Stuck in a 1-year lease in a town with no friends or family and facing the cold, hard reality of a long distance relationship. Well, shit. I was now going to be separated from my best friend who I had lived with since I was 17 years old.

*Cue mental breakdown*

I tried to stay positive and began my new job with my typical enthusiastic, bright personality. However, your first job as a social worker, fresh out of graduate school, is anything but bright. Don’t get me wrong! I gained some invaluable experience and met the most phenomenal people. But, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it was confusing, stressful, and straight up terrifying.

*Enter gut health spiral*

A few weeks into my job, I started noticing some changes in my digestion. If you feel uncomfortable with females talking about their bowel movements, then you may want to stop reading here. Seriously - there’s gonna be a lot of poop talk. As a kid, I’ve always been a 3,4,5 times a day pooper (where’s the poop emoji on this thing?!). My bowel movements always seemed “healthy” and I never had any trouble going. So, it was very strange to me that I was starting to experience constipation.

Huh, that’s odd, I thought.

Too busy to think much of it, I “just kept swimming” with my fast-paced life. After a few weeks of on and off constipation, I started noticing that I had blood in my stools.

Woah. That’s not right.

My mind immediately thought of my older sister. She had been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease within the last 2 years. My first cousin had also recently been diagnosed with Crohn’s after a major hospitalization and the removal of some of her colon. Naturally, I began to panic. I immediately thought I must have it too and texted my sister. She texted back a few minutes

later –

“You need to go get a colonoscopy.”

So, I went about finding a primary care doctor as I had barely been moved to the area for a month and hadn’t been established with anyone yet. The provider I found was nice enough, but she totally dismissed my concerns as some mild constipation and potential hemorrhoids. I requested that she refer me to a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy and instead she sent me to a colorectal surgeon.

*eye roll*

Looking back, I wish I would have advocated further for myself. This provider was clearly dismissing my concerns and referring me to a surgeon would get me off of her back. She expected him to examine me and find that nothing was wrong. No, I’m not making a judgment. The next time she saw me I had already been diagnosed and she was genuinely surprised. I should have trusted my gut (see what I did there ;]) and pushed for a colonoscopy right away.

At this next appointment, the provider (who, mind you, was a dude) performed a Sigmoidoscopy. This means that he put a long tube with a camera attached to it up my butt (WHILE I WAS AWAKE) and promptly told me that he was seeing inflammation and I needed a colonoscopy.

NO FUCKING SHIT.

So, after spending an uncomfortable $40 at this appointment, he referred me to a gastroenterologist and said that there’s a potential that I have Ulcerative Colitis. Phew. Anything was better than a Crohn’s diagnosis. Since I had that appointment with the surgeon, I was able to skip right to a colonoscopy without a GI consult prior. I had to call my boyfriend (who was currently across the country in Utah) and ask if he could fly home for a few days to drive me to and from the appointment. Being the supportive angel that he is, he agreed to come home and a few weeks later I had my first colonoscopy.

My new GI doc - a pretty, blonde, and particularly cold woman, explained that she couldn’t figure out if I had Crohn’s or not. Basically, the inflammation in my colon that was causing the bleeding and constipation was so far up in my tract that they needed to try an Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Aka go in the other way. She prescribed a mild steroid to help control the inflammation while they tried to figure out exactly what was going on. Thankfully, my boyfriend was home for a week, so I was able to schedule the EGD while he was home. Another round of prep (aka pooping my brains out), another 2 days off of work, and a procedure later and they STILL couldn’t definitively diagnose me with Crohn’s.

So, another procedure was recommended.

“We’ll need to complete a Capsule Endoscopy.”

Aka swallow a giant horse pill that is actually a camera and it takes pictures of your insides while it moves through your digestive tract. Am I actually in an episode of the Magic School Bus? Another day of prep and another day taken off of work to walk around with a giant fanny pack (and not the cute kind) of wires taking pictures of my insides.

Finally, here I sit in an exam room at my new GI’s office - four months later. Anxiously waiting at my GI doctor’s office for her to come in and inform me of the results of the plethora of testing that I had undergone. It had been 6 months since I first noticed the blood in my stool. Six months of labs, procedures, and office visits. If there was ever a drum roll moment, this was it.

My GI doc walked in, greeted me, and said, “Well, it looks like you have Crohn’s.” My heart stopped and ironically, my stomach dropped. Watching my sister endure the complicated symptoms of her Crohn’s over the last 2 years did not give me a hopeful look into my future. She had told me horror stories of having to poop in the woods while on a run because she just couldn’t hold it any longer, extreme fatigue that caused her to feel like she needs 12+ hours of sleep per night, and stomach cramping that was so unbearable it caused her to double over.

I wanted to cry, but I didn’t (see earlier reference to my doctor being cold AF). We discussed treatment options, she prescribed medications, and told me to “eat bland foods like bread, grilled cheese, and rice,” and sent me on my way. I got into my car after the appointment, called my boyfriend, and immediately broke down. The way I saw it, a Crohn’s diagnosis was a “see you later” to my former, happier existence. I couldn’t believe that this was my reality. My next call was to my sister, who I appreciate beyond belief. Because she knew the heartache that I was experiencing at that exact moment.

Okay, pity party over – flash to present day. I’ve now been living with Crohn’s, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) for 3 years. Surprisingly, I am doing pretty well. My health isn’t perfect, but I’ve come a long way from 2016. If I’ve kept you entertained this far, I’d like to share more of my journey on how I’ve made my way to this healthier place in my next blog post.

As much as I felt like my diagnoses were a death sentence – I can now see that they were just a beginning to a new chapter in my life. This new chapter includes becoming more aware, mindful, and attuned to my body. In my upcoming blog posts, I’ll share how I have been able to improve my self-care, nutrition, and lifestyle in an effort to lead a more fulfilling, aligned life.

#crohn's problems #crohn's #crohn's disease #ibd #diagnostic #chronic disease #procedures #gi #ibs #inflammatory bowel disease

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lightsandlostbells · 6 years

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Druck season 2, episode 6 reaction

I’m slightly behind on the Druck reactions, though not for lack of interest, just lack of energy. Going to try to catch up because do I ever have feelings about this season.

Episode 6

Clip 1 - Good morning starshine

We see the flat’s bathroom and is that shit on the toilet seat????? Or barf???? Whyyyyy Druck whyyyyyyy.

Mia comes into the bathroom, glowing, happy, but the peaceful moment is interrupted by Hans lurking in the tub telling her not to open the toilet seat. He says he’ll clean it up in the moment, but he does not seem to be well, to say the least.

Okay, it’s puke, which is like … marginally better than poop.

Hans is clearly hungover and has vomit around his mouth. And over the side of the tub. Thanks again, Druck. They’re really just going for the disgusting things in the flat’s bathroom this season, aren’t they? If Mia moves out and Matteo moves in, you know they’re all doomed.

Mia happily says she’ll clean it up, perky as a blonde Snow White, and Hans immediately recognizes the difference between Mia yelling at him to wipe up urine off the toilet seat versus this morning angel volunteering to clean up someone else’s vomit as if she were offering to taste-test cupcakes.

Of course it’s because Mia is high off last night’s kiss. She’s gonna clean up puke, make Hans some tea, and offer encouragement as he drags himself out of the tub. Love keeps lifting her higher and higher.

Alexander texts her good morning. Mia teases him about not recognizing the number or knowing who he is, he teases her back about thinking it was Sara’s number, they exchange pleasantries. It’s an adorable interaction. Mia is on cloud 9. So you know, let’s see how long that lasts!

Clip 2 - Alexander the actor

LMAO, we get a stalker shot of Mia coming out of her place to her bike in the morning, and of course it’s a car that drives up to her, and of course it’s Alex’s car.

They have some banter about his Porsche and he suggests they carpool for the sake of the environment, he teases her for being a hipster, it’s cute. He jokes about having kids and Mia is like, later? I wanted to start right away. To which he says he disapproves of condoms anyway, and like, don’t ruin this banter, dude. Don’t remind me of your past selfishness in not wanting to use condoms with other girls. Or maybe it’s better that I don’t forget about it.

Alex mimes zipping his lips and throwing away the key to indicate that they’ll be discreet at school. Some dude honks at Alex for blocking the way with his car, calling him names. And Alex takes the time to be extra as fuck and show off the skills from his improv classes and gets out of the car and pretends to pick up the invisible key he threw away. He doesn’t drive away until he’s gotten the key and unzipped his lips. JFC. Why is that so charming? I completely get why Mia has feelings for him despite her brain telling her it’s a bad idea, despite knowing of some awful things he’s done. No offense to any William fans, but he seemed like the kind of guy who, if you went to dinner with him, you’d have a lot of awkward silences and end up faking an emergency text message. I would totally go to dinner with Alexander and watch him do these impromptu performances.

Clip 3 - Listen to Sam FFS

Mia and Hanna are doing homework. Hanna isn’t into it. Mia is also not into it, for different reasons.

Hanna tells Mia that Jonas tried to kiss her on Friday, but Mia is so distracted looking at Kiki’s throwback picture of the girls at the cabin for NYE that she doesn’t even notice. Hanna has to text Mia when she’s sitting right next to her to get her attention, heh.

Mia wants to know why Hanna didn’t tell her and it’s because Mia has been gone and distant lately. Mia looks pained and she leans into Hanna and whispers something to her, no prize for guessing what she says.

Mia looks pained while Hanna asks about the Alex kiss, but also a little glow-y. She knows it’s a bad situation, she puts out the obligatory statement but she hates him, but she can’t completely keep her fondness under wraps. Neither of them buy that Mia really hates Alexander anymore.

In a spectacularly bad bit of timing, Hanna asks what about Kiki just as Sam enters their usual study room. I’m in awe of how Sam’s green lollipop matches her lipstick. Which do you think comes first: the choice of lipstick or lollipop? Or the nails, which are also green? Or does she decide the color first, and then everything must match? That seems most efficient.

While Mia says it’s nothing at first, Sam asks whether it has anything to do with Mia’s secret meetings with Alexander. Sharp cookie! She manages to guess that Mia and Alex really have a thing, and Mia asks to keep it to herself for now. Sam is like, duh, Kiki will lose her shit if she hears. Hanna says Kiki seemed to cope with the Alex thing well and Sam says no, she only pretends like it. Kiki feels like shit but she knows Mia is tired of Kiki whining and talking about Alex all the time, so that’s why she’s not talking about it. OUCH. OUCH OUCH OUCH. Man, that hit me surprisingly hard. Sam says Kiki admires Mia so much and sends her tons of messages about everything Mia does, just to rub it in my emotions more.

Mia looks miserable and like, I feel for her buuuuut all of this is deserved and she needs to feel this.

Sam says it’s not serious with Mia and Alex, is it? And when Mia doesn’t answer but the answer is clearly yes, Sam just sighs in exasperation. I feel you, babe. Oh to be a Sam on the edge of all this constant drama.

This scene hurt a lot. I loved Sam just calling Mia out and not sugarcoating it; I like that Kiki does seem to have someone firmly on her side in this situation. Not that Sam is anti-Mia or anything, just that she realizes Kiki’s side of the situation, much like Hanna is more Mia-aligned, I think, as Mia’s closest friend. And I don’t love that Kiki is only pretending to be OK because she doesn’t want to annoy Mia, because if she’s really hurting she should be able to talk to people about it, but that was a really sharp bit of insight and had such a big impact on how I viewed the situation. We already know that Kiki really loves Mia and values her opinion. We saw that she was hurt when Mia gave her a generic gift for Christmas, we saw that she was upset when Mia tried to insert herself into Kiki’s life and confront her about her eating disorder and her exercise and the plastic surgery. Kiki was defensive but I think it really hurt her that this was coming from Mia, because she looks up to Mia and Mia clearly disapproved of Kiki’s behavior. She knows that Mia is sick of hearing about Alex from Kiki, which must really sting Mia, because it’s a reaction that Mia herself has created. Mia made it so Kiki was unwilling to let out her true feelings, she made it so Kiki is apparently putting on this fake happy face. That must make Mia feel even more like shit, on top of everything with Alexander.

Clip 4 - Workout tips with Kiki

Mia meets Kiki on the field to run in the morning. Mia wants to talk to Kiki, and I thought she was going to bring up Alexander, but it seems more like she wants to test the waters and check in on how Kiki’s doing.

Kiki assumes that talking to her is the newest strategy for Mia to prevent Kiki from working out, and that’s just a little line and a joke, but I think it says SO much about how Kiki sees Mia right now. Mia is someone who is inherently judgmental and wants to interfere with Kiki’s life. She’s someone who sees a lot of problems with Kiki’s behavior and is on a mission to meddle, so when Mia says she wants to talk, Kiki jumps to an ulterior motive. And listen, Kiki has a lot of flaws as a human being, I realize that she’s not a pleasant person and people dislike her for valid reasons, but this makes me feel for her. This is why I like her as a character if not necessarily being a great fan of her as a person, if that makes sense - she makes sense to me as a character. This type of vulnerability feels very real. I think Druck has put a lot of thought into her characterization and into the Mia-Kiki relationship.

Mia suggests stretching but Kiki’s like, lol no. They run laps, Mia trails behind Kiki, the distance between them getting wider and wider. A funny sight gag as well as a nice representation of their conflict and Mia leaving Kiki out of the loop.

Mia has to stop, she’s out of breath and panting. She’s got a stitch in her side and her feet hurt after 10 minutes. I FEEL YOU, DARLING. I have never been Mia harder than in this clip. Lmao, the difference between Mia who gets out of gym claiming to have her period vs Kiki who’s swimming in an ice cold lake in the morning.

Kiki tells Mia to do exercises while doing other activities, and Mia jokes you can do “push-ups on top of your lover” and Kiki’s like sure, can you find me one? And lol, Mia has to step back after that. TOO REAL.

Kiki just does the splits like it’s no big deal. Wow. Okay. Color me impressed.

Mia asks how Kiki is doing, if she’s OK, and Kiki’s like, why wouldn’t I be OK? It’s been 30 days since Alex dumped me, why would I still be whining about that, it doesn’t make sense! Hahaha! Mia’s face tells us she thinks this is bad news and that Kiki’s just bottling up her feelings. Makes me sad that Kiki is downplaying her emotions to Mia, who’s supposed to be her friend. It’s OK to still be upset, Kiki has very legitimate reasons to feel hurt. She doesn’t have to force herself to be fine if she’s not.

Kiki says she doesn’t want to know who Alexander is with now, which is even worse news and of course the worst thing Mia could hear. I feel like not telling her now made it an extra sting later for Kiki, though. Like she must realize afterwards that Mia was feeling the guilt with suddenly wanting to work out and check in with Kiki, but she still kept this secret that she knew would hurt her.

So Mia did not tell her about Alexander. I think she wanted to know how Kiki was genuinely doing before she told her about Alexander, but that’s still no excuse for continuing to hide it from her. If Kiki was feeling like utter garbage and said so, what would Mia have done? How is she supposed to tell Kiki about it after that? Mia wanted to know if Kiki was okay not just out of concern for her friend, but to alleviate her guilt - to know that when she did tell Kiki, it wasn’t going to be a big deal for her.

Clip 5 - Mia and Alexander are the epitome of discretion

Heh, the time card is upside down! We see Hanna is upside down and glimpsing the world that way, so it’s a fun, fitting gag. This clip aired January 31 which is Backwards Day. I love that we had this little cheeky moment.

Hanna’s upset because she saw the IG videos of Jonas and Matteo playing table tennis, and now Jonas is smoking pot even in the mornings before school, and he’s drinking more than ever. Hanna says she’s worried about him, and Mia tells her it’s not her job to take care of him. I appreciate that she said that, because I’m worried about Jonas as much as anyone, I love that guy. And I love Jonas and Hanna together! But I don’t want Hanna to feel pressured into, say, getting back together with him just to keep him sober, or to blame herself for what’s happening with him. Ultimately that’s his responsibility.

Mia has to leave Hanna, though, and go meet up with Alex. He’s standing in a nook of lockers … is there a door?????? I don’t think so. CHILDREN, BE SMART ABOUT THIS, FOLLOW YOUR HEART BUT TAKE YOUR BRAIN WITH YOU.

They make out until they hear a sound. Let’s be real, when you’re making out in a space like that, where anyone could walk by, it’s not about being secretive, it’s the thrill of not getting caught.

Alex asks her how long this will remain a secret and Mia suggests she come over later that night. Mia looks so dreamy and happy when she looks at him, geez. It’s funny if you realize they’re so busy staring into each other’s eyes that they don’t even notice Mia’s lipstick violently smeared over their mouths as if they were sucking blood from each other’s necks.

After Alex leaves, Mia goes out with her lipstick FUCKED UP, smeared everywhere. Luckily she runs into Leonie and Sara and not, say, Kiki.

Leonie asks Mia a question about the ads for the book, and then she and Sara stare at Mia looking like she ate somebody’s heart. When she asks what’s up, they’re like, no reason, LMAO. That is not an A+ move, ladies, give Mia break and maybe a tissue, but I’m not gonna lie that it made me laugh.

Clip 6 - And no one watched Harry Potter that night

Alex pours some wine for Mia and sniffs it before drinking. Was that genuine? Or was he putting her on? Mia snorts but dials it back; Alex smiles a bit. I think it was a real moment showing what class he comes from, but that he has a sense of humor to recognize it’s ridiculous.

They’re looking for a movie to watch. Mia wants to watch something you can watch over and over, which, let’s be real, is the best thing to watch when you know you’re probably going to be making out during the movie. He suggests Harry Potter.

I love that they didn’t have the same HP movie in mind. Literally no set of opinions on this planet is as intense and divisive as people’s Harry Potter opinions.

I find it very charming that Alexander mentions Sirius Black, and then they start making out as if HP is bedroom talk, because look, I can moan and groan about various aspects of HP and JKR all I want, but ... same.

Someone rings the doorbell. Dinner! OH SHIT IT’S AMIRA. She’s a delivery girl and she tells Alex not to tell anyone about this. Goddamn. I don’t think anyone in the fandom called this as her big secret. Pavel is her boss. Just as an aside ... she’s looking cute in her delivery gear.

And of course Mia gives herself away that she’s chilling at Alex’s. You can see Amira thinking goddammit, I wish I just walked in on a drug deal.

Now all the girl squad knows EXCEPT Kiki. What a total mess.

Amira chews out Mia and says it’s going to get revealed, WTF is she doing. She’s right and she should say it.

Before Amira leaves, Mia says Amira could’ve told them about this, too. Which is nice in the sense that Amira can open up with her friends, but lol, this secret is not anything like Mia’s in terms of causing friendship damage.

Mia sits back on the couch with Alex, but there’s space between them. The mood is clearly ruined, for good reason. Mia takes a drink of wine. Probably need to finish the bottle, dear.

The song: “You just made the worst mistake / And you’ll regret it darling” Well ... yeah.

Clip 7 - And no one ate dinner that night

We see Kiki at Mia’s flat, while Mia and the roommates zip around her in fast forward preparing dinner, and Kiki just sits there and watches. Interesting directing choice, I guess to emphasize how Kiki’s out of the loop? She showed up and is sitting still, they’re busy, it shows both how she’s the outsider, not just in the flat but in terms of knowledge. Like it’s very interesting to me how they film her from behind, at the table, while the other three are lined up at the counter. When Han leans forward and interacts with her directly, that’s when it slows down because she’s brought into the circle. She looks a little confused or anxious as she sits there, not like she’s just chilling having a good time drinking wine and talking to the others. And showing her sitting at the table watching them emphasizes how she’s the guest of honor at this dinner. Mia’s being a thoughtful friend cooking for her, she’s expecting a nice evening with Mia. It’s not gonna go the way she thinks.

Linn asks why Mia never cooks for them and Hans says Mia has to BE there to cook, she’s always gone in the night. Mia glares at Hans because holy shit is that information not going to go down well in a few minutes.

Kiki wants to live in a flat sharing situation so she can cook and hang and talk about everything with her friends. This bit also adds to the beginning of the clip, the feeling of separation - like Kiki desires what Mia and her roommates have, she’s the outsider looking in at them. I wonder if we’ll ever get insight into her home life? Does she feel she lacks this warmth with her family? Hans is like “talk about everything, we’ve heard so much about you,” and that gets another look from Mia. Hans sure loves dropping hints, doesn’t he. In turn, Mia hints that Hans and Linn are supposed to leave. She manages to kick Hans and Linn out, but only after Linn tells us she gets nightmares from ginger. Is that a real thing or a Linn thing? I looked it up but all I found about foods giving you nightmares were about junk food, dairy products, or carbs.

Kiki was chill with them staying but she also likes it just being her and Mia, she likes that they’re spending so much time together, and ohhhhh nooooooo. Kiki thinks so highly of Mia and she’s going to realize that this time spent with her was Mia trying to alleviate her guilt.

This looks like a date, dude.

LMAO RIGHT AFTER I WROTE THAT Kiki is like, should I be worried? Mia, panicking: “Why?” Kiki: “Is this a date and you really want to hook up with me?” IF ONLY

GODDAMMIT, right after she asks that Mia looks stressed, Kiki is like, are you bi or not, and WE DON’T GET AN ANSWER. By now I know the show addresses it, but I don’t blame people for getting stressed at these little halfway non-answers.

When Mia starts to tell her, you can see Kiki’s mood change from “I need to tell you something” when she’s more open to becoming harder and less pleased as soon as Mia mentions “last week at the party.” She just knows what’s coming. She saw Mia and Alexander together, she’s heard Sam mention how they were always together, she had her suspicions, and she knows what Mia is about to say will involve her and Alexander.

Mia is upset and tearful as she tells Kiki about Alexander being interested in her and how her feelings toward him changed. Kiki seems like she’s shut down in a no-nonsense kind of way, jaw clenched. Clearly it must be upsetting for her to hear this, but she’s not like acting out in an emotional way, she’s sort of holding it together while Mia starts to cry.

Mia says that she feels horrible and no guy is as important in the world as their friendship, but I don’t think Kiki is convinced. Mia says when Kiki wants her to stop contacting Alexander, she’ll stop, and OH NO, MIA, NOT LIKE THAT. Kiki catches it too, “contacting,” that there was more than just a kiss. Kiki finally has an outburst and says that Mia has always said Alexander is an asshole and too good for Kiki, but he’s good enough for Mia? I mean ... yeah, something deeply hypocritical about disapproving of your friend’s FWB every change you get, and then hooking up with him yourself. Especially considering how Mia has judged so many of Kiki’s choices, to the point where Kiki locked up her feelings about being dumped just because she knew Mia was sick of hearing about Alexander ... and then Mia goes behind Kiki’s back and gets with Alexander? It’s not just about Alexander, but about what this says about Mia thinks of Kiki, the lack of respect she has for her, possibly that Mia doesn’t care for Kiki like Kiki cares for Mia, enforced by other aspects of the season.

Mia asks Kiki to tell her what to do and she’ll do it. Kiki says to leave him alone, Mia says OK. I really cannot fault Kiki for this. Yeah, it’s not like she should control who Mia sees, but Mia has come to her and put this burden on Kiki’s shoulders, and it’s more about Mia’s feelings than Kiki’s, IMO. Of course Mia cares about Kiki, but what Mia is looking for here is an answer to her problem. I think what she wants is acceptance/forgiveness/permission so Mia doesn’t have to feel bad anymore, but also, it’s possible that she wants Kiki to tell her to break up with Alexander so the choice isn’t on Mia - Mia can break up with him and feel like she’s doing it for a noble cause, because I think Mia does have doubts about being with him, both because it’s Alexander and because of her past experience of getting close to her friend’s brother. Moreover, she wants the choice taken out of her hands, so it’s not Mia’s fault what happens next. And I don’t think this is fair to Kiki, for Mia to present her heart and happiness to her and put her in this position of having to tell Mia what she should do. Like, accept Mia and Alexander’s relationship so Mia can be happy, at the expense of Kiki’s own feelings? Or make Mia miserable by being the bad guy and telling her to break up with him? Absolutely not fair.

Kiki says she better leave and she does, without any drama. The acting was excellent in this scene, both of them sold the hell out of it.

I thought the clip might end here, with Mia crying and contemplating what she has to do, but next we see Mia showing up at Alexander’s. She just walks in and talks off her coat and shoes and flops on the bed. He sits behind her and she pulls his arm around her. Oh boyyyyy. Mia. What u doin.

What I thought might happen after I saw this clip was that maybe Mia thought it’d be like a “last night” sort of thing, where she’d spend one more night with Alexander and then break up with him in the morning. That obviously didn’t happen, because Mia didn’t do what Kiki asked.

I don’t think Mia is like ... obligated to follow Kiki’s orders. Of course not. But she put the request to Kiki, asked her while crying what she should do, tell her what to do, and then when Kiki gave her an answer she didn’t like, she ignored it. I thought she might use the excuse to break up with him because of her own doubts about the relationship, but I think hearing Kiki say the words made her realize how much she didn’t want to do that, and that’s why she needed to head over to Alexander’s that very night.

But it is shitty of Mia to tell Kiki she’ll do something and then not do it. It’s shitty of her to hide it from Kiki and the others. This isn’t the way to handle it.

Also, I think Mia telling Kiki over this fancy dinner that she cooked herself was kinda the wrong move? Not that any way would’ve been easy to tell her. But there’s a sense of maybe Mia trying to overcompensate and even butter up Kiki, like it would’ve been less awkward if Mia just sat her down somewhere private and told her. Have one of those Skam bench talks. Kiki also thought this dinner was going to be a sweet bonding gesture and it turns out Mia was planning on telling something that would hurt her. Additionally, Mia did the thing with the exercising earlier this week, asking to work out with Kiki which is a very unusual occurrence. So she delayed telling Kiki then, and she made it seem like she wanted to hang out just to hang out.

Social Media/General Comments

Alex continues the joke from one of the clips, where he pretends to be texting Sara and then he ends up asking to meet up with Mia but Mia says no, she has to study. He asks if she’s ghosting him but she says no, she would like to hang, but she wants to take it slow. And the conversation ends with <3 once Alex confirms he will NOT in fact be meeting with Sara and copying her boobs. Their banter is pretty enjoyable.

As seen in the clip, Kiki did a throwback picture of the girls on NYE, tagged #BFFS #CREWLOVE #FOREVER and I was like … that sure was passive-aggressive. Or pointed? Guilt-tripping? I think she really did suspect something was happening with Mia and Alex and she’s remembering how she said she could trust/rely on all of the girls on NYE, and that was a “subtle” reminder.

Hanna and Sam text about the drama after they talk with Mia, lmao. Poor Sam says she never has drama and Hanna says good, she doesn’t want it! Poor Hanna, she still has drama now with Jonas even after they broke up.

Kiki asks the girls to go to the movies, but they’re all busy. Amira has “family” (borrowing the old Isak excuse, I see) and Mia doesn’t even explain herself, which makes sense because she was having a movie night with Alexander. But you know, she didn’t even bother to lie.

After Mia and Amira find out each other’s secrets, Amira texts her saying she knows it’s hypocritical but please don’t tell anyone about her job. I mean, I guess it’s hypocritical in the sense that Amira doesn’t want Mia to keep her own secret, but Amira’s secret has like ... no effect on the other girls. They’re not going to get mad and personally hurt that Amira has a job, she’s not doing wrong by them, whereas Mia’s secret will hurt Kiki (and cause a lot of drama among the girls). So I don’t think Amira’s being very hypocritical at all.

Amira doesn’t want her family to know that she has a job. They want her to focus on school. Amira wants money to go to Australia after graduation and her parents won’t pay for it. That’s really cool. I’m so skeptical about getting a S4 since the characters will be graduating, but maybe we can get Amira’s travel adventures? Amira goes to Australia and meets a handsome guy named Yousef down under?

I love that Mia is all “I wouldn’t have expected that from you” (about Australia) because it shows that people are constantly underestimating Amira, eh?

I love that cute picture of Mia in a bathrobe with a towel wrapped around her hair that Alex took.

Hanna texts Matteo about Jonas smoking pot and being worried about him, and Matteo is worried, too. But he tells Hanna not to do anything or it’ll make it worse. Because, well, Jonas’ pot smoking and misery are Hanna-related. Matteo says he will take care of it.

Not to get super personal but this storyline is bringing back all kinds of memories for me, because I had a close version of this happen to me in real life. I wasn’t the Mia or Kiki, I was the Amira. Two friends of mine started dating behind everyone’s back, because another friend had well-known feelings for one of them and Friend A who had initially been trying to hook up Friends B and C then started dating C herself. And like Amira, I randomly found out about their secret relationship, though it wasn’t because I delivered food to them, but because another friend and I drove past A and C holding hands in a Walmart parking lot at 11 pm. Just driving through the lot, looking for an empty space, going to buy a stapler, and we see our friends happily walking our way swinging their hands together. The world went into slow motion as they walked past the car and we looked directly at each other with looks of horror. In retrospect that’s hilarious, but it ended up causing so much teen drama simply because they hid it from everyone, whereas if they’d been upfront it probably would have been fine. And also, as Amira says: something like this always gets revealed. It’s just the way of the universe. So it’s been a little surreal watching this as someone a little older and (hopefully) wiser.

Feel free to explain German culture/translation details to me if I missed them.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

#druck reactions #druck

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