#its 3 am and i am... very confused where they got the impression that michael might make any appearance

[memequeen92]

how do i break the news to this person who commented on this fic saying they can’t wait for Springtrap to meet michael... that the series doesn’t go that far... because it’s... over...

[nintendylan64]

My problems with FNAF Lore

Hey guys. I felt like I wanted to explain my problems with the FNAF lore, and how the lore was ruined for me years ago.

My history with the franchise and the lore Now, I discovered the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise back in 2014 through DanTDM's Let's Play of Five Nights at Freddy's 2. It was the first time I had ever been introduced to the jumpscares and characters in-game. But I actually discovered the first game through a YTP someone made of it. With how little I knew from discovering that YTP, I assumed that Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy were anthropomorphic animals that ran the place, and that Freddy just liked to leave scary stuff in his office because he was a horror guy. That assumption was way off and DanTDM's Let's Play let me discover that the antagonists weren't anthropomorphic animals. I then discovered Markiplier's videos on the games in 2014, and fan-animations of the games like SMG4's Freddy's Spaghettiria series, and Piemations' 5 AM at Freddy's series. Besides the surprising jumpscares, what really got me hooked on the FNAF series was the 80s-90s aesthetics, and the lore behind it all. Around late 2014 and early 2015, I had discovered the hidden lore series by MrCreepyPasta, which was what got me interested in exploring the lore. I loved the FNAF lore when it was just, "Man kills 5 kids in pizzeria joint and the animatronics become haunted by the spirits of the kids". This made it feel much more realistic, as murder of kids in a place like this can happen in real life. The fact that the staff weren't behind any of it, and that the guards were originally just some average joes who got hired for a night guard position without knowing the dangers of it was also very realistic too. And the inclusion of another tragic event known as the "Bite of '87" was also interesting. But the biggest thing that made the lore have a charm to it, was how there was an implied history of Fazbear Entertainment, and FNAF 2 showed us the history of the place before the tragedies happened, as well as implying that the negative impression was stuck before the murders was also interesting. The lore was interesting back then because of how realistic and mysterious it was. And when the third game came out, it was a great conclusion to the franchise, in which the killer got his comeuppance, leaving the kid's souls to rest in peace. And the killer haunting the suit he died in as an attempt to escape his torment of being trapped in a suit, eventually leaving him to be burned alive in the location he was at was a very nice way to end things. But the way it had expanded on the story by taking place thirty years after the events of the first game, with the unsolved mysteries of Fazbear Entertainment trying to be recreated by people was a good way to expand upon the story. So basically, I prefer the FNAF lore when it was the story of how kids were murdered in a pizzeria joint, and how they eventually got revenge on their killer, while room was made to show us how the pizzeria joint handled this, and how the alleged hauntings were shown through the animatronics being possessed. Because of the lore being so interesting, I tried making up my own timelines to tie the story of the first three games together. And seeing as how the lore was concluded, it should've just ended there, right? Well... it didn't.

Where the problems crept in I think that the problems with the lore crept in with the fourth game. Now, this game could've had potential, as it could've taken place in the location where the withered animatronics were used in before FNAF 2, but it didn't do that. We got instead a child suffering through nightmares, with animatronics that have particularly stupid designs. Plus, what made it worse was that the Bite of 83 was introduced, making the topic of the Bite of'87 confusing since it was implied it happened in the second game, but now it was happening in the fourth game? But then it was revealed to be a separate event, why two separate events of the same thing? What constitutes the idea of establishing a similar event to the Bite of '87? It had nothing to impact the games itself at all. The bigger thing that was confusing is this, Fredbear's Family Diner was implied to have been closed for longer than 1983-1987, and the fact that you see the unwithered versions of the withered animatronics in Fredbear's makes it all the more confusing, since Fredbear's was established as a separate, and early location before it was later re-enfranchised as Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. So why retcon what was established in the previous games? Why not just show us in the fourth game what happened with the withered animatronics before they became withered, and then make a fifth game that took place in Fredbear's Family Diner? I don't know why Scott felt the need to retcon things, especially since most people thought that the franchise had already ended with the third game. Later on down the line, Sister Location came out in 2016. And I honestly hate Sister Location, lore-wise that is. The reason I say this is because Sister Location fucked up everything more than the 4th game. This time, there was more retconning, the horror tone and 80s-90s aesthetic was gone, the game felt like Sci-fi and less like the older games. Worse, Purple Guy was given an actual name, and turned from a cold-blooded killer that killed kids because of being a psychopath, into a mad scientist obsessed with placing souls into animatronics using soul juice in an attempt to create murderous animatronics, and he killed kids to do this, but most of them were his own or his friend's kids, Fazbear Entertainment was actually started by this maniac, and Mike Schmidt from FNAF 1 was no longer an average joe working a night shift job, but instead the son of the killer and later became an unrealistic purple zombie that somehow got hired for night shift positions. Jeremy and Fritz were no longer average joes either, and were now aliases for the purple zombie who's actual name was Michael Afton, making Mike Schmidt another alias for this zombie. And now, this was more about a family that was insane to begin with trying to put their own personal demons to rest, rather than the story of the murder of 5 children in a pizzeria joint, and the killer gets his comeuppance while the faceless pizzeria chain tried keep its reputation afloat, eventually failing which lead to the closure of it. All of this shattered how I interpreted the lore. The biggest things that Sister Location fucked up were the following. 1. Taking away the 80s/90s aesthetic. In the first and second game, the game has an 80s and 90s aesthetic with the looks of the locations and decor, as well as the camera sounds sounding like cassette tapes, and the first took place in the early 90s, while the second took place in the late 80s. FNAF 3 kept the 80s/90s aesthetic, and I'd argue FNAF 4 kept the old aesthetic too, such as how old everything looked in FNAF 3, and how the house looks particularly old in FNAF 4. FNAF SL's aesthetics look way too futuristic for a FNAF game, especially since it's said to take place before the first 4 games. 2. Making it more sci-fi. The original FNAF games, and the fourth one were meant to be horror games, and they established this greatly with audio and visual cues, as well as the storyline having a horror-esque feel to it during the first 3 games, and even the 4th game kept. The focus on sci-fi traits or elements in SL kind of kills the horror-esque feel that FNAF originally gave off, especially the whole soul juice and mad scientist part. 3. Making Fazbear Entertainment have an owner. Fazbear Entertainment should've just been left as a faceless corporation that had nothing to do with the murders, the type of company to try and cover up the damage done to their reputation by cutting costs or not batting an eye when a man kills children in their restaurant. 4. Making Mike, Jeremy, and Fritz into aliases. It doesn't make any sense as to why a company would hire a foul smelling zombie who kept changing his name. I think that Mike, Jeremy, and Fritz should've just been average joes that got night guard positions not knowing that their jobs were dangerous and not knowing the hauntings of the pizzeria they applied to work for. And 5. The Afton Family. The Afton Family completely ruined the idea of the children being killed at Freddy's by an unknown man, since now it's just about a family killing his own for a dumb mad science experiment and the son is trying to stop his own father, making it so you no longer play as an average joe that discovers the dark secrets and hauntings of a pizzeria joint, but instead you're just playing as a zombie that needs to kill his own father in order to stop his father from killing anyone else. Seriously, it feels less like a horror game, and now feels more like a badly written self-insert sci-fi story with some bit of horror mixed in. The FNAF series is way too complicated to figure out now due to loads of retconning and unnecessary changes made to the story. Worse, the Nightmare, Funtime, and other animatronics that have been added to the franchise just seems like an excuse for Scott to just add new characters simply to keep the franchise going. Now, let's look at a FNAF fan-game series with a better written story.

Five Nights at Candy's Five Nights at Candy's has a much easier to understand story than FNAF. In the first game, you play as a female night guard at a burger joint where an unfortunate incident occurred between an animatronic and a customer, and an incident involving two kids at the factory where the animatronics were made. The backstory of everything, such as the original location and the burger joint's opening are explained in FNAC 3, showing how two unfortunate incidents at the puppet/animatronic theatre led to the closure of the place. We also learn more about the main character from the first game, and the one who caused the murders as well as the victims. In the second game, everything is concluded with the daughter of the guard solving the mysteries of the old factory. The reason is because Emil Macko managed to actually tell the story in an effective way, without retconning anything and without relying entirely on twists and misdirection.

Conclusion So yeah, I can't stand FNAF lore post-FNAF 4, because of how it became way too confusing to understand, and with how the series started retconning tons of things and making unnecessary changes. And it's amazing how a FNAF fan-game was able to tell its story better than the actual FNAF fan-games. So for me, I'm sticking with the FNAF 1-3 lore, which is my interpretation of it. Before I end this blog though, what's annoying is that no matter if you mention the FNAF 1-3 lore on YouTube, people will instantly start bringing in the modern FNAF lore and correct you, even if you're following you're headcanon.

[sparklingichigo]

Drama Intensifies

Part 12

Meanwhile, Simeon and Luke help Ichigo and Barbatos up, luckily they're not that injured but they need to get them both to safety.

Mammon: Let's go! I think there's a safe room somewhere!

Simeon: Certainly. Can you stand, Ichigo?

Ichigo: Yeah, I can^^ Thanks for the help though.

Simeon: It's the least we can do.

Luke: There it is, let's go! Simeon, can we just fly there? It's faster!

Mammon: Yeah, just give her to me. I'm faster.

Ichigo: Can't you guys not- just get me there ffs-

Luke: Mammon, we're in the middle of an emergency! That's not important! JUST GET HER THERE RIGHT NOW!!

Simeon: [Sigh but gets her there any way via air]

Ichigo: Not expecting that much light but okay-

Luke: Angel things-

Mammon: Here have my shade- [gives Ichigo his shades]

Ichigo and Luke: It's not going to work!!

Simeon: Sorry about that, but we're here now^^ [puts Ichigo to the safe rooms' bed]

In the meantime, Haruka is still fighting against the enemies alone. Since it's too much she decides to take it to the air. The battle proceeds with her summoning more magic.

Haruka: Blizzara!

Yes, that's her first spell, summoning a big chunk of ice to fall against the enemies. Of course, this succeeds but there's more. More enemies are coming at her so she chants out another spell.

Haruka: Thundraga

The name goes without saying, it's a spell to summon thunder, to electrocute the enemies, specifically one of the generals from the shadow Kingdom, unfortunate for him, he got electrocuted. Rip.

Of course, everyone is impressed by this. One of them is a female general, she took interest in her powers.

Female general: This is quite interesting. Who is she again?

Random knight from the shadow kingdom: Oh she's a princess.

Female general: A princess? That's quite interesting. I'm dueling with her.

Random knight: Are you sure ma'am? She just electrocuted one of the generals

Female general: I'm sure she's not that strong against me.

With that, that female general teleports herself to be near Haruka. The two begin to duel, unfortunately, this female general has an illusion power confusing Haruka a bit. The other soldiers are also coming. The knights from Haruka's side are panicking, this includes Satan, he notices that Haruka is alone.

Satan: How is she not summoning me yet?! Where is Ichigo?! Why aren't they summoning either of us?!

Beel: I'm asking the same thing. Where's Ichigo? How is not summoning me yet?

Lucifer: Considering your rank, probably not any time soon.

Beel: What-

Satan: I- Okay-

At the same time, Haruka summons another spell as more enemies are attacking her.

Haruka: Inficio!

Instantly poisonous gas covers the whole area causing her enemies to cough because of the poison but not the female general since she's not even there. She uses her cloning powers to manipulate Haruka.

Haruka: ...not again-

Female general: Hahaha! Now you can't go anywhere! Now you're stuck here and can't even figure out where I was!

Female general: Attack her!

Haruka scoffs as she shows out her swings and flies out of the circle causing confusion in the female general. She battles all the clones in a circle, the sound of swords can be heard loudly.

Michael: Satan! Why aren't you helping her?! You're her main pact, aren't you?!

Satan: I can't! Even if I go there I'd get smack back here!

Back to Haruka, Haruka is thinking of bringing this higher but since she's human she probably can't breathe. Luckily her powers are back, she raises her swords up to the sky and summons one of her powerful spells.

Haruka: Tornado!

Female general: What?! Noooooooo!!!!

All the cloning instantly disappeared and she even got stabbed by Haruka's swords. She coughs blood, signaling her death.

Random knight: Allow me to say, I told you so-

Shadow King: [facepalms]

Michael: Wait I take that back! That's a really big tornado-

Satan: Indeed.

Ramiel: I agree.

Solomon: How the f-

Lucifer: She is once again, a princess. It's no surprise.

In the safe room, Mammon and Ichigo both witness the huge tornado from outside.

Mammon: Damn! That's one huge ass tornado!

Ichigo: I'm not surprised, she is indeed powerful.

Outside, Diavolo and Merlin are both impressed by the result.

Diavolo: As expected! I picked out the right person!

Merlin: That's amazing! Wait....where's my granddaughter?

Diavolo: Currently in the safe room, I believe.

Merlin: Oh, I'll be right back.

With that Merlin teleports to the safe room. In that room, Mammon and Ichigo are still talking about how awesome that tornado is until Mammon feels someone behind him.

Ichigo: Mammon! Behind you!

Mammon: What- [got stabbed]

Ichigo: Noo! Mammon?! Mammon?!

Because of that stabbing that Reika's clone did, Mammon turns back into his half-demon half-human form. His back is clearly injured and just in time, her grandfather appears to help them.

Merlin: Oh my goodness!

Ichigo: Grandpa! W-what do we do?!

Merlin: Of course, we're destroying the clone first. Then we'll heal Mammon.

In seconds, Merlin destroys the clone without any hesitation. The shards went everywhere but luckily disappear after. Mammon is of course still coughing blood causing Ichigo's anxiety to rise even more.

Ichigo: Is he going to be okay?

Merlin: Of course. The stab isn't that deep considering it's just some crystal shards on his back. We will remove this and heal him.

Mammon: I-is it- [coughs] gonna hurt?

Merlin: It might, but it'd be quick. [heals Mammon]

Mammon: Ouch ouch ouch ouch! Not what I expected-

Merlin: Oh wow... that's a lot of blood- well luckily my magic is strong enough to heal him. [heals Mammon yet again, this time to close the wounds and prevent blood loss]

Merlin: Alright then, good as new. I'll be here to guard him. You can go back to battle again [obviously to Ichigo]

Ichigo: Alright, grandpa. [gets out of the safe room]

Just as she gets out, more knights come her way. Ichigo is annoyed by this and just throws them away.

Ichigo: It's time to summon the one and only. Leviathan, I summon you!

Suddenly, a big tsunami came into the area. Just as Shadow King and Reika are talking suddenly the two of them are drenched by seawater with Levi passing by with Lotan.

Shadow King: You were saying about her?

Reika: I told you, it won't be easy!

Levi finally arrived in front of Ichigo riding Lotan.

Levi: I'm here, normie! What do you need?

Ichigo: Well... that tsunami does help. We gotta beat those two up. You up?

Levi: Sure! Lotan, bite them!

Lotan roars and charges again the knights as the knights run off in fear. Levi and Ichigo are of course cracking up. But as they were laughing one of the generals appears.

Ichigo: Oh someone is brave enough to come and attack us. Levi, shall we attack him?

Levi: With pleasure^^ [summons a water sword]

Ichigo: In the count of three! 1....2....3!

The two of them charge against that general. Of course Levi, unfortunately, has to physically fight that general with his sword but luckily Ichigo helps him with her reality-warping magic.

At the same time, Haruka is really tired because of the tornado. So she sits somewhere, summoning a shield. Of course, Shadow King sees it as an opportunity to attack her. His long sword reaches the shield and destroys it in just seconds shocking Haruka. Of course, she is shocked.

Haruka: Not again.... [groans in frustration]

Simeon: Oh no! Haruka!! [running towards her]

Haruka: Huh? [confused noises]

Simeon of course flies there instead to get to her faster. Luckily he gets there just in time to defend her against Shadow King's long sword and his underlings.

Haruka: Dang it, Simeon! You and your super bright light! [covers herself with her wings because she's about to go blind any second]

Simeon: Sorry.... about that [sweat drops]

Haruka: I'm too tired for this. SATAN!!!

Satan: Finally! [got teleported there] wait, why is he here?

Haruka: behind you!

Luckily Satan's tail is smarter than him so of course, that tail is in a battle with whoever is behind him. Haruka is just confusedly watching Satan's tail battling with the general's sword, Simeon is just as confused.

Satan: As I was saying, why is he here?!

Haruka: If he isn't here I'd be dead! I'm tired and I need rest!

Satan: You could've summoned me!

Simeon: Got no time for that, it's an emergency. Is your tail still...?

Satan: Yeah, sort of. [haha the tail is still battling whoever it is behind him]

Levi and Ichigo are watching this from far away and instantly cracks up

Levi: Oh man, gotta love that tail!

Ichigo: Indeed. Having a tail does has its perks.

In the meantime, Solomon and Noctis are still battling Reika. It was a very intense fight since it's just a physical fight between time. Unfortunately, Noctis is down.

Reika: Oh? The most powerful sorcerer can't even beat me?

Solomon: Perhaps I'm just letting you win, just being the gentleman I am.

Reika: Shut it!

Solomon: Time to go all out^^ ASMODEUS!!

Asmo: I've been summoned~ Oh, you're alive! Cool!

Solomon: Indeed I am. Wanna help me, babe?

Asmo: Of course~ Get up, hon.

Solomon: Might as well! [getting on top of him]

Asmo: Let's go~ You can also summon the others if you want to help us.

Solomon: Might as well. I summon you, the demon of knights, Beleth!

In seconds, Belet appears and is now the one battling with Reika.

Beleth: I've been summoned. Any more orders, your majesty?

Solomon: Do your best^^ I'll help from here.

Asmo: Ooh! This is fun! Oh sht.... she's summoning another one-

Solomon: I notice... Do you want me to summon another one?

Asmo: Hm... How about Zepar, he's cool.

Solomon: ....perhaps.

and he did, so Reika's clones are battling Zepar and Beleth while Asmo and Solomon are battling Reika.

Solomon: This is getting out of hand... Where's Ichigo when we actually need her!

Asmo: Battling with Levi? I don't know! I thought you're the most powerful sorcerer of them all!

Solomon: I am! Let me just go all out on this! Sanctus Flamma!

With that Solomon summons a fire sword to match Reika's fire sword.

Asmo: Could've summoned a water sword but here we are- [sigh]

Solomon: Holy flame usually can battle against hell's fire!

Reika: Heh, I doubt that-

Solomon: Wanna try? You can't even survive Michael's holy sword.

Reika: You! [going to charge at him]

Solomon: Nuh-uh uh ^^ Not so fast. Aqua Scutum!

With that, a water-like barrier appears causing Reika's fire to shut down instantly. Reika scoffs and instantly summons her sickle.

Asmo: This is a bad idea, Solomon...

Solomon: Indeed.... run?

Asmo: Run.

The two of them end up running with Reika chasing them with that sickle. Well unfortunately for them, she's a fast runner so here she is in front of you. Luckily someone appears with Levi in time.

Ichigo: Levi, if you may.

Levi: of course^^

Reika, unfortunately, got pushed away by Levi's tsunami. F in the chatroom for Reika. Of course, Reika being the brat that she is, she is throwing tantrum despite being in Levi's seawater.

Levi: So annoying! [gives more seawater at her]

Well...unfortunate for you Levi, she's on top of you.

Levi: Oh sht-

Solomon: Oh sht indeed. Levi move!

Ichigo instantly pulls Levi away as Reika gets down with that sickle of hers creating a big hole in the middle of them, causing a big earthquake.

Ichigo: Okay.... run! Right now! Haruka, do summon them as far as possible!

Luckily Haruka hears Ichigo's command and summons the demon brothers as far as possible causing Levi and Asmo to get summoned near Haruka. Now, this leaves Solomon and Ichigo.

Ichigo: Portal?

Solomon: Portal. Let's go!

Ichigo and Solomon both enter Solomon's portal leading them to a safe place. I know what you're thinking. Where are the angels? They're still battling with the shadow King's remaining knights. Unfortunately, someone has to die today, yes that person being Ramiel. He got stabbed quite deeply causing him to cough blood.

Michael: Ramiel! Noo!!

Rosaria: Ra-ramiel....

Ramiel: I-I'm okay [blood coughing]

Michael: ... you... [Sword turns brighter]

Rosaria: Michael...

Michael: I'm fine. I'll just avenge my best friend's death!

Rosaria: But Mi-

Too late, Rosaria. Michael has forced his sword against the ground causing a big earthquake with the holy light surrounding it. Despite injuring the Shadow King, he's not dead yet.

Meanwhile, Ichigo is summoning her dragon, Violet while Haruka is summoning her familiar, Fenrir the wolf. Solomon yet again, summons his biggest demon, Bune, a three-headed dragon, and Lucifer summons Cerberus. Even Diavolo let go of his two monsters, minotaur, and basilic. Pretty much everyone summons a familiar to help battle this monster. Of course, Reika underestimates them yet again.

Ichigo: O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!

Solomon: What are you doing....?

Ichigo: Summoning my dragon-

Solomon: Oh- [looks up and sees a big purple dragon flying towards them]

Haruka: What was that?!

Ichigo: My dragon. Hello, honey~ [to Violet as soon as she lands]

Everyone is staring at Ichigo bewildered because that's a huge dragon and she still has the audacity to call it "honey"?!

Beel: That's a really big dragon!

Ichigo: It is^^ She's also really nice unless provoked-

Luke: Whoa! Can I ride it?!

Violet: [growls]

Ichigo: Probably not^^

Meanwhile, Fenrir comes running from a portal. Of course, this wolf is in panic because his owner is in trouble.

Fenrir: Oh my goodness! Are you okay, master?!

Haruka: I am... this guy is healing me...^^

Simeon: The guy in question has a name^^

Haruka: Yes, yes. He's Simeon.

Fenrir: Oooh! The white mage!

Haruka: He is^^ But in this world he's an angel. Beware of his bright wings.

Fenrir: Ooh! That's cool!

With that, the battle begins. luckily the monster is now destroyed once and for all. The battle is finished since most of the knights are injured, especially after Michael's light sword destroying most of the knights and injuring the shadow king. But Reika and Shadow King won't give up. They decide to join forces.

Reika: Bold of you to assume this is the end.

Shadow King: Indeed. Let's start our final ceremony.

Reika: Yes, let's do that.

The light side witnesses Shadow King and Reika joining their powers. It causes an earthquake everywhere and they're most definitely larger than earth.

Solomon: Everyone, any plans?

Michael: We haven't summoned the cherubim side.

Ichigo: It's not too late! Summon him!

Beel: For now, let's find somewhere to hide as Michael summons him.

Ichigo: W-wait! Where are we going?! Honeybear?! Beel?!

Belphie: Let's do that. I'm sleepy already. Can I just sleep in the safe house?

Ichigo: Safehouse... Mammon is in there and so is Barb!!

Mammon: you two looking for me?

Barbatos: Luckily your grandfather saved us. So I think it's a good idea to find a place to hide for now but in the air considering the land is going to crack any second.

Satan: ...I can't fly for sht-

Lucifer: Well, time to carry you.

Satan: What?! Wait! Lucifer! No!!

Lucifer: Do you want to die instead?!

Satan: ... not really...

Lucifer: Exactly!

Diavolo: Barbatos! Hold on to me!

Barbatos: Thank you, M'lord.

Mammon: Levi!

Levi: Fffs, I hate it when I have to rely on you- [holds onto Mammon]

Belphie: Man am I lucky to have a strong twin-

Beel: ^^ Well at least I get to protect both of you.

Ichigo: Violet!! Get in here!!

Violet of course flies near them so they can easily fly without needing to rely on anyone. So anyone who can't fly can ride on him. Luckily Fenrir has wings as well, so he can fly too.

Lucifer: Not to worry, Cerberus^^ You're safe now [pets Cerberus inside the safe bubble]

Somewhere the angels are flying causing everyone to reach the blind realm.

Lucifer: For the love of Lord Diavolo! Tone down the brightness!!

Michael and Rosaria: No^^

Simeon: Woops-

Haruka: Simeon! Tone down the light! OmG!!

Simeon: Sorry! I don't know how to;-;

Luke: ....Well, am I glad I'm a kid-

Haruka: Oh well, I'll help you.

Haruka uses her magic to help cover up their angel wings. Now, what's gonna happen? Probably Reika destroying the whole world, but that's it for now. Good luck to all. We'll see you in the next part!

[seapandora]

Sky High, Part 4

Part 3 

A/N: Told myself I wouldn’t mash another movie/seres/fandom in here but I couldn’t help myself. Doves man. Also, if you´re into symbols, theres a lot, and I mean A LOT of them in this one. Writing Steve like this is really fun. Also, writing a sassy reader is really fun. Not that I had to changed much from how I normally am… XD Still a part of @buckysknifecollection​ challenge. Check out the other entries as well! GIF-cred to owner

Warnings: Swearing (I swear a lot, okay), sexual innuendos (later chapters), alcohol, mentions of death/killing, mentions of religion(s), descriptions of toxic relationships!, talks about manipulation

Words: 3109, a little longer than usual, I know...

Steve left Natasha's bar with more questions than answers. How did Y/N not know what happened, how did she not remembered it? She had been pissed at Steve after all. It confused him and he had at that second put it on top of his list to find out what was going on. Well, it was on top of the list together with finding another Nephilim. He would have to put James or Sam to work, figuring out what heaven had done to Y/N. Not that Steve cared about her… because he didn´t… Not in the slightest. She was rude, not very angel-like, and utterly adorable.

Okay, Steve liked Y/N. He liked what he saw in her soul. She was hardworking and ambitious. He also had a very soft spot for her sassiness. It was refreshing to have someone set him straight and talk back. Being King and having people suck up to him got boring quickly. Being King in general, was boring.

He wasn’t out in the field as much as he wanted. Him being around the Nephilim was because that job had to be done correctly, or they would fail. That’s why Steve wanted to do it himself. But Y/N had to mess their plan up. Not that it was her fault. She acted on orders.

“Sir, are you busy at the moment?” Steve heard someone say and he snapped out of his thinking quickly. “Is it news on heaven or the Nephilim?” He asked sharply and looked at the demon in front of him. It was nothing more than a lowly crossroads demon, one who hadn´t been making a good impression lately. “Uhh. No, sir. It´s about my latest deal.” The demon answered and gave Steve a smug grin. “Then I´m not interested. Go tell your boss your sad little story, I don’t have time.” Steve growled and glared at the red-eyed demon in front of him. “You are my boss, so here I am to tell my story.” The demon argued and Steve sighed heavily at the foolery. “Listen here, you useless little shit… I´m your boss´ boss, and I´m sure they´d be happy to end you, but considering you´re here, I´ll do it.” Steve said and got up getting ready to fight the demon in front of him. Not that he had to, he just really wanted to.

It had been a long time since Steve did some old-school torturing by his own hand. He had truly missed the screams of pain. The crossroads-demon laid before him tied up. He had slashes and cuts all over his chest, some were glowing red. The demon was on the verge of giving his life up, exactly what Steve wanted. “Now that we´ve had our fun, and you know your place. I think we´re done,” he explained with a smirk and snapped his fingers, causing the demon to cry out. Steve had demoted the demon to just a regular one. He would hold no more deals, never collect a soul ever again. He had lost all-cause, which was almost as cruel as the torturing.

Steve had thoroughly enjoyed the torture. He would have wanted to end the demon, but he couldn’t afford that with his upcoming mission. If that all went well he would need every demon he could control. He was washing his hands when he heard something that didn’t belong to his palace. The distinctive coo of a dove.

He looked up to one of the windows and saw a white dove sitting in the sun, staring at him. It seemed to have a small package on its leg and when Steve clapped his hands to get the bird to fly away, it barely flinched. He sighed and shook his head before he instead flinched as the bird flew towards him and landed on the table beside him and stretched out its leg. He chuckled at the dove and gently grabbed the little package unrolling a small piece of paper.

`Please meet me in Rowor. Rune is written on the backside of this paper, don’t abuse the power it holds. /Y/N` the note said and Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise. What on earth could Y/N want of him? Enough for her to give him the rune to Rowor. A realm demons were practically banned from. He shrugged to himself and grabbed his blade carving the rune into his hand. It didn’t hurt. Runes weren't supposed to hurt, only emergency runes hurt, but mostly because you hadn't been properly invited to the realm you were transferring too. Steve had been invited, which meant he was fine.

He landed with his black smoke around him and looked around finding Y/N quickly. She truly looked like an angel. He had never seen her in her full angelic form, and it was a sight to see. He had never seen an Angel like that before. Usually, Angels only had their wings visible, and that was what Steve had seen. Now, Y/n was in a flowing light dress. Her wings on full display and they were so full and beautiful, innocent in a way. That wasn’t the surprise for Steve, the surprise was the Gloria over Y/Ns head. It shone with a bright blue light and made Y/N look more angelic than ever. She looked over at Steve and slowly made her way over to him, barefoot of course. Behind her tobacco-plants and lilies sprung up.  

“Close your mouth or you´ll catch a fly,” Y/N said with a soft smirk as she came over to him. “We need to get you to the old Lady of the town. She has to bless your presence.” She explained and began to walk over a bridge that led to a small town. It almost looked comical to Steve. He could vaguely remember being in the town but it must have been millennia ago. He walked with Y/N to the little town and kneeled beside her waiting for he didn’t know what.

An old Lady made her way out of the house and stretched her hand towards Y/N who cupped her hands in front of herself and lifted the Lady. “Hold out your hands Steve,” She said quietly and looked at him. He did as he was told and held his hands out for the little Lady to get onto. “Let her touch your forehead. It´s safe, I promise” Y/N whispered and moved back a little to let the old Lady judge Steve´s intentions and show what they would offer him. She noticed him flinch and smiled softly to herself.

She wondered what the old Lady was showing him but she was overthrown by Sofwalings who climbed up her arms showing her pictures of doves. “We can go see the doves in a second.” She said quietly and let the small creatures curl up in her feathers. She laughed as a few of them tickled her feathers and shook her head at their antics.

Steve had set down the old Lady and looked to Y/N.  “She showed me pictures of food and a bed,” he said confused and Y/N nodded. “They´re offering you food and a place to stay for the night.” She explained and stood up slowly to make sure the Sofwas in her wings were safe. “Follow me,” she said and walked towards an area with small-leaved lime-trees and olive trees. It was Y/Ns coppice. She gestured towards a table with chairs before she went over to her oldest olive tree where her doves resided. Steve didn’t go sit down as she had anticipated but followed her.

“How primitive, doves…” He said and laughed at the idea of them as messengers. “You say primitive, I say effectively. Sofia's doves are the only creatures that can fly from realm to realm without runes.” She mumbled and held her hand out to one of the doves. “Why? What´s so special about these doves?” Steve inquired as he watched her hold one of the doves.

“They´re a sign of peace, that you must know. That’s why they can fly between realms. I, as the angel of peace and balance, am their keeper. They´re called Sofia's white doves because Sofia was the original keeper. Once she passed she exploded into 8 white doves, all are here with me. By now you´ve probably noticed, everything around me becomes peaceful. All the flowers and trees around me represent peace in different cultures.” She explained and glanced over at Steve who was looking around.            

It made sense to Steve now. But that still didn’t explain why she had asked to meet her and he wanted to know that. “Why don´t we eat and talk?” He asked and smiled softly as if to prove he wasn’t a threat to her. Y/N nodded and let the dove fly back to its tree before she walked over to the table sitting down on one of the chairs. She looked at Steve who was getting comfortable filling his plate with food. Y/N did the same of course and tilted her head. “How come you were after the Nephilim you claim was my mission?” She asked softly.

Y/N didn’t know much about hell's hierarchy before Steve summoned her she hadn´t even known there was a king of hell. If Steve had been after the Nephilim it had to be something very important, right?  “It´s… it´s a complicated matter. One I´m not comfortable sharing with an angel, even if you are the angel of peace.” He answered quickly and chuckled nervously. Y/N nodded and sighed softly. “Truth to be told. I don’t feel much like an angel anymore. Something is stirring upstairs and us henchmen don’t get to know what's going on.” She said quietly and sighed to herself. She had no idea how she felt so comfortable talking about her problems with the king of hell. It wasn´t like he could do a whole lot about it.

Steve knew Y/N had been the one to take down the previous God, and he wanted to ask about it, but he wasn’t sure in what way he could bring it up. Luckily he was a demon and he didn’t care about tact or politeness. “How did you kill God? Did you kill him? You overthrew him, right? So why not take the position yourself?” He asked and stared at the angel in front of him. She stared back at him but was frozen mid-bite.

~2683 years earlier~

“Y/N, Michael, Rafael. I need you to go to Earth and handle some angels for me. They´ve started a riot and I need you three to deal with them and have their wings clipped. I ant the wings here with me within the week. Is that understood?” Y/N couldn’t do anything but nod and bow to her god. She never asked questions, she followed orders. If God wanted the angels' wings, she would deliver. Her brothers Raphael and Michael were like her. Ambitious and obedient.

The three transported to earth and went their separate ways to handle the angels. They were the archangels, wisest, and fairest of them all. The lower angels called them the knights of heaven and would normally never bother them. Y/N was the favorite of the three siblings. Both with the lower angels but also with God. She had been labeled the peacemaker of the trio and would often handle her brothers' silly arguments.

God had sent them on a mission to kill angels. Y/N couldn´t help but feel unsettled by it. The angels were her peers. They were family in a sense. She had created half of them in good faith that they would follow her lead and be peaceful creatures. Had she been wrong? Had she failed her mission of peace? She landed on earth with a loud crack of thunder and heavy rain.

Her normal attire had been changed in favor of body armor in sterling silver. The angels had daggers with them, but there was one perk to being one of the three. Y/N had a sword. It was a Claymore sword, fairly long for her, but she liked it and she could work it perfectly. One of the gifts God had given the three archangels. The sword had recently been sharpened and Y/N was ready to obey her father's command. Peace had to be restored, no matter the cost.

It all started in Aurora, Colorado, where Y/N faced her first creation, Philip. Fighting him to his knees and slitting his throat, pained Y/N deeply, and she could feel the cuts it created in her own heart. Doubt came flooding as she pulled the wings from Philips cold, limp body. Was this really the right way to go? Was God really in the right? Philip would have never betrayed Y/N. However, Y/N couldn’t obey her father's commands.

So it continued. The next few hours faced the deaths of Peggy and Sharon. Both of which had proven over and over again that they were faithful to Y/N. Angels weren´t the only casualties in the war. Humans, demons, monsters, they were all slain as the three archangels cleared their targets.

Names were still called from heaven for Y/N, Michael, and Raphael to kill, but Y/N couldn’t do it anymore. She had lost her bets angels. She had slain millions of individuals and had finally understood that this wasn’t peace. This was a war to keep God in the seat of power. This was a campaign, nothing more, a scare-tactic. And she wouldn´t take it anymore.

She tried her best to contact her brothers, but she couldn’t get through to them. They liked spilling the blood of their angels, and humans. Y/N couldn´t understand it but was struck with the realization of what had to be done. In secret, she contacted Maria and asked her to bring a small team together.

Maria had always been a natural leader and had been the leader of Y/Ns angels on earth. Y/N held great respect for Maria and trusted her with her own grace. Maria hadn´t let Y/N down and had gathered up a few angels who were willing to stand by Y/Ns side through what she had to do next.

Y/N had started by summoning her brother Michael. He wasn’t her favorite brother which made the fight between them slightly easier. However, he was still her brother and Y/N still loved him very much. She cried out as she pierced her brother with the sword God had given to her for peace-keeping.

Raphael had felt the distress of his two siblings and had transferred to be by their side. The scene before him had shaken him and he was unprepared when Y/N pierce him with her sword which was drenched in his brother's blood. This time Y/N whimpered and held her brother close as his grace left him. She kept him in her arms for a long time as her team of angels stood around them.

“Ma´am, we need to leave before the Lord starts to suspect anything,” Maria said and moved forwards towards Y/N who didn’t move at all. “Let him come, I will bring him down along with heaven.” She muttered and kissed her brother's forehead before she moved him to let him rest alongside Michael. Her father, God, would pay for what he had made her do. He made her kill her brothers for peace on earth. For peace in heaven.

She didn’t have to wait long until she felt the presence of her father around them. Y/N took a deep breath and relaxed. She wasn’t scared of what was to come. Either she would cease to exist and she wouldn’t have to worry, or she would change the course of the future. She grabbed her sword with both hands and stood up turning to face her maker. “Y/N, my dear. Don’t make any rash decisions now,” God said with an evil and knowing smirk.

Y/N marched against her father, sword raised as she closed in on the individual who had ruined her life and any trust she had for the higher powers. “You planned this. You knew I wouldn’t be able to watch my brothers slay innocent people. You faked the uproar from the angels. You made us kill our own.” She said while tears streamed down her cheeks. She felt like a monster. She was a monster. She too had killed innocent souls.

~Current time~

“I… I don’t remember much of it. It was over two millennia ago. I don´t remember.” Y/N mumbled. It was a lie. A big, fat lie. She remembered everything, every second, every scream, every tear. She just hated talking about it. She didn’t even like talking about Maria taking her father's position, because up until recently she hadn´t been bothered by it, but Maria was beginning to show the same tendencies her father had. Her father, the words disgusted her. How could a father do that to their child? It wasn’t right.

Steve didn’t believe her but he wasn’t in the mood to argue or push her buttons. He would just have to figure it out on his own… Or have someone figure it out for him. He continued to eat with a soft hum. “So you´re the angel of peace? I know you don’t spend a lot of time on earth, why not? They could use some help in the peace department.” He said as he studied the angel in front of him. Sure her species was his enemy, but he too wanted peace on earth. Peace often meant more deals for hell seeing as humans were seldom satisfied with peace.

“Why would I want to be on earth? Humans are appalling creatures. They want whatever they can get, without giving anything back. I don’t know how you guys work, but I have grace. My grace is holy and can only be kept up by me resting or praying to me or my cause, in this case, peace. Humans never pray for peace, they pray for solutions. The Sofwas, this realms creatures, pray only for me because it´s the only concept they understand. They´re peaceful. I spend time here for them and myself.” Y/N explained and continued to eat as well.

Y/N looked at him but shook her head. “I want to know what´s going on. I don’t remember what happened during the mission and I need you to tell me. Something happened in heaven and I don´t get answers from above.” She said and it almost sounded as if she was pleading with the king of hell. What was she thinking? There was no way asking a demon about her mission would end well.

[drumbanger]

Paradise City part 4

Summary: A boring town with nothing to do. Will the blue eyed drummer save you from it?

Chapter summery: You go to the boys show and you and Roger get drunk together.

Word cound: 1,7 k 

A/N: I havn´t proof read it, so there will probebly be a bunch och grammatcal errors.

Warnings: Mentions on smut, Alcohol

You walked in to the pub just five minutes before the band would start up. You went staright up to the bar, but before you had the chance to order anything, sombody tapped your shoulder, causing you to turn around. Brian was standing there offering you a weak smile.

“´bout to start, wanna come backstage instead of sitting back here”? he asked with an little amount of stress in his voice. You just nodded a smile and followed him as he began walking towards the stage.

When you got there, Brian excused himself, needing to do some set up last minute. There was a small couch next to the stage wich you took a seat on, waiting for the show to start. Just minutes later the band walked past you on their way to the stage, greeting you quickly, but you got a quick kiss on the cheek from Roger wich made your cheeks heet up, hoping no one noticed.

Roger sat down at his drumset while Freddie walked up to the mic.

“Welcome beautiful ladies and gentlemen, we´re Queen and we are here tonight to give you a little treat. This first song, we call The Night Comes Down”!

You now understood their name were Queen. You liked it, short but classy. Roger started hitting his drums. You remembered he was good, but not this good. Then the bass work started, wich really impressed you. God they were good, you felt so bad that only such few people had heard them yet.

The rest of the show went on like this, they playing what looked effortless for them and you being blown away by them. 

When the set was finished, all the boys walked staight to their waterbottles, standing at the side of the stage, close to were you were sitting.

Roger walked up to you moments later, laying down in the couch and putting his head in your lap. He had his eyes closed in exhaustion, you looked down on him, studing his beautiful features, he really was beautiful, and god you wanted to reach your head down and kiss him, but you didn´t want to give i just that easy. 

You brushed some hair our of his face and he hummed at the sansation. You softly caresed his face and he opened his eyes, looked up at you and gave you one of the softest purest smilses you´d ever seen. You reurned it and then leaned your head back against the couch and closed your eyes, enjoying the moment.

You didin´t know how long you had been laying there, when Freddie came up to you, softly asking if you wanted to come witch to the bar for a drink, like he was carfull waking someone up.

“We´ll be out soon” Roger answered hazy. You were pleased with his answer. You didn´t really feel like getting up just yet.

Freddie walked away and you made yourself comfortable again, when Roger quietly spoke up

“Can I tell you something” Roger asked, his eyes still closed.

You just hummed your response.

“I´m very glad I met you”

A smile crept upon your face as he said that

“I´m really glad I met you too Roger” the smile still on your face as you said so.

Roger got up from the couch and you opened you eyes

“wanna go out there now”? he held his hand out to you with a smile on his face. You took his hand, got up and Roger led you down to the bar where you ordered two shots each. But instead of drinking them at once, you made a game out of it.

“okay, so we´ll each ask each other a question and when you´ve answered the question, you take the a shot” you explained “I´ll go first” you said.

“go on then”

“how many people have you slept with and who were they” you smiled at your own question

“wow okay, well I think its about twenty- twentiyfive. And they were my two girlfriends, a few i went on some dates with and girls i picked up after shows and at bars” He told and drowned his first shot

“same question for you” he said after he put down his glass.

“seven people. Three of them boyfriends, two of them friends and two one night stands” you said and drowned your shot.

“how did it happen with your friends”?

“well one of them, we got really drunk at home and it just happend, the other one, well we were just haning out and figured we´d just try it out” you drownded your second drink “t´was a question” you said before Roger objected.

“But wow though. Are you still friends with these people”?

“yeah, of couse, she´s still my roomate and i´m still great friends witch the other guy”

“you and your roomate had sex? and it´s never akward, and she´s a she?”

“yup, we had sex, its not akward, why would it be? She is a girl, why?”

“just wonderin´” he said and took his second shot. You both orderd two new shots each, both feeling effected by the buzz and wanting more of it. 

The shots came and you drowned both of them together.

Secods later Brandy(you´re a fine girl) by Looking Glass started blasting trough the speakers of the pub and you jumped up from your chair

“I love this song! Roger pleaaaasee come dance with me!”

“you know i don´t do that” 

“you regreted not coming dancing with me last time, yeah? Do you really want to do that again?” you smirked at at him. 

“that is very true” he said as he got up from his chair. You took his hand and you two stumbled out on the dancefloor like a couple of drunk buffoons. You started dancing like fools and laughing your asses of. The alcohol got the best of you and you turned around an pressed your body up aganist his, he was pretty drunk himself and put his hands on your hips and swayed his body with yours. You knew you were looking like a couple of idiots but you didn´t care, you were having a great time. 

Then out of nowhere you both burst into laughter. You were out of breath and had to cling on each other for support. 

You then decided you´d find the other members of the band. You got out of the big crowd that was the dancefloor and went loking for the remainence of Queen. It didn´t take very long to find them, they were all sitting in a red leather booth along with two other girls wich you just could assum were groupies trying to get in to one, or more, of the bandmembers pants. And Roger certainly caught their interest when you two joined the table, but neither of you noticed that, being very giggly and dazed still. 

When you sat down you saw a full glass of some sort of liquid, not knowing whos it was, and grabbed it, drank half of its contains and handed the rest to roger sitting very close next to you

“thanks, love” he slurred while atempting to be cheeky. After he drowned the drink he turned to you, you faces only inches apart. 

“can I ask you something?” Roger spoke

“ofcourse you can daarniing!” 

“I´m not snooping but tell me how you had sex with that friend of yours that was a girl, I want to know how it workes then”

“well, it´s just like the kind of sex you´d have but like before you´d put it in, like you use your mouth, fingers and toys if you would want that, we didn´t, I mean ´m  no expert, iv´e only done it that one time”

“and it got you of properly?”

“defenitly”

“is it better?”

“oh i think that really depends on who it´s with”

“do you ever feel like doing it again?”

“yeah, sometimes” you said as you reached for a glass of a trey a waitress just put down and drowned it and Roger did the same.

“stop stealing our drinks, will ya” Brian turned to face you

“sorry Mr. May” Roger rolled his eyes and you giggled at him.

Thats when roger felt a hand on his thigh, first he thought it was your hand, but then he realised your hands were still on the table. He looked to his side and noticed it was one of the groupies whos´ hand was laying dangerously high on his thigh. He looked up at her and she batted her eyelashes at him obviously trying to seduce him.

“Hi” the girl cooed at him. Roger state of mind was very hazy at the moment and right now he was just really confused.

“Do you want sex, is that it?” Roger asked the her

“Mhmm” she girl nodded and moved her hand ever further up his thigh.

“Well in that case, this is your lucky day because I´ve heard this bird right here is a marvelous shag” he said tryning not to laugh while pointing at you.

“Indeed I am” you said, who had been watching the interaction “you interested?” you giggled and that turned in to a huge laugh fit beetween you and Roger. But the girl just ignored that and moved her hand impossiby higher up Rogers´ thigh, which did not go unnoticed by you. 

“Hey! Don´t do that. thank you” You exclaimed while you pushed the girls hand of Rogers´ thigh. The girl gave up and moved her attention to Brian, Who was in a converstion with John and one other guy you hadn´t seen before.

“Is sombody jelous?” Roger purred and you rolled your eyes

“Am not” you defended. 

“Oh , how the tables have turned” Roger smugly smirked.

“Yeah, Yeah, who even cares” 

“I do. And you are jelous” he teased. You just rolled your eyes but eventually it turned in to a yet another fit of giggles.

“Let´s get out of here shall we?” you suggested still giggling a bit. Roger smirked up at you and nodded. You got out of the booth not minding saying goodbye to the others. You two stumbled trough the pub together, with Rogers´ hand on the small of your back. 

You had just gotten to the door and were about to open it, when sombody beat you to it and opened the door from outside.

Michael.

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[sodalitefully]

Cat!Slash part 3!

In which Slash’s background finally comes to light.  Fluff with mentions of sex (including some mentions of teenaged sex so heads up there) but nothing terribly explicit. A bit of AU worldbuilding stuff before the fic under the cut, gotta explain some things for this fic to make sense. 

Check out my masterlist for more cat!slash (and other stuff)!

“... And then Duff realized his plan might backfire on him, because Slash started to honest-to-god purr in his arms, and even after living together for almost a month, there was no surer way to get Duff worked up. Sure, Slash was basically making Duff’s point for him (that Slash was all his and he was all Slash’s, so no one better try to get in their way), but Duff really, really didn’t want to pop a boner in front of the man who could make or break his career.”

(So, regarding training and intimacy: Catpets have sexual needs, same as humans, and most often, those needs are met by one or more adult members of their adoptive household. Since sexual companionship is part of most pets’ role, it’s often introduced as part of their training curriculum in their late teens. This makes the pet safer and also a more desirable candidate for adoption. Other subjects covered in training will vary, but household chores, etiquette, and work skills are common, and a basic education is required by law.  Slash spent his childhood with his mother in various households, and his teens elsewhere in foster homes where he received most of his training. I have a lot of thoughts about how this universe works, so if anything doesn’t make sense just ask! 😅)

=^^=

Slash was no stay-at-home pet: anywhere Duff went, Slash could be found on his arm, from rehearsals, to errands, even a meeting with the record label.  The execs sure didn’t seem to mind an extra body in the meeting room – some of them seemed to really appreciate Slash’s presence, in fact, but Duff made sure to stare them down whenever their eyes lingered  too long… Slash had only been with him for a few weeks, and Duff was still very protective.  However they might have minded the twenty minutes Slash and Duff spent going at it in the restroom after the meeting  wrapped... Based on the looks they got on their way to the elevators, the room may not have boon completely soundproof.  Regardless, the rest of  the band had long gone by the time Slash and Duff reached the ground  floor.

“Saul?” Duff heard a man’s voice call out from across the  lobby, and immediately Duff felt Slash stiffen and twist around in his arms to find the source of the voice.  Duff followed Slash’s gaze and saw David Geffen himself, staring at Slash in open surprise. 

“Mr.  Geffen?” Slash responded, using that polite, perfectly-trained-kitten tone of voice that he only rarely used when he wanted people to think he was proper (for example, when the apartment received noise complaints because Slash was blasting music, or when he got restless during a technical delay before a show and started flicking picks around, one of which clipped Tracii in the ear).

“Saul?” Duff echoed in confusion, as David Geffen made his way over to them.

“It is you!  What a pleasant surprise to see you here!“

“It’s good to see you too, Mr. Geffen.”

“It’s been ages since I saw you last, you were just a kitten!  You’ve been doing well, I hope?"

“I’ve been doing very well, thank you.  But I go by Slash, now.”

This seemed to finally trip Geffen up, because he did an obvious double  take, looking between Slash and Duff and Slash’s collar and Duff’s hand on his pet’s waist.  It finally clicked just who Slash was with now: of  all people, the booze-swilling, hairspraying, delinquent bassist of his  label’s newest and sleaziest hard-rock band.

Geffen’s eyes  narrowed in suspicion.  How did a broke wannabe-rocker manage to adopt a  pet panther? The band’s cash advance wasn’t that good.  He was looking at Duff like he was wondering if his intentions might be less than pure. 

Duff  wasn’t about to let that misconception stand, so he made sure to be  extra-sweet to prove to Geffen that he and Slash are a perfect match.  He slid his hand up from Slash’s leather-clad waist and began stroking his hair, lightly scratching at his scalp as Duff cooed down at him, “Slash, sweetheart, you didn’t tell me you knew Mr. Geffen!”

And then Duff realized his plan might backfire on him, because Slash started to honest-to-god purr in his arms, and even after living together for almost a month, there was no surer way to get Duff worked up. Sure, Slash was basically making  Duff’s point for him (that Slash was all his and he was all Slash’s, so no one better try to get in their way), but Duff really, really didn’t want to pop a boner in front of the man who could make or break his career.

Geffen didn’t seem entirely reassured, but he put on a smile. “Duff, maybe you and, ah… Slash? Would like to join me for dinner sometime. We could go over some thoughts I have regarding your band’s future, and your lovely pet and I could catch up a bit.”

Well, Duff wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to schmooze with the boss, even if it was obviously  just a set-up for Geffen to check in on Slash’s well-being, to make sure  Duff wasn’t corrupting his poor, innocent catpet – Duff was offended by the insinuation, but he had to admit Geffen’s sentiment was in the  right place. He kept up the sickeningly-sweet tone as he responded:

“We would love to join you, wouldn’t we Slash?”

=^^=

“What the fuck was that all about?” Duff exclaimed as he and Slash wove through parked Cadillacs and Corvettes until they reached Duff’s old pickup truck.  “How do you know David Geffen?”

“We used to live in the same neighborhood,” Slash explained as he swung into the passenger seat. “Up  in Laurel Canyon.  He was always nice to my mom and I, but I’m surprised he still recognized me.” As if there were more than a handful of pet panthers in the entire state of California. “Though he could have been a  little less judgmental about… us.”

“Yeah, I didn’t miss  that look he gave me, like I might have kidnapped you or something.”  Duff’s lip curled into a sneer, offended at the very thought, but he  brushed it off quickly. “Laurel Canyon... Why does that sound familiar?”

“Hm, well I guess some pretty famous people lived there back in the day,” Slash shrugged.

“Oh?”

“Um... David Geffen, Jim Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Glen Frey –”

Duff just stared. Slash eyes were wide open and perfectly honest, and slowly it sunk in that he was being perfectly serious. Self-doubt started to creep into Duff’s mind – Slash outclassed him by a mile, just like he’d secretly feared – but Slash cut himself off in the middle of the list of names and smiled at him, easy as anything.

“Relax, it’s not like I slept with any of them or anything.  I was just a kitten.” Slash tried to keep the mood light with a little teasing.  He leaned in like he was about to tell Duff a secret: “My mom slept with Bowie.”

“She what?”  Duff’s head actually hit the low roof of the car.  Slash just nodded sagely, barely holding in a fit of laughter.

“We even lived with him for a little while.  I saw his dick once,” Slash stage-whispered with a wicked grin.

“You’re kidding.”  Duff was at loss for words for at least half a minute before – “What… what did it…?”

“Long and pale.  What did you expect?”  Slash wasn’t even trying to hold back his laughter anymore.

“Christ.”  Duff muttered as he put the truck in reverse and pulled out of the lot.  “You know, I’d figured that a fancy cat like you must have come from  some crazy Hollywood mansion or something… but seriously? Bowie?”

“Guess I’ve always had a thing for rock stars.”  Slash leaned over to land a kiss on Duff’s bare shoulder.

“Aw,  Slash…” Duff blushed a little, he always did when Slash said something  sweet.  “I’m not all that.  Just some punk kid from Seattle with a shitty apartment and a shitty car and a sweet, beautiful cat who’s too good for me.”

“Bullshit. You’re gonna be a superstar, Duff.  But even if you weren’t, I’d still want to be with you and no one else.”  

Slash watched the soft expression on Duff’s face for a few blocks, but after a while he couldn’t resist the urge to give him a little more of a hard  time.

“You’ll never guess where I was trained.”

“Jesus, do I want to know?”

“Seymour  Cassel’s.  You know, the actor? At least for part of my training, I kinda moved around a lot, never really go the full, formal experience.”

“Yeah, it shows,” Duff teased.

“Now there I saw a bit of action.  He had quite a guest list, you know.”  Duff groaned in mock despair.

“For fuck’s sake, Slash.  How am I supposed to impress you in bed if you’re  gonna compare me to every star on the Walk of Fame?”

“Don’t exaggerate, Duff, I was still pretty young after all.  Mostly I just  watched, gave the occasional blowjob… some other things…”  Duff groaned  again, lowering his head to rest on the steering wheel when they pulled up to a red light. “I’ll tell you one thing, though, Duff.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” His voice was muffled as he spoke down into his lap.

“You’ve got about the same size dick as Mick Jagger."

Duff’s head shot up like a rocket. “Jesus Christ, Slash!”

“I’m dead serious, Duff…” Slash was not dead serious, in fact he could barely speak through his laughter.  “If you were 20 years older, you could be twins!”

Duff spluttered at him for a second before giving up.  “Fuck off, Saul,” he muttered.

“Hey!”  Slash gave him the most utterly offended look, nearly comical in its genuineness, but Duff just rolled his eyes.

“You  know, I can’t believe that you never thought to mention your birth name.  Do you know how many adoption papers I filled out with ‘Slash’?”

“It’s  not my fault if you actually thought my parents named me Slash,” Slash huffed in the snobbiest tone he could muster without losing himself in a fit of giggles.

“Well, what was I supposed to think?”

“I don’t know, Michael, what were you supposed to think?”

A car horn blared behind them; the light was green.

Duff flipped off the car behind them, then pouted at Slash as he pulls through the intersection: “Suck a dick, babe.”

“Maybe later, love.”

“Don’t bother, I’ll just be thinking of Mick Jagger the whole time.”

“Well fine then, I’ll just have to move back to England, pay a visit to Mick Jagger’s mansion and see what he thinks of my blowjobs, won’t I?”

“Hey, what happened to still wanting to be with me even though I’m not rich and famous?"

Slash  knew very well that Duff was teasing, but he still felt Duff’s heartbroken tone like a punch in the gut. Duff might have been a badass punk rocker but as far as Slash was concerned, it was his job to make sure that he felt protected and loved at all times, so he immediately scooted over on the  bench to lean against Duff’s side. He buried his face in Duff’s  shoulder, curled his tail into his lap, and started to purr.

“Oh, hell, baby.  Love you too."

Slash  was generous with his affection – or at least, he was when it came to  Duff.  But Duff still found himself a little overwhelmed whenever Slash made a point of making him feel as loved as possible.  He was damn lucky that they had found each other, that Slash was here with him instead of  –

“Wait.  What did you mean, move BACK to England?!”

=^^=

Poor Duff, the adoption agency really didn’t tell him anything. And if he’s being honest with himself, he never wanted to ask because he’s afraid that someone richer, better, and more qualified to take care of a pet (perhaps someone from Slash’s past) will someday try to take Slash away from him. It’s not that Slash acts shallow or materialistic at all, it’s just that Duff isn’t a millionaire rock star just yet and generally exotic pets like Slash are adopted into mansions, not apartments - adopting a panther instead of a normal catpet is extra af and usually a status thing. It’s easier to focus on their time together in the moment than to worry about where Slash was before. Duff stresses about these things, Slash does his damnedest to help ("Sir, that’s my emotional support catboy boyfriend"). 

On a lighter note, I could have kept writing their banter forever; in fact I probably drew it out too long already. I had fun with it though, I hope it isn’t hard to tell who’s speaking when I don’t specify. 

Also, that Mick Jagger thing? Like, my favorite part of Duff’s book.

[ionizedyeast]

Statement of Nelson Briar (pt. 2)

Title: 0181105 - Graduation Gift Part: 2/3

“Secondary statement of Nelson Briar, Head of Folklore and Legend Research of the Magnus Institute. A followup containing when he was first exposed to the Spiral.”

“Oh Jon, much better that time. See, now I’m not as inclined to only talk about how lovesick I was and still am. Now we can really start to get to the meaty bits, can’t we? Sorry, I sound a little overly excited this time, don’t I? I can’t really say it’s unexpected. The part about Michael and him leaving clues for me was only the tip of the iceberg. That story was really very simple. My romantic partner was consumed by the Spiral in Sannikov Land, and I started to lose my mind a little trying to find out what happened to him, only to land myself in the midst of the labyrinth as well! 

But you see, now that you’ve added the bit about me being touched by the Spiral, you’ve given me the opportunity to go further back. To long before I met Michael. To long before I even began work for the Magnus Institute. Hell, even before the Usher Foundation. We get to go all the way back to my high school graduation when my grandmother gave me a book.

You know, I know Greek very well now. I spoke a little with my mother growing up. But I was never quite fluent in it. I know it rather well now. Part of my studies in university required me to study Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic and a few other languages in order to appreciate what I was reading on a deeper level. So, when I started learning Greek properly, I should have noticed that Noris Andras was not the correct way to say the phrase ‘early man’ in Greek. That book should have been called something closer to Prooros Anthropos. But I only knew a bit of conversational Greek from my mother and my yiayia back when I received the book. Now, mind you -- my yiayia did not buy me Noris Andras, my fathers mother did. Old Scotch woman. Wouldn’t know the Greek language from a Greek salad. 

My entire family knew I was going to start my undergraduate degree in classical literature. I had always been a fan of myths and legends and ancient stories. I had always been ambitious as a kid -- still am -- I almost chose Icarus as my name when I transitioned but well. My name’s very personal to me. I have my reasons for it. Icarus Briar just doesn’t have the right kind of ring to it. Anyways, fact of the matter. My grandmother on my fathers side wanted to send me off with a very special gift. Apparently she and my parents had been regularly scouting used bookshops and antique stores and old library sales to see if they could find me any especially rare books on the classics. It had been a tradition in my family since I was a child that I would always get a new book of classics to read. I’d always eagerly show my parents where myths would differentiate between publications and where names were spelled differently. Comparing and contrasting these differences was always a delight for me. It thrilled me. So when I opened my grandmothers wrapping on my graduation day and found what I can now say was an exceptionally beautiful book amidst the paper, I was over the moon. It was bound in leather that had been intricately detailed and tanned and bore in Greek letters the words Noris Andras. I knew individually what each word meant but I knew it to be grammatically incorrect. My mother and I briefly conversed over how it must have been a poor translation in Greek, sharing a laugh at my grandmothers expense, of course she had no idea. But it was truly a gorgeous book. It was old. I could smell the age of the pages, all brushed around the edges with gold leaf for a particularly lovely sheen. But its condition was stunning. We supposed there must have been a dialectical reason for the grammatical faux pas of the title, but either way, I was in love with this book. It felt like it belonged in my lap. If you asked anyone else in my family about the day I received that book, they would say it was just me, my parents and my grandmother sitting in our living room, eating appetizers as we waited for my cousins, aunts and uncles to arrive for my graduation party. But I’m the only one that will tell you that there were five of us in that room.

My brother was there too. My twin, but he had graduated early and had finished his first year at MIT. He was so proud of me, but anyone could tell you -- if they remembered this correctly -- that shortly after I opened Noris Andras and held the book upon my lap, my parents and grandmother were immediately fussing over my brother. My brother. . .the real Nelson Briar.

Nelson, the-the real Nelson, that is -- he was the star of the family. He was brilliant. Highly intelligent. Charming. Well liked by just about everyone. And he was my best friend. We both had lived a life of constantly lifting one another up, supporting each other and doing our best to be in each other’s court through all our struggles. But even through it all, my entire family always found his achievements far more impressive. He was going into engineering. He had graduated early. He had a 4.0 at the end of his first year. Nelson was perfect. 

Now, I suppose you’re wondering, ‘So why did you choose his name when you transitioned. Isn’t that confusing.’ Well, it would be if there were still two of us. But I’m getting there, hold your horses Jon.  As you no doubt have concluded by now -- Noris Andras was a Leitner. My grandmother found it in an antique bookstore covered in dust and filth and she’d brought it to a book restoration center to get it repaired. So that’s why it was so nicely maintained when I received it.  After the graduation party was over, Nelson and I went up to our roof. Our bedroom at home had a stairwell that led to the roof and we’d often go up there in the summer together. While he was away at school I often went up there to smoke and think when I’d had especially long days. I had brought Noris Andras up with me because I was truly fascinated by it, and Nelson seems really interested as well. So he and I ended up flipping through it while we were on the roof, just fascinated by the content. The entire book was clearly written in Greek, but neither of us seemed to have much of a challenge reading it. Perhaps it was all very easy for us because of our occasional conversations with our mother, but Nelson told me, he had never seen my eyes light up while reading like I did while skimming that book.

It was filled with stories and legends I had never ever read before. Legends that I swore must have been lost to time. Or cultures that only had one written document in their entire community. I was astounded. There was nothing in those pages that even hinted at being a retelling of another story. They were all completely new to me.

Nelson left me to my reading and turned in for the night. Morning came and I was still on the roof. I had read almost the entire thing. And I felt like I knew secrets that no one else in the world knew. I felt like a god that morning. There were deities and demigods I had never heard the names of. Heroes with names that could be broken down into Forsaken Daydream in terms of its translation. Tales of growing women from tufts of their hair, who would grow and grow and become titans. I had a book in my possession with myths that were as old as civilization. And I was the sole keeper of these stories. 

I did some research, naturally. Tried searching the names of characters but nothing came up online. What I had was purely original and I was thrilled. And I needed to know if more of these stories existed. I searched Noris Andras online both in English and Greek and only found sources trying to correct my grammar. Nothing like this book existed and my pagan heart told me I had been blessed by Athena herself and she was bestowing knowledge on me that was too important for anyone else. Of course, Nelson thought I was out of my mind. He told me to call him when a story existed about a gorgon made of pillows would prey upon those who denied travelers blankets when staying anywhere as a guest. Or something to that extent. I told him I still had a small portion of the book left to read and I’d get back to him. Now, I don’t think it will come to any shock to you, of course, when I tell you the very next story in Noris Andras was just that. I stopped reading for a spell after seeing that. And I thought there was absolutely no way this would be the case. So I thought incredibly hard about another concept. Just something I conceived for shits and giggles. A transgender young man who could create his own myths and legends simply by willing them into existence. It was ego stroking but if my brother could pitch an idea to this book and for it to be on the very next page. Surely, I could do the same?

But the unfortunate part was. I was at the very end of the book. There was only about six or seven pages left, and I assumed it was an appendix covering terminology in the book. But as I would soon check. A story appeared on those final pages. It bore the name I had been using at the time -- Nigel -- and told a story of a young man who could weave stories in and out of reality. How he could simply will it and wish it and bring the stories he so desired into our world. And the story read like what my very heart had always wanted. A power to make fiction real. To make the mythology I had loved so very dear real.

And as I got to the bottom of the page, I saw the only English in the entire book. It was a small contract. It simply said: “Do you accept?” I wasn’t sure what to make of it. But as I had flipped to that page, I gave myself a paper cut. My blood dripped on the page and like invisible ink -- it vanished.

Any normal person would tell you this is abnormal. Blood doesn’t just vanish. But part of me just accepted that this was normal. And so I closed the book. My gut told me to simply close the book and leave it on my bed. And my gut also told me to make a wish. I made it simple. I wished for my shoes to be untied. I looked down. And the laces lay loose on either side of my foot. I could brush that off. Maybe they had always been untied. I made another wish. I wished for my bedroom door to open. And it did just that. Very well, my house had always been a little drafty. So I went a step further. I wished for Noris Andras to be back in my hands. And it was. 

I don’t think I need to explain that I had discovered I had a new power thanks to this antique book. But it wasn’t something I could just tell anyone about or just indulge in. I didn’t know if it was something on a limited use factor. But I did know what it did was very, very real. And I suppose, I didn’t realize how dangerous it was until I used it for the wrong reason. As I mentioned before. I used to use the name Nigel. It was my preferred name back then and truthfully, I’m glad it’s not anymore. My dead name did not begin with an N and my parents were still calling me by my dead name at the time. I’d not yet come out to them, but I had come out to Nelson. Nelson was beyond supportive. Often would do whatever he could to help me feel comfortable in my own skin. Used my preferred name and pronouns in any situation he could without outting me to our parents.

I’m still not sure why I turned Noris Andras against him. I don’t even think I did it on purpose. But you know, they do tell you to be careful what you wish for. He didn’t out me to our parents. A friend of ours did. On accident. I don’t hold it against him. He thought I’d come out to our parents. Our parents were not exactly the most accepting. Sat on the couch listening to them tell me about how they weren’t going to cover my college expenses anymore. How I was going to work instead and pay for my own education if I wanted to go so badly. Whole slew of hurtful things. Nelson tried to diffuse the situation. He did his best. Until I just said aloud. “If you can’t stand me so much, then how about I just wish me and Nelson were one and the same.” I asked if they would prefer if they only had ever had one son. The perfect, wonderful, flawless Nelson. And just like that. It was my graduation party again. I was sitting on the couch. Noris Andras was in my lap. My mother kissed my forehead and told me “We’re so proud of you, Nelson. You’re going to do so wonderfully in college.”

Nelson was gone. Or rather. Nelson and I became the same person. Somehow. I looked down at Noris Andras. I opened it to the last page, and beneath the words “Do you accept?” was a name, written in the dark brown of dried blood -- Nelson Briar.

I was still trans, mind you. When the party ended, I went to my room -- it had always only been my room. One bed. One dresser. One desk. I stood in front of the mirror in just my underwear. I was in my binder. I examined myself. I didn’t look like Nelson. I still looked like me. But I was more mannish. I was on hormones. My wish, whatever that wish was. Gave me all the love and support my family had given Nelson -- but at the expense of his existence, as it were. I lived my life ever since then as Nelson. That’s who I am now. Kind of funny, isn’t it? The Distortion became Michael just as Nelson became me. Very juxtaposed. 

I should add, in all my years of research, I never found another copy of Noris Andras. Nor did I ever find the other myths mentioned. I can only assume the people in these stories were also affected by the book as well. Maybe none of these stories are even from Greek mythology. Maybe they’re from another world altogether.

Oh, and before you ask. No, I don’t have Noris Andras anymore. If I did, MIchael would still be here. I would have wished him back ages ago. I caught him holding the book when we were sort-of-living-together. He asked me where I got the book and I told him it was something of a keepsake, but he wanted to borrow it. Naturally, I let him, thinking he was going to leave it in the apartment, but well, I have reason to believe he brought it to Gertrude and she disposed of it. If not it’s buried somewhere in the Institute. Either way. . .I don’t think I want it back. It’s not like it ever did me any favorites.

I believe that’s all I have time for, Jon -- I have a meeting to attend. Sort of. I think Peter’s still trying to tempt me back into the Lonely along with your boyfriend, but I’m going to have to tell him to sod off. I’ll be seeing you. I’m sure you’d love to hear the rest.”

[ladyknight1512]

I’ve seen this 5SOS ask meme floating around a few times and I don’t do ask memes but I do love me a questionnaire so I decided to just fill it out, not that anyone else will care.

1. When did you first find out about 5sos?

The first time I remember hearing one of their songs was in 2016, but they didn’t properly come onto my radar until early 2018. I know, I know. I was super late to the party.

2. How did you find out about them?

In February/March of 2018 they were guests on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, which I listened to because I liked the host, even though I live on literally the other side of the world. I wasn’t familiar with the band at that point, beyond Want You Back, which had been on the radio pretty much every single day, and which I actually really liked. But hearing their interview made me want to look them up and find out more about them. And now I’m here, 8 months later, filling out a 50-question ask meme because apparently I have nothing better to do with my time.

3. What was the first song you heard by them?

She Looks So Perfect, in 2016.

4. Have you ever seen them live?

Yes, in Melbourne for the Meet You There tour. They were great and I would definitely see them again.

5. Have you ever met any of them?

Nope.

6. Who was your fave when you first started to like them? Are they still your fave now?

Ashton has been my fave from the beginning, and he still is now, but I like them all for their own reasons.

7. What is your favorite 5sos song?

Ghost of You.

8. What are your favorite lyrics?

I’ve got a jet black heart and there’s a hurricane underneath it – Jet Black Heart

9. What is your favorite music video?

I don’t really watch the videos much but I think Valentine is the most creative and visually interesting.

10. What is your favorite cover?

As in, song they’ve covered? No Roots, which they did in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. I made it my ringtone I love it so much. Their cover of Stay for Spotify is fantastic too, though.

11. What is your favorite album/EP?

Youngblood.

12. What is your favorite bromance?

Probably Cashton.

13. What is your favorite livestream/twitcam/keek/interview /etc?

The Zach Sang interview they did in early 2018 is probably the one I’ve watched the most. It’s actually what turned my vague interest into proper obsession.

14. What is your favorite hair color on Michael?

Most of the colours were before my time but I am partial to his galaxy hair.

15. What is your favorite thing each of them has tweeted?

I don’t have fave tweets, but Ashton’s twitter in general is just a place of positivity and love, and I appreciate that.

16. How many of their albums/EPs do you own?

I own all three albums and various songs from the EPs, but none of the EPs in full.

17. Do you have any 5sos merch?

OMG, yes. Too much, considering I’ve only been a fan for 8 months. I think I’ve got 5 t-shirts, plus one more coming, a long-sleeve, a hoodie, the signed Youngblood litho (which I framed), three other posters (one signed – also framed) and the book. Yes, I bought the book, even though it precedes my time in the fandom by about 4 years. There might be other bits and pieces that I’ve forgotten about, but you get the gist.

18. Do you have any 5sos posters on your walls?

Yes, four. See above.

19. When they come on in the car/store/etc, what do you do?

I’ve never heard them in stores, but when they come on the radio I always cheer and get stupidly excited.

20. Who in the band do you think you’re most like and why?

Probably Michael. He likes cats, he’s a gamer, he seems more introverted than the others – all things that I definitely relate to.

21. Who do you think you’d get along with the most? What about the least?

I think Michael is either the one I’d get along with the best or the least. We’d either be too similar in a good way or a bad way.

22. If you could ask them each one question right now, what would you ask?

I’d like to ask Luke if he thinks he was too young when he got into all this. Personally I think he was, and I think we’ve seen the consequences of that, but I’d like to hear his thoughts on it.

I’d probably ask Ashton what his favourite cocktail is.

I’d probably ask Michael something gaming related.

I’m not sure what I’d ask Calum. He’s always been the one I relate to the least, so he’s a bit of an enigma to me.

23. What was you first impression of each of them?

I thought they were all generally pretty funny, but I actually thought at first that Ashton and Michael didn’t like each other. I think I just got a string of interviews and appearances where Ashton was particularly talkative and Michael was particularly quiet, and there seemed to be a lack of eye contact between them. I’ve since watched all these interviews again and I definitely see them differently and I pick up on more of the subtext now, but I was kind of confused initially.

24. How do you feel about the blonde in Calum’s hair?

Again, before my time, but I’m pretty indifferent.

25. How do you feel about the length of Ashton’s hair?

I prefer it short and I love the curls, but whatever he’s happy with is fine with me.

26. If you were trapped on a deserted island and could only bring one member with you, who would it be and why?

Probably Ashton. He seems like he’s got a good head on his shoulders, so he could potentially do something about getting us off the island, but he also likes to have a good time, so I think he could make our time there enjoyable, even as I was growing more and more dehydrated and sunburnt.

27. If you could switch everyone’s instruments, who would play what?

I love Ashton on guitar. It just does something to me. Also, that video of him on guitar when they did Teenage Dream? That was so cute? He was bouncing all over the stage, having the time of his life.

As for the others: Luke on bass, Michael on drums and I guess that leaves Calum with the other guitar.

28. Which Don’t Stop superhero would you prefer to be rescued by and why?

They all look pretty horrendous, but I think I’d laugh the least if I was in a bind and Mike-Ro-Wave showed up.

29. What is one song you really want the band to do a cover of?

I’d love them to do a country song with Ash on vocals, but that’s the most I’ve thought about it.

30. If you had 48 hours with your fave what would you guys do?

Oh god, I don’t know. It would definitely involve Ash and an acoustic guitar. I think I’d really just like him to take me to all his favourite places in LA and hang out with him and listen to him talk. I reckon 48 hours with Ashton would be the most fun and exhausting and exhilarating 48 hours of my life, but I’d be up for it.

31. If your fave were to propose to you right now, would you say yes? How would you want him to do it?

Well, it would depend on if this proposal were just out of the blue or if we’d been in some kind of serious relationship first. If the latter, then yes, probably. As for how: I feel like Ashton is the kind of person who would either go really big, super over the top with a proposal, or be really, really low key and just kind of ask at home while you’re doing something really normal and boring. Either would be fine with me.

32. If you could rename the band, what would you name them?

Luke and the Penguins? That’s literally the first thing I thought of. I’ve never thought about this before in my life. Seriously, though, I like that they seem to have embraced ‘5SOS’ as an identity, rather than just an abbreviation. ‘5 Seconds of Summer’ feels very much of its time and feels out of place in the current music world. ‘5SOS’ feels more true to who they are now.

33. What is your favorite thing about each of them?

I love the tongue thing Luke does. You know what I’m talking about.

I love Ashton’s sense of humour and his passion.

I love how Calum thinks Ashton is the funniest person alive.

I love how excited Michael gets about really nerdy things.

34. If you could change one thing about each of them what would you change?

I’d change Calum’s smoking habit, because it’s unhealthy and I worry for him, but other than that I wouldn’t change anything. They are who they are because of the choices they’ve made, good and bad.

35. What 5 words would you use to describe each of them?

Ashton: funny, passionate, driven, focused, storyteller

Luke: rockstar, vulnerable, electric, dorky, angel

Michael: adorable, quiet, genuine, caring, sweet

Calum: underrated (musically), solid, reliable, thoughtful, dedicated

36. If you could be the lead role in any 5sos music video, existing or not, what song would it be for?

Maybe Talk Fast?

37. If you could steal one thing from each of them (clothes, hats, etc) what would you take?

Ashton’s leather jacket, Luke’s black boots, Calum’s green hoodie and Michael’s necklace (that really long one he always wears).

38. If you were sharing headphones with your fave what song would you put on first?

Worry ‘Bout Nothin’ by Keith Urban.

39. Would you rather meet 4/4 but never get to see them live or see them live but never get to meet any of them?

See them live but never meet them. I’ve only been to one of their shows, but it was amazing and so fun. Plus, if I met them they’d forget about me pretty quickly because they meet fans all the time. If I can’t be special enough to remember, I’d rather have the full experience of a show than a quick hug and photo.

40. Would you rather catch Luke’s guitar pick or Ashton’s drum stick?

I’m an Ashton girl so definitely the drum stick.

41. Would you rather never be able to sing one of their songs again or never watch any of their music videos again?

Never watch their music videos. I don’t watch them much anyway, and half the fun of loving a band is getting to sing along. Honestly, one of the moments I’ve ever felt most alive was singing along to Jet Black Heart with thousands of other people at the MYT show.

42. Would you rather be brought on stage for an entire song or meet only 2 of them in public?

Probably meet 2 of them in public? I think I’d feel super awkward being on stage for an entire song. Everyone would be staring! I wouldn’t know what to do with my hands! Plus Ash would be behind the drums on stage and, therefore, unreachable. At least in public I’ve got a chance for a hug.

43. Would you rather play video games with Michael or go on a road trip with Ashton?

That’s super hard, because I’m a gamer but Ash is my fave. Hmmm… Probably road trip with Ashton, because that’s not something I would normally do anyway, and there would be plenty of time for talking and rocking out to whatever playlist he loads up.

44. Would you rather have Calum give you a tattoo or Luke give you a haircut?

I have more faith in Calum’s tattooing skills than Luke’s haircutting skills, so let’s go with the tattoo.

45. Would you rather date your fave but have the others dislike you or be friends with all of them but not be able to date/hookup with/kiss any of them?

Be friends with all of them. Definitely. I’m not sure dating them would be much fun anyway, in reality. They’d always be gone or going away. And they just seem like the kind of people you would want to be friends with.

46. Would you rather sing a duet with Luke or write a song with Calum?

Sing with Luke. More fun. Plus I’m already getting that tattoo from Calum.

47. Would you rather go to the fair with Malum or go stargazing with Lashton?

Stargazing with Lashton.

48. Would you rather touch Calum’s butt or Ashton’s biceps?

Ashton’s biceps. I am a girl who loves a nice set of arms, and Ashton’s are very nice.

49. Would you rather get high with Michael or drunk with Calum?

Drunk with Calum, but only because I’m not into taking drugs.

50. Would you rather have Luke give you his 'You Complete Mess' shirt or have Michael give you his denim jacket?

Michael’s denim jacket.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1235

Monday, November 5, 2018

 I schlepped my giant laptop to Comet Comics new location last week to write these reviews. Otherwise there would have only been two titles that had any rack copies for me to borrow. My thanks to Becky and Ryan for giving me permission to read their subscription service comics.

 Penny and I had a daylight savings time oopsie moment Sunday morning when we went to the Carleton Tavern for breakfast. Sam is always there early and we usually are among his first customers at 9 AM when he officially opens. We hadn't changed the time in the car and thought that it was really deserted when we got there. It's usually hopping at 10 AM but our server pointed out our boo-boo and boy did I feel like a goof. I would like to see the twice a year time adjustments go the way of the Dodo bird.

 West Coast Avengers #3/LGY #105 - Kelly Thompson (writer) Stefano Caselli (art) Triona Farrell (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Spider-Gwen is my favourite team member right now. The fight with B.R.O.D.O.K. escalates with more giant mutated women stomping around L.A. The good news is Tigra is now on the side of the good guys. The bad news is Kate got zapped by B.R.O.D.O.K. I love all the dialogue and team members interacting.

 Iron Man #5/LGY #605 - Dan Slott (writer) Max Dunbar & Gang Hyuk Lim (art) Dono Sanchez Almara (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Self Made Man part 5. Remember Arno Stark? I didn't. He's Tony's brother. This issue features his return and he's a piece of work. This genius makes Spock look like he's emotionally unstable. Arno teams up with someone who has already caused Tony problems so the future should be quite interesting.

 Extermination #4 - Ed Brisson (writer) Pepe Larraz (pencils) Dexter Vines (inks) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). This is where we find out why Ahab is trying to kill the young X-Men from the past and how young Cable is trying to save everybody. I knew newbie Nathan was a good guy. It's too bad the good guys run out of time when Ahab's harpoon finds its target. You may notice a subtle change in the art as Pepe's pencils are inked by someone else.

 Hex Wives #1 - Ben Blacker (writer) Mirka Andolfo (art) Marissa Louise (colours) Josh Reed (letters). This new Vertigo series is about  a coven of immortal witches and the men who are trying to exterminate them. We begin in 1692 with the introduction of the main witches and end the issue in the present (?) where they have been reincarnated, but are unaware of who they really are and their powers haven't manifested yet. The reason I've put a question mark on the present is because it looks more like the 1960s with the way the women are dressed. That bit of confusion was enough to turn me off so I won't be reading any more.

 Marvel Two-In-One #11/LGY #111 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Ramon K. Perez (art) Frederico Blee (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The reunion of Ben and Reed starts to fill in the blanks for us fans as to what the rest of Fantastic Four Family was up to after they left Ben and Johnny to go exploring. I don't think any other writer has impressed me as much as Chip has with how Reed is being portrayed. Just reading Reed's dialogue makes me smarter. We also meet a new version of Doctor Doom and I like him.

 Old Man Hawkeye #10 - Ethan Sacks (writer) Marco Checchetto (art) Andres Mossa (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). An Eye for an Eye part 10.  The Hawkeyes cross the border into Canada in Clint's search for more Thunderbolts targets. This time it's the treacherous Moonstone. Meanwhile good old Bullseye is still hot on Clint's trail. The super big bad guy has finally gotten what he wants and that could mean trouble for our hero. I love this alternate future.

 Old Man Logan #50 - Ed Brisson (writer) Ibraim Roberson & Neil Edwards (art) Carlos Lopez (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). King of Nothing conclusion. So what did I miss since I stopped reading this book? A lot. I think the run ends here with Logan fighting Maestro, the evil Hulk from an alternate universe. Maestro has taken over the small town on Fort Wells in Canada and Logan aims to free the townsfolk from tyranny. I thought the bad guy was defeated way too easily and the last panel hinting that Old Man Logan dies was wimpy. Fans need not despair though. Dead Man Logan hits the racks in November.

 Deathstroke/Yogi Bear #1 - Frank Tieri (writer) Mark Texeira (art) Jeromy Cox (colours) Wes Abbott (letters). This $4.99 US one shot featuring DC and Hanna-Barbera characters is chock full of crazy cartoon silliness. Yogi hires Deathstroke to find a missing Boo Boo. As an incentive to buy the others in this series of crossovers there's part one of a Secret Squirrel story that continues in "Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound #1".

 Heroes in Crisis #2 - Tom King (writer) Clay Mann (art pages 1-15, 19-22) Travis Moore (art pages 16-18) Tomeu Morey & Arif Prianto (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Harley is great in this story. I love how Tom King is writing her. I was happy to see Booster Gold bite the dust last issue but alas, Skeets shows up to revive him. Wondering who is killing the B-list heroes is keeping me interested.

 Jessica Jones: Blindspot Graphic Novel - Kelly Thompson (writer) Mattia De Iulis (art & colours chapters #1-5) Marcio Takara (art chapter 6) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours chapter 6) VC's Cory Petit (letters). No Netflix? No need for FOMO. I binged this 5-part mystery plus bonus birthday party story in one sitting and that's rare for me. As much as I like Michael Gaydos's work on Alias, I much prefer Mattia De Iulis's art in this twisty cold case. I really liked seeing Matt Murdock, Elsa Bloodstone and Spider-Man showing up in this story. Brian Michael Bendis made me a big Jessica Jones fan and I wasn't sure if Kelly Thompson could match Brian's take on Jess but I was very impressed with this story. Even if you've never read Alias or know nothing about Jessica Jones you should buy this book. It's that good.

[clown-bait]

29 Neibolt ST (Monster Roommate AU) CH 30

Oh god this one got long but like so much happens man. And before you get mad I’m not sorry for what I did. Also I’m a sucker for Robert getting super proud of his trashpire and being unintentionally supportive. Like he goes out of his way to be a mean evil bastard but at the end of the day he’s secretly gonna be like “Don’t tell anyone but.. I’m proud of you and if anyone says otherwise I’ll rip out their organs. <3” he luv his trashpire. So yeah shit goes down have fun.

music for this chapter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0TzUNti3rY

play at the beginning for maximum comedic effect.

CH 30

Lets Get Ready to Die

“Mmmm Leech you’re so tense” Robert mumbled into her skin. “Do I frighten you love?” he smiled into her continuing his assault on her neck. He pulled slightly away when she didn't respond to his nips “Love?” he removed himself completely and stared at her blank face with a puzzled look. “Leechie?” he waved his injured hand in front of her face. He turned his head to see what had his nosferatu so stunned and before he could react she exploded out of his arms screaming like a banshee.

“ADAM!!!” She howled limbs flailing frantically through the crowd to get to the fleeing ghost from her past. “AAAAADDDAAAM!!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD YOU SON OF A BITCH” she roared and shoved an unsuspecting Chucky into the wall of enraged muscle that was Michael Myers. Who threw the former doll into the Babadook spilling the grief monster’s drink all over himself and his large new boyfriend Pyramid Head. The two former monsters stared at eachother from across the room and charged. Soon a domino effect of punches began.

“CLUB FIGHT!” Freddy yelled right before Jason broke a chair over him. Robert took off after his mate who could be heard shrieking obscenities over all the chaos around her. As a creature of destruction Robert was a bit impressed that his mate could cause so much discord and pandemonium within a matter of minutes. Maybe there was such a thing as destiny after all.

“I AM GOING TO RIP OUT YOUR ENTRAILS AND WEAR THEM LIKE A FUCKING SCARF YOU POMPUS PIECE OF SHIT” She screeched tearing through people to get to the man trying to shake her off. She finally caught up to him and smashed a bottle on a table pointing it at her ex-lover “I WILL BATHE IN YOUR BLOOD AND MAKE MY MATE LICK IT OFF! GET READY TO DIE AGAIN FUCKER!” Leech let out a roar and charged but was smacked in the ribs by a flying bar stool, her small frame never standing a chance. Adam took his chance to slink into the surrounding chaos and Leech directed her rage at the person who threw the stool. Poor Ghostface didn't realize the mistake he had made till he felt the fist collide with his mask. Leech was fuming mad, how the hell was that manipulative asshole still alive? Ash must have fucked up the words again. This is what she gets for trusting a human. Someone pulled her off the poor serial killer and Leech spun around punching whoever it was in the nose, Freddy stumbled back holding his face “Jesus Fangs its me calm down!” he shouted

“He’s fucking back Fred! HE’S FUCKING BACK!”

“Yeah yeah everyone heard you screaming. You know, you didn't have to break my damn nose!”

“I need to kill him right now. I’m mortal at the moment and theres no doubt he’ll be after me!”

“Look you wanna have your little soap opera that’s fine, but lets focus on getting everyone back to normal first then you can go stabbing anyone you want yeah? I’m fuckin tired of being able to die.”

Leech stared at her friend her chest heaving and fresh blood poured from a cut on her forehead and onto her lip. She shut her eyes flicking out her tongue to taste it. “All right, fine. Let’s find the damn kid so I can get my revenge and get back to my god damn life.” she snarled.

The doors of the club opened and Uncle Bob entered the club with a still very confused Dracula in tow holding a dirty burlap sack.

“Man oh man Drac this sure sounds like……some…..party…what the hell is this?” the scene was pure chaos former monsters revealing their true natures and attacking eachother left and right, there were even a few small fires in the corner. The two stared in shock  “We’re gone for three hours. THREE HOURS and you guys start a damn riot. HOW??”

“Leech did it.” Freddy pointed at the former vampire.

“I…..yeah I guess I did well shit….” she said looking around at the scene. “You know this is actually pretty impressive I’d be proud if the stakes werent high.” she gave the duo a cocky grin to which both elder monsters shook their heads to.

“Jesus Dracula you chose this walking disaster as your apprentience?”

“De ce este totul pe foc?” (why is everything on fire?) the older vampire responded wide eyed.

“I need to have a talk with junoir about his taste in women….speaking of where is the brat?”

“No idea actually…” Leech glanced around the room. “This could be a problem I may have accidently got him shit-faced.”

“You did what now?!” Uncle Bob stomped forward and bore down on her.

“Look I didnt know he was going to be a lightweight in human form!”

“I ASKED YOU TO LOOK OUT FOR HIM AND YOU PULL THIS SHIT?”

“I’m his mate not his keeper.”

“HES MORTAL RIGHT NOW AND A COCKY IDIOT AND YOU GOT HIM DRUNK!”

“Are you guys talking about Jingles?” Chucky said crawling out with Tiffany from under a table

“We saw him leave out the back.” Tiff said pointing to the back exit.

“Oh god he left the building?” Leech was starting to get worried now. She let her rage blind her once again and it put someone she loved in danger.

“Guys I know we all care about jingles’ well being but we only have a few hours left of halloween and if we dont find that little orange brat were stuck like this” Freddy complained dodging a thrown bottle.

“All right then grab the giant lets get the kid and fix this mess.” Uncle Bob grabbed the sack from Dracula and opened it seeing if there was anything useful to bring him out.

“I thought I saw him before Vorhees hit me with a chair he’s here somewhere.” Freddy grumbled and began to push back into the fighitng crowd the rest of the gang folling him. Leech turned the other direction of her friends heading for the back exit.

“Fangs come on.” Uncle Bob shouted.

“I’m going to find him.”

“Yeah and we’ll have better luck working together come on.” Freddy growled at her.

“No I’m going to find Adam. I’m going to find him before he kills me or Robert.”

“Leech this is not the time for fuckin heroics. Besides thats not really our forte.” the dream demon said stepping forward.

“Who said anything about being heroic.” the vampire said darkly pulling a large knife from her coat.

“Huh i thought this was an edge free event.” Tiffany chimed in slightly puzzled.

“Plucked it off Ghostface before he could use it on me.” she said cooly fiddling with the blade.

“Fine if you want to go save your stupid damsel in distress then by all means go get yourself killed once again because thats probably going to be the result.” Freddy rolled his eyes.

“Are you implying you actually give a shit about me Fred?” Leech smirked.

“Nah, you still owe me for that last half ounce. Can’t have you kickin the bucket till you pay me back.”

Leech smiled at the dream demon. “You know for a bunch of selfish murderers you guys sure are big softies.” the gang grinned back at her “Dont fuck up I expect to be bald next time I see all of you.”  

“Go save your idiot Fangs.”

The former vampire tipped the knife to her head in a mock salute and slipped out the door.

——————-

Leech briskly walked through the cool october air behind the night club. It was eerily quiet compared to the chaos inside and the ex-vampire tightened her grip on the stolen blade in her hand. With the 7pm curfew still in effect most people were off the streets at this hour leaving her alone and exposed. She had grown quite friendly with the night becoming nearly nocturnal since the sun rapidly drained her energy. This atmosphere was normally comforting to her but something felt off and she felt vulnerable. Leech approaced an alleyway and proceeded down the poorly lit path eyes darting around in the night. She was desprately missing her heightened hearing and nightvision right now. Something stumbled and shuffled behind her she wasnt alone. The vampire gripped her knife and spun around with a snarl only to have her wrist caught by a large hand missing a finger. Robert Gray held the side of his head and stared into his mates wild murderous eyes. Leech immediately released the tension in her muscles dropping the knife in her hand and falling into him.

“Holy shit youre not dead!” she gasped squeezing her mate tight as if letting him go would cause him to vanish.

“I feel dead” he grumbled his eyes were red and bloodshot he had clearly sobered up thanks to the cold. They broke apart and leech picked up her knife.

“Adam’s back.”

“I’m aware.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Same thing we always do, kill the problem.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page.” she grinned at him. “I uh I was worried about you.”

Roberts lip twitched up slightly “Were you now?”

“Don’t make fun of me for it.”

“I’d never.” he smirked shoving her lightly.

“Liar.”

he chuckled and placed his hands on his mate’s cheeks his thumbs tracing over a fresh bruise. “Would you like to destroy our enemy with me my love?”

“Mmmmm I love it when you talk dirty to me.” she grinned up at him a slight blush grew on her cheeks.

He laughed and kissed the top of her head. “Its a date then.” robert whispered and pressed their lips together.

Leech followed behind he mate through dark alleyways till they got to the park in the center of town. She lightly touched Robert’s arm as they approached a large tree “Hey. there’s only an hour left of Halloween left and were still not back to normal.” she said with concern.

“If we are trapped like this then we’ll find another way. There’s always another way.”

“I just miss us….and killing things” she glanced off to the side “…but mostly us.”

“I know kitten.”

Robert held Leech close to him and stroked her hair. He rarely ever hugged her like this but figured now was an acceptable time to do it. The former clown sighed and looked up locking eyes with the small boy sitting in the tree eating a pumpkin lollipop. Robert froze in realization.

“You………YOU!” he shouted casting his mate to the side.

“Bob what the he- oh!”

“Grab him!” he hissed

The boy stood up on the branch.

“WAIT DONT LEAVE!” Leech shouted wishing she could still climb walls. The spirit leapt from the branch and Leech sprinted towards him. Robert closed the gap faster with his longer legs racing ahead of her and just barely grazing the burlap mask on his head. The kid was fast, unaturally fast. The former clown dove and grabbed the halloween god’s feet causing him to fall forward and drop his precious lollipop. Robert clawed at him yanking him back into his grasp the spirit began to make strange shrieking sounds reaching out with his small hands. Leech caught up to them panting and Robert pinned the child spirit to the ground in fury.

“CHANGE ME BACK!” he roared. The spirit squirmed and flailed in his grasp. “CHANGE ME BACK BEFORE I SPILL YOUR INSIDES!” the former clown slamed the spirit on the ground.

“Hey not really sure if shake and yell is actually going to work here Bob”

“STAY OUT OF IT LEECHIE!” he snarled at her clearly in a feral mood. The creature under him was reaching for something straining with his short little arms. Leech put too and two together and picked up the pumpkin lollipop. “Robert wait let me try something!” she shouted.

The former monster turned to his mate in fury. “Please! Shake and yell is clearly not going to convince him!” he was fuming mad and panting hard but stopped his assualt his grip still tight on the boy.

“Sam right? This is what you want yeah?” she held out the sucker and pulled it away before the boy could grab it “If I give it to you will you help us?” the spirit said nothing but its hand shot out reaching for its treat. Leech tenitavely held it back out to him and sam swiped it out of her hand. They stared at eachother for a brief second then the spirit stabbed Robert in the arm with the candy. The former clown roared in pain releasing the spirit.

“HEY WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR!?” she screamed after it as she tried to tend to her mate’s wound. “Don’t let him get away! go!” he shouted at her pushing her off. Leech got up to chase after the creature but before she could catch up to him something smacked it hard in the head with a metal pole. The spirit fell back and pumpkin seeds oozed out of his mask.

“One monster down two to go.” Adam growled and tightened his grip on the rod.

“You bastard!” Leech hissed.

“You’re the one who eats people. You know, the first thing I thought when I woke up was that I was going to rid this town of you horrible creatures. They’ll probably call me a hero.”

“You’re equally horrible Adam!”

“At least I dont kill people.”

“Pff People. What have people ever done for me other than rejected me for who I am? Now they are the sheep and I am the wolf. Its my turn to be on top.”

If there was one thing Leech never had when she was with Adam it was confidence. She had almost none when she first arrived at Neibolt. It wasn’t until she rejected her humanity and began growing close to the clown that she finally felt power. He may not have meant to, but Pennywise made her strong. Now standing in front of her arch enemy she radiated that strength. Leech took a few bold steps forward oozing confidence.

“I am the mate of the eater of worlds. I am the right hand of destruction. Go on,” she said with a wicked grin “Try to stop me, I’ll just kill you again and again until it sticks.”

“You also don’t have a weapon.” Adam smirked and spun the metal rod.

She opened her mouth to speak then shut it. “I-huh” she reached in her jacket for her knife. Leech went still remembering that she dropped it to help Robert. “Well shit.”

Adam grinned and charged her swinging the pole like a bat at her head. Leech braced for impact when a knife blocked the blow. “The right hand of destruction. I like it.” her mate grinned at her shoving her assailant back.

“Its a working title I havent committed to anything yet.”

Out of the corner of her eye Leech saw the little pumpkin spirit stumble to its hands and knees. She glanced over to robert who took a blow to his injured arm. “Go.” he hissed as blood spattered his face.

“Aw but I want to be the one to kill him again” she whined and Robert glared.

“Leechie go.” he snarled kicking Adam in the chest with a spider web patterned boot.

“Hey before I do, dont die all right?”

“Oh that I can promise dear, but you aren’t allowed to die either understand?”

“Been there done that.” she laughed. Robert smiled at her before being smacked in the side with the metal rod. Leech yelled but the look on her mate’s face told her to go and she knew he was right. Robert Gray was tough but he wasnt Pennywise and he wasn’t immortal. Leech began to run following the trail of pumpkin guts and seeds down an alley street.

The trail turned a corner but before she could round it she caught a glimpse of several figures making their way towards her. She spun around only to see several more behind her. The figures came to veiw. They were her fellow monsters from the party, all beat up and bruised being led by the hell priest Pinhead.

“VAMPIRE!” he roared as Michael Myers and Pyramid Head pinned her to the wall, the angry mob of former monsters gathered around them. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

“Ok first, you can lead off with a simple hello its not that hard.” Myers slammed her into the wall hard and she nearly passed out from the impact. “Two-fuck-” she wheezed “I didn’t do anything, you all didn’t have to start punching each other.”

“You nearly destroyed my establishment!”

“Oh come on it wasn’t that bad!”

“Chatterer lost an eye!”

“How is that a problem?! He didn’t have eyes before!”

“That’s not the point!” the Cenobite leader growled “You will pay for this vampire. You may be the clown’s mate but you must suffer the consequences for your actions.”

“Now, now friends let’s not get carried away here-“ Leech laughed nervously as the mob closed in.

“Burn her!” someone shouted.

“Cut out her tongue!” came another. Clearly she wasn’t the most popular monster.

The mob drew closer and Leech began to panic. Robert was busy and her friends were no where to be seen. She was done for.

“AHEM!” a gruff voice shouted. Six familiar figures emerged from the darkness.

“If you all want to continue living in our little slice of murder heaven here I suggest you put Fangs down and help us out!” Freddy called out followed by the rest of her adopted family.

“Oh thank fuck” Leech sighed in relief.

“Everyone listen up, we got the pumpkin boy’s magic bag here and I got a feeling he wants it back. We find him, give it back and then we all go back to being our regular old spooky selves yeah? I don’t know about all of you but that sounds like a way better alternative than taking out our anger on a vampire.”

“Also Pennywise is currently fighting to the death out in the park so we kinda have to hurry. If he dies were all fucked.” Leech chimed in and glared at Pinhead. “So whats it gonna be? Cut out my tongue or help fix this mess?”

The hell priest sighed and shut his eyes “Perhaps we will discuss your punishment later vampire. Release her.” the two silent giants obeyed and Leech uncerimoniously dropped to the ground. She dusted herself off and walked to the head of the mob.

“All right everyone follow me.”

————————-

Robert coughed and sputtered as he once again fell to the ground. He was injured, hungover and had an extreme disadvantage. The eldritch began to curse this human body’s weakness and hopped for his mate to succeed so he could return to full power. Once back to normal Adam wouldn't have the power of the necronomicon on his side and would be easily dispatched. Robert would just have to survive long enough to regain his powers then victory would be his. A kick to the head drew him back out of his thoughts. The former clown roared and slashed at his opponent with the stolen knife. Adam dodged and swung his metal rod down at Robert’s head who caught the weapon and kicked his enemy back. What was taking Leech so long the spirit was injured he couldnt have gone that far. He glanced over to where his mate had ran off to and saw her pinned to the wall by an angry mob. Fantastic. Of course hed have to do everything himself. Now he had to kill this intruder AND fight his way through an angry mob to save his mate. This day couldnt go any more wrong for him.

“You know clown I must thank you I dont think I’d ever be able to get control of my body back after the two of you killed it and let it become possessed.” Adam began. “The kandarians told me she died shorty after they stabbed her and I must ask you, did you enjoy tearing out her throat just as much as you did making her into a disgusting monster?”

Robert snarled and lunged at him. Adam caught him with the pole. “Disgusting?” Robert scoffed “You were a fool to throw away such a powerful creature, I simply did what you could not and unlocked her full potential. Your failure gave me my queen.” The former clown smiled wickedly.

“Yeah from what I saw over there with the mob, it wasnt much potential.” Adam smirked.

“You’re wrong. I think someone is jealous that their own creation has surpassed them.” Robert growled. Adam threw him off and slammed him into the back of a large tree. The former clown sneered and smashed his forehead into his opponent’s skull. They both stumbled then Adam roared and sprinted forward. Robert snarled back and met his assault with a charge of his own both headed straight for each other in a final burst of energy. With only one coming out on top.

Leech jogged out of the alleyway with the burlap sack slung over her shoulder the little pumpkin spirit nowhere to be found. Her small army of monsters followed behind her if she couldn’t find Samhain at least she could lead her troops into battle. And they would fight, no Pennywise meant no illusions and no illusions meant Derry was no longer safe for killers. She froze when she got to the tree the mob in back of her slowing to a stop as well. A man in a Spiderman costume stood pinned against it. A metal rod pierced through his gut and into the bark behind him. His body hung limp and blood dripped down from his plump soft lips. The vampire’s entire world crumbled in mere seconds. She was too late, Robert Gray was dead.

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

Whoops I killed the clown.

[marcmyworks]

Mr. Marc again revists the X-Men Universe

In the next year we will be getting three new X-Men films; Deadpool 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix and the pushed back New Mutants. In the meantime I want to revisit my reviews and correct what I wrote before.

X-Men (2000)

Casting = 8/10 = Most of the actors selected to play each role was very successful, although at the time I remember thinking James Marsden was too young and Halle Berry not commanding enough.

Writing = 7/10 = This film was very much a classic cartoon episode of the X-Men Animated series, however it seemed to be too tame in terms of its writing.

Special Effects = 7/10 = for the time these were quite good, but again I wanted more ‘Oomph’. Why doesn’t Jean Grey throw more people against a wall with her abilities?

Action Sequences = 6/10 = Wolverine really got his ass handed to him in this film. I feel though a part of this was the fault of the costume designers, as their leather outfits looked painful to walk in.

Cinematography = 8/10 = I will hand it to Bryan Singer, for his first large budget film he does not waste on beautiful sets and locations.

Acting = 9/10 = When you have the greats like Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart on board, you know you will have a great film.

X-Factor = 7/10 = This film was a good start for an X-Men fan, however the smaller scale and budget left me wanting more, more, more!

Overall = 74%

X2: X-Men United (2003)

Casting = 9/10 = the addition of Allan Cummings as Nightcrawler was genius.

Writing = 9/10 = finally, we get all the backstory we wanted to explore in the first film.

Special Effects = 8/10 = Again, for the time, this was quite good. A lot more bang for my $12.50 and waiting an hour in line.

Action Sequences = 8/10 = Getting there. I remember thinking, ‘WOW! All of a sudden Wolverine can fight!’, also that moment between Scott and Jean was quite powerful.

Cinematography = 9/10 = Again, Bryan Singer knows his stuff. We travel all over North America

Acting = 9/10 = Despite Halle Berry’s African accent fading, we definitely maintained the strength of characters from the first film.

X-Factor = 8/10 = A very strong sequel that made me even happier with the franchise and led me to believe bigger and better would come.

Overall = 85%

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Casting = 6/10 = Though adding Kelsey Grammar as Beast to the film was a good choice, Vinnie Jones’s Juggernaut as well the rest of the “Omega Mutants” were piss-poor.

Writing = 5/10 = Why on earth would you create basically three separate stories contained into a 90 minute film and then lazily throw it all together at the end?

Special Effects = 8/10 = I will give this movie credit for having amazing special effects, with the exception of Multiple Man’s appearance. Even to today’s standards this film holds up.

Action Sequences = 6/10 = though the action is a plenty, it isn’t very well choreographed. The end battle we lose characters for several minutes, wondering where they disappeared too.

Cinematography = 5/10 = the cinematography seemed a bit of a rehash from the last film. Canadian forests and toss in a couple of government compounds.

Acting = 6/10 = The cast tried their damnest, though Famke Jansen kept bringing up the fact her character stops talking after the 2nd act in the movie and was ignored, she tried hard to still portray her character.

X-Factor = 4/10 = this film really tests a fan’s patience. Sure it includes one of the most sacred X-Men stories of all time (The Dark Phoenix Saga), but it does it with no regard to the source material. For shame.

Overall = 57%

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Casting = 5/10 = the cast really does nothing for this film, as none are really that likeable or memorable.

Writing = 3/10 = Why write a movie about Wolverine and have the most interesting parts of his life all mashed together into a montage at the beginning of the film, and then spend a whole 5 minutes explaining where he gets his trade mark leather jacket? Sponsors people! Capitalism always wins.

Special Effects = 8/10 = the effects are quite good in this film. Our first glimpse at Emma Frost’s diamond skin is an interesting take on the comics.

Action Sequences = 6/10 = A positive in this film is that action sequences are not too bad, however in the myriad of them we really only get to see each character (besides the titular) fight only once.

Cinematography = 4/10 = Again, a lot of Canadian forests and military bases, as well very obvious Movie-Lot sets.

Acting = 5/10 = the acting is okay, considering the script, however as there is no character development I would have expected less lack-luster performances. Taylor Kirsch as Gambit leaves a lot to be desired.

X-Factor = 3/10 = what a mishmash of over casting and under-developed story. Wolverine’s origins seem much more bubblegum than the comics would suggest. The characters aren’t likeable and pretty forgettable.

Overall = 48%

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Casting = 8/10 = I loved this cast, I think the only questionable choices is turning Moira McTaggart and Sean Cassidy into Americans.

Writing = 7/10 = Quite a strong script which included a lot of interesting, never before seen characters. I wish the third act had a little more ‘oomph’.

Special Effects = 8/10 = these were quite good, though I am a bit nitpicky. I think Havok’s powers should have been blue, like in the comics, not red.

Action Sequences = 7/10 = I feel Matthew Vanaghn was holding back a bit in this film. There were a couple of missed opportunities where characters, such as Emma Frost, could have been utilized more.

Cinematography = 9/10 = the film is beautifully shot. The locations were believable and brought a freshness to the series.

Acting = 8/10 = I loved how Fassbender and McAvoy, the new generation of Shakespearean actors now portraying mutants. It brought a real sense of class to this film.

X-Factor = 7/10 = Quite good considering how bad the last two X-Men films are, however I will say I am still waiting for that strong third act to really impress me. Though this is a two hour movie, a lot is expected of the audience to expect in a short amount of time towards the end.

Overall = 77%

The Wolverine (2013)

Casting = 6/10 = besides the role of Yukio there were some bad choices in this film. Mariko herself is meant to be gentle, not a suicidal/bratty 20-something.

Writing = 6/10 = the writing for this film is okay, however the third act seemed a little slapped together.

Special Effects = 8/10 = I will give credit where credit is due, the special effects work very well in line with the action sequences. However…

Action Sequences = 6/10 = the action sequences are not majorly impressive, and at times quite dull. When you have a league of Ninja assassins you’d think there would be creative choreographed battles.

Cinematography = 7/10 = Japan serves well as the backdrop for this film however, again, the third act looks very ‘back-lot’ of a movie studio.

Acting = 7/10 = Overall some good performances, working hard against a so-so script.

X-Factor = 6/10 = this film captures a lot of the Wolverine comic series, but it didn’t push the envelope enough.

Overall = 65%

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Casting = 9/10 = Fan favourites return and overall new characters seem to work very well.

Writing = 9/10 = finally the X-Men film fans have been waiting for, old and new mutants together fighting a common enemy. This proves why Bryan Singer is the King of large casts.

Special Effects = 10/10 = the special effect team really earned their moolah in this film. From the mutant powers to the Sentinels to the action. All was impressive.

Action Sequences = 9/10 = Excellent action and fight scenes, my only small critique is I wish the X-Men would use less powers and more hand-to-hand combat skills. But against giant robots this may have proven difficult.

Cinematography = 9/10 = Gorgeous use of sets in Montreal and the UK. I never would have guessed some scenes were not shot in Paris or in an apocalyptic future.

Acting = 9/10 = Overall quite strong. The new mutants added could have had more than one, but perhaps they were hired more for their look than their abilities.

X-Factor = 10/10 = this sequel proves that an X-Men film can be as strong as an Avenger’s film. Everything was near perfection and has lead me into anticipation for the next installment.

Overall = 93%

Deadpool (2016)

Casting = 9

Writing = 8

Special Effects = 8

Action Sequences = 9

Cinematography = 6

Acting = 8

X-Factor = 7

Overall = 79%

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Casting = 7/10 = Overall the actors were well cast in this film, a lot of the critics were not fans of Oscar Isaac’s performance but I really enjoyed what he did with the character of Apocalypse.

Writing = 6/10 = to be fair there are points in the film where I felt that a character was not needed. Overall it did work, but a number of ideas could have been dropped.

Special Effects = 7/10 =There are a couple of scenes where the effects are a bit cheesy (mostly in the X-Mansion however the mutant powers compensate for this.

Action Sequences = 9/10 = Terrific action, wonderful choreography.

Cinematography = 7/10 = It was nice to see various locations and points of interest, however there were so varied at times it became confusing as to where the story was taking place.

Acting = 7/10 = Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and Michael Fassfender are old pros at this X-Game, however there were moments where even their performances were not as strong as in previous films. Of course it could very well have been the script they were working with.

X-Factor = 7/10 = Overall a decent effort by the filmmakers. I truly feel if this film had been the third in the original X-Men trilogy then it would have fared better. This film is definitely the beginning of something bigger and better.

Overall = 71%

Logan (2017)

Casting = 8

Writing = 8

Special Effects = 8

Action Sequences = 9

Cinematography = 9

Acting = 8

X-Factor = 8

Overall = 82%

*coming soon*

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Casting = 8/10

Writing = 7/10

Special Effects = 6/10

Action Sequences = 7/10

Cinematography = 7/10

Acting = 9/10

X-Factor = 7/10

Overall = 73%

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2018)

Casting = 7/10

Writing = 5/10

Special Effects = 8/10

Action Sequences = 4/10

Cinematography =5/10

Acting = 6/10

X-Factor = 3/10

Overall = 54%

The New Mutants (2020)

Casting =

Writing =

Special Effects =

Action Sequences =

Cinematography =

Acting =

X-Factor =

[filmgamer]

Although actual nominations won’t be in until Tuesday I added a mix of predicted favourites and personal choices of mine for wishful thinking purposes. Read to get some sort of context and personal filter on what to expect and hope for come January 23rd for the 90th Annual Academy Awards.

Best Picture

Blade Runner 2049 * – Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove, Bud Yorkin

Call Me By Your Name – Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, James Ivory, Marco Morabito, Howard Rosenman, Peter Spears

Dunkirk – Emma Thomas

The Florida Project – Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou

Get Out – Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele

Lady Bird – Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin

Mudbound – Carl Effenson, Sally Jo Effenson, Cassian Elwes, Charles D. King, Christopher Lemole, Kim Roth, Tim Zajaros

The Shape of Water – J. Miles Dale, Guillermo del Toro

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri – Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Martin McDonagh

Wonder Woman – Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Richard Suckle

Blade Runner 2049

Call Me By Your Name

Dunkirk

The Florida Project

Get Out

Lady Bird

Mudbound

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Wonder Woman

Blade Runner 2049 was my favourite movie of the year, Three Billboards was my second favourite, Lady Bird and Get Out were good too. I found Dunkirk to be overrated, confusing and far from Nolan’s best. I am the only person besides my mom that didn’t like Wonder Woman. Mudbound was very boring to me. I like the idea of The Florida Project which has landed on several best of lists winning because of its underclass nature & humble beginnings, a true underdog. I have not seen The Shape of Water but its awards attention has caught my interest and Call Me By Your Name has as much chance of winning as it does being interest to me.

Actress In A Leading Role

Jessica Chastain – Molly’s Game

Gal Gadot – Wonder Woman

Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water

Frances McDormand* – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird

Jessica Chastain

Gal Gadot

Sally Hawkins

Frances McDormand

Saoirse Ronan

This is a runaway for Frances McDormand who gives her best performance since Fargo. Gal Gadot is good but her nomination would be the story here. Sally Hawkins gives an impressive performance as a deaf-mute. I think Saoirse only gets acclaim because she has a flawless american accent. Jessica Chastain does good character work and deserved the Oscar for Zero Dark Thirty which Jennifer Lawrence won for Silver Linings Playbook (which I love but is not Best Actress worthy).

Actress in A Supporting Role

Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water

Holly Hunter – The Big Sick

Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird

Hong Chau – Downsizing

Allison Janney – I, Tonya

Octavia Spencer (Right)

Holly Hunter (Right)

Laurie Metcalf

Hong Chau

Allison Janney

Allison Janney all the way here. Holly Hunter is good in The Big Sick and Octavia Spencer always knows what she’s doing (still haven’t seen Shape of Water or it would fill up the supporting actor category). Hong Chau got raves out of Downsizing, additionally annoying and unfair because the Oscars have become so politicized in recent years this would be seen as a win for diversity after the 87th & 88th #OscarsSoWhite controversies. It’s ironic that her possible nomination would come from writer/director Alexander Payne indulging in his stereotypical racist tendencies. I guess Hollywood takes diversity where they can get it.

Actor In A Leading Role

Hugh Jackman * – Logan

Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out

James McAvoy – Split

Gary Oldman – The Darkest Hour

Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel Esq.

Hugh Jackman

Daniel Kaluuya

James McAvoy

Gary Oldman

Denzel Washington

This race is Gary Oldman’s to lose. He has turned in a career full of good performances and this is icing on the cake. If anything would hamper him from winning it’d be that the choice is too obvious playing historical figure Winston Churchill. Denzel always makes a great oscar campaign push and he has been hungry for a third win despite being the weakest reviewed movie of the bunch. I didn’t include Timothy Chalamet from ‘Call Me’ because I think his praise is due to the fact that reviewers aren’t aware he’s playing himself in role better written than he is like all first time actor nominees. Hugh Jackman deserves it for Logan even though I’m not a huge fan of that movie he deserves recognition for what he brought to the character. Daniel Kaluuya gives a subtle understated performance that rewards repeat viewings. And James McAvoy has been close to forgotten for his memorable turn in Split as someone with multiple personality disorder I’d like him to get recognized.

Actor In A Supporting Role

Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project

Jamie Foxx – Baby Driver

Christopher Plummer – All the Money In the World

Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Patrick Stewart * – Logan

Willem Dafoe

Jamie Foxx (saying “that’s Oscar worthy”)

Christopher Plummer

Sam Rockwell

Patrick Stewart

At the beginning of the campaign I would have said this was an easy win for Willem Dafoe’s warm performance in The Florida Project but another career character actor Sam Rockwell has upstaged him for Three Billboards. Christopher Plummer is good I imagine many people are still amazed he’s in themovie after the Kevin Spacey debacle. I thought Jamie Foxx gave one of his best performances in Baby Driver, he even makes an Oscar reference. Patrick Stewart was so good in Logan that it’s impressive he makes you believe his senile swearing version of Professor X is the same person.

Directing

Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Jordan Peele – Get Out

M. Night Shyamalan – Split

Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water

Denis Villeneuve – Blade Runner 2049

Jordan Peele, Get Out

M. Night Shyamalan, Split

Martin McDonaugh, Three Billboards

Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049

Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Denis Villeneuve made a sequel to a classic that was better than the original while making it his own thing. He received a BAFTA (British Oscars) nomination for this and might repeat all the categories for last year’s Arrival. Jordan Peele, Guilllermo del Toro, and Martin McDonaugh are shoe-ins for the nomination and Greta Gerwig is likely to actually be nominated for Lady Bird, a movie I liked a lot but has modest aims. I threw in a Shyamalan twist because not only has he been nominated for but Split is a legitimately good movie that is unique enough I feel another director couldn’t replicate, and being the best means you’re special.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Hampton Fancher and Michael Green – Blade Runner 2049

James Ivory – Call Me By Your Name

Aaron Sorkin – Molly’s Game

Stephen Chbosky and Steve Conrad and Jack Thorne – Wonder

Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber – The Disaster Artist

I think side by side with Three Billboards, Blade Runner is the best script this year and they happen to qualify for two different categories so yay! The Disaster Artist, Molly’s Game and Call Me are all favourites because it’s a weak year for this category which is why there will likely be a few surprises. I threw in Wonder because it’s high on the betting pool, commercially and critically successful, and it’s the movie every book lover expected to love and every movie lover expected to hate (but surprisingly didn’t) and The Perks of Being A Wallflower was pretty decent. Mudbound could score a nomination here to but I didn’t put it personally because its incremental pacing felt like a slog for me that just didn’t flow.

Adapted – Michael Green (who also wrote Alien Covenant, Logan, and Murder On The Orient Express all this year) rewrote Hampton Fancher’s screenplay (right)

Original – Greta Gerwig Writer/ Director of Lady Bird

Original – Martin McDonagh Writer/ Director of 3 Billboards

Original – Kumail Nanjiani & Emily V. Gordon wrote The Big Sick together. In writing credits the use of an ‘&’ denotes simultaneous collaboration while the use of ‘and’ indicates someone rewrote someone else’s screenplay

Original – Vanessa Taylor (co-writer of The Shape of Water with Del Toro)

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird

Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani – The Big Sick

Jordan Peele – Get Out

Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor – The Shape of Water

If Lady Bird doesn’t end up getting completely shut out come Oscar night for being good enough to get noticed but not enough to take home (typical Lady Bird amirite?) it’ll win here as Get Out and Shape muscle in on their visual splendor. Of course I don’t think any movie this year takes as many risks as the unpredictable 3 Billboards does in its screenplay so it should win. The Big Sick was in my top list for this year but original? C’mon its based pretty much on the real life story of its writers, it should be adapted if anything however rules are rules.

Best Cinematography

Roger Deakins – Blade Runner 2049

The 68 year old is the closest thing to a sure thing this year and has been nominated 13 times before without winning and this is his best work which everyone has said from the beginning. Some of his previous nominations include: The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, A Beautiful Mind, No Country For Old Men, Skyfall & Sicario. He absolutely deserves this one.

Best Original Score

Hanz Zimmer – Dunkirk

I didn’t like this movie but I listened to the score countless times while putting together my harsh review of it. The rarely idle Hans does the devil’s work here. And his Inception score was much better than Trent Reznor’s The Social Network which won that year. #robbed

Best Visual Effects

War for the Planet of the Apes

Another much hyped movie on my website I was let down by. I have never seen a director so obviously confident behind the camera its annoying that this series now so well realized spends its last chapter doing a prison break riff. Good Visual Effects are all about enhancing the story and I’ve never seen effects pushed so hard in that regard. Surprisingly, this rebooted series with state of the art effects that take YEARS to render has yet to win but unless members of the academy decide to feel sorry for Blade Runner or reward the epic looking latest Transformers: The Last Knight this should be a steal.

A Perfect and Backlash-Free Choice Oscar Nomination List Although actual nominations won’t be in until Tuesday I added a mix of predicted favourites and personal choices of mine for wishful thinking purposes.

[aceofwands]

it wants to give us the exciting parts and the emotional pay off without actually doing any of the work, is the best way I can think to explain it Ria hateblogs Discovery: Episode 7 “[Poorly Written Time Travel] Magic to Make[s] the Sanest [Wo]Man Go Mad”

liveblogged to @kendradaynes

we had entirely 'last time on Discovery' before the intro credits, like not even a teaser ...

kendradaynes... That's an unusual choice

aceofwands I thought so too!

it was just Mudd being left behind on the Klingon ship. probs cause Mudd is gonna show up (we saw in the teaser last week). seems an odd choice too, like it was only a couple episodes ago, we haven't forgotten what they did???

close up of Michael's face, giving a personal log

oh lord

already paused it to write an awful line of dialogue down: "despite my fears, I seem to have found my place on this discovery"

discovery of WHAT

the dialogue is so bad Shin, so bad

kendradaynes..... What? That is...That makes angsty teenage fic seem well written

aceofwands: she's talking about the ship's settled into routine ... which ... what? aren't they in the middle of a war?!!!!!!!!

and about how she's made a friend in Tilly, and how she's taken comfort in her work

and how "this ship has become the most important weapon in the Federation's arsenal"

and I can't even

it doesn't even feel like they're at war! the way they go around on this shiny ship and talk about how it's settled into routine?????? 

kendradaynes... I want to send them all of DS9 s7 and Voyager's Year of Hell 2 parter and maybe Enterprise season 3 to show WHY THAT WOULDN'T WORK

aceofwands: Stamet's wacky drive piloting ability has "Given him access not just to unseen parts of space but his personality as well" and like ... that's a worry! WHY IS NO ONE WORRIED ABOUT THIS

kendradaynes THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING GET THAT MAN TO A PSYCHOLOGIST

aceofwands I keep pausing this ONE PERSONAL LOG

she confesses she finds some members of the crew more interesting than others (lol what others, they feel even more like background characters than any of the other shows somehow???) and it's her talking to Voq-Tyler

(people online have been debating how it's too obvious that he's Voq, but I don't have any faith in these writers not doing the really fucking obvious)

"Lt Tyler has suffered so much and still maintains such dignity and kindness" I really really hope he actually is Voq like wow I want them to be this bad at writing (and nothing I've seen so far makes me think they're any good at it)

“I fear my personal history interferes with my ability to forge relationships. I am among the others yet also apart." I can't get over this, it's like bad self-insert fan fic (I'm not even 5 mins in lol, I'd better let her finish her stupid log and stop pausing it lol)

oh lord, she's facing one of her greatest challenges so far ... they're having a party

they're ... playing ... beer ... pong ... on Star Trek

this is like a gross noisy college frat party ... on Star Trek ...

why is Michael not wearing casual clothes ...

kendradaynes... #weneedtheorville

aceofwands Orville's party in Pria had more dignity??? which y'know, the show is full of dick jokes

oh it's okay though, Tyler is giving a speech

wait did he just point to a guy who's "sacrificed for us" who had some sort of disability? I went back - there's a guy sitting on what I think is supposed to be a futuristic wheelchair I guess?

how did we get from It's Only a Paper Moon to this?

kendradaynes There are also... Very few disabling things that can't be at least partially cured by the 23rd century

aceofwands yeeeeah my thoughts exactly. but it was unclear and part of a dramatic speech so

Tilly left Michael and Tyler alone together at the party, but they were asked to report to the bridge

I still don’t know why everyone loves Tilly ... she doesn't seem like a cadet, unless you count the AOS crew as cadets ... again, everyone's too 2017

ummmmmmm. so Michael and Tyler were walking along the corridor. when she bumped into Stamets and knocked a container of whatsits over. and he hugged her and asked why she's apologising for a random moment that makes life so gloriously unpredictable and WHY IS NO ONE CONCERNED FOR HIM

kendradaynes... That makes sense. He sounds high

aceofwands ohthe Doctor has just shown up in this conversation out of nowhere. "I deeply apologise for my partner, lately he's been acting ... different"

WHY ARE YOU HERE IN THIS RANDOM CORRIDOR DOC! YOU WEREN'T WALKING BESIDES STAMETS??? WHY DID YOU TURN UP JUST TO BE PART OF THIS CONVERSATION

(I keep pausing it, I'm only 7 mins in, I might uh ... stop pausing it and try to keep up lol)

kendradaynes There are so many plot holes in this show

aceofwands they made a cybernetic augment for his arm?? 

then they asked what the deal between Michael and Tyler is ... and I just ... why is this show ... so ... clumsy? there is no nuance, no subtlety, it’s like they have to hit us over the head with everything like MICHAEL AND TYLER LIKE EACH OTHER OKAY AUDIENCE, DO YOU GET IT?

kendradaynes Honestly it feels like 18 year old self-insert fanfiction

aceofwands cut to the bridge. Saru and Lorca found an unidentified signal ... its some sort of biological space organism

which Michael knows a lot about

kendradaynes Of course. Because she knows everything

aceofwands protocol requires them to take care of it, because it's endangered, which is nice because actual Star Trek things

and um what

kendradaynes I hate her, jsyk

aceofwands they just beamed it into the cargo bay???????????????????

IT LIVES IN SPACE

IN VACUUM

HOW WOULD IT SURVIVE IN ATMOSPHERE AND GRAVITY???

kendradaynes welp that thing would be dead

aceofwands OMG IT HAS A DEMOGORGON FACE 

 some dude in a helmet hitched a ride inside its mouth and used it to get on board

its killed a bunch of people, but Michael escaped

oh its Mudd, to no one's surprise

kendradaynes Of course. Because self insert

aceofwands "did you really think you could leave me in a Klingon prison and suffer no repercussions?"

what have they done to his character

good fucking grief

kendradaynes*sigh*

aceofwands he's come here to find out why the Discovery is special, and is talking about how he's gonna sell it to the Klingons, but "not this time". so Mudd's causing a time travel loop. exploding their ship. the Discovery is blowing up. but now it's back to the party

this sucks

usually I LOVE time loop episodes

they're usually so fun! but this show is boring and dumb

oh man ... if you're gonna repeat scenes ... THIS IS THE BEST YOU'VE GOT???? them walking along a corridor talking

OH LOL it's Stamets. he's the only one who recognises the time loop. and everyone thinks he's crazy! "I need all of you blasted people to start listening"

why is this episode not about Stamets talking to someone?

why wouldn’t they listen to him???

Michael's all "oooooh how did Stamets know what it was going to be???"

.....had to pause it. Michael requested being in charge of the operation. Lorca: "I don't give a damn, I just want it done". then Tyler requested being in charge for security. and Lorca: "I still don't give a damn"

this. is. not. Star. Trek.

seriously

when there was a time loop on Next Gen and they started realising they HELD A FUCKING STAFF MEETING! and they realised through the poker game, which was clever! and everything about that was more fun and impressive than this shit has been in the first 15 mins!

the spore drive just activated, and they're all like 'why is this happening?". but obvs Mudd's in engineering

Tyler and Michael are threatening him with phasers, but haven't shot him on sight. oh they finally did. but there was a forcefield. Mudd's trying to figure out how the drive works. 

Michael: "You are mad."

Mudd: "No, I'm Mudd."

WHY

I wish the idiots who wrote this garbage would get stuck in a time loop and forced to watch this awful episode over and over until they figured out how to stop it from being so bad

then he yelled at them to tell him how to work it AND STAMETS WAS BEHIND HIM AND SHOT HIM IN THE BACK. and said: "As days go, this was a weird one" which is hilarious

except that I'm not even 20 mins in and somehow bored?

how can they make time loops boring?

they keep saying different things???? in the scenes????

is it a time loop or isn't it?

do they know or don't they?

this doesn't make sense!

kendradaynes That's... not how a timeloop works. It only changes when they realise it

aceofwands yeah it's clearly trying to jump to the parts later on, cause Stamets implies that they've looped many times already. but instead - as usual - it just comes across as .. confused? muddled? like it's not really a time loop because they clearly know it's a loop enough to change what they say, but not enough to realise they're looping???

kendradaynes Yeah that's not how time loops are meant to work and I'm mildly vexed

aceofwands Mudd has got Lorca to come down with him "I really can't take it from the top again Lorca"

ummmm Mudd's talking about how he's explained this to Lorca before, but needs his help to access part of the ship ... if he's aware they're looping then ... why is he so bad at ... I don't even know .... [I stopped being able to explain everything wrong with this episode’s plot around this point]

this episode is a primer in How Not To Write Time Travel

Stamets is explaining how he thinks he's outside of the loop: "it's getting really hard to keep it straight" lol

he needs Michael to talk to Tyler but they're about to loop, and Stamets wants her to tell him something so she'll trust him straight away next loop. and she did??? and he made a sad face and said he was sorry

don't make me have feelings with your decent acting Anthony Rapp

but also do they not have protocols for time travel or like anything else to share???

"now is usually around the time he kills the Captain" - can we stay in that when we fix the loop lol

"you kill a Starfleet captain they lock you up for ever" ummm do they really

LOL WE'RE GETTING ALL THE LOOPS WHERE MUDD KILLS LORCA AND IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY SATISFYING WATCHING HIM DIE

HE'S EATING A SANDWICH AND HAD LORCA BEAMED TO SPACE

53 TIMES LOL

AHAHAHAHAHAHHAA

OKAY

ACTUALLY HILARIOUS PART

loop back to the party: Michael and Tilly talking. Stamets appears, taps Tilly, "I just spotted the hottest guy over there and apparently, he's in a band! Have fun!" (she was explaining earlier how she used to be into soldiers but is lately into musicians, cause that's what passes for character development on this awful show)

genuinely made me laugh

Michael's secret is that she's never been in love ... which we knew from the way she acted earlier in the episode??? not even a secret

HIS DIALOGUE IS DIFFERENT

THIS ISN'T HOW TIME LOOPS WORK

oh that was enough for Stamets to prove he was telling the truth ... and she now has to talk to Tyler about mudd?? idk it's super unclear why this is happening or what they're hoping to achieve ?????

honestly this episode is a terrible muddled mess

...................had to pause it again

to explain this scene

I'm leaving out so much and you're probably confused (I'm watching it and I'm confused)

she blew her chance to talk to Tyler because she likes him, which Stamets points out, and she says she's out of her element, so he says 'dance with me, for science, so I can see what I'm working with ... 'and like .... helping Michael talk to the guy she likes .... .... so they can save the ship from a time loop ... is the worst idea for a Star Trek episode I've ever heard. and I've watched Threshold

stupid space lizards make more sense than this plot

she's wondering how people make connections

and Stamets is explaining how Dr Culber and he got together

because the Doc was humming terrible opera

I ... I ... this

I can't Shin

you'll have to watch this dumb show with me if you want to make sense of it

I have to go back and attempt

no I'll just type out this conversation

see if it makes any sense to you

kendradaynes This sounds like it's impossible to make sense of even while watching

aceofwands 

"Hugh and I fell in love after I told him to get lost." 

"That doesn't make any sense." 

"Love isn't logical." (they're slow dancing while this happens) 

"I was in a wonderful cafe on Alpha Centauri when three seats down comes this hideous humming. Have you ever heard someone try to hum Casselian opera?" 

"I can't say that I have." 

"Well I told him to stifle it or sit somewhere else. Instead, he sat right next to me. And he's been there ever since." [Michael looks as confused as I am] 

"After such a rude exchange. Why would he do that?"  

"I told him how I really felt. And he did the same. And we liked that about each other." 

"I'm good at honesty." 

"Never hide who you really are. That's the way relationships work."

... ............... I have no words for how little this scene makes sense. that is not how relationships work???? that is a terrible way for them to get together???? and most importantly WHY ARE THEY SLOW DANCING (hint because they realised having them stand around the corridors was fucking boring probably)

kendradaynes THAT IS NOT HOW RELATIONSHIPS WORK

aceofwands I KNOW RIGHT

THEY'RE OUT OF TIME ALREADY? NO WAY IT HAS BEEN HALF AN HOUR

lol Michael is pulling Tyler away to dance in this time loop, the lighting is very purple with lots of close ups of their hands on each other

had to pause it again I am dying of bad laughter at the nonsense

they're dancing and it's kinda sweet and they've got an almost hint at a sexy vibe .... and then Burnham goes "So I hear you were locked up in a Klingon prison cell with Harry Mudd"

whyyyy are they not having a staff meeting about this?

I mean I know Lorca is a jerk and all. but this approach makes ZERO SENSE! she's telling him the whole truth, while they dance ... Stamets is watching and looking bemused .... 

Tyler is like "why would he think I'd trust you?"

"Because I like you. And he thinks you like me too."

and he's like 'oh ... tonight's gotten weird but also very interesting'

WHY DO NONE OF THEM ACT LIKE REAL PEOPLE?

like ... how is it that Shakespearean, larger than life characters in previous series somehow feel more real and genuine????? these people just SOUND LIKE THEY'RE IN A TV SHOW????? like it sounds like TV dialogue!

I can't explain it

"if time really is repeating, this won't matter" and he kisses her. of course. 

maybe less dancing more saving the ship?

they're talking while dancing "he used to brag about robbing a Betazoid bank" 

!"a non equilibrial matter state" - a time crystal, which she learned about at the Vulcan science academy. which they haven't been able to perfect, but a 4 dimensional being must have perfected it, according to Burnham

good thing she knew all of this ??????????

IT'S SO BADLY WRITTEN SHIN

WHAT THE FUCK

there's no figuring anything out!

they just already know!!!!!! 

cut back to the bridge, wondering where Michael and Tyler are. Mudd appears, playing music

hahahahaha the computer addressed him as Captain Mudd: "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually tired of gloating"

he's found a weaponised dark matter ball in Lorca's stash of dangerous shit. and he's blabbing on about it "and if any of you were planning on being heroes - including you, random communications officer man" LOL (the guy just ran up to try to stop him) "you'll find there's very little I don't know."

Tyler and Michael burst out onto the bridge for some reason ????

tried to shoot Mudd, the forcefield is still there ... he chucked the dark matter at Tyler .... who dissolved .... 

Mudd: "well that was new"

why would they listen to him? Michael you KNOW IT'S A TIME LOOP

STAMETS WHAT ARE YOU DOING

WHAT

THE

FUCK

he told him to stop, because he can't watch Mudd kill any more people

I PAUSED IT UNTIL I STOPPED FEELING CONFUSED BUT I DON'T THINK I WILL EVER STOP BEING CONFUSED

why

would

he

tell

Mudd

what kind of plan .... 

why did ....

why

why

why

kendradaynes Is your brain broken?

aceofwands yes

Stamets gave himself to Mudd????? even though he knew it was a time loop?why would he do that?

Michael has figured out the space whale has a ship in its belly .... with Mudd's crystal energy source in it ..... 

how .... does Michael know about Stella ???? I can't explain this episode to you any more Shin ... you'd have to watch this nonsense for yourself

she has come to sacrifice herself .... because the Klingons want her more than the ship

"you'll get a lot for this ship, but what would I be worth to them?"

"what's in it for you?" "Lt Tyler" "Lt Tyler is dead" "Not for long" ... and then she ATE A DARK MATTER BALL .... to force him to reset the timeline .... 

NO

NO NO NO NO

HOW DOES STAMETS KNOW

WE DIDN'T SEE HIM AGAIN AFTER HE WENT OFF WITH MUDD

SO HOW DID HE KNOW TO TELL MICHAEL HER OWN PLAN

or are we supposed to believe she remembers?

this episode MAKES NO SENSE

has Stamets finally told the Captain? why is he on the bridge

yes ... she did tell them .... everyone there knows and Mudd's confused

Lorca greeted him "Captain Mudd, your chair" - offers his chair

he realised Stamets was "passing on notes"

"don't try to con a con man" "I'm not, I'm negotiating with a business man"

"why would a Federation Captain do that?" "I will not have a repeat of the Boran [sp?] [his past ship]"

this episode is complete rubbish

he's leading Michael and Stamets off to the transporter room to meet the Klingons

lol Stamets has found out about his wife Stella. they found out he's been running from Stella, not to her lol

this episode would have been clever if the time loop wasn't so poorly done!

they rewired the captain's chair to send the message to Stella and her father .... who's come to get him lol

why ... why are they even doing this? they're so obsessed with making a new Star Trek series, why keep bringing in old characters for no reason?

Michael and Tyler waiting for a turbolift, Stamets told them both that in a previous timeline they danced .... they're super awkward

OH LORD

"What I'm feeling is complicated, and strange" "It's okay, I'm not going anywhere”

STOP TELLING US YOUR FEELINGS MICHAEL

I actually think they're really cute? I would usually like so many of these characters! but wow the plots are so. bad.

and it's so clumsy!

holy crap that was bad

oh lord, Saru in the next ep, they're on a planet, there are Klingons and the Admrial being tortured

wow. that's over. and took me ages to watch because I had to stop it so often lol

I have watched a lot of time travel episodes in my decades as a Trekkie (and on other sci fi shows) and that has got to be worst I’ve ever seen! It was SO confusingly done!

they just have no internal consistency!

you have Mudd getting revenge and Stamets working against him ... really really poorly ... 

and all of their solutions to the problems just made no sense???

Stamets giving himself up to Mudd???

and then the final solution of them all working together ... it wasn't like in the Next Gen episode I keep thinking of, where they eventually realise they're looping and find the message in Data and it feels like they worked together to solve it

it feels like this show ... cuts corners

it wants to give us the exciting parts and the emotional pay off without actually doing any of the work, is the best way I can think to explain it

it was ... choppy and confused

that sums the show up to be honest.

they went on and on about how they’re telling a big serialised story, but it isn’t even? we’ve had these weird interlude episodes with Sarek and now Mudd where stuff just happens just because? and they keep TELLING us they’re fighting a war but it doesn’t feel like they’re in one! 

if they’re going to do serialised season long arcs then they need to do way way better, like I just binge watched 9 episodes of Stranger Things yesterday! I know what a good serial narrative looks like and this is not it!

and if they’re going to do episodic then they need to do way way better

the plot of this was just confused nonsense that was weirdly focused around Michael and Tyler’s relationship more than anything else ... it just feels like they’re mashing a bunch of random rubbish together and hoping it works, rather than like a carefully crafted story on either an episodic OR a serial level!

and now I’m just thinking about how much I want to go watch some fun time loop episodes - like man, give me SG1 stuck in a time loop doing stupid shit any day, at least that was fun AND made sense

[buckybabybaby]

Everything Backwards (Chapter 2/12)

Summary: When you make-out with a ‘James’ on a night out, you don’t expect to see him again, so imagine your surprise the next day when it turns out he’ll be your new sort-off-flat-mate. As Nanny for Peggy & Steve’s three children, you’ve lucked out, but now the guy across the corridor is threatening to ruin it all. This is the story of how it works out.

Chapter 2 summary: Day two of living with Bucky isn’t any better…

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Reader (gender neutral) Slow burn.

Word count: 1318

Warnings: Swearing, and Bucky’s still a bit of a dick. Actually, he’s worse here… sorry!

Catch up: Chapter 1

Everything Backwards Masterlist | Masterlist.

Monday morning is obviously hectic at the Carter-Rogers’ home, and as this is only the second one you’ve dealt with, you are understandably stressed. After your unpleasant reunion with Bucky yesterday, you’d spent the rest of the day in your room, skipping dinner and getting an early night. Which means you’re now well rested but very fearful of bumping into your new house mate. 

Steve and Peggy have already gone, a quick kiss to their children’s heads before rushing out the door, so you’re left alone to get three energetic kids ready for the day. Sports kits and history project waiting by the door, and jackets fastened against the early morning chill, you chivvy everyone out of the house and breath a sigh of relief when you glance at your watch. Plenty of time. 

Taking the hand of the youngest, Joe, you begin to lead them along the road towards their school. Sarah, the oldest, skips ahead and her other brother Michael rushes to catch up. The very expensive street you now live on looks particularly pretty today with the new leaves blowing in the Summer wind, and you almost forget your worries until a quiet voice breaks through your thoughts.

“Did you meet Uncle Bucky?” Joe is only just four, and quite shy with you, but he’s slowly getting more confident as the days go by. His question has you realising just how big a part of your life Bucky will be; not only is he living with you all, but he’s close enough to the children to be thought of as an uncle. You smile down at Joe and nod.

“Did you like him? He’s really funny isn’t he! He took me skating once and it was really fun!”

His enthusiasm is adorable, and you laugh along with him as he babbles. Your glad it seems like Bucky is not a dick around the youngsters. You feel kind of awful that you had considered he may be a bad influence on the minors in your care, but, after the interaction the two of you had had yesterday, you don’t know what to expect. Joe is telling you about his time at the ice rink and you make sure to listen intently. 

When you arrive at the school, he looks like he still has more to say and you promise to let him tell you it all when you pick him up at midday, being in preschool and finishing early meant you’ll be back to collect him in a couple of hours. He smiles brightly at that and runs of happily to where his teacher is waiting. You hand Michael his sports bag, and ruffle his hair, sending him on his way before turning towards Sarah. 

She’s gone a little pale and you resist the urge to pull her into a hug, you’re not sure you’re that close yet. You know why she’s frightened. On Saturday afternoon you’d helped her with homework all about Victorian Britain and today was the day she had to present it to her class. Aged nine it’s understandable she’s nervous. You know how much it means to her and your heart breaks a bit at the look of terror on her face.

“Your project is great, Sarah, really.” She doesn’t look convinced so you lead her away from the main gate before crouching down to her height. 

“Your mum looked it over, didn’t she?” She half nods. “Well then, obviously it’s amazing if Professor Rogers, head of history at the countries top University, didn’t find any faults in it. You put together a really great presentation and I’m excited to hear how it goes, and so are your parents. Honestly, you’re going to be brilliant.”

She looks a bit overwhelmed by your little speech, but the change in her mood is immediate, thanking you before accepting her backpack and running off to find her friends. Once you’ve made sure she’s safely inside, you turn around to make the short journey home.

With no one to look out for on the walk, you’re left with your thoughts and find yourself slowing down the closer you get to your street. This is ridiculous. You’re not going to allow a potential run in with Bucky make you scared to enter what is essentially your home. With that thought you jog up the steps and unlock the front door. 

It’s silent inside and you’re about to relax when you hear a crash from the kitchen, followed by swearing and the running of the tap. You really don’t want to know what he’s done, but, as it’s the quietest day at the supermarket, and you have 3 hours to spare, you had decided that a shopping trip was the best job for this morning and you need to know what you’re short off. 

Closing your eyes briefly, you collect yourself before walking round the corner and promptly choking on air. 

Bucky isn’t wearing a shirt. You feel your heart start racing as you take him in, the pyjama bottoms he’s wearing clinging to his impressive thighs, and as he turns from the sink you get a brief view of the bulge at his crotch. 

You follow the line of muscles there up to his chest and shoulders and finally his un-styled hair. He’s got his thumb in his mouth and you frown at the look of pain on his face, evidently he’s too distracted by whatever he’s done to himself to notice you checking out his half naked body. 

Glancing around, you see the cause of his injury. All the ingredients for a cooked breakfast are spread over the work surface, and the knife that was cutting tomatoes and the remaining uncut ones are strewn across the floor. You sigh and face him again.

“Do you need a plaster?”

He jumps, clearly not noticing you until you spoke. His eyes go hard when he looks over at you and you try not to flinch. “No.”

“No, thank you.”

“What?” He looks confused and you feel a jolt of satisfaction at that.

“I believe strongly in good manners,” you answer, reaching round him to open the fridge and scrutinise its contents.

“Fuck you, I’m not exactly one of your clients kids.”

At that you close the refrigerator door a little harder than necessary, making something inside it rattle, stepping to the side and opening the pantry. “I’d also appreciate it if you didn’t swear around the children.”

Bucky looks pissed when you say that. “Of course I don’t fucking swear around the children, who do you think I am? And who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?”

“I am their nanny, so I do have some say in regards to them.”

“And I’ve known them their entire life so I’m not going to start listening to advice from you.”

He’s moved closer to you and you watch his chest moving up and down as he breathes heavily. How did this conversation end up here? Is it going to be like this every time you have to talk? All the fight goes out of you at that thought, and, not being sure what to say, you finish your list and grab the car keys off the peg.

“Do you need anything? I’m going to get groceries.”

He doesn’t reply so you leave, sitting in the car for a full minute to calm yourself down before driving away. If the items are thrown a little too hard into the trolley when you’re in the shop, well, it’s better than throwing them at Bucky’s face. 

By the time you get home you’re feeling a lot better, and the house is thankfully quiet. The pile of dirty dishes on the counter makes your mood slip a bit, but you’ve already decided that there’s no way you’re going to let him ruin the best job you’ve ever had.

Chapter 3

Tagging: @tieddown-withbattleshipchains @i-had-a-life-once

[phoenixgirlreviews-blog]

A Blessing In Disguise Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – New York State Of Mind

It wasn’t long before Theresa began to settle in at her new job at Crimson as she began production on her latest fashion line for the big Christmas fashion show at the Metro Court. Nina gave as much limited input on her selections for the show as much as possible, but for the most part she was greatly pleased and impressed with what Theresa had shown her thus far.

Theresa was also becoming fast friends with Lulu and Maxie, and she even found herself charmed and amused by Maxie’s bubbly but very eccentric and quirky personality.

Theresa also got along handsomely with Michael and his friends and despite of her knowing that Michael and Nelle were dating, she still couldn’t exactly deny her lingering attraction to him.

But having learned from all of the disastrous consequences that had befallen her in the past as a result of her directly trying to interfere with other people’s relationships, Theresa decided that it was best to simply leave them alone to their own devices. But that didn’t stop Nelle from trying to antagonize and harangue her every chance that she got.

One particular afternoon, Theresa was in the gym pounding and wailing furiously on a red punching bag. She was dressed in a dark green sweatshirt with a pair of black shorts and white sneakers.

Just then Nelle arrived in a gray T-shirt and a pair of green cameo pants and advanced over towards Theresa. Theresa then threw a swift side kick and then performed a spinning kick, watching the punching bag wobble just slightly.

“That’s pathetic,” Nelle scoffed as she sauntered over to the other side of the punching bag and delivered a swift and powerful right hook, causing the punching bag to flip over in Theresa’s direction only to wobble back into place.

“See? I can do way better.”

“What are you doing here?” Theresa growled; a bit miffed with Nelle for encroaching on her space.

“Everyone trains and exercises here,” Nelle shrugged as she continued delivering her punches and kicks. “What’s it to you?”

“Is this because I was accidentally flirting with your boyfriend?” Theresa retorted in a snarky tone. “I’m sorry about that, okay? That wasn’t my intention.”

“You better hope so, bitch. Michael is mine and I’m not letting anyone get in the way of our relationship,” Nelle shot back as she threw back another punch and Theresa retaliated with a powerful spinning kick.

“Wow, possessive much?” she narrowed her eyes with a scoff.

“You’re the one that was acting all thirsty over him and looking like you were gonna pounce on him any minute,” Nelle snapped.

Theresa’s body tensed up with anger as she threw a rolling kick.

“Are you seriously calling me a slut?” she snarled.

“Anyone that would purposely knock herself up just so she can trap an uber rich guy into marrying her would be what I would call a total hoe. And that fits you to a T,” Nelle smirked, delivering another sudden punch.

The punching bag rocked and bounced slightly as Theresa shivered in simmering rage, feeling extremely insulted and disgusted.

“I’m not that person anymore.”

“You say that now but I don’t believe that statement for a single minute,” Nelle declared in a haughty tone. “People like you don’t change. A snake can shed its skin but it would still be the same snake inside. Michael deserves a real woman, not a pathetic, sniveling, wimpy little coward like you.”

“Why I outta…” Theresa growled as she was right about to give Nelle a piece of her mind but then she was interrupted by a loud, male voice.

“Jeannie!”

Theresa practically sank to the floor, immediately embarrassed and mortified by the mention of her childhood name.

“Oh no… Andrew…”

“See ya,” Nelle smirked triumphantly as she walked away from her.

Just then a handsome and debonair looking man with dark brown hair and an athletic and lean build rushed over to Theresa.

“Hey, sis,” he said with a warm smile. “Glad I found you here.”

“Hey, Andrew,” Theresa gazed at him shyly. “What are you doing here?”

“I came here to see you,” Andrew replied.

“But I thought Mom and Dad said that you were still in the ISA training academy back in London,” Theresa frowned in confusion.

“Nope,” Andrew shook his head. “I’m done with all that now. I graduated a few months ago. Mom and Dad actually told me about you moving up here to Port Charles so I figured now was a good time as any to see you. And by the way, Eve’s going to come by to see you too within the next couple of days.”

“Oh no, not her too,” Theresa groaned, face-palming slowly.

If there was one person in the whole world that she couldn’t possibly stand, it was Eve. When Eve was still in Salem, she and Theresa used to clash and feud a lot, especially where it came to Eve’s teenage daughter Paige.

Theresa also did everything she could to interfere with Paige’s budding relationship with her former drug buddy J.J. Devereaux, which now that she had thought about it, she really did have some feelings for him at the time.

But after Paige died, Theresa and Eve finally reconciled and were well on their way to completely mending their relationship. But that didn’t mean that there weren’t still some occasional rough patches along the way.

“Hey, be nice, Jeannie T. She’s still our sister, like it or not,” Andrew frowned, crossing his arms sternly.

“Unfortunately,” Theresa rolled her eyes.

“Anyways,” Andrew narrowed his eyes, not taking any lip from his younger sibling. “How is life in Port Charles so far?”

“It’s going really good,” Theresa said. “I’m making a lot of new friends and there are a lot of interesting and nice people in here. And Nina is a really awesome and kickass boss too and she makes Crimson a great place to work in.”

“Would that woman I just saw you sparring with count as being amongst your new friends?” Andrew inquired.

“I don’t think so,” Theresa shook her head. “I think she may actually have it out for me all because I was accidentally flirting with her boyfriend when I even had no idea the two of them were going out together and now she thinks I may try to steal him from her.”

“Are you though?” Andrew raised his eyebrow suspiciously.

“No way, Jose,” Theresa shook her hands to and fro with a shake of her head. “Those days are long behind me.”

“If you say so,” Andrew shrugged. “Just please try to behave, Theresa. You got it good here and I’d hate to see you mess it all up all because of one dumb mistake.”

“I know, Andrew, but I don’t need you looking out for me. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself,” Theresa insisted sternly with a defiant pout.

“Hey, what good am I if I can’t even look after my own baby sister, huh?” Andrew chuckled as he placed a loving hand on her shoulder. “I’m always going to have to worry about you. It’s my job. I’m the one who’s in charge when Mom, Dad and Eve are not around.”

Theresa smiled, instinctively understanding that her brother really meant well, despite of her constant frustration and annoyance over his overbearing and protective behavior.

“So, have you met any cute and sexy British girls while you were in London?”

“Yeah, but none that actually particularly struck my fancy,” Andrew shrugged.

“Really?” Theresa frowned, rolling her eyes. “Oh, come on, Drew. There had to be at least a couple that caught your eye.”

“I wish I could say that,” Andrew sighed dejectedly. “Sorry, Theresa; it’s just that I was so preoccupied with training that I never had much time to socialize and hang out with other people.”

“That really sucks,” Theresa retorted sullenly.

“It’s all right,” Andrew gave a reassuring smile. “I’m sure I still have plenty of time to find the One. Maybe there will be some cute girl here in Port Charles that will catch my fancy.”

“I would hope so. Maybe you’ll have better luck than I do,” Theresa grumbled.

“Hey, don’t worry, Jeannie. I’m sure you’ll find a nice, decent guy that is going to be perfect for you,” Andrew assured her.

“Well… maybe,” Theresa scoffed nonchalantly. “If I can’t find a decent, hot guy in this town I can always jump straight back into girls. I really don’t give a crap.”

“Seriously?” Andrew retorted in a perplexed tone. “Aren’t you worried about what Mom and Dad may think about that?”

Theresa then burst out into an incredulous fit of laughter. “Are you freaking kidding me, Andrew? I could care less about what our parents think about what I do in my life. I’m a grown adult. I make and own my choices. I don’t feel any shame in acknowledging them as they are.”

“All right then,” Andrew sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “Wanna grab some lunch?”

“Yeah, let’s stop at my place first so I can take a quick shower and then later we can go grab a bite to eat somewhere,” Theresa replied as she and Andrew headed out of the gym. “And while we’re at my place you are going to see your nephew, no ifs, ands or buts!”

“Okay, Jeannie!” Andrew laughed as he gave her a noogie and roped her into an embrace.

--

Later on after her lunch date with Andrew, Theresa decided to stop by at the Floating Rib to hang out and relax while Andrew stayed over at her apartment for a little while to watch over Tate. Theresa sipped slowly on a martini glass as she found herself lost in her thoughts, relieving her memories of the last several weeks.

“Hey, you’re new here, right?” the blonde woman sitting next to her inquired.

“Yeah,” Theresa answered, glancing over right at her. “I am actually. Who are you?”

“Ava. Ava Jerome,” the woman answered gruffly, taking a sip of her drink.

Theresa frowned. This woman didn’t seem overly friendly. But she wasn’t just simply going to be rude. She had to at least try to make a conversation.

“Wow, your name sounds like something a fashionita would have.”

Ava snickered, apparently being caught off guard by the strange woman’s comment.

“That’s very flattering but I’m nowhere close to being a fashionita. I actually own an art gallery.”

“Really?” Theresa’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Well that sounds very cool. I would really love to take my son there one of these days so he can learn more about art.”

Ava smirked. “You have a son, huh? What’s his name?”

Theresa beamed proudly. “His name is Tate. He’s a very sweet, adorable little boy and he’s always so adventurous and curious about things so I figured a trip to the gallery would be really beneficial for him.”

“Enjoy him while you can, Theresa. You’re going to wish he stayed little,” Ava retorted with a sharp bitterness in her voice. “I wish my Kiki was still a sweet, innocent little girl. Then I wouldn’t be having so many problems with her.”

Theresa suddenly had a very funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Kiki’s not into any sort of drugs or hard partying, is she?”

“Oh no!” Ava chuckled, waving off her hand. “Nothing like that. I wouldn’t allow her to be around Avery if she was.”

“Oh, so you have two daughters then?” Theresa queried.

“Yeah,” Ava mused. “I suppose Avery is roughly the same age as your Tate.”

“Cool!” Theresa grinned excitedly. “So… I guess maybe it’s okay if maybe one day our kids could have a play date together?”

“I don’t see why not,” Ava shrugged, taking another sip of her martini. “And I suppose it wouldn’t hurt for Kiki to have more friends. That way I would have way less drama with her and I get to have more me time. It’s a win-win.”

“Hello there, Theresa!” a sweet, soft Southern voice interjected as Theresa swiveled around to see Eve advancing towards her with a huge, bright grin.

“Oh no…” Theresa groaned, almost collapsing from her chair. “I forgot that Eve was coming today…”

“Come here, you sweet little scamp!” Eve cooed as she rushed over to Theresa and wrapped her in a huge, smothering embrace.

Theresa choked and gagged as she felt suffocated and trapped in her sister’s arms and was fighting to get out of her clutches.

“Eve… Y-You are squishing me…” she gasped as her face turned into varying shades of blue, purple and maroon.

“Oh my! I’m so sorry!” Eve apologized as she finally let go of her.

Theresa then bent over to catch her breath as she coughed and gasped deeply for several minutes. Then once she recovered from Eve’s vice-grip hug, she turned to face Eve with a glare.

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought that you weren’t supposed to show up for the next couple of days!”

“Well I got an early flight out here and I just couldn’t wait to see you, my little sister. How is Port Charles faring so far, my little successful fashion star?” Eve gushed excitedly.

“It’s going fine, Eve. I’m working with Nina Reeves at Crimson now; she’s my new boss,” Theresa replied.

Ava froze suddenly and pivoted around towards Theresa with a cruel sneer.

“You are working with that psychotic little witch?! Have you lost your ever loving mind?!”

“What the hell are you talking about? She’s my boss! She was the one that offered to expand my fashion line here and it’s all because of her that I can make a living in this town!” Theresa shot back indignantly.

“You got something to say to Jeannie T, you better say it to me,” Eve growled sternly, suddenly wedging herself in between the two women protectively.

“Hey, hold on, Eve; it’s totally cool,” Theresa assured her as she inched closer to Ava with a menacing glare. “What exactly are you insinuating about my boss?”

“Well, your boss is a total fruitcake,” Ava scoffed. “She was the one that stole my Avery from the womb in the first place all because she was so desperate to replace the baby that she lost eons ago while she was in a coma and it’s also because of her that I lost the great love of my love – Dr. Silas Clay.”

“Oh my God…” Theresa gasped in horror, suddenly feeling the world spinning around her as a familiar feeling of dread and terror pulsed through her veins.

Eve then saw that Theresa was about to faint and she quickly caught her in her arms just as she was about to fall to the floor.

“Come on, Jeannie. We better go.”

She then sauntered over to the counter and placed a fistful of $20 bills on it.

“Keep the change,” she said as she dragged her sister’s motionless body out of the Floating Rib.

--

It seemed like hours before Theresa finally came to and found herself lying on a couch back in her apartment with Andrew and Eve hovering over her.

“Uh what…” she mumbled as she quickly sat up, only for Andrew to forcibly lay her back down.

“Easy, Jeannie T. You had a horrible dizzy spell earlier.”

“What happened?” Theresa grumbled, closing her eyes and covering them, acting as if the mere presence of light bothered her.

“You fainted after you had a nasty confrontation with Ava Jerome about your boss Nina,” Eve explained.

Theresa then groaned and winced as flashes of memory of the encounter at the Floating Rib came back and then she experienced another sudden memory of her screaming in terror as she was grabbed in the woods and chloroformed.

“Oh my God…” she shivered, gasping and hyper-ventilating. “She couldn’t… she couldn’t possibly be that person… She couldn’t possibly be that woman that Ava was talking about… No… That can’t be her… The Nina that I know is so well put together and nice and… normal…”

She then took a couple of deep, calming breaths before she turned back to face Andrew and Eve.

“That can’t be the same woman, can it?”

“Well, a lot of people can change, Theresa,” Andrew frowned. “Who they might be 5 to 10 years ago may not be the same person they are now. Maybe you should ask Nina about it and get the real story.”

“There is also the possibility that maybe there’s a tiny bit of truth in what Ava said but it’s only her side of the story,” Eve rejoined.

“Yeah, for all we know, Ava could totally be exaggerating and making up everything she said about Nina just to get sympathy. I mean, what if she was having an affair with her husband or something?” Andrew shrugged.

“What Andrew is trying to say is that you can’t just go off on one person’s word alone. You need to hear as many sides as possible in order to get the complete truth,” Eve said.

“Yeah,” Theresa sunk into the couch, feeling horribly deflated and humiliated. “I can’t believe I actually suggested to that woman that we have play dates with our own kids together. And I can’t believe I’m still making an ass of myself by having these panic attacks in public.”

“Theresa, that isn’t your fault. What you went through with Kristen was one of the most traumatic and horrific experiences any person could possibly go through,” Andrew assured her.

“It’s perfectly understandable that you’re still having some sort of PTSD even though it’s been a couple of years. You just need to deal with it and move on with your life.”

“I know, Andrew,” Theresa sighed. “It’s just… I should’ve been over it by now. Goddammit, it’s been nearly three years. I should have gotten over it by now.”

“Nobody ever truly gets over something that horrible,” Eve shook her head sympathetically. “You know, people ask me all the time if I’ve already moved on from my darling daughter’s death.”

“It gets a little bit easier with the passage of time but I still hurt and cry and pore over the precious memories of my sweet Paigey every now and then. Trust me, Theresa. You never get over it. Don’t let anyone minimize your painful truth whether it’s been 5 years or 10 or even 20.”

Theresa then got up and gave Eve a hug. “Thanks, Eve.”

“Don’t mention it, hun,” Eve smiled as she hugged her back.

Theresa then pulled away from her and started looking around frantically. “Where’s Tate?”

“He’s in the playroom; he’s fine,” Andrew answered confidentially as Theresa quickly bolted out of the living room and disappeared into the hallway in a mad dash for her son.

Eve then glared with narrowed eyes at her little brother. “Andrew Donovan, what the hell is the matter with you?”

“What? I didn’t mean anything by it,” Andrew shrugged, not understanding why Eve was all of a sudden mad at him.

Eve shook her head. “One day, little brother, when you have your own children, you are going to know what it’s like to worry about them day and night and to be always on guard for anything that might put them in harm’s way. You will also be second-guessing every choice and decision that you make and hope and pray that it actually ends up helping them in the long run.”

She then stormed out of the room, leaving Andrew alone to contemplate his thoughts.

--

A couple of days later, Theresa was slaving over at her desk revamping some of her latest designs. She gave it a once over, erased a couple of lines, added new ones and then examined it again, shaking her head.

“No, no, no… That doesn’t look right,” she muttered.

“Hey, Theresa? You all right? You’ve been really quiet all day,” Nina asked with great concern as she approached her.

“Yeah, just trying to get some work done,” Theresa retorted brusquely as she continued to scribble and erase over her drawing.

“Uh huh,” Nina nodded as she sat down next to her. “Listen, something is obviously bothering you and I would like to know what it is.”

Theresa paused for a moment, mentally debating on whether not she should say anything to Nina. She then realized that perhaps it was better if she actually told her what was really going on.

“Um… well you see… I ran into this woman named Ava Jerome the other day at the Floating Rib and she said some very interesting things about you.”

“Like what?” Nina raised an eyebrow.

“Like you stole her baby from her womb for one thing and she also claims that you were responsible for murdering Silas Clay, the very love of her life,” Theresa explained.

“Okay… that last part is not true at all!” Nina nearly exploded in an irate voice, her eyes flashing with anger. “I did not kill Silas; my mother did!”

“Really?” Theresa started, dropping her pencil and looking right at her.

“Yeah, really! And for another thing, Silas was my husband and she was the one that was actually having an affair with him!” Nina continued to fume and seethe furiously.

“Are you serious?” Theresa gawked in disbelief.

“Yeah, I’m serious!” Nina exclaimed, letting out a big sigh and a shrug. “Okay, this whole thing happened more than 20 years ago, probably before you were even a twinkle in your dad’s eye. Silas and I were a young married couple trying to get our lives started and we were also looking forward to welcoming our first child together.”

Theresa became very quiet and serious, slowly processing and absorbing all this information in.

Nina then exhaled deeply while rubbing her temples.

“But my mother was very jealous, possibly because my father devoted a lot of love and attention towards me and that made her feel extremely resentful. So because she hated me so much, she decided that I just simply couldn’t be happy period and she ended up trying to kill me. However, her attempt failed and I ended up in a coma instead. And that’s where I spent the next 20 years of my life.”

“When I finally did wake up, I was more than 20 years older and I was no longer pregnant. And then I was told that not only was my child dead but I also couldn’t have any more kids.”

Nina shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes as she fought not to let them out.

Theresa placed a sympathetic hand on Nina.

“I’m really sorry, Nina. I mean, I thought for a long time that my mom was the devil but it turns out that I really didn’t know a damn thing at all. I mean, I had it pretty good with her compared to other people.”

“It’s all right, Theresa,” Nina smiled wistfully. “I’m just trying to move on from all of this and rebuild my life as best as I can. I mean, at least I got a good job, a loving brother, a great sister-in-law who is just amazing, a kooky aunt, a decent husband that I love, a great stepdaughter that I absolutely love as my own, and a couple of great friends.”

“Would you consider me as your friend?” Theresa frowned worriedly.

“Of course, Theresa,” Nina laughed. “You are already my friend.”

“Thanks,” Theresa smiled back. “I can see that you’re nothing like Kristen. Kristen only stole my baby because she wanted to use him as a means to get Brady back. I mean, not like I was any better in that department, but still...”

“I’m just lucky that I didn’t end up losing Tate forever to those sneaky DiMeras. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have my son in my life. I don’t think I would anything worthwhile to live for. I mean, it’s already been tough enough watching my sister grieve and mourn her slain teenage daughter Paige. I don’t want to become a sad, mopey mess like her.”

“Well, as long as you surround yourself with people that really care about you and you throw yourself into the kind of work that you really enjoy, you should be fine. Maybe you should talk to Dr. Kevin Collins if you have any concerns.”

“Hey… that’s a great idea!” Theresa beamed. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Just as Nina was about to say more, a female German accented voice called out into the room.

“Liebchen! Are you in?”

“Oh no! That’s Liesl! I’m getting the hell out of here!” Theresa panicked as she started gathering up all of her belongings frantically and was about to quickly bolt out of the room.

“Oh no, you’re not,” Nina hissed as she grabbed her arm gently and forced her to sit back down.

Theresa whined and gazed back at the door; trembling and quivering even more with pure terror with every minute that passed.

It was then that Obrecht entered the room wearing a white coat with a black blouse underneath and a pair of white pants. She also had on her long, dark raven hair hanging loosely over her shoulders with short, cropped bangs on her forehead.

The minute she laid eyes on Theresa, her lips curled into a snarl and she started marching threateningly towards her, going in for the kill.

“What is SHE doing in here?” she demanded viciously as Theresa was about to cry and break into sobs out of pure fear.

“Please don’t kill me!” she wailed as she went down on her knees and prostrated before her, shaking. “I didn’t mean to call you an old hag! I was saying stupid crap in the heat of the moment! I didn’t mean any of it, honest!”

Obrecht frowned deeply and then roughly pulled up Theresa to her feet, delivering a couple of hard slaps across the face to snap her out of her pity party attitude.

“Stop with this childish nonsense!” she scolded her sternly. “If you really want to make it up to me, you better design a good dress for me. I could use some nice party wear.”

“R-Really?” Theresa stammered, still reeling from what she had just heard.

“Of course, Aunt Liesl!” Nina assured her, placing an arm around Theresa. “She would be more than happy to do it!”

“Y-Yeah, sure,” Theresa nodded with a sheepish grin, deciding to just play along.

“Good. Do not disappoint me,” Obrecht said and she promptly stormed out of the office.

Theresa then let out a big sigh of relief, running her hands through her face.

“I can’t believe I’m still standing and not six feet underground,” she muttered.

“Oh don’t be so dramatic,” Nina scoffed, patting her back. “Aunt Liesl isn’t really all that bad. Once you get to really know her, she can be a real softie underneath that hard and tough exterior.”

“I sure hope so,” Theresa grimaced. “I really don’t want to make a huge ass of myself with this project.”

“You won’t, Theresa,” Nina informed her. “We’ll start working on that design tomorrow.”

“All right then,” Theresa nodded as she got her things into her purse and headed out the door. “See ya tomorrow.”

“See ya,” Nina waved as Theresa headed out the door.

--

The minute Theresa got home, she noticed that Andrew and Tate were sitting on the couch, watching a football game. Tate then looked up to see his mother walk in and grinned.

“Mommy, you’re home!” he cried as he rushed over to hug her.

“Hey, kiddo!” Theresa beamed as she embraced her son and pinched his cheeks. “How is my sweet little boy? Are you being good for your Uncle Andrew?”

“Yes, Mommy,” Tate nodded.

Theresa then grabbed him and picked him up in his arms as she walked over to the couch and sat next to her brother.

“So who’s winning?”

“The Bruisers,” Andrew answered with a proud smile.

“Our home team,” Theresa almost laughed.

“Yeah,” Andrew sighed.

Theresa then turned to face Andrew while Tate picked up a white IPad from the table and started playing with it.

“So… how long are you going to be staying here?”

“Just for a little while,” Andrew shrugged. “I’m thinking of heading back to London and joining the ISA for real in a couple of months.”

“Really?” Theresa frowned, a bit disappointed. She was always annoyed at how little time she actually got to spend with her big brother, and someone – or something – is always keeping him away.

“But…” Andrew interjected, interrupting her thoughts. “I don’t know. I’m not too crazy about it. I mean yeah, I would love to have some adventure and excitement and being in the ISA sounds like a whole lot of fun.”

“But I don’t really like the idea of being away from my family for too long, especially you and… Tate. I would love to be in his life more, Jeannie T. I want to be there to watch him grow up to be a great man.”

“I want to eventually settle down with someone that I love and raise a family with them. And I can’t have that if I’m always going to be away on important missions all the time, like Dad.”

Andrew shook his head, regret and sadness set in his eyes.

“I always hated that when we were both kids we only got to see Dad every once in a blue moon and maybe once every other Christmas, Thanksgiving or even Easter.”

“I know that it was extremely rough on you to not have him around as often as we both would’ve liked, but it was just as difficult for me too. He was the one person that I know that would have been able to teach me all that I ever needed to know to be a real man.”

“The time that I did get to spend with him when I was very little before you even came along – that was the best. That was the one period in my life that I actually felt safe and secure, that I was really, really happy – with both of my parents.”

Andrew then noticed that Theresa was scowling and seething and he sensed that their discussion was now bringing up even more painful childhood memories for her, and he placed a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it tenderly.

“And my life was made even better when Mom and Dad had you, because that not only meant that I had someone new to play with, but also that Eve and I had another person to protect and watch over.”

“Yeah, but Eve was never really there for me growing up. She was too busy being married to Eddie and bringing up Paige,” Theresa retorted sharply.

“Yeah, but I was there for you, Theresa,” Andrew informed her gently, pressing her head against his. “Remember when Mom was very sick for a while when we were very little and you were so scared to be alone at night?”

“You used to come into my room and climb into bed with me just so you would feel safe. You would then hug me and beg me to never leave you alone and I would tell you that as long as I was here, the monsters were never going to get you because I would always keep you safe.”

“You remembered…” Theresa sniffled, tears brimming in her eyes. “You remembered…”

Andrew then sighed deeply and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples.

“I want so badly to make Mom and Dad proud of me. I mean, my whole life has been leading up to this. I need to be the one to protect my family when our dad is no longer around. I need to be the one who is not only going to save the whole world but also keep my loved ones safe. I am Shane Donovan’s only son. It is my destiny to take up his mantle and be the savior that everyone needs.”

“But you don’t need to sacrifice your personal happiness just to satisfy Mom and Dad’s wishes. You deserve to live your own life just like everyone else,” Theresa retorted insistently.

Andrew chuckled and shook his head. “Man, Theresa, sometimes I had your spunk and gravitas. Not giving a damn what anyone else felt or thought. You’ve always been a bit of a free spirit, you know. Always doing what you wanted to do, no matter what anyone felt or thought. But that’s not me. I don’t have that luxury. I have a role to play and I must do what I was born to do.”

“Well, if you really are that certain…” Theresa frowned, not entirely comfortable with what Andrew was implying.

It was then that Andrew’s phone buzzed and he pushed a button to wake it from its sleep mode. He then saw that there was a text and opened it up.

“Oh… I better go before it gets really late.”

“Where are you going?” Theresa asked curiously.

“I just met a cute girl at Charlie’s earlier and I agreed to meet her there tonight. I’ll see you when I get back,” Andrew said as he got up from the sofa, kissed Theresa on the cheek and then kissed Tate on the forehead. Tate was now curled up on Theresa’s bosom, fast asleep with the IPad sitting on his lap.

“Good night, kiddo,” Andrew smiled as he headed out the door.

“Bye, Drew; have a good time,” Theresa hollered as she set the IPad on the table and then carried Tate to his bedroom.

“It’s time for you to go to bed, Tater Tot.”

--

By the time Andrew got to Charlie’s, the place was nearly empty except for a couple of patrons and Julian was still at the bar table wiping some glasses clean. Nelle was sitting right in front of him, a shot of tequila in hand. Andrew then approached the table and sat down next to her.

“Hey. Nelle Benson, right?”

“Yeah,” Nelle smiled politely, gulping down another shot of tequila. “You’re Andrew Donovan?”

“Yeah,” Andrew nodded and he held his finger up, prompting Julian to walk over to him. “Hey, barkeep. I would like a cold draft of beer please.”

“Coming right up,” Julian replied as he disappeared into the back to get his order.

“So what brings you here?” Nelle asked Andrew.

“Just visiting my sister and my little nephew,” Andrew replied casually. “I haven’t had a chance to meet him in person since he has been born. My parents have been emailing me pictures of him while I was in London.”

“London, huh? Do you live there?” Nelle asked; her interest piqued.

“N-No, not exactly… We did for a little while when we were kids but we haven’t been there in a long time. My father had an old manor that belonged to his family for generations,” Andrew answered. “He’s actually British and my mom’s from an old Irish Catholic family.”

“How many siblings do you have?” Nelle continued as Julian brought over Andrew’s beer and Andrew took a big sip.

“Two, actually; an older half-sister and a younger sister. My little sister was named Jeannie at birth but she goes by Theresa now. She changed her name legally the minute she got out of high school. She hated being called that for the longest time but now I don’t think she even cares anymore.”

“Jeannie,” Nelle snickered. “What a dorky name. I can’t imagine anybody in their right mind this day and age who would want a dumbass name like that.”

“Hey, it was a family name that was dearly treasured by my father,” Andrew sneered, glaring at Nelle. “It was his mother’s nickname. My sister was actually named in honor of both of our grandmothers from both sides of the family as a matter of fact; one in particular that she was very close to until she died from complications of dementia a couple of years ago. Theresa took it pretty hard when she passed away. She was in a really bad depression for quite a while.”

“Sorry to hear that, Andrew,” Nelle replied in a sympathetic voice. “I never knew my own mother growing up and she died when I was quite young. The only person I had in my whole life was my dad, but even we didn’t see eye to eye from time to time. One day we had a particularly bad argument and I was so angry at him that I decided to leave the house and never return. I haven’t spoken to him in years.”

“Well, maybe you should try to patch things up with your dad before it’s too late,” Andrew suggested. “I know that my other sister Eve is wishing every single day of her life now that she had done just that with my niece Paige.”

“She pretty much destroyed her relationship with her own daughter all because she wanted what was best for her and she would do anything it took to accomplish that, even if it meant sabotaging her romance with that Devereaux kid.”

Andrew shook his head, taking another sip of his beer and sighing deeply.

“I still don’t understand how it happened. I mean, I know that Eve was horribly depressed over the issue with her vocal cords, but Jesus… she didn’t have to go and jump into bed with a boy more than half her age and alienate her daughter in the process… I will never be able to make any sense of this mess.”

He then hung his head, gripping on his beer with his eyes stinging with unshed tears and his face quickly draining of color and turning ashen gray.

“Paige was a sweet, innocent, bright young girl – smart as a whip. She should have graduated from Stanford and become a doctor by now, not brutally murdered by a psychotic killer and buried six feet under. It’s just not fair. Not fair to my parents, not fair to Eddie and certainly not fair to Eve.”

“Come on, Andrew; enough of this pathetic maudlin talk,” Nelle rolled her eyes with a scoff as Andrew finished up his beer. “Let’s go have some fun. No need to dwell on all of this depressing stuff.”

Andrew then breathed deeply and beckoned for Julian to bring him another bottle of beer. He then turned to look at Nelle with a soft smile.

“All right then.”

“Say, you don’t happen to be Theresa’s brother, right?” Julian asked as he brought over another bottle of beer to him.

“The one and the same,” Andrew replied.

Julian then scoffed with an incredulous expression as he crossed his arms and looked right at him.

“You are aware that just the other day she actually got into a bar fight with one of my patrons?”

“Of course I’m aware,” Andrew laughed. “It’s all right, though. Theresa just has a tendency to have a short temper, that’s all.”

“Okay then. Just promise me that you’ll make sure that she doesn’t lose it with any more of my customers. I can’t afford to lose my business,” Julian informed him sternly.

“Sure thing, Mr. Jerome,” Andrew nodded.

“Anyways, it’s closing time. You two should head out now,” Julian added.

“Let’s go to my hotel room and have some more fun,” Nelle suggested as she took him by the hand and they left the bar.

--

When Andrew and Nelle got to the Metro Court, they went to another bar and began drinking even more heavily, laughing and cheering. Eventually Andrew got so drunk that he lost complete control of himself and everything became a blur.

At some point in the middle of the night, Andrew and Nelle stumbled into Nelle’s room and continued to party and drink into the wee hours of the morning. Then they danced together with Nelle in Andrew’s arms as Nelle began to strip seductively for him. Andrew then gawked at her in confusion and laughed.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What does it look like?” Nelle smirked as she soon was wearing nothing but her underwear.

Andrew blushed and pressed his forehead against hers, smirking.

“You’re the most beautiful girl that I’ve ever seen.”

“Well, there’s a lot more where that came from, you strong, sexy man,” Nelle purred demurely with coquettish eyes as she led him to the bed and then climbed on top of him. It wasn’t long before the two began to undress and make out heavily and they soon started making love.

--

The next morning, Andrew woke up to the sound of his cell phone ringing on the night table. He then sat up quickly and picked it up, feeling his head throbbing and pounding in sheer agony.

Ugh… I’ve had way too much to drink last night…

The moment he answered, a shrill female voice started shrieking in his ear, making the pain in his head even worse.

“Andrew, where the hell are you? I’ve been waiting up for you all night. Where have you been…?”

Andrew glanced over to see if Nelle was still sleeping beside him and to his surprise the spot next to him was empty. He then inhaled sharply, willing the massive pounding in his head to go away.

“I had way too much to drink and I decided to get a hotel room to stay for the night. I didn’t want you to see me like that. I was super wasted.”

“Well, come over then and I’ll make you something to eat for breakfast; I’ll even brew some coffee,” Theresa offered.

“That sounds heavenly,” Andrew smiled weakly. “Well, see ya sis. I’ll meet you in about 15 minutes.”

“Okay,” Theresa said and then she hung up.

Andrew then went into the bathroom to take a quick, hot shower and then got ready for the day. After he got dressed, he left the hotel room and checked out in the downstairs lobby. Andrew then got into his car and drove off to Theresa’s apartment.

Nearly 20 minutes later, the doorbell rang and Theresa walked over to answer it. She was surprised to see Andrew standing in the doorway, looking very frazzled and haggard.

“Wow, you look like hell,” Theresa gawked in amazement.

This was a new side to Andrew that she had never seen before.

“Thanks,” Andrew mumbled gruffly as he entered the apartment and walked through the living room and into the kitchen, not even noticing Tate sitting in front of the T.V. watching cartoons.

Once he entered the kitchen, he sat down in front of the table and put his head down, groaning.

“So what happened last night?” Theresa asked as she went over to the counter to make some coffee from the coffee machine.

“I told you; I got horribly wasted last night and I ended up having sex with a girl I just met hours before,” Andrew grumbled, shutting his eyes tightly.

“What’s her name?” Theresa asked.

“Nelle,” Andrew groaned.

“What?!” Theresa gasped in a horrified and appalled voice. “You slept with her?! Andrew, what the hell?!”

“She was an attractive and nice looking girl. What the hell was I supposed to do, ignore her? Besides, she and Michael are already on the outs anyway. It’s not like he’s gonna care.”

“But I do,” Theresa growled as she took out the coffee pot and turned off the coffee maker so it could cool off. She then poured some coffee into a cup and brought it over to Andrew.

“You know, I have a mind to pour this all over your dumb, thick headed skull.”

“Please don’t,” Andrew moaned. “I already feel like crap as it is.”

“I hope you’re not considering going out with her again. She’s bad news, Andrew. I can’t quite figure out why, but I have this bad feeling that she is. You need to be careful. You don’t want to be stuck with her for life, trust me.”

Andrew glanced up with a small, sleepy smirk and groggy, glassy eyes.

“You know, you’re beginning to sound just like Mom.”

“That’s because I am a mom, you dork,” Theresa rolled her eyes. “Now drink your coffee and hurry up. I got errands to run.”

“All right, Miss Bossy Pants,” Andrew grumbled as he began to sip on his coffee slowly.

--

THANKSGIVING 2017

PORT CHARLES, NEW YORK

THERESA’S APARTMENT

7 P.M.

It was a little over a month later and Theresa was at the dining room table, wearing a green apron and setting up all kinds of dinnerware. She then brought out big plates of food, with one containing a big pound of turkey. The table was also covered in a nice satin white table cloth with a couple of golden stick candles already lit.

The doorbell rang and Theresa squealed as she rushed over to get the door.

“They’re here!” she shrieked and then she answered it.

The minute she opened the door, a huge group of people came filing in, with Maxie and Nathan first entering the apartment, then Liz and Franco, then Andrew and Eve, then Michael and Nelle, then Dante and Lulu, then Brad and Lucas, then Kim and Drew, then Ava, Kiki and Avery, and then Nina and Valentin.

Liz and Franco were accompanied by Cameron, Aiden and Jake, while Michael and Nelle were accompanied by Josslyn, Kim and Drew were accompanied by Oscar and Dante and Lulu brought over Rocco and Charlotte.

“Hey, everybody! Glad you all could come!” Theresa grinned as she greeted everyone with a hug and a hello.

Tate then rushed into the living room and was immediately spooked by all of the people in the apartment.

“Who are all these strange people, Mommy?”

“These are our guests, Tater Tot,” Theresa beamed, swiveling around to face her son.

“Wow, nice place you got here, Theresa,” Brad commented as he and Lucas surveyed the interior.

“Yeah, definitely looks a lot better than ours,” Lucas quipped.

“We could always invest a bit more in having some interior decorating done,” Brad suggested.

“Yeah, but let’s wait until we started our own family first,” Lucas hissed in a low whisper.

“What are you guys talking about?” Theresa asked.

“Oh, nothing!” Brad grinned nervously.

“Don’t worry, Theresa. We’ll tell everyone at the dinner table later,” Lucas reassured her.

“Hey there, Theresa,” Nina greeted Theresa as the two women hugged. “It was so nice of you to invite all of us over to your house for dinner.”

She then gestured over to Valentin, who then shook her hand. “By the way, this is my husband Valentin Cassadine.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Theresa nodded.

“Thank you for being such a gracious hostess,” Valentin smiled in a warm and charismatic manner.

“No problem,” Theresa nodded.

“I’m surprised that a beautiful and charming woman like you is currently single,” Valentin started to compliment her but he was quickly interrupted by Nina clearing her throat warningly and directing a pointed glare in his direction.

“Sorry,” Valentin apologized with a sheepish grin.

“It’s okay. That in itself is a very long and complicated story,” Theresa waved her hand graciously.

Nina then saw that Tate was cowering and hiding timidly behind Theresa’s leg and she attempted to give him a disarming smile.

“Hello there. What a cute little munchkin you are.”

“Say hi, kiddo,” Theresa gently encouraged him as Tate continued to bury his face in her leg, whimpering fearfully.

Theresa then sighed and shrugged, looking at Nina apologetically.

“Sorry, he just gets so shy sometimes.”

“No worries,” Nina waved her hand dismissively. “I’m sure he’ll say hi when he wants to.”

“Hey,” Kiki approached Theresa as she turned around to face her. “You’re Theresa Donovan, right?”

“Yeah. I take it you’re Kiki Jerome?”

“Yeah,” Kiki nodded. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Theresa.”

“Same,” Theresa replied.

“Tag! You’re it!” Jake declared as he tapped on Aiden’s shoulder and Aiden, Cameron and all of the other kids dashed off after him.

Tate just looked on sadly as he was at a loss on what to do. Then Avery approached him and tapped him on the arm, smiling sweetly at him.

“Hey, wanna play tag with us?”

Tate then hesitated for a minute before he gazed at her and nodded with a smile of his own.

“Okay.”

Then he raced off after her as he joined in with the other kids, laughing, giggling and shrieking.

An hour and a half later, when everyone had sat down together to eat and celebrate, Theresa had Andrew sit at the very end of the table so that he would be the very first person to carve up the first slice of turkey. But first she wanted to say grace.

“Okay, now I know that there might be some people in here that don’t exactly believe in this sort of thing, but this ritual is especially important to my family, so I would like everyone to hold hands together and pray.”

Everyone then bowed their heads down, held each other’s hands and got ready for Theresa to say her grace.

“Thank you, Lord, for this bountiful harvest. Thank you for giving me another full year of good health and happiness with my family and friends and thank you for allowing me to have an opportunity to make positive changes in my life. And I am especially grateful that we all get to sit here together and spend some time together in peaceful harmony as children of God. Amen.”

“Finally!” Charlotte snapped as she dug into her turkey and started stuffing her mouth.

“Charlotte!” Lulu hissed sternly.

“Oh… I didn’t know that you were religious, Theresa,” Nina quipped.

“That was for my family,” Theresa quickly explained while glancing briefly at Andrew. “I’m not actually a practicing Catholic, not since I was a kid. But ever since I had my battle with breast cancer a little over a year ago, my faith has gotten a lot stronger.”

She then narrowed her eyes, fidgeting and playing with her turkey slices and churning around her mashed potatoes and gravy absentmindedly.

“I’m just not all that crazy about going to church on a regular basis though.”

“Well, at least you’re trying and I say that’s pretty admirable,” Kim complimented her.

“Yeah, it’s pretty refreshing to see someone actually say grace on Thanksgiving or during any mealtime really. Nobody does that anymore,” Lulu retorted.

Andrew smiled and admired Brad discreetly from across the table as he and Lucas continued to whisper amongst themselves.

Maxie then took a bite of her turkey and glanced over at Nathan, exchanging a knowing glance with her husband.

“Well, I think it’s time we share some big news with everyone.”

“What is it, Maxie?” Lulu asked.

Maxie paused and then looked at Nathan again before she turned to face everyone.

“Everyone, Nathan and I are going to have a baby.”

There was a brief silence as all of the guests tried to process what they had just heard. Nina’s hands flew to her mouth and her eyes were practically filled with overjoyed tears.

“I can’t believe my baby brother is going to be a father!” she shrieked as she rushed over to hug Nathan tightly.

Lulu also flew over to embrace Maxie as the two women squealed excitedly.

“This is so exciting!” Lulu exclaimed. “When were you planning on telling us, Maxie?”

“Oh, don’t sweat it, Lulu. We’ve known for only about a week,” Maxie waved her hand casually.

Theresa suddenly became uncomfortable and skittish and she glanced around to see Andrew practically sinking into his seat, still gawking and staring at Lucas and Brad with love struck eyes.

“I got some news too,” Nelle announced, not wanting to be outdone.

Michael grimaced and gazed at Nelle uncertainly.

“Nelle, this is their moment. I don’t think we really should…”

“Michael and I are also having a baby!” Nelle blurted out as shockwaves reverberated throughout the table.

Josslyn practically dropped her fork in surprise at the news. “Wow, that’s great, Michael!”

“Guess that makes you an auntie now,” Nelle smiled as she hugged and nuzzled Michael tenderly.

Andrew suddenly felt his whole body go cold and convulse with pure revulsion as his mind was now reeling from yet another bombshell.

Nelle is having a baby with Michael? But how? That isn’t possible! She told me that she and Michael weren’t even together anymore before we hooked up. That baby can’t possibly be his… right?

Theresa also felt her stomach plummet down sharply as her heart sank at the news.

My chances of ever being with Michael have now been really shot to hell. He’s stuck with that witch for life. This can’t be good at all! Does this universe really hate me so? I’m trying… I’m really trying to be a better person! I have been for the past two years! Have all efforts been really for nothing? Am I doomed to be alone and single for the rest of my life with only my beloved son to keep me company?

She then glanced over to see Maxie and Nathan chatting away with Dante and Lulu as the two couples were gushing excitedly about the new baby.

“You two should totally be Baby West’s godparents!” Maxie grinned.

“It would really mean a lot to us if the both of you were able to play a vital role in our child’s life,” Nathan replied.

Dante then pulled him into a bro hug and patted him on the back.

“It would also mean a lot to us too, Nathan; more than anything in the world. You know we got your back.”

“Thanks, Dante,” Nathan rejoined. “Promise me to look after our child should anything happen to either one of us, all right?”

Dante and Nathan exchanged a loving embrace again and the two fist-bumped.

“You got it, Nate.”

“Lucas and I are also discussing adding a little bundle of joy to our family,” Brad added. “I mean, the details aren’t exactly finalized yet, and our lawyer hasn’t found anyone at this time that would be willing to give us her child, but when she does, we’ll let everyone know then.”

“That’s great, Lucas,” Maxie quipped. “You and Brad must be thrilled.”

“We both are,” Lucas said as he and Brad gazed into each other’s eyes lovingly, making Andrew’s heart drop sadly.

“Well, enough baby talk. Who’s ready for dessert?” Liz announced.

“Me, me, me, me!” Aiden, Jake, Cameron, Avery and Tate crowed as they all raised their hands.

“Sounds like a lot of eager McBeavers at this table,” Maxie giggled as Theresa, Andrew and Eve began serving out dessert.

After everyone had their fill, they stayed at the table for a little while longer to chat and get to know each other better. Meanwhile, the kids eventually got bored of playing tag and gathered together on the living room sofa to watch cartoons and play on the latest hand held consoles.

It was a little after 9 p.m. when everyone finally started heading home and were filing out the door.

“Thank you so much, Theresa. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving feast,” Liz informed Theresa.

“Yeah, you should do this more often. You have a knack for being a solid hostess,” Lucas added.

“Well, good luck to you two with the pregnancy and all,” Theresa said to Maxie and Nathan.

“Thanks for the well wishes, Theresa,” Maxie nodded respectfully.

“And the same goes to you, Michael,” Andrew added, shaking Michael’s hand.

“Yeah, hope to see you around, dude,” Michael nodded back, returning the handshake.

But then Nelle yanked him away from the Donovan siblings and practically dragged him out the door.

“C’mon, Michael! We gotta go!”

“Hey, Nelle, hold up!” Michael exclaimed.

When the guests were all gone, Theresa closed the door and picked up Tate in her arms.

“Come on, cub. Let’s hit the hay,” she sighed in an exhausted voice as mother and son retired for the night.

--

CHRISTMAS EVE 2017

PORT CHARLES, NEW YORK

METRO COURT BALLROOM

6 P.M.

Theresa was pacing and walking around frantically and nervously, checking off every item she had on her clipboard one by one. It was an hour before the Christmas Eve fashion show to introduce Theresa’s new fashion line for the season and she was a nervous wreck.

“Let’s see here… check, check, check…” she mumbled under her breath.

“Hey, Theresa, how are you holding up?” Maxie asked as she approached her and noticed that she was anxiously pacing around.

“Hey, slow down girl! The fashion show isn’t going anywhere!”

“I know that!” Theresa snapped indignantly. “I just need to make sure it all goes off without a hitch. This show is either going to make me or break me and I cannot screw up even once!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Maxie reassured her calmly as she put a hand on her back and rubbed it gently. “Breathe in and out slowly. Breathe in and out slowly. Breathe in and out slowly. Just take it easy. Seriously, you’re going to make me freak out, and I absolutely cannot be under any undue amount of stress.”

“Why?” Theresa asked.

“Well, I had a really bad viral heart infection when I was a little girl and as a result I needed a transplant right away. Unfortunately I had to wait a while for a donor match to show up. Eventually that match did come, but it wasn’t what I expected or even wanted.”

Maxie’s eyes lowered sadly as she said this.

“What do you mean?” Theresa inquired.

Maxie then gazed up at her new friend, her eyes awash with misty tears.

“My cousin B.J. died in a horrible bus accident when she was only 7 years old. She was essentially brain dead when she got to the hospital but they kept her alive long enough for me to be able to receive her heart.”

“I’m so sorry,” Theresa said sympathetically as Maxie struggled to maintain her composure. “I lost someone too. I had a cousin that died in a hit and run accident many years ago and it affected my Aunt Hope for a long time. She and my uncle Bo never really got over it.”

Maxie inhaled sharply, wiping the tears away from her eyes. “The good news is that even though I don’t actually have B.J.’s heart beating inside of me anymore, her spirit still lives on. As long as I remember the good times that I had with her, she will never really die.”

Theresa nodded grimly. “I just wish that I had been a better granddaughter to my grandmother in the beginning when I first came to town. If I knew that she was going to die so soon, I wouldn’t have been so damn rotten in the first place.”

“Hey, at least you know that she loved you, right?” Maxie queried.

“I suppose so,” Theresa shrugged. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ve even done enough to make her even remotely proud of me.”

“Well, I’m sure that she is extremely proud of you and is amazed at how far you’ve come in life. I mean, I know for a fact that your fashion line is going to be the bomb!” Maxie cheered.

“You really think so?” Theresa raised an eyebrow.

“Girl, I know so!” Maxie laughed and punched her in the arm playfully.

“Let’s go, ladies; the show is about to start,” Nina announced as she beckoned the other two women to follow her.

Within an hour and a half, the fashion show was already well underway as several of the models pranced and sauntered on the catwalk, turning and pivoting coyly while showing off Theresa’s new Christmas designs. Many of them were dressed as sexy, seductive female versions of Santa Claus while some of them were dressed as adorable but pretty reindeer and elves. The techno electric music was pulsing and beating overhead with the multi-colored Christmas themed lights spinning and rotating in a very careful, deliberate and choreographed manner. Many audience members cheered and raved as the models strutted their stuff and even a couple of guys gave wolf whistles and cat calls.

“Well, I’d say that is a sign of a job well done,” Nina declared proudly, impressed by how the fashion show was playing out so far.

But just then Nelle stepped out into the catwalk, dressed in a skimpy yet sexy Santa Claus outfit that showed off her midriff along with a pair of fuzzy black boots. She then arched her eyebrow seductively as she made several different poses and cameras and cell phones flashed all over her amidst even more cheers and howls.

“That little skank…” Theresa seethed as she was right about to climb up to the catwalk and deck her in the face but Maxie grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“Hey, cool it, T. Don’t blow it; it’s your show.”

“She’s trying to sabotage it!” Theresa shot back furiously. “She clearly doesn’t like that I’m getting so much attention and she wants to divert all of it to herself! It’s not bad enough that I’m never going to be the next Mrs. Michael Corinthos Junior, but now she wants to ruin my fashion career too?!”

“Um, Michael’s dad Sonny is technically Michael Junior. His grandpa Mike is Michael Senior,” Maxie quickly explained.

“Oh…” Theresa quickly deflated, feeling like quite the fool.

Just then, Nina, Maxie and Theresa heard a familiar female laugh.

“Don’t ever change, Theresa.”

Theresa spun around to see Nicole approaching the trio and she flew over to embrace her with an ecstatic and giddy grin.

“Nicole! I can’t believe you’re here!” she shrieked as she hugged her tightly.

“Well, I figured it was time to move on,” Nicole shrugged as she hugged her back. “Besides, I can’t manage this company without you anyway, Theresa; well, technically I could, but I miss you too much to not want to.”

“Awww, you old sap,” Theresa giggled as Maxie and Nina soon joined them.

Theresa then pulled away from Nicole and gestured over to the two women.

“Nicole, these are my new friends Nina Reeves and Maxie Jones. Girls, this is Nicole Walker. She is not only my cousin-in-law but she was also my partner back when we were still running D.W. Design together in Salem and she’s also Tate’s godmother. Eric is his godfather.”

“Cool; pleasure to meet you, Nina,” Maxie replied as she shook her hand.

“It’s also a pleasure to meet you too, Nicole,” Nina added.

“I see that your fashion show is going very smoothly,” Nicole observed astutely as she watched the models on the catwalk. “Nice going, partner.”

“Yeah, aside from the fact that a certain Ms. Nelle Benson is trying to destroy my debut and make me look bad in front of potential investors and patrons,” Theresa scoffed with a side eye.

“She’s just jealous because she’s got the hots for one of the most eligible and richest bachelors in town and he’s currently dating someone who’s only been in town for a little while,” Nina whispered discreetly to Nicole out of Theresa’s earshot.

“Gotcha,” Nicole winked.

“And they’re having a baby too, so that’s really complicating things a lot,” Maxie added.

“Oh, I see,” Nicole nodded.

After the fashion show was over, Maxie, Nina, Nicole, and Theresa were leaving Crimson when a car suddenly pulled up and stopped. The front doors then opened up and Brady and Melanie stepped out, with Brady carrying Tate in his arms.

“Brady! Melanie! What are you two doing here?” Theresa gasped in surprise. “I thought you guys were still in Salem!”

“We wanted to surprise you. Brady and I decided to move out here permanently over a week ago so that we can see Tate on a more regular basis; we just went back to Salem a day early so that we could have Christmas dinner with Grandma and Victor before we left,” Melanie answered as Tate rushed over to hug his mother.

“Mommy!”

He then looked up to see that Nicole was with the group and also ran over to hug her too.

“Auntie Nicole!”

“Hey, little squirt,” Nicole smirked as she hugged him too. “Great to see you.”

“I missed you and Uncle Eric so much,” Tate beamed.

“So did I, kiddo,” Nicole smiled back.

“So uh, Theresa… Me and Brady were kind of wondering if maybe you’d like to come over to our place for Christmas? Just the four of us?”

Theresa then glanced over at the other women apprehensively and Maxie gave a thumbs up.

“Don’t worry, Theresa. We can hang out together on New Year’s Eve,” Nina reassured her.

“And Eric would also love to see you tomorrow morning anyway. So go and take up Melanie on her offer,” Nicole urged her friend.

“Are you really sure?” Theresa frowned uncertainly. “I mean, we’re not exactly friends…”

“But we’re still technically family,” Melanie interrupted her. “I’m practically Tate’s second mom anyway since he’s also with me and Brady a lot too. Besides, let’s bygones be bygones, especially for Christmas. Tater Man would also love it if he can have both of his parents together tonight.”

“All right then, if you’re sure…” Theresa said, furrowing her brow apprehensively.  

“Okay, that’s settled,” Brady clapped his hands. “Everyone let’s climb into the car and head home.”

Theresa then hugged the girls goodbye and she and Tate climbed into the car with Brady and Melanie as the four headed off to Brady and Melanie’s place to celebrate the rest of the magical evening.

--

NEW YEAR’S EVE 2017

PORT CHARLES, NEW YORK

METRO COURT BALLROOM

9 P.M.

A huge crowd of people were gathered in the Metro Court as they were busy enjoying themselves, drinking and dancing the night away. Many of them were dressed in the most elegant and lavish evening gowns and black tie suits. Several of the guests have already paired up with their significant others and were having a good time. It seemed like every single person in Port Charles had someone with them – well, everyone except for Theresa.

Theresa was busy sitting at the punch table, drinking a huge goblet of the finest red wine with her close gal pal Anne, who had also decided to move out to Port Charles a few days ago for a change of scenery.

“God, this sucks,” Theresa mumbled, staring at her goblet of wine. “It’s like I’m the only single woman here.”

“Well, that makes two of us,” Anne shrugged, taking a sip from her glass of wine. “At least we get to commiserate together.”

“What are you two ladies doing sitting here alone?” Obrecht demanded as she advanced towards the pair.

Theresa then jumped with a startled and astounded look on her face as she saw that Obrecht was wearing a dress that she had just designed for her just weeks before – a simple dark black sequined lace gown with her shoulders exposed and her hair styled in a short, layered bob.

Anne then put on an akimbo with a short, pointed glare.

“Who the hell are you?”

“And what the hell are you doing hanging around with a girl more than half your age?” Obrecht sneered.

“She’s my best friend, in case you haven’t noticed,” Theresa snapped sassily.

“Yeah, we’re like two peas in a pod,” Anne interjected.

“Lucy and Ethel.”

“Auntie Mame and Vera Charles.”

“Mulder and Scully.”

“All right, enough with these ridiculous pop culture references!” Obrecht quickly waved her hand in an exasperated tone. “I don’t have time to argue with a curly haired moppet and little Miss Minnie Mouse.”

“Hey!” Theresa growled.

“She does have a point; you do kind of sound like Minnie Mouse,” Anne snickered.

“Anne…” Theresa whined. “You’re not helping!”

“Don’t fret, meyn kleyn eyner,” Anne reassured her. “Seriously, you need to learn how to keep your cool. You’re supposed to be a professional businesswoman. It’s totally not a good look on you.”

“What the hell are you even saying?” Obrecht scoffed.

Anne rolled her eyes with a glare. “None of your damn business,” she retorted in Yiddish.

“Take a walk off the pier, you ugly old witch,” Obrecht snarled back in German.

“Up yours, bitch!” Anne spat back.

“Suck my big fat one,” Obrecht snarled cruelly.

“What the hell is going on here?!” Theresa shrieked, suddenly perplexed and bewildered by Obrecht and Anne suddenly speaking in strange tongues.

“None of your business!” Obrecht and Anne yelled shrilly at Theresa at the same time.

“Okay; jeez, whatever,” Theresa rolled her eyes, pouting with her arms crossed.

“Come on, lady; let’s not ruin this good vibe we got going here. It’s a party; we’re here to have fun,” Anne grumbled exasperatedly.

Obrecht averted her gaze sullenly with a thin line and sighed deeply.

“I suppose you’re right,” she retorted reluctantly.

“Whatever,” Anne scoffed. “I’m tired of this bitchfest already anyway. I’m going to go see if there aren’t any hot and cute guys lurking around.”

She then walked off and disappeared into the crowd.

“Oh, Anne,” Theresa shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder why I put up with her. But she has been one of the only people that has stuck by me even when I was at my absolute worst, so that’s gotta count for something.”

“You should consider yourself very lucky,” Obrecht replied coolly as she turned around and started to walk away.  

“Hey, um… Liesl?” Theresa stammered, scratching the back of her head nervously.

“What?” Obrecht scoffed, peering over her shoulder coldly.

Theresa smiled sheepishly, batting her eyes innocently. “You actually look really lovely tonight.”

Obrecht’s face remained emotionless at first but then she broke into a huge smile and her eyes shined brightly with a jovial gleam.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, young one.”

“Oh my God, this is gonna sound crazy,” Theresa giggled anxiously as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. “I-I mean, I uh… This is going to sound really, really, really weird, but um… I was wondering if maybe you would like to dance with me?”

Obrecht then broke out into an amused laugh, her eyes gazing at her with a mocking and incredulous gleam.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t possibly mean it.”

“Actually I do,” Theresa insisted; her voice strong and firm with a hint of resolve in her voice.

Obrecht’s face faltered and paled and her eyes shrunk with disbelief and astonishment.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Well, you better believe it, sister,” Theresa growled determinedly as she grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the dance floor.

They soon waltzed right into the midst of the crowd as Theresa pulled her into her arms and they started to dance.

By this point a lot of people were heavily plastered and were too distracted from their mind-numbing drunkenness to notice anything strange or amiss going on. However, it did not quite escape some people’s notice.

Nina was busy slow dancing with Valentin when she saw Obrecht dancing with Theresa from the very corner of her eye.

“Um, Valentin?” Nina asked. “Is it me or is that my Aunt Liesl dancing with Theresa Donovan?”

“I guess you’re probably right,” Valentin replied as he took a quick glance at the dancing pair.

“Ah, it’s probably nothing,” Nina waved her hand dismissively with a smile. “I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. I’m just glad that Aunt Liesl’s having fun.”

“Since when are your mom and Theresa so chummy?” Maxie asked Nathan as the married couple was also dancing.

“Beats me. Maybe Mother was actually happy with the handiwork that Theresa’s done,” Nathan shrugged nonchalantly.

“Maybe, but this whole thing still seems pretty weird,” Maxie quipped suspiciously. “I mean, last time I checked, they were practically at each other’s throats.”

“As long as Mother isn’t causing any ruckus or mayhem, I honestly don’t care what she does,” Nathan retorted off-handedly.

Theresa and Obrecht continued to slow dance together as Theresa wrapped her arms around her and looked into her eyes, blushing. Obrecht smirked and pulled her closer to her as she placed her hand on the small of her back.

Theresa stifled a giggle. “Any lower and people would be wondering what the hell is going on.”

“I don’t care,” Obrecht declared flatly.

“You seriously want to cause a major scandal here?” Theresa hissed sharply.

“Let them talk. It’s not like either of us are perfect angels,” Obrecht scoffed dismissively.

“What do you mean by that?” Theresa demanded suspiciously.

Obrecht smirked deviously. “I know all about you and your criminal past, little one. It’s not so hard to look it up.”

She then noticed the color from Theresa’s face rapidly fading and giggled.

“Don’t worry liebchen. I am not going to embarrass you in public like that.”

“Oh, okay,” Theresa laughed sheepishly. “Man, you really had me going there for a minute.”

Before long, midnight rolled around and everyone started the countdown to ring in the New Year.

“Three, two… one… Happy New Year!”

One by one, everyone shared a passionate kiss or a hug with someone next to them. Even Anne puckered her lips and attempted to kiss Scotty.

“Come here and kiss me, big boy.”

“Uh, I don’t think so, lady,” Scotty retorted brusquely and walked off.

Theresa was then taken aback when Obrecht pulled her in for a big smooch on the lips. After a few minutes, she pulled away and recoiled in shock and horror.

“What the hell was that, Liesl? People are going to see us!”

“I don’t see what the big fuss is about,” Obrecht shrugged nonchalantly, not seeing what Theresa was panicking about.

“Okay, that does it!” Theresa yelled, making a criss-cross motion. “I think that you’ve had way too much to drink and maybe it’s time I take you back home.”

“But what about your son?” Obrecht inquired.

“Eve’s babysitting him tonight. He’ll be fine,” Theresa insisted as she grabbed Obrecht and stormed out of the ballroom.

As soon as Theresa and Obrecht got back to her apartment, Theresa led Obrecht into the guest bedroom.

“Okay, this is where you are going to sleep tonight. I’ll be in my bedroom if you need me.”

She then disappeared into her bedroom and immediately changed into her nightgown. Just as she did so, the door knocked and Obrecht opened it, dressed in a simple black nightgown.

“I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Theresa,” she apologized as she entered the room. “I just got caught up in the heat of the moment.”

“It’s all right,” Theresa said as she rolled up the comforter sheets and climbed into bed. “I was just startled, that’s all. I mean, I’m not actually entirely uncomfortable with it; after all, I did experiment with a couple of girls when I was in high school but guys were always my primary M.O. It has absolutely nothing to do with you.”

“Well, I am relieved then,” Obrecht smiled as she crawled into bed with Theresa and turned on the T.V. with the remote.

The T.V. screen then showed a huge throng of people cheering and celebrating enthusiastically as a whole burst of fireworks exploded into the air right in the middle of Times Square.

“You know, I’ve always loved to watch the fireworks display at the park every New Year’s Eve when I was little and when I couldn’t go, I would always like to watch the ball come down at Times Square with my family,” Theresa explained.

“At least they love you,” Obrecht scoffed.

Theresa pivoted around to face her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Obrecht hung her head sadly. “My parents never really gave a damn about me. All they ever cared about was their precious Magda. I was nothing more than an inconvenience to them and they felt like I would never be as wonderful or as beautiful or as perfect as her.”

Her eyes then brimmed with tears as she closed her eyes and fought hard to not let them out.

“They devoted all of their love and attention to my sister. To them she could do absolutely no wrong since she was their most prized golden child. I could never do anything right in their eyes.”

“I was a genius child prodigy who got a rare scholarship to one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country for child geniuses and they didn’t care. I was one of the very few girls at that time who got such an honor and it was like it was merely a drop in the bucket.”

“All they ever cared about was how well Magda did in her ballet recitals and how perfect and flawless her etiquette and manners were or how she was the smartest, prettiest and loveliest girl in the room and that everyone should automatically bow down to her. And I was the one who got in the way. It was almost like I never should’ve been born.”

“I’m really sorry, Obrecht,” Theresa murmured sympathetically. “That Magda sounds like a horrible monster.”

“Yes she was, but she was also my sister. What was I supposed to do?”

“Well, you could always kill her,” Theresa suggested with a shrug.

Obrecht then let out a surprised but amused laugh. “If only it were that easy, little liebchen.”

“Believe me; I wanted to kill Andrew for a long time because he stole so much attention away from our parents. My mom and dad would act like he was so perfect, wonderful and amazing and that he was the best thing to ever happen to our family,” Theresa narrowed her eyes scornfully.  

“But with me it was almost like I was an embarrassment or a mistake that they didn’t really want to acknowledge or accept. I mean, I know now that deep down they didn’t actually believe that and that they had so many problems between them that basically spilled over into all our lives, but back then it did not feel that way.”

“The more that my parents continuously praised and gushed over Andrew, the more they scolded and chewed me out for every wrong thing that I did and they would be a lot harsher with me than they were with him when he did something wrong. Eventually it just kept building and building up and finally I couldn’t take it anymore and I started lashing out at Andrew. Our little feud then evolved into a full on sibling rivalry and it was years before we could even reach a place of mutual understanding and peace.”

“Honestly, I would rather have Andrew as my best friend and trusted confidante than spend a single minute with Eve. Trust me; she isn’t nearly as bad as your sister, but she can get pretty annoying really quickly.”

“Sounds like you have quite the family,” Obrecht chuckled.

“Yeah; I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Theresa chuckled back.

Obrecht then kissed her softly on the lips and this time Theresa didn’t fight back or hesitate. She then turned off the T.V. and the lights as she and Obrecht then lay down together and started making out heavily. It wasn’t long before they gave in to their passionate, wanton lust and found themselves in the throes of lovemaking.

[salvatoreharan]

Thoughts on the new Twin Peaks

Episodes one and two.

I’m honestly not looking for a debate.

But I am not the biggest fan of this new Twin Peaks series.

Spoilers below cut.

I have not seen a lot of Lynch’s work, which is apparently a reason why I do not enjoy Twin Peaks like others do. And... I can get that. But at the same time, I don’t.

My experience with Lynch before Twin Peaks was Dune, Elephant Man, and a story Michael Horse told me once on set (humble brag). That story actually got me into watching Twin Peaks which for the first season or so I loved! 

It was tense! It had interesting characters. A complex mystery interwoven with the town. An incredible atmosphere. Scary ass scenes, and funny moments. It was a wonderful mix of tons of things.

After the murder of Laura Palmer is solved, however, the show nosedives and for me, never recovered. The senseless plots of Ben reenacting wars, James riding around crying, Donna and Coop going after different people cause fuck my ship, Nadine as a super powered crazy lady, and so on. It was cringey and a very hard time to watch. 

When the final episode came I was... needless to say, confused and not very impressed. I feel like a big reason was that Season 2 wore me down so much that I couldn’t enjoy it. Those episodes undid all the shits I gave. I couldn’t care. 

And Fire Walk with Me was a mess of a movie. Sheryl Lee and Ray Wise’s acting helps save the film, along with the opening town scenes which I liked. But once we got into the plot that we just spent a season and a half unraveling... I don’t quite care? It raises more questions than anything else. A lot of things felt thrown in there to be weird for the absolute sake of being weird. Scenes were clearly cut out (David Bowie) and it just... feels messy. I don’t need to see how Laura died. I know it's supposed to be from her perspective. But I don’t quite care. Fire Walk with Me is a glorified recap episode that decides to introduce tons of new things to distract you from that fact.

Maybe something more was going on? But I didn’t notice.

Now we get to this new series which is interesting since in the show proper she said she’d see Cooper in 25 years. Nice foreshadow but now that we’re here?

It is only kind of interesting.

I enjoy everything with Bob!Cooper. He has a purpose, even if its obscured. Everything with Buckhorn is really cool, seeing Bob mess with the lives of these people the way he did in Twin Peaks. The acting is really good, and I wanna thank Matthew Lillard for impressing me. All in all Buckhorn felt a lot like Season 1 Twin Peaks with a new flair. 

In New York we have this guy who is watching and monitoring this box. It’s very slow moving and paced but I actually dig it. I want to know more. I want to know how he knows this girl. Does she know what's inside? Is she trying to seduce her way in? Where is the guard? Did she kill him? What is happen- oh they’re dead...

I hope something cool happens in this subplot other than “She had the hots for them and something weird happened” the end.

The Black Lodge is a bit weaker for me, as it always is when we are there for extended stays. Quick visits are cool. But Cooper’s been there for a while and I want him out. It’s a lot of foreshadowing and puzzle setting up. There are cool visuals but some of the effects are not the best. (Laura floating away, plus the New York monster attack, though the build up rocked)

Then there is actual Twin Peaks which, when we do see it, it’s reeeeeally bad. The characters don’t feel themselves anymore. Everyone seems contracted to be there. It is not nearly as engaging, and almost nothing happens. Every scene is slow and feels out of place.

Overall, the first two episodes feel tonally uneven and directionless. Lynch seems to have a lot of ideas and doesn’t quite know how they all fit together so he’s breaking pieces of the puzzle to make them fit. And I can feel it.

It’s not his best that I’ve seen, but it’s way better than Season 2′s second half. 

I hope this series finds it’s footing well before the end.

I know I’m gonna upset some Lynch fans but eeh. I can’t help how I feel <3