#might even be vaguely topical to the current season

[snakebunker]

another one from the ole D&Destiny PGB

[fluffypotatey]

Honestly, LMK turns the plot on its head so often that I've never voiced this due to the Macaque hate club, but legit. What if Wukong killed Macky trying to save him because as we've seen with MK, he can use that amount of force, that same line, trying to keep someone from certain doom, so why not an out of control monkey with hijacked powers? Macky just. doesn't remember. but that might even be plot relevant since Wukong also doesn't remember things, supposedly. *stares at Nine.* He might've never done anything to Tripitaka and friends, I mean, current Macky has never even SAID anything about hating those guys, heck. He out right SAYS the Monk was good for Wukong and he was allegedly killed AFTER the journey, even if the friendship ties between them never ended afterwards, I honestly struggle to see Macky even being angry enough to want to "save" Wukong as he never did before to just.....be so crazy about it to the point Wukong needs to kill him over it. He'd stand down, he WOULD listen to reason, right? Unless if something else was going on? There'd have to be some other trigger for him to just go off like that, as for all these memories. I bet the "he" Nines was talking about could have been the Demon King of Confusion. You can really make up some fun new powers there, the guy's the first villain ever in JTTW, it's kind of poetic, and also. "Demon KING." Sure, good foe for the Monkey King. They can give him the LBD treatment in raising the prestige.

What if Wukong killed Macky trying to save him[…]?

this has, honestly, been my own theory for what went down since i started lmk. like i knew they would be vague about Wukong and Mackoach’s circumstance because, you know, Wukong did a murder in jttw and this is a kid show intended for an audience of 8-10 year olds. and that kind of topic is a doozy to do right in media (Western media especially).

anyway, by s3, i was under the impression that Macky assumed Wukong killed him final blow style, but Wukong actually left him incapacitated enough for him to admit defeat (and maybe, possibly leaving him for dead, oblivious to the fact that Mac might be too weak to use his shadow powers) because of how much lmk utilizes unreliable narratives. but then, watching Wukong’s and MK’s fight really solidified that original theory of mine. when Mackintosh frees Wukong from his memories in 5x07 (also jfc Wukong literally spent a whole season trapped in his memories and has to do it all over again, my poor babygirl ;-; he’s exhausted!!!!) Wukong looks horrified.

STOP MAKING HIM RELIVE HIS PAST HE ISNT OVER IT AT ALL AND HOLDS TO MUCH GUILT AND REGRET (pls continue!!!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏 put him through the ringer!!!!! make him snap por favor 🥺🥺🥺🥺)

ahem. AnYwAY!

clearly, that fight is considered one of Wukong’s deepest and darkest memories (which were what the 100-eyed Demon was looking for. because he likes the good tea like me frfr) and doesn’t like looking back at. in a way, it makes sense with how much distance he placed between himself and Macody in 1x09 (almost….indifferent one might say 👀 or trying to act apathetic about it which comes off annoyed…..ain’t that interesting?)

but yeah. good food for thought :3

[mrbensonmum]

TV Show - Dr. House | House M.D. VII

Unstoppably we are approaching the end of the third season (currently at S3E20, House Training), and I'm wondering, as my memory refuses to reveal, what major event occurs that causes House to reform his team or leads to drastic changes. Yes, I admit, I'm really looking forward to seeing Thirteen (Olivia Wilde) and also Martha M. Masters (Amber Tamblyn), although I think Masters might take a little longer to appear.

It's quite exciting when you've seen everything already, can remember a lot, but a rewatch helps to put all the puzzle pieces back in the right order. Yes, one could think about it, but I enjoy the suspense.

One of the scenes that made me laugh a lot back then has already come up, namely when House compares a patient's body to the German railway system. Back then, the comparison might have been somewhat accurate, and yes, even in the original, he makes the same comparison with the same cities (Berlin & Düsseldorf), but unfortunately, the German trains, whether regional or long-distance, are nowhere near as good and punctual anymore. I've been wondering the whole time if it was like that back then, but no, today it's definitely worse. Just thinking about how many times I got stranded at a train station last year, BIG UFF!

Otherwise, after the Tritter thing, things are moving rather slowly, and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. The highlight, of course, is the romance between Chase and Cameron, although it's almost over by now. I vaguely remember a wedding in the future and maybe even a divorce? No, I'm sure about the wedding, but I don't think there was a divorce. Oh, I also remember the big bus accident involving Wilson's girlfriend. There's a lot more to come!

Speaking of which, I think the dynamic between Wilson and House has changed a lot since the incident with the prescription pad. At first, it seemed like everything was over and they had no future, but now the connection seems stronger than ever. We also saw that in the story with Cuddy, when they both tested each other to see how far they would go. And then just saying "Night House!" "Night Wilson!" to each other, that's a true bromance, ladies and gentlemen! (I know, I'm late to that party!)

But now there's a very heavy episode on, as once again, an important topic is being addressed, one that often unfortunately gets overlooked in every society, Alzheimer's & dementia. Foreman's mother suffers from Alzheimer's, and I know, it really affected me back then because my grandmother died of Alzheimer's, and my mother is showing the first signs of it now. This disease steals the mind first, then the body, and we should talk about it much more and do much more against it. I know what it's like to watch a person lose themselves in the darkness of this disease, and believe me, you wouldn't wish it on anyone. Once again, a topic highlighted by the series and one that should continue to be addressed. I'm currently wondering if House is airing anywhere on regular TV in Germany, but I don't think so at the moment. That should change because yes, it can be fun and enjoyable for about 45 minutes, but it's also a topic of conversation that might find resonance in the workplace or similar institutions, and suddenly a disease is lifted from its obscurity and brought into the real world. THAT'S IMPORTANT! However, there is another important aspect in this episode that must not be overlooked. Doctors make mistakes, and these mistakes can end up being deadly! Of course, nobody wants to talk about it in the real world, and doctors usually don't admit to such things. It's another issue that's hushed up, but the series brings it back to light, brilliantly! Also, the fact that House performs an autopsy afterward for research purposes may seem strange and odd at first, but it's also about finding out where things went wrong. Yes, it's also to stroke one's own ego, but it's also to prevent such things from happening again.

I won't manage to finish the end of the third season today, but there was another remarkable appearance. In the last episode (S3E19, Act your Age), part of the supporting cast of Bones made an appearance. We saw Joel David Moore and Carla Gallo. And in the episode before that (S3E18, Airborne), Pej Vahdat was one of the passengers or Foreman's substitute.

A little thank you to everyone who diligently reads and shares my Dr. House posts. I'm just doing this for fun, but it's cool that it's well-received and my little analyses are being shared. Thank you very much!

[resetting37]

The shows and franchises of Evelow

@darby-draws asked

I was recently thinking about some of my OCs being more fantasy nerdy vs scifi nerdy and it got me thinking about what type of genres and media your main OCs might like? for one, just in general scifi shows or horror movies or long fantasy books. But I was also thinking, with your own world its not as easy to say they the big obvious genre staples like LOTR or Star Trek for example... but does your world have similar Really Popular things like that.

Things like: Is there a really long running tv series thats had multiple iterations, like star trek that any of your OCs grew up with and have Big Opinions on? Fantasy epic multiple movies 3 hours each to tell the story? Would any of your OCs enjoy binging that over a long weekend for fun?

Thank you for the question !! I was going to make more faux posters of some shows that could exist in Evelow, but I'd rather just go ahead and talk about the topic. More could come in the future, we'll see. I'll also add in the character opinions. (sorry in advance if this gets long.)

So Evelow doesn't have the huge library of stories that we have. Mostly due to limitations, as Evelow's shows and movies are filmed in Evelow, and though it's a big civilization, it's not quite the same scope our present day world has. They'll have maybe one or two blockbusters a year, while most movies are indie or low budget. TV shows, however, are given more budget. Though there's not really enough on the screen for characters to be too picky in their genres, so I'll just present some vague ones.

Here are some popular shows/franchises:

Paranormal Paradise

Brother and Sister duo are on a secret unit that deal with the unexplained or the paranormal, as the title suggests. Pair that with sunsets and synth wave music, and you have a show that's currently on their third season.

This one is fairly popular with Evelonians. Out of my ocs, Kat thinks it's fun and while she's "team Una" (the name of the sister character), she finds the monsters designs the best part of the show. Cora thinks she's ridiculous, as she's "definitely team Kotori" (the brother.)

Kat eventually gets Morgan into it, but Morgan isn't the least bit interested in the "fandom" aspects, like head canons or introducing more recurring characters.

The show isn't really considered nerdy, but it's a popular one.

Feast of Legacies

This one is older in relevance to the current timeline, probably aired when my characters were kids and thus has more impact. (though probably not "age appropriate", kids still liked the fun outfits and action scenes) It was a dark fantasy show about a barbaric bounty hunter that was super campy and violent.

Future spin offs have since grew with the times or made things more serious, and those can be popular too. Ivar has even acted in one of the movies too, as a nod to his arena persona lol. Characters from the show come up a lot in halloween costumes and cosplays.

Morgan and Advik probably rewatch this one again as adults. "It still holds up, guys !"

•

I don't think space stories take up a lot of space (haha) in Evelow's culture, though there are some given that there are always going to be people fascinated by it, even if we don't know much !

They have a popular anthology show called "Planetary Politics" where each season involves a different planet and a story arc surrounding a different group of characters. The show can be experimental, with many seasons involving people in makeup and costumes, even a season fully animated (sorry they couldn't find any people who could successfully play the part of space jellyfish)

Advik and Ian used to watch this show together all the time, but since then Audrey has also taken a liking to it.

•

There's a good amount of horror movies roaming around Evelow, I'd say one of the biggest franchises is Tartar-us (Though the first movie that was released many years ago was called 'Under Deck')

It's campy, it's gory, and a staple in every horror enthusiast's library (except for the esteemed ones who think this franchise should have died a long time ago.)

here's Zack arguing to Ian it's the greatest movie of all time.

(though looking at this makes me realize that outer space play enough of a role in pop culture to be featured in spinoffs in movies such as the 'pirates' franchise for kids.)

•

I want to give my characters at least one more fantasy genre to have in their world, but I'll come up with more ideas later. I also feel like I've barely answered the original question ??? So I'll at least do that with my main cast

Audrey didn't grow up with movies unless they were brought over from other cities. Her town of Dile mostly had theatre and books. She liked heroes journeys, or stories with fantastical elements.

Advik loves both fantasy and sci fi. I'd say he likes fantasy more since he's much pickier about his sci fi. (He doesn't like stuff that tries to play it like it could happen in the world. I think HE'D be one of the few people really into space stuff.)

Katsumi likes more grounded stories. She doesn't care about world building if the character writing is bad. She loves style, but not if it's devoid of anything else. Also, if she has to see inaccurate costume design one more time, she swears...

Zack prefers sci fi over fantasy, since the former leaves room for potential horror elements. (since that's his actual favorite genre.)

Avery prefers fantasy over sci fi, since the stories tend to be more conventional and the costume designs are better. (She's much less picky than Kat in that department.)

"What's the difference, they're all movies" - Morgan. (She hates labeling things into genres.)

[mcalhenwrites]

This might read a bit weird, since it was meant to be the ending author’s note on Seasons.

It does get a bit personal, so please be aware of that.

Okay, here goes:

Thank you for reading, especially if you finished Seasons. Thank you for liking my writing. Thank you for making me feel like it was at least worth something. I appreciate all the asks people sent on tumblr, too!

More than ever, comments would be appreciated on this final chapter. Even if it’s just emojis and such. :’)

Feel free to skip the rest of this author’s note if you wish. I just want to share some of my process with this story.

When I first started Seasons, I wanted to capture many painful feelings and events, as well as the exasperation of dealing with a never-ending, unpleasant cycle. This story isn’t merely a reflection of some of my own experiences; it includes things I’ve witnessed or complicated what-ifs. I already had a clear idea of Vivian in my head since summer of 2022, as I was finishing up another story called Rascal, and he was pieced together from previous ideas I’ve had over the years. Some other concepts were taken from a story I started in 2008, although the children were kidnapped to become part of the family. (Which would certainly add to some of the horror, but that’s not what I wanted for Seasons.)

I had a lot of vague story lines to work with. Some changed or were rejected. But the general idea was: What would it be like if—day in and day out, for centuries—you were living under the control of your parents? Would you be satisfied with a routine in a household you could never leave? Would you not wish for stimulation and relationships and new experiences?

It sounds incredibly monotonous. Hellish.

Immortality is always an intriguing subject to me. There’s so much to learn, so many books and video games I’ll never get to before I die. But there would be downsides, too. Especially if you’re trapped. Society’s ableism and increasing gap between the rich and the poor has left me trapped currently, and the years keep going. But mine will someday end. I fear I’ll never be able to get away from my family or afford a house or adopt cats by the time I run out of years.

Seasons expanded upon some of those thought trains about immortality. What if your growth is quashed, but you live a long time?

Also, regarding Bee: What if your parents are supportive of queer identities and are queer themselves, but you’ve been so abused that you still can’t trust them? Poor Bee never felt safe enough to approach the topic. (This isn’t why he uses he/him—he shrugs when people ask what his pronouns are and says they can use any pronouns, but he’ll use he/him and people often just adopt that. A lot of his personal journey and self-exploration happens after ch 89/before the epilogue.)

It was interesting to explore the atrocities of a perpetually abusive childhood. While Seasons is not a horror story, it shares a lot of elements with the genre. Horror can be a cathartic genre for many trauma victims. And what works for one person might be triggering to another. The events of this story might resonate with some people and upset others.

I will confess that much of the pain written in this story is my own. That’s why I wrote this, for my own catharsis. Why I always go back to stories exploring trauma and abuse.

After all the horrors my characters endured, I wanted to see some of their lives improve, even if only incrementally. Living through the past few years in the USA has made me more and more inclined to go for either happy endings or bittersweet ones as both a writer and reader. If everything works out, however, I go, “Sounds fake, but okay!”

I wanted to go for something bittersweet this time. Various levels of progress were made with most of the characters. Phineas and his orchard may be an unrealistic rescue mission spawned from my own fantasies of escape, but this is fiction so I’m allowed a bit of absurdity as a treat.

What matters is that the five Liddell children I started with were able to take the steps they needed to heal and grow. They’ll keep growing in my imagination, well beyond the confines of this story.

I know this conclusion may not satisfy everyone who reads Seasons, but that’s how stories go sometimes. I’ve hated so many endings from media I loved.

I have no current plans to write a sequel. I have a few short stories ideas for Seasons, and none of them are about the sixth Liddell Season. I’d love to explore more about the characters who’ve been along for most of this journey already in side stories.

But it’s also time for me to give some attention to many of my other novels! All of them were put on hold because Seasons held my brain hostage and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, day in and day out, for several months. :’)

I started this story by posting it anonymously. There’s a lot of harassment online, and it seems to be increasing. I am a “spanko” (even if I’m not sure how I feel about that word), but how I discovered that wasn’t favorable. Some of my stories celebrate overcoming that and embracing the kink. Others handle the traumatic, abusive aspects.

Even if I could afford therapy, it’s still good for me to talk about these themes. Although it’s natural to hope that others haven’t been through the same shit I have, it’s also nice to connect with others who understand exactly what I’m expressing.

That is why people share, isn’t it? Writing for oneself will always be important, but it’s not wrong to want to connect with anyone. It’s up to a writer if they want to share or keep what they write to themselves. They shouldn’t refrain because the story is “too dark and nasty” or “not appropriate for children”, nor should they feel obligated to share when they’re not comfortable doing so.

I did fear this story would sink my (currently non-existent) writing career if I put my name to it, but I felt brave after the kind reception and decided it was worth a chance. I told the story I wanted to, even if it’s imperfect in parts, and it helped me feel a bit more courageous and less ashamed about my trauma.

I don’t know if it did anything for anyone else. If it did, I’m glad. But also, I’m equally sorry if you have experiences that align enough for the themes of this story to resonate with you.

I’ll keep writing stories, some with spanking and some without, some of them kinky and others like Seasons will only allude to it being one character’s kink later on. :’)

If this is where we part, have fun and thanks for taking the time to read this story!

[allisonreader]

Mmm, since I just excitedly explained my current love of Star Trek Strange New Worlds to @fictionadventurer and ever so vaguely @e-louise-bates in the notes of fictionadventurer's one post, I thought that I now need to further explain my thoughts about the season now that it’s wrapped up. (All of it will be below the cut, so if you don’t want spoilers before watching, wait until then. Though I don’t really go into explaining what each episode was about.) Otherwise my thoughts on some of the episodes of season two.

I am going to start off with the fact that I don’t actually remember much of season 1. Enough of it to keep track of what happened, but not enough to give details at all. (I will also note that for some reason Star Trek horror episodes don’t really freak me out, thankfully. The Strange New Worlds ones have been more gory than anything. Which isn’t pleasant and there are some intense moments, but it doesn’t really scare me. I know that can be different for other people as we all have generally different sensitivities from each other. Though generally I am fairly sensitive to horror but it does depend on the type of horror. Like I don’t know if Lockwood and co. Is considered horror in any way or just paranormal, either way I’ve avoided that and Stranger Things because I think both of those are closer to things that actually freak me out and I don’t need to try going to sleep scared/freaked out. Anyways back on topic to Star Trek.) I know I enjoyed season 1, but not nearly as much as season 2 this year. So season 2 is what I’m focusing on.

Episode 1 of season 2, I would say wasn’t the strongest. It was okay, but I don’t think that it was anything special to rave over. There were certain parts that were better than others during it. Overall this particular episode was lower on my list. I’d rewatch it, but it wouldn’t be the first one I would chose or even recommend. I might think differently after a rewatch of it, but I’m in no rush to do so.

Episode 2 on the other hand is a different story. (I’m too lazy to look up the episode names.) This one was one of the episodes that felt like pure unadulterated Trek. The ever a classic courtroom episode. Is it preachy and hinting towards certain political views today? Of course it is. But it was well done and engaging and there were moments where you could see exactly how the case was being brought forward to get the wanted conclusion right before it was fully finished. It is an episode that I would be most willing to watch again.

Episode 3. Context before I state anything about this episode. This was one of the TWO time travel related episodes this season, that being said, I’m a sucker for a time travel storyline. If you know me at all, then you know that I have a major soft spot for almost anything time travel. (Hence Tales Of A Frozen Sailor being time travel when I got team Tolkien in the inklings challenge…) So this episode already had a leg up for me. This episode has ended up being in my top three episodes of the season. Mainly because I love the dynamic of La'an and alternate timeline Kirk. I was about ready to burn canon for these two with the chemistry they had on screen. This episode also really started to sell me on Paul Wesley for Captain James T. Kirk in a way that hadn’t been quite as convincing in season 1. And Toronto actually got to play Toronto instead of *insert big American city here*, which was a nice change for once.

Episode 4…. I don’t actually remember exactly which episode this one was. Which meant it was good, but had nothing in particular to really stand out above the crowd. Okay, scratch that, it was the episode that I was thinking that it might be, which had the crew returning to a planet that they had visited previously. It was a very Star Trek-y episode, didn’t hate it, but wasn’t my favourite. But also wasn’t something to turn my nose up at either.

Episode 5, this one had a very classic Star Trek trope told in a slightly new way. 'Oh no one of our people (Spock in this case) has been in an accident (shuttlepod) and is not himself because part of what makes him him has been removed!' (Shocked face). All is figured out after much trouble has been gone through. (Also I both love and feel sorry for T'Pring's father. He’s so clearly enjoying himself, but his wife has higher expectations and he follows her lead in that regard.

Episode 6… I had to look at a blurb about this one because I was blanking out about it. If episode 3 is what finally sold me on Paul Wesley as Kirk, this episode cemented it. Especially since it showed friendships being started between a certain set of characters that were in the OG series. Also Kirk and Uhura were really sweet together and it showed how much respect the two have for each other. So while I didn’t remember this episode at first, it really was a good one, even if it isn’t in my top three.

Episode 7, finally. This was my most anticipated episode for the season. The crossover episode and not only that but time travel beloved. This episode had surprises and references galore AND the cast was actually allowed to ad lib in the episode. So some of the moments are absolutely priceless and well worth the wait. This is one of the other ones that makes it into my top three episodes. They also pay homage to Star Trek Enterprise, mentioning Archer, Travis Mayweather, and Hoshi. Which was wonderful for them to get some acknowledgment since most other Star Trek shows had come out before that one. It was only 40 minutes long, but they packed a lot of fun into that episode.

Episode 8. This is the only episode that I truly despised. It just wasn’t a good episode and if I wrote it, I would have chosen a different way to end it. I didn’t like the way it was put together. I didn’t like how dark of an episode it was thematically and it was the least Star Trek-y of all the episodes. I think the main issue was with the characters they chose to tell this particular story with, were the wrong ones. For how the story went, I don’t think it should have been Dr. M'Benga and Nurse Chapel. If they told it a bit differently and changed the one aspect at the end, then maybe it would have worked better. As it was, I think it was the wrong “moral” (using moral loosely) to choose. To go more into a spoiler-y direction, it would have fit better into Star Trek's original theme/premise better if instead of the Klingon being killed, differences and the past could have been put aside for them to work together or at least have come to some sort of understanding instead of what happened. It just left a sour taste in my mouth and wasn’t an episode that I appreciated in any form. It could have been much better done.

Episode 9. The musical episode. The mentioned episode that got me started on this full train of thought in the first place. And also the other episode that makes it into my top three. Because this really is such a fun episode and is the perfectly corny type of camp that you expect from Star Trek and is reminiscent of certain other events that break out among the ship in other shows. The very fact that everyone on board is perfectly aware of how odd of a situation that they’re in and is working together towards finding a solution. The songs are catchy and one of the best moments has to be the surprise and shock of how the Klingons end up singing. My dad had to pause the show until I could catch my breath from laughing so hard. It was also extremely emotional at times as well and further included lore from TOS and the movies. Honestly it’s got to be among the best Star Trek episodes just in general. It’s just *chef’s kiss.*

Episode 10, the last one of the season and it ends on a cliffhanger, unfortunately. On the good side, we get Scotty for the first time properly and he sounds just right. Looks on the other hand will take getting used to as the actor doesn’t really look like James Doohan, but that will come in time, because he does fit the part and I love him. It’s the seasons horror (gore) episode. I’m still not sure what to think about what they’re doing with the Goran… only time will tell with that one.

[caltropspress]

RAPS + CRAFTS #19: AJ Suede

1. Introduce yourself. Past projects? Current projects?

Suede God. Do your homework on my double digits of projects. 

2. Where do you write? Do you have a routine time you write? Do you discipline yourself, or just let the words come when they will? Do you typically write on a daily basis?

I write any and everywhere when inspiration strikes. I get some of my best work done on public transportation. In the past, I've written my best hooks on the drives to and from jobs. Nowadays, it’s more about atmosphere than location.

3. What’s your medium—pen and paper, laptop, on your phone? Or do you compose a verse in your head and keep it there until it’s time to record?

Notes pad but not limited to that. If I could, I’d do the Jay-Z thing and memorize bar-for-bar, but at this point I just write everything down so I don’t forget.

4. Do you write in bars, or is it more disorganized than that?

I write in ways that are more like mathematical equations. Time signatures, iambic pentameter, and rhyme schemes I vaguely remember from smoking before my 10th grade English class in the Shakespeare unit. That mixed with the fundamentals. It’s all math. 

5. How long into writing a verse or a song do you know it’s not working out the way you had in mind? Do you trash the material forever, or do you keep the discarded material to be reworked later?

Complicated question because even the “bad” stuff can be repurposed when it’s in season. Some of the bars might not flow because of time and place, but that’s always subject to change and vice versa.

6. Have you engaged with any other type of writing, whether presently or in the past? Fiction? Poetry? Playwriting? If so, how has that mode influenced your songwriting?

There are things that I want to do, but I don’t wanna say preemptively. I’d rather show if I end up being serious about it.

7. How much editing do you do after initially writing a verse/song? Do you labor over verses, working on them over a long period of time, or do you start and finish a piece in a quick burst?

I don’t often edit verses, but the longest part of all the album processes are the mix and master. Especially for the self-produced projects.

8. Do you write to a beat, or do you adjust and tweak lyrics to fit a beat?

There’s no right answer. Every song and beat combination requires different things. I do prefer to write to a beat 90% of the time, but sometimes you unlock new pockets when you write in silence and puzzle piece it together.

9. What dictates the direction of your lyrics? Are you led by an idea or topic you have in mind beforehand? Is it stream-of-consciousness? Is what you come up with determined by the constraint of the rhymes?

No comment. Can’t demystify the whole process.

10. Do you like to experiment with different forms and rhyme schemes, or do you keep your bars free and flexible?

Anything goes based on what the beat demands. I like to be like water; my style is similar to Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do. It’s a mixture of all the fundamentals, but I assume formlessness based on the musical situation. The stronger the foundation, the more flows and schemes you have access to. It’s just a matter of where and when each style is going to present itself.

11. What’s a verse you’re particularly proud of, one where you met the vision for what you desire to do with your lyrics?

I love all my kids, but always proud of the verse that I haven’t written yet. That will be the best one every time.

12. Can you pick a favorite bar of yours and describe the genesis of it?

I wholeheartedly wish I could. I’ll leave that to the people.

13. Do you feel strongly one way or another about punch-ins? Will you whittle a bar down in order to account for breath control, or are you comfortable punching-in so you don’t have to sacrifice any words?

Yes, I do feel strongly about punch-ins. I will restart a whole verse before I allow myself to punch-in. I can always hear the punch-in, even on other artists' songs. If you have to punch-in a million times, your live show is going to be a disaster. Punch-in artists often perform with their vocals playing over the instrumental. A real lack of breath control. If you’re doing it from an artistic standpoint, call-and-response etc., I understand. 

14. What non-hiphop material do you turn to for inspiration? What non-music has influenced your work recently?

I would be here all day. I love a lot of music.

15. Writers are often saddled with self-doubt. Do you struggle to like your own shit, or does it all sound dope to you?

I’ve spent less time with self-doubt than most others, but it is a very natural feeling. I believe in what I can do and I’m validated by most of our favorite rappers, so I know I’m dope.

16. Who’s a rapper you listen to with such a distinguishable style that you need to resist the urge to imitate them?

ABSOLUTELY NOBODY. We all start off similar in one way or another from childhood influences, but I been in the game a long enough time that my rap DNA is 100% my own.

17. Do you have an agenda as an artist? Are there overarching concerns you want to communicate to the listener?

I just want to make the best music and let that speak for itself. I don’t have any concerns in the rap world. I just want to make a living off the music and take care of my own. 

RAPS + CRAFTS is a series of questions posed to rappers about their craft and process. It is designed to give respect and credit to their engagement with the art of songwriting. The format is inspired, in part, by Rob McLennan’s 12 or 20 interview series.

Photo credit: unknown (hit me up)

[all54321]

Father Spore Spy AU Info/Lore

Since a lot of stuff is written vaguely or not said at all, I’ve decided to make a post with just a bunch of random world info. Might add on to this later if something else becomes important later.

Starting off with the world they live in. It’s a mostly modern setting on an Earth-like planet. There’s some Minecraft stuff mixed in. Like their strongest weapons are just swords and bows and the like. There are also hybrids (part human part something else) around, while uncommon, seeing one isn’t a surprise to anyone. For example, Grian is an avian (human/bird), those infected by spores are not hybrids though.

Since this is a whole bigger world, there are a lot more people in it then just the hermits. Although all the season 7 hermits are close friends and have been for a while. Some longer then others, but by the election they’re all good friends.

Since Pearl joins the next season, she currently lives in a different town. Her and Grian are also siblings, therefor she’s also an avian.

I currently/occasionally refer to what’s happening as a resistance, since that’s what it was in Hermitcraft. Here it isn’t a resistance though. There is nothing personal about the attacks/spreading. It just so happens that the source of this is closer to this town and then any others.

More about the mycelium/hive mind: It’s more intelligent then most other plant species, but not at a human level. It struggles to travel out past the caves on its own, making it need outside help. When Scar fell in, it infected him to help spread it around. The cave it’s in is completely filled with spores, it’s just lighter the farther from the source. So Scar was infected pretty much right away, just not enough to fully turn him right away.

At the start, the hivemind was primarily controlled by the source, including Scar. Although the strongest influence it had over him was making him want to do what it wills him to do. So he could go against what it wants, but he doesn’t since he’s made to want it too. Scar eventually takes control over the hivemind since it can’t rival human intelligence. Scar can force people to do what he says, if he chooses to. Scar also protects the source with his life, he lets no one know where it’s at, hiding it near completely. It is in the dead center of the mycelium territory, so no one ventures that far. Those infected don’t know where to find it.

Now, on to how the mycelium effects others. Which is to say, it effects everyone differently, so here’s Scar and Grian.

Scar is extremely effected, having been turned by the primary source. He’s covered in a lot of mushrooms and his skin is even turning mycelium purple in places. Every part of his is infectious in some way, but he also emits a cloud of spores around him. He can control how much he releases. From anywhere between a little and an extreme amount (ie. filling an inclosed room in seconds). He changes it depending on the situation.

Grian is also very unique in how’s he’s effected. He gets fully transformed not long after inhaling enough of the spores, but his physical transformation is a lot slower. He only has a few mushrooms growing across his body, only some of his blood start being taken over by mycelium, making very few visible purple veins (a possible symptom), and just a few of his inside feathers turn purple. Although the more time he spends with Scar, the more he transform. He can hide most or that under baggy clothes and gloves. He extremely rarely shows the insides of his wings so that’s also easy to hide. After getting caught and living around Scar full time, it spreads a lot quicker/more obvious. Grian can only infect others by skin to skin contact. He also infects them with a unique strain of it, very slow acting (symptoms appearing after over a day), but harder to disinfect.

On the topic of disinfecting people, it takes a long while for the HEP to find a way to do that. At the farthest I’ve written, the most they can do is disinfect someone who recently got infected, they can’t infect someone fully transformed/connected to the hive mind. Disinfecting someone is extremely painful, even worse for those fully transformed and can’t be disinfected. They have no cure yet. They also don’t have a good way to disinfect someone who is infected by Grian, especially since he doesn’t infect others to keep his cover.

That’s all I can think of for now, or what I want to share, anyway. Might reblog with more later.

[pumpkinstep]

I finally read sky and Jesus christ what the hell is happening. it seriously feels like they're using a lack of communication and willful ignorance as a crutch this time more so than usual. it's super frustrating that this newest arc seems to completely ignore any of the established events all of the clans share and throw it out the window entirely.

you'd think after all this time, moons upon moons, season after season, of starclan constantly beating it into the clans that they should stick together and be close to one another, they'd be less wary of eachother. especially after uniting to solve a huge conflict only like what 3 or so months ago? it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago. like say it was maybe a year or so ago, it still doesn't make sense. clan life doesn't move on so quickly that that span of time would be ancient history.

yet every cat seems to talk about it like that. they all talk about the whole dark forest shit like it was hella long ago.

I also think it's super weird that starclan admittedly refuses to do anything, especially since the whole of starclan rarely ever decides to agree whole heartedly on what to do with the living, so even if a majority of them decided to stay away, surely there would be some who would go against the larger will of starclan like spottedleaf and yellowfang did in the past.

Nighthearts chapters are annoying, squirrelflight is dead inside and I don't think she and bramblestar are mates anymore. sunbeams chapters are super unnecessary and I feel as though this arc would have seriously benefitted from having a one cat perspective instead of continuing to go with the split perspective thing.

it certainly feels completely out of character for the whole of thunderclan to start acting like they're the most important cats in the forest and the best clan of all despite the fact they let an imposter lead them and do horrible things without question. honestly it says a lot about brambles character, his leadership, and relationship with his mate that no cat so much as questioned him when he started acting out.

it's also super weird that they put so much importance on Firestar in the clan. like I get that undeniably he was one of the best leaders of his time but like you never see that importance and pressure to fill his paw prints carried through the rest of his clan.

literally bramblestar was raised by firestar and we never see him struggle with being another firestar. we never see him struggle with the knowledge he has to fill the power vacuum or void or whatever fire left behind with his death.

I also noticed it's even stranger when you consider a good majority of thunderclan currently are directly related to him as well. he has paws in every single facet of clan life there, they might as well rename it fireclan.

it's just annoyed that this is suddenly a big issue and focus in the clan now even though his legacy lives on in the form of like 20 something direct blood relatives in a clan made up of like 30 something cats.

I'm getting off topic but just about the whole starclan thing.

why the hell are they suddenly being so vague? like if anyone had learned anything from previous conflicts and their solutions, collaboration and clear direct communication is more important than anything, especially since what happened before. honestly I'd argue that it'd be more interesting to have a perspective of a starclan cat to better outline the conflict left unresolved there after the ashfur incident. how cool would that be? it would make sense to, it would heavily accentuate the dread and helplessness of the river clan situation just as it did with goosefeathers and shadowsights tragic efforts.

I feel as though we've gone too long with being open and connected with starclan now to pull back and turn around. why not lean into it? build up starclan culture and look more into where prophecies come from or how they receive them. hell I'd be okay if they kept that vague if they'd just lean into all the way and let us see starclans conflicts just as clearly as we see the living cats since they're all so strongly connected.

it's a serious mess and I don't see this book having a good ending. I'd like an arc to have a resolved conflict for once that doesn't bleed into the other arcs. like let's just wrap up this messy ashfur nonsense and move on. the series needs to end all together at some point and I'd rather it concluded sooner rather than later before it gets any worse.

[ironstakes]

I haven't seen everyone's episodes yet, but here's a (big) compilation of my current thoughts and observations and theories. Spoilers!

Assume this is talking about characters unless stated otherwise.

Keralis is messy. I love this a lot. What I don’t love is that he was stranded on the ground when the moon hit. RIP my bug eyed inspiration. On the topic of the every man for themselves… well, it lines up with the whole hermit motif and how previous season hops have gone (sort of), but it also has a lot of really cool server culture implications I won’t go on about. What I will highlight is the Mumbo-blaming at the doomsday meeting.

In fanon (?) there’s an idea of the admin having some powers and responsibilities tied to the server. In Hermitcraft we know that several hermits have op, or have had the ability to. We also know from earlier in the season that in real life human Tango can restart the server, but for in game/story context this implies that the hermits share or trade the admin abilities and responsibilities, or parts of them. Maybe Mumbo, who introduced the season, called the server wide doomsday meeting, and was referred to as the CEO of the server by two hermits was in charge of handling most of the admin stuff this season? He also, if I’m not mistaken, made the most attempts at fixing the moon issue (even if they were ineffective).

But why not Xisuma, who is usually the primary admin guy? Well, besides the Evil X stuff, Xisuma might have needed the break. He started the animal armor thing back in season 6 with the turtles, and it’s only increased in frequency. Players are supposed to influence their server, not the other way around. It’s entirely possible hes become too saturated with server stuff, to the point that a simple touch from an axolotl made his physical form reconfigure. That makes Xisuma not very stable power-wise and also possibly explain why Evil X was able to control him now when he hadn’t done something similar to Xisuma before (as far as I know).

Bdubs is the moon man. Maybe as the night repellant he has some special moon repellant powers too? Why else would he be so okay with the moon dropping on his head? His response could also be an extreme “Everything’s fine!” thing. He did go on and on for his entire episode about all the positives, to the point that it felt repetitive. I think he was trying to convince himself honestly. Especially as he talks about everything in relation to Big Eye Crew and slowly shifts the narration to everything in relation to him as he admits that Tango and Keralis are probably not coming back. He also is the time king or something, so Bdubs has more than a few avenues of explanation.

Time. Ok time is related to gravity, as you know vaguely if you’ve heard about Einstein’s twins but one stays on earth and one travels at the speed of light thing. Apparently, Minecraft portals are also linked to gravity. When the moon is just about to crash into the island, we see in the animation that a nether portal winks out with no physical reason visible (as in I didn’t see any portal blocks fly off and break the portal frame). This would trap Xisuma in the nether and explain why the end gateway closed behind Cleo- the gravity of the moon caused the portals to destabilize and shut, and with nobody left in the overworld to reactivate them, the two are stuck for the foreseeable future.

Stuck, at least in the Hermitcraft Season 8 server terms. Xisuma says his life continues in a modded server, and all five Boatem people explicitly state that they are between worlds while they wait. In combination with the Third/Last Life head cannons and people interpreting the game mechanics as players being able to move between worlds, well, this is (more) lore proof it’s a thing. But if they can just swap servers then why the panic? That’ll be a separate post because I still need to talk about Doc and Ren! And a Joe of the Hills variety.

Firstly, the Hermatrix project was great from start to finish. Big hats off to Doc and Ren and everyone that made that project possible. As for the finale- I mean. Matrix is in the name. And it could be actually a server wide explanation across everyone’s stories? Evil Xisuma says that he’d been betrayed or tricked or something, I don’t remember, but I think everyone assumes he was working with Jeff the minion in some capacity. But was it Jeff, or was Jeff an avatar of the hacker that destabilized the simulation? I only bring this up because Grian makes reference to the flickering of his body in and out of reality as similar to a glitch in a simulation and another hermit, Joe I think, also make a comment about simulations. This hacker has piqued my intrigue. Also, if season 8 was a simulation, why include Evil X? Or was he just generated by the simulation (but then why the I was tricked cutscene)? Or was he not supposed to be there and the hacker let him in? It’s interesting any way you play the cards because if season 8 is a simulation, Evil X is still physically banished and never actually returned.

What is something I noticed was that the moon rock made them target people and there was a bit of chanting involved of the target’s names. And I mean their full igns. ImpulseSV. Cubfan135. But wait, here’s what I noticed: they didn’t say joehillssays, they said “his name is Joe Hills.” Hmmm the first thing that popped into my mind was that the moon rock is representative of a greater power than the hermits (the simulation computer?) here and it misidentified/didn’t fully identify Joe. Joe is undefined always it seems, and that’s the Joe Hills difference. Plus Cleo says something to the effect of “It’s Joe, you [Joe] always turn up.” Herobrine exists in the Hermitcraft continuity (season six: hippie time travel, DocM’s finale) so Herobrine = Joe anyone? Also wanted to add the Joe says the most disturbing thing was when he floated out of bed, which makes sense when you consider the importance of beds in Minecraft.

Lastly Cubfan. Despite his panic in the previous episode he fortified himself and began his finale with a last stand type of thing, of talking about his work, the canyon, and how it didn’t yield. Yet as the moon grew closer and closer entire chunks of the canyon were just shredded and Cub had to flee. Firstly yikes Cub :c Secondly I think this sums up a lot about a server culture examination that would explain their behaviors and priorities as doomsday hit them. Cub is one of the few hermits I watch regularly and that episode was the one I watched first, so of course it hit the hardest.

xB was midsentance in his not bunker when the moon hit. He and Keralis and Bdubs could have an intresting post-doosday sequence later.

I'm still processing a lot and I need to rewatch False's episode bc I fell asleep in the middle of it but man. What a finale. My favorite thing is that each person had their own storylines and explanations going even though there was a single event, and that some people didn't even really do much with it, like TFC and Zed. I miss Stress since I really enjoy examining her episodes and hope she's in the next season.

[nugnthopkns]

take the sadness out of saturday night

word count: 2.8k 

warnings: insinuated fem!reader, a couple of curse words, alcohol consumption, vaguely described feelings of inadequacy 

recommended listening: chinatown | bleachers featuring bruce springsteen

a/n: will i ever write anything more than 3k? probs not. also this baby is completely self indulgent but i don’t even care

All you want to do is sleep. Or drink an entire bottle of wine. Maybe both. 

Graduate school is a lot harder than you expected it to be. You obviously weren’t naïve enough to think it be as easy as your undergrad, but you didn’t think it would be like this. It’s competitive; with people doing whatever it takes to get ahead. You’ve almost had your thesis topic stolen twice. The workload is also incredibly different. Gone are the days of small tests and assignments: everything relies on your thesis paper being of the utmost quality. You feel like you’re drowning in the middle of the ocean.

Today was the worst in a succession of terrible days. On the way to campus you dropped your coffee but didn’t have enough time to get another one. The conditions didn’t get any better once you reached school. Your lunch got left behind on the kitchen island and your advisor didn’t show up for your meeting, putting you another two weeks behind schedule. To top it off, you left campus later than usual and caught in the horrendous Philadelphia traffic. By the time you reach your apartment complex you’re thoroughly exhausted and two seconds away from crying. 

How you can afford your current lodging is beyond you. Tuition is waived by the university, which certainly helps, but you’re mostly relying on loans. It will be a bitch to pay off in a few years, but you don’t have any other option. The building isn’t ridiculously flashy, with semi-outdated furnishing, but it’s in a central location that anyone in Philly would kill for. Every day you wake up grateful there isn’t an eviction notice on your door; though you’re very careful to pay rent on time. Only the small lamp in the entryway is on when you unlock the door, but you keep it that way. Kicking off your sneakers and haphazardly hanging up your jacket, you shuffle into the bedroom portion of the studio. The pyjamas tucked under the pillow are calling your name, and it feels so good to free yourself of business casual clothing. 

The next stop on your mad-dash around in order to plant yourself on the couch as quickly as possible is the bathroom. You scrub your face vigorously, knowing you’ll pay for it in a few days when a breakout appears, but you can’t find it within you to care. It feels so good to be clean and in control of a situation. The kitchen is where you meander to next, filling the largest glass you can find with rosé. A bag of candy is grabbed as well, and then you’re tucking yourself into the corner of the couch and piling on the blankets. You open Netflix and briefly debate what to watch before deciding on something you’ve seen a million times before that won’t require your full attention.

Half an hour into the film you get hungry, but with no ambition to cook for yourself. Take out it is. You place an order at your favourite sushi joint and lazily return your gaze to the T.V. The scene on the screen no longer appeals to you, so you dig around the cushions to find your phone. It’s been a while since you’ve called your mom and you know she’s been missing you; truth be told you miss her a resounding amount. Philadelphia is a long ways from home and you can’t afford to travel often. Not being near your pillar of support is definitely wearing on you. She picks up on the fifth ring. 

“Hello?”

A tear slips out at the sound of her voice. Yours catches in your throat slightly, and your response is garbled. “Mom,” it breaks at the end, and the tears quickly turn into a waterfall. 

“Oh honey,” she sighs, chest filling with pain at your apparent despair. “What’s the matter?”

You sob for a minute or two before it subsides enough for you to actually speak. Through hiccups and sniffles you detail your horrible week, and the one before that for good measure. Your mom stays silent, listening with intent, and the one sided conversation eventually turns into you fretting about how you feel inadequate in your academic community and how you can’t picture a future. Only once you’ve ran out of words does she speak, negating the argument put in place by your imposter syndrome and doing her best to inflate your ego. 

“You’ve earned your seat at the table Y/N,” she says with conviction. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you deserve to be there. You’re cut out for this; no one is more passionate about their work than you.”

Another hiccup slips past your lips as you respond. “Thanks Mom.”

You don’t have to see her to know she’s sporting a smile. “We’re so proud of you honey, and always will be. No matter what you decide to do. Hell, you could move to Peru to become an alpaca farmer and your dad and I would be the happiest parents on Earth.”

The comment is meant to make you laugh, citing the time you called her during your undergrad to inform her you were dropping out and moving to the Andes. It works. You can’t help it, and have to admit it feels good after days of negative feelings. She distracts you further, recounting a story about your youngest brother’s recent baseball game that ended with a trip to the hospital after an unfortunate sliding incident. You wince at the mention of the basemen’s cleat colliding with his ankle, and chuckle when she talks about Connor singing showtunes in the recovery room. The story swapping continues, and it brings comfort. If you close your eyes you can envision yourself sitting on your mom’s bed, hiding your face in a pillow when anything embarrassing happens. 

A knock at your door ends your conversation, and the sadness slowly trickles back into your bones. “Mom, I’ve gotta go. The delivery person is here.”

“Okay sweetie. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Having lost track of time, you’re wildly unprepared to pay for your food. “One minute,” you yell in the direction of the front door, praying the person on the other side heard you. You root around your wallet for the appropriate amount of cash before sliding across the floor and unlocking the door handle. The person standing there is not in fact a food delivery service worker, but your neighbour from across the hall, holding what you presume to be your dinner. 

“Nolan?” 

To say you’re shocked is an understatement. Though you’d go as far to say the two of you are casual acquaintances, he’s never shown up unannounced on your doorstep. Most of your interactions take place in the elevator or hallway, and you’ve only been inside his apartment once when you left your keys in your advisor’s office. Being a professional hockey player means he typically isn’t around a lot, but you had learned from a friend he’s spending the season sidelined by an injury. He still hasn’t been around a lot from what you could tell. 

His low rumble catches you off guard for a millisecond but it doesn’t take long to adjust. “They, uh, sent it to the wrong door,” he mumbles, holding out the bag to illustrate his point. 

“Fuck,” you swear. “Sorry. How much do I owe you?” A ballpark figure is in your brain, but you aren’t above throwing in a few extra dollars for the inconvenience. No one wants to receive their neighbour’s food. 

Nolan shakes his head profusely and shoves his hands in his pockets when you try to slip the money into them. “It’s on the house,” he shrugs. “Think of it as an apology for being a shit neighbour these past couple of months.”

“You’re a great neighbour Nolan. I have no complaints.” He returns your smile but doesn’t speak. An awkward tension fills the air between you, almost as if each of you is waiting for the other to talk. 

“Well I’ll let you –”

“Would you like some company?”

The question stops you dead in your tracks. A look of bewilderment must appear on your face because Nolan starts blabbering. “It’s just that you looked upset when you came to the door, like you’ve been crying. I can also see the nearly empty bottle of wine on the counter and that’s never a good sign.” He pauses for a second to take a breath before blurting out a final sentence. “And there’s a game tonight and if I don’t distract myself from it I think I might die.” Ragged breathing punctuates the sudden stoppage, and when you look up to meet his eyes you feel a sense of desperation. 

Without saying anything you open the door wider and retreat into the unit, hoping he gets the hint. It takes him all of two seconds to follow you, quickly darting across the hall to lock his door. You’re at the fridge when he returns, and turn around to ask him what he’d like to drink. 

“It seems like an alcohol kind of night,” you chuckle. “What are you having?”

He looks at you sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck. “Could I have a glass of that rosé?” 

You nod and gesture for him to pass you the bottle. “Never pegged you as a wine drinker,” you comment as you fill his cup. 

“Travis teases me relentlessly so I don’t keep it at the house anymore. Can only drink it in private.”

At the mention of his teammate’s name you understand. It’s exhausting to fit into someone’s mould of you. “Your secret is safe with me.”

The two of you migrate to the couch and once again become shrouded in silence. It’s comfortable this time, as you nurse your glasses and watch the skyline. Just having someone by your side is enough to quell the upset you’ve felt all day. You wonder why you hadn’t sought Nolan out sooner. It seems he’s been in a similar situation; having terrible days and feeling alone. Conversation only comes once he realizes both your drinks are empty. Nolan opens the fridge to find one more bottle of wine; a cheap, fruity one that’s meant to taste like a cooler. It’s strawberry flavoured, which equal parts thrills and disgusts him. He’s thrown back to his first high school party, when this was the only alcohol he could get his friends’ older sisters to buy him.

“I feel like I’m sixteen again,” he laughs, not bothering to fill his glass. Instead, he swigs from the bottle before reaching over the back of the couch and placing in your lap. You follow his lead, drinking directly from the vessel.

“Don’t judge me,” you huff. “I like the way it tastes.”

Nolan gazes sideways at you before dropping his voice to a near whisper. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

In a streak of boldness that came from god knows where, you place a hand on top of his. He doesn’t retract but doesn’t push forward either. You’re too scared to do anything else, and soon retract your hand and place it in your lap. “So,” you cough. “You need a distraction?”

☀☀☀☀

One comedy special turned into three, and it’s safe to say both you and Nolan are feeling exponentially better than when he knocked on your door. The alcohol flowed until you ran out, but neither of you are drunk. Perhaps tipsy; most definitely content. It’s so nice to enjoy someone’s company without the pressure of maintaining a perfect appearance. Nolan must feel it too, because he slowly begins to open up, talking about his career and ambitions for a life after hockey. You sit quietly, much like your mother had done hours before, as he describes his frustration with the migraines and how he yearns to bond with his teammates.

“I’m just so scared this is it, that I’m done,” he hiccups. 

You tentatively shuffle closer to him, looking for signs that he’s uncomfortable. Once you’re squished beside him, shoulder to shoulder, you take yet another page from your mother’s book. “If tonight is a good indicator of who you are, then you, Nolan Patrick, are going to be just fine. Seems to me that this is nothing but a bump in the road. You’re destined for greatness.”

He smiles, possibly the first completely real one he’s given you all night, and it reaches his eyes. “You really think that?”

“Absolutely. Wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t believe it to be true. You see, in my line of work, truth is of the utmost importance.”

At Nolan’s incessant prodding you talk about school, your thesis, and what you hope to achieve. It doesn’t sting the way you thought it would, possibly because you’re speaking to someone who’s completely enamored with the topic. Academia clearly fascinates Nolan, though he makes it clear he has no interest in joining the community. The only way you can describe the feeling of explaining everything to him is refreshing; he asks insightful questions about your research and isn’t bogged down by the technicalities like so many of your fellow scholars. When you’ve exhausted all you can say and Nolan’s ‘poked’ holes in all of your theories, he gets a serious look and turns so your body is framed by his. 

In this position there’s no denying how attractive he is. Of course you’ve always found him easy to look at when you passed in the halls, but knowing him as intimately as you now do makes you realize how much you like him. “Come to a game with me?” he asks. 

Your rhythm is once again thrown off by the man in front of you. “A game?”

Nolan nods enthusiastically. “A game. I’ve been meaning to go to one for a while, but I can’t find the courage to go alone. The next home game is on Tuesday, but we can obviously go to another one when it fits your schedule. If you want to come, that is.”

He’s yet to be this excited about hockey all night, and who are you to deny your newfound friend something he wants so badly? “Tuesday’s perfect Nolan.” He pumps his fist in happiness and you giggle at his antics. 

“I’m so happy I could kiss you.” It slips out before he realizes, and the shock on his face lets you know it was an accident. 

“You can if you want.”

You’re surprised at your own boldness, but don’t have much time to read into what the statement could mean because Nolan’s leaning in to rest his forehead against yours. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The moment his lips touch yours it feels like a homecoming. He’s gentle but firm, letting you know he doesn’t want this to be a one time thing without saying anything at all. Nolan brings to you a sort of warmth that settles in your chest that makes you truly content with how life is going. You lose yourself in him, letting your heart steer the ship. He never waivers from you, only pulling back slightly to card his fingers through your hair. They settle at the nape of your neck and make shivers tingle your spine. You’re impossibly close, but you wish it would never end. After what feels like a millennia you break apart, chests heaving slightly from the lack of oxygen. 

You can’t find the words, but you know you never want to be without Nolan again. All the anguish you experienced earlier feels light years away after a few short hours of truly knowing him. It seems that he’s on the same page, because Nolan makes no effort to remove himself from the situation. In fact, he seems perfect content to never move again: arm comfortably around your shoulder as he places a chaste kiss to the crown of your head. 

“So is Tuesday a date now?” You squeak, voice small. You’re worried you’ve ruined the moment, but he cuts off your overthinking with a squeeze your bicep. 

“It’s whatever you want it to be,” he replies, and you know he means it. 

You can’t help yourself and slot your lips against his once again. “I’d like that a lot. There’s one condition though: I want to meet Gritty.”

Nolan’s laugh echoes off the walls and sounds like the sweetest melody you’ve ever heard. “Think I can manage to pencil you in to the schedule. It has a soft spot for me.”

As he reaches for the remote to put on highlights of the game that’s well over, you shuffle to rest your head comfortably in his lap. Your fingers find his and lazily combine. Nolan mumbles something you don’t quite catch, something about a play Travis made, but you hum in agreement anyways. He’s most likely right. Your eyes begin to droop, and as you fall asleep you forget why you were even sad in the first place. 

☀☀☀☀

taglist: @jamiedrysdales​ if you want to be added shoot me an ask :)

[turtlethon]

“The Dimension X Story”

Season 4, Episode 30 First US Airdate: November 3, 1990

Shredder plans to pull the Turtles into Dimension X, but the Channel 6 crew are accidentally brought along for the ride.

“The Dimension X Story” is episode 95 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. David Wise is the writer for this tale, which initially aired as the first half of a double-bill with “Donatello’s Degree” on CBS.

You know it’s going to be a busy episode when the action begins before the title card has even faded out. Michaelangelo emerges from a trash can on the street and joins the other Turtles in an elaborate operation in order to get inside Vic’s Video as it opens. Having been given the all-clear, Raphael pulls his rubber human mask over the front of his face – which I’m sure isn’t how it’s supposed to work – and beats a stampede of customers into the store to be first in line, picking up the only available copy of “Snow White & The Seven Samurai.”

At Channel 6, April and Irma are astonished as they watch the opening of “Vernon”, Channel 6’s debuting talk show. Vernon is seen in a tuxedo in front of an adoring studio audience, introducing today’s topic: Did Elvis invent the video game? Burne barges into the room and lambasts April, pointing out that the Happy Hour News’s ratings are in the toilet, while “Vernon” is a hit. He demands that she come up with a compelling story, vaguely threatening to demote her if she doesn’t come up with the goods.

Later, April and Irma run into a still-suited Vernon in the hallway. He taunts his old rival about her diminishing career prospects before Irma drags her friend away. An attractive young woman approaches Vernon to request his autograph. Has anyone ever failed upward like Vernon Fenwick, who started out as some sort of loosely defined director / stage manager / cameraman, somehow became a reporter on the same level as April, and has apparently now completely overshadowed her?

In Dimension X, Shredder and Krang discuss the current state of affairs in the Technodrome, with none of their systems besides the trans-dimensional communicator working. The two villains begin bickering as Shreds is still insistent on getting revenge on the Turtles for dishonouring him, with Krang pointing out they have much bigger problems. This has been a recurring theme throughout the years that highlights the difference in priorities between the two: season one had Shredder pre-occupied with beating the Turtles while Krang demanded he focus on building him a “bah-dey”. Later, in “The Missing Map”, Krang re-iterated that he cared little about Shredder’s feud with Splinter over leadership of the Foot Clan.

The Turtles settle down in the Lair to watch their movie when Shredder appears on their TV. He challenges them to a battle in the local dump. April and Irma also see Shreds hijacking the signal, and sneak off to cover the battle without a news crew in order to avoid alerting Vernon to their plan. In his lavish dressing room, Vernon also happens to witness Shredder’s challenge, and makes his own way there. 

So far this episode has just been too good – how can we make it less enjoyable? Throw in the Neutrinos, who also see Shredder’s challenge and fly off in their Starmobiles to sabotage the villain’s plan, daddy-O.

An odd and uncharacteristic scene follows where the Turtles stand around and discuss at length whether they should confront Shredder or just not bother showing up for his obvious trap. As you might expect, they eventually settle on the former option.

Krang points out to Shredder that his challenge to the Turtles is pointless, given that their dimensional portal isn’t even working. Shreds points out that while this is true, the dimensional teleporter is. This large ray gun, he explains, was once used “to bring Foot Soldiers to Earth” (this appears to be a call-back to the events of “Usagi Yojimbo”). Now he plans to use the teleporter to pull the Turtles into Dimension X.

The Turtles arrive at the dump to confront Shredder, but instead find themselves face-to-face with a camera-wielding Vernon, who begins quizzing them about unrelated nonsense. The team attempt to warn him as a huge glowing whirlwind appears beneath him, but he refuses to listen, and is soon caught up inside it.

Act two opens with April and Irma, who have been watching from nearby, also get swept up into the whirlwind, followed by Raphael and Michaelangelo. The two Turtles and the Channel 6 crew land in the Technodrome as the teleporter’s whirlwind vanishes. Wasting no time, Leonardo and Donatello rush back to the Lair to try and get their own dimensional portal working and stage a rescue.

Mikey and Raph lead the assembled group out of the Technodrome, April and Vernon continuing to bicker all the while. They’re pursued by Rocksteady and Bebop, but the Neutrinos swoop in and offer our heroes a ride. They advise the Turtles that the only way back to Earth is via the Technodrome’s own portal – which as we’ve already established, isn’t working, but they wouldn’t know that – and realise they’ll have to make their way back into the rolling fortress.

In the Lair, Donatello points out they’ll need a new power transformer to get the portal going again. Splinter suggests that Channel 6 might have one, and while it might seem outlandish to suggest that a TV station would have the components needed for a device that opens a gateway to another dimension, Donnie presumably built this thing from whatever parts were available to him. Okay, let’s roll with it.

Rapid-fire scenes follow of the Neutrinos using their Starmobiles to cut a hole in the side of the Technodrome, followed by Burne panicking about the disappearance of both April and Vernon. Meanwhile Donnie and Leo – wearing their rubber masks, which are suddenly coming back to the forefront after being largely absent all season – search through a trolley of old components due for disposal at Channel 6. 

Back in the Technodrome, our increasingly unwieldly group of heroes – Michaelangelo, Raphael, Vernon, April, Irma, Zak, Dask and Kala – run about for a bit until they run into Shredder, Rocksteady and Bebop. Shreds has his mutants display “a little old-fashioned ninja hospitality”, which is an odd thing to say given that neither of them is a ninja and they go on to use their laser weapons, which isn’t very ninja-y by any metric.

The two Turtles quickly defeat Shredder and his henchmen, dousing them with oil and throwing them into a huge laundry shaft. Meanwhile Vernon grabs a camera from April and rides off in a glider vehicle.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the surreal visual of Vernon Fenwick cruising around Dimension X in what looks like something from F-Zero? This is one of the most unusual episodes of Turtles I’ve ever watched. It feels like any rules about who does what and where have broken down, and we’re not even close to being done yet.

In the portal room, the assembled group find to their dismay that almost all of the equipment is out of action. The dimensional radio, however, is working, and our heroes are able to open a video link with Leo and Donnie in the Lair. (Wait, the dimensional radio is also a dimensional video link?) Donatello has been able to get the portal up and running and is ready to bring the group home, when April is finally able to alert everyone to the fact that Vernon has vanished.

Raphael suggests that it would serve Vernon right if they left him there, and April enthusiastically agrees. In an unusual moment, Irma – who has never had any time for Vernon – is visibly furious at April for effectively suggesting they leave their colleague for dead in another dimension. Eventually everyone comes around to the idea that they’ll need to track down Vernon, but Donatello points out his portal will only hold out for so long.

Act three opens with Shredder and The Boys getting scolded by Krang, who has just discovered the volcano that the Technodrome is wedged into the side of is still active. He insists that Shredder accompany him to set up bombs that will trigger an eruption in order to blast their base loose. Meanwhile Rocksteady and Bebop will deal with the Turtles.

Vernon travels to what basically just is the Mos Eisley cantina from Star Wars, there’s no getting around it, and immediately antagonises a pair of massive, bizarre-looking alien miners who hurl him into a fighting ring. Mikey and Raph intervene to brawl with the pair as April is able to retrieve Vernon’s camera, but is soon captured, alongside Irma and the Neutrinos, by Rocksteady and Bebop. The Boys tie everyone up and fly back to the Technodrome, forgetting that two of the Turtles were also there.

Mikey and Raph are able to jettison the two aliens through the roof of the spaceport using a hi-tech pogo stick. They rescue Vernon only to realise that their friends were captured by Rocksteady and Bebop, and use the abandoned Starmobiles to fly to the volcano.

Krang and Shredder set up the explosives in the volcano as planned, where they meet up with Rocksteady and Bebop. Shreds is predictably livid to learn the mutants forgot to capture the Turtles, but Krang points out that once the Technodrome is free the green teens will no longer be an issue. They leave April, Irma and the Neutrinos tied up inside the volcano, and fly off in one of the glider vehicles.

Donatello alerts Mikey and Raph to the fact that they’re running out of time before his portal will explode. The team free their friends and move the explosives to a different point in the volcano in order to sabotage Krang’s plan, before parting ways with the Neutrinos and heading back through the portal to Earth. Mere seconds later, the portal does indeed blow up.

Krang activates the bombs in the volcano, but due to their re-arrangement by the Turtles the resulting explosion isn’t large enough to shake the Technodrome free. Instead, a surge of lava shoots out of the volcano, sliding down its side and hardening around the headquarters. Shredder points out they’re now more stuck than ever and wonders aloud how he can get out of “this bonehead outfit”.

Later, in Channel 6’s editing suite, Burne tears into Vernon’s report on the day’s events, pointing out it’s “nothing but pictures of YOU!” April’s coverage of the Turtles fighting the two aliens at the spaceport, however, receives his highest praise of being “Good... goodgoodgoodgoodgood.” He declares April’s work to be the scoop of the century, before adding that he never wants to see Vernon so much as touch another camera. Presumably this means the “Vernon” show is cancelled, although given its clear fanbase it’s hard to imagine Channel 6 would drop it so readily.

In the Lair, the Turtles and Splinter talk about how this won’t be the end of Shredder – duh – before the Neutrinos send a broadcast to the Lair to officially say goodbye. Kala says “you’re so cute”, but it’s not clear exactly to whom this is addressed, so the Turtles argue amongst themselves who the cute one of the team is as the show ends.

We seem to have reached the point in the series where my memories of watching these episodes back in the day begin to sputter out. So much of this season – The Idaho Potatoes, Baxter's return with Z, the introductions of Slash, Shredder’s mother, Bugman, Rupert and Ray – is firmly embedded in my recollections of watching TMNT as a pre-teen. But gradually I’m encountering stories that I had forgotten about entirely, and often they’re so good that it astonishes me that they didn’t leave a lasting impression. Such was the case with “Farewell, Lotus Blossom”, and even more so here.  

I’ve touched upon this before, but David Wise gets what makes this show work, to the extent that of the two Turtlethon entries I currently write each week, his episode will always be the one I’m always genuinely excited to discuss. His stories never feel like a chore as something fun is always around the corner, whether it’s a hilarious exchange between characters, a nod to an earlier adventure or something that changes things up. This episode has all three, building upon the prior appearances of the dimensional teleporter last year and Donatello’s ramshackle portal, changing up the power dynamic at Channel 6 by promoting Vernon, and having the news crew regulars wind up out of their element in Dimension X. I don’t even mind the inclusion of the Neutrinos that much, as they’re largely only here to shift the other characters between locales.

Speaking of the Neutrinos, this is their penultimate appearance. They will return a little over three years from now, in the early season seven episode “Attack of the Neutrinos”. I have a sneaking suspicion that the show will be fine without them.

So, “The Dimension X Story” ...definitely a top 10 episode from this season, possibly a top ten all-timer? I think this one has almost everything I look for in an ‘87 TMNT episode. Thank you again Mr. Wise, I look forward to seeing your work again next week in “The Big Cufflink Caper”. Between now and then we have another adventure to dissect however, in the shape of “Donatello’s Degree”. A Donnie/Irma team-up episode? OH HELL YES.

[areus-in-a-little-cave]

Re-wrote Schlatt and Tubbo's argument from Chapter three of When was the last time you saw the sky? :] It's also now like 900 words longer as a result agag

With that and the beeduo scene dealt with, I think those are the most ooc scenes fixed to be more in-character :D!! They have always bothered me so I'm glad that they're better now

Here's the scene under the cut btw so you do not have to go looking if you've already read the chapter and only want to read the new bits

Word of the incident at the prison spread through the government quickly, having already reached Schlatt before Tubbo could even make it home. While he was glad that he wouldn’t have to explain everything that had happened, it was a bit of a hindrance. Tubbo didn’t know just how much Schlatt knew, and he had a feeling that whatever would be through that door would be highly dependent on that.

Of course, regardless of if it was up to Tubbo to inform his father of what had transpired, Schlatt would eventually find out everything through Quackity. No matter how much they disagreed on topics and how Quackity spoke about Schlatt with such loathing in his voice when it was just him and Tubbo, Quackity was still his vice. And a strange dynamic existed there, one Tubbo wasn’t fond of spending too long thinking about.

Surprisingly, when Tubbo entered the white house, he was greeted by a rather worried looking Schlatt. With a sigh and a knit brow, he rested a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder and looked him over.

"How you feelin', kid?"

Tubbo shrugged. "Fine."

"How's your neck, you bruised?" Schlatt sounded genuinely concerned, which was an interesting but not unwelcome change of pace. Tubbo was glad for any sign of—well, anything good from Schlatt. He didn’t seem currently drunk and he was worried about Tubbo; these were good things.

"Sam gave me a potion, and it doesn't hurt anymore."

Schlatt sighed once more with a little nod, releasing Tubbo and turning out of the entrance way. Tubbo followed him to the kitchen, a nice room with marble countertops and wooden cupboards. The floor was dark and tiled, and there was a window reflecting the setting sun in from just over the sink.

"Now, look." Schlatt said abruptly, spinning around on his heel. "I get that it was a shit situation, but did you really have to free his wings?"

Ah, that was what it was really about. Tubbo wasn’t really sure why he was expecting much else.

“He was scared more than anything, and I just thought that if I helped him instead of attacking him he might calm down.”

Schlatt paused for a moment, crossing his arms pensively before throwing one hand up with a shrug. “Or you could'a just stabbed him.”

"He threw my sword away."

Schlatt hesitated at that, a baffled sound from his throat escaping him. "He had your sword and he still went to choke you? The man’s a sicko, Tubbo."

Tubbo paused. Maybe Schlatt was right; Phil had tried to kill him, to take one of his lives. Not only that but he’d been conscious of it, he’d spoken to Tubbo; he knew he was attacking a guard.

A guard in the prison that was holding him against his will and had been for six years and kept him sedated.

Maybe it would have been stranger if he hadn’t fought back.

"I think he was just scared."

Schlatt barked a laugh, turning towards the cupboards. "Trust me, I knew Phil before he went in. Don't go feeling sorry for him, he's not worth your time."

Tubbo just nodded. This wasn't exactly something he felt like starting an argument about. His own thoughts on Phil were muddled, confusing and a bit too vague to do something serious without much consideration for the consequences.

Well, to do another serious thing without much consideration.

Besides, he’d had one too many arguments with Schlatt lately. Whether it was the longer hours Tubbo was working or the fact that Schlatt was nearly never not hung over, or the fact that the election season was just a few months away, tensions had definitely been lower.

Tubbo watched the president pour himself a drink.

Starting to walk towards the hall, Tubbo spoke up. "I'll finish up some paperwork and head to bed a little early, I don't have a shift tomorrow. I think Sam put me on leave for a few days."

"Wait, wait, wait." Schlatt sputtered out. "You're still working at the prison?!"

Tubbo nodded, a bit confused.

"What the hell, kid? You could'a died today and you're going back?"

"Well, I wasn't planning on quitting." Tubbo tried to explain that it wasn’t a big problem, that he really hadn’t been hurt at all, but Schlatt cut him off, sounding significantly more angry than before.

"It's fucking dangerous! You could have died, Tub!"

“But—”

Schlatt shook his head. “No! Absolutely not. You cannot go back to work at that place. I mean, Tubbo, c’mon! What would’ve happened if you had died? D’you have any idea how that’d look?”

Tubbo fought back a grimace at the words. Unlike before, these words didn’t feel concerned, they were just angry. And more importantly, they stressed one fact, one Tubbo wasn’t exactly happy about.

Schlatt was an enigma. Tubbo was never sure what he wanted from him. Some days he’d let Tubbo disappear without a care in the world as to where he was or who he was with, and the other half of the time he was just overbearing and judgemental. Tubbo would be fine with either the ignorance or the arguing, but Schlatt just couldn't pick a side. It was frustrating to never know what to expect.

If Tubbo’s suit was ruffled he’d get all pissy or if Tubbo left without telling anyone, he’d tear the kid a new one about responsibilities and the importance of his jobs, or if Quackity took Tubbo to get a haircut, Schlatt wouldn’t notice for a few days.

Schlatt seemed to care more about images when it came down to it. This really was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just about how Pandora would look if a guard died at the hands of a prisoner, or how Schlatt would look if his son died at a job he allowed him to work at.

Tubbo wanted to keep his job, though. He wanted to still have the option to investigate more into Philza’s life, there was clearly something amiss.

“I know it’d be bad, but I lived. I’m—perfectly fine.”

"Jesus, Tubbo.” Schlatt groaned into his hand, setting down his drink. “That's not how this shit works. You’re not fucking stupid, are you?”

The frustration grew, against Tubbo’s wishes. A deep part of him whispered a question, asking who Schlatt was to decide these things for him? After all, it wasn’t like he wanted to be Tubbo’s father; he’d abandoned him for all those years for a reason.

Tubbo pushed that thought back down, very deep.

“I—I won’t get hurt just doing a—”

“—And what if you do? Huh?” Schlatt exclaimed, stepping close. Tubbo fought back the urge to shrink as he approached.

“What then? You think it’s gonna look nice? You think it’s gonna feel nice having everyone breathing down your neck? They’ll be calling us incompetent.”

Tubbo squeezed his hands. “I can deal with that.”

“Don’t be a fucking idiot, Tubbo.”

Tubbo bit the inside of his cheek.

He didn’t like arguing, especially with Schlatt. There was always this point—like a sled pushed right onto the peak of a mountain just waiting to slip down, for something to push it—where Tubbo’s jaw just didn’t comply and words did not want to come out.

It was less than ideal, especially while arguing.

Talking hurt, in some sense. It was like suddenly, Tubbo had some kind of link between his mouth and his exhaustion, like a fuel tank that sprung another leak with each word.

Tubbo did his best, despite how dry his throat felt.

“I’m not—gonna quit. It’s… my job, I can still do it.”

Schlatt paused, staring down Tubbo with narrowed eyes before he raised his hand slowly, let it in front of Tubbo’s forehead, and flicked him. It didn’t hurt.

“Oh, it’s not hollow.” Schlatt mused.

With a satisfied smile, Schlatt stood up straight, walking right back over to his drink.

The frustration simmered.

“Why do you care where I work? You know that Sam would never let my life be in genuine risk. Even if—” Tubbo choked for half a second, his jaw fighting him as he managed airy words. “Even if I didn’t get out, Quackity was right there. He was coming.”

Schlatt shook his head with a sound, half between a laugh and a sigh. “What, you think I’m just gonna look away? I’m your father, Tubbo. I have to care.”

Tubbo bit his lip.

The frustration bubbled, and before he could slam the lid on that pot of way too many emotions to keep it from splashing, a few little droplets made their way off his tongue.

“You certainly didn’t want to be.”

It was no more than a whisper, but in a dead silent, now very tense kitchen, it was louder than a firework.

Tubbo went too far, he knew it as soon as he spoke. It was the one thing that consistently pissed off Schlatt.

Like always, the reminder of what he’d done, that he left Tubbo behind for years and only returned once he was rich, made Schlatt’s expression darken. His hand tightened around the glass and his lip pulled into a snarl.

Tubbo didn’t want to have this argument with Schlatt again, because he already could barely speak. It would just be a haranguing.

By some luck, Schlatt simply pointed at the entranceway to the room and snapped his fingers.

"Out."

"I'm—"

"Yeah, yeah, you’re sorry." Schlatt sipped his drink. "Take a fucking walk."

Tubbo left the kitchen in a hurry.

[hurricanery]

If You Went Away - pt. 6

A/N: Here’s part 6 of If You Went Away! Thank you for the encouraging messages <3 This fic might only have one or two more parts, but I have other exciting things planned!

Other parts here: part 1 // part 2 // part 3 // part 4 // part 5

-------

(present day)

“You look….cheerful?” Maggie gives Amelia a once over as the brunette walks into the attendings lounge.

Amelia squints back at her as she reaches for her purse and starts changing out of her scrubs. “I don’t know if cheerful is the right word, Maggie.”

“Okay….happier than usual as of late?”

Amelia smirks as she pulls her jacket on, then sits down to zip up her boots. She hadn’t realized her current emotional state was such a topic of conversation, or even observation.

“Scout’s got his last check up with Nico today. Right now, actually. So I’m out of here early.” She relaxes back into the seat.

“Oh? And where’s Link?” Maggie questions, sitting at the table across from Amelia.

“He’s in surgery. So it’s just me,” Amelia explains. “But, we’re just….excited he doesn’t have to have his arm wrapped up in that sling anymore. Especially for this weekend.”

“What’s this weekend?” Maggie’s eyebrows pull together in confusion and she watches as Amelia huffs out an exasperated sigh.

“Link’s parents' wedding….” Amelia mutters under her breath. If her outlook seemed cheerful when she walked into the room, it was definitely dwindling now.

“Oh my god, I totally forgot about that! I thought that already happened?”

“I wish,” Amelia breathes. “They started planning this years ago. But then, ya know, the whole pandemic….and some other stuff got in the way….but that’s all over now and they’re finally ready, I guess. And so….yeah, that’s happening this weekend….” She trails off, zoning out as she thinks about the event ahead.

There’s brief silence as Maggie watches her sister’s anxiety overcome her previously lighthearted disposition.

“How’s Link feeling about all of this?”

“Ha,” Amelia laughs sarcastically. “Not great. He still feels pretty….betrayed? By his parents? Maybe that’s the feeling?”

“Hm.” Maggie hums, digesting the information and slowly coming to terms with another realization about the situation.

“His parents put him through a lot,” Amelia explains, becoming more animated as she continues. “But I just keep trying to tell him not to take it so harshly....You know? I mean….they found their way back to each other after all this time. Why is that so bad?”

“Hmmmm,” Maggie hums again, drawing the sound out a bit more. She smirks, scanning Amelia’s face like she’s onto something.

“I mean, it’s kind of inspiring, right?”

Maggie pauses for a moment, deciding her next words. “Let me get this straight….you find it inspiring?”

Amelia shrugs, still not catching onto Maggie’s perception of her words.

“You find it inspiring….that two people can make their way back to each other after….certain difficulties?” Maggie smirks.

And Amelia frowns, the comprehension of Maggie’s attempt at an analogy settles in.

Maggie watches as Amelia’s face goes blank with realization. But then the brunette is standing up suddenly, pushing away from the table.

“Maggie no!” She throws her bag over her shoulder, getting ready to leave. “That’s not….no. That’s not what I’m saying. You’re putting words in my mouth.”

“Hey,” Maggie smiles as she folds her arms across her chest, watching Amelia as she hurries towards the door. “You’re the one that said it. I’m just putting two and two together.”

Amelia turns around once more before reaching the door, but Maggie’s smug look causes her to roll her eyes. She pushes through the door, letting it slam shut harshly.

_______

The following day Amelia runs around the house anxiously, trying to make sure everyone is ready for the wedding.

“Scout!” She yells from the kitchen as Scout sits with his eyes glued to the TV. “Come on, time to get ready!”

After some convincing, Scout finally follows his mother up the stairs and into his bedroom.

“You can go back and watch your show once you get dressed, okay?” Amelia walks to the closet, pulling out a tiny suit jacket and matching pants. She smiles to herself as she pulls the garments from the hanger, running her hands over the fabric before laying them across Scout’s bed.

“Why do I have to wear that?” Scout whines.

“Because weddings are like fancy parties,” Amelia smiles as she crouches down to help Scout into his wedding attire.

Scout frowns, adjusting to the uncomfortable suit jacket that his arms have just been guided into.

“Why are Grandma and Grandpa having a wedding? Are they already husband and wife?”

“Well….” Amelia bites her lip. Mentally sighing at just how smart Scout can be sometimes.

“You can do a wedding as many times as you want?” He questions, squinting up at Amelia.

“Uh, yeah….” She slightly frowns at the accuracy of his question. It was an easier explanation than the reality. “Yeah, you can.”

“You and daddy aren’t married.” Scout says matter-of-factly.

“Um, no,” Amelia mutters as she begins helping Scout into his dress shoes. Her pulse quickens at the direction this conversation is taking.

“Why not?”

Amelia sighs, out loud this time. She hears the shower turn off in the next room and knows that Link is probably finishing up getting ready, while she remains completely unready.

“We just aren’t….” She offers shortly, standing up once she’s satisfied with how Scout’s outfit comes together. “Not everybody gets married.”

Scout looks up at her curiously. “But you said you can have as many weddings as you want. I think you and daddy should have a lotta weddings!”

Amelia can’t help but to laugh at this.

“Okay, buddy,” She grins down at him. “Let’s see how you like this wedding, first.”

“Can I go finish my show now?”

Amelia nods, and Scout takes off down the stairs while Amelia heads to get ready herself.

_______

45 minutes later and Amelia has her dress and heels on. She’s done her hair in soft waves and she’s just finishing up the final touches of her makeup when Link enters the bedroom, walking past the adjoining bathroom, Amelia hears him softly gasp.

She pauses her lipstick application, glancing at Link through the bathroom mirror. She raises her eyebrows at him.

“You look….” Link stutters, scratching at the back of his neck anxiously. “The dress…..the blue is a really nice color on you. You look really nice.” He shrugs, dropping his hands to the side.

Amelia suppresses a blush. It was a dress she’d worn to Alex and Jo’s wedding years ago. She was relieved at the chance to re-wear it, since nobody she knew would be at this wedding, or know she was recycling it for the occasion. She was just happy to not have to purchase another dress.

“Thank you,” She smiles slightly, resuming her task in the mirror. “So do you.” Her eyes dart back to him briefly. “I’m almost ready.”

“No rush.”

“Well, I don’t want to be late. So….there’s kind of a rush.” She laughs under her breath. “You’re just not excited about this at all, are you?”

Link sighs as he sits on the edge of the bed, still in Amelia’s line of sight through the mirror. He shakes his head. “No….but, starting now, I’m going to be positive about this.”

“Hey,” she mutters, starting to put away her makeup products. “I’m nervous, too.”

“Hm?” Link looks up at her as she re-enters the bedroom.

“I’m nervous to be around your family….I don’t know,” she mutters anxiously, reaching for her coat and purse. “They have no idea we were even….apart….” she cuts herself off from going in that direction. “They just don’t know me very well.”

Link nods. Knowing there is so much more to it. So much more that Amelia didn’t say.

“Let’s just make the best of it tonight,” He offers.

And Amelia nods in agreement.

_______

After a short ceremony in which Amelia and Link struggle to keep Scout settled in his seat and non-disruptive, they are completely relieved to have moved on to the reception part of the night.

They smile their way through introductions and explanations. And Amelia grits her teeth at the repetitive questions from distant family members.

‘How long have you guys been together?’

‘So nice of you to finally bring Scout around!’

‘What are your plans for the future?’

Amelia holds back her discomfort. And holds a tight smile. The only thing anchoring her being the equal dismay on Link’s part. The impatient tightness in his voice as he answers the same questions over and over weirdly brings her comfort. Just to know that she’s not the only one feeling totally out of place here.

The question that sets her off the most though, comes from Link’s uncle. But, when Link is asked whether or not he’s ‘being courted by the Mariners for another contract this upcoming season,’ Link reaches over and squeezes Amelia’s shoulders assuringly.

She sighs in relief at the vagueness of his answer.

“We like to take things one step at a time.”

And Amelia turns away from Link’s uncle, gazing up at Link, surprised by the feeling that swells in her chest.

_______

As the night continues, the energy becomes much less stressful. Although Link was very much not looking forward to this event, the energy of the room is having an effect on him. His relatives are dancing and talking and celebrating. It’s an overall joyful atmosphere. And Link is relieved. Relieved to be not so burdened by his initial distaste at the idea of this wedding in the first place.

Link smiles as he glances across the room. He watches as Amelia pulls Scout onto the dance floor, reaching forward for his little arms. She bends slightly as she twirls him around, Scout in a fit of giggles.

Link watches the two of them for a few more minutes, until the fast-paced song switches over to a slower one. There’s a round of cheers from family members and friends as the atmosphere changes and couples begin arranging themselves for a slow dance.

The next thing he knows, Link is crossing the dance floor himself.

“May I cut in?” He asks as he approaches, looking pointedly at Scout, his tone playful.

Scout glances between his parents as Amelia drops his hands. He looks around the room at the couples swaying slowly, then he’s nodding excitedly as he turns back to his parents.

“I can take him over to where some of the other kids are playing,” one of Link’s family friends chimes in suddenly and Link smiles, nodding a thank you as Scout runs off to be with the other kids.

Then they are alone. Just the two of them surrounded by other couples.

“Dance with me?” Link reaches a hand out to Amelia.

And she hesitates only briefly before taking it. Her pulse quickens out of nowhere and she tries to suppress the feeling that grows, the feeling that’s reminding her of every high school dance ever. Because she isn’t in high school. And this isn’t some high school crush. This is Link. The father of her child. And this is his parent’s wedding.

His hand clasps around hers, pulling her forward, and his other arm settles around her waist. Amelia’s free arm automatically rests over his, her hand coming down to rest against his shoulder.

There’s still a slight distance between them, the uncertainty of their positioning quite evident. Until Link pulls her even closer, so that she’s putting more of her weight against his chest. Amelia suppresses a gasp, looking briefly between his eyes. Before the eye contact becomes too much and she glances past him, over his shoulder instead.

“So,” Link murmurs, allowing her eyes to drift away from him. “Tonight wasn’t so bad.”

“Mhm,” she hums in agreement, her eyes settling on Link’s parents behind them. “Your parents are cute.”

Link shifts them around, so he can have a better view of his parents in the center of the dance floor.

“It took them a while to get to the cute stage, in my opinion,” Link looks back down at Amelia. He still towers over her, even when she’s wearing heels and it makes Link smile. Amelia laughs at his words, rolling her eyes.

“You’re always going to hold it against them, huh?”

Link shakes his head, like he’s deciding something. “No….no I won’t. I can be happy for them.”

Amelia nods up at him, and holds eye contact. She adjusts herself, letting her arm slide up further, resting around the back of his neck.

“This was fun. Scout had fun.”

“He did,” Link murmurs, letting his hand begin circling a repetitive pattern across her lower back.

Link notices the song change. Back to an upbeat tune, not so much fit for a slow dance. But it seems to take Amelia a moment to catch on. Because before she’s noticed the beat change, her head drops momentarily to rest against Link’s chest. They’re still swaying back and forth slowly, as if the song hasn’t changed.

But then the DJ makes an announcement, something about requests for other songs. And Amelia shakes from her reverie. Stepping out of Link’s embrace, she takes in the atmosphere of the increasingly crowded dance floor.

“We should probably find Scout,” she mutters, eyes scanning the room.

Link follows after her as she begins crossing the room. They approach the kid’s table to see Scout sitting with his head resting down in front of him. He’s surrounded by other kids but he’s fighting off sleep with his head resting against his arms on the table.

“Think we should call it a night?” Link mutters, and Amelia nods, gently stepping forward to wake Scout up.

_______

Link hears light snoring as he drives them home. He glances in the rearview mirror, to the backseat, and smiles to himself at the sight of both Amelia and Scout sound asleep. She’d insisted on sitting back there with him for the drive home. Link shakes his head now, realizing it was probably because there was more room back there for her to drift off, too.

The car pulls into the driveway and Link turns the engine off, stepping out and around to Scout’s side of the car. He opens the door gently, not wanting to wake him up. He lifts Scout as carefully as possible, and that’s when Amelia stirs. She sits up suddenly, eyes darting around in confusion.

“Hey,” Link whispers. “I’m going to carry him up. You should head to bed, too.”

Amelia nods, realizing her surroundings. She climbs out of the car, following after Link and Scout inside.

_______

Amelia takes a makeup wipe to her eyes as she rests tiredly against the bathroom counter. She blinks sleepily despite herself, but would never go to bed without taking her makeup off first.

Link huffs as he enters the bedroom, glancing at Amelia through the open bathroom door before sitting on the edge of the bed to slip his shoes off. “He is not as light as he used to be,” he laughs, referring to carrying Scout to bed.

“Mhm,” Amelia hums, “He’s growing up so fast.”

Link disappears from Amelia’s line of sight, entering the closet to hang his suit jacket and slip on some sweatpants. He collapses into bed shortly after while Amelia finishes getting ready for bed.

She’s still wearing her dress as she heads to the closet and Link’s voice causes her to pause for a second. “You should wear that dress more,” He mumbles sleepily.

And Amelia rolls her eyes, holding back a smirk, as she enters the closet to change.

She appears a moment later, dressed for bed. Her equally exhausted state leads her to collapse onto her side of the bed in similar fashion to Link.

“I’m serious,” Link mutters. Amelia turns her head to the side, noticing how his eyes remain closed. She’s relieved that he can’t see her sheepish expression.

“I want to start over, Amelia.” His eyes open now, searching for hers. And Amelia swallows her nerves. “I want to take you on a date.”

She laughs. Because this is not what she was expecting.

“What?” She mumbles through her uncertain laugh.

“And I want you to wear that dress.” He sounds like he’s fighting off sleep again and Amelia finds herself hesitant to agree to him while they’re both so exhausted. Hesitant because she doesn’t know how much he means it.

“You don’t have to answer me right now,” Link continues, muttering into his pillow a bit as he settles onto his side, eyes closing again. “But promise me you’ll think about it?”

Amelia breathes a sigh, biting her lip as she glances at Link’s resting face.

“Okay,” she whispers. And then lets her own eyes shut, too.

//

[alphasmoonlit-selfships]

Got curious uwu, from two different ask meme:

⚠️ and 🍄

“Why hello @shinitai-i !” Atsushi greeted with a wide smile, his belt tail swishing, “Thank you for the asks! This time an answer from both Dany and I! We appreciate your patience and hope you enjoy our answers!” — 🐯🌙

“Curiosity is grand! Let’s jump right in shall we?” — 🐺✨

⚠️ have you and S/I ever been caught in an embarrassing/"It's not what it looks like" situation? Please tell us what happened.

Oh no… ah o(*////▽////*)q...

Well, I’d be lying if I said no,,, eh he…but ah surprisingly the first thing that came to mind might not be what others could be thinking.

I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to just explain what happened. The main point being Dany and I were caught in a semi-naked state… Nothing like what you may be assuming, I swear! It was a deep, and just intimate, private moment before reality came slamming back >\\\\\\\>

I know most of you may be thinking it was a suggestive and funny moment, but it was rather serious prior to us being spooked soon after. I’ll try and keep some of the details vague and light as I can! Minor warning to past abuse and other indications, again, I'll leave as much of it vague as I can, but feel free to skip over to the last question, no worries!

We had just came back from a very serious mission that left both of us in a very heavily injured state. While my ability does help in self-healing a lot, sometimes the over exertion of it can slow it down. Dany has always struggled with her healing ability… especially due to her Shadow ability draining her more than heal.

Even so, we would have gone with Yosano-Sensei, but she was out on her own errands when we came back. We were told to just wait for her and get some rest in the patient room until she returned.

Ah, needless to say, we were concerned over each other’s injuries, and had some knowledge from Yosano-Sensei’s advice on basic aid. So we figured we could try and clean up some deeper cuts and try to wrap them up. Hopefully enough to keep away from Yosano-sensei’s usual treatments 😅

Just to note, Dany and I were definitely a few months into our relationship; we had become a generally sweet and foolishly in love and comfortable couple together and hadn’t done anything too intimate (…despite occasional nudges from our abilities ‘>>). So to say we were hesitant to remove at least our button-ups was an understatement…

We were both wary and embarrassed, we had never been semi-naked around each other before; but also just individually concerned on what the other thought. Especially when it came to old lingering scars of our pasts. Danielle definitely more than I…

Eventually, we both kind of just slowly let ourselves take that leap and removed our layers, enough to show the serious wounds that needed to be healed. Mine of course weren’t so bad and were starting to get better with help from my tiger ability. So that left mostly Dany to be treated and bandaged up.

Hers we’re definitely more serious and she needed to remove the rest of her blouse to really see her wounds. She was more tense and in a trembling panic at the time… I felt bad for being the cause of her nervousness. Though she has since reminded me that it wasn’t really me, but how she viewed herself and the scars that remained.

Eventually, with enough comforting words and settled with her own choice, she removed her layers.

…I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, definitely not the amount of scar marks that actually ran along her back and shoulders. Some long and small, some more darker than the others that are faded and silvery from age.

The moment of surprise and questions that wanted to fall from my tongue had came to a halt when I realized Dany was clearly struggling to hide her rising stress. She’s always been self conscious about herself and I never really pressed her on things she wasn’t comfortable talking about. At least not anytime soon at the time…

Of course I didn’t press, I knew a surface level of what she had dealt with before she was found by the Guild. But I couldn’t help but feel…angry at whoever had done this to her. My tiger was definitely far aggravated under my skin I’m sure she could sense it… but I kept my cool enough to help clean current wounds that she was struggling to heal with.

The silence felt like a long time, before Dany broke it herself. It seemed like I didn’t have to wait long for an explanation, as she bluntly stated how she received such marks.

I’ll leave a lot of it to the imagination…but the deep reflection about this bit of her past was enough to bring me to tears. It.. pained me to see Dany so melancholy and almost apathetic about the situation she had been under. Similar to how I’ve often seen Dazai-san’s own expression to things he’s reflected on from his past. Hell, even me to a fault during really bad days.

It was like she was a trance-like state, she honestly barely registered much of what I tried to say out of comfort and almost frustration towards her tormentors that had convinced her of something that was out of her control. It wasn’t until I calmed down a little when focusing on some scars on her upper back and shoulders that I decided on a different form of comfort.

I had placed a lingering kiss on her shoulder, directly onto one of the longer scars there; it definitely snapped her out of her daze then, practically breathing sharply from surprise. I pressed a few more before uttering some words of comfort that definitely brought Dany to tears. Likely from the very intimate kiss upon old wounds and from pent up emotions she’s hidden away for a long time without telling anyone.

I brought her into my arms then to hold her close in warm comfort, not really paying mind to our semi-clothed state. I merely wanted to offer her love and warm validation that she had been needing to hear, especially from me. I understand what that feels like and she’s always been there for me prior to our relationship and so many times after. I reminded her of how much I loved her and wanted to always love her despite such past hurts. Much like she has with me 💖

I gave her plenty of kisses, some lingering ones and others to draw her to laugh and out of her sadness. Thankfully, it worked after a few tickling ones… giving her a lasting one on her lips...before...

Well, the moment was ruined to say the least ། – _ – ། with Yosano-sensei, Dazai-san and Kunikida-kun walking in on…Well, us in our semi-naked state… and clearly noting we had just pulled away from a kiss...

Of course, we weren’t expecting them, so we both jumped out of our skins as soon as the door opened. My first instinct was to cover up Dany with the thin sheets out of respect for her and also knowing how intimate showing her scars was. Poor Dany practically hid midway under her shadow ability, but couldn’t entirely cause of her exhausted state..

…anyway the amount of scolding we got from Kunikida-kun was a mile long and I’m sure he would have strangled me for being indecent with Dany at the Agency, despite our relationship status. Of course, I say would have had Yosano-sensei not pulled on his ear for being such a parent… Dazai-san wouldn’t leave either of us alone for a week, especially without making a few innuendos when alone with me… 😓

Thankfully, Yosano-sensei was the only one not so overwhelming, but it’s not like we avoided her giving us a reminder of the Talk and giving us..well means of protection because of the situation…;>//////> I’m sure she has some level of understanding, considering she did give Danielle a check up prior to her joining the Agency, but wanted to just tease us for the fun of it..

Ah, but yeah, a bit heavy if a topic for something that was probably meant to be funny or even suggestive (U////▽////U)''. But regardless, if that moment is ever brought up, Dany and I do laugh with a bit of a look of soft comfort between each other. No one else needs to know the moment and understanding we felt in that point of our relationship. So everyone can continue to think otherwise if they want.

What matters is the moment before with my Darling and myself more than anything. 💞 🌸

🍄: Do you and your FO follow any familial or cultural traditions together?

Dany: Oh, traditions you say? 🤔 We do follow a few from our respective cultures. I try my hardest to keep up with memories of my mum’s traditions from our Hispanic/Latino heritage. Such as the food, recipes that I have long forgotten, but have gradually began to recall. I definitely researched how to make certain dishes I remember her making with the taste or flavor or ingredients it had.

Sometimes we try and mix up the foods in our cultures to have a variety of choices and cuisine! I’ve definitely made tamalés, with help from a chief that knew how to make the food, for the winter season. Sharing it with the Agency, to which I am really grateful that everyone really enjoyed it! ;;;w;;; thank god, I was very anxious they wouldn't or it came out bad ;;;v;;;

My mother definitely celebrated Día de los Muertos, I remember we had a small ofrenda in an extra room in my old cottage home. It was tiny compared to ones I’ve seen, considering my parents didn’t have much living family at the time and it was mostly just us…but anyway, present time. Atsushi definitely was curious about the holiday and give enough encouragement to me to try and replicate something similar to what my parents use to have. Some in Japan have tiny shines dedicated to family members and vary in size depending on the family.

Atsushi surprised me with a small casing box to dedicate to my passing parents…I had no lasting photos of them since I was a child. But he managed to find some individual photos of them from a report database, along with a family photo likely from whatever remained at my old home and investigators at the time found. All with Ranpo-kun’s intellect and help (the amount of praise and gratitude I gave him for it still is true uwu, and I give him plenty sweets in thanks).

Needless to say, I was very emotional and a crying mess when he did this for me. We both give our graces and often reflect a bit by the little ofrenda/shrine casing. I tell him a lot about how my parents would have loved to meet him and undoubtedly welcome him without any hesitation. Especially my dad, who was a shapeshifting animal gifted and had a favorite animal in the form of a falcon and a tiger too. Atsushi warms up a lot hearing that.

We’ve also celebrated the Lunar New Year too! That one was definitely new to me and had no idea on the festivities it entailed. We attended some of the festivals in Yokohama during the time with the Agency, the warm atmosphere and bustling energy has been beautiful and look forward to it. More so than the normal new year, keke.

Also the sakura blossom viewings are beautiful to see, very sweet and romantic if I may say… 😊🌸 we’ve taken a small boat ride though a canal that is littered with the blooms or taken a stroll and sat together under the beautiful view 💖 (❤ ω ❤). Definitely my favorite time, and I have collected blossoms to take home for the ofredna/shrine for my parents. I even made a lamination of one for safe keeping. 🌸 Definitely one of my favorite times of the year, the next being crisp autumn 🍂 !

The art provided is a commission by @/moon-fish-ghost and captures the awe and ethereal atmosphere during the sakura blossom viewing! It is truly a beautiful and romantic experience to have with my Darling 🌸🥰 she looks so beautiful in her wear 🌸💖 and love seeing her hair in a braid 💞🥰

Thank you again for the asks! We truly appreciated them and hope you enjoy these long winded asks! We try to make them as concise as we can, but sometimes we just dive into too much detail. We hope you understand. May you have a beautiful rest of your day! —Atsushi 🐯🌙

[chibinekochan]

Angel in Hell Season 2 part 4

Gen. reader insert.

Words 2k

Taglist:

@gothjuulpod  ; @purgatoryhall ; @sibit360  ; @a-personnamed-ace   ;  @romy350-romyakari 

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

You wake up feeling strangely relaxed. 

It takes you to open your eyes to realize you are in the same room as Luke and Simeon. 

You didn't even hear Luke come in last night, but now he is still softly breathing in his bed. 

Inaudibly you crawl out of bed. 

Simeon just comes back from his shower. His hair is still wet but he is already completely clothed.

You wave to him in the dimly lit room.

  Simeon comes your way and speaks with a lowered voice. "Good morning have you rested well?" 

"Good morning Simeon, I have slept pretty well. Probably the best since I came here." You whisper back with a faint smile. 

Simeon seems glad to hear that. "You can take a shower now. That way Luke can sleep just a bit longer. He will hate that I mention it, but he was extremely worried about you last night." 

You nod. "I will make sure to make him some treats too. I have to make a lot by the end of this." You softly giggle. 

"I'm looking forward to that. It's good to see you haven't lost your optimistic spirit." Simeon elevates his hand seemingly tempted to pat you on the head but holds himself back for some reason. 

You are slightly confused by his action but don't mind it too much. 

You head to the shower, unlike yesterday the shower feels very relaxing. Since you don't have any of your products here you end up using some of Simeon's.

  It feels pleasant to be surrounded by his scent. He even put some clothes out for you. They are from your room. 

Simeon is always such a compassionate person. You probably never can make up for his kindness. 

Feeling refreshed you open the door back to the room. Luke is now up and already prepared breakfast. He is very fast. 

"Good morning Luke." You cheerfully greet him. 

"Ah, good morning! Have you rested well?" Luke smiles at you. 

"Yes, it was the right move to come here. I should thank Diavolo for placing the extra bed here too. Do you think he will approve of baked goods?" You sit down. 

"I do not doubt it." Luke sounds confident. 

That gives you some hope. "I will need to buy many ingredients." 

"For Beel alone, you probably need a truckload." Simeon laughs. 

"You are probably right." 

Together you eat. You manage to eat more than yesterday. 

When Luke isn't looking Simeon takes the previous piece from your dish and hushes you with a finger over his lips. It's rare to see Simeon so mischievous. It makes you somehow laugh.

  Luke is very delighted that you ate everything. 

After you are all done, and the dishes are all taken care of. The topic of the mysterious wizard is back on your mind. 

"That wizard you talked about yesterday will you contact him?" 

"I already did and according to him, I'm not the only one that contacted him about this topic. To make a long story short he will come later and take a look at you. Solomon told me; he can't say for sure without seeing you and performing some tests." Simeon knows this was still weighing on your mind.

"So his name is Solomon. Can we trust him?" You can imagine who else contacted him. 

"Well, from my personal experience he will be able to provide you answers." Simeon has some mixed feelings about the brothers' involvement but he knows that Solomon is always up for something interesting. 

You have mixed feelings about this but trust Simeon's judgment. 

"Is Solomon coming here?" You wonder what kind of person he is. 

"No, due to current events he will come to Diavolos castle. I had to agree for Lucifer to oversee Solomon's opinion as well." Simeon looks extremely unhappy about this. 

You hold your breath for a moment. "Do you think that will become an issue?"

  Your hands suddenly tremble. 

"Diavolo said we will be discreet in the castle. You will not be forced to do anything at all. Especially not against your will. I trust his words." Simeon seems to be sure of this. 

You hope he is right but this time you don't stop feeling uneasy. 

"Don't worry we will keep you safe." Luke tries to sound confident but his voice is shaking. 

You still appreciate his effort. "I count on you, Luke." You smile at him, trying desperately to convince yourself that it will be fine. 

Luke nods eagerly. At least someone is confident. Even Simeon only looks calm but you can tell that he is uneasy. 

Together you head to the castle. Usually, it's a pretty vibrant place but today it seems strangely gloomy. 

You draw a deep breath before entering the castle. 

Barbatos is already waiting for you at the entrance. The security is unusually high. You can see countless guards. 

"Welcome, I will escort you to the meeting room. As you can see lord Diavolo has spared no expenses to keep everything calm." Barbatos is unreadable as always.

  You and the others follow after him. Simeon is on edge just as much as you are.

  You only tense more once you enter the big meeting room.

  Lucifer is already there. Your eyes meet his. He looks so cold, almost like he is made from ice. It also looks like he didn't sleep at all. 

Beel stands behind him, he smiles when he sees you. He also seems to be tense. 

Diavolo sits in the center of the room. Like the great divide between you and Lucifer.

  Simeon heads to the other side of the room, followed by you. 

You feel like daggers getting shot at you from behind. 

Barbatos stays at the door. Keeping an eye on everything. 

"So now we are all here. I welcome you to my castle. Despite the current situation I hope you will all enjoy your stay." Diavolo greets you all cheerfully. Nobody responds in kind. 

Diavolo clears his voice. He didn't expect this cold of a reaction." Regardless, Solomon will you please tell our angel exchange student what tests you will perform."

At this moment you notice a silver-haired man that you haven't met yet. 

"With great pleasure. At first, I will need to examine you closely. I will cast a spell on your brain to see what they have done to erase your memories. Depending on the outcome I might need to do some other tests." Solomon explains everything calmly. 

It sounds pretty harmless. 

"Alright then. Does that sound agreeable to you?" Diavolo looks at you. 

"Yes, but what do you mean by examining me closely?" The pictures of a doctor's exam pop into your head. You hope he won't require you to undress. 

"I just need to look at you closely. Don't worry you won't need to undress." Solomon adds a light-hearted comment but everyone else just glares at him. 

"That sounds reasonable. So can I just stay here?" You feel a bit safer this far away from Lucifer's ominous presence. 

"I got no issue with that," Lucifer states clearly. 

You feel a sense of relief. He might be reasonable in the end. 

Solomon shrugs and comes to your chair. 

He looks at you and hums. "Well, you undoubtedly look the same." Solomon then shines a light in your eyes and tests your reflexes. 

He also measures your blood pressure and holds a few devices to your body that measure several things. 

"This is all extremely fascinating." He smiles with glee. 

"Now to the main test." Solomon then grabs a big device and places it on your head. "This will show me if they used any magic on you to suppress your memories." Solomon only explains the bare minimum to you. 

Simeon looks closely at you. 

This is kind of scary.

  "Don't worry it won't hurt," Solomon assures you. 

At that moment the device starts to hum and rattle for a bit. Then a lengthy piece of paper emerges from it. 

Solomon curiously looks at it. "Wow, I have never seen anything like this." He seems extremely delighted for some reason. 

"So umm what does it say?" You can't help but ask. 

Everyone else is equally curious. 

"Well, I have to do some digging since I have never seen this. It's certainly interesting. They have cast something on you. I will need to do some research. I have various theories at this point." Solomon is very nonchalant about it. 

"How long will that take?" You have mixed feelings about the potential outcome but you have to know. 

"I'm not sure. I will need some books that I don't own." Solomon provides only a vague answer. 

"I will make sure that you get everything you need. I have a room at the castle prepared for you, as promised." Diavolo seems to want to help as much as he can. 

"Can I have a copy of the data?" Lucifer seems impatient. 

"Sure." Solomon shrugs without a care. "I will bring it later to you. Do you also want a copy?" He looks at you. 

You aren't sure if it will be of any use to you but it's probably good to have it. "Yes, please." 

"Alright. I guess I will get to work then. Feel free to check on my progress as much as you want. I will inform the rest when I'm done." Solomon smiles at only you. 

"That is very nice of you Solomon." You feel a sense of relief.

“I suppose that ends this meeting.” Diavolo is just glad it went rather smoothly.

“I'd like to talk to you for a moment. I would prefer it to be just the two of us...but I understand that you wouldn’t want to be alone with me right now. So I would be alright with Barbatos or Diavolo listening.” Lucifer has something on his mind. His eyes look sincere.

  Avoiding him forever won’t work. You look at him with a wavering heart.

“You are unreasonable! You don't have to listen to him at all.” Simeon protests loudly.

You look at Simeon and then at Lucifer. He slightly glares at Simeon before looking back at you. Lucifer's eyes plead with you. “Please, it's important.”

It really must be important if he is begging you to listen. “Okay but if you do anything shady I won’t ever forgive you.” You speak clearly with a strong emphasis on ever.

Lucifer doesn't hesitate even for a moment. “Of course.”

This surprises you a bit.

  You hesitate for a moment and look at Diavolo. "Would it be okay for you to stay?" 

"I'm pretty curious about what he has to say as well." Diavolo sounds like he would be more offended having to leave. 

"I only request to keep it confidential." Lucifer only looks at Diavolo, who shrugs. 

"Sure if I have to." Diavolo seems pretty nonchalant about it. 

"Are you sure about that? Don't forget that Diavolo has a long history with Lucifer." Simeon whispers to you. 

"I think I can trust him. He doesn't want to risk a war." Your gut tells you so. 

Diavolo looks at you with a kind smile.

  Simeon frowns but leaves the room anyway. 

In the end, it's just you, Diavolo, and Lucifer in the room. 

There is now less space left in between you two. You are still far enough away, just in case. 

Lucifer looks at you with a pained expression, he wants to say something about the distance but doesn't. 

He gathers a breath. You practically hold yours in anticipation.

"First of all, I want to apologize for whatever Satan was trying to archive yesterday. I assure you that he has been severely punished for his actions. It was wrong of him to pressure you." Lucifer starts with something that gives you some relief. 

"What is his punishment?" You just have to know. 

"He spent all night hanging from the ceiling and I took all his books away." Lucifer is calm about this. 

"Hanging him from the ceiling seems a bit extreme." You narrow your eyes. 

"That's just how I deal with them." Lucifer doesn't seem to see the issue. 

"I also want to assure you that I have no intention of harming you in any kind of way. The only thing I want is for you to stay in the devildom." Lucifer wishes to clearly state his full intentions. 

"Don't you mean you want MC back in the devildom?" You sneer at him. 

Lucifer takes a sharp breath. "I'm pretty certain you are still the same person. I have my reasons for my suspicions. One of them being your looks and the fact that you still have pacts with all of us." Lucifer drops this bomb so calmly it feels unreal. 

You take a step back, you can't believe it at all.

  "That's impossible! I'm an angel, humans can't become angels without dying." You raise your voice in anger. 

Lucifer nods. "That is usually true and I have seen the dead body but now it's gone." Lucifer clenches his fist. It must've been so hard to check the grave. 

Your body is shaking. You can't comprehend his words. "What are you saying?" 

Lucifer closes his eyes. Looking away from your pleading eyes. 

"I'm saying that someone took their body. Someone made sure that you still have the pacts with all of us. I'm quite certain that it was the celestial realm."

You hold your hands over your mouth. You want to scream. No sounds leave your horrified face. 

Then a wave of anger washes over you. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ACCUSE THE CELESTIAL REALM OF SUCH THINGS." You feel your eyes start to sting. They have always been nothing but kind to you. They would never do anything like this to you. 

You shake your head. "I won't believe you." You hiss at Lucifer. 

Lucifer takes a single step in your direction, with his hands up. Like he naturally wants to calm you down. 

You have none of it. You don't even want to look at him right now. 

"STOP." You yell and the ground starts to rumble again. Lucifer is frozen on the spot. 

"Please I know it's hard to believe but the celestial realm isn't just a great place. They have done horrible things before. Don't just blindly trust them." Lucifer seems in such agony right now. 

You don't even hear his words. "SHUT UP. I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN." You bite your lips, turn around and just dash out of the room. 

Lucifer tries to stop you but isn't able to move. He calls for you but you don't even look at him. 

Diavolo says something that you can't hear.

  You don't care anymore.