#normally Jeremy would be begging him to quite wearing them but he’s never one to give up on a joke so why should Mike

[driftingvoid-155]

Jeremy giving Michael a pair of plastic vampire fangs as a joke but underestimated how much Michael ‘my favorite show is immortal and the restless’ Afton would love them.

[haikyuuhoo]

comethru

Pairing: Bokuto x F!Reader

Summary: In which you’ve been going through a rough time, and Bokuto comes through when you need him.

Words: 1.3k

Warnings: Very sappy self-indulgent writing, angst, one (1) Shrek reference (I’m so sorry), Bokuto might be ooc (hopefully not in a bad way)? Idk if I’m great at writing him bc it’s very soft and ik that’s not usually his personality, I just like the idea of soft Bo...

A/N: Oops another songfic (welcome to my blog, it’s going to be a common theme). This one is based on the song comethru by Jeremy Zucker. I didn’t plan for this to be a songfic, but it just fit really well with what I wanted to write, and also I love this song and it makes me cry. I bolded the lyrics I included :) I hope that this might make at least one person feel a little better if you’re having a rough time, I want you to know that you’ve got this <3

“Hey, Bo,” you said, giving him a weak smile as you answered the door.

He looked different than he normally did, but so did you. His broad shoulders drooped sleepily and his hair fell in front of his eyes instead of being gelled up like usual, but what else could you expect at 2 am? He still had his signature grin on his face, and his presence enveloped you in a relaxed atmosphere.

“Hey,” he hummed, and you could hear that his voice was thick with sleep. It made you feel a bit guilty—you had woken him up, something you feared might happen when you had debated whether to text him or deal with this on your own. The grin quickly fell from his face as he took you in. Your smile didn’t quite reach your eyes, your shoulders were slumped and the dark circles beneath your eyes gave away the fact that you’d barely slept in days. “What’s wrong?”

You stared at him for a few moments, chest aching as you tried to find the words to say. “Everything,” you finally whispered, and as soon as the word left your lips, he was pulling you into a hug before the first sob could escape you. Tears began to roll down your cheeks, wetting his shirt as you clung to him.

“Let’s walk,” he suggested quietly, knowing that was one of the things you liked to do to clear your head. You nodded, and when you began to pull away, he gently grasped your wrist. You looked up at him, cheeks wet with tears, and he reached up to wipe them away. He held out a sweatshirt to you that you hadn’t even noticed him holding, and your heart jumped when you took it. It was his favorite sweatshirt, one he’d only let you wear once out of fear you’d never return it to him, and he’d only relented after what felt like an hour of begging and promising him that you would give it back, as much as you didn’t want to.

“Thank you,” you whispered as you pulled it on, and he smiled down at you before taking your hand in his. You let the door close behind the two of you and you began to walk through your neighborhood. You kept your head down, watching your feet, while Bokuto kept his up, looking at the stars. His thumb rubbed over your knuckles, his other hand stuffed into his pocket. After you’d walked a few blocks or so he looked down at you and pursed his lips when he noticed your gaze was fixed on your shoes. He gave you a gentle nudge with his elbow.

“Hey,” he whispered, “the stars are really pretty tonight, don’t you think?” Your gaze lifted to the sky only for a moment before you nodded, looking back down at the cracks in the pavement. He frowned. “It’s gonna be okay. I’m here. I’ll always be here when you need me.”

Before you knew it, you were crying again, causing Bokuto’s eyes to widen in panic. He stopped walking, pulling you to him and hugging you tight to his chest. 

“You’re shaking,” he said quietly, causing you to sniffle.

“I’m s-sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

You hiccupped and wrapped your arms around him. “These last few weeks have been exhausting.”

Frowning, he leaned his cheek against the top of your head. “I know,” he whispered, rubbing slow circles on your back. He knew you were going through a lot, and he was glad he could be here for you when you needed him. It made his heart soar to know he was the one you wanted with you, but it also hurt to see you feeling so broken. “But everything is going to be okay. It’s alright to not be fine on your own. I’ll always come when you need me.”

You two stayed like that for a while, you pressed against his chest, his cheek nuzzled into your hair and his promise hanging in the air like his breath that he watched fog up in front of him under the soft glow of a street lamp that buzzed over your heads. You looked up at him when you began to shiver from the cold, and he was sure it was the moonlight that was making your wet cheeks sparkle. “C-Can we go back now?” you asked meekly.

He nodded, unwrapping his arms from you and then taking your hand again. “You’re cold,” he observed, and you made a quiet noise of agreement. He pulled you closer, taking your clasped hands and putting them in the pocket of his sweats as the two of you retreated to your house. Blushing, you tucked your other hand away in the pocket of his hoodie that was far too big on you and walked beside him in a comfortable silence. When you finally reached your door you squeezed his hand, looking up at him pleadingly. “Stay with me,” you whispered, “please.”

Your heart fluttered at the gentle smile he gave you. “’M not going anywhere.” He squeezed your hand in return and let you lead him inside. The two of you removed your shoes, and then he was lifting you up before you could realize it was happening. He let you rest your head on his shoulder and wrap your arms and legs around his broad frame as he carried to your room. He kicked the door shut behind him and then set you on your bed before squatting down and taking your hands in his. “Did you drink enough water today? Do you need to take a shower?” he asked, golden eyes boring into yours in a way that made you feel both incredibly safe and vulnerable at the same time. Maybe it was okay to be both, as long as it was with him. “Tell me what you need to make you feel better.”

You blushed again, and this time there was no hiding the pink in your cheeks, no cold night air to blame it on. “Just need you, Bo,” you whispered. “Jus’ wanna cuddle. Wanna sleep.”

He nodded and gave you a sleepy smile. You didn’t need to ask him twice. He moved slowly and removed the hoodie he was wearing before laying down with you. He ran warm, and he knew you liked to be able to warm your hands up against his skin when the two of you cuddled. You immediately snuggled up to him, fingers sneaking beneath his shirt to allow your palms to press against his back, and he draped an arm across you which provided a comforting weight and helped you relax. “Everything will be okay,” he repeated as he started slowly carding his fingers through your hair. “I’ll always come through when you need me.”

You let out a hum, and he could tell by the tone that it was a happy one. It made him smile.

“Get some sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he promised. “And in the morning, I’m makin’ waffles.”

You giggled, causing him to grin. Leave it to him to find somewhere to slip in a joke even in a situation like this.

“There she is,” he cooed, and you nuzzled your face into his chest shyly.

You slowly began to relax in his arms, feeling the tension in your body slowly fade away to make way for a comfort you hadn’t felt in a long time.

He watched you, only allowing himself to close his eyes once he heard the change in your breathing that signaled you were finally slipping into the best sleep you’d had in weeks. Something about it relaxed him too, and he held you even closer as he fell asleep. Yeah, he would always come through when you needed him.

[doyelikehaggis]

oh god I want to ask abt many of ur wips but the one that v obviously stands out the most to me is valerine and the twins !! that ficlet u did for this concept with teh mb still lives in my head rent free so ofc I want to know how that fic is going. also 40 (bc what a concept !!) and/or 53 <33

I thought that would be the one that most interested you haha, of course you can know how it's going, I am very pleased that it lives rent free in your head. You obviously know the basic concept, which is that Valerie and Caroline get full custody of the twins, so we'll jump right into the snippet instead!

"I want to go for full custody." 

Valerie stops. Her hands are drenched in bubbles and soapy water, a plate in one hand and the sponge in her other. She looks more domestic than Caroline ever thought she'd see her, hair tied back loosely and wearing one of Caroline's softest plaid shirts. It's orange and pink. It's a good look on her. 

The smile that had been caught on her lips just a second ago has faded slightly as she processes what Caroline just said. In all fairness, it's a big thing to just casually throw out into a normal conversation while washing the dishes. 

"Okay," Valerie says slowly. "Um... Okay, that's a pretty big deal." She lets the plate slide back into the sink and turns to Caroline, shaking her head. "I mean, I think you should."

Caroline blinks. She was expecting a more alarmed response; usually, in tv shows and books, when one person says they want to get full custody of a kid, it's a big deal for the partner, right? They're not sure they can handle it, they're not sure their relationship will be able to get through it, all of that. 

Flat out agreement wasn't quite on the list. 

"Really?" she asks, straightening up with a surge of joyful hope. "You do? You're not -- you don't want to -- to talk about it or anything?" 

Valerie frowns, her brow wrinkling. Caroline's always liked the little crease it makes between her eyebrows. Not when she first met her, that was more satisfying, knowing she had stumped her. But recently, it's become a fond thing rather than one for her to be triumphant over. 

"Caroline, they're your kids," Valerie says. "If you want full custody of them, it's not my place to have a say in that." 

The hope is quickly pricked with a sharp little pin and bursts, deflating with a sad whistle. It weirdly stings her, too.

"That's... No, that's not how this works," Caroline says, weirdly hurt. Maybe she had been expecting a bit more hesitation surrounding the idea, but this feels worse. 

Valerie seems to be realizing that. Confused, grabs a towel from the sideboard and starts drying her hands, while she says, "It isn't?" 

"No!" Caroline laughs in disbelief. She steps forward and takes one of her partially dry hands in between both of her own. "No, it's absolutely not. Val, you are a big part of my life now. You know that, right?" 

Valerie hesitates now. Her mouth opens like she wants to agree, but her just runs along her teeth while that little crease in her eyebrows grows deeper. 

"Well, yeah," she quickly says after a moment, with Caroline's exasperated stare focused on her. "Of course I do. But I wouldn't stand in the way of any decisions you wanted to make about your kids, that's why I just thought this was more you telling me rather than something for us to talk about." 

Caroline's realizing that Valerie's response wasn't because she doesn't want to be part of the family. She just doesn't think that she is part of it. 

Which... actually hurts even more, Caroline finds. Because maybe that's on her. Has she been making her feel left out? Like she's a separate part of her life from Lizzie and Josie? That was the last thing she wanted. 

"Valerie," Caroline says seriously, and her eyes widen a little with worry. "Almost every decision that I make for my future is going to include your voice, because it's going to affect yours, too. That's what being in a relationship is, remember? So, if I tell you that I want to get full custody of Lizzie and Josie, I'm asking you to talk it through with me before anything goes ahead. Are you okay with having that conversation?" 

She has never seen Valerie look so stumped for what to say before. It's the first time they've had a conversation like this, one that's really going to affect both of them.

But even though she has that fight-or-flight, ready to flee at a moment's notice look in her eyes that she often gets, Valerie nods slowly. Then her face breaks out into a smile, and she breathes out a soft laugh, looking down. 

"Yeah," she says. "Yeah, I would love that."

Now, 40! Hope living with Jeremy! It is certainly a concept, isn't it?? This comes entirely from the start of season 2 of Legacies, when no one remembered Hope but she was sticking around Mystic Falls to help with the Malivore monsters. When watching that, my mum and I had been trying to guess who she was going to live with, because surely she wouldn't be living on her own and she couldn't stay at the school, so we came up with the theory that she was going to be living with Jeremy, who, as far as we knew, would have to have somewhere to live while he was in town. And then I decided that if she was going to be living with Jeremy, they would train together, he would help with some Malivore monsters, then they would slowly bond because Jeremy was actually kinda friends with Kol at one point. And then we have big brother Jeremy! Have a little snippet:

There's a loud thwacking noise from the back garden as Hope walks into the kitchen. She pauses momentarily in her sleepy state, registers the noise, then continues going about grabbing a bowl and her box of cereal. It's nearly empty, she finds, to her dismay. 

Once she's poured the last of the milk and tossed the carton, she opens up the back door and steps out into the garden. Her eyes adjust quickly to the darkness and hone in on the figure currently throwing a staff around at a tree like it has personally offended him.

"Are you ever worried that one day it's going to fight back?" she asks curiously. 

Jeremy startles and nearly drops the staff in his haste to turn around to face her. 

"I mean, dryads and wood nymphs are actually a thing. Just so you know. That tree might have a family that probably wouldn't appreciate you hitting it repeatedly for fun."

She spoons cereal into her mouth as Jeremy laughs. Relieved that she isn't some Malivore monster sneaking up on him, he relaxes enough to double over, hands on his knees as he breathes heavily. For someone who's not exactly unfit or unathletic, he gets out of breath incredibly easily.

Tilting her head, Hope asks, "Have you ever considered that you might be asthmatic? You breathe like one."

"And you talk like your uncle," Jeremy quips back, still laughing at her comments. He groans, straightening back up as he adds, "But yes, I do have asthma. Thanks for your concern."

Hope's heart beats a little faster. It always does when her family is mentioned, more often now than before. The urge to get on the bus and go home to them in New Orleans is still there, no matter how much she tries to ignore it. She needs to focus on Malivore's monsters. But it's hard sometimes.

She smiles to herself, wondering if he's right. She hopes so. Uncle Kol was always her favourite. The thought that she could be making him proud with just a few words fills her with a kind of happy pride she hasn't felt since Uncle Kol told her she was just like him for causing trouble at the Salvatore School. 

Then she wipes it off her face like she always does whenever he casually talks about her family, straightens up against the doorframe, and says, "Maybe you should use an inhaler, then. I wouldn't want you dropping dead while we're fighting a monster." 

"Hasn't happened yet!" 

She rolls her eyes at him, something she also finds herself doing often these days. It's easier to ignore him and continue eating her cereal while he goes back to training. Clearly, he has no concern about dryads coming after him for revenge.

"Hey, do you wanna join?" Jeremy calls over to her. 

He offers the staff out to her, but she shakes her. Motioning her cereal with her spoon, she smiles again, and says, "I'm good. Just came down for this. You have fun freezing out here, though."

She turns back inside the kitchen as Jeremy chuckles and shakes his head at her. "Good morning to you too."

53 is a good choice, I very much enjoy that one as well. "Klayley Wedding" is pretty much what it sounds like; Klaus and Hayley are together and getting married. They waited a while to do so, so Hope is seventeen and being pulled out of the Salvatore School for a few days in order to be there for it. And she's bringing a date! Here is your preview:

"Come on, humour me," Lizzie whines as she fusses with the back of Hope's hair. Why she agreed to let her style it, Hope has no idea; it was definitely a moment of bad judgment, but at the same time, it was let her do it when she begged, or be forever resented for saying no. 

And having Lizzie Laughlin-Forbes resent you is not something anyone in the Salvatore School risks. It's signing a death sentence. 

Rolling her eyes, Hope goes to shake her head then quickly stops when Lizzie holds it firmly on both sides and glares at her in the mirror. "No moving until I'm done!" she reminds her. "I haven't spelled it yet, you'll mess it up."

"Have you ever considered going into hairdressing?" Hope asks dryly, glaring back halfheartedly. Really, she doesn't mind her helping her out. 

It's at least better than her having to worry about it herself. Though, Aunt Rebekah is not going to be happy that she didn't let her do it. It's why she's practically been avoiding her since getting to New Orleans. 

Lizzie laughs shortly, then says, "Nice try. You're not wriggling out of the question."

Hope doesn't admit that's what she was trying to do, but it definitely was the intention. Lizzie has been a broken record since she found out that Hope was bringing a date to the wedding. At first, she was offended that Hope hadn't asked her, but then saw Hope's reasoning when she pointed out that she and Josie were already going to be there because of their mom.

"It's not a big deal!" Hope says, finally at least acknowledging the question. 

Lizzie scoffs. "Oh, of course not. Except, it absolutely is, and you know that it definitely is to Rafael. You basically asked him to meet your family, Hope. That's a big deal to most people."

"Not to you or Josie." 

"We've known your family since we were born!" Lizzie protests. She stops whatever she was doing to Hope's hair to stare at her in the mirror. "Rafael is head over heels in love with you, any person with barely working eyes -- or ears -- knows that. Except you, apparently!"

Hope shakes her head, once again forgetting Lizzie's rule. Lizzie quickly holds her head in place again, but she's too focused on the conversation at hand to lecture her again. 

"Maybe this is your way of letting him down without having to actually tell him!" Lizzie continues, obviously trying to get under her skin. "After all, you've invited him to meet your family, who are probably going to threaten him at every turn. Especially your dad, because of the whole macho alpha werewolf thing, you know?"

"My mom's actually the Alpha of the pack, not my dad," Hope corrects, but Lizzie brushes it off.

"After today, Rafael's probably not going to have any feelings for you anymore out of fear of your family, so, really, you won't have to do anything. I mean, it's smart -- a little cruel, but at least you don't have to do any of the hard work yourself, that's all up to your family--" 

"You make them sound terrifying," Hope protest with a touch of offence to her voice, staring up at Lizzie in the mirror. "They're not that bad. I actually think they'll like Raf." 

Lizzie raises an eyebrow. She's smiling.

"Is that because you want them to like him?" she asks slowly, and Hope groans, but Lizzie quickly presses on before she can interrupt, "Just admit you asked him to be your date because you like him!" 

"If I do, will you shut up and finish my hair so that we can go and meet Josie and Raf?" 

Lizzie lights up like a Christmas tree. She squeals excitedly, even though Hope technically hasn't even admitted anything yet. She's taking it as all the confirmation she needs. 

"I like him," Hope says anyway, and maybe she's smiling a little as well. "And yes, it would be convenient for me if my parents liked him before anything happened between us." 

"I knew it," Lizzie breathes out, shaking her head. She picks back up where she left off with Hope's hair as if nothing happened. "Now that that's over. Tell me, would your Aunt Rebekah mind if I borrowed that really gorgeous emerald bracelet she showed us yesterday?" 

Hope is laughing. Lizzie can't seem to figure out why, but honestly, Hope's just so happy in the moment that she can't help herself. For a moment on the way over to New Orleans, when everyone was packed onto that bus, shouting and arguing, she thought this was going to be a disaster. Someone would end up killing someone. 

There's still time for that, especially since neither she nor her mom have told her dad that she has a date. But Hope is finally living up to her name for once and is choosing to be hopeful that, actually, maybe everything is allowed to go right for once. 

God, writing those snippets took me so long, so apologies for the delay! But I actually enjoyed this a lot so thank you so much for giving me motivation! Who knows, I might actually finish writing them now! (God, now all I can think about is TVD and Legacies, I haven’t been here in ageeeees. Time to rewatch TVD season 1-6 and season 2 of Legacies, I think.)  

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs “Friendship Bracelet.”

So this next story is based requests I have been getting frequently. Know that this is a rather large topic, so I may do similar prompts in the future.

Please keep sending me your ideas, comments, thoughts, and questions. I love seeing any and all of the above. 

It takes almost 25 years for human offspring to reach full cortical maturity.

The average human can weight anywhere between 90 and 300 pounds with outliers dipping down to 70 pounds and reaching up to 700+.

Human skin color ranges on a scale of mostly brows and creams with translucent white at one end and ebony black at the other end. Heights can be anywhere from 4.5 to 7 feet on extreme ends of the spectrum.

Human hair is likewise set out on a spectrum of blond to black or, rarely, auburn, red or strawberry blonde.

Due to the nature of the human physiological structure, their infants are born surprisingly underdeveloped. To keep these infants alive, the humans create pack structures known as families. The classic nuclear family usually includes two parents and anywhere from 1- 20 children (in extreme cases) the parents are in charge of taking care of the offspring until a predetermined age when the offspring is expected to take care of themselves.

A human child reaches milestones of maturity which determine the health of the child. A window of age determines when it is normal for a human to talk, walk, laugh, smile, and begin speaking.

Humans are one of the only creatures in this galaxy to mature at such a slow degree. They are also one of the only species known to give live birth to their offspring, which may be why their children are born so vulnerable.

Human social ties are what keep the offspring alive until maturity.

***

Krill sat in the back of the car squished between two of the three brothers inside his specimen tube staring down at the snow which was coming down in thick flurries. Captain Vir and his second oldest brother sat in the back seat of the car as the old human drove his way careful through the snow. The other two brothers had taken the oldest brother’s care and would be following shortly behind.

Waffles, the dog, sat on the floor just in front of Krill head resting on the captain’s knee.

Apparently, it was normal for the humans to go out in weather like this. Traveling in a blizzard wasn’t unknown or even all that thought about. It used to be more hazardous when cars didn’t have emergency steering override, but now attached proximity alarms could track the movement of other objects around them and intervene if an accident was eminent.

It didn’t mean that krill wasn’t scared out of his mind. This all seemed very dangerous, but Captain Vir insisted to him that the family had been invited to a “Birthday party” at his sister’s house, and it would be rude not to come.

Krill was under the impression it would also be very rude to die, but what did he know?

The car skidded softly on some ice, and the old human grunted wrestling control back from the icy roads as he took a slow controlled turn onto another residential street parking himself behind a long line of cars.

Jeremy and the second David pulled up behind them, and they all got out of the car, the dog taking the lead to the correct door.

Captain Vir Held Krill’s specimen tube under one arm and a sparkly silver bag in the other hand.

“Prepare for mayhem, it’s going to be loud.”

Stomping the snow from their boots, the humans made their way up the steps and knocked on the door asking to be let in.

The door opened with a blast of noise not dissimilar to military grade decibel weapons. All of the humans, accept for the alpha female, cringed. Krill became very grateful for the control he had over his sensory systems.

Stepping inside was pandemonium. There were at least ten adults sitting at the distant table playing a game of cards, and there were about as many tiny humans. They ran around screaming and chasing each other with boundless energy. Their unsuppressed predatory play made Krill feel very uneasy.

He had never met a human child. He had seen them once or twice sure, but he had never interacted with one directly.

As soon as they walked in one of the human females rose from her seat and walked slowly over. She was relatively thin, aside from the massive bulge at her stomach which she kept protective hand over. Captain Vir walked closer and put an arm around her. She hugged him back before pulling away and frowning at his eyepatch, “What did you do to yourself, Adam.”

Captain Vir gave a sheepish grin, “I uh accidentally lobotomized myself.”

She frowned at him, but before she could say anything they were surrounded by a mass group of children chattering and pointing at Krill inside his test tube. One of the little humans let of a shrill scream and scampered towards his mother hiding behind her legs.

“Eww, what is it?” One of the tiny humans asked stepping back eyes wide with fear.

The rest of the human children huddled behind that first child nodding with large eyes.

All accept for one of the tiny humans. She was blonde, hair pulled back into two little tufts of hair on either side of her head. The puffy little outfit she wore was somewhere in the red spectrum though Krill couldn’t tell exactly what color. He had a suspicion it was the hue that humans called pink.

She wore a paper crown and held a sparkly stick with a star at one end.

She was the only one brave enough to come up to his containment unit eyes wide with curiosity instead of fear.

She looked up at Captain Vir, “Uncle Adam, is he your pet?”

Vir laughed and knelt to look at the little girl, “No this is my friend.”

The containment unit hissed open.

A few of the children screamed and ran towards their parents hiding behind older adult legs.

The little girl held her ground, “Oh, HI what’s your name!”

She was loud, and absolutely horrifying. He scooted himself behind captain Vir’s legs and away from the tiny predator and he sharp little teeth. The tiny human frowned and circled around towards Krill, “Hey, its ok, I’m not mean.”

Krill looked up at captain Vir who stood grinning down at him, “Come on, and introduce yourself to my niece.”

Krill did so hesitantly, “Hello…. Human larvae, I am Krill.”

The little girl giggled, “My name isn’t Larvae, its Kimber, and you can be my friend.” She announced clearly pleased with herself reaching out to grab one of Krill’s arms before he could stop her.

He nearly keeled over and died. Terrified that she was going to bring him back to her lair and eat him.

“Kimber,” Captain Vir warned, “Be easy.”

“Ok.” Her grip loosened, but she still tugged Krill along after her. He went almost too petrified to think as the group of tiny predators parted around her. Some curious some scared.

The next few hours were some of the most terrifying, and interesting, moments of his life, the tiny human female seemed to have claimed Krill as her property demonstrating this action by placing one of the colorful party hats on his head. She claimed the dog in the same way insisting that both of them participate in her “Tea party” where they were made to participating in ritual of drinking imaginary tea and making Smalltalk. Not that Krill had to do much talking, the tiny human had a lot to say about things that didn’t seem to exist.

He wondered if the human grub was sick.

Was she delusional?

Not only that but he witnessed what happened before humans were tamed. One small human, deciding that he was not getting what he deserved fell to the floor and assailed the adult humans with a sonic attack that rattled the windows.

The older humans winced, but came over to try and tell the small human to stop. In anger, the small human attempted to attack the larger counterpart.

It didn’t work, and the larvae was shut into a room by himself. He continued attempting to use the sonic attack, but the adults just laughed it off. His weaponry had been effectively defeated by the door.

Eventually more of the small creatures became brave enough to approach Krill.

And they asked an incessant amount of questions.

Was he a boy or a girl? Where was he from? What was his favorite color? Were those his eyes? What was that thing for?

Kimber was the first to grow tired of the questions and made her claim on him by announcing that she, and her new best friend were done answering questions. They were going to make friendship bracelets instead.

He watched in confused amazement as the tiny human passed colorful spheres onto a string presently presenting Krill with the gift afterwards. He wasn’t aware that you had to make someone a bracelet to be friends with them, but she seemed to insist that it was necessary to keep their friendship solid. When the bracelet wouldn’t fit on one of his legs she decided that a necklace would work just as well and ordered that he wear it around his neck.

Ok, he didn’t want to anger the tiny predator, so he put on the colorful beads. She seemed pleased.

Afterwards, she grabbed his arm and dragged him with her to the grownups announcing formally that Krill and She were now BFFs.

Catpain Vir grinned at Krill, and at Waffles who had been faithfully following Kimber around in hopes that she would feed her more cheerios left over from the tea party.

The dog was still wearing the colorful party hat.

“An interesting entourage you have there, Princess Kimber.” Captain Vir said

She beamed up at him quite pleased before demanding that, as Princess she should get some cake.

At least the hiatus left Krill with time to relax from some of the stress, of course that was relative come to learn that you could in fact FEEL unborn human larvae moving inside a human mother.  That, he thought, sounded exactly like the plotline to one of those human horror films, though none of them seemed to think so instead, insisting that the miracle of birth was beautiful and whatever.

Krill begged to differ, he knew how big a human birth canal was, and it was not, in fact, large enough for a grapefruit….

Apparently it stretches.

Dear Nebulon that was disgusting.

They spent a good few hours there before the humans began trickling away with their offspring. With her friends gone, Kimber cajoled him into a tour of her “Play” room insisting he memorize the names of each and every one of her stuffed animals, because it would be rude for him to incorrectly address them.

During their third “tea party” She formally dubbed Captain Vir the pirate king because of his leg and eyepatch.

By the time it was their turn to leave, She insisted that Krill keep on the bracelet or it would ruin their friendship pact, and that would be unacceptable.

He was scared she would come find him and hunt him down, so he kept silent.

***

Thinks I have learned

Human offspring use sonic attacks to get other humans to do what they want. Sometimes it works depending on the exhaustion level of the adult in question.

To have a good relationship with a human grub, one must make an offering of a friendship bracelet or necklace as a proper introduction.

It is a normal ritual right to drink fake tea with a dog. It may be some sort of primitive indoctrination ceremony.

Though human larvae are more fragile than their older counterparts, they are also more aggressive and would probably kill you if given the chance, be glad they aren’t bigger.

Also important to note that human larvae are spawned in the heart of darkness growing to final maturity in the belly of their mothers, feeding off her body, by way unholy attachment, to feed their own hellish growth at which point they will claw their way from her womb potentially breaking her bones and ripping her open as a result…. They have tricked their human parents into thinking that this as acceptable birthing method.

Ballerinas are terrifying, but the human larva is a creature spawned of blood and darkness.

It is advised to accept all colorful gifts of friendship from these creatures lest they destroy you in your sleep.

[collapsingintojupiter]

Hey wonderful human being! How are ya? If ya want a writing ask, I have a challenge for you: Ok so - what if there was a child side called Love who was created when Thomas entered a relationship? How would the others react? Does she have powers like the rest of them? What happens when Thomas is single again and they poof? Just a fun idea for you. Bye, friend!

You're so sweet fam

Also a quick note: I'm writing this as an aro-ace that's literally never had a s/o or been on a date and frankly never wants to be. So...yeah. This should be interesting lol.

***

Characters: Thomas, Patton, Logan, Roman, Virgil, Deceit, and of course Love.

Relationships: Just the good ol platonic LAMP

Warnings: Major character death.

***

He came after the third date. 

Thomas was talking with the other Sides in his living room about it, nervous but excited. Jeremy seemed like an awesome guy; handsome, funny, kind, and a huge Disney fan to boot (the most important characteristic, as Roman often proclaimed). Just thinking about him made Thomas' heart flutter. And even better than that, Jeremy seemed to like Thomas too. Their most recent date had gone quite well, but as always there were things to discuss.

The living room conversation quickly became another bickering match.

Virgil was nervous, as always. He's gonna leave us eventually, something's gonna come up. He'll hate us. He'll leave us. So much could go wrong.

Roman was excited, proposing dozens of grand gestures to Thomas--everything from a candle-lit dinner to tickets to Disney Land. Logan was irritated because he was also trying to plan Thomas and Jeremy's wedding--they've only just met, it's far too early to think about this, he grumbled.

Patton was acting like a five-year old on Redbull. He was talking so fast that nobody could understand him at all, and the others wondered if what he was saying would make sense even if they could hear him.

"GUYS, HE'S THE ONE! HE'S THE ONE!" A sudden shriek ripped through the apartment, and everyone jumped as another Side suddenly appeared on the couch. It was a new one, one that Thomas had never seen before. This one was wearing a pink flowery shirt with a collar, and somehow looked even more excited about what was happening than Patton.

Perhaps that was the most surprising thing about him--the new Side didn't seem to be evil or bad at all, no malicious intent lurking behind scales or chaos wrapped in green. If anything, this Side looked like he was nothing but a ball of pure energy.

"Who…?" Thomas' jaw dropped. "Who?" He looked around at the others.

Logan looked even more irritated.

Roman looked delighted.

Patton was grinning from ear to ear.

Virgil had a look on his face that was something between "not again" and "why me?"

"You don't know me?" The new Side looked hurt. "Has it really been so long?"

"GUYS!" Thomas shouted, desperate for an answer. "Can somebody tell me who he is!?"

Logan was the first to snap out of it, gesturing to the pink-clad Side with one hand and a sigh.

"Thomas... I'd like to introduce you to Love."

---

Love was confusing. That was normal though, Patton explained, once Virgil and Logan had calmed him down enough to where the moral side could speak coherently. Logan told Thomas that he'd get used to the pink one in time.

Thomas sure hoped that he was right.

Days and dates passed. Every moment with Jeremy felt like a new adventure, full of incredible moments and smiles and joking laughter. Love drank it all in, and if anything being around Jeremy seemed to add to his already-inexhaustible energy. 

Thomas did get used to him in time, just as Logan had promised. He was loud and demanding, yet gentle and kind. He was crazy, but loyal; impulsive and yet patient. So many things at once. So many confusing things at once. 

Neither Virgil nor Logan liked Love much. That wasn't terribly surprising though; Love was too illogical and nonsensical and emotional for Logan, too impulsive and reckless and wild for Virgil. Everything he did he did insanely, all the way, over the top. Not to mention that every time he got excited, it was pretty much a guarantee that Virgil and Logan would both be shut down. There wasn't room for fear in love; no room for reason. No wonder he and Roman got along so well--they practically fed off each other, throwing ideas back and forth until Thomas' head spun.

And through all of it Patton was just...confused. More than on average, you might say. 

Love makes you do crazy things, makes you feel strange things for people. Patton didn't understand it at all.

And it was great, for a while. Exhilaratinlg, even. Thomas didn't remember a time when he was so excited about life, so ready for it. With the energy of this new Side he felt like he could conquer the world.

Logan tried to warn Thomas.

So did Virgil.

Nothing prepared Thomas for the day Jeremy came to him with tears in his eyes; the day his heart broke when the man he loved more than anything told him that he was leaving. Leaving and, more importantly...never coming back.

There was crying in the mindpalace that night. Thomas' apartment was filled with quiet sobs, sobs that shook his body and made him feel like he couldn't breathe. 

Go back! Love was screaming. You can't let him go! You have to go back! 

Roman was crushed, and understandably so. Patton was speechless; after the swamp of emotions that had nearly drowned him he was suddenly numb, and that made Thomas numb too. Virgil had nothing to say; Logan had nothing to say. They'd already tried.

Love cried for days. But, as those days became weeks and months, the others noticed his demands, his pleas, his begging become weaker. 

And weaker. 

And weaker.

And when the realization of what was happening hit Thomas, it was somehow both horrifying and more comforting than he would've liked it to be.

Love was fading. Dying, he said. Logan explained to Thomas that the Sides didn't actually die, such wasn't possible at least in the way humans think of it, but that wasn't as comforting at it should have been. Thomas didn't want Love to be there anymore after what had happened and yet...part of him begged for it to stay.

Roman was devastated to see it all happen, and he acted like it. He knew what was happening and he knew he couldn't stop it but...God he wished there was something he could do. Anything. He'd do anything. Deceit promised that Love wouldn't go and what was another broken promise, on top of all the others he'd made to Thomas; to Roman; to himself. 

None of that mattered, of course. Eventually Love stopped appearing in the mindpalace altogether, and even though he didn't want to Thomas missed the pink flower-shirted Side; even Virgil eventually admitted to missing hearing his voice. All they could remember of it now was how strangled it had sounded the last time Love was there.

Don't worry though, Patton promised Thomas.

That's the thing about Love. It's fickle; always changing. 

But it always comes back.

___

There you go, hope you enjoyed. ^^

If you’d like to be added to my taglist, please message me or shoot me an ask! Make sure to specify if you want it for all of my writing or just the Sunshine and Storm Clouds story; if you don’t specify you’ll automatically be put down for both.

If you’d like to see more of my writing, feel free to send me a prompt! I don’t just do Sanders Sides, so go ahead and ask away! I’ll see what I can do with it lol, I really love writing and sharing my work with you guys.

Taglist.

@antisocialsilvermermaid @just-perhaps @ghostintimelostintime

[heeretobequeer]

Be More Chill - (Little Shop Of Horrors AU)

so i just had this amazing idea for an au that id love to roleplay/write a few chapters about sometime;

Jeremy as Seymour

Christine as Audrey

Jake as Orin (The Dentist)

Mr Heere as Mr Mushnik

SQUIP as Audrey II (The Plant)

so basically,

jeremy, christine, and mr heere work in a retro videogame store in skidrow, where business is lousy and they barely make any money. mr heere decides its best to close the store, but his mind quickly changes when jeremy and christine show him the small plant (squip) who then brings in a customer. he tells the customer that this plant goes by the name of squip. jeremy explains he was given the plant through someone called rich who was dealing quite a few of them, although this was the healthiest. whilst the customer is there, he takes a few videogames with him, giving the three more money than they even imagined theyd get in a year. mr heere excitedly exclaims that hes taking them all to dinner, but christine has to pass down the offer due to her ‘date’. mr heere advises her not to go to this ‘date’ due to her boyfriend being abusive and harsh on her, which is why she has a black eye and her arm is in a cast. she ignores this and leaves anyways.

the plant wilts and mr heere tells jeremy he must nurse it to health if he wants to continue with the sudden success. after awhile of trying everything, jeremy accidentally pricks his finger on a rose thorn, and he quickly realises that the plant is asking for blood. he gives the plant a few drops, asking him not to make it a habit, although jeremy finds himself constantly feeding it. after a few weeks of the same process, jeremy finishes up a few of his interviews where he runs into christine. they talk for awhile about the plant and his success and how happy she is for him, before they get to talking about dreams. christine explains to him about how she wishes to go ‘somewhere thats green’ and how she wishes to live a normal life, in a quiet neighbourhood with someone sweet and caring. jeremys anxiety prevents him from saying anything about his feeings towards her, especially with her boyfriend, so he simply agrees and christine ends up leaving to get ready for another ‘date’.

this is where it gets interesting. jake, the ‘semi-sadist’ dentist, arrives to pick up christine. he enters the closed shop, where jeremy tries to ward him off, but jake immediately goes straight to the plant and examines it, curiously. just as jeremy tells him he needs to leave, christine enters in fear and introduces the two. jake ignores her presence, continuing to tell jeremy he should use this as his ticket to the stars. everytime christine asks to leave, jake aggressively turns towards her and will ask her to apologise for her ignorance, yelling at her even more if she doesnt use the term ‘doctor’ on the end. when they finally leave, christine looks towards jeremy in fear and shame. jake asks her if she has her ‘handcuffs’, and she sadly replies with that theyre right in her bag.

mr heere overhears this and begs jeremy to stay, saying that he and him can run the shop together. reluctantly, jeremy agrees, and mr heere changes the name of the shop to ‘Heere and Son.’ out of anger, jeremy exclaims to the plant that he doesnt like jake and how he treats christine is outrageous, because she deserves a prince and not a sadistic creep like him. although his mood quickly changes to shock when the plant begins to talk. squip, the plant, begs jeremy to feed him. he explains plenty of people here are useless, living reminders of his failures, and that they deserve to die. jeremy disagrees quickly, arguing that he doesnt know anyone who deserves to die. although at that moment, christine runs in, apologising to an angry jake. she greets seymour nervously, grabbing her jacket before rushing to jake. jake yells at her for her stupidity, slapping her across the face.

jeremy watches the event, and during an outburst of anger, declares that the plant needed blood and jake had more than enough! squip influences jeremy to kill jake using christine to his advantage. after agreeing to it, jeremy approaches jake, using a fake dentist appointment as his reason. jake notices his gun, and takes it from jeremy, strapping him down to the dentist chair. before making any changes to jeremys mouth, jake decides this whole procedure would be better with some nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas. he uses a big machine that he claims is his ‘special, antique’ gas mask, becoming high quickly. unable to stop giggling, jake decides hes had enough of the gas, trying to take the mask off although failing. panicking, he asks jeremy for help, but jeremy refuses because he realises that if he doesnt help, the gun is never fired and he didnt technically kill him. as jeremy watches jake collapse to the floor, his final words spoken, jeremy gulps and takes jake away.

after preforming mutilation, jeremy looks at the dentist uniform, quickly hiding it in the bin and trying to ignore the thought about killing the dentist. jeremy drags the bucket of body parts, feeding it a greedy plant, the immense guilt building up. 

a few weeks after the situation, christine and jeremy are left to owning the shop themselves. at the end of one of the workshifts, jeremy asks christine to wait as he wanted to show her something. he comes back in wearing a leather jacket, similar to the one jake wore. in an outburst of sudden emotion, christine runs out of the shop onto the streets, beginning to weep softly. jeremy takes the jacket off straight away, following after, apologising and explaining that he just wanted to impress her. he then asks if the reason of her sadness is caused by the disappearance of jake. she quickly denies that and explains that it was like a miracle, and how she secretly wished it, which is why she felt guilty. she begins to degrade herself, telling jeremy that she deserved a creep like jake dillinger. gaining confidence, he tells christine that in no way did she deserve that, she deserved a prince. he tells her of his feelings that he’d habored for awhile now, telling her he was here to provide her sweet understanding and the live she’d always wanted. during the sweet moment, christine realises this is what shes wanted, kissing jeremy and claiming him as hers.

the two enter the shop, but are greeted by a skeptical mr heere. the two part, and mr heere asks christine to leave them alone for a few hours. christine complies and leaves the two to talk alone, as mr heere begins to question jeremy. jeremy acts confused and innocent, claiming that whatever happened he didnt do it. mr heere pulls out the dentist uniform, telling him that if he wanted anything gone in a hurry, then he shouldnt dispose it on skid row. mr heere explains that the police dont suspect jeremy at all, but they dont know about the uniform, blood dots on the floor and the girlfriend. the plant takes this opportunity to yet again influence jeremy into feeding mr heere to him. the plant tells him that after mr heeres death, jeremy will get anything and everything he desires.

before they leave, jeremy tells mr heere that he placed the days reciepts in the plant, claiming it was the ‘safest place’ and that he ‘forgot the combination’. he tells mr heere to ‘just knock’ on the plant, which mr heere did, before being pulled into the plants mouth and being eaten. jeremy tells the plant that he better be satisfied, although its very clear that the plant wasnt. a week passes, and jeremy is sat writing a script to follow for the interview he was in tomorrow. the plant continues to beg for feeding. jeremy continously tells the plant to shut up, driving him crazy. christine rushes to him, embracing him and asking jeremy whats wrong. jeremy breaks from the hug and explains to christine that he knows the plant will die if it isnt fed, and that he was searching for someway to escape. he then proceeds to ask christine if she’d still like him if the plant wasnt here, and they werent famous anymore. christine reassures him that she’d still love him, which causes jeremy to decide that hed had enough. he promises her that he’ll take her far away to a place green, where she and him could live a nice, normal life. 

he tells her to leave, and that she shouldnt be here right now. he ushers her out the door, before turning back to the plant. jeremy makes a deal with the plant, and leaving the shop to buy some meat, claiming that the plant would never be hungry again. christine decides to come back and check, worried for jeremys mental health. she enters the shop, but hears the plants words. shocked, she tries to escape, but the plant wraps his vines around her waist, pulling her close to him. the plant exclaims that its his suppertime, lowering her into its mouth as she squirmed and screamed. jeremy runs back in, quickly pulling the weak christine out and cradling her in his arms. he falls to his knees, holding her. jeremy begs her not to die and that it was his fault for killing jake and mr heere, and that he didnt want to lose her. she assures him that she would die soon, but if shes fed to the plant, then she will always be there with him. after one final kiss, christine dies in jeremys arms. tearfully, he takes christines dead body towards the plant, placing her down gently as he was the merciless plant devour her. 

jeremy stands behind the counter, burying his head in his hands and crying softly. although he is yet again interrupted when a man walks in, asking for trimmings of the plant. he explains that millions of houses across america with their own squip plant, bringing them all fame and fortune. the man describes this business opportunity as bigger than hula hoops. the man exits the shop to gather the materials needed, as jeremy quickly becomes aware of the plants plan all along. the plant thanks jeremy for helping him grow to fame, as jeremy grabs a gun and dives into the plant, trying to kill it from the inside. although the plant opens up, revealing that jeremy was no longer there.

i may have gotten a little carried away explaining the story ^^’ 

but, i was wondering how everyone feels about this, and if i should make it into an ongoing story! i could write multiple chapters about this, and, i can also change a few of the characters around! for example, i could write audrey as michael, so theres a hint of boyf riends! but for now, im going to stick with stagedorks. 

anyways, i hope you enjoyed this! let me know if i should write this up as a story!

[niallismymuse]

A Christmas Miracle

            Ella Montgomery was not particularly thrilled to be headed home for the holidays, but it beat spending Christmas alone in her dorm room. Just about everyone had gone home, her roommate Jessica included, and the thought of being alone was fucking depressing, so she didn’t have much of a choice.

           Besides, she had stayed in her dorm last year, although a few others she vaguely knew from around campus had as well, and they had celebrated together. Unfortunately, she couldn’t pull the same trick twice and claim the plague to avoid going home this year.

           As she sat in her car and waited for the engine to warm, her dad called.

           “Hi, Ella Bear,” he greeted her cheerfully. Thankfully he couldn’t see her eyes roll in response to the childhood nickname, as well as the minor cringe that accompanied it. Some nicknames would never die. “You heading out soon? Jeremy’s already here.”

           Ella smiled at the mention of her older brother. Looks like Jeremy had chosen to come home this year too. He was definitely better about that than she was. “I just got into the car. My bags are packed. I am ready to get this show on the road.”

           “Make sure you drive carefully. Roads are looking icy near home.”

           She winced. Driving in normal weather was something Ella regarded with apprehension, much less with ice and snow, but she could do it. She managed just fine, but it was still nerve-wracking. She would have to drive even more carefully than usual. “Will do, thanks Dad. I love you, I’ll see you soon.” With that being said, she hung up, and started her careful drive.

           A half hour into her five hour trek home, Ella heard her phone begin to vibrate inside the cup-holder she had set it in earlier. Daring a glance, she read the name displayed across the top: ‘Carrie’.

           And there it was, the reason she hadn’t wanted to come home this year. She didn’t want to see the worry lines etched into her father’s face from the divorce proceedings. She didn’t want to see the place on the mantle where pictures of her parents used to stand, now empty. Ella especially did not want to see her mother, who had gone and ruined it all.

           In Ella’s mind, parents were supposed to love each other and be further united by the shared love they had for their kids. It wasn’t supposed to end in heartbreak; especially the slow kind of heartbreak, where there are no fights, just lingering disappointment and clothes and memorabilia disappearing from a once shared home. Ella wasn’t sure if she would have preferred screaming matches to the gradual destruction of her parent’s marriage.

           It was a fucked-up notion, she knew. 50% of marriages ended in divorce. The problem was that she had trusted her parents to be better than that damn statistic, trusted her mom to be better than it. Their disastrous end just cemented her plan to never get married even further. It was a lie, cheating was too common, and she was better off alone. Ella knew she would likely have more money in her bank account anyway.

           So, no, she didn’t want to go home and see the guilt on her mom’s face, watch her try to tape a gaping wound together. Ella was sure that she would try, too.

           She clenched her jaw and let the phone ring, focusing on the drive in front of her.

           Ella made it home unscathed and chatted with her dad about college and snow, before politely excusing herself to take a nap. Jeremy was nowhere to be found, as she had expected. Her older brother was a bit of a wanderer at heart.

           She was too exhausted to even think about the voicemail Carrie had left when she hadn’t answered earlier on the ride home. So Ella slept, and tried not to feel angry that her mom was living across town with the man she had cheated on Dad with for four years, and tried not to feel like maybe it was her fault.

           Once, when Ella was fifteen years old, she had come home from basketball practice to find her mom on the couch, half-drunk and in tears. She wasn’t happy, she had said. So Ella, young as she was, had replied with, “Well, Mom, find something that makes you happy then.”

           That thing had apparently been a him, and Ella hated herself a bit every day for the broken expression on her Dad’s face when he had found out. She knew, deep down, that it was not her fault; her mother had chosen to cheat instead of separating cleanly. That had been her choice, not Ella’s.

           And then, there was the other side: her mother had truly been unhappy in her marriage, for whatever reason. She had hid her feelings well enough for years, until she simply couldn’t.

           When Ella woke from her nap, she discovered eight text messages from her old friend Liam, inviting her to an ugly Christmas sweater party that promised alcohol. That was the only bit of convincing she needed. She was a bit of a lightweight, but it would get her out of the house, and some drinking would keep her mind off of Carrie.

           Hopefully.

           After confirming with Liam that she would come and deleting that voicemail, Ella searched through her bag for a sweater ugly enough to wear and tugged it over her head. It was frightful: a misshapen Santa Claus’ head took up most of it, with some oddly shaped Christmas lights around it. She had found it while shopping with Jessica, and decided it was perfect to keep guys looking to score away. Tonight would be its first test, but since everyone else was supposed to be wearing ugly sweaters, it might backfire.

           Shaking those thoughts out of her head, Ella pulled on her boots and headed downstairs. “Dad,” she called as she made her way down the stairs, “Liam’s throwing a party tonight and he invited me. I’m gonna head out, I’ll be back later tonight okay?”

           Her dad looked a little shocked, perhaps a little put-out. “Oh…I thought you would stay in, and we’d make up some hot cocoa, watch some Christmas movies...”

           That guilt came right back, and she winced at the chafing feel of it. “Well, Dad, how about this? I spend this one night with Liam and my friends, and the rest with you. Is that okay?” Ella asked tentatively. How could she possibly explain to her father that being with him made her feel guilty, and not being with him made her feel guilty too?

           Her father agreed, as she had known he would. He didn’t put up much of a fight – that was typical of him. And before she could regret it too much, Ella grabbed a coat to battle the quick blast of frigid air that greeted her at the front door, and left without even waiting for her engine to heat up.

           Ella knew the way to Liam’s better than she thought she did. It had been years since she had last been there. The twists and turns came naturally to her, with hardly a second-thought. When had she last been to Liam’s? It must have been her senior year of high school, one of those parties he had thrown their last year in high school. They had been good friends back in the day, before college and inevitable adult responsibilities had tugged them apart.

           Nonetheless, she arrived at Liam’s house with no issues – the only problem was that it had started to snow, which was mildly irritating. Ella kind of despised winter – it was messy, freezing, and a bit of a bitch (she had a bad habit of forgetting to remove the ice from her windows until she was due at work). Though there were good winter days, days where the sky was a beautiful bright blue and the snow was a gorgeous blanket on the ground, begging to be messed with. She loved those three days per season.

           Ella trudged inside, knocking the miniscule amount of snow on her boots off on the welcome mat. An actual welcome mat, with the word ‘welcome’ displayed across it. Ella shook her head, and raised her fist to knock. Only Liam would have a welcome mat anymore.

           Within a nanosecond of her knocking, the door opened inward, and Liam appeared in the doorway, hair mussed and cheeks rosy. “Ella!” He greeted her, folding her into his bear of a hug. “So good to see you, let me get your coat,” Liam gushed to her, taking it off of her slim shoulders. “And that sweater is atrocious!” Liam sounded genuinely delighted at the fact, and flicked her sweater’s Santa’s button nose, right above her belly button.

           “Hey, Liam,” Ella smiled politely back and patted his arm. She was never very good at reunions. In fact, she was a bit socially inept – she had a bad habit as coming off as shy or uninterested when meeting new people. Her roommate, Jessica, had actually considered her to be quite unpleasant when they had first moved in together. “Good to see you. I see you’re still throwing parties.”

           It was a dumb thing to say, and what Ella really wanted was to have something to drink so she could have an excuse to not speak. But Liam merely smiled and lifted his shoulders in a half-shrug.

           “Somethin’ to do, I suppose,” he replied, before tucking her arm into his and leading her to the thick of the party. Christmas music was playing – Santa Baby, the original version by Eartha Kitt, she noted – and there were plenty of people milling about by an open fire, right next to the thankfully artificial Christmas tree. Ella recognized many of them – most were old classmates from high school, though there were some she didn’t know.

           Liam deposited Ella near the fire after murmuring something about grabbing her a drink. The heat thrown off from the fire helped her defrost from her brief moments outside, so she didn’t really mind. She people-watched, until one of those old classmates decided to come chat. Ella was not thrilled.

           Kelly Brensit had been a gossip in high school, and from what Ella gathered, she still was. Her blonde tresses were carefully styled and her nails were done immaculately in red. She was one of the few who had come to the party without an ugly sweater, instead wearing a black cocktail dress. Ella was in the middle of wondering if Kelly had found the outfit worth the momentary freezing outside when she finally got to the point of her mindless chatting.

           “So,” Kelly started, taking a sip of her drink as she focused her wide, falsely sympathetic eyes on Ella’s, “have you spoken to your mom recently?”

           Ella immediately tensed, mind whirring as she tried to figure out what Kelly’s game was. “No,” she finally admitted, frowning, “why?”

           Kelly shrugged, before tossing her curls over her shoulder. “Just things I’ve been hearing around town. Apparently she’s been having relationship issues and missing her kids. I mean,” She shrugged once more, the action practically dripping trouble, “we all know how prone to relationship issues she is.”

           What Ella really wanted to do was slap the fuck out of Kelly, and then rip her tiny dress off and toss it into the fire. It looked expensive. Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on how you look at it – Liam came back and spun Ella away before she could even respond to Kelly. “Drink,” he stated rather unnecessarily as he handed her a glass of mulled wine. Ella downed it before he had even finished the word.

           Liam’s mouth dropped open, and he furrowed his brow as he thought of how to respond. Ella merely smiled tightly and thanked him. Like the smart man that he was, Liam dropped it, before leaning forward and whispering in her ear, “I wanted to introduce you to someone.” Then he tugged forward someone Ella hadn’t even noticed until that point. She couldn’t believe he had escaped her gaze.

           The stranger was taller than she was, with purposefully tousled brunette hair and kind blue eyes. He smiled brightly at her and offered his hand, which she took after considering for a second. “I’m Niall,” he said as he firmly shook her hand. The accent hit her first – she knew it was definitely not an American dialect, but what was it? – and then she noticed how tiny her hand was compared to his.

           “Ella,” she managed to get out, before releasing Niall’s hand, looking curiously at her own. Was it tiny or were his hands abnormally large?

           Liam smiled happily before rubbing his hands together. “Right then. Niall moved here recently from New York City.”

           “Ireland before that,” Niall interjected quite helpfully. That’s where the accent came from. “There was a job opportunity here, and I took it.”

           “What industry do you work in?” Ella asked, because she was an adult and dammit, she could hold a conversation. That, and Niall was kind of cute – actually very cute - and his company was much preferable to Kelly’s. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Liam slip away with a smile on his face. Maybe he had planned for this.

           “I’m a journalist,” he explained, and laughed at the confused look on Ella’s face. “I know, I know. I moved from New York City, a city where writing is huge, to here. But I came here for other reasons too. I work in the city, and I like the slower pace here.”

           Ah. That did make sense. The outskirts of the urban sprawl here was probably easier to manage than the full-throttle city of New York. “I understand. It’s more peaceful here.” Ella replied, mouth curving into a small smile.

           Niall smiled back, before blinking suddenly, a twitch to his hand. “D’ya want me to get ya another drink?” He asked, gesturing to the empty glass in her hand.

           “Sure,” Ella smiled, and passed it over, ignoring the twitch. Niall filled it with more mulled wine, and the two stayed together for most of the party, though she noticed he drank less than she did. And he was in need of some potassium, judging from the tick in his hand. She found it funny that she was out-drinking the only Irish man at the party, and stated so. “Oh,” Niall replied, lifting a shoulder, “I’ve learned that hangovers are the fucking worst.”

           Ella laughed and they carried on, talking about everything and nothing. She told him about her university work and how she planned on being a psychiatrist, should everything work out. She talked about the cold and how she hated it. She talked and talked and talked, and Niall listened, becoming progressively more amused the more that she drank. He was a nice guy, she learned. Nice and cute.

           “I should probably get home,” Ella muttered as the party began to wind down, frowning as she looked at the bare skin of her wrist. There was no watch there.

           Niall stifled a laugh. “I don’t think you’re fit to drive, love,” he commented, and when she shot him a glare, she could see the twinkle in his eyes. He seemed to be having fun, which she didn’t mind. He was keeping her mind occupied.

           “I can’t sleep here though. This is Liam’s house,” she whined, and Niall shook his head, letting out a low chuckle.

           “I’ll drive ya home. Just let me go get my keys.” He said before whirling away, sooner than she could protest. It was probably a good idea anyway. She was starting to slur her words together.

           Ella sat down on the couch and watched Liam begin to pick up, throwing away red solo cups and wiping down surfaces with disinfectant spray. She made no move to help him. “Glad you met Niall,” he said as he ducked down in front of her to grab a runaway cup. “He needs friends here. Good support system for the surgery.”

           That caught her attention, even in her drunken state of mind. “What surgery?” She asked, knitting her brows together. Niall hadn’t mentioned a surgery to her. Or had he? Ella felt like she would remember it if he had. Surgeries were a pretty big deal, and she wasn’t drunk enough to miss such a detail.

           Liam winced, before gazing up at her. “Shit, he didn’t tell you?” When Ella didn’t respond, worrying at her lip instead, he sighed. “Alright, well, don’t tell him I told you. He’s here mostly because of a brain tumor he’s got. He wants to get it removed…” Liam’s voice faded away, because at that moment, Ella felt a remarkable amount of sadness. It was incredibly sobering.

           It clicked, suddenly. One of the country’s most renowned brain surgeons worked in a hospital in the city. No wonder he left New York. He needed a tumor removed. She didn’t even know if it was benign or cancerous. How much was his life in danger? How dangerous was brain surgery?

           Niall was so young. Maybe a year or two older than she was. How could that feel, being told you had a potentially life-threatening tumor inside your head?

           Liam cut himself off, looking away sheepishly, and Ella blinked in shock, before realizing that Niall had returned. “I’ll come get my car tomorrow,” she mumbled to Liam, before patting his shoulder goodbye.

           “Let’s go, Ella,” Niall offered her his arm, and she took it, her wide eyes meeting his beautiful blue ones as he tucked her coat over her.

           Niall helped her out the door, leading her to his car, and helping her cross a particularly icy patch of concrete. He even helped her buckle up inside the car, snapping it easily for her. “Thanks,” she told him once he had gotten inside the car.

           “Not a problem, love,” he replied, before asking for her address and plugging it into his phone. The car was on already, warming up. Ella watched as he snapped his own seat belt on and ran his fingers through his hair. Her heart felt heavy, and suddenly, she didn’t want the night to be over quite yet.

           “Want to go get some ice cream?” she blurted out, though it was the most ridiculous thought that popped into her head. It was snowing outside, and bitterly cold. Ice cream in this weather was like asking to freeze to death.

           Niall let out a laugh and shook his head at her. He was probably unsure of what to do with her, exactly. “Sure, though it is rather late. Where would you like to go?”

           He was being pretty tolerant of her, she noticed. Not every guy would take her home and then graciously deal with her strange ice cream request. “Anywhere but Sprinkles,” she told him, and he shrugged, before pulling out of Liam’s driveway and heading off towards town.

           They were quiet for a while, nothing but Christmas music playing softly on the radio. “If you don’t mind me asking, why the aversion to Sprinkles?” Niall questioned softly, his eyes flickering from the road over to her.

           Ella rubbed at her face. “My mom used to take me and my brother there a lot when we were younger.” She would, too. After school a lot, sometimes after dinner. Carrie was friends with the owner, and got a discount on prices. And they were kids – who would protest ice cream?

           Niall hummed thoughtfully. “Mom issues, then?”

           “My parents are divorced. It was messy.”

           He clucked his tongue in response, and, sensing the discomfort emanating off of Ella, he dropped the subject. They went to the only other place that was open: Race Trac, the gas station. Together they built sundaes and Ella paid for them both, because she threatened him with violence if he tried to pay after all he had done for her.

           “All I’ve done is drive you here and then I’ll drive you home,” Niall pointed out, but she pointed stiffly at him and he wisely went silent.

           They decided to eat inside the gas station at one of the little tables situated by the windows. Ella ate slowly, taking her time, lost in her head. Thoughts of her mother and Niall floated around, and Niall seemed to be considering things as well.

           “You know,” he started, before pausing to shove a spoonful of frozen yogurt into his mouth and swallowing, “life can be short, sometimes.”

           Ella froze, her eyes meeting his across the table. Oh God. Was he going to tell her about the brain tumor now? What if he mentioned survival statistics? She might actually throw up.

           “And…it can be hard to hold a grudge against someone, especially someone so close. Unless, of course, your mom did something to personally harm you,” Niall added quickly, and it dawned on her. He was encouraging her to make up with her mother. Her stomach turned over, and she briefly felt sick. Probably catching the disagreeable expression on her face, he rushed on. “It’s just, you never know when you’re going to lose someone. Or how long you’ve got. And if you lost someone without apologizing…” he shrugged. “I had my own issues with my brother. Recently, we got together and fixed it. Made it right. Ella, I feel so, so much better after doing that, and I know that he does too.”

           Ella swallowed harshly, before setting her spoon down into her cup. “Maybe,” she admitted quietly, because Niall did have a point. She had been angry at her mom for so long…maybe letting it go would make her feel better. She remembered how just this morning she had been so uneasy about coming home, and that all had to do with how she felt about Carrie – guilt, anger, and a sense of abandonment. “Maybe.”

           Niall smiled, and leaned back in his seat. “I’ll take it.”

           Niall dropped her off later that evening, and over the next few days, Ella thought very hard about what he had said, and the personal circumstances that had led him to such an opinion. And he was right. He had come to a mature realization, and she felt bad for letting this negativity continue on and plague her life.

           Ella knew what her mother had done wasn’t right. But those were her mom’s bridges to cross, not her own. So the day after Christmas, after a few days corresponding cordially via text, Ella agreed to meet with her mom in a coffee shop.

           She was nervous, of course. Just that morning, after telling her brother what she was doing, Jeremy had shook his head and muttered, “it’s a Christmas miracle.” That certainly hadn’t soothed her nerves, but now that she was sitting in the actual shop, her hands cupping a hot mug of coffee, she felt better. Not fine, but better.

           Carrie Smith walked into the coffee shop with little to no expectations, which were ultimately surpassed when she saw that her daughter was there, early in fact. She hadn’t expected Ella to show up at all, much less early.

           Ella stood up when her mom approached, and fidgeted with her coffee cup. She was debating on whether to hug her or just sit back down, when she saw the trembling hope unfurling on her mom’s face. And she realized that she wasn’t ready yet for a hug, but she could offer her a handshake; and so, she did. Carrie took Ella’s hand and shook it, without even mentioning how odd it was.

           “I wasn’t sure you would come,” Carrie whispered breathlessly, a tiny smile on her face as she sat down. Ella tapped at her mug, pressing her lips together. Now that she was here, with her mom in front of her, she didn’t know what to say or do or even think.

           “I’ve been told…” she paused, thinking of the right words. “A new friend reminded me that we don’t know what tomorrow brings, and I don’t want anything to happen that leaves me or you in regret, Mom.”

           Carrie’s eyes teared up, and she reached her hands across the table to cover Ella’s with her own. Ella twitched, but allowed the touch. “I agree. I wholeheartedly agree, Ella dear, and I am so thankful for this. I promise I won’t let you down like that, ever again.

           Ella was tempted to say something along the lines of, ‘trust me, you won’t, since Dad would never take you back and give you the chance to’, but she held her tongue instead. “I’m glad, Mom.”

           It was at this point that Carrie took in a deep, trembling breath. “Good. Because while I did terrible things in my marriage, like cheating on your father, you can’t blame me for eventually leaving him, Ella. Neither of us were happy. You have to understand that.” Her mom looked imploringly at her, giving her hands a squeeze.

           That uncomfortable feeling was back, crawling over Ella’s skin like spiders were waltzing across it on a ballroom floor. “I don’t understand why you did what you did,” she started carefully, “and I probably never will. But I’m glad you got…out of the marriage and that you and Dad are happier now.” And, deep down, she was. Her dad was happier now, more settled into himself than he ever was while married. Though she didn’t know if Carrie was truly any happier now.

           Her mom nodded, and the two chatted for a few minutes more, Ella catching her up on her school progress and other things. Then, she threw away her coffee and promised that she would text soon, and left for home. Ella still wasn’t entirely comfortable around Carrie, who understood, though it did disappoint her.

           But this wasn’t about her mother’s journey; it was about her own.

           Ella begged Niall’s phone number off of Liam, and sat in her room, trying to figure out what to say. She hadn’t seen him since the night of the Christmas party, when he had walked her to her front door and helped her inside. He had even waved from the car. She decided on something simple: ‘Hey, this is Ella. I took your advice. Thank you.’

           And then she set her phone on her bed and went downstairs to visit with her family, wishing Niall the best. Maybe someday she would get to thank him in person.

[illusion-of-sea-axes]

(A little thing that gives some backstory to the Fake AH Crew in the Cybernetic Au)

Words:  1873

Everyone in Fake AH Crew has scars. It’s about as obvious as saying the sky is blue.

Jack’s wrists are scarred up relatively little where the flesh and muscle turns to metal and circuits. There are other scars dotting her skin. From nearly-failed escapes back when she was a ameteur thief, from skimmings with bullets too close for comfort, or from the few occasions she’s been cornered by rival gangs. The occasions were rare, of course. No one could quite forget the mystery surrounding the warehouse full of dead gang members who were lacking in the appendages that Jack had incidentally also been lacking. Only these ones were dead before they could steal a new pair of cybernetic hands.  

Gavin himself hadn’t ever been to the warehouse or asked the woman about it, but he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to start looking for a full set of cybernetic hands even if his hands were mostly cybernetic anyway.

Geoff’s most visible scars are from fights. Fist fights, knife fights, gun fights, whatever other kind of fight that went on in Los Santos’ back alleys. The ones that people are actually able to see usually is the small dents in his cybernetic arms, the small patches of brighter looking paint meant to hide small flaws that came from whatever job the man decided to take.

Geoff had been the one to teach Gavin how to fully clean his cybernetic additions after a job and even showed him how to paint them without fucking them up.

Ryan wasn’t quite like either of them. He was either always wearing his skull mask or had skull patterns painted on his face. The only time you ever saw his skin was his ears or some of his neck. Something Gavin had picked up on relatively quickly was that Ryan had cybernetic eyes. No one’s eyes glow that vibrant of blue naturally. When Gavin first asked Ryan about his cybernetics, the man hadn’t answered. When he asked him again, Ryan told him that unless he wanted to try and cut the Vagabond open that he would never fully know. When Gavin had asked him if he had any scars from his cybernetics, Ryan said that Gavin would never get to see them. One day though, Ryan finally gave. Sort of. He was sitting next to Gavin in Geoff’s apartment, Michael chilling with Jeremy over at the kitchen bar and out of earshot. It had been silent, as things usually were with the Vagabond. Then, just seemingly out of nowhere, he unzipped his jacket to his sternum and tugged on his shirt collar. Gavin had never seen the Vagabond expose that much skin, let alone willingly. He sort’ve understood why.

There were a lot of tiny scars, crisscrossing over the flesh of his neck and shoulder, but it was all a bunch of scrapes compared to the giant scar that Gavin could only assume was from someone trying to cut off Ryan’s head. It was the nastiest scar Gavin had ever seen in his life. He didn’t ask Ryan about scars ever again after that.

Jeremy had plenty of scars. Gavin had gotten to see one before when the man had gotten drunk of his arse and stripped off his shirt. It was a kinda disturbing sight.

Scars covered his back, the biggest ones looking the oldest. His back had no ridges were his spine pressed against  his skin like Gavin, but there was a large scar that spanned from the base of his neck down to his waist. His shoulder blades stuck against his skin, but they looked oddly smooth beneath the skin.

Gavin decided he never wanted to hear the story.

Now, for Gavin himself, he had plenty of scars. The flesh of his hands where they meshed into golden cybernetic fingers was a clear sign of that.

His left hand was still mostly organic, asides from the wires running alongside the veins. He’d gotten the cybernetics in his right hand after some of his fingers had been shot off in a gunfight and then he’d broken his thumb while ducking for cover.

The cybernetic plating in his shoulder, unlike rumors, wasn’t entirely cosmetic. It was replaced for the same reason the thumb and pointer finger of his left hand were replaced.

The first time he’d been kidnapped by a rival gang. They were trying to get some leverage over Geoff, so they decided to start cutting off digits. First the cut off the pointer finger and as Gavin later learned, mailed it directly to Geoff. After that, they cut off Gavin’s thumb and then mailed it to Jack like fucking idiots.

By the time Geoff and Jack finally figured out where they were keeping him, the gang had decided to brand him. They cut their own insignia into Gavin’s back and decided to leave it untreated.  According to what Gavin had heard, they were proud to be able to say they branded on of Geoff’s crew.

The gang leader was found with the FAHC logo drawn all over his flesh with the same knife found pinning his genitals to the front door.

But Michael, Michael was the one Gavin couldn’t seem to crack. The Jersey man didn’t like talking about the time before he started rolling with Geoff in his crew. He never wanted to act as if life had been any different and he never once talked about his own cybernetics except in passing.

Gavin seemed to be the only one interested in asking what his cybernetics were.

When he first asked Michael about his cybernetics, the Jersey man had told him in a very colorful way to fuck off. He chose to ask Geoff, since he was the one who had dragged Michael back to the apartment after one of his jobs.

Geoff told him that if Michael wouldn’t tell him, then neither would he. It was his own business. Gavin thought that was bullshit. They were all enhanced with cybernetics, so why would Michael not talk about his own?

Gavin tried to catch Michael without his usual leather jacket on. He’d gotten a door slammed into his face and a whole new set of curses that could only come from Michael. Although he did get to see the scars that ran up the length of Michael’s arms.

Since that failed, Gavin asked Jack next. He ended up begging her to tell him like a small child, his Golden Boy charm never once being pulled into the conversation. No one in the crew fell for his golden boy charm. Jack told him that Geoff had only told her Michael was a street fighter for a few months before they met.

It would explain why he looked so absolutely fucked up when Gavin first saw him passed out on their couch.

He asked Ryan, who shrugged. He asked for theories and Ryan suggested that maybe he has a bad history with his cybernetics. Maybe they got his parents into a debt they couldn’t crawl out of. Ryan said he’d seen it happen.

Gavin was persistent person, so he didn’t give up. He managed to slip it into conversation. Casually asked how Michael’s family was.

The man stared at him for a good moment before answering. “Hopefully fucking rotting in a ditch.” He spent the rest of his night in his room.

When Gavin finally got to see Michael’s scars, he thought the man was going to die.

Michael had just be shot in the side and slammed into a car by the blast of one of his signature explosives. Gavin had used all his strength to heave the man to the safety of an alleyway.

He was grateful Ray had decided to join them for this heist, what with him shooting down anyone who got too close to the alleyway.

Michael’s breath was heaving, painful as his chest rose and fell in a rapid pace. Gavin was never the medic of the crew, so being as useless as he was in that situation made him hate the world for forcing this situation on him and his friend.

“Shit.. Shit..” He hissed, watching the blood in coming out of Michael seeping into his jacket and the concrete.

“Call Jack..” Michael coughed, blood bubbling out of his lips. “Fuck- Call her!” Gavin did just that and within minutes, the woman had pulled up in Michael’s armored kuruma.

Gavin didn’t even ask for help as he carefully hauled Michael into the backseat and slammed the door, nearly knocking himself unconscious by the sudden acceleration as Jack started to take them somewhere safer.

“Gavin, you gotta take care of that wound. At least until we get to the safehouse!”

“But I dunno what the fuck to do!”

“I’ll tell you what to do. There’s a first aid kit under the seats.” It was normal for all the FAHC members to keep a first aid kit in their vehicles. They always managed to hurt themselves at some point or another.

“Alright.” Gavin hated looking at his crew members when they were injured, but Michael’s eyes were already rolling backwards so he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

The backseats were a cramped space, but Gavin made do.

“Alright, you gotta take off the jacket and the shirt. Take out the bandages first.” Gavin followed the instructions, pulling out gauze before he started to pull of the soot and blood covered jacket. His eyes caught on a scar line that ran down Michael’s forearm, but he quickly went back to stripping off the shirt.

That was when he saw the wound. And the scars.

Michael’s whole body was covered in scars, his skin razed with uneven flesh and white lines. But now he could see the scars ran from behind his neck, over his shoulders and down his arms.

“You’re gonna have to lift him up to wrap the bandages.” Jack instructed and Gavin swallowed the growing lump in his throat before doing so.

As he reached around to wrap the bandage around his torso, he saw the scars that ran down his back. The scars went over his shoulder blades, connecting at exposed metal embedded in flesh between his shoulderblades and then running down his spine. He felt slightly disturbed by the small lump in the base of his neck.

“Holy shit…”

“GAV!” The brit shook himself and went back to applying the bandages, his hands shaking as he felt Michael’s breathing go softer and softer.

Fortunately, they managed to get to the safehouse before he was on the verge of death.

Gavin finally decided to ask Michael one day, when everyone was off doing their own thing and they were alone in the livingroom.

Michael had stared at him and Gavin had expected him to curse at him again. Instead, he was greeted with a sad look in the freckled man’s eyes.

“I don’t like to look at them. They.. They don’t remind me of good things.”

Gavin had let up on the questioning after that. He didn’t want to force Michael to tell him what it was that led to him needing cybernetics, even if he did really want to know.

Some things just weren’t meant to be known.    

[thefictionlady]

Lessons in Love 2: Commencement - Chapter Thirty Seven

“I was thinking, maybe Jasmine and Aladdin or Danny and Sandy from Grease. Oooh! Or Daisy and Gatsby!” As I sat on the floor between Justin’s legs, I scrolled through Pinterest looking at couples’ Halloween costume ideas.  “We could do Greek mythology…like Zeus and Nemesis or Aphrodite, or one of his many other hoes…” “I wanna do something funny, though. Like Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy,” he said as he lathered his hands with moisturizer. I rolled my eyes as Justin mentioned characters from one of his favorite comedies.  “This is my first Halloween in LA so I wanna be something cute or sexy, especially if we’re going to one of those big parties.”  Regardless of where we ended up going I knew I wanted to look dope. “We don’t have to do a couple’s costume. If you wanna do Blades of Glory, that’s fine.  I could be something else.” “But babe,” Justin whined as he ran his hands through a section of my hair, coating the freshly washed and oiled strands with the creamy moisturizer.  After begging me to teach him, Justin insisted on twisting my hair every once in a while.  Even though he wasn’t great at it, I appreciated the effort and it was nice to just feel his fingers running through my hair. I’d probably just end up wearing it up tomorrow anyway.  “This is our first Halloween as a couple,” he continued.  “We should do something together.” I couldn’t help my smile as Justin manipulated my hair into a two strand twist.  “Well we’ll have to compromise.  But I wanted to ask you something,” I said, changing the subject. “What do you think about having our families come for Thanksgiving?  I just think it’s time to get our families together.”  Justin and I have officially been together for just about nine months, but after everything we’ve been through over the last two years, it’s really felt like forever.  Bringing our families together just seemed long overdue. “I think that’s an awesome idea, baby.” Justin kissed my temple then continued with my hair.  We could have Chef Gina do a whole spread.” “Nah.  Thanksgiving should be cooked by hand by us… I dunno.  I’ll figure it out.”  Cooking is a big deal in my family, on both sides. We put our love into our cooking and we show we care with food.  I didn’t always subscribe to traditional gender roles and believed in balance, but cooking for Justin and our families also showed a level of responsibility that would impress them and put their worries at ease. “Who all do you wanna invite?” “My dad and maybe my grandma.  Jeremy and Patty, and the kids if it’s cool with their mom..  Just something small and intimate.  I think it’ll be nice.  Wait…” I paused.  “Do y’all Canadians even celebrate Thanksgiving?”  The thought hadn’t even occurred to me. “Of course we do.  Just not the same day.  It was a couple days ago, actually.” “What?!” I whipped around, pulling my hair from his hands.  “Why didn’t you say anything?  We could have done something nice.  J, I’m so sorry.” “Would you please sit still?”  Justin adjusted my shoulders so that my back was to him again.  “It’s not a big deal. I’ve been living in the US for so long that I just celebrate it in November now.” It’s weird to me that they even celebrate Thanksgiving in October.  “What do you eat?  In my head I’m picturing Tim Horton’s and poutine.” Justin yanked on my hair.  “Shut up,” he said with a chuckle.  “Obviously we eat turkey…and drink maple syrup.  We’re Canadian, eh.”

Halloween I only went trick-or-treating a few times as a kid.  My mom was never a fan of Halloween so she never wanted to take me.  On the off chance that my begging would work, I’d go with Drea and her mom.  So I was probably a little too excited to go when Justin told me his siblings were coming and we’d get to take them out.  Not wanting to miss out on my goddaughter’s first Halloween either, I had Drea, Aaliyah, and Dougie flown in for the weekend. The four of us and the three kids got dressed up and set out to collect candy in The Oaks.  Even though I drive in and out of this neighborhood every day, I felt like I was seeing these homes for the first time as we walked up to each one. Every home in The Estates at The Oaks was different, customized to the tastes of the owners.  Grand in both size and style, each home spanned nearly a block. They were so spread apart that it took a minute or two to walk to each one.  Despite there only being a few homes in this Calabasas community, I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it to each one. The kids had elaborate costumes, totally outdoing the adults.  “Spin around and let me see your Elsa costume,” Drea said to Jazmyn.  The little girl twirled in her sparkling blue dress, so excited to finally be dressed as the Disney ice princess.  Her younger brother ran up and down sidewalk, flapping his Batman cape as if he could fly.  Dougie pulled Aaliyah in a wagon and she looked absolutely adorable in her cute little strawberry costume.  In keeping with the fruit theme Drea donned a ridiculous banana suit and Dougie was dressed as a pineapple.  “We’re a fruit basket,” Dougie had said when they’d all emerged rom their guest room ready to take pictures. Despite the outlandishly large mansions, the families at each one gave out a handful of candy just like in any other neighborhood.  “I half expected them to be giving out iPhones or silver spoons,” Drea said with a laugh. “Girl, me too,” I said, adjusting my cat ears. The adults were saving their fancy costumes for the big Halloween party tomorrow night.  Justin just threw on a plaid shirt and a cowboy hat, all things that he already owned, and called himself a sheriff. “I can’t wait for us to be able to do family costumes like y’all,” I mused, mostly to myself.  I couldn’t help but be a little jealous of all the parents and their kids dressed in adorable themes, hoping one day I’d be among them with kids of my own. “Have you been thinking about having kids again?” “No, not really.  I mean, sorta.  I dunno,” I shrugged.  “Every time I see Justin around children my ovaries start freaking the fuck out,” I whispered.  Justin and Dougie had taken the kids up to knock on the next door while Andrea and I stayed on the sidewalk, out of hearing distance.  “I obviously want kids someday.  Justin and I are nowhere near ready to even have this conversation. We’re just trying to make it into the next week, but I just can’t help the baby fever I get every now and then.”   Our relationship is so tumultuous and unpredictable, but I looked forward to growing with him.  No matter what we go through, we’re always improving for the better.  But I’m not focused on the future.  “I am enjoying it just being the two of us, learning more about each other and strengthening who we are as a couple.  It’s just, my clock is ticking and…you know what? I sound like an idiot.  Let me stop.” “You’re not an idiot,” my best friend said as the guys walked back down with the kids.   “I think it’s normal to think about kids.  But you’ve got plenty of time.” “Babe!” Justin hollered, eyes wide, holding onto Jaxon’s candy bucket as he ran down the walkway.  “The lady gave out full sized candy bars!  Like the big ones!  We should have gotten our own bags…”  He held up a large Snickers.  “See!?” Jaxon glared at his older brother with his little hands on his hips.  “That’s my candy!” “We can share, buddy.” “My kid can’t even eat candy yet so this is all mine,” Dougie bragged. “Bro, you got like two giant Snickers!” Justin tried to peek into Aaliyah’s bucket.  “It’s not fair that all the babies get all the best candy and they don’t even have teeth.” I shook my head silently as Drea gave me a knowing glance and Justin and Dougie negotiated a candy trade deal.  With a sigh I smiled to myself.  We have our hands full with two big ass kids already. By the time we got back to the house, Jax and Jazzy were bouncing off the walls having already eaten what looks like pounds of candy.  We all should have known better than to let them eat so much of it but we weren’t paying attention until it was too late. Now they are running around like psychos, screaming because we took their candy away and keeping the baby awake who is now hollering too.  I swear this has to be a record for going from angelic to demonic in 0.2 seconds. “That’s not fair!” Jazzy kept screaming with tears streaming down her face as if the world had ended.  Jaxon was no better, throwing a fit and kicking Justin in the shins as he pried the candy bucket out of his little angry hands. Since the guys were in charge of the monitoring the candy, it was their job to get all of them to calm down and into bed. As I rubbed my temples, I plopped down on the couch next to my best friend who’d already poured each of us a glass of whiskey.  She’s smart.  Wine just wasn’t going to cut it. “Still want those kids right now?” she asked with a smirk. “Nah, I think I’m good for a while.” There was no better birth control than some loud misbehaving kids.

JPOV When we pulled up to the house I paused before turning to my mom in the back of the SUV.  “She’s a little stressed today, so just be chill, okay?”  My mom could have driven herself to my place but I figured she’d appreciate being picked up for the fancy Thanksgiving dinner we’re having. Despite everything I’d said, Yadira insisted on doing everything herself rather than letting me hire a chef.  I just figured it’d be nice to spend time with your family instead of slaving away in the kitchen.  But what do I know? And of course she’s been freaking out all weak. From a chaotic paparazzi filled trip to the grocery store to a gridlocked trip to the airport, things have been quite stressful for her.  Everyone knows that stress can take its toll on her.  Fortunately, once her dad was in town she seemed to be a little more at ease, but the pressure of our parents meeting for the first time was freaking her out again. “I’m chill,” my mom scoffed, trying way too hard to be cool.  Things between them were civil, even friendly now, but I know the both of them were still a little on edge in each other’s presence. With a roll of my eyes I left the car and my mom followed.  As soon as I opened the door I could smell the food.  Yadira’s been at it all day.  “Pattie!” she exclaimed as she came around the corner.  “It’s so good to see you!”  She pulled my mom into a hug with a big smile. “Likewise! And that dress is so pretty,” my mom replied.  Yadira twirled around in her orange DVF dress.  Even though I told her that she didn’t need to get dressed up, she insisted and forced me to dress up too.  I just threw on a grey sweater and some dark jeans that didn’t have any holes in them, you know, the dressy kind.  But I shouldn’t complain.  She looks cute in her little homemaker dress or whatever. “Babe, you need anything?” I asked, already knowing her answer. “Don’t worry.  Just spend some time with your mom. Dinner is almost ready.”  She scurried away and left me and my mom standing in the foyer. “Wow, this is just so…beautiful,” my mom said as we walked by the dining room all the glasses, plates and silverware (bought by Yadira specifically for this occasion) were set nicely around an elaborate centerpiece. “I actually helped with this part,” I said proudly. Our dads were watching football in the den with kids messing around in the corner.  My dad wasn’t really big into football, but he seemed to be having fun with Carmello.  To be honest, I was nervous about them meeting.  They’re just so…different. But so far so good. As we approached Yadira’s dad stood off the couch, followed by my dad.  Carmello towered over my mom, more than most people did, making her seem childlike next to him. “Mr. Bernard, this is my mom, Pattie.”   With his giant hands and long arms, he reached out to pull my mother into a hug. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Both of you.” Our parents settled on the couch discussing boring shit like the weather and traffic in LA.  “Are you enjoying Los Angeles?”  Yadira’s dad came a few days ago to spend some time with his daughter and explore the city. “I’m loving the weather.  It’s a nice break from the cold.”   Boredom swept over me and I felt my eyeballs glazing over. When they were too deep into a conversation about the difference between Canadian and American Thanksgiving traditions, I slipped away into the kitchen to check on my girl.  She’d managed to refuse help from everyone all day except her grandmother who was making some sort of salad off to the side. “Justin, please go sit!” Yadira waved me off, stirring something on stove. “Let me help,” I said, noting the stress on her face. “No!” she snapped.  “You need to mingle with our parents.” I dunno why she kept thinking we couldn’t leave them alone or something.  “They’ll be fine. They can entertain themselves.”  Even if she didn’t want my help, I was happy to just stand in the kitchen inhaling all the mouth-watering smells.  “Oh my God, I’m starving!”  The words tumbled out of my mouth with a growl as if spoken by my stomach.  Driven by hunger, I tore off a corner of a cornbread muffin and shoved it into my mouth. “Fuck, Justin! Stop!” At first she caught me off guard, but I knew better than to take it personally. Since meeting Ya, I’ve learned that anxiety comes in many forms.  Even my own.  Sometimes getting upset was how she coped. Her grandma Ella, on the other hand, wasn’t as understanding. “Enough, Yadira! You’ve been rude and bratty all afternoon.” It’s true.  Our morning started out fine, but as the cooking went on Yadira became stressed and her attitude began to show. “This is why I didn’t want anyone in here with me,” she grumbled not so softly under her breath. “Relax, babe!” I intervened, trying to prevent a fight.  Under normal circumstances, Yadira would never speak to her grandmother with that tone so I knew she must be feeling like she was under a lot of pressure. “It’s not that serious. It’s just food.” She scoffed. “I didn’t ask for either of you to—ow, shit!”  As she was chopping onions she sliced right into her finger.  As her eyes filled with tears, her grandma rushed over with a paper towel. “I’ve got it, Miss Ella,” I said, wrapping my arms around Yadira’s shoulders.  “Let’s get you a band aid.”  I could tell she was trying so hard not to let the water in her eyes spill over onto her cheeks and I could tell those tears were for much more than just the pain from her cut. When we got to the guest bathroom, I closed the door behind us before rummaging under the sink for the first aid kit. “I don’t have time for this,” she mumbled with a sniffle.  “The macaroni and cheese is going to burn.” Paying her worry no mind, I found the kit and pat the edge of the counter for her to sit down.  “I’m sure your grandma’s got it under control. Chill.” Yadira’s wound was bleeding through the paper towel and was probably going to need much more than a band aid. “Besides,” I continued.  “That cut looks worse that I think you realize. Rinse your finger.” With a frown, she followed my order while I looked through the kit for the necessary supplies to tend to my wounded lady. “Is there blood on my dress?”  She looked down at her dress frantically while keeping her I injured hand under the faucet. “Your dress is fine.  You look great.  Come, sit back down.”  I gave her some tissues as she moved to sit back on top of the bathroom counter. “Now you wanna tell me what’s going on?” Though knowing her and her neurotic tendencies when she was stressed, I think I already had a good idea. “Nothing is going on,” she snapped. “Maybe you’ve forgotten how well I know you…” With a raised eyebrow, I threw out the tissues and dressed her cut with some Neosporin.  The bleeding was down to a minimum now but I could tell by the way she winced when I touched it that it still hurt. With a roll of her teary eyes and a sigh, Yadira leaned back against the bathroom mirror.  “You know, sue me for trying to make our first Thanksgiving together special.” “It already is special, babe,” I said, giving her some gauze to hold against her wound.  “Not only is it our first Thanksgiving together, but it’s the first time our families are getting together.  That’s huge.” “Exactly!” she said exasperatedly as I wrapped a bandage around the tip of her finger.  This was going to complicate using her hands in the kitchen, but she was just going to have to deal.  “I just want it to be perfect.” “Then why do you keep snapping at people who are only trying to help you?”  After all of her effort, things were about as perfect as they were going to get.  The significance of today didn’t excuse her attitude.  And she knew it. There was guilt written all over her face as she tried not to cry.  I felt guilty too, watching her get so upset and put so much stress and pressure on herself.  But enabling her helped no one.  We worked so well together because we called each other out on our shit.  Tears weren’t going to change that. “I’m just trying to prove that we could do this.  Be a normal, healthy, functioning couple.  Everyone out there had their doubts about us being together.  They doubted my decision to be with you. Your family, my family, and at times even we did.   Pulling off the perfect Thanksgiving seemed like the best way to prove everyone wrong. To prove to your mom that I can take care of you and to prove to my dad that we’ve got it together.”  She looked down at her hands, picking at the new bandage.  “I realize how stupid that sounds now that I say it out loud.” It bothered me that she was carrying around this burden of proof, as if executing the perfect Thanksgiving dinner and painting this image of the perfect family, was some act of redemption. Our being together is not a sin and nothing we could do will ever erase our messy history or complicated past. And I would never want to.  It’s part of who we are and what makes our relationship so strong. “We do not owe anyone anything.  We do not need to prove anything to anyone.  Nothing anyone says is ever going to change what we have between us, family or not.  And I think our families know and respect that now, and if they don’t, fuck ‘em.” She sighed heavily and nodded.  “I know that.  I think I was just getting in my own head.” “You gotta quit doing that, baby girl.  You’re stressing yourself out which sometimes stresses me out.  So can you relax for me, please?”  I wrapped my arms around her waist and looked down at her.  “Everyone is already impressed with everything you’ve done.  Just try to relax and have some fun.”  When we look back on our first major holiday together, I want us to remember how much fun we had with our families, not what color napkin rings she used. I brought her bandaged finger up to my lips and gave it a tiny kiss.  “Are you chill now?” I asked, noting the tension that remained on her face.  So stubborn.  “Or am I going to have to resort to other methods?” “What other methods?” she scoffed. I was hoping she’d ask. I leaned forward, caging her in with either hand pressed against the glass.  Since her dad has been in town, she’s been paranoid about him catching us in the act even though he’s sleeping in bedroom on the other side of the house. It was crazy to me how this girl wasn’t shy about getting freaky in public but the minute her father shows up it’s a totally different story. “Don’t kiss me,” she said, putting her hand on my chest.  “I don’t want my makeup to get messed up.” “Don’t worry,” I said as my lips pulled into a wide smile.  “The lips I plan on kissing don’t have any lipstick on them.”  I dropped to my knees and spread her legs apart.  Yadira attempted to stop me by smushing her hand in my face and pressing her thighs together. “Don’t.  Our families are on the other side of that door.  If my father hears us, he’ll murder you and make your parents watch.” “Then if you value my life at all, I suggest you stay quiet.” I pleaded with her, giving her my best pouty face.  I just wanted to taste her and watch as the stress left her body.  “I just want to make you feel good, baby.” My girlfriend looked down at me then toward the door before looking back at me.  She was silent for a moment, as if weighing her options in her head.  Without a word she spread her thighs apart again, the uncertainty in her eyes quickly replaced with wanting anticipation. I accepted this as an invitation to curl my fingers around her panties and slide them down her legs and over her heeled sandals, tucking them discreetly into my back pocket.  Leaving her feet in her pretty pumps, I kissed her ankle just above the strap of her shoe.  My kisses didn’t cease as they traveled up her leg to her inner thigh where I bit into the fleshiest part of her body. Yadira’s gasp was subtle as she leaned back into the mirror.  “You must have a death wish, Bieber.” “Well if I’m going to die today, I’d better make it count.”  And I couldn’t have asked for a better ‘last meal’. Hooking my hands under her knees, I pulled her toward me so her but rested on the edge of the counter.  I was careful not to wrinkle her dress as I pushed her thighs back and even further apart so she was nice and open for me to taste.  My tongue swept over her pussy quickly, lapping at the moisture that’d already gathered there.  When my lips touched her again, I lingered, sliding my tongue between her folds, licking from her center to her clit. Yadira stifled a groan as she gripped the edge of the counter.  I worked my tongue skillfully against her skin, burying my face into her sex, coating my nose, lips, and chin in her arousal.  Like a starving animal, I devoured her, my hunger for her insatiable. Sweat misted my forehead and a faint ache formed in my jaw, but I wanted more.  As I wrapped my lips around her clit, Yadira shoved her fingers into my hair, crying out as she pulled on the strands.  I growled against her before sucking the button of nerves firmly into my mouth. “Fuck!” Her head fell back against the mirror with a soft thud and she grit her teeth, trying not to make any more noise. If I hadn’t been so focused on making her come, I would have laughed at her failed attempts to stifle the involuntary sounds she was making without touching her face or disturbing her makeup. But I was determined to give her an orgasm that made her forget her own name. My tongue teased her with torturously slow strokes, speeding up only to slow back down just before she reached her climax. I did this over and over again until her thighs were trembling in my grip. “Justin, please,” she begged with a loud moan, not even trying to stay quiet now.  I plunged my tongue deep inside her and her pussy twitched and throbbed around it, causing my dick to harden.  Confident that she was right where I wanted her, I sucked hard on her clit, drawing a violent orgasm out of her.  Her whole body jerked against the mirror and she tried to pull her hips back but I held her tight against my face and tongue.  A slew of incomprehensible phrases toppled randomly from her lips. Then her body stilled, tensing up before releasing into a fit of jerks and shakes.  Her mouth hung open as a second orgasm rolled over her. Her skin was hot in my hands and against my face and I could feel the heat radiating from her even as I pulled away. Suddenly her grip on the counter loosened and she slumped back onto the glass.  When I let go of her thighs they dangled over the edge of the counter like a lifeless ragdoll.   “Still thinking about that mac and cheese?” Yadira just hummed in response, not bothering to formulate and coherent words.  Mission accomplished. While she sat there catching her breath, I attempted to help her sit up but she swatted my hands away.  “Don’t touch me yet.  I feel like I might shatter into a million pieces.” I gave her a minute to cool down before we cleaned ourselves up and fixed the bathroom as if it’d never been disturbed. “Come here and let me fix your hair” I glanced in the mirror and saw the hot mess she left on top of my head. “Sorry,” she mumbled as she attempted to smooth my hair back into place. “You’re not sorry,” I scoffed.  I wouldn’t be either. “For fucking up you’re hair? You’re right, I’m not. Besides, you kinda brought that on yourself.  But I am sorry for acting crazy.” She grabbed my jaw and pecked me quickly on the lips.  “Even though I worry about stupid shit, act out when I am stressed, and behave like an asshole, you still spoil me with earth shattering sex.” “My only plan was to get you to chill the fuck out.” She smiled lazily.  “Well your plan might backfire.  I am so chill I might fall asleep at the stove and burn the house down.” Her eyelids were heavy as she reached to unlock the bathroom door. “That’s only if your dad doesn’t kill us first, loud mouth.”  That was my fault too, but she wouldn’t dare complain.  Though I was proud of my work (I can literally feel my ego and man-pride swelling, or maybe that’s just my unrelieved dick trapped in my pants), I’d be like if I said I wasn’t afraid to face her father.  I didn’t know Carmelo well, but I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t take too kindly to hearing his little girl having sex right under his nose, even if we were in our own house. We tiptoed out of the bathroom and back to the kitchen where Ella was still hovering over the stove. “Don’t worry,” she said casually with her back still turned to us. Everyone went outside.  No one heard you…except me.”

[kingsofchaos]

So i had an Idea but I can't think of anything past the concept (+ yr writing for this kinda thing is like 200% better than mine) but what if the Lads founded the Fake AH crew and recruited the gents?

Oohthat’s fun – i’ve seen versions where they were two little gangswho combined into the FAHC but the idea of the actual Fake’s startingas the Lads is definitely interesting.Therewere a lot of names tossed around at the start; it’s the part offorming a crew no one really talks about, the vaguely embarrassingperiod of building an image, choosing a name, defining yourselves.Like band names there is a lot of bad before the good. Like bandnames ‘good’ is wildly subjective, particularly when determined by apack of teenage boys. The humour behind ‘Fake Crew’ isn’tparticularly high brow and not a single soul outside the originalfour Lads, including and especially their future members, have anyidea at all what the AH could possibly stand for. Most think itsmysterious, assume something clever or at least meaningful, but theshifty looks the boys shoot each other when pressed tell a differentstory.Still,they’ve made something of a name for themselves in Los Santos – theFAHC, who pull off unbelievable stunts, who lack any semblance ofrespect, dangerous in the way of feral animals, of wildfire. In thefoolhardy way of children, who care far more about making sure youhurt than they do about protecting themselves. It’s enough to keepother gangs wary, to buy themselves a little breathing room withreckless gestures and bared teeth, but not exactly the glory they arelooking for. Not quite the trembling respect they’ve dreamed of.Forthat, it seems, they’re going to have to think bigger, smarter. Beclever not just in the tricks they play and jobs they pull but in theway they twist their image, they way they recruit, build their crew.Just being more won’t do it, added thugs for the sake of numbers; itwould take an astonishing amount to really match the size of some oftheir rivals and the Lads don’t exactly play nice with strangers. No,they have to be strategic, have to select a few choice additions whocan help them rise, and after much discussion they settle on threenames they’d like to pull in; Ramsey, Patillo and the Vagabond. Loftygoals to be sure, but then, delusions of grandeur or not, the Fake’shave always considered themselves to be rather magnificent.Everyonewho’s anyone knows about the Vagabond; none of them will admit it(Ray will admit it, Ray doesn’t give a fuck) but the Lads all havehearts in their eyes every time the Vagabond slinks around, allfollow every rumour, gossip over every job. Something between heroworship and healthy respect, without any of the fear normalself-respecting individuals feel, is the perfect cocktail to have thefour of them plotting outlandish ways to pull in the mercenary.Patillo has an incredibly solid reputation for someone with no realties, invariably thought to be smart, dependable, one of the bestdrivers in the country and definitely not a woman to be trifled with.That she and Ramsey seem to have some kind of relationship, workedtogether back in the day and while going their separate ways don’tappear to have had any kind of blow up, will hopefully work in theLads favour. Last, but certainly not least, there’s Geoff Ramsey; therouge Rooster who’s been traversing the country, constantly on themove and pulling all kinds of jobs from hilariously wacky to darklyperverse. Maybe the Lads are looking a bit outside their paid gradebut with Ramsey reportedly looking to build his own crew they can’tnot try, not after realising that their crew is unfortunately in needof a proper leader.Becausenone of the Lads are leaders, not really, especially not back then.They aren’t incapable, are clearly wildly talented and loyal enoughto one another to defer a certain kind of leadership to whomever hasthe best idea or the most experience with whatever task they’refacing, but no one individual is capable of being the permanent boss.No one individual actually wants that role, not really, they’re alltoo young, too impulsive, too eager to abandon necessary goals at thedrop of a hat.  Ray,who has arguably the least interest in being the boss of all, is lessleader than lone wolf; when he’s taking point a lot of his orderstend to involve stealth, hanging back while he picks off targets,only charging in when long-distance is no longer an option. Necessaryfor particular jobs, and it’s certainly not an easy task keeping theother three in line until it’s their turn to burst into action, butit’s not a method that works for every task.Michaelmakes a magnificent leader, fierce and fearless and unwaveringlyloyal, protective of his crew until the bitter end. He is,unfortunately, utterly devoid of tact, of the patience to put up withany kind of shenanigans from anyone he doesn’t personally like, theability to create and maintain necessary relations with anyoneoutside his crew. Michael himself knows he makes a far betterLieutenant, busy with duties he actually cares about, walking theline between following orders with absolute obedience andunapologetically calling out anything he disagrees with, reliable andrelentless in equal measure.Jeremyis meticulous, when he’s in charge he plots and plans and doublechecks, the very image of the perfect boss except for one flaw; moreoften than not he’s easily swayed. Will put together the perfectstealth plan only to agree when Michael makes a convincing argumentfor the importance of rocket launchers, conduct an ideal heist untilGavin begs to go after something shiny or Ray inquires aboutabandoning the sensible get away car for hilarious motorisedscooters.WhenGavin is on his game he is fucking glorious, a flashbang of recklesslaughter and terrible ideas none of them can resist, the promise thatcome hell or hand-grenades they will all be going home with a story.When Gavin plays leader he needs a lot of faith, needs the others totrust in things that don’t seem remotely feasible, but the payoff isalways worth it. Except for the days when his words are too sharp,his eyes too cold, when he wants nothing more than to pick a fightwith the most dangerous crook in the room, to swagger around theLSPD’s station unmasked, jump from a plane without checking hisparachute; dancing with death just to see if he can. Ifthey’re not careful on those days, if they missed the clues, the restof the Lads would follow him down, unable discern between Gavin’susual absurd genius and those streaks of genuinely aimless apathyuntil they’re all careening towards destruction.So,as grating as it seems, there is an undeniable argument for apermanent leader, someone to keep them all on course, to take theresponsibilities they don’t want, someone who can captain their shipwithout trying to push them all overboard. Still, you can’t just walkup to one of these infamous criminals and hand them an invitation;selling yourself – your dream, your crew, your city – takes time,takes planning, so in the end the FAHC’s first recruitment isn’t evenone of those big three.It’spure luck when Michael meets Lindsay; finds her twirling anail-studded bat in the wreckage of a bar, sipping a cocktail likeshe hadn’t just caved a man’s head in, and really nothing on earthcould have stopped Michael from offering her a place in the crew.From talking them up in a way he’d never really bother with normally,because honestly how could he not. It doesn’t take much to get theother three onboard, Lindsay was a perfect fit, a seamless addition,and with her the FAHC is unquestionably more efficient.Strangelythe Vagabond is actually far easier to get on board than any hadanticipated. After they start actively seeking his attention Ryancan’t help but watch the Lads. Not because their jobs are impressive(they are, actually, but Ryan’s in high demand, so very many crewsout there are impressive enough) but because they are endearingeager; nothing like the pathetic begging of so many others, noattempt to convince Ryan he should be desperate to work withthem, just genuine enthusiasm to prove themselves worthy ofhis time. They’re funny, something akin to a pack of recklesspuppies; certainly capable of outrageous damage but equally likely totrip over their own oversized paws in their excitement, and in thisbusiness Ryan really shouldn’t find it as charming as he does. Theytake to leaving him all kinds of gifts; generally intriguing , oftenamusing and near always utterly gruesome, and after a month or so ofhanging around the city toying with them they manage to get a formerRooster onside to run the show and Ryan’s run out of reasons tosay no.Gavin’sthe one they sent after Geoff, when the Lads decide they’re ready totry to bring the notoriously creative, fortuitouslycrew-seeking man into the FAHC. Gavin’s first approach, full ofdeferential respect playing to Ramsey’s ego, is a complete bust; Geoffthought he was sweet, called him kid, laughed in his face andsent him out the door with a crack about coming back when he was oldenough to drive. The second approach involves pulling a full blownjob on Ramsey, one that starts with the man unknowingly buying Gavina supercar and ends with the priceless tailored suit he’s wearingbeing pinned to the wall with a nail gun, Gavin grinning away like aparticularly bloodthirsty shark, and all of a sudden Geoff can’t sayhe isn’t tempted. Deigns to finally listen to the recruitment spiel,as though he’s got any other choice right now, and despite himself isquickly sold on the whole crew.Jeremygoes out one day and comes back with a handful of people, some they’dbeen discussing as a group, some the others hadn’t heard of, but allperfectly capable of holding their own agains the Lad’s disgruntleddissent. Steffie, who takes a look at their set up, rolls her eyes,then pulls out her phone and starts making a list, talking dealersand bases and possible new hires. Trevor who immediately sets tosoothing ruffled feathers, sidling up to Gavin and gushing about someridiculous theft, questioning Michael about his preference in heavyweaponry, ignoring the way Ray is skulking around behind him. Mattthey’d all agreed on, welcoming the chance to push off allcomputering nonsense onto someone else, and Mica assures them allthat she’s got no interest in sticking around, will work contracts asrequested but isn’t about the stationary crew life. In the end noblood is spilt, no tempers flare too badly, and Jeremy is reasonablysure he isn’t going to wake up with a gun to his temple, so all inall it goes pretty well.The last missing piece, Jack, is actually tracked down by Ray in the end; he wanders off one day andcomes back with a very amused woman in tow, decked out in a hideousHawaiian shirt and driving an obscenely nice Lamborghini. Apparentlyafter finding her, not particularly difficult considering she wasn’ttrying to hide, Ray simply told Jack all about Geoff’s fumblingattempts to simultaneously familiarise himself with the mess that isLos Santos, integrate himself into, and begin to take control of, analready close-knit, functioning crew, and do it all while pretendinghe’s not at all rattled by the Lad’s unwavering fascination with thehorrifically notorious assassin who insists on sticking a strawthrough his mask to pound down a truly irresponsible number of dietcokes. It took a while for her utterly joyous, completelyuncontrollable laughter to die down, but when she finally calmed Jackimmediately started packing.

[scifitalk]

Official Synopsis:

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Picking up shortly after we last saw Bruce and Diana go their separate ways, the story reconnects these two characters who may not always see the same road toward their shared goal. But it’s their shared motivation—to do right by the sacrifice Superman made—that allows them to find common ground very quickly in order to face Steppenwolf, an eight-foot-tall warrior from the nightmare world of Apokolips. He seeks the power to conquer the world and transform it into his own. He is no ordinary villain, and it will take an extraordinary force to defeat him.

Zack Snyder states, “Just the idea of getting the Justice League together on the same playing field, taking their place in the cinematic landscape as a team and embarking on an amazing adventure…the mere concept of it was awe-inspiring.”

In the film, the loss of Superman—of hope—is the catalyst for everything that happens, on both sides. But there is little time to mourn, and even less time to take action. Earth is vulnerable, primed for attack because of that void. And because the hero who stood for hope and justice is gone, the League must unite in his stead, to fight for the world he saved. Producer Deborah Snyder adds, “These characters all have such unique personalities, and such different powers and abilities, and the chance to pool them together to see how powerful they can be as a unit was such a thrill. Not to mention the urgency of their mission. There’s no time to practice. It’s game on from the moment they come together, because this is an extremely formidable enemy.”

To form the League, the story takes us to the ends of the Earth and beyond: from a gritty Gotham to Central City, the populous Paris to the frozen wilds of Iceland, from Themyscira to Atlantis, and from buzzing Metropolis to the serenity of Smallville. If Bruce and Diana can succeed in recruiting the others for this larger-than-life battle in which all their worlds are at stake, they will come together as the greatest team of Super Heroes in the DC universe.

Ben Affleck: “Batman still really resonates because on the one hand he’s a Super Hero, but on the other hand he is just like us,” Affleck states. “He feels vulnerable; he bleeds if you cut him. He is a real person on the inside and yet he is ‘super.’ There are all kinds of contradictions inherent in that, which makes for interesting storytelling.”

Gal Gadot: “Wearing my costume felt like the most normal thing because I had been doing it for six months before,” Gadot states. “But seeing everyone else wearing their own costumes was wonderful. I remember the first three days, I kept looking at all the guys and me in costume, and I just kept laughing because it felt so surreal. So many Super Heroes, standing together. It was really great to be shooting this movie.” “Wonder Woman is the greatest warrior.She has such amazing strength, but at the same time she can be very, well, human. She cares so much for people and she just wants to make the world a better place because she sees the world as very special. Life is so complicated and we forget about the simple things, but she always remembers them: love, hope, do good in the world. And I think that’s something that everyone can aspire to.”

Erza Miller: “The Flash is a scientist in the sense that a scientist studies the natural order of things, makes observations and performs experiments,” Miller explains. “But Barry’s inherently interested in quantum mechanics because he’s literally running into them. “When we first meet Barry in the film,  he’s just awakening to his powers. He hasn’t really tested them out, he’s not yet breached the event horizon, as it were. But he’s starting to feel there’s an opportunity waiting for him.”

Ray Fisher :  “Cyborg became the very technology that was used to rebuild him. The technology his father used was alien and it imbued him with super-abilities. He has super-strength. He can fly. He’s a technopath, which means he can interface with anything technological. He has worlds of information at his disposal, not just from our galaxy but also from other universes. But it’s all pretty new, so he struggles with it. It begs the question, ‘How deeply should you allow yourself to become entrenched in the idea of who and what you are? ”

Jason Momoa :  “He’s the heir to the throne of Atlantis, but he’s not the king yet. So, as always, he’s between worlds. But here at the frozen ends of the earth, he has a purpose. Arthur is a good man, he helps people who genuinely need him, and he’s found a place where they accept and respect him. He can take off his ‘mask’ here.”

Henry Cavill: “There’s nothing quite like playing Superman, It’s still surreal.There was a moment where I was really tired near the end of a long day, and I was thinking ‘I’m hungry and I’m looking forward to getting to bed.’ And then I realized I had Cyborg, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman all standing in front of me, and they were in costume and it looked so fantastic. And all of a sudden, my fatigue went away. I just wanted to live in the moment and appreciate that I’m doing the thing that I wanted to do as a kid, but as real as it gets as an adult. You become very thankful for that kind of thing. Martha is seeing everyone mourning this Superman character, but she’s mourning Clark, her son. And she can’t tell anyone that Superman was her son. It’s a terrible loneliness and pain for her to go through. It’s excruciating for both Martha and Lois to see all these people mourning a man that none of them truly knew.””

Costume Designer Michael Wilkinson and his concept artists came up with an immensely detailed 3D model of Cyborg, defining the graphic language and textures of the alien world. They then handed it over to the visual effects department, who continued to develop Cyborg’s look under Snyder’s direction and guided by the actor’s performance. For the shoot, it was simply a matter of Wilkinson’s team sewing together Ray Fisher’s “pajamas”: the blue-dotted performance-capture suit that the skilled VFX artists would digitally replace, under the supervision of visual effects supervisor DJ DesJardin. Wilkinson also turned his attention to Superman’s suit, marking his third go ‘round. “This time, you’re going to see a Superman that’s a little more lustrous,” says Wilkinson. “We developed an extremely beautiful metallic chromed under-suit that Henry wears, using materials and processes that weren’t available for previous versions of the costume. And for the over-suit, we created a mesh that’s a slightly bolder blue than the last film, so he really jumps off the screen in such a heroic way. And Zack had the fantastic idea of incorporating some Kryptonian scripts throughout the suit, so we wove some of that language, which we’d developed for ‘Man of Steel,’ through the S, across the bicep, through the belt, and in the cuff details. It adds that extra layer of meaning and detail for the audience.”

The suit was created by screen-printing a dimensional print onto a thin mesh that is itself the latest in fabric technology. “It’s even more sheer and beautiful and lustrous than what you saw in ‘Batman v Superman,’” Wilkinson asserts, “but super strong so that it didn’t fall apart when it was stretched tight. We also found amazing new printing inks that make a very dimensional, high-raised surface, and new paints that make it appear almost chromed. All of these little tweaks add up to a bolder, more impactful costume.” Techniques aside, perhaps the newest territory for the “Justice League” costume department was in housing the entire costume crew under one roof. Normally on a film of such scope and scale, each main character’s costume is made by a different manufacturing company, under the direction of the costume designer. But this time, the filmmakers did something they’d never done before.

Finally, Wilkinson’s costumes also had to withstand the “tuning forks.” First developed for use on “The Matrix Revolutions,” they were introduced to the filmmakers by stunt coordinator Eunice Huthart. The device resembles a huge tuning fork, hence the name. The actor is strapped into the middle, and there is a counterbalance that enables him to mimic weightlessness, like being underwater, for example. Not only can he be rotated forward and backwards, but also on the y-axis. Just as Superman can fly, Aquaman can float.

The film also stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta, and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.

The “Justice League” screenplay is by Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon, story by Chris Terrio & Zack Snyder, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film’s producers are Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, with executive producers Jim Rowe, Ben Affleck, Wesley Coller, Curtis Kanemoto, Daniel S. Kaminsky and Chris Terrio.

    Justice League Preview Official Synopsis: Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.